《Mage Among Superheroes》


 Chapter 1

    Warm sun on my skin, gentle breeze keeping the temperature just right, and just the right amount of grass to keep me comfy. This is the life, I thought. Much better than being stuck in a stuffy library reading uncountable tedious tomes. Plus, the villagers couldn¡¯t find me here to get their revenge.


    It¡¯s not that I¡¯d done anything wrong. I was just trying to learn magic. So people didn¡¯t like getting shocked, how was that supposed to be my problem? When monsters showed up they¡¯d be glad I let them help me train. Sure, it had been a decade since the last monster sighting. Five decades since the last monster invasion. Clearly that meant they were hiding out, building up numbers for a massive undertaking. It wasn¡¯t possible they were actually all exterminated, right?


    Or¡­ maybe there would be a war! Peace couldn¡¯t last forever. People always wanted more land and resources. Sure, there were all the lands the monsters had previously made uninhabitable, plus better farming techniques making plots more efficient. All the free mages really did a lot for building up infrastructure inside and outside of cities. But someone had to want to start a war, right?


    Weren¡¯t there necromancers or something? The Black Cowl? I frowned. Actually, the Black Cowl were the ones who figured out that they could conjure stone and make stone golems more easily than any form of undead, without getting anyone angry at them. I think they even learned how to use stone to flesh to make corpses, if they wanted them. Someone had to be angry about that, right?


    Oh, or the Nizben empire! They were bound to start another war once the new emperor reached his majority. No, wait. He¡¯d signed his throne away and started a ¡®democracy¡¯ or some sort of crap like that. They¡¯d opened up their borders for trade and accepted the multicultural societies of those under their rules. A few states had sued for independence but backed out before it could go through, once they realized what the young not-emperor could do for them if they remained.


    What else¡­ what else¡­ maybe an orcish horde? Eh¡­ that probably wouldn¡¯t go over well. Humans might appreciate a half-orc fighting on their side, but they¡¯d find it harder to trust a full orc like myself. And most of the orcs had realized that starting wars wasn¡¯t doing them any good.


    Okay, what about disasters? No, the other mages could handle that and it wouldn¡¯t involve fighting. I could be a whaler, but I wasn¡¯t good on boats and to be honest a good harpoon was better than anything I could do. Hunting was much the same, and all of the slots were filled by experienced hunters who knew how to keep populations at the right level. I could fight in an arena! But uh, the Bloody Sand Pit really mostly just hosted bards these days.


    Being a mage sucked. How was I supposed to learn magic in a world like this? There were so many things I wanted to do, but what I actually could do right now was¡­ limited.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 10


    Experience: 280


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +1


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +4


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Remaining Points: 1


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Level 10. It might seem high, but actually until adulthood level is expected to match age. I stopped counting when the first digit of my age hit 2. It wasn¡¯t thaat long ago. I¡¯m still young. But as for why my level is suboptimal, it¡¯s not my fault.


    I didn¡¯t always hate reading. It was nice, learning about what spells did and how they¡¯re used. The math that went into how powerful they were was interesting enough, though it was also just possible to look up huge tables if you weren¡¯t interested in calculating with a formula by hand. I was a good student, diligently studying all the time while the other students alternately studied and played. Then I started to fall behind. Because¡­ I can¡¯t get experience from reading.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Aspect of the Barbarian


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    That¡¯s what it¡¯s actually called, but what it¡¯s called nowadays is Curse of the Barbarian. It¡¯s a curse for everyone- only being able to level up by fighting sounds fine if there¡¯s fighting to do. But there isn¡¯t. I wasn¡¯t entirely crazy in my class choice despite how I came about it. Mages have a lot of utility spells they can do. My storage spell gives me access to an extradimensional space which has the power to hold¡­ a book. Mage¡¯s Reach allows me to reach out with telekinetic forces as if my hand was anywhere within thirty feet or so. And if I could level up more, I would have access to all sorts of cool abilities. I should have at least four times as many points as what I¡¯ve currently used.


    ... But at least I made it to level 10. Fortunately ¡®fighting¡¯ doesn¡¯t require ¡®killing¡¯. However, the amount of experience depends significantly on how much of a fight it is. Being level 10 I had done the equivalent of killing 275 people without any levels or about two thousand small animals. Just without actually killing anyone. Or dying. Or getting people angry enough to lock me up. In theory people with higher levels would be worth more, but the problem was people didn¡¯t fight. If they didn¡¯t know how to fight, they didn¡¯t count as higher level. City guards didn¡¯t want to spar with a mage since it just meant getting hard to heal injuries, and the other apprentices had more useful things to do with their time. Like building magic carriages and enchanting tools. Useful stuff. Not like fighting.


    To be honest, about half of my experience came from fighting Izzy. Once I could read- and thus figure out I had Aspect of the Barbarian- I picked fights wherever I could, when they didn¡¯t come to me first for being an orc. I completely lost every single one of them, especially since I tried to fight teenagers when I was six. Izzy was just about my size, and she was always up for a fight. We got into scraps regularly but as I grew older and bigger she grew¡­ not at all. I¡¯d assumed Izzy was a kinda funny looking kid, but my first real friend was instead an adult halfling. That led to an awkward moment, an actual fight that didn¡¯t involve fists or magic or anything of the sort, and then Izzy just¡­ skipped town. I wasn¡¯t really that mad, but I didn¡¯t know where she went. Okay, maybe I was mad, but I was a teenager so it didn¡¯t really count. Most of the anger wasn¡¯t at her anyway.


    I was cold. Maybe I fell asleep or just got lost in thought, but it was night time. I supposed it was time to go back to the tower. At least Master Uvithar kept a place for me. I helped keep the place swept up and the books properly shelved. He knew about my struggles, and it wasn¡¯t just stubbornness that kept me the way I was. It was just that I had managed to choose my class before I learned to read. And then I spent most of the skill points I¡¯d ever get before I realized I was young and made bad choices. It was last year that I got to level 10, and spending most of the point¡¯s on Mage¡¯s Reach so I could more effectively zap people seemed like a good idea, but instead it meant I had to run more. For some reason nobody wanted to get within ten armlengths of me.


    -----


    In front of me I saw a familiar face. Blue-white hair with yellow tips, and a terrible attempt at a beard that had patches of similar colors distributed unevenly. Green skin. Tusks. It wasn¡¯t a face I saw every day. I didn¡¯t even own a mirror. But Rordan¡¯s Reagents had a very nice glass window out front, probably made by one of the other apprentices who actually learned a fabrication spell. I¡¯d kind of passed over the opportunities to do so whenever they arose. It¡¯s not like I had spare points available most of the time.


    Rordan had a much better beard than me, and his hair was white from age and not from magical crap changing his hair color. ¡°Turlough,¡± he folded his arms. ¡°Here to incite the town?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean, sir. I¡¯m just here to pick up some reagents for Master Uvithar.¡±


    ¡°Hah,¡± Rordan snorted. ¡°I¡¯d bet my whole store that you¡¯ll be chased out of Mossley within the hour.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a real bet, of course. If it had been, I probably could have stayed on the down low long enough. I could certainly control myself for an hour. If I had another couple points I could learn invisibility and that would cover five minutes on its own, which was a lot of time to reposition. It lasted about a minute per expense, and as a third level spell it cost three mana per cast. Since I was level 10, I had 15 to spend. Over the course of an hour I could regenerate maybe 6 points of mana so probably 7 casts total. Maybe 6 because I¡¯d be a bit short. I could tune the spell down a bit at the cost of less time¡­


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    ¡°Are you going to take the goods or just stand there?¡± Rordan asked.


    ¡°Right. Sorry. You¡¯ve been paid already?¡±


    ¡°That I have. Go on and get out. And no funny business.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dream of it,¡± I said as I turned and left. I left the nearly invisible form of my most recent spell behind me, expending a full three mana for Mage¡¯s Reach. Just as the door was closing I heard a yelp, so I knew my hand had gotten to him. Shocking grasp was a dangerous spell, but I wasn¡¯t going to actually hurt people. If I turned it down to the tiniest form it not only saved mana but it acted just like a tiny static shock. It also required getting very close to people so I could touch them- or a spell like Mage¡¯s Reach that allowed me to touch people from a distance. I yanked the hand with me through the still open door and began walking down the streets.


    It was still morning, but plenty of people were up and about. I carried my sack over one shoulder as I cast Force Armor on myself. That cost two mana at base but it lasted almost all day, or until it broke. Since it could handle a hit hard enough to kill some people, that was good enough. Each time it broke, I just thought of it as my life being saved.


    People began to take notice of me. Partly because of the yelps as I passed people, and partly just because I was well known. Soon enough, I was running down the main street.


    ¡°Turlough!¡± people kept calling after me. ¡°Get back here!¡±


    Yelling at people like that never worked, did it? Of course not. The nearly invisible hand flicked back and forth to the sides of the road, channeling the power of a Shocking Grasp that used about one percent of a point of mana. Too bad it couldn¡¯t be tuned up, but I didn¡¯t have that much free mana and I didn¡¯t engage in actual combat anyway.


    If there was one thing I could be proud of as a mage, it was that I was the fastest runner who had ever passed through Master Uvithar¡¯s tower. I had good endurance, too. I was even pretty good at dodging. When one of the people ahead finally noticed me they tried to grab me, but I basically got out of the way and my magic armor extended far enough for them to slide off instead of getting a good grip. I was pelted by rotten fruit and small to medium rocks people were finding or had stashed nearby, but I kept running.


    They wouldn¡¯t chase me beyond the edge of town. Besides having better things to do once I reached the tower they couldn¡¯t come in. They couldn¡¯t catch me before then, so I would be safe. I ran and I ran until I reached the tower door and stepped inside. ¡°Safe!¡± I pumped my arm in excitement. Then I looked at my status.


    281 experience. All of that for one measly experience point? Sure, I wasn¡¯t in lethal danger and I didn¡¯t really hurt people, but I remember the first couple of times I started similar ¡®training¡¯ it gave me handfuls. At this rate I wouldn¡¯t even reach 330 and level 11 until next season at the earliest. Probably longer because if I did this every day they¡¯d be waiting and I¡¯d get caught. Besides, I couldn¡¯t be sure if it was even a whole point or just enough bits of experience to push me over to the next whole point.


    I climbed the stairs, taking them slowly to catch my breath. Master Uvithar¡¯s study was obviously at the top of the tower. So, despite his age, he was probably the second fastest runner that had ever studied at the tower. Still leagues below me, though. At least without magic.


    I knocked on his door. No response. Well, he always had me just leave the bag on his desk. It was unlocked, so I stepped inside. Was it breezy? Did he have a window open? I turned my head as I set the sack down. The windows were in fact closed, but I found the reason for the breeze.


    Right there in the room about seven feet tall and maybe half as wide, not quite a proper ellipse but wavy on the edges, was a portal. I¡¯d never seen a portal before but if that wasn¡¯t a portal, nothing was. It was the sort of thing that had demons or elementals or some sort of terrifying invaders from another plane about to pour through it. I couldn¡¯t see into it, instead inside the wavy edges was inky blackness. A one-way portal to some hell or something. So I stepped through it.


    The ground beneath my feet was dull obsidian. All around me were buildings of pallid grey stone, so smooth and continuous in their perfection they had to have been conjured by magic. The road in which I was standing- for it was clearly a road- also had strips of white at regular intervals. Those were made of¡­ something new. Probably magic too. The smells were... Tar, maybe? Some sort of oil, and just a hint of refuse. Well, it was a demonic fortress so it made sense.


    The sounds were probably the most important. Clanging and clashing metal, as well as the sound of something whooshing through the air. I turned towards it. To my credit, I immediately re-cast my Force Armor to make sure it was in top form. I just sort of forgot to dodge or move at all at the sight of a metal carriage being flung sideways through the air at me.


    Statistically it wouldn¡¯t have hit me head on, probably just would have sent me flying, knocking me flat on my back and breaking four or five ribs. Through the armor. However, that didn¡¯t happen.


    I saw a tall, olive skinned woman. Six feet? No, at least eight feet tall. Maybe ten or twelve, the way she looked as she caught the metal carriage. The force of it pushed her back shredding the dull obsidian street beneath her as she stopped the momentum of the giant projectile. Then she grew another two feet taller, her muscles bulging out to be proportionately greater than they already were, bulging through some sort of skin tight covering. She chucked the metal carriage back at the thing that had knocked it in my direction to begin with. It was some sort of earth elemental, chunky rock and dirt in vaguely humanoid shape.


    The woman in front of me deflated slightly, shrinking back to somewhere closer to eight feet. She turned towards me. Then she shouted something in a language I didn¡¯t speak. It didn¡¯t seem threatening or anything through, since she¡¯d just defended me. It was a few full sentences though.


    I did the only thing a sane person would have done in my situation. I shot a firebolt straight into the shoulder of the earth elemental. I¡¯d never had a chance to use a full power offensive spell except against Master Uvithar. Even when I got the rare chance to spar with another apprentice, we reduced the power of our offensive spells. A full powered Force Armor with no upgrades would always withstand a firebolt or equivalent, but the hit after that usually let something through. The lower the power of an attack when a defensive spell broke, the greater available margin of error.


    My firebolt struck the shoulder of the creature, melting just a little bit of it. Enough for me to know that doing that 7.9 times would be a terrible waste of my mana. Shocking Grasp has more offensive power and less range, but it wouldn¡¯t be more effective on an earth elemental. Maybe even less. With no other offensive spells, I cast grease at the thing¡¯s feet. An area of slick black formed atop the non-slick black pavement. It was definitely not obsidian, I could tell that as I moved.


    The earth elemental had caught the metal carriage, of course, and was preparing to throw it back once more. However, the sudden slippery mess under its feel made it lose its balance and the heavy metal thing dropped on top of it. The large-to-larger woman in front of me took the chance to run forward and smash it¡¯s head under her heel.


    I wasn¡¯t able to watch that whole fight because there was much more going on. There were other portals, in the air and on the ground at seemingly random positions. Someone flew in front of me, one arm outstretched like they were in some sort of half-dive into a pool of water. Through a portal across the street from where I had moved came a steady stream of half man sized demons, scrawny little ones with goat hooves and horns but otherwise human in appearance besides their red skin.


    Then something kicked one of them. I didn¡¯t really see it- instead I merely saw its head swing to the side. I barely saw flashes of movement, and sometimes I saw the figure of a man for the briefest moment. My eyes began to pick out afterimages of him against the creatures as each time he was in a different pose but had clearly struck them. I thought my eyes were improving, but maybe he was just getting slower.


    All around there was a sort of chaos, several more flyers appearing and more monsters. Everyone seemed to have different abilities, and I had no idea what their classes were. Or what their clothes were made of. The whole time, I was just trying to figure out what to fight.


    Then I saw dozens of batlike creatures, man sized, pour out of yet another portal in the sky. I was glad my portal had been one of those basically on the ground. I shot a firebolt, catching one in the chest. At least I¡¯d had enough practice with my aim, though I wasn¡¯t confident in hitting them consistently after they spread out and were flying around towards the glass windows that seemed to be all over the buildings nearby. The one I hit charged down towards me, but bats were much more flammable than rocks. It fell out of the sky onto the ground before it got to me.


    Mage¡¯s Reach. Shocking Grasp. That was my preferred spell, and I wouldn¡¯t waste the mana if I missed because it didn¡¯t discharge until it hit something. I reached for the closest bat. Lightning was very effective on them as well, stunning them and letting them crash into the ground. I targeted another, and another. One of them seemed to have caught on, but I had one more in reserve. 1.67 + 1.9 + 2.85 + 1.82 + 1.74*3= 13.46. All those years of arithmetic added up, and the fact that I had advanced the spells which reduced their mana costs gave a very slight edge along with weird costs. The bat went down, but then I saw two more behind it. No more mana. Well, crap. I slapped one of them with Mage¡¯s Reach while trying to push out that last half of a Shocking Grasp and was surprised when it sparked and sputtered like it was hit with full power. Enough that I forgot to continue dodging.


    Then the large size-changing woman kicked it out of the air. More words, clearly directed at me. I still had no idea what they were. Crud. If only I knew a translation spell. It was too bad I didn¡¯t have any points available. Except¡­ I suddenly had more mana. Had I leveled up? A quick check told me I had. I¡­ probably needed that, right? What was it, third level? Translate. I kind of knew how it worked already. I purchased it, and cast it.


    I tried to cast it. Of course, I was still out of mana. Less than a single point remaining, if my calculations were correct. So I skimped. Downcasting worked pretty well, usually.


    ¡°What the hell ---- -- ----- is that, ------?¡±


    Ugh, it was missing words. The intimidating woman stood taller and wider than me, even as a full grown orc. I should probably say something. ¡°Don¡¯t speak¡­ good. Tired.¡± Hells, was that the best I could get out? What a terrible first impression.


    ¡°----- ----- safe-¡± she pointed down the street. I nodded. I probably needed to leave. What a stupid mistake. I couldn¡¯t even cast a translation spell properly right now. I was about to pass out from mana exhaustion too. I staggered away. At least she hadn¡¯t attacked me. I had thought a random orc appearing out of a portal would have concerned people more, but there were already so many portals. Ah¡­ she probably didn¡¯t see I came from one. Maybe that should remain secret. Most of the things were aggressive. Though I couldn¡¯t explain anything at the current moment anyway.

 Chapter 2

    Perhaps I was prone to making rash decisions. Deciding that I should be a mage just because someone said orcs were too stupid to do it was a bit rash. The people who said it would have deserved it if I firebolted them in the face. Sure, that would have made me the angry, violent orc- but humans made me that way. I don¡¯t think I acted more angrily or violently than they would have in the same circumstances.


    But while I didn¡¯t think it was fair to call me angry or violent or stupid, calling me reckless was probably appropriate. Going through the portal to find things to fight so I could level up made sense. I was willing to deal with the danger- though clearly not ready to handle as much of it as appeared. The problem was with the rest.


    I was on a strange plane I had never heard of. The city I was in was populated mainly by humans, or at least something so close I couldn¡¯t tell the difference. I didn¡¯t speak the language without magic- and I was out of mana. I didn¡¯t know how to buy food or shelter.


    I also didn¡¯t know that the road I was on had magic carriages that went extremely fast. Not until I heard one make a loud noise, its driver spouting what was certainly profanity as it swerved around me from behind. Lesson learned- the black pavement was for those. Grey pavement was for walking.


    More magic carriages crossed my path the further I went, and more people. I got strange looks. Mostly curious, some suspicious, but none outright hostile. I wanted to ask someone for directions or something, but I had to wait a full thirty minutes to recover enough mana to cast a full translation spell instead of a quarter-assed one.


    I saw a few people who weren¡¯t humans. What they were I couldn¡¯t tell, but they didn¡¯t seem to be orcs, elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, demons, fey¡­ anything I knew of. What plane was this? Humans weren¡¯t so dominant on any plane but the material, were they? I should have heard about it.


    People with masks and weird colorful clothing occasionally passed by. Several of them gave a standard greeting, which I returned. ¡°Good day, citizen!¡± A man snickered. Was my accent off because of the weak magic? Well, at least mirth was an acceptable outcome to social interactions.


    -----


    I had three problems.


    Problem number one.


    This plane did not speak common for some reason. I wasn¡¯t even aware of a place that was so deviant in their languages. In fact, I saw a number of written languages that were completely unlike what I was used to and unlike each other.


    The Translation spell worked. Given half an hour of walking the streets I regained enough mana for a full powered Translation spell that would function properly, and last long enough that I could still end up recovering mana for other uses given time. Once I looked at the varying written languages I was even more certain that they were different. The way the spell translated them was different, and I got different amounts of meaning from each character or symbolic word. It didn¡¯t give me enough understanding to replicate things without the spell functioning, but I understood the full spread of variability. I saw at least a dozen languages and overheard a few being spoken in the first half hour.


    ¡°Greetings citizen!¡±


    That time, it wasn¡¯t me saying it. I figured out it was weird. I waved to the hero even as I kept well to my side of the ¡®sidewalk¡¯. Heroes were the people in colorful apparel and masks.


    Though there were also villains who dressed similarly and were more malicious. I understood the meaning of the word just fine, and I saw on a magic box people talking about where I had come through. Some sort of ¡°Doctor Doomsday¡± with a ¡°dimensionatron¡±. I wasn¡¯t comfortable with how to determine hero from villain right away so I steered clear of both. I either didn¡¯t encounter any villains or they found me beneath their notice. That was fine with me for the moment. I had no idea what level anyone was, but with all the fighting and magic I saw earlier it had to be high. Everyone could get experience from fighting- I just got more and was restricted to it as my only avenue for advancement.


    Problem number two.


    My stomach growled to remind me it was still hungry. I was not concerned about my ability to find food. All I had to do was close my eyes, spin around randomly, then point. I would probably be pointing at a dining establishment or street cart selling food. I required sustenance. In a similar vein, I needed rest. Magic made one tired and hungry. I could spend the night outdoors, but I did not find the idea agreeable. I could¡­ yes, I had enough points to learn the Temperate Zone spell. I would not die of exposure, at least.


    My eyes scanned the nearby buildings. Hotel. That name didn¡¯t quite translate, but I felt it had the same meaning as the holy day inn next to it. I wasn¡¯t sure if there were enough holy days to merit an establishment catering exclusively to pilgrims, but this new plane was strange enough that it might be possible.


    Thus, with establishments found that could sate my hunger and my need for shelter, I was saved. If not for¡­


    Problem number three.


    It was difficult to tell the expense of dining establishments. I decided to enter one where I saw one of the non-human individuals carrying some sort of food and drink out. It seemed to have the food readily available, and I hoped cheaply available. I didn¡¯t exactly have a job here.


    The door chimed a bell when I opened it, but it had done the same as the other patron exited. ¡°How much for one of those?¡± I pointed to some sort of sausage behind glass. Glass seemed to be everywhere. Perhaps this whole city was extremely wealthy and the prices inflated beyond belief.


    The granny behind the counter pointed up and behind her. ¡°The prices are there.¡±


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    I looked. I wasn¡¯t sure what prices were what. I didn¡¯t see any corn, but apparently a corn dog was .3 more than a hot dog. That was .3 out of $1.49 and $1.79 respectively. But what was a $? Copper? Silver? There was no way it was gold or platinum. I didn¡¯t have coins that could be broken into such precise pieces. I took out a copper. ¡°How much is this worth?¡±


    The old lady took it and looked, squinting her eyes. Then she put some sort of glass things on her face. Goggles? Was the coin hot or bright or something? Maybe she¡¯d be using an identification or weight calculating spell. ¡°Sorry sonny, I can¡¯t accept foreign currency.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Why not? The weight of coins was pretty standard. Even if this plane was different she should at least have scales to measure.


    I found myself shoved to the side unceremoniously. A large man slapped the counter. ¡°Cigarettes.¡±


    I had no idea what that word meant, but it sounded like a threat. I was just about ready to fight, but the old lady harrumphed. And pulled something out. I noticed she took some sort of paper the man had plopped onto the counter along with his hands. A number appeared like magic on a surface in front of us. Then she opened a drawer and placed the paper inside, pulling out several other papers and some coins. My jaw dropped to the floor. There were big silver coins, a second size of silver coins, even smaller copper coins, and further truly miniscule silver coins. The man got some of each and some notes. I couldn¡¯t work out the value of the coins, but based on the paper saying 10 and the magic thing saying 5, whereupon he received in return four papers marked 1 and coins, a paper was a $. A dollar, Translation said. A paper marked 10 was therefore $10.


    ¡°What you looking at, mutie?¡±


    The large man was quite a bit wider than me, though only minorly taller. I had accidentally been staring at him and the money. I turned away. He walked outside. I heard the door chime as he left.


    ¡°What an asshole,¡± said the old lady behind the counter. ¡°Best stay away from folk like him. Give New Bay a bad name. Why don¡¯t you head down to the bank and exchange your money? I can tell you just got in. You from Uck?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sorry. Yew-kay.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Guess I was wrong.¡±


    ¡°About that bank?¡± I asked. ¡°Where is it?¡±


    ¡°Just down the road. Go under the freeway and hang a left at Pader.¡±


    ¡°... right.¡± She at least pointed. I wasn¡¯t too bad with directions.


    I stepped out of the store that appeared to be a roundabout way to say negative four. Numbers seemed pretty consistent between languages? Though I hadn¡¯t seen that many.


    Problem number four.


    Something hit me in the back of the head. Hard. Like, hard enough to kill a man. I know, because my armor shattered and I still felt a strong blow. I fell forward onto my face and it took a moment to get my bearings. I just managed to roll over and cast the Force Armor spell again when a mace slammed into the ground where I had been a moment before.


    It was the man who had been at the store. The one who bought ¡®cigarettes¡¯ and called me a ¡®mutie¡¯. Perhaps a cigarette was the thing in his mouth? He spit it at me, right into my eye. I blinked. It had no force or real heat, but it was reflexive. He swung the strange mace which was like a fully metal and extra thick truncheon. It hit me, but I was half ready. I blocked with my arms and relaxed them to soften the blow slightly. My armor didn¡¯t shatter, but it was close. The most dangerous result, really. I leapt to my feet and swiped my hand at the man. Shocking Grasp was at full power. I didn¡¯t sense any magical defenses from the man, but I didn¡¯t really care. I had to live.


    He raised one arm to block my hand. I still hit his arm, and the spell released to full effect. The man spasmed and twitched and fell over onto his back. I stood over him for a moment, wondering what to do.


    ¡°Freeze!¡± a voice yelled. ¡°You¡¯re coming with me!¡±


    I turned towards the voice. Someone in a uniform. Not a hero. Nor a villain. Someone with an uncovered face. ¡®Police¡¯, read something on his chest. Some sort of city guard, if I surmised correctly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it. My partner¡¯s watching and Super backup is already on the way.¡±


    I hadn¡¯t actually thought about much of anything. ¡°He attacked me. I was just defending myself.¡±


    ¡°Tell that to the interrogators.¡±


    I narrowed my eyes.


    ¡°What? I mean it. I saw you two fighting. I have to bring you both in for questioning. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re not going to discriminate against you on account of your¡­ differences.¡±


    I found that unlikely. But the way he was holding that metal thing in front of him indicated it was a weapon of some sort. I did have the points to learn an extremely short range teleport if things went haywire. Assuming they didn¡¯t stick me in an antimagic prison. Yet while there was clearly magic in this place, I hadn¡¯t felt any enchanted buildings. ¡°Fine. I will comply.¡±


    ¡°Hands out in front of you.¡± I complied. ¡°Wrists together.¡± As I did so, he put on shackles. Very thin shackles that locked themselves. Magically enhanced, probably. So much for that escape thing. ¡°Where¡¯s the stun gun?¡±


    ¡°The what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The stun gun.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe it fell.¡± I had no idea what it was, but saying that might not help.


    The man looked over me. ¡°Couldn¡¯t hide it in those pockets. Stand over by that while there while I check that guy on the ground.¡± I didn¡¯t bother to inform him that I could probably hide many things, though not actually in my pockets. He kneeled next to the man, then pulled out a wand and waved it over him. Was he a healing mage? No, if he needed a wand it was probably a power of the wand. Except the man didn¡¯t get up, and the wand just made a strange noise. ¡°Yeah yeah, I know.¡± He held his hand to his chest, ¡°Can we get a medic?¡± Then there was a bunch of jargon, possibly an explanation of our location. Was he talking to himself, or¡­ magic. More magic. I knew there were spells to communicate long distance, but enchanting something to repeatedly use that magic seemed expensive.


    Without noticing, a man with biceps the size of my torso had appeared. He had a mask. A hero. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t think he was here to rescue me. ¡°Just stay right there.¡±


    I did. I doubted my armor spell would prevent a slap from him in its current condition, or even if it was at full power to be honest. He was a Super, which probably meant someone with a combat class. Did that mean the police weren¡¯t a combat class, then? Strange.


    I was put into the back of a ¡®car¡¯ a short while later. The man who was apparently the partner of the first police began driving the magical carriage with a strange wheel and some pedals at his feet. He did not appear interested in conversation, and I decided to allow him silence from behind the shielded separator between front and back.

 Chapter 3

    I arrived at the police place very quickly despite all of the stops behind other vehicles. The ability of the magic carriage to accelerate and decelerate with ease was impressive.


    I was led inside. First my pockets were emptied- I had stored my money pouch in the carriage so there wasn¡¯t much but lint- into an almost empty room with a sturdy table and chairs. ¡°Interrogator will be with you soon,¡± said one of the police as they ominously slammed the door.


    My eyes scanned the walls, floor, and even ceiling. No signs of blood. No restraints except the thin manacles on my wrists. Just a single magic torch hanging from the ceiling providing an actually quite substantial amount of light.


    Soon I was bored. My brain had already gone through all the possibilities I could think of, and I was prepared to quickly pick the short range teleport and go. It would be hard with the manacles inhibiting my magic, however. I wished I could just cast Storage and-


    It worked.


    ¡°Crap. Craaap.¡± Why the hell did it work? Sure, I seriously tried to do the spell but it wasn¡¯t supposed to work.


    I cast Storage again. I now had the manacles¡­ but I couldn¡¯t slip my hands into them. I held it under the table. This was bad. I considered just trying to teleport out. Maybe they didn¡¯t know I was a mage. Maybe they thought I was some sort of shocky¡­ guy. Who did that without magic.


    The chair was too hard and I was constantly squirming in it by the time the woman came in. She was starting to show gray hair, but she didn¡¯t have all of the equipment of the other police. Like that thing I presumed was a weapon.


    She said something I didn¡¯t understand. Crap, Translation wore off. I cast it again, quickly. ¡°Sorry, can you repeat that?¡± I did my best to smile, though I worried it just emphasized my tusks.


    ¡°Hands on the table, please.¡±


    I hesitated for a moment. Then I held up the manacles. ¡°Umm¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh good,¡± the woman said. ¡°They usually forget to take them off. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re smarter than to try something in here, with the cameras watching.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know what sort of thing a camera was, but I should have expected invisible creatures. No wonder the room was so big. I was surrounded by guards the whole time. And¡­ I was supposed to have my manacles removed. I set them on the table.


    ¡°First your rights. I¡¯m Miranda, by the way.¡± She chuckled at some joke I didn¡¯t understand, then read a list of things. ¡°We don¡¯t actually have to say all that since you¡¯re not at the moment being charged, but it¡¯s tradition. Now then, we¡¯ll go over some questions one at a time. What happened?¡±


    I took a moment to compose a reply. ¡°I was walking along the street and that man hit me in the back of the head with a mace. He tried to do it again when I was on the ground, then I shocked him to make him stop.¡± I really hoped magic wasn¡¯t illegal here without a permit of some kind. I didn¡¯t bring my license from home, and I seriously doubted it would work on this plane.


    ¡°A mace?¡± she said. ¡°You mean a bat?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes. Like a metal baton.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°What happened to the stun gun?¡± Miranda asked.


    I guess it was time. ¡°I don¡¯t know what a stun gun is,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°The thing you shocked him with.¡±


    ¡°I just used magic,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh. A super? You registered?¡±


    ¡°... no.¡± Lying about that would be proven wrong very quickly.


    ¡°Fine.¡± She looked down at a shiny plate in her hand I¡¯d been too worried to really look at. I could see text, but reading it upside down was hard even with Translation going. ¡°You went a little hard on the guy. I understand it¡¯s hard to control in stressful situations, but if you did any more he¡¯d probably have a heart attack. So next time keep it toned down.¡±


    ¡°Next time?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well,¡± she shrugged. ¡°Hopefully there won¡¯t be a next time. But if you decide to take up heroing you need to make sure to know people¡¯s limits.¡±


    ¡°I know human limits. I just assumed he would have more durability because of his warrior class.¡± But also I didn¡¯t want to die so I wasn¡¯t thinking about it all that hard.


    There was some confusion in her look. The words translated, but the meaning clearly didn¡¯t get through. She shook her head. ¡°We noticed you didn¡¯t have any ID. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Turlough.¡±


    ¡°Turlough what?¡±


    ¡°Just Turlough. I haven¡¯t earned a surname.¡± I sure earned the name ¡®instigator¡¯ though.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your ID?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that is.¡±


    ¡°ID? Identification?¡±


    Oh. A simple abbreviation, but unfamiliar because of the language barrier. Those letters had no meaning to me except as part of a word. ¡°It¡¯s at home, probably.¡±


    ¡°Can you call someone? Get them to send us a picture of it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know a calling spell. Nor do I know any artists. I don¡¯t know how to get home.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± she frowned. ¡°Did you come through a portal? We can send you home if your part in this checks out.¡±


    ¡°... Yes, I did.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell us where you¡¯re from? I don¡¯t recognize the accent. It¡¯s pretty close, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Granbold,¡± I said.


    She looked down at the thing in her hand, pressing her finger to it. ¡°Can you spell it?¡±


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    I did. Not that it helped.


    ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t recognize the language.¡±


    ¡°Does nobody on this plane speak Common?¡±


    ¡°Common what?¡± she asked. The word translated, but¡­ the meaning clearly didn¡¯t. How could she not know about Common?


    ¡°Just¡­ Common. The language.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not finding anything on that. You from a small place?¡± There was a beep from the thing in her hand. ¡°Nevermind, I¡¯ll get the right person in here for this later. Just sit tight for a bit. Gonna go talk to the other guy. It¡¯ll be quick.¡±


    I doubted it would be.


    -----


    I was wrong. Talking to ¡®the other guy¡¯ was very quick. Then Miranda was back with someone else and something that smelled good.


    ¡°Guy¡¯s an idiot,¡± she said. ¡°But he corroborated your story in his own way. Speaking of which, is your head okay?¡±


    I touched the back of my head. Only slightly sore. I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve had worse.¡±


    She grimaced. ¡°Sorry to hear that. We¡¯ll get a medic to look at it in a second.¡± She gestured to the young man next to her. ¡°Olly here knows every country. Heck, every city if it¡¯s been around more than a day or two. He should be able to help you out.¡±


    My stomach growled. I was embarrassed, but Olly held out a box he was carrying with him. ¡°Here. Doughnuts. They¡¯ll make you feel better.¡±


    I opened the box- a strange thin box that I almost tore on accident. Inside were some sort of pastry. I took one out and bit into it. It was gone in three bites. ¡°Delicious. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You can have more,¡± Olly said. I did, taking smaller bites but still devouring one in moments. ¡°So Miranda didn¡¯t recognize the name of your home. Could you tell me?¡±


    ¡°Granbold,¡± I said.


    ¡°City or country?¡±


    ¡°Country.¡±


    Olly frowned. ¡°Sounds like a name from out east¡­ but not a country. Where is it?¡± He held up one of the same sorts of things as Miranda had. It showed something like a map. I looked at it for a moment, but didn¡¯t recognize anything. The language was still wrong.


    ¡°It¡¯s on the material plane, so you might not have heard of it here. I didn¡¯t even know about anything like¡­ this place.¡±


    Olly looked at me, squinted, then turned to Miranda. He held out his hands to the side. ¡°So, uh. This isn¡¯t my department. We gotta call Extra.¡± He leaned a little closer but didn¡¯t really whisper that quietly. ¡°Maybe get that medic in here too. Not sure what all that sugar will do to an alien.¡±


    So I was also going to find out what ¡°Extra¡± was. What were they more of? More security? Because I hadn¡¯t done anything but disappear my ¡®handcuffs¡¯ and they didn¡¯t even seem to notice that.


    -----


    Extra apparently stood for Extraterrestrial affairs, and also Extradimensional affairs. So really, that was the right people to call. I just didn¡¯t know that sort of person existed, or I might have already brought them up.


    There were a pair of them. A little green man who was clearly not a goblin with that overly large head and similarly oversized black eyes, and an angel. A woman with pure white wings sprouting from her back, at least, and not a hint of bird beyond that. Both of them had white shirts with buttons down the front and pants of unfamiliar light brown material. The first thing they did was order the others out of the room. Miranda and Olly left, but the doughnuts stayed. I didn¡¯t taste nuts at all, but the dough was quite pleasantly sweet.


    ¡°We¡¯re under the impression that you are new on Earth, but that you also speak the language.¡±


    ¡°This plane is called Earth?¡± I asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t that redundant or¡­ confusing?¡±


    ¡°Just a point of clarification,¡± the little green man held up some sort of flat magical device and what must have been a writing implement. ¡°You do mean plane and not planet right?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± I agreed. ¡°How would I even get to a different planet?¡±


    The pair looked at each other and shook their heads like I said something strange. ¡°We should introduce ourselves. You¡¯re ¡®Turlough¡¯?¡± I nodded. The woman inclined her head, ¡°I¡¯m Malaliel.¡±


    ¡°Zorphax,¡± the little green man bowed slightly.


    ¡°You already said it, but I¡¯m Turlough,¡± I offered my hand. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was appropriate or if they even shook hands on this plane, but each of them in turn shook it. They were friendly enough, but I felt like I was being judged. Not that they were really hiding it.


    ¡°Somewhere that has handshakes,¡± Zorphax stroked his chin.


    ¡°Not looking like it¡¯s you,¡± Malaliel smiled.


    ¡°Could be. Given his features.¡±


    ¡°We should just ask.¡± Malaliel looked straight at me. ¡°How did you get to Earth?¡±


    ¡°I came here through a portal I found.¡± The police already knew that, but perhaps they hadn¡¯t had the chance to share that information. Or they wanted confirmation.


    ¡°You said you don¡¯t know how you would get to a different planet? A portal would do it,¡± Malaliel explained.


    ¡°Really? That sounds¡­ really difficult. Planets are far. Getting to another plane should be easier.¡±


    ¡°I assure you,¡± Zorphax said, ¡°It is not.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°I guess I won¡¯t be getting back to the Material Plane soon then.¡±


    Zorphax narrowed his eyes at the statement, unseen eyelids appearing over his otherwise perfectly round eyes. ¡°That terminology¡­¡±


    ¡°You recognize the planet?¡± Malaliel asked.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s something else. He should be extradimensional. But we should focus. You came through a portal, Turlough. What next?¡±


    ¡°There was a battle around me. Then I walked along the streets for a while. I eventually stepped into a store and was attacked after I came out. Then I came here.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Zorphax looked at the thing in his hands, where I could see some text- though not well enough to read it from my angle. ¡°It says here you used a stun gun on someone but the arresting officer couldn¡¯t find it. Is that a natural ability? Ah, you don¡¯t have to answer. We respect your privacy as long as you control your abilities, but we might be able to help you if you share information.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a ¡®gun¡¯. It¡¯s magic,¡± I clarified.


    ¡°Magic?¡± Malaliel asked.


    ¡°Yes. From my mage class.¡±


    Malaliel frowned, ¡°Your dimension has a class system?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°How terrible. Extradimensional affairs is capable of offering you refugee status to flee the class system.¡±


    ¡°Actually,¡± Zorphax started, ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡­¡± he shook his head. ¡°Nevermind. It¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    ¡°What does refugee status mean?¡± I asked. ¡°I mean, I know what a refugee is, but what does it mean on this plane?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll get an identification allowing you to legally work and live here, with certain provisions, such as that you are not fleeing from criminal charges,¡± Malaliel explained, ¡°Except if those charges are for political or religious beliefs¡­ it will take some time to explain in full. But though you ended up here on your first day, that won¡¯t be held against you. Especially considering what we¡¯ve heard. You¡¯re already exonerated of potential charges. We thought it best to take care of business here first.¡±


    ¡°He checks out?¡± Zorphax asked.


    ¡°He has not been lying,¡± Malaliel said. I wondered how she would know. I hadn¡¯t seen her cast a spell. ¡°The only issue is his point of origin. You have knowledge of extradimensional travel, but not here, correct?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I confirmed. ¡°Since you don¡¯t seem to know the material plane, where is this in relation to the elemental planes? The heavens? Hells? Abyss?¡±


    Malaliel shook her head, but Zorphax held his device up for her to read. ¡°Pretty sure he¡¯s a type F. That would explain the confusion.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± she nodded. ¡°Oh. I see. Crossdimensional inspiration.¡± She put on her best smile and turned towards me. ¡°Well then, I¡¯m sure you still have many questions. If you could come with us to the office, we can explain everything and help you out. It might take some time, but I assure you it¡¯s quite necessary.¡±

 Chapter 4

    With little choice available nor reason to ignore people that seemed like they were trying to help, I went with the small, green, non-goblin man with the large black eyes and the angel. If Malaliel really was an angel- and I hadn¡¯t asked yet- then she should want to help me. Though I might have technically broken some laws, even if I was defending myself. There was no reason for them to lie to me about how things were going, though. If they wanted to lock me up they could just bring in a Super and tell me to handcuff myself. What was I going to do about it? Not much, as a level 11. Though strangely they hadn¡¯t even asked what level I was.


    The most important part was they let me take the doughnuts with me. I didn¡¯t need more of them, but it was hard to not just munch on them. I hardly ever got to eat pastries back home, and there were so many interesting flavors. Brown, light brown, red, speckled¡­ I honestly didn¡¯t recognize most of the flavors but all had a sweetness to them.


    We got into another magic carriage, this time with markings for ¡®Extra¡¯ instead of ¡®Police¡¯ and no black-and-white pattern. I couldn¡¯t help but notice how many other magic carriages were around- some just sitting in the underground storage area and others on the roads. ¡°This city must be wealthy,¡± I commented.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Zorphax answered. ¡°But it comes with a lot of trouble too. Lots of people want to take it through improper means. Even at a very small percentage of the population it¡¯s a great many people. There¡¯s around¡­ thirty million people here now, I think.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a lot of people in one city.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a big city,¡± he answered.


    I supposed that was right. After all, we travelled at a rather quick pace even with frequent stops, and the city still stretched on forever in every direction. Soon enough we came to another large tower- everything was towers, but some of them were skinny and some of them were wide. Once more we drove underground to a guarded magical carriage storage facility. Instead of taking stairs, however, we stepped into a small room. There was an area that had labelled numbers, as well as some starting with ¡®B1¡¯, ¡®B2¡¯, etc. Zorphax hit the one labelled 1. It had a star next to it, which probably meant something.


    I stumbled as the room shook. Was it some sort of teleportation box? Neither Zorphax nor Malaliel seemed concerned about the shaking, but I was pretty sure teleportation was supposed to be steady. Then again, I could never afford to use those services.


    When the doors slid open a few moments later, we were indeed somewhere else. If I was correct and we were in the same tower, the teleportation was actually surprisingly slow. Perhaps it was cheaper that way. Even if New Bay was a wealthy city, there had to be a limit to how much teleportation they had available.


    We were in a huge room with the biggest variety in types of people I had ever seen. I was used to humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, and of course orcs like myself- but the only kind I saw many of was humans, and the rest of the people filling up the area I didn¡¯t recognize. There had to be at least a few dozen wildly different body types, from small to large, different skin colors, and occasionally entirely different limb configurations. I wasn¡¯t sure if the tendrils trailing from one of the people¡¯s back actually counted as a limb, but I saw two, three, and four arms- as well as someone with an extra pair of legs. The four-armed ones reminded me of a kind of demon, though I had to admit I¡¯d never seen any in person and they didn¡¯t quite match.


    The way everyone was waiting in neat lines indicated that everyone was willing to comply with the local laws. Certainly not the chaotic and overbearing nature that demons were said to have. It was supposed to be a core of their being¡­ so either the information I had was untrue, or none of those present were actually demons.


    ¡°This way,¡± Malaliel gestured. ¡°Normally you¡¯d need to wait in line, but given your circumstances we¡¯ll need to process you directly to avoid problems.¡±


    So I followed, hoping that processing wasn¡¯t too painful.


    -----


    There it was, once again. It had been many years since she set her eyes on Mossley and the mage¡¯s tower outside its walls. Izzy stood proudly at her full height as she laid her eyes on the town. Then she lowered herself. It might be better to check out the situation instead of just assuming everything had resolved itself. Or she could just pass on by. She didn¡¯t have to enter. Turlough might not even live in Mossley anymore. And¡­ they weren¡¯t even really friends anymore anyway.


    ¡°You just gonna stand there?¡± the guard outside the gate asked. ¡°Or you gonna come in? Gates close in an hour.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to just stand around for an hour,¡± Izzy said, offended.


    ¡°I might have believed you an hour ago,¡± the guard shrugged, ¡°But then you just nervously bounced on your toes trying to peek into the city. You can just go inside.¡±At first the guard had found her suspicious, but after checking if there was a bounty or something on her and watching her pace nervously without focusing on anything in particular, it just seemed like someone nervous to come to a new place.


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    Izzy walked into town. The streets were familiar, basically the same as they had been. Not that they would have had reason to change. The world was relaxed, and so too had been her lifestyle. She would do enough running about town delivering messages and packages to get by, and spend the rest of her time doing pretty much nothing at all. That was the life. No point working yourself to death for no reason.


    That thought reminded her she had something to deliver. She should go do that first. Wouldn¡¯t want to be late on the delivery, and they might want it before morning. So she headed to Rordan¡¯s Reagents. She wasn¡¯t sure what all the smelly herbs she was delivering were for, but the pouches were all labelled. She walked up to the counter and hopped up on the half-stool meant for people of her size to properly see and interact. ¡°Delivery for you, Rordan,¡± she called out.


    The grey-haired man stepped out of the back, where the door had been open. ¡°Finally. I ordered that stuff a week ago.¡±


    Izzy shrugged. ¡°I just picked it up yesterday. Not my fault.¡± She held out the order.


    He looked at it and nodded, then signed his receipt as he handed over his portion of her fee. The rest would be paid upon return to the messenger¡¯s guild.


    Izzy left the delivery on the counter and walked to the door. Just as she was opening it, Rordan called after her. ¡°Say, don¡¯t I recognize you?¡±


    ¡°... I used to live here,¡± she said as she let the door close behind her.


    Now, what else did she have to do? Ah yes. She should secure a place of accomodation. She wouldn¡¯t want to find out every place was fully booked. She made her way over to the Bumpy Chandler Inn. Mossley didn¡¯t exactly have an abundance of inns, and while the Bumpy Chandler wasn¡¯t the best name, the rooms had been just fine. She greeted the old woman standing behind the counter. ¡°Hello. Do you have any rooms available?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± the old woman smiled. ¡°Two silvers a night. Three with meals.¡± A reasonable enough price. She handed over the three silvers and got a key in return. ¡°That¡¯s the first room on the second level. Would you like your meal now?¡±


    ¡°...yes,¡± Izzy nodded. She deserved a good rest after walking all day. She climbed up a tall stool at one of the tables and it wasn¡¯t long before a large bowl of stew was placed in front of her, by the same kindly old woman. Good. It seemed this place understood that halfling portions shouldn¡¯t be smaller than human portions. It took a lot of energy to keep moving all day, even if she barely had any chub to maintain like some.


    She wolfed down the stew- she had to admit that the one thing she wished was more her sized was the spoon, but at least its size allowed her to theoretically blow on more of it at once to help it cool. Of course, she just ended up with a scalded mouth, but it was worth it at least while the flavor lingered. Later she would likely regret her haste. But she¡¯d had to eat quick- the gates were going to close, after all. But no matter how much she¡¯d tried, she just hadn¡¯t been able to complete everything in time. Yep. She¡¯d just have to wait until tomorrow morning to visit the mage¡¯s tower, no helping it.


    -----


    ¡°What do you mean he¡¯s ¡®gone¡¯?!¡± Izzy exclaimed. ¡°Where did he go? He has to have told you!¡±


    Master Uvithar sighed. ¡°I was attempting to explain. Now, if you would let me¡­?¡± Izzy nodded grumpily. ¡°If you might notice, there are some unexpected magical signatures here in the room. I recognize Turlough, and I can assure you he was here because,¡± he held up a familiar pouch, ¡°He delivered my acquisition from Rordan¡¯s. Besides, there are lingering traces of spells I recognize from him.¡± Master Uvithar¡¯s back was beginning to bend in his old age, but he still stood much taller than Izzy. He walked past her over to a corner of his office. ¡°Here, there are clear remnants of a powerful spell. Far beyond his capabilities and without his signature.¡±


    ¡°I see marks on the floor,¡± Izzy nodded. ¡°And even I can feel the lingering traces of powerful magic there. So what, you¡¯re saying he was just¡­ disintegrated.¡±


    ¡°I said nothing of the sort,¡± Uvithar shook his head. ¡°I said that he is gone. This has all of the signatures of transportation magic, though through a means I am unfamiliar with. I took careful notes and have sent for some of my colleagues most familiar with that sort of magic. I am quite perturbed that such a thing could appear in my office and abduct one of my most passionate students.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re going to make a portal to bring him back, right?¡±


    ¡°I wish I could say that was within my capabilities, but as I said I have colleagues who specialize in that area. But even if they figure out where he was sent to, it is an entirely different matter to open a portal there¡­ and even if the precise location is somehow divined there is no guarantee that Turlough will be there waiting.¡±


    ¡°But why wouldn¡¯t he wait for us to bring him back?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°I do believe you knew him, did you not?¡± Uvithar raised an eyebrow. ¡°When have you ever known him to sit still for a single moment? With that curse, it¡¯s hard to blame him. Reaping no rewards for studying for hours on end isn¡¯t a pleasant thought. He did as much as could be expected of him.¡± Uvithar shook his head, ¡°If I thought him a little more reckless, I might have suspected he threw himself into whatever portal appeared here on purpose.¡±


    ¡°But why?¡± Izzy asked. ¡°Didn¡¯t he have things he wanted here? Like¡­ learning from you. And what about his friends?¡±


    ¡°He learned all that I could reasonably teach him,¡± Uvithar shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s not much else he could achieve without knowing more spells, and that would require more levels. As for friends, he didn¡¯t have any.¡±


    ¡°... I was his friend,¡± Izzy hung her head. Sure, it was true that last time they¡¯d met many years before there had been some words between them. And maybe she hadn¡¯t made her thoughts clear or explained why she was going. Or sent him a letter. But he should have known she would be coming back! Somehow. ¡°But you¡¯ll bring him back, right?¡±


    ¡°As I said, I don¡¯t have the expertise. Even my colleagues who do might not be willing to make the attempt. Depending on what happened, creating a portal could be very expensive. At the very least it might cost hundreds of golds.


    Izzy reached down for her pocket which had somewhere around ten gold coins in it. That was enough for her to survive for several months without working, if she was conservative with her spending. She knew magic could be expensive, but it was hard to believe it might cost many times that. ¡°It might be easy though, right?¡± Izzy said. ¡°He could have been taken somewhere nearby. Then we could just go find him.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Uvithar said. ¡°If that is the case, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to meet him again soon. But I wouldn¡¯t count on it.¡±

 Chapter 5

    There were so many interesting people to look at around Extra HQ, so many strange things in the wide open room presumably related to all of the people coming through. I saw a few people step out of a big orb without anybody entering- perhaps some sort of portal? I could have spent hours looking at the giant hourglass and the various spinning things or the aquatic section where they had a whole office flooded with water.


    Of course, I spent most of my time in Extra HQ in a boring room.


    ¡°Sorry I don¡¯t have one of the outside rooms to give you a view of the bay,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°Too much light gives me a headache.¡±


    Malaliel had been called away for something else- I was betting on truth reading abilities but I couldn¡¯t be sure. Though apparently I was ¡®in her department¡¯ I was physically in Zorphax¡¯s office with an assistant helping.


    The dark skinned, bespectacled assistant was ¡®printing¡¯ and filling out papers. Here on Earth I¡¯d seen a much larger number of people with glasses and goggles and the like, instead of just weird artificers. They had huge glass windows too. I wondered who made those, since I hadn¡¯t seen any craftsman or forges of any sort as we moved through the city. Maybe they were just sealed inside with all of the heat instead of having it open? That seemed extremely unpleasant.


    ¡°Type F, you said?¡± the assistant confirmed. He had a little thing on his chest which said Basant, which I determined was his name.


    ¡°That¡¯s right Basant,¡± Zorphax said as he pressed buttons that seemed to interact with a large magic square in front of him. It was a different sort from the one they¡¯d had at the police station which could be held in the hand.


    ¡°Super powers?¡±


    ¡°Magic,¡± I corrected.


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Basant nodded his head. ¡°Speaks English¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s also magic,¡± I pointed out. ¡°I mostly speak common and like half of orcish.¡±


    ¡°Is there a limit to your communication magic?¡± Zorphax asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s magic so¡­ it¡¯s limited by mana. But I can regenerate more than it uses if I¡¯m not doing anything else.¡± I shook my head, ¡°I don¡¯t understand words that represent things I haven¡¯t heard of before.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll mark that as a working understanding,¡± the assistant said. ¡°Can you read and write?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Translation was a powerful spell. It cost more than any of my combat spells to use, so it wasn¡¯t crazy. Of course, it also lasted for a significant duration.


    The assistant moved on to the next thing, ¡°Any training in a trade or profession?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t pick a trade class,¡± I answered.


    ¡°Got it. Not sure if skills from a type F would translate anyway¡­¡±


    ¡°Is type F good or bad?¡± I asked. I understood that was a letter in their alphabet, but I had no idea where it was placed. Were the earlier letters better or worse?


    Zorphax and the assistant exchanged glances¡­ probably. I couldn¡¯t actually tell where Zorphax was looking with those fully black eyes. ¡°It¡¯s just descriptive and functional,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°It¡¯s not really bad or good.¡±


    It might have been bad. He didn¡¯t seem to want to talk about it. Oh well, there wasn¡¯t much to be done about it.


    ¡°Are you capable of manual labor?¡± the assistant asked.


    ¡°Well, I am an orc.¡± All I got back was a blank stare. ¡°Assuming humans here are the same, I should be bigger and stronger than most of them.¡± It was entirely possible that the lifestyle of a mage would have left me somewhat flimsy, but all that running was good for me and I kept myself vaguely fit at least.


    ¡°We might be able to set you up with some sort of labor job,¡± Basant said.


    ¡°Oh.¡± I frowned. ¡°I was hoping I could be a hero or something.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s uh¡­¡± he looked towards Zorphax.


    ¡°Given the conditions of your arrival, there will be a period of time before you can be considered for hero work,¡± Zorphax explained. ¡°You need character references and the like.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t just have Malaliel tell if I¡¯m lying?¡± I asked. I didn¡¯t know for sure if she had that ability, but I was trying to find out.


    Zorphax sighed, ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be sufficient¡­ even if you couldn¡¯t try to get around the ability since you know she can tell if you¡¯re lying. The world you¡¯re from might have very different ethics, so your own opinion on whether you are suited for hero-related activities isn¡¯t inherently reliable.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t throw a magic carriage anyway so I might be too weak.¡±


    ¡°Magic carriage?¡± Zorphax¡¯s face shifted in a way that was hard to read. ¡°I presume you mean cars. Like we came here in?¡±


    ¡°The box?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s an elevator. With the wheels.¡±


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    ¡°Oh, yeah. That,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be able to throw a car to work as a superhero,¡± Zorphax commented. ¡°In fact, it¡¯s highly discouraged to use civilian property as a projectile.¡±


    ¡°Oh. There was one flung at me.¡±


    ¡°By a hero?¡± Zorphax asked, ¡°Or by a villain?¡±


    ¡°... by an earth elemental.¡± Seeing he didn¡¯t understand, I tried a couple other things. ¡°Rock golem?¡±


    ¡°Some sort of animated stone creature?¡± Zorphax nodded. ¡°I see. Well, if it was being tossed at you it was likely the work of a villain.¡±


    ¡°The hero caught it and threw it back though.¡±


    ¡°That-¡± he sighed, ¡°Is not my job to deal with. Let¡¯s get you your papers.¡±


    I ended up with a lot of papers. ¡®Basic overview of technical devices¡¯, ¡®Important laws and their relation to super powers¡¯, ¡®How money works¡¯, and more. Plus all the papers I had to sign and fill out to get an ID. Apparently it was temporary but it seemed like it was real- oh, it just expired after¡­ 3. ¡°How long does this last for?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Three months,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°You can apply for a longer renewal or something permanent, but this is the one we can get you today.¡±


    I read through all the papers before I put my signature on them. I didn¡¯t want to sign away my soul or something. I doubted Zorphax would do that, but someone could have snuck something in to the papers. Mostly, it acknowledged my receipt of the pile of papers I had, and confirming I wasn¡¯t fleeing from any law enforcement. That was true. That wasn¡¯t why I¡¯d stepped through the portal. Also, to the best of my knowledge I wasn¡¯t actually a wanted criminal in town. Though they¡¯d like to lock me up for an evening to teach me a lesson if they could. ¡°I wish I got experience for reading all of this,¡± I sighed. ¡°It¡¯s lengthy enough to get a few levels.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t we all,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°Sadly it doesn¡¯t work that way.¡±


    ¡°... is everyone cursed?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zorphax asked.


    ¡°Well, I have Curse of the Barbarian so I can only get experience through, you know, fighting. But even normal classes improve a little bit with reading.¡±


    Zorphax exhaled slowly. ¡°Let me ask something I suppose I should have already. Do you have a level?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­¡± I sighed. ¡°I was kind of hoping¡­ I¡¯m only level 11.¡± A low level like that made me sound like a lazy bum who didn¡¯t do anything, since most people didn¡¯t understand how Aspect of the Barbarian really worked. ¡°I didn¡¯t see it brought up anywhere on these documents.¡±


    ¡°You get experience to level up?¡± Zorphax asked.


    ¡°Of course. That¡¯s how levels work.¡±


    ¡°Ah- I apologize. This is equivalent to asking about your powers, so you don¡¯t have to answer me.¡± Zorphax tapped his chin. ¡°How should I say this though¡­ people don¡¯t have levels here.¡±


    ¡°Low level people can throw around cars in this world?¡± I asked. That was kind of terrifying. That means I needed even more levels to keep up.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not what I meant. People just¡­ don¡¯t have levels.¡±


    He looked at me. I looked back at him. I understood the words, but they didn¡¯t make sense. It was like saying people didn¡¯t have vital organs. Or a soul.


    ¡°... Nobody has levels?¡± I asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s the possibility that someone has a power that results in them having levels somehow,¡± Zorphax conceded. ¡°But that would make them unique. In general, people don¡¯t have levels.¡±


    ¡°... how do you do things?¡±


    ¡°We just learn to do them¡­ and then do them.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°That sounds awful. It would take forever to get good at anything.¡±


    Zorphax shrugged, ¡°That¡¯s life.¡±


    We finished up with all of the paperwork eventually. That included something about a temporary ¡®apartment¡¯ which I determined was a place to live. I signed simple stuff about it like not destroying it and all that. It seemed quite reasonable, though if I did something wrong and had to pay for it¡­ I didn¡¯t have any dollars. When I brought it up, Zorphax mentioned there was a soup kitchen nearby.


    I still had a huge pile of paper in front of me- including magical copies of everything I¡¯d signed for me to keep. I hadn¡¯t read all of the stuff about rules yet, though Zorphax did point out the section on use of superpowers. Apparently I could have gotten in trouble for killing that guy with magic, even though I was defending myself. Maybe I should learn how to fight. And don¡¯t bring up the fact that I used to pick a lot of fights. Just because I fought a lot didn¡¯t mean I knew how to do it well. I was a kid! And I also had magic.


    ¡°Do you need something to carry all of that?¡± Basant asked as I was getting ready to go.


    ¡°Nah, I got it.¡± Fortunately I didn¡¯t have much else in Storage, so I didn¡¯t have to spend more points to expand the capacity. I just called upon the mana and stored the whole pile.


    ¡°... Interesting. If I may ask, how much can you store that way?¡±


    ¡°Some,¡± I said.


    ¡°I see. Well, let me take you to your apartment. I¡¯m sure you¡¯d like a break from all of this. In the morning I will help you look into jobs you might do. Having some sort of employment would be beneficial.¡±


    -----


    My apartment was nearby. Like, really close. I suppose that made sense, considering how the building was labeled Extra: Temporary housing. Basant gave me my key which didn¡¯t look like a key at all, but was just a flat thing made of weird material. ¡°Make sure you bring it with you if you go out. Though if you do lock yourself out, talk to the people at the front desk.¡± I nodded. ¡°There¡¯s a small kitchen here- no stove or oven for safety reasons but there¡¯s a microwave, fridge, and freezer.¡± I didn¡¯t know what any of those were besides boxes that he gestured to, but I assumed they would be in the technology notes. ¡°Bathroom and toilet in here, and the bedroom. Not luxurious by any means,¡± he shrugged, ¡°But it¡¯s not meant to last forever.¡±


    I looked around. ¡°I like it.¡± It was bigger than my room by quite a bit. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Basant smiled. ¡°If you have any questions now I can try to answer them. Otherwise, Extra is always open. Do try to read the papers we¡¯ve given you first, though. People can get quite busy.¡±


    With that, he left me with the key and a bag of ¡®toiletries¡¯. I wasn¡¯t sure what they had to do with the toilet, since the instructions on the toothpaste clearly indicated it was for use on teeth. Apparently it helped stop teeth from decaying. I wasn¡¯t sure why I would need that since I wasn¡¯t old, but it seemed important enough to give it to me along with a room.


    I still had half a box of doughnuts and nothing to do, so I sat at the desk by the window. My room was about halfway up one of the massive towers, and it was my first chance to get a good angle on the city- and the bay in the distance. It was an impressive sight. It was hard to believe people were living in every single building, though I could see a large number of cars moving about below that had to have people in them.


    I began to read through the papers. It was already getting dark, but I managed with the light from the moon and stars until I was halfway through the technology documents. Then I flicked a lightswitch. Amazing. I didn¡¯t need that much light, but having several sources of light in every room was even more extravagant than the best mages towers I knew of.


    When I was too exhausted to continue reading I threw myself into the big bed that was even taller than I was, so my feet didn¡¯t hang off at all. It was comfortable and soft and warm. This world was great, and if I was lucky I would get in more fights so I could level up. Though maybe I didn¡¯t need to.

 Chapter 6

    In the morning I was briefly confused to wake up in a bed that wasn¡¯t mine, with quite unfamiliar surroundings. Then I remembered, I had come to another plane. Planet? World? Dimension was the word they had used. It didn¡¯t really matter what it was called though. It was a new place that wasn¡¯t terribly easy to get back from, in which I had gotten into two separate combats- one of them much shorter than the other. Not bad for a single day.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 11


    Experience: 335


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +1


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +4


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation


    Remaining Points: 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    When I¡¯d woken up in the morning, I was level 10 and had 270 experience. I leveled up when fighting the dire bats, or whatever the large batlike creatures were. That meant the guy who¡¯d hit me in the back of the head was worth less than 5 experience to take down. I wondered how an adult man ended up at somewhere around level 5 or 6, but then I remembered. People here didn¡¯t have levels. Unless Zorphax was lying for some absurd reason. I couldn¡¯t even be sure I got experience from fighting him, since the bats could have also been enough. I was fairly certain the bats actually died, so I should have gotten full experience for them. But unless they were from my dimension, the dire bats shouldn¡¯t have had levels either.


    My stomach rumbled. I supposed it was time to make my way down and try to find where the food was. I¡¯d already consumed all of the doughnuts from yesterday, since spellcasting made me hungry. Or perhaps it was recovering the mana that did it¡­ but those were basically the same thing, since they went hand in hand. There weren¡¯t many ways to recover mana besides just letting it happen, and those that did exist were expensive, so I didn¡¯t really have a chance to learn about it. Nothing I¡¯d read explained, either. A mage just regenerated a single point of mana per ten minutes, more or less. Enough to cast a first level spell without any upgrades improving the efficiency.


    I remembered Basant¡¯s words and made sure I had my key on me as I left the room, though I had everything on me, except for leaving the empty doughnut box in the room. Of course, everything was mostly my clothes- a practical shirt and pants, since robes weren¡¯t much good for running or other physical activity. They mostly gained benefits when enchanted. I also had a pile of papers in storage and a few coins that weren¡¯t usable as money here in my pouch and that was about it. I¡¯d just been going to town for a delivery, after all. Not that I owned much else, since most of the books I studied had belonged to Master Uvithar.


    The operation of the elevator was simple enough. They hadn¡¯t covered them specifically in the technology overview, but buttons were easy enough to understand, and the arrows. The numbers inside¡­ reminded me that I still didn¡¯t speak or read the local language. Instead of immediately casting Translation, I tried to puzzle out the numerals in front of me. If I recalled correctly, the single line was the first numeral. It seemed to be base 10 as well, which meant operations should be familiar once I knew the numerals. I pressed ¡®1¡¯, hoping that would take me down to the first floor and not down one level. I was right. As I entered the lobby I saw Basant with something in his hand. Was that a ¡®tablet¡¯? No, at that size it would be a ¡®cell phone¡¯. As he looked up and greeted me I cast Translation again, expending three points of mana. Exactly three, without upgrades.


    ¡°I just realized we didn¡¯t leave any way to contact you,¡± he said.


    ¡°You knew where I was, though,¡± I pointed out. ¡°You could just speak to me.¡±


    ¡°Unless you wandered off into the city, yes.¡±


    I took a look at my points. Enough to learn the Sending spell, but it was highly inefficient. Of course, having unlimited range made it quite valuable, though I understood cell phones were almost the same, minus cross-planar functionality. I wondered if it worked across dimensions, too. It had been so long since I got more points I didn¡¯t have the luxury of thinking about things like that. But who would I contact? I supposed Master Uvithar might be concerned about my absence, but I might need those points for something else. And¡­ if Sending worked, he could just use it to contact me. It might be a bit rude to force him to be the one to spend mana, but he had more of it and a much higher total number of points. It would be one eleventh of my total to learn it while six points out of a thousand wasn¡¯t much for him- but I also knew he already had the spell.


    ¡°We should get you a phone,¡± Basant said right before my stomach grumbled again. ¡°After showing you to the cafeteria. It¡¯s nothing impressive, but it¡¯ll fill you up.¡±


    I followed along after him to another nearby building. It seemed that Extra owned or at least worked with many buildings around the area. The cafeteria seemed to be just one level of one of the tall towers in the area, but it was on the first floor so it was convenient to reach.


    ¡°You have your ID?¡± he asked as we approached the front. There was a person with one of the devices that were used for paying money.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said. The ID was light, so taking it in and out of Storage was cheap. There was a little bit of inefficiency there since I didn¡¯t know exactly how much it weighed, so I probably overspent mana a bit- but a tenth of a point wasn¡¯t anything crazy. It appeared in my hand and I held it out to the person behind the counter. A human, but with green hair. I wondered what sort of magic caused that change- but of course, the answer was none at all. Maybe humans just had green hair here. Or they could have not been human, and just quite similar.


    The woman took my ID and scanned it in a card reader. I wasn¡¯t sure why it was necessary because she could have just read my name on it. Unless she didn¡¯t speak Common? Or English, I think it might have been called. ¡°Here you go,¡± she said as she handed it back. So maybe she just didn¡¯t read. Maybe that was common, otherwise they wouldn¡¯t have mentioned the card readers as something common. I saw that $0.00 popped up on the payment thing, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about that. ¡°Phew,¡± I commented to Basant. ¡°I don¡¯t actually have any dollars.¡±


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    ¡°Meals are included,¡± he commented. ¡°At least in situations such as yours. As for money, we should be taking care of that today. You mentioned you were able to work¡­¡±


    I nodded, ¡°That¡¯s how people get money, since dragon hoards are pretty rare nowadays.¡± He seemed a bit confused at the comment, but I supposed that with a world like this dragons had probably been rare for a long time. I certainly didn¡¯t think they would just pop up in a big city like New Bay.


    ¡°Take a tray,¡± he gestured. I did so, and a plate and some silverware too. I couldn¡¯t believe they had so much silver just lying around¡­ then I realized it wasn¡¯t actually silver but more like iron. It wasn¡¯t rusty though. That seemed like a lot of work to maintain, but they were mostly in good condition except some bent tines on the forks. It seemed the cafeteria was set up so that people could just go around and¡­ take food. As much as they wanted. ¡°You eat the same things as humans, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I had doughnuts yesterday. That¡¯s a human food, right?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Basant nodded. ¡°Then stay in the area with these markings,¡± he pointed to a little symbol. ¡°The other stuff probably won¡¯t sit well.¡±


    I glanced over at the food in the other areas. It didn¡¯t look that bad for the most part, but when I walked past it smelled kind of weird. Some of it was goopy, too. But everything in the human area looked good. I took eggs and bacon and sausage and bread. I was going to be using at least half of my mana during the day, so I would need the energy. And if they didn¡¯t mind me taking as much as I wanted to eat, I could eat a lot. Basant took a more modest amount, but he didn¡¯t look so much like the physical labor sort. I had a few inches of height and probably fifty pounds on him, since he was just a dark-skinned human and not an orc.


    ¡°Did you manage to read through some of the papers?¡± Basant asked as we ate.


    ¡°I read most of them,¡± I said. ¡°The technology was¡­ a lot. But light switches are amazing.¡±


    After breakfast finished, Basant brought me to the parking garage, and we got in a car. They weren¡¯t magic, but technology¡­ and they ran through the power of fire. It seemed interesting, but they were a bit complicated to fully understand after one day. They worked, though, so that was all that mattered. I tried to keep track of how we moved about, but the streets all seemed so similar. The only thing I could do was try to pick out some more recognizable buildings and remember their relative locations. There were street signs too, but we passed so many I couldn¡¯t keep track.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be stopping here for a moment,¡± he said as he parked in an above-ground parking garage. There weren¡¯t many of those that I had seen, but it had the lines for cars. We were in front of a collection of small buildings with different names. We walked into one called New Bay Cell. It stood for cell phones, obviously, and not containment facilities. After a short conversation and Basant handing over some cards that didn¡¯t look like my ID, I ended up with something in my hand.


    ¡°What is this?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A cell phone,¡± he said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not flat.¡±


    ¡°Only smartphones are like this,¡± Basant clarified.


    ¡°An intelligent object?¡± I asked. ¡°They had a lot of them on the walls.¡± It was strange to think that all of those might be able to think to some extent. And why would they be flat?


    ¡°Uh,¡± Basant shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know that they¡¯re actually all that smart. They just have more features. Yours can still call people though. Speaking of which, here¡¯s my work number.¡±


    The phone in my hand made a noise and text popped up on the small screen. ¡°So I type this number to contact you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, you can just hit reply.¡± It took him a few minutes to explain how to operate the phone to me, but I thought I learned fairly quickly. I wasn¡¯t stupid. Just new to technology. I learned about replies and texts and saving numbers. I hadn¡¯t even considered that sending letters might be more efficient than sending spoken word. I wondered if that worked with magic or not. Spells had pretty fixed things they did, and usually you could only remove features to make them cheaper in terms of mana. I almost wanted to test it, but once again it would have been all of my points and a full hour¡¯s worth of mana to try it.


    Basant was quite efficient, taking me to another building after that. ¡°Normally you¡¯d take a shuttle from the apartments,¡± he commented. ¡°But since it¡¯s your first day and I had to get you a phone, it was easier to drive you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for paying for that, by the way,¡± I said.


    ¡°Extra¡¯s paying for it,¡± he pointed out. ¡°And it¡¯s cheap junk.¡±


    ¡°It looks more durable than yours,¡± I commented.


    ¡°Durable can be cheap. Here we are.¡± We passed by a person taking cards to get into another parking garage, and then we took a single flight of stairs to the surface. ¡°It¡¯s not an exciting job, but it¡¯s the sort of thing that we can set you up on short notice without knowing other skills. Welcome to warehouse 7-B.¡±


    ¡°Is there something special about 7-B?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nope. Just a number.¡± He stopped before he got to the door. ¡°Oh, I should warn you. Some people here will look¡­ unexpected, if you¡¯re not used to people like them. Do try to be polite.¡± As we stepped inside, I could see why he gave the warning. I was used to seeing humans and halflings and dwarves and various humanoids with strange shapes, but just like in Extra¡¯s HQ, some people were¡­ less normal. ¡°Good morning, Florina,¡± Basant said. ¡°Brought that new temp.¡±


    Florina- it had to be Florina because there was nobody else in the room- had three heads. One of them was a bird¡¯s head, one a dog¡¯s, and one a rodent¡¯s. At least, that was what they looked like to me. She had six arms, all of which were doing something and two of which were wiggly and bent strangely in all directions, and didn¡¯t really have fingers on the end either but just coiled around things. ¡°Glad to see you,¡± her voice came from the middle head, the dog. It sounded a bit rumbly, but understandable. Translation helped cut through an accent. ¡°We can always use another. Busy here.¡± Two sets of eyes turned towards me. ¡°You¡¯re the new worker?¡± I supposed she might have looked at a document but I couldn¡¯t tell since I was trying to focus on the doglike face which seemed to be the most straightforward. ¡°Turlough, right? You look strong enough. No experience operating a forklift, right?¡±


    I knew how to eat with a fork. Was that operating a forklift? It didn¡¯t sound quite right. ¡°Is that¡­ technology?¡±


    ¡°Ah, right,¡± she nodded with one head. ¡°Little experience there. Well, don¡¯t worry about it. There¡¯s not that much you have to handle, and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll pick it up quick. Mostly it¡¯s just moving stuff around by hand.¡±


    Thus began my first day working at a warehouse. I would have liked to say I was attacked by mutant rats or something, but there weren¡¯t even any regular sized rats that I saw that day. Instead, I just carried around boxes, sometimes placing them in a ¡®truck¡¯ which was just a big car. At the end of the day, I got paid some dollars. A hundred of them, in fact. That¡­ seemed like a lot? At least, it covered significantly more than a day¡¯s worth of food. On the other hand, I didn¡¯t know how much it took to stay in my apartment or anything else of the sort.


    It wasn¡¯t a terrible experience, but throughout the day I wondered if I should increase my levels in Storage so I could carry some of the small or medium sized boxes without making my arms tired. And I didn¡¯t get into combat all day, so I earned not even a single point of experience. Still, I fell into my bed satisfyingly exhausted at the end of the day and tried to digest all of the new things I was learning.

 Chapter 7

    The warehouse I was working in had two main sections. First was a part operated mostly by machines and people driving forklifts. Most of the larger boxes and things on pallets were kept in that area. The other sections involved smaller things that could be lifted by hand- though the definition there varied widely. Some of that was related to the people who could lift things.


    There were three other people I worked with most of the time the first few days, with a few other people popping their heads in briefly. One of them I believe would have been called an ¡®alien¡¯, but aside from teal skin Asa didn¡¯t have any other strong distinctions from a human. Perhaps slightly different proportions, but as an orc I had both darkish green skin and tusks that made me more visually different.


    My next companion was just a human woman, as far as I could tell. Meri had pale skin and a medium sort of build. She was strong enough to lift anything we had to take care of, so anything beyond that didn¡¯t matter.


    Then there was Sameera. It seemed she was a ¡®super¡¯, but she was working a regular job instead of being a hero or villain. I understood that ¡®supers¡¯ were anybody with an unusual ability. Mostly humans, but then again even around Extra the majority of people were still humans. As for her ability¡­ she was strong. She could carry around the boxes that were closer to belonging in the section with machines, while looking about the same size as any average human woman.


    ¡°Why are you not working as a hero?¡± I asked. It was my understanding that hero work could pay much better than this job.


    ¡°Too dangerous,¡± Sameera explained. ¡°I don¡¯t have super durability or anything.¡±


    ¡°Is that true?¡± I questioned. ¡°You look pretty durable to me. I feel like I would break my fingers picking up those boxes.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not much. Certainly not enough to stop a bullet, which kind of makes it¡­ risky. Villains and criminals aren¡¯t always willing to play nice.¡±


    That brought up more questions. ¡°What¡¯s a bullet?¡± It was probably some sort of technology, but it hadn¡¯t been mentioned in the overview.


    ¡°Do they only have laser weapons where you¡¯re from?¡± Asa asked. He had a fairly strong accent, but of course I didn¡¯t recognize any of the origins of them since they were all new languages. Translation helped me understand him almost as clearly as everyone else, though. ¡°Bullets are from slugthrower projectiles.¡±


    A slimy bug-like thing being hurled at someone¡­ wouldn''t go through even regular durability. Translation didn¡¯t help when a world meant multiple things. A sort of piece of metal? That could be dangerous if thrown at someone quickly. Like a sling. Was that what the ¡®gun¡¯ thing the police had was? ¡°Ah, I understand.¡± Probably.


    The warehouse was quite tall, and sometimes the boxes we wanted to reach were on the top shelves, fifteen or twenty feet up. To reach those we were supposed to wait for someone operating some sort of lift thing, but it was slow. Way too slow. I eventually got tired of waiting for it and resorted to using Mage¡¯s Reach. Twice, so I could make use of each hand. Normally that would have been nearly six mana, a whole hour¡¯s worth, and that would put me in the negatives when adding on Translation. However, while I didn¡¯t have the ability to boost the output of spells I could limit it. In this case, making the hands more temporary, lasting about a minute, only took around a tenth of a point of mana.


    Then it was just a matter of lifting the box. Mage¡¯s Reach was sometimes disfavoured by other mages because of its reliance on the muscle power of the caster. Quite a few mages didn¡¯t get much exercise, but I got plenty. Plus I was an orc, which made me a bit bigger and naturally stronger than a human. The box came up, and then down. At a normal speed, of course. I didn¡¯t want to drop it. It was basically the same difficulty as just holding it in my arms for a few seconds, and then I was actually just holding it. I turned to bring it to where it needed to go when I saw Sameera watching.


    She held a box under each arm and sort of casually leaned against one of the shelves nearby. ¡°You¡¯re a super too, huh? Then let me ask¡­ why aren¡¯t you a hero? If you¡¯re so keen on the idea.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s simple. I just got here a few days ago.¡± They didn¡¯t just let people go straight into heroing. They had to have background checks¡­ which kind of required having a background. Since mine was currently appearing through a portal and getting into a fight, it wasn¡¯t much to look at.


    ¡°... oh. You¡¯re not afraid of getting hurt?¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°That depends. Can normal humans survive getting ¡®shot¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Then I should be fine.¡± Force Armor was able to resist a certain amount of energy, and it really didn¡¯t concern itself with how it was distributed. And I wasn¡¯t just going to suddenly level up if I didn¡¯t get into fights. The more real the combat, the better.


    ¡°... can those hands stop bullets?¡±


    ¡°No. I have a different spell for that.¡±


    ¡°Spell¡­ like magic? Is that what your power is based on?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just magic,¡± I said. Though I wasn¡¯t sure if there was much point in distinguishing between magic and a power.


    ¡°Sounds useful.¡±


    ¡°It would be more useful if I were stronger.¡± Since apparently people didn¡¯t know about levels here, just talking about ¡®strength¡¯ seemed most appropriate.


    -----


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    I had to admit that my first day in New Bay had significantly biased me on the amount of violence in the city. After a week I hadn¡¯t seen anything swarm out of portals or had anyone hit me on the back of the head. To be fair, the second one had been a bit more disconcerting. I hadn¡¯t seen it coming at all, and I was just lucky that I always kept Force Armor active. It basically lasted all day for a small amount of investment- with the caveat that it would still break down under sudden force. Most of the time it just wasn¡¯t doing anything.


    On the weekend I got offered overtime. Apparently it was a busy season, and since they offered extra pay- and I really had very little else to do- I accepted. I¡¯d already read through the piles of papers I had been given, and I wasn¡¯t willing to spend my money on entertainment just yet. I was still scoping out the prices to make efficient use of my money. I did buy a box of doughnuts once though. Totally worth it.


    Overtime work was exactly the same as normal work, but with fewer people around. Sameera was still around though. ¡°They lured you in too, huh?¡± she asked.


    I shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t really have a lot of money.¡±


    ¡°I hear ya. I get paid extra for my capabilities, but being a super takes a lot of upkeep. Unless you¡¯re the lucky sort who gets powers that draw from some source other than calories.¡±


    Calories were food. And my magic at least partly required that. ¡°I¡¯ve been eating a lot,¡± I concurred. ¡°Translation magic is harder than you think.¡±


    ¡°You have translation magic?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t actually speak English.¡±


    ¡°... somehow that¡¯s cooler than just having a translator device.¡± She shifted and switched the way she spoke. ¡°Does it work with Arabic?¡±


    It took my brain a second to process the unexpected change in languages. ¡°Apparently it does,¡± I answered in what I thought was Arabic.


    ¡°Cool.¡±


    We continued to work until evening. It was tiring work, but we got regular breaks so it wasn¡¯t all that bad. Just around the time we were about to wrap up and go home, there was a bang. It was quite startling. It wasn¡¯t the same as if someone dropped something. Sameera looked towards the sound. Then it happened again.


    ¡°Oh crap. I think that was a gunshot!¡± she pressed up against some of the shelves.


    ¡°Really? Let¡¯s go look.¡±


    ¡°Are you crazy?¡± she half-whispered.


    ¡°Right, sorry.¡± I reached out to place a hand on her shoulder and gave her Force Armor. I also made sure to replace mine. A brief outline shimmered around each of us as I cast the spell. ¡°We have Force Armor. Now let¡¯s go look.¡± I started walking, and Sameera followed after me. I heard the sound of shouting and people walking. As we approached the front of the warehouse, it was possible to see some people through some empty gaps in the shelves. I saw a couple men holding guns, and Florina. The manager and her various heads were lying on the floor, and I saw a red pool of blood forming. Was she already dead? I hoped not.


    ¡°Alright guys,¡± said one of the men. ¡°You know what to do. We head for the target and silence anyone along the way.¡± Five other people stepped into view behind the man as they started moving.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound good!¡± Sameera whispered. ¡°We should hide!¡±


    ¡°What about Florina? And they¡¯re heading towards some of the others, I think.¡± I kept my voice down but started moving along the shelves to try to keep pace with the men with guns. I summoned Mage¡¯s Reach, with full power so I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about it randomly fading away. I¡¯d just recently re-cast Translation so¡­ 1.67 *2 + 2.86 + 3= 9.2 which left me with three¡­ almost four uses of Shocking Grasp. A firebolt inside this warehouse with cardboard boxes- a brown, papery sort of material- was a recipe for disaster. And Shocking Grasp was better anyway.


    I sent my reach through the shelves, a floating, cloudy hand reaching out towards one of the people. They weren¡¯t moving particularly fast, so it wasn¡¯t too hard to grab someone on the arm. Of course, I wasn¡¯t trying to stop them from moving. But Shocking Grasp did best with a sustained connection, so grabbing onto someone was best. Upon being suddenly grabbed the person- a woman, apparently- jerked her arm forward. I just let her pull the hand along, because I didn¡¯t care where it was. A few moments later she was on the floor, still twitching slightly. I sure hoped she wasn¡¯t dead, because Extra was still vetting my safety. I did hold back just slightly, unlike with the big guy who knocked me on the back of the head.


    ¡°Man down!¡± one of the others around her shouted. The five remaining people spun around looking for a target. I managed to grab another one and shock them before they noticed me peeking through the boxes. Then there were a lot of bangs.


    The good news was that the shelves and boxes blocked most of the bullets. The better news was that my Force Armor blocked most of the rest. The bad news¡­ was that the one that shattered the armor pierced into my leg. I was trying to throw myself to the ground anyway, but that made it more of a flop. The only thing I could think to do was cast Force Armor again. That left me with a single Shocking Grasp and basically nothing else to take out four people. A few more shots fired at where I had been, but I lay still on the ground.


    Then I heard some yelling and more shots. Most of the voices were the intruders, but one of them was clearly Sameera. It would have been nice if she shouted something poetic like ¡®how dare you hurt my friend¡¯ but it was just noise. I pushed myself up off the ground in time to see her punch someone in the chest. They had some sort of armor, at least that was what their bulkiness implied to me, but it wasn¡¯t able to just negate the impact. They were sent flying.


    There were more gunshots and Sameera staggered back. I saw the Force Armor break as she did so. That snapped my mind into focus for long enough to Shocking Grasp the leader, who seemed to be fumbling with his gun, dropping something out of it. I wasn¡¯t sure what he was doing, but I saw a clear intention to shoot more. He spasmed and toppled over as I pressed Mage¡¯s Reach to his face and leaving it horribly blackened. Whoops, forgot to hold back on that one.


    There was a brief moment as Sameera swayed on her feet and the remaining two intruders held out their guns. Then she stepped forward. I heard clicking sound, but no more gunshots. She grabbed the two of them by the head and bashed them against each other. They were both wearing helmets, but I heard a very loud thud as they impacted¡­ and something cracked. Then Sameera fell to the ground.


    I inhaled sharply as I started to move. I hoped I hadn¡¯t given her false confidence with my Force Armor, making her risk herself. I was right about it stopping a bullet, I just hadn¡¯t realized how many they could shoot. I had to call for help. Call¡­ that was what a cell phone did, right? A few moments after I punched in his number Basant picked up. ¡°Turlough. How are you?¡±


    ¡°People with guns showed up at the warehouse and shot Sameera and Florina!¡± And me, but whatever. ¡°I need help!¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Basant said. ¡°I¡¯ll make the call. Next time- I¡¯ll talk to you about that later. Stay safe! Help should arrive soon!¡± Then the sound went away, and it said the call had ended.


    I was pretty sure I was safe. I didn¡¯t have any mana left- and would you believe it I hadn¡¯t even levelled up- but Sameera and Florina needed my help. I couldn¡¯t learn healing magic, but I could at least¡­ I don¡¯t know, bandage them or something. And make sure that none of those people were going to get up.

 Chapter 8

    The first thing I did after calling for help was stagger around securing the guns. I avoided going close to the unconscious intruders, not willing to risk them faking it. Fortunately the ones still holding their weapons had very limp grips as I picked the weapons up with Mage¡¯s Reach. I didn¡¯t really have a place to store them, so I bundled them up in my shirt.


    Sameera was still close to two of the intruders, having bashed their heads together. When I bent down and grabbed her ankle to start dragging her, she groaned. ¡°Help me up¡­¡±


    As I turned her over I could see blood flowing from two wounds in her chest. It looked pretty bad to me, but I had very little practical experience with combat and wounds. And we couldn¡¯t just leave her next to enemies that might wake up. Likewise, I couldn¡¯t just kill them. Didn¡¯t want to and shouldn¡¯t, at least. I was probably physically capable, even with an injury in my leg. They were unconscious after all. The thought of whatever experience that might give was easily ignored. If they died while fighting I wouldn¡¯t feel that bad, but I wasn¡¯t just going to strangle unconscious people.


    I helped Sameera to her feet, and once she was standing she was almost more steady than me. We walked forward towards the front of the building. Florina was still laying on the floor, and it didn¡¯t seem like we would be able to move her. Neither of us could lift her, and we couldn¡¯t really walk much further. ¡°I wonder how long it will take for help to get here¡­¡± I pondered to myself as we flopped ourselves down near Florina. I dropped the bundle of guns and began ripping off strips of the shirt to bind our various wounds. I couldn¡¯t really get any thing wrapped around Florina but I used Mage¡¯s Hand to just hold a piece of cloth on the bloodiest area. It was probably good news that the amount of blood seemed to be increasing, right? That meant she still had more.


    It wasn¡¯t long after that before one of the front doors was flung open, revealing Malaliel carrying a sword- with a gun strapped to her belt. I kind of expected her to be wearing armor as well, but the winged woman still wore a buttoned shirt and pants. Her eyes swept across the situation before running towards us. ¡°You¡¯re injured,¡± she said as she stopped near us.


    ¡°They got shot,¡± I gestured to the other two.


    ¡°I understand,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°An ambulance is on the way. The intruders?¡±


    ¡°Back there,¡± I said. ¡°We knocked them out and I took their guns but I don¡¯t know if they had other weapons.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Malaliel held up something that hadn¡¯t been explained but was clearly a piece of communication technology with how she used it. It was a lot less compact than a cell phone and made a faint buzzing noise. ¡°Just arrived at the situation. It should be secure in a moment.¡±


    With that she ran off. I kind of expected an angel to use healing magic on us, but perhaps that was unreasonable considering they didn¡¯t really have magic here. Just powers¡­ and it seemed angels didn¡¯t come with healing. Or she was more concerned about the intruders. Either way, it wasn¡¯t long before a loud siren sounded outside.


    People with uniforms and guns poured into the warehouse, wearing badges that said ¡®Extra¡¯. Some of the guns were much bigger than the ones I had piled next to me. Those would be rifles, probably, while the ones by me were pistols. I really didn¡¯t want to get shot with them.


    Right behind them came a handful of people without weapons, and the designation of ¡®paramedic¡¯ on some of their differing uniforms indicated they were healers of some sort.


    Just as they were talking to me, I felt the effects of Translation fading. They said something about ¡°pulse¡± as one of them kneeled next to Florina and touched her neck. Then she was carried away. Sameera was answering questions as more people looked over her. Then one more came to me. ¡°--- --- alright? ----- like - leg injury. -- ---- -- get the bullet out.¡±


    ¡°Okay, got it,¡± I nodded. I hadn¡¯t realized that the bullet would still be inside me. I used storage and indeed felt the bullet disappear. Then I used it again and held it in my hand for the medic to see. ¡°There, got it.¡± Then I passed out. It turns out blood loss and mana exhaustion do not go well together.


    -----


    I was quite pleased when I woke up again. Not because I thought I was going to die. I was pretty sure I would survive, though once again I had little experience with wounds. The pleasant part was waking up in a sunny room with vaguely pleasant surroundings. I couldn¡¯t say the bed was the most comfortable I¡¯d been on, since it wasn¡¯t as good as the apartment I was staying at, but it was better than many I¡¯d been on. And I wasn¡¯t restrained at all. That meant they had probably decided that I hadn¡¯t gone too far with my magic. I was pretty sure I hadn¡¯t killed anyone, but who could know when people didn¡¯t have levels?


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 11


    Experience: 383


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +1


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +4


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation


    Remaining Points: 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Still not enough to reach level 12. Though I was pretty sure I had been at 381 before passing out. I couldn¡¯t guarantee that, though. The worst part was how close it was. I only needed 390. If I could have defeated one more of the intruders myself¡­ they gave about twelve experience each! I honestly wasn¡¯t sure what dictated that since if they didn¡¯t have a level I kind of expected nothing. At least the guy who hit me on the head was big, so him being worth something similar to a level 5 made sense. Maybe fighting people with guns made them around level 10? Though it felt more like each bullet was stronger than a firebolt, which was just unfair.


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    I couldn¡¯t believe I¡¯d forgotten to try anything with Grease. If I could have slipped up two people together I would have saved myself a lot of trouble¡­ though really that also meant not knocking out one of them directly. Overall, I thought I did well enough in the battle. And I remembered to use Force Armor on Sameera, so at least I¡¯d thought about something there.


    After my assessment of the battle, which rated it a ¡®good enough¡¯ assuming Sameera survived, I took more specific stock of my situation. There was a pouch of clear liquid going down a tube into my arm. I wasn¡¯t sure what that was for, but I didn¡¯t want to pull something out of my arm and cause more bleeding. As I was wondering about that, a thin man walked into the room with a neutral blue outfit on, carrying a flat thing with some paper attached. He began to say something, but I held up a finger. I approximated my internal mana stores. Nearly full. That was good news, but also meant I had been out for at least a few hours. I cast Translation. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t have Translation magic active. Can you repeat that.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I was just saying it was good to see you awake. I¡¯d like to make an assessment on your condition. How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°My leg¡­ hurts.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not unexpected. The medics worked on the understanding that your anatomy functioned similar to a human¡¯s, but we couldn¡¯t be sure how painkillers would affect you. Any dizziness? Lightheadedness?¡±


    ¡°Maybe a little.¡±


    ¡°Any other symptoms?¡±


    ¡°No? No.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± the man nodded. ¡°Any questions?¡±


    ¡°Why is there a needle in my arm?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for intravenous fluids,¡± the nurse answered professionally. I couldn¡¯t tell if he thought it was a weird question or not.


    ¡°Why is the liquid clear? Blood is red.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t lose too much blood. This is just to restore balance while you were unconscious to help with recovery.¡±


    I didn¡¯t really understand that, but I wasn¡¯t a doctor or anything. ¡°Okay. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Do you feel up to talking with someone else? Zorphax wanted to meet with you.¡±


    My stomach growled. ¡°Can I have something to eat first?¡±


    The man smiled. ¡°Sure thing.¡±


    -----


    Hospital food was kind of bad, but at least it filled me up. An apple and a sandwich and some juice made me feel better. The small Zorphax sat nearby while I devoured it all.


    ¡°Normally this isn¡¯t my job,¡± he said after I finished, ¡°But they figured a familiar face would be best and Malaliel is busy with other things.¡± He looked down at the tablet in his hand, instead of paper notes like the nurse. ¡°Just a few questions. You¡¯re first to wake up. What do you remember about the attack on the warehouse?¡±


    ¡°I heard loud sounds. Shooting. I saw Florina bleeding¡­ is she¡­?¡±


    ¡°She''s in intensive care,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°But they¡¯re hopeful about her chances. Sameera is out of surgery and recovering.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I realized after a few moments that I should continue. ¡°After the shots, I cast Force Armor on Sameera and myself and saw the intruders through the shelves. They were talking about silencing anyone on the way to whatever they wanted.¡± I paused, ¡°They meant killing people, right?¡±


    ¡°Probably,¡± Zorphax said.


    ¡°Did any of them die?¡±


    ¡°Two of them have bad head injuries. The other three were in a somewhat better state¡­ though they¡¯d clearly been electrically shocked, and that comes with complications. I presume that was you again?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t really hold back. Wait, three others?¡±


    ¡°Yes, five total.¡±


    ¡°There was another one,¡± I said. ¡°Six. It should match the number of guns as well.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Zorphax said. ¡°I¡¯ll make a note of that. Someone might have escaped.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, I took down four of them with Mage¡¯s Reach and Shocking Grasp, but they shot at me. I probably would have died if Sameera hadn¡¯t come up on them and knocked two of their heads together. She got shot for that¡­ and the Force Armor didn¡¯t help enough.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it did,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°They said the bullets were fairly shallow.¡± Zorphax sighed, ¡°You sure seem to attract trouble. Like a real super.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just a mage though.¡±


    He shrugged, ¡°Powers are powers. And yours seems quite suited for combat, if you can take out a handful of people with guns.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t really protect myself from them, though.¡± I did strongly consider putting my remaining points towards two more levels of Force Armor though. That would make it about¡­ ten percent stronger. A little less. Or I could aim for a more powerful defensive spell, but it would likely take all of my points. Though I would barely be able to afford to cast it. If it cost six mana it would require me to recover for a full hour, and I only had sixteen points at the moment. If I had a few more levels and bigger reserves I could think about it more.


    ¡°It seems to have worked well enough, though I would suggest a kevlar vest if you plan to get in more gun fights any time soon.¡±


    ¡°Where can I get one?¡± I asked. ¡°Is that the armor they were wearing? Can I have theirs? And the guns?¡±


    ¡°Why would you get their guns?¡± Zorphax asked.


    ¡°I defeated them in justified battle. It¡¯s only reasonable.¡± Was it not? His face said it was not.


    ¡°Look,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to the department about the kevlar, given what¡¯s happened. But you¡¯d need a license for a gun. Even if so far you¡¯ve used your powers responsibly, it¡¯s still early. And Extra doesn¡¯t handle permitting of standard firearms in any case.¡±


    ¡°Do you have other kinds of guns?¡±


    ¡°Of course. But not in my department. And licenses will be much harder to get. You¡¯d only be able to acquire them if you were working for a merc company or something.¡±


    ¡°How do I do that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Do what?¡± Zorphax frowned.


    ¡°Get hired by a merc company. That means mercenaries, right? They fight things?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Which is why I wouldn¡¯t suggest it, unless you want to get shot at again.¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to get shot at. I just wanted to fight so I could level up. Zorphax didn¡¯t seem keen on the idea though, so I thought I would have to look up mercenaries myself later, somehow. It might be easier to get hired by them than to become a hero.


    Zorphax finished his questions about the incident, though the only thing they hadn¡¯t already figured out was that there was a sixth gunman involved. After that, I was left to sit bored in my room, waiting to heal. Then I spotted a television, and next to me on the table a remote control. I just had to figure out how to make the latter control the former.

 Chapter 9

    Two people in nicely tailored suits, a man and a woman, sat together at a large table, a pile of papers in front of them. The woman had brown hair and tanned skin, sitting up straight as a spear. ¡°This just in,¡± she said, ¡°Shooting Star saves a train with brake failure. What do you think of that, Zlatan?¡±


    Behind the two of them was a large screen, playing images of a woman with blue-white hair and of course a form-fitting bodysuit and mask. She was flying through the air among various skyscrapers, or shown fighting various different sorts of things. A blue glow shone around her as she flew, and occasionally she would toss a ball of energy at something. The actual impact of the projectile was rarely captured.


    The man had seafoam green skin and yellow hair. ¡°As always, Gerda, I¡¯m amazed by her ability to keep going. It¡¯s almost like she and her team are everywhere, keeping New Bay safe from every threat imaginable. Just yesterday the Star Squad tracked down the last of the monsters that came through Doctor Doomsday¡¯s portals.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It seems like Shooting Star is on the rise. I¡¯m glad we can feel safe with her protecting us. And now for a word from our sponsors.¡±


    -----


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Why what?¡± responded Sameera.


    That was a good question. There were so many things. ¡°Why are they showing two people talking instead of the superhero? They¡¯re blocking the screen. And they don¡¯t even really show her doing anything.¡±


    ¡°Well, they can¡¯t always show the impact of her attacks,¡± Sameera pointed out. ¡°Especially on anything¡­ fleshy.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°People don¡¯t like looking at charred corpses.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± I acknowledged. ¡°What about her team? They didn¡¯t say anything about them. I saw lots of other people around when that Doctor Doomsday guy was doing stuff.¡± Well, I could hardly see some of them, but I was aware they were moving around. Some fast guy, and someone else flying that was clearly not Shooting Star. Plus obviously the size-changing woman.


    ¡°They¡¯re not all attractive women with good PR agencies,¡± Sammera said matter of factly. ¡°And most of those involved were mercs.¡±


    ¡°So?¡± I asked. ¡°Why don¡¯t they talk about them?¡±


    ¡°Because people want to hear about heroes. Those who selflessly protect the people of New Bay. Not people who do it for money.¡±


    ¡°Heroes get paid though, right? By those ¡®sponsors¡¯ and stuff?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± Sameera said, ¡°But mercs won¡¯t even be deployed until they can secure a promise of payment.¡±


    ¡°Nobody wants to work for free,¡± I noted. ¡°How do you become one?¡±


    ¡°A hero?¡± Sameera asked. ¡°Well, you¡¯ve got the most important part I guess. Powers and stuff. But you¡¯ll never get a job without an agent. And you have to be willing to do crazy stuff sometimes¡­¡± she shook her head. ¡°I¡¯d never want to be a hero.¡±


    ¡°Sorry for getting you shot, by the way,¡± I inclined my head. That was the real reason I was visiting her in her hospital room, and she¡¯d just happened to be watching that news broadcast. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to bring you into danger. I might have overstated my Force Armor spell.¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± she said. ¡°It worked better than I expected. And¡­ they were looking for us. We might have been able to hide, but they could have gone after someone else. So I¡¯m not mad. I¡¯m never going to become a superhero though.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked. ¡°You did great. Took out two of them at once.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± she raised an eyebrow. ¡°Because I don¡¯t like getting shot at and ending up in a hospital bed. Even if¡­ I¡¯m not really hurt that bad.¡±


    ¡°But how are you going to get-¡± I stopped myself. First, most people didn¡¯t need to fight to get levels. And secondly¡­ people here in general didn¡¯t get levels at all. ¡°You don¡¯t want to get stronger?¡± Fighting would still teach people things.


    ¡°Not really. I might have a power, but it¡¯s not good enough to make it as a super. I¡¯d rather just live my life, you know?¡±


    I didn¡¯t know, but I nodded anyway. My life had mostly centered around Master Uvithar¡¯s good will instead of whatever I managed on my own merits. Sure, I did all of the duties required of me but he could have easily gotten someone more¡­ capable. ¡°How hard its it for people to become mercenaries?¡± I asked.


    Sameera shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s pretty easy to join them as long as you don¡¯t have a criminal record¡­ or much of one. But they get all the worst jobs. A lot of fighting and danger.¡±


    That sounded perfect.


    -----


    I was out of the hospital within a couple of days. Apparently the bullet hadn¡¯t hit anything important in my leg, though I still couldn¡¯t walk that great. I had a crutch to help me walk around. It seemed that New Bay had some sort of thing called ¡®healthcare¡¯ that covered the costs of my stay. I didn¡¯t have that much money to begin with, so that was good.


    I wanted to go back to work, but in addition to still being injured- which would stop me from carrying anything that didn¡¯t fit in Storage- the warehouse was closed. Florina was in a much worse state than either Sameera and I were, and the incident at the warehouse was still being investigated. Nobody seemed to know what they had been looking for, at least not any of those who had been left behind. The leader was gone.


    Basant remained extremely helpful, offering to help me get other work related to Extra, but I had other plans. They had been very helpful so far, but I wouldn¡¯t really go anywhere just relying on them.


    I found my way to a PC cafe. I wasn¡¯t sure why there was a business designed around selling access to technology and also food and drink that would ruin technology if it got into it, but they had to know what they were doing. Technology was powered by electricity, and I knew water and electricity didn¡¯t mix well. Thus, I wouldn¡¯t be ordering any drinks while there.


    I did have to pay for access to the internet, and a computer. I sat down in front of it. Then I leaned back and looked at the people around me. I understood the general idea of a computer, but the two sorts of input devices were still new to me. One had a lot of letters and numbers, with the letters arranged seemingly randomly. Maybe that was how the alphabet went? I hadn¡¯t really studied that.


    People seemed to be able to type rather quickly, hitting many keys on the keyboard at once. They also clicked the mouse with great skill. I saw the cursor move around on the screen to exactly where people wanted it.


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    I hoped nobody was watching me. I doubtless looked like a fumbling novice, unaware of even the most basic functionality of anything. Because I was. But at least I¡¯d read about it. All I had to do was find an internet browser. Death Arena Rematch: Extra Guns probably wasn¡¯t one of those. That would be a game? Maybe the one the person next to me was controlling. That game seemed to have guns in it. Though it seemed quite abstract, since holding a gun would be nothing like using a mouse and keyboard.


    The pictures seemed like they might be helpful, but it just seemed to be random shapes or forms related to the name of the thing. Mostly games, probably. That was what was most heavily advertised on the outside of the building. I saw something that looked like it might be an ¡®internet browser¡¯ and I clicked on it. Nothing happened. I clicked again, wondering if I had been off target. I actually noticed something this time. It had changed the color of something. I clicked elsewhere, and it did the same. But nothing was doing anything. I clicked things one at a time until I reached the very bottom of the screen.


    When my cursor reached the bottom more icons appeared, and when I clicked those something happened. It was strange, because I¡¯d seen those icons before- but it functioned differently. Even so, I saw something happen- and then there was an area that said ¡®search¡¯. That was what I wanted.


    With some fumbling around I figured out how to make it do things. There needed to be a blinking bar in the right area before I could type letters, which I found one at a time. Then I had to tell it to enter them. That one made sense, but it complained a lot when I told it to enter things before putting anything else.


    I searched for ¡®mercenaries¡¯ and got¡­ a lot of definitions of mercenaries, and pictures of people with guns. When I clicked on images, it also had pictures of people who looked like superheroes. That was what I wanted. I clicked on a lot of things to try to find something. Ultimately I ended up on news websites. Some of them wanted me to sign up with an electronic mail address, but I didn¡¯t have one of those. Besides, I couldn¡¯t afford to pay to receive a lot of mail. I just wanted information.


    Finally, after an hour or two, I figured out that more information was helpful. New Bay mercenaries got me more information, and when I searched for that and ¡°Doctor Doomsday¡± I found a helpful news article about the events of when I came through the portal. Obviously it didn¡¯t talk about me, but it mentioned the Star Squad and other groups. I even saw a picture of the rock thing, and the woman who threw the car back at it!


    Information below told me she was ¡°Great Girl¡± from the ¡°Power Brigade¡±. I couldn¡¯t say much for their naming scheme, but they seemed to be a group of mercenaries who actually did stuff. That was what I wanted, and I managed to find their headquarters after only another twenty minutes of searching. Truly, the speed at which information could be accessed was astounding.


    The location was quite far, in a different part of New Bay. Even if I could walk at my best speed, it would take me a long time to get there. Fortunately I was aware that people would take people to other places with cars for a payment. Everything worked like that, really.


    As I was walking out, I got punched in the face. I looked down at the person who did it.


    ¡°Yeahhhh!¡± A skinny man with glasses yelled excitedly, until he looked up at me. He rubbed the back of his hand. ¡°Uhh¡­ sorry?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Apology accepted.¡±


    While I could have taken the opportunity to get into a fight, I wasn¡¯t actually a crazy bloodthirsty orc. And after even a halfhearted apology, I had no reason to get into a scrap with a random person who hit me on accident. Even if he hit me pretty hard. I had to refresh my Force Armor, or I was worried it might break. I even got a point of experience for that, though it could have been a very small amount just finally totaling the next point.


    -----


    I was getting sick of black streets, grey concrete, and glass. From the outside the Power Brigade headquarters seemed like it would be much of the same, but inside it was marble walls, floors, and pillars. Very fancy looking.


    Before I could go up to the desks, I had to pass through some sort of checkpoint with guards. ¡°Please take any metallic objects and put them in the bin.¡± That was said to the people in front of me, so I was quite ready when it came to my turn. People seemed to walk through without issue, and then they just handed the stuff back. It seemed odd.


    I didn¡¯t really have anything metallic¡­ except my cell phone. I put it in the bin and walked through the little gate. It had to be some sort of scanning technology. I walked through and it made a beeping noise. Was that good or bad?


    ¡°We have another line for powers,¡± the guard said, pointing.


    ¡°Oh, sorry.¡±


    The guard shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s express. Got an ID?¡±


    I did. With license to use powers and everything! Though it was pretty vague about that. The actual restrictions were outlined in the long list of laws I¡¯d read through. In short, it was a bad idea to use powers for crimes. Not that I intended to.


    The guard looked at my ID and waved me through, where I picked up my cell phone. I realized I hadn¡¯t taken my coins out of storage. Maybe they didn¡¯t care about that¡­ or maybe there was a security vulnerability. I decided not to bring it up.


    I clicked my way one foot and one crutch at a time towards the desks with people waiting. There were enough people I didn¡¯t have to wait in line, and got to see someone right away. ¡°You have a request?¡± the man behind the counter asked. ¡°Security, extermination. We do everything.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, extermination sounds good,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Very well. What do you need us to clear out?¡±


    I thought I would be the one doing that. ¡°Oh. I¡¯m here to join.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± he looked over me, professionally not commenting on the crutch I was holding myself up with. ¡°You have a power?¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to our recruiter and set up an appointment.¡± Ugh, did that mean I would have to come back later? I hoped my face didn¡¯t show anything, though I¡¯m sure my tusks stood out more with my expression. He was focused on the screen in front of him though. Typing on a keyboard, quite quickly as well. ¡°She¡¯s actually free now, if you¡¯re available.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± I said.


    ¡°Very well,¡± the man bowed his head. He typed a few more things. ¡°Come with me.¡±


    He led me to another elevator. I wasn¡¯t surprised, since everything had elevators. However, this particular building had quite a few more basement floors than I thought it would. He swiped a keycard in front of a scanner before pressing ¡®B5¡¯. The first thing I saw was something that looked like an archery target, with more of them lined up along the wall to either side.


    A woman with medium-tone skin walked towards us. She wasn¡¯t wearing a hero mask, but her clothing was reminiscent of the same. Form fitting, though less colorful than others I had seen. Practical, maybe. ¡°This the one?¡± she asked.


    The receptionist inclined his head. ¡°Yes, Meztli. I haven¡¯t done the paperwork yet since you said you wanted to see him right away.¡±


    She waved her hand. ¡°We can deal with all of that later. Once we know if it¡¯s worth the time.¡± She looked at me. ¡°So, you got a name?¡±


    ¡°Turlough,¡± I said, extending my hand for a shake. That almost destabilized me because I forgot I was holding a crutch with that arm, but it worked out.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m Meztli. I know everyone¡¯s all secret about powers and stuff, but if you want to join the Power Brigade you have to show me what you can do. The more you can do, the better pay we can offer. After a background check and all that, of course.¡±


    I didn¡¯t really have a background. ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯m extradimensional. So there¡¯s not much to see.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± she shrugged. ¡°Clean record then. Should be easy.¡± She stood there for a moment. ¡°Well go on then, show me. Unless you¡¯re a speedster with a bum leg?¡±


    ¡°A speedster?¡± I didn¡¯t wait for an answer and shook my head. ¡°I got it.¡± The first thing I did was pull a stack of papers out of storage. ¡°Storage,¡± I commented.


    ¡°Interesting. I¡¯m sure we could find something for that. Is that all?¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± I said. I looked over at the target. ¡°Is that flammable?¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°Fire resistant. But if you can set it alight it¡¯s fine.¡±


    I stepped forward. My aim wasn¡¯t so good I could just do this from across the room, and there was a clear barrier they obviously expected people to stand behind. I held out my hand and shot a Firebolt at the target, striking slightly off center. It really didn¡¯t catch on fire, though I scorched some of it. ¡°Want to see more?¡±


    ¡°You have more?¡± she raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯ll see it all.¡±

 Chapter 10

    Demonstrating storage was easy and safe. Firebolt had a target. Shocking Grasp didn¡¯t really look like much unless it did something to someone. I held up my hand, letting electricity crackle around it. ¡°Shocking Grasp. More or less twice as powerful as my Firebolt, but obviously limited in range.¡±


    Meztli nodded. ¡°Interesting.¡±


    ¡°Though with that said¡­¡± I conjured up Mage¡¯s Reach. It was a ghostly white version of my hand, though the details were so vague it could really have been any hand. ¡°I can extend the range with this.¡± I moved the hand around, eventually shoving it into the target. ¡°The hand can also pick stuff up.¡±


    Though it might seem foolish for a mage to give away all of his secrets, I wasn¡¯t being as incautious as it seemed just for the sake of money, or even opportunities to level. I needed to impress her so that I could get hired properly, and holding back wouldn¡¯t accomplish that.


    I waved my hand, creating a black film on the ground. I crouched low and moved across it. Grease was kind of disgusting, but also kind of fun. I continued to slide across the floor beyond the ten plus foot patch. ¡°Good for incapacitating people,¡± I said. I waved my hand again to dismiss the spell, though I¡¯d made it very short in length to begin with. It was cheaper that way. I wasn¡¯t made of mana. ¡°And, temporary.¡± I held up my arms and gestured to my front that was no longer coated in black goop. I was so glad it was temporary.


    ¡°An invisible armor made of force that can stop bullets.¡± I didn¡¯t say how many bullets, but that was also a slightly different number than it had been. I spent my free points on that for more upgrades, since I wanted to be alive for more future things.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± Meztli asked. She looked impressed enough, not questioning me to see if I had anything good but just wondering where my abilities ended. I hoped I read that right, anyway.


    ¡°That¡¯s it. Oh, besides translation magic. I don¡¯t¡­ actually speak English.¡±


    ¡°Translation?¡± she looked interested. ¡°How does that work? One language at a time?¡±


    ¡°It works with anything.¡±


    ¡°Anything? Do you ---- --------?¡± She swapped languages. ¡°How --------- is the ----------?¡±


    ¡°Can you repeat those last two sentences once more?¡±


    ¡°Do you mean anything? How effective is the translation?¡±


    ¡°Quite good,¡± I replied in whatever language she was speaking. ¡°But¡­ rare languages¡­ are harder.¡± I didn¡¯t need to explain more than that. Translation actually more or less copied the understanding of the people around me. It wasn¡¯t just those immediately with me, but if nobody in the world spoke a language it wouldn¡¯t do much to translate it.


    ¡°Okay. And that¡¯s the end of your abilities?¡± Meztli asked.


    ¡°Currently, yes. I might be able to learn more.¡± That was a gross understatement. There were tons of things I could pick up easily- assuming I levelled up again- but I wanted to define my own growth. And I thought I should probably keep some secrets.


    ¡°Great,¡± she said. ¡°You know what we do here, right? You¡¯re willing to engage in combat with supervillains and their minions? You mentioned bullets after all,¡± she said, looking at my leg.


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± I said. ¡°I understand combat will be part of my duties.¡± Wouldn¡¯t do me much good, otherwise.


    ¡°Then you¡¯re hired,¡± she said.


    ¡°... really?¡± I asked. ¡°Don¡¯t you have to do a background check and stuff?¡±


    ¡°Are you a murderous psychopath?¡± she asked.


    ¡°... no?¡± I answered. I wasn¡¯t a psychopath, and I hadn¡¯t killed a single human, so I couldn¡¯t be a murderer. Whatever those bats from that hell portal was weren¡¯t people, so they didn¡¯t count- and it wouldn¡¯t have been murder even if they were people.


    ¡°Then it should be fine. Though,¡± she admitted, ¡°I suppose we do have to finish those checks. They¡¯ll take a few days, but it seems you might need it for your leg. If you don¡¯t mind my asking, how did it happen?¡±


    It seemed lying wouldn¡¯t be helpful. ¡°I was working in a warehouse when some people with guns came in. I got shot fighting them.¡±


    ¡°And you still signed up to be a merc?¡± she nodded. ¡°That¡¯s the kind of attitude we like here.¡± She pulled out a tablet- I was still learning all the names for these things, but those were the bigger versions of smart phones, which were¡­ more computery versions of regular cell phones. She started to input stuff. ¡°Do you have any references? Anyone you know who could vouch for you?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ maybe a few people from Extra? Zorphax and Malaliel, maybe.¡± At least they shouldn¡¯t make my position any worse. ¡°And Basant.¡± I heard the sound of the elevator behind me. I was beginning to recognize that particular sound.


    ¡°You know Malaliel?¡±


    ¡°Not much? She just was involved with getting me accommodated.¡±


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    ¡°I see,¡± Meztli said. ¡°Should be interesting. Since you came through Extra, there will likely be a few other questions but I don¡¯t really need to know about that personally. I don¡¯t suppose you have references from inside the Power Brigade?¡±


    The elevator dinged. ¡°Not really.¡± I¡¯d been on Earth for a grand total of less than a week. I barely knew anyone. Except¡­ ¡°Well, I did see Great Girl. We fought an earth elemental together. Or¡­ at the same time? She did most of the work, throwing that car at it.¡±


    ¡°Sophia threw a car at something?¡± Meztli asked.


    ¡°Hey!¡± A voice called out from behind me. I turned to see a vaguely familiar figure. ¡°Meztli, you¡¯re not supposed to just casually throw out civilian identities like that!¡±


    Meztli shrugged, ¡°You don¡¯t have a mask on, and he¡¯s likely going to be hired to the Power Brigade. It¡¯s not a big deal.¡±


    I recognized the profile of the woman now. It was just the smallest I had seen it. Her six foot tall form, instead of the increasingly muscled figures of her larger version. And the mask didn¡¯t really conceal her face. Great Girl was quite recognizable. She looked over me. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re that orc right?¡± she covered her mouth. ¡°Err, sorry.¡±


    ¡°About what?¡± I asked. ¡°I am an orc.¡±


    She breathed a sigh of relief, ¡°Oh good. You looked like one, but¡­ you know.¡± I didn¡¯t. ¡°Anyway, you really want to join the Power Brigade? I suppose it¡¯s a better idea than just wandering into an area with monsters pouring through portals. I thought you were just a poorly trained rookie, but it seemed you weren¡¯t even that, hmm?¡± She held out her hand for a handshake. ¡°I guess we can officially meet. I¡¯m Sophia, also known as Great Girl.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Turlough. About that superhero name-¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get to pick it, alright? That¡¯s the Power Brigade¡¯s thing. And uh¡­¡± she looked around conspiratorially, whispering, ¡°They¡¯re bad at it. They just pick an aspect of your power and throw on some sort of other descriptor.¡± She rolled her eyes, ¡°I¡¯m a woman so I got ¡®girl¡¯. And I got great because it means big.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t fault the minimal logic behind it,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I wonder what sort of name I might have?¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. What do you do? I saw a couple things but I was busy wrestling that rock monster and definitely not throwing a car. But if I had thrown a car, it was thrown at me first.¡±


    Meztli rolled her eyes, ¡°I¡¯m not going to rat you out to the financial department. I¡¯m sure the owner of that car had super insurance anyway.¡±


    ¡°... I hope so,¡± Sophia said. ¡°Anyway, Turlough¡­ you did a fire thing? And some slippy thing?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m a mage. So those are pretty standard.¡±


    ¡°Mage?¡± she tilted her head. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ something.¡± Unlike many of the people who said that to me, I didn¡¯t get the feeling she was saying an orc couldn¡¯t be a mage. It was more of the general response of people in this world about magic and its whole thing of not existing. ¡°I guess that¡¯s a good name for a power set though. Can you shoot magic missiles?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I didn¡¯t learn that one yet.¡± I wondered how she knew that was a possibility?


    -----


    There wasn¡¯t much more to say between myself, Sophia, and Meztli. Sophia confirmed that I¡¯d been involved in the battle but couldn¡¯t do much to assert my capabilities beyond that. Then I was busy with paperwork, though filling it out was¡­ difficult. I could understand it easily enough, despite its complexity, but I simply didn¡¯t have some of the information being asked for. Work history¡­ well, they kind of wanted jobs that had lasted for more than three days.


    At least I had a name and mailing address, though I still didn¡¯t have an electronic mailing address. There were so many things I needed in this world that it would take a while to catch up. Maybe I would try to figure that out while I waited for a response from the Power Brigade.


    -----


    There was a small beep, causing Basant to pull out his phone. Not that he ever put it away for long. This particular beep belonged to a new contact who Basant had spent quite a bit of time dealing with lately. He might have been annoyed if the person in question hadn¡¯t been so pleasant about everything.


    ¡®I got an electronic mail address! [email protected]</a>¡¯


    Basant smiled slightly. Turlough was always excited about everything.


    Another message followed it.


    ¡®Still don¡¯t have a computer though¡¯


    And then another.


    ¡®Also I applied for a job at the Power Brigade¡¯


    Basant stood there for a few moments, looking at the last one. Turlough had just been shot, and then wanted to become a mercenary? He might actually be crazy. He didn¡¯t seem like a violent psychopath, but there were always those who enjoyed a fight. He¡¯d given a reason, but it didn¡¯t exactly make sense. Basant chose not to ask further because it seemed related to his power¡­ or his world.


    That was the sort of thing you ran into when working at Extra. Extraterrestrials were fairly decently catalogued, at least those that had frequent contact with Earth, but it was entirely possible that there were an infinite number of dimensions to draw extradimensional people and things from.


    Personally, Basant thought it was far too easy to rip open holes to other dimensions, but with all the supers around it was really hard to say what made sense to begin with. While every power had a limit, they didn¡¯t always follow normal rules.


    Time to return to work. He should see if the Power Brigade had put in a request for information on Turlough. If they took him on, Turlough would become their responsibility. It wasn¡¯t that Extra didn¡¯t want to deal with him, but he had a propensity for getting into trouble and there was enough work for Extra to do regardless. They didn¡¯t have the resources to keep individual people safe. It was enough trouble just keeping track of people arriving in the area.


    Large cities drew in people like a magnet, and that included those who might not fit in elsewhere. New Bay was large and extremely populous, and the more supers, extraterrestrials, and extradimensionals that came to the area the more likely more would come. New Bay was the biggest nexus of that sort on the west coast. New Mass on the east coast was the only bigger one in the States, and it was more than one city.


    A few moments later he saw the Power Brigade had indeed put in a request for information on Turlough. Basant only had access to that information as his primary contact, he couldn¡¯t just look at Extra¡¯s databases on a whim. Not even the higher ups were allowed to do that. Funnily enough, Turlough¡¯s file was fairly empty. Short, but dense. But everything that happened to him so far had ties to extra, from the moment he¡¯d been picked up by the police.


    Basant sighed. It was sad that the world still had people that would bash someone over the head just for having green skin and tusks and nothing else. While his own brown skin was slightly less targeted than historically, that was only because there were easier and more obvious people with differences. Of course, to some people humans were the strange foreigners, but at least most of those that ended up on Earth realized they should restrain themselves. Except those who became supervillains. At least there hadn¡¯t been any full-scale alien invasions for some time, with the multitude of species represented on Earth being a handy deterrent force.

 Chapter 11

    A phone rang. Then it rang a second time, then a third before I realized what it was, and that it was mine. I managed to roll out of bed to grab my phone and press the button that made it work. There was silence for a few seconds. ¡°... Is this Turlough?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I answered. Was I supposed to say that? Anyone calling should already know it was me. That was what the number was for.


    ¡°This is Meztli from the Power Brigade. I was hoping you could come in again soon for another talk.¡±


    ¡°Of course, when works best for you?¡± I was literally free all of the time. It was so hard to find something to occupy myself with for the days I had been waiting. But saying that wouldn¡¯t necessarily help.


    ¡°Are you free today?¡±


    Oh good. I didn¡¯t have to wait more. ¡°I am, in fact. When do you want me to be there?¡±


    ¡°Any time before noon would be good, if you can make it.¡±


    ¡°Very well, how about¡­¡± I looked around my room. There was a clock. 6:13, no wonder I had been asleep. Power Brigade people must get up early. ¡°How about 7:30?¡± That would give me time to prepare myself, eat breakfast, and get a car to take me there.


    -----


    My crutch clicked on the marble floor as I once more made my way to the front desks of the Power Brigade. Zorphax followed through and got me one of the kevlar vests the gunmen in the warehouse had been wearing, so I had it with me. In Storage, of course. It took up most of my capacity, and that was with all of the papers sitting on a table in my room. Though for armor, it was extremely light. I didn¡¯t get one of the guns, but I didn¡¯t have a license anyway.


    Someone at the front desk was waiting for me, and took me to the elevator once more. This time we went to B6. One level deeper, probably.


    Instead of the targets, this level just had a curved hallway. Though there was a window not far in front of me. Did that somehow lead outside? No, in fact it looked down into a large circular room.


    Meztli was not far away, and waved to me as I made my way over. ¡°Good to see you again. Continuing from where we were last time, today you¡¯ll be having a spar so we can check out your actual combat abilities.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind but¡­¡± I looked down at my leg, ¡°I¡¯m not going to be in top form.¡± I could still do magic just fine, but if I couldn¡¯t defeat my opponent before they got to me I couldn¡¯t do much besides bashing them with my crutch. Though that might work on a regular human.


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯ll take care of that. Eat this.¡± She held out something in a wrapper.


    ¡®Power Brigade Energy Bar¡¯, it read prominently.


    ¡°Is this some sort of magic healing thing?¡± I asked. ¡°I already ate breakfast.¡±


    ¡°Nope. Just eat it.¡±


    So I did. It was some sort of compressed¡­ food. It didn¡¯t taste bad, but I couldn¡¯t say if it tasted like anything except ¡®food¡¯.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Meztli said, ¡°Now sit on this chair.¡± So I sat. Would I be sparring sitting down? I felt like I could do alright in a ranged spar if my opponent also had to be still. ¡°I suppose I should ask, do you mind me using my power on you?¡±


    ¡°Will it hurt?¡±


    ¡°Not specifically.¡±


    I probably should have asked what that meant, but I nodded. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    She reached down, placing her hand on my shoulder. Nothing happened for a few moments. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± she frowned, then I felt a sudden burst of energy¡­ followed by increasing dizziness as I felt myself being drained of that energy and more. I nearly fell off of my chair fatigue hit me so quickly. I would have, if Meztli hadn¡¯t been holding on. ¡°That¡¯s why I had you sit down.¡±


    ¡°... what was that for?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Just gave you a little boost. Specifically to your healing. It all happened all at once, so it¡¯s draining. Thus the bar.¡± She pointed to a box on the table next to me. ¡°There are more if you want. At least we get branded energy bars for free.¡±


    I ate several. While I did so, Meztli talked with me about recent events.


    ¡°You¡¯ve sure been in quite a bit in your time here, huh?¡± Meztli said. ¡°Most people don¡¯t get in two fights in a week.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°If they¡¯d happened in the other order, I wouldn¡¯t have been wandering around so much. I¡¯d expect people to rest longer.¡± I touched my leg with my hand, squeezing it. It didn¡¯t hurt. Maybe it really had healed, though I didn¡¯t understand how the power worked. Even healing magic should have been recognizable, but since this place mostly didn¡¯t have magic I would just have to get used to ¡®powers¡¯


    ¡°You came from a type F world, right? Through one of Doctor Doomsday¡¯s portals?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± I answered. ¡°That was what I heard.¡±


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    ¡°Seems like a dangerous place, if you¡¯re so comfortable with fighting.¡±


    I shook my head, ¡°Not really. Not for a while. That¡¯s why I thought to go somewhere else. I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m actually good at combat or just did things people didn¡¯t expect.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. You have the potential, and people can learn. Speaking of which, how are you feeling? Ready for a spar?¡±


    ¡°I think so. Who am I sparring against, you?¡±


    She shook her head, ¡°Not this time. I need to be around to observe in case anything goes wrong. Before Sophia arrives, I¡¯ll explain the details. Nobody¡¯s trying to kill each other, and try not to aim for the neck or higher since that can lead to serious accidents.¡±


    I nodded as she continued. Not too long later, Sophia showed up. Or she should be called Great Girl, if I understood superhero identities properly- which I probably didn¡¯t. ¡°We meet again,¡± she said. ¡°Ready for a match?¡±


    ¡°Not quite,¡± I said. I used Storage to pull out my kevlar vest. ¡°How do I put this on?¡±


    ¡°Kevlar huh,¡± Meztli said. ¡°Not gonna do much good here, but we do have protective padding for you if you want.¡±


    Soon enough I was suited up with padding and a helmet, though I noticed Great Girl only had the helmet. ¡°Don¡¯t you need protection? I could burn or shock you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± she said, grabbing a bit of her outfit. Like many superheroes, it was made of something tight-fitting and colorful. In this case, a nice purple with the letters GG overlapping each other emblazoned on her chest. ¡°Super suits are resistant enough.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said.


    We moved down into the round room with the windows up high. I supposed they were up high so they would be less likely to break during a spar, and perhaps so the combatants wouldn¡¯t be distracted by people watching. Though it was mostly Meztli watching, I did see two men in suits. Regular suits, not super suits. Quite different.


    The sparring chamber was enormous, nearly a hundred feet across. We started at opposite ends, which was the only thing that made me think I had a chance. Other than that, it was an empty room.


    Before we started I made sure my Force Armor was at full power. That meant I wasn¡¯t quite at full mana, but I still had plenty. At least, I didn¡¯t expect the battle would last long enough for it to matter either way.


    Meztli¡¯s voice came from nowhere and everywhere- probably through the power of technology. ¡°Begin!¡±


    I immediately thrust my hand forward, shooting a firebolt at my opponent. She was ¡®only¡¯ about my size, six feet tall and maybe an inch or two. She avoided the beam of fire by twisting to the side, and I only managed to graze her- causing no visible damage.


    My next move was to throw grease in front of her, but the instant I did so she leapt into the air, growing slightly as she did so. Her body twisted through the air strangely as her size changed, but she landed on the other side of the black pool.


    I held out my hand again. ¡°Firebolt!¡± I shouted. Then I sprayed another gout of black grease at her. Instead of aiming at the floor in front of her, I spread it out as much as possible on her and the area around her, so even as she dodged to the side I still managed to partly cover her. Her feet began to slip, until she grew even more. Now she was nine feet tall, and the amount of grease covering her seemed quite a bit less for the change in size.


    She was barreling towards me at a quick pace, but I couldn¡¯t stop her- and she was agile enough to avoid me. She was also currently big enough I was quite concerned about getting hit by her, even with more points in Force Armor.


    If she¡¯d talked to Meztli or watched me fight when I first appeared she would know most of my limited bag of tricks, but that was just how things had to be. At least I could hold the charge of Shocking Grasp until I actually got contact. I didn¡¯t have the proper amount of time to conjure two instances of Mage¡¯s Reach, so I made just one and shot it towards her with Shocking Grasp activated.


    She tried to dodge out of the way, but I dogged her with the hand until it grabbed an arm. I almost thought I might actually slow her down with that, but she shrugged it off by growing another foot taller. It was a reasonable idea, distributing the shock throughout a larger area. Did she actually increase in durability as she got bigger? She might, since her muscles got bigger as well- even when comparing relative size to her.


    I only barely managed one final shocking grasp with my Mage¡¯s Reach before she was only two steps away from me. Two very large steps, but only that many. Then she was one step away, swinging down towards me with a big fist.


    I judged the angle she was attacking at, preparing to dodge under it while using the last of my mana for a glancing blow as I ran past her. I wished I had more mana reserves, but that was a problem that came with having a low level.


    My plan nearly worked, except I misjudged one thing. The angle of her arm changed as she shrunk from ten feet tall to closer to eight as she also angled her fist further down. I was lucky she was paying attention since her fist was going right for my head. Even with a helmet that would hurt. But instead of that, she suddenly shifted her stance and kneed me in the chest, letting her fist go over my head.


    I heard the sound of my Force Armor breaking, and maybe something else. I was flung onto my back, vision dimming¡­ but I remained conscious. Well, I hadn¡¯t thought I could really beat someone who took out a giant rock monster anyway, but it was still slightly disappointing. Until I looked at something and smiled.


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good attitude you have there,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°You hardly look defeated at all.¡±


    ¡°I leveled up,¡± I said. I¡¯d gotten 13 whole points of experience, bringing me to 394 and over the threshold for level 12. I wondered what that said about her strength, that I got so much even though I clearly lost the fight by a significant margin. But of course, experience wasn¡¯t just about winning. I must have done some sort of damage to her, even if it didn¡¯t look like it. I groaned as I tried to sit up. Something beyond my Force Armor definitely broke. Or maybe it was just bruised? It was hard to tell except that it hurt.


    Soon enough I saw Meztli over me, looking down. ¡°Let¡¯s take a look at you.¡± She placed her hand on my chest. Gently, but still enough to cause some pain. ¡°Nothing out of place,¡± she said. ¡°Should be easy enough to recover.¡± I felt the energy flow into me once more, and since I was already on the floor it didn¡¯t matter if I got dizzy. ¡°Interesting. Easier this time.¡±


    That was probably because I didn¡¯t have Force Armor on. But I didn¡¯t have the capacity to explain that at the moment.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look at you, S- Great Girl.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t see them, but I heard their footsteps. ¡°I thought you said it was like a stun gun? It freaking hurts.¡± The way she was complaining told me she wasn¡¯t that badly injured¡­ or very used to it.


    I idly smiled to myself as I checked something once more, to confirm a theory I wasn¡¯t sure of. There it was. Another point of experience. So recovering from wounds did give experience. But I knew for sure that magical healing didn¡¯t result in any experience. Otherwise, I would have had more. But¡­ I certainly wasn¡¯t going to be using that as a method to increase my experience. It was far too unpleasant.

 Chapter 12

    Training in a safe environment before combat made sense to me, but I hadn¡¯t expected that training to involve so much running. I wasn¡¯t bad at it, but I quickly realized how big the difference was between myself and the others. I usually only ran enough to get away from everyone chasing me, but here we were running laps around an underground ¡®gymnasium¡¯ and were told to continue more or less until we couldn¡¯t do it anymore.


    I didn¡¯t recognize most of the people since I was new, but Sophia and Meztli were both faster than me. I was considering pushing myself to go faster than them, but then I couldn¡¯t run for long. As for the others, many wore super-type uniforms made out of colorful ¡®spandex¡¯, and even masks. The way most masks didn¡¯t cover anything but a small circle around each eye made me wonder what they were for, because I could still easily recognize someone without.


    Most people appeared to be human. However, there were a few with widely varying body types which I wasn¡¯t sure were from some sort of power or being an alien. There was a small chance they were also extradimensional, but that was usually rarer from what I¡¯d heard.


    ¡°Hey newbie,¡± someone said as they passed me. I was jostled to the side from their motion, but I didn¡¯t mind that.


    ¡°Hello,¡± I replied. It was hard to believe they were already to the corner in front of me, and around it.


    ¡°Sup, newbie,¡± said another figure, and once more I was jostled to the side. There was plenty of room for people to pass, but apparently they couldn¡¯t be bothered.


    ¡°Hi,¡± I said in response.


    ¡°Morning, newbie,¡± said a third person. The figure was very familiar. The same colors as the other two. Triplets, or just some sort of trio?


    ¡°Good morning.¡± I also realized that they weren¡¯t going all that close to me, yet I was getting pushed to the side. What would cause that? I had a glance over my shoulder and saw them coming up behind me once more.


    They slowed down as they got close to me, their thin frame coming into focus. ¡°Aww, you figured it out already?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± I said. I¡¯d actually thought that maybe they were teleporting. But it seemed they had just been going very fast. Was that even possible? This track was a tenth of a mile and they ran the whole thing in a couple of seconds. ¡°You¡¯re just very fast.¡±


    Somehow, they seemed offended at that. ¡°I¡¯m more than just fast.¡± Though I was looking directly, their figure blurred and disappeared, leaving behind only a blue line for a moment. I staggered backwards slightly. Then I saw the blur again. Once again the force pushed me back. Was it a strong gust of wind?


    ¡°Come on newbie,¡± they said as they passed once more- briefly slowing to speak- ¡°You stopped running! You¡¯ll be the slowest person at this rate.¡±


    I had stopped running. It wasn¡¯t smart to read and run at the same time.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 12


    Experience: 395


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +1


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation


    Remaining Points: 13


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It would take most of my points. But that wasn¡¯t as big of a concern as it once was, since I¡¯d leveled up twice in the past week. I was still catching up to where I should be, but I could afford to impulse spend a few points. Nine of them, in fact. That was what was required to unlock a fifth ranked spell.


    I started running again. Once they turned around the corner, I used my spell.


    If I were some sort of asshole, I could have just cast grease on the floor- but I didn¡¯t want to be responsible for someone crashing into a wall at who-knows-how-much speed. Though if there were other people like this speedy person, it would be a good counter.


    I sped up. Not only did I start sprinting, but my speed was boosted by magic to several times what it normally was. It wouldn¡¯t let me beat this person, but I sure as hell wouldn¡¯t be the slowest. I was around the corner passing up the nearest person when I was passed once more.


    ¡°Oh-¡± this time they didn¡¯t slow down, instead only saying a single word. I was a little more than halfway along the next section when they caught me again. ¡°-wow,¡± they spoke one word at a time, ¡°How¡¯d-you-get-so-fast-sud-den-ly?¡±


    ¡°Magic,¡± I replied as they passed once more. I could see them running now. Haste didn¡¯t just increase movement speed, but visual acuity and reaction time and so forth. Otherwise, it would just be a recipe for people hurting themselves.


    ¡®I-guess-you-aren¡¯t-obli-gated-to-tell-me,¡± that next sentence sounded disappointed. At this point, I had completed four laps, a little less than half a mile. I was getting a lot of surprised looks as I passed people.


    I wasn¡¯t actually going to be able to keep this up forever. I was sprinting after all. And Haste didn¡¯t last forever. In fact, it was just about up. ¡°It is magic,¡± I said the next time the runner was close. I really, really wanted to try to reach out and touch them¡­ but I wasn¡¯t sure how Haste would interact with a speed power. It might also cause them to plant face first into a wall.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I only got about half a mile done before I felt Haste fading. Now, technically it was a waste of my mana to use the spell¡­ but what was mana for if I wasn¡¯t going to use it? Once more wouldn¡¯t bring me close to mana exhaustion. I had a maximum of seventeen now, and so I¡¯d still have four or five since I also used Translation upon arriving here, after I used Haste again.


    So I did. I finished up a mile in a little over two minutes and then fell over onto a nearby bench, panting and sweating. ¡°Uuuugh. I¡¯m tired.¡±


    The next gust of air was kind of soothing, but it wasn¡¯t as much as usual. ¡°Good to meet you Tired. I¡¯m Shockwave, by the way,¡± said a voice from next to me on the bench.


    ¡°... my name¡¯s not Tired. It¡¯s Turlough.¡±


    ¡°Turlough, huh? I can¡¯t believe nobody told me there was a new aspiring speedster joining up. You¡¯ll need to work on your fitness to really make use of that power though.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not really supposed to be used on myself,¡± I said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t let me do magic faster. It¡¯s better for other people.¡±


    ¡°...¡± there was a very long silence. ¡°... You can use it on other people?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Of course.¡± That was how magic worked. There were only a few spells that didn¡¯t work on other people.


    A masked face was very close to where I was draped over the bench. ¡°Use it on me.¡±


    ¡°Tired¡­¡± I said. Explaining that I was basically out of mana. ¡°I need a break. And maybe some energy bars.¡±


    I heard the sound of crinkling wrappers next to my head, and I saw three of the Power Brigade bars piled there. ¡°Do you need more? I can go get more.¡±


    I pulled myself up into an actual sitting position and started unwrapping one. ¡°I just need time. Maybe¡­ ten or twenty minutes before I can do it again?¡±


    ¡°Uuugh. I¡¯ll be back later then. Gotta get some laps in.¡± With that, Shockwave was off to be a blur of blue except for the black hair and tan skin behind the mask.


    Soon enough, Meztli was running up. ¡°Normally I¡¯d say you should run for more than a couple of minutes, but at that speed I suppose I can cut you some slack. You still need to work on endurance though.¡± She held out her hand. ¡°Stamina recovery boost? Can get you back up and running and ready for more later.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said, holding out my hand. Once again it took a moment before the energy flowed into me, but this time the invigoration didn¡¯t go away. My breath recovered almost instantly, and my legs stopped complaining.


    Meztli frowned. ¡°Sometimes that¡¯s harder.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably the force armor. You¡¯re not actually touching me, so it¡¯s harder.¡±


    ¡°You keep magic armor active all the time?¡± She looked me straight in the eye. ¡°Good choice.¡± Then she returned to her laps.


    I got up to run a little bit more, keeping a measured pace this time. After some time, I heard a beeping sound. Shockwave suddenly stopped in front of me, looking at a watch. ¡°Now?¡± they asked.


    I reached out my hand. ¡°Alright.¡±


    -----


    Just over a minute later, Shockwave and I were looking at a very cross Meztli, her arms folded in front of her. ¡°What is this?¡± she said.


    ¡°A bench?¡± I replied. It was a bench.


    ¡°And that?¡± she pointed to the ceiling.


    I frowned. ¡°Some sort of¡­ water¡­ device.¡± I tried to recall the technology overview, but I was drawing a blank.


    ¡°Fire sprinkler,¡± Shockwave offered helpfully.


    ¡°And that?¡± Meztli pointed to another part of the ceiling.


    ¡°Oh! A lightbulb,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°So then,¡± she paused, ¡°WHY ARE THEY ALL BROKEN?!¡±


    I pondered. That was a good question. ¡°Some kind of concussive force? There was a really loud noise too.¡±


    ¡°That would be the sonic boom,¡± Shockwave contributed.


    ¡°And why was there a sonic boom in the gymnasium?¡± Meztli looked sternly at us.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I answered.


    ¡°We were testing a new combination of powers,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°Specialized training.¡±


    ¡°What floor are we on?¡± Meztli asked ¡®calmly¡¯.


    ¡°B7,¡± I said. ¡°The gymnasium.¡± At least the answers to most of these questions were easy.


    ¡°Listen, Turlough, I know you¡¯re new here,¡± she turned her gaze to Shockwave, ¡°But you know that power experimentation doesn¡¯t belong here.¡±


    ¡°... sorry. I got excited.¡±


    Meztli sighed, ¡°It¡¯s gonna take a while for even the specialist to clean all this up. Couldn¡¯t you have stopped before you made a full lap around the area and broke every light fixture?¡±


    ¡°In fairness,¡± Shockwave said, ¡°I couldn¡¯t hear anything breaking and didn¡¯t see any problems until after I finished the first lap.¡±


    ¡°By which point you¡¯d already blasted everyone into the walls.¡± Meztli turned her eyes back to me. ¡°I would have appreciated you telling me about this power. I would have warned you not to mix it with speedsters except in controlled circumstances.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t do it earlier,¡± I said. ¡°So I didn¡¯t think to mention it.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t do it¡­?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°I just spent the points earlier. It was kind of spontaneous.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Turlough, since with your background I honestly believe you didn¡¯t know this would happen, just promise to be more careful in the future. Shockwave, you¡¯re suspended for a week. And you have to sweep all the glass.¡±


    ¡°Aww man!¡± Shockwave said. ¡°I hate sweeping.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s a punishment.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Shockwave nodded, then looked at me. ¡°So, when are you going on your first mission? I just so happen to be looking for a partner.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Meztli said firmly. ¡°Absolutely not.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Shockwave frowned. ¡°I could finish most missions in a single minute!¡±


    ¡°Let me ask you this,¡± she said. ¡°Who¡¯s going to pay for every window you shatter?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Shockwave tilted their head, ¡°The city?¡±


    ¡°Like hell they would. They¡¯d take it out of the Power Brigade¡¯s cut. And we¡¯d take it out of your paycheck.¡±


    ¡°Sorry buddy,¡± Shockwave turned to me. ¡°I¡¯m actually more of a lone wolf. Can¡¯t be shackled down with partners and all of that crap.¡± They leaned close, ¡°But meet me in the training hall later. I didn¡¯t get a chance to get up to full speed and I want to know how fast I can go.¡± I nodded.


    Meztli sighed. ¡°You¡¯re also disallowed from any more crazy training stuff till the end of the week, since you chose to not do it safely when you had the chance.¡±


    ¡°...Aww,¡± Shockwave hung their head.


    Well, at least I wasn¡¯t in trouble. And I made a note that Haste and ¡®speedsters¡¯ mixed too well. Too bad it was so expensive in terms of mana. It took fifty minutes to recover all of the mana used up in just a single minute.

 Chapter 13

    Training didn¡¯t just consist of running around in circles¡­ especially for the couple of days the gym was being put back together. When I received news that I would be engaging in sparring, I was quite happy. Sparring meant fighting, and that meant experience. When I actually showed up, however, there were only a few people. Meztli, and two others beyond myself.


    ¡°Alright gentlemen,¡± she said. ¡°Since the three of you are both new to the Power Brigade and lack real experience, you¡¯ll all have some catching up to do. The first thing we¡¯ll be doing is learning some proper unarmed fighting techniques and practicing them with each other. Also, we won¡¯t be making use of powers yet.¡± One of the others nodded, but the third guy frowned. ¡°Yes Maks, you have a problem with that?¡±


    Maks was lanky and long, with bright yellow hair and yellow tinted skin that I understood not to be natural on Earth. He shifted on his feet as he answered, ¡°This organization is for people with powers, right? Why would we fight without?¡± He had a strange accent, but Translation cut through it without difficulty.


    ¡°Let me ask you a question, Maks. How well do you fight while covered in acid?¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­¡± the skinny man grimaced.


    I looked at my available points. ¡°Not very well right now,¡± I admitted.


    Meztli looked over the three of us. ¡°None of you have the fine control to guarantee you safely deal with difficult opponents. You also won¡¯t necessarily be able to use your power at all times. Even if you do, having a basis for combat is important. Building powers on top of a good foundation is important.¡± For some reason she looked at me, as if I would have an objection. But I was absolutely willing to get into face-punching brawls. That meant experience. ¡°You¡¯ll be able to make use of your powers once I¡¯ve determined your training has reached an appropriate point. And don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll also have time set aside for training powers individually.¡±


    She started by teaching us some basic moves. Extremely basic like punches and kicks, but they also went with footwork. I had to admit that I was rather limited in my understanding of such things, despite having gotten into fistfights quite a bit when I was younger. Nobody really taught me to get better, and even Izzy and I mostly did it for fun. When we were friends.


    ¡°Now,¡± Meztli said, ¡°Normally you¡¯d spend a few weeks practicing these moves before we moved on to actual sparring, but we have the benefit of my powers to help you recover from little bruises and the like in no time at all. Just don¡¯t aim for the face, because if we have to call in our actual healer it¡¯s coming out of your paychecks.¡± She looked us over seriously, ¡°Now then, since there are only four of us, we¡¯ll pair up. Try to only make use of what I¡¯ve taught you today, and later we can bring in your personal knowledge.¡± I raised my hand, a symbol used to get permission to ask a question. ¡°Yes, Turlough?¡±


    ¡°Can I give us all armor, so we don¡¯t even get bruised up?¡±


    Meztli thought for a few moments. ¡°An interesting proposition. As long as you could provide equal protection for everyone, it would be reasonable¡­ but today, at least, we¡¯ll do without. All of you have to be willing to get a bit banged up at the bare minimum. Once we move on to higher intensity matches, we might make use of that.¡±


    With that given as an answer, we matched up with partners. I was matched up with the final man. Rasmus was a bit bigger than Maks, almost six feet tall and bulkier. However, I was still bigger than him. Perks of being an orc, I supposed. I could certainly be more muscular than I was, but I still outclassed most mages. Except for those who took very specific paths.


    I did my best to use only the moves we had just been taught. Jabs, a straight thrust, some dodging techniques and leg sweeps. I wasn¡¯t sure if I got it right, but Rasmus and I traded blows for a while. He must have been in combat at least some, because he didn¡¯t shy away from taking blows. I didn¡¯t either, though only because I knew the pain wouldn¡¯t be too bad and would go away soon.


    Overall it was an enjoyable experience, though I suspected the most important part was the thing I didn¡¯t have down yet- avoiding blows. I was under the impression that quite a few supers made use of unarmed combat, so avoiding their attacks could be quite important. After all, the difference between being punched by a normal man and someone with super strength was hard to overstate.


    -----


    So far, my only complaints about the Power Brigade was how I didn¡¯t live close to where I worked. It was getting expensive to take a taxi to and from the training area every day. I knew people could own cars, but you needed a license for that¡­ and money. I had some money, but a week of working at a warehouse, even with reasonably generous wages, didn¡¯t exactly make me rich.


    Fortunately I would get paid by the Power Brigade even just during training- though significantly less than if I was sent out on missions. I kind of wished I could get involved in real combat, but I also understood that came with actual danger. Sparring with Rasmus and Maks gave me experience, though not nearly so much as my brawl with Great Girl where I got to use my magic. Spars with Meztli actually generally provided less experience, at least in terms of numbers going up. I learned a lot from watching how she dodged and deftly counterattacked.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    But I wasn¡¯t going on missions right now, and hadn¡¯t yet received my first Power Brigade paycheck, so I was on a smaller budget. In the worst case scenario I wouldn¡¯t starve. I could eat at either Extra¡¯s cafeteria- for a few more weeks- or the Power Brigade¡¯s place. But while the food was decent in both, it just wasn¡¯t¡­ good. What was good was random food from street vendors.


    In the interest of saving money, and because I had little else to do, I was walking home from the Power Brigade. I would still take a taxi to make sure I arrived on time in the morning, but a couple of hours of walking in the evening- even on days when I had been running- was rather nice. I got to see the city too.


    ¡°Hot dogs! Come get your hot dogs!¡±


    They ate dogs on Earth? I supposed they might. There was a small line outside the stall, so it had to be something people knew about at least. I made sure to check the sign for nutritional compatibility. With a significant number of people with different bodily makeups in the city, I didn¡¯t want to eat something that would make me sick. Just because a couple people in line looked like humans didn¡¯t mean they actually were.


    Fortunately I shared nutritional requirements with humans, so the majority of food was compatible. That included these hot dogs.


    Upon moving forward in the line, I determined that the meal in question was a sausage in bread, with toppings. The bread was sliced open and then held sideways from the normal orientation of a roll, to keep those toppings from falling all over. Or at least, to minimize it. They seemed a bit messy.


    I soon determined that they were both messy and tasty. It was quite satisfying to bite into one.


    I continued to look around the city on my way back home, the sun just beginning to set. Streets and alleyways tended to all look the same, but I was beginning to recognize certain places along the route.


    I heard a strange gurgling sound coming from a nearby alleyway. I didn¡¯t see much besides some dumpsters- along with trash bags conspicuously not in said dumpsters, despite the ample space available. I conjured up Mage¡¯s Reach and started lifting bags and random scattered bits. I wasn¡¯t the sort to usually do that, but since I didn¡¯t have to feel the trash I figured I might as well make the area more pleasant.


    I was just about to drop the last garbage bag into the dumpster when I saw something dangling from it. A black cat, claws poked into the material. It was just hanging there, and I looked at it for a few moments before my arm began to get tired from just holding the bag up. Mage¡¯s Reach did use my muscle power still. I balanced it on the edge of the dumpster, not wanting to drop the cat inside as well.


    I heard the gurgling again, but the cat barely moved. I had the feeling it had been trying to get to whatever was inside the bag but got its claws stuck. I moved up to de-entangle it, but it actually was removed rather easily as I lifted the cat up with my actual hand under its belly. As I set it down on the ground, it just flopped over.


    ¡°Hey cat,¡± I said. ¡°You alright?¡±


    I didn¡¯t expect the cat to reply¡­ and it didn¡¯t. Except by rolling its eyes towards me. Or perhaps towards the remnants of my hot dog.


    ¡°Hungry?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know if cats should eat relish, or mustard, or ketchup, or onions¡­ or dog.¡± I shrugged, and pulled out the last inch of the sausage, shaking off the toppings. Cat should at least eat meat, right? They ate rats. ¡°Here.¡± I put it up to the cat¡¯s mouth, but it only weakly bit down. ¡°Oof, that bad, huh buddy?¡± I tore the last bit up into tiny chunks and placed them into the mouth of the cat one at a time. It at least was able to swallow them.


    I waited for a few minutes. It didn¡¯t look sick or anything, and I didn¡¯t know any healers anyway. Well, besides Meztli, but I wasn¡¯t sure if her power even worked on cats.


    My worries were assuaged when the cat started to move. Slowly, but determinedly. It got onto its feet and began to walk down the alley.


    ¡°You sure you¡¯re alright, cat buddy?¡± I asked.


    The cat¡¯s response was unclear. Some sort of meow that was at least full of energy, though not necessarily friendly.


    ¡°Alright, have fun I guess.¡±


    -----


    I saw my cat buddy again the next day. It was in the same alley, sitting on the fire escape. Watching. For me? Probably not. Just everyone passing by. It barely even lifted up its head. When I lifted up a hot dog, its stomach growled. I stepped closer to it, but it hissed at me.


    Tsk. How ungrateful, after I bought a hot dog just for it. Or for a backup snack. This one was plain though. According to the power of research, cats really shouldn¡¯t have onions and the like.


    ¡°If I don¡¯t get closer I can¡¯t give you food, cat buddy.¡±


    The cat sort of frowned at me, but didn¡¯t seem enthusiastic about the thought.


    ¡°Well, I do have a way. Hold on.¡± I used a very small portion of the normal mana for a Mage¡¯s Reach. I didn¡¯t need it to last long or have full power. I just had to carry a hotdog a few feet. That wasn¡¯t hard, and I placed it on the dirty stair in front of the cat.


    At least this time it had the energy to chomp into the food in front of it, scarfing down half of it immediately before grabbing the other half and scurrying off. I supposed a whole hot dog was pretty big for a cat, after all.


    In related news, a hot dog wasn¡¯t made from dog at all. What a silly name. Though considering how many people I passed by with dogs as pets, I felt somewhat better upon learning that.


    Since my cat buddy was gone, I continued on my way home to my room. Maybe someday it would appreciate me. Even if not, it was just too sad to leave it alone.

 Chapter 14

    I had begun to develop something of a schedule in my new life. The first thing I would do after I woke up would be to turn on the news. There was always something about some hero or villain, even if it wasn¡¯t local to New Bay. There was never an in-depth explanation of powers or anything like that, but I still learned about the world. I knew that in theory, the internet had all of the information I wanted, but I didn¡¯t have an easy way to access that consistently. Not without paying for it, and I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted to spend too much money on a regular basis.


    My finances were fine. Good, even. Though soon enough I would have to find another place to stay, and looking at prices¡­ I wasn¡¯t fully confident about my pay supporting me. Of course, working for the Power Brigade would be enough once I actually started going on missions, but the downtime pay for new recruits wasn¡¯t nearly as impressive. Not that it was unfair, since I hadn¡¯t really provided any value for them yet. And that was ignoring the incident with Shockwave.


    After watching some news, I would head down for breakfast. Despite seeing many of the same people every day, I didn¡¯t know many of those who were staying in Extra¡¯s apartments. I sat next to the one person I recognized, a neighbor from the same floor as me. ¡°Good morning, Khithae,¡± I said to a woman who looked something like a lizardfolk¡­ but was neither from my world nor an actually equivalent species.


    ¡°Good morning, Turlough,¡± she responded. I understood that our conversation wouldn¡¯t sound like much to other folk, and it certainly wasn¡¯t what I would have expected. The language was more like¡­ chirping. Yes, it sounded strangely birdlike. And also like crickets. But Translation took care of all of the hard stuff.


    Khithae had very wide fingers and no claws. From what I¡¯d learned, she was closer to a gecko than an iguana or what I sort of assumed lizards to be. She was using an oversized spoon to scoop food into her mouth. Without lips it was difficult to actually use most silverware properly, but she upended the spoon in her mouth and everything worked out from there.


    ¡°How are you adjusting?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It is quite strange here,¡± she admitted, ¡°But I much prefer it to where I came from.¡±


    Given her looks, it would have been assumed that she was an alien. Maybe she was, by certain definitions, but the ones important to Extra put her in the same category as me. Extradimensional. The difference was she came to Earth as part of some sort of technological accident in her home dimension. She¡¯d actually arrived on the east coast, but New Bay was best set up for dealing with strange persons randomly appearing so she ended up here.


    ¡°How about you, Turlough? Anything interesting happen in training?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± I admitted, ¡°Though we should be allowed to use our power in spars soon. How¡¯s your work?¡± I knew she¡¯d been set up with a position as a janitor. Not glamorous, but given that she didn¡¯t speak the same language as anyone it was difficult to do much else. There were other people with translation abilities, but they couldn¡¯t just be with her all the time.


    ¡°Work is much the same, though they chastise me for climbing up the walls to reach the corners of the room.¡± She shook her head, ¡°I of course clean the walls afterwards, but they would prefer I use ladders. They seem rather unsafe to me, though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sometimes people have difficulty understanding what people can do. They understand ladders, even if they aren¡¯t that good.¡±


    There was rarely ever anything of importance to speak about during breakfast, but talking to someone was good for both of us. I had acquaintances at work as well, but I did want to have actual friends in this world. Now that I¡¯d solved my primary problem of leveling up, I could think about other things.


    -----


    After taking a car to work, one of the actual regular expenses I had to deal with, my routine was also very much the same from day to day. It always started out with physical conditioning. Running and pushups and other exercises that were intended to strengthen many different parts of the body. There were different activities for those with divergent bodies and extraneous limbs, but I didn¡¯t currently have any of those things. I wasn¡¯t sure if it would make a difference to exercise them even if I did.


    Then there was sparring with Rasmus, Maks, and Meztli. It wasn¡¯t always just us, but everyone else was much better than us new recruits. Meztli was just there to guide us and help us recover when we got hurt. I appreciated being able to recover from bruises so quickly, but that didn¡¯t mean I liked getting them. I did like getting experience though. Sadly the fights weren¡¯t even close to serious enough to get tons of experience. Over the course of a week, I was still short of reaching level 13. But I didn¡¯t need to rush things. I had years of missing experience to make up for, and I couldn¡¯t be expected to get into real battles or intense spars with powers every day. At least not yet, apparently, which was too bad.


    After sparring, it was time to train our powers. Just using magic more didn¡¯t help me gain experience with Aspect of the Barbarian, but Meztli pointed out that even if my level wouldn¡¯t grow I could still improve my accuracy with firebolts, and my movements for Shocking Grasp and the like. Just practicing not making it obvious which spell I was going to use was relevant as well. Just like my spar with Great Girl where I had used grease when she didn¡¯t expect it, the element of surprise was important.


    -----


    My routine was slightly interrupted by an announcement after we finished training. Meztli looked over the few of us rookies as she spoke. ¡°Normally we like to ease people into training, but sometimes the world doesn¡¯t make that easy. We have a job lined up at the end of the month- one week from tomorrow- which means we¡¯ll be accelerating you a little bit. Tomorrow we¡¯ll have the three of you spar with powers, and assuming we deem you have sufficient control the day after that you¡¯ll be working with some of the more experienced recruits.¡±


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Can I ask what the job is?¡± Rasmus said.


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± Meztli said. ¡°We¡¯re not sending rookies on top secret missions. You¡¯ll be providing security for a formal event. On that note, we¡¯ll have to get you all some proper clothing.¡±


    ¡°Like suits?¡± Rasmus asked.


    ¡°Like super suits. They want the deterrent force of obvious security rather than subtlety.¡± Meztli smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, equipment like that is all included with the package. As long as you aren¡¯t destroying it on purpose. After all of you clean up, you¡¯ll be coming with me to see Francois.¡±


    -----


    So far, I hadn¡¯t taken the elevator to any of the above-ground floors of the Power Brigade. This time, however, we went up to floor 6. Meztli took the three of us down a couple hallways until we were brought into a room stuffed to the brim with bolts of cloth and racks of hanging clothes. Specific sorts of clothes, the spandex of super suits. Or at least, brightly colored clothing that generally fit that same vibe.


    At the sound of us coming through the door, someone came out of the back. It was a man clad from the neck down in a tight fitting garment, but instead of just being one color it was all of them. He was a veritable rainbow of sometimes sparkling colors. Even as I watched, the patterns were gradually shifting in an almost hypnotic pattern.


    ¡°Good afternoon gentlemen. Good afternoon indeed,¡± the man smiled. ¡°A fine crop you¡¯ve brought me today, Meztli.¡±


    She nodded, ¡°Good to see you again Francois. I¡¯m sure you already got the message.¡±


    ¡°New suits for new men,¡± he almost wriggled with joy as he said that, his smile widening. ¡°The first super suit for everyone is a special experience. People change and grow, and they might want something new, but they¡¯ll always remember it. Now who¡¯s first. You- the skinny one,¡± he pointed to Maks as he reached into the sleeve and flicked his wrist.


    A long strip of something appeared which he started to wrap around Maks in different places, starting from the top down. That included a brief measure of his nose, a quick wrap around his neck then a few measurements around his arms, and more.


    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± Francois nodded to himself. ¡°What¡¯s your power?¡±


    ¡°Energy control,¡± Maks said. ¡°And conversion.¡±


    ¡°Tell me more,¡± Francois said. ¡°I don¡¯t need all the details, but fire? Electricity? It wouldn¡¯t do for your suit to fall apart during normal use.¡±


    ¡°I can do both,¡± Maks said. ¡°We also tested with radiation.¡±


    Francois waved his hand, ¡°That last one is hardly something to design around. I¡¯ll just make sure it¡¯s generally durable. Maybe some lightning patterns on the sleeves, and fire on the mask. You have a name?¡±


    ¡°Maks,¡± he said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a no,¡± Francois said. ¡°Well, not all super names need to be initialed on. I¡¯ll get the info and take it into account. Next, you!¡± he gestured to me. Before I could react something wrapped around my neck¡­ though it only just barely tightened as he moved on to measure other points a moment later. I just did my best to hold still, though I wasn¡¯t sure if he cared. ¡°Power?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a mage,¡± I said.


    ¡°What does that entail?¡± he said as he continued to work on my measurements.


    ¡°Lots of different things,¡± I began to explain what I could currently do. It hadn¡¯t changed any since the last time, obviously, since I hadn¡¯t leveled up again. I did have a few points left though.


    ¡°So it¡¯s not parlor tricks then,¡± Francois nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll stay away from the stage magician look. The hard part is colors matching your skin.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, don¡¯t worry, I deal with different colors all the time. I have just the thing. Now then, last one,¡± he gestured to Rasmus.


    -----


    I was a bit later on my walk home than normal, but New Bay was awake all evening and well into the night. The streets were well lit, and it was still easy enough to pick up a hot dog or two on my way. As I walked by a particular alley I almost didn¡¯t bother stopping. I didn¡¯t see anything at first, but a small black form tucked in behind the dumpster caught my eye.


    I crouched down next to the figure. ¡°Cat buddy, it¡¯s pretty filthy down there. You should probably stay up on the fire escape.¡±


    When there was no response of any sort, I grew rather concerned. I had expected him to dash away or something instead of just laying there. I waved my hand, and I could see his eyes slowly track my movement, but he didn¡¯t look so good. His breathing was ragged and labored, his eyes sunken. I tore off a little bit of hot dog, but after licking it he just let it fall to the ground.


    I wasn¡¯t any sort of a healer, let alone a cat healer, but my cat buddy didn¡¯t look good. If he wasn¡¯t able to eat, I wasn¡¯t sure what I could do. Hunger might not even be the main problem. I scooped him up under my arm and carried him with me. I could tell he wasn¡¯t doing great by the lack of protestations. I supposed a little food each day hadn¡¯t been enough, or maybe it was the wrong kind and I was responsible for him being sick.


    I didn¡¯t know what to do, so I brought him to my place with me. Instead of immediately going inside, I stopped at a nearby door and knocked, holding up cat buddy. ¡°Hi Khithae. Do you know how to take care of a cat?¡±


    The expression of someone with a differently humanoid face was sometimes hard to read, but I could at least feel the concern in her voice. ¡°Oh no, is it sick?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how to tell,¡± I said. ¡°And this fellow doesn¡¯t talk.¡±


    She leaned in close, waving her tongue close to him as she studied him. ¡°Did you try feeding it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°What about water?¡±


    ¡°... not yet,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°You go give him water. I have some things it should be able to eat,¡± Khithae said.


    I nodded. ¡°Okay. I have a bowl back in my room.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll meet you there,¡± she said.


    I scurried back to my room, holding cat buddy under one arm as I used my key to open the door. Cat buddy just hung there limply, though I did hear a weak meow. I wasn¡¯t sure if that meant things were worse or not. I set him down in the little kitchen I had- one I hadn¡¯t used at all- and filled a bowl with tap water from the sink. Fortunately, as I placed the bowl in front of him, he began lapping it up. That was a good sign, but he still didn¡¯t look good- and he still didn¡¯t eat a little bit of hot dog. It just fell out of his mouth. I hoped I could get him to eat something soon.

 Chapter 15

    I still hadn¡¯t gotten cat buddy to swallow anything when Khithae knocked on my door. I knew it had to be her since nobody else even really knew where I lived. I opened up the door to see her with a few cans in her arms. ¡°Come on in,¡± I said to the scaled woman.


    She inclined her head and stepped inside, setting the bundle of cans on the kitchen counter. Not that there was much in the kitchen besides the counter. It seemed the room came with a refrigerator and a microwave, but I didn¡¯t really use either. ¡°I have some canned tuna. It might not be as good as cat food, but it should be easy enough to swallow.¡±


    I was under the impression that cans required special tools to open, but these cans had little tabs to pull. Now it seemed strange that any can would be made without one of those, but people did weird things all the time. After she opened the can, I took a pinch of mushy fish between my fingers and placed it in cat buddy¡¯s mouth. Instead of just letting it fall out, he swallowed.


    I made sure to keep the portions small, little pinches at a time as I continuously placed them in his mouth. ¡°There you go, cat buddy. Eat up. You need it.¡±


    Khithae laughed, ¡°I¡¯m sure he appreciates the encouraging words.¡±


    There weren¡¯t many words passed around. I didn¡¯t really know what to say. I didn¡¯t talk to people much, even the other apprentices at the tower. When we did talk, it was usually about magic and interesting combinations of spells, most of which I didn¡¯t have yet. Khithae didn¡¯t really have context for that, and I couldn¡¯t possibly know anything about where she grew up. So we talked about cat buddy. ¡°What are you supposed to do with a cat?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You just¡­ keep them as pets?¡± she said.


    ¡°Do they do anything?¡±


    She shrugged, ¡°They look cute.¡±


    ¡°Seems impractical,¡± I said. Cute wasn¡¯t bad, but it would be better to have something cute that could do stuff. Like a familiar. I still scratched cat buddy behind the ears. He¡¯d stopped eating, but he had half a can, which seemed like it should at least send him in the right direction. He looked more relaxed now than starving. And apparently. ¡°I thought cats were supposed to know where to find water, hmm?¡±


    Khithae laughed again, not quite the same as produced by more human vocal chords but still clear enough. ¡°You say that, but it seems you¡¯re pretty good with cats.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that,¡± I said. ¡°I couldn¡¯t get this guy to not run away until he was basically passed out.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Did you have cats where you were from?¡±


    I nodded. Not a lot of them, since most people had more practical animals- and there were other good choices for familiars among the apprentices. Or they could simply do without. ¡°Yeah, but I didn¡¯t have any pets.¡±


    -----


    Khithae returned to her own apartment shortly after that, and I was tired enough from everything to go to bed shortly. I did make sure the water bowl was full and I dumped some more tuna into another bowl, in case cat buddy needed it. Hopefully he would be regaining some strength.


    In the morning, the food was gone, so it seemed to have been the right choice. I dumped the last two short cans into the bowl and cat buddy ran out from behind a table leg to eat it up. I reached out to pet him but he pulled away. ¡°You¡¯re not gonna make a lot of friends that way, cat buddy.¡±


    When I opened the door to go down for breakfast, he streaked past my legs and out. At least he seemed to be in better shape. Well, he wasn¡¯t actually my pet so he should be allowed to make his own choices. Even if he didn¡¯t seem to be able to support himself.


    Still, I thought I should at least help him get out of the building. I followed him towards the stairs that I saw him dash down, heading all the way to the bottom. All the running lately had made the stairs easy, though I was already somewhat used to it from living in a tower.


    I caught sight of cat buddy circling the stairs below, but when I got to the bottom floor he was gone, despite there being a door sealing the stairway. Well, I heard it open so someone had probably gone out and he¡¯d followed them.


    -----


    When I arrived at the Power Brigade, I was directed to see Francois. I was surprised to find he already had something for me. Several things, in fact.


    ¡°I apologize for the lack of flair,¡± he said, ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t expect to wear this for too long. We¡¯ll find what¡¯s best suited for you soon enough.¡±


    What he did have for me was a nice deep blue jacket with a white undershirt that nobody would see, one that was a bit long at the waist but sort of mimicked the flowing nature of robes. The pants matched quite well. The strange thing was they more or less fit the familiar style of my home dimension, but Francois hadn¡¯t even seen my normal clothes¡­ or anything like these.


    ¡°I thought about adding stars and moons, but that seemed a bit much for the moment.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure why he thought that would be a bit much considering the shifting rainbow that was his own clothing, but I did appreciate the restraint. ¡°The color should match your skin quite well. Oh, before I forget,¡± he flicked his wrist and pulled something out. ¡°Your mask.¡±


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    I looked at it. It was red, and looked like it wouldn¡¯t disguise me at all. Putting it on, at least it conformed easily to my face and didn¡¯t interfere with my vision. ¡°It feels nice, at least,¡± I said.


    ¡°Come, come,¡± he said, gently pushing me over to the side where there were changing rooms. ¡°Put it all on.¡±


    I had no idea what sort of material it was made out of, but it was soft and light. It didn¡¯t seem stretchy like spandex, but I imagined it should be pretty durable. I looked at myself in the full length mirror, and decided that the small mask that just went around my eyes didn¡¯t hide my identity. There weren¡¯t that many people with green skin and tusks. Not that I really understood that part. Nobody in my world hid who they were. At least, not the ones involved in legitimate business. But this was how things were. Both the blue and red matched well with my skin, though.


    When I stepped back out, Francois was giving bundles to Maks and Rasmus, who were likewise shuffled off to changing rooms. ¡°Marvelous,¡± he said as he looked at me. ¡°One moment, I forgot something else.¡± He strode over to some nearby shelves and plucked a few more things. Gloves, socks, and shoes. ¡°Now, I¡¯m not sure if gloves will interfere with your abilities. If they do, we can make adjustments.¡±


    ¡°They should work,¡± I commented. Contact spells worked through clothing and armor, though there were always limitations. A bit of cloth on my own hands should be fine¡­ and presumably they would help protect them. And if they were just for looks, I liked them well enough.


    Outside of the dressing rooms were even more mirrors, and I got a good look at myself from several angles. With the powerful primary colors, I certainly looked like a super of some sort.


    ¡°I do hair as well,¡± Francois commented.


    My hair¡­ looked alright. It was a blue-white with yellow tips that hung around my head however it pleased. My beard was still awful though. The patches of color were quite irregular. Still, since he seemed like the sort to know what he was doing, I agreed.


    In about as long as it took me to say, ¡°Sure¡± I was sat down in a chair and a flurry of scissors and razors assaulted my head. Then I was looking at myself with much more neatly trimmed hair, and no hair on my cheeks. I still had my mustache and the circle around my mouth and chin. I had to admit it looked much better, since the colors there were more even than the rest. At least it had a smooth transition down to the point of my chin, ending with the same yellowish color as the tips of the hair on my head.


    ¡°Fascinating hair,¡± he commented. ¡°It tends to keep the same color arrangement even when trimmed.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s from practicing magic.¡±


    ¡°Powers do so love to leave their little touches.¡±


    It had only taken a few moments to get all of that done, but it also didn¡¯t take long for Maks and Rasmus to change into their suits.


    As promised, Maks had patterns of lightning and fire on his clothing. While advertising powers could be seen as a weakness, it was useful for the sake of allowing civilians to react appropriately. It didn¡¯t really show what he could do with those things either, and I was also unaware at that time, despite hearing about it in vague details. Maks had more traditional spandex, more tight fitting than mine.


    Rasmus had a pretty similar setup, with more of a green coloration. If I recalled correctly, he did something with acid? That made sense. At least, until I learned more about acids. It wasn¡¯t my fault that the acid spells I¡¯d seen were green tinged.


    -----


    ¡°For the sake of this exercise, Turlough has volunteered his defensive ability to help even the playing field,¡± Meztli explained to the others. ¡°This will allow you to attack with less fear of injuring the other party, as it should only be shattered at the point you would have otherwise received serious injury. We do have a healer on standby in case anything goes wrong, but you should stop when the barrier breaks. In a way, that¡¯s also part of this training.¡± Meztli looked at all of us. ¡°Knowing when to stop is very important. There may be times when you have no choice but to kill your opponent, but the general preference is to incapacitate and capture opponents with minimal long-lasting effects.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Maks asked, saving the other two of us from asking the same. ¡°Don¡¯t villains often escape? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to just keep them off the streets?¡±


    Meztli nodded. ¡°A good question. Since we¡¯re working for the government, they don¡¯t want to be seen as hiring killers. Again, there are circumstances that call for it, but as long as your opponents avoid lethal force, you should as well. It¡¯s professional courtesy. An unspoken agreement between heroes and villains and of course us as well to not use excessive force, in all directions. For the heroes, they are concerned about properly administering justice. We just want our people not to get killed. So we keep things appropriate.¡±


    She continued her explanation, ¡°That includes an awareness of your surroundings for other reasons. Always consider the dangers associated. Never attack into a crowd. Try to avoid hitting buildings with anything. And cars. The street is the cheapest. But we¡¯ll cover all that more in detail later. Now we have matches to get to. We¡¯ll bring in some others later, but first you three will face each other.¡±


    I was set against Maks first. I had to say¡­ giving him Force Armor was completely excessive. I didn¡¯t even scratch him.


    The first thing I did when starting the battle was a Firebolt. It was my longest ranged option, and not terribly expensive as mana went.


    I knew his abilities, but I didn¡¯t really have that many options. I hadn¡¯t expected him to just catch my Firebolt and throw it back at me. At least his aim with it was bad and I managed to dodge out of the way.


    Considering my spell list, I had few good options against him. Grease might slow him down, but I wasn¡¯t certain he couldn¡¯t do the same thing again even if I knocked him off his feet. Since I had another match afterwards, I decided to use just one more spell. Ironically enough, that would put me at about half.


    I suddenly turned into a blur with Haste, slamming my fist into his stomach- of course it wasn¡¯t enough to shatter Force Armor in just a single hit. With my quick movements I followed up with a grab on his arm, preparing to transition into a throw that we¡¯d learned previously.


    Then I was surrounded by fire. I had to admit I panicked slightly. I should have followed through on my attack instead of dashing away, but by that point it was too late. I stopped for a moment to catch my bearings and Maks shot a bolt of lighting straight at me. Only a small part of it actually hit me after it shattered my Force Armor, but a small amount of electricity was still enough to bring me down. And that was the match anyway. The one thing I could be happy about was that sparring with powers was worth much more experience than just hitting each other with our fists.

 Chapter 16

    I was glad that I wasn¡¯t chosen for the next match. Either Maks or myself would have to fight two in a row, and I drew the lucky straw. Sort of. Given my offer to provide force Armor for the three of us, I was short on mana. A short break between the matches allowed me to recover some mana as Maks and Rasmus began their fight.


    Having seen Maks¡¯ performance I had expected him to be at an advantage in the next fight as well. I barely did any damage to him, a single punch striking his force armor and a Firebolt that did nothing. Less than nothing, I suppose, since it allowed him a counterattack.


    The battle started with Rasmus charging towards Maks, where he was met by a cone of fire. I was shocked when I saw that it completely melted him into a green puddle. And more shocked when I saw that Mezlti was unconcerned and the puddle was moving along the floor.  I could feel my Force Armor spell was still active, so Rasmus probably hadn¡¯t just been killed.


    As the green puddle crawled along the ground Maks pointed his hand and shot another bolt of lightning like the one that had taken me out. It struck dead center in the puddle¡­ and hit nothing as the liquid spread out in all directions. Then it snapped back together as it got close to Maks, who hadn¡¯t been retreating. It turned into a wave that reached up from the floor and splashed over him, clinging to the Force Armor surrounding Maks.


    Maks panicked just like me, trying to run away when he really should have attacked. It was clear watching from the sidelines, but not so clear when actually participating. Maks managed to begin coating himself with flame again, but his Force Armor crumbled and the green acid dropped onto him. Maks screamed loudly¡­ even as the puddle dripped to the floor and left him perfectly fine.


    The pool slid away from the flames and pulled itself back into the shape of Rasmus, the green liquid fading into his pale skin and the less reflective green of his outfit. ¡°Relax, I only melt what I want to. And that wasn¡¯t flesh.¡±


    Maks was breathing heavily, eyes wide, as he put his hands on his knees to support himself. ¡°That was terrifying.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I understand,¡± Rasmus nodded seriously, ¡°I only awakened my power when I fell into a vat of acid.¡±


    ¡°I got struck by lightning,¡± Maks said.


    I just picked to be a mage when I was a little kid. So I didn¡¯t really have a bonding moment with them. It seemed many abilities were revealed or created in stressful situations, based on my research on supers of all sorts.


    Meztli clapped her hands, ¡°That¡¯s the match then, no injuries on either of you?¡± They both shook their head. ¡°Then we¡¯ll allow for Rasmus to rest before we begin the last match between the three of you.¡±


    That was me versus Rasmus. It was only a short break after that before our match was to begin. We stood across from each other, but before we started I walked up to him. ¡°Your armor is shaky. I need to refresh it before we start.¡± I tapped him on his shoulder, somewhat wary about touching his skin¡­ though actually it seemed his suit had also turned into acid.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± he nodded as I returned to my position.


    I nodded in return, and just glanced at my experience. Had it gone up during the match between the other two? It seemed like it. I hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to fight with others on my side in Mossley, or really that much fighting at all. Thus, I hadn¡¯t been sure if my spells supporting others while they fought would provide experience. The books about experience had been somewhat more vague. They said that casting spells on others was worth experience, but with Aspect of the Barbarian I wasn¡¯t sure if it would count as combat.


    It was somewhat unfortunate that I¡¯d offered Force Armor for the others. I didn¡¯t want anyone to get hurt, but it really hampered my prospects of winning. Even with the short breaks between matches, I only had about six mana left.


    That meant I could cast Haste and nothing else- which seemed like an awful idea, since he could just ignore me until it wore off. Or I could do something better. So far it seemed like he didn¡¯t have any ranged abilities, and while he could probably dodge around my Firebolt I still had my favorite option.


    As soon as the battle began I used Mage¡¯s Reach, conjuring up a semi-real spooky hand. I moved it rapidly forward towards Rasmus, aiming for his chest. Somewhat predictably he melted into a puddle. Stopping the hand and shoving it towards the floor wasn¡¯t too hard. Once more he spread out into a ring to avoid my hand touching him. Here was where I had to hope for something. I¡¯d only seen it once, so I couldn¡¯t be sure¡­ but I had ideas.


    I held my hand in the center of Rasmus as he moved towards me, trailing just above the concrete floor. As he got close to me, the ring trembled and then collapsed. Even so, Rasmus managed to prevent prolonged contact with the Shocking Grasp. It discharged but didn¡¯t completely break the Force Armor on him like it should have. I¡¯d held back slightly because it should have overwhelmed the defense by about a factor of two, but he¡¯d managed to prevent that.


    It was immediately clear there was no more charge on Mage¡¯s Reach. I don¡¯t know how Rasmus saw as a puddle, but he clearly had some method as he lunged towards me, washing over me much like he had Maks. It was a reasonable method of attack, but I covered my head with my right arm.


    It did nothing to stop the weight of the acid or how it splashed all over me, despite holding up my arm to protect myself. Ramsus had excellent control, completely avoiding my hand and my other arm. That didn¡¯t stop me from using Shocking Grasp, though. Just because it seemed like it should come from a hand didn¡¯t mean that was the only way it could work. Anything touching me could be shocked.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    I had just barely enough mana for it, and that was with making it weaker giving consideration to the Force Armor on him. Speaking of which, I had no idea what shape it was but it managed to conform to him just fine in his puddle form.


    It shattered a moment later, and before the acid hanging over me could eat through my own Force Armor the somewhat sticky acid twitched and fell apart, gathering into a puddle at my feet that I leapt back from. It coalesced back into Rasmus without issue, but he was unconscious. Not really injured, though.


    I smiled as I passed out from mana exhaustion. Got him!


    -----


    When I woke up, I was in a bed. A hospital bed, or at least something like it. I heard people talking. One was a voice I didn¡¯t recognize.


    ¡°All of his vitals appear fine. I can find no reason he would have gone unconscious.¡±


    ¡°People don¡¯t just pass out for no reason, Doctor Martinez,¡± a voice I recognize as Meztli said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he didn¡¯t, but everything was within normal parameters. Even adrenaline, considering he was just in combat.¡±


    Meztli was beginning to sound worried. ¡°So what could have-¡±


    ¡°Mana exhaustion,¡± I interrupted. ¡°That¡¯s why I passed out.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re up,¡± came the unfamiliar voice, which soon revealed an unfamiliar face with a short beard. ¡°Glad to see it. How are you feeling.¡±


    ¡°Tired,¡± I said. ¡°But that¡¯s normal.¡±


    ¡°Is it?¡± the man who must have been Doctor Martinez asked. ¡°Can you explain what mana exhaustion is?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s when you run out of mana.¡± But that wasn¡¯t going to be that useful, was it? ¡°It¡¯s how I power my magic. If I go below a certain threshold¡­¡± I shrugged. It wasn¡¯t fun to pass out from mana exhaustion, but as long as I didn¡¯t hit my head I would be fine.


    ¡°I see,¡± he said without seeming concerned. ¡°What accelerates your recovery?¡±


    ¡°Nothing,¡± I said. ¡°It recovers at a set rate.¡± One point per ten minutes. Though he didn¡¯t need to know that, probably.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± the doctor raised an eyebrow. He held out a Power Brigade Energy Bar. ¡°Food and rest don¡¯t help with recovery?¡±


    I shook my head. I knew from tales of archmages that it was the same during rest. Nobody below level 40 or so had enough mana to know for sure if it recovered at the same rate when sleeping. ¡°It seems pretty set.¡±


    ¡°What about my ability?¡± Meztli poked her head into view. ¡°Did it not help you recover?¡±


    ¡°It certainly refreshed my physical stamina and helped recover wounds when you did it,¡± I said. ¡°But not mana.¡±


    ¡°How unfortunate,¡± Doctor Martinez said. ¡°Perhaps you should explore options to improve your capacity somehow.¡±


    ¡°It will go up on its own,¡± I replied. ¡°At least, if I keep training.¡± And getting levels.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± he nodded. ¡°I¡¯m surprised there isn¡¯t a way to recover mana more quickly. Many people can absorb from something.


    ¡°Well, there isn¡¯t.¡± That wasn¡¯t true, but it also wasn¡¯t¡­ not true. I certainly didn¡¯t have any mana wells to draw from, and I wasn¡¯t going to get into blood sacrifices or anything like that.


    ¡°It might be useful to try to find something unknown,¡± Mezlti said. ¡°This world is different from yours, so there could be something. Recovery can be as important as maximum stamina.¡±


    I considered that for a few moments. ¡°You could be right. I¡¯ve seen a lot of weird things here. But just training more should help significantly.¡± I really should have been a higher level at my age. But here I was, only level 12. 13. Whatever. I did smile slightly upon looking though.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 13


    Experience: 458


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +1


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation


    Haste


    Remaining Points: 17


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Are you aware of any long term negative effects from mana exhaustion?¡± Doctor Martinez said.


    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any. Though I don¡¯t plan to push myself that far often. It¡¯s not pleasant.¡±


    ¡°Good to hear,¡± he made notes on a tablet he held in his hand. ¡°Have you recovered some mana now?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be conscious otherwise.¡± Right now I had a few points of mana again, so I had to have been out for a third of an hour at least. Plus the one point from leveling, which unfortunately didn¡¯t come in quick enough.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to scan you again, then. I might be able to detect some changes.¡± Seeming to take my silence as consent, he reached out to touch my arm. It seemed I wasn¡¯t currently protected by Force Armor, since I felt some sort of energy go into me without issue. Probably fell apart the first time he did this. I felt a plane of energy move from the tips of my fingers down up arm, touching everything along the way before sliding to my torso, going up through my head and then my other arm before continuing down towards my legs, ending with my right toes. ¡°Everything is¡­ exactly the same. Except your brain patterns, of course, since you¡¯re conscious now. No hint of psionic energy.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t feel you interact with my mana at all,¡± I said.


    ¡°Where is it located?¡± Doctor Martinez asked.


    ¡°... in me?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°My soul, I think?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°That would explain it. Perhaps we might get someone qualified to help you, if your career here goes well.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which,¡± I looked over at Meztli, ¡°I guess I ruined the rest of the training session.¡±


    ¡°The others can continue,¡± Meztli said. ¡°It might be less effective without the protection you can provide, but it seems that you need to rest. We¡¯ll have you back in tomorrow, but the format will be different.¡±


    I nodded. I could possibly provide Force Armor for one of the others, maybe both if I upgraded it some more for increased efficiency¡­ but that would only do them good for a short time. At least she didn¡¯t seem terribly upset that I passed out. I knew that wasn¡¯t a good look for a new recruit.

 Chapter 17

    Three figures sat behind a desk, their faces wrapped in shadow. One of them spoke.


    ¡°We are here today to discuss what we have learned about the new recruit, Turlough.¡±


    Another one leaned forward, towards the visible figures on the other side of the table. Their words immediately broke the sense of mystery. ¡°What happened to our lights here?¡±


    The third figure interjected, ¡°Actually, that would be related to the subject at question.¡±


    ¡°Oh. The Shockwave incident, right?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said the first figure. ¡°Which is one of the things on the docket for today. Now if I might continue uninterrupted?¡± A few moments passed. ¡°Good. First is the question of origin, of which we know nothing. Except he is extradimensional and from somewhere where magic is normal.¡±


    Meztli was on the side with lights, but with less comfortable chairs. ¡°We wouldn¡¯t have hired him to begin with if there were any suspicions of something wrong. As far as can be determined, he really just came through a portal not knowing where it led.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is just a bit concerning. He was embroiled in trouble there, and immediately came upon further trouble. He handled it adequately though. That leads us to the shockwave incident.¡±


    ¡°Inconvenient, to be sure,¡± said the second figure. ¡°But hardly concerning on a large scale. Turlough didn¡¯t seem to have any ill intentions, and it¡¯s Shockwave who should have known better.¡±


    ¡°For the record,¡± Meztli said. ¡°I don¡¯t believe he even knew what a sonic boom was before the incident.¡±


    ¡°That brings us to another matter,¡± said the third figure. ¡°Being ignorant of our world yet speaking English perfectly.¡±


    The final figure in the room who had so far been silent commented there. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty common type of magic,¡± Great Girl said from where she stood leaning against the wall. ¡°He¡¯s from a type F world, right? Some of my friends talk about a game that has magic similar to his.¡±


    ¡°And he just suddenly learned it upon being here?¡± the second figure asked.


    Great Girl shrugged.


    ¡°He was quite clear about his ability to more or less spontaneously learn things,¡± Meztli said. ¡°Even that speed magic was a spur of the moment decision, I believe.¡±


    ¡°Haste,¡± Great Girl supplied helpfully.


    ¡°Yes, I believe he called it that,¡± Meztli nodded. ¡°From what I learned after the Shockwave incident, Turlough was running at a normal pace until Shockwave lapped him a few times while talking. That seemed to spark some competitive drive, and he suddenly used the spell on himself, passing everyone but Shockwave in a short time. Though also exhausting himself quickly. The two of them talked on the bench after that, which is where Turlough revealed he could use it on Shockwave. Then the incident, of course.¡±


    The first hidden figure shook their head, ¡°A speedster can hardly resist the draw to become faster. The strange thing was how much. Shockwave estimated double speed, correct?¡±


    Meztli nodded, ¡°Double, but the sound barrier threshold might have been a factor limiting that. Shockwave estimated Turlough himself went three times as fast.¡±


    ¡°The absolute increase in speed is significantly different there,¡± the second figure commented, ¡°But that is the nature of powers. Effects that enhance others are usually quite rare, however. But that brings up the recent matter of concern.¡±


    ¡°His limited capacity,¡± the first figure said. ¡°He ran out of mana after two short fights, incapacitating himself.¡±


    ¡°Mana?¡± Great Girl raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°That¡¯s what he called it,¡± Meztli shrugged.


    ¡°Oh. It¡¯s just that¡­ when my friends talk about games, usually mana isn¡¯t related to the same one that has similar spells to Turlough¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Regardless,¡± Meztli said, ¡°Turlough spoke confidently that his capacity would grow given time. He also mentioned that his recovery rate would be constant, though I intend to have him explore that area to see if he can become more efficient. Before his collapse, he used Force Armor on himself and the other participants, plus refreshed one. That particular barrier is strong enough to stop a shot or two from a handgun, and can be the difference between death and getting away from something uninjured. Then he used his other abilities along with Haste, which seems particularly draining.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s higher level,¡± Great Girl offered helpfully.


    ¡°That reminds me,¡± Meztli said. ¡°The reports from Extra said he mentioned having a level.¡±


    ¡°Spell levels and character levels are different,¡± Great Girl said.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Meztli said.


    ¡°... that¡¯s just what I heard. He might not be exactly the same.¡±


    ¡°Regardless,¡± Meztli continued, ¡°He stopped making references to level after joining us. He said he was level 11, but seemed to think it was low.¡±


    ¡°11?¡± Great Girl couldn¡¯t help but comment. ¡°That¡¯s low? No, it has to be on a different scale. There¡¯s no way I could fight a level 11 wizard.¡±


    ¡°Could you elaborate?¡± said the first figure behind the desk, clearly trying to get a bit of light on them.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Wizards at that level should be throwing around Chain Lightnings and Disintegrate. Or Cloudkill. At least, my friends talk about that all the time.¡±


    ¡°You will forgive us if those names, while descriptive, don¡¯t tell us what you mean exactly,¡± said the second figure.


    ¡°Well, one can zap everyone in a room with like¡­ two lightning bolt¡¯s worth of damage. Disintegrate can take out a ten foot cube of stuff, or melt a person. Cloudkill is just a bunch of deadly gas. At least that¡¯s what-¡±


    ¡°Your friends told you, yes,¡± the third figure said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t appear Turlough has those abilities. Meztli, do you think he is hiding abilities on that sort of level?¡±


    She shook her head, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. He¡¯s been pretty straightforward, and if his powers make any sense in terms of effort required, then he probably couldn¡¯t do those. Doctor Martinez¡¯ scans made it quite clear that he was fully passed out after the second spar.¡±


    ¡°If his intentions are genuine, then it is of little concern what he can or can¡¯t do, now or later,¡± the first figure declared. ¡°If nothing else, the job of monitoring him has come into our hands, and even the abilities he has displayed so far are quite useful. Unless there is some large deception we uncover, we can make use of him. Which brings us to the other reason we are here. Names.¡±


    ¡°For Turlough and the other two new recruits,¡± the second figure nodded in the shadows. There was a moment of silence. ¡°Ahem.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sorry,¡± the third figure said. ¡°Couldn¡¯t see you. We have to get these lights replaced. Even the extra meetings rooms need some functionality. Regardless, we thought about how to assign names. With Turlough being some kind of wizard, a name like that fit. What did he call himself? A magician?¡±


    ¡°Mage.¡±


    -----


    Sophia walked up to the apartment door and knocked. The handle turned and she threw open the door. ¡°Sup, nerds?¡±


    The nerds in question were a chunky man, a more fit man and his girlfriend, and a final figure half hidden behind a screen on the table. ¡°Welcome, Sophia,¡± Mesud greeted her from his position at the head of the table. ¡°Glad you could make it this week.¡±


    ¡°You know how my work is,¡± Sophia shrugged, ¡°I get called in at weird hours. At least it pays well.¡±


    The somewhat more chunky fellow known as Rumen shook his head, ¡°It seems dangerous, being part of the emergency repair team. What if something¡¯s left behind after the heroes leave?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Sophia said. ¡°They clear the area of anything too dangerous. And the rest is what I have that structural engineering degree for. The streets need to be repaired asap so I have to figure out whether it just needs a crew or a repair super.¡±


    ¡°Oof,¡± Axel shook his head, ¡°Repair supers don¡¯t come cheap.¡±


    ¡°When you can do a few hundred man-hours of work with the wave of a hand, it probably shouldn¡¯t be cheap,¡± Sophia commented. She set her bag of dice down at her seat.


    ¡°Hey, before you sit,¡± Larysa caught her attention. ¡°Can you get the chips from the kitchen?¡±


    ¡°Sure things,¡± Sophia wandered the few steps through the door. The crinkling of a couple large chip bags could be heard. ¡°Where¡¯s the bowls?¡±


    ¡°On top of the fridge,¡± Larysa said.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Axel began to get up from his seat, ¡°I forgot to get those down.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I got it,¡± Sophia walked back out with large bowls cradled under one arm and chips in her other hand. She stood proudly at her full height of five foot nothing as she walked out. Those who knew her in other contexts might have found the difference in height rather striking. ¡°I¡¯m used to climbing up on things.¡± She set down both bowls and bags in the middle of the table, leaning to make sure they were centrally placed, then sat in her seat. ¡°So what did I miss?¡± Sophia asked.


    ¡°The evil wizard was lured out of his tower into that trap you guys set up,¡± Mesud summarized.


    ¡°Oh! I take his spellbook.¡±


    ¡°As you lay your hand on the vile tome bound in human leather, you are filled with a sense of dread. Each page is filled with spells more foul than the next,¡± Mesud handed over a piece of printer paper.


    ¡°I¡¯ll burn it to destroy all of the evil spells inside. After I take the good ones, of course.¡± Sophia looked at the list in her hand. ¡°Ooh, Enervation.¡±


    ¡°You might recall that I house ruled draining spells are evil,¡± Mesud pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I know¡­¡± Sophia shook her head. ¡°That means Vampiric Touch too. Oooh, stoneskin. Did he have any components on him?¡±


    ¡°He came into battle with it cast,¡± Alex commented. ¡°I hacked through him with my adamantine greataxe.¡±


    ¡°We found another set of the materials in his tower,¡± Rumen offered helpfully.


    ¡°Sweet. I assume nobody minds if I take that, right?¡±


    -----


    It had been a couple days since I had seen cat buddy around. I kept my eyes out in the same areas he¡¯d appeared before, but I saw nothing. Unfortunately work was keeping me pretty busy, so I couldn¡¯t just wander around hoping to see him again.


    We had our first job in a couple days, and we actually had details about it now. It was a security gig for some big party. It wasn¡¯t just us three trainees who would be there, obviously, but we¡¯d be part of the detail. While all of us knew some things about fighting and controlling our powers, the job was more about standing around looking official. We¡¯d be in our costumes, because people apparently liked the idea that supers were watching out for them. Even if we weren¡¯t heroes.


    I was actually kind of disappointed. It seemed like it would be an easy job, and the very fact that there was a large security detail meant there probably wouldn''t be fighting. And if there was, the chances that I personally would be involved were slim.


    So beyond our normal fitness training and sparring practice, we were to familiarize ourselves with the layout of the location we were going to be guarding. We were given a layout in a format unfamiliar with me, but clear enough to puzzle out in a short time. But the most effective thing was when we had a little training exercise.


    When I stepped into the training room, I expected to see a large circular room. Instead, I saw a large ballroom with people dancing around. While it could certainly have fit inside the training room, it wasn¡¯t the right shape¡­ nor did I know where so many people came from. And all without masks or anything.


    I was one of the first to arrive so I wandered around for a minute, surprised to find that the stairs at the back were real. The people weren¡¯t, though. None of them looked at me as I walked past them, but I wasn¡¯t sure what they were. Illusions, maybe¡­ but not magical ones. At least not at the level I could detect, but illusions were supposed to leak less magic than other sorts of spells. Otherwise they would only fool warriors.


    As I rested my hand on the railing, I felt something. It wasn¡¯t quite right. It didn¡¯t feel like varnished wood, but instead cold concrete. So the structure itself was real, but covered in an illusion to make it look more grand. These training facilities were certainly impressive. And here I¡¯d thought making a large room underground was already a big accomplishment worthy of the fanciest of dwarves.

 Chapter 18

    I stood atop a set of stairs in a room covered in illusory ornamentation and illusory people. I was quite impressed with what they could do with the training facility, even if the illusions weren¡¯t perfect. The surfaces still felt like cold concrete, and the people didn¡¯t react realistically. But maybe that was for the sake of convenience.


    I had been the first into the room, but Meztli showed up shortly after, followed by Rasmus and Maks, as well as a third person I didn¡¯t recognize. He was in uniform, so he was obviously another super with the Power Brigade.


    ¡°Good, we¡¯re all here,¡± Meztli said as she looked up at me from the floor below. ¡°For the actual mission you¡¯ll have others involved, but for the sake of this exercise just your captain for the mission will be training with you. I see you remembered your costume. Do try to remember protocol is to use your super name while any party is in uniform. In related news, you all have been given your names. But first I¡¯ll introduce your captain¡­ Ice Guy.¡±


    The blue haired man nodded, his arms folded in front of him. It seemed he had already gotten used to having an awful name. I really hoped there was some chance for that name to become something else later, especially for my sake if I got something bad.


    Meztli next gestured to Rasmus. ¡°The higher ups have decided to designate you as Acid Man.¡± Rasmus frowned, but didn¡¯t complain until after her next sentence. ¡°And you were given the moniker Shockfire.¡±


    ¡°Hey! Why does he get something sort of cool?¡±


    ¡°Random luck,¡± Meztli said. ¡°Sometimes they end up coming up with something not awful, when the stars align just right. As for you,¡± she looked up at me. ¡°You¡¯re Mage.¡±


    ¡°...¡± I looked down at her with confusion. ¡°Just Mage?¡±


    ¡°It was really close, actually. You could have been Mage Man.¡±


    ¡°... Mage is great,¡± I said quickly. ¡°Fantastic.¡±


    Meztli snickered slightly, but continued her introduction of the task assigned to us. ¡°Though I¡¯m sure you¡¯re no doubt aware that the area you¡¯ll be standing guard at is more than just this large ballroom, this is the key area and the larger training areas were occupied for higher priority missions. I¡¯ll let Ice Guy explain the rest.¡±


    The man stepped forward, his blue and white outfit matching his hair. His mask covered all of his upper face, leaving only his mouth and chin visible- clean shaven except for a little bit of colored stubble with just a couple hairs that might have been white from age and not weird power stuff. But it showed the color in his hair was natural. Not that I was terribly surprised.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to meet all of you,¡± Ice Guy said as he led the other two up to the top of the stairs with me. He pulled out a few small things from a bag he was carrying, handing them out. ¡°The most important thing to remember is communication. If a problem comes up and you can handle it safely, do so- but I¡¯d still like to hear a report.¡±


    I took the little thing I was handed and put it in my ear, mimicking the others.


    ¡°One tap to turn on the microphone,¡± he said, demonstrating. Then his voice came directly into my ear. ¡°These things have a range of about one mile, much more than we need to concern ourselves with at the moment.¡± He held his hand up to his ear, pressing his finger gently on the device. ¡°If you keep a finger on it your voice will come through until,¡± he pulled his finger away and his voice disappeared from my ear. ¡°You release.¡±


    ¡°Interesting,¡± I said, tapping the earpiece. ¡°Is there any reason to not just always have it on?¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Ice Guy nodded. ¡°The guests at the party might ask for directions, and we don¡¯t need to hear all the random chatter around you. The functionality is meant for when you need to keep your hands free while continuing a report.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Like if we¡¯re in combat.¡±


    ¡°Right. Though hopefully you won¡¯t be. Honestly, usually nothing happens at things like this. Which is the whole point of having us there, in costume.¡± He grinned widely, ¡°Not a lot of people are interested in causing trouble with supers around.¡±


    So there wouldn¡¯t be combat. I couldn¡¯t help but be a little disappointed, but I also understood that I really didn¡¯t want to fight in a room full of people anyway. That would be difficult.


    ¡°Now then, there is one thing that complicates all of this.¡± Ice Guy snapped his finger, and I could tell something changed, but not what until he gestured down below. ¡°It¡¯s a masquerade ball. Nobody should be dressed up like a super beyond the point of a mask, instead having more traditional suits and dresses, but keeping people¡¯s identities straight will be somewhat more difficult. We¡¯ll have people with the appropriate skills at the private areas. The three of you will just be arrayed around the manor to watch for problems that arise. That included things like unruly guests who¡¯ve had too much to drink.¡±


    That sounded like a pain. ¡°I assume we¡¯re to deal with them as gently as possible?¡±


    ¡°Got it in one, kid. We know all of you have at least basic training in unarmed combat, and the guest will likely have none. But if you see something you think you can¡¯t handle, just call. We¡¯d much prefer you ask for help than screw something up. Any questions?¡±


    We all shook our heads, though ¡°Acid Man¡± still had a comment. ¡°At least my abilities are surprisingly suited for this.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know how acid could be suited to dealing with minor squabbles, but I¡¯d find out soon enough, as the training began.


    -----


    Training was¡­ kind of a pain. Though there wasn¡¯t as much standing around waiting for something to happen as I anticipated there would actually be, it was still a lot of boring followed by moments of excitement. If corralling drunk people could be considered excitement.


    ¡°Excuse me ma¡¯am,¡± I came up to a belligerently drunk woman carefully.


    ¡°What?¡± she spun towards me, sloshing wine over herself and someone nearby. When actually interacting with the illusions or whatever they were they responded, though they were somewhat limited.


    ¡°I was wondering if you might like a little bit of a refill,¡± I said, gesturing to the two bottles I had on a tray.


    ¡°Hmph. Fine,¡± she held out her glass of red wine, and I poured her some more. At least, I tipped an empty bottle that was labeled as if it had red wine, and I saw something come out. As soon as I finished she swigged down about half the glass.


    I was, of course, quite aware that giving a drunk woman more to drink was an awful idea, but this was something special. In theory. A mixture that when ingested actually removed alcohol from someone¡¯s system. It had the frequent side effect of sending people to the toilet, but that was better than the alternative reasons they would find themselves there.


    Strictly speaking it shouldn¡¯t be the job of the hired mercenaries to deliver such things. That was technically a job for the wait staff that would be present. However, Ice Guy pointed out that it was an excellent opportunity to inspect the floor without making things weird. Having security walk through a crowd of dancing people was bound to annoy people, so we were relegated to standing by the walls unless we saw an actual incident occurring or had a proper excuse. Delivering some detox drinks was a good enough excuse, though I found it quite awkward still.


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    I¡¯d rather be dealing with a battle. As soon as I thought that, there was an explosion from the upper floor. My eyes flicked up, excited for what was about to happen. Finally. I scanned the crowd near the explosion for who or what could have caused it. I couldn¡¯t see well with the panicked press of bodies around me on the dance floor, but I managed to hold my position as the almost orderly fleeing of people from the dance floor began.


    ¡°Trouble in the northern wing, second floor.¡± I reported a few moments late. Obviously everyone would have heard the explosion, but in theory some security members wouldn¡¯t have been able to see it happening. At first I¡¯d found the earpiece a bit confusing to use, but after a couple hours it felt pretty natural. It didn¡¯t easily activate on accident, but it always worked when I wanted as well. Just the right amount of sensitivity.


    ¡°Copy that,¡± I heard from several voices, responding to my report. ¡°Team A, go check it out.¡± That command came from Ice Guy, obviously. We¡¯d learned to not say too much on comms, and instead we assumed orders would come through after a report.


    All of us were Team A, but one time he¡¯d ordered Team B to check out a minor incident and we were left wondering what to do for a moment. Maks went to check it out anyway, and while the reprimand was minor it was a reminder that he should hold his position if he was aware another group should be handling an incident.


    This incident was for us to deal with. I wasn¡¯t sure if Ice Guy- I really felt sorry for our captain- if he was coming or not. From what I¡¯d last seen, he was on the south end of the room. Probably not a coincidence in this case.


    I was almost in the middle of the room, which meant to get to the north on the second floor I¡¯d have to go all the way over to the stairs. As I did so, I tried to keep my eyes up above. As I slid past the people fleeing down the stairs- who had a little bit of mass but were clearly quite unreal, which meant they would be more of an issue in reality- I managed to pick something out. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was supposed to recognize the suspicious figure from his outfit, because for the most part he looked just like the others. A nice suit, standard fare masquerade mask with little adornment on his face. But he moved differently, and didn¡¯t have the same unreality as the others.


    Just because my method of picking out the guy might not work in real circumstances didn¡¯t mean I could ignore him. ¡°Suspect spotted. Moving closer to try to confirm.¡±


    I quickly moved up the stairs, and though the man moved along with the crowd I could see how unnatural it was. To be fair, the simulation was trying to not have anyone move through the real person present, so it was impossible to fully blend in. But I kept my eyes on him until he broke off from the rest, at which point I felt extra qualified for my suspicion.


    ¡°Suspect fleeing to northeast balcony.¡±


    I saw Rasmus- ¡°Acid Man¡±- go ahead of me onto the balcony as I finished climbing the stairs.


    ¡°Sir,¡± Rasmus called out after the man. ¡°Care to explain why you¡¯re not evacuating with the rest of the party?¡±


    Personally I felt we¡¯d just lost the element of surprise by calling out to him, but it was probably the right thing to do.


    The man didn¡¯t respond, and Rasmus walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Sir-¡±


    A moment later, Rasmus had a hole punched through his chest, green goop flying everywhere. Except¡­ that was exactly how things were supposed to be. The suspect¡¯s arm was sticking through Rasmus, but he continued his calm declaration.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to ask you to come with us.¡±


    Then I saw the man¡¯s eyes light up. ¡°Sorry. Ain¡¯t happening.¡±


    Then Rasmus exploded. For real, this time. Starting at the man¡¯s arm, there was a big ball of fire and he scattered in all directions.


    I was just at the door to the balcony, and I jumped into action. I tapped my comm once before summoning a semi-real hand with Mage¡¯s Reach. ¡°Suspect has taken offensive action, backup requested.¡± Even though we were now outside it still seemed like a bad idea to use fire, especially on someone who had just had his arm explode with no visible damage to himself, or even his suit. And Shocking Grasp was better anyway.


    The hand rushed forward, grabbing for the man. I was surprised when his left hand stretched out and grabbed it, but I¡¯d already cast Shocking Grasp. Electricity surged through the man¡­ and his left hand also exploded. At least, there was an explosion all around it, sufficient to rip apart Mage¡¯s Reach. I hadn¡¯t had anyone attack it before. Not with sufficient force, anyway. People in Mossley certainly slapped it with sticks, but it was more durable than that. Apparently significant explosions were its limit.


    The only consolation I had was that the man in front of us was at least briefly fazed by Shocking Grasp, causing him to shake his hand and glare at me. Then he held his two hands out in front of him, a red and black ball of something growing larger and larger. It seemed like the perfect time to try out a Firebolt even if I didn¡¯t think it would work. Unfortunately at the same time as I launched my attack, so did he- and his fiery ball blasted straight through my Firebolt without exploding.


    I barely had time to leap to the side, hoping to avoid it. But that was when Maks finally arrived. It was bold of him to slap the ball directly with his hand, but as it exploded into fire and swirled around him I could see why he¡¯d do it. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t just fire. It exploded into a shockwave that rocked the building and sent both of us flying backwards- I wasn¡¯t right next to it so I only tumbled a bit, but Shockfire slammed into the wall.


    The explosion man in front of us was smirking, starting to prepare another charged attack, when suddenly his eyes widened and he started cussing. ¡°Nope nope nope stop I give up!¡± He released the charge and held his hands up high. I couldn¡¯t see what had suddenly caused him to surrender until green goop crawled out around the legs of his pants, climbing up from the puddle on the floor. ¡°Please don''t melt my feet any more.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± came a voice that sounded like someone was speaking through¡­ well, a pile of goo, maybe. ¡°I can choose not to melt your feet, or anything else.¡± Rasmus continued to climb up around him, though. Soon enough he was coated in stuff, and his arms were pulled behind his back by the coating all around him.


    ¡°You can let him go now,¡± our captain stepped out from behind the door. ¡°How¡¯s it going, Bombino?¡±


    ¡°Bleh,¡± said the man who was apparently ¡®Bombino¡¯, as Rasmus pulled away from him. ¡°I thought acid proof shoes and socks would actually do something, but they really did not.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m flexible,¡± Rasmus¡¯ voice came from behind him. Besides looking a little singed, he looked alright. ¡°I assume you¡¯re one of our co-workers?¡±


    The man nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Though I most certainly won¡¯t be on this job. For reasons that I¡¯m certain you will understand.¡±


    ¡°Explosions aren¡¯t good in expensive manors full of people,¡± I offered helpfully.


    ¡°They are very much not,¡± Bombino confirmed. ¡°Which makes me perfect for the role of villain here.¡±


    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s start with evaluations,¡± our captain gathered us around in front of him. ¡°First, communication was adequate. Could have used a bit more in the actual battle, but you called out his location and responded.¡± Ice Guy shrugged, ¡°It won¡¯t always be so easy to pick out the troublemaker, but Acid Man, you did well preventing initial aggression and returning when unexpected. Though you seemed a bit unprepared for him to respond as he did.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s right,¡± Rasmus countered. ¡°I couldn¡¯t have known he would explode, but I was already in acid mode which was my best defensive option.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± our captain nodded. ¡°Though do be aware of other abilities like that in the future. Some of them will damage you quite a bit more than being flung all over.¡± He turned towards our third member. ¡°Now, Shockfire, you were a bit overconfident with your ability to resist that explosion. I understand you aren¡¯t afraid of fire, but there¡¯s sometimes more to abilities than you can pick up with your eyes. In addition to that, since you weren¡¯t sneaking up behind it would have been better to announce your presence. Turlough might have been able to support you with something.¡± His eyes finally turned to me. ¡°And from you, I would have liked to see a faster response. When Acid Man caught his arm there, you could have shocked him, or prepared it at least. Instead, you waited until afterwards. I do appreciate you not just attacking him without confirming he was a danger, but you needed to be ready.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Overall,¡± Ice Guy looked at us, ¡°I¡¯d say that was an adequate performance given the unexpected ability. We have a few more days to drill you on other scenarios, which of course you won¡¯t know until they happen. Just like in the field. Hopefully none of them will actually come up, but if nothing else you¡¯ll be more used to different abilities.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Bombino said. ¡°Can I see a healer now? I¡¯m pretty sure he melted all of the skin off my feet.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°Let¡¯s get you all patched up. And that will teach you to watch your feet, even with fancy shoes.¡±

 Chapter 19

    A wide open ballroom floor was packed with people of all shapes and sizes. Everything was expensive, from the room itself with fancy tapestries and fine wooden tables lining the sides of the room to the clothes everyone wore that would only be used once to their masks which were ostentatious and gaudy.


    Sweeping stairways went up to the second floor, where the host would soon make an appearance. At least, Izzy hoped so. Sometimes Zentha Qitris neglected to show up to her own balls, citing some vision or other. Izzy assumed it was probably just not wanting to see people vomiting on her expensive property. Though the majority of the guests were more careful with the amount of alcohol they were imbibing, there was always at least one.


    Izzy moved back and forth among the people on the dance floor, her movements something that could possibly also be called dancing. Yet for all her grace, she lacked a dance partner or any rhythm. Her movements were just to keep her from being stepped on by everyone moving around, and standing next to tables laden with food she could barely reach wasn¡¯t more appealing. Such were the trials of being a halfling, especially in a place dominated by tall folk.


    Given the nature of the hostess, Izzy had to wonder if she was intentionally not welcomed, or if the diviner¡¯s abilities simply didn¡¯t predict her arrival. If it was the latter, was she so unimportant as to be ignored by magic itself, or had she really gone unnoticed?


    Stupid thoughts like that swam through Izzy¡¯s head as she tried to think what she would say, assuming she actually got a moment of Diviner Qitris¡¯ time. What was she going to say? ¡®Help me find my friend because everyone who might actually be able to point me to him is more interested in what weird phenomenon opened up a portal¡¯? While technically true, that didn¡¯t give much reason for someone so important and busy to help her.


    A number of curious mages had descended on Master Uvithar¡¯s tower after the incident, eager to sniff out secrets. What they¡¯d learned only slightly reduced her concern for Turlough. They knew he wasn¡¯t taken to any of the hells, or the layers of the abyss, or any of the other truly dangerous planes. The problem was, he wasn¡¯t on any of the planes at all as far as they could tell. He was somewhere else entirely, and there didn¡¯t happen to be any spells to get there. Not that anyone planned to try without proper incentive anyway.


    Mages could be extremely curious, but even they knew about curiosity and what that did to cats. They lost a lot of familiars that way.


    Izzy wasn¡¯t sure what she really wanted. A way to check on Turlough, to know he was safe? That was something, but she didn¡¯t want just that. If possible, she wanted to meet him again. Talk to him. Explain why she ran away. That last part would be easier if she knew why. Sometimes, people did stupid things.


    The focus of the crowd couldn¡¯t fail to draw Izzy¡¯s attention. If she couldn¡¯t notice something obvious like that, she wouldn¡¯t have done so well traveling on the road alone. Quick legs and a fast blade would only take you so far.


    Though she could pick out where they were looking, even with her good eyes she couldn¡¯t see it. That was due to the wide rears in the way. Izzy twisted and turned her way through the crowd to find an angle where there weren¡¯t so many tall folk blocking her view. She just managed to sneak a small peek when Zentha Qitris began to speak.


    The diviner looked young, despite Izzy knowing Zentha had been famous before her mother was born. That was the thing about elves. They were able to reach the top shelf and lived a long time, it was completely unfair. Halflings barely got a few extra years in exchange for never being properly accommodated. At least gnomes lived longer and dwarves weren¡¯t nearly as small.


    The diviner was just finishing up her flowery introduction. ¡°... and now what you have all been waiting for. My prediction¡­ for the future.¡±


    A powerful wind swirled through the ballroom, blowing out the candles and winking out the magical sources of light throughout the room, sending it into darkness, except what starlight and moonlight the large windows around the periphery let in. But the light was soon replaced by a myriad of sparkles originating from Zentha. Izzy could see the great power the woman had and found herself suitable impressed. If Turlough were around, he could probably tell her how much was real and how much was just theatrics. Maybe all of it.


    Zentha¡¯s eyes rolled into the back of her head as her whole body glowed. A chill fell over the room, more than just the one of anticipation but magically induced. Not a single sound came from anywhere, not even a breath. Then Zentha¡¯s eyes snapped back forward, and suddenly every candle and magical light relit. ¡°The future I see is full of good omens. Your time of prosperity will continue!¡±


    Things went from deadly silent to far too loud as people clapped and cheered. That was where Izzy knew that none of that fancy magic did anything at all, except appear dramatic. Not a drop of divinatory power involved in a prediction like that. If Izzy didn¡¯t know better she would have just turned to leave, but instead she slipped her way through the crowd and began darting her way up the stairs. That was something being small was good for, and her short legs weren¡¯t a real hindrance with her enhanced speed.


    And her scant size allowed her to slip behind a guard at the top of the stairs unnoticed. Technically she wasn¡¯t not allowed on the second story of the mansion, but nobody was going to let her approach Zentha. To be fair, even if she managed to catch her she would probably just be brushed off, but she had to try.


    This was the location that those who had arranged beforehand would meet with the diviner to get guidance from her. Maybe Izzy could take one of those places¡­ as if a halfling could pass for any of the others here. Masks weren¡¯t much good for disguising yourself when you were three feet tall.


    Zentha walked down a long corridor, and Izzy slipped along after her. Her feet were silent, but at any moment Zentha could turn around and notice her following, regardless of her stealth skills. But she passed by every door until the end, where she turned in. Izzy slipped along behind her, finding a grand office full of magely things. Swirling balls of light entrapped in globes, spinning models of the planes rotating in conjunction with each other, along with mirrors and strange devices Izzy had no context for.


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    The only thing the diviner¡¯s office was missing was Zentha. Izzy didn¡¯t see another way in or out, unless she jumped out the window and closed it. She carefully stepped inside, only to hear the door slam shut behind her.


    ¡°Ah, there you are,¡± Zentha Qitris stood where the door would have hidden her from view. ¡°Care to explain to me why you are here?¡±


    ¡°Well, you see I-¡±


    ¡°And don¡¯t bother with any excuses.¡± Zentha was a tall woman, even for one of the tall folk. Maybe almost six feet in height? Though some of that could have been her shoes. Either way, she was quite intimidating looking down at Izzy. ¡°With a twitch of my fingers I can activate that magic circle at your feet.¡±


    Izzy looked down. How had she forgotten to look down? That was the second thing any good scout learned. After look up. Or at the same time as it, anyway. She looked up, and was slightly relieved to find no additional traps. ¡°Well you see¡­¡± she looked back down at the magic circle, considering how long it would take her to disarm it. Maybe a minute. Maybe half that. Both were well outside the time of a snap. ¡°I need you to find my friend.¡±


    ¡°Have you tried a tracker?¡± Zentha asked, casually walking towards her desk.


    ¡°If he left tracks I would have already found him!¡± Izzy protested.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be so upset Izzy.¡± Zentha sat down at her desk, her eyes burrowing into Izzy. Eyes that, when not covered up in showy magic were piercing and obviously knew too much. ¡°There are more tracks than muddy boot prints and the like. Tell me, have you heard of sympathy?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need sympathy!¡± Izzy unconsciously stomped forward, standing at her full height which just barely let her see over the desk. Later she would realize that the magic circle didn¡¯t actually stop her from just stepping out at it, but at that time she was rather occupied with other thoughts. ¡°I need my friend back!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to assume that you have not, then.¡± Zentha tapped her fingers on the desk. ¡°Magical sympathy is having a connection to someone or something. Tell me, what connection do you have to Turlough?¡±


    Izzy had mentioned neither her own name nor Turlough¡¯s. Those eyes clearly saw too much. And while it was indeed fair to assume that a diviner of Zentha¡¯s caliber could glean such information from her, sometimes things came without the aid of magic. ¡°We were friends,¡± Izzy said, then clenched her fist behind the desk. ¡°We are friends.¡± She hoped.


    ¡°A straightforward connection. Enough, at least, to fulfill the minimum requirements. But what about something more? A painting, a jacket¡­ a lock of hair?¡±


    Izzy quickly fumbled around in her pocket. Master Uvithar had found some of Turlough¡¯s distinctive hair. She finally found the crumpled envelope that kept it contained and placed it on the table. ¡°Here.¡±


    Zentha placed her hand on the little packet of paper, but didn¡¯t open it. ¡°With this, perhaps your request will be possible. However¡­ I don¡¯t work for free. You know how much I would charge for this. You and I also know that you cannot afford it. Especially not for something of this difficulty. Scrying across the boundaries of planes is difficult, but going one step further¡­ I doubt there are more than a handful in the world who can accomplish such a task.¡± Zentha leaned closer, her face almost contacting Izzy¡¯s on the other side of the desk. ¡°You¡¯re going to do something for me.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Izzy asked nervously. ¡°I¡¯ll be quick as I can.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you yet,¡± Zentha said authoritatively. ¡°But you will do it. A promise to work for me in the future. Do not worry¡­ it will be something you can accomplish, and it should not be something against your sensibilities. But you can always refuse later.¡±


    ¡°And if I do, you¡¯ll have already sent people after me to kill me?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°Oh no. That would be much too costly. You would simply never receive my services again,¡± Zentha smiled widely.


    ¡°... Fine,¡± Izzy nodded. ¡°I agree.¡±


    ¡°Good. Now, I must warn you. Despite the connection provided, you may see very little. Possibly nothing at all. If it is the latter, then nothing can be done.¡±


    Izzy nodded, unable to say anything. If Zentha couldn¡¯t give her a glimpse of Turlough, she might actually have to give up. That was¡­ an awful thought.


    Zentha didn¡¯t seem concerned about that, but she hadn¡¯t shown any emotions throughout their interaction. And why would she? Everyone wanted to come to her, to have her look for someone lost or predict their future, and she wasn¡¯t connected to any of it.


    She stood up, walking over to one of the nearby mirrors. It was a full-length mirror. Or by the standards of a halfling, a double-length mirror. ¡°This should do,¡± she said.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to use a crystal ball?¡± Izzy asked.


    Zentha looked over at her. ¡°Have you ever seen a crystal ball?¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­ yes?¡±


    ¡°Have you ever seen anything in it besides distorted shapes?¡± Zentha asked.


    ¡°Well, no¡­ but I¡¯m not a mage or anything.¡±


    ¡°Magic doesn¡¯t do well at overcoming the physical disadvantages of a bad medium. Crystal balls are for those who are traveling and can¡¯t afford to bring something proper with them. Now then,¡± Zentha tore open the envelope and pulled out the strands of hair. She held them out in her hand, then blew on them. They swirled through the air, sinking into the mirror in front of her.


    The light in the room began to fade, but unlike her earlier theatrical performance, everything was focused on the mirror, with the rest being aftereffects. The room darkened, and the mirror reflected only sheer blackness.


    Then Turlough suddenly appeared in front of her.


    Izzy almost reached out to touch him, but stopped for two reasons. First, she wasn¡¯t sure if he would even remember her. She might look more or less the same, but it had been years. Izzy only recognized Turlough because she was expecting him. Instead of being a foot and some taller than her, he was now fully twice her height. The blue jacket and pants covered up the rest of his body except for where the red mask was. Izzy might have said she¡¯d recognized his tusks anywhere, but honestly they were pretty different.


    That hair though, that was something she remembered.


    The other reason she didn¡¯t reach out to touch him was because he wasn¡¯t there. He was standing in some sort of fancy manor, a long corridor stretching out behind him to the side while not much else could be seen. Just Turlough, looking right at Zentha.

 Chapter 20

    A few days of training were enough to get us familiar with the general layout of the manor and the perils involved with people. It also helped us learn why they were still happy having a rookie group like us.


    Rasmus had great control of what he damaged with his acid powers and what he didn¡¯t. That didn¡¯t stop it from being extremely unpleasant to step in a pile of goop or have it pour over you, but he was quite capable of avoiding collateral damage. Maks was different. Spraying fire or lightning everywhere was quite dangerous in a crowd of people we didn¡¯t want injured, but his other abilities were what was prized- his ability to stop such things from going everywhere. In battle he had always immediately counterattacked with what I shot at him, but he could hold onto it for a while.


    As for myself, the Power Brigade was quite aware of my limited ability to cast Force Armor on other people, but I¡¯d shown myself to be capable of carefully selecting targets and came in at the same time as the others, so they didn¡¯t mind having another person handy. Plus, I could haste someone if it became necessary. Who? I had no idea. ¡®Ice Guy¡¯ was the captain for the mission, and while we were training I thought of something important. Haste could make people and things faster, but there were limits.


    Obviously not limits on actual speed. At least not any practical ones, given the Shockwave incident. I could multiply the speed of anyone. The important limits were what could be done with haste. Faster movement and faster mental processing allowed for many things, but there was a limit on myself that was a problem. How quickly I could make use of mana. While hasted, I would likely still be able to shoot firebolts more quickly than normal- there was always a moment of hesitation between shots, of aiming, repositioning, and the like.


    With Haste I could constantly be making use of my mana¡­ which would of course mean that I would burn through my whole reserves in less than a minute- not counting the fact that about a third would be required to activate Haste. But the important part was it technically didn¡¯t let me cast spells faster than I could without. I figured the same might apply to powers, and found that I was correct.


    Maximum power output remained the same, but just like myself not everyone could make practical use of their power at maximum output. So it was still a benefit, but it was much better for those whose powers didn¡¯t involve energy manipulation. For example, Rasmus would turn into a very fast pool of acid, but the rate at which he melted things stayed the same. Useful, but not as overwhelming in its effectiveness as on others. Thus, it was most effective for one of the other supers working with us- ¡®Knives¡¯.


    Her power, of course, was to form knives out of energy. What kind of energy? I had no idea. It was just energy. Red energy, though a sort of calm one rather than a bloody one. Until she stabbed someone. Regardless, though she could form them and throw them as projectiles- which would still be limited by her speed of drawing on that energy- if she were to use them as melee weapons where they remained solid once formed she could be very effective. So if things came to a battle, my second priority after avoiding immediate harm to myself and surrounding party guests was to find and boost her.


    The final member of our group would be Magnet Man. He had the ability to control metal. And he was very vocal about the fact that it had nothing to do with magnetism. But hey, we didn¡¯t get to pick our names. His job was to mess with any guns or most other weapons people decided to bring against us.


    That is¡­  if anything actually happened. Because while this was a fancy party with rich people who were hiring mercenary supers for security, they weren¡¯t expecting anything. Ice Guy assured me that it was unlikely there would be any incidents beyond overly drunk people. That was how I knew there would be trouble. But this time I wasn¡¯t going to start it, unless I had a good reason.


    -----


    After an hour, I learned that parties were boring. During the training simulations, it had never taken an hour for some incident or other to happen. It was usually in the first ten minutes, though we were never sure exactly when something would be happening. We had to stay vigilant.


    And I was. But boy, was it boring to stand in a guard position for over an hour, and I could barely even see the dance floor from where I was. I was on the second floor, over towards one of the wings with a hallway off to my right. A few people occasionally came up and walked either way to one of the balconies, but they mostly remained down with the main party. Where all of the food was.


    My stomach growled slightly. Standing guard made me hungry. Or boredom. Or whatever. I idly listened to whatever conversations passed me by. There wasn¡¯t really anything interesting, and I only heard like half of it as Translation was constantly adapting to new languages. There was a lot about stocks, though I doubted all of these people owned warehouses. Though I wouldn¡¯t doubt many of them were merchants of some sort, with all the fancy clothes they wore.


    Most people ignored me. A few people stopped to look over my setup, my deep blue jacket and practical pants. It wasn¡¯t the most standout super costume in the world, but I also imagined they were looking at my green skin and tusks. Some of them commented on it, though in this place I wasn¡¯t that crazy of an anomaly. While most of the people at this particular party were human or humanish, there were a few who stood out much more than me. Extra arms were seen on a few people, and one guest seemed to be mostly tentacles bundled up into a fancy suit, a few tentacles each forming something akin to arms and legs.


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    Since arriving in New Bay, I¡¯d felt many different sorts of energy from various supers and things. Everything felt different, but they all tingled my senses. It wasn¡¯t the same as sensing magic, and because of that I was immediately thrown off guard when I felt magic that wasn¡¯t my own appear in front of me. Yet there was nothing there.


    For a second I thought I was being oversensitive, because while I certainly felt it the feeling was faint. The kind of thing I could have completely ignored back in Granbold. But as my eyes locked onto it, I was certain. It was magic. Much too small to be someone invisible- though perhaps that was simply because most of the magic would be hidden. Without active effort on my own part- probably including magic- I shouldn¡¯t be able to sense any spell people would bother making invisible.


    As I was considering learning the very magic in question to get a better bead on things, I heard someone talking from the hallway behind me. At first I didn¡¯t register anything, until the word ¡®guards¡¯ caught hold of my brain.


    ¡°Yeah boss. They won¡¯t be a problem.¡± I was very aware that the person was not speaking English, the majority language in New Bay. That would explain why he would speak this close to me, so freely. ¡°Yeah, six of them. We have eyes on them and their comm channel in our ears. They don¡¯t suspect anything, and they¡¯ll never know we were here.¡± There was a short pause. ¡°Yeah, I know, I got it. Red dress, fancy handbag. We¡¯ll get the stuff.¡±


    What a conundrum. They were listening to our comms? I could still communicate some basic ideas with codewords, but if they were smart they might guess we figured them out. And if I was being watched, maybe by magic, I couldn¡¯t just sneak off to give someone a signal manually.


    I considered the circumstances, and my priorities. For all I knew, this could just be some handoff of illegal crap. Drugs, weapons, whatever. If that was what this was, disrupting the party for it might be a problem. But the fact that they were listening in on comms indicated it was something they thought we¡¯d care about. Since I couldn¡¯t just disappear, I had to make an excuse.


    I started shifting in my position, wandering back and forth. I nearly bumped into the man who had been talking as he walked out of the hallway to my side, but he moved past without a word. Mid-tone skin and short dark hair with a plain domino meant he had basically no discerning features, and that would make him hard to track down. But I couldn¡¯t just follow after him either. I paced back and forth a few times before speaking into my comm unit. ¡°This is Mage. Requesting temporary replacement at position five for a bio break.¡±


    Technically, as long as I told them I was going to use the restroom, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Nobody wanted distracted guards, and I wasn¡¯t anywhere super important. But with our comms theoretically overheard, it seemed like a request I could get past. ¡°Copy that Mage,¡± our captain responded. ¡°Shockfire, relieve Mage at position five.¡± I avoided breathing a sigh of relief. If he¡¯d simply said a replacement was unnecessary, pushing for it would have been suspicious. There was still the matter of being watched though. Could they only see me, or could they hear me too?


    I could no longer sense the magical effect. I hadn¡¯t noticed it fade away, but now I was concerned I¡¯d lost my best invisible lead. And the man who had been in the hallway was already moving down the stairs to disappear into the crowd.


    Not long after I saw Shockfire making his way over, and I decided I had to do something. I broke away from my post as he approached and smiled, holding my hand out real quick. He instinctively held out his own hand, and I grabbed it. ¡°Hey thanks man,¡± I said loudly. ¡°Appreciate it.¡± I made to move around him without letting go right away, performing an extremely awkward maneuver that left me near his ear for a moment. ¡°Comms are compromised,¡± I whispered. I knew the proper code for that and said it just to confirm, but I wasn¡¯t sure if Shockfire had memorized it yet. It wasn¡¯t a priority in our training.


    Then I headed past him, towards the bathroom. The good thing about big fancy parties with free alcohol was people were always heading towards the bathroom. I stood out like a sore thumb, of course. Just because people had crazy masks on didn¡¯t mean that my primary color look fit in smoothly with them. As I walked along I picked out my next spell. I was thinking it would be good to have anyway, and I had the free points and the need for it now.


    I stepped into the bathroom just behind one of the party goers, and was fortunate to find it empty except for him. What I was about to do might cause some suspicion, but I took stock of the man¡¯s height and build, as well as of course what he was wearing. I only had a moment before he stepped into a stall, and I fixed that image into my mind. I walked up to the sink and began to wash my hands, not that I needed to but to get a realistic time frame. Then I cast Disguise. In the mirror was a perfect replica of the man.


    At least, as far as I could remember. That was the weakness of such a spell, but it would provide the minimum amount of suspicion at first. I hadn¡¯t sensed anyone following me, so it was quite possible I wasn¡¯t being watched at all right now. If I was, someone might find it odd that two people who looked very much the same walked out of the bathroom, but that was just how things would have to be.


    I dried my hands and stepped back out the door, walking into the crowd. I was looking for the captain, Ice Guy, though Knives or Magnet Man would have been fine too. I could go up to any of them and give a code phrase. They might find it odd, but my voice would sound the same. And the message that comms were compromised and something was afoot would ring true whether or not they believed it was me- because if I was a fake, then it was simply proof. However, before I saw any of them or even Acid Man, I saw a very fancy red dress and ostentatious bag on the other side of the room.


    I quickly began to make my way across the dance floor as I scanned for the man I¡¯d seen earlier and more of my allies. I really hoped this wasn¡¯t a big deal, but treating it like nothing when it might be would have been a silly mistake. And I was never content to just stand around doing nothing anyway. This was fun. And if I kept the trouble to a minimum, things would be fine.

 Chapter 21

    It was possible my sweep of the dance floor for allies wasn¡¯t very good, but I didn¡¯t see anyone I could quickly stop by and talk to. Maybe Shockfire had managed to get in contact with the others, or maybe they were simply at different positions than I expected. Either way, I had seen the woman that seemed to be the target. Even with my Disguise spell going I would be missed soon if the intruders had watched me enter the bathroom in person. If they were using the magic I had sensed then I was fairly certain it wasn¡¯t constantly active. Though I had the feeling the two things were unconnected.


    I followed after the woman in the red dress, who I barely spotted walking outside. It was quite possible there were others of the same description, but I didn¡¯t have much to work off. As I made my way out the door into the gardens after the woman, I saw a tasteful arrangement of hedges, fountains, and flowers. I also saw the rest of New Bay, off in the distance, buildings sticking high into the sky.


    Until I came here, I had the idea of New Bay and Earth as one monolithic city with skyscrapers everywhere. It wasn¡¯t entirely wrong, but at least as one approached the hills to the east the size of buildings reduced to more familiar sized homes. However, it was quite apparent that most of them were expensive- even if they weren¡¯t atop the hills like the one we were guarding.


    A quick scan of the gardens found my target. I was slightly relieved that the woman in the red dress had a fancy handbag, but once again that was insufficient description to guarantee she was the right target. There were very few others outside in the gardens, though it was certainly not empty. I watched the woman as casually as I could, with a few hedges in between us. She was pacing back and forth, wringing her hands. She looked nervous for some reason. Did she know she was a target?


    There was also the possibility that she was working with the group, though if they were going to the trouble to do some sort of dealing at this fancy party that they would go to such efforts to keep out of the eyes of the guards, I imagined it was something we didn¡¯t want to let go through. If nothing else, the Power Brigade would rather not encourage letting people eavesdrop on our comms.


    ¡°Oriol!¡± A voice called out as I was trying to decide whether or not to approach the woman. Then a hand touched my shoulder. ¡°Oriol!¡±


    I was surprised when I turned towards an unfamiliar elderly gentleman calling me an unfamiliar name. The dimmer lighting outside might have hidden my facial expression, but it certainly wouldn¡¯t hide the way I jumped and stepped back. I hoped the man hadn¡¯t noticed that my shoulder was at the wrong height. If I was lucky, he would have been drinking and not at full mental capacity.


    ¡°It is you Oriol. You alright? You look a bit pale.¡±


    ¡°I-¡± my voice croaked, unsure what the man would sound like. So I exaggerated. ¡°I¡¯m honestly not feeling so great. Came straight here from the bathroom.¡± I continued to hope my expression wasn¡¯t fully clear, and that my strange voice would be written off somehow.


    Fortunately, the old man was kindly enough. ¡°Oh, feeling sick? Should probably head straight home then. Wouldn¡¯t want to embarrass yourself.¡±


    I grunted noncommittally. ¡°Maybe I should.¡±


    The man raised the glass of wine in his other hand, ¡°I¡¯ll drink to your health. And you should see to it properly yourself.¡± He took a sip, and after a few awkward moments turned to leave.


    Somehow I¡¯d gotten through that without major issue, though he would likely be suspicious if he ran into the real Oriol inside. I turned back towards the woman, just in time to see I was too late.


    The man I¡¯d seen earlier in the hallway was casually striding up to her. From my angle I had a great view as his right arm turned ghostly and translucent, sweeping through the woman¡¯s handbag. I thought his eyes glowed for a moment as well, but his back was to me. His hand came away with a small cube with various wires sticking off of it. Very smoothly he slipped his hand into his outside suit pocket by his waist.


    Then he simply continued walking, while the woman still looked nervous. I thought she glanced over at him, but I couldn¡¯t read anything from it. Her eyes didn¡¯t linger, but it could have been from either real or feigned disinterest. Either way, she didn¡¯t react as the man walked away.


    I had several theoretical choices of action. I knew the situation required a delicate hand¡­ but I didn¡¯t have one of those. So instead of trying something complicated, I went with the thing I knew I had the tools for.


    I started walking quickly, casting Mage¡¯s Reach and sending it ahead of me. Anyone who looked would know something abnormal was happening, but as long as nobody yelled to alert the man in the next couple of seconds things would be fine.


    As he was doubtless trying to avoid suspicion, the man strolled casually- allowing me to approach closer. Though Mage¡¯s Reach could go well beyond my current thirty foot distance my precision would drop. Either way, I had to see what I was doing so I couldn¡¯t let him get too far.


    I wasn¡¯t fully confident in what I was doing, so I decided to add extra juice. I couldn¡¯t empower my spell directly, but I could empower myself which Mage¡¯s Reach reflected. I gathered a significant quantity of mana to cast my most expensive spell, Haste. Five mana was nearly a third of my total, and with Mage¡¯s Reach I would be using almost half for just this one maneuver. If I was the proper level for my age I¡¯d have significantly more, but because of my Aspect I was still behind, even though I¡¯d been growing quickly lately.


    From my perspective, everything else slowed down. The man¡¯s footsteps were suddenly at a much slower rate, while my own pace continued as normal. I was ready to perform basically the same maneuver he had, except despite the look of Mage¡¯s Reach it was fully solid and couldn¡¯t pull things through other objects. I moved my real arm to direct the hand, sinking it into the pocket. Without tactile feedback I had to widen my hand for a large scoop into the pocket, hoping I grasped onto whatever was there as I tightened my hand.


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    As the hand pulled out I saw the small cube with wires dangling snugly held, and I began to pull it towards me. However, the man was already reacting at that point. Though I was yanking the hand away as quickly as I could, I found that the hand wasn¡¯t moving particularly faster than normal. It was a separate magical effect, so the only practical thing I had contributed to it was faster mental processing.


    That saved me, as while the man was whipping around with his arm outstretched I pulled the hand up over his movement. Before he¡¯d even gone past I could see his eyes lock on the target and his movements refocus. He was quick, certainly, but not quick enough. He might be able to grab the hand if I tried to keep avoiding him, but I simply activated another spell.


    The time it took to gather the single point of mana was actually excruciating. He almost got in contact with the object before it disappeared into nothing. Instead he grabbed onto the hand. But it held nothing, because it had gone into Storage. I could only take things I was touching that nobody else was, but Mage¡¯s Reach was me touching people. That was its primary purpose, as a manifestation of myself beyond myself.


    I didn¡¯t particularly care if he grabbed the hand, but if I¡¯d known what he was going to do next I might have tried harder to pull it away. His other hand grabbed onto it and his fingers all went ghostly¡­ then they tore it apart.


    With no physical feedback it didn¡¯t hurt, but I was stunned for a moment. It wasn¡¯t so easy to destroy, but I supposed it made sense that his ghostly powers worked especially well on a semi-real hand. His eyes locked with mine. Even if I hadn¡¯t had my arm outstretched in an obvious manner, he would likely have figured it out. I could sense different energies than the mana I used myself, and other ¡®supers¡¯ probably had some amount of that, depending on their power.


    He began running towards me, and I began gathering mana. I wanted to be ready for when I needed it. I didn¡¯t want to make the mistake of assuming my relative sense of time would give me accurate results in how quickly I could gather mana. That was one of the limitations of Haste.


    I considered what I should do. Firebolt to the chest¡­ seemed like it could be considered excessive, if he were a semi-legitimate guest. Shocking Grasp would be good, but I couldn¡¯t reach him with that before he got to me. That left literally one spell in my arsenal besides what I had already used.


    More of the man became ghostly as he ran at me, his upper body now providing a nice view of what was behind him. However, his legs still looked normal. That was excellent for what I intended.


    It felt like an eternity for him to run the short distance between us, but in real time it probably took only a few seconds instead of ten. As he was on his last few steps, I released the magic to create Grease beneath his feet. The magically slick black substance coated the ground, sending him tumbling forward.


    The bad news was that my knee aimed at his gut simply passed through him, but I saw his hands turn real as he caught himself on the ground. With haste boosting my speed and processing it was easy to finish my turn and stomp on his ankle. He reacted almost instantly, turning his ankle a ghostly translucent blue. Even so, I knew there would be some damage.


    He shoved himself off the ground to his feet, fist swinging towards me. I took note that it turned ghostly as it was moving, but it didn¡¯t change my reaction. I kicked towards the same foot as before, because it had reformed into solidity. My kick and his punch connected at the same time¡­ and then he was cussing wildly and rolling around on the ground. A broken fist and ankle would do that.


    I hadn¡¯t been certain about the interaction of Force Armor and his power, but I made some assumptions after the fact. It was actually very close to what real ghosts did. It just so happened that invisible armor made purely out of magic was a perfect counter for it. If his punch had been beyond that of a normal human he might have shattered it, but since it was more or less normal it was similar to punching a steel plate.


    All around us I heard other party guests reacting. It had only been a skirmish lasting less than ten seconds, but it wasn¡¯t exactly subtle. Haste gave me more time to prepare my words¡­ but also made it harder to actually speak.


    ¡°You won¡¯t get away with theft at this event,¡± I stated as I stood over the man. His response felt slow, but at least it indicated I¡¯d managed a vaguely understandable sentence.


    ¡°What theft?¡± The man sounded properly indignant. ¡°I¡¯m a guest here! The Power Brigade won¡¯t let you get away with this!¡±


    ¡°But I-¡± I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be glad to hear your side of it later.¡± At the moment he was fully physical- probably an issue of concentrating through the pain, or possibly an attempt to look like he wasn¡¯t a criminal super.


    There were some important things that separated super powered mercenaries from superheroes. Heroes had to watch out for precise procedures and maintaining their image as a proper hero. Mercenaries¡­ had to stick within certain laws. But there was a lot of leeway for how someone was captured. I thrust my hand downward and used a half-powered shocking grasp. There was a pretty good chance the man was going to stand up and run away if he got the chance, and he could cause a lot of trouble if he did that.


    Instead I left him twitching on the ground. He was honestly an opponent that should have been tougher to deal with. An excellent power and ability to use it, and clearly significant training. Unfortunately for him I had just the right defense for his ability, and Haste to make me faster- though not as much faster than I would have liked.


    I swiveled my head to look over everyone watching. My eyes locked on the woman in the red dress. ¡°Check your bag, lady,¡± I said as slowly as I could. Her eyes widened and she looked inside it immediately. While she was doing so, I saw Knives step outside. ¡°Ah, there you-¡±


    I dodged to the side as a series of reddish blades flew towards me. They¡¯d all been aimed towards non-immediately-lethal locations like my arms and legs or lower torso- but they were fast and accurate. I only dodged properly because of Haste. Speaking of which, it was about half run dry.


    Not finding myself in a proper position to explain what was happening, I ducked behind a hedge and started crouch-running at top speed, keeping myself out of sight. Knives still flew through the hedge in quick succession, but fortunately the ones that got close I mostly avoided. One or two scraped against my Mage Armor, and I wondered if I should just surrender.


    But then I made it around the corner of the building, which blissfully had nobody in sight. I dropped my active magic, feeling the wave of vertigo from Haste ending as well as the tingle from my Disguise dropping. Keeping Haste might have been nice, but I couldn¡¯t properly talk that way. Then I turned and shouted- before I rounded the corner. ¡°Stop! Power Brigade!¡± Then a moment later I stepped out from behind the corner. Immediately several blades of energy pressed against me¡­ firmly. ¡°Oh hey Knives.¡± I grinned my widest, tuskiest grin, then said a proper codeword to confirm my identity as my eyes turned towards the fallen man.


    //End Chapter 21

 Chapter 22

    ¡°Sorry I got here late, Knives. I¡¯m not sure if you heard, but the canary stopped singing.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what a canary was. Translation could only do so much, and if I didn¡¯t know what the thing was I didn¡¯t know. But I did know that it was code for comms being compromised here. It was pretty obviously a code word, but maybe people wouldn¡¯t know what it was.


    Knives looked at me closely before lowering her blades. ¡°Just got here huh? I suppose you didn¡¯t see what happened?¡±


    ¡°Just that guy fleeing past. I tried to stop him, but he was moving fast. I¡¯m sure we can look into that later, when we get time.¡± I looked around pointedly at the guests standing around, with more stepping out from the hall behind Knives. ¡°I suppose we should report this.¡± Code words were limited, but I tried to convey that there should be more. I just didn¡¯t know how we might find them.


    Knives nodded. Knowing comms were compromised was one thing- but if an incident became obvious and wasn¡¯t reported that would be more suspicious. ¡°This is Knives. There¡¯s been a minor incident outside, looks like some sort of altercation between two powered guests.¡±


    As she called that in, I walked over towards the fallen man. As I approached, the woman in the red dress who still looked profoundly uncomfortable moved closer as well. ¡°Um, excuse me sir. The man who just fled said something about this man being a thief. And I just checked my bag and found something was missing.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked as if I didn¡¯t know. ¡°What was it?¡±


    ¡°It was an experimental phasmotron amplifier,¡± the woman stated. I didn¡¯t have to fake looking confused. ¡°It¡¯s like a box about this size,¡± she gestured with two fingers, ¡°It has some wires sticking out of it.¡±


    I bent down and rifled through the man¡¯s pockets. I didn¡¯t find much besides a wallet with probably fake ID, but one of the last places I checked was the pocket he¡¯d had the device in. I reached my hand in and pulled it out. Of course, it hadn¡¯t been there before I reached my hand in, and if anyone had been watching the whole incident they might have noticed the discrepancy. But the device disappearing from a floating ghostly hand might have gone back to the pocket of the man with ghostly powers rather than the other guy. That was how I would suggest we spin things, if anyone asked.


    Once people outside the Power Brigade started keeping track of my powers they might figure it out, but the fight had been quick. It had only been a couple seconds before I stored the device, and someone would have to have been looking directly at the situation as it happened. Which wasn¡¯t entirely impossible, of course, but I was currently trying to smooth things out as I could.


    ¡°Is this it?¡± I held up the device.


    ¡°It is!¡± the woman nodded enthusiastically. ¡°I didn¡¯t think anyone would just try to snatch it off me. So if I could, um¡­¡± she seemed to have noticed I wasn¡¯t moving forward to hand it to her. ¡°If you could return it?¡±


    If it were up to me, I would turn it over right away. I knew it came from her to begin with, and I didn¡¯t see why she would bother faking it being stolen instead of just handing it over. If it had been such a covert exchange, they would have been able to watch out for third parties snooping nearby.


    However, my rank in the Power Brigade was just a recruit. I wasn¡¯t going to make that decision on my own, and there were some suspicious details. I looked over my shoulder towards Knives, who was finished with her quick report over the comms.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to hold onto it as evidence, but we¡¯ll return it as soon as possible if it¡¯s really yours,¡± Knives said. ¡°Speaking of evidence, Mage, cuff him.¡± She held out a pair of handcuffs which had been hanging from her belt. I technically had a set too, but mine were in storage and this didn¡¯t seem like the time to display my extradimensional storage capabilities.


    I put the unconscious man¡¯s arms behind his back, cuffing them. ¡°I heard from some of those watching that he had a sort of ghostly power. Not sure if these will hold him.¡±


    ¡°Already accounted for,¡± Knives said. ¡°Those are the good cuffs.¡±


    They looked just like mine¡­ but I would take her word for it.


    ¡°Umm¡­¡± the woman stood nervously with her fingers together, ¡°That device has a lot of proprietary and patented features. So I should warn you that if the Power Brigade tries to reverse engineer it my lawyers will sue your pants off.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know if that was a legitimate warning or a threat, but it didn¡¯t matter to me. ¡°Noted,¡± Knives responded without any change in expression. ¡°In relation to your ownership of this device, we¡¯ll have to call you in for questioning later.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± the woman nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about what happened, but I¡¯ll help if I can.¡±


    ¡°That should make everything easier for both of us,¡± Knives smiled slightly.


    I saw a figure in blue approaching, and stood to my feet quickly. ¡°Captain!¡± I inclined my head, ¡°Knives has secured the situation. I¡¯m ready to make a full report when convenient.¡±


    Ice Guy looked between the two of us and nodded. Knives still looked a bit unsure, but I was quite confident. ¡°Glad to hear it,¡± he said. ¡°Hopefully this won¡¯t disrupt the rest of the guests too much.¡±


    -----


    Once we were alone, I gave a proper report to the Power Brigade, including my learning and use of the Disguise spell. Everyone split up to look for more people, but with nothing to go off of we didn¡¯t find anyone. In truth, the party pretty quickly fell apart after the incident. It was already late, and all the rich fancy pants were concerned about their safety.


    Ice Guy sighed after everyone had gone home. We¡¯d gotten back on the topic of my new spell. ¡°Someday we¡¯re going to have to get a complete list of everything you can learn.¡±


    ¡°That seems¡­ impractical,¡± I commented.


    ¡°Why would it be?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just that the list is too long. I think the list of things I can¡¯t ever learn might be shorter.¡±


    ¡°And what would those things be?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Mostly proper healing and resurrections and priestly stuff like that.¡± I shrugged, ¡°Though there might be a lot of things I don¡¯t know that can be done at all.¡±


    ¡°And you can do pretty much anything else?¡± Ice Guy asked.


    ¡°With training I can learn many things,¡± I nodded. ¡°Though there are restrictions on how I use things. I don¡¯t manipulate energy like Shockfire, so I can¡¯t suddenly make a lightning bolt just because I have Shocking Grasp.¡± I could learn to make a lightning bolt, but that was different.


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    ¡°Seems like you¡¯re just a grab bag of powers,¡± Ice Guy commented. ¡°Hmm, that might not have been a bad hero name. Which is probably why nobody thought of it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Grab Bag,¡± he said.


    ¡°... I like Mage just fine.¡±


    Ice Guy laughed, ¡°Have to admit it¡¯s better than my name. Hoping to get promoted so I have a chance for a rename. Otherwise the paperwork is a pain.¡±


    ¡°Anyway,¡± I tried to steer us back to the report. ¡°I acted as I thought would be most effective. I think things worked out pretty well.¡±


    ¡°Little collateral damage, at least,¡± he nodded. ¡°Not sure if it¡¯s better for it to look like we let someone escape or attacked one of our own members, but at least now anyone working with you might avoid that mistake again. Though it might make some people hesitant. Some people don¡¯t get along well with shapechangers.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not really shape changing really. Just an illusion.¡± I shrugged, ¡°But also my voice is still the same.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to be careful with who you look like. That stuff makes people uncomfortable.¡±


    ¡°Good to know,¡± I nodded.


    -----


    Overall I thought my first job went pretty well. Nobody yelled at me for screwing things up, nobody died, we caught the one bad guy we managed to identify. The only thing I personally thought could have gone better is if we had found the guy¡¯s accomplices. But he was being held for interrogation which probably involved all sorts of powers to find information. Surely it would come up with something more.


    My life went back to a routine of training every day in more standard ways. No more fancy replicas of the mansion, but instead empty concrete rooms. Fortified concrete, but it was basically the same.


    There was something missing though. Even if it had only been a few times, my walk home was missing an important detail. There wasn¡¯t a particular black cat anywhere to be seen. That should have been good news, since it probably meant he was up and about, running freely and doing cat things. But having seen cat buddy very few times, mostly in a state of nearly starving, I somewhat doubted his ability to fend for himself.


    The last time we met I¡¯d brought him to my apartment, given him food and water¡­ only for him to run away at the earliest opportunity. I hadn¡¯t seen him in nearly a week now, and I wondered if he would be alright.


    ¡°What wrong?¡± I sat in the cafeteria as normal, with Khithae. She was learning English, and since I was the only person convenient who could speak her language she usually practiced with me at breakfast and dinner. ¡°Think about job? Did good. No problem.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Just thinking about the cat.¡±


    ¡°Black cat?¡± she said. ¡°Ate tuna. Not seen?¡±


    ¡°Not since last week.¡±


    Khithae nodded, her wide lizardy head exaggerating the movement. She switched back to her native language for the sake of clearer communication. ¡°It has been a week since you saw him? He is not around the alleys you met him before?¡±


    ¡°I even waited around yesterday evening, but I didn¡¯t see him,¡± I switched languages as well, though it wasn¡¯t a fully conscious process. ¡°He might just be somewhere else, but I¡¯m worried.¡±


    ¡°You should go look for him. Today is the end of the week, so you are free, yes?¡±


    ¡°...Yeah?¡± I thought about it and nodded. I usually just showed up to train on weekends anyway, but I didn¡¯t have to. And of course, ¡®usually¡¯ was just ¡®the two weekends I¡¯d been employed by the Power Brigade¡¯. Making use of my abilities was fun, and experience was experience. I might reach level 14 soon! But I also couldn¡¯t spend all my time training. ¡°I guess I¡¯m free to go look for him, though I don¡¯t know where to start.¡±


    ¡°I will come with you,¡± Khithae declared. ¡°If that is acceptable?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind,¡± I responded, ¡°But why? You don¡¯t need to come with me.¡±


    ¡°I am bored,¡± she answered simply. ¡°There is not much entertainment in this world for someone who does not speak any of the languages. And I am tired of watching ¡®television¡¯ that I hardly understand.¡±


    ¡°A fair point,¡± I said. I hadn¡¯t gotten much into television and the like, but that was because there was so much reading about the world to be done and reading was faster than watching videos most of the time. It was also much more familiar. ¡°I don¡¯t know where to start though.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps at the alley you found him. Then we can branch out from there.¡± Khithae poured the rest of the contents of her bowl into her mouth. She crunched down on the contents that I was pretty sure weren¡¯t cereal, which was a thing people ate for breakfast here for some reason. I tried it, but it hurt my mouth and was extremely sweet. But people ate all sorts of different things that weren¡¯t to everyone¡¯s taste.


    After breakfast the lizard woman and I got ready for a day walking around the city. It was a bit chilly, so we were dressed in long pants and light jackets. It seemed New Bay never got truly cold, but it was still uncomfortable to go around in the short sleeved t-shirts.


    It was a decent walk to the alleyway, but besides garbage both properly and improperly placed we didn¡¯t find anything. I did dip my head into the dumpster in case cat buddy ended up in a corner, but I didn¡¯t see or hear anything. ¡°Cat buddy~¡± I called out but didn¡¯t hear anything in response.


    Khithae snickered, or at least a sound I had come to understand was the same from her. ¡°You think he¡¯ll answer if you call like that?¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°How should I know? But I have to try something.¡± I looked around. ¡°I really don¡¯t know where to go next.¡±


    We wandered around for a while, looking down alleyways and the like. There was never anything of note, and we never went deep because it might be hard to find our way back out. The city could be a maze. It was hard to find your way around when tall buildings blocked your vision from every direction.


    That was why it was a surprise to find a large patch of trees and grass as we rounded a corner. A park. ¡°Do you think he might be there?¡± I asked. ¡°Parks often have water. I hope he found water.¡±


    ¡°We should at least look,¡± Khithae nodded. ¡°But even if we can¡¯t find him, I bet he¡¯s alright after your help.¡±


    ¡°I hope so,¡± I said. We began to walk along the path, because it was the easiest way to move and it seemed to snake through the whole park. We would be able to see most of it, at least.


    ¡°Really, you again? Are you following me?¡±


    I turned to look at Khithae. ¡°What? We¡¯re walking together.¡±


    ¡°What what?¡± she asked in return. ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything.¡± I frowned and tilted my head. Well, it actually hadn¡¯t sounded like her. But there was nobody else around. ¡°Actually I thought I heard-¡±


    ¡°Silly lizard. You may see me, but you¡¯ll never catch me up this tree!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s that meow again,¡± Khithae said. ¡°I think I see him up in that tree!¡± It only took her about two seconds to pull off her boots and leave her feet bare, and then she was halfway up the tree before I could even see where she had pointed.


    ¡°Back, foul beast! I shall not be food for you or the green one!¡± I finally managed to pick out where the voice was coming from. Weirdly enough, it seemed to be a black cat that was currently scurrying further up a branch. ¡°These thin branches will not hold your weight! If you attempt to climb them you will hurt yourself but I will merely jump to safety!¡±


    ¡°Aww, I can¡¯t get to him Turlough. He¡¯s too far,¡± Khithae was all the way up the main trunk and leaning on one of the branches. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it will snap if I try.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what he said too.¡± I squinted my eyes and frowned. Then I looked directly at him. ¡°Cat buddy?¡± I asked. ¡°Since when can you talk?¡±


    ¡°I have always been able to talk, green one. Also¡­ what is a cat, and how do you speak my language?¡±


    Those were all good questions, none of which I had the answers for. Because I thought I knew what a cat was, but if cat buddy wasn¡¯t a cat, then I apparently didn¡¯t know. And I shouldn¡¯t be able to talk to him anyway.

 Chapter 23

    It was strange to hear a cat talking as if speaking a language. People who did not know my magic like I did might have found it natural that Translation would allow me to speak to a cat, but it was not. There was another spell specifically for animals, as they did not have a language of their own.


    In short, I had determined cat buddy wasn¡¯t a cat. ¡°You should probably come down from there,¡± I said to the black not-cat on the end of the branch above me.


    ¡°Why? Just to be food for you or the lizard? Or worse, a Bunvorixian!¡±


    ¡°Why would we eat you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because you¡¯re barbarians who allow fiends such as that to roam your world! What else should I expect?¡± The black cat gestured with a paw towards something, while Khithae just looked at me confused.


    ¡°Turlough, why are you just meowing a lot?¡± My brain jolted for a second upon swapping languages, but I still ultimately understood her words. ¡°Are you going to help get the cat down?¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure he¡¯s not a cat,¡± I said to her. When I was consciously thinking about it I could tell which language I was speaking, and Translation made use of whatever I knew my intended recipient spoke. Convenient, but it needed to be as a repeated expenditure of mana every couple hours. ¡°Probably an alien or something.¡± My eyes traced where cat buddy had ¡®pointed¡¯, then I looked back to him. ¡°That¡¯s a dog.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what you call Bunvorixians, but I recognize one when I see one.¡±


    ¡°Same with me and cats,¡± I said, ¡°But you¡¯re not a cat. So how does a Bunvorixian act?¡± I was willing to entertain the possibility that the dog was also an alien. It wasn¡¯t entirely impossible. But I was also aware that dogs were just a native thing on Earth, as they were in Granbold.


    ¡°They are vicious predators who tear apart anything they can get their hands on,¡± cat buddy explained. Technically I could say the same thing about cats, but he probably didn¡¯t want to hear that. ¡°They are cunning and subversive. A proud race that would like nothing more than to wipe out Celmoth in its entirety.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back,¡± I said. Then I walked over towards the dog¡¯s owner, who was currently throwing a stick. He was a man with mid tone skin that appeared to be a few years older than me. The dog brought the stick back and ran circles around him. ¡°Excuse me, can I pet your dog?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± the man nodded, ¡°Though he likes chasing a stick more.¡±


    I bent down near the big, fluffy yellow dog with a stick sticking out of his mouth on both sides. I wasn¡¯t actually all that familiar with dogs, but I¡¯d seen some people with them recently. As I got close and scratched behind his ears the dog leaned on me. ¡°Hello¡­ boy?¡±


    ¡°Girl, actually.¡±


    ¡°Hello girl. You¡¯re a good girl, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    The dog rubbed her head against my leg, whining, then dropped the stick onto my feet. Getting the message, I picked it up and threw it over the grass. A blur of yellow fur darted off and then quickly returned. As I concentrated on this dog, I would be able to pick out if it was actually speaking anything or just making dog noises.


    That was the same for cat buddy technically, but most of the time I hadn¡¯t actually been trying to talk to or understand him. It just so happened I had enough exposure now when we met again, though perhaps when I¡¯d spoken to him before it had already begun to translate for me.


    My conclusion didn¡¯t take long to reach. If this yellow fuzzy creature was a Bunvorixian it was an extremely good actor. But I was willing to bet quite a bit it was just a normal dog. I returned to cat buddy¡¯s tree where Khithae was still waiting with her arms outstretched, trying to coax the cat to come to her.


    ¡°I think I can handle this,¡± I said to her. Then I turned to cat buddy up in the tree. ¡°I don¡¯t know if any Bunvoraxians are here on Earth, but I can say for certain that thing over there is just a dog. A normal animal that is simply enthusiastic. So you can come down now.¡±


    ¡°I could,¡± the black furred not-cat responded. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to.¡± He might have been convincing if his stomach didn¡¯t growl at that exact moment.


    ¡°How long have you been up in that tree?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I have been lounging here for the majority of a lazy afternoon,¡± cat buddy said.


    So trapped in a tree for a few days, probably. He would be pretty thirsty along with his stomach growling. ¡°I¡¯m going to get you down now,¡± I said.


    ¡°Ha! As if you could even reach me,¡± he said.


    If it was reach¡­ I had it. I wouldn¡¯t need it for long, though. I reduced the amount of mana going into Mage¡¯s Reach, concentrating on reducing the duration. If I just used less mana I couldn¡¯t be sure what ways it would be less effective. I¡¯d never tried reducing anything but duration on it, actually, because that seemed like it would be a mistake.


    First one hand then a second appeared, semi-real hands with a glow that was too faint to make out in the sunlight. I slowly moved both of them towards a very shocked not-cat, who seemed confused about where he should move. I tucked my thumbs in up behind his front legs and lifted.


    ¡°What sorcery is this?¡± cat buddy meowed. ¡°Unhand me!¡±


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    ¡°It¡¯s just regular magic,¡± I said as I carefully set him down on the ground. ¡°Nothing special.¡± I took a good look at him, ¡°Want to go get some food?¡±


    ¡°I can fend for myself!¡± cat buddy said as he dashed off, right towards the dog. The dog quite happily tried to play with its newest friend, moving to stand over cat buddy and nudging him with her nose. Cat buddy was toppled over and started slowly flailing his legs. ¡°Unhand me, villain! I will not go down without a fight!¡±


    Though his claws were outstretched, there was no power behind his limbs as they gently batted against the dog¡¯s nose. ¡°Maxie! Come!¡± her owner called. ¡°Leave it alone!¡±


    The dog¡¯s withdrawal signaled a shallow victory for cat buddy, though he was slow to realize it. I had already walked over to him by the time he stopped flailing. ¡°Hey, cat buddy, I never got your name.¡±


    The black not-cat slowly rolled to his feet. ¡°My name is Midnight Deathstalker.¡±


    ¡°Midnight? That¡¯s a good name, with that nice black fur,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°It¡¯s not about my fur!¡± I could see cat buddy¡¯s face scrunch up. ¡°It¡¯s my preferred hour to hunt!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it is,¡± I said as I slowly hooked my arm under his belly. From what I¡¯d seen, this guy had probably never hunted in his life. ¡°Did you like that stuff I fed you before? The hot dogs? The tube of meat.¡±


    ¡°Was that Bunvorixian meat?¡± Midnight looked confused.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s not made out of dog either,¡± I said. ¡°Cows, I think.¡±


    ¡°It was alright,¡± he said, ¡°But the thing in the metal bowl was of a quality more suited to my refined palate.¡±


    So he liked the hot dog but preferred canned tuna. Good to know.


    As I walked back past Khithae, I introduced us. ¡°Oh, this is Midnight by the way. Midnight, this is Khithae. And I¡¯m Turlough.¡±


    ¡°K-¡± Midnight almost coughed, ¡°T-¡± he spread his mouth wide as he tried to say them. ¡°Yes, well, I have no need for names for the lizard and the green one.¡± I¡¯m pretty sure that was him saying he couldn¡¯t pronounce our names. That made sense. I was making weird meow noises, but that was with magic.


    ¡°Midnight is it?¡± Khithae began to stroke from his head down his back. ¡°You¡¯re a real troublemaker you know?¡±


    I didn¡¯t bother to interpret that. I just watched as his eyes slowly drifted closed in bliss. Though he protested halfheartedly. ¡°I¡­ derive¡­ no great pleasure from such actions¡­ it is meaningless.¡±


    If he¡¯d actually said to stop, I would have told Khithae to respect his opinion. But Midnight might have realized that as well. Me holding him under my arm was non-negotiable until I got some food in him, however. Couldn¡¯t have him scurrying off hungry and thirsty.


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Khithae poked me in the shoulder. ¡°Were those hands your power?¡± she asked.


    ¡°My power? Oh yes, those were magic. I suppose I haven¡¯t shown you any yet.¡± She knew I worked for the Power Brigade, but the nature of my ¡®power¡¯ simply hadn¡¯t come up. I hadn¡¯t thought to talk about it, and Khithae had sort of gone along with the general idea that asking about someone¡¯s powers could be considered rude. That was still weird to me, since the potential capabilities of every class were fairly well known in my world. Not that I was just going to hand out my full spell list to just anyone. ¡°The ability to speak your language is magic too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a weird combination of powers,¡± Khithae commented. ¡°Though I suppose it¡¯s kind of like a mental thing? Telekinesis and telepathy.¡±


    I could do those things too, though I think she meant the general effects rather than the names of specific spells. ¡°Well, I have a wide variety of abilities,¡± I half-explained. ¡°So much that it¡¯s hard to summarize what I do.¡±


    ¡°And thus it¡¯s just ¡®magic¡¯,¡± Khithae nodded. ¡°Do you have a cool name? Like Master of the Many Hands? Mind Drainer? Archmage of the Seven Towers?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be honest,¡± I said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if more than three or four people who work for the Power Brigade have ¡®cool names¡¯. I¡¯m just ¡®Mage¡¯.¡± I was aware that some people were leery of letting their ¡®true¡¯ identities and names be known. And if I knew of any magic that worked off of birth names, I might be concerned about it as well. But I was from somewhere that didn¡¯t hide such things.


    Some people hid some things of course. A necromancer who was raising an army of the undead for some nefarious purpose would usually try to prevent people from knowing who they were so they didn¡¯t get killed, but they might still let it be known they were a mage if they went to a city. That would depend on how paranoid they were, of course.


    As for myself, I saw no reason to hide too much from a friend, even one who was only my friend through the coincidence of living nearby and eating meals at similar times.


    As we went to get Midnight something to eat, my thoughts drifted to him. He seemed quite incapable of taking care of himself. Now that I knew he wasn¡¯t a cat but a sapient being¡­ my opinion of him barely changed on that front. It just changed from ¡®helpless animal¡¯ to something else. Maybe something like a kid who couldn¡¯t take care of himself? I had no way to determine how old Midnight was without asking, and no reference for that even if I knew, but if nothing else he seemed to be someone who¡¯d never had to work for his food. How he ended up on Earth was a question I doubted I would get an easy answer to, though I would ask soon.


    ¡°Midnight,¡± I began. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can both agree that you don¡¯t like being hungry.¡± I didn¡¯t wait for a response of any sort, because there was no point in letting him protest that. ¡°Clearly this area isn¡¯t much good for hunting,¡± that was a lie just to make him more willing to listen. There were tons of rats and mice in the city, and I saw many birds in the park. He should probably be able to eat those, even if he wasn¡¯t actually a cat. ¡°I¡¯d be willing to offer you a supply of food when you need it in exchange for some occasional work. Though to try that, I¡¯d have to try a special thing to keep us in communication.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. What would make you think I¡¯d want to stay in communication with you, green one?¡± Though he protested, I could tell he was thinking over it. ¡°I do not know what this ¡®thing¡¯ is, but I have found myself bored as of late. I shall let you make the attempt.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s just one more thing. It¡¯s a sort of magic bond. It won¡¯t last if you don¡¯t want it to, but it will let me know some things about you.¡±


    ¡°Green ones are capable of cross-species bonds?¡± Midnight asked curiously. ¡°Now I am curious.¡±


    ¡°Well, don¡¯t get too excited,¡± I said. ¡°It might not work.¡± Actually, it probably wouldn¡¯t work. Midnight wasn¡¯t a cat. But I had enough points left to try something, and if it didn¡¯t work I could just get an actual animal as a familiar. It would be useful for some things.


    I spend the points to get Familiar Bond, then the mana to activate it. I felt a small string snap tight between myself and Midnight. I had no idea if that meant it worked or not, because it was something that took time to grow strong. Maybe it would just break apart once it found that he was incompatible. But I really hoped it would work, because cat buddy really needed someone to keep an eye on him.

 Chapter 24

    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 13


    Experience: 512


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +1


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation


    Haste


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond


    Remaining Points: 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I was still level 13, though not far from the 525 experience required to reach level 14. Those extra points were kept as reserves for emergencies- a slight increase in efficiency of one of my other abilities wouldn¡¯t be worth all that much. Though I did have thoughts about spending more points in translation to ease the mana costs. It would also make it able to switch to unfamiliar languages faster, and improve my learning of those languages.


    I was fairly certain I could speak English without Translation now, but it wouldn¡¯t be well. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could ever speak Midnight¡¯s language without magic. I simply didn¡¯t have the vocal chords for that, though if Familiar Bond worked¡­ I shouldn¡¯t need to speak the language.


    But for the moment I was going to continue using Translation. Every few hours it took three points of mana, which meant it was significantly hampering my mana regeneration during the day- about twenty percent- but my bigger problem was still capacity. That came with levels, though, and I was doing my best to get them. I just needed to fight more.


    Before any of that, I had to deal with cat buddy. Midnight was¡­ not a cat. That was easy enough to determine by finding any other cat and trying to speak with them. I imagined a detailed investigation of Midnight would also reveal features that were different, but I didn¡¯t know what I would be looking for even if he would let me.


    The important thing was he wasn¡¯t really capable of independent action. In short, he could barely find food and water, and had little success eating out of the trash. Taking care of another person was within my capabilities given how well I was being paid. Even the training time with Power Brigade was a decent wage, and the job had netted me a thousand dollars for a few hours of work. I was under the impression that was a significant amount of money, though I would find myself with less available funds once I was paying for my own living arrangements. It was still within the first month of staying in Extra¡¯s housing, but it was meant to be temporary. Since I had work, I would either begin to be charged reasonable rent or have to move.


    I thought I might move closer to work, but I had weeks to make the decision- or I could stay another month or two in my place. I didn¡¯t really have anything stopping me from moving, though. My only possessions were some clothes and some books and papers which generally were in Storage.


    I looked around the small apartment. It was pretty basic, just a bedroom, a bathroom, and a small kitchen. It wasn¡¯t large, but even the bedroom was larger than my room in the tower. Towers weren¡¯t known for having a lot of space, but so many things in New Bay showed me I had been wrong. The buildings here were on a scale I couldn¡¯t imagine without magic supporting the structure, but they were apparently very stable.


    The addition of Midnight didn¡¯t really change the amount of space the apartment had. He was cat sized after all. ¡°What do you need?¡± I asked him. I had looked up things cats might need. ¡°Do you need a bed?¡±


    ¡°There is room on yours, and I find it quite comfortable,¡± Midnight commented.


    The information I had found indicated that pets tended to sleep next to comfortable beds about half of the time anyway. ¡°Okay, there are bowls for food and water on the counter¡­¡± I looked at the list, ¡°Do you need a litterbox?¡±


    ¡°What is that?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°A¡­ trash box? Is there not one of those right here?¡± Midnight gestured towards the garbage can.


    ¡°It¡¯s for¡­ pooping in.¡±


    ¡°Do you not have something for that in that room over there?¡± he gestured.


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s not really made for you though. But if you can use it¡­¡±


    ¡°I am capable of operating human devices,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It will not be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Great. I¡¯ll be back later. Anything else¡­? If you want to go out, I could crack open a window or something.¡±


    ¡°I can use the door. Though I may not be able to get back in.¡±


    So he could operate doors on his own. At least, if they opened outward. I imagined pulling would be¡­ difficult. He was still just cat sized after all.


    ¡°Okay, that should be it then. I¡¯m off to work,¡± I waved and began to walk towards the door.


    ¡°Turlough,¡± Midnight said calmly. ¡°Before you go, I could use your help with something.¡±


    I looked back at him, sitting on top of the fridge. ¡°What do you need?¡±


    ¡°... Can you help me down? I am not fond of descending from high places.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you get on top of the fridge?¡±


    ¡°I needed to see if anything was up here,¡± he flicked his eyes away. ¡°It appears there was not.¡±


    I could have used magic, but it was much easier to just reach up and lift him down. ¡°It¡¯s not much further from the fridge to the counter than from the counter to the floor,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°It is an entire multiplier of my height more,¡± Midnight said. ¡°On that matter¡­ can you arrange for something about halfway to the floor?¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­ sure,¡± I said. I looked around, but didn¡¯t have anything immediately. Then I saw a drawer. It was still empty- I had no idea what was supposed to go in it- so I pulled it out halfway. ¡°There, would that work?¡±


    Midnight nodded from where I had set him on the floor. ¡°That should suffice, thank you.¡±


    Given our initial interactions, I had expected him to be more standoffish. However, helping him a few times had apparently made him more comfortable with me. And there was the matter of Familiar Bond. I felt the connection, still growing stronger. Even though he wasn¡¯t an animal. I wasn¡¯t sure why it would work, because it should only work on animals. It wouldn¡¯t even work on magical beasts. On the other hand, mages from back home hadn¡¯t exactly gotten to test on aliens of any sort. Well, it should only be beneficial to both of us so I wasn¡¯t concerned about it. I¡¯d only tried it because he looked like a cat and really needed help.


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    -----


    Training at the Power Brigade always began with a morning run, as well as some other exercises. As I went around the track, I saw a familiar figure. Then I saw them again, and again. Each time, the blue figure briefly became visible as they looked right into my eyes. It was a reminder of what would be coming later.


    Once I finished my morning exercise, I found Shockwave standing outside dancing back and forth from foot to foot, a motion I could only make out because of the way the repeating images came to my brain. ¡°Hey Turlough.¡± The androgynous figure was suddenly standing in front of me. ¡°We¡¯re all signed up for an official training session. I¡¯ve got a room. And ear protection!¡±


    We made our way down to B6, where I found the room was heavily modified. Specifically, there were strange pyramids lining the circular walls and on the ceiling too. ¡°What is this?¡± I asked.


    Meztli was there to answer my question. There were other trainers at the Power Brigade, but she worked full time in that job and was familiar with both of us. ¡°Sound dampening,¡± Meztli explained. ¡°It makes the waves reverberate in a random direction instead of directly back towards the center of the room. It might have been fine since the room is circular anyway, but¡­ in the worst case it builds up in the center disastrously.¡±


    Meztli held up three pairs of what I presumed were the ear protection, a device that went over the head and covered the ears. She walked into the room to the only other feature besides round emptiness and the sound-scattering walls- a large, clear wall.


    ¡°This is reinforced plastic. It should take sonic booms fairly well, and we¡¯ll be able to watch. Shockwave,¡± Meztli looked sternly at our very excited third companion. ¡°You¡¯ll be able to go as fast as you want, but if there are any problems you need to stop. You won¡¯t be able to hear us, so the signal will be visual.¡± She held up a clenched fist. ¡°I¡¯ll just extend my thumb like this. That means stop, so make sure to look every time you pass. It should be pretty clear when I¡¯m starting the signal, so if you see me halfway, please just stop- or if you notice any problems on your own.¡± Meztli pursed her lips. ¡°Will turning be a problem?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°I did the nineties in the gym just like normal. A nice curve should be fine.¡±


    ¡°Ah yes¡­ the gym.¡± Meztli looked up at the light fixtures far overhead, which I now saw had some reinforcements on them. ¡°If the lights go out, please stop. Don¡¯t want you to plow into a wall at supersonic speeds.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry I¡¯d¡­ probably be fine.¡± Shockwave frowned at that. ¡°Right?¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°I feel like that would be bad.¡±


    ¡°Right but my power lets me impact things at speed without injuring myself too much. So with your magic on top of that¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it helps,¡± I answered honestly. ¡°It just makes you faster. I¡¯m pretty sure people can still hurt themselves with the extra speed.¡±


    ¡°... right, I¡¯ll be careful then.¡±


    We all put on our ear muffs, then I reached around the edge of the thick plastic wall to Shockwave. Firm physical contact was the best way to use Haste. Apparently it could work at a distance, but targeting spells like that could actually be trickier than people thought, unless there was some kind of magical connection to work through.


    The instant I finished casting Haste, I pulled my arm back and stepped away. I saw Shockwave walk in little nervous circles, just looking like a blur. But after that, when I was safely behind the wall, I no longer saw a blur. My eyes basically couldn¡¯t process anything except splotches of light as Shockwave passed in front of us, as well as a feeling of pressure.


    Even with the ear muffs it was loud, and I felt the room trembling. The wall in front of us was holding firm, however, and the only damage I saw was a few small cracks in the concrete walls. Meztli was paying special attention to some spots, however.


    It was a strange experience, but it was over in about a minute. I could suddenly comprehend Shockwave¡¯s movement again, and the figure ran another lap around the room before stopping in front of us. I could tell Haste had faded away, but I looked to Meztli to make sure it was okay to take off the ear muffs.


    ¡°Well,¡± Meztli said. ¡°That was interesting.¡±


    Shockwave was grinning widely. ¡°That was awesome! How fast was I going?¡±


    Meztli looked up to where there was a high observation window. I saw someone up there behind some glass, gesturing.


    ¡°Oh,¡± she laughed, ¡°Of course. Blew out the mics and speakers, so they can¡¯t contact us. We should go take a look.¡±


    Shockwave was out the door in an instant, though moving slowly enough to not create a sonic boom nor their regular level of disruption around them. A few seconds later, though, they were back. ¡°Almost eight hundred,¡± Shockwave commented. ¡°Just a bit faster than sound. Should have pushed a little harder, was only a couple MPH short¡­¡±


    I eyed the points sitting in my status screen. A few percent would certainly shoot us over that barrier¡­ but I decided against it. I would certainly upgrade it later- for the mana efficiency if nothing else- but this wasn¡¯t something important to do now.


    ¡°So turning was fine?¡± Meztli asked.


    ¡°Same as with just my power. I think it increases the friction accordingly?¡± Shockwave looked at me, as if I would know.


    ¡°Friction?¡± I felt like I should know what that meant, but Translation must have been missing the right word in my head to fill me in there.


    They both looked at me surprised, but Meztli explained. ¡°It¡¯s the force of two things rubbing together, that stops things from sliding.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± I shrugged, ¡°I guess it must do that. It¡¯s not really something that was studied, since it basically just works fine. Grease specifically makes things slippery, so it just does the opposite. But that¡¯s the effect it¡¯s intended for, while Haste is just for¡­ going faster.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that, while the results are impressive, using it on Shockwave produces¡­ problematic effects.¡± Meztli looked at them. ¡°We can¡¯t exactly have you running through the city like that.¡±


    ¡°I can slow down,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°Honest!¡±


    ¡°Would you?¡± Meztli said.


    ¡°I could easily go twice my normal speed without breaking the sound barrier. Cmon, think of what I could do!¡±


    ¡°Be that as it may, even your normal shockwaves could damage many things at that increased speed.¡± Meztli looked sternly at Shockwave, ¡°Can you actually control whether you surpass the sound barrier?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely!¡± Shockwave nodded enthusiastically. ¡°I can feel it as I approach. Like a light pressure.¡±


    ¡°Something easy to miss,¡± Meztli said, ¡°And you wouldn¡¯t be able to hear the damage behind you as you shattered windows and overturned cars.¡±


    ¡°Come on! Please! Pleeease!¡± Shockwave was on their hands and knees, hands begging. ¡°I need to go fast!¡±


    ¡°I could make it weaker,¡± I said. ¡°Just put less mana into it, and reduce the effect.¡±


    Shockwave was holding my hand, squeezing tightly- but it was clear that grip strength wasn¡¯t their forte. ¡°How much more juice can you put in? How fast can you make me go?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t make it better,¡± I half lied. ¡°The standard amount of mana is the limit of what I can use. I can only use less.¡± That part was all true. I didn¡¯t want to explain that weakness to people, even if I trusted them, but I didn¡¯t want to make Shockwave hopeful for nothing either.


    Of course, having an upper limit on power wouldn¡¯t matter if I got to the point I had powerful enough spells. High level people might withstand Shocking Grasp all day, but very few people could take a Disintegrate and survive. I would assume that was the same here, though it would be more related to power than level.


    Still, I had looked into powers. I had reason to believe there were plenty who could take an attack that would turn a ten-foot-cube of stone to dust. Well, some. Not that I could think about using that anytime soon. I would have to level up to even consider buying it, and then I could cast it¡­ once. It also didn¡¯t even come close to the level of non-lethal or non-destructive that we wanted. I wasn¡¯t going to be able to pay for it if I took a chunk out of a building which would probably collapse the whole thing.


    Shockwave looked disappointed that they weren¡¯t going to get to go faster. ¡°Well, at least I should be able to break eight hundred on a straightaway. Want to go to Utah, Turlough?¡±


    ¡°I think you should save any plans of that sort for later, Shockwave,¡± Meztli reminded. ¡°You might get a chance to do it on official business, to measure the cap on your speed, but you¡¯ll either have to schedule some days off or wait.¡±


    Shockwave sighed. ¡°Fiiiine.¡± They looked around. ¡°So you can do that again right? Lemme do it again. This time I¡¯ll stay below the sound barrier so you know I can be responsible with my power.¡±


    In short, Shockwave wanted to be allowed to use this power in an actual field situation.


    ¡°We can try that,¡± Meztli said. ¡°And if Turlough has enough, we¡¯ll also see where you end up when he reduces the mana.¡±


    ¡°I could do one more at full power, and two at about half,¡± I said.


    Shockwave grinned widely. I had to admit it was fun for me too, and even Meztli seemed to enjoy the process as long as we weren¡¯t breaking things. Except for a few speakers and mics that couldn¡¯t handle sonic booms.

 Chapter 25

    Three figures sat wrapped in shadow. ¡°Today we come here to discuss matters of great import. As you both know-¡± there was a thud on the table in front of them, ¡°Dammit are these lights still out?¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± came another voice. *Click* ¡°Sorry, the movement activation is fried, but they work just fine.¡±


    The three figures in the room were revealed. The one with the stern grumpy face who had begun the meeting was an older man with specks of gray in his dark beard. The second was a middle aged woman dressed in the same sort of suit as the other two, while a younger man with olive skin was walking back to his seat after having flicked the switch.


    ¡°Right,¡± said the older man. ¡°As I was saying¡­ actually, why are there only three of us here?¡±


    The younger man answered that quickly, ¡°Well, two are on vacation. Swiss Arms never shows up for anything, and Captain Punch was injured in that whole moleman thing.¡±


    The older man sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how we¡¯re supposed to make decisions with less than half of us here.¡±


    The younger man shrugged, ¡°We¡¯ll simply have to give the reports a once over and summarize them. Not to bias your opinions, but I think there¡¯s not much we can do besides share the information.¡±


    ¡°Hit us with it,¡± the older man said.


    The younger man flicked something on his tablet, causing it to be projected onto the screen. ¡°This is a video of an incident several weeks ago.¡±


    A surprisingly crisp image of rows and rows of shelves and boxes filled the screen. A pair of workers moved through the area, with automated counterparts in deeper sections.


    ¡°Is that Mage?¡± the woman asked.


    ¡°Correct,¡± the man said, ¡°Though not the focus of this, I¡¯ll get to that later.¡±


    The image changed to another camera, where a handful of men armed with guns burst through a door. A woman with several animalistic heads and an equally excessive number of arms was pulled through the door after them, struggling. They tossed her to the ground and shot her twice.


    The scene flipped back to Turlough for a moment, talking with the other warehouse worker who was hiding up against the shelves. Then the battle happened, with Turlough harassing the intruders from behind shelves, with return fire damaging several boxes and also himself. The woman working with him charged someone at the last moment, helping to take out the final couple of enemies.


    The video sped forward as they tried to deal with their wounds followed by calling in the incident, and retrieving the guns from the fallen men. With no way to restrain them on hand, the unconscious men were left as they were. Then the video zoomed in on a small section, where one man stood up, half limping away. He found his way to a small box in the rear of the warehouse and took it with him.


    ¡°This warehouse wasn¡¯t deemed in need of significant security,¡± the younger man said as he continued his presentation. ¡°For the most part, the goods inside were of little value. However, this group of basically armed thugs beelined directly for the one thing that should have been kept safe.¡±


    ¡°What was it?¡± the older man asked.


    ¡°A scanner,¡± the younger man answered.


    ¡°A scanner?¡± the woman raised an eyebrow. ¡°Like, a piece of medical equipment?¡±


    ¡°Not quite. This was meant to see something not normally covered. And frankly, impossible.¡± The younger man shrugged, ¡°It didn¡¯t even work, because it was missing some key pieces of technology.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± the older man asked.


    ¡°Like a Phasmotron Amplifier,¡± the younger man said, pulling up another video.


    Before the video started playing, the older man interrupted. ¡°Sorry, not all of us have Tech powers like you Calculator. What¡¯s a Phasmotron Amplifier?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a tech power,¡± the young man said. ¡°I just think fast. As for a Phasmotron Amplifier¡­ as a piece of Super Tech, if I were to try to explain it, anyone with a degree in any engineering field would agree that it can¡¯t work by any known laws. But of course, things do.¡± Calculator gestured towards the video and had it play.


    The video paused on a zoomed in shot of a man pulling a box with wires sticking out of it through a woman¡¯s bag. A few moments later there was a scuffle as someone immediately pulled it off of that man, after which it disappeared from the floating hand that had taken it.


    The video fast forwarded.


    ¡°Is that Turlough?¡± the woman asked.


    ¡°Indeed, and so was the man who retrieved the device before. If you look carefully here,¡± Calculator gestured to Turlough bending over the fallen man, ¡°There¡¯s no lump in the man¡¯s pocket, yet he pulls it out. Since we already saw it disappear, he has to have used his Storage power to retrieve it.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?¡± the woman asked. ¡°Is Turlough part of a conspiracy of some sort?¡±


    ¡°I am over ninety percent certain he is not,¡± the young man said. ¡°Among other things, he secured the device. He also immediately reported on his new ability to disguise himself as he was in that battle.¡± He fiddled with his tablet for a moment. ¡°And there¡¯s this.¡± The image showed a zoomed-in image of a man¡¯s face, with worming red marks in the shape of a hand. ¡°This is the primary perpetrator in the first incident, and his face was perfectly normal before he came to the warehouse. This indicates a very real attempt to take him down. More importantly, Turlough didn¡¯t request to be in either of these locations. Plus the woman at the party, Masha Yakolev, properly confirmed the tech we retrieved was hers.¡±


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    ¡°Good,¡± said the older man. ¡°Seems like a crisis was averted then. Without that part, they can¡¯t make that scanner work.¡±


    ¡°About that,¡± Calculator bit his lip. ¡°There was an attack on the lab where Masha had been developing the Phasmotron Amplifier. The blueprints were stolen. They¡¯d take a tech super to decipher, but that¡¯s just a matter of time.¡±


    Another image popped up on screen. It was of a man with a mask, but some of his cheek and ear were visible. The portion of the scars that could be seen, a dull red compared to the brilliant red they had been when fresh, matched the patterns of the wounds of the man in the warehouse.


    Calculator let the information sink in for a few moments. ¡°Given the security on that lab, and the improved quality of the group infiltrating, it¡¯s likely this man isn¡¯t working alone. They had the resources to pull off two simultaneous jobs, either of which could have gotten them what they wanted. Now, it¡¯s better that they didn¡¯t get the functioning Phasmotron Amplifier, but it¡¯s only a matter of time before they get one working.¡±


    ¡°And then they¡¯ll have¡­ a scanner?¡± the woman asked.


    ¡°My apologies,¡± Calculator inclined his head. ¡°I left out the most important piece of information. It¡¯s not just any scanner. It was a power scanner.¡± He looked between the two others present and could tell they didn¡¯t get the implications with just that. ¡°The tech super who made it said it would pick out the powers and weaknesses of anyone in only a few moments. Not everyone believed him, and he died with it incomplete- and nobody else believed it would work.¡± Calculator shook his head, ¡°And if we were the sort to believe that given these circumstances, the Power Brigade would never have made it this far.¡±


    -----


    I looked down at a small device in my hand. It was a cell phone. A smart one, if the information was accurate. So far I had been getting by with a ¡®landline¡¯. It seemed that a hardwired communication device was an oddity, but Extra was used to having displaced individuals staying in their apartment complex who wouldn¡¯t have certain basic necessities.


    I understood the value of the phone. It was not only capable of calls, but was a small, portable computer. It was difficult to input information on, the ¡®keyboard¡¯ having the same random arrangement of letters as the others I had seen but much smaller. Even so, it saved me the time of going to a nearby building to access the internet and the information therein.


    At the current moment, I was wondering how I would keep it safe. During training I would not need to have it on me, but if I wanted to communicate elsewhere I would need it with me. We were given communication devices while on a job, but I was thinking about everyday use.


    I hadn¡¯t been in a battle outside of training in a while, except for on the job, but I knew it was quite possible. Maybe it didn¡¯t matter, since it would be protected by my own Force Armor if I kept it in a pocket, but I often used Shocking Grasp which would interact very poorly with it. I should be able to avoid damaging anything on my person, but I really didn¡¯t want to find out and lose a big chunk of my income. I would quickly earn more, but that didn¡¯t mean I should be careless.


    ¡°Okay,¡± I called upon some mana and the phone disappeared from my hand. I picked up my landline and dialed the number that should call my phone. I almost instantly got a message about the number not being available. I pulled the phone out of storage and tried again, and it worked just fine.


    I hadn¡¯t really expected it to work extradimensionally, but it would have been conveniently safe. I would just have to be careful with it.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Midnight asked from nearby, flicking his tail.


    ¡°I¡¯m testing if I could keep my cell phone in storage. It doesn¡¯t seem to work there though.¡±


    ¡°That device?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°It is for communication, is it not?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°Could I contact you with it?¡±


    ¡°If you can operate this phone here,¡± I gestured to the table. ¡°The buttons aren¡¯t exactly made for paws.¡±


    ¡°Teach me how to use it.¡±


    So I did. Midnight was surprisingly dextrous. Or rather, it wasn¡¯t strange that a catlike person was dexterous, but rather that he was able to press individual buttons. He did so through careful tilting of his paw, after carefully picking the phone up off of the hook with both paws and laying it next to him. ¡°Hello Turlough. Do you understand me?¡± He stood with his head about halfway in between the ends of the phone. It was clearly made for a human sized head.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty quiet, and low quality,¡± I admitted. ¡°But I hear you.¡±


    ¡°Very good. I require more food in my bowl. When it is convenient.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± I pulled some cans out of the drawer. Midnight was certainly a cat, with a sort of prideful arrogance, but with the Familiar Bond between us we shared certain feelings. He was hungry, so it was easy to empathize and immediately rectify that just as I would do myself. He also understood that I didn¡¯t have to have helped him at all, and he was finally willing to ask when he needed things.


    ¡°I wish I had hands,¡± Midnight muttered. ¡°There is only so much one can carry in their mouth.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I said thoughtfully. Even if he could manipulate door handles and the like, it was harder than for a human. ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    ¡°What are you thinking, Turlough?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°It seems serious.¡±


    ¡°I was just trying to figure out if you could use Storage without my mana. I don¡¯t mind a couple times per day, but even a cheap spell like that adds up pretty quick.¡±


    ¡°I am not a mage, Turlough. Even if I had your mana, I could not cast a spell.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t work? Have you tried it?¡±


    ¡°I do not understand what you think I should have tried,¡± Midnight admitted.


    ¡°Magic?¡± I questioned. ¡°I guess I didn¡¯t mention that part. I suppose I should check if it works.¡± I gathered a bit of mana, focusing on myself, and on the connection to Midnight. Force Armor formed around both of us. ¡°Yep, works just as it should.¡±


    Midnight bristled. ¡°What was that sensation? It is completely unfamiliar.¡±


    ¡°I can affect both of us with magic,¡± I said. ¡°Most things anyway. And I can use you as a conduit for spells. I¡¯m pretty sure there have been recorded instances of familiars using spells independently as well, so you should be able to.¡±


    ¡°How would one do that?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Do I simply step on this can of tuna and wish to store it?¡± His paw pressed down on a small can, and then he suddenly lost his footing as it disappeared. ¡°Ah! Sorcery!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s magic,¡± I corrected. Something felt strange when he did it, though I couldn¡¯t quite place it. Then again, it was new.


    ¡°So if I wished for the can of tuna to return¡­¡± Midnight muttered. He concentrated for a moment, then it appeared in front of him again. He jumped in surprise as it fell onto the kitchen counter. Then he poked it with his nose and stored it again.


    ¡°Midnight, you should probably-¡±


    ¡°This is amazing, Turlough! I¡¯m doing magic!¡± he returned the can, then stored it a third time. ¡°Haha, look at that. It¡¯s¡­ gone again¡­¡± his eyes slowly drifted over to me. ¡°Turlough,¡± he said. ¡°Magic is tiring.¡± Then he collapsed onto the counter.

 Chapter 26

    Though I knew many people were knowledgeable about cats, I was not one of them. I might technically be second most informed about Celmoth, but my knowledge didn¡¯t extend all that much beyond the fact that they weren¡¯t cats. But when Cat Buddy collapsed onto the counter, I wasn¡¯t suddenly worried that he had a horrible illness that would kill him. I¡¯d seen this kind of thing before, and the connection from Familiar Bond would have helped regardless.


    It was pretty simple really. He¡¯d passed out from mana exhaustion. The question was why. The first thing I knew led to a second thing that pretty much settled it. First, he hadn¡¯t been using my mana. I would have felt it as it happened, and I would certainly be able to detect about a quarter of my mana being gone. If he hadn¡¯t been using my mana, the only option was that he used his own mana. He passed out after using Storage five times, which was¡­ exactly what one would expect from someone at level 0.


    Passing out from mana exhaustion wasn¡¯t great, but it ultimately wasn¡¯t harmful if you didn¡¯t hit your head on something on the way down. Midnight was just laying there on the counter, but I could tell he was otherwise fine, though my feedback from him while he was unconscious was limited.


    I crossed my arms and began to think. At this point, I really wished I had studied familiars more. For someone who couldn¡¯t get experience from it my amount of study had been more than most people would have done, but it was focused on certain areas. Like combat spells, which I would use to actually level up. I still knew the important parts of Familiar Bond though.


    <ol>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Certain spells could be cast through a familiar, extending their reach or allowing for sneak attacks.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Casting spells through a familiar cost the mage¡¯s mana.</li>


    <li style="font-weight: 400">Familiar Bond only worked on animals.</li>


    </ol>


    Upon reflection, it was possible that I only knew one thing about familiars. The other pieces of information were looking rather incorrect. The question was why. I doubted anyone was intentionally hiding this information, though it was possible. The more logical explanation was I had either been reading knowledge passed down that nobody bothered to doubt¡­ or something was different about Midnight.


    If Familiar Bond only worked on things in the shapes of animals, I had the feeling that drunk mages would have accidentally stumbled upon some interesting effects when someone was polymorphed. Maybe someone did, and then was too embarrassed to tell anyone. But I had the feeling it was more likely to do with Midnight in particular.


    I focused on my memory. Sometimes it was important for mages to remember precise wording, so I¡¯d trained my memory to be pretty good. It had only been a few days ago. What had Midnight said exactly? ¡°Green ones are capable of cross-species bonds? Now I am curious.¡±


    That was it. Not surprise that I could create a bond, but that it worked cross-species. What that meant was¡­ any of a huge number of things, and from my current data they would all involve wild speculation. The easy answer would be to ask Midnight when he woke up in about ten minutes. If I was right, he was level 0 and had no mana. It wasn¡¯t strange for him to pass out at a quarter of a mana remaining. Or¡­ a tenth? It took him less than a minute to use Storage five times, after all. I didn¡¯t know if he got my mana efficiency from spells. I assumed that, but I didn¡¯t know it. Some spells had quirks that I didn¡¯t know all about.


    I looked at the clock. I had to go to work soon. Well, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem to take him with me, and it would let him sleep for a bit longer.


    -----


    The person who gave me a ride looked a bit confused at me having a passed out cat with me, but didn¡¯t bother me as we started to go. When we reached the other end and Midnight woke up, he appeared more confused when I started to talk to Midnight. But he didn¡¯t say anything as I paid and got out.


    ¡°So basically,¡± I said. ¡°Since you were using your own mana, you ran into mana exhaustion. Fortunately with your reserves being small you easily return to a reasonable threshold for comfort.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So why am I here?¡±


    ¡°Because I had to go to work, and I didn¡¯t want to just leave you passed out on the counter and disappear,¡± I said. ¡°Besides, you could possibly help me with work. Though I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯d be okay with getting into combat situations, I¡¯m sure they¡¯d still like to see your utility here.¡±


    Midnight flicked his tail as we walked into the building. ¡°What would that involve?¡±


    ¡°Magical practice, mostly. You could see what else we could do with the bond, specifically using my mana.¡±


    ¡°That sounds fun,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Are combat abilities important in this world?¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°More than mine. Probably somewhere around average.¡±


    As we stepped through the door, Midnight followed me through the scanner on the left. The one for members of the Power Brigade. I wasn¡¯t sure what the scanner was for but that was what they wanted me to walk through.


    Oh, I¡¯d looked up metal detectors. Some of the other scanners at least had components that were metal detectors, but as far as I was aware there wasn¡¯t anything I wasn¡¯t allowed to bring into the Power Brigade. Guns, for example, were perfectly fine. If I had a gun, and a license. I currently had neither, but the point stood.


    ¡°Cat¡¯s with you?¡± the guard asked.


    I nodded, and she shrugged.


    We stepped into a waiting elevator- there were several, and there was usually one on the ground floor at this time of day. I didn¡¯t see anyone else looking to go down, so I swiped my badge and pressed the button for B7. Every day had to start with a bit of basic fitness.


    I saw many familiar faces, if you could call masks faces. There was no requirement to be in our costumes at all times, but it was important to get familiar with moving around in them. The masks were actually quite comfortable, hardly restrictive.


    Either way, I saw Rasmus and Maks- Acid Man and Shockfire- along with some of the others we¡¯d worked with. Finally there was Meztli, with her actual face visible. Or at least, I presumed that was her face. The trainer wasn¡¯t wearing a mask, at least. I didn¡¯t know if her powers allowed for a disguise through other means.


    Some people were already running around the track, while others were just loitering around for the group training period that was about to start. ¡°You brought a cat?¡± Maks asked.


    I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. This is Midnight. Midnight, meet Acid Man, Shockfire, and Meztli.¡±


    ¡°Hello Midnight,¡± Meztli crouched down in front of him and waved.


    ¡°Greetings, Meztli,¡± Midnight flicked his tail back and forth. ¡°Turlough has spoken of your training prowess.¡±


    Meztli blinked, then stood up. She walked over to me, putting an arm around my shoulder and dragging me away. ¡°Turlough.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


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    ¡°Is that a talking cat?¡±


    I had to think about that one. ¡°Technically no?¡± I answered.


    ¡°I think we¡¯re going to have to go more in depth on that answer,¡± Meztli said calmly. ¡°Because I certainly heard your cat talk.¡±


    ¡°Midnight isn¡¯t a cat,¡± I clarified.


    ¡°Is it some sort of magical construct?¡± Meztli asked.


    ¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°He¡¯s a Celmothian.¡±


    ¡°Correct me if I¡¯m wrong,¡± Meztli continued. I was getting from her voice that I might have done something wrong, but she was pretty sure I didn¡¯t know it was wrong. I heard that voice from people pretty regularly here. ¡°But that sounds like he¡¯s an alien.¡±


    ¡°No, that should be right,¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure he should be from another planet and not a different dimension.¡±


    ¡°He spoke pretty clearly. Sapient?¡± Meztli asked.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Then why is he here?¡± Meztli gestured around the room.


    ¡°Well, I was coming in for training and thought it would help to have him. Is there¡­ some sort of problem with aliens?¡±


    Meztli raised an eyebrow, ¡°You think we have a problem with aliens?¡± Meztli gestured towards a writhing mass of tentacles. ¡°Jim works here. Lots of aliens work here. What I have a problem with is bringing an unauthorized person into the Power Brigade.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s my familiar?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Knowing someone doesn¡¯t mean you can just bring them in here,¡± Meztli sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t care how ¡®familiar¡¯ he is-¡± I was trying to figure out how to explain when I was saved by another arrival.


    ¡°That¡¯s your familiar?¡± Great Girl had entered the room, and looked from me to Midnight. ¡°He¡¯s so cuuuuute!¡± She scooped him up and held him in front of her. ¡°What¡¯s your name, little guy?¡±


    Cat Buddy looked perturbed at being picked up, but he really didn¡¯t have any way to escape except to try to wiggle out of her grasp. ¡°My name is Midnight Deathstalker,¡± he said plainly. He waited for a moment as his wiggling didn¡¯t produce fruit.  ¡°Could you please put me down?¡±


    ¡°Oooh, you can talk?¡± She placed him back on the ground and patted his head, then looked at me. ¡°I didn¡¯t know cat familiars could talk. I thought it was only ravens?¡±


    ¡°We are sharing the Translation spell,¡± I commented.


    Great Girl was pulled into our little group while Midnight readjusted himself on the ground, looking at all of the new people. Meztli looked between me and Great Girl. ¡°Alright, so I¡¯ve gathered that familiar is some sort of official terminology. Turlough, you wait a moment while she explains what she thinks that means.¡±


    ¡°A familiar is an animal that shares a magical bond with their master,¡± Great Girl explained. ¡°Or sometimes a summoned spirit.¡±


    Meztli looked to me.


    ¡°Basically the first thing,¡± I confirmed.


    ¡°Except that Midnight isn¡¯t an animal,¡± Meztli pointed out. I shrugged. She held her face in her hands.


    -----


    I was pretty good at understanding things, once they were explained to me. Bringing unauthorized people into a place like this was a ¡®security risk¡¯, and apparently a magical bond connecting Midnight to me wasn¡¯t a good enough guarantee of his safety. Not that they had a specific clause for magical bonds, but there were various sorts of powers that created connections of various levels of durability between people. Either way, I was supposed to get approval before bringing someone into restricted areas, which was basically the entire building.


    I¡¯d technically read that section of the rules- I read all of them- but I¡¯d not really absorbed it at the time because I didn¡¯t have a familiar, nor intend to get one. Things with Cat Buddy just sort of happened.


    In the end, Meztli gave her temporary approval, on the condition that he be kept under watch- and that I demonstrate the practical reasons I had brought him. That involved getting Great Girl¡¯s assistance, or rather she volunteered to help.


    So now we were in a big training room, having already gone through morning exercises. Midnight had run laps too, though only a couple. I couldn¡¯t really blame him though, with those short legs.


    ¡°So basically,¡± I said, ¡°I can duplicate most magic I use on myself on him, as well as use some spells from his location.¡± I was really hoping this worked, because I hadn¡¯t really tested it. ¡°With your permission, I can demonstrate Shocking Grasp. I¡¯ll reduce the power so it¡¯s less¡­ unpleasant.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Great Girl nodded, ¡°I¡¯m not a big fan of pain. So I¡¯d appreciate that.¡±


    ¡°Okay Midnight,¡± I said. ¡°Just go stand next to her. When you feel the power, just reach out and touch her ankle, and will the electricity to flow into her.¡± If he hadn¡¯t used Storage all on his own, I would have been more worried about him getting things first time- but I was the one making the magic happen, and all he had to do was let it.


    Midnight nodded. I reduced the power of Shocking Grasp to about a tenth. More than the tiny zaps I used on the people in Mossley, but too low to cause any real damage to someone with powers. I noticed Great Girl was standing about eight feet tall. Did her durability scale with size? Even if it didn¡¯t, with more area for the electricity to spread it should help. Probably.


    ¡°Ready?¡± I asked both Midnight and Great Girl. Then I had the power flow into Midnight, casting the spell through him. I didn¡¯t often get to see what it looked like from an observer¡¯s perspective, though I did see my hands covered in lightning. It seemed it was mostly concentrated around Midnight¡¯s paws, but little sparks of electricity came off of him elsewhere.


    Then he batted his paw against Great Girl¡¯s ankle.


    ¡°Ack!¡± she lifted her leg and danced around. ¡°That still stings.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Turlough made me do it.¡± I could feel a small sense of amusement from Midnight. Even if he kept his tail still, I could still feel he had enjoyed using magic like that.


    ¡°Oh please, I didn¡¯t make you do anything. Anyway, the power was significantly reduced on purpose but at full power it should be the same effect as when we sparred.¡±


    Great Girl nodded. ¡°Yeah, that makes sense. I didn¡¯t expect it to be different. Though I thought you¡¯d have to charge him up next to you and then send him out.¡±


    ¡°That would be stupid,¡± I said. ¡°If it worked like that, who would bother casting through familiars? They¡¯d just be an obvious threat that people squashed.¡± I paused. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Midnight, with Force Armor up you¡¯re probably nearly as durable as me.¡±


    ¡°Is that really better than your floating hand, though?¡± Meztli asked. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s certainly less expected for a cat to suddenly be a danger, but¡­¡±


    ¡°It costs mana to use Mage¡¯s Reach,¡± I said. ¡°Besides the initial creation of Familiar Bond, it¡¯s free.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense,¡± Meztli said. ¡°It has to cost something to maintain a magical connection.¡±


    ¡°Does it?¡± I shrugged. ¡°There have been no recorded issues. Maybe the animal provides the mana? They don¡¯t have much though.¡±


    ¡°Animals have mana?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Well, kind of¡­¡± I frowned. That got back into that whole blood magic thing. A base humanoid had five mana at level 0, though only a small portion of that was retrieved. Animals either had less or the process was less efficient. Midnight clearly had the proper amount, but he was¡­ a person. Not a humanoid though. ¡°It¡¯s not really something that was studied. Even the people who could talk with animals couldn¡¯t get them to do math.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Meztli frowned. ¡°And Midnight isn¡¯t an animal. Or from your world. So it¡¯s difficult to tell.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said.


    ¡°While this is interesting,¡± Meztli said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure it was worth the security risk. You really need to start thinking ahead.¡±


    With the conversation shifting towards possible real punishments, I decided to try to distract it. ¡°Hey Great Girl. If it¡¯s not a secret¡­ how big can you get? I saw you hit twelve or something.¡±


    ¡°Well, something like that,¡± she hedged. I didn¡¯t know if that was actually her limit, but I knew she hadn¡¯t stayed that size for long. But it was just an excuse to shift the topic anyway.


    ¡°... Wanna get bigger?¡± I looked over to Meztli. ¡°For reference, she should about double in height.¡± I looked up. This was one of the tall, cylindrical rooms. It should be more than enough.


    ¡°... You can use Enlarge Person?¡± A grin crept onto Great Girl¡¯s face. ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s do that!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t actually use Enlarge. Not until a few seconds later, anyway, taking 5 points to learn the 3rd level spell. With no objection from Meztli except maybe a sigh, we were absolutely going to do this. And not just to distract things from me maybe getting actual punishment.

 Chapter 27

    Preparations for oversizing Great Girl distracted Meztli until we could get underway. Unlike Shockwave, who was quite content just being fast, Great Girl didn¡¯t want to just be big. She wanted to do something, which was actually sort of the same. Testing her new limits. That involved getting a large number of weights, mostly barbells used for the bench press and a bunch of extra weights. I helped carry a couple individual weights, but otherwise was of no use. Even Great Girl only carried a couple of the bigger weights under each arm, though I think that was more due to the fact that the ceilings were only about ten feet tall in the corridors, and she left some room between her head and the ceiling.


    Then we were done. Great Girl looked over at me and asked, ¡°So do I grow first and then you use the spell or¡­?¡±


    ¡°I have no experience using this on someone with super powers,¡± I answered. Or anyone, but I knew the theory of it. ¡°I have enough mana to use it a few times if necessary.¡± I thought about trying to use it, and then I remembered. ¡°Actually, I forgot. I need something. A pinch of powdered iron.¡±


    ¡°Material components?¡± she said. ¡°Can¡¯t you just wave a wand or something?¡±


    I looked pointedly at my hands, where there was no wand. ¡°No. And it doesn¡¯t work that way anyway.¡± Not unless I had one specifically made for that spell. I could try it without, but that would be equivalent to using it at low mana. The effects would be much worse.


    ¡°Powdered iron?¡± Meztli asked. ¡°Would shavings work?¡±


    ¡°I believe so, if they are small enough.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have the workshops send some up,¡± she said. A moment later, she was talking to someone, and then there was a short wait. Then a woman wearing overalls and a welding mask ran in, holding a glass jar full of iron shavings. She didn¡¯t say anything as she held it out, her other arm resting on her thigh as she panted. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to run,¡± Meztli said as she took the jar.


    The woman didn¡¯t respond verbally, simply spinning about and jogging back out the door.


    Meztli handed the jar to me, and I took a pinch out. I could feel that it would work just fine as I gathered the mana. ¡°This should be fine, I¡¯m ready,¡± I nodded to Great Girl.


    The only sign she was putting effort into growing larger was that she took a wide stance and then a deep breath. Then again, her face was hidden behind a mask. I hadn¡¯t been paying that much attention when I¡¯d seen it the first time, given the nature of the situation, but it was fascinating how her feet moved apart even while planted on the ground. They weren¡¯t slipping, but they also weren¡¯t remaining still.


    It only took a few seconds for Great Girl to reach her maximum size, somewhat larger than the twelve feet I¡¯d seen if I was correct. I didn¡¯t even reach her waist, so that seemed to be the case. I stepped forward and touched my hand against her boot, somewhere around her calf which was almost as wide as my torso. I expended the mana for Enlarge and then quickly backed up.


    I had previously observed that Great Girl¡¯s increase in size also came with increased relative muscle mass. At her largest size her muscles matched the best of the other supers I had seen. Enlarge only increased her size though. She would be stronger, but not visibly. Instead, she was just big.


    This was what, three stories tall? That was the appropriate way for people to measure things like this, if I understood correctly. You could say thirty feet, but nobody had an actual feeling for that.


    It was a good thing the room was very tall. I don¡¯t think it was made for this specific scenario, but some things must have needed abundant room.


    Even Meztli let out a small ¡®wow¡¯ upon seeing Great Girl¡¯s new size.


    ¡°Nice!¡± Great Girl boomed. When she saw me wince, she lowered her voice somewhat. ¡°Oh, sorry. I thought you might need me to be louder to hear from all the way down there.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine just like that,¡± Meztli said. ¡°Can you hear us?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a bit quiet, honestly. Usually that¡¯s not a problem. But as long as you aren¡¯t intentionally quiet it should be fine.¡± Great Girl looked down at the weights arranged nearby, which I now felt were actually far too small. We didn¡¯t even have the machines for her to use that bar with. Then she picked up a barbell and started doing bicep curls, like she had some of the little weights we didn¡¯t bother to bring. ¡°This is weird. It feels kind of different, though I¡¯m definitely stronger.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t have any other effects you¡¯d be used to,¡± I commented. ¡°Whatever your power does besides being big, I mean. It won¡¯t scale durability any more than required for you to avoid hurting yourself, though it does increase strength by more than what is required to carry your new weight.¡±


    I saw her nodding, though she seemed to be concentrating on something. ¡°How long does this last?¡± she asked.


    ¡°About ten minutes,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s less bursty than Haste, but it still can¡¯t last forever.¡±


    As Great Girl experimented with her new size, moving around cautiously- the room was large enough to hold her, but she could stretch out to touch any of the walls from the middle- my attention came back to Midnight. Meztli was focused on Great Girl, so I decided to talk to him. ¡°You seem interested,¡± I said. ¡°Want to be bigger?¡±


    He flicked his tail. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I would. I mean, it would just make me further from the ground.¡± I sensed conflicting emotions inside of him, but he clearly felt something at this situation.


    ¡°It only makes you twice as big. So you¡¯d be about this tall,¡± I gestured over his head, still having to bend down. I picked him up under the shoulders. ¡°That¡¯s not too high, is it?¡±


    ¡°No, this is¡­ fine. And my legs would be longer, so I could step down from higher things¡­¡± Midnight was clearly thinking very seriously about this.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t do it right now, given you aren¡¯t supposed to be here and all,¡± I commented. ¡°But later you can try it on your own. As long as you haven¡¯t used any mana in the last hour, you should be able to cast it at least once without wiping yourself out. Though I might need to leave some of this with you,¡± I shook the jar.


    He nodded. ¡°I would like to try it.¡±


    We finished our conversation, which should have sounded like meowing back and forth. I was specifically talking in Midnight¡¯s language, after all.


    Along with experimenting with moving around and lifting weights, Great Girl decreased her size. She shrunk down to about a third of her size, which I found strange. Was something going weird with the combination of powers? That was less than double her height. Well, there shouldn¡¯t be any side effects after the spell wore off- magic was pretty convenient like that, most of the time.


    As predicted, about ten minutes later the effects wore off and Great Girl returned to her normal size, just a bit bigger than myself. She was actually sweating somewhat from the exertion, which indicated to me her manual size changing could be quite tiring, since she hadn¡¯t been particularly vigorous with her exercise. I¡¯d seen her lift relatively bigger weights for an entire hour during the gym sessions. Of course, she might still be a bit fatigued from earlier but the point remained. Powers could make people tired, which only made sense because they weren¡¯t using mana.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    She wasn¡¯t tired for long, however. Meztli¡¯s power, among other things, was excellent for replenishing physical stamina. She just put a hand on Great Girl¡¯s shoulder and besides being sweaty there was soon no signs of Great Girl¡¯s exertions.


    I realized I couldn¡¯t really feel Great Girl¡¯s power activating. There was a slight something, but it wasn¡¯t the same as the more energy based powers. Perhaps they were closer to being mana, or maybe it had something to do with Great Girl¡¯s power being personal. I hadn¡¯t thought about sensing others¡¯ powers much, but it was a very useful ability to have. Knowing that someone was doing something supernatural, even if I didn¡¯t know what, could save me in an ambush situation.


    -----


    There were no more incidents of note at work, and when I got home in the evening I began to fill out (electronic) paperwork to register Midnight. ¡°You really should have done this a while ago,¡± I said.


    ¡°I had no idea there would be a registration process,¡± he said honestly. ¡°I came here quite by accident. Teleportation mishap, you know.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re from this dimension then?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he said. ¡°Probably?¡±


    I took out my phone. A quick search for Celmoth brought up a very sparse page with little information. But it had a picture. ¡°Is that another Celmothian?¡±


    Midnight shrugged, ¡°It might be¡­ a cat. It¡¯s difficult to tell from pictures.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I asked. ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°We share a natural connection,¡± he said. ¡°Our species is able to bond to each other, like this Familiar Bond. But only between Celmothians.¡± That confirmed what I had surmised earlier.


    ¡°Oh, nice,¡± I nodded. ¡°Got any other cool powers?¡±


    Midnight wiggled his body in a way I understood was like shaking his head no. ¡°We primarily made use of technology, you know. I just didn¡¯t have access to any here,¡± he flicked his tail. ¡°Without the ability to talk to anyone, it was¡­ difficult.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I looked down at the article. Since Celmoth was listed, I had been about to ask Midnight if he wanted to go home. I didn¡¯t know how much space travel cost, but it would have been a goal to work towards. Unfortunately, that seemed impossible. Location: Unknown. That was all the article said about the planet. Had all of the Celmothians gotten here by accident? There shouldn¡¯t be that many of them, but it was a strange thought. Then again, it seemed that Earth seemed to attract or actively seek out this stuff. Especially New Bay, with people like Doctor Doomsday flinging portals around for¡­ fun? I¡¯d looked into him briefly, but nobody knew his motivations.


    -----


    The Power Brigade was nice enough to allow me to take a day off to help finish getting Midnight registered. Apparently I got paid ¡®vacation days¡¯ and ¡®personal days¡¯, with the latter being for dealing with things like family necessities. Familiars probably counted, right? It basically said family right in the name! That was¡­ probably an actual linguistic connection. Though English was kind of a difficult mess sometimes, and I only spoke it by virtue of magic and the tiniest bit of real practice at the moment.


    ¡°Good to see you again, Basant.¡± The dark-skinned man had been very helpful to me previously, and I still had his number. It seemed more expedient to contact him to see if he could help rather than waiting for the normal bureaucratic process. I think that could be called ¡®using connections¡¯. And who was better to be connected with than someone who actually got things done?


    ¡°Glad to have you back,¡± he nodded as he looked at Midnight standing on my shoulder. ¡°We try to make things as painless as possible here so that people will come to us. People who don¡¯t know they need to register can end up in a pile of trouble.¡±


    I nodded. I¡¯d gotten in a scrape on my first day, and things only went so smoothly because they had been able to verify that and everything I said with Malaliel¡¯s help. Midnight had been on Earth for quite a bit longer than a day, but the fact that we were coming to register was a point in his favor. Knowing Basant and working for the Power Brigade also helped.


    If we really wanted to, Midnight could have slipped under the radar. Pretty much everyone would believe he was a cat, after all. But the whole point of this was so he could accompany me at the Power Brigade. He wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted to participate in missions, but he could help with training. It wasn¡¯t clear if his mana regeneration was the same as my own, but he had his own mana pool to use and that meant he could help refresh Force Armor or use a few other things. And he liked using magic, so having an actual excuse was good. Not that I thought anyone would dislike using magic, of course. It was awesome.


    ¡°So, Midnight Deathstalker correct?¡± Basant looked down at the papers, then at Cat Buddy. ¡°You can speak English?¡±


    ¡°Through magic,¡± Midnight answered for himself.


    ¡°That works on other people?¡± Basant asked me.


    ¡°Yes.¡± That was the easy answer, though the way it worked on Midnight was different.


    ¡°Interesting. This may have come up before, but are you interested in consulting with Extra? The ability to communicate is very valuable.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll consider it,¡± I said. I didn¡¯t mind helping out, but it wouldn¡¯t give me any experience. I only got to fight at the Power Brigade. I could probably get into random fights on the street, but there were many reasons I wasn¡¯t going to do that if I could help it.


    As Basant worked with Midnight on the rest of the papers, I got a text message from a number I didn¡¯t know. Which was most of them, to be honest. I had Basant¡¯s number, the front office of the Power Brigade, Extra, my apartment complex manager, and Meztli. The text was weird. It was just a link to a website, followed by a single word.


    ¡°Licorice?¡±


    Before I finished looking at the link, I got another text.


    ¡°Oh, this is GG.¡±


    Great Girl? Well, that should be it, since I couldn¡¯t think of another GG. It wouldn¡¯t be strange for her to be able to get my number, either.


    I looked at the link, and then replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty accurate representation of Haste, but I¡¯d say 30 feet is pushing it. It¡¯s better to touch the target. And it doesn¡¯t use licorice. Why would you write that?¡±


    She also got the spell level wrong and forgot to list the mana cost. Though I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted that all publicly available.


    There was a period of time with no response. I got bored and started to piddle about on the website. Why had she made a website instead of just sending me what she did in a text? It seemed to contain more than just that one page. The banner at the top said ¡®Eighth Edition wiki¡¯. I knew what wikis were, repositories of information. But I thought they had been around for a very long time. Was this really the eighth one in existence?


    I finally got another text.


    ¡°Do you know what ¡®Type F¡¯ planet means?¡±


    ¡°I assume it¡¯s something related to type E and type G.¡±


    ¡°... maybe look it up.¡±


    So I did.


    Weird. Something that they didn¡¯t believe in came into their world and demonstrated its reality, and they called it a ¡®fantasy¡¯? For all the talk about ¡®science¡¯ here, they sure seemed unclear on accepting reality.


    The important part took a while to find. Something about ¡®interdimensional bleedover¡¯. In short, things that were real in a type F world might be imagined by someone here with the thought that they made it up. There were many references to papers arguing about whether the thought created the things in the world or the other way around, but I thought it was pretty obvious. I didn¡¯t use licorice, so my world had always been real and people just didn¡¯t imagine it quite right.


    Going back to the wiki, I found it accurately had many of the spells I could use, with some clear differences. There were also references to a world that was immediately not my own when I saw the name and pulled up the map. Unless Granbold was on the backside somewhere- which I supposed it could be since the image wasn¡¯t a globe- this wasn¡¯t my world. Though the fact that it was type F indicated that there was more than just a single instance of worlds like mine connecting to Earth. Perhaps this one in the game was a different dimension of my own world, just like there were apparently parallel Earths.

 Chapter 28

    The one thing that confused me about Type F worlds was that the information seemed to only flow one way. Was there something special about Earth? Perhaps it was simply that the particular dimension I found myself in was full of holes to different worlds. They were patching them as quickly as they could, but people were also making more intentionally and unintentionally.


    Where were the stories of giant cities that nearly blocked out the sun with their towers, the whole world covered in stone? Actually¡­ there were certainly some of those. But it wasn¡¯t as widespread of a thing. Otherwise I would have heard people talking about ¡®cell phones¡¯ and ¡®wikis¡¯ and ¡®cars¡¯. Then again, perhaps the individuals who had thoughts of such things simply didn¡¯t write them down, or they were more obscure. It was only the information age that brought particular specific ideas into the public eye.


    ¡°What do you think, Midnight?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps it has something to do with the great number of people and some sort of psionic subconscious,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I like that theory the most, of the ones presented. Stories that have more ¡®truth¡¯ subconsciously become more popular. That would be why most type F worlds have humans as a dominant factor. There¡¯s a connection there.¡±


    ¡°You like that one, hmm?¡± I frowned. ¡°A psionic subconscious¡­ is that real?¡± It probably shouldn¡¯t have seemed strange given the various crazy powers and stuff in this world, but not everything could be true.


    ¡°It should be real enough,¡± Midnight nodded seriously. ¡°At least, the bonds Celmothians create between each other are psionic.¡±


    ¡°... not magic?¡±


    ¡°Is there a difference?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Both are some sort of supernatural link.¡± He was quiet for a few moments. ¡°Turlough, why do I feel large amounts of regret flowing from you?¡±


    I clamped down on my thoughts. Magical links could be kind of inconvenient sometimes. ¡°I¡¯d rather not talk about it,¡± I said.


    ¡°I see.¡± Midnight flicked his tail. ¡°If you do want to, I will listen.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ stupid.¡± Psionics. Ugh. ¡°I wasn¡¯t really ready for the rules to shift so drastically. It¡¯s taking some time to get used to all these powers existing.¡±


    ¡°You were expecting some things to change?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°When I stepped through that portal I knew I could wind up one some elemental plane or one of the hells or something. It was possible that everything would be fire or something. I could have ended up somewhere where gravity was subjective, or backwards.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I know what backwards gravity would be,¡± Midnight tilted his head.


    ¡°When it goes up.¡±


    ¡°But does it not, by definition, go down?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s backwards,¡± I said. ¡°Also, specifically when it goes away from the surface of the plane. That¡¯s¡­ rare, though. Not a lot of life if you can¡¯t be next to other stuff.¡±


    Midnight rarely sat or stood still while we talked, though it wasn¡¯t like there was an abundance of places for him to sit. He liked being on pillows, but seemed rather fickle on which ones. ¡°Turlough, tell me about magic. It is very fascinating but also very tiring.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because your mana pool is small. Like¡­ newborn level.¡±


    ¡°I am an adult though,¡± Midnight pointed out.


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said, ¡°But if you¡¯ve never used it before¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t actually know, though. Because just doing stuff should have gotten you to a higher level.¡±


    ¡°Yet I am at a newborn level. Perhaps I did not have a level before we created the bond.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure people here have levels¡­ or something like it.¡± I frowned. I hadn¡¯t tested some of the things that might help me determine that. Limited points and all that. ¡°But magic seems to be rare here, even with knowledge of Type F worlds. Even among people with powers.¡±


    ¡°It would seem so,¡± Midnight nodded his head, an exaggerated motion to replicate how a human might move. ¡°Tell me how magic works. Since I can use it, or you use it through me, I would like to know more.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± I said. I began to explain every spell I had, starting with Storage and Firebolt then ending with Familiar Bond and Enlarge.


    ¡°Is that everything magic can do?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s just what I know how to do now. I can make things more efficient or learn new things, but I don¡¯t have the points.¡±


    ¡°Points?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Yeah. You get points for leveling up. Each level gives that many new points.¡± I paused for a second. ¡°The exact details of this are common knowledge on my world, but probably should be kept secret here, alright?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure how much it would matter, but knowing about people could provide advantages. I didn¡¯t mind people I trusted knowing, but things would be harder if the information got into the wrong hands. Until the point I was strong enough to just overpower whatever was thrown at me¡­ which might be never. Since there could always be powers that grew to be as strong as I would be as a high level mage.


    ¡°You do not need to tell me, if it is an important secret,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Sure I do. If we¡¯re gonna make Familiar Bond work, I need you to know things. Though I can only tell you for sure about my side, since you seem to be a special case.¡± At the very least, he could more consciously choose things. Even though normal familiars were elevated above the intelligence of animals, they weren¡¯t on the same level as actual people. ¡°So, points. Spells all have a level. That determines their cost in terms of points and mana, as well as their power. A level 1 spell is mostly cantrips like Storage. Simple things.¡±


    ¡°Storing things in an extradimensional space is simple?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Very small amounts of things, yes. Anyway, learning a spell costs one point, plus two more points for each level after 1. Upgrades simply cost one more point than the spell level.¡±


    Midnight didn¡¯t interrupt, but I could tell he was eager to hear more.


    ¡°Upgrades decrease the cost by¡­ about five percent. And they usually increase the power by five percent as well.¡±


    ¡°That seems inefficient,¡± Midnight said. ¡°You could learn an entire new spell for the cost of one or two upgrades.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°But what if you need the spell you have? For example, Force Armor. There are stronger defensive spells, but they cost significantly more mana, usually don¡¯t last as long, and one of them needs a handful of diamond dust. Do you know how expensive that stuff is?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Midnight said. ¡°How expensive?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like, two hundred and fifty gold coins for a few pinches,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Which is a lot. It could take years to save up for on an apprentice¡¯s stipend.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± he flicked his tail. ¡°How much is that in dollars?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, except that gold is still expensive here.¡±


    ¡°And diamonds?¡±


    ¡°Those too, probably.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure which one of us had the feeling of curiosity, but I looked down at my phone. A quick search told me what I needed to know. Diamonds were still expensive. It was kind of hard to tell which things being sold were diamond, since a lot of them just had a jumble of words which didn¡¯t make me confident. ¡°Ugh, to get enough I¡¯d need like¡­ ten or twenty thousand dollars worth of diamonds.¡±


    ¡°Is your life not worth that much?¡±


    ¡°Sure, but only if I have the money, or the points, or the knowledge of when I need to do that.¡± I sighed, ¡°Or the mana. I still need to get more levels.¡±


    ¡°Do levels give mana?¡± Midnight asked.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°One point per level, with five as the base at level 0. That¡¯s why you could use Storage five times.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Midnight nodded.


    ¡°Now what were we talking about before that? Oh right. At some point, the efficiency of using spells better makes up for having new spells. There are all sorts of debates about that, but at my current level I don¡¯t have the points or the mana for any big spells, and if I used one poorly I¡¯d completely wipe myself out for no gain. And probably a lot of collateral damage I¡¯d have to pay for.¡±


    ¡°And how do you get levels?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Oh, right. Well, most people can kind of do anything. Things related to your class are better. Mages study books on magic, for example. How best to use things and whatnot. Reading for leisure even helps too.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you spend so much time reading?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I just want to learn more about the world. I can¡¯t actually get experience that way. I was born with Cur- Aspect of the Barbarian. It just means I can only get experience through combat.¡±


    ¡°I see. That is why you were eager to join something like the Power Brigade, despite the dangers?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°But you wouldn¡¯t need levels if you didn¡¯t fight.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Are you telling me you would be content storing a single can of tuna when you could do so much more?¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Conjure tuna from midair, for example.¡± I smiled.


    ¡°It is imperative that you increase your level to obtain more powerful magic,¡± Midnight said seriously. ¡°How can I help that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, honestly,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I didn¡¯t study familiars in depth, but I believe the master could get some experience from their actions. Except with my Aspect¡­ well. I¡¯m not going to ask you to fight just to make me advance a little more quickly.¡±


    ¡°I would not mind, if it helped,¡± Midnight said. ¡°At least in the safety of the Power Brigade, sparring there.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to think about that,¡± I said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to get too used to your assistance and then go on a mission and not have you.¡±


    ¡°A fair point,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So, what about my own level? Am I limited by your Aspect of the Barbarian?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t even know if you can get levels. But¡­ probably. How much experience do you have?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Well, just look. Oh, right. You didn¡¯t grow up with this. Ok, so imagine yourself, and think about your level and experience. You should get an image there. For example, I have 524 experience. I¡¯m so close to level 14 it¡¯s crazy!¡± I wanted to punch something, but the only available target was Midnight. Regardless of being unsure if it would provide experience, that wasn¡¯t an appropriate thing to do to any sort of friend, and especially not a familiar. Unless everyone agreed to a spar, of course. ¡°Anyway, just do that but focus on you, like, you know¡­¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Midnight Deathstalker


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 1


    Experience: 6


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Familiar Bond provides access to:


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +1


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation


    Haste


    Disguise


    Enlarge


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°I believe I see it,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It says I am level 1, with 6 experience.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± I said, as I was looking at the very same thing in front of myself, as if it were my own.


    ¡°Why are all these +¡¯s crossed out?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°That would probably be¡­ Familiar Bond not being improved enough?¡± I was supposed to know these things, but nothing was working quite right now. I noticed that Midnight didn¡¯t have points, either. ¡°Can you try something? Focus on me and think about the same sorts of things.¡±


    ¡°... I believe I see it. You do not have a surname?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what happens when you don¡¯t have parents,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Can you see everything?¡±


    ¡°How would I know? It begins with your name, level, and experience, then covers all of those same spells. The final thing is Remaining Points.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s everything,¡± I said. Well, I wasn¡¯t sure if this was normal. But it was probably fine. Though I could think of one possible flaw. ¡°Let¡¯s test something. Could you try to learn the Light spell?¡± With only a single point, I could only learn something on the cantrip level.


    Midnight¡¯s face scrunched up in concentration for a few moments. ¡°Did it work? Was I supposed to learn it, or you? Because I tried both.¡±


    ¡°... nope.¡± That was good. I imagined he would generally respect my desire to spend my own points, but accidents could happen. ¡°That¡¯s what I expected though.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So I will need to help increase your level so you can learn the Conjure Tuna spell.¡± He paused for a moment. ¡°You said you were close to a level?¡±


    ¡°One point away,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°How can you tell? I see it is 524, but it does not indicate that you would increase in level at 525.¡±


    ¡°You just learn it,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s another formula. It requires five more experience per level. So to go from level 0 to 1 is 5, and 1 to 2 is another 10 for a total of 15. 525 for level 14.¡± Not everyone memorized the experience tables or learned the formula to calculate it, but I had a lot of time to study as a Mage. And I really cared about levels, since I had trouble getting them.


    Midnight took a few steps and raised one paw, then extended his claws. ¡°A single point, you say? Then we must fight, so you can achieve a new level!¡±


    ¡°I mean, I¡¯m going to spar at the Power Brigade again tomorrow. But I just ended up here today.¡±


    ¡°But you could level right now,¡± Midnight said. I could feel his intentions. He was ready to fight¡­ though also not planning to just spring something on me.


    ¡°If we fight here we¡¯ll burn down the apartment. Also, I don¡¯t know if us sparring would help?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s only one way to find out,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°But perhaps we should find out tomorrow, in a controlled environment.¡±


    -----


    So, that was how I found myself standing in front of a not-cat, who also happened to be my own familiar, ready to fight. We agreed on some simple rules, first. If we went all out I would absolutely win. It would be pretty simple for me to just reapply Force Armor to myself until Midnight ran out of mana, after all. He had enough for a combined total of three Firebolts or Shocking Grasps, after all.


    Instead, I first cast Force Armor on the both of us. I was pretty sure that he would get the full effect on himself, since I was the one casting it. If not, it was as fair as I could make things. After that, we would each have six points of mana to spend. That meant I could do the same combination of those spells. Each of us could also choose to use Haste, but that would be the only thing. Enlarge or Mage¡¯s Reach would be half of our mana, and I didn¡¯t feel either of those would help us.


    Meztli stood nearby, ready to oversee our little spar. ¡°I¡¯ll assume you both know when to stop. If not¡­ this is all on you. Get ready¡­ begin!¡±


    The spar was never going to be fair to begin with. Given the constraints we had it was going to be short no matter what, but I had the advantage of size and reach and experience using my spells. Midnight opened the battle with a Firebolt that I dodged. As he charged towards me I could see him start to spark, the sign that he had Shocking Grasp ready for when he touched me. He was fast, I had to give him that. Four legs was good for him. Unfortunately, that hardly mattered.


    I may have gone a little bit overboard because of the fighting determination resonating between us. As he was approaching, I cast Grease- quickly followed by Shocking Grasp. Midnight managed to keep his feet as he slipped towards me, but the spell still limited his mobility.


    I followed that up with a sweeping kick down low that sent him flying. I felt the electricity coming from both of us, playing against the Force Armor we both had. It didn¡¯t break but¡­ Cat Buddy spun through the air. ¡°Crap, are you alright?¡±


    He landed on his feet, a little bit unsteady. His teeth approximating a human grin looked a bit fearsome, but I could feel the friendly emotion behind it. ¡°You should know your own magic enough to understand I would not be harmed by that. Though I must admit the kick was a miscalculation.¡±


    Midnight charged again. I would have loved to repeat the same tactic, but I could only use one more spell. I could have done both at half power, but I hadn¡¯t told Midnight about weakening the effect to conserve mana so that seemed unfair with what we had discussed.


    I prepared Shocking Grasp and a kick once more. I did lower the power of the Shocking Grasp a bit. Force Armor should be pretty weak even though we didn¡¯t fully affect each other with our first attacks, and I didn¡¯t want to cause real damage. He might not have actually been a cat, but he was certainly cat sized. Still, I felt his determination to fight so I wasn¡¯t going to just not take him out.


    Without the ability to cast Grease again, Midnight was swift on his feet and ducked under and around my kick, darting between my legs. As I began to spin around to catch him behind me, I stepped on something and lost my balance. It was embarrassing to fall onto my rear, and I wondered what I could have slipped on. Had I lost track of where my Grease spell was?


    Then I saw the can of tuna. ¡°Pfft.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but lay on my back laughing. My armor wasn¡¯t broken, and at this point Midnight definitely couldn¡¯t win¡­ but I couldn¡¯t say I had won either. ¡°That¡¯s a good one. We¡¯ll call this a tie, which is pretty impressive to be honest.¡±


    Midnight stood proudly. ¡°Of course. I haven¡¯t watched you sparring for nothing.¡±


    Meztli just shook her head. ¡°Well, I guess the match is over then. Yay?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I suppose so.¡± Then I looked at something and grinned. Level 14. So I could get experience sparring with Midnight! That would have been a great revelation if the Power Brigade didn¡¯t always have someone willing to spar, but still¡­ it was an interesting option that hadn¡¯t existed before.

 Chapter 29

    Leveling up always felt good. In the last few weeks I¡¯d managed to get four whole levels, more than I¡¯d gotten in years. I was still somewhat behind what was expected, but rapidly catching up. Each level meant a larger mana pool and more points!


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 14


    Experience: 526


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +1


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation


    Haste


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond


    Enlarge


    Remaining Points: 16


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I had a pretty good idea what I was going to use the points for, but before I did that, I had to clarify something with Midnight.


    ¡°Listen buddy, I know I talked about the possibility to produce food with magic, but the first versions of that produce food that¡¯s¡­ merely edible. Not tasty. It would be better to prioritize other things so that I can be more effective here at the Power Brigade.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Midnight said, his tail swishing slightly. I could sense some disappointment, but only slight. ¡°You are already generous for providing me with food and shelter without anything given in return. It would be irresponsible of me to request you learn magic for something that can be solved without.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a couple later on, though,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d feel comfortable picking either up at around level 25 to 30, when I can buy them almost all at once. Before then I¡¯d need to save points for a couple levels just to learn them and wipe myself out from using so much mana at once.¡± That was another limit that didn¡¯t come up often. Even if you had enough mana for something, if you used more than about half of your mana for a single spell it hit you harder. It was still possible, but mages who picked spells ahead of their abilities didn¡¯t last long.


    ¡°I see,¡± Midnight nodded. ¡°What level would I need to be to cast such spells myself?¡±


    ¡°Ten or fifteen at least,¡± I said. ¡°But it wouldn¡¯t be pleasant.¡± Because I was talking directly to him and thus speaking his language, I was comfortable explaining the details. He¡¯d need to know, in case he ever tried to cast Haste or something. And if I got a spell beyond his mana capacity¡­ Well, it was better that he not even make the attempt. Perhaps Familiar Bond would work in a way nothing would happen, but that would be the best possible result.


    ¡°Meow meow,¡± came a voice from next to us. Then there was a cough. ¡°Sorry, is that rude?¡± We turned to see Great Girl standing there. ¡°Like, making fun of your language or whatever¡­¡± There was an awkward silence before she continued to make things worse, muttering to herself. ¡°Because Midnight isn¡¯t a cat, he just looks like one¡­¡±


    ¡°Cats are weird,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°They look so much like a person but they are not.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d think working a job like this I wouldn¡¯t be surprised when English came out of your mouth,¡± Great Girl shifted on her feet, ¡°But it still feels like something out of fiction. Speaking of which¡­ Turlough, how are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Wonderful,¡± I said. ¡°I just gained another level. I was thinking of employing a new technique that should be very effective against a variety of powers.¡±


    ¡°Cool, cool. I was just thinking that maybe you would be¡­ worried about stuff.¡±


    I thought for a few moments. What things would I be worried about? I was getting stronger, I had a stable job that also had a flexible schedule- not that I needed to take advantage of that so far- and it even allowed me to get paid to fight. ¡°Everything is going well,¡± I said. ¡°But thank you for your concern.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± she said. ¡°Are you done with¡­ this?¡± she gestured between Midnight and me.


    ¡°We finished our spar, yes. And I believe we had finished the conversation?¡± I checked with Midnight just to make sure he didn¡¯t have anything else to say.


    ¡°We are done. I look forward to the future where you are a higher level, along with myself.¡±


    ¡°Midnight has a level?¡± Great Girl asked. I was surprised she¡¯d made that realization from Midnight¡¯s casual mention. But perhaps I shouldn¡¯t have been. She was a keen observer, and the fact that she happened to have a power that made her physically big and strong didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t be intelligent. What was I, a typical human who assumed orcs were all big and dumb?


    ¡°Well, yes,¡± I shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s related to Familiar Bond.¡± I hoped she would accept that, because I didn¡¯t want to admit that things were abnormal and I didn¡¯t understand them.


    ¡°Makes sense,¡± she nodded. ¡°If you¡¯re free, then, I¡¯d like to do some training with you.¡±


    ¡°More Enlarge?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nah. Well, maybe that too,¡± she said. ¡°But that¡¯s just more of the same. I thought it might be more useful to see what I could do with Haste.¡±


    ¡°It should be quite effective,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s a favorite of warriors. Though so is Enlarge. Or a combination of both.¡±


    ¡°You can use both at once?¡± she asked. When I nodded, she continued. ¡°That¡¯s busted. This is why concentration exists. Uh, do you have to concentrate? You don¡¯t have to answer that,¡± she clarified quickly. ¡°It¡¯s your power, and you¡¯re allowed to keep secrets. But I am curious.¡±


    ¡°I think I won¡¯t answer that for now,¡± I commented. Maybe I would look up what she probably thought concentration meant. It was tied to the game rules, after all. A game that she was clearly quite familiar with, despite her insistence that it was her friends that told her about it. ¡°So you wanted to test Haste?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± she nodded enthusiastically. ¡°I¡¯m curious to see how it feels. And it could be very useful out in the field. I¡¯m¡­ better at avoiding collateral damage than Shockwave.¡±


    From the look on Meztli¡¯s face, I understood that while it was true¡­ that was only because Shockwave¡¯s power was inherently destructive to the surroundings. People who chucked cars at monsters without thinking about it likely had a track record of collateral damage. But Haste should actually help with that, giving her more time to think.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Fair warning,¡± I said. ¡°It is likely your power won¡¯t activate more quickly.¡± At least Shockfire and a couple others I¡¯d worked with were still constrained in that area, like my own spellcasting speed.


    She shrugged. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll see. How much mana can you afford to use?¡±


    ¡°I can cast Haste a couple times and have enough left over for one Enlarge.¡± With how popular Haste was, I was strongly considering upgrading it to be more efficient. A single upgrade would save me a quarter of a mana per cast. I¡¯d have enough for that and the new spell I wanted. Yes, that should be fine.


    The next few minutes were quite interesting to watch. After having Haste cast on her, Great Girl was practically dancing around the room. A series of obstacles grew out of the training room floor- I sensed something whenever the room changed but didn¡¯t know if it was the result of a power or advanced technology. Great Girl was shrinking and growing as she moved around, kicking and punching targets while she weaved through the course. I could tell she had more martial arts experience than me, and wondered if she had been holding back in our spar. Then again, she still laid me flat with the first hit so maybe her almost-straightforward punch had been the most effective option. She didn¡¯t need fancy moves when she could just throw me off with shifting size while throwing a punch.


    After a few seconds more than a minute- the upgrade to Haste slightly increased power and duration- she returned to normal speed. ¡°Aww man,¡± she frowned. ¡°Over already?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how it works,¡± I said.


    ¡°I know. It was just fun. Like, I know I¡¯m going faster, especially when I step off the ground and gravity seems like it can¡¯t catch up. But I also feel like I have my normal reactions for that increased speed, so I¡¯m not really thrown off. No wonder Shockwave likes it.¡±


    ¡°Plus it¡¯s just more speed,¡± I pointed out. ¡°I¡¯m sure they would figure out a way to make it work regardless, to go fast.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± she said. ¡°Actually, before we start the next round, let me check on something.¡± She pulled out her phone, presumably texting someone. ¡°It¡¯ll be¡­ two minutes, apparently.¡±


    ¡°Shockwave better not break anything on the way here,¡± Meztli commented.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± Great Girl said.


    If I had been watching a clock I would have known whether Shockwave arrived on the dot or not¡­ but it was pretty close, at least. ¡°How¡¯s it going? Glad to be here.¡± A wide grin was visible even with the mask they had on.


    ¡°You¡¯re not the one getting Hasted,¡± Great Girl reminded Shockwave.


    ¡°I know, but I want to see you in action.¡±


    The room was returned to a more empty state, with only a few walls around for variety. I imagined they would also be relevant to the upcoming battle, as well.


    ¡°The spar will start when Great Girl reaches that line,¡± Meztli said. ¡°Standard rules and all that. Don¡¯t aim for anything important, especially not if you¡¯re actually going to have a chance to hit.¡±


    The reason for the restriction there was because I could get caught up in the area if I started in the middle. So the compromise was to lose a few seconds of Haste and have Great Girl run to the starting point.


    I gathered the mana and channeled it into and around Great Girl, and then she was off. She was quick, but moving at a rate I could still track.


    When she got to the starting point, Shockwave disappeared. I¡¯d managed to follow them with my eyes before when running the circumference of the room, but with walls in the middle they suddenly disappeared and I could only vaguely pick out where the blue blur had been after the fact.


    Great Girl was both more experienced and Hasted, turning to meet Shockwave¡¯s attacks. She wasn¡¯t completely successful, but she managed to stick out her arms and legs to disrupt Shockwave¡¯s movements. I at least saw a figure suddenly duck a few times, and though I heard a sequence of blows impacting, Great Girl seemed to be weathering the damage just fine. She had grown larger, to maybe about ten feet, though she was in a low stance.


    The turning point came when she turned a large foot and caused Shockwave to stumble over the obstacle. The speedster was slower for just a moment, but Great Girl¡¯s hand grabbed an arm. ¡°It¡¯s over,¡± Great Girl said as Shockwave was hoisted into the air and hung off the ground.


    Shockwave deflated¡­ and then suddenly a leg was nestled against Great Girl¡¯s face. ¡°I admit defeat, but next time you have to watch where you lift people to.¡±


    Giving away a weakness in battle wasn¡¯t good¡­ but in theory we were all allies here. This match wasn¡¯t to see if Great Girl could beat Shockwave, it was to give her experience fighting a speedster. Presumably.


    Shockwave sighed after they were let down. ¡°I¡¯m still way faster than you with Haste, but I¡¯m not used to dealing with people who can react at all. Not that and also capable of fighting. Most speedsters kind of suck at the basics.¡±


    ¡°Including you?¡± Great Girl raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Well, sure¡­¡± Shockwave shrugged. ¡°But I just haven¡¯t had the right opportunities to practice. I can¡¯t exactly turn off my processing speed, so I can¡¯t get used to people moving any sort of normal speed.¡± They looked towards me, ¡°But now at least I have a bit of a chance. We¡¯ll have to do this more.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m all out of mana, I¡¯m afraid.¡± I technically had a few points left, but not enough for Haste. ¡°Though I could use Enlarge?¡±


    ¡°I heard about that,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°Not sure I want to fight a three story tall Great Girl.¡±


    ¡°What about a ¡®normal¡¯ sized one, while you¡¯re big?¡± I suggested, looking around at the others. ¡°Would that be useful?¡±


    Great Girl shrugged, and Meztli pondered for a few moments. ¡°It might be educational. Though I imagine Great Girl will end up with bruises.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. I can take it. Though¡­ I doubt I¡¯ll be much use for more than being punched.¡±


    Gears were already turning in my head. Shockwave couldn¡¯t turn off their reflexes¡­ but what if I used Slow? It was just the opposite of Haste. Well, that was a question for another day. It was certainly a valuable ability, but I had something else taking priority. I¡¯d just keep that in mind for later.


    After casting Enlarge on Shockwave, the following ¡®battle¡¯ was actually more interesting than I¡¯d thought it would be. Great Girl had already grown to what I presumed was her maximum size, about fifteen feet. That made her still significantly bigger than Shockwave. With the increase in size, Shockwave decided to forgo fancy moves and went straight for a punch to the abdomen. Obviously Great Girl had been expecting something like that, because it was Shockwave who staggered back, shaking their hand. There was a quick quip, probably some kind of complaint, but it wasn¡¯t slowed down to let us hear it clearly.


    Great Girl knew she couldn¡¯t react to Shockwave¡¯s movements and huddled in a defensive stance, and I had to say it basically worked. Shockwave was throwing punch after punch, targeting the ribs on Great Girl¡¯s side and other less defended areas now that they were certain they weren¡¯t going to seriously injure her. The impact of the blows hurt my ears, but the titanic woman continued to stand firm, showing a determination in the set of her jaw.


    It seemed that increasing her size also enhanced her durability, as while I saw a few flinches she seemed fine enough. While Shockwave could have aimed for the mostly undefended sides of her head, that wasn¡¯t quite within the parameters of the spar. Seemingly frustrated with the lack of damage, Shockwave grabbed onto Great Girl¡¯s arm.


    At least, that was what I presumed happened. I couldn¡¯t really see it, only the results. With those being¡­ Shockwave flying through the air flailing arms and legs from some sort of counter throw. They faced themself legs to the  wall before they hit it, stopping their momentum as if they were landing from a fall. Then they ran down it and swept out Great Girl¡¯s legs with a slide.


    A short time after that the match was called as a draw, but with the way Shockwave was breathing heavily, it seemed like they had more or less lost. At least, for the one being enhanced their success wasn''t nearly so great. ¡°Being a bruiser is tough,¡± Shockwave said.


    Great Girl grinned. ¡°That¡¯s right. You gotta have the endurance.¡± She slowly shrunk down to her normal size. She wasn¡¯t exactly looking fresh, even if her breathing was a bit less ragged than Shockwave. Strangely enough, I thought she was maybe even shorter than me somehow. Not that I was short, but she was supposed to be a bit taller at her normal size. ¡°Meztli~!¡± she called out to the woman standing nearby.


    Meztli obligingly gave them each a dose of accelerated recovery of health and stamina from her power. I could see the bruises on Great Girl start to fade even as they were in the process of forming. I imagined Shockwave¡¯s fists were banged up as well, under the gloves.


    Given the results of the two matches, I understood why Great Girl was one of the contenders for the strongest members of the Power Brigade. The physical component was obvious, but she also had the skill to really bring it up to the next level. As for Shockwave, they had the determination to match up against such an opponent even when unable to deal much damage.

 Chapter 30

    Anticipating the training later in the day, I picked out my new tool. Energy Ward was a specialized defensive ability that would be useful against many different types of powers. At least, some of the most worrying ones. I¡¯d still have to deal with a hole being punched in my torso by the wrong people, but I didn¡¯t have enough points, mana, or diamonds to learn Stoneskin. Well, I could technically use mana on it but I didn¡¯t have the other two things, and I was trying to stay away from only taking higher cost spells. I really wanted to have some access to my offense, after all.


    Energy Ward was fourth level and cost twice as much mana as Force Armor, but they could both be active simultaneously and Energy Ward was much more efficient. Four times as much at base but only about three times as much with the upgrades I had to Force Armor. It didn¡¯t last as long and had a narrower focus, but when the circumstances arose I would be quite happy to have my life saved effectively four times instead of just once.


    Those effects would show themselves versus Acid Man, Shockfire, or even Ice Guy¡­ but various circumstances led to them being busy and unable to come to scheduled training. So I spent some time just sort of sitting around before I learned of everything being canceled. My regular sparring partners were gone. Great Girl and Shockwave were called off to missions, not that I would have been worth their time anyway. Midnight was still around, but his mana pool was still small which left very few options for sparring. Meztli couldn¡¯t spend all her time watching over me, and Midnight could get actually injured if things went too far. I was able to be treated by the medical supers on staff, and while they likely wouldn¡¯t refuse to help Midnight it was better to avoid that to begin with.


    I was aware that there was more to the Power Brigade facilities than the gym and sparring rooms, and while I didn¡¯t have access to some of it there were a few places I hadn¡¯t been. Midnight and I got into the elevator and went up to level 8. The library.


    When we arrived I thought maybe we¡¯d gone to the wrong floor. I didn¡¯t immediately see any books, but instead rows of computers in little booths. A handful of them were closed up, but I could peer into the others. The only things that convinced me I had indeed come to the right place were a slight glance of what might have been bookshelves in the back of the area, and of course the labels on the walls that said ¡®Floor 8- Library¡±.


    As I stepped out into the area I heard a deep, scratchy voice call out to me. ¡°What knowledge do you seek?¡±


    I turned my head to see a mass of hair behind a wide desk. I was pretty sure there was a person under all of it, but the layers of head and beard hair made it hard to determine that. I could just make out some points that might have been eyes and some protrusions that might have been covered arms. ¡°I¡¯m not really sure,¡± I admitted. ¡°I just had some downtime and thought I might try to read some of the things here.¡± I looked down at Midnight. ¡°Can my companion be here too?¡±


    ¡°I require,¡± the voice emanated from inside the mass of hair, ¡°Identification!¡±


    Presumably they meant my Power Brigade ID, given our location. I placed it on the wide desk, and briefly glimpsed an arm poking out of the tangle and lifting up my ID towards where the face had to be. ¡°I regret to inform you,¡± the scratchy, deep voice made me wonder if this person had anything to drink recently, ¡°Your clearance level does not allow you to access the full range of information, nor does it allow for the presence of your companion Midnight.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure how he¡¯d learned Midnight¡¯s name, but it could have been a power. There was definitely a thing about this guy, some sort of feeling that definitely wasn¡¯t magic. ¡°Sorry, buddy,¡± I shrugged at Midnight. ¡°Guess you can¡¯t stay here. You can go wait somewhere else, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°I would prefer to explore the city,¡± Midnight responded. ¡°Now that I am more familiar with how things work, I am confident in my ability to find my way back to the apartment, at least.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t stay out too long, or I¡¯ll get worried.¡± While he had a pretty poor track record of taking care of himself, he wasn¡¯t exactly going to learn if I was always with him. And he wasn¡¯t going to be wandering around for days without proper food or water. I could find him as long as he didn¡¯t choose to dissolve the bond, if it really came down to it.


    ¡°Then I shall be returning to the ground floor and then outside,¡± Midnight swiveled around.


    ¡°Make sure to conserve some mana for recasting Translation,¡± I reminded him. When we were together I could use it on both of us at the same cost, but every couple hours it needed to be refreshed. Since it would take half of his current mana pool, he needed to be careful with it. ¡°It¡¯s really not fun to have a half-effective Translation spell or pass out,¡± I finished. I was more used to how magic worked, so the advice might not be common sense to him.


    ¡°Yes, I shall remember,¡± Midnight nodded. ¡°I also have my identification in Storage. I will keep four points of mana for those.¡±


    We really needed to get him a way to just carry stuff. He was capable of manipulating stuff quite dexterously for a time, but for a four-legged creature giving up use of one or more limbs was a bit inconvenient. The same was true with carrying things in your mouth. I knew actual cats had collars with information on them, but he wasn¡¯t really a pet. Nor was he a slave. I didn¡¯t want to suggest something like that if I could help it. But they didn¡¯t exactly make clothes with pockets for cats. Surprisingly enough they did make clothes, but they were mostly meant to be costumes for some sort of festival that was coming up. All Hallow¡¯s Eve, I believe the official name was, though everything said ¡®Halloween¡¯.


    Even if the clothes had pockets they might be too warm. Maybe a little backpack? Midnight could probably manage something like that. We¡¯d have to talk about it more later.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I watched Midnight trot back to the elevator and expertly hop up and slap the down arrow with a paw. The same elevator we came up in hadn¡¯t been called anywhere else yet, so the doors immediately opened. Midnight once more hopped up to slap the button I presumed was for the ground floor and the doors closed on him before I felt him start descending.


    ¡°Turlooough.¡± The voice managed to draw out my name in a rather spooky way as the librarian once more got my attention. ¡°I do not believe you have a¡­ log-in. I will help you to form that from the void so that you might access the systems of the library.¡±


    ¡°Can I just go look at the books?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You may, but the organizational system is special. You will find it difficult to parse without the system. And of course, there are also Forbidden Tomes that should not be viewed by the likes of mortals, words which cannot be inscribed upon anything so base as a hard drive. Those are inaccessible¡­ until you achieve higher clearance.¡±


    Why even mention them then? I kind of wanted to read those books now. ¡°Well, alright¡­ umm, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°I am Saveliy. Head librarian.¡± Somehow the words seemed to echo throughout the area, despite the obvious attempts at reducing reflections. ¡°Now come with me to one of these computers so I can set you up.¡±


    A few short minutes later I was logged in to the computer, which would automatically determine my access level to things. I was familiar enough with the operation of computers by now, so I was at first disappointed that the library was not much different from my ability to access the internet. But that wasn¡¯t quite true. There was a database on members of the Power Brigade- and while my clearance only allowed me to see public figures and public information about powers, it was more conveniently arranged than most I had seen.


    Among the higher ranking active members of the Power Brigade were a few figures I recognized, like Great Girl and Shockwave, along with many I didn¡¯t- like Mace. She was closer to the middling section like Ice Guy, but what stood out was the weird information. She wielded a spiky metal club that could certainly be called a mace, but her power also just said ¡®mace¡¯. Did she summon it or something?


    That led me on an interesting search for what sort of abilities people could have. Summoning weapons was one of them. So was super intelligence, which included people like Masha- the woman at the party with that fancy device. Tech supers.


    I followed many links to various types of things when I found where the most abundant information was available. At least, available to me. It seemed the Power Brigade had quite a large database of information just on the powers and tactics of various villains, and that information was for the most part unrestricted.


    It made sense, really. Information about Power Brigade members and heroes was restricted to protect them. Villains, however, at least those with official recognition of that status, were not given the same protections. If we were to fight against them, knowing their strengths and weaknesses would be quite useful.


    The information available was¡­ extensive. It would take a very long time to absorb all of it, and I had no idea where to focus. New Bay was a large area with tens of millions of inhabitants, and there were thousands of known villains with powers. Doctor Doomsday was somewhere in the top pack, though he wasn¡¯t given the highest threat rating by the Power Brigade. I wasn¡¯t sure what rated as more dangerous than someone who had created dozens of portals to random places just because he could.


    I read through the entry placed as the highest threat. Heartstopper, a woman so beautiful anyone catching a glimpse of her immediately froze their muscles, including their heart and lungs. That inevitably lead to death a short time later.


    I called bull crap on that placement. For one thing, there was a picture of her right next to the information. For another thing, beauty was subjective. Sure, I would admit that the figure of the woman was fairly attractive in that pink spandex, but I was a humanoid. Midnight and Jim would have entirely different senses of what was the height of beauty.


    I almost stomped away in disgust, disappointed by the quality of the database. But then I finished reading the entry, and found it agreed with me.


    ¡°The mechanism of Heartstopper¡¯s power is unknown, but the popularly known aspects are accurate to a certain degree. Direct visual contact is required for the power to work, and the effects are basically accurate. Those few who survived, mostly supers with some sort of bodily durability, indicated that they were mentally overwhelmed when looking at her- but couldn¡¯t really explain how. Some did indeed become infatuated with her afterwards, but it could have been some lingering damage to their psyche as all such individuals were unstable.¡±


    I bit my lip. Regardless of the method, someone who could kill you just by looking at them- and that seemed to be the end of what was required- was extremely dangerous. There was some magic I was pretty sure would protect against that, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to cast it even if I knew it. At least, it would take the entirety of my mana which would send me into some form of shock even without interacting with someone.


    Closing your eyes¡­ could apparently work. Though it seemed there were still lesser effects based on proximity.


    While Heartstopper was probably not the biggest threat to New Bay, as she wasn¡¯t toppling skyscrapers, to the Power Brigade she was a big problem. After all, if she showed up and caught people off guard all of their best members could die- or at least be incapacitated.


    I was quite contently reading through the whole list, focusing on those villains that seemed interesting without any knowledge of who I might encounter, if any. Several hours passed that way before I felt a sense of worry- no, fear- from Midnight. It was faint due to his distance, but quite distinctive. As it increased in intensity, I knew it wasn¡¯t a momentary fright but instead some sort of real danger.


    I quickly stood up from my seat, heading for the elevator. I needed to find someone who could bring me to Midnight. It would be too slow to call a car, but the Power Brigade should have some available and someone who could drive. I would just have to find someone quickly. It was too far to run, but I pondered my options as the elevator went down. Past the ground floor, which I had programmed it for, but instead stopping on B1.


    A recorded voice played for me as the door opened. ¡°Power Brigade associate member. You have been diverted to join a team headed to the Alvarado district. Please standby for further instructions.¡±


    How inconvenient. I would usually be happy to go deal with some emergency as it would likely involve fighting, but I had something important. Hopefully I could explain that to whoever was in charge.

 Chapter 31

    I was waiting in the parking garage for thirty seconds to a minute before there were two more consecutive dings of elevators arriving. One had Ice Guy and Shockfire, the other contained Acid Man.


    ¡°Hello,¡± I greeted them all, then walked up to Ice Guy specifically as he followed along. ¡°I understand that we are supposed to be going on a mission, but I have a friend in danger and I would like to be excused from this.¡±


    Everyone was walking quickly, but Ice Guy turned his head towards me to answer. ¡°Is your friend more important than a mall full of people?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I answered quickly.


    He rolled his eyes, ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you didn¡¯t try to sign up to be a hero. Stuff like that wouldn¡¯t fly. Doesn¡¯t quite work here either, unless you can tell me your friend being in danger will end up causing widespread destruction or dozens of deaths.¡±


    That would depend on what happened to Midnight. But presumably he was going for more direct results of him being in danger. ¡°I suppose not, but-¡±


    We arrived at a large, high-wheeled vehicle. He yanked open a door. ¡°Get in. We need your assistance, but I can promise to bring you to your friend afterwards. Hopefully they can handle themself for a while.¡±


    I thought about it, and honestly Midnight probably could handle himself. It would depend on what the danger was, and whether or not he had any mana. Even if he did, he¡¯d need to know what to use. So far he¡¯d only actually activated some of my spells, and I hadn¡¯t in depth explained all of them to him. Using the wrong spell could actually just waste mana for little effect. Though honestly, Haste should get him out of most trouble if he was able to run.


    I climbed up into the large vehicle. It only had room for five people, but it seemed some of them could be rather large with the designated seats being wide and reinforced, and the high ceiling on the roof of the car. ¡°Where is the Alvarado district?¡± I asked. If I just abandoned a mission I had no doubt I would get in significant trouble, possibly including expulsion from the Power Brigade. I liked my job, but I would happily give it up to help a friend. I only had a few friends, and I didn¡¯t want to lose any of them. The trouble was, Rasmus and Maks were also my friends. At least, I felt some bond from working together with them during our time here.


    ¡°North of here,¡± Ice Guy answered my question. Despite the apparent emergency nature of the situation, he didn¡¯t stomp on the gas. Instead, he signaled as he pulled out of the parking garage and into traffic. But after we were on the road, he pressed some sort of button, causing flashing lights and a siren to go off above our vehicle. I knew they were different than the civilian emergency vehicles, but I wasn¡¯t sure who had priority. I should learn that at some point. And also learn to drive, though it wouldn¡¯t be much good if I couldn¡¯t afford a car.


    ¡°What are we expecting?¡± Shockfire asked.


    ¡°Not quite sure,¡± Ice Guy said, ¡°Someone causing chaos and smashing up stores with a power. It shouldn¡¯t be someone excessively dangerous, since they¡¯re throwing us at it. Likely wanted a coordinated group. But we don''t have to guess.¡± He pressed another button on the car. ¡°Dispatch, this is temporary squadron A headed by Ice Guy, en route to Alvarado district. What can we expect to see?¡±


    A neutral sounding voice came back through the car speakers. That was the only way I could describe it. It didn¡¯t sound like a man or a woman or anything, just a voice that clearly and concisely spoke words. ¡°New Monolith Mall called in the disruption as a dispute within a store escalated. Widespread destruction and ¡®loud explosions¡¯ followed, including significant numbers of shattered windows and damaged merchandise, with the upset perpetrator¡¯s actions spreading into nearby stores. Minimal civilian injuries, though mall security was unable to subdue the perpetrator. Others are en route, the first of which will be Mace who is expected to arrive several minutes prior to you. Civilians are being evacuated. Power Brigade priority is to subdue the target.¡±


    ¡°There you have it. Widespread destruction, but that¡¯s all we¡¯ve got. Think you guys can handle it?¡±


    ¡°That would depend significantly on what sort of attacks the individual is capable of,¡± I admitted. ¡°We also don¡¯t know about their defenses.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully we¡¯ll get information on that soon,¡± Ice Guy admitted. ¡°We¡¯ll arrive in a couple minutes. How about you two?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s a fire or lightning based power, I¡¯m fine. Otherwise, I¡¯ll need to avoid being in dangerous areas,¡± Shockfire pointed out.


    ¡°I should be fine against most things,¡± Acid Man said, ¡°Though if they have the wrong sort of power I can¡¯t reform to attack them.¡±


    ¡°I can set up defensive walls to keep us close to the action,¡± Ice Guy noted. ¡°They should at least hamper an attack, though if major structural damage has taken place we¡¯ll just need to try to minimize what else happens. Mace is more experienced, so we should support her if we can. Mage, how are your stores of mana?¡±


    ¡°Nearly full,¡± I said. I¡¯d had to use Translation to keep reading about twenty minutes ago, so I was about a point short. Nothing big. ¡°I can give you all an application of Force Armor and still have enough for some other spells. A couple big supporting spells or a handful of offensive ones as necessary.¡± I frowned. Midnight had grown even more afraid. Or perhaps the feeling was getting stronger because we were getting closer? It was probably both, because we appeared to be heading in the same direction he was. I wondered if that was a coincidence. It could be. But then again, how many actual situations were happening in this city at once?


    When I thought about it, the answer was actually quite high. Just the members of the Power Brigade I knew about could form a dozen teams, and there were tons of heroes and villains and other mercenary groups. I¡¯d just not been exposed to most of what was happening because I was safe in Power Brigade headquarters.


    We were apparently close enough that I heard an explosion, a big rumbling boom. That brought to mind some questions I hadn¡¯t asked, but perhaps should have. ¡°Why did they send us?¡± I asked. ¡°I mean, really. Not the official cohesive group thing.¡±


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    ¡°Because sending a group of rookies is cheaper and this job isn¡¯t paying that well. But also the other thing,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°Most people don¡¯t train in HQ all day. If they visit HQ at all they come for a bit and then go to a duty station throughout the city, or to other official business.¡± Ice Guy grimaced slightly, ¡°The Power Brigade is usually pretty good about danger assessments, but quick decisions like this aren¡¯t always made with full information. If it¡¯s really dangerous, just focus on keeping yourselves safe. We can wait for the big guns or the heroes to show up, if we have to.¡±


    Cars were streaming away from the large parking lot in front of us, but that flow suddenly stopped when some people who were a bit too eager to get away ran into each other at the entrance of the parking garage. Instead of trying to get through that mess or find somewhere along the street, Ice Guy just drove up the steps leading to the mall itself, avoiding the fleeing civilians. We hopped out at the doors inside, then began to push our way through the crowd of people.


    Fortunately it thinned out quickly, as most people had enough time to get outside already. Our captain had called in our arrival, and our earpieces lit up with further instructions for us. ¡°Temp squad A, make your way towards the central area. Mace is currently engaged with the enemy and requires immediate backup.¡±


    I was once more glad that running was part of my daily training, as I was able to speed through the halls with our captain at the lead. As we approached the area in question damage became visible. Shattered glass and overturned tables and display cases were the most common.


    ¡°Good news,¡± Ice Guy commented. ¡°No holes in the walls, and most things are basically intact. Whatever this is seems to simply-¡±


    I couldn¡¯t hear whatever he said next, as another explosion happened. The strange thing was it felt like something punched me in the side of the head when the damage was clearly happening up ahead in an open courtyard. I saw dust and dirt flying everywhere.


    Then my hearing returned.


    ¡°... sonic based attack,¡± Ice Guy turned his head to look at those of us following behind us. ¡°Everyone alright?¡±


    We were all in various states of recovering our hearing. ¡°Why didn¡¯t the Force Armor stop that?¡± Shockfire asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain later,¡± I said. It would only take a couple sentences, but as we were about to be going into combat it really wasn¡¯t important. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it will work where it counts.¡±


    I was suddenly extremely glad about my new spell. I was planning to use Energy Ward against¡­ well, anyone in my current group actually. Or a good portion of other supers. At a mana cost of four I could use it on three of us, but then I¡¯d be basically tapped out. That might be enough, but I wanted to see more of the situation first. And find Midnight, who was¡­ really close to the epicenter of everything. And a bit up.


    As we ran forward we stepped into the courtyard full of concrete plant beds, palm trees, and benches. There were two obvious figures present, one with long black hair, a black leather jacket, and some sort of lute. The ground was cracked around him as he stood in a weird battle stance with his hands on his instrument, facing off against Mace. She was a sturdy woman, but not particularly bulky. She was likely a bit shorter than myself, but that still put her at nearly six feet tall. She had her namesake weapon in her hands, a weapon with a rounded head with some protrusions sticking off of it. Not the full spikes like a morningstar, but closer to wide blades radiating out from the center. The weapon could do damage with its weight even if it didn¡¯t hit cleanly on one of the edges or points it had.


    ¡°Spread out,¡± our captain told us. ¡°Acid Man, look for a flanking position. Shockfire and I will try a bombardment. It looks like these plant beds should work as cover if you need it.¡±


    I wanted to say I wasn¡¯t sure if cover would work. But when I saw the man with the long hair strum something on his funny V-shaped lute, I threw myself behind one of the plant beds. The good news was that it did work. The bad news was that it wouldn¡¯t be possible to dodge the attack in a traditional way. It wasn¡¯t something you could see coming. Sound waves were too fast to dodge. But at least he had obvious hand motions.


    After the shockwave rolled over me I picked myself up and kept an eye on him while I edged around the courtyard. I couldn¡¯t hear anything, but I could see Mace staggering to her feet in the middle of the area. I didn¡¯t see Rasmus- Acid Man- but our captain and Shockfire opened up with some attacks. A bolt of fire with a ring of lighting shot out from Shockfire¡¯s hand, representing some of his stored energy. He was most capable of instantly absorbing and redirecting fire and electricity, but he could also keep a small amount longer term. Small in a relative sense, at least.


    The long haired man wasn¡¯t looking as ice and fire shot towards him, but he stepped to the side and the air distorted with another movement of his hands. Both shots went wide, with Shockfire¡¯s attack dispersing into a less concentrated form before it hit the wall. Ice Guy¡¯s attack left a huge clump of expanding ice on the far side of the courtyard. I would presume there was going to be some sort of sound to go with that, but my ears were a bit overwhelmed at the moment.


    I was absolutely going to lend my hand to this battle, but first I had to sidle over to where Midnight was. ¡°Hey buddy,¡± I called up to him. When the figure atop the palm tree didn¡¯t change from how he was clutching onto it, I realized he probably also couldn¡¯t hear. I mentally reached out to him. We couldn¡¯t talk mind to mind, but it was enough to get his attention. He twitched and looked down towards me, and I held up my arms.


    The speed with which he immediately leapt down was surprising. When he impacted my hands I softened the weight of the fall, eventually holding him under his shoulders a couple feet from the ground. Before I set him down I cast a spell. On both of us, of course, since it was just as efficient as simply using it on myself. A shimmering barrier folded around us, and of course I chose sonic. That was the weakness of Energy Ward, but also what allowed it its strength. It could provide very powerful protection against one sort of thing, but you had to know what you were dealing with.


    I heard another loud boom, but that told me my spell worked. My hearing was still a bit fuzzy, but my ears would recover now that they were no longer taking a beating. I looked down at Midnight and smiled, ¡°Hey. You should probably get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Turlough! Turlough!¡± I felt the fear falling away from him as he yelled at me. He probably said my name more as he was jumping down, but I couldn¡¯t hear it. ¡°There was a crazy guy and then I got stuck in a tree!¡±


    I really appreciated the quickness of that summary. ¡°I know. You should go hide.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I can hear, a little bit. Yes, I¡¯ll be going. Thank you.¡±


    I could tell he wanted to say more, but he was also aware of the repeated sounds less than a hundred feet away. He scurried off while I turned towards the battle and tried to think how I might make things go better for anyone involved. I could probably walk up to that guy and punch him, but if he had close combat capabilities I could still be in big trouble. The one who really needed my help was Mace, who had been his main target for a while and was looking unsteady on her feet. Unfortunately I wasn¡¯t sure if I could approach her safely, even with Energy Ward. I felt a lot of power radiating from the long haired guy. A Mage¡¯s Reach might just do it, but the hands I conjured were capable of being destroyed. With that defensive blast I saw earlier, if he noticed my attack I would probably just waste a bundle of mana. I¡¯d try to talk to the others, but I doubted any of them could hear right now. Decisions decisions.

 Chapter 32

    A few more blasts of ice and a ball of fire were deflected from the unnamed villain with long hair in the center of the courtyard. I tried to take stock of the situation, including how the sonic based man worked. Sound attacks, obviously, but he could also use another version that deflected incoming attacks. There had to be limits, but as Mace kindly demonstrated a moment later he could also knock away a whole person, even with significant momentum. And he always seemed ready for attacks, even from behind.


    Suddenly I saw Acid Man splatter into a million pieces. At least, green goop ended up flying everywhere from an explosion of sound. That was¡­ hopefully fine. I liked Rasmus. Previous times his acid body had discorporated had resulted in little harm to him, so hopefully this was the same. I saw a piece near me wriggling, which was a good sign- since normally acid just lay in a puddle. Not that he was really acid, given all the strange aspects of superpowers- but it was close enough to get the idea.


    Adding my own attacks to Ice Guy and Shockfire seemed like a waste of mana. Maybe we would hit the limit of how much the enemy could deflect at once, but it sure didn¡¯t seem like we were getting close. Sure, his waist length hair was disheveled and he was sweating, but it seemed like he was probably always that way. The hair. The sweat was probably from all of the power usage and moving his arm so vigorously to play that V-shaped lute.


    I heard a crackling in my ear. It eventually resolved into something like real words. ¡°... -ad A. Come in, Temp Squad A.¡±


    ¡°This is Turlough of Temp Squad A. This guy has sound powers and I¡¯m pretty sure everyone else¡¯s eardrums and comms blew out.¡±


    ¡°Copy that. Seems like yours is-¡± only garbled static came over for a moment. ¡°Just hold on. There¡¯s ¡­ incoming.¡±


    Hopefully that word was reinforcements. I dove behind a planter, and dirt splattered over me as a sonic blast exploded over it. ¡°Got it. I¡¯m going to have to stop now because I¡¯m pretty sure this guy has super hearing.¡± Maybe I was reading too much into the way he looked at me when my comm started speaking, but it also made sense with how he was reacting to things from different angles.


    I looked over at the squad captain. Ice Guy was constantly working on maintaining a wall of ice that at least seemed to partially provide him cover. Shockfire seemed to have gotten tumbled around a bit, by the amount of dirt all over him, but there was only a little blood. Especially compared to Mace, who hadn¡¯t gotten up again from when she was blasted away the last time.


    Angling myself behind a tree, I tried to catch Shockfire¡¯s eye. I gestured for him to circle around, though I had to admit I wasn¡¯t sure if he would fully understand.


    I began to circle around counterclockwise, which would get me closer to the opposite side of the loud guy. It would also bring me closer to Mace, which was another goal.


    I wasn¡¯t fast when crawling, so I had to stand up and crouch-run. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard to over to Mace¡­ if the guy let me. Which of course he didn¡¯t, even though I hadn¡¯t done anything to him yet. I didn¡¯t say my plan, but I supposed he was able to guess that if I was going for our downed ally I had some sort of support power.


    A huge blast of energy hit me in the side, making me sway. Mace got hit by that crap multiple times? I¡¯d have to upgrade her durability in my mental ranking. That took a huge chunk out of my Energy Ward, between a third and a half. That could kill someone! Which might have been the point.


    I knew there was a level of etiquette super power users of all sorts might follow, such as not using deadly force. Either he expected me to have defenses, or didn¡¯t care. As a villain of course he wouldn¡¯t care about legal implications, but there were practical reasons. For example, if you killed a hero, anyone coming to bring you in would be much more likely to not take the risk of restraining you and just take you out. The same worked from the hero side. In addition to legal restrictions limiting the use of deadly force, any known for unrestrained violence against villains would find themselves a target as a dangerous entity.


    Mercenaries¡­ well, we got paid to do our jobs. The experienced members all said that it was best to follow the same practice, even if we had a bit more leeway than heroes. Same reasons of course, since we didn¡¯t want anyone to try to kill us.


    Whether he didn¡¯t know or didn¡¯t care, the guy lobbed another mound of energy at me. I couldn¡¯t predict it ahead of time, but as it hit me I felt how it was much more condensed than some of his other attempts. And it staggered me once more, even if I didn¡¯t get directly injured. I noticed that the guy seemed to yell things like, ¡°Yeah!¡± And ¡°Nyow!¡± The second one was not a word, but a sound. Kind of like his weird lute, but¡­ fake.


    He seemed to use his mouth-sounds to deflect attacks, as I saw Ice Guy shove a crawling wall of icicles at the guy- which he shattered. He was still looking directly at me, and when his arm picked up for a big move, I jumped behind another planter. The concrete cracked and I got a whole pile of dirt on my back, but I was out of the direct hit. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could take another hit. Should I refresh Energy Ward? I should be able to do that and use it on Mace, but I wouldn¡¯t have anything left after that. If I just used it on Mace, I could also use a couple Firebolts, since I had around eight mana left after the Force Armors on Temp Squad A.


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    I stayed prone behind the planter, wondering what I should do. I couldn¡¯t hesitate long, because soon Shockfire should be in position. Then I felt magic. Not another super power, or a weird sort of spying thing like happened at the party. Actual, magely magic. It just wasn¡¯t coming from me. Not¡­ directly anyway. It was Midnight.


    Somehow he¡¯d found the time to scurry over to Mace, and he¡¯d somehow guessed exactly what I intended to do. He could have felt some determination through our bond, but now he would be feeling surprise. I hadn¡¯t even told him about Energy Ward, though I suppose I did cast it. I was worried he might collapse, but I felt him keep moving afterwards. That meant he hadn¡¯t used any mana up to this point. I wondered if he knew he could lift himself down with Mage¡¯s Reach? Actually¡­ maybe he couldn¡¯t. For various reasons, one of which was not having hands.


    But that was a thought for another time. I peeked my nose up over the edge of the planter and saw Shockfire in position. We were directly across from each other which actually wasn¡¯t quite right, but I had to take the shot.


    My first Firebolt was just a little off to the side of the long haired villain, but he deflected it anyway. From that I learned a couple things. First, he wasn¡¯t perfect, though his timing was excellent. Second, I saw what his sudden burst did to my Firebolt. It half disintegrated, with the rest veering off at an angle.


    I reached my right arm out to the side. Normally I would stretch my arm directly forward, to aid in aiming it like the sight on a gun- not that I knew about those when I was practicing Firebolt. However, that didn¡¯t mean I had to do it that way. A firebolt came from my hand, not aligned with my arm but out of the palm which was facing towards our foe. The others attacked nearly at the same time, Ice Guy on the side and Shockfire behind. With another shout he broke all of our attacks, but I noticed something about the way they dispersed.


    His defensive ability was powerful, no question, but it wasn¡¯t omnipotent. If we could coordinate our attacks we could take this guy down- but not by attacking all at the same time. We needed to stagger just slightly.


    I stuck out my left arm. While I could have run around to change the angle of my attack, I was hoping being a stationary target was tempting. And I was right, because immediately after our next round of attacks, including Ice Guy just throwing a whole torso-sized chunk of ice that got shattered, I was attacked once more.


    Energy Ward was broken, and it had enough punch left over to wobble my Force Armor. I was knocked flat on my back, and when I sat up I felt some blood dripping down my face. But I couldn¡¯t just stay down. Shockfire was out in the open, so I had to make use of what I could. One last Firebolt, and maybe a half if I was willing to knock myself out. But then I¡¯d be a liability to the team, so I really didn¡¯t want to do that.


    I got on my knees, barely looking over the planter. ¡°Nice try, idiot.¡± The man had been looking around for more targets, but he quickly snapped back to me as I spoke. So, I was right. I held out both of my arms to the sides. This was my secret technique. A duo of Firebolts from each hand¡­ was not something I could do. But I could fake him out with a quick succession.


    A very much tuned down Firebolt shot from my right palm, a tiny spurt of energy, and then my left made use of the rest of the mana I had gathered for a proper shot a moment later.


    The moment was perfect. My tenth of a firebolt and a cone of fire from my friend across from me hit at the same time as a lobbed sphere of ice from the side came down on him. They all fell apart. A moment later, my Firebolt came streaking towards the man¡­ and he stepped to the side.


    I was glad he couldn¡¯t see me grinning behind the mask. That would have ruined the whole thing. My Firebolt hit Shockfire¡¯s outstretched arm, where it was immediately absorbed and re-released. He was much faster with that than calling upon his more limited internal stores. The Firebolt struck the man in the back, lighting his hair on fire. He gave a little yell, probably one intended to put out the fire, but it seemed the way it was clinging to him he couldn¡¯t affect it for some reason. Or maybe it was how wimpy he made the sound.


    Then he screamed louder, though it wasn¡¯t amplified by his power. ¡°My hair! My feet!¡± A long string of profanity followed that up, though I also felt him gearing up for another attack. It was the same as a number of other supers I felt using their power, and the air trembling around him didn¡¯t hurt. I saw movement at the same time. Shockfire seemed pretty much out of juice, and Ice Guy was still gathering up for something bigger, but there was one more of us.


    Besides Acid Man, who I assumed was the cause for the yelling about his feet. Yes, of course, it was Mace- and she swung her namesake weapon at the man overhand. It was so very close¡­ but right as she was about to impact he managed another scream with his power, flinging the weapon out of her hand. It seemed like the initial shock was wearing off and he was able to fight again.


    Until Mace¡¯s outstretched hand sprayed some sort of orange goop onto his face. A moment later, I felt my back hitting a wall. All of the remaining power he¡¯d been building up was let out all at once as he screamed in pain, a final wave of energy that was fortunately not concentrated in any direction. I stood up, shaking off the dizziness of what was probably a concussion. That made it worse, but I could at least make out the guy¡¯s figure.


    He was rolling around on the ground. I don¡¯t think it was on purpose, but it served to help put out his burning hair. He was now too busy screaming about his eyes to care about his hair and feet, even though I could see the raw, red skin of his toes where he¡¯d once had shoes.


    At least he should be incapacitated. I didn¡¯t feel any sign of his power. I looked around, seeing the others shakily standing as well- though Mace was still on her feet, just pushed back. The Energy Ward had protected her enough. Now all we had to do was bring him in. Then it would be a job well done. I smiled.


    Then an explosion of light hit the ground in the middle of the courtyard, and a burning figure stepped out of it, striding over to the man. The form, which resolved itself into the shape of a woman, grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him up to something like a standing position. ¡°You¡¯re coming with me, villain! Nobody escapes the grasp of Shooting Star!¡± Then she shot off into the sky carrying him, past what had to be at least a dozen camera drones with news station markings on them.


    My eye twitched. I looked over at the others, and while I could slightly hear them, my ears were probably in the best shape of all of us so we couldn''t really talk. But I got the general idea they had the same thoughts as me. Stupid heroes.

 Chapter 33

    After the mission we made our way back to HQ, where we went up to floor 5. I had never been there before, but it seemed to be reserved for medical problems. Our captain brought us to a nice man in a white coat.


    ¡°Oh, the newbies. Good to see you. I¡¯m Doctor Rajesh Mishra. What seems to be the problem today?¡± He was looking at Ice Guy, but he didn¡¯t respond to the question. So I did.


    ¡°Sonic damage,¡± I said, gesturing to our ears.


    ¡°I see,¡± he nodded. ¡°Who should I start with?¡±


    I pointed to Mace. ¡°She was there first, and probably took the most of it.¡±


    The nice man smiled, ¡°Alright then. We¡¯ll start with that.¡±


    I felt him gathering power. It was kind of like Meztli, but¡­ less? At first I didn¡¯t understand why we came to him instead of her, but I figured it out pretty quick. He didn¡¯t just shove a burst of energy into Mace, but instead held his hands on either side of her head, a continuous stream of power going into her and carefully moving around.


    ¡°How¡¯s that?¡± he asked. ¡°Can you hear? Any problems?¡±


    ¡°Much better, thanks Doctor Mishra.¡± She stretched, ¡°Still got a few bumps and bruises, but my head¡¯s better.¡±


    ¡°We can see about the rest in a bit, but ruptured eardrums and concussions will be my first priority.¡± Doctor Mishra continued on to Ice Guy and Shockfire. Acid Man was less obviously damaged, but he spent some time going over his whole body just in case.


    I was next. The process felt quite different from what Meztli did. Among other things, I noticed that I wasn¡¯t given a Power Brigade branded energy bar, and I didn¡¯t feel exhausted afterwards. I was wondering if Doctor Mishra needed one though. Healing had to take significant effort.


    ¡°And this?¡± he gestured to the last person in the lineup. ¡°The cat?¡±


    ¡°My name is Midnight Deathstalker,¡± he flicked his tail. ¡°My ears hurt?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not a member of the Power Brigade,¡± I mentioned. ¡°But he¡¯s my familiar and was at the scene, and even helped out. Can you heal him?¡±


    Doctor Mishra shrugged. ¡°Sure. Might as well. He¡¯s small enough.¡±


    -----


    After getting healed, while the group was still together, I brought up the third most important thing about the mission. Health was second, of course. ¡°So¡­ a hero came in. We still get paid, right?¡±


    Ice Guy grinned. ¡°Hey, we might have the worst naming sense of any group, but we have some things going for us. Like making sure to get paid. We signed up, showed up, and did the job. Someone flying away with all the glory doesn¡¯t change that.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Do we get paid extra for letting them have all the glory?¡±


    ¡°... I don¡¯t think so,¡± Ice Guy said. He seemed to be seriously pondering that. ¡°Maybe we should bring that up later.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°We absolutely should. Because I either want to have some of the fame, or get paid for not having it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of implied that most mercenaries won¡¯t get as famous as heroes,¡± Ice Guy stroked his chin. ¡°But we really should check on that.¡±


    ¡°On the topic of getting paid,¡± Mace spoke for the second time since I¡¯d met her, which wasn¡¯t all that odd because she¡¯d been sort of deaf when we first met, ¡°About the cat. Midnight, you said your name was?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a cat,¡± he pointed out dejectedly, but he was clearly resigned to people making the assumption now. ¡°But yes, I am Midnight Deathstalker.¡±


    ¡°Cool. You want a job?¡± she asked casually.


    There was a long pause before Midnight finally answered. ¡°I don¡¯t have hands, and most Earth technology is set up to require such. I am afraid I will not be terribly effective.¡±


    ¡°Not that kind of job,¡± Mace said. ¡°A real job. Like the rest of us. You dashed into danger to help me with that power. That¡¯s the kind of initiative we like at the Power Brigade.¡±


    ¡°That was Turlough¡¯s magic,¡± Midnight admitted.


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said, ¡°But you used your own mana and went to help on your own.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know what either of you are talking about,¡± Mace looked between us. ¡°You can share your power?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s complicated,¡± I said. ¡°But mostly¡­ no.¡±


    ¡°Well, whatever,¡± the muscular woman shrugged. ¡°The point is, Midnight is a person, right? Not just some sort of power construct made by Turlough?¡±


    ¡°That is right,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I am a person.¡±


    ¡°Then even if you¡¯re just a conduit for his power, making use of that in a combat situation is worthy of recognition,¡± Mace nodded seriously, ¡°All sorts of support personnel are important. So if you¡¯d like to do more¡­¡±


    ¡°I will think about it,¡± Midnight said diplomatically. ¡°I am not fond of danger.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anybody is. But you were brave. You didn¡¯t have to come to me, you know.¡±


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    ¡°I could not just leave you in danger,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And you were on the same side as my friend Turlough. Providing support was natural.¡±


    ¡°I understand if you are concerned about the risk,¡± Mace said. ¡°Someone of your size isn¡¯t exactly durable. But if you¡¯re concerned about Turlough-¡± she stopped herself. ¡°Well, nevermind. Don¡¯t worry, we take care of our own.¡±


    I wondered what she didn¡¯t say. But I was also thinking about the durability of Midnight. Sure, his physical size and cat-adjacent body made him vulnerable to damage. But was he really that much more likely to face serious injury than myself? I would be using all of my defensive abilities on both of us, and after adding more than a whole other person¡¯s worth of ability to be alive just from Force Armor, the difference between a human and a cat was less relevant. And if Energy Ward could be used, it was negligible. But I also understood not everyone liked fighting.


    That brought my thoughts to the most important thing. My 582 points of experience. With all of the sparring between Great Girl and Shockwave, I¡¯d gotten a decent amount of second-hand experience. But that was negligible compared to this fight with the loud hair guy. Whatever his effective level was, it was high. I got almost 50 points of experience, which would be two-thirds of a level. That would already be a lot if I defeated someone alone, let alone as part of a group. That said, I supposed I had magic on everyone involved in the fight, and my Energy Ward ate like four potential deaths for me. Assuming Midnight¡¯s use of Energy Ward counted as my own, which I wasn¡¯t really sure on.


    What I did know was that he was at 29 experience, which meant he¡¯d hit level 2 and almost jumped all the way to level 3. It was¡­ not that absurd, really. Kids who did nothing grew past the first handful of levels pretty quickly. Someone getting in a fight with a high level enemy and having a noticeable effect should grow quickly.


    Ice Guy waved his hand in front of my face. ¡°Hey. Earth to Turlough.¡±


    I blinked. ¡°What?¡± I tilted my head. What was this about Earth?


    ¡°You weren¡¯t paying attention. I saw you take some crazy hits in that fight and do alright. Is that another new ability?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s a new spell,¡± I said. ¡°I had picked it precisely for the sparring session we were going to have earlier today, until people had to cancel. And yes, I could have used it on two of you and then potentially passed out.¡± I was almost level 15 now. Sadly, it seemed I wouldn¡¯t get to level up on consecutive days. But coming to this world had been the right decision. There was plenty of combat.


    -----


    The next day I got to have the spars I wanted. The order was Ice Guy, Acid Man, and then Shockfire would be last. That was for a reason. Though I might not get all of them in during a single day. It took me a bit more than three hours to restore myself to maximum mana, which meant the real matches had to happen over about six hours total. Six and a half, really. If I were higher level I could potentially win a spar without depleting my reserves but I still wasn¡¯t even at a ¡®normal¡¯ level. Being past level 50 like Master Uvithar was still far off, and I was nowhere close to being a legendary level 100. Even if I counted pure xp and not the fact that there would be vastly diminishing amounts gained, I was barely 2% of the way there.


    The pre-match setup still involved me using Force Armor on myself and Ice Guy. The safety it provided was one of the reasons I was able to have more serious spars so often. Going to see Doctor Mishra after a mission was paid for, but avoiding injuries during training as much as possible was important. If they were due to recklessness, we¡¯d have a pay cut. My finances were fine for the moment, but I was more concerned about people simply not wanting to spar with me.


    ¡°Go all out,¡± I instructed my now-twice captain. He nodded in acknowledgment.


    As the battle started, I used Energy Ward, attuning it to cold. I¡¯d seen Ice Guy use his powers in training, but the first serious use had been the battle the day before. He could put out pretty serious quantities of ice, and had only seemed ineffective because of the opponent in question.


    Even as my Energy Ward was going up, a blue ball of ice about the size of my fist was flying at me. If it was just that, I probably could have ignored it. It was the sort of thing that would bruise and that you wanted to avoid hitting your head- but it wasn¡¯t just what it looked like. I dodged to the side, feeling it bloom into a bundle of ice spikes as it hit the wall behind me. Just because I had defenses against that didn¡¯t mean I wanted to get hit. I only had a limited amount of Energy Ward to use up, and just because my total safety net was way higher than before didn¡¯t mean it was fine to be careless.


    I shot a firebolt as I ran forward, mostly to keep my opponent on his toes. If he had to think about dodging, he couldn¡¯t be quite so accurate with his attacks. He still managed a good one, though. Instead of aiming directly at me, the ball of ice landed at my feet. This time it exploded, sending icy shrapnel everywhere. That was the point I really hoped this worked like I thought it should.


    Three spikes the length of my forearm hit me¡­ and were absorbed by the barrier. All I felt was a small impact and a slight chill. Ice Guy was surprised, and he should have been. The previous day¡¯s attacks were already invisible, so it wasn¡¯t so obvious that they were negated when they hit me. But when chunks of ice disappeared upon impacting an invisible barrier around me, it was much more visible. I had a pretty good view of one coming vaguely towards my face as it disappeared along its length, going from a point to a wider circle to nothing.


    Another Firebolt, but Ice Guy simply waved an arm and threw up a wall in front of him. My spell melted a bit of it, but it was still basically solid and person sized. I felt him building up power, and I had to admit he really wasn¡¯t holding back. If I already had Mage¡¯s Reach cast and moving towards him I might be able to reach him in time, but the wall prevented me from attacking at my current angle. I still continued to charge towards him, though.


    As I stepped around the ice wall, just big enough to cover Ice Guy, he thrust both hands towards me, palms first. A cloud of white poured over me, spikes of ice growing from the ground and instantly growing to waist height. The part that directly impacted my chest threatened to freeze me solid. What actually happened was my Energy Ward negated everything coming at me, though a cone on either side of me, except for directly behind me, was covered in spikes of ice for a good fifteen feet.


    I slipped getting over the waist height ice in front of me, but without significant momentum the ice wasn¡¯t sharp enough to break through Force Armor. Either way, I managed to reach out and grab an astounded Ice Guy¡¯s arm, breaking Force Armor and zapping him just a little. With that, I¡¯d finished the fight with enough mana left to save myself an hour of down time¡­ though not nearly as much efficacy left on Energy Ward as I would have liked.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a significant increase in defense,¡± Ice Guy nodded. ¡°I¡¯m impressed.¡±


    ¡°For the record,¡± I said, ¡°You pushed it to the limit. I wasn¡¯t expecting anything close to that last attack.¡±


    ¡°Sadly,¡± he said, ¡°That rocker didn¡¯t even try to get close. There¡¯s only so much I can do at long distance.¡±


    I nodded. It was the same as Shocking Grasp being close to twice as powerful, but required melee range. ¡°We¡¯ll have to do this again, now that you know the extent of its power. So I don¡¯t get stupid.¡± Winning a single spar against an experienced person after just getting a spell that nearly completely countered them was one thing, but Ice Guy wouldn¡¯t assume he could take me out with that same level of power again. Plus, if we got to spar again¡­


    I looked at my experience. If I got my opponents to be serious, I might even get to level 15 today. That was the good thing about being higher level, with the right abilities I could actually get even more experience. Though just doing the same things had diminishing effects eventually.

 Chapter 34

    Round two came just two hours later, and was to be myself versus Acid Man. Rasmus and I had joined the Power Brigade at basically the same time a few weeks before, and we were pretty familiar with each other. He was actually usually at an advantage, since his powers provided him some decent defensive abilities with his ability to discorporate into a green pile of what was theoretically acid.


    If for some reason it was simply something a lot like acid, I might find myself in a really short match. Part of the intent of the battle was to demonstrate my new spell, after all.


    Before we did anything else, though, we tested something very important. Rasmus turned the tip of his finger into acid and carefully poked me. His finger sort of wobbled and spread out, but nothing else happened. Good, it wasn¡¯t going to erase him. Energy Ward prevented damage of specific elements, but mostly by removing the offending thing. How? It was magic. Just like how Rasmus turned into green goo that was ¡®acid¡¯, though I at least had some formal rules for my abilities.


    When the battle started everyone was reminded how useful his powers were against most people. It had been quite unfortunate that the ¡®rocker¡¯ as Ice Guy called him had omnidirectional abilities which caused Acid Man to be spread around the whole battlefield for most of the fight, only finding a small opening to attack his lower body- and specifically his feet.


    I started the battle with a Firebolt. Rasmus didn¡¯t have much in the way of ranged abilities, so I had to take advantage where he could. Of course, he simply dodged out of the way of the first one, and the second one which was a bit better targeted simply went through his chest. Or where his chest had been before it pulled apart into a ring. A likely unnecessary maneuver, but this was a safe place to work on such abilities.


    He was moving towards me the whole time, of course, and reached me as I was readying Shocking Grasp. I reached out for him, but he just plopped to the floor and wrapped around my legs.


    I held up my charged hand and realized there were slight issues with my plan. For the most part Shocking Grasp was safe for me to use. I didn¡¯t have to fear accidentally shocking myself when touching someone or it would literally never work. But that was in normal circumstances. I could still shock myself if my hand directly touched some other part of me while intending to release the spell.


    On the other hand, Acid Man seemed a bit perturbed as well. He continued to wrap around me, now all the way to my chest, but I wasn¡¯t screaming in pain or anything. I could feel him eating away at my defenses, but it wasn¡¯t as swift as any other power.


    Instead of slapping my hand at any part of myself, I just held it parallel to my front and sort of brushed downward. I could try to transfer the Shocking Grasp to another part of myself to release, but it was easier if I focused on that part to begin with. This way, I just had to make brief contact with Rasmus.


    He quickly let go and pulled away. ¡°Ow,¡± he said after he reformed into a shape with a mouth. ¡°Getting shocked still hurts.¡± I hadn¡¯t been terribly serious about it- I used just about enough to break through Force Armor- but I still understood. ¡°That new spell or whatever is really annoying though. I can¡¯t even really touch you.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Sort of, yeah.¡± There was actually a way for him to still damage me, besides eating through the whole spell, but I would keep that a secret for the moment. I was rather fond of not being bludgeoned.


    -----


    Towards the end of the day I was prepared to fight with Shockfire. This was the battle I was most apprehensive about- because he had two elements. One would think that wouldn¡¯t be a problem, as Energy Ward was perfectly capable of resisting fire and electricity. But part of the thing with Energy Ward was that it had limitations to its functionality. It only worked against one thing at a time- chosen when I cast the spell. Thus, I had to be able to anticipate what an opponent was going to be making use of.


    I had the option to split the spell to affect multiple elements, in which case it would be at partial power against both. For two it would be slightly less than half effective against each, because of the inefficiency. I could get a bit more by using the spell twice, but the multiple instances of the power would of course cost multiple times the amount of mana and had an interference with each other, so for about twice the power I could get maybe two-thirds effectiveness against two elements. At my current point, that would take close to half of my mana- leaving me with only paltry amounts to make a few attacks. Though all of my offensive spells were kind of useless against him anyway.


    Since I would have to admit the weakness at some point, it was better to do it in training than in battle when someone was counting on me. ¡°It¡¯s going to be less effective against your multiple elements,¡± I admitted to Maks. ¡°But you can still rest assured that my defenses are stronger than usual.¡±


    I wouldn¡¯t always have time to prepare spells before a battle, but in this case I used a single split Energy Ward. I would need to use my time in battle to its maximum effectiveness, as Shockfire himself was getting stronger with training too- and had gotten to charge up before our spar.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    When the battle began, I had already picked out what I was going to do. The order of what I did might seem arbitrary, but was actually quite important. Shockfire didn¡¯t just wait for me to use my spells, though. Immediately as the battle started he pulled out a bundle of stored fire and chucked it at me. I dodged to the side as I gathered mana for Enlarge, avoiding it. Until it exploded next to me. If he¡¯d aimed it at the floor and it exploded on impact I would have expected it, but next to me the explosion of fire ate through a good portion of my fire defense. Maybe a third, maybe half.


    Then I grew bigger, making myself into an easy target. Maybe the other order would have been better, but Enlarge lasted longer and would be a more efficient use of time. And while it made me a big target, I could also take bigger steps to try to avoid his attacks. Though dodging electricity was hard. I felt him charging up, but his aim wasn¡¯t thrown off by me quickly stepping to the side, and he struck me directly in the chest. But it was actually fine, because if he kept swapping elements I would at least make full use of the split Energy Ward. The lightning bolt faded away as it reached me, sputtering out uselessly.


    I finished gathering the mana for Haste. I was getting close to the limits of how much active magic a body could handle at once, but I was also not that far from the amount of mana I had anyway. And this was enough to make a good showing.


    Suddenly faster, I made use of my long strides to quickly approach Shockfire. The energy he had been gathering was quickly changed in form, becoming a large cone of fire that washed over me. Unfortunately my size meant I took all of it. Maybe I should have just gone with Haste. On the other hand, I wouldn¡¯t be able to make a huge sweeping kick if I were just normal size, would I?


    It turned out that my visual cues were greatly exaggerated by my size. That was something I should have known would happen, but I¡¯d only really seen Great Girl fight at a large size, and she was very experienced at it. As for myself, I¡¯d started learning proper martial arts just recently- and none of them had moves specifically for half-sized opponents.


    All that was to say, Shockfire still had to throw himself to the ground to duck under my leg. My leg zipped over him, but it wouldn¡¯t have been as crazy of a hit as it might have seemed. Haste didn¡¯t increase the force of impacts, despite the speed. It was a tradeoff, in a way, but mostly the already high mana cost was simply insufficient to augment that part of movement.


    It did allow me to immediately follow up, however. In the interest of not causing real injuries to my sparring companion, I reached out to his prone form with a large hand, grabbing one of his arms. I used my strength advantage to lift him up, ready to put him in a submission hold, but he of course wasn¡¯t just going to let me do that. A burst of electricity came out from him, forcing me to let go- it was nearly enough to break my defenses, and would have done so if I held on. I didn¡¯t just release him though, but sort of tossed him and sent him tumbling.


    I telegraphed a punch as he was standing to his feet, but I was softballing my movement speed. Mostly so I could change directions when he launched a bolt of fire, this time giving it a wider berth. It was quite convenient for me that he was splitting between the elements, but then again he had a limited store of each. Even if he had done a lightning bolt I could have thrown off his aim with my improved speed, so it was a reasonable choice.


    I stepped around to his left, going in with a punch. I felt him building up power, but was confident that my attack would hit. And it did, but I came out on the worse end of the deal. I hadn¡¯t really done much damage to him up to that point, and even with my size enhanced a single punch from me wasn¡¯t enough to kill a man- the vague threshold I had for the power of Force Armor. Thus, it absorbed the blow as he stepped back to soften it while at the same time channeling electricity into my outstretched fist, breaking through the rest of my Energy Ward and some of my Force Armor beneath it.


    ¡°You win,¡± I conceded.


    ¡°Well,¡± he shrugged, ¡°I¡¯d say it¡¯s closer to a tie. I had to make use of your defensive spell to pull that off, after all.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you want to call it,¡± I said, ¡°Neither of us can take another hit. Thanks for the spar.¡±


    I looked around at my few companions. Ice Guy¡­ was his name Senan or something? Captain Senan sounded better. He had been the unfortunate one who hadn¡¯t seen the extent of my ability, so even though he was probably the strongest and most experienced of us the fight hadn¡¯t gone well for him. Rasmus had the unfortunate issue of being nearly completely negated by his damage output being slow. Shockfire had the advantage that I couldn¡¯t focus against just one of his elements, but he still made good use of his abilities.


    But as I surveyed my companions to see how they felt, I saw only determination and not disappointment. Good, I wouldn¡¯t want them to feel bad just because I got a momentary leg up. It was unfortunate for them that one thing happened to counter them all so well, but that was just how their powers worked out. And by the standards of Earth, just having a power was special. Even in New Bay, though it had to be admitted that the proportion of those with powers in some form or other wasn¡¯t insignificant.


    Before we went home for the day, Captain Senan had an important question. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t matter for us in general, but¡­ does that block outgoing uses of power? Shockfire shouldn''t need protection from fire or electricity in most cases, but we might want to resist elements similar to our own occasionally.¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t,¡± I said. At least, mages never had problems with that. ¡°Though we¡¯ll have to test it out.¡± Magic didn¡¯t always align exactly as one would think with powers, though the fact that Energy Ward worked against Rasmus indicated that the recognition of his powers as ¡®acid¡¯ was indeed correct from some sort of weird metaphysical standpoint, even if not a normal chemical one.


    And everything worked fine for them- even when Rasmus was split up, he could still pull himself back together without any weird interference. Though we weren¡¯t able to test that all the same evening, because I had mana to regenerate. Leveling to improve my storage was still very important, but I was going to take ways to replenish quickly more seriously as well. It shouldn¡¯t matter in a battle, as nothing less than ten or a hundred times my normal speed would make any real difference, but over the course of a day it could be significant.

 Chapter 35

    Though I wasn¡¯t the best at reading people and Khithae didn¡¯t have the same facial structure and expressions as most people I dealt with, I got the feeling she was unhappy from the way she slowly and methodically spooned food into her mouth, like she wasn¡¯t even tasting it. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± she said.


    If I knew anything about women, which I was absolutely not certain I did, that meant exactly the opposite. ¡°How¡¯s learning English going?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Fine,¡± she said.


    ¡°And work?¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡±


    Besides working and learning English, I really didn¡¯t know what else she did. Which was the problem, I supposed. Not that I didn¡¯t know, but that she didn¡¯t have much else to do. ¡°Troubles with English?¡± I decided to start with the potentially less touchy subject. I intentionally circumvented Translation to speak, though she would still be able to respond however she wanted to.


    ¡°... It¡¯s not made for people with a mouth like mine,¡± she responded in her native language. ¡°And there are no resources for learning. You are lucky, to have your magic.¡±


    Ugh. Was I one of the reasons she was feeling bad about that? Maybe, but I was also an easy target. Translation was extremely useful, and I didn¡¯t require effort to speak the language. I was even picking up a good amount of it naturally from about a month of constant usage. ¡°I could use it on you,¡± I said. ¡°It would only work for a few hours, though.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°What¡¯s the point? Nobody talks to me at work anyway.¡±


    I wanted to say that someone must talk to her, but that wouldn¡¯t necessarily be true or make her feel better. If I recalled correctly she worked as a janitor of some kind, so it was possible nobody was around. With nothing to say, I managed to say exactly that much. But it turned out to possibly be the right thing, giving her a chance to continue.


    ¡°My boss is the only one who ever says anything. ¡®Kitay go clean this, Kitay go clean that. Don¡¯t climb the walls. No you can¡¯t clean the outside windows without a safety harness. No we don¡¯t have one that fits you.¡± She stuck out her tongue in a clear sign of disgust. ¡°But it pays for a tiny apartment.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that small, is it?¡± I asked. Hers was the same size as mine. ¡°There¡¯s a bedroom and a kitchen and a bathroom.¡±


    ¡°A shower is not a bath.¡± Her eyes drilled into me, ¡°You are from somewhere with meager accommodations?¡±


    Was I? I suppose that Master Uvithar¡¯s tower wasn¡¯t exactly roomy. ¡°I suppose so,¡± I shrugged. I wasn¡¯t ever the sort of person who put much thought into where he slept. And my other activities didn¡¯t take much room- which was basically just looking things up on the internet. I really should check out some physical books from the Power Brigade library, if they would let me. ¡°I guess so.¡±


    ¡°It also takes too long to get to work,¡± she complained.


    ¡°Same here,¡± I nodded. I was aware that it could be significantly farther, but neither of us had cars and paying for transportation both ways every day would get expensive. Busses were less expensive, but hard to figure out and not necessarily faster if the timing was bad. I¡¯d actually thought about moving closer, and I might do so now that I had some money saved up. Prices were pretty expensive. Extra¡¯s apartments were cheap, but I didn¡¯t really have much else I needed to spend money on. Though I¡¯d have to think about food more, since I couldn¡¯t be in this cafeteria. Then again, I also needed to think about Midnight. Some of that would also depend on if he took the job offer and could start paying for his own food. It wasn¡¯t that expensive, but my own food was free at this cafeteria. Or at least paid for.


    I wanted to help, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I could. Or if she really wanted that. I thought she should want it, but apparently people also just wanted to ¡®vent¡¯ sometimes. The language learning was something I could participate in more. I hadn¡¯t spent that much time just talking lately. As for the job¡­ I wondered if the Power Brigade needed janitors or whatever. She also had some technical knowledge, if I remembered correctly, but since the technology was different here and she didn¡¯t speak the language, it was hard to get that sort of job.


    -----


    At the Power Brigade, us newbies sometimes got to watch higher ranking members spar. From up in the observation rooms, since none of us were using our powers to boost anyone. I had to admit it was much safer up here, especially when not dealing with mostly melee combatants like Great Girl and Shockwave.


    Today we were especially lucky. It was Antagonist versus Electrode, which meant we should have a good light show. That was a guarantee. After all, with lightning upon lightning upon lightning, what else could there be? I was glad that the observation room would be filtering out the highest intensity though.


    Electrode¡¯s costume was weird, with wide lines criss-crossing over her body, running over her torso and down her arms and legs and up to her head, where her mask continued the look. I thought Francois had better taste than that, but maybe it made sense somehow? Or it was just what she wanted for whatever reason. Antagonist didn¡¯t look like much, as he was dressed from head to toe in silver spandex- including over his face. Hopefully he could see out? Well, obviously he must be able to, or didn¡¯t need to see.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Maks stood next to me, eagerly awaiting the start of the match. This was probably more important to him, because Electrode shared an element with him. While that didn¡¯t necessarily put them in direct competition, there would always be comparisons people would make between related powers. I was also eager, because I¡¯d like to spar with either of the two down below for various reasons.


    When the battle began, a dome of electricity sprang up around Electrode. That was honestly something I had not expected. Her powerset had been rather vague in the database, but I expected it to work more like Shockfire. Which was of course ridiculous, because powers varied wildly in how they worked.


    Then a moment later, a similar dome sprang up around Antagonist. Or rather, the version of Electrode that stepped out of his shiny, mirrored surface. It was weird to look at. The lines on it were black instead of white, but things stopped making sense there. Shades of blue became a weird orange, and shadows became brightly lit. That included everything, up to the orange-black arcs of lightning making up the dome.


    At that point Antagonist just walked away, stepping out of the protective dome. That seemed silly to me, but then again this was a spar where there were specific parameters to the fight.


    I expected Electrode to start flinging bolts of lightning at the other barrier, and I wasn¡¯t entirely incorrect¡­ but also unprepared for what actually happened. There was no bolt, it was just there. Blue-white danced against orange-black as tendrils poured over the copy¡¯s barrier, and the same in reverse. Looking down from above we had a good angle on the whole thing. Lots of bright flashes. What was most interesting is when they started appearing in other places and taking out the lights.


    ¡°Dammit,¡± Meztli said from behind me. ¡°I told them to focus on each other!¡±


    It was hard to tell how and why the random globs of electricity were appearing. It seemed random to me, as I would see something skirting across a barrier and then suddenly a two or three foot wide line on the wall, as if something was running along and leaving a trail. But there was nothing there, and no transfer of energy that I felt. It was just suddenly there. The random blank sections were odd too.


    I saw the lightning barriers wobble as they were bombarded, but they repaired themselves about as quickly as they took damage. I wasn¡¯t sure what about them allowed them to interfere with the other. Despite the difference in color and lighting, the actual powers felt basically the same. I was pretty sure the orange-red-black lightning was still electricity for practical purposes.


    One thing that was clear to me was that the original Electrode was stronger. She was breaking down the barrier more quickly, making constant progress as its warped and shrunk constantly before finally collapsing to only cover the surface of the copy¡¯s skin. At that point the fake changed tactics, charging forward toward Electrode. Strangely enough, she didn¡¯t try to avoid it, charging forward herself. Her larger barrier collided with the copy, who managed to puncture through it. The fists of the two met in a head-on impact, sending beams of multicolored light throughout the training room. Then the fake exploded.


    A second later, a shimmering Antagonist stepped up behind her. Before he even reached her, orange-black lighting danced over her back. The way she yelled out indicated she wasn¡¯t resistant to her own power, or at least the twisted version of it. She whirled around, which is what gave me an idea of one facet of her power. As she spun a trail of electricity charged along the wall, and when Antagonist kicked her in the chest and knocked her onto her side, she looked up at the observation room.


    Lighting suddenly danced on the glass in front of us, fading away when she turned her eyes down towards her opponent. As Electrode was getting to her feet, a shimmering version of her was once more forming, stepping out of Antagonist¡¯s shiny body.


    ¡°Screw you!¡± Electrode shouted. Somehow she seemed to be more angry at the fake version of herself than the actual cause of all the trouble, as she rushed forward and began brawling, only a thin layer of lighting over the bodies of each of them. Then with what felt like extreme effort she turned her head. Her punches didn¡¯t stop, but her eyes stopped on Antagonist who was merely standing nearby. And then he was on the ground twitching as electricity coursed through him. That only lasted a moment before Electrode closed her eyes, the fake having dissipated after her attack on Antagonist himself. ¡°Ugh¡­¡± I vaguely heard over the few working speakers. ¡°I hate fighting you.¡±


    Maks was staring raptly at the battle. I could agree with that sort of focus. It would be like me watching a battle of archmages. He was definitely enthralled¡­ but a moment later he snapped out of his reverie. ¡°... She doesn¡¯t work like an electrode at all.¡±


    I frowned. Was I supposed to know what an electrode was? Unfortunately my phone didn¡¯t work on this level of the building for secrecy reasons, so I couldn¡¯t just look it up. But apparently it was an actual thing, probably some sort of technology. ¡°That¡¯s powers for you,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Do any of them work like any real thing?¡±


    ¡°Sort of?¡± Maks pursed his lips. ¡°I¡¯m at least a little bit like a battery, storing and releasing things.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t everyone though? It¡¯s just not always zappy things. We burn through all sorts of energy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the same,¡± he declared. ¡°But anyway¡­ I think I could beat her in a fight. Probably.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°No offense, but her power seems¡­ a lot stronger than yours.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± he said. ¡°And all I have to do is use that to beat her.¡±


    ¡°A fair point, I guess¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°But that didn¡¯t work for Antagonist that well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because he¡¯s not resistant to electricity. And I don¡¯t think Electrode is either.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Yeah, that¡­ actually makes things pretty easy for you, huh?¡± Maks had the ability to absorb electricity or fire, and either store them for a short time or fling them back in basically the same form immediately. It was a big pain for me to fight him, but it would be even worse for someone who only had one of those things to use against him. It was just a question of whether their maximum output outpaced whatever he could take in. There had to be a limit- everything had a limit. ¡°You might be a good counter for that power.¡±


    Personally, I wanted to fight Antagonist. Once, at least. I had no idea what his power would do if it copied me, but I wanted to see it. It could be really interesting¡­ or it might result in nothing at all.


    Then again, at the moment I was willing to fight anyone. I was so close to level 15 I could taste it. I didn¡¯t know what I wanted to do with my points, but I was thinking about upgrading a few things to be more efficient. I certainly wasn¡¯t going to learn any higher level spells, but I might pick up a few lower ones. Unfortunately there were endless options, so I had to pick whatever I thought would go best with what I already had.

 Chapter 36

    Being low on the totem pole really made life suck sometimes. Criminals weren¡¯t exactly the most considerate of anyone, even those of their ¡®own kind¡¯. A big villain might treat you well if you had some sort of useful power, but for those without they had to work hard to get by. Sometimes it was possible to get lucky though. The right group could be a real benefit. The only problem was finding the right one.


    That was the biggest issue, which was why Deimos had made his own. The first mission had almost been a disastrous failure, but he¡¯d made it out with what he needed. His crew hadn¡¯t been able to handle a single warehouse worker- because of course they had a power. Seemed like everyone did but Deimos.


    The next crew was more successful, and there was some progress. But ultimately the limitations of normal humans became a barrier. He managed to get his hands on some amazing information, but couldn¡¯t do anything with it alone. Nor did he have the manpower to get some necessary additions.


    Owing favors to villains wasn¡¯t high on Deimos¡¯ list of things he wanted to do, but as he thought back on a job he¡¯d gone into, Rodentia was probably one of the best to work for. At least she didn¡¯t ask for anything impossible. Totally worth what he got out of it in the end.


    -----


    Deimos sat across from a woman with graying hair, clearly a little bit nuts. Every tech super was nuts in some ways, or at least thinking on a different plane of existence from normal humans. When you could come up with things normal people couldn¡¯t even begin to comprehend, you weren¡¯t exactly normal. And sometimes that expertise was used to make headgear that had two little satellite dishes that vaguely resembled mouse ears, to go with her mask.


    Both parties were in masks, of course. Deimos couldn¡¯t exactly keep his identity secret without wearing a full hood, since the burn scar on the side of his head was pretty obvious- but hiding from a physical defect was the kind of thing that proper villains didn¡¯t bother with. Unless they were really good at it and pretty high ranking, anyway.


    ¡°I just need you to put together this blueprint I have,¡± Deimos explained. ¡°Once you do that, I can assemble the rest of the device.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± the old woman shrugged. ¡°But I don¡¯t accept cash. I need you to do a job. It¡¯s an easy one. Simple material retrieval.¡± Deimos had kept his groan internal. Nothing people said was simple ever was. She pulled up an image. ¡°See this place?¡±


    Deimos saw it alright. What were they going to get? With a place like that, they¡¯d have to get into a secret underground base or something. What a pain. But he couldn¡¯t exactly go to anyone else. They might realize the value in what he had and want it for themself. ¡°I see it, yeah.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s a floor plan,¡± Rodentia pointed to the screen. ¡°What I want is here, on the fifth floor.¡±


    Deimos took a look for it. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Everything,¡± Rodentia said. ¡°Every last bit. The whole dairy section. Except for all that fake crap, of course.¡±


    -----


    That was how Deimos found himself in a large truck, backing up to a supermarket. It would have been easier to just hit up their shipping, take an incoming load¡­ but Rodentia had been very specific. They were to steal what the place had, but only what was stocked on the shelves. Slipping into the storage would have been easier, but apparently was unacceptable.


    The job was a bit more than it seemed on the surface, but it was still ridiculous. Anyone who noticed might call the cops, and they might call in some supers for a bunch of masked thugs robbing a place. It wouldn¡¯t matter that it was a supermarket.


    Deimos wished it could have been one of those on the edge of New Bay, where land was cheaper and they could build widely sprawling floors. But this one was well inside the city limits, and stacked vertically like almost everything else. Deimos got out, helping people to unfold the tarps that would serve as a slide, leading everything into the back of the truck. At least Rodential supplied that sort of crap. If she had mooks of her own that weren¡¯t robotic mice, she probably would have done this job on her own. Actually, the mice probably could have done it. But he wasn¡¯t going to mention that.


    Climbing equipment was next. The place was open and they could just walk in the front door, but Deimos wasn¡¯t exactly planning to advertise their presence. This would take some time, and he sure as hell wasn¡¯t going to walk into the place unmasked and swap. So they had to go up the side.


    Rodentia herself was ¡®busy¡¯ and thus not present, which suited Deimos just fine. In addition to the truck and other equipment, there were some very specific devices that were coming in handy. A pair of robot mice were holding onto the ends of two ropes, pulling them up the side of the building. He was driving one himself with a specially made tablet, while one of the other guys he¡¯d hired was controlling the other. The mice climbed up to the window and disabled the security on it, slicing it open and pulling the ropes inside. It took a second to find something to secure them to, but after a moment the mice wound their way around some posts attaching to some of the nearby shelves. Their sensors indicated the ropes should hold up to one ton at a time between them.


    Deimos watched the men begin sliding the tarp up the ropes, using the surprisingly strong little mice to aid them. He tried to decide against being inside, where he could monitor the transport situation, and out here on the ground¡­ where if anything went wrong he could get away.


    Given his previous failure, he needed to build up trust with the crew and opted to go inside. That involved a bit of climbing while a ground crew of four stayed with the semi truck. He slipped his head into the window and looked around. Nobody was wandering the aisles at that time of night, at least not on the same floor.


    He climbed in with the others, and they scurried their way towards the carts. Then they began reaching into the rows of fridges, dumping as much as they could into a cart before rushing over to the window and sliding cheese down the tarp, where they flew into the semi. It seemed like the angle would cause them to get damaged, but that was part of Rodentia¡¯s plan so he ignored it. Until they got to the milk, that is. Milk wasn¡¯t cheese, but it could be cheese so it was apparently necessary too.


    Stolen story; please report.


    They moved the jugs of milk a bit slower, sliding a few at a time where the men at the bottom could stop them before they tumbled into the pile. Two men stood on either side with arms outstretched, and two in the middle actually in the back of the semi, stopping the sliding jugs and then slightly more carefully placing them in rows in the truck.


    Deimos was just making a final sweep of the place, making sure they¡¯d only left behind non-dairy options, when the elevator dinged and a man in pajamas stepped out. The man looked at Deimos and the thugs for a moment before leaping back into the elevator and pressing the button to close the doors. Then it was gone.


    ¡°Alright, hurry it up! Last sweep!¡± This wasn¡¯t the sort of thing worth risking their lives or freedoms for, but villains could be a bit particular. It helped that the stupid robot mice had cheese scanners that confirmed everything but one fridge clear. It had six gargantuan wheels in it, enough that Deimos could only hold one in both arms. ¡°Everyone take one!¡± They had a couple people free after that, but they ran towards the window. Then the elevator dinged again. ¡°Go! Down!¡±


    Deimos demonstrated what he meant by leaping onto the sloping tarps, sliding his way down as the first of eight. He slid to a stop as he reached the bottom, his heavier weight dipping him into the tarp. There was just enough room for him to toss his cheese wheel into the pile before he leapt out of the way for the next guy. Once everyone was down he pulled out a blade and started cutting the ropes. Security was just appearing at the window up top as they sliced through.


    ¡°Get moving!¡± Deimos shouted as he slammed the back closed. He tried to flip the lock closed, but it was wonky, either already damaged when they got it or perhaps slammed into by too much cheese. He hopped up onto the rear and crouched down, holding the sliding door closed. ¡°Drive! Route B!¡±


    They didn¡¯t end up in a high speed chase, and if they had Deimos probably would have abandoned the truck and let cheese and milk spill out all over the road¡­ but as it was they found their way to warehouses in the docks where Rodentia had a little hideaway.


    The woman herself was present, waiting for them. When she opened the back, milk was leaking everywhere and mangled bundles of cheese were mixed together, packaging ripped open. Then she nodded. ¡°Great! Consider the job done.¡±


    -----


    Well. Upon reflection, working for weirdos was better than working for psychos. Getting a pickpocket with a power hadn¡¯t been easy, and when he got locked up¡­ Deimos had thought he might get his head cut off by the villain who loaned the guy. But instead he owed him a favor, which might be worse.


    At least after all of that Rodentia had finished what she promised. And a few days earlier there was enough happening in the city that nobody noticed a small group of thugs rooting through warehouses that were fortunately much less lightning filled. All they had was old crap anyway. Like last generation anti-power suits, which were hardly better than well insulated rubber. Several times heavier than the spandex equivalents actual supers got to use now, but at least they were bullet and stab resistant, as well as heat and electric tolerant. Enough that with a gun a normal thug might stand some chance against supers.


    Deimos snapped some wires into place. This device was way too bulky in its current form. He needed a whole setup to hold it up by his shoulders instead of dangling from the side of his face, but if it worked¡­ well, he wouldn¡¯t be just a nobody.


    Surprisingly there wasn''t even a spark as he turned it on. The little screen lit up over one eye, reminding Deimos of a video game. An old one that hadn¡¯t figured out how to not have a cluttered HUD. He looked at one of the guys and pressed the button.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Scanning¡­ No powers detected.


    MK1 Anti-super Defensive Augmentation Suit detected.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It didn¡¯t even register the man¡¯s gun, but then again¡­ it was just a gun. The suit had super tech in it, even if it was just the materials. The real test would be using this on an actual super.


    All he had to do was go stand outside some hero¡¯s HQ and he was bound to find one. Or a merc group. Then he could look forward to a life of luxury and comfort behind bars, as watching them would be highly suspicious.


    No, that wasn¡¯t a good idea. It would be better to wander around town, along very public streets. He could look at aliens and crap and see if their abilities registered at all.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Scanning¡­ power detected: Healing. Intermittent functionality


    Scanning¡­ power detected: Plasma Barrier. Strengthened by rage.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Deimos had no way of knowing if it was right without seeing anyone use their powers, but he might be lucky and walk by a known factor. Patrolling heroes might come into view. He just wanted to make sure they didn¡¯t take note of him. Wearing funky headsets wasn¡¯t illegal, nor was wearing a mask- but the latter was suspicious. And if he did the former and then the latter, it wouldn¡¯t be hard to make a connection and that could cause trouble he¡¯d rather not deal with. But only if people remembered him.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Scanning¡­ power detected.


    Numerous powers detected¡­


    Organizing Data¡­


    Spatial/temporal distortion


    Matter creation (Minor)


    Energy manipulation


    Telekinesis (Minor)


    Mental manipulation (Minor)


    Size Manipulation


    Analysis incomplete: Insufficient energy flow.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Who the hell had such a grab bag of random powers? Deimos took a look at the actual person involved, and recognized a tusky, green-skinned face. What the hell, it was that guy again? And he was some sort of lucky prick that got born with a variety of different powers. What a pain. He was first on Deimos¡¯ revenge list, but he was reasonably hesitant to do anything out on the streets. But maybe he could find a weakness.


    He tapped another button on the headset.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Scanning¡­ weakness not determined: Insufficient power.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Well crap. That was what he got for not getting the real Phasmotron Amplifier. Though he was planning to make use of this thing to sell some data. Then he could put together a crew to get it working at full functionality.

 Chapter 37

    All sorts of normal people were afraid of snakes. When the snakes got bigger, they got more afraid. It would then follow that halflings would be even more afraid of snakes that were relatively twice as large. But Izzy wasn¡¯t afraid. If halflings were afraid of things being bigger than them, they could only spend their lives in constant fear. That was simply no way to live.


    So she wasn¡¯t afraid. Just cautious. She wasn¡¯t going after a normal snake, after all. Not a simple viper or a giant constrictor that could eat a cow whole. No, her target today was a phase constrictor. As a magical beast it was much more intelligent than a normal animal, so it wouldn¡¯t choose just any prey. It would avoid people with certain qualities. Too much magic, too large, too much armor. The latter seemed to apply to magical equipment in general, which was why Izzy was perfect for the job, apparently. Given her career path she hadn¡¯t really gathered up a lot of magical items that she relied on. It was mostly her own two feet.


    That made her think that maybe she wasn¡¯t the right person for the job, because she also had somewhat limited combat experience. She had some, but mostly she made her living as a runner, going from place to place. She was specialized in speed, unlike other scouts who might use their speed to augment their attacks.


    But she owed Zentha, and this would get her closer to her goal as well. So she just had to keep on the lookout for an invisible snake. Except if it was actually invisible it would be easier to find.


    She held her shortsword at the ready, a weapon name that for the sake of humans wielding it. In her hands- with a properly sized hilt- it was closer to being an arming sword, and could even be used in two hands when necessary.


    Then the snake appeared, coiling around her. It wasn¡¯t as if it had leapt out at her and she failed to react, it simply hadn¡¯t been there until it was, squeezing in on her from all sides. Even before her bones began to creak, Izzy was activating her ability. She absolutely wasn¡¯t going to allow herself be crushed to death, and instead she squeezed out the top of the coils with a *pop*.


    Even as she swung her weapon down the snake was fading away, becoming transparent and then entirely disappearing even as her sword began to cut into its scales.


    ¡°Why did I agree to come alone?¡± Izzy looked around the cave she was in, trying to find a good position. The snake could show up at any time, but it couldn¡¯t overlap with the structure of the world when it appeared. She raced up against a wall, but realized that the creature wouldn¡¯t attack her like that. ¡°I should have at least asked for backup. What do diviners know anyway?¡±


    Zentha might have been one of the best diviners in the world, but she couldn¡¯t be a hundred percent accurate. There were just things about the world that were unknowable, and the future was in that category. Even if it was only partly unknowable.


    No snake yet. What else did she have besides cave walls? Stalactites, stalagmites, a pool of water¡­ she¡¯d like to have a bunch of spikes somewhere, but that simply wasn¡¯t available. The stone formations didn¡¯t count, as they were hardly sharp by any definition.


    Izzy skittered over to a stalagmite, her halfling legs working like mad. A little sprint like that wouldn¡¯t use too much stamina, at least it was nothing compared to running between towns. It was unfortunate that she was slower to begin with because of her size, but that was what had prompted her to go in that direction anyway.


    The snake appeared again, but this time it was wrapped around Izzy and the stalagmite. Because of her positioning it wasn¡¯t quite tight the moment it appeared, though it began to squeeze a moment later. That left exactly enough time for her to angle her sword to stab into its coils as it squeezed inward. Unfortunately her strength couldn¡¯t hold the weapon steady, and it only sliced along the outer scales instead of piercing straight through. Then Izzy was pinned against the stalagmite, and it hurt.


    Then she was out again, having slipped down beneath the creature. Her focus on movement instead of combat and wilderness crap allowed her to be more mobile than her level would otherwise suggest, but it was sore comfort in a battle like this. She could escape, but it wasn¡¯t as if she was unscathed.


    The phase snake hesitated a moment, beginning to slide towards her to coil around her before ultimately deciding to fade away once more. But that hesitation allowed her to jump at it with her belt knife drawn, stabbing at its eye. It once again faded away before she could inflict serious damage, but she at least scraped it along its face.


    Her belt knife was quickly sheathed as she rolled and picked up her sword. She doubted it would immediately repeat the same thing, so she stepped out away from the cave walls. Some might have taken a ready stance, but it was important for her to keep moving. Dodging and weaving with no visible opponent seemed silly and was definitely tiring, but it paid off when the creature appeared coiled in an awkward oval around her. She bounced off the lower coils and vaulted into the air, kicking off a convenient stalactite to shoot her back downward where she stabbed with her sword.


    The creature¡¯s coils were as wide as her weapon was long, with thick scales- so the couple of inches she managed to stab into its side was both satisfying and disappointing. But at least it was bleeding from a few places now.


    Izzy twisted her sword, trying to unstick it from the back of the creature. If it had realized that she couldn¡¯t withdraw her weapon it might have bitten her- it would hardly matter if the creature was venomous with teeth as big as it had. Instead, it faded back into the phase plane or wherever it was that phase snakes went. Monster studies weren¡¯t high on the list for a competent messenger.


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    She took a few breaths to steady herself, the frenetic exertion of combat overwhelming her compared to the steady pace of running the road. It seemed she took one too many breaths, as she was suddenly starting face-to-face with fangs.


    The bad news was that the jaws snapped down on her before she could do more than twist her body. The good news was its fangs were set wide enough that neither of them impaled her. The best news was she still had her sword. The creature was attempting to swallow her, not a difficult task for something that could eat a human or orc, but quite a bit more difficult with a sword lodged in its throat.


    The snake started thrashing wildly, and Izzy wondered why it wasn¡¯t just phasing away. She held tightly onto her sword, because she either wanted to pull it out with her or not subject herself to the creature¡¯s biting and crushing. The first was the end result, but as she flew out of the creature¡¯s mouth she didn¡¯t fall to the ground. Instead she found herself in the air, her momentum randomly stopping.


    And the whole world around her was wispy and indistinct. That was¡­ probably bad. Also bad was the fact that her back was to the ceiling as the creature lunged at her once more.


    Izzy discovered some very important things. First, she could fly. Or at least, her body moved where she told it to go. Second, the ceiling literally didn¡¯t matter. Being inside of it made it difficult to see, but she slid out of it and around the snake.


    It wasn¡¯t coiled up on the ground either, its body floating freely through the air. It had the advantage of being used to that form of movement, but Izzy was fast and it was no longer able to strike from where she couldn¡¯t see it. Ultimately, the victory went to Izzy not because she managed to land another blow, but because somehow she was still faster than it. Sure, she wasn¡¯t running along the ground but she moved her legs anyway and they took her wherever she wanted to go. There was no time to complain about it not making sense¡­ until she had all the time in the world, as the few wounds she¡¯d caused eventually made the creature slump to the ground.


    After stabbing the creature a few times to make sure it was dead and not pretending, Izzy sat down in the air. It was kind of fun, and it helped keep her mind off the fact that she seemed to be stuck in whatever plane this thing hunted from. She could still see some of the cave, but beyond a certain distance it just¡­ didn¡¯t exist. And she still had to get the phase core from the beast, which would mean cutting it apart and getting blood all over her.


    For a moment she thought that the weird gravity situation would help, but instead it made the red blood with glowing splotches linger in the ¡®air¡¯ around her where she inevitably ran into it. But at least she cut out the gemlike thing she was pretty sure was the phase core. Now how was she supposed to get back to Zentha? Hopefully she¡¯d foreseen it and would be sending help, but Izzy didn¡¯t see anything. Was she supposed to wait?


    -----


    I walked into my apartment to find a rat sitting on the counter. I knew that cats liked to eat live animals, but I honestly hadn¡¯t thought Midnight had the capacity to hunt. Had he just learned? Because he was pretty incapable of taking care of himself when we first met a few weeks prior. Ugh, and a green goop was leaking out all over the counter.


    ¡°Midnight¡­ could you not leave dead rats here? At least put it in the bathroom or something.¡±


    Midnight trotted out of the bedroom, which was basically open to the kitchen. ¡°That¡¯s not a rat,¡± Midnight explained.


    ¡°Mice and other rodents count the same,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean,¡± he said patiently. ¡°Look at it carefully.¡±


    So I did. Did normal rats have red blood? Absolutely, but I wouldn¡¯t put it past New Bay to have ones with green blood. I¡¯d heard about the mutant rats in the sewer system. The tiny little screws, however, seemed to indicate something more. I poked it, finding it was quite cold. And metallic. ¡°Hmm. Is this¡­ a robotic rat?¡±


    ¡°That was what I was wondering. I saw it sneak in and wanted to remove it like the other rats, but then I noticed this one was special.¡±


    ¡°Other rats?¡± I asked. ¡°Regular ones?¡± Midnight nodded. ¡°... I want to move somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°That seems reasonable,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I am considering taking the job with the Power Brigade, which will occupy my day. I am concerned the rats will eat my tuna.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure they won¡¯t be able to get to it in cans,¡± I said.


    ¡°Except for the robot rats,¡± he countered. ¡°Even if they don¡¯t eat the tuna, they might eat the can. They could be working with the normal rats.¡±


    I was unable to find a flaw in his logic, shaky though it seemed. ¡°I¡¯m more concerned about why there are robotic rats to begin with. Have you seen others?¡±


    ¡°No, only this one.¡±


    I sniffed. ¡°And what¡¯s burnt?¡±


    ¡°Probably the rat. It kept moving after I caught it, trying to claw at me, so I used Shocking Grasp.¡± Midnight turned his head to show me his shoulder. ¡°It scratched me right there. Though¡­ I did have Force Armor, so it didn¡¯t really cause damage. But its claws were quite sharp.¡±


    ¡°I wonder what it¡¯s for,¡± I looked at the robot. ¡°Think the Power Brigade would be interested?¡±


    ¡°They might be. I would assume it is made for spying, given its ability to squeeze in through small areas.¡±


    ¡°I guess I should bring it in tomorrow.¡±


    -----


    The next morning I brought it down with me to breakfast. I didn¡¯t want to have to go back up to my room after that.


    ¡°Is that ¡­ metal rat?¡± Khithae asked. She was still working on English, but a couple weeks wasn¡¯t enough to fully learn a language, even if you were cheating with magic.


    ¡°It is, yes,¡± I held it up, switching to her language. ¡°A robotic rat. Midnight found it in our apartment.¡±


    ¡°I saw one too!¡± she said. ¡°On the ceiling at work! I tried to catch it but it squeezed into a vent before I could get my shoes off.¡± After that, she grumbled about shoes for a while. ¡°Then my boss walked in on me when I was on the wall and complained. I think¡­ he might be thinking about firing me.¡±


    ¡°Sorry to hear that,¡± I said. I hadn¡¯t had a job I didn¡¯t like, so I couldn¡¯t really empathize. I liked studying at Master Uvithar¡¯s tower even if I didn¡¯t get experience for it, and other than that I¡¯d worked in a warehouse for like a week. And my current job involved a lot of fighting, so it was pretty great.

 Chapter 38

    Though I most often sparred with powers involved, there was also basic combat training that didn¡¯t involve any of that. I didn¡¯t even get to use Force Armor when we practiced martial arts, because that would mess up people¡¯s understandings. And the whole point was knowing how much force was dangerous or not. I was getting pretty good at the basics of martial arts, but there were certain opponents where it didn¡¯t matter how much I could theoretically hurt someone.


    I thought my punch was pretty good, aimed at just the right place and not overextended, but Meztli¡¯s arms wrapped around mine and then I was on the mat, looking up at the ceiling. I just lay there for a few moments, thinking. Was she using her power? If so, I didn¡¯t detect anything like when she filled other people with stamina or boosted their healing. Then again, she had years of experience and I wasn¡¯t a monk.


    I understood the point of training without weapons though. While not everyone had mana like me, pretty much everyone had a limit to how much they could use their power- and those who didn¡¯t usually had enhanced bodies that made using martial arts quite practical. Having weapons would always be better than being unarmed- with rare exceptions- but we couldn¡¯t guarantee having weapons, or keeping them if we did.


    ¡°Are you going to get up?¡± Meztli asked.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I half-shrugged on the ground. ¡°I wish this was worth more experience though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? What determines that?¡±


    ¡°Danger level,¡± I said.


    ¡°Right. Well, powered sparring is good for that. This is for a different purpose. Fitness and preparedness.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, rolling to my side and pushing to my feet. ¡°I get it.¡± The funny thing was, I would have been extremely happy to have something like this before. A constant, if small, influx of experience. More than a single point per day, which I would have been ecstatic about before. But with powered sparring and real fights, a single point or two started to lose its presence among over six hundred total experience, around half of which- and close to a third of my total level- I¡¯d gotten since I came to Earth. 11 to 15, just like that.


    Training with melee weapons wasn¡¯t all that much better, since there were protections in place to make it safe. I didn¡¯t want to lose an eye or an arm, but personally I didn¡¯t see myself making much use of batons or swords, though they were better than using my fists. But with the weapons available in this world, they seemed pointless.


    After all, I could have a gun. I hadn¡¯t gotten to keep anything from the attack on the warehouse, but I didn¡¯t have a license then. While there were reasons not to use guns in mercenary work- various powers protected against physical impacts and they could be more lethal than intended- they were still useful. And there was rubber ammunition to deal with the lethality thing, for the most part.


    Later that day I was at the gun range. It was strange to have in my hand a weapon with the output of a second level spell at the pull of a trigger. It could fairly easily puncture my Force Armor, breaking it with a few glancing blows or a single direct shot. It was like a crossbow that didn¡¯t take forever to reload, or a longbow that didn¡¯t require nearly as much training. I looked at the gun in my hand from the side. Instinct told me to look in the barrel, training told me to never do that unless I was sure it wasn¡¯t loaded.


    I decided that it wasn¡¯t worth spending some of my new points to see if guns could be magic. I should probably save them for things that were important, and I didn¡¯t even have my license yet. I was working on that, but it wasn¡¯t a priority since I had other ways to fight. And using a gun was a good way to get people to shoot at me, which could quickly go from large amounts of experience to dead.


    ¡°Why do diamonds have to be so freaking expensive,¡± I sighed. I took another few shots at the target. My accuracy could use some work, but that was what I was here for, wasn¡¯t I? Practice. Magical enhancement worked off of whatever base was available, so no matter how much I enhanced my dexterity I would never be good at shooting if I didn¡¯t have practice. Same with running and strength training- haste could make me several times as fast, but if I wasn¡¯t able to run properly I¡¯d never be able to go anywhere. I felt someone standing next to me. I thought there were more open spots, but I had kind of just been standing around. I lowered my gun and turned to look at them. ¡°I¡¯ll be done here soon.¡±


    I saw Great Girl standing there. ¡°Did someone die? Also, aren¡¯t you supposed to wear earmuffs?¡± she pointed to her own head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need them,¡± I said. Since I would always practice at the range for twenty or thirty minutes at minimum, a weakened version of Energy Ward would provide more than enough protection for my ears while allowing me to otherwise hear normally, and I would recover the mana without issue. ¡°Also, I don¡¯t think anyone died¡­?¡± I frowned. ¡°That I know. I hope. Did someone die?¡±


    ¡°Ah, sorry, I got that mixed up,¡± Great Girl shook her head. She muttered something that she seemed to think was under her breath. ¡°...That¡¯s not even a wizard spell¡­¡± Her phone was in one hand, and she was scrolling through things. It looked like a web page from my angle. Did her phone work here? Actually, that made sense. Mine was specifically set up to only receive work-related information inside Power Brigade HQ, but Great Girl was high enough ranked that having full access everywhere made sense. ¡°Stoneskin?¡± she finally asked.


    ¡°What?¡± I blinked.


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    ¡°That uses diamonds, right? Stoneskin? Or is it not called that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it is, actually. You heard me talking about diamonds?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± she nodded, still looking at her phone. ¡°How much diamond dust do you need?¡±


    ¡°Like, um¡­¡± I tried to gesture with my hands, but it was hard to quantify. ¡°More than a pinch? Enough to fill the palm of your hand. Which is like, thousands of dollars of diamonds. For maybe an hour of protection and a ton of mana, it¡¯s kind of hard to make use of.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± she continued scrolling on her phone. ¡°Isn¡¯t diamond dust hella cheap though?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you get paid, but I don¡¯t make tens of thousands of dollars per day.¡± That price was an exaggeration, of course. I wouldn¡¯t keep Stoneskin up all day purely from mana cost whether or not I had piles of diamonds.


    ¡°No but like, your palms aren¡¯t that big. A little baggy should fill them.¡± She turned her phone towards me, ¡°It¡¯s like, ten or fifteen bucks.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know where to hunt-¡± I looked at the screen. ¡°$14.99?¡± I almost snatched it out of her hand, but I was aware I was holding a gun in one hand and also that it was kind of rude. ¡°They just sell diamond dust?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what grit you need,¡± she said turning the phone back to her. ¡°But like, industrial processes capture all this extra crap they don¡¯t need so it¡¯s pretty cheap. Do you have to grind them yourself? Because diamonds are expensive.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t really listening. Numbers were running through my head. I would still need granite, but that was also cheap here. I had almost exactly enough points to learn it, and then I could cast it¡­ twice. From full mana. Then I would have basically nothing left, and maybe pass out as I overexerted myself- maybe even after one, even though I¡¯d have mana left.


    But I would only need it once, and I would be basically bulletproof. At the cost of¡­ doing anything else useful.


    ¡°You okay?¡± Great Girl waved her hand in front of my face.


    ¡°Yeah, sorry. Umm¡­ it just made me think about things. But I don¡¯t think I can really do it yet.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a 4th level spell right? You haven¡¯t really used much like that.¡±


    ¡°9th level,¡± I said. ¡°Different scale, remember?¡± The highest thing I had now was Haste at 5th, and it was already freaking expensive in terms of mana. Though using twice that for an hour or more instead of a minute wasn¡¯t super crazy.


    ¡°Oh right. Well, good luck with that,¡± she patted the gun at her waist. ¡°Gotta get to training.¡±


    I briefly wondered why she would ever need a gun, but after thinking about it I realized that it was simple. Her arms might be long enough to punch across a whole room, but that still wasn¡¯t nearly far enough. And even if she could pick up a car and throw it¡­ there was the whole ¡®collateral damage¡¯ thing to worry about. Guns were extremely focused in their power, which was how they worked so well even with tiny little bits of metal being shot out of them. She could leave the ranged problems to other people, but it seemed she wanted to excel in every field she could.


    -----


    ¡°Be careful in there,¡± the training room coordinator, Max, mentioned as the trio of us newbies came to get one of the rooms. ¡°I mean with the room. The glass up at the observation room is still damaged.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the room repair itself?¡± I asked. ¡°Like the fake mansion layouts?¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡± Max shook his head. ¡°That adaptable stuff is only set up for the action area. It doesn¡¯t cover all of the extra stuff like speakers, lights, and other permanent fixtures.¡±


    I apologized inside my head. I kind of knew it, but Shockwave was the one who caused most of the damage and that stuff was kind of just¡­ dealt with. Of course, I knew that the gym needed normal repairs based on our first interaction, but I thought the training rooms were somewhat different.


    ¡°Why hasn¡¯t anyone fixed it?¡± Rasmus asked. ¡°Surely it¡¯s a safety concern.¡±


    ¡°Not if nobody aims way up high,¡± the coordinator said. ¡°And fixing it is also a safety problem. You know how hard it is to get a fifty foot ladder in here? And moving it around to clean up every blackened mark on the wall is a pain and a half. We¡¯re shorthanded at the moment too.¡±


    ¡°... How do you feel about shoes?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What do shoes have to do with anything?¡± Max asked, looking down at my feet. ¡°You look like you got a normal enough setup there.¡±


    ¡°What about footprints on the walls?¡± I said.


    ¡°You going to run up and down the walls?¡± he shook his head. ¡°Sure, might as well. Nothing¡¯s getting cleaned up here anyway, pile it on!¡± That last part was definitely sarcastic. It sort of answered my question though.


    ¡°Can I recommend the services of my friend? She¡¯s a gecko. Gecko-adjacent. And a very good climber.¡±


    ¡°...¡± Max frowned, clearly thinking hard. ¡°She got thumbs?¡± he asked seriously. ¡°Because our tools are made for people with thumbs.¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± I said. It wasn¡¯t something I paid attention to, but she ate with a spoon and hand her hand wrapped around it ¡®normally¡¯, so I was going to assume that was a yes. ¡°Or some close equivalent.¡±


    ¡°She got any recommendations? Work ones, not yours.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s been working through Extra for a number of months,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know if she can verify any work experience prior to that. Given the circumstances.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± Max raised an eyebrow. ¡°Steady work is good, and Extra doesn¡¯t keep people who don¡¯t put in the effort. Get us in touch.¡±


    I nodded. I wasn¡¯t sure if I should say that she was maybe about to get fired because her boss didn¡¯t like the way she did things. That was something I should tell her I didn¡¯t mention, but it seemed her particular traits might be an advantage here? If nothing else, it was an opportunity.

 Chapter 39

    One would hope that upon being transported to a washed out version of the world by a phase snake that they would find themselves gradually returning to normal. At least, that was what Izzy was hoping, but it seemed that it wasn¡¯t going to happen. She had rations enough to return to Zentha, if everything went well. Phase snake could be edible, but after finding herself unable to interact with literally anything- including the trees outside the cave- she decided she didn¡¯t want to try it. So she began to walk. Then jog. Then run.


    With most of her time spent as a messenger, she was good at running for a long time. She had to be able to deliver messages quickly, and outpace at least some people on horseback. The fact that her feet weren¡¯t impacting the ground was disconcerting, but she didn¡¯t let it bother her as she moved along the road.


    Her sense of direction was pretty good, but she realized how much she depended on being able to see more than fifty or so feet away from her. Having only a few seconds to react to incoming obstacles wasn¡¯t great. The good news was¡­ there weren¡¯t any obstacles. Because literally nothing existed but her. And maybe more phase snakes. And other creepy monsters.


    Hopefully they didn¡¯t live along this road.


    -----


    After I told her about the job opportunity, Khithae had some questions. ¡°It is not dangerous?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not worried about heights, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried about people with powers,¡± Khithae pointed out. ¡°Like most people would be.¡±


    ¡°Nobody in the Power Brigade is going to hurt you, if that¡¯s what you mean. And anyone else¡­ would be pretty busy fighting their way through a ton of people with powers. But it¡¯s Power Brigade headquarters, so someone would have to be pretty crazy to attack them.¡± I wasn¡¯t even sure what they¡¯d gain, except a bunch of angry supers. There was some neat technology and information, but the most secret things I knew about were the powersets of the members and getting them by fighting through everyone would be pretty suicidal and pointless.


    ¡°That is good. I could climb the walls instead of using stupid ladders?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d have to ask for specifics, but Max seemed more open about the idea.¡±


    ¡°And my English?¡±


    ¡°You can understand it well enough. It wouldn¡¯t be any worse than your current job, right?¡±


    ¡°The Power Brigade might be more selective.¡±


    ¡°Could be,¡± I nodded. I hadn¡¯t had to deal with that, given the power of Translation. ¡°It should be worth the attempt though, right? In the worst case nothing happens¡­ but that is also what happens if you do nothing.¡±


    Her face scrunched up in something like a frown. ¡°Yes, that is true. I should at least try.¡±


    -----


    After connecting Khithae with Max, my job was done. I didn¡¯t know when they¡¯d talk, but they could figure it out- and if either of them needed me, they knew how to contact me. I didn¡¯t want Khithae to get the job just because I recommended her, but because I thought she¡¯d be good at it. I didn¡¯t know if she wanted to be in janitor-adjacent positions going forward, but it was the area she had a resume for at the moment.


    I also wasn¡¯t going to find out that day, as I was snatched the moment I stepped through the door. ¡°You¡¯re coming with me.¡± I was dragged halfway to another elevator before my vision resolved the blue figure as Shockwave.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I rented out a racetrack,¡± Shockwave explained as they hit a button to bring us down to the garage level.


    ¡°Cool,¡± I said. I assumed that meant we would be doing stuff with Haste.


    ¡°Quick question,¡± Shockwave said as we approached a surprisingly normal car. A ¡®sedan¡¯, I had learned they were sometimes called. ¡°Can you use your magic speed thing on a car?¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°No? I don¡¯t think so. I know it¡¯s been used to make carriages go faster, but that was because it empowered horses. I don''t think it works on objects.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s okay,¡± they said. ¡°Just idle curiosity.¡±


    A few moments later we were driving out of the parking garage at a surprisingly sedate pace. Shockwave carefully followed posted speed limits and their head flicked back and forth to check for incoming vehicles. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I muttered.


    ¡°What? Did you think I¡¯d drive crazy? You gotta be safe in cars. They¡¯re dangerous machines, and they don¡¯t respond well to changes. Plus there are legal speed limits and they aren¡¯t even that fast to begin with.¡±


    A fair point. Even the fastest I¡¯d gone in a car was only a small fraction of how fast I¡¯d seen Shockwave go. I was aware they could go faster, but it took quite some time for them to accelerate properly.


    The two of us didn¡¯t have much to talk about, so it was sort of an awkward silence until the radio was turned on. The drive took quite some time, as we moved away from the central sprawl of New Bay to a place with less towering structures. Instead of driving up into the hills with the fancy houses, we paralleled them for a while and came to a place with more relaxed structural style. And then we got to the track.


    ¡°I expected it to be¡­ smaller,¡± I said honestly.


    ¡°Why?¡± Shockwave asked as we pulled up.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. People run around this?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Shockwave replied. ¡°It¡¯s for cars.¡±


    Ah. That made a lot of sense. I noticed we didn¡¯t drive the car in though. And as expected, there weren¡¯t other cars inside. Just a very large track that was sloped on either end. ¡°What is the slope for?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It helps deal with momentum and turning. I don¡¯t need it quite as much, since my power helps with friction and stuff¡­ but this place has nice open area.¡± Shockwave began to stretch, leaning forward and side-to-side. ¡°Nobody can agree if stretching is good or not. Some people say yes, some people say no, some people say it hurts¡­ personally I try not to do too much. Before I have you use Haste- I assume you knew I want that? Anyway, I¡¯m gonna do a couple warm-up laps before that.¡±


    Then Shockwave was off¡­ and not immediately behind me again. The track was big enough that it was a good twenty seconds of watching Shockwave run around before they got back to me. It was around a minute before three warm-up laps were finished. They looked at me expectantly.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I nodded. ¡°I can do this about four times before I need to rest for a while. So think about how you want that spaced out.¡± Should I add another level to Haste? That was six more points, but it would save me about a quarter point of mana each. I decided against it for the moment, even though it was pretty fun and I had 18 free points. Even if I was tempted to just dump them all into Haste.


    ¡°Well,¡± Shockwave said, ¡°I¡¯ve got this place for the morning. If we space them out every thirty minutes, with one now, that¡¯s an hour and a half¡­¡±


    ¡°I could do one more with that time,¡± I offered helpfully. And spreading it out over that time would prevent the risk of mana exhaustion.


    ¡°Awesome. Oh yeah, here¡¯s your ear protection.¡±


    I had to admit, Shockwave was definitely tuned for wide open spaces instead of tiny training rooms. Among other things, there was enough room that nothing was broken when they ran around the track, though the metal fences sure did tremble a lot. Especially when they ran up one of them during a turn at the end of the track. With Haste, trying to keep track of Shockwave the whole time made me a little bit dizzy. It was a handful of seconds for them to go around the track that was a couple miles long, but I was able to track the mostly tiny figure with my eyes, even with the speed boost.


    When Haste wore off, Shockwave stopped in front of me. ¡°Hey. Quick question. Did that last longer than last time?¡±


    ¡°No?¡± I thought about that. ¡°It should be about a minute.¡±


    ¡°Does it fluctuate? Because I have a pretty good sense of time. It felt like three minutes the first time, but this time it definitely felt like there was another twenty seconds at least.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just the personal distortion, I think. It¡¯s the same as when you sparred with Great Girl.¡±


    ¡°But it feels different from the first time.¡±


    ¡°Well, I did upgrade it once since the first time, yeah,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°You can upgrade it?¡± Shockwave wasn¡¯t terribly big on personal space normally, but now their face was nearly touching mine. ¡°Can you upgrade it more? How much can you do it? What do I have to give you to make that happen?¡±


    I felt a little bit weird¡­ like I was enabling a drug addict. Except exercise was good, so it was fine. ¡°At the moment¡­ I could do it three more times. But that¡¯s pretty expensive and only makes it a few percent more powerful.¡± I thought for a few moments. ¡°I don¡¯t really need more money or anything right now. I¡¯d really need experience.¡±


    ¡°What, like¡­ taking you out on a job?¡± Shockwave asked.


    ¡°Anything that involves fighting, really. The more serious the better.¡± I took a look at my experience. It was about sixty more to the next level. ¡°For me to upgrade it I¡¯d need like¡­ twenty experience each time?¡± It was actually a bit inefficient, but I also kind of wanted to do the upgrade. And it wasn¡¯t as if I would lose the effect afterward.


    ¡°Twenty experiences? Like¡­ sparing sessions? That¡¯s like a whole month.¡±


    ¡°No it¡¯s experience points. It¡¯s like umm¡­ if people had a level this would be easier to quantify.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Let¡¯s say I were to fight myself. If I fought to the death, I could expect the version of me that won to get around fifteen points of experience.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well, I¡¯m not letting you kill me. I¡¯d have to go at least twenty percent faster than that.¡± I was pretty sure the second part was a joke. ¡°You don¡¯t have to actually kill someone right?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. You know about the sparring I do. But we have to take precautions so nobody gets seriously hurt, which means I don¡¯t grow as quickly. But a serious battle or two would get me enough.¡±


    ¡°So like, enough that somebody needs a medic? Usually that¡¯s frowned upon, but I could call in some favors to get access to a healing super¡­¡±


    ¡°They¡¯d also probably have to be separate occasions, or at least a couple hours in between so I could fight at full capacity,¡± I reminded.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, supers have to rest too.¡± Shockwave had leaned back and was clearly still doing mental calculations. ¡°Eh, what are favors and money for but to be used?¡± Their masked face was once more in front of my own. ¡°Do all the upgrades. I want to go fast.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t make you that much faster,¡± I warned. ¡°Just a little faster and it lasts a little longer.¡± Plus, more mana efficient. Not enough to get another cast of it, so I didn¡¯t mention it.


    ¡°Yes. I know. Do it.¡± Shockwave held out their hand. ¡°We¡¯ll shake on it. Or write a contract or something.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I believe you,¡± I shook Shockwave¡¯s hand. If nothing else¡­ I could just not use Haste on them again if they went back on their promise. I had the feeling that would be a serious bargaining chip.


    ¡°So¡­ how long does it take for you to upgrade this ability? Like, a week, a month?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Oh, I just spent the points.¡± I held out my hand. ¡°Ready?¡±


    If you were to later ask me if I could tell the difference in speed that Shockwave was going¡­ I would say I could not. Not all spells scaled the same way, and Haste only had a marginal speed increase per upgrade. The duration got the majority of the power, which was still approximately ten percent like most upgrades. But while I couldn¡¯t tell¡­ Shockwave apparently could.


    ¡°Holy crap!¡± Shockwave yelled after a minute and a half- approximately. ¡°I was like¡­ 50 mph faster there!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a lot?¡± I was pretty sure it was. That was faster than the car speed limit, but I honestly couldn¡¯t see it.


    ¡°Well,¡± Shockwave shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s not that much relative speed increase. Especially not compared to the difference between having Haste and not having it. But it felt like another minute of relative time. Very noticeable.¡±


    Since I didn¡¯t have much else better to do, I also began running around the track- near the bottom so Shockwave had the entire actual track and didn¡¯t have to get anywhere close to me where my eardrums would probably explode. If I was lucky, I could get in two laps around the giant track between castings of Haste, and I might even get passed by Shockwave less than a hundred times.


    -----


    Author¡¯s note: Is upgrading Haste with all of his points the right choice? Of course not. Does Turlough¡¯s name mean ¡®makes the right choice¡¯? No, no it does not.

 Chapter 40

    It didn¡¯t take long for Shockwave to set up the fulfillment of their promise. The next weekend we were on a train heading out of the city. It was kind of odd riding public transportation in a mask, but Shockwave pointed out that there weren¡¯t that many other options. Unless we wanted to take a car, but that was slower. Carrying some bags with us did make it even more awkward.


    Midnight stood on my shoulder. He could survive without me for a few days, but I thought he might want to get out of town a bit. ¡°Turlough¡­ I was under the impression that trains were faster than this¡­¡± He looked out the window, swishing his tail.


    ¡°There are faster ones,¡± Shockwave commented. ¡°But they mainly go between large population centers. Besides, this one is much quicker than last century¡¯s model.¡±


    ¡°Our equivalent is much faster,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°But it also does not have to accommodate such large passengers.¡± I know humans seemed large to Midnight, but the trains also had to support actually large people, generally in special cars that were basically empty except for sturdy poles and hand grips. It also ended up serving as a place for anyone with non-humanoid body shapes, but I was pretty normal in that regard.


    Though not so normal that I didn¡¯t have people pointing and whispering. Part of that was of course the outfits Shockwave and I wore, but I also still had green skin and tusks. Just because there were a relatively high proportion of non-humans in the area didn¡¯t mean everyone was used to us. Including kids whispering to their mothers. I did my best to look non-threatening, but the problem was that smiling would only emphasize my tusks. Well, it wasn¡¯t like I was a hero anyway- it was okay for people to be afraid of me.


    The mother had her arms wrapped around her little girl as they looked at us, but when she pulled out her phone to look at something the girl slipped out of her arms and walked towards us.


    ¡°Excuse me mister. Can I pet your cat?¡±


    Midnight was the one who responded to that, hopping from my shoulder down to a nearby seat. ¡°I am not a cat,¡± he said proudly. ¡°But if you wish to, I will allow you to pat my head.¡±


    ¡°Okay mister cat,¡± she gently put her hand on his head, ¡°Your fur is soft.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Midnight bowed his head.


    The girl looked over her shoulder at a worried mom. ¡°I should probably go.¡± She turned and found her way back to the woman, exclaiming. ¡°Mom, the cat talks!¡±


    I didn¡¯t hear the woman¡¯s exasperated response clearly, but I had the feeling she didn¡¯t believe her daughter. I looked down at Midnight. ¡°Is it weird to have someone pat your head?¡±


    He hopped back up on me, ¡°Is it weird to have someone sit on your shoulder?¡±


    ¡°Kind of, yeah,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Oh¡­ should I stop?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, I don¡¯t find it that weird to be touched a little bit. Though it is weird to be treated like an animal.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll probably have to keep dealing with that one,¡± Shockwave shrugged. ¡°Because you look just like a cat. It¡¯s hard for anyone to know any different until after they¡¯ve met you.¡±


    ¡°I see. Perhaps I should make use of Disguise?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°It can¡¯t make you look terribly different. You¡¯d still be some sort of small quadruped.¡±


    ¡°Oh well,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I don¡¯t mind if people are polite about things.¡±


    A short while later we arrived at our ultimate destination. While Midnight had some complaints about the train¡¯s speed, I certainly did not. The distance we traveled in a single hour could have easily taken days of walking or riding. Or a small fraction of the time for Shockwave to run.


    ¡°Hammerfist should be waiting for us,¡± Shockwave explained as we entered the parking lot. ¡°I texted her our arrival time.¡±


    A small little honk got our attention, and a little old lady waved at us from the driver¡¯s seat of a truck. ¡°There you are dears!¡± she waved at us out the window. ¡°Come on over!¡±


    Shockwave sighed as we approached. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you I was coming over for official business? Why are you¡­ out of uniform?¡±


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t care,¡± the old woman said as she looked down at us. ¡°You all can go ahead and keep your identities secret if you want, but it¡¯s terribly inconvenient for driving around. Besides, I¡¯m retired. The only thing that might happen is that someone might try to kidnap your poor old grandma and use her against you.¡± Shockwave¡¯s face twitched. ¡°That would be just awful, wouldn¡¯t it? Then you¡¯d have to come save me, and I might actually see your face more than once or twice a year. Even though it only takes you a few minutes to get here on your own.¡±


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Shockwave looked very close to running away, but managed to hold on. ¡°Maybe we should get in before she reveals even more personal information¡­¡±


    We tossed our bags into the bed of the truck before climbing in the passenger side door. The cab of the truck was plenty large enough to fit Shockwave¡¯s skinny form in the middle as well as myself, and Midnight fit in my lap just fine. The old woman reached out her hand to shake as I stepped into the cab. She had a very firm grip. ¡°I¡¯m Charlotte. Or Hammerfist, if you must. You¡¯re ¡®Mage¡¯, right?¡±


    ¡°You could also call me Turlough,¡± I replied.


    ¡°See? He¡¯s not so stuck up about it,¡± the kind old lady replied as she started driving. ¡°And your cat?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Midnight Deathstalker, and I am not a cat,¡± Midnight answered himself.


    ¡°Oh, my apologies. What are you then? Shapeshifter, alien¡­ magical construct?¡±


    ¡°I am from Celmoth, which would make me an alien.¡±


    Something about what she said got my attention. ¡°Did you say magical construct? Do you know about magic?¡±


    ¡°Only a little bit,¡± she confessed. ¡°But I know you are ¡®Mage¡¯, and if you spend enough years in the business you come across a few people who use magic, even if it¡¯s rare.¡±


    ¡°Could you introduce me to them?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I would love to,¡± she smiled, ¡°But unfortunately they¡¯re all retired or otherwise out of the business for good.¡±


    If I understood correctly, that meant most of them were dead- which wasn¡¯t all that surprising as magic users were just as mortal as everyone else. Even if some tried really hard not to be, but that usually didn¡¯t end well.


    The rest of the drive went fine, with Shockwave awkwardly shifting between the two of us while I chatted with their grandma. ¡°Here we are, dears,¡± she said as we pulled out outside a small country style home, with one more car outside. ¡°Looks like Reset is already here. Why don¡¯t we all have a spot of tea before getting to the training?¡±


    Reset turned out to be a man of around middle age, neither young nor old. He was in costume like the rest of us except for Shockwave¡¯s grandmother. He was waiting for us on the back porch. ¡°There you are! So this is the guy we¡¯re training, huh?¡± He looked me over. ¡°You do look like the brawler type. What did you do to get this one to call in a favor from me, huh?¡±


    ¡°Mage has many valuable uses to both myself and the Power Brigade,¡± Shockwave said professionally. ¡°Training him will be beneficial to both of us.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing kid,¡± Reset smiled, ¡°But if that were the whole deal, I¡¯d be getting paid by the Power Brigade directly.¡±


    Charlotte came out with trays laden with snacks- and the promised tea. We had a nice little break before getting to the actual purpose of coming to the area. She brought us all to a large barn I saw out back, flinging the doors wide to reveal a mishmash of the various sorts of things that belonged in a barn. An old tractor, sturdy pillars, and bales of hay complete with pitchforks.


    ¡°Here we are,¡± she said. ¡°Take your time setting up, Reset. I¡¯ll be back in a minute.¡±


    I saw Reset walking around the structure, both inside and out. I wasn¡¯t sure what he was doing, or why a healer would be so concerned about a building- but I could feel his power activating. If I was back at Power Brigade HQ I could have looked him up and gotten at least a vague idea how his power worked, but I hadn¡¯t known who would be here besides Hammerfist.


    It wasn¡¯t long before Hammerfist returned, in costume true to her name. I could still see some wrinkled skin, and the spandex hung loosely on what had clearly once been a much broader form. The emblazoned logo on her chest, a fist with each individual finger being the head of a hammer, would make her identity clear even to those who hadn¡¯t met her before. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll step in there. If Reset¡¯s ready, we¡¯ll get at it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re fighting in the barn?¡± I asked. ¡°It looks¡­ flammable.¡±


    ¡°What, you have fire magic and are afraid of fighting with a little bit of smoke and heat around you?¡±


    ¡°I just thought you wouldn¡¯t want to have your property destroyed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what he¡¯s for,¡± she gestured to Reset- whose plain costume didn¡¯t do much to display his power. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about any of that. We can go all out here.¡±


    Since nobody else seemed concerned about it, I stepped into the barn with the old woman. I wasn¡¯t concerned about her safety of course. She was the one most familiar with the place, and should know her own strength.


    ¡°You ready?¡± she asked as we stood together in the middle of the area. I checked to make sure Force Armor was active, then nodded.


    I was quite pleased to see that she wasn¡¯t particularly fast. Not compared to some, at least. However, I also knew I didn¡¯t want to fight her up close. Most of my spells were enhancements or for short ranged, but I still had Firebolt. I knew she was a bruiser of some sort, but while they were durable, they weren¡¯t invulnerable.


    A line of fire burst from my hands, crashing into her- and then spraying in various directions as she punched it. She continued to charge at me, but I cast Mage¡¯s Reach as I backpedaled. I could have just hit her with a Shocking Grasp normally when she caught up to me and punched through one of the supports, but my time was better used rolling away. As I gained some ground and activated Shocking Grasp with the Mage¡¯s Reach latched onto her ankle, I noticed some smoldering fire in another part of the barn. Hopefully it was scheduled for demolition and she just wanted to do it in a fun manner.


    My training in martial arts helped me withstand her attacks to some extent, though it was clear she wasn¡¯t just throwing punches and kicks randomly. She shrugged off the effects of Shocking Grasp and continued to charge at me, each of her attacks forcing me in a particular direction. I dodged past the tractor, hearing an awful wrenching sound as an axe-kick crushed it into the floor. But despite avoiding that blow, a moment later one of her punches connected with my shoulder. Force Armor barely managed to soften the blow, and I felt my bones snap.


    During that time I¡¯d been trying to repeatedly use Shocking Grasp, but it clearly wasn¡¯t enough to stop her. I shot another Firebolt directly into her torso, hoping that something about her fists was simply more durable, but it didn¡¯t seem to make much difference. Grease delayed her for a moment, sending her sliding into a pile of burning hay. A moment later, she jumped out- without bothering to brush herself off. It was like I had a flame monster leaping at me, and I was barrelled through several of the supports before the barn collapsed on top of both of us.

 Chapter 41

    I was vaguely conscious when the barn un-collapsed from on top of Hammerfist and me, with my consciousness improving when I was un-tackled through some of the supports in the barn. Things continued to reverse, with my bones un-snapping as the fight rapidly progress backwards until the beginning, where I stood across from the old woman in a perfectly normal barn that wasn¡¯t even a little bit on fire.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what I was supposed to do, but fortunately that was answered by the other new person in the area shouting at us. ¡°As a reminder, you need to stop fighting now!¡± called a voice from outside. ¡°Unless you like nearly dying.¡±


    I didn¡¯t, particularly. Except as far as it gave me experience. I looked down at myself, feeling my definitely not shattered shoulder. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s Reset¡¯s power,¡± Hammerfist explained as we walked out of the barn.


    ¡°I thought he was a healer?¡±


    ¡°No. He¡¯s just why we don¡¯t need a healer here.¡±


    ¡°Yo. Did it work?¡± Shockwave abruptly- as usual- appeared in front of my face. ¡°Tell me it worked. Otherwise this is all a waste.¡±


    ¡°Did what work? I¡¯m alive and stuff¡­¡± I frowned. My thinking was a bit confused though. Probably a result of time flowing the wrong way for a moment.


    ¡°Experience, man! The whole point of you being here. If you un-experienced all of that, it¡¯s kinda pointless. But you should remember, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± I checked my numbers. ¡°Yes, I got almost twenty points from that.¡± I also noticed that not everything had gone back to the way it was. My mana reserves and lack of Force Armor spoke to that. ¡°Am I supposed to still be low on mana?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the source of your power, right?¡± Reset nodded. ¡°I can reverse the effects of things, but I don¡¯t restore people¡¯s power or most effects of their power. Though it often looks like I did.¡± Reset shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s¡­ situationally useful, but often just a pain in the ass. But if you got what you needed out of that fight, it¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°I did,¡± I nodded. Along with the experience number, a brief but impactful combat was a good way to be more effective later. And it made me think of some important things. First, I still needed more mana. There wasn¡¯t that much to do about that one except keep training. Second was that I really needed a stronger offensive spell. Getting by with just Shocking Grasp and Firebolt was fine for people who would be taken out by a single one of those, but people with powers- and bruisers like Shockwave¡¯s grandmother Hammerfist- would require something more. Higher level spells started off more efficient in damage per mana, but that was only if all that power was necessary. Overkill was just wasted mana and unnecessary collateral damage.


    Maybe I should buy a good offensive spell and upgrade it a few times? I could do that. When I had points again, but I had 0 at the moment. Which was what got me this whole special training thing, so it was fine.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 15


    Experience: 641


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +1


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond


    Enlarge


    Energy Ward


    Remaining Points: 0


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Yes, it seemed like getting one more powerful offensive spell and then spending some time upgrading things would probably be best. Mana efficiency was what I needed, after all. Besides not dying. Not dying was most important, because I couldn¡¯t level up while dead, now could I? I wasn¡¯t going to bet on there being a super with a resurrection power that bothered to use it on me.


    I tried not to think about the fact that I had now spent 33 of my total 120 points on Haste, more than a quarter. Instead, I thought about the fact that I¡¯d gotten almost twenty experience, a quarter of a level, in the last five minutes. Though it seemed I¡¯d have to wait a bit for more. And by the end of the weekend, if we managed to do this three or four more times, I could be level 16 and have 16 juicy points to spend, which would basically make up for the three upgrades to haste. And I would probably have spent those points eventually anyway.


    ¡°Your power is an interesting one,¡± Hammerfist said to me. The old lady¡­ Charlotte, as she¡¯d introduced herself, eyed me critically. ¡°I don¡¯t see a common theme.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s magic,¡± I said. ¡°Any mage from my world could do the same things. At least, they could have chosen to do the same things.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Extradimensional?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Type-F planet, even.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Don¡¯t get a lot of people admitting that.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s not like anyone can go there and look for weaknesses.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Stuck here, huh?¡±


    ¡°Stuck?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that. I just can¡¯t go back.¡±


    ¡°Oof. Was it so bad there that you don¡¯t even want to try to go back home?¡±


    ¡°The whole place was almost devoid of fighting, except for stray pockets of monsters out of the league of a young man. Which meant there was basically no path of advancement for me.¡± I shook my head, ¡°In the time I¡¯ve been here, I¡¯ve gotten more experience than the entire rest of my life.¡±


    Midnight hopped up on my shoulder to be approximately eye-height with Reset, who was standing nearby listening interestedly. ¡°Hey. Reset. How safe is it within your power? Can people die?¡±


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°That gets a little bit into the personal area, but I can say¡­ with Mage there fighting against Hammerfist, she¡¯ll hit just hard enough for him to be only basically dead, and she¡¯ll be able to withstand anything that can come at her in a short timeframe.¡±


    ¡°Would it be a problem to have a third person in there?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Who?¡± Reset asked. ¡°I could be in there, but that¡¯s pointless. Shockwave¡­ isn¡¯t gonna suddenly learn anything new from that either.¡±


    ¡°I could be in there,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°If it¡¯s safe enough, I¡¯d like to try.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s mostly up to Hammerfist, or I¡¯ll have to reset early¡­¡±


    The old woman looked over Midnight. ¡°You don¡¯t look very durable,¡± she commented.


    ¡°Remember that barrier you punched through when you fought me?¡± I really hoped she¡¯d noticed that. ¡°He¡¯ll have that too.¡±


    ¡°Ah, can take a decent hit then.¡±


    ¡°I also don¡¯t need to be in mortal peril,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°I¡¯m plenty happy with gaining less experience.¡±


    ¡°Offensively he¡¯ll be close to me,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Potentially. Were you in any danger?¡±


    ¡°Not even close,¡± the old woman grinned. ¡°You¡¯d have to do a lot more than that.¡±


    I nodded. With Midnight involved¡­ there were more options. ¡°So, if I were suddenly twelve feet tall and kicked you through a wall¡­?¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t stomp me into the ground or something where I have to absorb the whole impact,¡± Charlotte smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve got a bad back. Though it won¡¯t be a problem as long as we stay within the confines of the barn.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± I nodded. ¡°Cool.¡± I grinned at Midnight, intentionally speaking to him in his own language. ¡°We have some strategizing to do.¡±


    During the strategy session we got to have tea and cookies. I probably didn¡¯t need more tea, but it was tasty enough. And the cookies were excellent. I noticed Shockwave had an entire plate to themself, which were quickly munched through. Given their athletic figure, I assumed it wasn¡¯t hard to burn through excess calories with a little bit of running.


    ¡°I am ready again, if everyone else is,¡± Reset commented.


    ¡°Always,¡± Charlotte¡¯s demeanor became Hammerfist as she stood and flexed.


    ¡°We¡¯re also ready,¡± I nodded. It only took a couple hours at most to restore all of my mana, and Reset had taken about three.


    ¡°Alright. Time for the next session.¡±


    -----


    Midnight stood on the ground next to me, while Hammerfist and I faced off in basically the same places as before, just slightly rotated in the middle of the barn. I wanted it to be a bit harder to hit me into the tractor.


    ¡°On the count of three,¡± Hammerfist called out. ¡°One¡­ two¡­¡±


    I wondered if it was cheating to begin gathering mana before the battle started, but the way she shifted her weight I decided it was fair enough. I didn¡¯t cast Haste before she said three. She was already moving when I finished, and Midnight and I shuffled out of the way. We couldn¡¯t just not fight her, but Midnight was still in the middle of his spell. We wanted both of them to go off as quickly as we could near the beginning, so he¡¯d been assigned to the one that wasn¡¯t upgraded.


    Suddenly, Midnight was the size of¡­ a medium dog. Maybe on the border with large dogs. Of course, he seemed about relatively the same to me, as he used Enlarge on both of us like I used Haste. It was about a third of his mana, but it let us both leap into action.


    I wasn¡¯t under the impression that my change in tactics would suddenly lead to a win, but just repeating the same moves was pointless. Even if it let me get some experience in terms of numbers, the practical application of it was very little.


    My increase in size came with more strength- otherwise it would have been mostly pointless- and the speed allowed me to close in on Hammerfist from behind. But it seemed that being merely three or so times as fast as normal was insufficient. I¡¯d suspected that she could react, I just had gotten the method wrong. Instead of dodging to the sides or ducking, Hammerfist heard me coming and spun around on her heel, throwing a punch directly behind her. I had the reaction time to do something, but the only options were straining my arm against its momentum and getting my wrist or forearm broken, or sticking with my attack.


    Our fists met, and I was the loser. A twelve foot tall orc against a grandma, what should I have expected? Exactly that, given her general powerset. My Force Armor shattered with the blow that would kill a normal person, but at least my fingers weren¡¯t all broken because the momentum also flung me backwards.


    At least the moment wasn¡¯t for nothing. Midnight was ready with Grease, creating a slippery area beneath her feet while I rolled to a standing position and reapplied Force Armor. Without it, a single hit could take me out of the match. Stoneskin was tempting, but I really needed to think about offense too. Besides, I literally couldn¡¯t afford Stoneskin with an entire level¡¯s worth of points.


    I realized how dumb I had been to not use Shocking Grasp on my first attack. I didn¡¯t actually have to grab someone, despite the name. I corrected my error as I leapt towards the unsteady Hammerfist with a flying kick. I was absolutely aware of how poorly that move could go, but I didn¡¯t want to take my chances on the grease myself, and setting her on fire hadn¡¯t done me any good last time.


    I saw her react in slow motion, judging my trajectory and adjusting her stance. She was slipping, falling to the side- but not before I reached her. At which points her arms wrapped around my leg and squeezed. I spun around a few times, feeling the power of Shocking Grasp flow out of me and even having the time to start up a second one¡­ before I was flung into that stupid tractor. Fortunately she hadn¡¯t chosen to break my Force Armor- or my leg. I was able to twist myself so I hit legs-first, absorbing a good portion of the impact and merely straining Force Armor.


    As for Hammerfist, she was free of the grease- using the rebound force from the throw to push her away into a pile of hay, which she used to wipe off the majority of the slippery substance that had clung to her boots. Maybe it was just hopeful thinking, but she didn¡¯t look completely unfazed from taking the full brunt of one-and-a-half Shocking Grasps.


    She was, however, ready to respond to Midnight¡¯s charge, leaping at her with claws extended. They were quite sizable, but he was unable to land even a small scratch on her as she kicked him off to the side. He ran back at her, this time using Shocking Grasp, his body crackling with electricity. I had pushed myself up off the floor and was ready to intersect with Hammerfist at the same time, sweeping for her legs.


    Surprisingly, instead of dodging or striking back at my leg, she punched downward, wrapping herself forward over my leg. Midnight¡¯s claws scraped along her neck and only left red marks and no blood, but the electricity might have done something when combined with my own.


    My leg still had momentum, but Hammerfist punched into the floor and dragged herself to a stop, with my leg in her grip. ¡°Almost dying is good for you, right?¡± the kindly old grandma asked before my leg snapped. I was pouring everything I could into my attacks, but as I twisted towards her I just couldn¡¯t throw her off or strike a solid hit. On the other hand, she seemed to be using suboptimal moves on me just so we could fight more.


    Even so, it wasn¡¯t long before I was slammed through a few more supports, my second Force Armor gone. My vision faded for an unknown time, before once more things reversed and I was standing healthy once more. Though I was still large, and I had a little bit of Haste left in me.


    ¡°Ooh, I leveled up,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°More magic for me~~¡±


    I actually wasn¡¯t that far either. 662 out of 680. Though of course Midnight had just gotten to level 5 or something, which took a lot less experience.


    Though we still got stomped into the ground, that was kind of the whole point of the exercise. And I learned that physical attacks were just hard to pull off against extremely experienced bruisers. There was nothing to be surprised about there. At least Charlotte looked a little fatigued after our fight, but I didn¡¯t know if we¡¯d done any actual damage before it was reset.


    ¡°We can get in one more before bed, I think,¡± Reset commented. ¡°Then we can all pass out for the night.¡±


    Even Shockwave nodded. Running laps around the property in between plates of cookies had to be tiring on some level. Probably.

 Chapter 42

    As it turned out, nearly dying several times per day was extremely exhausting. But it was also an extremely productive method of getting experience. After six sessions of it, I had leveled up to 16 and was even a good portion of the way to the next level. That was at the cost of monopolizing the efforts of Reset, and even Hammerfist looked pretty exhausted at the end of everything. I kind of wished I could keep taking advantage of Reset¡¯s power indefinitely, but he was there as some favor to Shockwave. Besides, the three of us- with Midnight who joined after the first match making it four- all needed a break.


    Charlotte sent us all home with cookies, with Shockwave¡¯s portion being understandably larger. Even Midnight got a little batch made for him with ingredients safe for him. I returned home to a life where I¡¯d only level up every week or less instead of almost once per day. Which was still a few hundred times better than where I had been.


    -----


    ¡°I want to join the Power Brigade,¡± Midnight said decisively. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I really want to go out on missions and fight, but I can help with training. Both for you and other people.¡± His tail waved back and forth happily. Not wagging like a dog, but a slow rhythm that was almost hypnotic. ¡°I enjoy using magic, and fighting is¡­ not so bad.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± I said. ¡°We can let them know today, if you want. On that topic, what do you think about moving? With both of us earning money we can afford a nicer place. Also one that¡¯s closer.¡±


    ¡°I am not particularly attached to the few rooms we have here,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°I want a tuna fridge.¡±


    ¡°That seems¡­ excessive. Wouldn¡¯t it be better to have a small amount that¡¯s more fresh?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that makes sense. Perhaps a fridge that is easier to operate, as well.¡±


    ¡°If we can find something, yeah. The strength of the magnets is intentionally so they stay closed though, not sure if we can find something better. But, then again, there are a lot of things I don¡¯t know about here.¡± Back in Granbold, only the rich- who could afford permanent magic items- had something equivalent to a fridge for preserving their food. Master Uvithar¡¯s tower didn¡¯t have anything like it¡­ though it wasn¡¯t really useful for learning which was the whole point of the place.


    -----


    I didn¡¯t see Khithae at breakfast, but I wanted to talk to her about my eventual move. She was the only person I cared about around here, except Midnight who would be going with me. It¡¯s not that everyone else was bad. It was just a bunch of people trying to get by in new circumstances, but I hadn¡¯t really made a connection with anyone else.


    Back at the Power Brigade, Midnight got started on some paperwork. Half of it was already done for him to be a recurring visitor, and of course there were some talks about what he would be doing¡­ but he could look over it himself and ask me about it later. He could read, and with Translation that meant he could read everything. I¡­ wasn¡¯t sure what would happen if someone couldn¡¯t read and used Translation. People usually didn¡¯t try, and there weren¡¯t a whole lot of mages that couldn¡¯t read. It kind of made picking out spells difficult.


    While Midnight was beginning that process, I went through the normal exercises. Having been ¡®reset¡¯ three times the previous day I was a bit sluggish, but I still felt a remarkable improvement from when I had first begun training. Mages weren¡¯t exactly known for their excellent physical regimens. I had natural muscle and size, but that could still be improved upon and made better use of. I would never beat someone with a bruiser power without magic, but there were plenty of people who weren¡¯t any better than a normal person in terms of their body.


    Except for the durability that came with all forms of powers. It was similar to what came from a higher level in my world. Earth¡¯s games might have called it ¡®hit points¡¯, though it wasn¡¯t to the same extremes that the numbers of those games implied. Except for people with particular classes that made them more durable, anyway. Mostly people learned how to not be damaged so much by anything coming at them, except for barbarians who could just shrug it off. I probably should have been a barbarian¡­ except then I still wouldn¡¯t have had much fighting to do, and I would be stuck standing outside some rich guy¡¯s house baring my tusks at anyone who got close.


    After physical training, I was heading to the sparring rooms. I might not perform quite as well today as usual, but I had to at least put in the time. It was my job, and it was still some experience.


    As I was walking past one of the rooms I saw Max standing inside one, the door wide open. He was shouting at the ceiling. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°The thing! It is broken! Needs parts!¡± A familiar voice came from above, and I stepped into the room to make sure. Indeed, it was Khithae- up on the ceiling of the tall room. ¡°Turlough!¡± She waved to me, one hand and both feet apparently being enough to stick to the ceiling. ¡°Tell Max the momentum absorber is broken and needs K3 wire replacements!¡±


    ¡°She says the momentum absorber is broken and needs K3 wire replacements.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a K3 wire?¡± he frowned.


    ¡°What¡¯s a-¡± I shook my head. ¡°Just get down here so we don¡¯t have to yell!¡±


    She scampered off of the ceiling and down the wall- face first, which was not how I would have done it but she seemed unfazed by looking at the floor. ¡°What was your question?¡± she asked me.


    ¡°He wanted to know what a K3 wire is. But uh, I¡¯m going to let the two of you figure out that terminology.¡± I reached out to pat Khithae on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m not going to do this all the time because I¡¯d run out of mana, but here¡¯s some Translation magic. Make sure to listen carefully to the words the two of you are saying. It will help you learn.¡±


    ¡°I can speak English?¡± Khithae asked. ¡°Without problems?¡±


    ¡°Same as me,¡± I said.


    ¡°Thank you. I will try not to impose¡­ too often.¡± She turned to Max, her wide fingered hands resting at her waist on her toolbelt. ¡°The momentum absorber needs K3 wires.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what those are,¡± Max admitted.


    ¡°The yellow ones? About this big?¡±


    ¡°Ah, we have a very different name for those.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°If you find me some I can put it back together, no problem?¡±


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s great.¡±


    I left them alone to deal with work. It seemed that while Translation did its best to translate technical terms- and usually succeeded- it still had problems with measurements. Khithae should have literally said some letter and ¡®3¡¯, but whatever gauge that was could have counted up or down and might use a different measurement system then on Earth. So it was a correct translation, but still meaningless. As for her actually doing the repairs¡­ it seemed she was confident in that work. Were momentum absorbers common in her dimension? Or just on her planet? I honestly didn¡¯t know much about it. Perhaps I should have asked more about that, and what she did before. I doubted she¡¯d just been a janitor.


    -----


    After sparring with the regular group, I had time in the afternoon to do some research. I was in the market for a new offensive spell, and I wanted one that would work. Shocking Grasp and Firebolt were good to some extent¡­ but Maks was fully immune. It wasn¡¯t that I wanted to beat him in particular, but I was under the impression that fire and lighting based powers were quite common in the grand scheme of things, and so were resistances to them. That¡­ was the general case in my world as well. Fire and lighting we by far the most commonly used elements. They were quite impressive after all.


    I waved to Saveliy the librarian as I walked to the internally networked computers. I still wasn¡¯t quite sure if there was a person under the mass of hair, and it was awkward to ask. The computers¡­ didn¡¯t have him listed. Either he didn¡¯t have a power or the Power Brigade simply deemed it didn¡¯t need to be on record.


    My thoughts went back to the fight with the rocker. Everyone had quite a bit of trouble defending against his sonic based attacks. Energy Ward worked, but that required making the specific choice to protect against it. Same with everything else, but if I were going to walk around with a single protection at a time it would probably be fire. It was simply the most common, and some spells even had protection from it as a side effect of other features. Lightning was a close second, with cold being not uncommon. Acid usually only came up with oozes and slimes and a few dragons. Sonic was the rarest¡­ and thus the best.


    From the information I could find in the database, it was likely that sonic would be similarly effective in this world. It was rarer in both the areas of offense and defense that specifically applied to it, and even bruisers who were generally resistant to everything could be shaken up by it if it were used properly. And simply having a higher level spell would be more effective, as that was how they worked. More mana at once and a higher power¡­ and of course more consequences if I screwed up the attack.


    The specific spell I had in mind was fifth level. Spending the same amount of mana as Haste on something that could miss¡­ was an unpleasant thought. Even with another level under my belt, that was still basically a quarter of my maximum 21 points and almost an hour of regeneration time. But misusing any spell was a waste, and the power might be necessary. So Sonic Lance was added to my repertoire.


    Of my 16 points for reaching the same level- having saved none from the level before- I had 7 left. Enough to upgrade any of my spells once, even Sonic Lance itself. However, I wasn¡¯t willing to commit to it so strongly before I got to test it out in a practical sense. I¡¯d seen Master Uvithar use it a few times as a demonstration, but simply seeing and reading about something wasn¡¯t the same as doing it yourself.


    As for other options, I considered upgrading Familiar Bond. That had to do something. I just didn¡¯t remember what. Obviously if it only decreased the mana cost it was kind of pointless. I wasn¡¯t planning to replace Midnight several times per day or something insane like that. If I thought real hard, I could come up with something I thought I remembered reading. Maybe allowing him to make use of my upgraded efficiency? If nothing else, his status window didn¡¯t show any +¡¯s. At some point I would have to do it just to know for sure.


    I sighed. There were so many things vying for my points, and even though I was elated to be actually getting levels it seemed like it was never enough.


    -----


    After work, Khithae found me as I was leaving dinner. Our schedules didn¡¯t always line up exactly- and of course with her apparently just having just changed jobs, it wouldn¡¯t necessarily stay the same. She grinned widely as she saw me. ¡°Turlough! Good to see you. As you saw earlier, I got the job with the Power Brigade. And¡­ earlier you helped me out with Max. A lot, really. He¡¯s patient enough to let me try to explain things, but there were many words I didn¡¯t know or couldn¡¯t pronounce right. Having some time where we could properly talk helped a lot. I even got promoted! Sorta. At least, I¡¯m being allowed to make some electrical repairs.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± I said. ¡°I never really asked what you did before.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think it would matter much. I was basically doing odd jobs, working on whatever people needed. But I hadn¡¯t seen the inside of technology here, and how it was so similar and recognizable.¡± She nodded, ¡°I will still be needed for the purposes of cleaning difficult to reach places, but I should also be working with repairs. Max said it would pay more, too. If my work checks out and I actually get the promotion.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure your work is good,¡± I assured her. ¡°The Power Brigade seems pretty interested in actually having people do work they¡¯re good at, so I imagine you¡¯ll get that official pay increase soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Either way,¡± Khithae shrugged, ¡°It is better than my other job. Because it is ¡®risky¡¯. Even though working unsecured required some assurances, I do not find it to be of higher risk than most jobs.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I asked. ¡°The ceilings get pretty high up though. A thirty or forty foot drop seems like a problem.¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°I am under the impression that humans injure themselves falling off ladders very frequently. As for myself, I am nearly as comfortable on the ceiling as I am on the floor. It is like¡­ working on the roof of a building. People could fall off, but they are cautious so they do not.¡±


    ¡°As long as you¡¯re happy I don¡¯t really have anything to say about it,¡± I replied honestly. ¡°Midnight would probably cry up there though. Even the counter is too high for him.¡±


    ¡°I heard that, you know,¡± Midnight said as he approached. He didn¡¯t eat in the cafeteria because he had the appearance of an animal and they didn¡¯t have proper containers and utensils for him anyway. But he could always find me. ¡°I came to let you know I found another one of those robot rats.¡± He seemed interested in including Khithae in the conversation, since he spoke her language.


    ¡°Another one?¡± she asked. ¡°It is turning into quite the infestation. I wonder if the Power Brigade has the same problem?¡±


    ¡°... I hope not,¡± I said. ¡°Wandering around in an apartment they could be the creation of some sort of mad tech super who made self-propagating robotic life. But if they were sneaking into the Power Brigade HQ, they¡¯d be spies. The security is pretty good about picking up forbidden electronics though.¡± It hadn¡¯t been intended to catch extra people standing openly on someone¡¯s shoulder, which was how Midnight had gotten past the first time. But any security system would have its flaws- if nothing else, in that someone had to run it.


    ¡°I should ask Max,¡± she said. ¡°Normal rats are not a problem, but robotic ones might chew on the wires. And live through it, I mean.¡± She smiled. ¡°Thanks again Turlough. I already much prefer this job.¡±


    ¡°No problem,¡± I said. ¡°I was glad to recommend you. On a related topic, Midnight is going to be working at the Power Brigade as well. We¡¯re planning to move closer. Of course, I just paid this month¡¯s rent here. It¡¯s not that much, but seems kind of a waste to just bail on it. But¡­ that¡¯s the eventual plan. We¡¯ll have to stay in contact somehow. I imagine we won¡¯t chat much at work, but if you have a phone¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we can figure something out,¡± Khithae nodded. ¡°I will miss you at meals, I think, but my progress with the language is good. I might ask for your magic occasionally though¡­¡±


    ¡°Gladly,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t quite do it all the time, but occasionally shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± Another thing to spend points on for the sake of efficiency. I did use it all day, so perhaps I should have done it sooner. But better Translation wouldn¡¯t help me out in a fight, so I hadn¡¯t really thought about it much.

 Chapter 43

    The shrill tone of an alarm woke me in the middle of the night. Was the building on fire? I knew that was a thing that happened when buildings were on fire. My first thought was of course wrong, but it only took an annoying ten or twenty seconds to realize that it was my phone, making a noise I¡¯d only heard once.


    Right, it was some sort of thing installed by the Power Brigade. I unlocked the screen groggily to see a screen with swirling text and foreign letters. The alarm had stopped blaring upon opening it, but I still took a moment to figure out what the strange text was. English.


    In the middle of the night, I of course didn¡¯t have translation activated. My half-asleep mind only picked out ¡®needed¡¯ and ¡®danger¡¯. It took a few seconds of parsing that to realize it really meant a chance for experience. A little button brought up the map service with a little gps waypoint. How convenient.


    I began to get dressed, putting on my Power Brigade outfit. I had no idea how people kept this kind of stuff secret, because it was either show up at a Power Brigade location in normal clothes or leave home in a super uniform. I supposed I could be mistaken for some normal dude working at the Power Brigade instead of an active member, but that wouldn¡¯t really help. And using Disguise was just a pain, with the problem of needing to be unseen while using it or it becoming really obvious.


    A nearby meowing caught my attention. I saw Midnight standing by the door, looking at me. My brain was the first one to make the leap and cast Translation to affect both of us- since it cost the same either way. ¡°Sorry, what did you say?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You received an alarm. Are you going somewhere?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°Some situation nearby¡­ wanna come?¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°Perhaps my vision could be of use.¡±


    He hopped up onto my shoulder, and I applied Force Armor. I always did it when leaving the house, and it was especially important when going into danger. As for anything else, I¡¯d figure it out when we got close.


    Fortunately it was easy walking distance. I didn¡¯t want to try to find a ride at this time of night. The streets weren¡¯t empty- and I saw a good number of people walking around the apartment complex- but a majority of people functioned during the day.


    My phone led me right to the situation, and I thought I heard the sound of gunshots before I arrived. Upon getting close, I walked by a huge ring of blood in the middle of an intersection with cops positioned all around it.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the situation?¡± I asked one of the nearby officers.


    ¡°Some sort of monster came out of this hell portal,¡± he gestured to the blood circle. ¡°A civilian called it in. A number of officers have been wounded and it was chased down that way. Some sort of¡­ giant bat?¡±


    That made sense with my phone still pointing that way. I just wanted some idea of what I was dealing with. ¡°Okay, thanks.¡±


    Dire bats weren¡¯t a huge problem. Honestly a few gunshots should be sufficient. So either the officers were bad shots or it was something else. Or larger than expected, since dire bats were just as likely to appear here as some other kind of overly large batlike creature.


    I saw a semicircle of police cars with officers taking cover behind them, their guns focused on an alleyway. There were several spotlights illuminating the area, mostly focused on the alleyway but with enough light reflecting everywhere to highlight a familiar figure. Probably.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I called out. ¡°Is that you¡­ Zor¡­?¡± I tilted my head as the little green man turned.


    ¡°Zorphax,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯d be¡­ Mage, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Turlough. We met before.¡±


    He nodded, ¡°I remember, just¡­ masks.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Yeah. I have tusks and green skin so it¡¯s not like I¡¯m ever secret anyway.¡±


    ¡°Whatever,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°That¡¯s not important right now. You have a translation ability, right? We asked for that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Does it let you talk with giant bats?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t work on animals,¡± I shook my head. ¡°But¡­ if it¡¯s sapient and has a language, it should work.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good enough,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°Because that¡¯s actually what we¡¯re trying to find out. If this thing is just a monster,¡± he held up a gun that I only recognized because it had a similar grip. The rest of it was a series of strange dishes and bulbs. ¡°Well, it would probably be someone else handling it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. So should I go talk at it?¡±


    ¡°Will you be safe?¡±


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯ve got magic armor,¡± I nodded. ¡°Midnight, you should probably walk.¡±


    He hopped down from my shoulder. ¡°You are right. I will have better mobility here.¡±


    With that, we walked into the half-dark alleyway. The first half was way too brightly lit, but around a corner it suddenly dipped into shadow. I held a hand up to the side of my face to shield my eyes. ¡°See anything?¡± I asked Midnight.


    ¡°It takes time to adjust, which doesn¡¯t really work with this much light.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded, stepping forward around the corner. I still couldn¡¯t see much, but my eyes weren¡¯t fighting the spotlights either. ¡°Hey!¡± I called ahead. ¡°Giant bat! Can you talk?¡±


    If it spoke English I was pretty sure this would have already been resolved one way or another. And since it probably didn¡¯t, my yelling was kind of pointless. But I didn¡¯t know what it was or have any familiarity, so I couldn¡¯t tune myself to a specific language unless I got it to talk. The alley remained silent.


    ¡°See anything?¡± I asked Midnight.


    ¡°Still adjusting,¡± he said. ¡°The alley doesn¡¯t continue much further. Perhaps it simply has flown away?¡± He was quiet for a few seconds. ¡°Ah. There is a large figure about halfway up the side of the back wall.¡±


    ¡°Around there?¡± I asked, pointing my finger.


    There was a loud shriek and I found myself bowled over backwards, back out into the other section of the alley. Then there were gunshots and yelling before I made up my mind to use Shocking Grasp. My hand crackled with electricity in front of my face, but I found no purchase- and I vaguely observed something darting back into the shadows. I felt my Force Armor was half-broken, but the initial impact hadn¡¯t been that much.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Hey, can you guys not shoot?¡± I called towards the end of the alley. ¡°I think you hit me.¡± I picked myself up and reapplied Force Armor. This wasn¡¯t the sort of situation I wanted to have less than my maximum defenses. I was now at about sixty percent of my maximum mana, twelve points left. I looked towards the darkness, my eyes barely picking out Midnight next to a trash bag, and only because I had a feeling of where he was. He looked ready to do something, but seemed to be avoiding calling attention to himself. Which was reasonable. I waved my hand towards the back of the alley as I took a step forward again. ¡°Hey, can you talk? That¡¯s really important.¡± I held my hand in front of myself as a shield, ready to zap it if it charged me again.


    Then I heard it. Not the screeching, but a sound like a whisper. A shouted whisper, clawing at my mind and wrapping around me, consuming me with darkness. Some sort of mental attack? I wasn¡¯t¡­ really ready for that. But nothing happened. Or at least, I didn¡¯t notice it- which wasn¡¯t the same thing.


    I focused on that sound. ¡°Were you talking? If you were talking I need you to do it more.¡± I tried to speak whatever language it was, but since there was only at most one thing that spoke that language here, it wasn¡¯t so quick to translate. But the figure also didn¡¯t charge towards me again, and I was actually beginning to be able to make out its shape. Giant bat? Well, I could believe that.


    ¡°... accursed magic¡­ don¡¯t want¡­ death¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey! I happen to like magic,¡± I retorted. ¡°I think it¡¯s great.¡±


    There was a long pause. Then it spoke again. ¡°Do you ¡­ words?¡±


    ¡°Gonna be honest here,¡± I said. ¡°I only half understood that at most. Keep talking though.¡±


    ¡°... you¡­ warlock, sent to slay me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a mage,¡± I said. ¡°Warlocks are different.¡±


    ¡°You are wise to shield yourself with those accursed lights,¡± the thing whisper-shouted.


    ¡°They are pretty bright, huh?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Makes it hard to adjust.¡±


    ¡°Do you plan to delay me until the cursed rays of dawn destroy me? Because I will not continue to hold back.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Dawn¡¯s like¡­ four hours away still. I¡¯m going back to bed before then.¡± I yawned, ¡°So why are you here, attacking people?¡±


    ¡°I wished to live,¡± the bat explained. I could now see that it was about eight to ten feet tall, and its wings filled the whole alleyway. Well, it wasn¡¯t that wide so they were actually kind of squished in.


    ¡°Yeah that makes sense,¡± I admitted. ¡°Nobody wants to die. But that includes those people you attacked.¡±


    ¡°They are not dead, are they?¡± the thing asked. ¡°Not that it would matter, because your people shot first.¡±


    ¡°Ugh,¡± I sighed. ¡°What a mess. One second.¡± I covered my eyes and leaned out to should up the alleyway. ¡°Hey! Did people shoot at this before anyone was attacked?¡±


    ¡°What? I can¡¯t hear you!¡± They had the advantage of megaphones, which I did not have.


    ¡°Hey Midnight,¡± I said. ¡°Can you go ask them if they shot at it first?¡± Midnight didn¡¯t move. ¡°Is something wrong?¡±


    ¡°I believe the cat is under the impression that I will not notice it if it does not move. But I have a very clear sense of where it is behind that bundle.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a cat!¡± Midnight yelled as he sprinted past my legs. That first one was in the language the probably-not-a-bat spoke. Once around the corner, he stopped and switched to his own language. ¡°Anything else you want me to ask the officers? Or should I stay here for an ambush?¡±


    ¡°It can probably still sense you. Bats have echolocation, and you¡¯re just making sound anyway.¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯ll go ask if they shot it first.¡± Midnight skittered away.


    ¡°Are you preparing some new form of weapon?¡± the bat asked. ¡°My patience is running thin. I can¡¯t afford to be so¡­ nice.¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re just asking if they shot you first,¡± I said. ¡°If they wanted to just kill you they have things for that. I was called so we could talk.¡±


    ¡°... I have to admit that your words seem reasonable,¡± the sounds of darkness wrapped around me as it spoke. ¡°But it may also be a trick.¡±


    Midnight ran back. ¡°They say that¡­ maybe they shot it first. When it came out of the hell portal.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Thanks Midnight. So¡­ you. Do you have a name?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± it answered.


    There was some silence. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to say it?¡±


    ¡°Not to a warlock.¡±


    ¡°... That¡¯s reasonable,¡± I admitted. ¡°But I¡¯m not a warlock. Well, mister bat¡­ did you come out of a ¡®hell portal¡¯?¡±


    ¡°I toiled for many months to develop the magic to escape the cursed eternal day that plagues my world.¡±


    ¡°Does that magic involve a big, creepy circle of blood?¡±


    ¡°Why would it not involve blood? Where would it get its power?¡±


    I frowned, ¡°Mana? Crystals? Stuff like that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ the method of powering the magic that brought me here doesn¡¯t matter, does it?¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± I pointed out, ¡°People are pretty particular about blood. Even here where there isn¡¯t much magic, people are squeamish about blood magic.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because blood comes from people, and without it they die. And nobody wants to die.¡±


    ¡°Right. It¡¯s just¡­ normal where I¡¯m from.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the kind of thing that makes people worried,¡± I pointed out. ¡°How many people did you have to sacrifice for that portal?¡±


    ¡°None,¡± the bat said.


    ¡°That sounds like a lie,¡± I countered. ¡°There was a lot of blood there.¡±


    ¡°I cannot lie.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ you understand that saying that won¡¯t make me believe you, right? Because if you can lie, then it doesn¡¯t mean anything.¡±


    ¡°... how troublesome.¡±


    We just stood there for a while, looking at each other. Probably. I couldn¡¯t see its eyes.


    Midnight helped ease the situation. ¡°I think it sounds truthful. And nobody is dead, even though it seems very likely it could have killed people.¡±


    ¡°I mean, I kind of agree,¡± I admitted. ¡°I just don¡¯t know what we do from here.¡±


    ¡°You could let me go,¡± the bat said. ¡°I¡¯ll just fly off.¡±


    ¡°See, that¡¯s the sort of thing that bothers people. Then we have a spooky magic bat flying around the city,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Oh hey, are you a vampire? That seems like vampire stuff.¡±


    ¡°I could be called a vampire, yes.¡±


    ¡°Do you drink blood?¡±


    ¡°... I have the feeling you won¡¯t like the answer to that question.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to assume that¡¯s a ¡®yes¡¯, then. Ugh, I¡¯m not trained for this negotiation stuff. Midnight, can you just get Zorphax closer so we can ask him stuff?¡±


    ¡°Like what? Maybe I can save us some time.¡±


    ¡°Like¡­ lots of things. Am I allowed to offer refugee status to a vampire fleeing a curse of eternal sunlight? Is that political or religious persecution? Can I do any of that, since I¡¯m not a member of Extra?¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯ll go get him.¡±


    ¡°Who is this Zorphax?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a little guy,¡± I said, ¡°About this tall. He knows how to do the negotiations and stuff. I¡¯m just here because I can talk to you. But if you promise not to attack him, he can work something out, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    ¡°We will speak through you?¡±


    ¡°Well, that sounds like a pain, honestly,¡± I yawned. ¡°I kinda just want to go to bed. I¡¯ll probably just cast Translation on him. Just talk at him for a while and he should pick it up real quick.¡±


    Honestly I was amazed I hadn¡¯t messed it up already. So if I could drop this off on the people who knew what they were doing, that was best.

 Chapter 44

    The giant bat who was by its own admission some kind of vampire waited patiently as Zorphax approached. When he got close, I put my hand on his shoulder and cast Translation.


    ¡°There, now you should be able to understand,¡± I yawned. ¡°Should have done that earlier. Talking to people isn¡¯t my job.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ hmm¡­¡± the martian frowned as I spoke. ¡°I¡­ sort of understand.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, it¡¯ll take a moment,¡± I said. It would be more than a moment if I had just cast it directly on him, but since I had garnered some magical understanding of the language it would take effect more quickly for him. ¡°Excuse me,¡± I leaned around the corner to the bat. ¡°Could you keep talking? It will help him adjust more quickly.¡±


    ¡°Sure, what do you want me to say?¡±


    ¡°Anything, really,¡± I shrugged. ¡°This is fine. Soon Zorphax will be able to fully understand and then he can help you.¡± I yawned more, ¡°Then I can go sleep.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve got it now?¡± Zorphax said questioningly.


    ¡°Yes, I understand you,¡± said the giant bat from the depths of the alley.


    Zorphax slowly stepped forward, his hovering a moderate distance away from his gun. ¡°Great. Now that we¡¯ve established something approaching polite communication, we can begin to sort things out.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the vampire. ¡°But I would like the taller one to stay.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I said as I was already three steps away. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because you seem incapable of lying effectively.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have you know I lie effectively all the time,¡± I said unconvincingly. ¡°Occasionally, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that will be sufficient.¡±


    ¡°Well, fine,¡± I shrugged and stepped back around the corner. At least now the spotlights weren¡¯t in my eyes. ¡°Can we speed this up though?¡± I sighed, ¡°Anyway for Zorphax¡¯s sake, you¡¯re a vampire who came through a big blood portal fleeing a curse of eternal daylight and then the police shot at you.¡±


    ¡°That is an adequate summary.¡±


    Zorphax cautiously stepped around the corner with me, out of the spotlights. ¡°Damn those things are bright,¡± he shook his head. He swapped to English, naturally getting how Translation worked- though that was also part of the magic. ¡°Turlough, let me get this straight. You walked down here into this situation where you were basically attacked by a giant bat, they told you they were some kind of vampire who uses blood magic or whatever, and you thought ¡®this is a reasonable and safe negotiation¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Is it not?¡± I asked. ¡°Did I do something wrong? Nobody¡¯s died, right?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°Usually newbies just overreact to this kind of stuff. I¡¯m a veteran who¡¯s gone through crazier negotiations, but normally I would have expected this to go sideways already.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± the vampire asked, concerned.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Zorphax focused his attention on the giant bat barely visible at the end of the alley. ¡°Umm¡­ do you have a name we can call you?¡±


    ¡°Rositsa.¡±


    ¡°Rositsa,¡± Zorphax nodded. ¡°A fine name. Now then, my friend here is under the impression you intentionally avoided causing significant harm to the officers who opened fire on you. Is that correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she nodded her giant bat head. ¡°That is correct. With my powers I¡­ found it difficult to cause minimal damage. But I did not wish to cause trouble.¡±


    I had the feeling Zorphax could see the situation better than myself. His large eyes seemed well suited to picking up only small amounts of light, for one thing. And the minute adjustments he made seemed to be body language for the sake of Rositsa.


    ¡°Okay Rositsa. So, this curse of eternal daylight. I assume that¡¯s basically a death sentence for you¡­ and you kind, if there were others?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is correct. We would have been unable to go anywhere and would slowly starve to death, if nobody came to kill us first.¡±


    ¡°Alright, so,¡± at some point Zorphax had pulled out a tablet and started checking boxes and writing notes. ¡°This is an important one. Your food is¡­?¡±


    ¡°Blood,¡± Rositsa said candidly.


    ¡°As expected,¡± Zorphax nodded. ¡°Now for some follow ups. Do you have to kill what you get blood from? Does it need to be sapient species?¡±


    ¡°No. To both.¡±


    ¡°So the blood that formed that big¡­ blood portal¡­ what was it from?¡±


    ¡°Humans. Mostly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ somewhat problematic. You¡¯re surprisingly candid about this though.¡±


    ¡°I cannot lie,¡± Rositsa reminded us.


    ¡°Is that true?¡± Zorphax looked at me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not a lie detector. I didn¡¯t do it with magic, either. She did say it before though.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Would like to have Malaliel here, if this were different.¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t- oh.¡± I nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± Probably not a good idea to bring an angel to interrogate a vampire.


    ¡°She¡¯s quite reasonable, but we don¡¯t want to provoke a negative reaction.¡± Zorphax shook his head. ¡°Sorry, Rositsa. Let¡¯s get back to the questions.¡±


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°As long as they do not take several hours,¡± she said, looking vaguely towards the sky.


    ¡°The important ones will be quick,¡± Zorphax assuaged her worries. ¡°Though there will definitely be a lot of paperwork.¡± He continued asking questions, like where the human blood that made up the portal came from. Half was from enemies, half from allies. After he was finished assessing her threat, he nodded. ¡°Well. That¡¯s enough for now. Would you be willing to be taken into custody? We can¡¯t exactly verify most of this stuff here in an alleyway.¡±


    ¡°Will I be safe?¡± she asked.


    ¡°We promise no more harm will come to you, to the best of our considerable abilities,¡± Zorphax swore.


    ¡°Turlough?¡± the vampire asked.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh. I trust him on that. If they wanted to just kill you he¡¯d just shoot you or sic an angel on you.¡± I frowned. ¡°Uh, angels are¡­¡±


    ¡°I am aware that different worlds can have wildly different¡­ acceptance of certain traits. I will submit peacefully.¡± With that her form shrunk¡­ until she was basically the size of a human. As she walked forward, I could see stark white hair and blood red eyes. Which was actually pretty close to normal in New Bay.


    She had handcuffs placed on her, and while they seemed to be of a higher quality than the ones I had put on myself, I had the feeling they wouldn¡¯t be terribly effective if things really went downhill.


    Zorphax still had his megaphone and called out to the police officers at the end of the alley, who I could sense he was a bit miffed with. Either way, they didn¡¯t shoot at any of us and I got to go home and sleep.


    -----


    I woke up a bit later than normal. I usually had an alarm set, but since I was technically working in the middle of the night I had some leeway for when I came in to work. Midnight was sleepy too, so we were both zonked out until almost lunch time. When I woke up, I had a message from Zorphax offering me a job. He was pretty thorough, even listing the benefits¡­ and drawbacks. Like no combat.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    T- Sorry, I¡¯d prefer not to have a job that doesn¡¯t involve fighting.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Z- I see. We still plan to contract you for further translation work.


    T- As long as I get paid, I¡¯m glad to help. Though preferably not in the middle of the night.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    With that out of the way, I grabbed some lunch at the cafeteria- a rarity for myself, even on weekends. There also weren¡¯t that many others around the apartment at midday, because nearly everyone was working. A few nocturnal people who were either up early or late, and others with odd schedules.


    As I was walking up to the HQ doors, a gust of wind nearly bowled me over- and caused Midnight to dig his claws into my shoulder so he wouldn''t fall. It was a strange paradox that he was willing to sit on my shoulder but wouldn¡¯t jump up on a counter, but perhaps the convenience outweighed the downsides.


    Then the gust hit us once more, almost knocking me over. ¡°Turlough.¡± Shockwave¡¯s face was immediately in front of mine. ¡°Haste.¡±


    ¡°Umm, I don¡¯t know if-¡±


    ¡°Important. Notimetoexplain.¡±


    I only took a second to think. The fact that a speedster didn¡¯t have time to explain really meant something, and while I was worried Shockwave was just going to get up to trouble¡­ I also felt I should trust them at least this once.


    ¡°Fine, but I¡¯m not responsible for any broken windows,¡± I said as I reached out my hand for theirs.


    ¡°... good point.¡± The instant Haste was finished casting, they were gone with only a ¡°Thanksbyelater!¡±


    I didn¡¯t hear anything after that since I couldn¡¯t hear anything, but I did see something flash on the side of the building. My eyes looked up the towering skyscraper and saw Shockwave running vertically, and then reaching the top. There was a moment hanging at the corner, and then they were gone.


    I was impressed. Running up the side of a vertical building? That was pretty neat- but what really impressed me was that none of the windows shattered. And not because there wasn¡¯t a sonic boom, but because the windows were exceptionally sturdy.


    I looked at Midnight. ¡°Do you think this counts as work-related injury?¡±


    Midnight said something back, but as we both couldn¡¯t hear each other, there wasn¡¯t really much communication. Except the general feeling of confusion through our bond.


    We entered the building, waving hi to the guards as we were moved through security. I pointed to my bleeding ears but couldn¡¯t fully comprehend the response. We went up to floor 5 where we saw Doctor Rajesh Mishra outside his office. ¡°Hey, we can¡¯t hear right now. I¡¯m not really sure if these ruptured eardrums fall under work-related injuries¡­¡±


    Before I could finish explaining, he gathered energy and reached out his hand to my head, then did the same to Midnight. ¡°What is with you and ear-related injuries?¡±


    ¡°They were unrelated,¡± I said. ¡°This one was¡­ not the same as before.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if whatever Shockwave was doing was on the up-and-up, so I avoided saying anything.


    ¡°Well, either way I¡¯m obliged to heal you for things like that, where there might otherwise be permanent repercussions. For something like this, even if it¡¯s determined to be entirely your fault the expense will be minimal.¡±


    ¡°I thought I¡¯d have to fill out paperwork first.¡±


    ¡°Anything relevant was already covered in the documents employing you here,¡± Doctor Mishra said. ¡°Anyway, don¡¯t hesitate to come here with injuries. They say a lot about being responsible for the payment if you were screwing around, but that¡¯s just to keep people in line. The Power Brigade isn¡¯t just going to let people die or be crippled.¡± He snorted, ¡°Even if management was full of assholes who didn¡¯t care about human life like Super Soldiers Inc., injury lawsuits cost way more than my fees.¡± He leaned forward, ¡°But that¡¯s no excuse to just get yourself injured willy-nilly, yeah?¡± He raised an eyebrow as he looked at me.


    ¡°... wouldn¡¯t even dream of it.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh. So, what happened?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know,¡± I admitted. ¡°Shockwave was in a big rush. Looked important. How could I find out what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d probably have to ask them, given their position,¡± Doctor Mishra said. ¡°You could at least ask the mission desk if they¡¯re on a mission.¡±


    I frowned as I entered the elevator once more, looking to Midnight. ¡°Umm, do you think I should text? I don¡¯t want to be a distraction, and Haste is over now. But they could still be going¡­ wherever.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°It would have to be somewhere pretty far.¡±


    ¡°Its only like¡­ 15 miles?¡± I frowned. ¡°Maybe a little bit more. We¡¯ve gone further than that. Like when we went to see-¡±


    ¡°Hammerfist¡­¡± Midnight flicked his tail. ¡°Do you think?¡±


    ¡°It could have been that way,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Either way, we can¡¯t do anything about it now, can we? It would take more than an hour to get there.¡± We arrive back at reception, and were directed to mission control for our questions. ¡°Umm¡­ I don¡¯t want to pry or anything, but is Shockwave on a mission of some sort? They seemed quite worried and ran off awfully quick. Straight up the outside of the building to the roof¡­¡±


    The receptionist clearly pulled up something on her computer. ¡°Information on member activities related to missions is confidential by default, but your concern has been noted.¡± She looked around, swiveling her head, then leaned in. ¡°I really mean it. I don¡¯t know how much I can do but I¡¯m on it. Now get going. Find something to distract yourselves.¡±


    Heading down to the training area, I didn¡¯t really feel more relieved. The receptionist¡¯s words indicated that something was probably abnormal. I hoped I hadn¡¯t made anything worse, but I hadn¡¯t heard any panicked cries about millions of windows being shattered so that had gone well¡­ somehow.


    Maybe it was nothing, and Shockwave just wanted to go for a joy-run. If that was the case, we were going to have to have a talk about responsible usage of powers.

 Chapter 45

    Later the same day I met the vampire and sent Shockwave off who knows where with a Haste spell, I met a mummy.


    ¡°Hey.¡± I waved. ¡°I didn¡¯t know we had mummies working with the Power Brigade.¡±


    ¡°WhatMummiesWhere?¡± The figure twitchily turned in a quick circle, a few pieces of a blue outfit poking through the bandages. ¡°Oh! You mean me?¡± Shockwave slowed down to normal speaking speed.


    ¡°So, I don¡¯t mean to be rude¡­¡± I frowned, ¡°But when I used Haste on you and you ran up the side of the building¡­ did you jump off the roof?¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Shockwave grinned.


    ¡°Haste privileges are revoked,¡± I crossed my arms sternly.


    ¡°What? No! It¡¯s not like that. I jumped onto the next one. And the next one, and the one after that¡­ I broke way fewer expensive things that way!¡±


    ¡°Looks like you broke a lot of yourself, though,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°No no, this is from my battle with Beastro. Fortunately I arrived faster than he thought I could, and he wasn¡¯t ready!¡±


    ¡°... Why would you fight someone who could do that to you when they weren¡¯t prepared?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Because he was going after my gra- after Hammerfist. And I got a taunting message that I couldn¡¯t stop him.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Is that¡­ my fault?¡± I asked concernedly.


    ¡°It¡¯s 90% her fault, 6% my fault, and 4% yours,¡± Shockwave said confidently. For some reason, I thought I saw them holding up their fingers while they said that. Shockwave sighed. ¡°Gra- Hammerfist is kind of careless with public appearances. It was only a matter of time before her location got out, and a few people know our¡­ connection. We managed to fight off Beastro this time though.¡± They gave a big smile and a thumbs up. ¡°Anyway I made it a couple minutes earlier than expected thanks to you. That made all the difference.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I suppose the story checks out,¡± I nodded. I¡¯d have to verify it before more Haste privileges were given, though. ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°Haha, I have to go lie in bed for a week or something, even with Doctor Mishra¡¯s healing,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°So¡­ just gonna do that now. I only came by to say thanks.¡±


    ¡°Okay, have a good rest.¡±


    One good thing about Shockwave was that they didn¡¯t leave people waiting. I hadn¡¯t even finished my ¡®morning¡¯ warmup yet. At least I didn¡¯t have to worry about that situation for the moment. Though I should look up Beastro in the database.


    -----


    ¡°How about this one?¡± I asked Midnight.


    ¡°The balcony is nice, but does it have to be so high up?¡±


    I decided not to point out that it was the second floor of the apartment building, which was anything but high. The first level was all communal stuff like mailboxes and laundry. Most of them would be, and the only places that would have a deck leading out to ground level were either pretty far from the most populated areas of New Bay or so expensive just looking at the prices made my eyes bleed. Even if I had been collecting combat pay every day- which I was not- some prices were insane.


    The people to come out of those apartment buildings either wore fancy suits or hawaiian shirts, shorts, and flip-flops. It was weird and confusing.


    I marked down a rating for the current apartment we were looking at. Soon enough Midnight would be able to rent his own place if he wanted to, but there was no reason to pay for things separately when he took up such little space. It¡¯s not like I minded having a roommate. If we couldn¡¯t handle that, the familiar bond probably wouldn¡¯t last long anyway. Though of course normal bonds were between a mage and an animal- but even animals could break those bonds if they were unhappy.


    ¡°Well, there are a couple more apartments in the area to check out,¡± I said. We were trying to find a place a bit closer to Power Brigade HQ to save time and money on travel, plus the apartment set up by Extra was¡­ not impressive. I didn¡¯t have a problem with it because I came from somewhere with smaller rooms to begin with, but comparing to others it only met minimum standards. That said, for people who just needed a place to stay and access to meals¡­ it was great. Cheap and functional. Which was another reason that it would be better to move out, since there was doubtless someone who needed it more.


    As we made our way along the street towards the next apartment, a myriad of sounds began to make its way to our ears. Things like screaming, the squealing of car wheels, and things like that.


    ¡°Sounds like trouble,¡± I said to Midnight.


    ¡°Should we go help?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, probably,¡± I nodded. ¡°I should call this in, too.¡±


    ¡®Call¡¯ wasn¡¯t quite the right word, but I did use my phone. But instead of using the actual phone functionality, I brought up the Power Brigade app I had. It was useful for a lot of things, like looking up local threats and reporting them. It seems that a report had already come in, through the police. I pressed a button to confirm my presence near the incident and also got a short summary of what was going on. ¡°Ooh, portals again,¡± I nodded.


    I didn¡¯t carry my whole outfit on me at all times, nor did I have a way to conveniently change, but I did carry my mask at least. While it might not disguise my identity that much what with the green skin and tusks, it would let people know I was there to help, instead of just being another civilian in danger. I popped it on and looked at Midnight.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°... Should we get you a mask?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Midnight asked.


    Good point. I had to admit there were some reasons for masks, but fewer of them were relevant to Midnight.


    I turned the corner where the most cars were squealing away from and people running to see a ten foot high mass of yellow-orange slime. It was still a good hundred feet away, and slowly sliding forward, leaving a gouge in the street behind it. A man was standing a good thirty feet in front of it, slowly walking backwards. And that was¡­ sufficient. It wasn¡¯t fast.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I stroked my chin. ¡°This is a good chance to make use of Sonic Lance.¡± While oozelike creatures often had weird resistances, the biggest benefit of sonic type things was natural resistance was rare. It looked familiar, but I couldn¡¯t be sure if it was actually related to the information I knew or not.


    I started hurrying forward, though at this point the street between me and it was pretty well cleared out. There was only the one man walking slowly backwards. I would have to call out to warn him to clear the area, but I needed to get closer to be at optimal range for Sonic Lance. About half this distance would be good.


    ¡°Excuse me sir!¡± I called out. ¡°If you could vacate the area, I will take care of this creature!¡±


    The man half turned towards me, which allowed me to see that he was holding a phone in his hand. ¡°Oh, here¡¯s the first hero on the scene!¡± He swiveled around. ¡°What¡¯s your name kid?¡±


    ¡°Are you a reporter, sir? You¡¯ll need to step away from the ooze.¡± Honestly the ooze was moving so slowly that he could just walk away, but it was still better for him not to be close.


    He did so, but only because he was moving towards me. ¡°The first responder seems to have had no time to suit up, arriving heroically without any protection.¡± That wasn¡¯t true, but he didn¡¯t know that. ¡°Can I have your name?¡±


    ¡°Mage,¡± I said as I walked past him. ¡°Now let me just-¡±


    ¡°Aaaaaaaahhhh!¡± That was the sound of a lunatic screaming and rushing towards the giant ball of yellow-orange ooze. The lunatic in question was clad in purple and had similarly colored energy blades extending from her arms.


    The reporter swiveled around expertly. ¡°And Dicer is on the scene! She¡¯s one of the up-and coming stars of the latest batch of heroes in New Bay! Let¡¯s see what she can do!¡±


    What she could do, it seemed, was press her hands together to turn the two blades into one much longer blade. It extended to a good fifteen feet and sliced vertically through the creature and into the road.


    The angle wasn¡¯t good to see it perfectly, but I made out a momentary sheer plane on the far side, confirming it was cut in half. And then it collapsed. Except¡­ instead of melting into a puddle it simply became two slightly smaller clumps of slimy goop.


    ¡°Ah crap,¡± I shook my head. Sometimes, it was bad to be right. ¡°Don¡¯t slice it!¡± I yelled.


    I don¡¯t know if she didn¡¯t hear me or straight up ignored me, but the purple woman immediately swept her arms out horizontally, slicing the new piles into two¡­ and thus we had four. That might not have seemed like a problem, but conservation of mass wasn¡¯t always considered with things like this. Each of them still topped seven feet at the peak of their curve, though perhaps they seemed taller because of the way they were splashing like a wave to flow over her.


    ¡°Uh-oh! Seems like Dicer might be in a sticky situation!¡±


    I was thinking of slapping the reporter, but I really needed to do something about this creature. Unfortunately, directly attacking it would be an issue now. ¡°Midnight-¡±


    It was then a blue-yellow figure leapt out of a nearby alleyway. If oozes had ears or fronts, he might have been able to mount some sort of sneak attack due to the fact that he didn¡¯t scream to announce his presence. Instead, he just sparked with lighting as he charged towards the group.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do elec-!¡± But my shout was too late, and he jumped right into the middle of the four mounds of yellow-orange ooze. They twitched and shuddered- including Dicer, who was inside one of them.


    ¡°And here¡¯s Zappo!¡± the reporter said enthusiastically. ¡°Looks like he might have done it, folks!¡±


    The oozes continued to wobble with increasing frequency, and then exploded. Which is how they split again, and while I wasn¡¯t completely sure about the slicing making them bigger, there was no way its individual pieces should still be so big now.


    ¡°Midnight. You¡¯re going to want Energy Ward, focused on acid. I¡¯ll cover both of us, you get Zappo, I¡¯ll¡­ do something about Dicer or whatever. And no claws or electricity!¡±


    ¡°You got it!¡± Midnight leapt off my shoulder as I finished using Energy Ward on us.


    ¡°Oh my!¡± the reporter called out as I began running forward. ¡°The two heroes seem to be in a bit of a pickle. Wrapped up like that, they don¡¯t seem to be able to make use of their powers!¡±


    If I had the time to explain, I would have told him they probably could, but the acid trying to dissolve them was ruining their concentration. Which was good. I shot a couple Firebolts as I jogged over, which fortunately burned a nice path through two of them. For all their size, their substance was limited. The two piles wobbled into a sludge of mush like a mixed citrus jelly left out in the summer sun.


    I was close now, and one of the piles tried to slosh over me. I dodged to the side, finding it much easier to avoid than Acid Man. He was smart and quick, while these were neither. They were certainly bigger though. I managed to get to Dicer, and sunk myself arms first up to my waist into the thing. I tried to yank her out immediately, but it didn¡¯t work. I considered just using Energy Ward, but if she stopped feeling pain she might just slice it into more copies. I knew there was some functional limit, but it was better to just get her out. I used Enlarge on myself instead, and though he wasn¡¯t touching me I gave as much of the effect as I could to Midnight.


    Now twelve feet tall, it was pretty easy to pluck Dicer out and toss her away from the oozes, which in the process collapsed the one digesting her. Fortunately, since I was in the midst of them they were happy to glomp around my waist. Midnight saw my success with Firebolt and dove into the ooze, surgically blasting his way to Zappo before shoving the man away. The two heroes had raw red skin and would probably want to just shave their heads given what happened to their hair, but they were alive.


    Midnight and I continued to burn apart the remainder, two more each which should have left him pretty low on mana. I was at six left myself.


    Then another one slimed around the corner. A full size one, which made it slightly shorter than me at the moment. Even so, it scooted its way towards me. I just pointed my arm at it and used Sonic Lance.


    The resulting spray tasted like a bad lemon. Fortunately for everything not covered by Energy Ward, its acidic properties would rapidly fade. I shook the goop off my arms and looked around, but it didn¡¯t seem there was anything else immediately happening in the vicinity. I walked past the reporter who was too busy flailing his phone around trying to un-goop it to say anything.

 Chapter 46

    After defeating the oozes, I was pretty low on mana. However, it didn¡¯t appear that there were any more nearby. The trail of ruined asphalt road led to where a portal had theoretically once existed, but nothing seemed to be there anymore. Unless it didn¡¯t feel like anything and only went one way, but as I chucked rocks through the area there wasn¡¯t much else I could do.


    I filled in a quick report to the Power Brigade. Defeated interdimensional monsters, saved heroes. Midnight participated. That was basically the end of it.


    Those heroes were called Dicer and Zappo? I thought heroes were allowed to name themselves. It seemed like they were rookies though so perhaps they would choose better names. Or quit, maybe, since they almost just died. It was unfortunate for them they happened to have exactly the wrong kinds of powers for the targets that appeared. Something from my world, or an equivalent. Most of the monsters were killed in my world, but oozes could live out in the wilderness eating literally anything organic. They had weird properties, so knowing how to properly fight them was important. Which made me wonder what information on other sorts of monsters I could find. I¡¯d been focusing on heroes, but creatures from worlds that weren¡¯t like my own had to be pretty common too.


    The cause of the portal- and there had been a portal, witnessed by some of those nearby when the creatures came out- was currently unknown. There had been a number of others that appeared on a similar timeframe. The assumed answer was Doctor Doomsday, but the timing seemed wrong and the quantity of portals was actually too few for his normal grandiose plans. Whatever the reason, I didn¡¯t feel the need to worry about it too much.


    -----


    ¡°This is Channel 72 News with exclusive footage of the attacks earlier today from our very own Zack Brannigan,¡± a nicely dressed woman smiled towards the camera. ¡°Zack?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Excuse the quality please,¡± as he gestured a portion of the screen began to show some shaky footage. ¡°I was on the scene but didn¡¯t have proper equipment with me. I approached the area where people were fleeing for their lives from horrible alien monsters.¡±


    ¡°Zack¡­¡± his co-anchor gave him a look.


    ¡°What? Oh. Anyway, these creatures seemed to have the ability to dissolve anything they touched. A danger for all of the good citizens of New Bay. But what should happen except the arrival of two rookie heroes in succession!¡± Zack continued to narrate the footage, somewhat similarly to what he had done in person- but the audio of the actual event was vaguely audible in the background.


    The video showed the two heroes slicing and zapping and otherwise causing the creature to split apart and eventually cover over them, only to be rescued by a giant man and overlarge cat respectively.


    ¡°Keen-eyed viewers will have spotted this pair in the footage earlier,¡± Zack commented. ¡°They skillfully dispatch the multiplied creatures. However, the heroes are exhausted in the encounter. One more appears and¡­¡± Zack clapped, synchronizing with the explosion of the second one. ¡°It¡¯s gone. Obliterated by a little-known hero. Who is Mage? Check back at 11.¡±


    The screen clicked off after the recorded news broadcast ended. A young man in a nice suit looked between the two of us sitting in the room with him. ¡°Well?¡±


    ¡°I thought we did pretty good there,¡± I frowned. ¡°I did tell him to get away from the situation, but he didn¡¯t really listen.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know,¡± the young man nodded. Calculator, I thought he went by. He was kind of important, if I remembered correctly. ¡°I¡¯ve seen the full footage. There were just a couple things you were missing. Can either of you think of what it was?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Midnight said. ¡°We were supposed to clear the area of civilians before we began fighting, right? So we couldn¡¯t kill it faster.¡±


    ¡°There was no problem with your combat performance, given the situation,¡± Calculator assuaged our worries. ¡°But here¡¯s the thing. You introduced yourself as Mage, but forgot the most important part. You¡¯re a member of the Power Brigade. And you. Midnight. You work for us too, so you need to be known. I understand you were off duty so you couldn¡¯t have our logo on, but you have to say something. You¡¯re still getting paid by the city for your help, but you guys have to support the brand.¡±


    ¡°I thought heroes were the ones who needed the spotlight,¡± I commented.


    ¡°That¡¯s how they make their money,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°But the Power Brigade has to be brought to people¡¯s mind. If people think of us first, they call us first, and we pay people. And likewise if the two of you are more well known, there can be special request for you which means more work and bigger paychecks.¡± I was getting paid enough though, so I wasn¡¯t that enthusiastic about the idea. ¡°... If you get recognized for it, you¡¯ll be called in to fight things.¡±


    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re right,¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll endeavor to make sure people remember me in the future.¡±


    ¡°I mostly go with Turlough,¡± Midnight said, ¡°But I agree it might be nice to be recognized.¡±


    ¡°We gotta get you a costume,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I know clothes probably aren¡¯t comfortable, but we could do a collar, or anklets, or a hat¡­ you should talk to Francois about it. He¡¯ll get something that works for you.¡±


    -----


    I was going to take Calculator¡¯s advice about being known seriously. He had a good point that people would be calling me in for the things I made myself known for. Extra was already familiar with me and liked my translation abilities, but if I was called in by then any job would only be like a quarter fighting on average. But if people knew me as someone who fought, I¡¯d get jobs like that more. I had been focused on training, but practical experience was much better. For one thing, exploding that ooze had been quite a lot of experience. It was quite reasonable that I avoid killing sapients if I could help it, but monsters like that were free experience.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 17


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Experience: 771


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +2


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +1


    Enlarge


    Energy Ward


    Sonic Lance +1


    Remaining Points: 7


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Killing those creatures had given me a level, so I¡¯d taken the chance to spend some of the points. A point in Sonic Lance because it felt good to use and would provide a nice kick to its power. Firebolt got a boost because it was actually quite nice and it would be nice if it were more efficient. Translation was mostly to save on mana throughout the day since I was constantly relying on it. The single upgrade only saved a minute or so of regeneration every couple hours, but the duration might go up with the boost as well. At 4 points to upgrade it seemed worth it.


    Finally I upgraded Familiar Bond¡­ because I wasn¡¯t sure what it did. It was easier to find out through practice rather than speculating, and I didn¡¯t have access to the research here that would tell me.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Midnight Deathstalker


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 9


    Experience: 231


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Familiar Bond provides access to:


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +1 +2


    Shocking Grasp +1 +3


    Grease +1 +2


    Force Armor +1 +6


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation +1


    Haste +1 +4


    Disguise


    Enlarge


    Energy Ward


    Sonic Lance +1


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was pretty clear to me after I had done it that Familiar Bond capped the level that Midnight could make use of my other upgrades. In short, the efficiency. That was one of the possibilities I had thought it might be. Of important note was that Disguise, Enlarge, and Energy Ward were not upgraded- meaning I did have to have those upgrades for Midnight to get them.


    ¡°Your level is increasing pretty fast,¡± I commented. ¡°But surprisingly the gap in total experience isn¡¯t narrowing.¡±


    ¡°Should it be?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I think so,¡± I nodded. ¡°You¡¯re fighting things that are relatively stronger, so you should receive more experience. Or I should receive less. Then again, most of your experience will be coming from combat. The one good thing about Curse of the Barbarian is that I about double my gain from combat. And I might be getting some of your experience.¡±


    ¡°I would say that is unfair,¡± Midnight commented, ¡°If this power wasn¡¯t yours to begin with. I wouldn¡¯t be able to use magic or level up without the bond.¡±


    ¡°Even if it is unfair, it¡¯s not like we could do anything. The only negative I can think of is that it might prevent you from having a power of your own? Though the chances of that are slim anyway.¡±


    ¡°It seems silly to bet on randomly awakening something when I have a very nice option available,¡± Midnight admitted.


    It wasn¡¯t completely certain that Midnight wouldn¡¯t be able to get a power, but there was some knowledge of ¡®power exclusivity¡¯. Certain sorts of extraterrestrial and extradimensional creatures with inborn powers didn¡¯t seem to be able to get them other ways, and once people had a power they didn¡¯t seem to be able to awaken new ones. Expanding their abilities was a different thing altogether, but forming entirely new powers didn¡¯t happen. My class was being treated like a power, and I had to agree that it made sense. Everyone from my world could have one, but it was basically a power. It was little different than an inborn ability except for the fact that there was a choice involved.


    ¡°Turlough,¡± Midnight asked politely. ¡°Would it be possible for you to upgrade Storage again, and also Familiar Bond?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have enough tuna on you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have hands,¡± he pointed out. ¡°I would like to carry other things as well. The maximum capacity is limited as it is, and the efficiency also seems worthwhile.¡±


    Even though he said that, and I knew he was telling the truth¡­ I also knew he would increase the amount of tuna in storage at least a little. I technically had enough points but¡­


    ¡°I¡¯d like to work on some other things first,¡± I said. ¡°When more things are upgraded, I¡¯ll also increase Storage and Familiar Bond. Okay?¡¯


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I appreciate it. I¡¯ll try to help you level up lots.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± I nodded. ¡°Though we shouldn¡¯t rush things. I¡¯d like to get into lots of fights where we aren¡¯t super at risk of death. At some point I plan to have Stoneskin, but it¡¯s kind of mana intense right now. Before that, staying at a distance or fighting people with energy attacks is best.¡±


    ¡°I have a question, Turlough,¡± Midnight said. ¡°... Why are acid and cold energy types?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because cold is just a lack of energy? And acid is just¡­ stuff.¡± Midnight did a funny thing with his face that was kind of like frowning. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense with physical laws at all!¡±


    ¡°You tell that first thing to Ice Guy and see what he thinks,¡± I countered. ¡°And acid is ¡®chemicals¡¯, and chemical energy is a thing.¡± Then I shrugged, ¡°Also it¡¯s magic. That¡¯s not the weirdest thing that powers do.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only one of the weird things, though!¡± Midnight complained. ¡°Why do things cost the mana they do? Making a wormhole or something to the tuna dimension should be way more expensive! I mean, I don¡¯t want it to be,¡± Midnight quickly clarified. ¡°But that seems harder than lifting stuff, and is instead cheaper.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all about impact,¡± I explained. ¡°Sure, five or ten pounds of stuff are no longer being carried around, but it¡¯s an instantaneous thing. Mage¡¯s Reach is actively doing stuff for a while. And you have to spend the cost again when you bring it back. You¡¯re just shoving stuff over a flimsy barrier twice.¡±


    ¡°Space itself is flimsy?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Sure. I mean have you seen how many portals Doctor Doomsday is throwing around?¡±


    ¡°I concede that point,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°But I don¡¯t have to like it.¡±


    I shrugged. It was all completely normal to me, but he wasn¡¯t from somewhere with magic. Frankly, I thought all the things that were done without magic or powers at all were pretty crazy. Even the giant buildings, though admittedly in New Bay a good amount of construction also involved powers.

 Chapter 47

    Getting into a battle during our apartment hunt had really thrown things off schedule. People in New Bay were pretty relaxed about rescheduling due to super related incidents, but I had to be light on the details since I was trying out the whole ¡®civilian identity¡¯ thing.


    There could be any number of six feet tall green skinned tusked mages with cats riding around on their shoulders! Yep.


    Still, I intended to put in the effort for the sake of my civilian friends. Friend? I mostly knew Khithae, and people from Extra and the Power Brigade. And while some people from Extra like Basant certainly fell in the category of ¡®civilian¡¯, I wasn¡¯t buddies with any of them. Friendly, but not friends.


    Whatever. I hedged on the exact details of why I had to reschedule, but eventually Midnight and I showed up at Bay View Heights to meet up with Oswin Brierley, the manager and landlord.


    When we arrived at the gates cordoning off the apartment tower from the surroundings, we were met by the man directly. Oswin was a perfectly normal middle aged man, except for the extra eye on his forehead. It seemed he was active enough to stay in shape though, and one of the things recommending this particular apartment complex was him.


    ¡°Well hello there you two,¡± Oswin grinned and waved. ¡°I hear the pair of you are looking to be roommates?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°It is simplest,¡± Midnight explained.


    ¡°Can¡¯t say we get a lot of people with your particular build Mister¡­ Deathstalker, was it? But I imagine you¡¯ll have to deal with the same issues almost anywhere that can house Mister Turlough.¡± He laughed jovially, ¡°But why don¡¯t you come see what we have to offer.¡± The first thing he did was take us on the elevator and then into one of the upper apartments. ¡°Everything comes furnished here, which I¡¯m sure is one of the things that drew you to us.¡± He showed us the living room and kitchen areas as we quickly passed through the apartment and stepped out onto a balcony. ¡°And here¡¯s that Bay View. Got an almost straight shot down this boulevard to the bay itself. Ain¡¯t it a beauty?¡±


    I nodded. I had to admit that it was quite a sight. ¡°Very impressive.¡±


    Midnight nodded. ¡°A great view. But do you have anything¡­ lower?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± Oswin said jovially. ¡°Though I assure you this is within your budgetary constraints.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ like to go on frequent walks. Access to the street is important to me,¡± Midnight recited his excuse. I honestly agreed that ease of access to the outside was better though. If I wanted a view I¡¯d just learn a flying spell. Though I had to look up the restrictions on flying supers again before I did. The city could be very particular about their airspace.


    Oswin smoothly transitioned us out of the apartment back to the elevator to look at another one. On the way a writhing mass of tentacles got into the elevator with us.


    ¡°Hey¡­ don¡¯t I know you from somewhere?¡± I asked. The question served two purposes. First, I wasn¡¯t completely sure I recognized the figure. Second, if it was who I thought, they might not want to interact outside of work.


    There was a moment of awkwardness, then there were some squirming sounds. And then¡­ ¡°Aren¡¯t you that polyglot?¡±


    ¡°Something like that,¡± I admitted. ¡°You¡¯re Jim, right?¡±


    ¡°Close enough. My actual name is --------, but people don¡¯t have the vocal chords for that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah that makes sense. So do you prefer I call you --------?¡±


    It was only because Translation also helped me interpret bodily expressions that I recognized the equivalent of someone¡¯s ¡®face lighting up¡¯. Though Jim had no face. ¡°Oh you can actually say it! It¡¯s easier to just call me Jim, though. Nobody will recognize you¡¯re referring to me otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Ah, good point,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe we ran into someone from work,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°What are the chances of that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, well, the Power Brigade employs a lot of people,¡± Jim pointed out. Since we were conversing in his native language he didn¡¯t care about being overheard. ¡°And this is near work, after all. That¡¯s why I chose it! Plus the good reputation. The manager is great.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear from an actual resident instead of just reviews,¡± I nodded.


    The elevator dinged. ¡°Well, see you later,¡± Jim ¡®waved¡¯. ¡°I was just dropping by to grab some stuff on my lunch break.¡±


    Oh right. It was the middle of the work day, after all. I¡¯d just taken a personal day for the sake of apartment hunting. An extra one, now. ¡°See you later,¡± I waved.


    ¡°That was unexpected,¡± Oswin admitted as he showed us to one of the few ground floor apartments they had. ¡°That¡¯s not a common language. But it¡¯s good to see you getting along! That¡¯s the most important thing here, meshing with the other residents.¡± He showed us through a very similarly furnished apartment, slightly differently arranged but quite recognizable. There was a notable difference though. He bent down to pull open a panel next to the sliding doors leading out to the porch. It revealed some sort of flap. ¡°Got a micro door available here. Usually not used by residents, but it might be easier for you to operate, Mister Deathstalker. Or it can remain sealed.¡±


    ¡°... is this for pets?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°While I have no doubt that was the original intention, these have been used by more than pets in the past.¡± Oswin shrugged, ¡°But either way, instead of a balcony out here you have a little deck,¡± he pulled open a sliding glass door and stepped out. ¡°And it goes directly down to the garden.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s quite convenient.¡± The only problem with this place was¡­ that there were no problems. It seemed comfortable, affordable, and it even had the luxury of a walled off garden area so people could experience a bit of nature inside the city. ¡°I have just one question. The prices you have listed¡­ is this place Cursed? Haunted?¡±


    ¡°Cursed?¡± Oswin looked aghast at the suggestion. ¡°By no means! Bay View Heights maintains its eminently affordable prices by virtue of a legacy property tax arrangement among other things. But umm¡­ if there was a ghost would it be a problem?¡±


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Not really,¡± I shrugged. I could get rid of a ghost if they bothered me, even if most magic was only partially effective on them. For something that got by on virtue of being non-interactable, partial effects were pretty good.


    ¡°That¡¯s the sort of answer I like to hear,¡± Oswin grinned. ¡°It seems you¡¯ve already met Jim, but we have quite a variety of residents here. Everyone understands that the other residents are trying their best to get along with each other. There are some cultural differences, but if you have any issues just bring them up with me and I¡¯ll work to resolve them. I assume you read the terms of the lease already?¡±


    I nodded. It was mostly about not breaking things and not throwing loud parties late at night- though I heard the soundproofing was pretty good here. Either way, there was nothing I had trouble with.


    ¡°When you say variety of residence¡­¡± Midnight spoke hesitantly. ¡°There aren¡¯t any Bunvorixians here, are there?¡±


    ¡°Not by that name, no. Your issues¡­?¡±


    ¡°Ancestral enemies,¡± Midnight said. ¡°What about dogs?¡±


    ¡°There are a few,¡± Oswin admitted. ¡°But they¡¯re all required to be well trained and controlled.¡±


    ¡°Well, nothing can be perfect I guess,¡± Midnight performed something like a shrug. ¡°Turlough, what do you think?¡±


    Ultimately, we did decide to move into Bay View Heights. The price was good, it was close to work and nearby stores and restaurants, and didn¡¯t have too many dogs. Plus it had a nice door for Midnight so he didn¡¯t have to jump or mess around with magic just to turn a handle.


    -----


    I had become a regular visitor of the library ever since I realized how many heroes, villains, and other powers to learn about. As a mage I¡¯d spent a lot of my life memorizing information and this was no different, though I also had to memorize names too. Technically I had learned the name of ancient wizards who popularized various spells, but since they didn¡¯t actually affect spellcasting it was easy to ignore. It was more important to know what you were doing. There was a big difference between a twenty foot radius and a thirty foot one, and people needed to recognize that.


    Though I showed up regularly, I didn¡¯t talk to Saveliy much. He was always there if anyone needed him, but he had mostly just set me up with the computer system and let me do whatever I wanted after that.


    This time, however, he took the initiative to talk to me. For some reason I was more uncomfortable with a voice echoing out from beneath a human shaped mass of hair than I was talking to Jim, but maybe that was because of how rarely Saveliy actually said anything around me.


    ¡°Turlough.¡± The word wasn¡¯t just made of sound, but something more. A sort of mental pressure, maybe. ¡°Maybe check out¡­ your own information page!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ sure.¡±


    I¡¯d checked it out when I first arrived, but it didn¡¯t say much. However, since it had been suggested, I looked it up. It wasn¡¯t surprising that there was more information. I had been keeping the Power Brigade up on what I could do. As it was my own profile, I was able to access all of it. Probably. At the very least it didn¡¯t say anything required higher clearance. I was listed as a ¡®wide variation power with unknown growth potential¡¯. Technically that was right, but even if I didn¡¯t know what I would grow into, I could approximate it. For example, I knew that at level 40 I would have more than five times the amount of points I had now at level 17. That could take a while though.


    The one thing that interested me was a listing I had occasionally seen. Black Market info. Those usually required higher clearance, but in the few situations I was able to access the info it was just an incomplete and less accurate rehash of the Power Brigade¡¯s data.


    I was fairly certain that it used to say ¡®none¡¯, but now it said ¡®unacquired¡¯. I was really curious about what the black market might know about me, but I wouldn¡¯t even know where to start to get it. And even if I could just buy it, I wasn¡¯t going to pay people who were snooping on me. Well, whatever they had shouldn¡¯t be that complete anyway. I had only a handful of public appearances, and it wouldn¡¯t necessarily be easy to tell what I was doing just by looking.


    Out of curiosity I looked up Midnight. He was a member of the Power Brigade now too, after all. They did have a listing for him. He was correctly listed as a Celmothian. The actual information was quite short.


    Author''s note: The underlined following this are theoretically in-world links, but they are just underlined here and don''t do anything.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Powers: Replicates some (all?) of Mage¡¯s abilities, purportedly through a combination of the natural bonding abilities of Celmothians and a Familiar Bond spell cast by Mage.


    Additional: Currently no alias. Name up for review by board.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡­ I hoped for his sake he got a decent alias. While there wouldn¡¯t be a huge number of black cats that could talk, and apparently very few Celmothians in general, it was kind of pointless anyway. But the Power Brigade would still give him an alias, because that was how things worked. I was gunning for Cat Buddy, but I don¡¯t know if that was even in the running. Hopefully it wouldn¡¯t be too bad.


    -----


    It was five decently long blocks from the edge of Power Brigade HQ to Bay View Heights. A decent walk, but much closer than the previous apartments. It was also not worth considering paying for a ride. I wondered if I should get a driver¡¯s license at some point, but I¡¯d have to save up a bit more to buy a car anyway. Getting a ride with others was both convenient and inconvenient. I could go from any point to any other point, but it took some waiting unless I set it up ahead of time.


    The walk wasn¡¯t short, but I had two companions to share with. Midnight didn¡¯t do much of the walking himself, but Khithae obviously wasn¡¯t sitting on my shoulder.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you got into Bay View Heights,¡± she said. ¡°I couldn¡¯t even get a walkthrough of the apartments there. I hear they¡¯re pretty nice though.¡±


    ¡°They are,¡± I admitted. ¡°But your apartment building is good too, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°What, Western Luxury Apartments?¡± she shook her head. ¡°They¡¯re fine, but the Luxury faded with the carpets from last century. Not too pricey, at least. Even though they¡¯re technically cheap apartments, Bay View Heights costs quite a bit more.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we could fit four or five of our previous place in,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°And my room has a spot for a mini-fridge!¡± Midnight said excitedly. ¡°It is being delivered in a few days.¡±


    ¡°... sorry,¡± I said. ¡°I guess this sounds like bragging?¡±


    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Khithae waved it away. ¡°I know that¡­ your job pays more. That¡¯s for the risk. I¡¯m glad for the job I have, as it more than pays the bills.¡±


    As it might be obvious for people who lived nearby, my cover still had me working at the Power Brigade. Just as a ¡®language consultant¡¯ rather than a combat position. There were a lot of options available for concealing my identity further, but some of them were major pains so I didn¡¯t even consider them.


    ¡°... I miss the cafeteria,¡± I commented.


    ¡°Really? It wasn¡¯t that good,¡± Khithae pointed out.


    ¡°Sure, but it was consistent. Now I have to pick somewhere to eat every time and walk over.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have a fancy kitchen?¡± Khithae pointed out.


    ¡°But then I have to cook. And I don¡¯t know how.¡±


    ¡°How do you not¡­?¡± she shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sure you can learn if you try. I could teach you, though I don¡¯t know if you¡¯d like a lot of the food I want to eat.¡±


    ¡°Well, maybe,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Or maybe I should just learn to conjure food.¡±


    ¡°... Your solutions to problems are very different than most people¡¯s,¡± Khithae grinned.

 Chapter 48

    ¡°So,¡± Izzy jumped up on a chair to be close to eye level with Zentra. ¡°How long is it going to take to open the stupid portal?¡±


    Zentha shook her head. ¡°Under normal circumstances, given the help of talented individuals assisting¡­ it would take perhaps a decade.¡±


    ¡°But I got you a phase core!¡±


    ¡°There are no spells for transitioning to other dimensions. Planes are one thing, but this requires more. And the process would take many, many phase cores.¡± Zentha held up her hand to stop Izzy¡¯s incoming complaint. ¡°But I promised you quicker results, and that is what you will get. Because we aren¡¯t going to create it. Just find it and use it. Divinations have revealed a chance within the month, which will become more precise as the date approaches.¡±


    ¡°... I suppose another month or two isn¡¯t that bad,¡± Izzy admitted.


    ¡°It also indicates that these portals aren¡¯t just random chance. It is impossible to know how many other worlds there might be, but for one to repeatedly link to ours despite the difficulty¡­¡± Zentha shook her head. ¡°There must be some circumstances on the other side to make that possible. And even so, we need to encourage connections here. It will be brief, but we are developing a method to stay in communication with you.¡±


    ¡°So we can come back?¡±


    ¡°As I have said previously, I don¡¯t know if you will be able to return. And you don¡¯t know if your friend would wish to. But I am not putting in this effort merely for your sake.¡±


    ¡°Right. Information for your assistance.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Zentha nodded. ¡°As a scout, you¡¯re quite well suited to it. Hopefully we will be able to learn something useful.¡±


    -----


    Every morning Midnight and I got ready to go to the Power Brigade, which involved very little beyond eating on most of our parts. I had to get dressed, but Midnight was fine as he was. I didn¡¯t carry a whole ton of gizmos and gadgets with me, though I was still working on getting a gun. My training was almost sufficient, but the process took a while if it wasn¡¯t necessary. I could fight without one, so I had to go through the normal paperwork. There was a surprisingly large amount compared to registering a power.


    The only things I really kept on me were a wallet, keys, and phone. I could carry more or have stuff in Storage, but there really wasn¡¯t much else to have. My full outfit was stored at the Power Brigade, with just the mask on me. I still had that bulletproof vest but the Power Brigade gear was better and more comfortable. Other than that, I didn¡¯t have many possessions and even fewer I was inclined to carry with me.


    Every day Midnight and I went through the scanners at the HQ, and every day nothing happened. Which made today special, I supposed. But special wasn¡¯t always good. One of the machines beeped, and then I had guards standing in front of me.


    ¡°Did you bring any unregistered devices with you today?¡± one of the guards asked while the other waved a ¡®wand¡¯ towards me. This wasn¡¯t a magical implement, but some kind of technological thing that detected stuff.


    I tilted my head. ¡°No? Nothing new.¡±


    The guards nodded but continued their work, asking questions and scanning me. It wasn¡¯t that there was very much I was forbidden to bring. Something about high explosives or whatever, but that seemed unnecessarily dangerous when I could just do the same with magic. My phone was always scanned separately to detect ¡®bugs¡¯ and other than that I had no technology on me to detect.


    One of the wands beeped, and I heard a little ¡®pop¡¯ down by my leg. Something fell out of my pant leg, and the guard picked it up, nodding. ¡°Another one of these. They keep trying to slip through.¡±


    The guard held up what appeared to be a tiny robotic rat. The whole thing was smaller than a finger, especially since what seems to have been the creature¡¯s head had exploded. I looked down at my pants that now had a burn hole in them. ¡°Tsk.¡±


    ¡°Yeah sorry about that,¡± the guard said. ¡°These things seem to self-destruct when they think they¡¯re compromised. At least your leg looks okay?¡±


    I nodded. Benefits of having Force Armor on at all times, at least. It was really only a tiny little explosion, but I could have had some bits of metal in my lower leg or some burns. The pants unfortunately didn¡¯t receive the protection since the attack was from inside them.


    ¡°I saw those before,¡± Midnight commented from my shoulder. ¡°Bigger ones.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve had to deal with some of those too,¡± nodded the guards. ¡°If you could walk back through the scanner?¡±


    This time I came out clean, which was good because one hole in the legs of my pants was more than enough. ¡°Is anyone doing something about them?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re just here to keep them out,¡± the security guards said. ¡°You¡¯ll have to ask someone else about counteroffensives or whatever.¡±


    So I did. I got the information that the rats were probably the product of a villainess named Rodentia, and that so far they hadn¡¯t been able to track the creatures back to her- or anyone. Without a location, they would just be sweeping the streets randomly, which wasn¡¯t a good use of time, especially since nothing had happened yet. Attempts at spying were very common, apparently.


    If I had an entire level¡¯s worth of points, I might have been able to do something. But I didn¡¯t, and the connection of a device someone used to them was pretty thin as magical connections went. Plus I needed a huge, high quality mirror and I- actually, I might have one that qualified. The mirror in my bathroom was pretty amazing.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    But I didn¡¯t have the points, and the situation didn¡¯t seem important enough yet.


    -----


    ¡°Alright team,¡±Captain Senan stood in front of us, about a week later. ¡°First of all, I want to say I¡¯m proud of you rookies for how hard you¡¯ve been working with your training. Some of you even put in extra¡­¡± his eyes didn¡¯t settle on anyone in particular, but I thought he might be talking about me. Senan, also known as Ice Guy, nodded to Acid Man, Shockfire, and me in turn. ¡°The Power Brigade has decided that you¡¯re ready to move on from being trainees. For a month and a half, that¡¯s excellent. I¡¯ve seen groups take three months, six¡­ a year. But you all have proven yourselves out on the field as well.¡± He smiled, ¡°And since the lot of you get along so well, you¡¯ve been assigned to a permanent squad under myself. Welcome to squad C-4, the Elemental Magic Squad.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard worse names,¡± Rasmus shrugged.


    ¡°Yeah, we got lucky,¡± Maks admitted.


    C-4. That meant we were the fourth squad in the Power Brigade¡¯s C-rank- though there were probably more than four squads. C-rank was a wide classification that didn¡¯t necessarily match between different groups, but for the Power Brigade it was just the step up from trainees. B-rank were those with significant experience, and A-rank was the top, those most trusted to succeed at whatever task they were given.


    ¡°In case it wasn¡¯t clear, I¡¯ll be continuing as your captain,¡± Ice Guy returned to his explanation. ¡°We might get more squad members at a later time to fill in some gaps in our powerset. Personally, I¡¯d hope for a bruiser of some sort.¡±


    ¡°What about me?¡± Midnight commented. ¡°I mean, not about the bruiser thing. But am I part of the squad?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ice Guy nodded. ¡°Though in your case, you¡¯re a junior squad member.¡±


    ¡°Like a sidekick?¡± Acid Man asked.


    ¡°Though we don¡¯t use that terminology, more or less. Midnight¡¯s combat capabilities are a bit lower in some categories at the moment, though we understand that might change. Either way, for dangerous missions you might be told to keep out of the fighting if possible. I understand your defensive abilities are basically on par with Turlough, but your combat training is less advanced so far.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I think I might prefer to support with other abilities anyway.¡±


    Ice Guy nodded. ¡°That brings up another area I would like to consider. Information gathering. To my understanding, some of your and Turlough¡¯s shared abilities are highly dependent on knowing the nature of the enemy. If you have the espionage abilities, we could use you in that role. We have stealth training specialists for those who don¡¯t have relevant powers also.¡±


    Midnight nodded, ¡°I¡¯m not actually trained. Just small and quiet. But I might be interested.¡±


    I would later discuss with Midnight some possible options to help him with that, since certain spells would be extremely useful. And I wouldn¡¯t mind having them for the sake of protecting myself if necessary. For example, Invisibility. Very useful if a tactical retreat was required.


    ¡°Alright then squad,¡± Captain Senan nodded. ¡°In addition to keeping up with training, our duties will now include patrols. Though it¡¯s called that, it mostly involves being stationed in a certain section of the city to deal with any incidents that occur. Though as a newly formed squad, it might also involve more legwork.¡±


    I didn¡¯t mind the idea of going on patrol and potentially encountering danger. If I did, I wouldn¡¯t have signed up for the Power Brigade to begin with. The only issue I had was that it relied on something happening to get into combat. Even so, a small amount of real combat was worth more than most daily training. Especially with the same partners.


    -----


    As the newest squad, we were of course given one of the ¡®worst¡¯ assignments. Our station was in northern New Bay, close to the docks. An industrial district that bordered on poor residential districts. Our shift was at night. It had taken all of five minutes for me to run into a mugging. I stepped away from our post for a second to try to familiarize myself with the local area, and then I heard yelling.


    ¡°Hey you! With the dyed hair! Hand over all y¡¯ got!¡±


    That sounded like something I would be here to stop, so I turned towards the sound to see a man pointing a gun at me. As I turned, he saw my mask. While I had to admit my long blue coat didn¡¯t exactly indicate I was a super, it wasn¡¯t exactly subtle.


    It took me a half second to process that he was actually referring to me though. I didn¡¯t have dyed hair, I just assumed someone nearby did. I held up one hand, but not in a gesture of surrender. ¡°If you surrender peacefully you will not be harmed and your sentence will doubtless be lighter.¡± Electricity crackled between my fingers. Then the man shot me in the shoulder, his arm wavering before he pulled the trigger.


    A single bullet was never going to be enough. My Force Armor was sufficient to stop a pistol like that, and even if it hadn¡¯t my outfit was bullet resistant. I had some practice being shot, so I was able to react appropriately- reaching out to grab his forearm and twisting the gun while at the same time zapping him. Then I had my first arrest.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how long the guy would be locked up for. That would depend on whether or not the gun was legal. If it was, he would no longer have it or a license. If it wasn¡¯t, that was another charge. He also happened to be quite drunk. But the details of what happened to him weren¡¯t my business, or that of the Power Brigade. I simply reported the facts and left all of that to those with the proper training.


    Captain Senan came over after I called in the incident, and he shook his head after I was finished. ¡°You¡¯re like a trouble magnet.¡±


    ¡°Is that bad?¡± I asked. Truthfully, getting shot by a random guy wasn¡¯t worth all that much experience even with the serious intent. A few points of experience, but the danger wasn¡¯t that high. Of course, that was if I only got shot once. It was better to keep things spread out.


    ¡°For you? Probably. For everyone else, it¡¯s probably for the best. That guy was probably going to mug someone, and I can see why you would be targeted.¡±


    ¡°The hair?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He did mention that, didn¡¯t he. You also have dark skin,¡± Captain Senan pointed out. ¡°He probably didn¡¯t notice it was green because of the limited light or the booze, or he might have made different choices.¡±


    ¡°... I guess even when people don¡¯t recognize orcs, they still don¡¯t like them.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Captain Senan grimaced, ¡°That¡¯s racism for ya. With this many people there will always be some. For the most part New Bay¡¯s pretty good, but people are people. It¡¯s not just us humans at fault. Though there are more of us, so¡­ more of us end up responsible. Sorry about that.¡±


    ¡°As a person, you are no more responsible than I am for ancient orc raids. But I appreciate the sentiment.¡±


    ¡°I have to admit,¡± Ice Guy shook his head. ¡°Most people get shook up more upon being shot at. But I suppose you have experience there.¡±


    ¡°My first week here I was attacked with guns,¡± I nodded. ¡°But I¡¯m confident in my defenses and I get experience for it.¡± With that said, I was still thinking about Stoneskin. If someone was smart about trying to kill me they could get more than one or two shots off. And they probably wouldn¡¯t be drunk.

 Chapter 49

    Just because I had been sort-of-mugged at gunpoint on my first night on shift didn¡¯t mean that things were crazy around the northern docks. Most people weren¡¯t drunk and stupid, so they would pick another target. We weren¡¯t in the area to defend people from that kind of stuff though. We would intervene if we came across any crimes, but we were looking for suspicious activity around the docks.


    ¡°I feel like any activities on the docks at night have to be suspicious, right?¡± I looked at the rest of the squad.


    ¡°If it just involves humans? Absolutely. Don¡¯t forget there are nocturnal people though,¡± Ice Guy warned.


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°Even though we have people who can see in the dark where I¡¯m from, nobody¡¯s really nocturnal. So what¡¯s suspicious activity then?¡±


    ¡°Working at night,¡± Ice Guy answered. ¡°And yes, I know what I just said. But if they only have a couple nocturnal people in a crew, it gets suspicious again. Unfortunately, we¡¯re not an investigative team. We¡¯re mostly here to wait for something to go wrong and move in to help with clean up.¡±


    ¡°Something to go wrong¡­ how?¡±


    ¡°Usually a hero or¡­¡± he shuddered, ¡°Vigilante will go in and cause a ruckus. If we can confirm some illicit actions tied to the dockwork we stop goons from fleeing or assist with taking down a villain. Otherwise we just stop people from killing each other.¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯m glad I didn¡¯t try to become a hero,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Eh, you¡¯re a smart guy. You¡¯d be effective still. It¡¯s just we never have get involved with heroes who can handle themselves. But vigilantes though¡­ they¡¯re a mess. Unable to become a hero for whatever reason, but still getting involved in crap,¡± He shook his head. ¡°Risky business. Most don¡¯t last long for one reason or another. The smart ones quit or join up with an organization. Even being a villain is probably a safer career choice, though I¡¯d obviously not recommend it.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I get the general idea. So we just walk around looking for trouble.¡±


    ¡°And listening. Don¡¯t forget that,¡± Ice Guy nodded. ¡°I was thinking we¡¯d split up into two groups. Never far apart, though. Midnight could come with me, and the three of you would be together. We patrol opposite sides of a section but no further. There¡¯s no even split, but this way we have someone who can see decently in the dark with each group. Plus, Midnight and Mage can find each other, correct?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll be able to keep track of each other.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Acid Man, Shockfire, you both get that?¡±


    ¡°Yes, captain,¡± they both answered.


    ¡°Good. In this situation, our priority is minimizing fatalities of any kind. And don¡¯t forget you¡¯re first and foremost responsible for your own life. I¡¯m not saying don¡¯t help people in trouble, but don¡¯t jump into things blindly. And remember to report in on any sort of incident in progress. If it seems like you won¡¯t need backup¡­ do it anyway. I intend to do the same. It would be a shame to have to call for other squads or owe a favor to some heroes.¡±


    -----


    ¡°This is boring,¡± I said. ¡°Nothing¡¯s ever going to happen.¡±


    ¡°You know that sort of talk is just inviting trouble, right?¡± Shockfire commented.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s his intention,¡± Acid Man pointed out.


    ¡°... would you believe me if I said no?¡±


    ¡°Not if you don¡¯t actually explain it,¡± Shockfire said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it makes any difference anyway,¡± I shrugged. If it did, it would be some sort of magic that I didn¡¯t understand. And having already mentioned that nothing was happening several times the night before, even if it was different this time it was all a matter of statistics. If stuff like that worked, the peaceful town of Mossley would have been attacked by goblins or something a whole lot. But it never did. Mostly, things just stayed the same.


    Which meant that in New Bay, we should expect something to happen soon. Even if they didn¡¯t have something specific, the Power Brigade wasn¡¯t just going to send us out here on patrol for nothing. Active duty paid more than training time, though maybe they were somehow getting paid for nothing happening here. But the number of supers in their employ wasn¡¯t so abundant that they could afford to make so little when they¡¯d get more from us being in active combat or at least somehow involved in real incidents.


    Along with the giant cranes unloading cargo containers from ships- of which there were only a few in the middle of the night- there were smaller docks where things moved by hand. In different areas there were also warehouses, and trucks moved to and from them somewhat regularly. What our squad did was mostly creepily pass by on the other side of the road, spying on what people were up to.


    I learned a lot about what various nocturnal people lived in New Bay. It was still a small portion of the population, but for obvious reasons I hadn¡¯t encountered them as much during the rest of my time. I¡¯d certainly seen some of them, but mostly in the morning and evening. There was unfortunately a lot I didn¡¯t know about the various types of people in this new world. I would have to keep studying.


    -----


    The first thing that tipped me off to trouble was a sudden change in the feeling from Midnight. I swiveled my head to look in that direction, but there was a warehouse in the way of seeing anything. Then we all heard Captain Senan on our comms.


    ¡°C-4. Trouble waterside. Make your way here asap.¡±


    ¡°This way!¡± I started running.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Acid Man and Shockfire weren¡¯t far behind. A few moments later we heard gunshots. Captain Senan would probably be fine but¡­ he wasn¡¯t the only one to worry about. I wasn¡¯t too worried about Midnight either. I didn¡¯t sense any pain and minimal fear. But there had to be others present too.


    As we rounded a corner, a few things made themselves obvious. First, the rats. There were small rats and big rats, swarms of both moving unnaturally around the area. One swarm was frozen over in a wall in front of our captain, who was taking shelter with a number of dockworkers. That all made sense.


    Then there were the other rats. Or rather, people with rat costumes. Or just fake rat heads, since they otherwise basically dressed in dark clothes. They were basically indistinguishable from each other. They also happened to have guns, which provided a second reason for the barrier Ice Guy was hunkering down behind.


    If that had been the end, things would have been easy. However, there was also a pair of women fighting. One had on a highly impractical and flashy dress and seemed to be directing a wall of water towards the other. The other woman was dodging around, jumping up and down on crates to get out of the way of the wall of water while at the same time flinging things with some sort of telekinesis. Given her costume, I immediately presumed the latter was a hero.


    What was difficult to reconcile was the remaining dock workers punching each other while a giant bat swooped around the area. As someone was picked up and carried away, Shockfire began to charge up a blast of fire, but I held out my hand to stop him. ¡°Wait! I might know her. You two get over to the captain and get orders.¡±


    Ice Guy wasn¡¯t just hiding behind his wall of ice, but also reaching over the barrier with a thin whip, freezing the largest ¡®rats¡¯. The actual rat shaped ones. He might have been willing to freeze people as well, but they were further away.


    ¡°Hey! Rositsa!¡± I yelled towards the giant bat as I stood behind a pile of crates that should shield me from the gunfire direction. ¡°Is that you?¡±


    The giant bat dropped the man off on top of a nearby warehouse, then turned to look at me. I actually had a clearer view now than I had the night we first met, but I was certain it was her. Unfortunately, I was a little bit far to hear her reply clearly. Most people would have only heard a bat screech, but I got something akin to an affirmative. That could have just been my assumption though, because it was loud due to the large amount of gunfire. It was definitely her though.


    In regards to the sound¡­ it was actually causing my head to hurt. Not from burst eardrums, but something else. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t recognize what could be causing it. Lacking a way to communicate with Rositsa, I found a good opportunity to run behind the ice barrier with the rest of the squad.


    ¡°Great, there you are.¡± Even as I approached the captain, Acid Man was rolling out. Oozing out? Whatever, he was fully making use of his power as he charged towards the rats. Shockfire was leaning around to zap a few of the bigger ones. ¡°Do you have any attacks that can hit that woman from here? The one controlling the water, not Agent Mental.¡± Presumably, Agent Mental was the human.


    ¡°Sound Lance is a bit short, and would require getting out of cover. I could use Mage¡¯s Reach and Shocking Grasp though.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that!¡± Captain Senan nodded. ¡°Midnight, if you could make use of that same combo on the gunmen?¡±


    ¡°What about the dock workers?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The ones out there seem to be confused.¡± He gestured towards the others with him, ¡°They confirm there¡¯s no reason they would fight, and the look in their eyes¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s coming from the woman controlling the water. Some sort of sound. About that¡­¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t protect from sonic confusion effects,¡± I shook my head. ¡°But if she starts firing sound blasts¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I was pretty sure, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to ask. You two get started.¡± A few of the gunmen started shooting towards the hero, Agent Mental. She somehow dodged all of the shots, but that slowed her enough that a wave caught her ankle. Normally water didn¡¯t do much but push things around, but it grabbed onto her and slammed her into the side of a shipping container. She pulled out of its grip a moment later, but I knew the impact had to hurt. She was definitely slower. ¡°Quickly!¡± Captain Senan ordered, as he stood up and lobbed compressed balls of ice at the gunmen who had turned away. The ice expanded when it impacted the ground and created barriers that got in their way.


    I was already working on forming Mage¡¯s Reach, which I was pushing towards the water controlling woman as quickly as I could. Firebolt would get there almost instantly, but she had a barrier of water around her that would easily negate it. Shockfire could shoot a bolt of lightning, but since the barrier didn¡¯t touch her it would likewise be negated. I couldn¡¯t actually guarantee the hand would get through the barrier either.


    Something nipped at my ankles, and I stomped down on a rat. There was a loud metallic crunch. It didn¡¯t bite through my Force Armor, but it certainly drew my attention. Fortunately, few of them were making it around the corner. On the other side Acid Man was washing over them, and the others were all distracted with¡­ tearing open crates. Looking for something was my bet.


    Rositsa swooped down. The captain looked up at her nervously, but I cautioned him. ¡°I think she¡¯s helping. Rositsa!¡± I called out.


    ¡°I¡¯m pulling them away from the siren!¡± She responded as she picked up a man and flew away.


    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s helping pull them away from the sound,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it,¡± he said as he whipped one of the larger rats with a curling trail of ice, freezing it around the middle and sticking it to the concrete beneath.


    While the rest of that was happening my slightly translucent magical hand was pushing its way forward. Then it hit the siren¡¯s watery barrier and¡­ slowed down slightly. It wasn¡¯t much different than I would expect from plunging into water any other way, and a few moments later it pushed through to the middle. Perfect. She hadn¡¯t noticed it yet, but she would when it grabbed her arm. Since she was motioning the water to direct it, it seemed useful to try to disrupt that. And going directly for her throat was the sort of thing that resulted in severe electrical damage that could be lethal.


    I poured the mana for Shocking Grasp through the connection as I made contact with her. The low noise I that I subconsciously felt giving me a headache suddenly turned into a massive scream. It hurt mentally more than physically, but it showed that I had been effective. Unfortunately, it also disrupted my spell. The brawling dockworkers were knocked out, but as a swarm of rats began to crawl over some of them Acid Man covered the swarm instead. He was able to control exactly what he was dissolving so the people would be fine¡­ but I knew from personal experience that it felt weird. Like stepping in a pile of jello, I guess.


    Midnight had also been having success with the men with rat heads on, but it was a different sort of success. I had only been vaguely aware of it while focused on other things, but I saw and felt him use a third Shocking Grasp on one of them. Instead of the normal thing which was twitching or maybe yelling in pain, the man just¡­ turned into smoke. But at least he stopped shooting at us. I doubted that bullets were going to get through the wall anytime soon but it was good for Shockfire who had to reach out around it.


    Agent Mental seemed to have shrugged off the mental scream, and using the disruption of my attack she slammed a big crate into the siren¡¯s ribs, shoving her into the side of the warehouse. It looked painful but¡­ the water that was flowing towards the bay immediately rose back up, and she stood. She was quite a sturdy one. Even just a Shocking Grasp was enough to knock most people unconscious.


    ¡°Come on, we need to get out of here!¡± she yelled towards the men. She then began running towards a passage between two of the warehouses.


    I would have liked to give chase, but some of the larger rats had found their way around towards us, clearly determining we were a bigger threat than the formerly confused dockworkers.

 Chapter 50

    At some point in all of the conflict the dock workers had tracked down lengths of pipe, crowbars, and other bludgeoning implements that they were now using to pummel the large rats with. Pieces of metal flew everywhere- not from the tools breaking down but from the delicate mechanical parts that made up the rodents¡¯ appendages. That part worried me, since this was quite far from where the other robotic rats had been. Were there multiple people who used them, or was Rodentia¡¯s spread so far?


    That question could be answered later. While many of the dock workers happened to be larger sorts, others were just normal humans or the sort that mostly saw in the dark for the sake of the night shift. After all, most of the work was done by machines, even on a smaller dock like this one that took things smaller than shipping containers. Acid Man was having great success wherever they clumped up, but there were enough of them he couldn¡¯t handle them all immediately. Ice Guy was freezing as many as he could but if he spread his abilities too far he would merely make it hard for us to move around. Shockfire mainly targeted the largest individuals but he seemed to be running low.


    I was going to help them with all that cleanup, but first I ran over towards the alley where the ¡®siren¡¯ and the man that appeared to be mostly copies had run. There were still some of the man holding the line, shooting at Captain Mental, the hero on the scene. She looked like she would be able to overcome them all eventually, but I thought I¡¯d speed things up. ¡°Your hand!¡± I called out from behind the corner of the warehouse where I still had cover. I would have liked to use Mage¡¯s Reach, but that fell apart when I zapped the woman who was now fleeing. Captain Mental wasn¡¯t far- standing out in the open, attacks didn¡¯t seem to be able to hit her. With a handful of people shooting pistols, I knew it had to be a power.


    She looked over at me, hesitating for a moment- though still expertly dodging attacks. She rushed over towards me, swinging her arm to the side just before she got close. There was a shockwave of some sort that went towards the enemies. That made sense- if she had to go to a particular spot, it was harder to dodge. In the moment they staggered our hands touched.


    ¡°Whatwasthat?¡± she stared intently.


    ¡°You¡¯re fast now,¡± I said. Then I stepped back. Before I could explain further, she was already moving. Though up to that point I had mainly seen her lobbing heavy objects with telekinesis, she seemed to quickly get used to the movement. Or rather, Haste worked in a way that people didn¡¯t have to get used to the movement. It was more like everything else was suddenly slower.


    A moment later she was planting a knee in the sternum of one of the copies. As he poofed, she spun her heel into the head of the next one. She continued down the line, slipping by the bullets shot at her. I only got to watch for a moment though as some landed quite close to me and I didn¡¯t relish taking direct hits, even with Force Armor. ¡°Thanksbye!¡± I heard her call out and the sound of dashing feet echoed down the alley.


    ¡°It only lasts one minute!¡± I shouted after her. It would be bad if she thought it would continue forever, but one minute was plenty. Well, a little bit more than a minute and the fleeing duo didn¡¯t have much of a head start.


    Since the smaller rats were quite easily melted by Acid Man, I focused on the larger ones like everyone else. Midnight leapt onto their backs and zapped them with Shocking Grasp, though I knew he could only do a couple more. They were a bit skittery so Firebolt seemed liable to miss. Solid stomps, more Shocking Grasps, and a spare crowbar someone handed me all seemed to do the trick well enough.


    Then we were all standing in patches of icy ground with random gears and metal bits everywhere. Sirens rang out in the distance, hopefully ambulances coming to help some of the injured dockworkers. Some were in critical condition due to large gashes from teeth and claws while others had bullet wounds. Fortunately Captain Senan had a first aid kit with him, and I made mental notes to be more prepared for such things. I had little on me but a wallet and phone, plus a couple books in Storage. I could potentially have some more cumbersome gear, though Storage¡¯s weight limit was something like ten pounds at the moment. It just needed to be worth the mana. Anything I planned to use in a fight was probably just harder to get to¡­ but capacity and mana efficiency would improve together if I spent some points on it.


    I still had a few left over from my last level, and after that lucrative battle I was now at 843 experience, just 12 points short of reaching level 18. There was no point in buying those upgrades immediately since it wouldn¡¯t just fill with stuff, but I could have more equipment later.


    ¡°Hey, you¡­¡± a voice like someone speaking through a windstorm called to me out of the shadows. No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. It was the shadows. A shadow¡­ person? It was far darker and more solid than everything else around. ¡°You spoke to that giant bat, right? The one that abducted some of my workers?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Rositsa. Does she not work here?¡± I looked around, and saw her circling the area in the sky. She wasn¡¯t chasing after anyone though.


    ¡°The new girl?¡± the shadow asked. ¡°That doesn¡¯t look good¡­¡±


    ¡°She carried people out of the rat swarms and that distracting sound,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Pretty sure she was helping,¡± I gestured towards her in the sky.


    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t want to jump to conclusions.¡± The mass of shadows paused, ¡°I mean, I really don¡¯t. Us Extras have to stick together. But it kind of looks bad.¡±


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    ¡°I¡¯m sure those guys on the roof can clear things up. Hey Rositsa!¡± I was pretty sure bats had good hearing, but I raised my voice anyway. Her name should get her attention. ¡°Could you get those guys down?¡±


    ¡°How do you speak her language anyway?¡± the shadow asked. ¡°You don¡¯t¡­ look like the same type as her. You from the same place?¡±


    ¡°Unlikely,¡± I replied. ¡°I just use magic. By the way, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s Lei.¡± The form of a hand stuck out towards me, likely for a handshake. ¡°I¡¯m the forewoman here. Thanks for coming to help. That one hero could barely hold her own, but the four of you really pulled things together.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I grinned. ¡°I¡¯m Turlough,¡± I said as I shook her hand. ¡°We¡¯re from the Power Brigade.¡± It was important to remember to say that. Though the first part. ¡°Sorry, I meant I¡¯m ¡®Mage¡¯. Code names and such.¡± I remembered for other people, but I was still getting used to the idea that I should keep it a secret.


    ¡°Got it,¡± Lei nodded. ¡°Mercs, huh¡­ well, you sure were efficient about saving the night. So I¡¯m not gonna complain.¡± A loud flapping of wings had us look towards two men who landed a bit heavily as Rositsa carried them down. She was already heading back up when Lei called out. ¡°Wait! Ah, she doesn¡¯t really speak English yet¡­¡± Lei shook her head. ¡°Can you talk to her for me?¡±


    I took stock of my mana. Yeah, I had enough for Translation. ¡°You can do it yourself, in a second.¡± I waited for Rositsa to land with the last guy. ¡°Translation magic for you. Have fun.¡±


    Rositsa turned back into her humanoid form. ¡°Thank you. I have not yet achieved full proficiency in the language.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been like a week,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Of course you haven¡¯t.¡±


    While she talked with her group- which seemed to be going well as the formerly on the roof people breathed sighs of relief, I went to catch up with the rest of the Brigade. ¡°Hey. Any idea what those villains were here for?¡±


    Captain Senan shook his head. ¡°Everything¡¯s pretty trashed up, from the bullets and the telekinetic¡­¡±


    ¡°The forewoman is that shadow over there,¡± I pointed. ¡°You can talk about it with her in a second. But I¡¯m going to guess¡­ cheese.¡± Looking around, though, it didn¡¯t seem correct. ¡°But maybe Rodentia is branching out.¡±


    ¡°Rodentia?¡± Shockfire asked.


    ¡°She makes these mechanical rats,¡± I nodded. ¡°Probably.¡±


    ¡°It is her,¡± Midnight said as he hopped up to my shoulder. ¡°The design is the same as the others we saw. They seem to be everywhere now¡­¡± he shook his head. ¡°And they don¡¯t even taste good. It¡¯s terrible.¡±


    Acid Man pulled himself out of a puddle on the ground. Rasmus looked pretty wiped out. It seemed that dissolving stuff continuously was pretty difficult. Or possibly just using his power in general. At least he wasn¡¯t injured though- normal things couldn¡¯t hurt him in acid form, but it was impossible to say that everything would be normal where mechanical rats were involved. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing this tech genius chose a terrible form. Rats aren¡¯t exactly¡­ efficient.¡±


    ¡°All of them are like that,¡± Captain Senan explained. ¡°More or less, anyway. They all have certain fixations that give them focus and genius, but in somewhat limited areas. The more efficient that fixation, the more powerful they generally are. And the more useful for general technological advancement, so that people can reverse engineer some of their stuff to actually¡­ make sense.¡± He pressed a hand against his forehead. ¡°Then there are technomancers, who don¡¯t have anything to do with actual, functional mechanisms. It¡¯s closer to just having the ability to control metal, with restrictions on form.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Things get pretty crazy. But going back to the rats¡­ I seriously doubt two people have the same fixation. With these things trying to intrude into Power Brigade HQ, I feel like some serious work is going to happen to deal with Rodentia.¡±


    I continued to think about whether I should try scrying. It would take basically all of my next level for it to work¡­ and might not provide useful information. ¡°Does the Power Brigade have people who can track her down?¡±


    ¡°Maybe not directly,¡± Ice Guy shrugged, ¡°But we can borrow people who have the right abilities. Or maybe others will do the work for us. I can¡¯t imagine that the Power Brigade is the only one who¡¯s noticed these rats.¡±


    In the end, all we learned was that technological parts were missing. It wasn¡¯t that Lei wasn¡¯t willing to share, but rather she didn¡¯t know. Perhaps the Power Brigade could contact the company to learn more, but that was all we got on the scene.


    -----


    Elsewhere, in a secret base in the sewers. ¡°Good, now I can do more work on that silly device. Are you happy? I lost a good swarm there, and you barely provided good enough distraction for them to slip out a couple crates.¡± A woman in a long labcoat grumbled beneath her rat head shaped headgear.


    ¡°There wasn¡¯t even supposed to be a hero there. We could have handled one or two, but what are we supposed to do about five?¡± A man who was holding a ratlike helmet under his arm retorted. ¡°Sirine got captured too. I only got away because the hero picked the wrong one of me.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with me losing rats, hmm?¡± Rodentia said. ¡°They¡¯re more important than you guys.¡±


    ¡°Fine, whatever. It¡¯s not like I care. But now what we did this, your guy will get me info on her?¡±


    ¡°Deimos is not ¡®my guy¡¯,¡± Rodentia commented as she fiddled with a device on the table in front of her. ¡°But yes, he should be able to gather more detailed information with this upgrade.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I should just take it¡­¡± the man said. ¡°He doesn¡¯t even have powers, right?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ but he does have the main piece of the device. And you¡¯ll never get far in the world if you backstab your only companions, temporary as they might be,¡± Rodentia pointed out. ¡°Tell me, how did you enjoy being Rat Swarm?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just like being anyone else,¡± he said. ¡°Except harder to see. And stuffy.¡±


    ¡°Really? You must have been wearing it wrong. They¡¯re quite comfortable.¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯ll have to disagree on that. But at least my face won¡¯t be all over.¡±

 Chapter 51

    After the attack on the dockworkers we returned to our regular patrol schedule the next night. Shockfire had a question that I was wondering about as well.


    ¡°Do you think the Power Brigade knew that would happen? Like, that specific place being targeted?¡±


    ¡°It could be,¡± Ice Guy answered. ¡°More likely whoever asked for mercenaries in the first place. The Power Brigade might or might not have been informed of specifics. If it was something that was known about in detail someone would have just sent a squad specifically at that time, since knowing exactly what you¡¯re getting into is better. And the Power Brigade can charge more for an individual mission than a patrol setup like this.¡±


    ¡°If it was that,¡± Shockfire continued, ¡°Will we be pulled out of here soon?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Ice Guy shrugged. ¡°But the Power Brigade likes to keep people on the same patrol for a while to familiarize them with an area, if they can. We¡¯ll never get as much time in one place as heroes, but it¡¯s more effective. Why do you ask? Got a problem with this area?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just the night shift. Makes it kind of inconvenient for my daily life.¡±


    Our captain nodded. ¡°I¡¯d suggest making some day friends and some night friends. Or some who are both. Friends from work are fine, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯d want to branch out.¡±


    ¡°Now that I think about it,¡± Acid Man said as he strolled along casually, ¡°We haven¡¯t really interacted outside of work.¡±


    ¡°Should we?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I mean, if we want to be friends¡­ it helps,¡± Rasmus replied.


    Were we friends? I almost asked that out loud, but my brain properly filtered it. We certainly weren¡¯t not friends. It was just that I hadn¡¯t had friends in¡­ a while. Khithae counted, but that was just one.


    Midnight commented, ¡°We¡¯re not great for keeping your identity hidden. Green with tusks and black cat that can talk¡­ anyone who has a grudge with us could find us more easily. But the rest of you are just normal humans without your masks.¡±


    Ice Guy nodded, ¡°It is true that humans have it easier, but information on them can still be found by anyone determined. The benefits of spending time with other supers off the clock is that you have backup whenever anyone gets targeted. The downsides are lowered anonymity. It¡¯s sort of up to personal preference and judgment. Eventually you¡¯ll have to deal with people with grudges no matter what, unless you manage to get everyone locked up.¡±


    ¡°What about if they escape?¡± Acid Man asked.


    ¡°You have to watch out for that, but¡­ the rules on escaped villains are looser. If we¡¯re in real danger we don¡¯t have to hold back anyway, but you can be less focused on trivial things like them losing an arm or two. With that said,¡± Captain Senan paused for emphasis, ¡°The way we handle things is meant to reduce grudges. It won¡¯t stop some people from forming them, but if all goes well villains will think about how not to get caught again instead of how to get back at us in particular. Besides, they can respect us for just doing our jobs¡­ and most are smart enough to know that ¡®mercenary super kills villain in self-defense¡¯ doesn¡¯t make the news. Unlike if you¡¯re a hero.¡±


    ¡°Being a hero sounds like it¡¯s worse,¡± I commented.


    ¡°You think so?¡± Ice Guy asked. ¡°You get to show up at the last moment and take the public credit, and it¡¯s generally safer. But I guess considering you, the lack of fighting is a downside.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. How are you going to get stronger like that? It would take forever.¡±


    ¡°Do mages live a long time in your world?¡± Ice Guy asked.


    ¡°Sure. Master Uvithar is over a hundred and he¡¯s a human.¡±


    Midnight commented on that, ¡°I think he meant mages like you. With that um¡­ Aspect of the Barbarian.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± I nodded. ¡°Some of us.¡±


    ¡°And the rest¡­?¡± Captain Senan asked.


    ¡°Die young and high level.¡±


    ¡°That sounds awful.¡±


    I shook my head, ¡°It¡¯s better than being low level and useless.¡±


    ¡°I think many people would disagree. Though I can¡¯t talk, as a person with a good power.¡±


    Shockfire tried to explain how he saw it. ¡°It¡¯s more like¡­ being someone with a dud power. It means you can¡¯t end up with a real power but you¡¯re not considered a super. It¡¯s hard for people.¡±


    The conversation eventually petered off, but I was left with the information we would probably stay on this patrol for ¡®a while¡¯ and the realization that I had friends. Real friends, and not townspeople who tolerated me or Master Uvithar or halflings who I hadn¡¯t seen in over a decade.


    -----


    Patrols on the docks continued to bring us past the same warehouses with Rositsa and Lei. We¡¯d stop by and say hi sometimes, though since we were working and they were working we kept things brief. I was glad to see the vampire lady had gotten settled in to some extent already.


    She was learning English fast too. After a week and a half I was pretty sure she was almost as good as I was, and I had magic. Though I suppose she had magic as well. Blood magic was a touchy subject where I was from for obvious reasons. Probably for her as well, since it seemed like vampires weren¡¯t well liked. She wasn¡¯t one from my world so I couldn¡¯t form an opinion more than what I had seen. A scared person running and trying to survive- without killing anyone, even though it probably would have made things easier. I applauded that, and her co-workers appreciated how she had saved them. Her turning into a giant bat was more surprising to them than a real cause of concern. It was the night shift, after all. Hardly a human among them.


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    As for the other residents of the area just outside the docks, I gradually got a sense of them as well. Our patrol area wasn¡¯t just the docks all the time. The nearby neighborhoods were tall skinny houses for the most part, sometimes condos stacked atop each other. The people who were out at night weren¡¯t just the nocturnal sort, but still mostly humans going about their business. The streets weren¡¯t exactly busy, but they weren¡¯t empty either.


    I rarely had any interaction with them besides a polite greeting, but I was eventually stopped by a kid, not even a teen yet. ¡°Hey mister,¡± he said. ¡°You a hero?¡±


    ¡°Nope. I¡¯m a mercenary.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I get paid even when there isn¡¯t a camera watching me,¡± I summarized.


    ¡°...Heroes get paid?¡±


    ¡°Everyone gets paid kid. People have to eat.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°... your skin is green.¡±


    ¡°And your skin is brown. But you look fine to me.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Sorry. I thought you might be sick.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯ve had worse comments than concern over me possibly being sick.¡± I looked around, ¡°What are you doing up so late?¡±


    ¡°Waiting for my mom.¡±


    ¡°Is she late?¡± I asked with some concern.


    ¡°No. She should be here soon. It¡¯s like this every night.¡±


    That part was both relieving and concerning at the same time. That meant he¡¯d been okay so far, but it also meant he did this repeatedly. ¡°You should probably wait inside. It¡¯s safer there.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like it there. The neighbors are loud.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ stay safe, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that your job? Keeping people safe?¡±


    ¡°Part of it. But I can¡¯t be in two places at once.¡± That was high level and expensive magic.


    ¡°Oh. What¡¯s your name, mister?¡±


    ¡°Mage,¡± I said. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°Jerome.¡±


    ¡°Well, good luck kid. See you later.¡±


    ¡°You too. Oh. Aren¡¯t you supposed to tell me not to talk to strangers?¡±


    That¡­ sounded like something I had heard about at some point. ¡°Good point. Watch out for villains, kid. You can¡¯t count on having a super around to protect you.¡± Even regular people could be criminals, but I didn¡¯t need to worry him too much.


    Not that he looked worried. Mostly just bored. ¡°Then can you teach me magic to fight them?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ pretty sure I can¡¯t,¡± I admitted. ¡°Power stuff. It¡¯s weird.¡±


    ¡°Too bad.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Too bad.¡±


    I made a mental note to have Midnight watch over the kid if possible. He could also patrol around, but since everyone was in the same area one more person wandering around wasn¡¯t necessary. I could do it myself, but someone who looked like a cat would fit better.


    -----


    Everything seemed to be going well. Except for one attempted robbery at a corner store that Acid Man stopped, the next week was peaceful. That was good. I had to keep reminding myself that so I didn¡¯t wish for conflict out loud. Even though I was barely any experience from reaching level 18. Like 2 points. A session of sparring might do it, and even if I only got a couple experience per day I was still doing way better than I had been before I came here¡­ but it was being so close to a level that bothered me.


    The worst part was that I wasn¡¯t sure what was causing it. Was it Aspect of the Barbarian? Was it because I was an orc? Or was it a thing everyone would feel? Unfortunately I didn¡¯t know anyone but Midnight with class levels in this world. So I just had to deal with it.


    Then I got shot. I heard the noise at the same time I felt a prick of pain. My brain didn¡¯t seem to get it, but my body decided it was time to lay down on the ground rather directly. I briefly considered that it was probably supposed to hurt to hit my face on the pavement, but that hadn¡¯t caught up yet.


    -----


    Midnight¡¯s ears twitched as he heard a noise in the distance. It wasn¡¯t the first gunshot he¡¯d heard since they came to the area. Not even the first since he¡¯d started watching over the kid Jerome. The kid just sat on the stairs in the dark until his mom got home around midnight. It seemed a bit sad, but as a Celmothian he didn¡¯t really understand humans fully. And he was happy when she got there, so who was Midnight to say what he was doing was incorrect?


    So there had been a few gunshots, but this one was different. For one thing, it came at the same time as unclear amounts of pain from Turlough. Rather than guess, he started running. Midnight tilted his head in a way he knew would activate the little communications earphone he had been set up with. Normally they needed hands and humanoid shapes, so Midnight was impressed they got him one. And it was a thousand times more convenient than pawing a cell phone.


    ¡°Midnight here. Just heard a gunshot. Mage appears to be injured. Heading towards his location.¡± Midnight checked a nearby street sign to give general directions. Though the team should be able to track his location anyway.


    ¡°Copy that Midnight,¡± Ice Guy¡¯s voice came into Midnight¡¯s ear. ¡°We¡¯re converging on the location. Do you have eyes on the shooter?¡±


    ¡°Negative. I only heard one shot though.¡±


    ¡°And Mage is injured? That¡¯s¡­ not a good sign.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t much more to say. Midnight took stock of his mana. He wasn¡¯t quite full, closer to thirteen than fourteen. Haste seemed necessary though. That brought him down to eight as he dashed through the streets.


    The connection to Turlough indicated he was still alive, but the sense of consciousness was blurry and the pain was turning sharper. Maybe the wound was getting worse, or maybe he was just now feeling it.


    Either way, Midnight ran. It felt like it took just as long with nothing indicating the passing of time around him, but Midnight knew he was faster. And that was important.


    Then he got eyes on him. Midnight wasn¡¯t a cat¡­ but he did have eyes very much like one. They were good for seeing in the dark, so he was able to pick out Turlough¡¯s shape just outside of the cone of a lamppost. He also saw the pool of blood forming. Midnight sped up even more. They hadn¡¯t known each other that long, but his first memories of Turlough were being fed when he was hungry and eventually pulled out of a tree when he was too stubborn to admit he was unable to get back down. It had been terrifying, but Turlough had saved him almost casually. Like a real hero. Now maybe he could do the same for him.

 Chapter 52

    Half in the light of a street lamp lay Turlough¡¯s body.


    ¡°Be careful,¡± Captain Senan¡¯s voice came over the comms into Midnight¡¯s ear. ¡°The shooter might be watching for some sort of rescue attempt.¡±


    ¡°Will they be looking for a cat though?¡± Midnight asked as he approached Turlough¡¯s fallen form. ¡°Or someone who looks like a cat?¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯re after him in particular, they might know about you.¡±


    Midnight hesitated for a second. ¡°They¡¯ll be looking for a black cat, then. How close are you?¡±


    ¡°Not far. We can be there in a few moments.¡±


    ¡°Leave this to me. Just look out for the shooter.¡±


    ¡°Which direction?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°Maybe¡­ west?¡±


    ¡°You heard him,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°Acid Man, Shockfire, spread out to the west. Stay off the main street there.¡±


    Midnight was less than a hundred feet away, but before moving out to check on Turlough more closely he stopped for a small bit of magic. It was one he hadn¡¯t used before, and even now it might be pointless. But as he walked out from between the nearby buildings he was no longer a black cat, but one that was mostly white with brown spots. ¡°Turlough,¡± Midnight intentionally spoke in the Celmothian language which sounded quite a bit like cats meowing to the uneducated. ¡°Are you conscious?¡± No response. Not that he expected much.


    Midnight did his best impression of a disinterested animal walking past a body. His tail brushed against Turlough, reapplying Force Armor. He had no way to heal him, but he needed to get him off the street, out of sight of the shooter. They might still be around. He cursed his low amount of mana. Three points left, more or less, barely enough to Enlarge himself. Perhaps the Disguise was a waste. Then again, he could have looked like a Bunvorixian¡­ or just a dog. That would have confused someone.


    ¡°Mage?¡± came a small voice from nearby. Midnight turned to see a kid. Not just any kid, but Jerome. He¡¯d been tasked to watch over him.


    As Jerome started to step out, Midnight yelled. ¡°Get back! It¡¯s not safe!¡± He just hoped his words couldn¡¯t be heard by the shooter, or he could be a target. He wasn¡¯t going to let a human kid be in trouble though.


    ¡°... Are you the fast cat? I thought you were black.¡± Jerome shook his head. ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. He needs our help!¡±


    ¡°I know! I¡¯m working on it. I just need to pull him into the alley.¡±


    Midnight immediately regretted his words, because the kid had no hesitation. He stepped out next to Turlough and grabbed his leg. He began to pull, but he was so much smaller he barely moved the man.


    Then another shot rang out. At first Midnight thought it was a miss, then he saw a red stain on Jerome¡¯s abdomen. From the back. The kid turned his head to Midnight, gritting his teeth. ¡°Come on! Pull or something!¡±


    Midnight had many thoughts run through his head. Making the kid bigger would help, but he¡¯d be an easy target. Would growing himself be enough? He wasn¡¯t sure about that. And he had to act quickly. Jerome was toughing it out, but clearly he wasn¡¯t in a good state. Midnight finally just picked something.


    A black smear appeared all over Turlough except where Jerome was grabbing him, and suddenly he slipped along with barely any effort. Jerome almost stumbled when it suddenly became easier, but a moment later they were in the alley. Midnight let Grease fade away so as not to complicate things.


    ¡°Are you okay kid? Jerome?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Yeah I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m fine¡­¡± he said as he slumped against the wall, pressing his hand to his gut. ¡°Ouch.¡±


    Midnight was tempted to yell at the kid for being reckless, but that was a waste of time and energy. ¡°Captain!¡± he called through the comms. ¡°A civilian has been hit! We need medics asap!¡±


    ¡°Understood. The second shot gave away the shooter¡¯s location. Acid man has given chase. Medics were on the way and simply holding for a safe area. They¡¯ll be there soon.¡±


    As Captain Senan promised, an ambulance showed up less than a minute later, sirens blaring. A man and a women quickly jumped out. ¡°Who¡¯s injured? What¡¯s the situation? Dammit, they¡¯re both out.¡±


    ¡°They were both shot!¡± Midnight spoke from nearby. ¡°Yes I¡¯m a talking cat. Now help this kid! I think it went right through.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on it,¡± said the woman. Either she¡¯d dealt with weird things before or simply didn¡¯t have time to ask questions.


    ¡°What about the big guy?¡± asked the man.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s still in there,¡± Midnight said. ¡°The bullet.¡±


    ¡°It seems to have gone in his chest¡­¡± the man carefully lifted Turlough. ¡°No exit wound. What was it though? I thought these suits were all bulletproof¡­¡± the man felt the material. ¡°Feels right, at least.¡± Even as he was talking he had his kit out, including a flashlight to see what he was doing better. Then he whistled. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty big hole. Lot of bleeding. We need to get this guy in for surgery. But before that¡­¡± he turned to Midnight. ¡°Do you know his blood type?¡±


    ¡°...No?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Human compatible?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ can ask HQ.¡± Midnight was trying to remember the appropriate way to do that. ¡°Dispatch?¡± he spoke into his comms. ¡°Is Mage¡¯s blood type human compatible?¡±


    There was a moment of silence. ¡°Affirmative,¡± came a synthesized voice. ¡°Mage¡¯s blood is human compatible. A positive equivalent.¡±


    Midnight relayed that information to the responder, who immediately began putting him on a stretcher and hooking tubes up to Turlough. By the time he was done with that Ice Guy arrived. ¡°How is he doing?¡± the captain asked. Seeing Jerome, ¡°And what happened with the kid?¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°The kid is in shock but it went clean through his abdomen without hitting vital organs. This man¡­¡±


    ¡°Mage.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not looking great. We¡¯re about to head to the hospital.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Captain Senan nodded. Doctor Mishra could patch them up in a second, but he was all the way back at HQ. ¡°Keep us posted.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m his partner,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Can I ride with you?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± the man nodded. ¡°Sure. Just stay out of the way.¡±


    Midnight was quite capable of that. The two wounded people were loaded into the back, making it rather cramped with the medics. But a cat didn¡¯t add too much more. ¡°Is there anything I can do to help?¡± Midnight asked nervously.


    ¡°No.¡± The man paused, ¡°Not unless you have healing powers.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re different,¡± Midnight admitted.


    The ride felt extremely long, staring at Turlough¡¯s skin that wasn¡¯t quite as deep of a green as it should have been. But then they stopped.


    ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡± came the voice of another woman as the back was opened.


    ¡°Bullet wounds. Kid¡¯s stable, the man¡¯s not doing so well.¡±


    ¡°Any bullets left in them?¡± the woman asked.


    ¡°Went right through the kid. The man should have one right next to his heart.¡±


    ¡°Dammit,¡± the woman cursed. She reached out for the kid, a sparkling yellow glow covering him for a moment. ¡°That should tide him over. We¡¯ll need surgery to get that bullet out before I can heal the man.¡±


    ¡°I can get it out¡­ I think.¡± Midnight said. ¡°Should I have taken it out earlier?¡±


    ¡°No. I mean, if you can do it now that¡¯s great, but earlier it would have caused more bleeding trouble.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll take it out now.¡±


    ¡°Careful-¡± the healer cautioned him, but Midnight just pressed his head to Turlough¡¯s shoulder. Either that would work, or it wouldn¡¯t.


    Through the bond he activated Storage. Turlough was touching the bullet, so logically it should work. ¡°There, I did it.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? I didn¡¯t see it come out.¡±


    ¡°Positive,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Here. I¡¯ll show you.¡± He concentrated, spewing the contents of Storage out in front of him. Out came a dozen cans of tuna, and one large bullet. ¡°See?¡± Midnight said as he swayed on his feet. "I got it.¡± Then he toppled forward into the pile of cans due to mana exhaustion.


    -----


    I woke up in a medical bed, which was surprisingly the first time I remembered that happening. I looked around and saw the captain and the others.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Captain Senan asked.


    I took a moment to sort that out. ¡°Good, I think.¡± I tried to remember what happened. ¡°Was I shot?¡± I looked down at my chest, which made that pretty clear. I was still in my costume instead of a medical gown. That was partly due to super privacy laws, and partly because anything else was unnecessary. ¡°I vaguely remember getting shot.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s about right,¡± Captain Senan nodded. ¡°We were able to ID the guy and chase him off, but couldn''t catch him. Seems to go by the name Deimos.¡± He showed me a picture.


    ¡°Oh. It¡¯s Handface. I remember that guy." I rubbed my chest which seemed to think it should hurt, but didn¡¯t. ¡°How did that happen? I thought the suits were bulletproof.¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡¯s really bulletproof. He used a rifle. Would have gone all the way through you if not for your defenses on top of the suit. Probably your heart. You¡¯ve only really dealt with pistols before.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. I looked over next to me. ¡°How¡¯s Midnight? He feels fine but¡­¡±


    ¡°Mana exhaustion, I think,¡± the captain said. He pulled back the dividing curtain to reveal Midnight curled up on a pillow. ¡°He came with you all the way here and somehow pulled the bullet out.¡±


    ¡°Nice. I assume he used Storage.¡±


    ¡°... I hadn¡¯t considered that a possible application of that ability,¡± Ice Guy admitted.


    ¡°Well, it works on free objects you¡¯re touching. It makes sense. So how long do I have to stay here?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be long. Just need a recount of the situation. Do you remember a young man being present?¡±


    ¡°... No?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I was just walking by myself. Then I was out.¡±


    ¡°Ah. We¡¯re gonna get an earful for getting a kid involved, even if it wasn¡¯t our choice.¡±


    And we did. First from his mother, then later from the Power Brigade. Between those points, I got to talk with Jerome on my own.


    ¡°I heard you helped me out,¡± I said to the kid. ¡°Thanks, Jerome. But don¡¯t do it again. It¡¯s dangerous.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± he said. ¡°But how am I going to be a hero if I don¡¯t help people right in front of me?¡±


    ¡°... you sure you want to be a hero?¡± I asked. There was the matter of him not having a power, but that was a problem for later. ¡°After getting shot?¡±


    ¡°I always wanted to be a hero!¡± Jerome nodded. ¡°It¡¯s just, I was studying hard to get a good job. So I could help my mom. But you told me heroes got paid.¡±


    ¡°Well, sure. It¡¯s not always good though.¡± The popular or strong ones did much better than the rest, who were paid little more than civic servants for a lot more risk. The actual wages were basically the same for most of them, but the popular ones made money off of image rights and the like.


    ¡°That¡¯s okay,¡± the kid shrugged. ¡°It¡¯ll work.¡±


    ¡°You still have like¡­ six or more years to go,¡± I pointed out. ¡°They don¡¯t let minors work as heroes.¡±


    ¡°You can start training though. And if you get the right power you can work as a minor.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll need a power though,¡± I pointed out. ¡°They¡¯re not that easy to get, though.¡± Unlike my world where everyone could pick a class. That didn¡¯t seem to work here though. People didn¡¯t even have status windows they could bring up.


    Jerome shrugged. ¡°Whatever. All I have to do is fall in a vat of toxic waste or get struck by lightning or something.¡±


    ¡°It is my responsibility as an adult to remind you those are just going to kill you. And that would make your mom sad.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°I know. I wish there was some sort of magic that could give me a power.¡±


    ¡°Tough break kid,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I already told you I can¡¯t teach you, or I would.¡± It was a shame, but he was probably destined to be one of the vast majority of people who didn¡¯t have a power. There wasn¡¯t anything that could be done about that, or someone would have done it already. Probably rich people.


    After everything was resolved with the hospital which was wonderfully quick with healing powers being involved- though we weren¡¯t completely healed right away- I thought about how I had gotten there. This time it hadn¡¯t been my fault. Mostly. The grudge with old Handface was kind of my fault, but I hadn¡¯t done anything since that time. Then he just came and shot me from far away! Very rude. As I was thinking about possible solutions for that, I noticed I had leveled up. I hadn¡¯t been that far, and a truly near-death experience was worth quite a bit. A full fight would have been better, but it was more than the dozen experience I had remaining.


    That meant I had 25 points to spend. I just had to think long and hard about what to do with them to prevent further situations that were like this. More defenses? I could buy Stoneskin, but the problem would be that it would severely limit what else I could use mana for. It would basically monopolize my mana regeneration by itself, and would take more than a third of my total for a single use. And that would only protect me- and Midnight. I couldn¡¯t really afford to use it on my teammates mana-wise. With diamond dust being cheaper than I thought at least the money wouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    The other option was something like tracking down Deimos to deal with him. I wasn¡¯t really into the idea of having someone with a grudge like that out and about. Unfortunately Scrying would take more points and mana, and I couldn¡¯t even guarantee that it would work. Or help. Neither was an easy choice, and sinking a couple more upgrades into Force Armor definitely wasn¡¯t going to be enough to keep myself safe.

 Chapter 53

    After being released from the hospital I was sent back to Power Brigade HQ to see Doctor Mishra. The healer at the hospital had to deal with emergencies coming through so they had to conserve their energy. That meant taking people out of critical states to where they would make a full recovery on their own, but not all the way. I was injured on the job, so there was no question about getting Doctor Mishra to finish fixing me up.


    Then I went to see Francois. He dealt with outfits, after all. ¡°I was told to come to you,¡± I said. ¡°My outfit has blood on it. Also a hole.¡± I handed him the shirt portion, since the rest was fine.


    He dangled it down in front of himself. ¡°Oh my.¡± His eyes flickered over to my chest. ¡°Right in the heart? Glad to see you made it out. Don¡¯t worry about this. We¡¯ve got ways to take that blood right out. And the hole.¡±


    ¡°You can sew it up?¡±


    ¡°Oh no. That builds wear and tear. We¡¯ll just get rid of the hole and it will be good as new.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I should¡­ probably be able to do that.¡± There was a slight gap in my known spells given that I had been eager to start flinging firebolts at things so I could actually get experience. Specifically, I only knew a single cantrip- first level spells that were generally minor in power. Mending was one like that.


    He mockingly put a hand over his heart. ¡°How awful. You¡¯d drive me out of business.¡±


    ¡°Your real job is the design. Speaking of which, is it possible to make it more¡­ bulletproof?¡±


    ¡°... I suppose that might be necessary. Let me take a look at the jacket.¡± I showed it to him and he shook his head. ¡°No damage. I suppose you were wearing it open?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t really cold so¡­¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s another layer of defense,¡± Francois pointed out. ¡°I¡¯d suggest keeping it closed. It¡¯s breathable enough to not be uncomfortable most of the time, and a bit of discomfort is small when weighed against your life.¡±


    ¡°I just didn¡¯t think about it. I wasn¡¯t exactly expecting something to shoot through my Force Armor and the shirt. I¡¯d only been shot by pistols.¡±


    He clicked his tongue. ¡°Never underestimate technology as a super. Even if it¡¯s not thrown together by someone with a power, you¡¯re still able to be hurt. It takes connections to get something like that, of course, but we tend to make enemies.¡± Francois shrugged, ¡°That said, closing the jacket might not have helped. The cut doesn¡¯t cover all of the sternum.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll have to keep that in mind. Regardless, I can get you something a bit tougher¡­ but that won¡¯t solve your problems. You need to either get rid of this individual who shot you before it happens again or find a method to react. Though I don¡¯t believe your squad is well equipped for the latter. Speaking of which, get the other two recruits in here for an update in style. These were meant to be the first draft, after all.¡±


    I felt discomfort from nearby. Specifically Midnight. The bond between us wasn¡¯t perfect, but I got the general idea. ¡°Midnight is also part of the team,¡± I gestured. ¡°Though I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve made anything for someone of his¡­ proportions.¡±


    Francois looked almost offended. ¡°I made an outfit for Jim,¡± he said. ¡°I can certainly make something for¡­?¡±


    ¡°Midnight,¡± my friend offered.


    ¡°Yes, right. You were the late addition to the squad. Slipped through the cracks. I assume you experience discomfort wearing things over your fur? I¡¯ve got some special materials we can try out.¡± He kneeled down next to Midnight, whipping out a measuring tape and wrapping it around various places. ¡°I suppose we can try a few runs since you won¡¯t use a much material, find what works best.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I want to wear anything but¡­¡±


    ¡°But you want to be safe. I understand,¡± Francois said. ¡°We can try transparent options, or something that matches your fur so you look almost the same. Any concerns about your head? We could go for a mask or helmet¡­¡± Francois looked to me. ¡°Same with you.¡±


    ¡°Seems a bit awkward to carry around¡­¡± I was thinking about the extra mana cost for using Storage and if it would be worth it.


    ¡°There are foldable versions that can fit in a pocket,¡± he said. ¡°Or hats¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe a hood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s good coverage,¡± Francois nodded. ¡°Just make sure that you keep it up for protection, and not because you want to act mysterious.¡±


    ¡°Duly noted,¡± I replied.


    -----


    Our next stop was a meeting with Captain Senan, and the rest of the Elemental Magic Squad. ¡°So. Good news. I recently leveled up again. I¡¯d like to ask your input on what I should learn next. I have two options competing for each other. The first is Stoneskin. It¡¯s a powerful defensive spell that lasts a few hours, and I¡¯m confident it would prevent something like that. Unfortunately¡­ the cost is high enough I could only easily use it on myself. Midnight gets a free ride from the familiar bond, but it¡¯s¡­ almost half my mana to cast it. In an emergency I could use it on one other person, or skip myself and do it on two, but that would nearly wipe me out.¡± I shook my head. ¡°If I knew Handface would come just for me, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Deimos,¡± Captain Senan pointed out.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Not if I have anything to do with it,¡± I countered.


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± he shrugged. ¡°What¡¯s the other option?¡±


    ¡°Well, trying to hunt him down and get rid of him so it doesn¡¯t happen again. I have the feeling he won¡¯t be content with just shooting at me once. So¡­ I could pick up Scrying. It might give us his location or it might¡­ show us a small section of a boring warehouse. Or nothing. I can only try it once per day and it can fail if the connection isn¡¯t good.¡±


    ¡°Like¡­ if he¡¯s in a Faraday cage?¡± Shockfire asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± I took out my phone to look up what a Faraday cage was. ¡°An interesting question. Probably not, though. It¡¯s not blocked by stuff in general. It¡¯s like a metaphysical connection. If we had a scrap of his hair or nails or blood or something it would be almost guaranteed to work. Anything owned by him helps, and a picture is slightly beneficial.¡±


    ¡°We definitely have pictures,¡± Captain Senan nodded. ¡°What about video? Is that better?¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­ It might be?¡± I shook my head. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be worse, at least. The final issue is I would need a big mirror¡­ and it might have to be made of silver. That was the standard in my world, but I¡¯m not sure if it was a quality metric or what. It¡¯s not a consumed material component, so¡­¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°What¡¯s the harm if you try with a regular mirror?¡± Captain Senan asked.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t work, and I waste a tenth of my total points so far.¡±


    ¡°... How big of a silver mirror do you need?¡±


    ¡°Standard is four foot by two foot, and no I don¡¯t know if it really needs to be that big.¡± I shook my head, ¡°Mages were generally interested in finding what worked and not¡­ looking for unnecessary alternatives. And obviously we have options here that weren¡¯t possible there.¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯m not concerned about getting shot,¡± Acid Man stated. ¡°My power is reflexive so¡­¡± he shrugged. ¡°But if you¡¯re worried about your own safety, you need to protect yourself.¡±


    ¡°I like the idea of Stoneskin,¡± Shockfire said, ¡°But if it¡¯s too high of a mana cost now, it¡¯s probably better for later. And catching this guy seems prudent.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d vote for Scrying,¡± Captain Senan said. ¡°That¡¯s a very useful ability to have. But of course, the choice is yours.¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± I said. ¡°But I came to you for advice for a reason.¡± I pursed my lips for a second. ¡°Do we have anything that belonged to Handface?¡±


    ¡°I think we could get the bullet?¡± Ice Guy frowned. ¡°But we don¡¯t have anything with his DNA to get that big boost you talked about.¡±


    ¡°... I supposed that is what that is, huh?¡± I¡¯d read about DNA and just hadn¡¯t considered it. Scrying was one of the few spells that relied on that sort of thing.


    ¡°What level is it?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Also, you can only try once per day, but can I try?¡±


    ¡°Eleventh level,¡± I replied. ¡°But we¡¯re effectively the same caster for that purpose, so we couldn¡¯t try the same person again.¡±


    ¡°Aww¡­¡± Midnight swished his tail sadly. ¡°I thought I figured out something good.¡±


    ¡°It was a good question,¡± I said. ¡°And¡­ I suppose we could try it anyway. So, who wants to go get a bullet and then find ourselves a big mirror?¡±


    -----


    I had a picture of Handface pulled up on my phone. It was him in the warehouse, the best shot we had. The phone rested on the bathroom counter in front of me, beneath the mirror. ¡°This can take a while. Specialists are faster, but this is literally my first time.¡±


    ¡°How do people become specialists?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Years of study or being born with a good Aspect. Or both.¡±


    I began to draw out mana, very slowly. It was like the tiniest trickling stream as white mists began to form on the mirror in front of me. I was pretty sure this was how it was supposed to work, but I wouldn¡¯t know for sure. I tried to call upon the connection with the image, the memory of interacting with him, and the bullet. I felt something, but creating an image was difficult.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Jim said. ¡°Could I get to the sink?¡±


    ¡°No problem,¡± Shockfire moved aside. ¡°Sorry about that.¡±


    The water was on for a short while as Jim cleaned up, the smell of soap entering my nostrils. Waiting for this magic to go through was¡­ really boring.


    The mists finally covered the whole mirror, and then began to swirl. But I felt a resistance. I gripped the edge of the sink as I wrestled with the stubborn subconscious of Handface, the innate resistance to magic that people possessed. Then he severed the connection. The mists faded all at once, showing just five guys standing in front of the mirror in a bathroom. ¡°He resisted it,¡± I shook my head. ¡°His subconscious defenses will be strong for about a day, then they¡¯ll generally relax.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s why it failed?¡± Ice Guy asked. ¡°If not¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure. In fact¡­ I can show you this works. Midnight, if you would go hide somewhere? Or just¡­ be anywhere outside the room without me knowing where.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with him to help with doors,¡± Shockfire said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t want to stand around in the bathroom more?¡±


    He grinned and shrugged.


    I waited a couple minutes. I felt that Midnight was probably done ¡®hiding¡¯, so I started the magic again. ¡°My connection with him is way better so this can¡¯t fail if the mirror qualifies,¡± I explained. The mists began to swirl on the mirror, ¡°It still takes a bit but¡­¡± even as I was saying that it began to clear up, and then it showed a table in the cafeteria. Midnight was sitting across from Shockfire. Around ten feet from them the surroundings began to become vague and misty. ¡°See? It works.¡± Just about when I was about to finish, Midnight turned his head to face the scrying sensor and waved. ¡°I could hold this for about ten minutes, but there¡¯s not much point here in particular.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Ice Guy said as I let the image fade. ¡°People can sense it?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes, yeah,¡± I admitted. ¡°It depends on their sensitivity to magic. Midnight would obviously feel me doing it, so he had a clearer sense of where we were looking from.¡± My stomach grumbled. ¡°Let¡¯s go meet up with them.¡± The Power Brigade¡¯s cafeteria was pretty good. Real cooks would make what you want, or you could have something ready-made that was still better than what I had been eating for most of my life.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Acid Man said. ¡°And tomorrow we can try to find another place with a good sized mirror.¡±


    I clutched my head as we walked out. Using all but one point of my mana over two spells was really not good for me, even if I recovered a single point in that time. I was glad the expenditure was over a longer time period rather than all in an instant, or I might have knocked myself out. Stoneskin would probably have to wait a few levels, even if it was slightly cheaper.

 Chapter 54

    ¡°So why are you sitting in the dark?¡± asked a man with the insignia of a fist emblazoned on his chest. ¡°I thought that problem was fixed.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s fine. I just have a headache,¡± said the older man sitting on the far side of the large table.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you back,¡± said the younger man, previously referred to as Calculator.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we will all have plenty of time to catch up after we finish up with business,¡± Telescope commented. She looked at the tablet in front of her, ¡°First order of business is Mage, again.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it,¡± Captain Punch admitted. ¡°Isn¡¯t this just a spreadsheet? There¡¯s like, a dozen things at the top with a check mark, one labeled ?!?!? and¡­¡± his finger kept swiping continuously for a while, ¡°Over a thousand total rows with just single question marks. What is this?¡±


    ¡°A list of potential abilities,¡± Calculator answered helpfully. ¡°The first dozen are confirmed to be things he can do. The oddity is one that¡­ wasn¡¯t directly analogous to anything. One second¡­¡± he messed with his tablet for a second. ¡°Forgot to update it with the latest one.¡±


    ¡°Crying?¡± Captain Punch asked. ¡°Is that insinuating some emotional weakness, or is it some kind of incapacitation ability?¡±


    ¡°Scrying,¡± Calculator corrected. ¡°It means farseeing, in essence.¡±


    ¡°This guy¡¯s a wizard, right? So like, a magic mirror?¡±


    ¡°... actually yes.¡± Calculator admitted.


    ¡°So who¡¯s the fairest one of all?¡± Captain Punch asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡­ it probably doesn¡¯t work like that,¡± Calculator said. ¡°So far it¡¯s been confirmed to work pretty much like expected. Most things conform pretty well to a specific category of Type-F world. Except for the levels and mana, I suppose. Those are less directly associated with what we would expect.¡±


    ¡°Okay. So? Kid¡¯s got some different abilities. Good to hear.¡±


    ¡°The purpose of this discussion,¡± Telescope commented, ¡°Is to determine whether we spend additional resources on his growth. Beyond standard training. There are a number of very useful abilities he could pick up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m all for it,¡± the man reluctantly called Movebrain said from his shadowed section of the room. ¡°Just this ability is pretty amazing. Tracking down anyone with no way for them to know it¡¯s coming? Absolutely astounding.¡±


    ¡°It can be resisted,¡± Calculator pointed out.


    ¡°So? Maybe it takes a few days to track down someone unfindable. That¡¯s a million times better than never. There are many other useful things on the list.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°As long as we keep him loyal to us, this could turn into something big.¡±


    ¡°He did just move closer,¡± Telescope noted. ¡°He seems to be committed to some extent, and is friendly with many of the others here. Even if he only gets a small handful of these things, he¡¯ll be a big boon. I¡¯m in support.¡±


    Everyone turned to Captain Punch. ¡°... I object,¡± he said flatly.


    ¡°Why?¡± Calculator asked. ¡°His history is short but his psych evaluations check out¡­ It wouldn¡¯t even be that expensive to find a good rotation of sparring partners for him to¡­ level up.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, see, that¡¯s where I disagree,¡± Captain Punch shook his head. ¡°This guy only gets stronger by fighting, right? I don¡¯t feel like babying him will be good for him in the long run. I¡¯m not saying he shouldn¡¯t be allowed to spar, but he¡¯s got to grow on his own. Or we focus on him and he picks up half these abilities and never has a moment to rest.¡±


    ¡°It just seems like he could benefit from special training the most right now,¡± Calculator pointed out. ¡°He was literally almost killed just the other day.¡±


    ¡°Was it the moles?¡± Captain Punch asked. ¡°Are they back?¡±


    ¡°No?¡± Calculator raised an eyebrow. ¡°We¡¯re pretty sure you wrapped up that whole¡­ moleman thing. He just got shot.¡±


    ¡°Like with a gun?¡±


    ¡°Some kind of high power sniper,¡± Calculator responded. ¡°No one was able to get a close look as he fled.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s alive now,¡± Captain Punch responded. ¡°Seems fine to me. If he can¡¯t get over little hurdles like nearly dying, seems like a waste of investment. Not that I¡¯m uninterested to see how this Wizard fellow grows.¡±


    ¡°Mage,¡± Telescope corrected him. ¡°Well, since I doubt you¡¯ll change your mind anytime soon, onto the next point of business.¡±


    -----


    I stood in front of a nice full-length mirror. It didn¡¯t span wall to wall like the ones in the bathroom, but those were honestly too big. Scrying only used so much space and the rest was wasted. As for the rest of the room¡­ it was full of boxes and shelves. Clearly a storage closet before being ¡®retrofitted¡¯ for my use. Aside from the rest of the Elemental Magic squad, there was one other person present. A man with mid-tone skin and a nice suit. A dress suit, not a super suit. He was apparently a calculator, even though phones did that just fine. A deprecated job.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°This is going to be really disappointing if it doesn¡¯t work,¡± I pointed out. ¡°But here goes.¡±


    It was a boring ten whole minutes of waiting. I was concentrating on my target, but it was more like waiting for something to happen than actively involving myself. It still took effort though, kind of like jogging. If I had a better connection it might have been faster, but it would still take the full amount of mana.


    I was relieved when a fuzzy picture began to take place. The first thing to become visible was the shape of a hand. An electrical burn scar, caused by me. I hadn¡¯t intended for it to do that much, but if I¡¯d known more about this guy I would have wanted to also kick him in the head to keep him knocked out. ¡°There¡¯s Handface.¡±


    ¡°Deimos,¡± Calculator said.


    ¡°Yes, that too.¡±


    The rest of the man came into focus a bit at a time. He was sitting at a table tinkering with some sort of headgear. No, tinkering was a bit too strong. Fiddling. Moving about randomly, as if he were bored.


    ¡°Looks like a warehouse,¡± Calculator commented as he held up his tablet in front of the mirror. ¡°Is this the limit of what we can see?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sorry,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I can rotate it around a little bit.¡± I showed him other angles, but distance from the target limited what could be seen. ¡°That¡¯s about it.¡±


    ¡°Can you get a closer look? That thing on the desk¡­¡±


    I concentrated. Seeing less was actually a lot harder than it seemed, but at least it was close to him. The viewpoint slowly moved closer, until it was like we were standing near it instead of floating up near the ceiling. ¡°That¡¯s all I can do.¡± I focused on keeping the image steady.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ that has the stolen Phasmotron Amplifier in it for sure. I wonder-¡±


    There was a beeping- and a curse. Not from our side of the mirror, but the other. The device was suddenly snatched out of our sight. ¡°What is it?¡± I refocused the image to catch a better view of Handface, with the device on his head. Somehow it looked familiar, like I¡¯d seen it before. Then again, I¡¯d seen that hand imprint sticking out from behind stuff in several videos. ¡°Spatial distortion? What does that even¡­?¡±


    I felt a yank, trying to pull me away. ¡°He¡¯s fighting back. He might have picked up what¡¯s happening somehow¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°No, that¡¯s not quite it. Maybe it was him randomly lashing out. Not sure if I can hold it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d hoped we could see more,¡± Calculator said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡±


    Fortunately he began to move. Following him was basically automatic, as I was pulled along for the ride. There were more than a few random crates and ladders and junk scattered about the area getting in the way, but I couldn¡¯t really avoid that. I barely was able to move the view to begin with, since this was basically my first use of the spell. Scrying Midnight didn¡¯t count, because we hadn¡¯t done anything fancy.


    Handface was running now, though rather quietly, his boots only causing a small racket echoing through the warehouse. Then he abruptly turned, and my view with it. For half a second the view was outside the wall before snapping back into place. ¡°Sorry, almost lost him.¡± I held onto the image, but Handface just stopped by a large door, not getting close enough to any window to see out. Not that ten feet would get us much.


    ¡°Can you do that again?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°Do what?¡±


    ¡°The thing where you go through the wall?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I can try.¡± I focused, spinning the view and pulling away. For an instant, I saw a boring wall. Then I saw my own face, and the rest of us. ¡°Sorry. I lost it.¡± I breathed out slowly. ¡°I think that counts as a break. Probably won¡¯t work again today.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s something we can use.¡± He held up his tablet. ¡°I¡¯ll review the footage in detail and let you know what I find.¡±


    ¡°Now what?¡± the captain asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯d suggest going on patrol,¡± Calculator shrugged. ¡°But it¡¯s up to you. You¡¯ll have to do it soon enough, but it¡¯s not immediately necessary. A bit of training might do you good, maybe a course on cover. If I recall correctly, there¡¯s one on how to stand in the public view while being under cover. Adapted from techniques as used by heroes, of course. We don¡¯t need to be seen, but we can¡¯t look like we¡¯re skulking about.¡±


    -----


    I had to admit there was a lot of good advice available, and a nice training course. There was some sort of sensor thing that gave us a rating on how we were standing. I was right next to a car, just casually standing around, but it gave me a high concealment factor. I was covered from an entire side, and even those with elevation would have to deal with the car getting in the way of their shots on that side. Yet it didn¡¯t look like I was hiding at all.


    Shockfire was leaned up against a street lamp. That got him a poor rating, but it was apparently better than nothing. Good points for casual. Ice Guy was actually sitting on some stairs, and was rated better than either of us. Even the side that was a row of houses behind him basically had no angle on him, and there were brick railings on either side of him. Sitting also lowered his profile, though it in turn limited his mobility.


    Acid Man had two ratings. The first was him going for casual cover, where he took shelter in a covered bus stop. The rating there was mixed, as he was visually covered by advertisements but not structurally protected from most angles. Then there was his active hiding attempt and¡­ well, it was hard to do much better than looking like some sludge at the bottom of a dumpster.


    ¡°Yes, I can actually make use of that one,¡± he commented after the exercise was over. ¡°I don¡¯t have a sense of smell while I¡¯m transformed. And since I can control what I damage, I¡¯m generally fine to do so. Though I¡¯ll admit it feels gross, and it¡¯s mostly unnecessary.¡±


    ¡°Mostly unnecessary is all well and good if someone¡¯s shooting you with bullets,¡± Ice Guy admitted. ¡°But you¡¯d be less happy if someone whipped out a plasma gun or something like that. Obviously highly illegal and unstable, but dangerous.¡± Our captain¡¯s eyes flickered to Shockfire. ¡°For you.¡±


    The exercise got me thinking about cover- and creating it. Our captain was obviously familiar with the concept due to the fight on the docks. At the moment I couldn¡¯t do it, but eventually¡­ well, I suppose everything was an ¡®eventually¡¯ these days. But putting up a sheet of rock seemed like it would be pretty good cover. It was more expensive than Stoneskin though, so I had to consider if I wanted something that required active setup that could protect the party, or just more defense for myself. Once I had more than four points left, of course.

 Chapter 55

    A single instance of scrying Handface wasn¡¯t enough. Even if we could find where he was with the limited information available, it didn¡¯t make it clear if he was alone or with others. I got a bit more proficient at it after the first few times, but that just meant it didn¡¯t take quite so long for the image to come into focus. The results were¡­ kind of disappointing. Instead of improving my success rate watching him, it actually went down. That was because every time he came into focus he realized he was being watched and began to resist. As far as I could tell he didn¡¯t have the ability to sense magic himself, or powers in general. Rather, his new headgear seemed to inform him.


    As for what sort of thing could sense magic? The answer was simple. A Phasmotron Amplifier. If you wanted a further explanation from me, it would be literally impossible. The things created by tech supers were off in their own world where nothing made sense. Maybe it simply relied on yet undiscovered foundations, or maybe all of their tech was held together by the power of tech supers in general. Either way, it seemed stopping old Handface from getting his hands on one Phasmotron Amplifier hadn¡¯t been enough. We knew that but now we were sure he had a working¡­ something. At the very least, it could detect scrying somehow.


    The image of Handface sleeping provided a small amount of assurance that nothing was infallible. I sighed, ¡°Well, at least it doesn¡¯t seem to wake him up. Though I don¡¯t know if I want to sit through ten minutes of this.¡±


    ¡°We should,¡± Calculator said. ¡°He could be faking, perhaps.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯s not. There was basically no resistance.¡± Just in case, I moved my view around as far as I could, but it was a pretty tight area. I was just able to try to ¡®clip¡¯ through some walls nearby, but it just revealed more warehouse-slash-secret-base decor. I was also immediately forced back through the wall to where I could see my target. Upgrading Scrying would be necessary for more, but it wouldn¡¯t be cheap. It would be better to get combat related things that would help me level up faster, or more safely which was almost the same. After ten minutes was over- during which we determined he slept with no fewer than three guns of different sizes within reach- the image faded away. ¡°Sorry we couldn¡¯t get more.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°All powers have limitations, and even this is information we wouldn¡¯t have had. Even when intel comes back lacking, the effort is important.¡± He paused for a few moments. ¡°You can do this again, right?¡±


    ¡°Not until tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I meant for someone else.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well¡­ yes. But then I¡¯ll be pretty much drained for a while. I can¡¯t even train for a few hours.¡±


    ¡°We understand,¡± he said as he looked at his tablet, browsing through something. ¡°You will be compensated of course, as it¡¯s beyond your normal scope of duties.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need more money,¡± I pointed out. ¡°What would I do with it?¡±


    ¡°... buy fancy cars?¡± Calculator shrugged. ¡°Or a good computer, or television setup.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t drive,¡± I reminded him. ¡°And what would I need a computer for? I can use the ones here. None of those will make me stronger.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d suggest a home gym but¡­¡± he shook his head, ¡°It wouldn¡¯t even come close to here. And I do believe that¡¯s not what you meant.¡± He pondered for a few moments, ¡°You need to fight to become stronger?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I crossed my arms and nodded.


    The man adjusted his glasses, ¡°I believe we could arrange that, given one of the interested parties. You have interacted with Great Girl before, I do believe.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she led me to all the fictional stuff similarly named to my magic.¡± It was kind of weird, but then again a lot of the names were pretty straightforward. A firebolt was a firebolt. The weird thing was how certain ranges and areas would match up. ¡°She¡¯s definitely strong, but I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d be a better match now. It depends on her durability, I suppose¡­ but I¡¯d certainly like to try again.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. Then the person we would like you to find is Gloom.¡± He held up his tablet with a picture of a hooded figure, dressed in black with highlights of red. ¡°He¡¯s very good at escaping capture.¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­¡± I stared at the picture, but couldn¡¯t see any trace of the man¡¯s face. ¡°I don¡¯t think that will work. It¡¯s not enough to go off. Unless he¡¯s actually named Gloom?¡±


    ¡°Highly unlikely,¡± Calculator admitted. ¡°Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have a face. Would video help?¡±


    ¡°I might make some connection that way but it would be extremely shaky if it worked at all. If you have something of his, or better something that was part of him¡­¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately we don¡¯t have the latter. But we should be able to get some scraps of clothing. That might take a while though.¡±


    ¡°Can it wait until tomorrow then?¡±


    The man shrugged, ¡°I suppose it might as well. No point in having you sitting here on your rear. Tomorrow morning, perhaps. We can have you look for Deimos in the evening. Would that be alright?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± I nodded.


    -----


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that we¡¯re meeting in a closet,¡± Great Girl commented as I saw her again.


    ¡°It¡¯s better than the first place I was using Scrying,¡± I noted.


    ¡°Oh?¡± She raised an eyebrow. ¡°Where was that?¡±


    ¡°Men¡¯s bathroom.¡±


    ¡°... closet is much better.¡±


    It was actually quite a large closet. Enough space had been cleared out that my entire squad had fit inside comfortably along with the Calculator guy, or at least semi-comfortably. She only took up space as maybe one and a half of the three people who weren¡¯t around in her normal size. The addition of Midnight didn¡¯t really change anything.


    ¡°Gloom, huh,¡± he commented. ¡°That name sounds pretty emo.¡±


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what he meant by that, but apparently Great Girl understood.


    ¡°Like you¡¯re one to talk ¡®Midnight Deathstalker¡¯.¡±


    ¡°What? It¡¯s my real name. I come from a long line of Deathstalkers, and I was born at Midnight.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not because of your fur?¡± I asked.


    He looked up at me and I could feel the sarcasm before he spoke. ¡°Oh yeah, for sure. Every member of my family is named Midnight, Charcoal, and Ebony.¡± He rolled his eyes. ¡°That would get pretty confusing even if we had enough names for it.¡±


    ¡°A good point,¡± I nodded.


    A man cleared his voice, and we turned to see Calculator in his usual suit. ¡°Can we get started?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, of course.¡± I looked around. ¡°Who has the stuff?¡±


    Great Girl pulled out a plastic bag. ¡°One scrap of cloth ripped from Gloom¡¯s hood. I was trying to tear the whole thing off, obviously that didn¡¯t work and he got away.¡± She handed it to me. ¡°Scrying huh¡­ so he¡¯ll have like a plus one on his save?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Uh, you haven¡¯t met him firsthand and you have a possession,¡± she explained.


    ¡°It will be more difficult than the baseline, if that¡¯s what you mean,¡± I said. ¡°A larger piece would help too.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sorry,¡± Great Girl shook her head, ¡°We really don¡¯t have anything.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll give it a shot.¡± I looked at the bag, ¡°I can take it out, right?¡¯


    She looked at me, ¡°You¡¯re wearing gloves, so it should be fine. Well, it¡¯s old evidence anyway. Never led to anything.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have anyone with tracking powers in this world?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not anyone good enough. The good ones are swamped with work, and Gloom is¡­ resistant.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Well. Time to get started.¡±


    I concentrated on using my mana. White mists began to form on the surface of the mirror, our reflections fading away. I held in one hand the scrap of cloth, the other my phone with a still picture of Gloom along with a blurry video below. Along with the hood he kept his entire form obscured with baggy clothing. Only his voice identified him to some extent, but even that was distant and echoey. It was like the nighttime wind speaking dark magic.


    My mind focused on that lack of face, the nothingness, the tenuous string of connection through a single scrap. There was something there, at least. I reached out for it and pulled, both ends moving closer to each other. I found myself close. I just had to keep concentrating.


    I found myself sinking through nothingness as the darkness of the hood pulled me in. My mind was focused only on the connection to Gloom, and I held on tight, but I couldn¡¯t help but sink deeper into the darkness, a darkness where there was nothing. No light, no sound, no touch. I barely even had the faintest sense of my connection to Midnight, even though he was practically touching me.


    What was I doing again? I¡¯d lost track of it as I tried to find something, anything to guide me. There was a slight buzzing in my ears. I turned around. Probably. Maybe I remained perfectly still. ¡°...ough¡­¡± A noise? ¡°...lough¡­¡± I latched onto whatever it was, or tried to. My grip on anything was vague and ill defined. I wasn¡¯t even sure who was speaking. Or who I was. ¡°Turlough!¡± Oh yes. That was it.


    My eyes snapped open to see Midnight standing with his paws on my chest, yelling in my face. ¡°Turlough! Wake up! Get away from it!¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said dazedly. ¡°I did.¡± For some reason the back of my head hurt. And the front. And the rest of it, but all in different ways. ¡°I¡¯m fnn¡­¡± I tried to say fine, but my mouth didn¡¯t really work and there was a surprising amount of liquid suddenly inside it. Metallic. Oh yeah, that was blood. Did I bite my lip? No, it was coming from my nose.


    ¡°You¡¯re not fine,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But just stay here, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I tried to nod, but I couldn¡¯t really lift my head.


    I lay there for¡­ a few seconds? A minute? I couldn¡¯t really tell. All I could feel was my head and Midnight¡¯s worry and a small amount of the pain I was feeling reflecting back to me thirdhand.


    There was a loud thumping of feet above my head, which I presumed was outside the door. Then a voice. ¡°You can set me down now.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. Sorry.¡±


    I smiled as a figure¡¯s face came into view. ¡°Hi Doctor Mishra. Good to see you.¡±


    ¡°How is he?¡± A bright light shone in my eye.


    ¡°Not great,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Awful,¡± Midnight tattled.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Great Girl¡¯s head appeared way above Doctor Mishra.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± came another voice, and she disappeared.


    ¡°Ooh, Doctor umm¡­¡± I searched my memory. ¡°The first one!¡±


    ¡°Martinez,¡± he said. ¡°How are the injuries?¡±


    ¡°He definitely hit his head pretty hard,¡± Doctor Mishra commented. ¡°I¡¯ve fixed some of the physical trauma.¡±


    I let them do that while I appreciated how the pain was less. That wasn¡¯t a great experience, feeling like I¡¯d nearly been killed. Experience¡­ idly, I opened my status window. Only I could see it so it wouldn¡¯t get in the way of the doctors.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 18


    Experience: 902


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +2


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +1


    Enlarge


    Energy Ward


    Sonic Lance +1


    Scrying


    Remaining Points: 4


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Nice.


    ¡°Definite metaphysical trauma to the brain,¡± Doctor Martinez commented. ¡°That¡¯s odd. What were the circumstances?¡±


    Great Girl took the chance to explain. ¡°He was trying to scry Gloom.¡±


    ¡°Gloom? Can¡¯t say that I understand how his powers work. But this doesn¡¯t seem out of line. Unfortunately, this might come with some sort of lasting mental trauma.¡±


    ¡°... he seems a lot better,¡± Midnight commented.


    I did feel a lot better. For one thing, I hurt a lot less. Midnight also was less worried, which meant I didn¡¯t have to feel that, which made me feel better.


    ¡°I did take care of some of the physical damage,¡± Doctor Mishra pointed out.


    ¡°It¡¯s more than that. We have a mental connection. He feels¡­ happy?¡±


    ¡°Possibly some sort of confusion from the incident. But that¡¯s better than the alternative,¡± Doctor Martinez commented.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. No issues.¡±


    ¡°He means that,¡± Midnight said. ¡°By his standards, he¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Why would he be happy though?¡± Doctor Martinez questioned.


    ¡°Well,¡± Midnight pondered. ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure but¡­¡±


    ¡°That was worth like¡­ half a level,¡± I said. My brain was still a bit fuzzy, but thirtyish experience was¡­ half of one hundredish right?


    Midnight sighed, ¡°I thought so.¡±

 Chapter 56

    After I became more lucid, I realized that obviously thirty points of experience was significantly less than half a level. It was still very good, though, so I didn¡¯t regret what had happened when trying to scry Gloom. I just regretted not doing it more effectively.


    More poking and prodding from the doctors eventually resulted in me being let go, though they made me promise to come back so they could make sure there was no brain damage. I felt fine, but an hour before I hadn¡¯t been able to do basic math so maybe they had something.


    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± Great Girl had brought me to the cafeteria to get lunch, where she apologized. ¡°I didn¡¯t think something like that would happen with Scrying. That¡¯s not normal, right?¡±


    ¡°No, usually it should be a case of nothing happening. But apparently Gloom¡¯s powers have some sort of interaction with it. It seems a bit dangerous for now so I¡¯ll have to try again when I¡¯m stronger.¡± Would more points in Scrying help, or did I need some sort of mental defenses? Unfortunately the latter was kind of lacking at lower levels. There was the absurdly high level and powerful Mind Blank, or a small handful of protection spells that weren¡¯t properly tuned to protect against someone like Gloom. Unless he was a Fiend? Seemed like something worth knowing, but I didn¡¯t plan to test that with my brain possibly melting on the line.


    ¡°Yeah good idea. So do your saves go up with a higher level?¡±


    ¡°Save what?¡±


    Great Girl tilted her head and frowned, ¡°Like your¡­ resistance to stuff? Especially mental.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes,¡± I nodded. ¡°It does.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Midnight joined in. ¡°I haven¡¯t noticed.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re suddenly better. And I don¡¯t think people have been throwing mental attacks at you.¡± I leaned back and sighed, ¡°I just realized those aren¡¯t that rare here, huh? Things like that are pretty discouraged in my world, but if you just randomly get a power it¡¯s not like you have much choice¡­¡±


    ¡°Mental attacks are frowned upon?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s easy to cause irreparable harm to someone. Only higher level healing magic is of any help. It can mess people up pretty bad, and it¡¯s kind of evil. Still short of necromancy, though.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like they banned it because it was too effective,¡± Midnight did something resembling a shrug. ¡°But I suppose you¡¯d know.¡±


    ¡°... yeah.¡± I thought for a few moments. I looked at Great Girl. ¡°Mental attacks aren¡¯t looked on more highly here, are they?¡±


    Great Girl shook her head. ¡°Mostly not. Though it depends on what kind. If you can just put people to sleep, it¡¯s very useful. Anything nonlethal and without permanent effects. Any sort of mental control is¡­ more regulated.¡±


    ¡°I thought so. I should avoid getting anything like that for now¡­ especially since I¡¯m less familiar with how most of it works. Since I wasn¡¯t going to be able to use it anyway.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ so about your other problems. This Deimos guy¡­¡±


    ¡°Handface? What about him?¡±


    She snorted. ¡°Is that what you call him? That¡¯s a good one. Anyway, he used some kind of higher powered rifle, right? I remember you saying Stoneskin was too expensive, but do you have Shield? It¡¯s supposed to be a short burst of high defensive power.¡±


    ¡°It is,¡± I nodded. ¡°It helps against most incoming attacks, but¡­ it only lasts a short time.¡±


    ¡°Could you use it as a reaction to being shot?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ if I saw someone shooting an arrow at me, maybe. If they were really slow on the trigger and I was watching, I guess the same would work with a gun. It¡¯s a lower level spell, so gathering the mana is quick. But I¡¯d have to know the attack was coming.¡± I paused to think for a moment, ¡°It might be desirable to pick it up for use in combat instead of replacing Force Armor. Though it would be lacking my substantial number of upgrades and thus cost about an extra half point of mana.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a shame,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°What about a Contingency? You could have something trigger if you¡¯re attacked.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ would require a lot more skill points. Plus an expensive material component. Also, not immediately useful against a sniper. I would still have a hole in me and then a defensive spell would go up.¡± I still rubbed my neatly trimmed beard as I thought about the idea. ¡°The idea does resolve one of my problems, however. That is, how much mana I can hold at once. Contingency requires use of all of the mana upfront, so if I could guarantee nothing would happen for a couple hours¡­¡± I shook my head.


    ¡°Oh yeah. You¡¯re still searching for a way to recover mana more quickly, aren¡¯t you? Maybe I could talk to some people who could help. I owe you at least that much for what happened. And a match, of course. I¡¯m interested to see how much stronger you are. I heard you got a new spell.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s about¡­ three times as powerful as Shocking Grasp was. Would that be okay?¡±


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s fine. I owe you a serious spar for this whole fiasco. Though we should probably put it off for a couple days to make sure you don¡¯t have any lasting damage.¡±


    She was right, of course, but that didn¡¯t mean I had to like waiting.


    -----


    Over the next two days I learned that ivory was illegal, and rubies were still really expensive. That made me wonder what parts of the material component were actually important, and which were just tradition. I knew things didn¡¯t necessarily have to be expensive, though it made sense that it would be the case when there were a lot of high level wizards vying for the same materials. In this case, the component might be called a ¡®focus¡¯ as it wouldn¡¯t go away afterwards. It was just a little statue of the caster to hold onto the magic. Thus it made sense that any sort of magically conductive materials would be usable, but unfortunately I didn¡¯t know anything in this world that would do it but gemstones. Maybe I could get a license to get some ivory?


    That, and what other spells I might get once I actually had more points to spare, occupied my thoughts. When I got more points from my next level I wasn¡¯t going to spend them all on a high level spell that I couldn¡¯t use. For multiple reasons, since the mana cost would also be prohibitive.


    Then I got a text from an unknown number. Fortunately, the sender eventually identified themself.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Greetings, Turlough


    I have just obtained a phone, so I am making use of this to thank you for your help on multiple occasions now. I hope it finds you well¡­ and not asleep. I understand you are back on a diurnal schedule since some sort of attack, so I am sending this just before I go to sleep. I hope you have recovered well.


    Given an additional week, I have greatly increased my mastery of the English language. How is it? I have set my phone to ¡®silent¡¯ so I will be able to receive texts from you during the day without being awoken unnecessarily, if you desire to contact me.


    Do not hesitate to contact me on the phone in the future if you need my assistance during the night.


    Good Morning,


    Rositsa


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    She¡¯d written in English. She had to, since I was pretty sure her language¡¯s alphabet wouldn¡¯t be available in Earth¡¯s phones. I was pretty sure ¡®an additional week¡¯ was not sufficient to learn English, but there could very well be some sort of magic involved. Unfortunately I doubted I could learn anything about magic from her, since it was from a whole different world and, well, blood magic. Even if I could do it, it was better for me to not. The same went for methods to recover mana. The texts on that in my world had been pretty sparse, for obvious reasons.


    I sent her a much shorter reply. Texts weren¡¯t for using a lot of words. I also didn¡¯t have much to say, except wishing her good luck.


    I hadn¡¯t done any scrying since the Gloom incident. I wasn¡¯t going to try to look for him again and nobody else would have that effect, but that was the doctor¡¯s orders. Ignoring healers was a bad idea.


    Nobody was eager to run into battle with Handface anyway. One guy with a rifle? Acid Man could take him out. But we knew he had some interaction with supervillains, and people working for him. There could be several people with guns just as powerful. As for why they weren¡¯t used more often¡­ they were highly illegal. They wouldn¡¯t get people locked up in jail either- they would get them dead. At least if supers had to be involved, they were extremely uncharitable about people with weapons designed for actually killing them. I couldn¡¯t blame them, either. If I got a chance I was going to use a full powered Sonic Lance right into Handface¡¯s guts and probably explode him. Unless he had enhanced durability somehow, but I was aware that normal people still died just the same even if they were soldiers. That was why people wore armor. Even supers and people with levels appreciated more safety.


    It was a shame we couldn¡¯t keep up patrols, but the area was probably safer without us at the moment. I was worried about my companions as well. Several of us were in the works for upgraded outfits, but nothing was perfect. I had the points available to purchase Stoneskin, but it wasn¡¯t enough to cover our whole team with all of my mana. Though I could cover myself- which would carry over to Midnight- and Shockfire, who was most vulnerable. That would leave me with a measly handful of mana however. Still worth considering if we were going to end up in similar situations. In that case¡­ I put some diamond dust on order. I wouldn¡¯t spend the points until it came in just in case, but I knew I¡¯d eventually want it. And if I didn¡¯t use the diamond dust, it was just money. What else was I going to use it for? Maybe some kind of gem encrusted ivory statue of myself, but twenty or thirty dollars wasn¡¯t going to make a difference there.


    -----


    An extra hour before my spar with Great Girl was set aside for one specific reason. Safety was important, and no healers could fix death. Or at least, if they could it was very secret. And based on my world, also very difficult and expensive.


    Since we wanted to avoid even getting close to that, I was demonstrating Sonic Lance on a testing doll of some sort. Apparently it exploding would give her some idea of how much it would hurt her. And it should explode, if it was close in makeup to a human. It was enough to kill someone several times over if they took a direct hit to the vitals.


    I raised my hand towards the dummy that was the lone feature in a random training room. I gathered the slightly less than five mana for a Sonic Lance with a single upgrade and cast the spell. As expected, the thing exploded- but only the torso, and not all of it.


    ¡°Hmm, interesting,¡± Great Girl nodded. ¡°I kind of expected to see it a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Why? It¡¯s sound.¡±


    She shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Lots of sound powers have visible features. Maybe the air wavered a bit but¡­ that was it. So do you have to extend your arm like that?¡±


    ¡°I do have to aim it,¡± I admitted. An outstretched arm was the easiest way, and spells had to originate from somewhere. Hands were one of the most convenient and least risky. Trying atypical options usually resulted in unpleasant side effects. Telling her was fine, because it would still be effective.


    After that I sat and waited, looking at a Power Brigade energy bar in my hand. It was fine. Not particularly tasty but not gross to eat. I just wished it gave me the kind of energy I wanted. But alas, it did not. In my world high level casters just had to be patient about recovering their mana- or evil, blood and soul stealing psychopaths who were simply put down- but I had hopes that this world would have more. And if not¡­ I¡¯d just have to get to the point where I had a large mana pool. And that meant more fighting.


    Even as I entered the training room again, Great Girl was already there waiting- and not just her normal six foot height either, but a solid eight. It was quite a bit more intimidating than normal, especially with her stance. A serious fight was good for me, but I had the feeling this one might result in more than a couple broken ribs if I wasn¡¯t careful.

 Chapter 57

    Before the fight began, I thought it best to take Great Girl¡¯s advice on something. I had four points, and spent three of them to learn a second level spell. She was more experienced, so even if her powers lay in different directions her advice was worthwhile. She¡¯d used logic, and though it wouldn¡¯t solve my most recent problems it was still useful. Shield, that is. I was beginning to understand that you couldn¡¯t have too many defenses. Couldn¡¯t do anything if you were dead.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got healers on standby,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°So don¡¯t worry about holding back. Just don¡¯t aim for the head.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t planning to. Among other things it was a smaller target so I could easily waste mana with an unnecessary miss. ¡°Understood.¡± I remembered the previous time had been much the same, and she¡¯d avoided punching me in the face even though it was the most convenient point of attack. But that had been around a month ago, and she hadn¡¯t really been taking things seriously. Then again, I hadn¡¯t really required anything more than simple moves.


    The spar started with a signal from the observation room, after we were confirmed to be ready. There was some distance between the two of us, and I immediately opened up with a Firebolt. She ducked out of the way. The spell wasn¡¯t exactly slow moving, but Great Girl had shown her capability to react to Shockwave to some extend, and had excellent reflexes. Even if I had hit, it would have mostly sputtered off her costume.


    I didn¡¯t have specific hand gestures I had to make for any spell, I simply gathered mana and released the spell from- in most cases- my hand. If we were enemies I would make the choice to be as obscure as possible, but I thought it only fair to change the arrangement of my hand from a point to a flat palm aimed at her- just like when I used Sonic Lance earlier for demonstration. I gathered mana and then¡­


    She dodged out of the way. A good instinct, since the attack would both be basically invisible and moving at the speed of sound. The right choice, but I¡¯d been counting on it. Out of my palm came¡­ nothing. Not at first. But I tracked her movement for a moment before then unleashing Sonic Lance. She¡¯d already increased her size to around eight feet, and with that came durability. It would be fine.


    Great Girl was blasted backwards. That was probably the best possible result for her, as if she held her ground she would have had to deal with the entire force all at once. As she briefly left the ground I only had time for a smaller spell, using less mana. I judged where she would land and cast Grease. Previously she had avoided its effects by never really being subject to it, first jumping over it and then expanding her body. This time I was hoping to get her feet coated.


    When she hit I could have followed up with another Sonic Lance, but though she had assured me she could take a hit from it, two seemed a bit¡­ rude. I didn¡¯t have a good angle anyway.


    As she was knocked backwards she must have caught a glimpse of the grease, as she twisted her body and expanded as she moved through the air. That did strange things to her momentum, stopping her short of where I expected. She still almost fell into the grease, but she had reached what I was pretty sure her maximum size of fifteen feet tall, and she caught herself with her arms on either side of the black goop on the ground.


    I almost regretted not hitting her with another Sonic Lance as she shoved herself back to her feet, but with my current set of abilities I wanted to fight her in another way. I was aware that I would lose, but I first cast Haste. She turned to look at me, almost slowly from my perspective even though she was spinning on her heel.


    Next was Enlarge¡­ leaving me actually a good bit shorter than her, approximately double my height ending with me twelve feet tall. I had a decent amount of martial training under my belt now, from my time here and the spars with Hammerfist. I was absolutely, positively still going to get thrashed¡­ but I would draw it out as long as I could.


    Great Girl appeared to charge directly towards me, but I knew she could do all sorts of things to shift her momentum. Even so, I had to take a shot with another Firebolt to throw her off just before she got close.


    Then things turned into a brawl. She still had the advantage of reach and strength, but with Haste I could at least be faster than her¡­ though moving three times as fast really didn¡¯t help as much as I wanted. If I let myself get grabbed I was in for an immediate loss, so I had to settle for quick jabs she couldn¡¯t react to and a single use of Shocking Grasp. Each normal hit was only a small fraction of what a Sonic Lance could do, but I could also sustain this for a full minute. She knew that, though, and could just endure.


    But she didn¡¯t choose that. She was aggressive, moving on the offensive with leg hooks to trip me along with punches, kicks, and grabs. She managed to get me off balance and then shifted into a kick towards my ribs. Having taken a hit from her before, I knew Force Armor wouldn¡¯t stand up against it. But I had been saving Shield for such a moment, and Haste let me actually get the timing right. A semi-translucent circular barrier appeared between me and the kick.


    The impact sent me rolling halfway across the training room, almost into my own Grease spell. Had she been aiming for it¡­? I had to imagine she was. As I got to my feet I took stock of my defenses. Shield had just barely held against the attack. She was probably only expecting Force Armor, and had thus been holding back. Now that she knew about this she¡¯d know she could hit a bit harder. So as to not disappoint her and my ribs, I had to refresh the ability with the last of my mana. Well, I had about a point to spare but that wasn¡¯t enough to do anything useful, and I needed it as a buffer against mana exhaustion.


    We moved to clash again, exchanging moves rapidly. Every strike I landed barely fazed her and almost tired myself out more as I felt like I was punching steel. Shield helped keep me in play as I could mentally move it to get into the way of her attacks. I would have liked to do a bit more to interfere with her strikes, preventing them from gaining momentum by pressing the Shield forward, but I wasn¡¯t used to it yet. She didn¡¯t seem that perturbed by it though.


    The battle ended with her grabbing onto the edge of the spell and tilting it out of her way. It was held firmly where I wanted it with magic, but that was with respect to normal sized people. Both of us were well over ten feet tall and the Shield wasn¡¯t held more firmly in position just because I was bigger.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    With that out of the way she used her other hand to grab onto my shoulder when I thought she was going in for a different move. She made a move as if to knee me in the side, but then suddenly I found myself flipped around and pinned face down, my arms twisted behind my back. ¡°... Well?¡±


    ¡°Oh. I give up,¡± I declared. I didn¡¯t have much duration on Haste left anyway, and I never intended to win. It wouldn¡¯t even count against someone who was holding back so as not to turn me into a paste. Not yet anyway.


    A moment later Great Girl was standing over me, holding out her hand. I took it and she pulled me to my feet. ¡°Nice one.¡± Then she returned to her normal size. It took me a moment to cancel my spell, but after that we were more or less evenly sized again. ¡°With a fighting style like that, have you ever considered a spell like Transformation? I know it¡¯s a bit higher level but¡­¡±


    ¡°Transformation?¡± I frowned. It sounded familiar, but I was a little fuzzy from being knocked around and low on mana.


    ¡°Yeah. It makes you strong and fast but unable to cast magic while it¡¯s active.¡±


    ¡°Oh right. Martial Transformation. I¡­ might get it someday.¡±


    Previously, I would have avoided fighting like I was now. Even if it wasn¡¯t the other apprentices, someone would have said something about it being typical for an orc, even if they had magic they just had to fight with their bodies. I had grown pretty comfortable here but¡­ I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted to go in that direction. I had a lot of other things to learn first regardless.


    ¡°We should get ourselves checked out,¡± Great Girl said, clutching her side. ¡°That new spell¡­ is pretty hard on people.¡± She¡¯d kept the strain out of her voice, but considering that Sonic Lance would straight up kill most people, the fact that she had no visible damage was something big. But it couldn¡¯t be nothing.


    As for myself, I was only had a few bumps and bruises. I didn¡¯t mind being hurt, but it made me remember something. Great Girl talked about not liking pain, long before. That was in relation to Shocking Grasp¡­ and no doubt she hurt much more now. But she didn¡¯t say anything about it. How awkward. I felt a bit bad, but it was a spar. Still, pressing her for more might not be appropriate. Maybe if I could find that Gloom guy. Which would be¡­ later. Much later. I very much preferred my brain not being mush.


    -----


    ¡°You did great, Turlough,¡± Midnight said after I was checked out and back in the cafeteria. ¡°Last time it was both of us, but you really held your own in there.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I grinned. ¡°But I can tell I still have a long way to go, if I want to catch up.¡± I¡¯d only sparred against Great Girl once before, so I received a nice bounty of experience for making things become at least a bit serious. ¡°Not too long before I¡¯m level 19,¡± I commented. ¡°But I really should have been level 20 years ago,¡± I shook my head.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Midnight said, placing his paw on my shoulder from where he sat on the table, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that stuff. I know it was hard to grow strong where you were with that curse¡­ but here, you¡¯re able to make progress. I can¡¯t even keep up, and I have your abilities.¡±


    I grinned, the feelings of warmth through our bond amplifying back and forth. ¡°I know you work hard as well. Looking forward to using those food related spells, huh?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Midnight nodded. And I could tell he was, but his motivation was deeper than that. After all, he could just buy tuna. And he did.


    -----


    Except for the unique circumstances with Gloom, I didn¡¯t get experience from Scrying. Even if someone resisted, it wasn¡¯t normally a fight, so Aspect of the Barbarian meant I got nothing. Normal mages could get experience from it, though it wasn¡¯t necessarily quicker than study or any number of other activities.


    It was kind of a pain to use, with all the requirements of time and space and how much mana it drained. But it was also nice to have a spell truly unrelated to combat. There were other vision spells that had more direct tactical use, but Scrying was further removed. Just being able to use magic calmly was nice. Though I also wanted to learn all sorts of other things, so fighting would continue even if it hadn¡¯t been so fun.


    I was still working with the guy in the suit. Calculator. I was getting uncomfortably familiar with Handface, but such was how spying on people worked. That familiarity was actually good for the sake of the spell, as even when he noticed and tried to resist I had some leverage to use against him. But even if we tried at irregular times, he was never without that device that informed him. I probably wouldn¡¯t be either, but I didn¡¯t have one. Besides, I had felt someone Scrying on me without it. Once. It was actually kind of odd it had never happened again, especially since Handface didn¡¯t seem to have any acquaintances of a magical persuasion, or even with similar sorts of powers.


    ¡°Wait, turn back clockwise for a moment,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Three more degrees.¡±


    He was very precise with what he wanted, but we had a good system going. I turned slightly, only stopping to ask, ¡°Through the wall?¡±


    ¡°Of course. That¡¯s where all of the most interesting stuff is.¡± I listened to him, and saw a brick wall. ¡°Aha! There it is. See this?¡± He traced his finger in front of the mirror, ¡°96. That¡¯s something useful.¡±


    I frowned, ¡°I can barely see that it¡¯s so faded.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± He nodded. ¡°I missed it a few times, but there was a sort of pattern to its shape and I picked out the outline. It¡¯s not a full address or anything, but it might just help us scope him out.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± I said. ¡°If we find him¡­ what else do we need to know?¡±


    ¡°We know he¡¯s had more contact with Rodentia, and that woman called Sirine. Also that splitter. We can¡¯t be quite sure who he is, since he¡¯s been very cautious with his face. Though that also indicates he might be a known villain, there aren¡¯t any matches. Other than those supers, he has minions. I¡¯m fairly certain they don¡¯t have more of those high powered rifles but¡­¡±


    ¡°One is too many,¡± I nodded. ¡°We need to incapacitate him without giving them a chance to use it. Or maybe it should be another group.¡±


    ¡°We have plenty of reasons to go after them even if it¡¯s not for personal revenge,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°If the Elemental Magic Squad doesn¡¯t want to make the attempt, I don¡¯t blame you. We can send someone else.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t know about the others, but I would prefer to go. Just not quite yet. Maybe after a bit more training.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. Just don¡¯t forget other people can improve themselves as well,¡± Calculator cautioned me.


    That was true¡­ but as far as I knew levels like mine were a rarity. I was also growing quickly, and had nearly caught up to where I was expected to be- but it should continue at a decent rate afterwards.

 Chapter 58

    Over the course of the next week Scrying attempts remained much the same, with Handface occasionally throwing off my attempts before we could get much information. Other than that it was usually the same dingy warehouse with little information. We had one number but little to tell us if ¡®96¡¯ was the whole thing or just part. But figuring that out wasn¡¯t my job, I just aimed Calculator at things while trying to puzzle out how he was gaining information. Focusing on the spell while at the same time looking for small details was difficult. Upgrades would expand the range and efficiency of the spell, but it would still take focus. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t something I could just upgrade with points.


    Except I could. There were spells specifically for that purpose. It was just that Enhance Mind was one of those things with loose functionality. It had a moderate mana cost and it made thinking ¡®better¡¯ for a while. It was difficult to measure something like that, and generally became useful if a mage had extra mana. Or if they were spending a long day studying and were fine with using most of their regenerated mana on the task. It was a fourth level spell, and thus took two-thirds of the regeneration. That meant I simply couldn¡¯t keep it up along with Translation¡­ though I was hoping not to need the latter soon enough. I could get by speaking English just fine, but I was still missing some nuance. Having the option to speak other languages was also very useful.


    ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°Thinking,¡± I replied.


    A few moments of silence followed. ¡°Am I to interpret that as you not wanting to be interrupted, or were you thinking about thinking?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the second,¡± I nodded. ¡°I have the potential to get some magic that would enhance someone¡¯s cognitive abilities. I feel that it would help in situations like this, where my concentration is occupied.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s- hold that thought. Clockwise turn.¡±


    I did so, and caught another glimpse of the person walking past. ¡°Dang, missed his face.¡± My Scrying was almost about to fade away, so there wasn¡¯t much chance of catching them passing by again.


    Calculator waved the tablet in his hand, ¡°I think I might have gotten it. Let¡¯s review the footage.¡±


    ¡°... I kind of forgot you were recording all of this. Or rather, that it¡¯s possible.¡± I understood technology enough to know what it could do, but I still wasn¡¯t used to it all.


    Calculator grinned, ¡°I doubt any of this could be used in a court, but it¡¯s good enough for us to know whatever we learn.¡± He tapped a few times, ¡°Here we are.¡± The sound of the room and our occasional comments played back as well as a partial representation of the image shown in the mirror. Then he paused. ¡°There, got it. That good enough?¡±


    It was a three-quarters view of the face. A little blurry, but distinct enough. ¡°I think so. The connection will be pretty weak at first, though. If they have a strong will they might just throw me off. It could take some time to get familiar with them for it to work consistently.¡±


    ¡°I guess we can pencil that in for tomorrow then,¡± Calculator frowned. ¡°I¡¯d like to get a look at this new guy while he¡¯s around the warehouse though.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ why are we not then?¡±


    ¡°Because you can only use Scrying once per day.¡± He looked at me, his expression shifting into a frown. ¡°Did you not say that?¡±


    ¡°I probably did. It only works on an individual once per day, more or less.¡±


    ¡°...but you can actually do it more than once per day,¡± I could see the gears turning inside his head, ¡°An erroneous assumption on my part from incomplete information.¡±


    ¡°I still can¡¯t do it constantly,¡± I cautioned. ¡°If I do it again I¡¯ll be basically drained of mana. Then it¡¯s like two hours before I could do it once more¡­ and if I only use Scrying I¡¯ll never get better at anything.¡± I wanted to bring that up just in case he forgot.


    ¡°I remember,¡± he nodded. ¡°The Power Brigade understands that supers are people too, and that they can be run ragged just like anyone else. But since you brought it up, I¡¯ll assume you are willing to give this a shot right now?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I just need to also have opportunities for training, or actual missions.¡±


    ¡°There will be more of the latter once your team isn¡¯t in danger of randomly being sniped.¡± He pressed a few buttons on his tablet. ¡°I sent you the picture so that I can be ready to record.¡±


    I took out my phone, opening up the photo. Then I began to concentrate, slowly drawing out the mana. My maximum was twenty-three and I would be twenty-two in twenty minutes¡­ but that was actually much less than doing something similar in a fight which would only last a couple minutes. It would just leave me nearly tapped out, approximately with three points after regeneration.


    Minion #1 appeared to be the muscle type. He was a bit taller and bulkier than myself, which made him significantly bigger than the average human. Nothing alarming, though I would prefer to stay out of melee combat with him if I didn¡¯t have the use of magic. As the mists began to fade away and his movements were revealed, it was clear it was working. And despite the tenuous connection¡­ I didn¡¯t really feel any kickback.


    One of the first things Minion #1 did was walk into a small room with a half dozen others, mostly unmasked. Calculator made appreciative noises as I focused on each of them for a moment.


    ¡°Boss is still being paranoid,¡± Minion #1 commented. ¡°Thinks he¡¯s being watched.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous,¡± Minion #2 replied. ¡°We haven¡¯t spotted anyone, and if they had a super spying on us we would have been taken out a week ago.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that,¡± Minion #3- a woman- shook her head. ¡°But I¡¯d probably bet on that thing being on the fritz rather than anything else. That¡¯s stolen super tech put together by a woman who wears a rat mask.¡±


    Another voice entered the scene, along with a vaguely familiar profile. ¡°It¡¯s better than walking around with your face visible for everyone to see,¡± commented the new man. ¡°Speaking of which¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh come on!¡± said Minion #2, ¡°We¡¯re in the base! It¡¯s stuffy in here!¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Minion #3, ¡°Look, Swarm, I don¡¯t know how Rodentia got you so hooked on the rat head thing, but it¡¯s not for us.¡±


    The man walked forward until he was right between Minions #2 and #3. ¡°Because I¡¯m not revealing my identity in a way that¡¯s easily compromised by one screw up.¡± Then he split in two, leaning towards both of them. He whispered something that made them pull back, but I wasn¡¯t able to hear it. Unfortunately I had to listen and watch from Minion #1¡¯s position. Both Minion #2 and #3 took a step back though, their faces turning into grimaces. ¡°Just think about that, hmm?¡±


    ¡°What about him?¡± Minion #2 complained.


    ¡°This man?¡± Swarm pulled himself back together. ¡°He¡¯s¡­¡± Swarm leaned in to whisper in his ear. ¡°Boyan Dimov.¡± Then he pulled back. ¡°See?¡±


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    Minion #1 remained still for a moment, then shrugged. ¡°I do not understand why my name is supposed to be scary? Are you afraid of your own names?¡±


    Minion #3 rolled her eyes, ¡°Of course not! It¡¯s the meaning behind that! Swarm probably knows all about us.¡±


    ¡°Of course he knows. We work for Supervillains.¡± Minion #1 shrugged. ¡°Did you think they were going to respect your anonymity?¡±


    The scene rapidly became less interesting as the Super apparently called Swarm left the others behind and Minion #1 began pulling stuff out of a fridge and making himself a sandwich. Soon enough the Scrying faded away.


    ¡°Well then,¡± Calculator nodded happily. ¡°That was revealing. Got a name and a few faces, and different targets for your Scrying. Plus a good look at Swarm. He¡¯s not in our records¡­ aside from the incident with you at the docks. At least we have some images of his build now. Can you scry him tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately not. I would need a connection. A name or face would work, something that resonates with the person on a deeper level. The mask does nothing, and a general build size¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°If we get a longer conversation with him talking, though, it might be enough to start working at the cracks, but it¡¯s not nearly so good as having something real. Pseudonyms, even those accepted by their owners, intentionally distance identity.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I have so much to look into already.¡± He looked me over. ¡°You should go sit down. You¡¯re looking pale.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s basically the same as an all out fight. A bit slower, but just as much energy. And now it will take a long time to recover.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re working on that,¡± Calculator admitted. ¡°Speaking of which, we¡¯ve arranged for you to meet with some people over the course of the next week. We can¡¯t be certain any will be able to help, but do your best to work with them, alright?¡±


    -----


    ¡°You¡¯ve gotta, like, feel the energy of the cosmos, man,¡± said the long haired man with strangely tinted glasses.


    ¡°... I need mana though,¡± I retorted.


    ¡°Call it whatever you want. Just feel it flow through you. Breathe it in.¡±


    I took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s just drug-infused smoke.¡± I know I had been told to work with these people, but this guy wasn¡¯t ¡®vibing¡¯ with me.


    ¡°That too, man,¡± he breathed deeply. ¡°Just feel it.¡±


    At least I wasn¡¯t paying for my time with this guy. The Power Brigade had thrown several things my way, including a couple supers with magic-adjacent powers. I could feel them doing stuff, but none of it was applicable to myself. There had also been general advice about meditation, but I couldn¡¯t tell any difference. But there was always the next person to try out.


    -----


    I was beginning to become far too acquainted with basements, but this one was at least not filled with smoke. Instead it was full of comfy bookshelves covered in books¡­ and little statues.


    The woman who opened the door had hair hanging in front of her face, rendering it barely visible in the shadows. ¡°Mage?¡± she asked. Her eyes flicked to Midnight on my shoulder.


    ¡°Did the mask give it away?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Plus I don¡¯t usually receive supers at home.¡± She waved me inside, ¡°Come on in. I¡¯m Rose. I heard from Great Girl you¡¯ve been having trouble with recovering mana.¡± She looked around the room, ¡°Uh, though it looks like this, I do have a doctorate in Supernatural Studies. No guarantees, obviously.¡±


    ¡°Are these games?¡± I asked.


    ¡°On that side? Yeah. Actually, it¡¯s not as crazy as it seems. You¡¯re from a type-F world, right? So some of this might match up.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t found anything,¡± I commented.


    ¡°Sure but you¡¯ve been here for what, a month? Less than two.¡± She sat down at a small table that barely seemed sized to fit one person, ¡°Please, sit.¡± The chair held my weight, at least. ¡°So, Great Girl didn¡¯t go into detail, but she said you recover mana naturally, but not as quick as you would like.¡± She pulled out a binder full of various different types of paper, some properly attached to the rings and some haphazardly slid in between various pieces. ¡°I was thinking we could find some similarities to what you might know. So, based on your knowledge, what options would you have available to you in your world?¡±


    ¡°Waiting,¡± I said. ¡°It recovers at a constant rate, whether awake or asleep.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t narrow things down much,¡± Rose shook her head. ¡°No other methods?¡±


    ¡°No good ones,¡± I said.


    ¡°I will need you to elaborate. Nothing effective, or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Nothing morally acceptable,¡± I clarified. ¡°There were mentions of blood magic, but for obvious reasons that was not available to students.¡±


    ¡°I see. Anything else?¡±


    ¡°There were expensive potions, but they required resources from my world. And I was not an alchemist, so even if I could find them the chances of replicating the right mixtures would be minimal.¡±


    ¡°I see. Liquified mana, or some equivalent¡­¡± she looked to Midnight. ¡°Here¡¯s an important question. This cat is your familiar?¡±


    ¡°I am a Celmothian,¡± Midnight explained tiredly.


    ¡°Oh! That might be important. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with the term.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m extraterrestrial,¡± Midnight explained. ¡°But I should be from this world. I recover mana the same though.¡±


    Rose snapped her fingers, ¡°See? Important. Are you able to transfer mana between the two of you?¡±


    I looked at Midnight, then shook my head. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°And you don¡¯t know of any other recovery methods besides blood magic or expensive potions?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Then it sounds like¡­ someone was hiding information from you,¡± Rose declared.


    I frowned, ¡°... Master Uvithar was very open with sharing his library.¡±


    Rose held up her hand. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t necessarily be your master. I¡¯m trying to remember¡­ you have a level?¡± I nodded. ¡°Were there higher level mages in your world?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Some archmages were very high level.¡±


    ¡°What was their capacity compared to yours?¡±


    ¡°About five times?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°And their efficiency using mana?¡±


    ¡°... It varies based on many factors.¡±


    ¡°How fast could they theoretically run out, if going at full power?¡±


    ¡°... A minute?¡± I postulated. They could have spells at around twentieth level, costing the same amount of mana each if they didn¡¯t have extra ranks. It would take longer to gather that much, and much care was necessary to target precisely. Unless they were truly reckless.


    ¡°I see. What about stories of great battles with them? How long did they last?¡±


    ¡°... sometimes seconds,¡± I admitted. ¡°But it could stretch on for half an hour if they were more conservative.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s where I have to ask you if that was realistic. How accurate were the latter stories¡­ and does that fit with what you know?¡±


    My mind went to some tables. Assuming they spent a large number of points making one spell very efficient and used it constantly¡­ it didn¡¯t add up. Even if they were casting high efficiency spells of around 6th level, they could do about thirty things. That was nowhere close to filling even ten minutes. Granted, I wouldn¡¯t expect a full intensity battle to last that long¡­ but I would expect them to last about a quarter that long. ¡°Not really. Could be exaggerated.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. Or they had other methods.¡± She tapped her hand on the binder of papers. ¡°We¡¯ll be exploring for compatibility and feasibility.¡±


    Well, at least she had notes.

 Chapter 59

    Doctor Rose had a large amount of information to search through in her binder, but some options were quickly rejected. Even so, it took quite some time to go through everything and eventually we had a huge list of things for me to try. Consuming food and drink didn¡¯t do anything except keep me basically functional, and if there were mana infused foods I would either not have access to them or should have already come across something.


    I hadn¡¯t tested whether I would recover mana more quickly at the top of a tower, but it didn¡¯t seem entirely unreasonable. Mages did like their towers. Though it wouldn¡¯t provide a real solution I hadn¡¯t actually tested if it were possible for Midnight and I to transfer mana between the two of us, but just using him as a battery was kind of wasted when he could just be an independent caster. Still, if it was possible we could see if other people could willingly share mana without the bond. Everyone could have at least a little bit. I honestly couldn¡¯t tell, since the only time it was obvious inside people was when they were very powerful spellcasters.


    ¡°About these possible emergency methods¡­¡± I grimaced, ¡°They kind of seem risky and unethical, even if I¡¯m only harming myself.¡±


    ¡°Risky? Definitely. That¡¯s why they¡¯re emergency methods,¡± Doctor Rose nodded. ¡°However, while bringing harm to one¡¯s self is not something I¡¯d advise, there are times it is appropriate. If the damage is only temporary, then things like exercise or even necessary surgeries are all quite similar. Giving something to gain something.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t even know how I¡¯d accomplish these anyway. Overtaxing my mana should result in me going unconscious, not¡­ into some sort of mana debt.¡±


    ¡°It could also be a natural defense mechanism against that very thing,¡± she pointed out. ¡°You might be able to push past it¡­ or perhaps it doesn¡¯t work like that. Unfortunately, from the sounds of it your world has covered up this knowledge. Otherwise given how information seems to have been investigated and laid out, you should have found at least more information on what doesn¡¯t work.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± There wasn¡¯t much else I could say to that. I hadn¡¯t really realized the information was missing. Maybe if I had not been stuck with Aspect of the Barbarian my higher level would have enticed me to look into such things more deeply and I could have realized the lack. But back to the discussion. ¡°Trading various sorts of physical stamina for mana is also something I don¡¯t know how I would do, or if it¡¯s safe.¡±


    ¡°Right. But I have the feeling something in that category should work. The question is whether or not you want to take the risks of making the attempt. Various media indicate you should recover¡­ eventually. But my practical knowledge is limited to just a few people.¡±


    ¡°You know other mages?¡±


    ¡°Magic users in general, yes. Not from your same world though.¡±


    ¡°Can you just introduce us?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°Identity privacy stuff, I¡¯m afraid.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ can you just tell them about me? They could make that choice. As long as they¡¯re decent people I don¡¯t mind my identity being known.¡±


    Rose nodded, ¡°I suppose I could do that. They might not do anything, but none of them would try to capture you and use you for experiments. Though there might be some villains¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the same for every super, I bet.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Unfortunately. Most of those get taken down pretty aggressively though- even by other villains.¡±


    ¡°Most?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, rumors are Doctor Doomsday had captured and performed experiments on many supers. Though rumors have him involved with nearly every sort of criminal activity.¡± She shrugged, ¡°Hard to say which parts are true.¡±


    A tingling sensation in my head got me to look over to a nearby table where Midnight was passed out. I took a look at the time. ¡°Oh wow. It¡¯s pretty late huh?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, it seems it is.¡±


    ¡°Guess I should be going.¡± I looked down at my list of things to try. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll start with the tower thing, and mana crystallization.¡± I had no idea how I would accomplish the latter without instruction even if it was possible, but then again everything that was done had to be done for the first time by someone. I couldn¡¯t help but think about it. Would it be like¡­ releasing mana without casting a spell? Usually nothing happened, but I could look into it. ¡°Thanks so much for the suggestions, Doctor Rose,¡± I bowed my head.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Please let me know if anything works. I¡¯d like to put together a universal theory of magic.¡±


    ¡°Hah,¡± I grinned. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we all? But if even a tenth of that stuff really functions that way somewhere, there¡¯s no way.¡± I scooped Midnight up in one arm and made my way out. There was one more person I was scheduled to meet eventually, but apparently they were out of the city. Out of the country, even.


    -----


    Much of my training was currently with Meztli, at least in the mornings. Studying unarmed techniques and weapons and simply using my body was a good use of my time while I recovered mana after using Scrying. Or the training could come after a power spar, depending on when and what I was planning to Scry.


    The two of us faced off with sticks that were apparently similar to riot batons. In short, a less lethal sort of melee weapon. Cracking someone on the skull with it might kill them, but it was better odds than being stabbed through the torso, or shot. Controlled use of Shocking Grasp was potentially better, but I wouldn¡¯t always have mana. Even if I did, fending off someone while I cast spells at them was a worthwhile endeavor.


    Not that I would be able to pull it off against someone like Meztli. She had the training to wipe the floor with me whenever we sparred. I was okay with that though, and not just because she had the power to fix every bruise I ended up with. Going against someone good gave me more experience, and not just the number. But also the number.


    I took some semblance of a stance, tried to block high and got hit in the wrist. Then we went again and my elbow was tapped hard enough to make me know what would have happened if she were serious. The third attempt I managed to parry one blow and almost landed a hit on Meztli¡¯s shoulder before my legs were knocked out from under me.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± she said. ¡°You just have to be a little quicker. You¡¯re bigger and stronger than me, so if you can actually land a blow¡­ well, you¡¯d take out someone without a power at least.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t even been using yours,¡± I commented.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°How do you know?¡± she asked. ¡°It¡¯s all internal.¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­¡± I frowned, ¡°Well, I feel it when you do the stamina thing. And I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯re enough better than me that you haven¡¯t needed to make use of your physical boosting.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re right,¡± she nodded. ¡°The question is, can you actually feel it when I do it?¡±


    I focused on her. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Are you doing it now? Because I can¡¯t sense anything.¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± she said. She began moving back and forth, weaving her baton through the air. It took a moment, but I definitely felt something as she began to speed up.


    ¡°There. I just felt it.¡± I thought for a moment, ¡°It mostly focused around your upper body.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± she admitted. ¡°Interesting. Has this come up before?¡±


    ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve definitely mentioned it once or twice¡­¡±


    ¡°Can all mages sense power usage?¡±


    ¡°Well, being able to sense magic happening is normal, I think. I guess it also works for powers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to know,¡± she nodded. ¡°Sensing is kind of seen as a pretty undesirable primary ability, but as a secondary it¡¯s quite useful. You could even tell where I was using my power, so it¡¯s reasonably specific as well. Does it function in combat?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more sensory information to take in, so¡­ sort of. When my squad mates are using their power I can sense it, but not much faster than there are visible flames or ice or whatever. Though for a while I could predict them.¡±


    ¡°I think they just got used to fighting against you,¡± Meztli pointed out. ¡°They realized they were telegraphing and stopped. Which means you might be able to use it against those unfamiliar with you more effectively.¡±


    ¡°That sounds great,¡± I nodded. ¡°Unfortunately, it won¡¯t do anything about a gun.¡±


    ¡°The best way to deal with one of those is to never have it come into play to begin with.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know of any sniper ranged object destroying spells,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Or object grabbing, either. But we¡¯re working on strategy.¡±


    -----


    The main part of our plan hinged around one thing- not having Swarm present. Everybody in the squad and that we consulted with all agreed that while one rifle was bad, many of them were worse. There could be some limit on what Swarm duplicated when he split, but it was clear enough from the fight on the docks that he¡¯d only had the original pistols on him but they still worked for each of his clones. Beyond that, we were coming up with a plan of approach that would best make use of our entire team¡­ plus one more.


    ¡°Sup, dudes,¡± said the latecomer. It was a guy with uneven long hair¡­ and shaved sides, which were probably because the sides had been the most messed up by the fire incident. ¡°Man, I can¡¯t believe they just let me down here.¡±


    ¡°Ahem,¡± Mace cleared her throat behind him. ¡°You¡¯re not exactly roaming around free. You five, I¡¯m sure you already know Rocker. And Calculator probably remembers every mission the Power Brigade has been involved in.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Calculator shrugged shyly, ¡°My power doesn¡¯t actually apply to memory, so I forget some things.¡±


    ¡°Really? What was my third mission?¡±


    ¡°It was¡­  helping the first outbreak of the molemen, right? The little ones.¡±


    ¡°See?¡± She raised her eyebrows. ¡°Every mission.¡± Calculator didn¡¯t continue to protest.


    ¡°So¡­¡± Midnight commented, ¡°Why is this ¡®Rocker¡¯ here?¡±


    ¡°Community service, cat dude,¡± the black leather-clad man replied. ¡°They said if I can use my powers for the benefit of the community I can stay out of the slammer.¡±


    ¡°He mostly caused property damage,¡± Calculator commented. ¡°And he managed convincing arguments that he wasn¡¯t planning to harm¡­ people.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m bullet resistant,¡± he said proudly. ¡°Which uh¡­ apparently you need?¡±


    ¡°We might,¡± Captain Senan nodded. ¡°Having been appraised of your availability, Calculator and I have been working on a strategy.¡±


    Calculator took the reigns with a nice slide presentation. He covered known entities involved- ¡°Deimos, Sirine, Swarm, and Rodentia, plus mooks,¡± Calculator showed slides with information about each of them. ¡°Rodentia has not appeared on-site as far as we know, and given the relative lack of large mechanical rats we can assume this is not her hideout. Swarm also seems to come and go more frequently. Sirine has apparently stuck some sort of deal with Deimos, so will likely be present. Thus, the plan is to go when Swarm is otherwise occupied. Rocker can contribute to both defense and offense, though the priority is dealing with that rifle. Acid Man will be assigned to that.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± he said, ¡°I could even try to slip in through some cracks, but I¡¯d run into an issue if Sirine spotted me. I¡¯m still affected by those weird sonic powers.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I know!¡± Rocker raised his hand, which was clutching a guitar, ¡°That¡¯s another thing I¡¯m here for, right?¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± Calculator acknowledged. ¡°You indicated your powers could form some sort of interference pattern.¡±


    ¡°Interference is what I¡¯m all about, man!¡± He plucked a string on his electric guitar- which I now knew was not a weird lute. The sound was loud, but he palmed the string when Mace glared at him. Then he slowly raised the guitar to cover his face.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Calculator continued. ¡°Mage has the ability to disguise people, so the team will be making use of that to blend in until you are close. That won¡¯t be a problem, I presume?¡±


    ¡°Might have to split the burden between Midnight and myself,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Too much mana, otherwise.¡±


    ¡°What will I disguise myself as?¡± Midnight questioned. ¡°The rest of you can just not look like you¡¯re supers in masks, but being a different cat might not really do much to disguise me.¡±


    ¡°It could,¡± Calculator mentioned. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate people¡¯s ability to just let things go, especially without other context. But it might also be viable for you to disguise yourself as, say, a rat.¡±


    ¡°Rats don¡¯t get to my size,¡± Midnight pointed out.


    I answered that comment, ¡°Normal ones, sure, but with Rodentia involved¡­ you saw the ones at the docks.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. I guess it¡¯ll work well enough.¡±


    ¡°We were thinking you could sneak in through one of the upper windows,¡± Calculator mentioned.


    ¡°Umm¡­ I don¡¯t think¡­ I can do that¡­¡± Midnight answered awkwardly.


    I jumped in to save him having to mention being afraid of heights. ¡°With some uses of Disguise he¡¯ll already be low on mana, so if he gets caught he won¡¯t have much left to defend himself solo,¡± I explained.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s reasonable enough,¡± Calculator shrugged. ¡°The plan doesn¡¯t hinge around it. Given your latest Scrying successes we have a pretty decent idea of the layout of the warehouse. We¡¯ve set up the training room with a facsimile to allow you all to do a practice run, but be aware that some portions are speculative. For the sake of that, they will be pink. We don¡¯t want you counting on walls that might not actually be there later.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s it?¡± Shockfire asked. ¡°We just go in and take them out?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a bit more to it, but essentially yes. Deimos himself is dangerous mostly because of technology, though it is assumed he has combat training. Without a rifle he should be easy to subdue.¡± Calculator brought up another slide, ¡°Priorities are securing him and the headgear full of stolen technology. Though first is all of you staying alive. If necessary we can bring in another squad but¡­¡±


    But it was our problem, by virtue of having gotten involved. It wouldn¡¯t reflect well on the squad. Besides, I would rather deal with the guy who tried to kill me with my own hands. First it was off to the training rooms to deal with some possible scenarios.

 Chapter 60

    The first step had gone off flawlessly. I had to admit that there was a bit of trouble I had picking out what people should look like. If I had to pick what I thought a casual group might look like it would have involved more elves, dwarves, and orcs. Or any amount of them and still several humans. But that by itself wouldn¡¯t matter if I didn¡¯t get the clothes right. Since I was basically around supers all day, my sense of style was off. I was given some specific forms to copy, and that worked out quite well for us. We basically just walked up to the warehouse without anyone noticing.


    Succeeding on this mission by virtue of stealth would be the best possible result, since it would avoid having to deal with any high powered rifles. Swarm was supposed to be out so we¡¯d only have to deal with Sirine and some mundanes. Not that it was good to underestimate non-supers. I was already well aware of what they could do with a rifle, and they had at least one piece of super tech. It was possible they would have more. Our plan of attack was to go in through one of the rear loading doors. Normally that would cause all sorts of problems, but we had some methods.


    Shockfire pressed his hand against the metal. ¡°No electronics,¡± he determined.


    Acid Man was next, turning into a pool and squeezing under the roll-up door. While liquids might not easily flow under the sealed surface, he could squeeze through slowly since he was self-mobile. If there was a handle to easily unlock it on the inside he would use that. Otherwise¡­


    A few moments passed and then the door sprang up a couple inches. There was probably some sound in relation to that but Rocker was doing his job suppressing the noise in the area. I could see the melted pieces of metal that had once been the lock holding it down.


    We slid the door halfway up and ducked inside, nearly closing it again behind us. This warehouse wasn¡¯t just one big open section but also contained a number of interconnected rooms on one side. It was probably illegal to set up living quarters in such a place, but that was less illegal than all of the other stuff. Like being criminal supers with illegal weapons. And no, it wouldn¡¯t be any better if they properly licensed the weapons since they tried to kill me with one.


    We crept forward, keeping an eye on each other and behind us since we could barely hear anything. Rocker¡¯s power worked both ways, after all. We managed to make our way to two guards we knew were consistently positioned and gently shocked them unconscious. It was easy to get something like that wrong and kill someone so we went extra light. In actual combat holding back was usually not the right call, but they couldn¡¯t make noise anyway- and we had extra people to hold them still.


    Everything was going fine until we spotted an enemy group at the same time they spotted us. There were a few we could pick out as the thugs manning the warehouse as well as someone dressed head-to-toe in silver. I saw the shockwave of a massive blast of sound travel through the nearby shelves- mostly empty- but Rocker negated it.


    Everyone sprang for cover and a bit of sound returned to the area as I moved away from Rocker. Shots were fired at us as the thugs drew guns, but Ice Guy formed a structure over and around the shelves to improve our defenses. Rocker was split off by himself but at least his defenses included bullet protection. Sort of. What his bubble of sound didn¡¯t disrupt his generic outfit would stop.


    ¡°Someone needs to take care of that sonic user!¡± Ice Guy said, immediately following with who. ¡°Mage and Familiar, you deal with that. Acid Man, go after those gunmen!¡±


    We were the right choice. Rocker seemed to be able to match the opponent, but that made him the worst option to deal with that opponent. Fighting someone with similar powers simply resulted in drawing out the fight which wasn¡¯t in our favor since this was enemy territory. ¡°I¡¯ll get us protected,¡± I said to Midnight. I gathered my mana for a nice Energy Ward and covered Midnight and myself. ¡°Alright you sneak around and- watch out!¡± I yanked Shockfire away from long tentacles reaching out to grab him. I couldn¡¯t bring him far since that would take him out of cover, but I at least turned him around.


    Ice Guy had been keeping tabs on the situation and threw ice at various points, little orbs that expanded to freeze around bits of the shelves and the nearby tentacles, locking them in place. Sort of. They were unable to move freely, but they began to shrink, pulling out of the confines of the ice and leaving behind a hold. Even so, they continued to pull back further, disappearing behind a pile of crates where they seemed to originate.


    ¡°Tch. More enemies,¡± Ice Guy shook his head. ¡°Familiar, you still focus on that sonic enemy while Rocker and Shockfire distract him. Mage, can you reach around behind those crates to shock that one?¡±


    ¡°I should be able to.¡± I didn¡¯t know if a writhing mass of tentacles was shock-resistant, but it was time to find out. I just had to keep track of how much mana I had. Mage¡¯s Reach went out and I charged it with Shocking Grasp, moving it up and over towards the center of the power I felt. I touched something, but a moment later I heard a voice in my ear.


    ¡°Mage, you¡¯re out.¡±


    ¡°Aww, dammit,¡± I said as I fell to the ground and let Mage¡¯s Reach fade away.


    ¡°Sniper behind us!¡± Ice Guy called out, expertly creating more cover there as well.


    As I lay on the ground I got to watch the rest of the spar. Nemesis was replicating Rocker¡¯s ability, but I hadn¡¯t expected Jim to show up. I kept my shock low just like for the two guards who were also playing dead. For the real mission we¡¯d go a bit harder but obviously we didn¡¯t want to kill training partners on accident. Or seriously harm them, even.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Midnight ultimately managed to take down Nemesis by sneaking around behind him. Since he was wearing a proper uniform Midnight was able to do a proper shock without even bringing him down. I felt something extremely unsettling as Nemesis copied Midnight, but the actual results were less than inspiring. He countered against Midnight with a Shocking Grasp of his own, triggering at the same time Midnight swiped him- but Force Armor negated that one. Midnight fake his next swipe and dodged the responding kick. I felt him preparing a Firebolt, but Nemesis suddenly fell over, unconscious. It wasn¡¯t even a fake, like me.


    Eventually the battle ended and we got together to discuss how things had gone.


    ¡°Hey Jim,¡± I waved to the writhing mass of tentacles we called Jim, even if his real name was --------. Obviously that was impossible for our vocal chords to replicate, and even with the help of Translation it was easier to refer to him as his common name.


    ¡°Hello there,  neighbor¡± he bowed his form towards me. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to hold back so much with the shock. I do have a protective suit in here.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°So,¡± Captain Senan looked around. ¡°How did this happen? Was this a random occurrence, or did we give ourselves away?¡±


    ¡°The latter,¡± Nemesis explained. ¡°Deimos has a device that can detect power usage, after all. It¡¯s not unreasonable for him to have noticed the approach once you were at the door.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t think of that. Well, that¡¯s why we have training after all. I didn¡¯t think we were spotted so I wasn¡¯t looking at our flanks either. Sorry about that guys.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry captain. None of us thought of it either.¡± It wasn¡¯t strange that I had been the first target of ¡®Deimos¡¯ either, which was really just someone with a laser scope on a rifle and a connected mic to let us know we¡¯d been shot. There was some live ammunition from the ¡®thugs¡¯ but we couldn¡¯t risk a real high powered shot. One slip up and we¡¯d be dead before healers would be on the scene. Even the live ammo was the ¡®less lethal¡¯ kind.


    We hadn¡¯t known Nemesis would be present, but it made sense that he was the vague representation of Sirine. It wasn¡¯t so simple to get someone with a sonic mind screwing power on short notice. Jim¡¯s presence¡­ well, he was just a random variable since we couldn¡¯t know that there wouldn¡¯t be any other supers.


    I was willing to bet if they could find a splitter the next scenario would involve Swarm not being away as our intel said. Power Brigade¡¯s intel would have high accuracy, but we knew it wasn¡¯t possible to be completely accurate. We¡¯d do at least a few more rounds of training, then look for an actual opportunity to assault the warehouse.


    -----


    After the day¡¯s training I sat up on the roof of the Power Brigade, looking out on the world. The area was actually restricted, not because there was much of anything directly important but because it was a possible infiltration point.


    ¡°Good evening, Turlough!¡± Khithae said in much improved English. Being around more people willing to help her practice was helping, though her mouth would never be perfect for the language. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Counting,¡± I said as I looked down at the timer on my phone. ¡°Trying to recover mana.¡±


    ¡°Seems an odd place,¡± she shook her head as she walked over to one of the big metal boxes on the roof. ¡°I hope some noise won¡¯t throw that off. I have to fix this HVAC.¡±


    It was kind of relaxing to see her disassemble the outside and tinker around with electrical boards, though I wasn¡¯t sure why there were so many for a spinning fan. Then again, everything was run by electronics so perhaps it made the most sense.


    After an hour I used exactly six mana on spells and continued to wait, noting my fatigue levels. I could tell when I was full or nearly empty, but in between it was more vague. The difference between nine and ten mana was basically undetectable, but over the course of a few hours I would know if my mana was staying in the middle or rising. Or falling, if somehow this lowered my mana regeneration rate. It was possible.


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t help you to be bigger right now, would it?¡± I asked Khithae.


    ¡°No, it would not. Actually, being smaller might sometimes be useful. Some things are hard to reach and I¡¯d like to slip around¡­¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have that one.¡± I¡¯d like to have it, but I would also like to know every spell, so Reduce wasn¡¯t exactly the highest priority. I had the feeling it would be useful against many enemies though. It was only a question of whether or not they could resist it.


    I was staring out over the city when I noticed a bright light. That wasn¡¯t especially odd, given there were many buildings that could have lights on. But this one was wavy and not the pristine white of artificial light. Fire.


    I always had my comms device on my while at the HQ. Getting texts was a fine method of communication but some places I wasn¡¯t allowed to bring a cell phone for security reasons. I activated the little device that fit in my ear and spoke. ¡°Dispatch, there¡¯s a fire on a building two blocks north of HQ. Has that been called in to the city?¡± They would be able to deal with that faster than I could do it myself, and there was more.


    ¡°Thank you Mage. It hadn¡¯t been called in yet.¡± Then following that, ¡°All free personnel, a fire has been spotted two blocks north of HQ. Please make your way there to assist if you have suitable abilities.¡±


    I imagined individual people were being called out individually as well, but the general call could include me. I wasn¡¯t entirely sure what I could do, but I could think of a couple options. I had no points to suddenly get a new spell for putting out a fire, but my current thirteenish mana could provide several useful options to support others. I hurried down the stairs towards the nearest elevator. I didn¡¯t have a fast way of getting down just yet.

 Chapter 61

    Taking any sort of vehicle to just a few blocks away was liable to be a waste of time. I¡¯d have to wait for someone to drive¡­ and hope that traffic didn¡¯t suddenly jam up when people noticed the fire. But I hadn¡¯t been running every day for nothing. Doing it with intentionality was much more effective than, say, just running away from people I happened to have zapped a little.


    I wasn¡¯t the first one there. I had been on the top floor, after all. Ice Guy was¡­ unfortunately already at home. Most of the team was. I saw Great Girl and an unfamiliar guy in a suit- the dress kind like Calculator wore. He had the Power Brigade logo on pin, however. Then I saw Shockwave. That was surprising not because I didn¡¯t expect Shockwave to come and help, but because they were moving slowly enough for me to actually see it. But I realized why. Moving someone took care, and moving at full speed through a possibly structurally unsound building¡­ well, they weren¡¯t called Shockwave for nothing.


    I approached Shockwave but couldn¡¯t predict where they were going to end up. ¡°Hey can you-¡± they zipped away for ten or twenty seconds, ¡°Stop for a sec?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Shockwave was usually happy to talk to me, but seemed upset at being interrupted.


    I tapped them on the shoulder as I cast Energy Ward. ¡°Fire protection. Doesn¡¯t help with smoke though.¡± It wouldn¡¯t matter how fast they moved through the fire if they were in fire for a handful of seconds at a time the heat would still get to them.


    ¡°Kthanks-¡± and Shockwave was off. But this was exactly the time such expediency was needed.


    Great Girl was next. She was at the tallest I¡¯d ever seen her. I thought she could only reach fifteen feet, but she seemed to be more. I couldn¡¯t tell exactly since she was standing on her tip-toes to try to reach the fourth floor, but maybe twenty feet tall? When she bent down with someone in her hands I took my chance to cast Enlarge. ¡°Thanks Mage!¡± she said as she stood back up even taller. It actually made her too big to reach inside the building, but it also allowed her to just hold her hand flat and have a half dozen people hop on. If she needed to shrink, she had control over her part of things at least. And now she could reach the fourth through sixth floors without difficulty.


    Midnight was scurrying around to provide support for some of the others. He could only use Energy Ward twice even from full mana, but if one of those was a Haste he could make a speedy savior.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± the man with the suit walked up to me. ¡°You said something about fire protection?¡±


    ¡°Yes that¡¯s right,¡± I nodded. ¡°Can you help people?¡±


    ¡°As long as I don¡¯t have to worry about burning up, yes.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I nodded. He was from the Power Brigade so it should be fine. ¡°It¡¯s the last one though.¡±


    ¡°It will be worth it,¡± he assured me.


    A comforting chill surrounded him as I used Energy Ward. It probably wasn¡¯t actually cold, but it was hard to have any mental understanding of resisting heat except cold. Even if it was a nice, cozy chill.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± the man in the suit said- and then he disappeared with a little zipping sound. Not super speed, but something else.


    When I heard the sound again I turned around to see him and a confused civilian for a moment, before he was gone again. Teleportation? And apparently accurate and rapid. When I spun around to look where I next heard him, I realized I should stop doing that before the floor came up to meet me. Being out of mana and dizzy was a recipe for disaster. Except I wasn¡¯t quite out of mana, I realized. Maybe being up high had worked?


    I couldn¡¯t do much else except watch and stay out of the way, though. Half-assing an Energy Ward would just make someone overconfident, and making anyone else big would just throw things off. Haste was probably too expensive, since it cost more than four points. And if I knocked myself out then the paramedics would fuss over me when they should be worried about people who were actually in danger.


    With Great Girl, Shockwave, the suit guy, and a couple others I didn¡¯t recognize who might have just been locals, the building was cleared out before the fire department even arrived to deal with the fire itself.


    Something bright brought my attention up, and it wasn¡¯t the fire. It was a glowing figure, circling around the building a few times and then landing on the roof. Then they hopped off and circled the building a few times more before landing next to some guy in pajamas holding up his phone. The guy looked vaguely familiar for some reason.


    His eyes lit up as the bright figure landed. ¡°Shooting Star!¡± He reoriented his phone. ¡°Zack Brannigan of Channel 72 news. Can I get a few words about the fire?¡±


    Oh right it was that guy. From the time with the slimes. And Shooting Star¡­ was going to hog the glory. Well, whatever. I was prepared to leave, but I saw Great Girl¡¯s eye twitching. It wasn¡¯t hard, because she was currently still over ten feet tall. She¡¯d shrunk as much as she could, but Enlarge was still active. She was upset for some reason, but unable to act because of her position. How unfortunate.


    ¡°... and once again heroes saved the day,¡± Shooting Star finished.


    I leaned my head in front of the phone. ¡°She didn¡¯t actually do anything though.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Zack Brannigan took a step back to get me in better focus. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I mean she didn¡¯t get here until everyone was already safe.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Zack Brannigan was quiet for a moment. I felt some sort of power radiating from Shooting Star, but I was trying to look good for the camera. Zack¡¯s eyes darted between me and Shooting Star a couple times. ¡°So¡­ the heroes didn¡¯t do anything?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not quite it. That guy in the red-¡± I pointed, ¡°And the one in the green. They were both here pretty quick. But Shooting Star wasn¡¯t here for any of that, she got here like 2 seconds before you.¡±


    Zack licked his lips and swiveled. ¡°What do you have to say about that? Aaaand she¡¯s gone.¡± He looked over to where there were a couple news vans with full setups were interviewing Shooting Star. He adjusted the angle of his phone and began commentary. ¡°Did Shooting Star just show up to take credit for the work of other heroes?¡±


    ¡°And mercenaries,¡± I commented.


    ¡°That¡­¡± he hesitated, then returned to his announcer voice, ¡°Along with brave mercenary supers, this apartment building was emptied of civilians in a matter of minutes. But Shooting Star has a different story being told to the mainstream media. Let¡¯s talk with the folks who really matter.¡± He side-eyed me. ¡°This better be true or my career will be over.¡±


    I gestured to the people huddling nearby, looking at the fire being put out by the firefighters. ¡°You can ask any of them. Even the firefighters got here through evening traffic before her.¡±


    ¡°That was the plan,¡± he agreed as he rushed over to some of those standing nearby, trying to find some sort of lighting where he could actually see them clearly.


    I yawned. It wasn¡¯t that late, but going through my magic several times in the day made me tired. It was time to go home and relax.


    -----


    When I came into work the next morning, Great Girl blocked my way. ¡°What the hell did you do last night?¡±


    ¡°... I read through the first eighty pages of the codices on ¡®Exceptional Technology Law¡¯ and then went to sleep. Why?¡±


    ¡°Before that!¡± she waved her arms.


    ¡°I was sitting on top of HQ and I spotted the fire.¡±


    ¡°After that.¡±


    ¡°I cast Enlarge on you.¡± I looked her over. ¡°It should have worn off about the time I left. Should I have asked if you wanted it canceled early?¡±


    ¡°That- yes, actually, it¡¯s kind of awkward to be stuck at ten feet tall. Twelve. Twelve feet tall.¡± She cleared her throat. ¡°But that¡¯s not what I meant! The other thing!¡±


    ¡°... Was the suit guy not with the Power Brigade? Energy Ward helped him save people though so it¡¯s fine.¡±


    Great Girl threw up her arms in frustration before showing her phone on which a video was playing.


    ¡°This is Zack Brannigan of Channel 72 news. Is Shooting Star a glory hog? Listen to the full story to find out the truth.¡± I was vaguely paying attention to the visuals, including my face poking into the frame. Some of it was voiceover and some was the actual audio.


    ¡°... and? Was I not supposed to talk to the reporter? Am I getting fired?¡± I thought Great Girl was upset at Shooting Star. Oh well. I bet other mercenaries would hire me. Or maybe Extra. Did they have a combat division? I didn¡¯t want to only do translation work.


    ¡°That¡¯s not it! Shooting Star is going to be so mad at you if this spreads!¡±


    ¡°Is that bad?¡± I frowned.


    ¡°That b- Shooting Star is one of the top rated heroes! She has a huge following!¡±


    ¡°Do they have snipers?¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­?¡± Great Girl tilted her head. ¡°No, but Shooting Star herself is dangerous.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s illegal for her to kill me,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Extra illegal since she¡¯s a hero and I haven¡¯t committed any crimes.¡±


    ¡°Wow that escalated fast,¡± Great Girl¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Straight to killing?¡±


    ¡°If she¡¯s not going to kill me I don¡¯t know what the problem is.¡±


    ¡°There are other bad things that can happen besides death!¡±


    ¡°Ripping off my arms is just as illegal.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Great Girl sighed. ¡°Just be careful, okay?¡±


    ¡°That is the plan. Someone with a rifle shot me and probably still wants to.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± she grimaced. ¡°Sorry to hear about that. I hear your squad is going through some drills for an upcoming mission. Squads have to be able to operate on their own to some extent, but don¡¯t hesitate to call in backup if you need it. And that guy on probation doesn¡¯t count.¡±


    ¡°Rocker is pretty decent though, when he¡¯s not exploding my eardrums.¡± I wouldn¡¯t say we were friends, but we could get along.


    ¡°Well,¡± Great Girl straightened herself up. ¡°Just wanted to say be careful. And uh, thanks. That¡­ hero and I have a bit of history, and I hope this knocks her down a couple pegs. Though unfortunately the footage was kind of crap.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what happens if you film with a cell phone from the street,¡± I shrugged. My phone began to ring. I looked down. ¡°I don¡¯t know that number.¡± I flipped it to Great Girl.


    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t remember any numbers. I just save people as contacts. You should probably answer it though.¡±


    ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Heeey. Is this Mage? Zack Brannigan here, Channel 72 news.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s that reporter guy,¡± I said to Great Girl.


    ¡°... I¡¯m going to assume that means I got the right person. Can I get you in for an interview?¡±


    ¡°He wants an interview.¡±


    ¡°Then go. Or not, I don¡¯t care. But if you want to, make sure to tell him his footage sucked and he needs to show up earlier to catch Shooting Star glory hogging.¡±


    ¡°My friend says-¡±


    ¡°I heard her,¡± Zack sighed.


    ¡°Do I get paid for this interview thing?¡±


    ¡°We can negotiate that,¡± he said hesitantly.


    ¡°Okay. Also you could see if anyone else got better footage.¡±


    ¡°What like the big news stations? No way I could afford that license.¡±


    ¡°I meant one of the dozens of other people with cell phones present?¡± Things hadn¡¯t looked dark to me at all, but one of those humans had to have gotten a better lit scene for their own viewing.


    There was some kind of muffled profanity before Zack responded. ¡°Right. I suppose I should have thought of that last night. Maybe I can track one of them down.¡±


    I definitely could if I wanted to, but scrying random people didn¡¯t sound fun to me. They would just be in nearby buildings anyway. Or from the one that had been on fire, because several of them had been recording what was happening.

 Chapter 62

    After entering an office building that looked as if it had no connection to news at all and taking an elevator to the seventh floor where I had to walk past a group of people that were for some reason all working in the same big room I finally made my way to a door marked ¡°Channel 72 News¡±. The paper sign was half peeling off revealing the ¡°Janitor¡± underneath, but that still indicated this was the right place. I knocked and got a prompt response.


    ¡°Mage?¡± Zack Brannigan said as he opened the door. ¡°Right on time.¡±


    The room he stepped out of was cramped, little more than a few monitors on top of a table. Instead of going in there he took me to another room which was slightly less cramped, and had a table plopped right in the middle. There was a green backdrop and about a thousand lights, plus a large camera and a person standing behind it.


    ¡°Huh.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Zack raised an eyebrow, ¡°Did you think I was the only one working here?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you had a real camera,¡± I mentioned. I had mainly seen them with the other news channels.


    As for the other person, it was a woman with a rather prominent pair of eyestalks coming out of her forehead. They looked around independently while her main eyes locked on me. ¡°The messy look, huh?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, we can work with that.¡±


    Zack waved me over to one of the chairs. ¡°Before we start the actual interview there are just a few background questions. If you don¡¯t want to answer or the information is secret just let me know.¡± I nodded. ¡°So, you go by Mage. The only real information I have is that, plus that you recently joined the Power Brigade. Anything else you can tell me? Where are you from?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m extradimensional.¡±


    ¡°Interesting, but not fully unexpected. What else about your people?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an orc,¡± I gestured to my face in general. ¡°And a Mage, which is why my hair looks like this. Though I¡¯m an orc, I lived in integrated communities most of my life.¡±


    There were more questions about me in general where it was clear he was trying not to offend me. I was used to that, but instead of it seeming to be because I was an orc who might just ¡®randomly¡¯ get mad and tear his arms off or something, he seemed to actually care about upsetting me. Then again, I was here for an interview.


    ¡°Alright, thanks,¡± he nodded. ¡°I might ask some of these again on camera, so be ready for that. Now I¡¯d like to get this started. Jody?¡± He looked over to the woman on the camera, who pressed a few buttons and gave him a thumb¡¯s up. ¡°This is Zack Brannigan of Channel 72 News, bringing you an exclusive interview with one of the saviors of the residents of Happy Heights Apartments. This is Mage of the Power Brigade, one of those devoted to keeping our city safe even if they haven¡¯t donned the mantle of hero. Mage, what can you tell me about the fire and the rescue operation?¡±


    ¡°I was actually the first one to spot the fire. A spark of flame among fluorescent lighting. Well, obviously the residents would have noticed but they were a bit busy at the time.¡± I tried to keep my grins minimal as they could exaggerate my tusks. ¡°I called it in and the Brigade sent over everyone they could. We were the first ones there, followed moments later by some local supers.¡±


    I continued to explain with Zack prompting me towards specific details, ultimately culminating in my mention of Shooting Star¡¯s late arrival. He took the reigns from there. ¡°That¡¯s right folks. Just as we mentioned in our report last night, some supers showed up just to take credit for a deed that was already done.¡± He seemed to steel himself as he spoke. ¡°Not all supers are heroes, but all of those who showed up to risk their lives saving people and the building are heroes in my book.¡±


    Except heroes got paid¡­ differently. From what I understood most got paid less than even a rookie like myself, except for the most popular ones. But I was willing to let Zack talk in exchange for what I would get out of it. Specifically information. Channel 72¡¯s finances were ¡®a little tight¡¯, but Zack and his ¡®crew¡¯ knew things that I didn¡¯t, and I¡¯d heard some samples already. Things that the Power Brigade didn¡¯t know, or at least didn¡¯t have easily accessible. As for whether it would ultimately be worth it only time would tell, but I didn¡¯t need more money right now anyway. Not until I was going to buy rubies or fancy ivory.


    -----


    On my way back to work I passed by Happy Heights Apartments. Only a day later and it hardly looked like it had been on fire at all. Well, okay, it still had broken windows and burn marks¡­ but none of it had collapsed. I could tell some repair supers had been to work already, as there were eerily pristine sections next to others. There was magic for that, but even the larger spells could only really handle a window at a time. Generally supers here were capable of more sustained action. Aside from preventing the collapse of the building most of the rest of the work would probably be taken care of manually, but those who lived on floors the fire hadn¡¯t spread to were already moving back in and others were clearing out charred hunks of furniture.


    It wasn¡¯t a result anyone wanted, but it was a hundred times better than what could have happened. Nobody died and the building could be put back together. People had some burns, but ultimately we¡¯d worked fast enough to save them. That felt good, even if I didn¡¯t know whether or not I¡¯d be paid for that time. I presumed we would, though.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    My only regret was not checking my experience beforehand. Fires were dangerous, but I wasn¡¯t sure if they counted as a battle or not. I was missing critical information. Ultimately, I¡¯d have to figure it out some other time.


    I didn¡¯t have any specific duties except for being around and keeping up with my training, but there was a surprise waiting for me. Or an unexpected visitor or¡­ whatever.


    Jerome was there, with his mother. There was a special area on the first floor where they could wait, and I¡¯d already approved such a visit¡­ but hadn¡¯t really expected it. ¡°Hello again,¡± I waved.


    ¡°He wanted to see you again,¡± Jerome¡¯s mother commented. ¡°To thank Midnight for saving him, among other things. We saw him earlier.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I only made things worse for you,¡± I admitted. ¡°You¡¯re the one who saved me.¡±


    ¡°Actually,¡± Jerome rubbed his hands together nervously. ¡°I wanted to ask¡­ if you could teach me magic?¡±


    I¡¯d already told him before, but I could see the desire inside of him. ¡°I¡¯ll say it again. I don¡¯t think I can. But I can try.¡± I didn¡¯t want to turn down the kid, but while learning absolutely contributed to the effectiveness of a Mage or any class from my world, the basic functionality just¡­ worked on its own. I became a Mage, and then I could sense mana and pick spells. I didn¡¯t want to get his hopes up, but I also didn¡¯t want to ignore his desire.


    Sure, I had become a Mage because it was the one I thought was for smart people and some kids called me dumb because I was an Orc, but that didn¡¯t mean I wouldn¡¯t have wanted to learn magic anyway. Magic was awesome, and the kind that Mages made use of were the best among them. I didn¡¯t really care about plants or healing like other people dealt with.


    Among the very few things in my storage when I came over was what could loosely be called a book, as it was multiple pages bound together. Mostly it was a vague explanation of magic along with copies of helpful tables for determining spell effectiveness and mana cost. Just going by feel was the best way to get yourself unconscious through Mana Exhaustion in battle. I pulled it out to show Jerome and his eyes widened¡­ then squinted. ¡°Do I have to learn to read magical runes?¡±


    Oh right. It was written in the common language of my world, which meant both letters and numerals were not something he would understand. ¡°I¡¯ll have to translate it¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°Though it¡¯s not like I¡¯m prepared with a lesson plan right now anyway.¡± I remembered what Master Uvithar suggested, but I¡¯d have to include things like trying to learn to sense mana. I didn¡¯t know if it would work, but Jerome deserved at least an honest attempt.


    -----


    Over the next few days I translated and printed out all of the information I had for Jerome, leaving out everything unnecessary. I showed it to him and he flipped through the book. There was a frown on his face, one he was clearly trying to suppress but ultimately he sighed. ¡°I uh¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯m smart enough for this.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°There are¡­ a lot of big words. And is this algebra?¡±


    ¡°Yes that¡¯s right,¡± I nodded. ¡°The way math is done in this world has a few different conventions, but none of it was too complex so I just rewrote it.¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­ I can never be a mage.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand any of this.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Then I shrugged, ¡°So what? If you already understood it all, then you wouldn¡¯t need to learn it, would you?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I guess not?¡±


    ¡°Great. So what¡¯s the first thing you don¡¯t understand?¡±


    ¡°Everything?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll start on the first page then.¡±


    Having mostly been on the other side of the equation followed by studying on my own¡­ it took some time for me to actually get going. I wasn¡¯t understanding which things he didn¡¯t understand and why. Whenever I asked, he just implied he wasn¡¯t smart enough. But I wouldn¡¯t accept that. I understood there were some people with actual cognitive disabilities, but Jerome wasn¡¯t one of them. He just¡­ didn¡¯t know things.


    It took a while to get him to admit that he could barely read at all, even though he was nearly a teenager. So I did something Master Uvithar did for me¡­ except he used actual magic. I would have, but I didn¡¯t have the points to spare nor the mana to keep up with it all day.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with explanations of some basic things magic can do,¡± I said. ¡°Spells all start with minor effects, and cost one point of mana equal to their level. Easy enough, right?¡±


    Jerome nodded.


    ¡°Storage takes something and puts it¡­ in a secret magic place.¡± The actual functionality of that was hard to explain, so I moved on quickly. ¡°The next level has things like Force Armor. It¡¯s an invisible field but you can touch it.¡± I cast it on him, then showed what it was like to press a piece of paper up against him, how it bent against an invisible barrier just around him. I went through higher level spells until I got to Enhance Mind. ¡°Then there¡¯s Enhance Mind. It helps people think better. I can only use it on you a limited amount though.¡±


    After I ¡®used¡¯ that spell on him, I started teaching him whatever he seemed to need to know. Which was a lot. The first session we covered a smattering of words and some math. We also covered how to look up words in a dictionary, even if you didn¡¯t quite know how they were spelled. In my world I would have said that it was magic, but apparently there were computers that were pretty good at guessing even misspelled words. If it was written it was easy, but for spoken you just had to figure out if it fit with other words. Context, and all that.


    Just a few hours wasn¡¯t going to really get us anywhere, but we set up another time to work together. The second time we¡¯d be reviewing things and there would be no ¡®Enhance Mind¡¯ involved. Master Uvithar did the same thing with me, and I found reviewing really was much easier even without magic. I was really fond of those memories.


    Something was weird though. I was pretty sure I had been able to sense mana ever since I selected the Mage class, but I honestly couldn¡¯t remember what Enhance Mind felt like to have cast near me. Well, it had been more than a decade.

 Chapter 63

    Squad C-4 was gearing up to take out Handface within the next couple of days. All we needed was an opportunity where Swarm was away and we¡¯d take our chance. For that purpose we kept our training to the minimum. Enough to keep in shape and in practice but not enough to exhaust ourselves.


    Keeping busy had resulted in me crossing the threshold to level 19 without any sort of exciting circumstances attached. That was good, but now I had 20 points I was staring at trying to decide what to do with them.


    The easy choice was Stoneskin. I¡¯d been wanting it for a while and various factors that were making it a bad idea had faded away. Diamonds were significantly cheaper than I had imagined, and I was leveling up regularly enough that I wasn¡¯t terribly concerned about spending the points. The remaining factor was simply that it was a bit too high compared to my level. Level 9, which meant it would take 9 of my 24 mana to cast. It lasted around an hour which meant that half of the cost could be recouped if I had enough warning to cast it far ahead of a conflict, but that had some risks associated with it.


    But if I needed it, it was hard to say it would be a waste of mana. Sure I could use Sonic Lance twice for the same mana cost, quite a bit of destruction, but sometimes you needed offense and sometimes you needed defense. I also had a low-cost option for additional defense in Shield, though it had its own weaknesses. I¡¯d also been neglecting upgrading spells, and some efficiency in my most valuable spells could really help.


    Except I was also planning to go up against Handface, and he had a sniper rifle. I touched my hand to the chest, still recalling the pain I had felt. Ironically enough, it had mostly come after I passed out and woke up in the hospital as my body hadn¡¯t been able to process it in the moment. Shield might help but only if I knew which direction he would shoot from. And really, having another layer of defense so I could be alive wasn¡¯t a terrible idea. I knew he would be most interested in shooting me, so it really benefited the whole squad even if I could only cast it on myself¡­ and Midnight, through Familiar Bond. I could technically cast it twice but then I¡¯d basically be out of mana. I finalized that choice, and I had just enough points to improve Shield as well.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 19


    Experience: 963


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +2


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +1


    Enlarge


    Energy Ward


    Sonic Lance +1


    Scrying


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin


    Remaining Points: 0


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    My total experience had nearly tripled since I came to this world, and I had gone from level 11 to level 19 in just a couple months. Sure I¡¯d almost died a couple times, but what was almost dying for a brief period of time every once in a while compared to feeling like you were dying all the time? I much preferred how things were now. I couldn¡¯t even really think of anything I missed from my old world.


    Master Uvithar, maybe. The villagers of Mossley¡­ I had some fond memories, but I wasn¡¯t really close with any of them. And since I had no friends, that was sort of the end of it.


    -----


    Being at the top of a tower seemed to actually increase my mana regeneration, though I wasn¡¯t quite sure how much. It probably depended on how high, and I¡¯m sure there were other factors involved. Either way, I was experimenting with using small spells and trying to determine exactly when I filled up on mana. Some people might have said I spent too much time at work, so currently I was on top of Bay View Heights. Oswin had been kind enough to let me onto the roof even if access was technically limited.


    Across the street I could see Western Luxury Apartments in all its glory. What remained of it, anyway. It seemed that a good portion of the nice balconies it had once advertised were in poor repair and thus unusable, and the once nicely painted brick was now bare in many places. I spotted Khithae there on the roof as well, fiddling with something that was no doubt broken. I was tempted to ask her if she was getting paid for that, but chances were she wasn¡¯t. Most likely she got fed up with something not working and volunteered to fix it herself.


    She¡¯d gone directly from her old job as a probably underpaid janitor to staying at Western Luxury Apartments, but I imagined after a month or two working for the Power Brigade in her new maintenance role she¡¯d be able to move somewhere¡­ nicer. I was the type that mostly used my room for sleeping but I still appreciated a nice bed now that I¡¯d been in one.


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    It was a bit far to chat across the road and I felt silly texting someone who was within line of sight, so I didn¡¯t end up saying anything. As my eyes continued to roam around the city they dropped down to ground level when I felt something.


    Magic¡­ maybe, maybe not. Some sort of power or something activating. I didn¡¯t have to guess long, though, as a small point of light expanded into a ten foot tall portal. There was no time to think about how or why it appeared.


    Especially not when a fortunately much less than ten foot tall wyvern stepped out. If I had to describe it, it was a scaled bird with a long tail ending in a poisonous stinger. Calling it a dragon wasn¡¯t totally incorrect, but they lacked any sort of breath attack, forelimbs, or the intelligence true dragons possessed. But if you were to take its scales and use them in something that called for dragon scales, you¡¯d get a low quality product at best. So I heard, anyway. Level 11 people didn¡¯t exactly get a lot of chances to be involved in magical crafting even from a purely theoretical standpoint.


    ¡°Khithae!¡± I yelled and waved my arms. She didn¡¯t seem to hear me. Probably listening to music or something. But I had the magic of technology to assist me there. I sent her a text.


    She either didn¡¯t have her phone on her- which felt like an oddity- or didn¡¯t hear it. Maybe it was because she was up to her elbows in something she ignored the sound.


    I ran for the stairs. Just because the wyvern was currently on the ground didn¡¯t mean it would stay there. And even if it did, once it wandered away from the building towards the street there were pedestrians and passing cars to worry about. They were less important than a friend, but I still had to factor them in.


    I fumbled in my pocket for the little earpiece to contact the Power Brigade. I had to report something like this to them. Who else? Jim lived in this building, so he ought to be informed. I had his number since we had plans to ¡®hang out¡¯ at some point.


    Midnight¡­ was already running toward me. He¡¯d obviously sensed my urgency through the bond and I could feel him moving.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Turlough?¡± he asked as he ran up the stairs and hopped into my arms then climbed up to my shoulder.


    ¡°A portal opened up across the street. I saw a wyvern come out.¡± I could feel he was puzzled. ¡°Scaly bird-dragon thing. Don¡¯t use fire.¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s a dragon?¡±


    ¡°Because it has scales,¡± I replied.


    As we arrived on the ground floor, Midnight suggested something. ¡°You should get your mask and uniform.¡±


    I hesitated for a moment. The former was¡­ kind of useless. I would like to have my uniform though. It was easy to move in and sturdy. I shook my head. ¡°No time to change.¡± I pulled a plastic baggy out of my pocket, ¡°But at least I can use this.¡± I gathered the mana for Stoneskin, pouring the diamond dust- mixed with just a few tiny flecks of granite- onto my palm. The diamonds sank into my skin, leaving sparkles that spread over me- and over Midnight.


    I grabbed onto the railing as a brief wave of dizziness overtook me. Yes, it was too much mana too quickly. I could have been a bit slower if I weren¡¯t currently running out into the street to fight a monster. Speaking of which, when I passed through the gate sequestering Bay View Heights, I saw a wyvern trying to eat someone in a car. It seemed to be a size bigger than the other one, and I could hear a few sets of roars.


    Though I might have liked to be conservative with mana, I aimed right for the chest of the one poking its head through the broken front window of a car and used Sonic Lance. I couldn¡¯t just let people die, either. The property damage from it smashing into a street lamp was unavoidable, and the quick cease of its momentum came with a satisfying crack of something important inside the thing.


    I saw one of the ¡®smaller¡¯ wyverns lift up into the air. I tilted my head up and I thought I could still see a piece of Khithae atop the building. Spending fiveish mana to blast a stationary target was one thing, but I couldn¡¯t afford to do the same and potentially miss the flying one.


    Then there the next one making its way out to the street.


    ¡°Midnight! Can you make your way up the fire stairs to help Khithae? I¡¯ll keep this one distracted.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing!¡± Midnight nodded and hopped down from my shoulder.


    I found a nice shard of glass on the road and hurled it towards the Wyvern. I really needed to get a gun or sword or something. Firebolt might have also gotten the creature¡¯s attention, but that cost mana. Speaking of which, what else was efficient? Enlarge seemed good. And Haste. Both could be shared with Midnight, and while the latter might only last a minute¡­ that one minute could be a big deal for Khithae.


    -----


    Midnight leapt over the wall of the little courtyard around Western Luxury Apartments. Turlough had distracted the wyvern, and increased size and speed allowed him to easily hop something of that size.


    Midnight kept an eye on the one in the sky, since that was the one of most concern at the moment. He probably seemed like a fine snack for it, even at his larger size. The fire stairs themselves would provide some cover as he dashed up them, and being bigger would help if it came down to an actual battle. After his magic was done, anyway.


    Haste made Midnight zip back and forth up the snaking fire escape, working his way to the roof. Khithae should have noticed the commotion by now, but Midnight still felt obligated to check. He rapidly made his way around corners, the Haste spell speeding his reactions as much as his actual movement so there was little difference from his relative perspective. He just had to remember that it felt like he was slower than he actually was. That was easier to comprehend when looking at others moving- or not moving, as the case was.


    Rounding the corner, Midnight only had a single paw on the next set of stairs when it collapsed. The fall was agonizingly slow as he found himself hurtling to his death. And if he¡¯d actually died no Celmothian would have let him hear the end of it. People on Earth said cats always landed on their feet, and with the same sort of body Midnight was no different. He righted himself even though it involved looking at the ground as it rushed toward him. Time crept by and he stretched out a paw to wrap around the rail of the level below.


    Then he was hanging on for dear life. A bit of scrabbling put him back onto the fire escape as it trembled from the falling upper level. He ran back up a flight and saw the gap. It was half a story. A full five feet up and quite a long distance horizontally to the next platform, which appeared to be stable.


    Midnight shifted back and forth. Surely, Khithae would be fine without him right? That Sonic Lance was so loud. There were screams and roars. All Khithae had to do was get inside after hearing any of that. Yet when he heard a cry of distress from up above, Midnight leapt.


    It was an agonizing moment as he wasn¡¯t quite sure if he was high enough. His front paws stretched and his claws extended to grab the ledge as his belly hit a dangling half-stair. He pulled himself up and did his best to avoid looking down. All he had to focus on was the stairs, and whether or not they were rusty. He continued his run, going ever higher from the ground. Apparently friendship made people crazy.

 Chapter 64

    A few moments after the whole fiasco with collapsing stairs, Midnight was on the roof of Western Luxury Apartments. He might have taken a moment to breathe a sigh of relief at being back somewhere safe, if it had been. Unfortunately there was a wyvern atop the building, blocking Khithae¡¯s path to the door off the roof. Her path to the fire escape wasn¡¯t much better, and there was the slight problem of half a flight of stairs being missing now.


    She held a large wrench in her hands, warding off the creature. It was fortunately one of the ¡®smaller¡¯ ones, which still made it around the same height as her with wings that stretched out far to either side. From its position on the ground its claws couldn¡¯t reach her, but it still had toothy jaws and some sort of stinger on its tail.


    Midnight charged forward, the speed of Haste allowing him to tackle the creature. Normally he would have been too small to do anything about the situation, but he was now the size of a large dog. A little more magic didn¡¯t help with his momentum, but Shocking Grasp certainly helped throw the thing off balance. Sonic Lance might have been more effective, but any chance of hitting Khithae with it was too risky.


    The scaly not-quite-dragon ended up on its side with Midnight clawing and biting at its flank. It was¡­ not really as effective as he would like. He was definitely tearing off some scales, but it simply wasn¡¯t enough.


    Then something slammed into his side. As it turned out, the tail was surprisingly flexible. The tip struck him right in the side, causing a jolt of pain. Was this his end, being impaled on the tail of some sort of fantasy creature?


    Well, it certainly hurt, but not that bad. Midnight participated in sparring, after all. The attack definitely broke through the ever present Force Armor, but was stopped by something Midnight was quite unused to. As he looked down at his side he realized that he was gray and sparkly, and remembered Turlough had cast Stoneskin. It was new and expensive in terms of mana, but it seemed to work quite well. At least he didn¡¯t have an actual stab wound, though it hadn¡¯t completely negated the impact.


    Midnight saw something dripping from the stinger and realized he needed to be more careful about the stinger. He had been lucky. Unfortunately the strike had knocked him off his position, and the wyvern was wiggling to its feet.


    There was a loud thunk as metal struck scales, snapping the creature¡¯s head to the side. Khithae followed up with another swing of the heavy wrench. The wyvern flailed about with its wings, sending the two of them staggering away.


    ¡°Khithae, run! Leave this to me!¡± Midnight said bravely. And possibly much too fast, given the look she showed him. Midnight was still getting used to the facial expressions of more standard humanoids, and the lizard-adjacent woman had a different structure and muscles that made her harder to interpret. But her body language told him what he needed to know. She wasn¡¯t going to just leave him.


    Unfortunately the wyvern was now directly in front of the door to the roof. There wasn¡¯t any other way down. Certainly not partly missing stairs that were inconveniently see-through, where he would have to look at the distant ground below him with every step. No, it wasn¡¯t possible to run that way. They¡¯d just have to get past this thing.


    The first thing Midnight did was tap Khithae¡¯s leg, applying Force Armor. She might have scales of her own, but they would be softer than the well-armored wyvern, and there could never be too much safety anyway. Especially not for friends. Midnight would have used Stoneskin, but he didn¡¯t have little baggies of diamonds. Plus, it was enough mana to possibly knock him out at the moment which was undesirable.


    So now Midnight had¡­ what¡­ eleven mana left. That was quite a bit actually. He could totally take down this wyvern. And then what? There were others around. He needed to try to save some mana for emergencies. 5 for Sonic Lance seemed appropriate.


    Midnight was glad that his indecisiveness was not so visible with Haste still going. He was still new to the whole idea of having magic, and even if some of the individual spells were just as new to Turlough¡¯s use he¡¯d spent years learning about them.


    Should he Enlarge Khithae? Would that help, or just make her an easier target? Should he use Mage¡¯s Reach and Shocking Grasp? Grease? All of those questions were answered simply by Khithae charging forward. Midnight didn¡¯t want to trip her up so he dashed around for another Shocking Grasp. It had worked fine before. He ducked under the incoming tail, finding it almost leisurely with Haste going. Though that wouldn¡¯t last much longer. Instead of striking out with his paw he chomped down on the tail near where it got the smallest- just past the stinger.


    The spell happened quickly, sending jolts of electricity into the creature. When Khithae¡¯s wrench smashed onto the thing¡¯s head he briefly worried she might get shocked, but if she did it was only by a tiny residual amount that didn¡¯t hinder her.


    Khithae followed up with another swing at the creature¡¯s wings which were in hindsight the most vulnerable target. There was a crack as she struck where one connected to the body, and the creature roared and pulled away. Then Khithae flung open the door and down the stairs.


    Right. They didn¡¯t have to stay to kill this thing. Even as part of the Power Brigade, Midnight thought he¡¯d done his duty. Especially now that it probably couldn¡¯t fly, it was neutralized as much as it could be. He ran through the door and Khithae closed it behind him. Midnight felt Haste wearing off, though Enlarge would still be lasting for a while. ¡°Hi!¡± Midnight said. ¡°Where¡¯s your phone? Turlough tried to contact you.¡±


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    ¡°Oh. It¡¯s in my room. I was just up here to fix something real quick so¡­¡±


    The two were making their way down the stairs, listening for a banging on the sturdy door above them. They didn¡¯t hear one, and it was doubtful that the wyvern could operate door properly, so they were probably safe. They didn¡¯t stop moving until they were several floors down, though.


    ¡°Things are pretty crazy outside,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°I hope Turlough is okay.¡±


    -----


    A sharp stinger stabbed directly towards me. It was one of the smaller wyverns, closer to human height. Reaching my arm out, I grabbed it just behind the stinger, tightening my grip to stop it before it reached my chest. That wasn¡¯t a feat I would attempt without Haste, but I still had a few seconds left- and Enlarge made me stronger. Everything felt slow, and I was quite glad to yank the tail and use the creature as a bludgeoning instrument against a bigger wyvern that hadn¡¯t quite gone down. The thing was heavy, but given that it had to fly it couldn¡¯t be that heavy. Dragons had a lot of magic involved with their flight, but wyverns were decidedly less magical and thus had to be at least relatively light.


    As a weapon, wyverns were clumsy and unwieldy but had the distinct advantage of crashing into other wyverns in a jumble of wings and limbs. I couldn''t aim for anything specific but I also didn¡¯t have to worry about getting his arms gnawed off. Stoneskin was really helping with that part anyway, but I didn¡¯t want to push it any further than I had to. In some places it was thin and cracking already and I really rather preferred my current state of only slightly bleeding.


    Unfortunately I really didn¡¯t have much left in the way of mana. I angled a few kicks into the tangle of wyverns and when they pulled apart the smaller one was comatose. The larger still roared and tried to chomp into my neck, but I ducked my shoulder under its jaw and neck, wrapping an arm around the base and then twisting around to its back. I tried to keep the thing off balance so it couldn¡¯t use its stinger while yanking the neck into what I thought was the worst position for it. I wasn¡¯t going to try to strangle something I wasn¡¯t sure used its trachea the same way, but everything had a spine. There was finally satisfying pop and the thing went limp, then I swiveled my head as I looked around for what else I could do.


    It was unfortunate the battle had devolved to a brawl, but that was just the way things had turned out. I was really regretting not having some sort of weapons. I should have pushed harder for that gun license, but it was kind of difficult to do as someone who had only been in this world a couple months. A spear might be nice, and even some sort of police baton would be better than being unarmed. There were other wyverns¡­ though it turned out the ones in the immediate vicinity were dealt with. I¡¯d taken care of some, but others were involved as well.


    In addition to myself and Midnight some local supers had shown up- even if only a small fraction of people were supers, there could still be many within a few blocks. Plus the Power Brigade was a handful of blocks away, part of the reason I picked this place. Among those involved in the battle was Jim, who was tactically wrapping himself around the wyverns and twisting them in ways I couldn¡¯t even begin to attempt without dozens of fifteen foot long tentacles to grasp onto multiple leverage points.


    I didn¡¯t see any more wyverns that seemed to be an immediate problem, and then something caught my attention. Mana. Even on Earth there was a standard background amount, but that wasn¡¯t something that drew attention. Concentrated quantities, however, were quite different. I could practically feel it pouring into me, many times the normal rate even as it happened subconsciously. It came from the portal. That wasn¡¯t terribly surprising as magical creatures tended to dwell in areas high in mana, but I hadn¡¯t really experienced it before.


    The topic had come up during discussions about recovering mana more quickly, but it wasn¡¯t something that I could actively do anything about. I hadn¡¯t sensed any areas in the city with exceptionally dense concentrations of mana- or outside the city like when I¡¯d went to see Hammerfist.


    I positioned myself outside the portal. It wasn¡¯t a clean opening that allowed me to see through, but instead chaotic and indistinct. There didn¡¯t seem to be any movement from it, but I stood back and to the side just in case. If something popped out I wanted to be ready and not immediately bowled over.


    Information began to come in on my comms from the Power Brigade. Combined with sirens heard throughout the city it was clear there wasn¡¯t just one portal but many. Doctor Doomsday was the biggest suspect, but¡­ nobody saw him going around slinging portals open.


    As people poked their heads out of the hotel lobby I kept them away from the portal. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous,¡± I explained. ¡°Stay inside while we contain the situation.¡± Seeing the bodies of several wyverns nearby, the civilians didn¡¯t seem particularly keen on disregarding his advice.


    I felt Midnight coming down the stairs, and he seemed to be much calmer. Obviously there was still some unease, but it was a good sign. Khithae apparently came with him too, which wasn¡¯t that surprising to learn.


    ¡°Thank you T- uh, Mage,¡± she looked around. ¡°One of those was on the roof after me.¡± She looked around, ¡°Can I help?¡± she held up a slightly bloody wrench.


    ¡°You¡¯d better stay put. Actually¡­¡± I looked down at myself. ¡°Can you go with Midnight to get me my gear? I¡¯d really rather have more protecting my vital organs. And I guess my identity.¡± Not that it was hard to guess who I was even with my mask on.


    Power Brigade orders were to secure this portal. I stood with Jim and Midnight and we were able to assure the other supers that we had it under control- they could go search for more trouble to deal with. Just because nothing had come through in the last few minutes didn¡¯t mean this portal was done.


    The rate of mana coming from it¡­ it was hard to describe how good it felt. It reached a peak at a rate I could actually feel my mana recovering. It had to be at least five, maybe ten times the normal recovery rate. Unfortunately that meant by the time ten minutes passed and I returned to normal size I was only around half mana, but that was pretty amazing. The portal slowly faded from existence, and after we confirmed to the best of our abilities that it was truly gone it was time to move on. After I got a moment to change my pants. That wasn¡¯t something I was going to discard while standing out in public, and I ran across the street to my apartment for a moment to swap those out. Then we were directed towards the nearest source of trouble, of which there were many.

 Chapter 65

    Magical groves were a pain even if you didn¡¯t have to get to a precise place at a precise time, but Izzy wasn¡¯t going to give up her plans so easily. She hadn¡¯t gone through all that work to meet Zentha Qitris and spending too long stuck ¡®ethereal¡¯ for nothing. She was going to go through this portal- if it really existed- find Turlough, give him Uvithar¡¯s bundle, and then¡­


    Then what, save him? He¡¯d already been alive and well when he¡¯d been scryed on. As for Zentha, she¡¯d only said cryptic nonsense like ¡®what you wish for is not what you think¡¯. There was also more practical advice like probably not being able to come back on a whim, but what was she going to do here anyway? Continue to live on the road as a messenger with no family or friends? Sure, the latter was kind of her fault, but there weren¡¯t really opportunities for growth either. She might level up, but there was no way to get involved in the interesting parts of the world without connections she didn¡¯t have.


    Izzy crept through the brush, watching carefully for anything that had the gall to move on its own. She could handle normal vines and twigs, but magic ones were still a pain. Just because she could escape from something that wanted to throttle her to death didn¡¯t mean she enjoyed having to do it.


    If all went well, nothing would know she was here. As she moved about she caught sight of potential enemies, parts of the magical grove that wouldn¡¯t want her to be around. Plants that were too alive, and if this was the wrong kind of enchanted grove plants that were too hungry.


    But Izzy was small and trained for moving through difficult terrain, so she continued onward. She wasn¡¯t going to bet on this being one of the friendly groves, especially considering her merely tangential affinity for nature. At least if it came down to a fight she¡¯d studied plants and where their weaknesses were. Moving plants, anyway. There was no way she was just going to stab a normal tree and cause any serious damage, but anything mobile had flaws.


    Fortunately, she didn¡¯t have to. She made her way towards the center of the grove where the portal was¡­ supposed to be. And found there was nothing, even though Madam Qitris had specifically said to look for the fairy ring, a giant circle of mushrooms up next to some sort of twisted tree with moss hanging down like hair.


    There was about enough time for Izzy to silently curse both wide open spaces and the lack of a portal before it appeared and she was only left with the former problem. With a few masses of vines slinking around the area and some ambling halfling sized weeds she¡¯d find it rather difficult to ignore the notice of all of them. Especially as they seemed focused on the portal. And now they were going through. Great.


    -----


    No matter how much his mom discouraged him, Jerome never failed to walk her to work after he got home after school, and he would be outside to meet her when she got home. He might have stayed outside her work but he was likely to get chased away since it ¡°wasn¡¯t for kids¡±. He knew that. He wasn¡¯t stupid, and he could read. Even before Mage started teaching him he could read enough.


    Depending on the season it would still be light out when his mom got to work. At the current moment it was that weird state of twilight where it wasn¡¯t really dark but would rapidly shift over.


    The first thing Jerome noticed was actually something good. It was like a gentle bay breeze except without the salty smell, or maybe some nice beach waves. Refreshing. The weird part was that there wasn¡¯t an actual breeze even though it felt like it.


    Then there was the bad parts. It started with people screaming, which was never something good. Jerome heard it first and immediately stopped, holding onto his mom¡¯s wrist. She turned back to look at him, doubtless to ask what was wrong. As he looked at her, he saw something strange come out of a side alley. There were certain things Jerome was prepared for. A thug was first on his list. Next was some sort of super- villain or hero or merc or whatever.


    A thornbush shaped like a man was not one of those things, but as it turned the corner it smoothly transitioned its bulbous ¡®fists¡¯ into a swing at Jerome¡¯s mother. Time seemed to slow down. Jerome was now pulling even harder, but his mother was stronger than him and he had no time to explain. Even so, he had to save her. If only he could use magic. Mage had been trying to teach him, demonstrating his abilities. Jerome never really believed it would work. Supers just weren¡¯t like that. Even so, he appreciated it. But he didn¡¯t need someone nice trying something, he needed magic. Like that shield.


    He called upon that gentle breeze, recognizing it as a source of power by instinct. A round, barely visible barrier appeared between his mom and the plant-thing. There was a loud thud as they connected, but the creature staggered back as the shield held firm.


    Since Jerome couldn¡¯t do magic, he knew it had to be a dream. But in that case he figured he should be able to do a Firebolt as well. His hand pointed towards the thin, spiky figure in front of him and flames shot out. It went up easily. Great.


    Jerome¡¯s mom looked down at him, wide eyed. He shrugged. Dreams would be dreams, it wasn¡¯t like he could really do any of this. But there were still people in trouble, yelling and screaming. Down the street was another thing, this one with thicker tendrils of vine pulling it across the ground. ¡°Get back!¡± Jerome said, gesturing to his mother.


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    He stretched out his hand, shooting fire. The creature was supposed to be incinerated, but instead it shrugged off his attack. That was odd. If this was a dream, he was supposed to keep succeeding. Unless it was now a nightmare?


    But it was neither, he would discover later. For the moment he flopped forward to the ground as his consciousness left him.


    -----


    What the hell was up with this plane? She¡¯d thought it looked slightly different when she¡¯d seen Turlough in weird clothes in a strange house, but this place was crazy. Black and yellow and gray streets along with glass windows everywhere. That could all be sorted out later as there was an immediate problem of unhappy plants trying to kill people.


    Izzy was glad she had kept herself hidden, as there was no way she could have taken on an entire grove of murderous plants. But just because she couldn¡¯t fight them alone didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t going to help when she saw people getting attacked. She had her short swords out, dashing around as she sliced into the little fiddly bits at the joints of the various plants. Speed was important, her attacks augmented by her class abilities as she moved across the battlefield.


    She felt surprisingly light on her feet, as if the fatigue of battle wasn¡¯t getting to her quite as quickly. Was this whole plane a place of power, or was it that they were still kind of near the grove? She didn¡¯t have the answer to that, she just kept cutting her way through things.


    ¡°Careful of the mess,¡± Izzy commented to one of the humans. ¡°It might still be alive. I¡¯d step back.¡±


    In response they said¡­ gibberish.


    Did these people not speak common, or was she going crazy? Well, that was something she¡¯d have to think about later. She flipped over a tendril trying to trip her up and kept moving. There weren¡¯t too many of these things, but she was sort of following a trail as they weaved their way away from the portal. She saw a flash of fire, and rounded a corner to see a burning spiky twig guy. Then there was another, a real firebolt right into the center of an assassin vine. Sure it was pretty awful without proper concealment, but what kind of mage used a fire spell on a wet plant creature?


    As the dark skinned figure flopped forward onto the ground Izzy realized he was a young man and not a tall halfling. So probably someone who had no idea what they were doing. With the creature still moving towards the kid and his mother, Izzy chucked a dagger into it.


    It was pretty awful, as it had dozens of tendrils and poking a little hole in one hardly mattered, but it would hopefully get its attention. She couldn¡¯t tell, because something like that didn¡¯t have eyes or a front or back, but it was slow enough she was able to reach it before it was within range of the two humans.


    As it turned out, it was paying attention to her. Grasping tendrils reached out for her, but she slipped between them- slashing into them where appropriate. She really needed to attack the main body, but when she couldn¡¯t reach that the limbs coming for her would have to do as well.


    There were a few close calls, but even if it got a hold of her for a moment she knew she¡¯d be able to slip out. It still wore her down to avoid all of its attacks, but she managed a few good cuts. And then it was smashed from ¡®behind¡¯ by a board half full of rusty nails. It only stunned the thing for a moment, but it was enough to let Izzy stab her shortsword into its core area, where it had something resembling vital organs. She stabbed a couple more times even after it stopped flopping about just in case.


    For some reason the mother looked worried for Izzy, even though Izzy was the stronger of the two of them. She still definitely didn¡¯t speak common though, so there wasn¡¯t much to do about it. A short break to catch her breath and Izzy would see if there were any more monsters nearby. After that, she¡¯d find Turlough. Somehow.


    -----


    One portal opening up to an area with a high density of mana was a coincidence. Two of them would have made me think that maybe there were more worlds with powerful mana than I thought. When the second faded and I was finding my way towards the next portal, only to sense powerful mana from that one, I knew it was on purpose.


    What purpose, though? That I was unsure of. The problem was that the portals were not magic. As far as I could tell- and what the Power Brigade seemed to believe- they were still made by Doctor Doomsday. He wasn¡¯t flinging about his Dimensionatron or whatever, but all of the signatures matched. Speculation was they had been rigged to appear ahead of time, and were meant to distract from some big heist. Like a bank or something, which was weird. I was pretty sure people kept most of their money ¡®digital¡¯ in this world, so what could he take?


    I couldn¡¯t think about that long as I noticed something weird near the portal. The shadows were all wrong. Especially the way they were attacking people. I felt weird shooting firebolts at the ground, but when the creatures recoiled I felt justified. ¡°Aim for the shadows!¡± I called out to Shockfire, who had come to meet up with me. ¡°Anyone with energy attacks, watch the ground and walls! If anyone has light powers, use them to reveal unnatural shadows! Everyone else, just leave!¡±


    Fortunately fire magic kind of worked and I was able to take out a couple shadows. I was already backing away, since I¡¯d been running low on mana this whole time- even with extended time spent in high mana density areas I couldn¡¯t keep up. There were still a lot of the worming their way around along the surfaces towards anyone that looked tasty.


    Then a bright figure came from the sky, stopping just short of the ground. A wave of wind was sent in all directions from the force of the motion, and blinding light burst through the area, eradicating the shadows.


    I took a good long look at Shooting Star¡¯s back as she stood tall and proud, then posed for one of those ¡®drones¡¯ that reporters who were too afraid to get near battles used. I carefully slunk away around a corner in case she thought to turn around. Seeing there were no more shadows ripping away people¡¯s life force¡­ I was inclined to give her that one. Sure, she was a tad late but everyone was understandably busy right now.

 Chapter 66

    As quickly as everything started, it also ended. One moment every super was dealing with stuff coming out of portals, the next we were not. Well, it was slightly more gradual than that with portals having appeared at different times and fading away differently as well, but at some point everything was done. There were concerns about supervillains having potentially taken advantage of the chaos, but it seemed that most of them were surprised as well.


    But there was one name that came up the most, of course. Doctor Doomsday. The portals being due to his technology went from just a high probability to near certainty with a bit more study. Some problematically small devices had been set up ahead of time, and they were being obtained in each location, pulled out from beneath concrete or hidden inside bricks or otherwise hidden. Unfortunately, they were all basically scrap. Whatever super tech went into them it also included some sort of self-destruct feature.


    A short time later I got a text. There was also one already waiting, probably something that had happened when I was in mid-combat. It didn¡¯t have a special priority to get my attention, so I hadn¡¯t noticed. I read them in the order they came in.


    The first was from Jerome¡¯s mom. Tylissa? She was in my phone as Jerome¡¯s mom but I was pretty sure her name came up at some point.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Jerome just passed out!!!


    Just used magic and passed out!


    He shot fire at some sort of plant monster


    What do I do??!


    Will he b ok!?


    He did magic?


    How much? What kind?


    If he wasn¡¯t hit on the head or anything, passing out from magic use is normal.


    Burned a plant monster


    Can you come look at him?


    Sure. On my way.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It might have been a mistake to commit to going before I looked at the next text, but honestly the fact that my student had somehow actually used magic was¡­ unexpected. I was pretty sure it would be impossible without the class system. I needed to see what had happened. Still, I checked the other text. It was from Zorphax


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Need you for another translation job, if you are available.


    Is it urgent? I have something important.


    It can wait. Will attempt contact with Malaliel.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Straightforward and to the point. I liked that about Zorphax. I hoped whatever it was went well, but I had another thing to get to. One that was both personally and professionally compelling.


    -----


    After all of the fighting and monsters stopped, Izzy ran into a slight problem. She didn¡¯t know where she was, or where she was going. She wasn¡¯t lost. In fact, she could absolutely retrace her steps back to where she came from if she wanted to. But that wouldn¡¯t help.


    She had a goal of course. Find Turlough. If she saw him she¡¯d certainly recognize him, even after¡­ well, a lot of time. Unless Zentha had fully misled her, she should be in the same city. Izzy thought she could track someone down in a city pretty easily, but there was a problem. First, this city was the wrong size. Not everything was a giant tower going up into the sky, but there were sure a lot of them. Almost nothing had less than three or four stories. Large numbers of big buildings meant a lot of people, as she quickly came to realize walking through the streets.


    That was all fine because Turlough was an orc. He¡¯d stand out¡­ in many places. Unfortunately there was the slight issue in that it appeared the population was more diverse than she had expected. Upon learning that this place didn¡¯t have orcs and elves and the like and was mainly populated by humans, she thought she had it all figured out. Then she realized that with enough people, even if a small portion were not human it sure ended up with a lot of things she hadn¡¯t seen before.


    If that had been all, she still could have tracked him down. Not through literal tracking, since the ground wasn¡¯t much good for following anyone with it being made out of¡­ different sorts of weird rock. There were other ways to track people down, by making use of simple social structures. In short, talking to people. If that wasn¡¯t enough, a bit of coin helped.


    But for that to work she¡¯d have to speak the language. ¡°Anyone speak common?¡± Izzy asked for the dozenth time. ¡°Elven? Dwarven?¡± She wasn¡¯t fully fluent in those, but at least she could communicate. All she got in exchange were some odd looks, along with people bending down to talk to her in some language she didn¡¯t speak.


    Ugh. Tall folk. It wasn¡¯t really their fault that they had to look down at her to speak to her, but crouching down close was the most uncomfortable way. They should just take a couple steps back so nobody had to strain their neck. Since they couldn¡¯t communicate, Izzy just moved around, watching for geographical features that she could use to guide her way. Signs with bright colors and distinctive shapes helped.


    After a bit, Izzy pulled out some dried food to munch on. She would have liked to sit down for a proper meal, but she hadn¡¯t brought any with her. She could see places serving food- quite a lot of them in fact- but as she watched people inside she didn¡¯t understand the conventions. And the things they paid in seemed to be paper and coins with different denominations than she was used to. When they didn¡¯t just use a magic rectangle, anyway.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Should she take one of those? No, that was a stupid idea. No need to involve herself in anything criminal. She could figure this out on her own. Right?


    After a while she noticed she was being followed. The one who did it wasn¡¯t exactly subtle. The bright clothing didn¡¯t help, and the way they were always staring didn¡¯t either. Didn¡¯t they realize that wearing a mask just made them conspicuous? On the other hand, they might just be dangerous enough. She¡¯d seen a few similar people fighting. Was it some sort of designation? What colors meant what?


    Then she was stopped by a few people in uniforms. Even if she didn¡¯t speak the language, Izzy recognized people calling out to her and gesturing to her. She didn¡¯t feel as much of a threat from the blue uniformed people individually, but she couldn¡¯t help but move her hands to her swords. In turn that made them reach for their waist, and there was a lot of yelling.


    ¡°I¡¯m just here to look for a friend!¡± Izzy said. Not that they could understand her. Though it was clear they were at least trying.


    Through gestures they managed to communicate something about her swords. Izzy could guess they wanted her to disarm herself. Were swords not allowed in the city? What about the weapons these people had? Then again, they might be guards. Or they might not. If they were some sort of organized criminal element, she couldn¡¯t let her guard down.


    Then the brightly colored woman revealed herself, gesturing over to the side of the area. They walked over first and stood there, and Izzy slowly walked closer. They kept trying to talk, and Izzy in return tried to say a few things. The angle that the uniformed people were at required Izzy to keep track of them through reflective surfaces or her peripheral vision instead of looking at them directly, but as far as she could tell they had relaxed slightly. The brightly colored person was just sitting on a bench, and Izzy had the feeling they should wait. She didn¡¯t take a position on the same bench, or any other. She wanted to be ready in case something went poorly.


    She watched as metal vehicles moved by along the streets. Special carriages of some sort, controlled by a turning thing inside. The person in the front-left position. That information was kept in mind in case it was important.


    Another one of those showed up, and out of it stepped an angel. The wings were a pretty dead giveaway, and the sense of calm and peace also told her something. Izzy still kept cautious, but the feelings weren¡¯t forced upon her. Then the angel spoke.


    Izzy still didn¡¯t understand any words¡­ but she got a concept.


    Peace?


    She nodded.


    The woman gestured to Izzy¡¯s swords. Weapons?


    Well, yes.


    The following attempts didn¡¯t communicate so clearly. Identity? Izzy had no way to communicate that with simple gestures, and she hadn¡¯t even been sure that nodding would be understood.


    Follow.


    It was a suggestion and also a command. Nothing that seemed to be bending Izzy¡¯s will, but she wasn¡¯t really specialized in that sort of thing. It seemed reasonable though. She really hoped that this angel followed the general idea of them and was benevolent.


    Izzy found herself climbing into one of the metal vehicles with the angel. It was a bit close to someone she wasn¡¯t sure was an enemy or not, but the time for running away was long gone. There were too many people of some power involved. The person in the bright costume, the angel, and as a group the blue uniformed people. She might be able to escape, but doing so would have branded her a criminal even if she wasn¡¯t doing anything wrong. It certainly looked bad.


    And if they had ill intentions, she would find a way out of whatever captivity they put her in. Though she really hoped they had someone with some translation magic waiting for her so she didn¡¯t have to try that.


    -----


    ¡°Good news, it just looks like mana exhaustion,¡± I told Tylissa. Jerome was already awake when I arrived, but I recognized the signs. There was that look of befuddled exhaustion on his face, the kind that apprentice wizards got when they overused magic without understanding it. The kind that I¡¯d seen happen with Midnight. And yes, maybe there had been someone else who used Storage until they collapsed when they first got magic. But nobody had explained to me how things worked yet.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I actually did it!¡± Jerome said excitedly. ¡°You told me it would take a lot longer to learn.¡±


    ¡°I said it would take a lot longer¡­ if it was possible at all.¡± I shook my head, ¡°I don¡¯t know if it should be possible. It¡¯s a feature of my world but nobody here can use the Status screen. Can you?¡±


    ¡°Uh,¡± Jerome frowned. ¡°How do I do that again?¡±


    ¡°Just think about it. Try it. Something should pop up in front of you, like a game screen.¡± Since it had been explained to me, I¡¯d looked it up and found that it really was similar to a game screen. Or anything electronic that displayed information. There were only so many ways things could be done after all.


    ¡°Uh¡­ nothing. But I really can do magic!¡± Jerome said. ¡°Here I¡¯ll show-¡±


    ¡°Stop.¡± I commanded sternly as he began to gather mana. ¡°I believe you for multiple reasons. Avoid using magic until at least an hour has passed unless you want to have the worst headache.¡±


    ¡°Also,¡± Midnight spoke beside me. ¡°Wasn¡¯t that uh¡­ a Firebolt?¡± Midnight didn¡¯t have the same practice sensing mana as I did, but he had gotten the ability as part of the bond. It was a spell we used often, so it was easily recognizable. ¡°Maybe you should not do that inside? Or really anywhere but a special training facility, if you can help it.¡±


    Jerome swallowed, ¡°Uh, yeah. Sorry. I did the other thing though. The shield thing.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Tylissa nodded, ¡°That was the first thing he did, to protect me. It was like,¡± she held out her hands. ¡°This big? A translucent circle?¡±


    ¡°Like this?¡± I used Shield, transposing it between us.


    ¡°Yeah, that!¡± Jerome nodded. ¡°You showed me that before.¡±


    ¡°I did,¡± I nodded. ¡°So, don¡¯t take this the wrong way, because I believe that you can do magic. But you shouldn¡¯t be able to do magic. So if you could explain what happened, maybe we can figure out why that changed.¡±


    I wondered if maybe it was one of those super awakenings that happened. He could have just happened to get a power that looked like magic¡­ and used mana. It didn¡¯t even really fit in my head, but it also didn¡¯t make sense that he could use Shield and Firebolt without levels and points and a class. Jerome and his mother began to explain, starting with the yelling and the weird plant thing. Then there was something about some kid with swords saving them, but Tylissa was obviously more focused on Jerome passing out rather than which hero came to their rescue, though she did speak quite appreciatively of the whirling blur.


    After they finished, I didn¡¯t know more about why Jerome could use magic, but I had some theories based on some particularities of the portals. I just wasn¡¯t sure if they were directly involved yet.

 Chapter 67

    My days quickly went from ¡®occupied¡¯ to ¡®busy¡¯ after the latest portal incident. At the moment I was working with Calculator once more, as we had been gearing up for the assault on Handface and his crew. Scrying on Handface himself was annoyingly inconsistent and generally told him when we were watching, so I targeted the easiest of his minions. He was the big guy that someone had called Boyan before.


    He was working out, not particularly strange for the man but I didn¡¯t recognize the room. Calculator made a note of that as well. He was on a bench press, doing reps without a spotter. The sort of risky thing I¡¯d expect a thug to do, though maybe that was just prejudice. He was mumbling to himself, but unfortunately even focused close it was impossible to make out what he was saying. Not that we expected this guy to have any important intel.


    It was kind of boring for the first handful of minutes, but Calculator had me rotating around the room, especially when he walked over to grab more weight and thus provided us a different view. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of fifty pound weights,¡± I commented.


    ¡°They¡¯re forty-five,¡± Calculator corrected.


    ¡°... but we have fifty pound weights at that size,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Standard is forty-five. We just use the super scale, so fifty¡¯s are more convenient for adding a hundred at a time. At some point the length of the bar gets to be a problem otherwise.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense,¡± I nodded. ¡°Wow, he¡¯s adding more. He was already at 320, and now he¡¯s going for 410?¡±


    ¡°Is that a problem?¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t look that much bigger than me and I can only do 300ish.¡±


    Calculator nodded, ¡°That¡¯s because you spend only a portion of the day on physical training. And that¡¯s significantly up from when you first came here.¡±


    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t really have much to train with back in a tower full of mages. The books were only so heavy,¡± I shrugged. ¡°And I really didn¡¯t have any intent to use brute force.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°You are interested in displaying your magic and intelligence. Your world has some prejudices against orcish intelligence, correct?¡±


    ¡°... Yeah,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite normal for any society,¡± Calculator commented. ¡°Not correct or necessarily a good idea to perpetuate, but common. Humans here are likely to make the same sort of judgments. Perhaps you could use that against us.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I sighed, ¡°But it might not even be wrong. I want to use my brains to fight, but I ended up just making myself big and strong and bludgeoning wyverns into the ground.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°It was the most efficient use of mana,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°Sometimes the smart move is raw muscle,¡± Calculator said matter-of-factly. ¡°Besides, fighting well requires intelligence. Great Girl isn¡¯t just muscle. If she was, she¡¯d never outmatch Shockwave.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I know but¡­¡±


    ¡°You care about what people think,¡± Calculator cut straight to the heart of it. ¡°But the question is, which people¡¯s opinions do you care about? Because everyone here who knows you knows better.¡±


    Who did I care about? Great Girl, Shockwave, Khithae, Midnight, my team¡­ my friends. Maybe Master Uvithar, but he wasn¡¯t around so there wasn¡¯t much to say there. I guess Jerome too, though it was hard to tell what he really thought about me with him so down on himself. Now that he had magic we¡¯d be working on that.


    ¡°Looks like he¡¯s having some trouble,¡± Calculator commented as Boyan struggled to continue lifting the bar. ¡°A convenient mark.¡± He added some more notes.


    Boyan¡¯s arms trembled as he was lifting the bar- still at 410 pounds. Then he yelled with exertion¡­ and the bar slipped out of his hands. Not falling onto him, but rather the way it suddenly shot up made it slip from his fingers at the top, where it slammed into the ceiling. From the sound, anyway. The angle was wrong to see it, and by the time I turned it was already falling back down. It hit him in the head, and Boyan cursed. Then he grabbed it with one hand and threw it into the wall.


    Scrying¡¯s duration was already up, and soon enough the image faded away to display a simple mirror looking back at us.


    ¡°So, um, unless I¡¯m misremembering this guy was judged to be a non-super, right?¡± I looked over at Calculator.


    ¡°That was what our information suggested, yes.¡± He wasn¡¯t looking over at me, but instead focused on his tablet, where he was replaying the last part of the recording. He paused it. ¡°Look here. It¡¯s hard to see, but the bar bends slightly when it hits him. A shame the camera was swinging about.¡±


    Tracking the right angle with Scrying was hard. Especially when the action changed so quickly in ways I hadn¡¯t expected, so I only had about half of what we wanted in view. But the sounds at least informed us there was serious weight on that bar and it wasn¡¯t some sort of weird trick.


    I frowned, ¡°That¡¯s¡­ weird. Did he just awaken his powers?¡±


    ¡°It could be. He didn¡¯t seem to understand his strength. Unfortunately we couldn¡¯t watch him after.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s the limitation of Scrying for the moment.¡± I would need 12 entire points to upgrade it, way too many to consider for a tiny improvement right now. It¡¯s not like I wanted this to be my job.


    ¡°That¡¯s alright. Everyone has their limits. Now then, it appears we have some things to look into regarding Deimos and his crew. If we missed something like this, it¡¯s inadvisable to attempt anything right away.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I nodded. ¡°I have a lot of stuff on my plate anyway.¡±


    -----


    One of those things was another gun course, but this time I was actually working towards a license. My previous training counted, but there were still some requirements to fulfill- especially for supers.


    The instructor stood at the head of the class. He was half the size of a man, green, and with big black eyes. It was Zorphax, from Extra.


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    ¡°Now, I¡¯m sure some of you are wondering why you¡¯re all here. After all, you¡¯ve displayed your understanding already. You took gun safety courses and know how to fire a gun without hurting yourself. But while many people are getting a license for purposes of self defense, everyone here is much more likely to actually shoot someone in the line of duty. We¡¯re going to start off with something simple. Easy target practice. Focus on accuracy and precision for this one, more bullets isn¡¯t better. Go ahead and line up.¡±


    Everyone had their own lanes, and I took my position.


    ¡°Oh right, one warning. This is the monster focused course. Don¡¯t shoot people. You¡¯ll lose points.¡±


    The first thing to pop up was a white dude with a fancy cloak. A few seconds passed with no shots before the targets quickly flipped to the next one. A lion? I shot it right between the eyes. Next came a black dude brandishing a knife. Then a writhing mass of tentacles. There were a lot of shots from around me, but I was ninety percent sure this was an actual picture of Jim. Next was a Martian pointing a gun at us. A couple isolated shots. Everyone else shot the giant bat.


    From that point on I held my gun steady without shooting until we got to a wyvern. I thought about shooting the thing that looked like a ball of spikes, but I hesitated a moment too long and the target flipped away.


    By the time we reached the end I hadn¡¯t even reloaded my clip. And I was pretty sure I had messed up.


    Once everyone had their guns safely set down, Zorphax had us turn back to him- and we took off our ear muffs to listen. ¡°Well then. I¡¯m going to give a couple of you the benefit of the doubt about that Martian. We¡¯re here to shoot monsters, not threats. And yes, if someone points a gun at you it¡¯s probably appropriate enough to shoot back.¡± He looked around the room. There were mercenaries like myself, somewhat distinct from the heroes by the style of our dress, though the line certainly blurred in some places. However, there were also individuals without a mask or costume. ¡°Nobody from Extra made that mistake, but before that¡­ can anyone tell me what this is?¡± he pointed to the wall behind him where an image was displayed.


    ¡°A tentacle monster?¡± someone said questioningly.


    Zorphax shook his head, and got a couple more answers before finally pointing to me with my hand half raised. ¡°Mage?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Jim. I think.¡± I felt a lot of people looking at me. They looked quite confused, but I stuck to it. ¡°We work together and he lives in my apartment complex.¡± I frowned, ¡°Is it not him?¡± I hoped this wasn¡¯t one of those ¡®they all look the same¡¯ things.


    ¡°Actually, this is his brother,¡± Zorphax commented. ¡°We were having trouble getting a photo of him to process so he sent us this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a person?¡± one of the heroes asked. ¡°...Dammit.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zorphax nodded. ¡°So now, this one¡­¡± he brought up the picture of the giant bat. Everyone remained quiet. ¡°Mage has an advantage here, I think.¡±


    ¡°Rositsa?¡± I said questioningly. ¡°I could be wrong because I¡¯ve only seen her like that twice, it might be a dire bat.¡±


    One of the unmasked trainees looked back at her gun. ¡°Uh-oh.¡±


    ¡°Soon enough everyone should understand,¡± Zorphax continued.


    ¡°... Was that not a lion?¡± I muttered to myself. I didn¡¯t think it was terribly loud, but apparently he heard it.


    ¡°It was, in fact, a lion. The wyvern was real too. What about the thing with the spikes? I notice you didn¡¯t shoot it.¡±


    ¡°Honestly I just didn¡¯t know where,¡± I admitted. ¡°So was it a monster or¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an artist¡¯s interpretation of a dream. Who knows if it¡¯s something real,¡± Zorphax shrugged. ¡°So now we get to part two. This is something you all need to keep in mind, especially if you¡¯re in the department. We¡¯ve got all kinds of people here now, and that variety isn¡¯t going down. Some things to consider before you take a shot- with a gun or a power or anything else. Do you know it¡¯s a monster? It could be a person. I know it¡¯s not something simple. What if you hesitate and someone gets hurt?¡± Zorphax shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you. All I can say is to think. Are they actively doing something criminal or attacking someone? Doesn¡¯t matter if they¡¯re monster or villain, though I¡¯ll note the latter isn¡¯t our job at Extra. If you have time to take a photo, we have a database of images that can automatically be compared to.¡± Zorphax snorted, ¡°And if you have time for that, chances are you should be working to keep civilians away from possible accidents instead of opening fire. I know it¡¯s a bit unfair to spring this on you without even telling you why, but I just want everyone to remember to think. Next time will be boring but important lessons in a classroom. Don¡¯t miss it, because that knowledge is required. We can at least get you to know all of the most common mistakes made. You¡¯re all dismissed.¡± Zorphax paused, ¡°Mage, if I could have a moment.¡±


    I walked up, ¡°Yeah, what is it?¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t had that much success with that interpretation job. Seems to be someone lost, maybe through a portal like you. We¡¯d like to get you to talk to her. Your magic works on anything right?¡±


    ¡°It should. I mean, it works for this world¡¯s languages, and Jim. So you¡¯d have to have something pretty strange for it to not work.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah, nothing super weird. Just like a¡­ whatcha call it? A gnome maybe? Looks like a human but my height.¡±


    ¡°Ok, sure. I¡¯m free right now.¡±


    ¡°Great. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s not happy just sitting in a room. It¡¯s not a cell, but we did have to take her weapons away.¡±


    -----


    Extra had multiple facilities, but it wasn¡¯t far to the one we needed. Just a short walk.


    ¡°It takes a minute for your magic to start working, right?¡± Zorphax asked.


    ¡°Yeah, depending on various factors,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t take long if she¡¯s willing to talk. Like Rositsa.¡±


    ¡°Great. This one is much less threatening, but just be ready. We think she¡¯s peaceful but you never know.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Force Armor was ready. I looked into my pocket. Hmm. ¡°How much am I getting paid?¡± Rositsa was a special call in the middle of the night with hazard pay involved. Normal interpretation¡­?


    ¡°Depends on how long things take. Though if you can use that magic on her the way you did with Rositsa, there¡¯s hourly pay at a lower rate for indirect involvement too.¡±


    Well, that was fine. I honestly had pretty good pay from my job so far, and I¡¯d saved up plenty before moving into my new apartment. A small expense for safety might save me a few hours of recovering in a hospital. Tiny people could be dangerous even if they didn¡¯t look it. Honestly the expense of mana for Stoneskin was more concerning, but I wasn¡¯t planning to use my mana for much else for the next couple hours anyway.


    I cast the spell, coating myself in a layer of gray rock. It was a bit sparkly. Then I stepped into the room. I had been planning to speak in English, but recognizing a halfling I tried common just for fun. I was going to be randomly talking anyway. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m here as an interpreter.¡±


    There was a pause, with the halfling woman looking at me intently. There was something familiar about her¡­ but whatever it was I only had a distant memory. It had been a few months since I¡¯d been around halflings after all.


    Then the halfling suddenly rushed forward, grabbing at me. I twisted out of the way, but I wasn¡¯t fast enough and she grabbed ahold of my trailing arm. Then she¡­ squeezed it? I was pretty sure Stoneskin didn¡¯t really do that much against such attacks, but it really didn¡¯t feel like she was going to be able to hurt anyone with that. Maybe Zorphax? I sort of wiggled my arm and she slipped off. ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What do you mean, Turlough? It is you, right?¡± The voice was what made me remember. I knew her face, of course, but the angle was all wrong. ¡°It¡¯s me, Izzy.¡±


    ¡°Oh. When did you get here? Why did you grab onto my arm?¡± Something didn¡¯t seem right about her expression, but I couldn¡¯t quite place it. People were difficult.


    ¡°What do you mean? Can¡¯t I give my friend a hug after not seeing each other in a long time?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not friends, though.¡±

 Chapter 68

    Occasionally there were times when I did something wrong without knowing it. Sometimes I had to figure it out by expressions. Sometimes people would come out and say it, which was my preferred method. This time, I was being hit by dozens of tiny punches. Punches that were nowhere near as ineffective as her grip on me had been.


    ¡°Mage!¡± Zorphax called out.


    ¡°Stay out of this! It¡¯s just a misunderstanding.¡± For some reason. I just had to figure out why, exactly. Izzy was bouncing back and forth, raining blows on my abdomen. Stoneskin was protecting me, but I could feel it chipping off. That meant she was somewhat serious, but I didn¡¯t get the feeling she was actually trying to kill me.


    The thing I had said was¡­ that we weren¡¯t friends. That was true, but somehow it had been upsetting. I tried to get myself some more time to think by shifting my position and dodging around, but I really hadn¡¯t been trained to fight people half my height. Someone around my size? Sure. Twice my size? Occasionally.


    ¡°Could you stop.¡± I yanked her backwards away from me with Mage¡¯s Reach. Izzy was more or less the size of a kid, though halflings didn¡¯t look like kids. Against a proportionally sized backdrop they looked basically like humans.


    My grip on the neck of her clothes was suddenly lost. I felt a tiny expenditure of mana as it happened, then my head snapped back as a fist rocketed into my jaw. ¡°You jerk, I put all this work in to come see you and that¡¯s the first thing you say?¡± The flurry of blows stopped for a moment as Izzy stepped back and shook her hand. ¡°Damn, what the hell are you made of?¡±


    ¡°Granite and diamonds,¡± I answered helpfully. Not all the way through though. I was a little bit unsteady on my feet from that hit. Stoneskin didn¡¯t completely change my body like some other magic, but it was more than just ¡®skin¡¯.


    ¡°That¡¯s all?¡± Izzy looked up at me with her hands on her hips. ¡°So you¡¯re made of granite now. That¡¯s what you say after we haven¡¯t seen each other for so long? You¡¯re a terrible friend.¡±


    We were clearly still on different wavelengths. She also seemed confused about something. ¡°The last time we met we both loudly yelled about how we weren¡¯t friends anymore.¡±


    ¡°So? That¡¯s just¡­ people get in arguments all the time,¡± Izzy shifted between feet awkwardly. ¡°Say things they didn¡¯t mean.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been more than a decade,¡± I reminded her. ¡°We used to be friends, but most of my life has been after that point where we stopped being friends.¡±


    ¡°I- um- I-¡±


    I cast Translation on her and gestured to Zorphax. ¡°Talk to this guy. He¡¯ll help you.¡±


    -----


    Then he was gone. Nothing could have stopped Izzy from running after him. He wasn¡¯t particularly fast, and the door was open. But the thought didn¡¯t even occur to her. She just stared at the wall until she realized someone was trying to talk to her.


    ¡°...me? Excuse me, can you understand me?¡± a green hand waved in front of her face.


    ¡°We¡¯re not friends,¡± Izzy said dazedly.


    ¡°I understand that. However, it is my job to try to help get you¡­ acclimated. I need to ask you some questions.¡±


    ¡°I thought we were friends but we¡¯re not.¡±


    ¡°Do you have some sort of history with Mage? Are you from Earth or somewhere else? We couldn¡¯t find your language.¡±


    ¡°We were definitely friends for a while. Even if it was just stupid brawling most of the time.¡±


    ¡°I get the feeling you¡¯re not listening to me.¡±


    ¡°Then we had a real fight. I left for a while and¡­ maybe it was longer than I thought.¡± Izzy sighed, then her eyes focused. ¡°You have big eyes.¡±


    ¡°So you do know I¡¯m here. Let me introduce myself. I¡¯m Zorphax. You seem to have some sort of history with Mage?¡±


    ¡°That Mage¡­ is Turlough. We used to be friends,¡± Izzy commented. ¡°Now we¡¯re not.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I got that. So, is it safe to say you¡¯re from the same world? Did you arrive through a portal?¡±


    ¡°... I didn¡¯t even get to give him the book.¡±


    Zorphax sighed. This might be a bit harder than anticipated.


    -----


    Since I was done with gun safety training and didn¡¯t feel like going back to the HQ for sparring, I went back to the apartment. Midnight was already inside. ¡°Hey buddy,¡± I waved.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± he said, hopping up to the counter to be closer to me. Talking with him on my shoulder was kind of awkward. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°I just got back from the first session of monster gun safety. It was a bit confusing. Seems difficult.¡±


    ¡°Did they have actual monsters? How did that happen?¡±


    ¡°How did¡­ what happen?¡±


    ¡°You got attacked! Your hand is bleeding and your skin is gray!¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just Stoneskin.¡±


    ¡°It can cause bleeding? That¡¯s dangerous!¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Stoneskin is perfectly safe.¡±


    For some reason, Midnight seemed¡­ concerned?


    ¡°Come on, you have to tell me what attacked you! Did you defeat it? Did it follow you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    ¡°Me neither! Turlough, look at your right hand. I can see bone.¡±


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    ¡°Oh. That. Don¡¯t worry, it was just a brick wall.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re scaring me orc buddy. Did somebody do some sort of¡­ mind magic on you? You had a huge spike of emotion and then you come back like this! We have to do something about that hand!¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± I nodded. ¡°First aid kit¡¯s in the bathroom. Don¡¯t want an infection.¡±


    I ran into a small issue where I only had one hand to mess with the bandages and stuff. Midnight was getting pretty used to magic though and just conjured up a couple hands with Mage¡¯s Reach to do it for me. Having a familiar was great.


    -----


    The image of Handface never formed on the mirror, just swirling mists for the whole tenish minutes.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Looks like he resisted it. I could try one of the mooks.¡±


    ¡°I think that will be sufficient for the moment,¡± Calculator said. ¡°What happened to your hand?¡±


    ¡°Scraped it on a brick wall.¡±


    -----


    ¡°Mage!¡±


    ¡°Hmm? What?¡±


    I looked down towards the pile of green goop around my ankles.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to melt your legs off if you don¡¯t surrender.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah. I totally surrender.¡±


    -----


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Jerome waved his hand in front of my face.


    ¡°Of course I am,¡± I replied. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡±


    ¡°... you messed up a basic algebra problem. Twice.¡±


    My eyes trailed down to the piece of paper. ¡°Hey, you got it. Nice. You¡¯re a smart kid.¡±


    -----


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ hmm¡­¡± Doctor Rose looked at a crystal on the table between us. ¡°Fascinating. I was honestly worried none of these would work. It¡¯s¡­ fascinating.¡±


    Light sparkled off of the deep blue surface. I kind of agreed.


    ¡°So, how much of your mana did you spend on this?¡±


    ¡°All of it.¡±


    My head slumped forward, but fortunately it was caught by a combination of the table, my tusks, and my nose.


    -----


    Bright light shone into my eyes. I was vaguely aware of some sort of power happening. It felt different than magic. Mana was much more familiar, and I could get a pretty good grasp on what was happening when someone used it. Like Jerome, or Midnight.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing wrong with his head. Physically.¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± I replied.


    ¡°What about his hand, doctor?¡± someone else said. I vaguely recognized the voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s fully messed up. He should have seen someone a week ago.¡± Doctor Martinez looked me straight in the eye. ¡°What happened, Turlough?¡±


    ¡°Oh, not much. Just scraped it on a wall.¡±


    ¡°He keeps saying that,¡± Midnight said from nearby. ¡°See why I had you drag him in here?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°I get it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine though?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°I don¡¯t see what the problem is.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell us where this wall was?¡± Great Girl asked.


    ¡°From here? Two, no three blocks south. Two east. At the park.¡±


    ¡°Great. Maybe we can get someone to look at it.¡± She stepped out of the room and began talking to someone.


    ¡°You okay Midnight?¡± I said to my familiar. ¡°You seem worried about something.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried about you, idiot.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I said.


    ¡°What are you angry about?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not angry. I don¡¯t get angry. I¡¯m not some sort of barbarian.¡±


    A few moments later, Great Girl came in, holding up her phone. ¡°Is this the wall?¡±


    ¡°Looks like it.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°I bumped into it.¡± Honestly I was getting people tired of asking the same questions.


    ¡°How many times?¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Dunno. It just crumpled on its own.¡±


    -----


    Remembering what Turlough had said about the monster gun safety program, Midnight managed to trace the incident back to Zorphax.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to get in contact with him,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°But he hasn¡¯t responded with anything. I got like half a story out of someone before that magic wore off, and now we have a woman locked up because we don¡¯t know if she¡¯s dangerous or able to survive on her own.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Someone named Izzy, I think. She said she was a halfling. Turlough ever mention her? Someone from his world?¡±


    ¡°Nope. He mentioned a Master Uvithar once or twice, but nobody else.¡±


    ¡°And now we can¡¯t even talk to her,¡± Zorphax sighed.


    ¡°... I can use all of Turlough¡¯s magic,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°I¡¯m not really good with people though.¡±


    ¡°I honestly couldn¡¯t imagine a way you could screw this up worse than he did.¡±


    Midnight was brought along to a nearby building where they walked into a strange hallway. It had two rows of doors, top and bottom- all half sized. There was a set of small stairs leading up to either side. Everything was just about the right size for Zorphax¡­ and plenty roomy for Midnight.


    ¡°We monitor exits and entrances, but there are no cameras in the room. She¡¯ll be in here,¡± Zorphax gestured to one of the rooms.


    Midnight stiffened for a second, calling upon the mana for Translation. He usually didn¡¯t cast the spell himself- most of the time he was with Turlough who used it on both of them. It lasted for a few hours, so it wasn¡¯t often that he was separated long enough for it to be a problem. Though they also didn¡¯t go everywhere together, so Midnight had some experience.


    He pawed at the door, replicating a knock. ¡°Hey¡­ person in there. Can we talk?¡± He didn¡¯t know what language it was, and was pretty sure he just spoke English. No response came from the other side. ¡°I want to talk about Turlough.¡±


    The door swung open. A flurry of words bombarded Midnight, and he couldn¡¯t pick out anything. Except the name ¡®Turlough¡¯ four or five times.


    ¡°Listen, lady, you¡¯re gonna have to talk slower than that. The magic needs time to work, okay?¡±


    ¡°Magic?¡± The woman asked. A few more jumbled words, then- ¡°Cat? ¡­Familiar?¡±


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯m Turlough¡¯s familiar. I¡¯m trying to figure out what happened between the two of you.¡± Midnight also wasn¡¯t a cat, but that seemed like it wasn¡¯t worth saying at the moment.


    ¡°I have something,¡± Izzy said. ¡°For Turlough.¡±


    She moved back into the room, taking a book off the table. It was nearly the size of her torso, which made it quite sizable¡­ but not completely crazy, since she was three feet tall.


    ¡°This is from¡­ Master Uvithar. Can you deliver it to him?¡±


    ¡°Sure, just set it down,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Looks like Translation¡¯s finally picking up. I¡¯m Midnight.¡±


    ¡°Izzy,¡± she replied. She set the book down.


    Midnight tapped a paw to it, intending to put it in Storage. When it wouldn¡¯t fit, he realized he¡¯d have to take out some cans of tuna. But perhaps he was being too hasty anyway.


    ¡°Actually,¡± Midnight looked up. ¡°You should keep it. Give it to him in person.¡±


    ¡°... I can¡¯t,¡± Izzy shook her head.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be now. I¡¯m pretty sure it shouldn¡¯t be now. But eventually. First, can you tell me how you know Turlough?¡±


    ¡°Turlough and I were friends,¡± she began. ¡°At one point.¡±

 Chapter 69

    Not quite fifteen years before, Izzy had been a wanderer. Her role was quite similar to her later position as a messenger, with one major difference¡­ she didn¡¯t get paid. And she wasn¡¯t really welcome anywhere either. She mostly survived by foraging off-road during her travels.


    She convinced herself that the life suited her. She liked traveling, seeing new places, meeting new people. Especially because she could leave those very same people behind her.


    She usually avoided embroiling herself in local problems, but there were some things she just couldn¡¯t ignore. She heard sounds of trouble from afar, and couldn¡¯t help but sidle closer to get a clearer picture.


    ¡°... causing trouble, orc.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one causing trouble, human.¡±


    The second voice was¡­ hardly like an orc at all. She expected them to be deep and booming, and while there were always some differences it was pretty odd. Until she saw him. Three barely teens stood around a kid hardly bigger than her. Not that the other three were much bigger .


    ¡°You bit my little brother¡¯s hand. Then punched him in the face. This is payback.¡±


    ¡°He deserved it,¡± said the young orc. ¡°He called me stupid. And when I said he was the stupid one, he punched me in the tusk. So I broke his nose.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll break more than your nose, orc.¡±


    By this point Izzy was sticking her head around the corner. She wasn¡¯t sure who moved first, but it was pretty clear that none of them knew how to fight. There was just a flurry of limbs, at first just the orc kid and one of the others. Then when the orc got in a good hit, the other two joined in. She knew she should stop them but¡­ they were just kids.


    When they knocked the orc to the ground they began to kick him. Alright, now they were going too far. Izzy was prepared to step out when she saw something. Lightning crackled in the palm of the orc kid. She could feel the mana.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Izzy yelled as she jumped around the corner. ¡°Why don¡¯t you three idiots go pick on someone your own size?¡±


    The shock of everyone that they were being watched stopped everyone involved for a moment. The ringleader of the whole thing then snorted. ¡°What, like you? You¡¯re even smaller than this kid.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the point, dumbass.¡± Izzy continued striding forward, placing herself between the fallen kid and the three bullies. ¡°Now get out of here before I make you.¡±


    ¡°Out of the way,¡± said the ringleader, reaching down towards her.


    Her leg kicked up, hitting him in the nuts. Making use of class abilities against kids was undignified, but hitting somewhere it hurt was just fine given her lack of strength. Besides, they should be grateful to her for saving their life.


    They were not, of course, but as it turned out they were unwilling to continue fighting after experiencing any real amount of pain. She might have used a teensy amount of her class abilities to move around and avoid their attacks, but she didn¡¯t use anything offensive.


    When they were gone she turned around. ¡°Hey, you alright?¡±


    Through the blood she could make out a grimace. ¡°I could have beat them.¡±


    ¡°With what, huh?¡± Izzy put her hands on her hips.


    ¡°Magic.¡±


    ¡°You i-¡± she stopped herself. ¡°You don¡¯t¡­ do you even know how powerful magic is?¡±


    ¡°This one is uh¡­ two?¡± the kid looked at the lightning around his hand.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Izzy honestly didn¡¯t know. ¡°What spell is it?¡±


    ¡°Shocking Grasp,¡± said the kid.


    ¡°Look I don¡¯t know exactly how powerful magic is, but you could kill someone with that,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Seriously. Especially people without a class.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yes really! That¡¯s like pulling out a knife!¡± Izzy demonstrated, waving one in front of her. ¡°You can¡¯t just¡­ use magic on people! Even if they¡¯re idiots who start a fight with you.¡± Izzy sighed, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Turlough.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Izzy. Can you¡­ stop that magic?¡±


    Turlough waggled his fingers and the lightning disappeared. She hoped he actually knew how as she stretched out her hand.


    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡±


    Turlough looked unsure what to do, but eventually they shook hands.


    -----


    ¡°After that,¡± Izzy explained to Midnight, ¡°I eventually learned about his Curse of the Barbarian. And though he knew his letters and numbers from the orphanage, he didn¡¯t really know how powerful magic was. Normally kids don¡¯t choose a class until later, and even if they do spending points requires a decent understanding of what¡¯s going on. You can¡¯t really do anything by accident.¡±


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    The black familiar nodded from where he sat on the table in front of her. ¡°I see. But Turlough said he chose his Mage class when angry at people calling him stupid.¡±


    ¡°I know about that, actually. He had to try for a while before he was actually allowed to choose the class, but he¡¯s the stubborn sort so he didn¡¯t ever give up on it. Anyway, he couldn¡¯t really choose spells until he learned to read, and his early spending was¡­ uninformed. He didn¡¯t even think about a directly defensive spell until I told him about it,¡± Izzy sighed, ¡°I knew there was a mage¡¯s tower in a nearby town, Mossley. It was lucky that Master Uvithar was willing to accept him so young. I stayed in the area for a while, teaching Turlough a little bit about fighting unarmed¡­ though after a certain point it just turned into brawling for experience. I drifted around, but I kept coming back to Mossley.¡±


    ¡°Then what happened?¡± Midnight said. ¡°It seemed like you would be fine as friends.¡±


    ¡°Well, sure. For a few years. But honestly, aside from setting him up with Master Uvithar, I didn¡¯t really do much for him except sparring. It was fun, roughhousing like a kid again. Keeping my thoughts away from the responsibilities of life. But that¡¯s¡­ about as far as our friendship went. And I kind of¡­ never mentioned I was a halfling.¡±


    ¡°So?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Turlough doesn¡¯t seem to be the racist type.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but¡­¡± Izzy gestured to herself. ¡°Without the armor and the weapons, he just thought I was a kid. I kind of wanted to be. Then he went from a little stunty orc to almost five feet tall by the time he was ten. That and me being bad at sharing about myself ended up with us having a stupid fight and I skipped town for a while. Except I just¡­ never came back.¡± Izzy just held her head in her hands, ¡°I know I should have been the responsible party there, but I never was, and knowing that just made it worse. Harder. Besides, Master Uvithar was good for him, and he really needed to make friends with people his own age.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know if he did,¡± Midnight admitted.


    ¡°Pretty sure he didn¡¯t. I talked to Master Uvithar.¡±


    ¡°Okay, now I understand the source of the conflict. Turlough is¡­ pretty angry.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Izzy asked. ¡°He didn¡¯t look like it. He just kind of ignored me and walked out,¡± she looked at her knuckles, which were still bruised. ¡°But if he did care I made it a million times worse by lashing out. I can¡¯t believe I seriously punched him. Also, is he made of rock now?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Stoneskin,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that like¡­ really powerful magic? Has he been getting levels?¡±


    ¡°Lots of them,¡± Midnight nodded. ¡°He¡¯s level 19 now. Most of that is from coming here.¡±


    ¡°But he has Curse of the- is it that dangerous here? I mean, when I came through the portal there was an attack by that cursed grove but¡­¡±


    ¡°Very,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Superheroes and supervillains and all sorts of stuff all the time. Turlough loves it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ good,¡± Izzy said. ¡°At least he¡¯s happy.¡±


    ¡°He was happy, yes. Now he¡¯s angry and won¡¯t admit it.¡±


    ¡°... how angry? I know I screwed up pretty badly, and attacking him probably didn¡¯t help.¡±


    ¡°I feel like that second part is less relevant than you think,¡± Midnight explained. ¡°But as for how angry¡­¡± Midnight pulled his phone out of Storage, carefully manipulating it with a paw until he got to a certain picture. ¡°That angry.¡±


    ¡°What is this? It looks like a pile of bricks. A fancy, small painting?¡±


    ¡°... you don¡¯t know about technology.¡±


    ¡°I know what technology is,¡± Izzy said. ¡°People learning to build better roads and houses and farms and weapons and stuff.¡±


    ¡°I meant this world¡¯s technology. Electronics and... Anyway, this is a picture. A highly accurate representation of a real thing that could have been seen elsewhere in the past. And it used to be a wall.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so¡­¡± Izzy frowned, ¡°I¡¯m not great at subtext, but I can figure this one out pretty easily. Turlough was mad enough that he blasted this wall down with magic?¡±


    Midnight shook his head. ¡°No. He punched it. Enough to break through Stoneskin and break his fist.¡±


    ¡°... and it¡¯s my fault?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen anything else make him truly upset in the last few months,¡± Midnight confirmed.


    ¡°Has he been healed by a cleric?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to explain a lot of things, aren¡¯t I?¡± Midnight sighed.


    -----


    For some reason, everyone seemed to think something was wrong with me. Midnight wasn¡¯t coming back to the apartment at normal hours either. When I asked him, he just said he was working on something. That sounded suspicious, but I trusted he knew what he was doing. Probably. At least he wasn¡¯t getting lost and could find his way to me. I could track him down if I wanted to but¡­ I didn¡¯t feel like it.


    Most of my time these last few days was spent teaching Jerome- somehow he learned Grease and Force Armor, which made no sense because he couldn¡¯t possibly have the points. Especially because he was clearly still level one. Though he had been level zero.


    In short, we¡¯d determined that his mana capacity had improved from five to six. Going from level zero to level one only took five experience, and he killed a whole plant monster. Nothing weird there. Plus¡­ studying should provide experience.


    But why was he level zero? He had gone to school. He did things. I didn¡¯t know, and I really couldn¡¯t figure it out. I had the feeling something weird was happening, but for some reason I had trouble focusing.


    The rest of my time was spent on something simple. One of Doctor Rose¡¯s crazy suggestions had resulted in something that actually worked. Forming mana crystals. Thus, I was spending a lot of time unconscious.


    It was for science, of course. I had to know what the absolute maximum size I could make was. Mana exhaustion wasn¡¯t fun, but it wasn¡¯t dangerous. Plus when I was unconscious I didn¡¯t feel my hand hurting, or have to think about¡­ other things.


    There were some other people that talked to me, but I didn¡¯t really focus on what they said. Calculator maybe mentioned something about Handface? Or his goon. They found the hotel they¡¯d briefly stayed at, but they were gone now. So I¡¯d have to Scry them sooner or later. But I couldn¡¯t at the moment because I was constantly out of mana despite my regeneration being strangely high. Nothing crazy, but a noticeable change. The numbers¡­ were too hard to calculate at the moment. One of the fractional ones.


    I saw one of those guys in suits. The fancy ones, like Calculator. Not the super kind, though I thought maybe it was one of those too. He was the guy who did all the teleporting at the fire. I still hadn¡¯t caught his name. Anyway, he asked to look at my hand for a bit. When he touched it my hand really hurt for a while. It was like someone was ripping it apart from the inside. I almost punched him, but I found that I couldn¡¯t move. When he stopped, I felt like I should have been angry, but the throbbing pain had receded to a dull stabbing and I wasn¡¯t angry. Just the same. Besides, when he left he just teleported out.


    I had to admit that I had been a little bit out of it, since I hadn¡¯t even noticed my level had gone up. I could have sworn that after the portal thing I was barely halfway to a level, but here I was. Had I been in another fight?


    ¡­ couldn¡¯t think of anything. Well, it would probably be fine. Levels were good.

 Chapter 70

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe they wanted me to give up my swords!¡± Izzy complained. ¡°What am I supposed to do without them?¡±


    ¡°... not fight monsters?¡± Midnight replied.


    ¡°Are you crazy? The very first thing when I came here was a giant monster invasion! How would anyone survive in constant danger?¡±


    ¡°There are heroes and mercenaries and stuff,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And this hasn¡¯t happened for like, months.¡±


    ¡°... That¡¯s not a long time, Midnight.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Turlough said you came from a peaceful world with nothing to fight. I guess it¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°He said that, huh? Well it¡¯s not fully accurate. Otherwise why would I carry these with me?¡± Izzy pat the short swords at her waist. ¡°The roads have danger, and the peace is¡­ exaggerated.¡±


    ¡°I see. Turlough didn¡¯t think so. He could barely level up at all due to his curse¡­ you¡¯d think if there was something to fight, he¡¯d find it.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯d have to know where to look.¡± Izzy watched as Midnight jumped up to press a button on one of the poles at the edge of the street. Then soon enough the image of a walking person appeared across the street, and they could go past all of the ¡®cars¡¯ without worrying much. Based on the directions her new home should be nearby. They¡¯d offered to escort her, but she wanted to learn to find her way around this city.


    The apartment building wasn¡¯t anything exciting to look at. They went inside and used an elevator- which fortunately had additional buttons down low for smaller sized people- and walked along a hall until they reached a room. Her key opened it, confirming it was the right one.


    It entered into a kitchen. There was a small bathroom off to the side as well as a rear bedroom. Sliding step ladders were placed around the area so she could reach higher places, as most of the stuff was sized for larger people.


    ¡°This is a big place. I can really stay here for free?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°... you and Turlough have low standards,¡± Midnight commented. He wasn¡¯t sure how much talking about that was good, but there wasn¡¯t really a lot of common ground for the two otherwise. Even the magic that allowed them to talk was technically Turlough¡¯s, at some level.


    Izzy walked over to the outside window, glad to have a view even though it was of a strange city. ¡°I guess I¡¯m stuck here now, huh?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what else you should have expected,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Tur- er, what do you know about portals? How common are they in your world?¡±


    ¡°Not that common,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Especially not ones like this. I just hadn¡¯t really thought about what happened after.¡±


    A concerning similarity, though in Turlough¡¯s case Midnight remembered him believing there was ¡®probably something dangerous¡¯.


    ¡°Well.¡± Izzy shifted between her feet. ¡°Thanks for helping me out. I should be able to handle everything from here.¡±


    ¡°... you¡¯re as bad as I was,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°How are you going to manage, exactly?¡±


    ¡°I have a place to live, and they have food here, right?¡±


    ¡°Sure. But you don¡¯t have any way to talk to anyone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll figure it out. I¡¯m quick with languages.¡±


    ¡°Uh huh, and then what?¡±


    ¡°Who knows, I¡¯ll handle it on my own.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re going to make up with Turlough¡­ when exactly?¡±


    ¡°Eventually,¡± Izzy said, crossing her arms. ¡°I don¡¯t have a specific time in mind.¡±


    ¡°The last time that happened, I believe you didn¡¯t talk to each other for a decade. And then you got into a fight,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°I¡¯m not saying this is all your fault, but you have control over some of this.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but I immediately got way too serious. I could have killed him! Or at least badly injured him, if he didn¡¯t have Stoneskin.¡±


    ¡°That is a problem you¡¯ll have to work on,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°Though I imagine if your attacks had more effect you would have stopped. Regardless, I don¡¯t think Turlough is the type to hold a grudge for attempting physical harm against him.¡±


    ¡°You say that, but how does he feel right now? You said he was angry.¡±


    ¡°He is still angry. But I don¡¯t think the punching part is what upset him. Though it might have made it worse.¡± Midnight flicked his tail. ¡°I¡¯m not an¡­ emotion doctor. But based on what you have said about your former odd friendship it might have just reminded him of that time. I don¡¯t think this is going to resolve itself with more waiting. We should go.¡±


    ¡°What like¡­ right now?¡±


    ¡°Do you have something else to be doing? Urgent appointments, perhaps?¡±


    ¡°Well I kind of just got here and¡­ fine.¡± Midnight¡¯s disappointed look got her to back down. ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea?¡±


    ¡°You said you want to resolve things. We should do that.¡± He looked at her resting her hands by her waist, and her swords. ¡°You should probably leave those.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I have a license now!¡± She held up her ID card. ¡°... This is the wrong one, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the other one,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But if we run into problems I¡¯ll cast Translation for you. Though I guess I can do it now. It¡¯s a bit of a walk.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t we take one of those car things?¡±


    ¡°Do you have money?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Izzy said, pulling out a pouch and shaking it. ¡°I brought money.¡±


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    ¡°Show me.¡± A small pile of gold, silver and copper coins poured onto the floor. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ actually some of those could be sold, but they¡¯re not usable as is.¡±


    ¡°Are the coins the wrong size? I figure they can weigh them.¡±


    ¡°... I seem to have missed some parts of the explanation. Let me tell you about money.¡± After he gave a general overview, they were off. ¡°I do have money, actually. But it¡¯s not that far. You are good at walking, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s literally my job! Or it was. Would have been a bit faster with a horse but they¡¯re so expensive.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll walk. One ride is a lot of food. I heard there used to be a cheaper ¡®subway¡¯ thing that was an undercity train, but it broke.¡±


    Midnight¡¯s knowledge of the streets in this section was a little fuzzy. Much better than when he had first arrived, of course, but he was more familiar with the area around his new home. It was trivial to navigate to Turlough though. That was the initial purpose of the bond, since he¡¯d¡­ been having trouble taking care of himself. But Midnight was much more responsible now.


    He didn¡¯t think much of cutting through an alleyway behind Bay View Heights. He didn¡¯t even get concerned when he spotted a few people hanging out. They didn¡¯t look particularly rough, and they had some of those t-shirts with a hero on it. One of the bright colored ones.


    It would have probably suited him to pay a bit more attention, where he could have noticed they had lead pipes and baseball bats. Even that wouldn¡¯t have been a big issue as people normally ignored cats or the equivalent. There was the issue of also having a guest with him, but ultimately it didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s his cat!¡± One of the half dozen people standing around said.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked the lone woman among them.


    ¡°Yeah! It¡¯s black! And what else would it be doing around here?¡±


    ¡°Actually, stray cats are really common around here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a cat!¡± Midnight snapped. ¡°I¡¯m a Celmothian.¡±


    ¡°See, it talks! Get it!¡±


    One of the larger men stepped forward, reaching for Midnight. He was a bit too slow to react, and found himself grabbed by the scruff of the neck. Except he was yanked backwards, away from the big guy.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Izzy said, stepping forward as she dropped Midnight behind her.


    ¡°Get out of the way kid. We have business with that cat.¡±


    Izzy carefully looked over the group. ¡°Midnight is my friend. Back off.¡±


    ¡°Just get out of the way,¡± the big guy reached down to grab her shoulder. She grabbed his wrist right back and twisted her body, kicking off the ground to swing at him. His arm was fully outstretched so she couldn¡¯t reach much but that very same arm, kicking him in the bicep before she tumbled away. It probably didn¡¯t even hurt because the situation was inappropriate for her fighting style.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°The kid¡¯s a super!¡± the lone woman commented.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a kid!¡± Izzy growled.


    ¡°Oh, good,¡± said one with a lead pipe. ¡°Then I won¡¯t feel bad about this.¡±


    Izzy thought she was being really nice when she only slid out of the way of the attack instead of drawing her sword and stabbing it into his thigh, but apparently she was going too easy on them because a moment after that¡­


    ¡°Ah, screw it. Everyone, get her!¡±


    She wasn¡¯t worried about six normal people attacking her at once. Apparently people didn¡¯t even have classes in this world. Then the lead pipe and one of the baseball bats began to glow with a golden light, with glowing armor appearing around some of the others.


    She should have just stabbed first.


    -----


    I wasn¡¯t really paying attention to Midnight approaching. His mood was vaguely nervous or uncomfortable, a tinge of concern, but that¡¯s how he¡¯d been lately. I tried to talk to him about it but he only said crazy things. Him being worried about me? What for?


    When it changed to slightly alarmed, I actually took notice. When it escalated to panic I was up on my feet getting ready to go out. When I felt mana coming from someone else? I began to sprint.


    I could vault directly over the wall to get there sooner, but it was only very slightly out of my way to use the proper exit and go around to the end of the alleyway. It was probably better to have a good angle on whatever was happening than to throw myself into the thick of things.


    When I got there, I saw a whole bunch of glowing magic surrounding people there. I knew none of that came from myself or Midnight, but instead it was everyone there. But it was definitely magic. I hadn¡¯t encountered it that often but¡­ it felt like paladin magic?


    Then there was one other figure emitting a trail of magic, darting around between the six larger figures. Midnight was just off to the side, shouting something I couldn¡¯t quite make out. The halfling responded with something, and Midnight charged beneath the legs of the thugs.


    The whole battle was a mess, and with someone in there I didn¡¯t want to hit I couldn¡¯t exactly just start slinging spells. Plus, I would get in trouble for using powers on civilians. But they also had magic, so maybe they were supers?


    And why was Izzy there? Was she with Midnight?


    My thoughts were further jumbled by the fact that her movement suddenly went from hard to follow to mini-Shockwave levels. I couldn¡¯t have told you how close they really were to the same speed, just that she surpassed the level I could follow. Her swords deflected swings from heavy weapons all around her as she weaved her way around, jabbing the butt of her shortswords into various places on the mid and lower bodies of the attackers. I was gathering mana, unsure of exactly what I was going to use it for. Haste? Sonic Lance? One of the bigger ones.


    Most of them fell quickly. Even their magic glowing armor was sliced through like they¡¯d never even spent points to power up their defenses. Amateurs. They would be very dead if Izzy hadn¡¯t been so careful to not actually stab them.


    There was only one left, and he took a wide swing with his pipe, swinging it like a golf club- which was the actual ¡®weapon¡¯ one of the others had. Izzy easily dodged but¡­ Midnight was just behind her at that moment. My cat buddy was sent flying down the alley towards me.


    Sonic lance it was, then. Who did this guy think he was anyway?


    ¡°Restraint!¡± a black figure leapt into my eyesight. ¡°Calm! Down! Buddy!¡± Midnight said, getting in the way of my shots as he jumped up. ¡°Don¡¯t kill civilians!¡±


    That was¡­ probably good advice, yeah. And with how he was moving, Midnight seemed to be okay. The guy who clubbed him had also gone down a moment later, so I could only really shoot at someone already on the ground, or release the mana. I reluctantly did the latter.


    ¡°I¡¯msosorryturloughididntmeantoleaveforthatlongcanyoueverforgiveme?¡± Izzy was suddenly in front of me, speaking a jumble of words. There was a brief pause, then she threw something at me. ¡°Masteruvitharsaidyoumightneedthisgoodbyeforever!¡± Then she was gone, though I could vaguely track her movement down the alley so it was clearly sub-Shockwave speed.


    ¡­What? I didn¡¯t catch any of that. I looked down at the book that had bounced off of my Force Armor. ¡®Basics of Magic to Hidden Secrets: An Instructional Guide for Instructors of Magic¡¯.


    Why was there a book? I picked it up and looked down at Midnight. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re alright, Midnight?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he said. I bent down to touch him and felt a twinge of pain. ¡°Obviously not. That clearly hurts.¡±


    ¡°... most of that was your hand.¡±


    I looked down at my hand. ¡°... when did that happen?¡± I vaguely recalled something about a brick wall? ¡°Was that Izzy? Do you know Izzy, Midnight?¡±


    ¡°Hah,¡± Midnight sighed. ¡°She was supposed to come talk to you, but then she did¡­ that.¡± Midnight looked down the alley, ¡°I don¡¯t think she realized that Haste made her talk faster.¡±


    I snorted. ¡°How silly. Come on Midnight, let¡¯s get your side looked at.¡± Pain. ¡°And my hand. We can go find her later.¡±

 Chapter 71

    Since it wasn¡¯t an emergency, meeting with Doctor Martinez was easier than Doctor Mishra. We didn¡¯t need super healing, just someone to check on things. He took a look at Midnight first, since that was recent. I could feel his power moving over Midnight, a plane of energy scanning back and forth much like some machines apparently did. Only he was faster and more complete than any technology I was aware of. At best, there might be a few pieces of super tech that matched him.


    ¡°Looks like you have some bruised ribs. Not much we can do for that without involving powers. If Meztli has some spare juice her power would do just fine, otherwise just rest. Best to let things heal naturally.¡± Then he turned to me. ¡°You should have come in here days ago.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I shrugged.


    The same sort of energy scanned through my hand, a slightly smaller plane of energy for the smaller area. He spent a bit more time on me before finally nodding. ¡°It¡¯s fine enough. Everything in the right place. I¡¯m still going to put a cast though. I wouldn¡¯t suggest you try to get Meztli¡¯s help though.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I frowned. Her power should work so it had to be something else. ¡°What did I do?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been pretty unhelpful the past few days. She never stays angry long, but you should probably say something to patch up, now that you¡¯re feeling better. You are feeling better, right?¡±


    ¡°I think so?¡± I looked at Midnight.


    ¡°Why are you looking at me? I only feel your emotions secondhand!¡±


    Hmm. He felt decidedly less worried. ¡°I¡¯m probably fine.¡±


    ¡°We have a lot of things we need to talk about,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Yeah, probably.¡±


    ¡°So,¡± Doctor Martinez commented, ¡°You mentioned some sort of attack being the result of Midnight¡¯s injuries?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, there were some sort of¡­ crappy supers. Maybe discount paladins?¡±


    ¡°What happened with them?¡±


    ¡°With everything that happened I forgot to call it in. They¡¯re probably gone. I don¡¯t think anyone was hurt badly enough not to walk.¡±


    ¡°In a way, that¡¯s good, but¡­ it¡¯s a problem if supers randomly attack you.¡±


    ¡°There were looking for Mage, maybe?¡± Midnight brought up. ¡°Or someone with a black cat. But when I told them I wasn¡¯t a cat they seemed more sure they wanted to beat me up so they were probably after us.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t really my job but¡­ any distinguishing marks?¡±


    I tried to picture them. The fight was relatively short and I wasn¡¯t paying close attention, but one thing stood out. ¡°Uh, they all had¡­ that stupid woman¡¯s face on them. Stargirl?¡±


    ¡°Shooting Star,¡± Midnight confirmed.


    ¡°Yeah, her!¡± I nodded vigorously.


    ¡°That¡¯s probably important. I would suggest you bring that information to the right people.¡±


    ¡°Like¡­ Calculator? He seems to keep track of things.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    -----


    ¡°That¡¯s somewhat concerning,¡± Calculator admitted. ¡°Especially given certain things on social media.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about that,¡± I said. ¡°That uh¡­ social media thing. What is it?¡±


    ¡°It is an interactive feature of communications technology that is both extremely helpful and unhelpful at the same time,¡± he explained.


    I looked to Midnight. ¡°What?¡± He tilted his head. ¡°Why would I know more about this than you?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you from a world with technology?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. So what?¡±


    ¡°Ahem,¡± Calculator drew our attention back to him. ¡°I can provide further information on social media, but I would for the moment suggest minimizing your interactions. In fact, I would suggest that for everyone. Much trouble occurs there, and public image is quite important for some. Even if everything you say is unequivocally true, people might get angry. But I should say that in general the public outlook on heroes is better than mercenaries like us.¡±


    ¡°Even though heroes still get paid and are inefficient.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The important thing is not the general public opinion for us, however. Just how the leadership of New Bay finds the Power Brigade in particular.¡±


    ¡°And?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They know we¡¯re good. Back to the matter at hand. Being attacked by people with powers. You called them discount paladins?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t really think of anything better. They were pretty weak.¡±


    ¡°Weak supers were still a concern. And six of them¡­¡± Calculator frowned, ¡°It could be related to recent events. There¡¯s been a flood of strange powers popping up. People suddenly awakening powers, relatively insignificant but widespread. A large number of them have been collapsing with no signs of damage afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Like mana exhaustion?¡±


    ¡°Do you know something?¡±


    Did I know something? I thought for a few moments. ¡°My apprentice got powers he wasn¡¯t supposed to have. Powers like mine.¡±


    ¡°When was this?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°Right after the portal incident. Or rather, during it.¡±


    ¡°And he has powers like yours? And these¡­ discount paladins, you describe them as such because they appear like powers from your world?¡±


    ¡°Definitely. They were using mana and everything.¡±


    ¡°What do you know about the portal incident, and what caused it?¡±


    ¡°Portals appeared and monsters came out. As for what caused it¡­ nothing?¡±


    ¡°Guess.¡±


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Probably something related to Doctor Doomsday. That was how I got here in the first place.¡±


    ¡°I have a theory,¡± Calculator wrote something on his tablet. ¡°I am not sure how to confirm it without asking leading questions. So I am instead going to ask you for more details about what you observed during the incident. Whatever you observed.¡±


    ¡°Okay, like what?¡±


    ¡°What monsters did you see? Any detail is important.¡±


    ¡°It started with the one literally next to my apartment. Wyverns came out.¡±


    ¡°You recognized them?¡±


    ¡°Well, from books, yeah. I obviously hadn¡¯t seen any in person.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± He continued to take notes, though that seemed to be a constant fact of his life. ¡°Anything else? What about the portal? Anything strange or familiar?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t really know anything about how the portal worked. But a lot of mana came through it.¡±


    ¡°Interesting. Go on.¡±


    ¡°That was kind of it. It eventually closed up. Oh, the portal wasn¡¯t magic though.¡±


    ¡°What about other monsters?¡±


    ¡°Shadows. Stargirl was very effective against them.¡±


    ¡°Do you do that on purpose?¡±


    ¡°Do what on purpose?¡±


    ¡°... So about these shadows. How would you describe them?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re shadows. The monstrous kind. Not,¡± I gestured around us, ¡°This kind. They uh¡­ steal people¡¯s life force and stuff. Very weak to light powers.¡±


    ¡°So, familiar.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Then there were uh¡­ needle blights and assassin vines.¡±


    ¡°Did the other portals have abnormal amounts of mana coming through?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right, how did you guess?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fairly certain they weren¡¯t random. You said something about your mana regeneration rate being constant. Is it higher in your world?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Calculator¡¯s face didn¡¯t change much, but he looked disappointed. ¡°So these aren¡¯t all portals to your world.¡±


    ¡°Oooh. You know, they could be.¡±


    ¡°But you said the amount of mana coming through was higher.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well, monsters like to live in high mana areas.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said the levels were the same here?¡±


    ¡°Sure. It¡¯s basically the same everywhere people live, except directly on a mana well or something.¡±


    ¡°I see that I need to be more specific in my questions.¡± He didn¡¯t seem particularly annoyed. In fact, he smiled slightly. ¡°I¡¯ll have a few more questions about this, then quite a few about these new powers that are popping up.¡±


    -----


    Ultimately, I couldn¡¯t tell him why anybody would suddenly have access to class abilities, but it seemed to be something that was happening. It should require interaction with a status window to function, and people didn¡¯t even have points. It was crazy. But Jerome had managed to learn new things anyway. Calculator set up some of my time for some sort of consultation on the matter on the presumption that I could help, but I really didn¡¯t know if I could. He also suggested we get back to Scrying things, and I totally agreed that we should. Soon.


    But first, I had other things to do. ¡°Hey Midnight, you were with Izzy right? Do you know how to find her?¡±


    ¡°I do. Do you think it¡¯s a good idea?¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be?¡±


    ¡°I believe the last time you interacted for more than five seconds, she tried to kill you and then you broke your own hand on a wall. And you said that you weren¡¯t friends.¡±


    ¡°... Yeah? So?¡±


    Midnight jumped on my shoulder and put his face right in front of mine. ¡°You are hard to read, Turlough. If I did not have a magical connection I would find it very difficult to know what you¡¯re thinking about.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s usually magic,¡± I said.


    ¡°Right. Well, I can tell you¡¯re much more calm right now, but can you assure me things will stay that way?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°And if I had asked you before you first saw Izzy, would you have said the same thing?¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­ well¡­¡±


    Midnight sighed, ¡°Why do you want to see her anyway?¡±


    ¡°Well, she came to find me right? I assume there was something important.¡±


    ¡°Is that it?¡±


    ¡°Should there be something else?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not friends anymore, by your own admission. So maybe not. Perhaps this would be a proper end to things.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not friends, but that doesn¡¯t mean we couldn¡¯t be friends.¡± I jerked my head back as he bit at my nose. ¡°Why are you angry now?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the sort of thing you¡¯re supposed to say the first time you meet long lost friends again! I can¡¯t believe I have to be the responsible adult here.¡±


    ¡°Nobody asked about that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the sort of information you are supposed to volunteer in normal social interaction!¡± Midnight said, exasperated. ¡°Don¡¯t you¡­ ah nevermind. I can bring you to where she should be, as long as you promise to avoid fighting. I have to go see her anyway because she can¡¯t communicate without me.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah! She doesn¡¯t have Translation! That¡¯s gotta suck. Let¡¯s go,¡± I stood up, pulling a couple baggies of diamond dust out of a drawer.


    ¡°Why are you preparing like we¡¯re going to a battlefield?¡±


    ¡°You literally got attacked in the alley behind the apartment earlier today,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± Midnight nodded.


    ¡°Also last time she punched me hard enough to start breaking through Stoneskin.¡±


    ¡°Maybe if you used some tact in your speech you wouldn¡¯t have that problem,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Mages don¡¯t have a spell for that,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°... not everything has to be done with magic.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know another way so¡­¡±


    ¡°Ugh, fine. I guess I¡¯ll start the talking and set things up so you two don¡¯t kill each other. But you really need to get this settled at some point and waiting even longer probably isn¡¯t going to help.¡± As we walked out of the apartment and along the street, Midnight commented, ¡°You know, even though you¡¯re literally twice as tall as her you walk slower.¡±


    ¡°Sorry?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just confused, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a class feature, I think. I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s a scout.¡±


    ¡°What kind of spell is that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a spell. Scouts don¡¯t do spells.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it magic though? She definitely used mana when she moved.¡±


    ¡°Not everything done with mana is a spell,¡± I explained.


    ¡°... what?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an important distinction, actually,¡± I pointed out. ¡°For example, I can¡¯t dispel things that aren¡¯t spells so¡­ there¡¯s really no point.¡±


    ¡°I thought I understood a lot about this but apparently I do not,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So what about those paladin kids.¡±


    ¡°Uh, some of that should have been from spells. I can¡¯t say I performed deep dives on paladin abilities though. That kind of information wasn¡¯t really publicly available, or relevant.¡±


    ¡°You seemed pretty unperturbed by news of more than just Jerome gaining powers. You aren¡¯t concerned about a large number of people developing powers?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Literally everyone in my world who isn¡¯t a kid has a class, and thus powers,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Frankly it¡¯s kind of weird when people don¡¯t have any. It seems difficult to get things done with just¡­ a human body. Or non-human, for non-powered aliens.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we invent technology, and use it. Though I¡¯ll admit I like having magic.¡±


    ¡°Magic is good,¡± I agreed. ¡°I¡¯m glad I¡¯m able to level up properly here.¡±


    ¡°... Don¡¯t start a fight with Izzy for experience.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that. We¡¯re not enemies or friends so it¡¯s just weird.¡±


    Midnight¡¯s emotional reactions to things I said were weird. This one felt like a mix between confusion and acceptance.

 Chapter 72

    ¡°I just need you to confirm that you can stay calm when we see her and not get into a fight,¡± Midnight repeated.


    ¡°Of course I can,¡± I said defensively. ¡°What makes you think I can¡¯t control myself? She started it last time.¡±


    ¡°See, I believe you mean to do your best, but your words and your emotions aren¡¯t lining up. And it takes two people to be a fight, as my parents always said.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t really talked about them. What were they like?¡±


    ¡°No distracting me!¡± Midnight snapped. ¡°Anyway, your words seem genuine but the fact that you¡¯re angry already doesn¡¯t fill me with confidence.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not angry. I don¡¯t get angry. I¡¯m just a little annoyed.¡± It was strange, though, because Midnight should be able to feel my emotions. Maybe something was broken?


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s¡­ everyone gets angry,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It¡¯s normal. Just remember your powers can cause more damage than you intend if you lose focus.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°Have I ever hurt someone when I didn¡¯t mean to?¡±


    ¡°... you¡¯re pretty good about that,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°But the stronger you are, the more easily you could do something by accident, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Everything is in control.¡± I reached into my pocket.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cast Stoneskin,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°But last time-¡±


    ¡°Last time went about as poorly as it could go!¡± Midnight said, aggravated. ¡°Listen, being visibly defensive is probably a bad way to start things off. And I don¡¯t care if she punched you last time. It probably would have gone better if something actually happened to you so Izzy could properly regret it. This time, I¡¯ll go in first and you come in after I¡¯ve set things up.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get why you¡¯re so annoyed right now,¡± I crossed my arms, ¡°You don¡¯t even need to be here.¡±


    Midnight sighed. ¡°I¡¯m the only one who knows the way, among other things. Actually, wait here,¡± Midnight waved a paw at a nearby coffee shop. ¡°It¡¯s probably better to meet at something like a neutral location.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even like coffee.¡±


    ¡°Then get hot chocolate! Or tea, or whatever. Not my problem.¡±


    ¡­ Midnight sure was testy. Best not to argue with him.


    I went into the shop. For some reason one wall had pictures of various supers on it. I didn¡¯t recognize most of them, despite memorizing as much as I could from the databases. There was just a lot, and there wasn¡¯t a simple and organized way to go through them so I just had to go with whoever was strong or otherwise stood out.


    The majority occupants of the establishment seemed to have headphones and laptops, which were like phones and their larger tablet counterparts but more unwieldy. Better for inputting data through a keyboard, from what I had heard. I didn¡¯t see why it should matter except I saw their fingers could move quite fast- in short bursts at least.


    I looked around for a location to sit down and then realized I should probably buy something for it to be less awkward. I was also a bit hungry, so I got a bagel and something to drink. For some reason it was cold, but it wasn¡¯t bad.


    Then I waited. I basically kept track of Midnight¡¯s location and emotional state since I didn¡¯t have much else to do. He wasn¡¯t terribly far away, and his feelings fluctuated what I presumed was a normal amount, nothing sharp or extreme. Then he began getting closer.


    It was at that point that my brain realized that Izzy was coming, and that she was only something like three feet tall. Would she be comfortable in this booth? I scanned the area and picked out a child eating some sort of funny looking sandwich across from a haggard looking mother. Eh, it was close enough. Better than one of the tables, probably.


    Then Izzy walked in. She took one step through the door, her eyes passing over everything as she did so, then promptly turned towards the counter. Midnight leapt up to the counter, pulling out his phone to pay. I was quite proud of him for using just enough mana for Mage¡¯s Reach to work instead of using it at maximum capacity. A minute later, Izzy sat down across from me with a coffee that seemed almost as big as her head.


    Midnight sat between us on the table, slightly off to one side. ¡°I¡¯ve explained the situation where we couldn¡¯t understand her at all last time. And now we¡¯re all here. Turlough, didn¡¯t you have something to say?¡±


    Did I? It took a few moments to think of anything. ¡°Thank you for the book,¡± I said. Noticing the way Midnight¡¯s tail twitched- among other things- I could presume that wasn¡¯t the thing he meant. What else was there? Oh right. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I communicated poorly when we met again.¡±


    Izzy side eyed me as she took a huge swig from the container in front of her. ¡°Yeah, I really shouldn¡¯t have expected anything different. Should have known better.¡± Midnight¡¯s face pressing right up close to her seemed to prompt something else. ¡°Uh, and I¡¯m sorry that¡­ I punched you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about that,¡± I said.


    For some reason, Midnight sighed again. But I couldn¡¯t think of any other way I would have said that.


    Some awkward moments of sipping beverages and chewing food made the time pass at a snail¡¯s pace. Finally, Izzy said something. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, huh?¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± More awkward silence. ¡°Thanks for delivering that book from Master Uvithar. How did he know you were coming here? Or that you would be able to find me?¡±


    ¡°... I arrived in Mossley the night before you went through that portal. I talked to him after that. Then I was trying to find my way here.¡±


    ¡°... oh.¡± That must have been a lot of work. It seemed pretty easy to throw around portals here, but that was partly because Doctor Doomsday was exceptionally powerful. And New Bay was apparently dimensionally unstable.


    ¡°I had to work with a diviner to find a way here.¡±


    ¡°To deliver a book?¡±


    ¡°To find you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I thought¡­ you might remember me.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡±


    There was a long period of nothing. Midnight seemed like he wanted to say something but didn¡¯t know what, and eventually just remained quiet.


    ¡°We can help out with Translation, since you can¡¯t speak the language here.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll learn it pretty quick though.¡±


    I wondered if the clock on the wall was broken. Was the hand moving backwards? No, it just felt like it.


    ¡°There¡¯s a guy named Doctor Doomsday who¡¯s opening lots of portals,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯s dangerous, but if you want to go back¡­ looking for whatever he¡¯s doing might work. Do you want to go back?¡± She could get experience like a normal person, so she didn¡¯t need to be here where there was conflict.


    ¡°Mmn,¡± was all she replied. She tipped back the last of the big portable coffee she had, then stood up. ¡°Well¡­ see you around, maybe.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    After she was gone, I was left with Midnight staring at me. He was clearly not happy, but also not angry. Just a confused jumble of mainly negative emotions. ¡°... We need to get you a professional,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°A professional what? Like, a person who can talk for me?¡±


    ¡°No. Something else. A um¡­ I don¡¯t even know, actually.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Well if you ever figure it out¡­¡±


    -----


    On the table in front of me sat the book from Master Uvithar.


    ¡®Basics of Magic to Hidden Secrets: An Instructional Guide for Instructors of Magic¡¯


    Inside were some familiar things. Tables that I had already memorized, though I could also reproduce them by knowing the proper formula. It had been a while since I really cracked open a physical book, since most of what was done here was all digital. The Power Brigade library did have physical books, I just hadn¡¯t really needed them. The database had a lot of what I needed to know.


    Beyond what I already knew, the book had some interesting things I had never learned. There were some interesting things that I¡¯d either forgotten or never learned, as well as some things I¡¯d thought about but never in quite the way laid out in the book. Some of it was pretty basic, and as the title said basic, but having it properly compiled would help with teaching Jerome.


    There were some questions about how Master Uvithar knew I¡¯d need this, but it wasn¡¯t necessarily that he knew I had a student. Because there were also those new things. The section talking about using mana for spells basically covered everything I knew¡­ but with slight but critical extra details.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Each spell costs mana according to its level. Likewise, its power is geometrically proportionate to the level, at least as measurable with offensive and defensive spells. Larger area spells suffer some reduction in power because of the distribution, though the exact proportions are not always clear or measurable.


    Using less mana is possible- though it takes more concentration and might weaken effects in unpredictable ways without practice. The other way to use less mana is to improve a spell by spending additional points to upgrade its effects. This comes not only with a reduction in mana cost but an increase in power, improving efficiency in both directions.


    However, a lesser known effect follows from that. A mage or other spellcaster will naturally cast at the reduced cost without thinking about it- it is instinct. And while it is not possible to push more mana into a spell to make it stronger, this is only technically the case with an upgraded spell.


    In short, it is possible to use anywhere up to the default amount of mana, proportionately increasing the power of the spell once more. This does not come with the same geometric progression in power, but is still useful when maximum output in a single spell is necessary. In short, a mage with twenty upgrades in a spell (a serious expenditure of points but used for illustrative purposes because of the neat numbers) will normally cast the spell at half cost. With some additional expenditure of effort and the conscious decision to use the default amount of mana- double what is natural- and the spell will likewise double in power.


    This costs somewhere between forty-one and twelve times the total expenditure of points depending on the level of the spell, requiring a mage to specialize in a single spell or very small number, but proportionally smaller but potentially relevant effects can come from spells with a smaller numbers of upgrades, about five percent per.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I¡­ had the feeling I had stumbled upon that myself once or twice. I couldn¡¯t really say for sure, though. One thing I could say was that Shockwave was going to be very happy at some point.


    Just to experiment, I tried it with Force Armor. I¡­ couldn¡¯t actually feel the effects directly. Not from a single casting. I had to repeat the process multiple times, taking into consideration the difference between approximately 1.54 mana and 2. After casting it ten times I began to feel the strain, but I carefully cast two more just to make sure I brought myself to the very edge. Yes, that had to be it. The difference between being at a single point of mana and six and a half was significant.


    I had a lot of calculations to think about now. In battle, it would be easier to calculate my mana amounts using this ability- but it also took slightly longer. I had to gather more mana and focus on pushing past the naturally accepted numbers. Long term things like Force Armor would be good with this method, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted to concern myself with slight power differences in other abilities. And of course if I was using magic on a normal human it would be quite inappropriate to overcharge Shocking Grasp.


    I wondered why I hadn¡¯t learned this information before. Then I realized that in a battle between two mages, the one who could eke out these extra bits of power to batter down defenses or resist a powerful attack would be at a significant advantage. A small portion of a spell remaining might not seem like much until you got to high levels of power where that remnant was deadly to someone. Then I wondered what else had been kept secret, like the mana crystals I had learned how to make. Interestingly enough those weren¡¯t mentioned in the book- even in the margins where Master Uvithar had some notes. Did nobody know, or was it an even more tightly kept secret? Either way, I¡¯d have to figure out the details on them myself.


    Later, because I really needed to get back to focusing on my mercenary duties. Handface wasn¡¯t going to just scry himself, after all.


    I also needed to figure out how much mana I was regenerating now, because I hadn¡¯t taken careful notes on the phenomenon while I was¡­ disoriented.

 Chapter 73

    ¡°So tell me again why we¡¯re training to make my magic weaker?¡± Jerome asked. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t I want to be stronger? So I could take out something like that other plant monster with the vines.¡±


    A reasonable enough question, but I had answers for that. ¡°You¡¯re not making your magic weaker, you¡¯re learning control. You ever been in a fight before that?¡±


    ¡°... a few.¡±


    ¡°Anyone try to kill you?¡±


    ¡°No. Not really.¡±


    ¡°Great. So we¡¯ve established a few things here,¡± I nodded. ¡°First, you know something about fights. And you¡¯ll probably get in them again.¡±


    ¡°I-¡±


    I held up my hand to stop him, ¡°It¡¯s just a fact. I¡¯m certainly not in a place where I can tell you that you shouldn¡¯t fight. But remember what you said about the first plant creature you killed. The thorny one.¡±


    ¡°It burst into flames and turned into a pile of ash.¡±


    ¡°People don¡¯t burn that easily, but as it turns out they also don¡¯t do so well with any part of them set on fire or burned even skin deep. A single Firebolt is enough to kill someone, like shooting a gun at them. If they don¡¯t die, they might be crippled. And you¡¯d be better of not doing either of those on accident.¡±


    ¡°But what about monsters? When they show up again¡­¡±


    ¡°You want to be able to respond appropriately. The one that burned up could have been taken care of at lower power, I¡¯m not saying you should have known that ahead of time, but it¡¯s something you¡¯ll have to be able to figure out for the future.¡± From what I¡¯d seen of New Bay, there was no chance that there wouldn¡¯t be more dangerous incidents, and even if he didn¡¯t seek them out Jerome was exactly the sort to get involved if something happened in front of him. ¡°Now, how many Firebolts can you cast before you pass out?¡±


    ¡°Three. Because I have six mana and they cost two each.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d count it as two, because you pass out on the third one. If your enemies aren¡¯t dead or incapacitated for longer than you passing out from mana exhaustion, it doesn¡¯t matter if you got another shot. Of course, that¡¯s if you¡¯re alone, protecting just yourself. If you have to protect someone else¡­ just make sure you aren¡¯t going to make things harder for whoever you were protecting when you pass out.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kinda sad to be restricted to doing so little¡­¡± Jerome frowned.


    ¡°You¡¯ll level up, and also¡­ that¡¯s the point here. You could do five Firebolts at half cost and still be on your feet. If you get a little ten minute break, you could do one more.¡± I paused for a moment, ¡°I¡¯m not advocating using Firebolt on people. It¡¯s pretty messy and you really don¡¯t want to start a fire when you miss. But if you have to, think about how strong it needs to be. Don¡¯t forget you can miss.¡±


    We practiced for a while, with him taking shots at me while I had Energy Ward active. Over the next two hours he shot a total of eighteen Firebolts at vaguely half power. Some were less, some were more. Energy was more mana efficient defending against them- about half cost- and it was better than Shield because it lasted between rest periods if there was extra energy, and it didn¡¯t scatter deflected energy around us into the side of a building. Just because most were brick and concrete didn¡¯t mean nothing could catch on fire.


    ¡°That¡¯s so cool,¡± Jerome said. ¡°That Energy Ward thing. I could just like¡­ never get burned? Could I pick up something hot with my hands?¡±


    ¡°Sure, just make sure you cast it before you do that. And don¡¯t forget other people don¡¯t have it.¡±


    ¡°Awesome. So you cast it like¡­¡± Jerome began to gather mana. I would have stopped him, but he was the one who would suffer the consequences of mana exhaustion. It wasn¡¯t a dangerous spell, so he¡¯d have to really screw it up to do any more harm than that. I stepped forward to catch him so he didn¡¯t hit his head- he had Force Armor on, but it was still possible to get a concussion if you hit wrong. ¡°... Like this?¡±


    I stopped with my arm about an inch from his shoulder, then reached up to tussle his hair. ¡°That¡¯s it. Good job. Just one question. How much mana did you just use?¡±


    ¡°Well I cast it at half so¡­ one?¡±


    ¡°That was definitely two full points,¡± I said. ¡°Which is two. Which should have more than knocked you out.¡± I chose to ignore him successfully casting a fourth level spell on his first attempt at reduced power for the moment. ¡°Did you level up again¡­ twice?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°How much mana do you have left?¡±


    ¡°One?¡±


    ¡°And before you cast?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I didn¡¯t really think about it.¡±


    ¡°Sit with me for a second,¡± I gestured for him to follow me to a nearby set of stairs where we could be vaguely comfortable. ¡°Are you certain you haven¡¯t leveled up again? Have you been practicing magic?¡±


    ¡°Mostly Shield,¡± Jerome said. ¡°You said that one was fine to do alone.¡±


    ¡°It is. How many times can you cast it?¡±


    ¡°Three, but then I¡¯m basically passed out.¡±


    ¡°Not actually passed out?¡±


    ¡°I let it last for the whole minute, so I should have um¡­ some left.¡±


    ¡°How much?¡± I asked. I knew, but I was also responsible for teaching him to do math¡­ and sometimes mages needed to be specific.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Three tenths? Because it¡¯s one mana per ten minutes, right?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded. ¡°Which puts you at less than half a mana remaining, which is definitely the passing out point. You sure you haven¡¯t been downcasting subconsciously?¡±


    He thought for a few moments, which was good. ¡°No, I just let it flow naturally.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I scratched my chin. ¡°That doesn¡¯t quite line up.¡± Even with the increased mana regeneration that was happening now- I¡¯d approximated it as somewhere close to ten percent higher in normal locations- there was basically no real difference between .3 and .33 mana in terms of incapacitating a mage. ¡°Let¡¯s have you rest up and test something.¡±


    During times where he was recovering mana, he did school work about half the time, while taking some time to simply relax. I would answer any questions he had, but honestly I was useless at history. I did, however, learn how all of the instructional books were arranged. Finding answers in the books was easy, since it was always in the section that people had been asked to read. I taught Jerome some reading techniques, and though he said he was bad at reading it seemed like he just needed practice. Like math.


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°You recovered?¡±


    Jerome nodded, closing his eyes and breathing in slowly. ¡°Yep, I feel full on mana.¡±


    ¡°Great. Cast Shield consecutively like you practice,¡± I held my phone in my hand, ¡°The natural flow, not trying to conserve anything.¡±


    As he cast the spell I paid close attention to every detail, especially the mana he used. It was not as natural to feel someone else¡¯s mana expended as it was for one¡¯s self, but approximating was possible. And there were things that could be judged from the quality of the final spell. My phone also helpfully had a timer.


    One minute and five seconds went past. ¡°Great. Again.¡± One minute seven. One minute four. The fluctuations could be any number of reasons, such as imprecision in my measuring technique¡­ but they clustered around a number I had been anticipating.


    Jerome looked exhausted afterwards, as he rightfully should be. ¡°See now¡­ I can barely¡­ think¡­¡±


    ¡°Point six, would you say?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°More or less than half a mana remaining?¡±


    ¡°It should be, uh¡­¡± Jerome was looking at his fingers, indicating he was thinking about math dazedly.


    ¡°Just your feeling, not a calculation.¡±


    ¡°More?¡± Jerome said cautiously.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s something. You¡¯ve upgraded your proficiency in Shield.¡±


    ¡°I thought that took points?¡± he said awkwardly.


    ¡°So does learning spells,¡± I pointed out. ¡°And you¡¯re clearly not level four so you can¡¯t possibly learn Energy Ward alone, let alone that and everything else.¡±


    ¡°... What does that mean?¡± he asked.


    ¡°It means you should practice whatever you want to get good at¡­ and if it¡¯s Firebolt make sure you¡¯re somewhere safe.¡±


    It seemed he was still probably level 1, but I had no doubt he¡¯d reach level 2 soon enough. It was triple the amount of experience, but it was hard to say how much killing a monster had put him over the first level threshold to begin with. And unlike myself, he should gain experience from studying and using magic.


    Jerome¡¯s mother came out. ¡°Heading to work, mom?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right,¡± she nodded. ¡°Before I left I wanted to talk to, uh¡­¡±


    ¡°Turlough,¡± I said, gesturing to my unmasked face. ¡°The other name is kind of dumb anyway.¡±


    ¡°Right, Turlough then. I had a question about that, actually.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, will it take long? Should we start walking since you have to get to work?¡±


    ¡°Um, I, well¡­¡± she sighed, ¡°Probably should.¡± There was an awkward silence for a few moments as we began walking. She looked around to make sure there was nobody within easy earshot, but aside from some cars driving by with their windows up the evening light had few people casually walking about. Especially in the current neighborhood. ¡°So you have powers.¡±


    ¡°Obviously. It¡¯s not unusual where I come from.¡±


    ¡°Do your powers ever make you weirdly fast?¡±


    ¡°Define weirdly fast. There¡¯s magic to make people fast.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± she bit her lip. ¡°Can I see it?¡±


    ¡°You could even experience it. Though I¡¯ll probably tone it down a bit to make it more comfortable.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯d like to know if it¡¯s the same as¡­ something else I¡¯ve seen.¡±


    I held out my hand, gathering just a bit of mana for Haste. I focused mostly on shortening the duration, though I was certain the power would also suffer from the reduction in mana.


    Tylissa took my hand and the power flowed into her, then she looked back confused as she found herself ahead of us. I vaguely waved as she walked back towards us trying to talk, and a handful of seconds later I could finally hear her properly. ¡°-going on?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the Haste spell,¡± I said, ¡°It makes you faster, but because of that you also talk fast and are hard to understand.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ interesting. It¡¯s different than what I saw before, though.¡±


    ¡°What did you see?¡± I asked. ¡°Speedsters exist, but I¡¯m sure you know about them already.¡±


    ¡°It was during the portal incident. After Jerome passed out, there was a girl with swords that chopped up the other plant monster. She moved quickly and¡­ elegantly.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, that could be¡­ lots of things really,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t really know more unless I see it.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, that¡¯s fine,¡± she nodded. ¡°Uh, Jerome can walk me the rest of the way and knows how to get home safely. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re busy with other things so you might want to head back?¡±


    ¡°I have time,¡± I shrugged. ¡°This girl with the swords,¡± I said. ¡°You sure it was a girl? Not just¡­ a small woman?¡±


    ¡°Well, uh¡­ hmm. She¡­ might have been?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Had Izzy saved Jerome? There could certainly be another woman with swords, but a halfling? That was more rare. There were certainly other people of similar sizes, but they usually had more distinctly alien appearances like Zorphax the Martian. I kind of wish I had a picture, but I didn¡¯t. So I described her.


    ¡°Yes! That¡¯s it!¡± Tylissa nodded. ¡°Since you know her, I take it she¡¯d a super, then?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Well, in the same way I am basically. It¡¯s complicated, but same as I¡¯m a mage she¡¯s a scout. Why?¡±


    ¡°Um, no reason, really¡­¡± she said. ¡°Well, work¡¯s just around the corner. Since you have time, could you walk Jerome back?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I nodded. He¡¯d be fine unless he got attacked by a super, presuming he kept Force Armor active like I suggested, but I really didn¡¯t want him to have to Firebolt someone. Even I hadn¡¯t killed a person. That I knew of.


    Tylissa went down the alley and quickly stepped into some rear door with a burly guy standing next to it. There was no signage in the rear, but the front made it pretty obvious with more bouncers and the like.


    Even with his dark skin, Jerome¡¯s blush was obvious as he noticed me checking out the signs. Embarrassment, certainly. I knew that certain professions were looked down upon even as people eagerly flocked to their services. The stigma also existed in my world, but people had to do what they could to survive. Though working at a club was at least safer than some other professions.


    ¡°Come on Jerome, let¡¯s get you back home.¡±

 Chapter 74

    Mists swirled, parting to reveal¡­ darkness. That would normally not prevent me from seeing to some extent, but it appeared to be murky depths. I held onto the image, trying to wait for something to change.  For movement. Rotating the view gave a different angle of murky water. But after time passed, there was nothing.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Calculator asked. ¡°Is Deimos dead?¡±


    ¡°Dead?¡± I shook my head. ¡°No, that shouldn¡¯t be the case. If he was, then I should uh¡­¡± I didn¡¯t actually know. ¡°... Either see his body, or get nothing at all. In this case, I felt a strange resistance. Not like normal, where it fails. Nor was it violent like Gloom,¡± I shuddered as I thought of the shadowy villain. ¡°If I had to guess, it was redirected somehow.¡±


    ¡°Is that possible?¡±


    ¡°Everything is possible, I think,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯d presume some sort of spatial distortion or something? Handface has had enough experience being scryed on that he could have come up with some sort of counter.¡±


    Calculator nodded, ¡°Distance manipulation, maybe. We¡¯ll have to test at different times to see if the location moves.¡±


    ¡°He could also be invisible in the water,¡± I noted.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that leave some visible signs?¡± Calculator asked. ¡°Like a distortion?¡±


    ¡°It might, but not if it¡¯s magic. At least, not something my eyes could pick out. That¡¯s not really my area of expertise.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, that should be enough for today, though we do have plans for something more. Given what happened with Gloom, we are leery of having you attempt to scry powerful figures, but the particular powers at hand are quite different. So I have some preliminary questions,¡± he held up his tablet and read from it. ¡°Do you think it would be dangerous to scry Doctor Doomsday, based on what you know of him?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not really sure. I suppose it could be. Does he have resistance to mental abilities?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but not in the same way as Gloom. Is Scrying¡­ mental?¡± He shook his head. ¡°I suppose it must be, based on what happened with that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I nodded. ¡°At least in part, it relies on the connection to a person¡¯s self. Knowing their name, having met them, having things they owned or part of them¡­ it at least requires a mental component, which is why it can be resisted. And given what I¡¯ve seen here, I wouldn¡¯t doubt that Doctor Doomsday could do something about it¡­ if he knew it was coming.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t usually have any sort of mental retaliation, so the most we could expect would be failure¡­ but we¡¯ll be holding off on making any attempts for the moment. Perhaps if you gain more proficiency?¡±


    I nodded. That involved both actual practice and spending points to increase its power. I technically had points available, but I wasn¡¯t going to spend half of my recent level- technically more than half- for an upgrade that wouldn¡¯t help in the way I wanted at the moment. That was, as always, fighting to get more experience and thus more points to spend.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 20


    Experience: 1076


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +1


    Firebolt +2


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +1


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +1


    Enlarge


    Energy Ward


    Sonic Lance +1


    Scrying


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin


    Remaining Points: 20


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana Crystal Deposition


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± I saw Calculator looking at me.


    ¡°Your eye twitched.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well, I saw something¡­ unexpected.¡±


    ¡°Is it a problem?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    It was just concerning to see another section of my status. And containing a word I wasn¡¯t familiar with. A quick search on my phone made me briefly more confused. I was quite certain I hadn¡¯t been involved in removing anyone from office, and that didn¡¯t fit with Mana Crystals. Shouldn¡¯t it be called Mana Crystal Formation?


    Ah, there it was. Turning from a gas directly to a solid, the opposite of sublimation. That was¡­ accurate enough, at least. Mana probably wasn¡¯t a gas, but it also wasn¡¯t not a gas.


    So now there was just this thing about having a spell I hadn¡¯t paid for or heard of that also wasn¡¯t in the same section as spells belonged, but in one of its own. It was a spell, right? There wasn¡¯t really another thing mages got. And it used mana, but so did skills from different classes.


    It was time to look into this more. ¡°Anything else?¡± I asked Calculator.


    ¡°No, we¡¯re done for the moment. If you come up with additional concerns or perhaps something helpful on the potential matter with Doctor Doomsday, please keep me informed. And of course we¡¯ll be meeting again tomorrow for more Scrying attempts.¡±


    -----


    I was usually pretty consistent with going to training, but I bowed out for the sake of interacting with my new skill more. I¡¯d been quite out of it when I began the process, repeatedly incapacitating myself by using up all my mana forming the crystals. I hadn¡¯t really tested if they were useful for anything. Not thoroughly, anyway.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Unless things were extremely confused I could absorb them to refill my mana. I started by creating a small one. Using a single point of mana- or something close to that- I formed a spiky little crystal about an inch tall. Then I tried to absorb it. It took a few tries before anything happened. It quite stubbornly held onto its form, but eventually I discovered that a little bit of a yank on the mana in it while I simultaneously squeezed it in my grip caused it to shatter and then disappear from vision, but I definitely felt mana in the air and pulled it into me.


    It took about a minute to fully absorb it, but I was fairly certain I absorbed all of the mana I had put into it. That was great! I repeated the process for the next twenty minutes just to be sure, and though there would have been some natural regeneration at the time it should have been at least ninety percent efficient.


    Everything seemed great until I made bigger ones. Spending two mana, I got a crystal¡­ about an inch and a half in size. Maybe a little less? Interestingly enough, it took the same amount of time to absorb. I didn¡¯t have a timer going, so I prepared one of each crystal and a timer on my phone. The results?


    A splitting headache. At first things seemed to be going fine. I started the timer and crushed both at once. I felt the mana pouring into me¡­ but some sort of pressure built up in my head, and when I sensed pain I instinctively pushed back. Ultimately I lost more mana than I gained, and my head hurt. It was worse than mana exhaustion because I wasn¡¯t unconscious and I couldn¡¯t just wait for my mana to fill up to a threshold because it was basically eighty percent full.


    Ugh, was that really my limit? A two mana crystal?


    Not willing to let my theory go untested- and having found nothing about mana crystals in the book from Master Uvithar despite having read it from cover to cover three times- I formed another one. This one made using three mana.


    It was¡­ less than two inches long, and didn¡¯t appear particularly larger in other dimensions to make up for it. It certainly wasn¡¯t as much as three of the single mana crystals put together. With my headache receding I popped the crystal and¡­ absorbed the mana.


    It quite easily flowed into me, once again taking close to a minute. And I forgot to time it again. So I repeated it- this time with four mana. It took one minute, within a small margin of error.


    Five mana, six, and seven were all the same. It was maybe a couple seconds longer, or maybe not. But that was where I made a mistake. At eight, I passed out.


    -----


    ¡°Mana exhaustion?¡± Doctor Martinez asked.


    ¡°Mana exhaustion,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°We found this crystal on the ground next to you,¡± he gestured to the bedside table.


    Ah right. I hadn¡¯t gotten to absorb that one, because I was out of mana. That was what I got for not thinking. Clearly, the efficiency of the larger crystals was¡­ not the same.


    As for the crystal, it was a bit smaller than my finger. I thought about absorbing it, but I decided it was better to be conservative. And I didn¡¯t have any of the smaller ones left with me- the ones I made today were all used up, and the others were at home¡­ or in storage. Which would take about as much mana to retrieve something from as I would get.


    That might actually be worth investing more in. The efficiency wouldn¡¯t increase that much, but the total I could have inside would. There was also something in Uvithar¡¯s book about retrieving or storing multiple objects with a single use. It made sense, but I hadn¡¯t really tested it. It was just a cool spell I had picked up with my first point, and without upgrades wasn¡¯t really better than just carrying something. Except if it needed to be hidden, which was not often for me.


    ¡°Are you sure there are no long term side effects of this?¡± Doctor Martinez questioned.


    ¡°Did you find anything?¡± I asked. ¡°My knowledge and experience says no, but¡­¡±


    Doctor Martinez shook his head, ¡°My scans didn¡¯t pick up any damage.¡±


    ¡°Then as long as I don¡¯t bump into anything when I go down, I believe it should continue to be safe. Of course, I would avoid it during battle if at all possible.¡±


    Before I could forget I wrote down some numbers for later verification. There was some uncertainty about where my mana had been when I started the process, but passing out at the eight mark meant something. If nothing else, it meant the recover was far from ninety percent for larger crystals.


    -----


    When Midnight and I returned home that evening, we ran into Jim nearby. ¡°Hey Jim, how¡¯s it going?¡±


    ¡°It is going quite well, thank you,¡± he said. He reached out an ¡®arm¡¯ to bar my path, ¡°However, I would advise you to not continue forward as you are.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you recall the recent incident in the alley. Individuals similar in description to the ¡®thugs¡¯ are standing around the front of the apartment. They cannot easily gain entrance, but nothing legally forbids them from standing on public sidewalks.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so?¡±


    ¡°So if you go they will attack you.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°And that would be bad.¡±


    ¡°... Why? I can beat up a bunch of guys like that. Especially with Midnight here.¡±


    Jim managed something like a sigh. Considering I wasn¡¯t sure if he actually had lungs, I was pretty sure I only recognized it due to the helpful effects of Translation. ¡°Turlough, not everything is best solved by violence.¡±


    ¡°But people attacking me is,¡± I pointed out. I should note that he didn¡¯t actually use my name. After all, we weren¡¯t speaking in a language normal people could produce or comprehend. He really just said ¡®Instigator-as-a-name¡¯ and it resolved into my name.


    ¡°Even if you flawlessly defeat them, things will not go your way beyond that point. I suggest carefully scouting them out, and thinking long and hard about what sort of future trouble you will be getting into. And I advise you to make prior preparations should you chose to go that route, instead of improvising.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see. They might have supers with them this time. Or¡­ real supers. Since they¡¯re fake ones.¡± At least, I presumed if these were the same or similar thugs, they might also have something akin to paladin abilities. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll be subtle.¡± I looked over at Midnight. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to carry you.¡±


    -----


    The group stood around watching for their target. All of them could be recognized by various paraphernalia with Shooting Star on it.


    The first thing they saw was a writhing mass of tentacles walking along. The only thing that prevented them from panicking and immediately attacking the monster was the casual way it walked along, as well as the fact that it was stuffed into a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. It also carried a handbag, out of which it pulled something.


    It shouldn¡¯t specifically be after them, but that didn¡¯t stop them from backing away as it approached. They weren¡¯t here to get entangled with a monster.


    The thing it pulled out was some sort of card which was swiped at the gate, and then it walked inside.


    ¡°... That thing lives here?¡± one of them said after it was inside the building.


    ¡°Apparently.¡±


    ¡°Think it¡¯s an alien?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d bet on extradimensional. That¡¯s where you get the real freaks.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s crazy that things like that actually exist.¡±


    ¡°Come on, just get back into position.¡±


    They moved back to both sides of the gate, leaving room on the sidewalk for people to pass and not blocking the entrance. That would be the quickest way to get in trouble. Sure, once they actually did what they were here for there would be trouble, but they wouldn¡¯t have to deal with that kid with swords this time, and they were prepared to run. All they had to do was find an orc.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± said a woman carrying her baby as she stepped up to the apartment, holding it in one arm to get out her card.


    ¡°... How does she even feel safe in there?¡± another asked.


    ¡°No idea.¡±


    A few minutes passed. Then the gate opened from inside. ¡°Ahem.¡±


    They all turned to look at a man in a nice shirt and slacks, the only thing odd about him being a third eye in the middle of his forehead. ¡°Yeah, whaddya want?


    ¡°I would like you to move away. You¡¯re bothering the residents.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not blocking anything. The sidewalk is public property.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, I suppose you could tell that to the police when they arrive. I¡¯m sure they¡¯d be interested to hear about your¡­ baseball and plumbing related business.¡±


    The group exchanged looks. ¡°Uh, that won¡¯t be necessary. We¡¯ll leave.¡±

 Chapter 75

    The recent discovery with crystallized mana was especially useful for Midnight. Not only did he have a lower total mana capacity, but he needed to use his mana to deal with some mundane life details. Back on Celmoth they had ways to transport whatever they needed, usually by designing them to be carried by mouth or to attach onto somewhere. Midnight wasn¡¯t sure about old technology, but modern stuff tended to activate with a swipe of the paw or simple buttons without requiring manual manipulation like door knobs or handles. Celmothians didn¡¯t have fingers, after all.


    Since Earth wasn¡¯t exactly made for him to function, he had to improvise. That hadn¡¯t gone so well at first, but he¡¯d learned how to deal with human stuff¡­ and he had magic. Mage¡¯s Reach let him make hands, and though it cost several points of mana it would last for a good ten minutes. Or he could use much less mana for something quick. Storage was also important, given the hands thing. He did have a little bandolier with pouches to store stuff, but once again had to retrieve things with magic. So mostly that stored mana crystals. The small ones at least seemed quite efficient in terms of input and output, and he could absorb them without having to pull them out.


    As he entered the elevator a large man loomed over him, bending down close. His voice was¡­ surprisingly cutesy. ¡°Are you lost, little kitty?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a person,¡± Midnight responded as he turned to the buttons behind him, pressing his paw against some of those used for the smaller people.


    The man coughed and straightened up. ¡°Uh, sorry.¡±


    ¡°Apology accepted. Nobody really knows about us Celmothians, and we look basically like cats.¡± Even wearing clothing or accessories of some sort just made people think he was a cat with an odd owner.


    After a short but awkward elevator ride, Midnight stepped out and made his way outside of an apartment. Specifically, Izzy¡¯s. He tapped on the door enough to simulate a knock, and she opened a few moments later.


    ¡°Good day, Izzy, how are you doing?¡±


    ¡°... Fine, I guess. I found a job, actually. Running deliveries around and all that, which was basically what I did before. Apparently I could get more if I had a driver¡¯s license, but cars are expensive and not really made for people my size.¡±


    ¡°There are modifications that can be made, I believe,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t recommend you to the Power Brigade, because the pay is quite good. But I don¡¯t think that would be good for either you or Turlough.¡±


    ¡°I get it. Besides, I¡¯m not really interested in the whole mercenary thing. I know why Turlough wants to fight, but I don¡¯t really need to risk myself to achieve growth.¡± Izzy shrugged, ¡°And I¡¯m not really interested in protecting people. They have that pretty well handled anyway.¡±


    ¡°New Bay could always use more,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°On that topic, however, you came to this world through a portal with plant monsters, right? You saved a mom and kid, didn¡¯t you? Dark skin?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I did,¡± Izzy nodded. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯ll just let people get hurt in front of me¡­ but things like that are rare, right?¡±


    ¡°Not as rare as they should be,¡± Midnight replied. ¡°The point is that we know them. I would like to provide my thanks for saving Jerome and Tylissa, and Turlough would as well whenever you next meet.¡± Midnight was pretty sure that wouldn¡¯t be for a while, but he didn¡¯t think anyone was content with exactly how things had ended up.


    ¡°Oh, well, I was glad to do it,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Like I said, I couldn¡¯t just let people get hurt in front of me.¡±


    ¡°The kid is Turlough¡¯s apprentice here,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Which is interesting. Did you hear that people have been gaining class abilities in this world? They seem to be missing some part of things, but those thugs that attacked us were using paladin abilities.¡±


    ¡°Huh. I didn¡¯t really think about it,¡± Izzy admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t know why that would be happening. Then again, I don¡¯t know why people have weird powers here and not classes like normal.¡±


    ¡°Because every world has a different normal,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Well then, I have to be going.¡± He walked over to Izzy¡¯s leg and bapped her, casting Translation. ¡°That should last you for a few hours.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. I should finish learning the language soon, so you won¡¯t have to come over all the time¡­¡±


    ¡°It is not a problem,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And I would like to think we are friends, so I would like to visit sometimes regardless.¡±


    ¡°... Yeah. That would be fine.¡±


    -----


    ¡°Under repair!¡± Called a voice from up above. I could see Khithae clinging to the ceiling, and she turned her head towards me. ¡°Oh, Turlough!¡± She waved with the tool in her hand.


    ¡°Hello,¡± I waved back. ¡°I thought it might be you. How¡¯s it going?¡±


    ¡°About the same. Which is good. One moment!¡± She turned back to what she was working on, fiddling around with it a few moments. Then she made her way down. ¡°All fixed.¡± She tilted her head, ¡°What is that look?¡±


    ¡°You used mana,¡± I said straightforwardly.


    ¡°That¡­ magic thing?¡± she asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡­ well, I thought maybe¡­¡± she didn¡¯t have lips to purse in thought, but she could tap a finger on her jaw. ¡°I thought it was a minor power?¡±


    ¡°It is a power,¡± I said. ¡°Probably. But it¡¯s the way from my world. You know lots of people have developed things like class abilities lately?¡± She probably didn¡¯t, but I explained the basics.


    ¡°That¡­ makes sense,¡± she nodded. ¡°There was a portal right at the bottom of Western Luxury Apartments. And I got close to one of those¡­ wyverns.¡±


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad Midnight was there to save you from that. So¡­ what spells do you know?¡±


    ¡°... None?¡±


    ¡°Well you did something up there.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that. Well, I can sort of¡­ reattach things?¡±


    ¡°Like Repair?¡± I asked. ¡°I suppose you wouldn¡¯t know what the name is, huh?¡± I thought for a few moments. ¡°How much can it do?¡±


    ¡°It can only fix small damage, a little bit at a time. But it is not the same as gluing something together.¡±


    ¡°That should be it, then,¡± I nodded. ¡°Want to try to learn other spells?¡±


    ¡°Can I?¡± she asked.


    ¡°You should be able to. Jerome learned a lot.¡±


    ¡°Okay, uh¡­ I guess I have some time since I finished here more quickly than normal.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with something simple then. Shield, since it¡¯s safe and easily visible. Try to feel for my mana usage.¡± I went slow, taking some time to gather the mana and release it. ¡°Did you feel that?¡± She nodded, ¡°Now you try it.¡±


    So she did. I could feel her gathering mana, but something was odd. It didn¡¯t feel like it was forming into the Shield spell¡­ or anything. She continued to gather mana, her brow furrowing.


    ¡°Maybe you should uh-¡±


    Before I could get anything across, she¡¯d gathered far more mana than Shield needed, and then released it. There was a sort of booming pop around her, a shockwave of undirected magic. Precisely because it was undirected it couldn¡¯t do much more than rustle my clothes and make a loud noise, but the expenditure of the mana caused Khithae to pass out. I leapt forward to try to catch her so she didn¡¯t hit the ground wrong.


    Was this my fault? I suppose I hadn¡¯t been terribly cautious in my instructions, but Jerome hadn¡¯t had any problems. Was he particularly good? Normally magic from my world was learned with points so I didn¡¯t have reference for whether casting something on the first attempt was good, but it seemed reasonable. Yet clearly that hadn¡¯t worked out for Khithae.


    -----


    After getting Khithae checked out by Doctor Martinez, it seemed she was probably alright. ¡°You know,¡± he said. ¡°Even if you say it¡¯s safe, I have to say that passing out is usually a bad sign. It¡¯s not great for people.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± I nodded. ¡°But it should be¡­ mostly fine.¡± Even the ¡®new¡¯ book didn¡¯t mention long term side effects from passing out due to mana exhaustion. It just reiterated the part about hurting yourself during the process.


    ¡°I have something I would like to try,¡± Doctor Martinez said.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve rarely gotten to scan you while you had mana. If I could pick up something now, I might be more helpful.¡±


    ¡°I thought you tried that before¡­ at some point,¡± I pondered. It could have been months.


    ¡°Just because I couldn¡¯t do it before doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t learn to do it. A poor super it is who doesn¡¯t try to improve their own powers.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡±


    Doctor Martinez stepped forward, a plane of energy sliding through me like some sort of sci-fi scanner in a movie. I hadn¡¯t actually seen a movie, but some things referenced clips from movies for how powers worked on a vague level, and I watched those. Fictional movies wouldn¡¯t be totally accurate, but that didn¡¯t mean some parts weren¡¯t helpful.


    ¡°Yes, I think I sense something,¡± Doctor Martinez nodded, swapping back and forth between Khithae and myself. ¡°It¡¯s not exactly clear, though.¡± He sighed, ¡°Well, I think that¡¯s as much as I should do for now. Have to be ready for other patients. On a related note, I don¡¯t believe Khithae here had powers before? Not on record, anyway.¡±


    ¡°This might be part of the whole new thing,¡± I said. ¡°After the portals.¡±


    ¡°Ah yes, I heard about that. Well,¡± he shrugged, ¡°If she does have a power, remind her to mention it if it can help improve her work. She can potentially up her pay scale.¡±


    That¡­ was a good plan. Western Luxury Apartments wasn¡¯t exactly the best place to stay, and while in some ways it was preferable to Extra¡¯s housing it was still not great. More money would be good for her, and if she could do magical repair it would probably be good. Before that, I had to figure out why the magic hadn¡¯t worked. I¡¯d have to warn her to not use too much mana before we attempted anything else, of course.


    -----


    Going back to something as ¡®mundane¡¯ as firearms training was actually quite relaxing after all the magic I got up to. We hadn¡¯t learned much about Handface in the last few days, which was kind of disappointing. At least, I hadn¡¯t. Calculator seemed as if he was getting information somehow, and when it became relevant I should hear about it. Tracking other people in his group had also failed to some extent, though we ended up at slightly different positions in the flooded tunnels at least.


    With mana crystals being something I could make now, I needed a gun less- but it would always be useful to have something I could use quickly and with basically no effort. It might not have enough power to take out most supers- depending on various factors- but it could at least distract them. And it was better than trying to get a sword or something where I¡¯d have to fight people up close. It was technically possible with the spells I had, but I didn¡¯t really want to. And even if I were going to fight up close, I would prefer to weaken someone from afar before they got to me.


    After the class was over, Zorphax took me aside. ¡°How¡¯s it going Turlough?¡±


    ¡°Things are good,¡± I said. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°What about with your halfling friend?¡± he asked.


    ¡°... I think we are not friends right now,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Sorry to hear that,¡± he said. ¡°I heard a few things, and of course I saw your reunion. Lot of old feelings involved. Now, I¡¯m not saying you should talk about it with me. In fact, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d be much help. But there are some people you should talk to. People whose job it is to help you talk through feelings.¡±


    ¡°I think I am alright¡­¡± I said. ¡°Is this one of those ¡®professionals¡¯ Midnight mentioned?¡±


    ¡°They could definitely be called that. You work for the Power Brigade, right? This should be covered. In fact¡­ I¡¯m surprised nobody¡¯s mentioned it.¡±


    ¡°They might have,¡± I said. ¡°But now that I hear more people talking about it, maybe I should look into it?¡±


    ¡°You really should. It¡¯s good for everyone, helps those who aren¡¯t doing so good do better, and keeps those who are doing good on track.¡±


    He espoused some more benefits there might be, like dealing with old anger. I didn¡¯t really get angry, but something had upset Midnight and maybe there was a time I had not been thinking so clearly, so maybe I would talk to someone to make him feel better. Yes, that seemed reasonable.

 Chapter 76

    I walked into what I was pretty sure was a normal-looking building. Obviously I was not entirely sure since I had only lived in this world for a handful of months, but at least the area didn¡¯t deviate greatly from the norm. There was a lot of wasted space in the lobby and a front desk where I told someone I had an appointment with Doctor Patenaude.


    I was directed up an elevator and down a hallway where I entered a room lined with bookshelves that were half books and half knick-knacks. Other than that there were a couple tables, chairs, and an angled couch. And of course Patenaude himself. I was briefly startled by a sort of lightish purple skin and a bare head with numerous stalks growing out of it. But the appendages calmly swayed instead of wriggling, and other than that he fit standard humanoid features.


    ¡°Welcome,¡± he said. ¡°I assume you are my three o¡¯clock?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯m Turlough.¡±


    ¡°Or Mage, it seems. Which would you prefer to go by?¡±


    ¡°My actual name,¡± I said. ¡°The other thing is just a name chosen by the Power Brigade.¡±


    ¡°Even so, some people prefer to focus on a particular side of them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still me even with a mask on,¡± I said.


    He nodded and seemed to write some notes. ¡°Very good. Now, before we begin I¡¯ll reiterate some things you¡¯ve likely already heard, just in case. Don¡¯t worry about me knowing your identities, as in addition to professional obligation there are additional factors in place preventing me from revealing information about you to anyone. That includes the Power Brigade. The only exception is if you are deemed to be an imminent danger to innocents, but based on my understanding that shouldn¡¯t be an issue. Your initial psychiatric evaluation clocked you as relatively stable.¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± I nodded. ¡°Though some people said I should come here anyway for some reason.¡±


    ¡°I take it you feel you have no reason to be here?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°Well, I appreciate that you listened to those close to you. And perhaps we might find something after all. It is my job, after all. Why don¡¯t you take a seat? Or you can lie down, if that makes you more comfortable.¡±


    That would explain the weird shape of the couch. I moved over to it. ¡°How long does this usually take?¡±


    ¡°About an hour per session is the time we allot, though that can develop to shorter or longer as we gain more understanding of your personal needs.¡±


    ¡°Can I do magic in here?¡±


    ¡°If using your powers helps you relax, then of course anything nondestructive is allowable. Though I would ask that you avoid any mental-altering powers.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t have those yet,¡± I said as I laid down. An hour, huh? That meant I could use six¡­ six and a half mana forming a crystal. I did so.


    ¡°May I ask the reason for the crystal?¡±


    ¡°Efficiency,¡± I said.


    ¡°I see,¡± he said. Taking notes seemed to be a constant since I had arrived. ¡°Now then, I¡¯ll begin asking with basic questions. How do you feel? Feel free to elaborate as much or little as you wish.¡±


    ¡°I feel fine,¡± I said. ¡°Today is¡­ normal, I think. If I had to compare to overall, however, then I feel pretty good ever since coming to this world.¡±


    ¡°And why is that?¡±


    ¡°Because there are things and people to fight here.¡±


    ¡°I see. It is good to find some sort of safe output for your aggression.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really have that,¡± I said. ¡°I just can¡¯t level up without fighting.¡± This guy took a lot of notes. I understood why people liked notes, but I wasn¡¯t sure what was so interesting about me.


    ¡°Really? No issues with anger?¡±


    ¡°No. I don¡¯t get angry.¡± I paused, ¡°Though Midnight said I did.¡±


    ¡°And who is Midnight.¡±


    ¡°My familiar. Uh¡­ a Celmothian who I formed a magical bond with that transmits magical abilities and emotions. But I think maybe their natural ability to form bonds makes it work weird.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± We continued for a while, until Patenaude began to wrap things up. ¡°Well, that¡¯s about all we have for the first session. We can set up the next session. Any thoughts?¡±


    ¡°I thought I was supposed to feel better, but I felt fine and now maybe I feel worse for some reason.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s normal. It takes some time to see real results,¡± he said. ¡°It involves a lot of searching. It¡¯s not magic.¡±


    I wondered if there was magic for this. I couldn¡¯t think of any good ones though, especially not available to a mage.


    -----


    I found my way to Doctor Rose, the woman who was focused on ¡®Supernatural Studies¡¯, which kind of made me think she studied the whole world. Especially recently, with all the people getting class powers. That was all natural, but not for Earth.


    I held up a crystal. ¡°I¡¯ve sort of begun to understand how these work,¡± I explained. ¡°It takes basically the same amount of time to absorb a crystal of any size, but creating larger ones gets proportionately harder. Nobody from my world seems to know about this, though it could be one of the secrets. The book Master Uvithar sent me doesn¡¯t even suggest these exist.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°That is interesting,¡± she said. ¡°Could it have something to do with the mana density here somehow?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No, it was basically the same¡­ before. It¡¯s very slightly higher now, though.¡±


    ¡°Before what?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Before the portal incident,¡± I said. ¡°A bunch of portals to high mana areas in my world opened up a couple weeks ago.¡±


    ¡°I remember the portals, of course,¡± she nodded. ¡°That was your world?¡±


    ¡°Uh, at least one definitely was. And everything else had monsters that fit the information in the bestiaries.¡±


    ¡°Other people know about this right?¡± she said. ¡°That seems important.¡±


    ¡°The Power Brigade knows,¡± I nodded. ¡°Anyway, that also caused a bunch of people to have something like class powers.¡±


    ¡°Wait, are you saying all those new supers have abilities like yours?¡±


    ¡°Not like mine,¡± I clarified. ¡°Mostly. But similar to the norm from my world without some¡­ limitations? Features? I¡¯m not really sure.¡±


    ¡°This is very important information,¡± she said, obviously taking notes. It made sense, because she couldn¡¯t have known this otherwise. ¡°Can you explain their abilities? This is a serious matter that study isn¡¯t yielding much information on¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe half of it,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m most familiar with mage abilities, obviously, and there¡¯s something different even with my apprentice.¡±


    ¡°You have an apprentice?¡±


    ¡°It sort of happened on accident,¡± I admitted. ¡°But yes.¡±


    ¡°Great. Um¡­ I really would like more information on this. I understand you don¡¯t want to be swarmed by people asking, but can you answer some questions?¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­ though I have other things I have to get to also.¡± I sure was finding myself busy. It was still much better than sitting in a tower re-reading books or occasionally running about Mossley trying to scrape up some experience.


    -----


    Among other things, thinking about the portal incident and the increase in mana brought my thoughts to the change in ambient mana. Sure, there had been a whole ton of mana dumped into the city¡­ but it was staying at strangely elevated levels. It wasn¡¯t like the whole world had portals to my world strewn about. It only happened in New Bay. So when I noticed an unusual concentration of mana I went out of my way to get closer.


    My steps brought me towards another building, like most of those in the denser parts of New Bay it was fairly tall. It looked vaguely like an apartment or an office building, but it didn¡¯t have any marking and the front door was locked. I could have just left it at that, but I was curious and it didn¡¯t seem like something I should ignore. Was there an active portal inside, or was this some sort of place of power? If It was the latter, I kind of wanted to see if I could get access.


    I couldn¡¯t really do more on my own, so I thought about who I should contact. Breaking into places was of course against the law, and without more than a sense of mana it was a pretty poor way to keep my job. So I thought about who might be able to do something about such an anomaly- or who might know someone who could.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Calculator, I found some sort of mana anomaly.


    At least five times higher than ambient.


    It appears to be inside a locked building.


    Are you outside the location now?


    Yes.


    Retreat to a safe distance and keep eyes on the place.


    Send me the address.


    And if you can, don your mask and uniform, but be discreet.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I walked into an alley where I was fairly certain I wouldn¡¯t be spotted, then pulled my uniform out of Storage. I really needed to upgrade that spell, it couldn¡¯t hold much more. A couple minutes later I was standing nearby watching a probably-empty building. Then I heard a whooshing sound behind me.


    ¡°Yo! Mage!¡± The figure of Shockwave appeared in front of me, waving. ¡°That the building?¡± They pointed.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Great.¡± A few seconds passed and their phone beeped. ¡°Alright, we can go in now.¡±


    ¡°Are you certain?¡±


    ¡°Calculator said we got a warrant.¡±


    ¡°That seems fast.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty easy when a building is deemed unoccupied. We¡¯re to avoid combat, though, if we find any residents. Unless they¡¯re monsters, but even then¡­ actually you can speak anything, right?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll have you determine if something has a language, and if they don¡¯t¡­ we¡¯ll just leave. Though there might be nothing.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°The door¡¯s locked, though, I think.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°Come on.¡±


    Shockwave walking at a normal speed was a weird sight, and looked as if it took some serious effort. I sped up my own walking pace to make them more comfortable. When I reached the door I tried the handle, but it was still locked. ¡°Do we break it open? Is that okay?¡±


    ¡°Nope, I got this,¡± Shockwave pulled something out and their hands became a blur. Then something clicked and the door was open. ¡°There we go.¡±


    ¡°Amazing,¡± I said.


    ¡°Really? Honestly there are some people who can do it that fast without powers,¡± Shockwave shrugged, ¡°I get to cheat a little. What about you, don¡¯t you have magic for something like this?¡±


    ¡°I could,¡± I admitted. ¡°It¡¯s not subtle though.¡±


    ¡°Might be something you should learn regardless. Magic or otherwise.¡±


    ¡°I feel like there¡¯s an infinite list of things that could be useful.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s life for ya.¡± Inside, Shockwave pulled out a light, ¡°Getting hard to see in here. Now which way to¡­ the thing?¡±


    ¡°Down,¡± I said. I pressed a button for the elevator, but nothing happened.


    ¡°No power,¡± Shockwave commented. ¡°We¡¯ll find the stairs.¡± Before I could even turn my head, there was a slight booming noise, and Shockwave pointed, ¡°This way.¡± The stairs were also locked, and Shockwave got that open as well. ¡°Got anything to prop this open with?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± I admitted. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t want it to lock behind us. Classic supervillain lair trick. Alright, we¡¯ll do this the hard way. Can you hold onto the edge of the door here?¡± I nodded. A couple moments later I felt the door starting to fall over. Pins clattered to the ground as I felt the door slide loose and sort of thump to the ground.


    I leaned it against the wall. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s one way to make sure it doesn¡¯t close on you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nondestructive,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°We¡¯ll put it back after. So, about down there¡­ magic?¡±


    ¡°I definitely sense the mana more clearly,¡± I said. ¡°But I don¡¯t sense any magic. Or active powers, either. That doesn¡¯t mean there¡¯s nothing, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright! Basement infiltration begin!¡± Shockwave held up a finger, ¡°We should be quiet from here though.¡±

 Chapter 77

    It didn¡¯t take long to get down into the basement, just a flight of stairs. Shockwave shone a light into the room and then I found myself being dragged up the stairs. ¡°You- are- hard to move around,¡± Shockwave said as we climbed the stairs. When we got to the top they slammed the door.


    ¡°What was in there?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Rats,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°Too many rats.¡±


    ¡°Is that a problem?¡± I said. ¡°Do you have a particular problem with rats?¡±


    ¡°Let me ask you this. How many times can you kill a rat about this big?¡± Shockwave held their hands apart to the width of their torso.


    ¡°Does that include the tail?¡±


    ¡°Does it matter? And it does not.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Ten? Fifteen maybe.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s not gonna work,¡± Shockwave shook their head. ¡°Way too many in there. Now, I could definitely take out a lot of them but¡­¡± There was a thud on the door. ¡°I¡¯m kind of concerned about their numbers.¡± We both looked at the door, which thudded several more times. ¡°Being faster would help, but I¡¯d need some sort of physical defense. You have a thing for that, right?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°I can do that, but you¡¯ll have to handle the vast majority of that swarm.¡± The door shook. We probably had to hurry. ¡°Let¡¯s start with this,¡± I pulled a little plastic baggy out of my jacket, pouring the contents into my palm.


    ¡°What the heck is that?¡± Shockwave asked.


    ¡°Diamond dust.¡± And a little bit of granite but the diamonds were more important. ¡°This shouldn¡¯t restrict your movements, but I don¡¯t know how it will interact with your power.¡± I reached out for Shockwave with the hand full of powder. The diamond dust just kind of disappeared since there was no visible skin to touch, but the magic didn¡¯t really care about details like that. ¡°Try moving around for a second before we get you into combat.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but glance at the shaking door, and I took a few steps back.


    Shockwave jogged around the room for a bit, waving their arms. ¡°Seems all good. What uh, what does this do? I don¡¯t feel any different.¡±


    ¡°Look at your bare hands,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s Stoneskin. It¡¯ll make you very tough.¡±


    ¡°Weird,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°I guess I should get to work.¡±


    ¡°Just give me a second,¡± I said. I took out the biggest mana crystal I had and began to absorb it. Based on my tests it should recover at least a few mana. I wasn¡¯t low yet, but it took time. And I wanted a couple seconds to stabilize myself before casting another higher cost spell. I didn¡¯t wait to finish absorbing the crystal- partly because the door was starting to come apart. ¡°Alright, you¡¯re going to be a little bit faster than last time,¡± I said. ¡°So if you have to adjust, just be ready for that.¡±


    ¡°Cool,¡± Shockwave said feigning casualness, but I could see their eyes light up.


    I gathered five mana to cast Haste. It could cost four and a sixth mana, but I now knew I didn¡¯t have to use the naturally reduced cost that came with an upgrade. Overall I could increase the power of the spell by slightly less than a quarter by using the maximum mana cost. ¡°It still doesn¡¯t last that long, so get ready,¡± I said. As I reached for Shockwave, they pulled out a knife. That¡­ was surprisingly practical and kind of scary. As the mana left me and I completed my spell, I nodded. ¡°Ok. Go.¡±


    I expected to go deaf, but Shockwave moved ¡®slowly¡¯ towards the door. Not enough to do more than blow some wind in my face, at least. When the door was flung open a wave of giant rats began to pour out, dozens of them stacked about halfway up the doorframe. I could have fired a nice Sonic Lance in there to blow up a portion of them, but Shockwave was in the line of fire. And then there was a spray of blood and the pile began to collapse. It was a strange mixture of watching Shockwave in fast forward while the pile of rats still had to deal with things like gravity as it tumbled to the ground. I could only vaguely make out what was happening, but the clean lines on the rats necks told me everything I needed.


    Shockwave disappeared down the stairs, leaving a pile half kicked out of the doorway. I was going to follow, but the rats weren¡¯t all dead yet. Or they hadn¡¯t realized it, at least. It took a second for the shock to set in, and fortunately the press of bodies got a lot of them out of the doorway. It was a few seconds before nothing was moving and I began to make my way down the stairs to provide support somehow. It was only a flight of stairs, but by the time I got to the bottom- making my way past dozens more rats- I could finally see the large open space down below.


    Trying to find a target was difficult. There were a lot of rats, but by the time I could think about firing a spell at one it was dead- or dying, at least. Shockwave¡¯s signature feature sent the rats tumbling about. The mass that had followed us up was more concentrated than the rest, but there were still rats almost covering the area.


    Then I spotted a big one. A bigger one. Waist height, green, and pulsing. That was probably not good. Rather, it was definitely not good but I didn¡¯t know how. Shockwave spotted it too- they had their own light after all. A blue blur passed by the largest creature there and¡­ nothing.


    ¡°It¡¯s damn tough!¡± Shockwave said- a little bit fast, but clearly compensating for the change in speed.


    I nodded. If that was a normal knife, there was a pretty good chance it couldn¡¯t cut into the thing. Not without serious effort. ¡°Shockwave, stay out of the line of fire!¡± I warned. I gathered mana and pointed at the large rat. Firebolt seemed much too weak, and Shocking Grasp meant getting too close to a rat with fangs as long as my forearms. Besides, Sonic Lance wasn¡¯t easily resisted by most things. I gathered the mana and fired at maximum power. The rat was too busy trying to track Shockwave to really notice me until it was too late. The rat looked into my eyes with its glowing green ones, and then its face disappeared. And then the rest of the body exploded, sending green gas everywhere.


    ¡°Okwe¡¯releavingnow!¡± Shockwave said. I was being pulled up the stairs, but this time I twisted to run on my own.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Did we get them all?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Hopeso,¡± Shockwave said. They had their phone in hand. ¡°HeythisisShockwaveresquestingcleanupcrew.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking a little too fast,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Cancelthething?¡± Shockwave said.


    It would be wearing off in ten or twenty seconds anyway, but I focused on unraveling the active magic. It would be difficult if Shockwave wasn¡¯t standing next to me, but they were and it was my own spell so it was willing to come apart. ¡°There.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Shockwave said as they munched on an energy bar. Shockwave repeated the call for a cleanup crew, and explained the details. ¡°So yeah, like¡­ tons of rats. Gonna need a biohazard unit.¡±


    ¡°Also maybe some sort of poison gas,¡± I commented.


    ¡°Right, potential poison gas. Or radiation? Or both.¡± After we got confirmation of a cleanup crew on the way, Shockwave looked at me. ¡°So, we can¡¯t exactly go down there and take a look yet but¡­ I didn¡¯t see anything. What about you?¡±


    ¡°Ah, the portal thing,¡± I nodded. ¡°I didn¡¯t see one either. There definitely wasn¡¯t a large open portal, at least. But I can tell there¡¯s a high concentration of mana down there. I¡¯ll have to take a careful look to know more.¡±


    Shockwave looked over themself as we waited, finding a number of gashes in their uniform. ¡°Hey, thanks for that stone thing. There were a lot of claws and teeth in there, and it turns out moving fast you can really catch yourself on a lot of things. Could have maybe taken my time but there were a lot of rats to get through.¡±


    ¡°There were. So, I noticed the knife. I thought you fought unarmed?¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡± Shockwave said. ¡°Only against chumps. There are a lot of things I¡¯m not touching with just high tech gloves. Can¡¯t exactly take down street thugs with a knife, but monster rats? No point in doing things the hard way. Heroes have an image to maintain, but we have jobs that need to get done.¡±


    I nodded. There wasn¡¯t much else to say. I wondered what sort of weapons Great Girl would use? Besides cars, of course.


    The cleanup crew arrived within fifteen minutes, which was pretty good considering they had something like a dump truck that they backed up to the doors. The reason for the placement was twofold- they didn¡¯t have to carry rat bodies so far, and fewer people from the public would see anything.


    A couple other members of the Power Brigade showed up as well- some had already been on the way from the initial call, since it was uncertain what was around. We weren¡¯t completely certain that everything was eradicated either.


    Someone went down and used a power to clear out whatever the exploding rat had done, and soon enough it was declared ¡®safe¡¯ for us to go look. There was a continual line of bagged rats being carried out, and the floor was slippery with blood, but I was able to take a careful look now that I didn¡¯t have to look for enemies.


    The source of everything was pretty obvious with a bit of concentration. There was a source of mana in the middle of the large room. A portal, maybe- but a tiny one. Enough for mana to flow through, and nothing else. The only question was whether it was on purpose or an accident. It could have been either. The portal had almost certainly been made on purpose- probably by Doctor Doomsday- but it remaining like this was another question.


    -----


    I had points to spend, and while something like Knock was enticing, I knew plenty of people who could open doors. Being more efficient with some things was more appealing, and there was also the matter of Midnight. He was still gaining levels, but the rate had become more reasonable. That meant a limit on the total mana he had, and he couldn¡¯t improve his efficiency without me.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 20


    Experience: 1112


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +2


    Firebolt +2


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +2


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +2


    Enlarge +1


    Energy Ward +1


    Sonic Lance +1


    Scrying


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin


    Remaining Points: 1


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana Crystal Deposition


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Since Familiar Bond could let Midnight use upgrades up to the same level, I improved it to the second upgrade, along with Storage and Mage¡¯s Reach. Meanwhile, I got the first improvement for Enlarge and Energy Ward. Enlarge was quite useful, and Energy Ward was useful against all sorts of powers. After that I was out of points again, but I had thought about it for a while. Saving for much longer would have been a waste, since I was already approaching the next level fairly quickly. Those rats ultimately got me less than a single experience each for my contribution, which was two spells buffing Shockwave and basically taking out the big one alone. Stoneskin probably provided less experience since it was only marginally necessary, but even Master Uvithar¡¯s book had mentioned how difficult it was to determine exactly how experience contribution was split. Replicating exact circumstances was pretty impossible, especially since people would level up naturally. Curse of the Barbarian threw things off again, since it theoretically improved my gain from combat.


    ¡°This is amazing,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Look at how much tuna I can store.¡±


    ¡°Please,¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°You can¡¯t like tuna that much.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty good,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And it¡¯s easier to throw some cans on a counter and have someone ring them up than to go to a restaurant and convince them to let me in.¡±


    ¡°Maybe pick one place,¡± I said. ¡°Get people familiar with you. Though I have to admit there are so many restaurants that¡¯s pretty limiting.¡± I wasn¡¯t much of a cook myself, so while I could live on simple meals I generally went out to eat- or used the Power Brigade cafeteria, which was pretty good.


    ¡°We should go together more,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Though sometimes it¡¯s worse when people think I¡¯m your pet cat. And it¡¯s hard to tell if things will be appropriate for me to eat.¡±


    I nodded. I basically followed a human diet so it was easy for me. Many places had a way to get an ingredient list and have it automatically compared through an app for the sake of extradimensionals, aliens, or simply people with dietary requirements, but it certainly wasn¡¯t everywhere yet. ¡°Maybe we could hire a chef at some point. Hazard pay is pretty decent.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I¡¯m still on the lower pay track, and I¡¯d prefer to have some savings. I wasn¡¯t a huge fan of starving on the streets.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± I said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t let that happen to you again, but I could die.¡± That bothered Midnight. I could feel the emotional reaction. I had made a mental note to be more cognizant of that stuff, because the therapist said to pay attention to feelings and sometimes his reflected mine, apparently. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that was a joke.¡± Mostly.

 Chapter 78

    I found myself once more laying on an angled couch. Doctor Patenaude was there ready to take notes, of course. ¡°So, Turlough. You don¡¯t get angry. But I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve seen some people when they were angry. What did it look like to you? How did they react?¡±


    ¡°Usually people get violent and attack someone,¡± I said. ¡°Seriously, I mean. Sometimes people will react similarly when they aren¡¯t actually that angry, like many of the villagers in Mossley. The ones who were actually angry didn¡¯t calm down after, so I learned to avoid them.¡±


    ¡°People in your village attacked you?¡±


    ¡°Not seriously. It was all in good fun, due to the pranks I pulled on them.¡± They wouldn¡¯t have let me back in town otherwise. ¡°Any actual fights would have gotten me in hot water.¡±


    ¡°I see. But you saw others actually angry sometimes? Did it always end in physical violence?¡±


    ¡°Not always. Sometimes people would yell and scream at each other, or stomp away.¡±


    ¡°That sounds about right. So, tell me about your childhood. What about your parents?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know much about them,¡± I said. ¡°They were orcs, obviously,¡± I gestured to myself. ¡°I don¡¯t remember them though.¡±


    ¡°Did you grow up among other orcs?¡±


    ¡°Thankfully not. Mostly humans, elves, halflings. That sort of thing. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to learn magic otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about orcs,¡± he said.


    So I did. He had a lot of questions, and though I wasn¡¯t sure what the point was, answering them was part of this whole ¡®process¡¯.


    -----


    I kept Scrying on various members of Handface¡¯s gang he¡¯d gathered together, including those we¡¯d seen casually. We kept ending up in flooded areas, but Calculator had determined that they weren¡¯t the same point. Whatever was causing my Scrying to be off, it was in multiple places.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting closer to triangulating a position,¡± Calculator said. ¡°If we can just catch another glimpse of signage for those old subway tunnels.¡±


    ¡°What happened to this ¡®subway¡¯ anyway? Why is it all flooded?¡±


    He gestured vaguely. ¡°The bay. All it took was a couple supers misusing their powers and the system cracked open, then an earthquake.¡±


    ¡°So this is a supervillain thing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that,¡± Calculator shook his head. ¡°They need transportation too. The project was just too ambitious and poorly managed, and nobody was ready for what happened. By the time clean up elsewhere was done, there were so many holes that it was impossible to drain the system. And nobody wanted to spend money to rebuild it.¡±


    ¡°Seems like they got the hard part done,¡± I said. ¡°Tunnels don¡¯t come easy. They should have rebuilt.¡±


    ¡°Powers help, but ultimately I¡¯m not trying to argue that the subway wasn¡¯t useful, just that it no longer functions. We¡¯re lucky it was constructed sturdily enough that the earthquake didn¡¯t collapse anything above.¡±


    ¡°So there are just water filled tunnels beneath the whole city and everyone ignores them?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Though supers like to make lairs down there. Maybe at some point they¡¯ll have drained enough of it out that the city will look to reclaim it all. Ooh,¡± Calculator said as something formed in the mirror. ¡°It¡¯s actually working?¡±


    In front of us appeared the image of the brawny guy, Boyan Dimov. He was carrying two large crates in his arms, grunting with exertion, as he walked down a relatively dry tunnel. I turned the image to try to catch glimpses of the walls so we could find those markings Calculator needed, while he recorded everything. We only got twenty seconds before suddenly the image was torn away to one of the decoys.


    ¡°They¡¯re not perfect, I guess,¡± I rubbed my chin. ¡°I wonder who put that stuff together?¡±


    ¡°Could be many people. Rodentia may still be working with Deimos, though we haven¡¯t seen any markings to indicate her work.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°Cheese and rat traps.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t she like rats?¡± I asked. ¡°Why would she make use of rat traps?¡±


    ¡°Tech supers aren¡¯t the most stable bunch. Brain altering powers give them more visible quirks than other supers. Or perhaps it¡¯s some sort of ironic revenge to trap people in giant rat traps.¡±


    ¡°Does that work?¡± I said.


    ¡°More often than you¡¯d think. Some are quite cleverly disguised.¡±


    ¡°Did you find what you need?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to review the footage, but I think there¡¯s a good chance.¡±


    ¡°Great! Let us know what you find.¡±


    -----


    ¡°It feels weird, seeing you like that,¡± Maks said.


    ¡°Without my uniform?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Without your¡­ regular features.¡± My companion usually known as Shockfire gestured to his face, around the mouth and the hair. ¡°It feels kind of uncomfortable making you have to look like something else.¡±


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    For my disguise, I had concealed my tusks, changed the color of my hair to a consistent dark brown, and changed my skin tone to a ruddy brown. ¡°It¡¯s inefficient to spend mana disguising my appearance when I¡¯m active. And my appearance stands out too much to not weaken your identities.¡±


    Midnight looked down at his paws, ¡°It feels weird,¡± he said. Right now he was a tabby cat. Going for the complete opposite and turning him white had been appealing, but might also be an additional clue if someone picked up on something else. And some people had reasonable private identities. It was already too late for me as I¡¯d been going out of Power Brigade HQ in my orcish form since I joined up, and even with jamming devices to prevent recording it had to be assumed that it was constantly monitored somehow.


    At the moment, Team C-4 was on a ¡®camaraderie building exercise¡¯, which kind of just meant hanging out together on company budget. Rasmus was here too, along with Captain Senan, officially known as ¡®Ice Guy¡¯. We¡¯d been training with Rocker too, and though our mission had been delayed he was going to need more community service than just one mission to begin with. He wasn¡¯t here with us though because we couldn¡¯t really trust our civilian identities with a criminal. Not yet, at least.


    Flashing lights around us indicated an ¡®arcade¡¯. This was apparently one of the fancy ones aimed at adults, which mostly meant there was a bar and things were more expensive. Though apparently the game machines were also fancier. As for the bar¡­ since we were on company time we couldn¡¯t drink alcohol, though it was discouraged in general practice regardless. Mercenaries might need to be called upon at any time. And of course Midnight was way too small to drink alcohol in any quantity regardless.


    We were here to have fun, and while I did find the various things amusing, it was after I learned how to operate the unfamiliar machines. Some required skills I did not have, like driving, while others simply require operating levers and pressing buttons in arrangements I was unfamiliar with. I was quite capable of navigating my way around a phone and had some familiarity with a normal computer, but the methods of input were quite different.


    Interestingly enough, some of the setups were easier for Midnight to operate. They mostly required hands, after all. With me holding him and making it seem plausible that I was operating a machine, he was able to make use of many devices. Though he seemed to think they were ¡®primitive¡¯.


    ¡°The company won¡¯t pay for the top of the line stuff,¡± our captain pointed out. ¡°Extraterrestrial technology is slowly being integrated, but super tech isn¡¯t reliable enough in terms of safety for public use. We can use some previous generation VR tech, but it¡¯d have to be on our own dime. And some of it requires body scanning which isn¡¯t optimal for those lacking humanoid shapes.¡± He looked at midnight, but my tusks would also be an issue. It would just be more information out there for someone to find if they were looking for me, which apparently some people were. We were working on plans to deal with Stargirl¡¯s fans, but getting into a public fight with them and having them arrested was apparently still ¡®bad PR¡¯. Jim had offered to help, but while scaring them away might work, it might also cause them to report a monster and make his life more difficult than it needed to be.


    It was too bad violence wasn¡¯t the answer, because that worked often enough in this world and was quite convenient for me. But for the moment I would continue avoiding people looking for me.


    -----


    ¡°Yep, it¡¯s another one,¡± I confirmed. I was now being brought around to various places around the city where strange incidents had happened post-portal. There were enough causes of supernatural crap that maybe one in ten were connected, even after filtering for known factors, but I¡¯d still come upon a dozen tiny portals strewn seemingly randomly throughout the city. Just like the one in that basement, they all were sized only large enough for mana to come through, but it raised the local mana significantly and the ambient mana of the city¡­ by slightly more than one part in ten. It didn¡¯t seem to be increasing at a noticeable rate, by how fast I regenerated, but rather had basically jumped up all at once.


    Calculator was working with me on several projects now, Scrying and portal hunting and of course talking about the ¡®portal supers¡¯. The general public didn¡¯t know that people were getting class powers from my world, but out of millions, there had already been at least a hundred confirmed cases of people who had been near the portals that gained powers, so that name fit.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll mark this one down as well.¡±


    ¡°Can anyone else sense these?¡± I asked. ¡°There should be someone.¡±


    ¡°Doctor Martinez can now, but he¡¯s not really meant for field work.¡±


    ¡°And you are?¡± I tilted my head, looking at the guy in his very much non-combat suit.¡±


    ¡°I am. Try to hit me¡­ without magic.¡±


    ¡°Here?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s as good as anywhere else,¡± he said.


    So I socked him in the jaw. Or at least, that was the intention. He didn¡¯t move far, but I missed. I tried jabs, leg sweeps, elbows, kicks, and a full tackle- but I never got even close. The frustrating part was I was certain was faster than him. I had to try something else. So I pulled back for a straight punch to his face. My fist stopped an inch from his nose. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you dodge?¡±


    ¡°Because you weren¡¯t going to hit me.¡±


    ¡°Are you some kind of diviner?¡±


    ¡°Nothing so fanciful. I¡¯m just good at predicting actions.¡±


    ¡°Can you teach me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s part of my power so¡­¡±


    ¡°So maybe, then,¡± I said.


    ¡°You¡¯re intelligent, but still restricted to a normal processing speed,¡± he said.


    ¡°Tch. What a time to have no points left.¡±


    ¡°Is there magic for that?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Interesting. Well, we should get back to the office. On the way, I have another video to show you.¡±


    As we rode in the car he showed me the video in question. It opened up with a fancy animation sequence for some reason. The final splash of it had the title ¡®Ceira Plays¡¯. After that intro it was just an image of someone standing there. No, sitting in a chair with the camera pointed at them. A dark skinned woman, maybe about my age but clearly much more in tune with the fashion of Earth.


    ¡°What¡¯s up C-crew! Ceira here. Normally I¡¯d be here with a fire new review, but as you probably saw from the thumbnail and the title well¡­ we¡¯ll talk about it after a word from our sponsor!¡± She paused, ¡°I¡¯m kidding, this time. No sponsor because uh, I got super powers!¡± She reached out towards the screen and the image shifted, then waggled around for a bit as it tried to focus on a tray of little plant sprouts in front of her. ¡°Check this!¡± her hand came into frame. She pointed her finger at one of the sprouts and it grew into a small bean stalk within thirty seconds. Then she did it again, and again. ¡°No editing tricks, I swear!¡± She tilted the camera back to her face, ¡°Freaking tiring though. I can only do that like, a few times before I feel tired. But it¡¯s a power! It¡¯s so cool. I¡¯m pretty sure I got it a few weeks ago, during the portal thing. Portal powers! Yeah!¡±


    ¡°So?¡± Calculator asked as he stopped the video.


    ¡°She seems wildly incautious,¡± I said, ¡°Given this world¡¯s standards, at least.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Calculator said. ¡°But she¡¯s clearly not a combat factor, or really much of anything at this point. And enough people have seen this that if she disappeared it¡¯s much more risky than someone looking for one of the other portal supers to experiment on.¡±


    ¡°You think they might?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Someone will. Maybe they already have and it was just lost in the normal disappearances,¡± Calculator shook his head. ¡°But anyway, about that¡­¡±


    ¡°Should be a druid,¡± I said. ¡°They can do a lot of cool things, and also be much more efficient at growing plants as well. Though it¡¯s kinda¡­ less useful in the city. Until they start reshaping stone, I guess.¡±


    ¡°I- what are the chances this power develops that far?¡±


    ¡°No idea,¡± I said. ¡°This version is all new to me, but it should take years even with intentional practice.¡±


    ¡°Not enough information, then. Very well, I¡¯ll keep you posted on what I know. This one happens to be rather easy to keep tabs on, obviously.¡±


    With all these people getting new class-based powers, I was beginning to feel rather unspecial. And that annoyed me. Recognizing that, I took a note of it to talk about later. Normal people felt annoyed and I did too. Obviously. But I was still supposed to keep track of it anyway.

 Chapter 79

    In my hand I held a crystal. It had taken me a bit to figure out the relatively simple rule for the amount of mana they restored, but I hadn¡¯t had a basis to go off of, and feeling how much mana I recovered was somewhat imprecise when talking about partial points. But it was fairly easy. One point was one point. But two points of mana spent returned much less. Four points, however, returned two- half efficiency, but it could turn mana now into mana later when I needed it. To get three mana back, I had to spend nine. In short, it continued on in a geometric pattern. I spent mana and got a crystal that was equivalent to the square root of what I spent.


    That didn¡¯t apply below one point of mana, however. While it would have been nice to get two tenths of a point of mana per minute by creating half mana crystals and getting slightly more back out, at that point it stopped at a quite sensible one hundred percent efficient. I could create smaller crystals, but they still took the same amount of time to absorb as the others- one minute.


    After learning this I began to intentionally create a larger stock, and though carrying around a large number of crystals would quickly get unwieldy, I could pop a few in or out of Storage at a time since they were relatively small and not too heavy. Motivation to upgrade it more in the future, when I had the points.


    At the moment the largest crystals I could make were five mana, and that would knock me out from full. Not really the most pleasant experience. Four mana crystals cost sixteen, and were still enough to make me woozy. Three mana crystals took less than half, nine mana- the same as Stoneskin. The use of mana there was not too rapid, so it was pretty reasonable. I could make one every hour and a half, so I had a decent stock over the last few days- though obviously I had other things to spend mana on, so I only really made a few per day.


    Now I was in a training room, testing them. I had no idea how the rooms that made fake environments to play around in worked, like the one that gave us the trial run in the mansion, but I had access to one for a couple hours. The important part was that I could go all out destroying targets and they could just reform instead of having to completely replace something.


    I held out my hand towards a wall, firing a Sonic Lance. It shattered apart the bricks easily, not that I expected anything different. It would do pretty much the same to a normal human, though some people were tougher, including supers that didn¡¯t even have real defensive powers. Not enough to shrug a spell of that level off, but enough that they would retain their bodily shape, in theory.


    I clutched one of the crystals, pulling on the mana threads within. It crumbled into nothing and began to absorb into me, and I took aim at more of the various structures strewn throughout the room. Hitting stationary targets wasn¡¯t necessarily difficult, but testing how much damage I could do to different things was useful. I also needed to make sure I could use magic while absorbing a crystal, and it seemed to be no issue.


    There was still an immediate problem, of course. Even if I was taking my time, it only took a handful of seconds to fire off a Sonic Lance. Two of them was a bit over nine mana, which was three minutes of restoration with my mana crystals. Thus, I quickly fell behind. After burning through all my mana in a couple minutes, I at least had recovered some. Three mana per minute was almost thirty times faster than normal recovery, so with my slowly increasing mana reserves I was feeling much more confident. Actual battles tended to be short and brutal, so as long as I didn¡¯t get into a sustained shootout where I shot high mana cost spells I should be fine.


    I continued absorbing crystals and using mana. Around nine or ten crystals in I began to feel weird. At fifteen, I began to feel sick. I took a break for ten minutes, making sure I had consumed some food and water, then began again. The next crystal made me feel uneasy again, and the seventeenth made me cough up black gunk and maybe a little bit of blood.


    -----


    ¡°At least you didn¡¯t get dragged in here unconscious,¡± Doctor Martinez said as he scanned me. ¡°But you probably should have stopped when you first felt negative side effects.¡±


    ¡°Probably,¡± I agreed. I was feeling a bit¡­ ashamed? Was that a feeling? I wrote it down just in case. ¡°I felt fine right up till the end, though.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Doctor Martinez said after he finished beaming his power through me. ¡°Do you want the good news or the bad news first?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you a doctor? Shouldn¡¯t you know how to say that kind of stuff?¡±


    ¡°I forget that just because you speak the language easily doesn¡¯t mean you understand the routine. You¡¯re supposed to say ¡®bad news¡¯ and then I tell you, and then you ask for the good news and I say ¡®there is no good news¡¯.¡±


    ¡°That sounds bad,¡± I admitted. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Doctor Martinez sighed, ¡°There is good news. So I¡¯ll start with the basics. You¡¯ve got crystals growing inside your body, clogging up pretty much everything. Given my experiences with you, I¡¯m going to assume they¡¯re made from mana. I hope it doesn¡¯t need to be said that crystals growing inside of you is not good, given your otherwise humanlike physical makeup. The good news is they are actively dissolving as we speak. I need to keep you here to monitor you, but I think they should be gone in¡­ a few hours, maybe?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Okay.¡±


    ¡°Also, never do what you were doing again. I assume you were testing some kind of limit? Stay away from it.¡±


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    ¡°... understood,¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll not do it again.¡± Maybe I would stop at ten crystals. Though was it the number that made it work this way? ¡°Actually, I might need your help. A number of factors involved could lead to different limits.¡±


    ¡°I suppose it would be better for you to test supervised. How long will it take?¡±


    ¡°This took about half an hour,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°I can put you on the schedule then. Until that time, just¡­ don¡¯t do whatever you were doing. Also, if you could monitor the buildup on your own that would be great.¡±


    ¡°How can I? I can¡¯t see inside myself.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re mana related, right? Can¡¯t you feel it?¡±


    I frowned. Could I? Besides the upset stomach, of course- which was probably already too far. I could feel the vague level of my own mana, mana around me, crystals in my pocket- but nothing like the crystals inside myself. Though I had to admit I¡¯d never really looked. I didn¡¯t immediately give up, but after a couple minutes I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can right now. I might be able to learn though.¡± This sort of ability was outside what I conventionally understood mages could do, but making the mana crystals to begin with was abnormal. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was a secret, unknown, or something about this world- but there could be more things I was able to learn besides the spells I understood.


    -----


    In the mirror Ceira saw her own face. She checked her teeth- it wouldn¡¯t do to record herself with something in there. That also meant her hair, though that was pretty simple. Makeup was good to go as well, which basically meant it looked like she wasn¡¯t wearing any. This would normally be the point she would go to sit down in front of her computer, but she was working on different sorts of videos now. She turned her camera towards herself while looking just past it into the mirror so she could see herself. It took a few recordings to get it right, but the intro had to be right. She couldn¡¯t misspeak- unless it was funny.


    ¡°What¡¯s up C-crew! Today I¡¯m continuing the Portal Powers series! Some people heard that people with these powers get a few different small abilities. Lots of people suggested that growing plants was naturey, and suggested I should try to talk to animals! So that¡¯s the point of today¡¯s video. I¡¯m going to be heading out to look for some, I¡¯ll see you in a bit.¡±


    With the recording stopped, she wondered if it felt natural. She didn¡¯t really do a lot of vlogging, so she couldn¡¯t be sure it was right. If she was lucky, though, the pet store would have some cute kittens or something she could put in the thumbnail.


    Her phone beeped- and right on time she saw her ride was outside. The nearest pet store was a bit too far to walk, and the expense was worth it for a video. Plus she needed to save the time so she could get back in time to record her normal videos too, and then edit. Keeping a regular schedule was important and she didn¡¯t want to fall behind.


    Everything was going great for a couple minutes. She saw some fish- boring- and a snake- creepy- but then one of the workers came up and asked her to stop filming. She could have raised a fuss, or swiveled the video into outrage from being kicked out of the store¡­ but she just politely agreed. Nothing was talking anyway, and she would feel even weirder talking out loud to animals without a camera on her. The camera was a good excuse.


    ¡°Sorry guys,¡± she said after she was out, making sure not to point her camera towards any signage. ¡°First pet store doesn¡¯t allow filming. The fish didn¡¯t say much anyway, just ¡®blub-blub¡¯.¡± Too bad she didn¡¯t get to film the kittens.


    She strolled along while she browsed her phone for similar places nearby when she heard growling. A large brown dog was in the alley nearby, looming over a cat that was¡­ barking back? ¡°Hey! Get away from that cat!¡± She yelled and waved her arms. Somehow she managed to hit record in time to see it turning to run. ¡°Yeah! Leave that cat alone!¡± She turned the camera towards the cat, a deep black fur covering it. ¡°Are you alright Mister Kitty?¡±


    The cat turned to face her directly, sitting so his body and head pointed more directly up towards her. ¡°My name is Midnight, if you please.¡±


    Ceira dropped her camera. It hit the ground hard. ¡°Oh crap!¡± she scurried to pick it up, looking it over for damage. It was certainly scraped up, but it seemed intact- and was still recording. ¡°Uh, ahem,¡± she awkwardly cleared her throat. ¡°Sorry, did you just¡­ speak?¡±


    ¡°I did, yes.¡±


    ¡°Yeeeeeess!¡± Ceira pumped her elbow. ¡°I can talk to animals! New power!¡±


    ¡°I regret to inform you that you are incorrect,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I am not an animal. I am a Celmothian- an alien, that just happens to look like an Earth-cat. And I am speaking English.¡±


    Ceira barely kept her grip on the camera as the emotions washed over her. ¡°Uh? Really?¡±


    ¡°Yes. That ¡®dog¡¯ you chased away was actually a Bunvorixian- another alien. I was likely going to be fine, but I appreciate the assistance regardless. Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I must go.¡±


    ¡°But- wait, what?¡± Ceira was very confused. ¡°You can speak English?¡±


    Midnight had already started walking away and turned to look over his shoulder, ¡°I thought that was rather obvious from the beginning.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I guess. But it¡¯s a lot to take in all at once. Can I contact you to ask more?¡±


    ¡°Ugh, fine,¡± Midnight said. ¡°What¡¯s your phone number?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s-¡± Ceira barely remembered to stop recording before that. Obviously she would edit it out, but honestly she wasn¡¯t sure if she could use any of this. Unless she was going to start some sort of alien-centric channel, but this really didn¡¯t have anything to do with her new plant powers.


    Somehow there was a phone on the ground in front of the cat, and he typed with a single claw. A few moments later, Ceira got a text. ¡°There. Now I really do have to go. What is your name?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Ceira.¡±


    ¡°Duly noted.¡±


    The phone disappeared with a weird feeling of something happening. Midnight turned to walk away. Then the cat was gone. Or alien?


    Ceira looked at her camera. Could she use any footage besides the intro? Did that not-cat really speak English and pull out a phone from nowhere? Maybe she would wake up soon and realized that she didn¡¯t actually have a power after all and would have to go back to her mundane- if decent- life.

 Chapter 80

    ¡°You¡¯re sure it was a Bunvorixian?¡± I asked. ¡°Not a dog?¡±


    Annoyance. But it was Midnight¡¯s, and not mine. ¡°Yes. I do know what dogs are. Now. He spoke. Threatened to kill me, even.¡±


    ¡°Wow. That seems¡­ extreme. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay.¡±


    ¡°Of course I am. Unless one of them has a power or proper weaponry I would not be injured.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s proper weaponry?¡± I asked, tilting my head.


    ¡°Guns,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Obviously human guns aren¡¯t any good, but we both have technology that fits our forms. Just not here. It¡¯s rather strange any of us ended up here at all.¡± Midnight pawed his phone on the table in front of him.


    ¡°Why is that?¡± I asked. ¡°I mean, this place is apparently very¡­ active?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°With spatial problems.¡±


    ¡°I suppose,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°It¡¯s also possible there¡¯s a problem with our teleporter technology.¡±


    ¡°I feel like that could be useful¡­¡± I frowned, ¡°But I suppose you weren¡¯t an engineer, right?¡±


    ¡°I was not,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I knew how to use them and who to call if something didn¡¯t work.¡± His paw continued to swipe at his phone.


    ¡°What¡¯s that you¡¯re doing?¡± I asked. ¡°Research?¡±


    ¡°I suppose you could call it that,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Scouting out opponents.¡±


    I recognized the visuals of something there. ¡°Stargirl?¡±


    ¡°... yes,¡± Midnight said. I could feel the amusement, though I wasn¡¯t completely sure why. ¡°Stargirl.¡±


    ¡°Is that the social media thing? Should I get it?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Midnight said hastily. ¡°I mean, it is, but you don¡¯t need to. I have this handled.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I nodded. ¡°Tell me if you need anything. Like a picture of me? That¡¯s something, right?¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary for now,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Now then, about this Ceira¡­¡±


    ¡°Did she seem bad?¡± I asked. ¡°Calculator said something her. Though I think he was just checking if she was a class power.¡±


    ¡°Portal power,¡± Midnight said. ¡°That¡¯s what they¡¯re calling them.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s incorrect.¡±


    ¡°Nobody knows that,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°And it doesn¡¯t necessarily help if people know the right word for it. Or that you know how it works.¡±


    ¡°Vaguely,¡± I reminded him. ¡°Because the only combat classes I was around were mages. My studies covered a lot of things, but they were less detailed on others.¡±


    -----


    We¡¯d found enough clues for Calculator to piece together where Handface and his gang were. Down in the former subway tunnels was actually a good location for us, since it didn¡¯t have large open areas for someone to snipe people. Now we were heading to a special aquatic training room. Ice Guy was detailing the plan. ¡°So in the next corridor, we swim through- Turlough, you have a question?¡±


    ¡°Uhh, I can¡¯t swim.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ an oversight on our part,¡± Ice Guy frowned. ¡°Now when you say you can¡¯t swim, what do you mean? You don¡¯t seem to be vulnerable to water based on training.¡±


    ¡°I just mean I don¡¯t know how.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± he nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose there¡¯s magic that could help?¡±


    ¡°None that I have access to at the moment,¡± I answered. ¡°How far do we have to swim?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not far but¡­ we¡¯ll have to fully submerge. Why didn¡¯t this come up when we were working at the docks?¡±


    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t fall in the water?¡± I shrugged. ¡°It didn¡¯t seem important.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± he admitted. ¡°We made assumptions on our end as well. You aren¡¯t afraid of the water, are you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± I said, looking at Midnight.


    ¡°What?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°I can swim.¡±


    That wasn¡¯t the information I wanted, but it was good enough.


    ¡°Ok now I really should have asked about that,¡± Ice Guy admitted. ¡°Well then, we¡¯re going to have to put off this exercise for later and teach you how to swim.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I nodded.


    We ended up back down on B7, where the gym was. I hadn¡¯t really paid attention, but there was a pool. A big one, too. Probably. I hadn¡¯t really seen a lot of them, but it sure looked big. Bigger than what the manor had, at least- though it was more rigid, with a rectangular design and some sort of lanes. Like cars drove in.


    ¡°Normally you¡¯d be set up with some swim trunks,¡± Ice Guy said, ¡°But since we¡¯ll be doing the mission in our proper outfits, it¡¯s best to practice this way. They¡¯re hydrophobic anyway, so they won¡¯t gather water and weigh you down.¡±


    Midnight also had a costume- though it hadn¡¯t seen much field use. Apparently it was not too uncomfortable, and the potential defensive benefits were worthwhile. It was little more than cloth wrapped around Midnight¡¯s body, leaving his arms and legs free- but it did have a hood he could flip up to cover his head when necessary. It was the same blue as mine, so we matched.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°We should start in the shallow end of the pool. Actually¡­¡± Ice Guy held up a finger, ¡°I should go get someone who knows how to instruct on these things. Stay out of the pool until I¡¯m back.¡±


    ¡°... Are pools that dangerous?¡± I asked Maks and Rasmus- Shockfire and Acid Man.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t swim, they kind of are, yeah,¡± Maks nodded. ¡°We could definitely get you out, but you wouldn¡¯t have any fun.¡±


    Soon enough Captain Senan returned. ¡°Meztli will be here in a few minutes,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯s finishing up another training session. Since everyone else can handle themselves, might as well do a few laps. I¡¯ll help Mage get adjusted to the water.¡±


    He climbed down a short ladder, and I followed after him. Getting into the water was weird. ¡°Oh, the water¡¯s¡­ surprisingly not cold.¡±


    ¡°It will be, in the tunnels,¡± Captain Senan remarked, ¡°But the pool here is set up for comfort. Just not too much comfort.¡±


    The water came up to just below my chest, which wasn¡¯t exactly shallow, but left my head well above water. I tried to walk over towards him, but found it strangely difficult.


    ¡°Water has a lot more resistance than you¡¯re used to,¡± he pointed out. ¡°Swimming needs to deal with that, and sometimes use it to your advantage.¡±


    I learned a lot of things that day. First putting my face in the water to get used to not breathing, floating, and a little bit of swimming. Since I needed to learn the most, I would be focusing on that training for the next couple of days instead of other things. Not spending time sparring did give me a chance to build up some more mana crystals, though actually using them would have to wait for the okay from the doctor. I was pretty sure I¡¯d need them on the mission to be maximally effective.


    -----


    Jerome was getting good at¡­ everything really. But math was one of the most clear- specifically how he stopped trying to count on his fingers. I didn¡¯t really stop him from doing that, but besides making vague hand movements when he was thinking about numbers he stopped involving them. And he got faster at everything.


    ¡°You¡¯re doing great,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re reading¡¯s much faster and your calculations are too.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± he said. ¡°I feel like¡­ I was so far behind, you know?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard, not knowing things.¡± At this rate, he wouldn¡¯t need me soon. Though I could still help with magic. On that topic, I was trying to write notes to help him but that involved either a very long time scribing by hand- which wasn¡¯t terribly common here- or l had to learn to type. Keyboards seemed like a very inefficient way to write at first, but I realized that once I knew where a letter was it only took a fraction of a second to make an entire letter appear. The Power Brigade didn¡¯t have any official lessons for typing, but I¡¯d been learning with the librarian, Saveliy. He was really good at typing, especially considering he couldn¡¯t even see his fingers or the keyboard beneath them with all that hair.


    ¡°How are you boys doing?¡± Jerome¡¯s mother, Tylissa, said after knocking on the open door.


    ¡°He¡¯s very smart,¡± I said. ¡°I imagine he could do well in school without my assistance from now on.¡± I wanted to see if he could make mana crystals, but until Doctor Martinez confirmed how the buildup inside me had worked, I didn¡¯t want the risk. Jerome was being cautious with flashy, dangerous magic but even I hadn¡¯t realized there could be danger from that.


    ¡°I¡¯m level two now!¡± he said with pride. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure. And I¡¯ve got telekinesis!¡± He cast Mage¡¯s Reach, carrying a pencil around the room.


    ¡°Technically Telekinesis is a different spell,¡± I said. ¡°This is part of the Hand series.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Tylissa nodded. She was looking down at her own hand in concentration. ¡°So, you¡¯ve heard about the ¡®Portal Powers¡¯ right? That¡¯s what Jerome has?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°Those portals were to my world or something like it, but I can¡¯t say why this happened, and this way. But it¡¯s clear it works similarly.¡±


    ¡°I see. And you know¡­ something about the other types of portal powers?¡±


    ¡°To some extent, yeah. Why?¡±


    ¡°Well, I was just curious,¡± she said.


    ¡°Did you¡­¡± Jerome walked next to his mom, ¡°Did you get a power too?¡±


    Oh! That made sense, with the questions. ¡°Did you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, I, uh¡­¡± she frowned, ¡°Maybe? Sometimes I move faster than normal, but I don¡¯t really know. I can¡¯t seem to do magic or anything, so it might just be my imagination.¡±


    ¡°Can you show me?¡±


    ¡°Maybe outside. How about the basketball court? There¡¯s room there, and right now there probably isn¡¯t anyone¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    It was only a short walk, and then she looked around to make sure nobody was watching. Then she ran¡­ pretty fast. Honestly, I could have probably beat her in a race. But I felt it, the expenditure of mana. ¡°Yep,¡± I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± she looked both relieved and worried. ¡°What do I- what is it?¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± I thought for a few moments, ¡°It could still be a few things. Have you lately been particularly angry?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± she said.


    ¡°No sudden bursts of strength or durability? Alright then, I guess uh¡­ punch me?¡±


    ¡°... why?¡± Tylissa narrowed her eyes.


    ¡°To see if you¡¯re a monk,¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Actually,¡± I said, ¡°Maybe not. You might hurt yourself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve punched someone before,¡± she said, her face firming. She took a stance, fists clenched. ¡°I can handle it.¡±


    ¡°Okay but I have magical armor surrounding me,¡± I said. ¡°So maybe take it slow for the sake of your fists.¡± I lowered myself into a defensive stance. Jerome had followed us out and looked a bit worried. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re not actually fighting. But if she has a power I need to protect my vitals. You can start whenever, I¡¯ll just block.¡±


    Right away I could tell she knew what she was doing¡­ but I could also tell that she had learned it properly. There was no mana involved yet, and whenever she glanced against my Force Armor I could tell she felt it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this is revealing anything,¡± I said honestly.


    ¡°I have one more thing I can try,¡± Tylissa said. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    That time, I felt it. If I hadn¡¯t been used to fighting supers, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to react at all. Sure, I wasn¡¯t taking it seriously¡­ but as she spun past me and elbowed my ribs, I felt my Force Armor crack. It didn¡¯t break, but Tylissa was already two steps away from me by the time I spun to face her. ¡°That¡­ was different, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°It was,¡± I said. ¡°I know what class you got, now. Unfortunately¡­¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately what?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to train you.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± she lowered her head. ¡°I thought maybe I could¡­¡± she shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Everyone dreams of getting a lucky break. Win the lottery, get a power¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey now,¡± I said. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know how to train you, but I do know¡­ another scout,¡± I bit my lip. ¡°Pretty sure that¡¯s the category you¡¯d fall under. I could¡­ introduce you.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± her face brightened. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s that halfling you saw with the swords. The short woman. We were friends.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great!¡± Tylissa beamed.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°Real great.¡± Maybe I could get Midnight to introduce these two? I doubted Izzy was in the mood to do favors for me. ¡°Just give me¡­ some time to set up a meeting.¡±

 Chapter 81

    I was back in the office of Doctor Patenaude, wondering when I was going to start feeling better. He asked a lot of questions that didn¡¯t seem to be related to anything, but I answered them anyway.


    ¡°How people see the orcs?¡± I asked. ¡°Violent, angry, stupid. Fairly typical, even by understanding in this world, however that sort of realm-crossing information works.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± he nodded. ¡°And are they?¡±


    ¡°Are who what?¡±


    ¡°Orcs. Violent, angry, unintelligent?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah.¡±


    ¡°How many did you know?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ none, really.¡±


    ¡°What about your parents?¡±


    I shook my head, ¡°Didn¡¯t know them.¡±


    ¡°I see. Interesting.¡± This guy took a lot of notes about nothing, it seemed. ¡°Would you consider yourself intelligent?¡±


    I didn¡¯t even have to think about that. ¡°Of course. It¡¯s not easy to be an effective mage. I studied hard to know how everything functioned, even if it didn¡¯t give me any experience.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve talked about the details of experience before, and your Aspect of the Barbarian,¡± Doctor Patenaude always referred to it by the technical name, instead of calling it a curse- once I told him. ¡°Is this more common among orcs?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Do you have data to back that up? A list of aspects and who has them, along with population numbers?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ someone might,¡± I shook my head, ¡°But that wasn¡¯t really available for study. Master Uvithar had an impressive collection, but I don¡¯t know if anyone actually tracked that stuff. But it¡¯s just sort of something people know.¡±


    -----


    ¡°I thought you were my friend,¡± I looked down at Midnight.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t say that,¡± Midnight returned my gaze. ¡°I have your best interests at heart.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why I should do it though. She hates me, and I thought she liked you?¡±


    ¡°She might like me,¡± Midnight admitted, ¡°But it will mean more coming from you.¡±


    ¡°Will it?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Ugh.¡± I looked over at the counter. ¡°Looks like our order¡¯s ready.¡±


    We were at the same coffee shop as before. Apparently Midnight came here often enough that they recognized him, and so nobody complained about a ¡®cat¡¯ sitting on the table.


    I grabbed my coffee, along with the few items for Midnight. A plate with a few strips of bacon- the only sort of things Midnight could really have at such a place- a bowl, and a cup of water. I poured the water into the bowl- apparently it was easier to transport in the cup, since it could slosh out of the bowl. Especially for Midnight who had to use Mage¡¯s Reach, that was the solution they had.


    I took a sip of the coffee. ¡°Ugh. Bitter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how coffee works,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Why drink it if you don¡¯t like it?¡±


    I shrugged.


    The bell rang and someone came through the door. I glanced over. Not anyone I recognized¡­ at first. Something about their walking and posture, though. I raised my hand to greet them, before realizing I probably shouldn¡¯t. Our eyes met though, and I lowered my hand while only making a vague noise.


    After completing their order, the slight figure approached our table. ¡°Hey. I¡¯m Jo.¡±


    ¡°Turlough,¡± I said, extending my hand.


    Midnight looked between us, tilting his head, and wrinkling his nose. ¡°Oh! I¡¯m Midnight. And I am not actually a cat.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Jo said. ¡°I do have to head out, but I wouldn¡¯t mind speaking again in the future.¡±


    They grabbed a cup of coffee from the counter and walked out. Midnight sniffed again, then looked at me. He spoke very intentionally in Celmothian. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s a full sized cup of espresso.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°It must be fine. Shockwave would have died by now otherwise.¡±


    The incident made me realized I wasn¡¯t necessarily familiar with the civilian identities of many of my co-workers. Not that it was assumed that I would be. The team had gotten together for some things, but outside of people that were extremely easy to recognize like Jim I rarely saw anyone. Then again, there were a whole lot of people in New Bay, and not all of the people in the Power Brigade would live and take their leisure near HQ.


    A few minutes later, Izzy walked in. Instead of ordering a drink, she came directly to our table and sat down. ¡°So? What do you want?¡±


    ¡°I could buy you a drink,¡± I said.


    ¡°Coffee doesn¡¯t always agree with me,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Small body mass. So?¡±


    I switched to speaking common. This was a slightly secretive matter, at least. ¡°Have you heard about the portal powers?¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Izzy nodded. ¡°Apparently it¡¯s big news here. Not my responsibility though.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± I agreed. ¡°However, I happen to know someone who got one. The features of a scout, in particular. I can¡¯t really teach her anything. So I need you to do it. I can pay you, or owe you a favor¡­ though I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s useful.¡±


    ¡°A favor from a mage is always worth something,¡± Izzy said. ¡°You can¡­ you¡¯ve been gaining experience here, right?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s tons of fighting,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m still slightly lower in level than I¡¯d like to be, but I¡¯m making quick progress.¡±


    ¡°What if I wanted to go back?¡± Izzy said, leaning halfway onto the table, supported by her elbows.


    ¡°I don¡¯t, uh¡­¡± my brain was running through so many possible scenarios. ¡°I could maybe help find a portal? It¡¯ll probably be years before I¡¯m capable of casting Gate, and I¡¯m not completely sure if it crosses dimensions. Though I suppose things are maybe easier here. I still need the points and to have a large enough mana pool that I remain conscious to keep it open.¡±


    Izzy tapped her fingers on the table. She was looking at me, but I wasn¡¯t sure what she expected to find. ¡°How much would I need to do?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I was only trained as a mage. I don¡¯t know if scouts need tons of books or if you can just write down abilities she should expect to be able to achieve eventually. I¡¯m not asking you to train someone into a master, but it sucks not knowing being able to advance.¡±


    Izzy chewed her lip. ¡°Who is this ¡®she¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Her name is Tylissa. I don¡¯t know if you remember, but she and her son were actually near the same portal you came through. You saved them. Unless there was some other halfling scout.¡± I shrugged, ¡°Anyway, I knew Jerome and he became a mage, so I¡¯ve been teaching him.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember anyone in specific, but I did fight some plant things attacking people,¡± Izzy nodded. ¡°Could have been me. Alright, fine, I¡¯ll do it for the favor. As of yet unspecified, but not something minor.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Fine,¡± she stood up. ¡°Have Midnight send me her info.¡±


    ¡°It might be easier if I do it.¡±


    She looked back, ¡°Alright. Midnight knows my number.¡±


    -----


    ¡°Ow,¡± I said, holding my hand to my head.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Midnight ran out of the bedroom, concerned.


    ¡°Nothing. I just hit my head on the cabinet.¡± I shook my head. ¡°My legs already hurt, didn¡¯t need my head to hurt too.¡±


    ¡°Why do your legs hurt?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Are you injured?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Maybe I overdid exercises or something.¡± Swimming had used a whole new set of muscles that I wasn¡¯t used to, so that could have been it.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t Meztli help with that?¡±


    ¡°Sure, but I¡¯m not a newbie anymore. I should be able to properly stay within my own limits. She doesn¡¯t have the energy to use her power where it¡¯s not necessary.¡±


    Midnight nodded. ¡°Alright. Show me your head.¡± He hopped up on the counter, and I leaned it down. ¡°No blood, at least,¡± he said. ¡°Your hair is getting long again though.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s growing weirdly fast,¡± I admitted. ¡°Or maybe normally fast? Hair doesn¡¯t look like this by coincidence.¡± Some people got blue hair with different colored tips on purpose in this world, since they had easy access to dyes, but where I was from it could only be the result of magic. Which was normal, since I was a mage.


    -----


    Doctor Martinez finished scanning me another time. ¡°Alright, you seem to have recovered from the crystallization. As your doctor, I must advise you against continuing the activities that brought that upon you in the first place. However, understanding that you may be in positions of danger, I can''t tell you not to use mana crystals when you absolutely need it.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m cleared for this upcoming mission?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the authority to actually stop you regardless,¡± he pointed out. ¡°But I would have had to report you for reckless behavior if you had continued after finding out something was wrong. Do come to see me after the mission no matter how you feel.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± I nodded.


    -----


    It had been some time since I¡¯d seen Handface. He was protected by that weird technology which kept me from locking onto him with Scrying, and he apparently never left the safe area. But Calculator had me keep trying occasionally, and finally something was happening. The mists swirled to reveal a figure walking along through some rough alleyways.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised,¡± Calculator admitted.


    ¡°Me too,¡± I squinted, rotating the image. ¡°Something seem off to you?¡±


    ¡°Now that you mention it¡­¡±


    ¡°Handface has the wrong scar pattern.¡±


    ¡°I was going to say that Deimos seemed to have forgotten his handy device,¡± Calculator frowned, ¡°But I can see that the pattern is different as well. I¡¯m surprised you noticed.¡±


    ¡°I have to picture that in my head any time I¡¯m Scrying,¡± I said. As I concentrated, the image tore away. Then it showed underwater tunnels. And then¡­ Handface himself.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Calculator asked carefully. ¡°Why did the image change?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t the right guy, so I pushed through to try to find the real one,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s not easy though. I don¡¯t think I can hold this for long.¡±


    ¡°Just keep it up as long as it¡¯s safe,¡± Calculator said. ¡°This is useful information.¡±


    The room was dark, but that didn¡¯t stop me from seeing to some extent. Handface was bent over some sort of table, scribbling on a map. He couldn¡¯t see in the dark either, so it was lit up¡­ rather poorly though. I tried to read some of it, but a lapse in concentration popped me back to the tunnels outside. Then the Scrying faded away.


    ¡°Wonderful,¡± Calculator said. ¡°You¡¯ve improved your abilities.¡±


    ¡°Have I?¡± I tilted my head. I hadn¡¯t spent any points to improve Scrying. It was still more than half of a level to upgrade it slightly.


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t do that before, right?¡± Calculator asked. ¡°So you¡¯ve improved.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded. That¡­ made sense, actually. Upgrading a spell increased its power, which would certainly help with what I was doing, but using a spell better could be done without. Even a simple Firebolt had to be aimed, and there was also some control I could exert over how it moved towards its target. That wasn¡¯t something that points did, but practice. I¡¯d shot countless Firebolts in the past, but only recently did I feel like I was actually improving. I wasn¡¯t just shooting at a rock, after all. It was good that I had improved, but now my head hurt.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°I think so. Just feel more strained.¡± I took stock of myself as well as I could. ¡°I don¡¯t think I overspent mana or anything.¡± I was still pretty sure that was impossible. But magic could come with mental strain beyond the realm of just spending mana. Like when I¡¯d tried to scry Gloom. That was¡­ a mistake I wouldn¡¯t be repeating any time soon.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°I will compile what we¡¯ve learned from this session. Try to avoid doing anything strenuous tomorrow, since the mission is in two days unless we receive critical information.¡±


    I nodded. We¡¯d been just on the cusp of making the attempt when all the portals happened. Now, all these portal powers had appeared- including among Handface¡¯s goons- so we were going about things differently. But our squad was still the primary actor. Personally, I would be glad to be done with it. I really didn¡¯t like the idea of some criminal with a grudge against me roaming around longer. I occasionally had twinges of remembered chest pain to remind me why.

 Chapter 82

    The plan was fairly simple, as things went. The Power Brigade had other squads waiting at different potential exits, though we couldn¡¯t be completely sure we had all of them. We also weren¡¯t certain that everyone was present, but a couple hours earlier I was fairly certain Handface was here, via scrying attempts. I did it early, so I could recover mana and to give everyone time to prepare. If Handface was actually away from the base we intended to try to capture him wherever he was wandering, but he¡¯d been inside.


    There were no official entrances to the old subway system anymore, but some were never sealed properly and some had been unsealed by various supers looking for a secret base location. We stood outside one that had already been scanned for cameras or sensors that might reveal us. I pulled baggies of diamond dust out of my pockets.


    First was myself and Midnight. I was the most likely target, as the one who made Handface the way he was. I was also the one he¡¯d already shot. Hopefully that rifle wouldn¡¯t have a long tunnel to snipe us in, but it wasn¡¯t something we were going to just risk. Next up was Ice Guy. Our captain was able to defend himself with walls of ice, but that didn¡¯t do much good if you walked around a corner and got shot. Power Brigade outfits were tough, but there were limits to what could be done with light material. Shockfire was the third. Between castings of Stoneskin, I started absorbing mana crystals. I wasn¡¯t going to use as many as before. I started feeling sick around nine or ten¡­ so I¡¯d do eight. That would leave me only a little bit low on mana, though it did mean spending around ten minutes standing here.


    Acid Man assured us that he was unlikely to be seriously damaged by bullets, and previous testing with Stoneskin had made it unclear if it did anything while he was in acid form. Rocker was with us, but his sonic powers provided some level of automatic deflection for projectiles. He also had on a heavy bulletproof vest just in case. We didn¡¯t want to get him killed if we could help it. Most villains were cognizant that mercenaries or even heroes who they had actually tried to kill would be much less likely to capture them- or otherwise leave them healthy- but Handface had directly tried to kill me already so we had to assume he would do it again.


    ¡°Time to head in,¡± Captain Senan stepped down first, pulling down some goggles and sticking a small breathing apparatus in his mouth. They weren¡¯t as good as scuba gear, but also many times less bulky. From the information we had we shouldn¡¯t even need them, but nobody wanted to be fumbling for air when they realized a corridor was slightly longer than expected.


    We followed him down some stairs and into the water. I wasn¡¯t super used to swimming, but I didn¡¯t have any problem with it. I mostly just had to follow after the others anyway. Midnight was latched onto me, since he simply didn¡¯t swim as fast. He had a special breathing thing since his catlike anatomy didn¡¯t exactly fit the standard.


    The captain had a flashlight that provided an obvious beam throughout the water. It didn¡¯t leave many details hidden, though mostly there were old pipes and tracks and algae. A few fish too.


    I felt Midnight have a moment of surprise before he pushed off my shoulder. I turned my head to follow his movement, seeing him dive to the bottom for something. The light wasn¡¯t on it anymore, but I could see in the dark to some extent. A rat? It would be dead¡­ but no, that wasn¡¯t it. Midnight tapped it with a paw, using Storage. Then it was gone. Nothing technically stopped him from storing a rat corpse, but considering what we knew it was more likely it was some sort of mechanical device.


    I awkwardly swam down towards him- I mostly went horizontal. He latched onto my shoulder again and I hurried to catch up with the others. We weren¡¯t far from rising to the surface, but the little detour made me glad for my ability to breathe.


    I climbed up some ice stairs in the water, finding the others on a sort of platform. Captain Senan was shining his flashlight through a wall of ice filling the corridor we stepped up into. ¡°Don¡¯t see any immediate dangers,¡± he said. ¡°We can head in. Stay on your toes.¡±


    With a wave of his hand he melted away the ice wall, and we hopped over the gap to the solid concrete corridor. Both Midnight and Rocker shook themselves to get the water off.


    We quickly came to a corner, around which was a block of cheese. Or rather, a whole wheel of cheese that stretched about halfway across the corridor in the middle. Everyone just sort of gave each other a look. ¡°Rodentia,¡± Ice Guy sighed. ¡°This trap is¡­ a little bit obvious? Rocker, can you blast it?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll know we¡¯re here,¡± he replied, ¡°But I can.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll hold off on that then,¡± Ice Guy crouched down and placed his hand on the wall near the floor, far from the wheel of cheese. A line of ice grew along the wall, passing over a not very well hidden hunk of metal. Then an icicle grew out of the wall, pushing on the wheel of cheese. When it moved off of the pressure plate, the giant rat trap snapped closed with a loud noise. ¡°Guess they¡¯ll hear that anyway. If there¡¯s another like that, just blast it.¡±


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    A few moments later we were further along the corridor, and we no longer needed the flashlight. There was plenty of light, presumably for the goons pouring out of nearby rooms. I wasn¡¯t sure if the robo-rats needed light, but there were some of them too.


    Battle broke out quickly. A wall of ice gave us cover from some gunfire, and Acid Man settled into the gap to head off the roborats and the thugs who wanted to get into melee. The roborats charged into him without fear, but the humans had a better judgment when it came to supers turning into weird goo on the floor.


    Rocker swung his guitar out of cover, strumming a chord. Focused sound blasted down the corridor, sending people flying. Most of the thugs were returning to their feet almost immediately, but it gave us a chance to move forward without being shot. Acid man was still melting roborats, but we skirted around him.


    Midnight was the first one in, using a lessened Shocking Grasp to swipe at one of those trying to stand up. The shock sent them back to the ground, hopefully down for the count. While they had tried to shoot at me, I wasn¡¯t sure it would be appropriate to kill any of them so I didn¡¯t return in kind. I did face off against a couple thugs with weapons. A couple had actual blades, while others had some sort of metal baton. They should be a step up from the punk fans of Stargirl. In weaponry, at least. They didn¡¯t have powers though.


    It was amazing how comfortable one could be reaching up to grab the hands swinging a sword at you when you weren¡¯t concerned about getting your fingers chopped off. If you performed the technique right there was usually nothing to worry about but confidence in battle was important. Grab, twist, and slice on the backswing. That was along the ribs, so the guy would probably live. I used the sword to block the incoming baton and kicked that guy in the knee. They were definitely better equipped, but compared to anyone I trained with in the Power Brigade they might as well not have been trying.


    Then I got shot. One was a glancing blow, and the other more direct. I staggered back¡­ but they didn¡¯t even break through my Force Armor. Pistols just didn¡¯t have the punch required, though it wouldn¡¯t last against that many more straight shots.


    Everyone was lucky. They all got frozen in place or a little bit shocked or just battered around by sound waves. Maybe they caught on fire a little or their eardrums burst, but nobody had their legs melted by Acid Man. Except the roborats.


    By the time that little skirmish was over, however, everyone else was on high alert. Handface¡¯s gang wasn¡¯t huge- the dozen thugs we¡¯d laid out on the ground had to be most of it, though we knew a few had portal powers, and we hadn¡¯t seen them yet.


    Pleasant music entered my ears. Did we even need to fight? What was the point? We could just be friends. Like that large guy, Boyan. He was running towards me to hug me with that axe, right?


    A moment later I couldn¡¯t hear anything, but that was a step up. As my senses returned to me I cast Haste on myself- and Midnight, since that was just as efficient. This guy was not someone I could afford to hold back against, so as I was devoting my mana to Haste I whipped out my gun and shot him in the chest.


    I had expected one of several options. First was him having some sort of armor underneath the top layer of cloth he was wearing. Second was that cloth itself being armor. I would have even accepted him avoiding the bullets by watching where I aimed. I didn¡¯t expect to hit him directly and find out he was just wearing a normal shirt¡­ and then not have bullet holes in him.


    This guy improved way too fast. Barbarians were durable, but against a gun? Actually that wasn¡¯t that crazy. My Force Armor could take it, so why not this guy? He did flinch, at least.


    As the axe came down I dodged to the side. I grabbed at his wrists and along the haft of the axe, twisting. And twisting. And pulling. And spinning. But nothing I could do would get that weapon out of his hand. Even with the advantage of more time on my side I had to give up as a knee came for me. I avoided it and began to gather mana for my next spell- which felt sluggish within Haste.


    It was trivial to make contact for Shocking Grasp, and against a guy like this I didn¡¯t have to limit myself for fear of his heart stopping. Even against a new super, it was crazy to hold back. The electricity was much more effective than bullets, and at least he staggered back for a moment. He didn¡¯t look like he was going to go down, though.


    I had a second to look around. There were a few more goons I didn¡¯t recognize. Sirine was down the corridor, but Rocker was doing something to block the sound around us and negate her power. That was half the reason we had him along, but it was still good to know it worked. And that he hadn¡¯t fallen into her daze. I was fairly certain I could fight through it and it had merely caught me off guard, but that didn¡¯t mean it was easy.


    Behind me was an alarming scene I couldn¡¯t do anything about. Two women holding daggers were stabbing them into Ice Guy¡¯s throat. If I hadn¡¯t seen that his skin was gray like granite, I might have considered him dead. But even with Stoneskin, a moment later I saw red blood trickling down his neck. But his hands had caught onto the wrists of the pair on either side of him, and ice was growing around them. Those two were portal powers as well. There was another pair fighting against Shockfire and Acid Man.


    Then I got shot again. This time, it hurt. Force Armor shattered, and the impact on my chest made me whip my head up. Damn, that was going to bruise, even with several layers of protection. But at least I didn¡¯t have a hole going all the way through me again. My eyes locked onto Handface, who was pulling the trigger again. I shuffled to the side so Boyan would fully cover me, then conjured up Mage¡¯s Reach, skirting it along the top of the corridor. It might be noticed, but it might cause Handface to take cover, which would at least hinder his shooting.

 Chapter 83

    Even with several of the thugs having portal powers, it would have been truly embarrassing to be delayed for long. They were newbies, while at least our captain had experience working as a mercenary¡­ and the rest of us at least had been properly training our powers for months. I had mage abilities for much longer, of course, but I¡¯d developed very slowly in my world without experience or a proper way to train.


    Sirine was the biggest threat, but Rocker negated her nicely. Fortunately my stoneskin had helped against moves the enemy intended to take us out instantly- the murderous attempts not earning them any favor. Shockfire blasted one of the two dagger-wielding women across the the hall, lightning coursing through her. The other one found herself fully encompassed in a statue of ice. If they were dead¡­ I don¡¯t think anyone cared. Acid Man was gooping his way up Boyan¡¯s body, and was now at the waist. The big guy managed to keep fighting, but he was greatly hampered by the weight and what must have been some serious pain from the acid.


    Down the hallway Handface was lining up for another shot. I was dodging around the big guy while gathering mana. The latter took the same amount of actual time even with Haste, so I could only make the choice between attempting to take him out¡­ and protecting his target. He wasn¡¯t focused on me, but instead on Rocker. The guy might have been a criminal, but he mostly caused property damage and was working with us. He also didn¡¯t have Stoneskin.  I threw a Shield in front of him, covering his torso and head.


    It was a good thing I did, because he was focusing all of his power on preventing Sirine¡¯s abilities from screwing with our heads. The bullet punctured through the translucent circle, but deflected slightly. That made it go down into his gut.


    His shout of pain echoed down the corridor- but fortunately kept mostly focused beyond the close pack of us. Sirine and Handface were blasted back down the corridor, hitting into the wall of the junction. Then they split in either direction, running.


    Mage¡¯s Reach hadn¡¯t quite gotten to Handface yet, but I directed it around the corner and began to run. ¡°I¡¯m going after the primary target!¡± I called back to the team. They had taken down everyone but Boyan, and he was staggering.


    As I ran, Midnight scurried after me. He was the only other one with Haste, and with nothing resembling speedsters on our team the slight differences in running pace were far outstripped by going four times as fast. I knew he probably didn¡¯t have that much mana left- I was below half, and that was close to his maximum- but I appreciated him coming along regardless.


    I thought about absorbing another mana crystal, but in the midst of combat with Haste going¡­ I didn¡¯t think that would be a good idea. I had a lot of time to think as I ran towards the corner. Could there be someone waiting there to shoot me? Handface might do that. As I reached the turn, I dove across the hallway, keeping low. Unless he was aiming at my knees, I would be out of the line of fire. The bullet zipped past me, invisible. It was faster than Shockwave fully juiced up, and of course tiny instead of adult sized. I only head the boom, strangely drawn out.


    Mage¡¯s Reach was most of the way to Handface, and I reached out for his forearm. He reacted quickly, pulling something from his belt. It was some sort of flimsy shield, but Shocking Grasp didn¡¯t travel through it. I melted whatever sort of plastic or rubber it was though. Using his hand for that meant Handface didn¡¯t have time to aim his gun. It wasn¡¯t made for shooting with one hand in the slightest, and he nearly dropped it as he tried to take a shot towards me. It didn¡¯t even get close.


    I had already tumbled to my feet and started running towards him, but as he spun around- tossing the melted hunk of shield- he grabbed something else from his belt. The corridor exploded, and I was just barely able to make out some chunks of it as they flew towards me. I picked that seemed to be the least fatal route and lunged for that.


    As it turned out, explosions could be pretty fast. I only got out mostly unscathed because of Stoneskin- though I felt a pain in my shoulder that indicated I wasn¡¯t completely fine.


    ¡°That guy¡¯s crazy!¡± Midnight commented, his smaller size having gotten him through the flying rubble with greater ease.


    ¡°Sure is,¡± I agreed. ¡°That¡¯s why we can¡¯t let him get away again.¡±


    I had maybe twenty seconds left of Haste. Eight or nine mana. I needed some to take Handface out, but I could recast my Force Armor to absorb more damage. That would also apply to Midnight, so I did it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go first,¡± Midnight said quickly.


    I couldn¡¯t exactly argue with him. His reflexes were quick and he was a small target. His Stoneskin was in better shape than mine, so he was probably as durable as well. I held Mage¡¯s Reach back from turning the next corner and let Midnight go around as a sort of surprise.


    ¡°Dammit,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°He went in the water.¡±


    Turning the corner, I could see there was nothing but stairs going down into the water. ¡°At least he can¡¯t shoot us in there. Bullets don¡¯t work underwater.¡±


    ¡°And magic does?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°... don¡¯t use Shocking Grasp. The others should uh¡­ work.¡±


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Firebolt?¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°... It might.¡±


    The prohibition against Shocking Grasp didn¡¯t apply to Mage¡¯s Reach, as long as it was far. The hand was slowed by the water, but the two of us were as well. We started to swim in the one visible direction, and I just caught sight of Handface¡¯s feet as he swam. That guy swam fast. We shouldn¡¯t have been so far behind with Haste, but we hesitated at the corner. He was only maybe a hundred feet ahead, still closer than he had been at first, but there was another corner.


    Midnight and I swam after him. Midnight wasn¡¯t that fast under water, and neither was I. But a struggling quadruple speed was still faster than a good swimmer. We closed half the distance before he got to the corner. Then the tunnel exploded.


    The good news was that the explosion was greatly dampened by the water. The bad news was that concussive force still slammed me into the wall, and my breathing apparatus was knocked away somewhere. I spun around in the darkness, vaguely able to see but confused. I wanted to breathe but I couldn¡¯t. I could swim, but I wasn¡¯t good so I kept spinning. I couldn¡¯t think.


    I needed air. Magic could give me air. I didn¡¯t have any points, but maybe I had leveled up. Water breathing could cover myself and Midnight for basically forever. I just needed mana and¡­I could do it. I didn¡¯t have time to look at a stupid menu and pick out Water Breathing, I kenw what I wanted. I shoved mana out into the world. I took a breath. That was when rubble from the tunnel began to settle on me, pinning me down, and my consciousness faded.


    -----


    I woke up with pain in my legs. Some bruising, but also the tingly pain from a limb falling asleep. That was a good thing, because pain meant I wasn¡¯t dead. I was also breathing. It was still dark, though. My vision was good enough to pick out Great Girl¡¯s outfit, a dark red. Or maybe a bright red that was just dark. That made more sense.


    What happened? Mana exhaustion. The good news was that I had not knocked myself unconscious underwater without using Water Breathing somehow. The other good news was that Midnight was extremely worried. No pain, though, which meant he was pretty healthy. I looked towards him, his fur floating about in the water. I smiled. Everything was going well, except for that we didn¡¯t catch Handface.


    Great Girl shifted another chunk off me and I floated free. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said. My voice was not super clear underwater, but she got the message. She looked quite relieved that I was alive and/or breathing properly. She gestured towards the stairs not far away, and we swam up.


    A bucketful of water spewed out of my lungs as I let out my breath after we surfaced. It was weird and uncomfortable, but didn¡¯t actually disrupt my breathing. I was simply breathing water, or water and air mixed, and then finally just air as water continued to expel from my lungs.


    Captain Senan and the others were waiting there. ¡°Sorry, we didn¡¯t catch them,¡± I said.


    ¡°Sorry for that?¡± he asked. ¡°Not that you went traipsing off alone deeper into the enemy¡¯s lair?¡±


    ¡°I was trying to complete the primary objective of the mission,¡± I said.


    He shook his head, ¡°That¡¯s no good if you can¡¯t be alive to see it,¡± he reminded me. ¡°And the Power Brigade would doubtless like to remind you that they spent money on training you and would like return on their investment.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning to die or anything. It was technically two of us with powers versus one guy without.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a tricky one though,¡± Great Girl shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing I was here,¡± she said. ¡°Who knows how long it would have taken these guys to remove that rubble from you? Though uh¡­ I thought you didn¡¯t know Water Breathing?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± I nodded. I looked at my status. ¡°Maybe I don¡¯t?¡± Then I spotted it. It was just in the wrong place. ¡°No, I do.¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 21


    Experience: 1171


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +2


    Firebolt +2


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +2


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +2


    Enlarge +1


    Energy Ward +1


    Sonic Lance +1


    Scrying


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin


    Remaining Points: 22


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana Crystal Deposition


    Water Breathing


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°That¡­ ugh.¡± Great Girl shook her head. ¡°So how long does it last?¡±


    ¡°Hours. Presumably.¡± That was the normal case, but this one was different. It wasn¡¯t where spells went. It definitely cost mana though. And it also definitely didn¡¯t cost points, because even with the level up I hadn¡¯t used a single one of them. The good news was¡­ a real battle was great experience.  What was that, sixty? More than half a level. This was great.


    The captain ultimately accepted my excuses for what I did, and the squads on standby for capture and search made their way in. We got Boyan, one of the women, and a bunch of non-powered mooks. One of the other stabby women had managed to slink off in all the confusion- not the one coated in ice, obviously. That one was barely learning how to move again when she was cuffed and taken away.


    Sirine was gone, along with Handface. Rodentia seemed to have only sent some robo-rats, and wasn¡¯t lairing with the others. That made sense, she¡¯d always been an independent. We did pick up a bunch of random tech scattered around the lair- as well as some more explosives. Not enough to bring the whole place down, but certainly more than sane people were comfortable having in an underground lair.


    We also got a ton of the Scrying disruptors. There weren¡¯t any convenient mirrors or I would have immediately tried to Scry Handface, but that would be the first thing I did when we got back to base. I should probably recover mana before trying that anyway, since I needed an hour and a half for nine mana. Plus enough to not fall unconscious, and the slight increase from the portals wasn¡¯t going to cut it. Mana Crystals¡­ I also had to talk to the doctor before consuming any more of those. So it was back to HQ we went. Handface remained a half step ahead, but with a lair and all his minions lost he would be hopefully quick to track down. Our day wasn¡¯t done, not by a long shot.

 Chapter 84

    We could have technically tried to scry handface on a smaller mirror, like one of the ones on the cars. And then it would have been very small and difficult to see, along with distortion and other complications. Waiting until we were back at HQ with our captures being secured was reasonable enough.


    Calculator asked me to scry Handface first. Normally I would only perform a single scrying, but that was when we had time. Now we needed to make use of my abilities as much as possible¡­ though after a battle that was only two in the short term. Consuming more crystals was a bad idea especially with Doctor Martinez waiting, so that would be the limit.


    I gathered mana, concentrating on the large mirror in front of me. Calculator was recording as usual, while the rest of the squad and people on backup watched. Shockwave was around as well, in case there was a place they could run to quickly to snag Handface. The mists swirled, soon to reveal to me a familiar face and hand imprint.


    That was the plan, at least. I was ready to push my way past another diverting device, though realistically I couldn¡¯t expect Handface to have access to them everywhere he went. What I didn¡¯t expect was to have someone looking directly at me. Some sort of guy in a long brown coat. A plain ceramic mask that only had holes for eyes covered his face. He looked familiar for some reason, but I definitely hadn¡¯t met the guy. Oh, that was it. I¡¯d seen pictures of Doctor Doomsday before, and this was him.


    The coat wasn¡¯t exactly brown either. That was just the general color the various splotches of whatever were on his coat averaged out to. Whatever sort of super-tech it was made out of, anti-staining was not one of its features.


    ¡°Hello,¡± said Doctor Doomsday. Calculator gestured for me to try to turn the image or something, likely to scope out the surroundings. From this angle we could only see a poorly lit Doctor Doomsday, after all. But when I tried to do anything, I was met with sharp resistance. I shook my head. ¡°I expected that you would be looking in soon. Deimos is in my custody for the moment, while I analyze this device. You will not be able to retrieve him before I am done.¡± Then he waved casually and walked out of the view of Scrying, leaving me stuck looking in a corner. I tried pushing to change angle, to swap to Handface¡¯s actual location, or anything but¡­


    ¡°I can¡¯t do anything,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s stuck like this.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunate,¡± Calculator replied. ¡°But it is not unexpected where a super of this power comes into play. And he seems to have been involved with portals to your world so he does not seem to be stymied by the novelty of magic.¡±


    We continued in silence for the rest of the duration of my spell, trying to pick up any visual or auditory hint coming through. The sensor remained locked in place, and only the faint background hum of machinery could be heard. Then the mists swirled, and it faded.


    ¡°This is bad, right?¡± I looked over at Calculator, then the rest of the squad outside.


    Captain Senan had a sour look on his face. ¡°I thought we had this. I¡¯ll try to fix this¡­ somehow.¡±


    Calculator shook his head, ¡°That won¡¯t be possible now. And the fault does not lie solely on you. Our watchers let him slip away¡­ though perhaps it is more relevant to say that Doctor Doomsday was more prepared than us. He has to have been monitoring Deimos for some time to be prepared to act on short notice.¡±


    ¡°Could someone have tipped him off?¡± Captain Senan asked.


    Eyes drifted towards Rocker, who held up his hands, ¡°Hey, I know Doctor Doomsday is an awful dude. No way I¡¯d work with him. I¡¯m trying to not get in deeper trouble. And I wouldn¡¯t know how to contact him even if I wanted to.¡±


    ¡°He has email,¡± Calculator said flatly.


    ¡°Really?¡± Rocker raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°That makes sense,¡± I nodded. ¡°He is a tech super.¡±


    ¡°Does it though?¡± Midnight tried to provide a voice of reason. ¡°Just because email uses technology doesn¡¯t mean it makes sense.¡±


    ¡°In this case,¡± Calculator said, ¡°His abilities are sufficient that he can receive communication through such methods without being disrupted. At best, some careless individuals have their messages intercepted, but nothing gives away his location, nor have any outgoing messages been collected. There may be other methods, or it could be some tricks we don¡¯t understand.¡± He shook his head, ¡°Regardless, it is unfortunate that we did not foresee Doctor Doomsday¡¯s involvement. The technology that Deimos had could be problematic if it spreads, or simply in Doomsday¡¯s hands.¡± He looked down at the tablet in his hands, ¡°It is unfortunate, but we cannot always win engagements as cleanly as we would like. Next on the list is Sirine. Her capture might provide some insights to where Deimos may flee upon release from Doomsday¡¯s ¡®custody¡¯. And clues to finding Rodentia, who has outstanding bounties.¡±


    I nodded. I had enough mana to scry someone else. ¡°What about Swarm?¡± I asked. ¡°He wasn¡¯t present at the base.¡±


    ¡°It is likely he has split off from the group,¡± Calculator said. ¡°And he¡¯s likely somewhere safe. Plus, there were the difficulties with scrying him before.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°He¡¯s not hard to find but¡­¡±


    ¡°There are many of him, if he wishes,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°Catching a copy walking around is a waste of our time. So Sirine, if you would.¡±


    The mists swirled and produced an image of a woman comfortably at the bottom of the ocean. ¡°I forgot about her other powers,¡± I said.


    ¡°Where is she?¡± Calculator asked.


    I gestured vaguely, ¡°Bottom of the bay, I think. Oh right, you can¡¯t see that. What about the camera?¡±


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    ¡°It is recording multiple spectrums,¡± Calculator said, ¡°We should be able to salvage something. Anything distinctive?¡±


    ¡°Mostly sand,¡± I said. I turned the sensor around to pick up every direction I could, but unfortunately I was still limited to a small visual radius. Anything beyond ten feet or so simply didn¡¯t appear, despite what one would expect. Upgrades would help that slightly, but they were rather small improvements for quite a price. I didn¡¯t want to spend half a level on a tiny upgrade for something that didn¡¯t contribute to leveling. ¡°If we could find her, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to get to her. I can cast Water Breathing now.¡± For some reason. I needed to figure that out. Nothing I knew about the world indicated that I could get a spell without spending points. Mana Crystal Deposition wasn¡¯t an actual spell so it made sense, but Water Breathing was a standard option. Eventually the image faded.


    ¡°Would be nice to catch the other assassin type,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°A dagger isn¡¯t a big deal, but associated powers?¡± he shook his head. ¡°Unpleasant. You look pretty drained though, Turlough.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m tapped out,¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯d need at least an hour and a half¡­¡±


    ¡°I could try,¡± Midnight volunteered. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ high enough level to do it easily. But I can try.¡±


    ¡°What level are you now?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh, 12. Nice. If you want to try, I suppose you could. But it¡¯ll take nearly two-thirds of your total reserves, and the safe threshold is below half.¡±


    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t work, I just pass out, right? Like Mana Exhaustion?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s worse,¡± I said. ¡°But I don¡¯t believe it¡¯s actually dangerous. Just very unpleasant.¡±


    ¡°I would like to try,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Can you crouch down? I would like to be midway up the mirror.¡±


    I crouched down and he hopped up onto my shoulder. His fear of heights was strong enough that being at more than a few feet was too much for him, though when on my shoulder he didn¡¯t seem to have that issue, even when I stood at my full height.


    ¡°The other stabby lady, right? I kind of remember her face¡­¡± Midnight¡¯s face squished in concentration.


    Mana flowed from Midnight. I didn¡¯t want to interfere, but I found myself automatically stabilizing the flow. He was still doing most of the work, but he hadn¡¯t really used this spell before.


    The mists swirled, but instead of fully clearing they revealed a foggy image of a woman hustling along a street, constantly looking over her shoulder. Then the image flickered- darkness, so total that even my darkvision could not see anything. ¡°I think I lost it¡­¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Hold onto it,¡± I said, gently resting my hand on his paw. ¡°That might be one of the decoys, buried underground.¡±


    Midnight held his focus, and thirty seconds later we were rewarded with a snippet of an alleyway, with the woman surrounded by rats. Then some sort of door opened¡­ and a moment later the image returned to blackness. Well before the end of the ten minutes, the mists swirled and left us with a mirror. ¡°Ugh,¡± Midnight said. I could feel he was dizzy, and I stabilized him with my hand. ¡°That¡¯s awful.¡±


    ¡°Those decoys really are trouble,¡± I nodded. ¡°And overusing mana isn¡¯t great either. Speaking of which, I have an appointment with Doctor Martinez.¡±


    ¡°You should get to it,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°I will compile the information we have. Interrogations will be done on those already captured. I believe we have done what we can for today. And despite some of the results¡­ I can say the mission was successful. No civilians or employees harmed, a base captured, plans disrupted. The involvement of a top tier supervillain was a problem, but the mission still worked. Squad cohesion was reasonable. I will allow your squad leader to fully debrief you later.¡±


    -----


    ¡°Well,¡± Doctor Martinez said, dramatically holding up some charts that I couldn¡¯t see. ¡°Do you want the good news or the bad news first?¡±


    ¡°I believe we have done this already,¡± I said. ¡°Please give me information in the most useful order.¡±


    He rolled his eyes, ¡°Fine. Crystallization did build up inside you slightly, but it is rapidly fading. So whatever amount of crystal stuff you did was¡­¡±


    ¡°Safe?¡±


    ¡°Not immediately dangerous,¡± Doctor Martinez said. ¡°I¡¯d suggest a few days of avoiding any and all use of mana crystals. Long term effects might be unclear, and obviously this builds up fast enough that the regular monthly checkups might be insufficient. People shouldn¡¯t have any amount of crystals growing inside them, and I stand by that.¡±


    ¡°Technically they¡¯re shrinking,¡± I said. ¡°They just kind of get put inside, then shrink.¡±


    ¡°A useless technicality,¡± he said. ¡°And maybe incomplete. So we¡¯re going to keep studying this thing. Especially if you want to teach it to that apprentice of yours. No way should a developing body have weird magic interfering with normal growth.¡±


    ¡°Magic isn¡¯t-¡± I stopped myself. Magic wasn¡¯t weird, but¡­ ¡°I suppose this particular form of magic might be weird.¡± It certainly wasn¡¯t common or well known. It was beyond the normal set of what I expected as well. And then there was Water Breathing with it now which was concerning. I wasn¡¯t sure who I could talk about that with, though. I didn¡¯t want to admit not understanding my own powers, and nobody knew how things were supposed to work besides me. Not in this world. Except maybe Doctor Doomsday, but I had the feeling he¡¯d dissect me if we ever met. Further research on powers was required.


    -----


    It was thus that I found myself at the library once more. The Power Brigade library, specifically. There was a lot of not publicly accessible information in the database. And obviously they were interested in knowing about superpowers. I found a number of research papers, but upon reading through them I determined that while powers could be described and there were even explanations on where they came from, nobody really knew how they worked. Not in the way I wanted, anyway.


    For example, powers generally came with secondary powers required to make the original work. Shockwave could run quickly, but if they only had such an ability, then slightly placing their foot wrong should result in a twisted ankle, much beyond the limits of normal possible injury. As Shockwave was not crippled, nor did they pass out upon making sudden accelerations, there were other powers or components of one larger power there.


    Pretty clearly my power was the mage class. That was normal for my world, and everything made sense. I got levels and points and I spent them to get abilities. Getting abilities without spending points was not only outside of the bounds of what was expected, but the exact opposite of how it was supposed to work. Exceptional circumstances meant it was rather hard to test as well. I was quite happy to fight for experience, but I didn¡¯t want to nearly die. Perhaps almost drowning and unlocking Water Breathing was some weird exception, but I didn¡¯t understand it and that was annoying. I logged that not understanding something triggered annoyance. That was normal, of course, but Patenaude wanted me to be thorough.


    It was weird. What, did I get a portal power? People couldn¡¯t have two sources of powers! Typically. Further research indicated there were rare exceptions. And then, of course, having two methods to do the same thing made no sense. This world was weird. Maybe I should find a way to contact Master Uvithar. He had to know more¡­ right? I even had points to spend to learn magic to attempt that. First I would re-read the book he sent me, but I certainly didn¡¯t recall anything like that.

 Chapter 85

    ¡°What do you mean you¡¯re dropping out of school?¡± I crossed my arms, looking down sternly at Jerome.


    He waved his hands wildly to deflect my accusation. ¡°I¡¯m not dropping out! I¡¯m just not¡­ going to school anymore.¡±


    ¡°How is that different?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m still learning! From you, and online. Just not in a classroom.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I frowned. There was probably some reason that was still a problem, but I couldn¡¯t think of it. If he still learned what he needed to, did it matter? What else did school accomplish? I really didn¡¯t know. ¡°I think that¡¯s a decision that should not be made lightly.¡± There, that was vague enough that I didn¡¯t have to have my reason right now.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to learn anything in my current math class anyway,¡± Jerome pointed out, ¡°I passed that up a while ago. And once I put my mind to it, I learned everything else quickly as well! I haven¡¯t actually stopped going yet. There¡¯s a test I need to take or something,¡± Jerome shrugged. ¡°But after that¡­ I¡¯ll have the rest of the school year off to think about choices.¡±


    ¡°And study,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°And practice magic,¡± Jerome added.


    ¡°Well, as long as you¡¯ve thought about it and discussed it with your mother, it¡¯s your choice. Though is it so simple to pass up an entire year of schooling?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Jerome frowned, ¡°It kinda is when you were so far behind like me. I¡¯m mostly aiming for something like normal placement, except for math.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I nodded. ¡°But it¡¯s only, what, October? Are you sure you¡¯ll be ready for some test?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± Jerome nodded. ¡°What about you? Going to be ready for Halloween?¡±


    ¡°... what¡¯s that?¡± I asked.


    -----


    Given that we did not have an abundance of time to prepare costumes- and worked exclusively with people who spent most of their life in costume- Midnight and I used magic to create our alternate looks. Midnight appeared to have a tall hat, as well as a dangling white beard. He also seemed to have a sort of robe dotted with sparkling stars. Outfits for one with his body shape were entirely impractical, and to achieve the right look it had to be magic. Sometimes the image slipped through his tail, but it was better that than trying to replicate Francois¡¯ work without his expertise. Apparently the outfit he made for Midnight was actually quite comfortable. In addition, Midnight could put it on or take it off directly by using Storage. That was a fascinating usage I hadn¡¯t thought about.


    I return, I had cat ears upon my head, and feline features. Midnight helped me refine the look until it wasn¡¯t too weird, apparently fitting feline aesthetics enough. I appeared to have fur covering my body, though anyone who got close might still brush up against my sleeves. Likewise, my face still had tusks if people were to get close.


    Of course, it would be a huge mess if people were to intentionally not look like themselves within a secure facility, so the day began with people out of costume. But as we were making our way to the streets, I saw the costumes of many others.


    I only knew of one woman who could be nine feet tall in the Power Brigade, so the one with the mask that made it look like she only had one eye and the large club must have been Great Girl.


    For some reason Jim was in a perfectly normal business suit and tie. I had to admit there was some humor to it, but I seemed to be missing some sort of context that others had, as they found it significantly more amusing. Then again, business suits were still new to me so they hardly felt like ¡®normal¡¯ clothing.


    Ice Guy seemed to be going for some sort of irony, as he had dyed his hair orange and was dressed in flame patterns. I didn¡¯t manage to pick out Shockfire, but Acid Man was dressed up as a ¡®cowboy¡¯. I found that extremely odd, as he didn¡¯t have any cow related pieces of his costume.


    Shockwave was¡­ potentially any of those with the same slight build. I didn¡¯t know what their face looked like, now that I thought of it, nor did their hair particularly stand out. Especially not with so many people in wigs.


    Calculator showed up with two sheets of cardboard hanging from him, front and back. The back looked like nothing, it was just painted a black-gray, but the front had all sorts of buttons on it, or at least low quality illustrations of them. Numbers, operators, and some weird things I didn¡¯t quite understand.


    There were others going past as well, and once outside I caught sight of many others as well. It was difficult to tell who might have been supers, whether hero, mercenary, or villain. A logistical nightmare, but there was a reason for such madness. Unbeknownst to me, it was a time of great potential trouble. It was unclear if the collective belief caused supernatural events to happen on that particular day, if it was coincidence, or some other factor¡­ but everyone was out patrolling New Bay, generally in small groups to cover more ground.


    Many civilians were out on the streets as well. During Halloween, most of the city shut down, except those parts that supported the event. Some people were going to various festivals, while others were seeking opportunities to meet supers. Something about the costumes apparently helped settle things down, which was why the Power Brigade and others accepted the potential confusion. It had to be people with powers too, because¡­?


    I shrugged. It couldn¡¯t be magic that caused whatever this was, or not just magic. The mana levels were perhaps slightly higher, but nothing sufficient to cause a wide scale event. The phenomenon wasn¡¯t unique to New Bay, either, but also other locations with higher concentrations of the supernatural.


    For the sake of having some sensibility to the whole thing, heroes and mercenaries wore special badges for civilians to identify them. That way when something inevitably occurred the people yelling for help would have someone to look for, and individuals could respond faster than reports would come through official channels.


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    ¡°Excuse me mister,¡± a kid dressed like a vampire said as he held up a blank sheet of paper. ¡°Are you a superhero?¡± His mother stood behind him, smiling.


    I was about to speak, but Midnight beat me to it. ¡°Something like that,¡± he said.


    Some playful part of me decided to speak in Celmothian. ¡°We¡¯re technically mercenaries.¡± Of course, it just sounded like a cat meowing. It got the kid to laugh hysterically though, so it accomplished its mission.


    ¡°Can I get an autograph, mister¡­ umm¡­?¡±


    ¡°I am the Great Mage Cosmos!¡± Midnight improvised fantastically.


    ¡°Okay,¡± the kid nodded, holding up the paper along with a clipboard and pen. ¡°Could you autograph for me?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Midnight nodded his head, ¡°What about my familiar here?¡±


    The kid nodded enthusiastically. ¡°Yeah! And your kitty! Whatever his name is.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s, umm¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°Greentusk?¡±


    Midnight spoke back in Celmothian, ¡°That name is garbage.¡±


    ¡°Sorry!¡± I shrugged, ¡°I didn¡¯t know we were coming up with names!¡±


    ¡°How about greenfur?¡± he asked.


    ¡°But I made my fur black, like yours. I guess I could change it.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Ahem. Tiny vampire man, my familiar is actually in disguise. His true form is¡­ Greenfur!¡± He timed it almost perfectly for my use of the Disguise spell, and my fur turned a nice medium green. Too dark would look weird, even if darker would be closer to my actual skin tone. ¡°Could you set me down?¡±


    I set Midnight down and let him begin to autograph the thing. While he did that, I asked the mother, ¡°Do you want us to put our original names there too?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if he¡¯d care now,¡± she shrugged, ¡°But maybe later he¡¯d want to know. I¡¯d appreciate it.¡±


    I looked at Midnight, and saw that he heard it. He used Mage¡¯s Reach to grab the pen and sign Great Mage Cosmos (Midnight), and I signed Greenfur (Mage). My official name was considerably less impressive, but quite accurate. Calling myself a great mage would be kind of embarrassing if anyone from my world found out about it¡­ and at least one person could.


    After the autographs, we continued to walk along, looking for trouble. I was vaguely heading for a local park, but along the way I spotted an alley covered over by a massive cobweb. ¡°Excuse me,¡± I called out towards it, ¡°Anyone in there? Your web is kind of blocking entrance to this place.¡± Force Armor was already up, so I had at least basic defenses if there was trouble. ¡°If you¡¯re some sort of alien or whatever, just say anything.¡± No sound. ¡°I¡¯m going to get rid of this web, then.¡±


    As I slowly reached out for it¡­ nothing happened. I touched it, and began to pull it away. I was glad to be wearing gloves, but the mass was quite sticky so I had to rub it off on itself. After a few moments, I suddenly noticed black creeping along the white webs. When I leaned in for a better look, hundreds of tiny spiders jumped on me.


    I am glad to say that my panic was the more productive of the various options. I could have shot a firebolt, possibly catching the web and myself and maybe other things nearby on fire¡­ but I managed the spell that was more useful against things touching me.


    Shocking Grasp still set the web on fire, but only part of it. I quickly tore it down and stomped on it in the alleyway below, along with the charred corpses of spiders. I wasn¡¯t afraid of spiders in the normal sense, but that was too many. Same with that swarm of rats. Just in case, I felt around for abnormal mana quantities, but this seemed to be either normal for New Bay, or for Halloween.


    It was nearly dark by the time I got to the park. I was one of those on the night shift, specifically because I could function better at such a time with my ability to see in the dark to a certain extent. Despite the traditional associations of darkness and trouble, it seemed that whatever caused Halloween¡¯s effects kind of went all day with vaguely even distribution.


    Though traffic in the area was reduced at this time, there were plenty of nocturnal people or those who simply wanted to stay out a bit later for the event. Some parks closed at night, but this one was specifically open for the sake of nocturnal citizens. Not that anyone would physically stop people from going to a ¡®closed¡¯ park.


    The park had a nice lake as well as a river running through it. Well, it was really a canal rather than a river- there was nothing natural about its concrete sides. It was a nice change in scenery, though. Some greenery in an otherwise lacking city- though they did throw in planters and the like wherever they could.


    I felt a twinge of mana nearby, just a hint of someone attempting to use it. Then a bush monster came running down the path towards me. ¡°Watch out!¡± it yelled. ¡°Tree monster!¡±


    ¡°You mean you?¡± I asked. Meowing was fun and all, but practically I had to speak sometimes.


    ¡°What? No! The one running behind me! And it¡¯s totally not my fault!¡±


    I had the feeling that the protestation was a bit early, considering I hadn¡¯t said anything on the matter. It seemed like the sort of thing someone would say if they were at fault.


    The approaching bush became more apparent as someone in a poorly thought out plant costume, with actual branches sticking around at awkward angles and covering the vision of the woman inside. She almost tripped on the path as she ran, and I had to avoid her charge.


    She ran past, then turned. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you running?¡±


    ¡°This is our job,¡± Midnight said. Then he raised a paw, shooting a Firebolt at a tree lumbering out onto the road. The fire splashed against it, leaving behind a small scorch mark. ¡°Hey, buddy¡­ why didn¡¯t that work?¡±


    ¡°Living trees are wet,¡± I said simply. ¡°Didn¡¯t we go over this?¡±


    ¡°Oh. So Shocking Grasp then?¡±


    ¡°Against something that size?¡± The tree was at least twenty feet tall, a foot thick- and crouching forward with branches waggling about at person height. ¡°No way.¡± A burst of mana to form a Sonic Lance, and the middle of the tree exploded in a shower of splinters. I waited a moment to make sure the separated parts weren¡¯t moving independently. ¡°There we go.¡±


    ¡°Nice, you got it!¡± said the woman, ¡°Oh hey, aren¡¯t you Midnight?¡±


    Midnight turned to the bush-woman. ¡°Oh. Ceira! How are you? Did you cause that?¡±


    ¡°I swear I didn¡¯t!¡± she held up her hands. ¡°It¡¯s never worked like that before.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ maybe, then.¡±


    ¡°Uh, maybe,¡± Ceira hung her head.


    That about wrapped things up, but then there was a scream from up ahead. I couldn¡¯t quite make out the words, but it didn¡¯t seem to be just casual trouble. I tore apart a mana crystal. Didn¡¯t want to run out of mana when I needed it most.

 Chapter 86

    Following the sounds of screaming, we ran over to the nearby lake. Or pond, or whatever. The exact distinction in size and artificiality of the gathering of water was irrelevant at the moment. What did matter was that the woman who had been screaming for help was nervously wringing her hands. ¡°Pablo¡­¡±


    ¡°Is someone in the water, ma¡¯am?¡± I asked quickly as I stopped next to her. I wasn¡¯t great at swimming yet, but Water Breathing made me a lot more confident.


    ¡°Yes, my son Pablo.¡±


    ¡°He fell in?¡± I said. I was already gathering mana for Water Breathing as I spoke.


    ¡°He was yanked in by a monster¡­ some lady dove in after him.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± I held onto the mana for a moment, moving down the slope closer to the water to try to see what was going on. All I saw were large, dark shapes. Then the surface of the lake burst open, sending something flying at me. I caught it by instinct, which turned out to be a much better choice than dodging it. I staggered back with a kid in my arms. The good news was he coughed and sputtered and took a deep breath, so I didn¡¯t have to figure anything out with that.


    ¡°Pablo!¡± his mother called out. She began to run towards us.


    ¡°Stay up there!¡± I called out. ¡°It¡¯s not safe yet!¡± Turns out I was more right than I knew.


    I got about halfway up the slope before I felt something grab my leg and yank it. I dropped the kid immediately onto the soft grass, seeing Midnight lose his grip as well. As I was flipped upside down I was able to see what was grabbing me. An arm, but not a person arm. A squid arm. Somehow I managed to turn the mana I had gathered into the intended spell, providing Water Breathing for myself¡­ and Midnight, if he needed it.


    As I hit the water I got two lungfuls of it, and two eyefulls of the monster. A kraken? Hard to tell, really. Some sort of squiddy thing, really. What was quite clear was that it absolutely did not fit in the water it was currently occupying. Everything was completely full with tentacles and arms. Where had this thing come from? There was no way it swam here, nor was there any feeling of mana. Maybe portals to elsewhere. But this being halloween, I supposed it came from some sort of collective belief in monsters.


    What a pickle. As I was pulled towards the creature¡¯s gaping maw, I managed to catch a glimpse of a mermaid. No, that wasn¡¯t right. It was a person in a bad mermaid costume. Some sort of fake seashells covering her chest and a bad tail flopping behind her very real legs. From the way she was swimming around, she didn¡¯t seem to be drowning at least. Presumably she was responsible for the kid rocketing out of the water. I waved as I was pulled towards the teeth.


    -----


    ¡°Holy crap that guy got eaten by the monster!¡± Ceira cried out.


    ¡°¡®That guy¡¯ is a mercenary and he will be alright,¡± Midnight said, not quite sure of his own words. ¡°Now if you could help that mother get her child much further away from the lake, that would be much appreciated.¡±


    The good news was that Turlough wasn¡¯t really panicking from being pulled in the water. The bad news was that he never got concerned enough about combat. The other bad news was that Midnight¡¯s worry was reflecting back on himself and he was panicking and what was he going to do?


    Approaching the water might be stupid, but he couldn¡¯t just leave Turlough to die. Midnight didn¡¯t want to think about what would happen to him if a normal friend died, let alone one in a semi-magical bond like they had.


    Midnight could now see lake water splashing about and tentacles flopping from the surface. They didn¡¯t seem to be doing anything in particular, but it sure made it hard to see what was going on. He stuck his face in the water. It was the worst feeling, but he reminded himself he could breathe and that he needed to see.


    With his head in the water, he could hear¡­ singing? It also became more clear that the thing was flopping about wildly, not just with unknown intention. Midnight wondered how to fight it. Shocking Grasp? That was good against water, right? No no no! Electricity and water didn¡¯t mix. Especially not if people he wanted to keep out of cardiac arrest were in it.


    Firebolt was a level worse. It would sputter out almost immediately. Sonic Lance was¡­ uncertain. With that, he kind of ran out of good offensive options. He¡¯d need some help. Time to check if any backup was available nearby.


    -----


    I was extremely relieved when the squid¡¯s large beak-thing surrounded by spikes didn¡¯t break me in half as it chomped down. Just almost. I had enough time to cast Stoneskin as it reeled me in, so it merely punctured that and Force Armor, only a few of the extraneous spikes finding their way through my protective uniform which was what I was actually wearing. The cat thing was the Disguise spell, after all. A few puncture wounds, lacerations, broken ribs¡­ but not chomped in half so things were good.


    It would have been nice to have Stoneskin upgraded. Perhaps that would have saved me from taking any damage, or maybe not. Either way, I was alive for the moment. The next chomp would be a problem though. My strongest offense was Sonic Lance. I didn¡¯t have a whole ton of spare mana, but this wasn¡¯t a time to be conservative. I had a nice open target for it as well.


    An interesting side effect of blasting a shockwave into the watery maw of a maybe-kraken was that the water had to go somewhere, and it was basically incompressible. So I managed to blast myself away from the maw, the arm gripping me barely holding on as teeth dragged along my stony skin. Then I heard a weird singing, and the arm squeezed tightly¡­ then let go. Then lashed wildly around.


    The lashing part went for all of the tentacles as well as the other arms- weren¡¯t squid only supposed to have two of the longer tendrils? Oh well, this was a monster anyway. I didn¡¯t have the ability to dodge them in the water, but the way they moved was not optimal for ignoring water resistance. They slammed into me, but not hard enough to kill me. So far, things were going great.


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    -----


    ¡°Of course everyone is engaged in combat!¡± Midnight said exasperated, to no one in particular after requesting backup. ¡°Five minutes? I can wait that long if Turlough doesn¡¯t get eaten before then!¡±


    He was just about ready to jump in himself, feeling Turlough¡¯s pain, but at the moment at least Turlough was no longer at the bottom of the lake. Maybe he was swimming free? Going in there and getting grabbed wouldn¡¯t help either of them.


    ¡°How can I help?¡± came a voice from nearby.


    Midnight spun on his heels to find a bush standing there. A person-shaped one, of course. ¡°What the hell are you doing here? Get to safety!¡±


    ¡°I was just trying to help!¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°Help from up there!¡± Midnight gestured forcefully as he looked up at the woman. ¡°You¡¯ve got plant magic, right? Use it to grab some of these tentacles and hold them out of the lake!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if my magic works!¡± Ceira said as she began running back up the hill. ¡°I only ever made houseplants grow!¡±


    ¡°Then experiment from there!¡±


    -----


    Given my length of experience, I was pretty good at swimming in a pool. Swimming in a combat scenario was a bit more tough, especially since I was having trouble figuring out which way was up. Whenever I¡¯d find it I would get battered by a tentacle and have to search again. Even so, I managed to slowly pull myself away from the area.


    As I did so, I managed to begin absorbing one of the mana crystals in my pocket. I couldn¡¯t see this battle going much longer, but a few mana over the next minute might make a huge difference. I wished I had a spear. I could get my gun out of Storage but it wasn¡¯t really much use in the water or for something of this size. Could I fit a spear in Storage? They weren¡¯t actually that heavy, so I probably could. Otherwise a few points to increase Storage¡¯s capacity would do it.


    I thought a lot about what I could do, but also about the fact that I wasn¡¯t really prepared for underwater combat. Then again, most people weren¡¯t. It was kind of the norm to not be in water. At least the mermaid seemed suited for it.


    ¡°Hey mermaid lady!¡± I knew speech didn¡¯t work that well under water, but I tried anyway. ¡°I¡¯m almost away from danger, so you can get yourself out in a minute!¡±


    It didn¡¯t look like she heard me. She was concentrating pretty hard on singing, from what I could see through all the whipping tentacles and arms. The ones that got closer to her deflected away from here too. Some sort of water barrier? Cool!


    ¡°I¡¯m going to try to help from the surface!¡± I shouted.


    Somehow, I¡¯d touched land, and was out of the most destructive radius of the wild swings. Then a few moments later my head was above water. Water spewed out of my mouth as I continued to breathe, uncomfortable and weird but still quite breathable even when mixed with air.


    ¡°Turlough!¡± Midnight called as he spotted me, running towards me. Then he stopped and stood with his back straight. ¡°Ahem. Mage. I have called for backup. They¡¯re incoming as quickly as we can.¡±


    ¡°Someone¡¯s still in there,¡± I said. ¡°But I don¡¯t know how to-¡± Even as I spoke, the grass around us and the bushes on the other side of the ¡®lake¡¯ grew and stretched towards the water. They grasped onto some sort of underwater plant there, as well as some of the tentacles. And by some I meant there were two or three that didn¡¯t immediately break free. ¡°Midnight!¡± Shouting seemed appropriate, but I was mostly focusing on casting Sonic Lance at one that was briefly visible. Firebolt wasn¡¯t going to work against anything so extremely wet, and there was no way I could get closer for a Shocking Grasp before they broke free even if I threw out a Mage¡¯s Reach.


    Midnight seemed to have the same idea or at least sense what I was casting. Either way, in sequence I fired a Sonic Lance at one tentacle while Midnight hit what was technically one of the arms. They sort of exploded, which was why a spell like that couldn¡¯t be used on a non-super. First, it was overkill¡­ and second it looked bad. It was about as powerful as five Firebolts packed together, after all- and those could kill a normal person if they got hit in the right or wrong place.


    ¡°Did I do it?¡± Ceira said, her head peeking over the edge of the slope. ¡°Aww man, nothing.¡± Then her face flopped into the grass.


    ¡°Mana exhaustion?¡± Midnight conjectured. I nodded.


    I half walked and half crawled further up the slope with Midnight. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s enough for that thing to bleed to death. I don¡¯t have any more to give, though. Not a full one, anyway.¡±


    ¡°I have one more Sonic Lance maybe?¡± Midnight shook his head. ¡°What about that woman in there?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ sure¡­¡± the flopping of the tentacles was slowing down. Normally that would have been a sign of fatigue or the like, but it seemed more like they were getting back control over themselves. ¡°We have to help somehow. That mermaid lady has a water barrier I think, but powers aren¡¯t limitless.¡±


    ¡°Water barrier?¡± Midnight said. ¡°And¡­ singing confusion powers?¡±


    ¡°Yep, seems right.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­ Sirine?¡±


    ¡°Now that you mention it,¡± I nodded. ¡°That does seem like her. Doesn¡¯t make a difference though. She saved a kid.¡±


    ¡°I get it but¡­¡± Midnight looked wearily at the now only gently swirling water. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to help.¡±


    ¡°Mage!¡± feet thudded into the ground near us. ¡°Enlarge me!¡±


    I saw a huge cyclops standing there. But since it asked almost nicely, I decided to help. I cast Enlarge, making sure to spend the full three mana instead of the reduced cost. Every bit of boost might matter. I watched the cyclops grow to around three stories tall, a grin on my face. I looked over at Midnight. ¡°That cyclops reminds me of Great Girl,¡± I commented.


    ¡°That is Great Girl.¡±


    ¡°Riiiight. That explains it.¡±


    Great Girl stomped down to the edge of the water, disturbingly calm. She crouched down, arms going into the water. Then all at once, a dozen tentacles and arms wrapped around her outstretched limbs. ¡°Rrrrraaagh!¡± Great Girl roared as she pulled with all her might, the lake rising up as she flipped the creature onto the slope. As she proceeded to pull it onto hard pavement where she could stomp it into a less yielding surface, I couldn¡¯t help but grin.


    I was dizzy, but I wasn¡¯t sure if it was from the mana exhaustion or the blood loss. Maybe both. My vision was kind of blurry, but as I collapsed I thought I saw a figure swimming downstream, just under the surface.

 Chapter 87

    The clock ticked in the background, resounding in its loudness for the silence in the room. I had been recalling my experiences to Doctor Patenaude, and he took the information in continuously. And maybe more, since I didn¡¯t really understand how his sensory stalks worked. They weren¡¯t eyes, but they did give him some sort of information about emotions or something. Then I reached near the end.


    ¡°Is that all?¡± the therapist asked after a long stretch of silence. ¡°Or do you have more you would like to add?¡±


    ¡°... I smiled when Great Girl slammed the lake monster into the ground. Is that an emotion?¡± I tilted my head to look at Doctor Patenaude as I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s certainly a representation of it. What do you feel caused this? The enjoyment of battle, perhaps catharsis?¡±


    ¡°The second thing, I guess,¡± I said after a few moments. ¡°I don¡¯t really enjoy fighting.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± he said. More notes, but when wasn¡¯t that the case. ¡°Let me ask, do you enjoy exercise?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes,¡± I shrugged awkwardly in my reclined position. ¡°But sometimes Meztli pushes us so hard that I only really feel pain and fatigue, lying there in a puddle on the floor.¡± For Acid Man, that was sometimes literal- he couldn¡¯t feel muscle pain the same way when he was transformed. ¡°But sometimes it feels good, I guess. It¡¯s nice to work towards growing stronger.¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s different about combat?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ you can get injuries, or die,¡± I said lamely.


    ¡°I was under the impression neither of those were particularly a concern for you.


    ¡°Well,¡± I shrugged again. ¡°I guess not. Especially with people to help heal me up. Obviously I don¡¯t want to die, but it¡¯s not that scary to think about it.¡±


    ¡°I am glad that you have at least some concern for your life. Now then, while I cannot advise you as a client to get into dangerous situations, since you will inevitably end up in them it¡¯s useful to gain what you can from them. They provide you with experience- something that due to your Aspect of the Barbarian you cannot obtain otherwise. In turn, that allows you to grow stronger, so ultimately it should be a gratifying experience, should it not?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but agree. ¡°Of course. Leveling is great.¡±


    ¡°And for that reason you seek out sparring and combat scenarios. Which ultimately means you find it enjoyable to some extent, I would imagine.¡±


    ¡°Well, but¡­¡± My mouth wouldn¡¯t form the words to say anything. ¡°Maybe on some level, I guess. But saying I enjoy battle would be¡­ wrong.¡±


    ¡°Because¡­?¡± Doctor Patenaude prompted.


    ¡°What do you want me to say? Being violent and angry is wrong.¡±


    ¡°I would posit that perhaps there is more to it than that. Being angry is perfectly natural. Violence without a purpose is quite unhealthy, but it is the unfortunate state of the world that sometimes it is necessary. This is why we have professions like yours.¡±


    I didn¡¯t have much to say to that, but I still wasn¡¯t really feeling better like I was supposed to. And the fact that I wanted that meant I was maybe not happy with how things were even before therapy prodded me.


    -----


    I was looking at my points again, and found that- if it was possible at all- I might have too many. The events of Halloween had led to me leveling up again, before I even spent anything from the previous level. Getting nearly bitten in half seemed to be worth quite a bit of experience- though of course there was more to it than that. There was that treant before it, and the Sonic Lance inside the kraken-thing definitely caused some damage. Supporting Great Girl slamming it around likely also contributed some of that.


    But if I could get in fights with giant monsters more¡­ I could level so quickly! If I survived. We were kind of lucky Great Girl was nearby and finished what she was doing, or someone might have died. Could have been me, could have been Sirine, could have been the kid- Pablo. And while I wasn¡¯t exactly fond of the second, Sirine having worked with Handface and caused us a lot of trouble, she did save the kid and then help me. Though she might not have recognized me at the time, it meant she wasn¡¯t all bad.


    Before I made any choices, I wanted to figure out some things. Like how supers were supposed to fight underwater. The answers were as follows:


    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Shockwave said plainly. ¡°Are you crazy? Water resistance is so much stronger than air resistance.¡± A pause, ¡°I can fight on top of water though.¡±


    ¡°Mostly the same,¡± Captain Senan admitted. ¡°I just have to be cognizant of precisely controlling my power, but since I can unfreeze things if I entrap my arm or something it¡¯s only momentarily dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Carefully,¡± Acid Man said. ¡°My form is difficult to maneuver in water.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s really not my job,¡± Shockfire said. ¡°If I had to, it would depend on whether I had any allies. If alone, I could at least be somewhat effective by electrocuting the area around me- I can reabsorb anything that flows back my way at the same time.¡±


    Calculator was thrown onto the end. ¡°I am glad you are thinking about such situations,¡± he said. ¡°Personally, I would avoid such a domain if possible. Fighting against others under the same restrictions is unpleasant, but fighting against water specialists on their terms is basically conceding victory slowly¡­ if you¡¯re good enough to not lose immediately.¡±


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    So there was all that. Fortunately, my defenses worked quite well underwater. I was quite fortunate to have the first part of everything solved for me. Water Breathing kept me from just dying, but it didn¡¯t make me otherwise functional. If I hadn¡¯t learned it I might have survived anyway, since Midnight and the others would have been not far behind me, but that was only possible survival.


    There was one final conversation.


    ¡°Grappling,¡± said Great Girl. ¡°And by getting my opponent out of the water.¡± She also had a number of recommendations for me. ¡°How about Freedom of Movement? That just kind of works. Oh, or Control Water. Just get rid of it, and there¡¯s no issue.¡±


    ¡°... Sometimes I forget about the cross-world inspiration. If you mean Physical Freedom for the first, they are likely both very good, yet somewhat expensive at this point. The first lasts long enough to be useful regardless.¡±


    ¡°I have a question about that, actually,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°Not the cost or duration, necessarily. But from the games in our world, it allows you to attack unrestricted. There¡¯s some interpretation on that and differences from versions, but it could be a difference between you being able to stab things and being able to shoot them. Or maybe just letting all of your spells work underwater, if they¡¯re ¡®attacks¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t actually know that,¡± I admitted. ¡°When I was studying in my world the emphasis was mainly on freeing yourself- or preventing- enemy spellcasting. Water was mentioned among many other things.¡±


    ¡°Also, Physical Freedom? Is there a Mental Freedom?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± I nodded. ¡°You get it.¡±


    ¡°Huh,¡± she frowned. ¡°Weird.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Why what?¡± I frowned.


    ¡°Why is it two different spells?¡±


    ¡°Why would it be the same spell?¡± I asked. ¡°One transmutes the area around you to allow your body to move uninhibited, while the other provides routes for your mind to resist mental influence. They¡¯re very different.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s transmutation?¡± she asked. ¡°Not abjuration?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s both,¡± I answered.


    Her eyes began to sparkle for some reason. ¡°Dual-school spells? Amazing!¡±


    ¡°Is it?¡± I shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s just a description of methodology. It doesn¡¯t really do anything. But you sure know a lot about this for someone who isn¡¯t a mage.¡±


    ¡°Well, uh¡­ my friends talk about it a lot.¡±


    ¡°You say that a lot,¡± I said. ¡°But I don¡¯t think that¡¯s how it works.¡± I pondered for a few moments. ¡°I wonder if I should get Mental Freedom as well?¡± Now that I thought about it, I needed to proof myself against future troubles like Sirine. Counting on resisting without the aid of magic was stupid- and there was always some effect that way. Magic could entirely negate something minor, or reduce something that would have been overwhelming.


    Both sounded good, but I also wanted to upgrade some things to increase their efficiency and power. Like Stoneskin. The Freedom spells were both towards the limit of what I should be casting and would strain my mana, but I shouldn¡¯t need both. If I was able to use whichever I needed ahead of time it might work out. It seemed a bit early to get two new ninth level spells, but Physical Freedom could come up in a lot of cases. For example, I could fight on grease or slippery ice- or underwater, which was the whole thing here.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 22


    Experience: 1283


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +3


    Firebolt +2


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +2


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +3


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +1


    Sonic Lance +2


    Scrying


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +1


    Physical Freedom


    Remaining Points: 1


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana Crystal Deposition


    Water Breathing


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Eventually I settled on purchasing Physical Freedom and upgrading a few things. Enlarge came up frequently, and I was reminded that I should use it on Acid Man more- in a way he was restricted by his size. Sonic Lance was a strong offensive spell but a bit too expensive, so slightly improving that would help as well. Next I upgraded Storage. If I found myself in a similar situation as before, I wanted to be able to pull out a spear or something. If I were going to face more monsters, I needed some options for offense that didn¡¯t cost mana and a gun wasn¡¯t always the right choice. At least, not the ones I had access to.


    Because I upgraded Storage, I also improved Familiar Bond. That would allow Midnight to take advantage of the improvement, as well as the third improvement to Shocking Grasp, Force Armor, and Haste. I had probably spent too many points on the latter already, but I couldn¡¯t help it. It was good, and Shockwave¡¯s enthusiasm was great. Midnight might need to use it on his own, so he might as well take advantage of those spent points.


    Now I needed to learn to use a spear or something.


    -----


    It seemed we were going to start with the ¡®or something¡¯, specifically a baton. Actual class schedules were pretty freeform due to how mercenaries worked, but there was always a beginner¡¯s group. I¡¯d done some work with them, but I couldn¡¯t really say I¡¯d learned what I needed to.


    Meztli explained why we would be starting with a baton. ¡°It¡¯s something we can teach you to use properly while still being less lethal than other weapons. These will be slightly more flexible and lower in weight to reduce injuries, but the form will be the same. Turlough here has kindly offered to provide defenses so people can be more serious, but please avoid the head regardless. Concussions and other damage to the brain are much harder to heal. And if you¡¯re fighting a criminal you really need to stop, many of you have powers that would be more expedient. Though if you¡¯re in an actual battle, don¡¯t concern yourself with niceties like that.¡±


    She instructed us quite clearly, and we were even allowed to attempt simple sparring with the weapons- everyone had some combat experience and knew control already. Normally I liked sparring but something about it felt weird.


    After the lesson was over, Meztli approached me. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You looked dissatisfied.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this is for me,¡± I said.


    ¡°Really?¡± she asked. ¡°You seemed to pick it up quickly. You¡¯re doing quite well.¡±


    ¡°I suppose. It just feels weird.¡±


    ¡°You like sparring unarmed, though,¡± Meztli pointed out. ¡°You just have to treat weapons as an extension of your body. You seemed to do just fine though, like I said. Maybe it will just take time to get used to it.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I said, looking down at what was effectively a wooden club in my hand. ¡°That could be it.¡±

 Chapter 88

    Mornings were normally pretty decent, starting off with a shower followed by breakfast- some quick eggs or something else easy to cook, or maybe I would swing by a fast food place. The latter wasn¡¯t the healthiest, but most of the issues were ignored by just fighting more. There was something about nutrition, but my regular health checkups said I was fine.


    Normally mornings were easy. I wasn¡¯t a morning person, but I wasn¡¯t so much not a morning person that I hated it. That was why when there was a loud thud and then a million things falling over, followed by pain in my forehead, that I was surprised.


    Somehow, the curtain rod had run into my head. That had never been a problem before, so it must have been lower somehow. Now there was a tangle of shower curtain and a rod along with the whole thing holding soap and shampoo having fallen into the tub below.


    I held the curtain rod up with one hand to minimize splashing, using Mage¡¯s Reach to help scrub. I didn¡¯t care about the modesty it provided- only Midnight was around, and he didn¡¯t randomly wander into the bathroom anyway.


    Things might have been fine if I had eggs or cereal or anything but I was out. I forgot to go to the grocery the evening before. I wasn¡¯t interested in tuna for breakfast, so I planned to grab something at the local corner store.


    One block outside the apartment I felt someone gathering mana. No, more than one person. I turned to see a shining bat swinging towards my face. My arms went out, one grabbing it at the base to stop its momentum and the other grabbing the assaulting man¡¯s head. That got slammed into a nearby dumpster, but I held onto him to use as a shield against the others. I blocked one bat with his arm, but a lead pipe hit me in the side.


    The jostling knocked Midnight to the ground. ¡°Turlough!¡±


    ¡°Get the ones coming up behind!¡±


    The punks were disconcertedly shouting about someone being in for it and garbage like that, but their messages overlapped and lost some luster.


    It was a good thing Force Armor lasted all day, or that swing would have really messed me up. As it was, it half destroyed my defenses before the spell came in. My human shield didn¡¯t help as the Force Missiles curved around it. My armor stopped one, and the second shattered it with little additional effect. The third slammed into my shoulder with a solid weight behind it. My jacket did little to defend against the magical force, as it didn¡¯t need to pierce through.


    I glared down the alleyway at the discount mage who cast the spell. Stoneskin would be nice, but I could tell she was already gearing up for more of the same. I summoned my magic to form a Shield spell, the transparent circle of force blocking further down the alley as I calmly kicked out the knee of one of the punks surrounding me. Midnight had started in with Shocking Grasps as he clipped the ankles of the handful who were coming up from behind.


    Two more replaced the fallen around me, but they didn¡¯t have room for more than a few with the wide, inefficient swings they preferred. I had to admit their attacks would be a threat if they hit, the magical enhancements taking things slightly further¡­ though they were still novices.


    I delicately snapped a wrist to acquire one of the metal bats for myself, the magic fading from around it as it left its owner¡¯s grasp- but that was of no concern to me. It still served just fine for parrying the other two with a single stroke. Then the bat came around and up, peacefully shattering the jaw of one of the thugs.


    Force Missiles splattered against the shield. They didn¡¯t know they needed to go around, so they failed to avoid it. It was part of my magical signature, after all, so it was the same as hitting me.


    One arm calculatedly swung the bat at the last convenient head, knocking a figure out of the way as I pointed my other down the alley. Firebolt would be a good test before we started ramping things up. The mage managed to fire another round of Force Missiles before my spell hit her in the chest, setting her on fire.


    Pain. Not from me, but from Midnight as a large man punted him down the alleyway, shattering his Force Armor. So I responded in the most logical fashion. He seemed to think that because he was a foot taller than everyone else and as big as the rest of them put together that he didn¡¯t need weapons like the other punks. And perhaps he was right. Certainly, it didn¡¯t make any difference.


    He charged towards me, but I took a step back to buy time to gather enough mana. While the fist was still a good few inches away, a perfectly reasonable Sonic Lance shoved the man backwards through a parked car and into the corner store I had been aiming for.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right,¡± I nodded. ¡°Breakfast.¡± I looked over at Midnight. ¡°Hey, are you alright?¡±


    ¡°It takes more than that to stop me,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I kind of expected that guy to go down from a Shocking Grasp, though.¡±


    ¡°Full power?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Probably a barbarian or some crap like that,¡± I shrugged. I scooped Midnight onto my shoulder as I walked further into the alley. I began to stomp out the fire on the passed out woman. ¡°What kind of mage doesn¡¯t get any defenses, huh?¡± That reminded me to reapply Force Armor.


    Midnight had taken out four people before the big guy surprised him with his durability, which meant the whole two handfuls of punks were down now. Only a couple were openly wearing Stargirl paraphernalia, but it was pretty obvious who they were. I even recognized a couple faces. Bandannas covering the lower half didn¡¯t really do much for that when everything else was visible.


    Well, this mess was going to take a while to sort out. I had to call this in, but while I waited I might as well get breakfast. I walked in through the door, since there was less shattered glass around there. ¡°Got any of those breakfast burritos left?¡± I asked the kid standing behind the counter.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Huh?¡± he was staring at the slumped form of the big guy. Now that I thought about it, it was a bit weird how intact he was. That shard of glass sticking through his shoulder looked pretty rough though.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± I said. ¡°This place has gotta have super insurance, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah. I¡­ think so.¡± The teen looked up at me. ¡°What did you say you wanted?¡±


    ¡°Breakfast.¡±


    -----


    ¡°That bitch!¡± Great Girl stomped angrily in my general direction as we passed each other in the halls. ¡°Mage! Did you see what she re-posted?¡± She vaguely held a phone towards me, but it was mostly covered by her fingers.


    ¡°Who and what now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Kourt-¡± Great Girl cleared her throat. ¡°I mean, of course it was Shooting Star! She¡¯s the only one who¡¯s got it out for you like that. She said you¡¯re a violent psychopath who attacked innocent civilians!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not, though.¡±


    ¡°I know! But people don¡¯t always know that.¡± Great Girl sighed, ¡°First she gets a dog, and now this!¡± she looked right into my eyes¡­ then grew something like an inch taller.


    ¡°What was that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nothing, I guess I just miscalculated. I mean, nothing. At all.¡±


    This was the point that I would have pointed out that she grew taller, but maybe she didn¡¯t know she was activating her power. But clearly she didn¡¯t want to talk about it so it didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°What¡¯s this about a dog?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. It¡¯s just a stupid promotional thing. Probably lives with her in her stupid penthouse and eats out of a golden bowl though.¡±


    ¡°I would like to see it,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Ugh, fine. Here. Or if you followed her you¡¯d see like a hundred pictures a day.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Midnight said. ¡°It¡¯s different.¡± Then he shrugged. ¡°I am no longer interested.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Great Girl said. Then she turned back to me. ¡°So, what are you going to do about it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why I should do anything,¡± I replied. ¡°Isn¡¯t this the same as normal?¡±


    ¡°Being garbage? Sure. I suppose. It¡¯s just frustrating.¡±


    A loud boom made her snap her head down, and I looked as well. A video was playing on Midnight¡¯s phone, showing people being carried off on stretchers. ¡°This is taken quite out of context,¡± he said. He looked up towards me, ¡°It appears our altercation earlier was recorded.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Great Girl said, ¡°So there was a fight?¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Sure, but it was with portal power fans of Stargirl who attacked me. They¡¯re not innocent civilians.¡±


    ¡°They were her fans? That¡¯s all kinds of illegal!¡±


    ¡°I doubt anything could be traced to her, if she was involved,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Her fans seem pretty¡­ active. And she¡¯s not actually stupid. Probably.¡± I frowned, ¡°I still don¡¯t understand why she doesn¡¯t like me.¡±


    ¡°Because you called her out on glory hogging.¡±


    ¡°It was true though.¡±


    Great Girl shook her head, ¡°Truth just makes it worse for some people.¡± She cracked her knuckles, ¡°I¡¯m going to get back to training.¡±


    ¡°Good luck!¡± I waved. It was odd, because we were already on the training level but headed towards the elevator. Maybe she wanted to hit up the gym?


    ¡°Ahem,¡± I turned to see Calculator standing a polite distance away, formally dressed as always. ¡°Now that your conversation is over, I wish to speak with you. I hope the worst habits of one of our elite isn¡¯t rubbing off on you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡­¡± I said. I certainly couldn¡¯t think of any bad habits I¡¯d picked up lately.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± he said. ¡°What is this?¡± he showed me a picture.


    ¡°... A car?¡±


    He shook his head, ¡°No. That¡¯s not a car, that¡¯s a pile of junk.¡±


    ¡°It is broken, yes.¡±


    ¡°Does it look familiar? Maybe from this angle?¡± he flipped to another picture.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s the one I blasted that guy through,¡± I nodded. ¡°It was in my report.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Calculator sighed, ¡°Listen, maybe I shouldn¡¯t have to say this¡­ but just because civilian safety is top priority doesn¡¯t mean that things not directly impacting civilians are automatically fine.¡± He shrugged, ¡°We can easily absorb the cost of a car or two, but I just want to make sure this doesn¡¯t become a frequent thing.¡±


    ¡°How often will I get attacked on the streets?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Weekly,¡± Calculator answered.


    That¡­ was actually not too far off. Some weeks had no trouble at all, but some had multiple cases. ¡°Then it shouldn¡¯t be more often than that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel particularly reassured. Oh, and I would appreciate if your altercations could be more publicity friendly. Your version of the story checks out, but brutality doesn¡¯t look good even when justified.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad, was it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°There were enough distinct sounds of cracking bones that someone remixed it already,¡± Calculator said flatly. He tapped a button and his phone played a short musical number.


    ¡°... some of those were Force Armor shattering.¡±


    ¡°You might be too familiar with certain noises,¡± he said. ¡°Anyway, I should go find Great Girl. I have something to talk to her about.¡± His phone beeped, and he mechanically tilted it towards him, swiping with his thumb. ¡°... Dammit.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I leaned forward, trying to see. I only glimpsed the edges of a crater.


    ¡°Just more work,¡± he sighed. ¡°At least this one doesn¡¯t have video.¡± With that, he was off.


    I looked down at Midnight. ¡°It¡¯s weird how things seem to happen all at once, huh?¡±


    Midnight nodded. ¡°It is. Feel better?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I feel great. The sausage in that burrito was spiced just right. I¡¯m looking forward to the extras I bought for lunch.¡±

 Chapter 89

    Having an apprentice was a lot more work than I had expected. It seemed like it should be easy- teaching someone the basics of things that I already knew by heart. The problem was that I hadn¡¯t done it before, so I was stumbling my way through even with the assistance of Master Uvithar¡¯s book. It wasn¡¯t that Jerome wasn¡¯t learning, either. He was in fact learning very well, which was the issue. He¡¯d been behind in several subjects, but had rapidly caught up and even tested out of the rest of the school year. Now he had more free time which he mostly used to study more.


    He didn¡¯t turn into a complete shut-in, like mages were often prone to do. He still interacted with friends and played basketball with other local youths, but a majority of his time was spent on efficient study of academics and magic.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple, see,¡± Jerome explained. ¡°I have to wait for mana to regenerate, so I just alternate between spellcasting and whatever else I¡¯m doing. It¡¯s easier when I don¡¯t have to go to school because there¡¯s not always a good time to practice.¡± He gathered mana for a moment and then his fingers crackled with electricity. ¡°And look! I learned Shocking Grasp! I haven¡¯t actually used it yet, though. But I can use it inside unlike Firebolt.¡± He shrugged, ¡°I think I got an upgrade in it, but I¡¯ve mostly been using other stuff. I think I¡¯m already level four! Still can¡¯t cast a full Energy Ward though.¡±


    ¡°It will be nearly impossible until you are level nine. Even then, using half of your mana at once is a risk. I hope you have been practicing safely?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Jerome said. ¡°I usually practice on the couch. If I pass out I fall into a pile of pillows.¡±


    ¡°I hope that doesn''t happen too frequently.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting pretty good at judging my mana stores,¡± Jerome answered. ¡°It hasn¡¯t happened in more than a week.¡±


    At that point, there wasn¡¯t much more I could say without being a hypocrite. ¡°Just make sure you keep it in mind. Could I help with anything else?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d prefer to know more lower level spells,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Since I could cast them more times for practice.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know many of those spells¡­¡± They weren¡¯t useful for combat, and I¡¯d learned pretty quickly that was required to level- or rather, going from level 1 to 2 had been a major pain. Firebolt admittedly hadn¡¯t helped much since I was only rarely allowed to use it, but at least it was something. I also hadn¡¯t been able to replicate my recent learning of Water Breathing. Whether it was the high stress environment, the necessity, or some other factor I didn¡¯t understand it wasn¡¯t clear. ¡°I could pick out one thing to demonstrate, if you wish.¡±


    I immediately discounted all of the combat spells. They were either exceedingly weak or second level, and I only had a lone point to spend. Combat with Stargirl¡¯s fan-thugs hadn¡¯t been particularly lucrative in experience. Somewhere around ten experience total, which meant I¡¯d have to repeat that a dozen times to get a level. Except of course repeating the same thing was not as effective.


    Jerome thought, ¡°Maybe a Light spell? That would be easy to practice.¡±


    ¡°Certainly,¡± I nodded. ¡°But when would you need it? I understand you cannot see in the dark, but with lightswitches everywhere and the availability of hands-free flashlights your time would better be spent buying a cheap piece of technology.¡±


    ¡°Unless a tech super puts out all the lights,¡± Jerome pointed out. ¡°You don¡¯t think it would be good practice? I guess you wouldn¡¯t want to spend a point on something you don''t need¡­¡±


    ¡°No, hold on, you make a good point,¡± I stroked my chin. ¡°I hadn¡¯t considered that there are several categories of powers that might directly negate technological light sources. Technopaths aren¡¯t the only possibility. Electricity control could drain a battery, and anything physical can be destroyed. The only thing that would reasonably counter a light spell would be a light based power,¡± I nodded, thinking to myself. ¡°And it would be good practice. The only trouble is that there are two spells.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Jerome asked, then looked back at the list. ¡°I guess so, yeah. Light, and Dancing Lights. One is static in position or attached to an object, the others are mobile but shorter in duration. I think those would be more useful, maybe? At least for learning control.¡±


    ¡°The secondary uses for them are also more versatile,¡± I nodded, ¡°You can blind enemies with them.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Jerome said with surprise. ¡°I thought another one did that. Umm, Flare.¡±


    ¡°It does. But just because it does that doesn¡¯t mean something else can¡¯t. Flare is a sudden burst of light in a specific location, focused on a target. Putting a light directly in front of someone¡¯s face will still make them unable to see, but you have to track their movement- or touch them, for the Light spell. That provides a bit of waste since if you hand touches their face you could have done something more effective.¡± Depending on whether or not you were allowed to inflict grievous harm on people, at least. As a mercenary I was generally told to avoid the head if I could, where I wasn¡¯t pressed to fight to my maximum at least.


    ¡°That seems good then,¡± Jerome nodded. ¡°Dancing Lights.¡±


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    We quickly discussed the other options, but he didn¡¯t need to worry about detecting poison or make minor visual or auditory illusions. At best he might wish to reproduce something he had seen or heard, but technology accomplished that remarkably well, if he had the presence of mind to record with his phone. His phone which was now smart, that is. Previously on a single parent income he had a more basic model, but he¡¯d won it in some sort of competition- though he was also considering a part-time job to earn a little bit of money. Most jobs were not available to one of his age, but there were a few options still.


    So Dancing Lights it was. I spent my only remaining point- until I leveled up again, which I always hoped to be soon. With a minor amount of effort- truly the smallest amount possible, since level one spells used a single point of mana- I conjured four little flickering balls of light. ¡°Here they are,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯d be more impressive if the blinds were closed.¡±


    So we did that, and I floated them around the room for a minute. I could set them on a course or control them directly, but moving several of them directly as I pleased at once was rather mentally taxing. After one minute, they were gone. I repeated the task, more slowly gathering the mana and forming the spell so that Jerome could get a good feel for it. It only took that second attempt for him to get it, but I had no idea if that was fast or not because that wasn¡¯t the way people from my world learned magic. We just spent points, and then we knew how to do it.


    Eight balls of light danced around the room, but only for around ten minutes. I had plenty of mana left, but Jerome was pretty much drained. We learned several things, including that stumbling around a room focusing on avoiding lights instead of furniture resulted in banged up furniture, and it would have resulted in banged up mages if the two of us didn¡¯t always have Force Armor going. It did last a long time if it wasn¡¯t being battered.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell your mother,¡± I said. ¡°The damage isn¡¯t that bad. I can¡¯t repair it yet, but¡­ maybe soon?¡± Even if I only got a measly handful of experience per day from sparring, it would simply be a few weeks. Sparring was usually better than that, but there were off days. And if I was lucky, Calculator¡¯s prediction of me getting attacked weekly could speed that up significantly. Especially if anyone worthwhile attacked me.


    -----


    ¡°Mage!¡± Great Girl called out to me after lunch one day. ¡°We¡¯re sparring!¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. I wasn¡¯t going to turn down that opportunity. She was one of the constantly busy members of the Power Brigade, so having her come to me was great. Even if she looked a bit angry. I didn¡¯t think it was at me, but I figured I should ask. ¡°... why today?¡±


    ¡°Because I have nothing else to do. I can¡¯t go out on a random patrol because, well¡­ you know.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that I do,¡± I said.


    ¡°... you really don¡¯t interact with social media, huh.¡±


    ¡°I do not see why I would involve myself with something that people seem to view largely in a negative light,¡± I replied. ¡°Anything important will be relayed to me by those who interact with it, eventually.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so,¡± Great Girl began to explain as we walked towards a sparring room. ¡°You remember those thugs that attacked you?¡±


    ¡°Calculator was upset about putting one of them through a car. And a wall.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah I saw that. It was awesome.¡± Great Girl coughed, ¡°I mean, uh¡­ excessive. Don¡¯t do that.¡± Somehow, I didn¡¯t feel particularly persuaded. ¡°Anyway, that was in the video someone took of that whole incident. They planned that, and then Shooting Star shared it and demonized you and then¡­¡± Great Girl shrugged. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m temporarily banned from ¡®unsupervised activity¡¯ unless on a specific mission.¡±


    There was still something missing. I thought back and plucked the piece of information that filled in the gaps. ¡°Oh, the crater.¡± That seemed to fit, but it wasn¡¯t quite everything. Great Girl might throw cars at monsters, but she didn¡¯t smash the ground beneath her just because she could. ¡°I didn¡¯t see the whole picture though.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t?¡± Great Girl said. ¡°Hold on, I have to show you.¡± It didn¡¯t take her long, and a few moments later she was holding out her phone. ¡°See?¡±


    What I noticed first was her slightly adjusting her height. Then I saw the image. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Stargirl.¡± For being in a crater, she looked well put together- just some dirt, and her hair was messed up- but her uniform was intact. My brain processed for a few moments. ¡°... You didn¡¯t need to get into a conflict for my sake.¡±


    ¡°How could I not?¡± Great Girl said. ¡°She deserved it! Even Calculator agreed!¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re on probation because¡­?¡±


    ¡°Because it still looked bad,¡± she sighed. ¡°I kind of hindered the prosecution of those guys who attacked you as well. Someone managed to snag the unedited video, though, so it should work out. It doesn¡¯t look good to have a recording set up ahead of time if you¡¯re going to claim something was a random street brawl.¡±


    ¡°When they get a chance to attack me again, I will make sure nobody can hear their bones snapping,¡± I said. ¡°And you can revel in their political defeat instead of punching Stargirl.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I guess,¡± Great Girl sighed. ¡°So,¡± she said as we stepped into the sparring room. ¡°I¡¯d really like to just brawl. You have Stoneskin now, right?¡±


    I nodded, ¡°The components are not as expensive as I first thought.¡±


    She punched her right fist into her left palm. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get brawling then. I can cover that if you need it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I said. It was merely twenty dollars or so, and the experience from a proper brawl with Great Girl should be worth more. She didn¡¯t bother with slowly ramping up her size, but instead grew directly to twelve feet, where she seemed to be sustainably comfortable. Also about my height when I cast Enlarge. Stoneskin went on first. Then I grew to match her.


    We took our stances, and she frowned slightly. Did she grow just a couple inches taller? That didn¡¯t seem important, and it could just have been the way she shifted her feet. Either way, a moment later we turned into a flurry of fists and feet. Grappling was involved too, and I was getting much better at that. Great Girl was still better at everything, though. I was also glad that she was better at slamming me into a wall in a way that didn¡¯t twist my neck or overly strain my limbs.


    I got in a few solid hits of my own, but I impacted dense muscle that easily resisted my attacks. At least I broke her stance once or twice, sending her into a wall. I knew the training facilities could repair themselves to some extent, but when we left I had the feeling they¡¯d need to send someone in for some manual repairs.

 Chapter 90

    The problem with being responsible was that Ceira had a whole lot of footage she couldn¡¯t show- and that she missed a whole lot of footage she could have shown. She had been trying to make plant magic work, and when it maybe did- though it could have been a consequence of Halloween- she was more concerned about stopping it than recording it. Mage had been the one to stop it though.


    Given it was her actual job to pay attention to social media, Ceira heard about the attack on Mage. Some people tried to frame it as him beating up a bunch of defenseless kids, but it wasn¡¯t really convincing when they used ambush tactics and brought along a guy that looked like he weighed four hundred pounds. As with anything, though, enough people were convinced by those with large platforms and not by logic or reason.


    And then there were the people who were on the side of it being fun to watch people get beat up. Some platforms had rules against that, but even with the high quality of the recording this one still fell within reasonable limits for display elsewhere. The sound though¡­ that remix was both disturbing and catchy.


    Maybe that was why Ceira found it easier to reach out to Midnight. Or maybe it was the fact that he at least looked like a cute cat. Thus they found themselves on a park bench, since the cafe Midnight knew would host him was inconvenient for Ceira to visit. ¡°People have been saying a lot of terrible stuff about Mage,¡± Ceira commented. ¡°Mostly related to Shooting Star.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Midnight nodded. ¡°He has perhaps wisely chosen to stay disconnected from social media. Though it was probably some sort of stubbornness to begin with.¡±


    ¡°They also say things about you but¡­ that didn¡¯t really take off as much.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°What sorts of things?¡±


    ¡°There are rumors that you¡¯re a demon or whatever, but mostly they say you¡¯re an edgelord for picking the name Midnight Deathstalker as your super name.¡±


    ¡°Then people are confused,¡± Midnight declared. ¡°Because that¡¯s my real name.¡±


    ¡°Wait really?¡± Ceira did know he introduced himself that way, but she¡¯d assumed it was to hide his identity somehow. ¡°What¡¯s your ¡®super¡¯ name?¡±


    ¡°Familiar,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Like¡­ a magically bonded animal?¡±


    ¡°It is correct except for the animal part,¡± Midnight declared.


    ¡°Should I be calling you Familiar then?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it matters.¡±


    ¡°What about keeping your identity secret?¡±


    ¡°If anyone bothered to look up official records they could find that name. Since people already know me as Midnight, it doesn¡¯t matter. And those thugs know where we live already.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what? Isn¡¯t that dangerous?¡±


    ¡°A good number of those ¡®discount paladins¡¯ are being prosecuted right now,¡± Midnight said. ¡°As well as the newbie mage. And Mage likes battle, so he is not concerned.¡±


    ¡°What about you?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°I like him to be happy, and I share similar reasons to enjoy combat. Or at least the results. Growing stronger feels good.¡±


    ¡°You get stronger through combat?¡±


    ¡°In theory, you should as well,¡± Midnight explained. ¡°And anyone with a portal power. Though I should point out that it¡¯s safer to simply use your abilities, and try to understand them. There is likely no completely accurate material for you to study, but it should allow you experience nonetheless. I believe Turlough has put together a basic explanation for you, though perhaps he has not sent it yet.¡±


    ¡°Was it an e-mail? I might have missed it.¡± Her eyes landed on movement nearby. ¡°Ooh! A squirrel! Hello squirrel!¡±


    The squirrel paused, then tilted its head curiously. ¡°Greetings, big one. Do you have any nuts?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± It took her a moment, ¡°Oh! You understood me?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the squirrel nodded. ¡°If you don¡¯t have any nuts to share, I will be going.¡±


    ¡°Ok bye!¡± Ceira waved. The squirrel seemed to wave goodbye with its bushy tail. Ceira excitedly turned to Midnight. ¡°Did you see that? I talked to a squirrel.¡±


    ¡°You certainly made noises at it,¡± Midnight agreed.


    ¡°Did you not understand me?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°I am neither a squirrel nor any other sort of animal,¡± Midnight reminded her. ¡°So whatever magic you develop won¡¯t allow you to speak with me.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± she nodded, ¡°It¡¯s just that it¡¯s never worked before. I tried it with you first so I sort of got thrown off my game.¡±


    Midnight didn¡¯t have much to say to that, so after a few moments of silence he returned the topic to other areas. ¡°If you are concerned about our safety, perhaps we should not meet for the sake of yours. I am aware that I am not the only black cat in the city but if you should be seen talking to one you might become associated with us by inference. Though I do take care to make sure I am not followed when heading out for social engagements.¡±


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    ¡°... Would I actually be in danger?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°It is impossible to say, but another friend and I were attacked together. It is no more legal for anyone to attack us compared to yourself, though public opinion might think otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ that¡¯s really the thing we need to concern ourselves with. To be honest, from getting my portal power until now I hadn¡¯t thought deeply about it being dangerous.¡±


    ¡°You do not have to make use of your power to have a good life,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And certainly not for combat purposes. Not everyone is meant for battle.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right,¡± Ceira nodded. ¡°But maybe I should learn how to fight anyway. New Bay isn¡¯t exactly safe, or we wouldn¡¯t need so many heroes roaming around.¡±


    ¡°Or mercenaries,¡± Midnight added.


    ¡°Right!¡± Ceira nodded. ¡°Or mercenaries.¡±


    -----


    As the mists cleared, I was met with the image of a screen displaying the words, ¡®Please respect the privacy of Doctor Doomsday and his guests.¡± The message was quite polite, but even if I had the intention to ignore it I couldn¡¯t. Moving my scrying sensor away from the monitor, even turning it, was impossible.


    I wondered what sort of technology could do that, but then again this was the guy who made dozens of portals, some of which were intentionally to a realm full of magic. He wasn¡¯t just some D-list villain who made laser guns. Though he also did that.


    ¡°That¡¯s all I got,¡± I shrugged. ¡°That means Handface is still his ¡®guest¡¯, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°How unfortunate,¡± Calculator sighed. ¡°I would have hoped to gain at least some information from this process.¡±


    Captain Senan was present as well, waiting patiently behind us. ¡°This means that our patrol is still on, correct?¡±


    Calculator nodded, ¡°With Deimos off the streets, the risk for your squad is standard. Even so, we¡¯ll keep you on an unpredictable schedule. You won¡¯t get as familiar with any spot, but nobody will be able to predict your positions either. Just in case.¡±


    -----


    Training happened every day we worked, even if we would be patrolling later. It wasn¡¯t always looking to improve, but sometimes just to stay in shape. Coordinating team tactics was also important.


    Patrols were usually at night, just because more trouble tended to happen at night. At least the sort roaming about would help with. If someone tried to rob a bank someone would be called in, though that could happen during the day or at night. Daytime robberies were traditionally threatening violence on innocent civilian sorts of things to get away with quick cash. At night it was those who were more confident with their ability to fight guards and break open bank vaults.


    At least, that was what I had learned. I hadn¡¯t been involved with fending off any bank heists yet. We stopped some petty crime up by the docks, near Jerome¡¯s neighborhood. We got called in to deal with Rocker- who was still doing community service with us. There was the mission at the manor and a few others. Other than that, most of my battles had been without my squad, just whatever showed up on the streets that I happened to be near and was called towards.


    Currently our major concerns on night patrols were things like people breaking into stores or leftover monsters from Halloween. Most of them didn¡¯t last, but apparently there were generally higher numbers afterwards.


    We patrolled in commercial districts- where people did business with each other- and business districts- where people did nothing at all, as far as I could tell. There was always some overlap with everything, and some places had a bit of industry going on. Tech had to be produced somewhere, and when it came to things beyond normal comprehension it really had to take place in one of the cities with a higher concentration of supers. You couldn¡¯t outsource making Phasmotron Amplifiers to¡­ wherever was poor. I wasn¡¯t going to lie, I didn¡¯t know most of the geopolitics of Earth.


    Whether it was a register full of cash or a fancy bit of tech, there were always people who wanted to get their hands on it without doing the work. Even if it was just a small portion of the population, in a large population center with tens of millions there was always something happening in New Bay. Just not always in the districts I was in. I wondered if it was possible to change that. Even if they were crappy thugs, if I got in enough battles with new people I would still get decent experience.


    Our patrol was split into either groups of two or three- nobody was ever solo. If we were paired up, I went with Shockfire while Midnight and Acid Man formed the second pair. Our captain was left with the duty of watching Rocker, since he had the most responsibility if the guy screwed something up. If we were in trios, Midnight went with that pair since we could sense if the other was in danger without needing our comms to work. Usually they would, but having magical options available with each group was also useful. Midnight was already level 13, which meant he had as much mana capacity as I did when I was first starting out. He had access to more expensive spells, but a couple were more efficient as well.


    Shockfire¡¯s hand suddenly lit up, crackling with electricity. I turned to look down the alley he spun towards, but I didn¡¯t see anything. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked. My darkvision didn¡¯t reveal anything beyond where his flashlight shone.


    ¡°I thought I saw a rat,¡± he said. ¡°Not a normal sized one either. Like Rodentia¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you sense electricity?¡± I asked. ¡°They''re robots, right?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re surprisingly efficient,¡± he said. ¡°Besides, I only sense large amounts of things. It took you a while to realize that the ambient mana levels were higher, right? With big wires running all over buildings, one machine doesn¡¯t really stand out most of the time,¡± Shockfire explained.


    ¡°That makes sense,¡± I nodded. ¡°So, do you think it was actually one of those?¡±


    ¡°Could have been a raccoon, or a possum,¡± Shockfire shrugged. ¡°Maybe a cat or dog. Want to poke around in the garbage for them?¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll pass,¡± I said. ¡°Anyway, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it was one of Rodentia¡¯s. She has those things all over still.¡± I looked around. ¡°Are there any dairy plants around here?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Shockfire said. ¡°And Rodentia steals other things too.¡±


    Nothing happened for another hour, far past any sort of convenient dramatic timing. I was almost beginning to think this night¡¯s patrol would be without incident as well, when an alarm rang out ahead of us. We called in to report the incident to the Brigade- they would manage any coordination with police or heroes- and informed the others of our location.


    As we approached the scene, Shockfire spoke up. ¡°Remember that thing you mentioned earlier? If things are large enough to stand out, I can sense them. And we¡¯re about to face off against either humanoid robots or-¡± we rounded the corner to finally spot the source of the alarm. A kid who looked too young to be getting into crime was standing there, but the fact that he was leaning on the wall next to the shattered window of a retail store indicated his position.


    When he turned his head towards us I could see the light skin on the right side of his face give way to metal plates around the eye, also artificial. As he saw us he called out, raising his left arm and firing a beam of¡­ something. Shockfire and I dove out of the way as it cut through the pavement around us and then sliced into a street lamp.


    ¡°-Cyborgs,¡± Shockfire finished his statement. ¡°There are another half dozen inside.¡±


    I wondered if cyborgs were worth experience. Obviously the person part was, but I¡¯d never fought a robot. Would it count the threat of the metal parts? Only one way to find out.

 Chapter 91

    At nearly the same instant, Shockfire and I launched respective attacks at the cyborg. Imagining that Sonic Lance would be overkill in a most literal way- and use more mana than I could afford to expend on one out of approximately seven people- I went with Firebolt. I was glad when Shockfire chose to utilize the first half of his namesake. I didn¡¯t have the ability to throw electricity at people, but he could store and shape some of the two energies instead of just immediately reflecting them.


    Our opponent wasn¡¯t so sluggish as to let us both hit him, and he chose to dodge towards Shockfire¡¯s side, leaving my Firebolt to splash on the asphalt behind him. I was quite pleased at Shockfire¡¯s attack hitting, because I wanted to see if electricity was as bad for cyborgs as expected. The results were mixed. Clearly the man did not find the electricity spreading from his chest through his body pleasant, his face grimacing, but it also didn¡¯t stop him from pointing his robot arm at us once again. This time it was a wide sweep, grazing me as I ducked under it.


    I could sustain maybe another graze or two before my Force Armor fell apart, though a direct hit would be concerning. I wasn¡¯t sure what sort of energy the beam was. Fire? Light? It clearly wasn¡¯t a laser, but I was rather uncertain about being able to defend against whatever it was.


    It wasn¡¯t possible to just use Energy Ward against ¡°Whatever the Hell That Was¡± but it was cheap enough that I supposed I should try anyway. Unfortunately I couldn¡¯t also apply it to Midnight at this distance- he was still a few blocks over- but I would be able to test it.


    Shockfire and I split for opposite sides of the street. Hiding behind cars was easier, but buildings were sturdier. They had to be, in this city. Cars that chose to park on the street instead of a parking building were just unlucky sometimes.


    I made the choice for Energy Ward against fire. There should be at least some heat component to that beam, though the magic was rather picky. Technically electricity caused damage through burning as well, but it didn¡¯t overlap with defenses against fire. Such was life.


    The cyborg guy called for backup and three of his compatriots stepped out on the streets, taking cover behind light posts and cars. As I was running for shelter myself and casting a spell already, there wasn¡¯t much I could do. This was a good time to consider using my gun- not an elegant approach, to be certain, but possibly the best idea.


    Before I could do anything specific, Shockfire chucked an orb of fire out into the middle of the street- past the hunkered down enemies. Instead of a big explosion like I expected from a proper fireball, it just rapidly expanded, fire scattering in a wide area. It only lasted for a brief moment, and without concussive power or lasting duration I wasn¡¯t really sure what that could do.


    Then three of the four cyborgs began screaming and rolling around. It was difficult to hear any individual words, but the picture was pretty obvious as they happened to be on fire. That was why our uniforms were basically fireproof. The clothes these individuals wore, however, were standard fare except for the helmets.


    I took the opportunity to get closer, the one individual who was not on fire briefly distracted by his allies- though he still noticed me move and took a shot. The beam scraped along my gut and I determined that it was at least partly registering as fire, since Energy Ward helped. I had to duck behind a short wall instead of getting to where I could restrain one of them, but I pulled out my weapon and cast Mage¡¯s Reach. ¡°This is your official reminder that if you surrender we won¡¯t hurt you!¡± I called out. I considered firing the gun for effect. The only issue was that it might provoke more violence instead of less.


    The ones who had caught on fire quickly resolved that issue, but they¡¯d placed themselves in vulnerable positions. The only one who was fully ready pulled out something and tossed it into the middle of the street. My eyes followed it, but fortunately some of my prior training triggered. I reached out and caught it- not with my actual hand, that would be insane. Mage¡¯s Reach was ready, though, and I tossed the object back towards the individuals. If it killed them, that was their own problem.


    The good news was that these cyborgs were not completely insane- they had some idea of the general ideas about self-preservation, at least. The bad news was that I was watching the grenade when it exploded. I couldn¡¯t help it, I was trying to see where it went. I was going to duck down to avoid shrapnel, but what hit me was pure light.


    As it turned out, flashbangs were very unpleasant when my eyes were adapted to dark streets. Probably more than for a normal human, though I couldn¡¯t be certain. What was certain was the ringing in my ears and the complete inability to see.


    I huddled down by my wall and tried to throw up a Shield. I wasn¡¯t even sure if I got it in the right direction and gathering the mana took probably twice as long as it should have, which would have been critical had anyone been ready to attack. Fortunately, it seemed that the cyborgs had been intending something else. When I was able to see again they were all clambering into a nearby van- somehow navigating during the effects of the flashbang.


    Several bags full of something were brought in with them, and they were screeching off a moment later. I had one shot to do something. I could try to blast the van apart with Sonic Lance, but I could already feel Shockfire charging up for something. Instead, I aimed for a section of road ahead of the van and cast Grease. I could feel Midnight and thus presumably Acid Man in that direction, and hoped to slow down their retreat as much as possible.


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    Shockfire¡¯s blast of electricity was impressive- I could feel it make my hair stand on end from all the way on the other side of the street as it nearly blinded me again¡­ but it didn¡¯t do anything to the van. Sonic Lance might have done something, but I couldn¡¯t be sure. Bullets would almost certainly ricochet in an unpleasant manner, and I didn¡¯t have the training to be confident in shooting the tires.


    The van continued to accelerate into the Grease patch, and though it went wobbly it continued careening down the road after. I chucked a Firebolt at the back of it just because it had the most range and because I could, leaving a small scorch mark and little else. Before the van fully got away, however, someone stepped out onto the road in front of it¡­ and was run over. They didn¡¯t even try to avoid him, which was perhaps Acid Man¡¯s plan.


    Unfortunately, instead of being able to pool up on top of the van he ended up under it, and the tires splashed through him. A rather unpleasant image, but it wasn¡¯t long before he was pulling himself back together.


    Before that happened, I got in contact with the captain. ¡°They had a getaway van. Should I give chase? Haste will allow me to sprint at near car speeds¡­¡±


    ¡°Negative,¡± Ice Guy replied. ¡°A chase will likely lead to collateral damage and risk of civilian casualties.¡±


    So I didn¡¯t, an instead took a look at the store. ¡°Cell phones?¡± I frowned, looking over at Shockfire. ¡°Are they really worth that much?¡±


    He shrugged, ¡°Not sure. They¡¯re not cheap, of course, but there¡¯s usually nothing special about them either.¡±


    From what I could see they had looted all the displays but weren¡¯t able to get into a back room that presumably stored more. It was our job to do a quick sweep before police arrived, specifically looking for danger- but the door appeared intact enough and nothing was around the back side.


    The battle hadn¡¯t turned into a serious brawl, but I still gained a noticeable amount of experience. So technology counted, which was good to be certain of.


    -----


    Proper investigations revealed the attack had been perpetrated by the ¡°Mod Squad¡±. A cyborg gang, but not just random augmented people that got together. Instead, they specifically chose to replace otherwise perfectly functional body parts with robotic upgrades, courtesy of their leader Iron Shell. She was some sort of tech super, though the exact details were unknown. She seemed to have abilities beyond being able to create the augmentations.


    One thing that was known was the ability for the various members to coordinate and share information quickly. It wasn¡¯t quite clear how it worked, but it must have helped them run to the van during the flashbang. And the van itself being extra sturdy was expected, when a tech super was involved. The same for proofing against reasonable amounts of electrical shock- it would hardly be advantageous to become a cyborg if one was easily taken out by a common type of power. Electricity was everywhere these days- apparently. I supposed I did know of a few in the Power Brigade, plus myself.


    There was a fairly reasonable chance that the Mod Squad wouldn¡¯t try to pull off another heist shortly after their first one, but even so our patrols in the area were organized into the trios. I had to admit, if we¡¯d had Acid Man with us from the beginning we might have been able to stop them. It wasn¡¯t as if we lost a battle, but then again there was nothing for them to gain by staying to fight. At least we spooked them enough to stop them from getting into the store room. The shop itself would have to replace all the display models, but they had insurance for that stuff.


    ¡°So,¡± I asked, ¡°You think they dodged the fire because it was a problem, or out of instinct?¡±


    ¡°They certainly didn¡¯t like being on fire,¡± Maks shrugged, ¡°But I can¡¯t say it did any major damage to them either. It was likely instinct. And electricity worked fine against them, it just didn¡¯t take them down in one shot.¡± He looked over at Rasmus, ¡°I imagine your abilities would give them greater pause.¡±


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s afraid of acid crawling up their legs.¡±


    That was true. I really didn¡¯t like the thought of it, which was why it was good that Energy Ward was effective against him.


    ¡°What about the driver?¡± I asked, ¡°Did we miss him? The van wasn¡¯t running when we came up, I don¡¯t think.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t be sure,¡± Shockfire said, ¡°But I don¡¯t think the driver was one of the cyborgs. He might have been someone for hire or a new initiate. Or the van itself shielded him from me¡­¡± Shockfire shook his head. ¡°It certainly didn¡¯t give off any indications it was special.¡±


    -----


    Turlough¡¯s group didn¡¯t find any signs of the Mod Squad or any other trouble for the next couple of nights. The same was true of the others- Ice Guy, Midnight, and Rocker.


    At least, there was no immediate trouble. Midnight noticed some concerning things. One was a smell that he¡¯d only rarely run into on Earth, but occasionally was far too much. Though a cat¡¯s sense of smell was not as good as a dog¡¯s, it was still good. Celmothians were not cats, and in truth their sense of smell was somewhat worse than an actual animal¡¯s, but he was still better than a human. Dogs and Bunvorixians smelled pretty similar, but having gotten used to the former he was now able to distinguish them. He¡¯d also run into one in the street. He would have liked to take it out, but his first run in with Ceira had sent it fleeing. He smelled at least one around the area, but unfortunately that wasn¡¯t good enough to do anything with. They might not even be all bad. Though the one he¡¯d met certainly wasn¡¯t trying to buck the stereotypes.


    Midnight had caught something else in his teeth. He couldn¡¯t cause any serious damage that way, but with a little bit of Shocking Grasp it was easily incapacitated. It appeared that rat-bots were made to be more disposable than cyborgs, which made perfect sense. Unfortunately, finding one didn¡¯t really give any indication of where Rodentia was- only that she was still active. And why wouldn¡¯t she be? She hadn¡¯t been caught, and just because she hadn¡¯t been up to anything big and obvious lately didn¡¯t mean there was nothing to come from her.


    So there was no trouble for the moment¡­ but in a place like New Bay, that just meant it was happening elsewhere or would happen later. That could be counted on.

 Chapter 92

    Zack Brannigan pulled himself out of bed. Channel 72 News wasn¡¯t exactly pulling in the numbers, but they were still managing to hold on. The real issue was getting to any news early enough that it mattered- and with equipment. If a dozen people were on site recording with their phones, a news organization doing the same didn¡¯t add anything. It only worked out when he was the only one there.


    It was impossible to know where something might be happening in New Bay, but that was his job so he did his best. The issue was learning about something ahead of time and also being able to keep his camerawoman Jody and himself out of danger if they were to show up.


    Just the other day they showed up to a hole that had apparently held Shooting Star for a few moments. If they¡¯d caught an image of her there it would have been a story- without it, it would be a silly political move. Just because they¡¯d run a few stories about Shooting Star¡¯s glory hogging habits didn¡¯t mean they¡¯d be willing to try a story without a good image. It wouldn¡¯t be worth it.


    Normally people got out of bed in the morning- and Zack could still say that despite there being a significant nocturnal population. More trouble happened under the cover of night, but life was all about balancing risks. He wasn¡¯t planning to go to the worst parts of the city and invite trouble, just sit in the van ready to speed over to anything newsworthy.


    They¡¯d managed to get some after-footage of a break in a couple nights before, but that was about it. He was hoping for something better. What he got was rats.


    -----


    ¡°There have been a lot of reports of large rats in the area,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°We don¡¯t have confirmation of whether they¡¯re real rats, or Rodentia¡¯s. We¡¯ll start at both ends of this section and work in.¡±


    Tonight we were working in a smaller area, both because we had a specific reason and because with the Mod Squad we really could have used more people together. We¡¯d never split up solo, of course- only certain types of supers could operate solo- but the teams of two had been reasonable for most expected situations.


    The area we were in was a mix of storefronts and apartments- convenient for those nearby, depending on what they needed. There weren¡¯t many people out and about and most places were closed, but we passed by a corner store that still had the lights on.


    Shockfire and Acid Man were assigned with me, as previously planned. Whatever sort of rats might be in the area, Acid Man was a good ally to have along. The other team would do well with swarms as well- both Ice Guy and Rocker could handle them. Midnight could use my magic, but only Sonic Lance was really effective against groups- and only if they were really packed in.


    ¡°Lots of electronics in this district,¡± Shockfire commented. ¡°Also, some of these places are leaving way too much of their stuff on. They¡¯re just wasting power. Guess it¡¯s cheap enough they don¡¯t care.¡±


    The other two of us didn¡¯t have much to say in response. We just kept alert as we passed by alleys and the like. I actually noticed something move first. ¡°There,¡± I pointed. ¡°Is that something?¡±


    It scurried off even as I pointed, but Shockfire nodded, ¡°I think I felt it going towards the back of that shop.¡± As we walked closer, he held out his hands to stop us. ¡°Careful, there¡¯s more than a couple.¡±


    We kept in communication with the others, and they were approaching the front- the building took up almost half a block, at least depthwise. As we approached, we suddenly heard shouting. Not from our companions, but from inside. ¡°Rats!¡±


    There was more shouting, and the sound of something breaking. More importantly, I heard a vaguely familiar mechanical sound. Some sort of ¡®bwooo¡¯ or whatever. We came right up onto the rear, which had the metal doors that rolled up common for things that needed to load and unload many things.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get us in,¡± Acid Man said. Since we¡¯d heard an incident, breaking into the building was totally acceptable- and as long as we didn¡¯t damage anything, they¡¯d thank us even if there weren¡¯t the problems we expected. He walked right over to the door, then turned into a puddle of acid. Strangely enough when he pressed against the door he acted more like a goo, bunching up around the seam. It seemed there was some squeeze room, however, as within a few moments the bulge disappeared, the trailing bits being pulled in after. Then the door was rolled up. ¡°Careful!¡± Acid Man called out.


    I could see why he said that. I could see not only a trail of various sized rats carrying various bits of metal on their backs, but also people who looked suspiciously like the Mod Squad- one of which had rats swarming over him.


    Acid Man quickly dove into the fray, like a tidal wave crashing over the smaller rats. Their movements were restricted and I was quite glad that they only had metal bits underneath the surface.


    I quickly provided Stoneskin for Shockfire, then crushed one of my better mana crystals. Using them one at a time seemed to be safe- and while it was only a few extra mana, that was kind of like being a few levels higher. Eventually I hoped to be able to make larger ones, but that wasn¡¯t the case quite yet.


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    I tried to pick out a target. Mod Squad cyborgs were rather recklessly firing beams at the surrounding area, shelves of electronics that were fortunately not terribly flammable. Whatever the beam was, it could set things on fire. It seemed rude to attack them even though they were doubtless trying to rob the place as well, but attacking a swarm of rats caring off stuff wasn¡¯t quite appropriate either.


    I kept mental track of Midnight so that I could apply Stoneskin to both of us once he was close enough. I didn¡¯t have to be able to see him, but somewhere around a hundred feet was the limit. Maybe more with an upgraded bond, but not much.


    Deciding that throwing some confusion into the mix could help, I scattered Dancing Lights among part of the swarm crawling along with their ill-gotten gains. I swirled the lights around randomly, and it seemed to be slightly useful.


    Midnight was almost close enough, which meant the others would be closing in. They should be at the front right about- the sound of a strumming guitar and a door blowing off its hinges somewhere out front indicated they were all there. Before the rats could take too much notice of me I cast Stoneskin on myself and Midnight.


    Acid Man was making his way through the swarm of rats, and was now mixed in with the Mod Squad cyborgs. While they were screaming and flailing, I could tell he wasn¡¯t dissolving them. Shockfire and I couldn¡¯t help the people without risking injury to them, but just because they were criminals didn¡¯t mean we shouldn¡¯t save them. Then promptly arrest them, but that was on their head.


    Ice Guy burst into the room, quickly taking in the situation we¡¯d already relayed. He shot a sphere of ice which encased one of the Mod Squad and all of the rats on them. ¡°Acid Man, you help us here. You two, take Rocker and follow the trail!¡± A tendril of green goop formed a thumb¡¯s up, showing great improvement in Acid Man¡¯s flexibility. I saw Midnight pounce on one of the rats¡­ then look quite surprised. It took me a moment to realize why, but he¡¯d used Storage- maybe to try to get the little box it was carrying away from it. Instead, the rat was gone.


    Not exactly efficient, since we could only store a few smaller rats, but I might use a similar trick if there was anything I needed to grab. Before saving stuff however, we had to make sure people were safe.


    Back out in the alley, the trail of rats was fairly obvious once I looked beyond a dumpster. They scurried along in a corner of the alley, around a bend and¡­ then around a van. They were mostly small rats and were only beginning to cover the front, but I could see two people inside.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to burn them away,¡± Shockfire said.


    ¡°Wait!¡± I held up a hand. ¡°Let me try to protect the van first!¡± I hadn¡¯t really used spells on vehicles before, but Energy Ward did work on what people were wearing. Otherwise it would have major drawbacks.


    I didn¡¯t want to walk into the swarm, so I used Mage¡¯s Reach, shoving it forward as quickly as possible while Shockfire was still getting in position. I felt the magic flow onto and around the van, so it should have worked some.


    Rocker took an opportunity to blast away some of those on the ground away from¡­ most things, at least. ¡°Yeaaah!¡± Mechanical rats scattered everywhere- and some turned their eyes on us.


    ¡°Do it!¡± I said to Shockfire, who immediately sprayed a cone of fire from his hands. My trick definitely worked, as tons of mechanical rats began to fall apart while the van itself remained sturdy.


    The trail of rats didn¡¯t take to the attack kindly and began to crawl over us. I stomped and smashed at them, and when there were a few at a time trying to bit into my ankles and legs I used Shocking Grasp. Shockfire could zap the ones touching him as well, and Rocker had a sort of constant sonic thing pushing them away. We managed to deal with that swarm- after which we could see the news van with a familiar Zack Brannigan inside. I could also see about half of the engine scattered about the alleyway having already been disassembled by the rats.


    Back inside, there was one Mod Squad member who had only one arm and leg, mechanical ones having been snatched by rats. He was restrained with a couple others, but they were all basically unharmed- any scratches and bites were more coincidence than intent. The shelves of the storage area were about a quarter cleaned out, and on the other side we found what had formerly been a very fancy getaway van stripped nearly clean of parts, with a terrified man sitting where the wheel had been.


    All in all it was a good night. We saved some people, caught some perpetrators, destroyed some others, and kept a storage area kind of intact, minus the parts the cyborg beams had cut through and all that. And I learned magic worked on cars. Though really it generally worked on most objects, and I just didn¡¯t have reason to most of the time.


    Also, robotic rats fit in storage¡­ which was cool.


    -----


    Zack Brannigan was glad that Jody had the same commitment to the news as he did. By the time they¡¯d noticed the weird noises in the engine they couldn¡¯t start the van, and then they¡¯d started swarming up trying to get inside. It was terrifying, and amazing footage.


    Getting out of the van to do follow-up interviews was nerve wracking, even after learning that the rats weren¡¯t interested in people. He got tons of great footage of the rats- apparently a product of Rodentia- as well as some Mod Squad gang members who had been involved in a robbery at the same time.


    And it was Mage¡¯s squad. He¡¯d had good luck with that guy recently. Maybe with other things, in a way. It turned out that by pure coincidence they¡¯d parked the van over a sewer grate the rats had been using. ¡°Are you going to follow them down?¡± Zack asked of the squad leader.


    ¡°Not at this moment,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°The important thing is to keep civilians safe, followed by business property. Though there will no doubt be follow-up investigations to take down this villain.¡±


    Sadly there weren¡¯t civilians around to interview and express how grateful they were to be saved- and spending too long on camera thanking people as a news crew would be a bit much- but they could certainly ride this incident for a while. And maybe he could find out more about these rats. Without going into the sewers, preferably.

 Chapter 93

    Upon learning about unexpected functions of magic, I couldn¡¯t help but try to learn more. Forming mana crystals continued without issue, but I was unable to acquire any new spells without spending points. There also seemed to be no issues from simply forming them, besides the expenditure of mana. As long as I was conservative with their actual use, I seemed to be fine. I also learned something interesting- Mana Crystal Deposition could improve. It just took a while. It now had a nice +1 beside it in my status window.


    Practicing with my newest spell also revealed how useful it could be. My second newest, really- Dancing Lights had also been used to some effect, but the more relevant one was the higher level and thus more costly Physical Freedom. It was useful against two of my companions. Against Acid Man, it let me slip away from his grasp. If he couldn¡¯t cling to me, his otherwise slower movements and slower rate of damage meant he couldn¡¯t do much. Energy Ward was much cheaper, but he would slowly eat through its protections. Though it could certainly buy me enough time to defeat him if necessary.


    A bigger difference came against Ice Guy. Though one might assume that protecting myself against cold would resist his powers, that only worked to a certain extent. For example, when he formed spikes of ice they were not damaging me with the cold itself- and thus Energy Ward did precious little except keep me at a comfortable temperature while I was bruised and battered through my outfit. Likewise, being unaffected by cold didn¡¯t allow me to move when my leg was entirely encased in ice and frozen to the ground. It just made it feel like I was encased in concrete instead of ice.


    Physical Freedom, however, allowed me to deal with the latter sort of situation if I happened to be stupid enough to stand still and let it happen. Whether I used it before or after I was able to free myself from the ice. When it happened before, the ice never clung to me and sort of sloughed off onto the ground- where I could also walk over it without issue. When it was already on me, I could sort of just¡­ pull my leg out. Though there were limits. If I was completely encased in ice before I cast it, I could basically only swivel my limbs within the ice. Testing those limits could be important, but realistically once I was fully coated in ice I would have already lost against something more directly deadly.


    Physical Freedom was the sort of thing I wanted to have on all the time¡­ and it was also the sort of thing I couldn¡¯t afford to have on all the time. With it lasting about an hour and costing nine mana, even with the slightly higher ambient mana levels I was down around three mana per hour- and it took a third of my mana to cast it to begin with. If I was concerned about nothing else I could maintain it for seven hours if I did nothing else, including casting Translation. I didn¡¯t need Translation anymore, though it was more comfortable for Midnight to speak English with magic involved and it was frequently useful, so I generally chose to maintain that. Force Armor lasted all day, so those were the two things I could expect to have active at any moment.


    If I could figure out some way to be more efficient with mana expenditure or recovery- besides just spending more points on specific spells- perhaps Physical Freedom would be something I kept up, though I could also see arguments for Energy Ward of various types. In short, magic was good but limited in simultaneous possibilities.


    -----


    Doctor Martinez performed regular checkups on everyone working for the Power Brigade- or at least, he was the one assigned to me. I thought he could probably manage everyone though. It only took him a few minutes of scanning his power through people, back and forth and finding all sorts of interesting details. Then he compared it to previous information and¡­


    ¡°Your physical training regimen and diet seem to be balancing out well enough. I am concerned about some of these nutrients, you may need to add more variety but the levels are acceptable for the moment. Fat levels have also increased, but are within healthy parameters.¡±


    ¡°...I¡¯m fat?¡± I asked. ¡°But I exercise!¡±


    ¡°The two are not mutually exclusive, and it is normal to have stores of fat. As long as the underlying body is healthy a moderate amount of fat is also good for padding, storage, and the like. It only becomes a concern where it interferes with your other physical activities, limiting stamina and the like.¡± Doctor Martinez shook his head, ¡°Some people don¡¯t have enough fat, though I understand individual body types vary and of course some have difficulty with their metabolisms.¡±


    ¡°Like Shockwave,¡± I said.


    ¡°It is not my job to comment upon the health profiles of anyone but my current patient,¡± Doctor Martinez said. ¡°Now then, any issues? Growing pains?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± I said. ¡°Why would I have growing pains? Besides the normal pain from training muscles.¡±


    ¡°Because of your height. Did I not mention that yet?¡± Doctor Martinez shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ve grown over an inch since we first put you in the system, and that¡¯s compensating for changes throughout the day.¡±


    ¡°Height changes throughout the day?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The compression on your spine during the day makes it slightly variable, yes,¡± he nodded.


    ¡°Also I¡¯m taller?¡± I frowned. ¡°That would explain some things. Like hitting my head on the shower curtain. But why would I be taller?¡±


    ¡°That is something I would expect you to be able to explain better than myself. I am not terribly familiar with orcish physiques, after all. You are twenty-five, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded. I might be off by a year, but I couldn¡¯t say for sure which way it would be.


    ¡°When do orcs stop growing?¡±


    ¡°... I assume the same as humans.¡±


    ¡°Assumptions are not terribly useful in determining if events are normal. What do you know? How long do orcs live, how tall do they get?¡±


    ¡°Taller than me, usually,¡± I admitted. ¡°Some get¡­ very tall. Like seven foot? Which is much more than the human average.¡±


    ¡°The averages also might not be the same between worlds,¡± the doctor said. ¡°With the influence of mana and different nutrition¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s mana here, though,¡± I reminded him. ¡°In¡­ mostly normal amounts?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll keep monitoring this. If it causes you actual discomfort- not just from bumping into things- let me know.¡±


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    ¡°Okay,¡± I nodded.


    I was taller. Did that matter? Eh, probably not.


    -----


    A lot of the time I was tutoring Jerome his mother wasn¡¯t around. Sleeping, getting ready for work, out at the grocery store or on other errands, that kind of thing. Other times, she was around- like now.


    ¡°Thanks for introducing me to your friend,¡± Tylissa said. ¡°She¡¯s really helping with these new powers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ good to hear,¡± I agreed. ¡°Understanding powers is important.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking about trying to get another job,¡± she said. ¡°Though I¡¯d like to have some savings first.¡±


    ¡°Financial stability is important,¡± I nodded. ¡°I hope your powers help with that.¡±


    ¡°I have to admit, training powers is a serious time commitment,¡± she sighed. ¡°But I think it will be worth it. Izzy is very flexible with when she helps train me, which is great.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Listen,¡± Tylissa said. ¡°You should probably talk to her. I know your friendship is¡­ strained¡­ but it would be worth doing.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± I said noncommittally. Lots of people said that, but maybe they didn¡¯t realize how difficult it was.


    After a few awkward minutes, Jerome came in to break up the silence. ¡°Turlough! Wait until you see what I learned.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, what is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s been talking about it for the last few days,¡± Tylissa said, ¡°But he hasn¡¯t even show me yet.¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t know if you would find it that exciting¡­¡± Jerome shook his head. ¡°But anyway¡­ watch this!¡± He gathered his mana, only a small amount but it formed in his hand¡­ a ball of light. It was easily visible in the middle of the room.


    ¡°Oho!¡± I grinned. ¡°That¡¯s different. Is that¡­ the actual Light spell?¡± I had taught him Dancing Lights, but it created separate units of light. Even pressed together they didn¡¯t have the same brightness as this.


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± he said, waving his arms excitedly- which also waved around the light. It was attached to a point and not free-floating like Dancing Lights after all. ¡°I learned it all on my own! You talked about it of course, but I didn¡¯t have to see you do it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± I nodded. ¡°I knew you were smart, but managing something off of just a description¡­ that¡¯s quite difficult.¡± I idly cast Dancing Lights. Clumping them together over my hand just made an uneven mess.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to do anything else,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Anything unique or new. But that one I managed, and it looks just like you said.¡±


    I nodded, poking the mass of lights I had. There was no sensation of touch, of course, and it didn¡¯t move from physical prodding. I let it disperse into nothing. ¡°It really is the light spell,¡± I agreed. ¡°That saves me a point trying to compare them. I¡¯m impressed.¡±


    ¡°That is pretty neat,¡± Tylissa said. ¡°I don¡¯t really understand magic, but I¡¯m glad you learned something new.¡± She looked down at her hand, ¡°Yep, still nothing. Well¡­ I need to head out. Stay safe, don¡¯t burn down the house!¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t,¡± Jerome and I said together. It was mostly brick anyway, but I also was very clear to Jerome about when it was okay to use offensive magic.


    Formal training was good and all, but Jerome had invented a sport he called light jousting. The rules were simple, and most importantly it was safe indoors. He¡¯d discovered by accident that light magic could affect other light magic- which is why Dancing Lights clumped into a lumpy mass instead of just being four spheres in one- and that applied to other people¡¯s spells as well. Which wasn¡¯t that surprising, since most forms of magic were self-interactive.


    Light jousting began by each of us forming Dancing Lights around ourselves. Then we would send them forward, with the goal being hitting the other. Since we could only deflect the lights with other lights, that required them to bash into each other- or make a mad rush for the other mage, but that was why one usually stayed on defense. It was difficult to actively control four separate things at the same time anyway, two at once was much simpler with the others left in reserve for special maneuvers.


    Jerome was generally faster, but I had more subtle control over my magic. I had almost two decades of experience on him, after all- even if it wasn¡¯t with this specific spell. As he was the one who invented it, he of course had practiced against himself before mentioning it, so we were fairly evenly matched.


    He liked risky maneuvers, and I liked seeing what he would do. Today, he was stepping forward, getting dangerously close to me. Our Dancing Lights were pressed up against each other, holding the others back. If one slipped around, they could spring forward to strike their target¡­ but that would also leave both sides open. With my control I was prepared to slip his to the side and make an attempt¡­ however he made his move first.


    It wasn¡¯t an expected one either. Instead of trying to break the engagement, he almost held onto my Dancing Lights while thrusting forward with his fingers. It was only my quick reactions and greater combat experience that gave me a chance. His finger had almost reached me, mana building up for the Light spell. It was not specifically allowed in light jousting¡­ but nor was it ever said that only Dancing Lights was appropriate. I could cancel my spell and block, but that was a risk.


    I deflected it to the side, but unfortunately the manner in which I did so still had me lose. I touched his outstretched finger, which meant he succeeded in his task. If I could cast the Light spell coating my hand should have been a reasonable counter. That was what I had wanted to do, but I didn¡¯t know Light.


    ¡°Aww man,¡± Jerome said. ¡°You figured it out? I thought I would get you.¡±


    ¡°But you did,¡± I said.


    ¡°I dunno,¡± he shook his head, gesturing, ¡°I kind of figure blocking with your own Light should count.¡±


    We agreed on that, but I didn¡¯t know the spell. Yet looking down at my hand¡­ it certainly looked like Light. ¡°Yes¡­ one moment.¡±


    I managed to confirm something in my Status window.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 22


    Experience: 1321


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +3


    Firebolt +2


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +2


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +3


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +1


    Sonic Lance +2


    Scrying


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +1


    Physical Freedom


    Dancing Lights


    Remaining Points: 0


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana Crystal Deposition +1


    Water Breathing


    Light


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Well, that was interesting. But how could I learn it so easily when I¡¯d put in so much effort to try to learn other things? Perhaps the demonstration from Jerome helped, but that didn¡¯t seem to fully explain the matter. He didn¡¯t have a clear example of Light to learn either. Curious, but unfortunately I was unable to figure out how this worked.

 Chapter 94

    Though the last week had me in combat several times, it had been longer than that since there was any Stargirl fanatic related trouble. Since I couldn¡¯t count anything related to patrols as me being attacked, that meant Calculator¡¯s prediction was wrong. Or more likely just not as regular as actually once a week.


    Training continued mostly as normal- power-based sparring, teamwork exercises, physical conditioning and the like. I was always busy in the Power Brigade, and if there was nothing filling my schedule I was supposed to find something. At the current moment I was participating in a trouble spotting and avoidance class. It was mandatory, though I did understand the basic ideas behind it. It was good to know a fight was coming.


    This particular class was led by Telescope, who was one of the types that liked to wear fancy formal clothes. Her clothes didn¡¯t look practical to me, but then again Francois was pretty good with his designs so the formal suit was likely more usable than it looked on the surface. We were in one of the training rooms that created functional terrain, looking at¡­ well, that was the question wasn¡¯t it? ¡°What do you see here?¡±


    ¡°A street,¡± I said confidently. For some reason Telescope shook her head, as if that answer wasn¡¯t correct. But it was, I knew what streets looked like.


    ¡°An alley,¡± said someone else in the class.


    ¡°A street intersecting with an alley?¡±


    Finally, Telescope could endure no more. ¡°It¡¯s a blind corner,¡± she said.


    So? I didn¡¯t ask that question aloud because I was hoping someone else would. But nobody did, and she continued.


    ¡°What¡¯s around the corner?¡± she asked.


    Several of us began to step around the corner, and then¡­ we were back where we started? That wasn¡¯t quite right. Maybe we were never moving to begin with. ¡°You already messed up,¡± she said. ¡°Anyone could be waiting around that corner to ambush you. Getting closer might be exactly what they want.¡±


    Nobody with an active power though. I was going to say that it didn¡¯t matter at that point, but I supposed there were exceptions. Like high power rifles and someone who could instantly activate something deadly. ¡°None of us can see around corners though.¡± Scrying wouldn¡¯t work since I didn¡¯t know who was there, if anyone, and it was not exactly quick. Similar definition abilities were too expensive or too slow to use on every corner.


    ¡°It¡¯s true that most people can¡¯t see around corners,¡± Telescope agreed. ¡°But I can.¡±


    ¡°How does that help us?¡± one of the others asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s around the corner?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Someone waiting to club your head in,¡± Telescope answered my question. ¡°See how easy that was? But of course, if you don¡¯t have an ally with helpful sensory abilities, you have to fall back on more traditional methods like listening. Staying out of reach is usually sufficient as well- it prevents many incapacitation options or being dragged in. You just have to remain cognizant of what you¡¯re doing.¡±


    -----


    There were no thugs waiting in the alleyway next to the coffee shop. Nor were there any in all of the other alleyways along my route. It was somewhat disappointing, but that was just how things were. I wasn¡¯t certain if I was supposed to draw them out onto the streets where it might endanger civilians or fight in the alley where they intended anyway. I guess I¡¯d pick one based on what felt right at the moment.


    Midnight was not with me. He was not terribly far away, because he had no other business at the moment, but he was very specifically not present. Apparently there were reasons I should talk to Izzy and Midnight thought his presence would disrupt things somehow. I supposed I did owe her thanks for helping out Tylissa, but that didn¡¯t necessarily have to be said in person. It was just weird, because Izzy didn¡¯t really mean anything to me anymore.


    I took note of the twisting feeling in my gut. Was it saying that was not true? I wasn¡¯t sure what guts knew about friendship and all that, but I stood by my earlier statement that we were not friends. We just used to be. My gut didn¡¯t have anything to say about that, and maybe the first time it was just concerned about getting coffee, but I still had to note it.


    Coffee was still bitter and I still didn¡¯t understand why people wanted it. The breakfast foods were good though. I slowly consumed my food while I waited for Izzy. If she didn¡¯t show up I could just leave and it wouldn¡¯t be my fault nothing happened.


    But she did show up as promised and then we had to sit awkwardly for a while. I supposed I should say something, since I had one of the actual reasons to meet up again. ¡°Thanks for helping out Tylissa. She didn¡¯t have anyone else who could teach her.¡± A sip of my coffee. ¡°I still owe you something.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ glad to help,¡± Izzy said with little enthusiasm. Her next words were more convincing. ¡°Tylissa is a nice woman. Hopefully having powers will help.¡± Izzy frowned, ¡°It¡¯s still weird that not everyone has class abilities.¡±


    ¡°Right? It¡¯s crazy. There are all sorts of other powers too, but tons of people are left without. I barely get how people function.¡± After that brief spurt of enthusiasm, the conversation fell off again. ¡°... Do you want to go back?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not even done with my sandwich,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°I meant back back, like to your world,¡± I emphasized.


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    ¡°Oh,¡± Izzy frowned, ¡°I mean¡­ I don¡¯t know. What would I even do there? The same thing as before. Here it¡¯s at least different. Kind of interesting. Not like I could go back anyway.¡±


    ¡°I could¡­ try to get you back,¡± I said. ¡°If you wanted. I know you came here thinking¡­ that things would be like they were. But they aren¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Izzy nodded, the smallest cup in the place looking much too large between her hands as she stared at it. ¡°Could you actually do it?¡±


    ¡°... Maybe. In a few levels.¡± The thing I was thinking of would cost more than just one level¡¯s worth of points. And the mana cost would be most of my mana. It would be extremely difficult to cast, but if I got to somewhere around level 25, then using two-thirds of my mana I might be able to do something. ¡°It might take longer than that, though.¡±


    ¡°That seems like it¡¯s a bit early, then,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Given how long it takes you to level.¡±


    ¡°Not anymore,¡± I said, unable to keep the enthusiasm out of my voice. ¡°I get in fights all the time! Real ones. I¡¯m sure I already told you I¡¯ve been leveling up like crazy. I¡¯m already level 22, you know?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. That¡¯s great!¡± she nodded. ¡°I remember now. What could you do?¡±


    ¡°If I save 13 points from each level, I can get Gate,¡± I said. ¡°... Though I¡¯m not completely sure I could cast it. I have some ideas though. Or maybe I could just find a portal. There were a lot of them around.¡±


    ¡°Well don¡¯t¡­ you don¡¯t need to hurry too much,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I¡¯m doing alright here. I could stay a while, since it¡¯s sort of interesting here.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded. ¡°I can¡¯t even try right now anyway.¡± Still needed those points. I definitely couldn¡¯t bank on learning it without, since¡­ I had no idea how that worked. And everything I¡¯d learned was of a much more reasonable level. The conversation was quiet for a while. How were social interactions supposed to work again? Usually they just happened. ¡°So how¡¯s work?¡±


    ¡°I run packages around,¡± Izzy said. ¡°It¡¯s basically the same. There¡¯s a decent market for hand carried things, since traffic is inconsistent. And I don¡¯t have a ton of expenses. Extra¡¯s housing is cheap.¡±


    ¡°Kind of cramped though,¡± I said.


    ¡°It¡¯s a lot bigger when you¡¯re my size,¡± she pointed out. ¡°Even the half-height rooms have a similar size floor plan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised they have rooms like that, honestly,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t exactly see a lot of other halflings. Though I suppose there are a few Martians like Zorphax.¡±


    Izzy shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s not like anyone my size stands out in a crowd. Mostly when there¡¯s a weird gap.¡±


    We managed to have something that probably qualified as a casual conversation, so I was going to count this one as a success. I didn¡¯t feel like anything amazing was accomplished, though.


    -----


    Was I supposed to like the sounds of panicked civilians? I wasn¡¯t seeking out screams of terror for their own sake. We were going to protect them after all. I was just kind of excited because it meant there was something to do, and that something was probably fighting. ¡°Moving onto the scene,¡± I said tapping on my earpiece to activate the Power Brigade device.


    I took the advice of rounding the corner at a liberal distance from my most recent classes, though in this case it didn¡¯t matter. I had Shockfire with me and he was fairly certain it was Rodentia again, so he would have warned me if any rats were too near. Robo-rats, that is. And indeed, the scene that filled my vision was quite obviously Rodentia¡¯s work. Robo-rats were there, swarming the scene¡­ but this time there was more. Rodentia herself was present, unless my eyes deceived me.


    Then I heard a loud chittering laughter. ¡°Fools! This will be the last time that anyone underestimates Rodentia! Fear the power of my cheese ray!¡±


    I very quickly looked towards Shockfire. ¡°Did I hear that right?¡±


    ¡°A freeze ray seems pretty off-brand,¡± he shrugged.


    My eyes flicked back forward to the scene as I felt something drawing in the mana in the area. It wasn¡¯t the activation of a power, or someone using magic. Instead, it was the device in Rodentia¡¯s hands. Some sort of gun she pointed at someone, shooting a beam of yellow light. The man held up his arms to protect himself, but that just changed the origin point of the spreading color. After the beam faded I couldn¡¯t pick out the exact shade of cheese, but it was some sort that had holes but was generally yellow-orange.


    ¡°Did that guy just get turned into cheese?¡± Acid Man said from my other side.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to stop her quickly,¡± I nodded. Fortunately, as we were heading closer to the situation we saw something that made the situation slightly less horrifying. Eventually. The rats swarmed the cheese-man, and within moments there was no cheese remaining. Fortunately, there was most of a man. Maybe a few little bites here and there, and almost certainly some mental trauma, but curled up on the ground was better than being digested by robots.


    Rodentia¡¯s head swiveled towards the three of us before we were in range to make a proper attack. Her eyes lingered only a moment on the three of us before her fake rat mask wiggled slightly. I wasn¡¯t sure what it was supposed to mean.


    ¡°New test subjects!¡± Rodentia said excitedly. ¡°Perfect.¡±


    I realized I had no idea how to counter a cheese ray. It certainly wasn¡¯t any sort of energy I knew of, and Stoneskin wouldn¡¯t do anything. Force Armor¡­ might stop it. Shield would be better to keep it away from me, if possible.


    I looked for cover behind a light pole. I was fairly certain they were cheaper than cars, and there wouldn¡¯t be civilians complaining which was apparently worse than the government who knew some amount of collateral damage was inevitable. I was only partially covered as I tried to judge the distance Sonic Lance could go. And if it would be appropriate. Wasn¡¯t Rodentia just a woman? Exploding her might take her off the streets but it would be kind of frowned upon.


    Acid Man was already charging forward. He was a good counter for the rats, but I was concerned about the cheese ray. He could make his own choices, however- and the consequences were quickly determined. He was an easy target so Rodentia focused her fire on him, striking his outstretched arm. As cheese began to coat Acid Man starting from that arm, he suddenly changed color, becoming green more than yellow. Then his body collapsed into a puddle, leaving behind an empty arm-shaped hunk of cheese that splattered on the ground next to him, and a little bit in him.


    If we hadn¡¯t seen the effects on a civilian moments before I would have called him crazy, and I was still thinking about it just a little- fully aware what people thought about my proclivity for battle.


    Since I couldn¡¯t do much damage to a widespread swarm, I tossed a Grease spell on a portion of the street between Rodentia and our side. Some of the rats would be slowed there, maybe funneling towards the acid puddle, maybe not. Either way, it was a small expenditure that would provide some advantage while we stalled to let the rest of our squad arrive.


    Author¡¯s note: I won¡¯t apologize for this. Cheese Ray had to happen.

 Chapter 95

    A chill went to my bones as beady black eyes locked on me- as far as I could tell through the goggles. I wasn¡¯t new to battle, especially after coming to Earth and being attacked quite regularly¡­ but even the swarm of oversized rats hadn¡¯t been so predatory in their gaze. It was like looking into the jaws of a lion¡­ except it was a rodent.


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s a big list!¡± Rodentia said excitedly. ¡°Dodge this!¡±


    The warning almost threw me off, but the way she gestured with her ray gun made me instinctually duck out of the way. My cover was instantly covered in a layer of¡­ cheese? I wasn¡¯t sure what kind of cheese, but up close it was still clearly cheese. It looked kind of fake though. Like a yellow swiss? Swiss was one of the holey cheeses, but it was definitely more white than this mustardy color.


    The cheese ray swept over me and back in my direction. I had to duck, dodge, and roll to just barely avoid it. ¡°Not fast enough!¡± Rodentia yelled out. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be faster!¡±


    Fortunately while I was being harassed, my compatriots weren¡¯t just sitting around. Acid Man was working his way towards Rodentia, but a wall of rats was pushing his puddle backwards, uncaring about the way their little robotic paws were melting inside him. Shockfire had a good shot- a bolt of lightning shot forward from him, but even as he was aiming the shot a wall of rats was building up in front of Rodentia. The lightning crashed into the pillar of smaller robotic rats and got no further- dozens or perhaps hundreds of them were flung in all directions, but Rodentia was unharmed.


    ¡°You¡¯ll never get past my adaptive rat shielding!¡± Rodentia chittered. I was pretty sure a pile of rats wasn¡¯t normally called adaptive shielding, but I couldn¡¯t really focus on that. She was still sweeping her beam towards me. ¡°Seriously, do that Haste thing!¡± With a flick of her wrist she swept the beam around me on all sides, but it was clear she could move it faster than I could dodge and had been holding back slightly. How much power did that thing have? Quite a lot left, it seemed.


    I didn¡¯t want to demonstrate Haste for someone who clearly wanted to see it, but since she already knew and I didn¡¯t want to get turned into cheese I had to do it. Sure, the first guy simply got coated in cheese but I wasn¡¯t going to take my chances and assume that was the worst that could happen. I cast Haste on myself, wishing Midnight were near enough to apply it to him- but the other half of the team was still approaching. We had to delay for them, since Rodentia was¡­ surprisingly effective. Haste boosted my speed and thinking, and I was just barely able to track where her beam was going to go as well as keep proper cover. I might be able to just duck behind a wall, but if she changed target because of that it would be pointless.


    Also based on the way one of the light posts was hit and was now snapped in half looking only like cheese and not a cheese coated metal tube, I was unsure if a wall would protect me for long.


    It was about then I got a concerning exchange over our comms. Ice Guy¡¯s voice came through first. ¡°We¡¯re approaching as fast as we can, but we¡¯re being held back by Swarm!¡±


    ¡°Just freeze it!¡± Shockfire replied.


    ¡°Not rats. Or rather- ugh, the villain Swarm, the splitter. He¡¯s working with Rodentia again!¡±


    Rodentia must pay well, because the last time I saw Swarm working for her he seemed quite indignant about the ears.


    ¡°Haha! That¡¯s it!¡± My dodging continued to be successful for the moment, but Rodentia seemed to be having fun while I was busy running for my life, or at least my dignity. ¡°Artillery rats! Heat Rays on Mage!¡±


    There was no way it made sense for her to yell out orders like that. It had to be some sort of trick- but when the eyes of a dozen dog-sized rats began to glow red, I couldn¡¯t help but use Energy Ward regardless. I was going to be disappointed if they were frost beams or something, but I had to make a choice.


    I tried to avoid the flickering orange beams- and I did, but only about a quarter of them. Instead of all trying to hit me, the rats opened fire in an area directly targeting me and around me. They seemed to have a pretty good idea of how far I could move in a moment, spreading out their attacks so I had no real possibility to dodge them all. I managed most, but even with enhanced thinking and reflexes there was only so much I could avoid twelve ever-shifting trajectories.


    But they were heat rays. There had to be some trick coming up, where Rodentia would call out something and do the opposite to screw me over, but for the moment I was protected by Energy Ward that she basically suggested I use. And letting her see it function was a thousand times better than being burned alive. It was actually pleasantly warm, with the spell active. Though it couldn¡¯t last forever.


    ¡°Nice, nice!¡± Rodentia nodded. Her ¡®adaptive rat barrier¡¯ was still managing to keep Shockfire at bay, and she flicked a switch, sweping her cheese ray over the rats Acid Man was pushing through. ¡°Stay there, Goop Boy!¡± Wow, I couldn¡¯t believe she didn¡¯t even remember his proper name. Rude. Either way, the ray grew cheese from the pile of rats, the domes of cheese touching and fusing with each other and attaching to the ground as well. It had to be hoped that Acid Man was alright, but he was going to be stuck for at least a few moments. ¡°Getting a bit close there. Alright, formation in place, let¡¯s see that last one!¡±


    Last one what? I didn¡¯t have time to ask, because she pointed her ray gun towards me¡­ then shot it. I didn¡¯t even have to dodge because it just hit a rat¡­ but I could see something shift. The ray fortunately didn¡¯t travel at the speed of light, so when it rebounded off the larger rat¡¯s back I threw myself to the side. As I was moving I looked over my shoulder, seeing movement. Another rat was there- and not just a couple, but many strewn about the area. The beam reflected once more, forcing me to twist my body in the air- unfortunately my feet had left the ground momentarily. My head whipped back and forth, hurting my neck, as the beam rebounded from rat to rat, eventually striking my ankle. A puff of cheese grew as I connected the ground, somehow anchoring me. I yanked my foot up just in time to get hit full in the chest by the main beam, no time to dodge even with haste.


    Then my world turned into cheese as it near instantly spread over my body. I accidentally inhaled, but somehow the cheese was porous enough I could kind of breathe. Water Breathing? No, that was stupid. Cheese wasn¡¯t water. My body froze in place, my thoughts running wild with no stimulus but dim light I could see through the cheese. I had to use Physical Freedom. I wasn¡¯t sure it would work given the unusual circumstances, but this was exactly why I had it, if it worked.


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    It felt like it took forever to gather the nine mana necessary for the spell, but that was mostly because Haste didn¡¯t increase that speed. In real time, it was at most a few seconds. When the spell completed I didn¡¯t quite know what would happen. It was one of those spells where the explanation was that it just worked and little else. I struggled against the barrier surrounding me, and nearly knocked myself over when I just moved.


    I shook my head, trying to clear my vision and the cheese around it just kind of sloughed off. Which was weird, because as it fell there was no obvious place it had broken, nor enough room for my head to slip out. But there it was.


    My eyes locked on Rodentia¡¯s, her mask scrunching up with some kind of unclear expression. My outstretched hand shot a Firebolt at her as I approached- and the ¡®adaptive shielding¡¯ predictably managed to block me. At this point they were kind of just a permanent wall that kept regrowing which made it kind of hard to see her.


    Her beam hit me directly in my chest and¡­ I didn¡¯t even feel it. As I reached the barrier of rats I had a moment of regret¡­ and then somehow slipped through, receiving a few nibbles in the process. My hands sparked with electricity. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough of this.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Rodentia said. ¡°This was fun! Gotta go!¡±


    Where she fit it I had no idea, but out of a clearly undersized backpack she was wearing came a cannon. But before she could fire it, I grabbed her arm. Shocking Grasp directed electricity into her and¡­ nothing happened.


    ¡°Oh come on now, you think any tech super is going to be concerned about a little zap like that?¡± I had certainly hoped so, but a click of the trigger on that cannon- the barrel nearly as big around as my chest- and I was dead. A hole straight through me.


    At least that¡¯s what I presume would have happened if it shot the sort of thing sane individuals put in a cannon. Instead, it shot a rat. One of the big ones, right into my chest. The momentum and surprise- as well as the recoil- pulled me away from Rodentia. I was knocked on my back as I wrestled and threw the creature off me, though not before it managed to leave a decent chomp in my left arm, through what had been left of my Force Armor. Though I suppose that had taken a beating from various things so far.


    But I had haste left, and as long as I didn¡¯t let her hit me I could dodge some stupid projectile rats. Rodentia wasn¡¯t far away and all I had to do was-


    Not step on whatever thing I just stepped on, I presumed. I could vaguely make out little rectangles, smaller than my foot. But as my weight landed on one it suddenly grew a couple feet wider, and something snapped around my leg. It hurt. And then¡­ that was it. Because it slid off.


    I had to watch the ground like it was a minefield, which slowed my running, but in a few moments I was catching up to Rodentia again, dodging the rats from the rat cannon. But she had more than just that. There was another rat at her feet, glowing bright red and beeping for some reason.


    ¡°Goodbye!¡± Rodentia waved. ¡°See you next time!¡±


    I had the good sense to jump behind a car- the battle had drifted down the street to where some were foolishly parked. That car was going to get blown up anyway for being next to the bomb rat, so it wasn¡¯t my fault in the slightest. As the explosion faded I could see Rodentia sailing through the air. She¡¯d been right next to the explosion, but beyond a bit of soot on her outfit she looked fine. I considered continuing the chase, but as she continued to fire her rat cannon- which somehow maintained her position sailing through the air a little bit- I decided it was a bad idea. Who knew what else she might have, more directly dangerous.


    And I had to check on my companions. Shockfire had been fighting of a swarm of rats, spraying fire all over them, and Acid Man had been anchored to the ground. I turned back to look at them, and it seemed the swarm was retreating- but in a moment it would be coming after me. With only a handful of seconds left with Haste, I had to just avoid their tide. Fortunately it seemed they were done, mostly scurrying down side streets and into manholes.


    ¡°Rodentia has retreated,¡± I said over comms. ¡°Couldn¡¯t catch her.¡±


    ¡°Swarm also slipped off somewhere,¡± Captain Senan replied. ¡°His real body seems to not have been present. We¡¯ll meet up for an assessment of the mission.¡±


    Acid Man seemed to have extricated himself- though somehow not through the cheese. Instead, he¡¯d worn away at the street below. ¡°You alright?¡± I asked. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting anywhere near that much trouble.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me,¡± Acid Man shook his head. ¡°Look at this crap.¡± He gestured to the dome of cheese that had covered him. It was a slightly different shade of yellow, and most importantly lacking the porous nature of the other. A detail that hadn¡¯t seemed relevant at the time. ¡°Hell of a pain to dig through that stuff.¡±


    ¡°She seemed to be ready for most of my stuff,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Maybe if I¡¯d had a moment to use Sonic Lance or something¡­¡±


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t have worked,¡± said a long haired dude walking up. ¡°She had walls of rats that turned into like, giant anti-speakers,¡± Rocker explained. Midnight and Ice Guy were there as well, of course.


    ¡°Sound cancellation,¡± Captain Senan said. ¡°And rats with internal heaters that instantly melted my ice. Some of them, anyway.¡±


    ¡°She seemed ready for anything,¡± Shockfire sighed, ¡°They resisted fire and electricity as well, though¡­ not all of them for either. Not that I could pick out which was which.¡±


    ¡°... I can¡¯t believe we lost to just one villain,¡± I hung my head.


    ¡°First of all,¡± Captain Senan said. ¡°She retreated. No more trouble here means we won. And there was also Swarm. More importantly, she¡¯s a concerningly high tier tech super. I¡¯d say an actual army of robots counts for quite a bit, even if they¡¯re¡­ rat shaped.¡±


    ¡°I think her threat rating might go up from this,¡± Shockfire said. ¡°Or maybe we¡¯re not good enough.¡±


    ¡°Hey,¡± Ice Guy¡¯s voice was firm. ¡°Don¡¯t say that. For a team mostly composed of rookies, you all are doing great. A couple months on the job isn¡¯t enough to suddenly contend with top tier villains, even if you have good powers.¡±


    ¡°I still feel like we lost,¡± I shook my head. ¡°And I think she had one of those scanners like Handface.¡±


    ¡°Of course she did,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°She was the one who put his together, after all. There¡¯s no way a tech super would make something like that for someone else and not replicate it for themself.¡± He sighed, ¡°It¡¯s probably a worse problem that Doctor Doomsday snatched up Deimos, though. He could likely make something like that himself given time, but replicating it from someone else¡¯s work is probably simple for him.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but frown, which then turned into a smile as I noticed my experience. I had changed my mind. Rodentia could fight me anytime, since it was impossible for me to really lose with experience like that. At least, if my companions were all safe after- which they were, except for some minor injuries. Nothing a decent healer couldn¡¯t help with, anyway.

 Chapter 96

    Combat was exhausting but satisfying. I learned a lot in the fight against Rodentia, but I wasn¡¯t sure it was more than she did. It was a bit concerning that she could force me to use specific spells to defend myself and then follow up by overcoming that with something new. She had so many rat-based gadgets. Heat beams, the ability to bounce her cheese ray, and the ¡®adaptive shield¡¯ were all surprisingly effective for how inefficient they seemed.


    Francois was quite happy to hear that our equipment held up against the cheese ray though. For whatever reason it only didn¡¯t affect living tissue, which was good because otherwise I would just be dead. Then again, if I hadn¡¯t seen the results on that poor civilian, I would have suggested a proper tactical retreat. Getting hit by beams you are unfamiliar with is a poor tactic.


    I had leveled up, which meant I had 10 points I could spend if I wanted to keep my plan for helping Izzy return to our former world. I wasn¡¯t fully sure I would be able to cast gate if I got it, but I had to be willing to try. I couldn¡¯t allow even a former friend to remain somewhere they didn¡¯t want to be. Though Izzy wasn¡¯t fully certain on going back yet. I wouldn¡¯t be spending those points to learn Gate until I was certain. 39 points was a lot! I could upgrade Stoneskin three, almost four times.


    Either way, I was left with 10 points to spend how I pleased, no promises attached. I did have to consider Midnight, though. His level was improving quite nicely, but still lower than mine and likely to remain that way unless we went a long period without combat. Something like a  year or more. Because while Curse of the Barbarian was annoying, it did make for pretty quick growth when I could fight.


    The point being, while learning new spells was always tempting, I decided to upgrade things. Midnight could have upgrades equal to the upgrades of Familiar Bond- 3- so I first looked at the top. Firebolt wasn¡¯t always useful, but it would be cheap to upgrade. Energy Ward was extremely helpful and the increased efficiency would be quite welcome. One level could cut off almost .2 mana. That didn¡¯t sound like much, but it was a couple minutes of normal regeneration, and if I cast it on multiple people the efficiency was even more important. And more power behind it wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    For my last two points I had to try something. I hadn¡¯t tried upgrading things below the first category- the spells I had learned spontaneously. I still didn¡¯t understand them, and that annoyed me¡­ but two points on the Light spell might tell me something. Or they might disappear into the void. Even if it worked I wasn¡¯t super keen on the idea of more efficient light when tons of artificial sources existed, but I wanted to see if I could and thus I had to try.


    The results were¡­ interesting.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 23


    Experience: 1392


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +3


    Firebolt +3


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +2


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +3


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +3


    Sonic Lance +2


    Scrying


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +1


    Physical Freedom


    Remaining Points: 13


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana Crystal Deposition +1


    Water Breathing


    Basic Light Magic +1


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    First I was reminded of something I hadn¡¯t thought about. In my surprise about learning the Light spell, the +1 by Mana Crystal Deposition had slipped in unnoticed. I hadn¡¯t looked closely since then because my status didn¡¯t change randomly, and experience was at the top if I was curious. I did remember it being there, though.


    And now Light was gone. And Dancing Lights. And I had Basic Light Magic +1.


    ¡°Wow. You look angry. What¡¯d I do?¡±


    Sitting behind my status window, which was to say in front of me, was Great Girl. Which is to say, she had sat down across from me at the same table. ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything,¡± I said. ¡°I think I broke my magic, though.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± she asked, tilting her head curiously.


    ¡°If I knew, I could fix it, maybe.¡±


    ¡°Want to try to explain?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°I don¡¯t have the same sort of power as you, but I¡¯m willing to throw ideas at it.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I nodded. ¡°So, I learned Dancing Lights.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±


    ¡°Then I learned the Light spell the wrong way.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    ¡°Now they¡¯re both gone and my status window says something weird.¡±


    ¡°So you can¡¯t use them anymore?¡± she asked.


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    ¡°Uh¡­¡± A good point. I hadn¡¯t tried. It would only take one point of mana, slightly less than that really, so I tried to form Dancing Lights. Four little orbs appeared around my hand. ¡°I guess I can.¡± And Light? As I thought about the single orb form, before I could even fully gather the mana the four orbs combined. Not like when I first learned the spell, but completely. It even stuck to my fingertips. ¡°This doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to tell you a secret, Turlough,¡± Great Girl leaned forward conspiratorially. ¡°Powers don¡¯t make sense. All the explanations everyone gives for how powers work are half founded in scientific principles at best. Except the explanations by mental enhancement supers, which normal brains can¡¯t comprehend so we can¡¯t really know if it¡¯s actually grounded in something real.¡± She shrugged, ¡°I mean, why can I triple my height and proportionately the rest of my size? Why don¡¯t I crush myself under my own weight? Instead I get proportionately stronger and tougher instead of the opposite.¡±


    I thought for a few moments. ¡°I thought you increased in size by two and a half times at maximum.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Great Girl asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you cap out at fifteen feet?¡±


    ¡°Well sure but-¡± the table snapped at the edge where she was gripping onto it tightly. ¡°Uh, whoops.¡± she shrugged. ¡°See Turlough? Powers are weird. I¡¯m pretty strong, but not enough to snap that at my normal size. Not without my power, at least. I think it makes me stronger at normal size.¡±


    ¡°Okay but,¡± I tried to bring the topic back to the important thing. ¡°For fifteen feet to be triple you¡¯d have to naturally be like five feet tall and you¡¯re like six feet¡­ plus one or two inches.¡±


    ¡°Well, uh, actually¡­¡± her eyes darted around. ¡°I can¡­ reach eighteen feet. Sometimes. So that¡¯s triple six feet, which is my height.¡±


    ¡°Really? Aren¡¯t you like six foot two now?¡± I asked, standing up. ¡°Compare with me.¡±


    She hopped over the table and stood back to back with me. ¡°See? Same height.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m six foot two, though.¡±


    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s probably my boots,¡± she said, looking down.


    ¡°We have the same boots.¡±


    ¡°Guess I grew taller then!¡± she said. I heard her muttering something but didn¡¯t get all of it. ¡°That would explain why I-¡± she coughed and spoke normally. ¡°Anyway weren¡¯t we talking about your magic being screwed up?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes!¡± I nodded enthusiastically while making a mental note that Great Girl might be five feet tall. I wasn¡¯t sure of that, but it seemed like one of those things I wasn¡¯t supposed to ask about. ¡°It now says Basic Light Magic instead of either of the spells I¡¯m supposed to know. But it just does the same things.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Great Girl asked, the two of us sitting back down.


    ¡°I just showed you the two different spells it was.¡±


    ¡°Is that it?¡± she asked. ¡°Did you try anything else? Can you make a laser?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s not a spell for a laser. Look.¡± I held out my hand, catching a laser in my eye. Or at least a beam of light. I immediately dropped the spell when it blinded me, blinking.


    ¡°Maybe don¡¯t point it at yourself?¡± she raised an eyebrow.


    I pointed my finger at the table, imagining a beam of light. I had to cast the spell again, using the expected amount of mana, but it turned into a beam. I tried to focus it more, like a laser. They were supposed to be able to heat things up. When I saw it burning the table next to where Great Girl had snapped a piece- which took several seconds of sustained focus- I reduced the intensity. Then I tried wobbling it around.


    I quickly learned that the limits were more about what I could imagine. I could produce anything¡­ to some extent. Not complex shapes, and anything more than the four orbs akin to Dancing Lights, but I could reshape it at will and swap between the various options I knew or could think of. I could make it float freely or stick to things. And then it disappeared before I thought it should be done.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I stroked my chin. ¡°I think it uses up the mana more quickly to change forms. But it¡¯s definitely different. And the spell is still in the wrong spot.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°Can you learn other things like that? It was a combination of two things so¡­ what else can you do it with? What about Firebolt and Burning Hands?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Burning Hands,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°But you could.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ not right now.¡± I looked at those 13 free points, but I held firm. ¡°Maybe next level.¡±


    ¡°Or¡­ you could learn it through the other thing,¡± she pointed out. ¡°The Portal Power way.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°My apprentice is quite adept at learning new spells in that manner, but I¡¯ve never done it on purpose,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Maybe with Mana Crystal Deposition, but I didn¡¯t really expect it to work. Or be a spell, if it¡¯s actually a spell.¡±


    ¡°But you can learn that way,¡± she reminded me. ¡°It¡¯s already happened two or three times.¡±


    ¡°I suppose. But I don¡¯t know how.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll figure it out at some point,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°You¡¯re smart.¡±


    -----


    Sophia took a deep breath. Today was a rough one. Turlough almost learned one of her big secrets. Her other one was still completely safe, though. There was nothing strictly wrong with being a short nerd, but¡­ it wasn¡¯t very heroic, was it? Or a great mercenary image, she supposed, since Sophia hadn¡¯t been able to become a hero. And it was that woman¡¯s fault. She almost wanted to go punch her into a crater in the ground again, but Shooting Star would probably be ready and if she did that now Sophia might find herself on like¡­ double probation. Or fired.


    She couldn¡¯t really afford that right now. There were so many minis she wanted to buy and they were going to come out with a new edition soon. She needed those books. Digital copies were fine, but there was nothing as good as a nice hardback rulebook.


    Her head was so filled with thoughts that she almost walked into someone. That wasn¡¯t a frequent occurrence- at her normal size, most people stood out. But this was someone actually shorter than her- a kid. A kid who expertly danced around her instead of letting them collide.


    ¡°Oh, sorry,¡± Sophia turned and called back. ¡°I didn¡¯t s- I wasn¡¯t looking. My bad.¡±


    The kid turned around to reveal she wasn¡¯t a kid at all, just a very short woman. There was a clear difference, once she actually saw her. Pretty much the only thing the same was her height, because the body shape and face were all as expected of an adult woman. Was this what it was like when other people looked at herself?


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± the woman said. ¡°I¡¯m used to it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but¡­¡± Sophia shook her head. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have to be. I have people bump into me all the time.¡± Well, she used to at least. She spent more time at work or coming and going now, so she remained taller.


    ¡°Hmm. You¡¯re not bad for a tall person.¡± She stuck out her hand to Sophia. ¡°I¡¯m Izzy.¡±


    ¡°Sophia,¡± she shook the smaller woman¡¯s hand. She got called tall. Not by a martian, but by someone who looked like her. ¡°It¡¯s kind of weird to ask but are you by any chance¡­ a h-¡±


    ¡°No I¡¯m not human,¡± Izzy said in a practiced manner. ¡°I came through one of those portals. I¡¯m a halfling.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I was going to ask.¡± Izzy was beginning to turn around when Sophia said that, but turned back. ¡°Do you want to hang out sometime? I know everything here must be unfamiliar if you¡¯re not from Earth. Unless you¡¯ve been here for a while?¡±


    ¡°Not that long,¡± Izzy replied. ¡°A few months. Still perfecting the language.¡±


    Now that she mentioned it, Izzy did have a bit of an accent. Though a few months was pretty impressive. ¡°Are you using magic?¡±


    Izzy shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t have magic. Language learning is a class option though.¡±


    ¡°What class?¡± Sophia asked, trying to not seem too eager.


    ¡°Scout.¡±


    ¡°Nice! What can you do?¡±


    Wizards were the best, but talking directly to anyone from a type-F world was a rare experience. She wanted to hear everything she could.

 Chapter 97

    Four individuals, three in nice suits and one in a combat uniform, sat around a fancy table. Calculator adjusted his glasses then began his report. ¡°Details of the recent incident with Rodentia seems to have troubling repercussions.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Captain Punch said, his gruff voice sharply contrasting Calculator¡¯s more precise speech. ¡°Because honestly a ray that doesn¡¯t kill people isn¡¯t that bad.¡±


    ¡°It caused serious property damage,¡± Calculator pointed out. ¡°And it¡¯s our job to stop such things. But that isn¡¯t the biggest concern. Mage was there-¡±


    ¡°It seems like he always is,¡± Telescope sighed, looking down at the papers in front of her.


    ¡°He enjoys being on active duty, and the rest also need the experience. Anyway, the ¡®cheese ray¡¯ seems to function off of ambient mana, from Mage¡¯s understanding of the incident.¡±


    ¡°How reliable is that?¡± Captain Punch asked. ¡°Could he be wrong? Anyone able to back his words up?¡±


    ¡°At the moment, Mage is our authority on mana related phenomenon, but he was confident in his appraisal of the situation- and that only the cheese ray used that power. The rats and other devices all used their normal internal power sources¡­ which we¡¯re coming closer to understanding due to Mage capturing some of the rats.¡±


    ¡°I thought they couldn¡¯t be captured?¡± Movebrain finally spoke. ¡°They self-destruct immediately.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct,¡± Calculator said. ¡°But only if they can comprehend they¡¯ve been captured. Being in his Storage magic seemed to prevent them from doing anything. He was able to drop one directly into a scanner. Our techs were able to piece together details¡­ it seems that the rats are powered by small scale mass-energy conversion reactors.¡± Calculator double checked his notes, ¡°Though in theory they should be able to deconstruct anything inside them, it seems that they have only converted cheese. It¡¯s¡­ unclear if that¡¯s an actual restriction or simply a thing Rodentia does. Either way, her actual technical abilities are concerningly high tier, as well as that connection to mana.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Captain Punch asked.


    ¡°Because either she independently figured out how to process mana into usable energy, or she¡¯s working with Doctor Doomsday. Though,¡± Calculator shook his head, ¡°Given that Doctor Doomsday needed to snatch Deimos for the sake of his scanner, we can go forward with the assumption that they are not allied. Regardless, of bigger concern is that Doctor Doomsday has or will have a power scanner. We haven¡¯t learned of Deimos being let free yet, but there¡¯s no way Doctor Doomsday would take this long to reverse engineer anything. Even something as complicated as that.¡±


    ¡°What does it reveal?¡± Captain Punch asked.


    ¡°Besides powers and weaknesses as a general idea, we don¡¯t have any information,¡± Calculator explained. ¡°But it should speed up the general speed at which villains learn strengths and weaknesses of heroes and mercs. Especially with multiple individuals using them. That will make everyone¡¯s jobs more difficult.¡±


    -----


    I appreciated Great Girl telling me I was smart, but I sure didn¡¯t feel like it when my apprentice learned things faster than me. Sure, he wasn¡¯t able to cast as many spells sequentially because his level was still lower, but he learned so many new things. Though I had to admit, my leveling pace was sufficient for others to be jealous.


    I liked Jerome, but sometimes he was uncomfortably perceptive. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Turlough? You don¡¯t seem as focused today.¡±


    He sounded like my therapist. And likewise, my answer for him was only as complete as I could understand. ¡°I don¡¯t really know. I should be satisfied with my own magical progress, but I¡¯m not.¡± Should I say it? ¡°I can¡¯t really learn anything.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Jerome asked, ¡°I thought you were leveling up and stuff. And you learned uh¡­ Basic Light Magic?¡±


    ¡°Did I?¡± I frowned, ¡°Because it just sort of happened. And while purchasing a spell with points is generally called learning¡­ I can only say I¡¯ve learned two or three spells at most in the same manner as you. You¡¯ve learned many more.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ that¡¯s the only way I can know spells, right?¡±


    ¡°You still know more spells than I knew when I came to this world.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you need to find a teacher?¡± Jerome said. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do all this without your help.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s possible,¡± I said. ¡°Nobody in my world learned like this¡­ I think. And even if they did, they¡¯re in another world. I don¡¯t exactly have access to anyone.¡± I had completed what I could learn from the book Master Uvithar sent me. Helpful, but¡­ not sufficient.


    ¡°Don¡¯t portals open up all the time? Why not slip through one of them?¡±


    ¡°And get stuck there?¡± I grimaced. ¡°Sounds awful. Besides, I don¡¯t have any currency and I could end up anywhere.¡±


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    ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t really think about that,¡± Jerome shrugged. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want you to go away. Though if it helped you¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going back to that place,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Maybe¡­ well, a certain spell I¡¯m planning to learn might allow it. But I probably couldn¡¯t cast it for myself.¡± Keeping a Gate open for a couple seconds for Izzy might be possible, but going through myself? Seemed much more difficult. And of course, that was if it did not require the full mana to open, because I¡¯d likely pass out by that point.


    ¡°Sounds tough,¡± Jerome nodded, his arms crossed. ¡°Maybe try a different learning method? Like you did with me.¡±


    ¡°Different how?¡± I asked. ¡°I do my best straight from a book. I already know the parameters of every spell I would wish to have.¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± Jerome said. ¡°But like, that¡¯s just learning facts. I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m not really an authority on learning, obviously. But what about the three things you did learn? What were the circumstances there?¡±


    ¡°They were all quite different. Mana Crystal Deposition¡­ came about from just trying different methods that Doctor Rose felt fit from various media. Haven¡¯t found anything since then.¡± I pondered, ¡°The next one I was dying, so I can¡¯t really replicate the conditions. And the third one, I was just messing around with Dancing Lights. You saw it.¡±


    ¡°... Yeah, I got nothing,¡± Jerome admitted. ¡°You got high stress and low stress situations there. No idea.¡±


    Nothing else fit either. For Water Breathing, I had the points but not the chance to use them. Learning a spell with points was normally quick and painless, but it still took a few moments and some clarity of mind. My desperate, addled brain just skipped ahead to casting it. Alternatively, I had no points at all available when I learned the Light spell. It came from fooling around with Dancing Lights. And Mana Crystal Deposition wasn¡¯t even a spell, or if it was I had no idea what level it was because it didn¡¯t seem to work like anything else, or follow the normal rules for downcasting.


    I sighed. So much for figuring that out. Maybe I never would.


    -----


    The district our squad was patrolling suddenly became very busy all in one night. Okay, it hadn¡¯t been quiet with all the stuff happening, but four calls came in at once. Our dispatcher gave us the priority on dealing with the alerts- a warehouse with nightshift employees and a gun shop, then a couple electronics stores just below that.


    Captain Senan gave the final orders. ¡°Our group will head towards the gun shop. You three take that warehouse. You¡¯re closer, and we can handle the other one.¡±


    I thought we would do fairly well against bullets too, though I would have to Stoneskin Shockfire. Rocker was probably better for that, and Ice Guy could make walls. Plus Midnight could also use Stoneskin, though using it on two people would basically tap him out. He was level 14 now- an impressive growth speed, in my opinion- but it was close to the limits of what he could cast. He did have a couple little baggies of diamond dust mixture in his outfit, just in case.


    As we got to the warehouse, the method of entrance was pretty clear- the still-glowing metal edges of the corrugated door showing exactly how it had been melted open. It was a sort of x-shaped cut, indicating multiple of the same thing acting in concert. Two people, or one person who could do two things at once? Hard to say.


    Inside, we saw toppled shelves, but our first goal was to find the workers. Keeping them safe was priority- stuff could be replaced. Though the Power Brigade was very clear that if we could avoid stuff needing to be replaced, that was preferred. ¡°Sense anything?¡± I looked to Shockfire. He shook his head. No robots or cyborgs then. Strange, that was going to be my first guess.


    Then we found the workers, all tied up with some sort of metal cord. They were bundled together in the middle of the warehouse. We split up, rotating around the area in opposite directions to make sure there wasn¡¯t a trap, though we kept it quick. Nobody and nothing. Then we set about freeing the workers.


    ¡°Looks difficult to melt,¡± Acid Man said.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± I grabbed a cord and popped it into storage¡­ and then back out. I could only fit so much inside Storage at the moment, and these cords were pretty hefty. I continued to do the same, keeping the last one in storage to conserve mana.


    ¡°Everything will be alright,¡± Shockfire was saying as he helped removed blindfolds from the shaken people. ¡°Can you tell me what happened? Who was it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± said one of the employees- a Martian like Zorphax, it seemed. Didn¡¯t see a ton of them. ¡°Cyborgs, I think? They cut into stuff with beams from their arms.¡±


    I locked eyes with the other. The Mod Squad? They were active in the area. Further interrogation revealed they did have the right symbols- the Mod Squad didn¡¯t hide their allegiance, at least not while they were active.


    We completed a sweep of the warehouse, then Shockfire reported back. ¡°Seems like this incident involved a few fellows from the Mod Squad. Burst in, tied everyone up, grabbed some things. They didn¡¯t seem hurried, but nobody was here when we showed up.¡±


    ¡°Same here,¡± Captain Senan replied. ¡°The damage seems similar to their work¡­ but they cleared out less than a quarter of this place. No sign of them when we got here.¡±


    With no active trouble, we gave each place one last sweep before moving on. Cops would be by to secure the scene and assess damage and all that, we had to check the active scenes.


    When we arrived, we found significantly more looted locations. Same signs of forced entry via the beams the Mod Squad preferred, and the goods were something they would want. Maybe the first two places were just distractions- but how they would know those two would be preferred was anyone¡¯s guess. The workers was one thing, but they did their best to avoid alarms.


    Could they have known we were coming? Power Brigade comms were tightly secured. We had at least one or two tech supers keeping up with just that, but it seemed there was always a possibility of a breach. It wasn¡¯t my job to find that stuff out, but we were asked to sweep for cameras or transmitters nearby.


    I had eyes and all that, but it would be a lot easier with magic. I would just gather mana and woosh, camera. I felt there was one around and to the left a bit. I looked, and there it was. Not a hidden, Mod Squad camera but rather one in the display the electronics store had. Guess I must have seen it. Though the question was, why could I sense it? And why would I even need to have such a specific direction of its location even though I was looking right at it?


    And why that one? Why not point to one of the others? Like, the one next to it?


    My head hurt. As I turned to walk past the display the location snapped to one of the others and I realized I wasn¡¯t just imagining things. Great. I had another spell and still no idea how I learned it. Locate Object should be a good one, though.

 Chapter 98

    I pursed my lips, feeling them shift against my tusks. I gathered mana, imagining a fireball. Compressed flame that would fly to a point I envisioned before releasing. I knew how far it should be able to fly, how much mana it took, how much it would expand. Every detail ready in my mind. I released the mana, and my body jerked. Some mana was lost, while the rest flowed back into me. A throbbing pain filled my head.


    Well, fine. If that didn¡¯t work, maybe Lightning Bolt would. One hundred and twenty feet, able to punch through everything in its path without stopping. The same amount of mana as Fireball, and another element I was familiar with from Shocking Grasp. I expected to feel a tingle around my fingers and smell ozone. I prepared to close my eyes to shield against the flash but instead¡­ I closed them from the pain.


    This was garbage.


    My mind was clear of everything else, no distractions or anything¡­ but I couldn¡¯t learn a single spell on purpose. There was one possibility I had in mind, that there was some sort of time limit on learning new things¡­ but that clearly wasn¡¯t the case with Jerome.


    Maybe my mistake was assuming that there was a strong connection¡­ or that my version of the power was actually better. It was strange.


    -----


    Doctor Patenaude nodded seriously as I told him my troubles. ¡°I see. In your previous world, did you feel you were special?¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­ not in any of the good ways,¡± I shook my head. There was a way that English used the word that Curse of the Barbarian definitely made me feel like. ¡°Everybody had a class and the other apprentices could just learn normally.¡±


    ¡°How about after you came here?¡± Doctor Patenaude asked. ¡°Did you feel special when people commented on your unique powers?¡±


    ¡°... Yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°I guess I did.¡±


    ¡°And now, some people have Portal Powers. Does that make you feel less special?¡±


    ¡°I think you already know what I¡¯d say.¡± I sighed, ¡°I¡¯m a pretty terrible teacher for being jealous of my apprentice for learning quickly.¡±


    ¡°You still do your best to help him improve, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°He¡¯s a good kid. He deserves it.¡±


    ¡°The way you feel does not make you a terrible person,¡± Doctor Patenaude said. ¡°It is how you act that is important. Now, I have to ask. Do you believe your Aspect of the Barbarian is limiting how you might naturally learn spells?¡±


    I poked my tusks with my tongue to give myself time to think. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I finally admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t think, uh¡­ I don¡¯t think anyone¡¯s supposed to be able to ¡®naturally¡¯ learn spells. And none of it makes sense. The first one¡­ the first one that I knew was a spell, anyway, certainly came during combat or whatever. But none of the others. And none are combat spells.¡±


    ¡°Breathing water seems like it would be advantageous in combat,¡± Doctor Patenaude pointed out. ¡°And didn¡¯t you mention using light magic to blind enemies?¡±


    ¡°Sure, but that doesn¡¯t make it a combat spell. It doesn¡¯t do damage.¡±


    ¡°I see. So you would say that¡­¡± he looked down at his list, ¡°... Stoneskin is also not a combat spell?¡±


    ¡°Of course it is,¡± I countered. ¡°It directly prevents injury.¡±


    ¡°What about Grease?¡±


    ¡°Making people slip is either useful in combat or as a way to start one,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°So? Can¡¯t it also be used to aid with transportation or freeing something stuck?¡±


    ¡°Well, sure, I guess. But that¡¯s not what it¡¯s for.¡±


    ¡°Says who?¡±


    ¡°Well the um¡­ magic books I guess.¡±


    ¡°I see. Are the magic books an inherent part of your world?¡±


    It was a serious question that deserved a serious answer. ¡°No, they were written by people.¡±


    ¡°Let me tell you something surprising. Sometimes, people are wrong. Or at least¡­ not completely correct.¡± He wrote a few notes. I could always interrupt him if I had something I wanted to say, but I didn¡¯t really know if there was anything. ¡°From your perspective, it¡¯s more important when things are related to combat. It is possible you skew your understanding of spells in that direction.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about that. I mean, what else can a fireball be used for?¡±


    ¡°Lighting a fire.¡±


    ¡°More like setting a building on fire. It¡¯s an explosion forty feet across.¡±


    ¡°I see. In that case, I will relate this to something from our world. Explosives are meant to destroy things. And they do that, but a common use is also for the peaceful destruction of buildings. Precise use of explosives that has nothing to do with combat.¡±


    ¡°They could, though.¡±


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    ¡°I¡¯d imagine nearly anything could be used in combat,¡± Doctor Patenaude pointed out.


    ¡°I suppose,¡± I admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that helps. Because even if I used light magic in combat, I learned Locate Object completely unrelated to battle. And I still don¡¯t know how.¡±


    -----


    I wasn¡¯t sure if having a therapist ultimately made me feel better, but sometimes I felt a little bit more clear headed and I could potentially attribute that to Doctor Patenaude. For vaguely related reasons, I was also trying to be conscious of spending more time not doing things work or magic related. Not tons of things because magic was great, but spending time with friends was a good thing.


    Today, I was with one of my first friends in this world, Khithae. We were just ¡®hanging out¡¯ but the topic shifted to work. But it was hers not mine so it was probably fine. ¡°I¡¯ve been cleaning up in some of the labs. They had a few explosions and they wanted me on standby to quickly try to throw things back together.¡± Khithae smiled, at least as much as she could with lizard-adjacent face muscles. A lot of it was the eyes. ¡°I get to hear all sorts of interesting things! Oh, and they also had me try to repair some of those robo-rats you caught. You know, they blow themselves up almost immediately, and then there was shrapnel all inside the expensive scanners.¡±


    ¡°I told them it would probably still explode,¡± I said defensively. ¡°I hope they¡¯re not mad about that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I was mostly able to fix everything anyway.¡±


    ¡°Really? I thought you were limited to simpler stuff. LIke single material structures.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten pretty efficient at that,¡± Khithae admitted, ¡°But I can do more complex things too. Starting with wires and stuff. Instead of replacing them I tried to repair them, since yanking them out of things and rethreading them is a lot of work. Same with the speaker parts and lights in the training area. Those get busted all the time and it¡¯s a lot of work. The more complex stuff is harder, and one time I passed out trying to fix one of the terrain modulators.¡±


    ¡°Mana Exhaustion? Be careful with that, you could have fallen off the wall.¡±


    ¡°Well, I was attached to the ceiling,¡± Khithae admitted. ¡°But I don¡¯t fall easily.¡±


    I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever met anyone with higher standards for danger. No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. Different standards. Nothing was actively trying to kill her, after all. I wasn¡¯t afraid of heights, but I had some caution related to them. ¡°Glad you¡¯re alright. At least you fixed it.¡±


    ¡°Well, kind of,¡± Khithae shrugged, a motion that clearly wasn¡¯t natural for her. ¡°Fixing anything made by a tech super is¡­ almost impossible.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? What level are you?¡±


    ¡°... I have no idea,¡± Khithae admitted.


    ¡°Uh, how many times can you use your most basic thing¡­ minus five. Without time passing.¡±


    ¡°... Tenish?¡± Khithae tilted her head. ¡°I mean, time is always going to pass a little.¡±


    ¡°Ten minutes for one mana. Or I guess, nineish now.¡± We¡¯d talked about class mechanics a little bit previously, but both of us had been pretty busy. Though I hadn¡¯t even gotten attacked this week.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Khithae said. ¡°I fixed the robo-rats except for¡­ all the important stuff. Like the power generation and special abilities. The techs were kind of disappointed, but at least I fixed the scanners. Eventually. Took a few days, since I had to wait for mana to recover.¡±


    ¡°You should use mana crystals! Or¡­ maybe not,¡± I admitted. ¡°We should check with Doctor Manuel. And you¡¯d have to be able to make them¡­ or use mine? I kind of assume they would work but I don¡¯t know that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t they cost you mana to make? You need that, right?¡±


    ¡°Not all day,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve been using spare mana to make a huge pile of them. They¡¯re surprisingly light!¡±


    ¡°Cool. Does that matter?¡±


    ¡°It does for Storage,¡± I nodded. ¡°I keep a few chunkier ones for emergencies. Sometimes I just carry a couple in pockets but that seems dangerous because they explode.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Khithae¡¯s eyes narrowed.


    ¡°Only when hit by fire. Or electricity. Or any strong magic.¡±


    ¡°That seems dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Not really, the uncontrolled energy is less intense than any spell using the same amount of mana. So only the bigger ones could even kill someone.¡±


    ¡°I feel like there should be a threshold lower than death.¡±


    ¡°Well, sure, but I meant normal people. Anyone with levels or powers or whatever is tougher.¡±


    My phone beeped, and I looked down at it. Izzy, huh? That was rare.


    -----


    Zack Brannigan was looking for trouble.


    He wasn¡¯t going to start it- that would be stupid. Nor was he trying to get himself into trouble. If anything, his presence might reduce the amount of trouble. Nobody wanted to be recorded committing crimes.


    If he didn¡¯t find trouble, he would settle for kittens caught in trees or something. Channel 72 News was doing alright at the moment¡­ which was to say they were managing to pay off the interest on their loans. They could really use something juicy though. Being swarmed by robo-rats might stretch to a week of news coverage, but there was more than just him and Jody to pay if they wanted to keep on the lights.


    Hopefully the payment for the van would come in soon. Super insurance was expensive, and doubly so for reporters- but that was exactly why they got it. A good camera cost as much as the rest of the studio.


    ¡°Think we should climb a fire escape?¡± Jody asked. ¡°Get a different view?¡±


    The willingness to go the extra mile was what made a camerawoman like Jody so special. The extra eyes were useful too. ¡°Good thinking. I¡¯ll pull the van up on one of the safer streets.¡±


    New Bay had good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods, and sometimes there was only a thin line between them. That line also shifted all the time as gangs and supervillain influence spread their influence, before inevitably being taken down- either captured or forced to flee. Sure, the city had an astronomical crime rate, but most of the time Zack felt safe. And at least it wasn¡¯t boring. If there weren¡¯t potential threats all around the rent would probably be even higher, so that was something nice about it.


    They got out of the van and made their way about halfway up a fire escape when Jody held up a finger to her lips. She gestured, and Zack was surprised to see not some sort of climbing villain or scrambling hero, not a monster or some sort of mayhem¡­ but someone else with a camera. Not quite the sort of hulking news camera Jody carried, but more than what the casual videographer would use. They seemed to be waiting for something.


    Zack gestured up, and Jody nodded. They began to make their way slowly up the fire escape to find the best angle. Maybe they could catch whatever this person had been tipped off to. Zack could feel the anticipation in the air as every creak and groan of the fire escape rang in his ears. He wasn¡¯t sure if they needed to be stealthy here, but they didn¡¯t want to scare off whatever this woman was waiting for.

 Chapter 99

    As I approached the coffee shop I finally took in its name. I kind of thought it was just a descriptor before, but it did have a rather large sign. Corner Coffee. Did someone from the Power Brigade name this? ¡­ Did they own coffee shops? Or it could be that more people had the same sort of naming sense.


    Instead of stepping inside, I found Izzy waiting for me outside. ¡°You wanted to call in a favor?¡± I asked.


    The tiny woman looked up at me and nodded. I couldn¡¯t really read the expression on her face. Impatient? Determined? Bored? I wasn¡¯t good with any of that. ¡°People are following me,¡± she said simply. There was no uncertainty behind her words, no possibility that perhaps people weren¡¯t following her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any invisibility spells,¡± I said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need magical assistance to disappear from view,¡± she pointed out. ¡°But I also can¡¯t always be hidden. And I would prefer to resolve the issue rather than hiding from it.¡±


    ¡°Do you know who it is? What they might want with you?¡±


    ¡°The same kind of people who attacked Midnight and me in that alley near your place. I assume they plan to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Based on my understanding of this world, they¡¯d likely stop before that point, but nearly dying isn¡¯t preferable. What do you want from me?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to come with me and we¡¯ll lure them out. I¡¯m certain they¡¯re eager to find me somewhere out of the way.¡± Izzy nodded, ¡°I¡¯m just not fully confident in facing them alone, especially since I don¡¯t have my swords.¡±


    ¡°What? Why not?¡± It was true, her waist was bare of weapons.


    ¡°Apparently I need a ¡®license¡¯ or something. As if my shortswords were much bigger than these,¡± Izzy gestured and with a click her hands suddenly had two daggers. ¡°These aren¡¯t that bad, but against a group of people with glowing magic armor, I¡¯m not confident alone.¡±


    ¡°I should have brought Midnight, if we¡¯re planning to fight.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want a friend to be in danger,¡± she commented.


    For some reason, I felt a twinge of pain, but I couldn¡¯t feel any injuries, and it was only for a moment. Nothing had broken through my Force Armor, either. ¡°Well, alright. But he¡¯ll probably head over this way once he senses me fighting. You really think they¡¯ll attack us?¡±


    ¡°Of course. They¡¯ve been looking for an opening for a while.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but that¡¯s for just you. With me around we¡¯ll have like ten times the mass, which is something people generally think about when attacking.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying you¡¯re worth ten of me in a fight?¡± One of the dagger things was pointing at my waist, Izzy¡¯s eyes glaring at me.


    ¡°No?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°The point was anyone stupid enough to attack you doesn¡¯t really know better.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Right.¡± Izzy nodded. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re pretty obvious. Can you be¡­ less¡­ like that?¡± She gestured to me as a whole.


    ¡°Sure. I can- is anyone watching?¡±


    ¡°Not here,¡± Izzy shook her head. ¡°They don¡¯t like to be in the nicer parts of the city. They have people waiting all over, though.¡±


    ¡°Great, then I can look like I¡¯m a lot smaller. And less¡­ orcish.¡± I stroked my chin, ¡°Think they¡¯re more likely to attack us if I look like another girl, or should I go for a small guy?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ go for a non-intimidating man, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± I cast Disguise, making myself appear about a foot shorter and about half as heavy. I was still actually six feet tall. Or six one or two or whatever I was now. But people wouldn¡¯t be able to see that. My skin became a sort of light tan, and my tusks were concealed. Or rather, nothing about myself was visible and I just had a fake person projected over me- and an area of nothingness outside that. ¡°How are the details?¡±


    ¡°Good enough,¡± Izzy said. ¡°The angle of your head looking down at me could give you away, if people have that sort of observational skill.¡±


    ¡°Most don¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°So, we¡¯re expecting trouble within an hour or so right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I expect it to be quick¡­ or not to happen today.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I nodded, pulling little baggies out of pockets I didn¡¯t visually have anymore. ¡°Stoneskin time.¡± After casting it on both of us, I cast Disguise on Izzy too- because having gray, craggy skin was likely to indicate something was off. ¡°Alright, gimme five minutes before we continue.¡± I pulled out some of my bigger mana crystals- they¡¯d recover somewhere around three mana each.


    ¡°What are those?¡±


    ¡°Crystallized mana,¡± I said.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Sounds¡­ expensive.¡±


    ¡°I make them with mana. It¡¯s pretty exhausting.¡±


    ¡°So why¡­?¡±


    ¡°To have mana later, obviously,¡± I nodded. ¡°I didn¡¯t know I could do this, but it¡¯s pretty useful. I can absorb one every minute, more or less.¡±


    ¡°Wow. That sounds great. A near-infinite supply of mana?¡±


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s not that good. Just way better than normal recovery.¡± Plus, there was the whole thing with using too many of them at once. But this was something important.


    Once I was ready, Izzy led the way and I just kind of walked next to her. We hadn¡¯t done a lot of that¡­ just walking around. Of course, at the moment we were actively searching for enemies.


    ¡°Caught some,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I¡¯m gonna loop us through some alleys, see if they gather together. Try not to look for them. You¡¯ll be fine in an ambush, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I nodded.


    It wasn¡¯t long before I heard people walking behind us, and noticed people hanging around the alleyways we were heading towards. Duos and trios gathered down certain paths, almost as if they were herding us somewhere.


    Then something struck me in my upper bicep, nearly knocking me over. I was ready, but not that ready. I turned to see a decently sized guy, looking between me and his bat in confusion. What did he think was going to happen, hitting an orc right in the muscles? Even one just my size.


    He hadn¡¯t figured anything out before my fist was flying towards his jaw. He tried to react to that by blocking with his bat, or at least I presume that was what he was trying but he put it way too low. My fist struck him straight in the chin and he went down like a sack of potatoes. But before he even hit the ground, there were a dozen other people running towards the two of us.


    More discount paladins with metal bats, lead pipes, and even chains. One person hanging around the back- a mage? and also a couple people with knives. They could be discount paladins, but most of the others had brilliant yellow glows around their weapons and some had golden armor around themselves. I suddenly wished I¡¯d brought a weapon¡­ then I realized I could just snatch one from one of these guys.


    Before I could do that, I had to duck through a web of attacks, one of which clipped me in the side. These guys weren¡¯t skilled, but they were at least coordinated enough to attack from multiple angles together. I grunted as I grabbed the bat. I held it in front of me, but something felt off. Well, whatever. I took a swing at one of the incoming guys and found his armor held up pretty well. It was a lot like my Force Armor, but way more visible. Typical paladin garbage.


    Unfortunately, after exchanging a few rounds of blows and having my Force Armor shatter, I realized that these portal powers had actually been doing some training compared to the others. They had more than like, half an idea what they were doing, and a couple abilities. I had better combat training, but the numbers were going to trump that. I needed to use magic, but efficiently. I could maybe afford a Shocking Grasp on each if there were exactly a half dozen I had to fight. It seems they had split fairly evenly between myself and Izzy, but there might be more coming.


    I should at least take down one or two quickly. I channeled Shocking Grasp into my hands¡­ and saw arcs of electricity coming off the bat. Did that mean I had just wasted it, or would it still work? Only one way to find out. I took a swing at one of the guys but he blocked, our weapons clashing. Then he quickly spasmed and fell onto his back, smoke coming out of his ears.


    Ah, damn. That was a full power Shocking Grasp, too. Well, if he died it was his own fault. I took a few hits for that, but against physical trauma Stoneskin was literally fifteen times as good as Force Armor. Either the blunt force or the paladin crap started to bruise me a little through my defenses, but I could endure more than that.


    As I spun and fought I caught glimpses of Izzy. She was doing a lot of ducking through people¡¯s legs, and if they were smart enough to narrow their stance she spun around them. I could feel the constant pour of mana from her as she used her abilities. Her movement and strikes were all enhanced, allowing her rather small weapons to break through the defensive barriers of some of the discount paladins.


    Then I got blasted in the side, and not by some chump with a bat. I was left with a ringing sound in my ears even though I hadn¡¯t been hit in the head at all, but at least as I was flung into the wall one of the thugs padded my landing. How nice of him.


    I staggered to my feet as pieces of rock crumbled to the ground, dazedly looking for who launched that attack. Then I saw one of the mages grinning cockily, his hand outstretched. I was going to smash that grin off his face¡­ except that he seemed to have done it for me. The grin got at least a little more dubious as his muscles relaxed and he flopped onto the ground from mana exhaustion. No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. Even a level 0 mage had enough mana to cast Sonic Lance once¡­ technically. Not that they should be able to learn it. Either way, based on how effective the spell had been he had to have a couple levels to not pass out before finishing the spell. There went a third of my Stoneskin¡­ and if I were directly comparing mana to one enemy, I came out on top there. But there wasn¡¯t just one.


    I looked at the other mage as I heard her yell ¡®Scatter!¡¯. It was rather nice of her to warn me, because I was able to tackle through one of the group coming to dogpile me and use him as a shield when the fireball hit the middle of the alley. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t do anything about Izzy, who was out in the open.


    She seemed to be the primary target as the bead of fire rushed to a point just above her head¡­ or rather, above the head height of a human, which left her a good three feet. The people around her were leaping back, but Izzy remained in the center of them. I only saw a flicker of movement from her before the explosion blinded me.


    When I could finally see again, most of the thugs around us were out cold. Or out hot? A few of them were actually on fire, but that wasn¡¯t my problem. There was one guy next to me and I swung my bat at his head but somehow hit his shoulder. Oh right, my bat was kind of affected by the disguise spell. I guess it was useful for tricking enemies of my own position, but I wasn¡¯t familiar enough with this weapon to get the different angles. So I dropped the spell.


    ¡°Oh crap, it¡¯s Mage!¡± said the guy in front of me before I hit him in the face with an electrified bat.


    I turned towards Izzy just in time to see one of the few standing combatants sneaking up behind her. One of those with the knives. I was too late to call out, my voice barely reaching my throat, when the knife stabbed right down towards Izzy¡¯s neck. Then the guy yelled out, dropping his knife- probably because of the bloody hole in his hand. Izzy didn¡¯t even turn towards him as she ran forward towards the other one, slicing at his wrist and making him drop his weapon.


    ¡°Well,¡± I said. ¡°That was fun. So, is that it or¡­?¡± My question was answered by heavy feet thudding down the alleyway. I turned to see a hulking figure charging towards me. ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you supposed to be in jail dude?¡±

 Chapter 100

    The large man who was charging towards me did not respond to my inquiries about his absence from jail, so I had to respond quickly. During training, everyone was frequently reminded not to use new abilities in the middle of combat, so of course I did. Or maybe not, because light magic wasn¡¯t really new. It kind of just came instinctively, tossing two orbs of light towards the guy¡¯s eyes and hoping they stuck. And they did.


    I wasn¡¯t really surprised because it was extremely easy to hit a big target like that, except for the fact that what I wanted just happened. Sure, all of those properties were things I knew light magic could have, but not the same ones. I¡¯d tried some of it in practice, but it wasn¡¯t the same. But maybe the guy would shrug the magic off in a second.


    The fact that he suddenly couldn¡¯t see anything didn¡¯t stop the guy from charging where I just was, but my entire months of training would have been a complete waste if I couldn¡¯t dodge out of the way of a blind thug. Some of the other thugs were standing in his way dazed and they got run over. Then he crashed into a wall, opening a hole into someone¡¯s apartment or something.


    ¡°... We should probably take this guy down quick!¡± I looked to Izzy. ¡°I can knock him down but I don¡¯t know if that would stop him.¡±


    ¡°That would be Gr- your fourth spell, right?¡± Izzy said. ¡°Do it!


    Right, of course she¡¯d remember that. She was probably most of the reason I even got to level 10 to begin with. Well, technically that was level 6 or 7 but leveling was a lot slower without a dedicated fighting buddy.


    Even though he couldn¡¯t see, it wasn¡¯t like the big guy couldn¡¯t hear. Was he bigger than last time? What kind of barbarian was he? Well, whatever. Yelling angrily and running at me- since I was the louder of Izzy and I- made my job really easy.


    Grease covered an area about ten feet across, vaguely square shaped. Obviously it didn¡¯t have solid edges even if it was made out of magical black goop instead of actual grease or oil. That area was surprisingly small when the giant guy plopped forward in it. I was worried he might reach his way beyond it and pull him out, but Izzy was on top of him in an instant. Or rather, dancing around his flailing legs.


    The Grease spell was magically difficult to stand in¡­ and as far as I could tell Izzy wasn¡¯t bothered one bit as she stabbed the guy¡¯s ankles. ¡°Is this guy made of freaking rock?¡± she yelled, barely visible even over the prone form of the fellow.


    The splatters of blood coming out of his ankle belied Izzy¡¯s description of the guy¡¯s toughness¡­ or maybe it just went to show that her class abilities were exceptional. She ducked and dodged about the guy¡¯s flailing legs like she was standing on solid concrete. She never stopped moving, partly to avoid being hit but I also to find the right angles, and activate whatever Scout abilities allowed her to cut things that undersized weapons shouldn¡¯t be able to.


    It was kind of fun to watch. That may have distracted me enough that I didn¡¯t contribute properly to further incapacitating the giant. My earlier concerns about him reaching outside the grease were well founded, and his fingers sunk into the pavement. Muscles strained, flipping him head over heels to land on his feet. Then his ankles collapsed in a scream of rage.


    ¡°I should inform you that further movement will force me to blast you directly into the pavement with the same thing that previously blasted you through a car.¡± My words didn¡¯t seem to calm the man, but as it turned out blindly flailing around while unable to stand wasn¡¯t something he could keep up forever.


    ¡°... what do we do now?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°Now we wait for those with proper restraints to show up and take this guy to a more secure holding facility where he will have additional charges levied against him. And these others will be facing mostly new charges, I imagine.¡± I was feeling pretty drained, my defensive spells half battered through and I was pretty sure I was leaking blood. Hopefully the crystals in my veins helped with that¡­ or at least hadn¡¯t grown too big. ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll need to stay around to answer questions. Sorry.¡± I tapped my chin. ¡°Didn¡¯t you call me out today for a favor? I guess we¡¯ll have to get to it next time.¡±


    ¡°This was the favor,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°... Fighting people doesn¡¯t count, though.¡±


    -----


    At around that time, a woman was nearly cackling on a rooftop. ¡°This footage is going to be great! Just what she wanted!¡±


    On another rooftop right next to her, two others were functioning with much more self control. Zack exchanged a grin and serious look with some of Jody¡¯s eyes, while she held a large camera on one shoulder¡­ and her cell phone in the other, pointing it at the other filming. That part didn¡¯t need to be high quality, but the fight scene down below? Well, they¡¯d probably have to censor some of it, but uploading the unedited footage somewhere was going to be fun.


    First they had to wait for the other person¡¯s highly edited version to show up. This was going to be big. Zack didn¡¯t know who had it out for that short woman and apparently Mage, but- actually, he did know who had it out for Mage. He took a brief moment to think. Then he exchanged another glance with some of Jody¡¯s other eyes. They needed this story. And it might even bring enough to hire security so they didn¡¯t die.


    -----


    ¡°... How did this happen?¡± Calculator asked me.


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    ¡°What part?¡±


    ¡°You getting attacked by these specific individuals.¡±


    ¡°My friend- my former friend, Izzy, asked for a favor. Some suspicious people were following her. Then she allowed them to lure and or intimidate us towards shady alleyways where we were attacked. The battle included one escaped¡­ pre-convict?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Because he hadn¡¯t gone to trial yet.¡±


    ¡°Which really isn¡¯t going to help his case,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°We might be able to get his charges bumped up to actual supervillainy. Another question, though. Why would they be after her?¡±


    My mind searched for that answer. However, Midnight was able to provide it first. ¡°She was there when I was attacked outside our apartment,¡± he provided.


    ¡°Oh yeah! That was the first time we had trouble with Stargirl¡¯s thugs! Hey, do you think these were related? I mean, they weren¡¯t even wearing shirts with her faces on them, but maybe they-¡±


    ¡°Several of them were card-carrying fanclub members,¡± Calculator responded. ¡°If only we managed to get the incident on camera.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said. ¡°I tried walking near shady alleyways on the way to work all week but nobody took the bait.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well it seems like they have some sense. At least-¡± his tablet made a noise and was instantly in his hand. Then he said a large number of words I didn¡¯t know. I wasn¡¯t using Translation at the moment, so I almost cast him and asked him to repeat. Then I figured it out through context. Profanity. Very complicated profanity. ¡°... I wasn¡¯t hired to manage PR. Why does this have to happen to me?¡± He looked at me, anger in his eyes¡­ but I hadn¡¯t done anything wrong, so I wasn¡¯t concerned.


    ¡°Who did what?¡±


    He just showed me a video which involved a lot of me shocking people and clubbing them upside the head, then a flailing giant while I looked on casually. How embarrassing, I really should have been hitting him while he was down.


    ¡°... Doesn¡¯t it take time to edit video like that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Maybe they had a tech super do it,¡± he shrugged. Even as he said that, his fingers were furiously typing on his tablet. Notifications were incoming and responses were outgoing rapidfire. ¡°I¡¯ll have someone else collect the rest of your report. After that, please spend the rest of today¡¯s shift inside HQ.¡±


    ¡°... I wasn¡¯t looking for trouble,¡± I said. Izzy was, I guess. But that wasn¡¯t the point.


    ¡°We can talk about that later. Right now-¡± he stopped as another message came in. ¡°... This has to be fake. No way.¡± He frowned. ¡°Do you know a guy from Channel 72 News?¡±


    My brain churned for a moment. ¡°He was there for the slimes. And after the fire.¡± I nodded. ¡°Zack, maybe?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Interesting.¡±


    He didn¡¯t say what was interesting, but I could see him taking screenshots of ¡®social media¡¯ stuff while watching a video and texting. Seems like he needed more hands for that, but he managed somehow.


    I guess I kind of had time off? That would give me a chance to think about what I would spend points on at level 24. I wasn¡¯t quite there yet, maybe because the thugs were still around the same level and I was stronger, or because I¡¯d already beat the big guy, or because Izzy took down a bunch of them with minimal input on my part. Either way, I was a bit short of the 1500 experience threshold for level 24. Couldn¡¯t level every time I guess.


    ¡­ Slow, probably. I could catch a group with that and make everything easier, and it wasn¡¯t too expensive. It was certainly near the top of my list.


    What else should I do today? Oh right. Doctor Martinez would want to see me after I consumed all those crystals. That seemed like a good idea.


    ¡°Hey there!¡± Great Girl waved as I passed by. ¡°How¡¯s it going, Mage? Midnight?¡±


    ¡°Today has been going well,¡± I said. I got to fight along with my former friend.


    ¡°Cool,¡± she said. ¡°Hey I know you guys aren¡¯t the best pair to ask about this, but are you suddenly having signal trouble with your phones?¡±


    ¡°It seems fine to me,¡± I said as I pulled it out.


    ¡°It¡¯s kinda a pain to pull mine out¡­¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°13.1% less pain than it could be,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah, whatever,¡± Midnight did his best to shrug. ¡°Still annoying. I need to get someone to develop Celmothian friendly devices.¡±


    ¡°Sounds expensive,¡± Great Girl frowned as her phone made another noise. ¡°Oh weird. I¡¯m being assigned to guard duty here? I hope there¡¯s not some kind of trouble.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine it¡¯s anything major,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Otherwise there would be an alarm. And you¡¯re not an infiltrator so it¡¯s unlikely you¡¯d get a secret mission.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Great Girl raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Just that. They wouldn¡¯t send either of us on anything secret. Unless it was only supposed to remain secret until things began falling apart.¡± I looked at Midnight, who was remaining quiet on the topic. ¡°Do they send you on secret infiltration missions?¡±


    ¡°If they did and I told you, I¡¯d have to kill you.¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure that¡¯s not how that works,¡± I said. ¡°And also that you¡¯d lose access to magely abilities. So a big loss for both of us.¡± My eyes returned to Great Girl. ¡°Good luck with your guard duties or whatever.¡±


    With that, I was on my way to Doctor Martinez.


    I figured I should probably review the video of my fight later with the squad, though a lot of context was cut out so they might not be able to give me advice beyond ¡®don¡¯t stupidly stand around when someone is down but still potentially dangerous¡¯. Sure, I didn¡¯t have a ton of mana left to blast the guy, but I could have done something.


    Maybe the crystals were interfering with my brain patterns? I don¡¯t see what else could have distracted me from battle. It was a good thing nobody else had been left standing¡­ and some might have a lot of trouble standing again. Like that big guy. Maybe whatever damage Izzy did to his ankles would have healed given time, but not after he threw his whole very significant body weight upon it. What was he thinking?


    Oh right. Actual barbarian. He probably wasn¡¯t.

 Chapter 101

    The edited video did a fairly good job of portraying brutal violence and deception from one side of the battle, but it would have been more believable if there weren¡¯t far more combatants on the side of the actual aggressors. Zack did have to admit that they did a pretty good job with the revelation that Mage was involved, but before that point it was a dozen individuals attacking a moderately sized man and a woman only as tall as a child. The editing did a good job focusing on how she stabbed her knives into people, and the blood¡­ and leaving out the part where the thugs had a mage of their own that knocked themselves out after blasting a big spell while only shoving Mage around.


    It was quite obvious to Zack that they had hesitated about including the final scene where an exceptionally large man rushed the now visibly orcish man and tiny halfling, so they kind of skipped the whole introduction and got straight to the part where he was lying on the ground getting stabbed and then the part where his ankles snapped.


    The whole package might have been a little bit convincing if the video wasn¡¯t in ultra high definition and professionally stabilized and edited while still saying that it was a random person catching ¡®something crazy¡¯ on their phone. It didn¡¯t help that the thugs were all glowing with obvious portal powers when the woman didn¡¯t look like she had powers at all. That was not a good look, but the editing was fast and about the best they could do.


    But Zack couldn¡¯t help but grin maniacally as the two unedited parallel videos they had recorded were uploaded. He and the rest of the team started commenting with links to it everywhere the original uploaders didn¡¯t have control over the comments, and then everywhere they did with screenshots just for fun.


    And he also got in contact with the Power Brigade because while Channel 72 News needed a boost in popularity it also needed¡­ money. He wasn¡¯t going to ask for anything extortionate- both because that was not good for business and also not good for his kneecaps- but working with them for an exclusive interview was great.


    ¡°Wait does uploading this video unedited mean I¡¯m not getting paid?¡± asked the blue-skinned woman at the computer next to him.


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s getting paid, Molly,¡± Zack said. ¡°Even if you weren¡¯t going to do any work. But also I need you to make an edit that¡¯s basically the opposite of that one asap.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a tech super,¡± Molly said, ¡°But I¡¯ll get it ready by¡­ tomorrow morning?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll have to do,¡± Zack said. ¡°We can¡¯t just broadcast the whole thing on TV, because there really is a lot of blood. Which is why most heroes don¡¯t use knives. We¡­ confirmed nobody died, right?¡±


    ¡°That right,¡± Molly nodded. ¡°Which is about the limit of what can be said for their health. Except for the mages, I guess. They were¡­ fine?¡±


    ¡°Because they passed out instead of having to be knocked down,¡± Zack nodded.


    ¡°You do realize putting your face on this will make you a target of thugs like this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure I get video of it when I die.¡± The thing about the Power Brigade and his kneecaps was he wouldn¡¯t get a story out of it.


    ¡°Good to know. Make sure it streams to our servers.¡±


    Jody was also present, since everyone was involved with posting the video to various sites. ¡°It¡¯s too bad that woman recording got away, but we couldn¡¯t exactly stop her.¡±


    ¡°Got away?¡± Zack raised an eyebrow. ¡°You got extremely good shots of her face the whole time. Though it¡¯s not my business if anyone wants to try to book her for criminal conspiracy or if we just get to raise a ruckus. We got exactly what we needed.¡±


    -----


    Swirling silver mists parted to reveal¡­ a fairly plain looking woman. Just sort of lounging around her apartment. It felt like some kind of invasion of privacy, but apparently we had a search warrant. Which was also apparently something required? I didn¡¯t really remember anything about that back in my world, but maybe it was because it was hard to catch anyone. All magic had different ways it could be used, but magic like Scrying could only be used for various forms of spying on people, with various levels of legitimacy.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame it only shows a small area around the target,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Is there any way to improve that? With¡­ points?¡±


    ¡°It is very expensive,¡± I said truthfully. And also I was reluctant to spend said points on a definitely non-combat spell. Unless¡­ no, I couldn¡¯t cast anything relevant through a scrying sensor. I also didn¡¯t have anything long enough range to have it matter in regards to targeting. There were a few very long range spells, but those also just had to hit the right city block, more or less. But I wasn¡¯t going to learn Meteor Swarm any time soon, because even if I had the points to learn it or the mana to cast it, I really didn¡¯t think the Power Brigade would accept the amount of collateral damage it would cause. If I was very lucky I could focus it in the middle of the street and only damage that much. As long as the streets weren¡¯t too narrow.


    But it would also take a level and a half worth of points all on its own and cost twenty mana, which meant I¡¯d really need to be level 35 to not totally knock myself out when casting it. And while I was almost level 24, that really wasn¡¯t enough. Gate was the same, but I was hoping I could properly form it and hold it open long enough for Izzy to get through. Then she¡¯d be back home and I wouldn¡¯t feel bad. It was still a ways off before I could even try that though.


    I was sort of randomly turning the focus of the scrying. I¡¯d gotten used to looking for clues- or letting Calculator do it. ¡°Wait- stop there,¡± he said. ¡°Can you¡­ get closer?¡± I zoomed the image in. ¡°Back up about a half step. Yes, that¡¯s it. I¡¯m glad everything is in focus.¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Why would it not be in focus? It¡¯s not a camera. Or an eye.¡±


    ¡°Many powers work like them,¡± Calculator said, while writing down something. We had a proper setup for recording the scrying itself, with a few cameras around to cover everything. That meant he no longer had to hold up his tablet to do it, which we had probably done for¡­ too long. Though he did seem to prefer having information directly accessible. ¡°Just in case that package was for someone else, let¡¯s continue until the spell runs out.¡±


    Even as he said that, he was fiddling around with his tablet. ¡°What are you up to?¡± I asked. It wasn¡¯t particularly hard to hold onto this image. This particular woman¡¯s mental defenses against scrying were¡­ nonexistent? Granted, someone had scryed on me and I really couldn¡¯t do much about it, but at least I noticed it was happening. And pushing it away would have let them know I knew, so I didn¡¯t really try.


    ¡°You want to know?¡± Calculator said. ¡°Relaying orders and monitoring social media.¡±


    ¡°Is that your job? The second part.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not not my job,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Especially in circumstances like this.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Have you¡­ really not learned about it?¡±


    ¡°I told you, I don¡¯t really deal with that stuff.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Midnight said. I was reminded of his presence- not that it mattered. Or rather, having him around mattered¡­ but I wasn¡¯t going to change anything I said or did based on his presence. Midnight was my Cat Buddy and my Familiar and he was almost capable of casting Scrying on his own. Maybe I should upgrade it? That would cut off like, half a mana. But it was also twelve points, so I couldn¡¯t really think about that for a while. ¡°Turlough¡¯s incident is once again related to Shooting Star, is it not?¡±


    ¡°I figured,¡± I shrugged, ¡°What with the discount paladins and mages and that giant guy who really shouldn¡¯t have been around.¡±


    ¡°The circumstances of Titas¡¯ presence are still under investigation,¡± Calculator said. ¡°But he will not be getting off lightly. Beyond just you crippling his ability to walk.¡±


    ¡°Hey, he did¡­ some of that himself.¡±


    ¡°I am not here to judge your combat tactics,¡± Calculator said. ¡°They were adequate. Though the whole disguise thing is making this harder.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t think it could get punched out of me like that. So, Midnight, anything I¡¯d want to hear?¡±


    ¡°Shooting Star¡¯s remarks about you were, as always, negative.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why she¡¯d got it out for me,¡± I said. ¡°All I said was the truth about how she¡¯s not a very good hero.¡±


    ¡°People don¡¯t like to hear that, Turlough,¡± Midnight said with internal amusement. ¡°Even if it¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Tough luck,¡± I said. After a few moments, I frowned. ¡°I hope Izzy¡¯s fine. She said she would be, but there could be more people around¡­¡±


    It was Calculator who answered that. ¡°The number of Portal Powers is not actually that great. By my understanding, one of Shooting Star¡¯s fanclub meetings just happened to be right next to one of the portals so they simply had more. But it shouldn¡¯t be unlimited.¡±


    ¡°All of her fans got portal powers?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Certainly not all of them,¡± Calculator said. ¡°There were probably a thousand of them around. But a couple dozen out of that is already significant.¡±


    ¡°... They should run out soon, then,¡± I said. ¡°If they stay in jail.¡±


    ¡°We can hope so,¡± Calculator agreed. While we were talking, my Scrying faded away and we found no more useful details. ¡°Well, I believe we obtained sufficient information here. I appreciate your assistance. Feel free to return to your regular duties. Oh, and I shouldn¡¯t have to say this, but don¡¯t talk to Great Girl about this.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°.... I¡¯m glad I said this,¡± Calculator sighed. ¡°To put it straightforwardly, because she¡¯ll abandon her current guard duties and go attempt to smash a potentially more prepared Shooting Star into the ground, and whichever way that confrontation goes will be bad for us.¡±


    ¡°So she doesn¡¯t know about this. Is that why her phone isn¡¯t working?¡±


    ¡°You could be quite adept at investigatory practices if you put your mind to it,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°Good day.¡±


    I looked at Midnight, ¡°He didn¡¯t say yes or no.¡±


    ¡°I think you found the right answer,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Anyway, you are aware there¡¯s video of your recent fight, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Really? Again?¡± I frowned. ¡°Does it make me look bad again?¡±


    ¡°Intentionally. And it is Shooting Star approved.¡± I began to ponder how many uses of Sonic Lance it would take to bring down Stargirl. I could technically buy two upgrades which would improve its damage potential by one-sixth. Before I did anything more, however, Midnight continued. ¡°But more than one person got footage. That Zack Brannigan released a full version which people are scrambling over. See?¡±


    Two videos played in parallel. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s why we were looking for that woman.¡±


    ¡°... So you didn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Calculator said it was for a criminal investigation relevant to myself. And it was, apparently.¡± I frowned, ¡°Is filming things illegal?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°But I¡¯d assume that woman is part of Shooting Star¡¯s fanclub and thus a co-conspirator with those who attacked you.¡±


    I scrunched my face, feeling my tusks drag against my skin. ¡°How annoying. I don¡¯t mind getting attacked, but this time they went after¡­ someone who used to be my friend a while ago. We can¡¯t just let them get away with this!¡±


    ¡°Most of them are locked up,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°Though the real problem is Shooting Star herself, prancing around openly with a Bunvorixian.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still pretty sure that¡¯s just a dog,¡± I said.


    ¡°... Perhaps,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Ceira and I have plans to attempt to find and speak to it.¡±


    ¡°Did she finally figure out how to talk to animals?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s does a quite convincing impression, if not,¡± Midnight shrugged, ¡°But I¡¯m not an animal so I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know buddy. I guess together you guys should be able to talk to anything though. Need me to go with you?¡±


    ¡°... Perhaps. Obviously I will be in disguise, so you could be as well. Though we have no intentions of approaching Shooting Star herself.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I nodded. ¡°Just let me know when and where.¡±

 Chapter 102

    ¡°...and I don¡¯t even know what I¡¯m supposed to be guarding or how long I¡¯m going to be assigned here,¡± Great Girl complained. ¡°My phone doesn¡¯t even work and even though I know I¡¯m not supposed to use it during work I kind of wish it would after because they¡¯re making me sleep here and I¡¯m bored. And I missed my D&- I missed a thing hanging out with my friends.¡± She frowned, ¡°It¡¯s weird my phone worked for that but at least my message got through.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is weird and not at all due to anything I am involved with,¡± I said naturally.


    ¡°Look, just because we don¡¯t hang out outside of work doesn¡¯t mean we aren¡¯t friends,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°I¡¯m just embarrassed about- I mean, I take my civilian identity seriously. And I guess you don¡¯t.¡±


    I folded my arms in front of me. ¡°I refuse to not be an orc except when specifically disguised.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fair. It just seems like it makes things difficult, if people find out. At least you haven¡¯t been attacked again, right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind fighting,¡± I said so I wouldn¡¯t have to directly lie. Though I was finding it difficult to do so anyway. Why was she still allowed to talk to me when I was the most likely to give away the thing we were keeping from her? Well, it would probably be more suspicious if one of us was kept out of the common areas of the Power Brigade. A message freed me from the awkwardness of avoiding a topic. ¡°Ah, Handface is no longer in Doctor Doomsday¡¯s custody.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ bad, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes. That means Doctor Doomsday likely has a version of a power scanner now.¡±


    ¡°And also Deimos might try to kill you.¡±


    I frowned, ¡°That is a bit of an issue. Keeping up Stoneskin all day is going to slow the growth of my ivory and gemstone fund.¡±


    ¡°Hah.¡±


    I tilted my head, ¡°What was funny?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a weird thing to call a savings account.¡±


    ¡°Ivory is very expensive right now and I¡¯m not willing to risk synthetic gemstones on such a large project. Plus I have to hire someone to carve it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re serious? What would you need something like that for?¡± Great Girl frowned, ¡°Contingency?¡±


    ¡°Correct. Mana usage in combat is one of my most frustrating bottlenecks still, so being able to prepare something ahead of time would be optimal. Though I¡¯m uncertain if Stoneskin or Physical Freedom would be more advantageous. The latter is less generally relevant and more useful in response to something, but determining how it would be triggered is the issue. I¡¯d likely need to know what I was going to deal with ahead of time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, probably. Couldn¡¯t you just make it some kind of word, though?¡±


    ¡°That works against anything that lets me speak still,¡± I nodded. ¡°Which is probably good enough. Not that I even have the capability of doing that yet, since I have neither the free points nor the magical focus required.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. Wanna hit the gym?¡±


    ¡°I think my muscles are fine for the moment. I don¡¯t intend to be primarily engaged in melee combat or anything.¡±


    She looked at me, but I couldn¡¯t tell what her face meant. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t hurt though, right? I¡¯m bored but I can¡¯t get into a serious spar right now so I have to deal with something I¡¯ll recover from quickly.¡±


    ¡°Your muscles recover quickly?¡±


    ¡°I do have a strength based power, after all,¡± Great Girl shrugged. ¡°Depends on how serious I got, though.¡±


    ¡°I suppose if we can¡¯t spar, joining you in the gym would be fine.¡± Providing companionship for Great Girl so that she wouldn¡¯t think there was something to pry into and then go get herself in trouble was probably good, and being strong wasn¡¯t bad. It just wasn¡¯t very¡­ magely.


    We went to the gym, currently not being used for any group conditioning sessions. It was still occupied, but we had room to be more by ourselves and just¡­ hang out. The sounds of the exercise machines were both new and familiar, and after straining my muscles sufficiently I couldn¡¯t help but observe my friend.


    ¡°Don¡¯t your powers make you stronger proportionate to your size?¡±


    ¡°So?¡± Great Girl said between breaths of exertion as she performed the ¡®bench press¡¯. ¡°I could make this easy, but then there would be no point.¡±


    ¡°Then exercising while larger is less effective?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s-¡± she raised the barbell once more, ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°So it would be most effective if you were the smallest size possible,¡± I continued my train of thought.


    Great Girl didn¡¯t say much as she finished her reps, then she sat up to face me. ¡°... and so? You got magic that will make me smaller or something?¡±


    ¡°Would that even help since it¡¯s outside of your own power?¡±


    ¡°Probably not,¡± she admitted.


    ¡°Then,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s probably best if you just choose to be your minimum size possible.¡±


    Our eyes simply stared into each other, but in an extremely uncomfortable manner. Great Girl gestured to herself, ¡°Am I eight or ten feet tall right now? What do you think I¡¯m doing?¡±


    Being inefficient. But before I actually said that, I realized that she was still taking the position that her natural height was six feet tall instead of five feet¡­ and also that she was not a nerd. Even though she recognized Contingency merely from its focus when there was no way she could absorb that by simply hearing things from friends. ¡°Sitting on a bench,¡± I said finally. ¡°I hope you will be free to spar again soon.¡± That was the truth, but not just because I wanted more experience. I also wanted all this garbage with Stargirl to be over. I wondered when they would let her hear the news, or how they would flatten out her reaction¡­ because she couldn¡¯t be kept here indefinitely. But it wasn¡¯t my job to deal with that stuff. It was my job to wander around looking for lunatics with robotic rats and arm lasers.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    -----


    The internet seemed to think that I was a jeweler. That was the impression I got when it started offering me uncut gemstones and related paraphernalia. Perhaps it was because of my continued searching for gemstones of various quality and my regular orders of diamond dust.


    I was aware the prices flagrantly offered to me would not be the best available, otherwise nobody would have paid for advertisements to display them. However, I would not be bothered unless it started offering black onyx to me. Though I suppose they would be unaware of its meaning.


    ¡­ but what if other people became aware of what they might do with black onyx? Surely some with portal powers should have discovered the significant overlap between certain fictions and the reality of my world¡¯s magic. Then again, people dying or dead bodies going missing would be quite obvious and people would take note of that regardless. And this world seemed remarkably well equipped to handle a few undead if it came down to that. Portal powers were just one more way people could cause trouble.


    Keeping Stoneskin constantly active was not fun, chipping away at my mana throughout the day. At least I didn¡¯t have to use Translation, and Force Armor was basically a one-time expense at the beginning of the day. If I had to use Translation as well, halfway through the day I¡¯d be at an uncomfortably low level of mana.


    -----


    One time I didn¡¯t have to worry about Stoneskin was when I was in Disguise, but I didn¡¯t want to constantly remain someone else. But when it was for a mission- even one I assigned to myself- it was fine. Thus it was that Midnight, Ceira, and I prepared ourselves.


    ¡°Okay, so¡­ Midnight will cast the Disguise spell on me, and then you¡¯ll cast it on both of you?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°Correct. It¡¯s most efficient that way and would allow us both to recover mana. Since you¡¯re not even able to transform into a tree-¡±


    ¡°Hey! I was just testing things!¡±


    ¡°Since you are not yet able to transform yourself, a proper disguise will require magic we have.¡±


    ¡°And then,¡± Midnight said, ¡°The two of us will have Translation going as well. Since we¡¯re after some dirty Bunvorixian.¡±


    Ceira shrugged, ¡°Or so you say. I¡¯d still say that Shooting Star has a dog. I know she¡¯s got it out for Mage but still¡­¡±


    ¡°I know what I¡¯ve seen,¡± Midnight said. ¡°There¡¯s more than one of them around here¡­ and one of them is with her.¡± He seemed quite sure of that, despite previously having discarded the idea of her dog being a Bunvorixian. I wondered what had changed.


    ¡°Fine, so, we do the magic and disguise ourselves. Then who are we?¡±


    ¡°At the risk of making myself look distasteful, I believe it would be optimal for me to be disguised as one of the small, yappy Bunvorixians.¡±


    ¡°Like a chihuahua?¡±


    ¡°Sure. It will help explain why I speak their language. And Turlough will be able to overhear what I¡¯m talking about.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Then the other two of us look like different people. That¡¯s not hard, but¡­ who are we?¡±


    ¡°... a mercenary and some sort of internet person,¡± I said.


    ¡°I know that!¡± Ceira rolled her eyes. ¡°Like, our cover story, in case anyone asks. We need names and like¡­ an identity. Brother and sister, boyfriend and girlfriend, business associates-¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Like, I don¡¯t know. Reporters or something.¡±


    ¡°I know what business is. Boyfriend and girlfriend sounds like the longest way to say ¡®friends¡¯. So I assumed it was different.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. It¡¯s different. Boyfriend and girlfriend is like¡­¡±


    ¡°Lovers,¡± Midnight declared.


    Ceira blushed, ¡°It¡¯s not just that! It can be a lot of things while people try to figure out if they like each other!¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± I nodded. ¡°But I will have to strike that possibility from the list entirely.¡±


    Ceira blinked, ¡°Wow. I apparently wasn¡¯t ready to fake blatant rejection at being a fake girlfriend today.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯d be fine. I¡¯d just be a really terrible fake boyfriend since I haven¡¯t done any¡­ lover related stuff.¡±


    ¡°We wouldn¡¯t be actually doing anything,¡± Ceira emphasized. ¡°And it was just one of the possible suggestions to pretend to be on a date.¡±


    ¡°I still have to turn it down because I would have no idea how to act on a ¡®date¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I mean, we¡¯d have to make it all up anyway. I haven¡¯t either. Probably because I¡¯ve been inside most of my life.¡±


    ¡°That is the same for me,¡± I nodded.


    Ceira sighed, ¡°Well, at least we¡¯re all the same there.¡±


    ¡°Not me,¡± We both looked down at Midnight. ¡°... What? I¡¯m not saying I went on a ton of dates, but I¡¯m not a shut-in like you two.¡±


    Ceira¡¯s arms dangled lifelessly at her side as she slumped forward, ¡°... A cat has more dating experience than me.¡±


    ¡°Ahem.¡±


    ¡°... An alien that looks like a cat has more dating experience than me¡­¡± Ceira said despondently.


    ¡°Much better. Now let¡¯s get going so I can begin and therefore end looking like a dog as soon as possible.¡±


    -----


    In the end, friends from work was the easiest thing for Ceira and me to pretend to be, because that was what we were¡­ just not from the same work. The optimal thing would be if nobody spoke to us at all while Midnight did all the talking. Which was maybe going to be difficult as we were heading to a place with a lot of people. Like a whole lot of them. But that was the only way we were going to be able to actually find Stargirl.


    On the surface it appeared to be a happy gathering, but I soon realized that it was a gathering of villains. Because these were the exact same people that had been attacking me recently. Alright, maybe not the exact same ones. The manner of dress was quite similar, though, with Stargirl¡¯s face plastered all over them. The actual individuals were mostly smaller and had fewer lead pipes and chains. And louder. So many people shouting incoherently while they crowded around a place that Stargirl was going to appear.


    As I was beginning to think she was not going to arrive for this event, someone even louder announced she was on the way and then one section of the sky got extra bright before Stargirl flew in, landing on the stage set up for her. Light spewed out from all around her in a blatant waste of power.


    Man, it was a good thing that she didn¡¯t have a big nemesis or something who would attack this gathering, because it would be really easy to find her and cause trouble. But Great Girl was still back at HQ so things would probably be fine.

 Chapter 103

    Upon witnessing Stargirl¡¯s method of approach, I was concerned that perhaps our task today could not be accomplished. She flew in and landed on the stage, causing an uptick in the amount of screaming and jostling. Midnight only managed to keep holding onto my shoulder by digging his claws into the material of my shirt. Ceira was not a particularly large individual, so she was shoved around as well.


    Fortunately myself, few people were as large as myself. Even though Stargirl¡¯s fanbase was made up of a vaguely even mix of males and females, I was still above average size for a human. Especially with my recent growth spurt and muscle development. There had been some larger thugs and of course the giant called Titas, but he was a specific exception and¡­ fortunately not here today. Sure, he was supposed to be in jail, but that hadn¡¯t lasted long the first time. Then again, this time he was supposed to be more securely held.


    I muscled my way forward, but not directly towards Stargirl¡¯s portion of the stage. Ceira squeezed through the trail I made, crossing the tide of pressing bodies. Fortunately, arranging myself to see the dog was not terribly difficult, as it was a large one. If I remembered correctly, that breed was called a big dane. Good dane? Something like that.


    ¡°Midnight, it would appear that this is a different dog than previously seen.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, no crap buddy. It¡¯s like you don¡¯t even use social media.¡± A pause. ¡°The first one is some sort of show dog, but then they got this one that apparently has powers. And while I cannot say that animals were unable to get portal powers, I would surmise they would have trouble using them in a consistent manner.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying¡­¡±


    ¡°Bunvorixians may be stupid, but not as stupid as an actual dog. And I don¡¯t believe Shooting Star has the ability to bond with familiars like you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d certainly be surprised,¡± I nodded. ¡°Her power feels way different. Also, does it have a name?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s called Spot,¡± Midnight said.


    I narrowed my eyes, looking at the large, tan furred creature upon the stage. He wore some sort of outfit with stars and colors reminiscent of Stargirl¡¯s whole theme. It was a bit thicker than I imagined just clothing to be. Armor? ¡°Is the spot¡­ under the armor?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s ironic,¡± Ceira explained.


    ¡°Or just moronic,¡± I said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯s actually stupid, despite whatever you think of her. It takes something to be a successful hero and icon.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so.¡±


    To even have such a conversation we had to be uncomfortably loud, but fortunately we didn¡¯t remain around the same press of individuals for long so nobody gave us more than a few weird looks.


    At our current point it seemed that we would have to now follow the flow of individuals towards the front, if we wished to reach Spot himself. At that point, both Ceira and Midnight would attempt to converse with him to determine the truth of his identity.


    The crowds pushed us both towards and away from Stargirl herself, but with enough elbow shoving I was able to maneuver us to a position where we could maybe yell at a dog from behind the barrier we found ourselves next to.


    Then Midnight began barking. That was not as weird as it might seem, because he was currently disguised as the yappiest of dogs, a chihuahua. I could only assume that was what the name actually meant, but nobody said it along with whatever language it came from so Translation never told me anything different.


    There was no acknowledgement from Spot upon the stage, though since I could barely hear Midnight right next to my head perhaps it was nothing. Even so, Ceira¡¯s turn was next. She also began barking, but it was¡­ significantly less put together. Perhaps if I didn¡¯t know better I¡¯d assume they were doing basically the same thing, but I was quite certain that Midnight¡¯s attempt was actual language while Ceira was just barking. Magically, of course.


    Spot¡¯s head turned, but he only vaguely glanced in our direction. Even so, I could swear he rolled his eyes. That¡­ wasn¡¯t a normal dog thing, was it?


    Midnight took his turn next. Suddenly Spot¡¯s eyes focused on us, and he responded. A warning bark, or just a few words? I couldn¡¯t tell, because suddenly the monstrous din of fanatics screaming was replaced by another sort of screaming.


    It began at the rear of the crowd, synchronous with the wave of oppression. A power. I felt it coming, and I turned to face it. Then, I fell into darkness.


    I was vaguely aware of people around me suddenly pushing even more strongly, pressing against the barriers around the stage or even leaping over them. The security detail that had been holding them back scattered.


    But I looked towards the source of the darkness and¡­ couldn¡¯t take a step towards it. I couldn¡¯t raise my hand against it as they trembled by my side. I was extremely cognizant of the presence of something that should not be, while at the same time being unsure of my own existence or that of anything else.


    Then, I felt something. A force behind me, pressing into my mind. I could only barely detect its source, but of the two individuals I would trust who were present, it was neither of them. So I resisted, even as I wrestled against the darkness.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Around me, people ceased their justified panic and stopped moving. I knew it was bad. I knew it, I knew it. Nothing good could happen here. The fact that the individuals began to calmly distance themselves from the area without running over each other or shoving into me was only a coincidence.


    Everything happened so fast. I could feel Stargirl doing something, but the source of the fear remained in front of me. I looked forward, seeing a robed figure and something akin to an empty hood. That made no sense, because I could see in the dark. There would have to be no face. No face, yet I felt the lack of eyes land on me for just a moment.


    No. No no no no no no no! I wasn¡¯t just going to stand here while that thing did whatever it planned. But I also couldn¡¯t do anything. My body wasn¡¯t in my control, barely standing atop my traitorous, trembling legs. The echoed fear from Midnight didn¡¯t help, though strangely he didn¡¯t seem to have any of his own. Instead, his actual mind was¡­ weirdly blank.


    The figure stepped forward, and I stepped back- except there was nowhere to retreat. Cold metal pressed against my back. I gathered mana for a spell. I had to do something. Anything. I had to fight.


    Mana flowed from me, through me- and Midnight. At least my subconscious allowed me to target him as well, with whatever this was.


    It was strange. Suddenly, I was able to move. Yet the feeling was still there, gnawing at my insides. Threatening to isolate me from everything until the end of time. I just¡­ didn¡¯t have to listen to it. So I didn¡¯t.


    My head whipped around to find Midnight. He had leapt off my shoulder over the barrier when the wave of fear happened, when Gloom had appeared. Now that my mind was free to be itself, I remembered that name. I had been inside that head, briefly. I caught Midnight¡¯s eye, under the stage. I could feel only my own confidence reflected to me, and from him came a sense of numb understanding.


    From the stage, I looked around to find another. I had no protective instinct for most of those present, but Ceira was also with us. I saw her, hiding behind a metal structure upon the stage. At this point, I wasn¡¯t concerned about going somewhere I wasn¡¯t supposed to, so I stepped over the small metal railing- though there were toppled ones not terribly far in either direction.


    Ceira¡¯s wide eyes looked at me as I stepped around her shelter, but I don¡¯t know if they saw me. What did was certain of was that the secondary spell magic hadn¡¯t done the same thing to her. She was not calm, merely finding that her current corner was the safest place she could flee. I put a hand on her shoulder to hopefully do the same thing I had done to myself. It was¡­ costly. But I already found it worthwhile.


    Ceira¡¯s eyes came into focus, but before she could say anything a clash between light and darkness exploded at the rear of the area. We both turned to see Gloom and Stargirl engaged in combat.


    It was¡­ uncomfortable to watch. As I crushed a mana crystal in my hand and felt the power flow into me, my eyes attempted to track Gloom¡¯s movements. A sphere of yellow light crashed into Gloom, the shadows dispelling¡­ but he wasn¡¯t there. Instead he was behind Stargirl, reaching for her neck.


    She shot straight up into the air. A reasonable tactic, but¡­ not necessarily appropriate for the situation. Somehow, I felt the darkness of Gloom¡¯s hood was smiling. That was what the discomfort in my gut told me. Then he swept his hand towards the rear of the crowd, many of whom were already panicked and already attempting to flee.


    Whatever he did had inconsistent effects. Some seemed to have no change from their former panic, others began to claw at their arms, and still others collapsed onto the ground where others took no note of them. Fortunately, there were relatively few behind those individuals, so they were stomped on far less than they could have been.


    Stargirl continued to throw orbs of yellow light, exploding wherever Gloom appeared to be at the moment. With her other hand, a continuous beam of golden power tore up the ground as it chased after shadows. Watching the scene made me question my current antagonism with Stargirl. Not because I thought better of her, but because, well¡­ I could feel her power output. It was absurd. No wonder she was one of the most popular, high ranking superheroes.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Ceira asked from next to me. ¡°Do we¡­ leave?¡±


    That was certainly an appealing option. But it wasn¡¯t appropriate for me. ¡°You can leave,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s not your job to do anything here. I¡¯m obligated to assess how I can help in this situation.¡±


    ¡°And that would be¡­?¡± Ceira looked at me askance.


    ¡°Hindering Gloom¡¯s mobility, perhaps. I cannot afford to attempt any sort of relevant attack when unsure of his actual location.¡±


    I started moving forward, around the side of the crowd. Midnight hopped onto my shoulder, and surprisingly Ceira followed after me. It might not be the best direction to flee, but everything not directly away from Gloom was actually the easiest to traverse. Most people were pushing towards the other corner of the stage to begin with, so we were able to approach.


    Stargirl remained up above while Gloom dodged her attacks, or perhaps never existed in the locations he seemed to be. If I were her, I would do the same thing as she did with the shadows, landing a spraying that uncomfortably bright light everywhere. Or even just getting close to the ground.


    Soon enough I was close enough to begin Greasing up the place. At some point Spot had managed to make his way over as well, but he was hanging back as Stargirl peppered Gloom, while Gloom was slowly following the crowd to do whatever it was he did to any stragglers.


    Midnight and I both began throwing Grease between Gloom and the crowd. It seemed he had some limit on distance for his more powerful attacks, so perhaps we could hold him back. Or something. I saw shadows flickering about at the edge of Grease, which to me indicate that we changed his movements. Or maybe I was imagining things.


    Then Ceira reached out her hand, and the scraggly grass and weeds in the area suddenly grew many orders of magnitude in size, reaching up to grab anything nearby. For a brief moment, Gloom was stationary. Stargirl capitalized on that moment, using both hands to throw a larger attack that I saw impact Gloom directly. Then he exploded. It wasn¡¯t the same dissipation as before, but more violent. A crater formed in the area as the plants were instantly burned away.


    Then wispy shadows formed together on the near side of the writhing plants. They were indistinct- not that shadows were ever really solid, but I had the feeling they were like¡­ only half as there. I thought I even saw an actual eye, but that could have once again been actual imagination.


    Then the figure was gliding towards us. With no time to think, I stepped in front of Ceira. A moment later, Gloom¡¯s hood was directly in front of my face. A voice that was the whispers at a funeral mixed with arctic wind seeped into my head through my ears. ¡°Mage. So we meet again. Or perhaps for the first time?¡±


    ¡°Hi,¡± I managed in response as my brain began to leak out my ears, the contradiction of intense fear and the ability to ignore it warring inside me, with the darkness winning. Then there was only light. Fire burned my face- my whole front- dispelling both the darkness and my consciousness.

 Chapter 104

    Usually, unconsciousness was a nice feeling. Or rather, no feeling at all- which was pretty nice when the things that brought me to unconsciousness were physical pain, exhaustion, and the like. Those would be better to some extent when I awoke.


    This time, unfortunately, I was unconscious but not unfeeling. I wasn¡¯t aware of my body, but something inside my head was still wriggling around. It was unpleasant, and I felt it trying to draw me away. From what, I couldn¡¯t quite tell. I only knew that something was pulling back against that, keeping me dangling in the middle somewhere.


    At some point, I felt a sudden urge to run, one that had been suppressed up at that point. But not being conscious or even having a proper feeling of a mental body, it only added to the discomfort and pain. But that only lasted for a moment, before I felt a soothing shield once more separate me from sections of my brain that weren¡¯t being nice.


    My thoughts weren¡¯t so clear at the time, but upon waking up and reflecting upon what I remembered that was the main thing I remembered.


    And I was quite glad to wake up, because I honestly hadn¡¯t been sure if I would.


    ¡°Uuuuugh.¡± That was the first sound out of my mouth, but I couldn¡¯t really be blamed for the lack of eloquence. Even doing that made my throat hurt, and shifting slightly made me realized that my entire body was like that. No, not my entire body. Just my front.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake,¡± I couldn¡¯t open my eyes, but I knew that was Midnight. ¡°I¡¯m glad.¡± Midnight sounded tired, so I reached over to pat him on the head. I only did it briefly, because it hurt and even he flinched from that.


    ¡°You¡¯re alright then?¡± I asked. I couldn¡¯t tell if the pain I felt from Midnight was partly his own, or just reflected from me. Though that meant he was at least not terribly injured, or it would have been stronger. There was something else though. I¡¯d have to ask about that¡­ in a minute. ¡°What about¡­ Ceira?¡±


    ¡°We were fortunate to be further away from the blast. Ceira is somewhat worse than myself, though.¡±


    I just sat there for a bit, going through my memories. ¡°I hate Stargirl. And Gloom.¡±


    ¡°Somehow you remember that name right,¡± Midnight sighed. ¡°Even with this bond, I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on in your head.¡±


    ¡°We need different magic for that,¡± I said. ¡°... Are my eyes broken?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got bandages over them,¡± Midnight assured me. ¡°The doctors said you should recover fully. Though some of that was only because of Doctor Mishra.¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s been here¡­ how bad was I?¡± I asked.


    ¡°... Not great,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°But you¡¯re tough.¡±


    ¡°Midnight, I have a very important task for you.¡±


    ¡°Okay. What do you need?¡± I could feel Midnight preparing to scurry.


    ¡°Read my status screen for me. I need to know I leveled up from that.¡±


    I felt both a strong mental sigh from Midnight as well as hearing his physical one. ¡°I¡¯m glad to see you¡¯re feeling better. I¡¯ll look at it for you.¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 24


    Experience: 1561


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +3


    Firebolt +3


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +2


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +3


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +3


    Sonic Lance +2


    Scrying


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +1


    Physical Freedom


    Remaining Points: 37


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana Crystal Deposition +1


    Water Breathing


    Basic Light Magic +1


    Locate Object


    Mental Freedom +1


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Technically, I was trusting Midnight that nothing between experience and remaining points had changed. He didn¡¯t read all of that out for me. Either way, it was nice to know that I had vaulted into the middle of level 24.


    ¡°... Great Girl hates Gloom, right?¡± I asked Midnight.


    ¡°Yes. They¡¯re nemeses of some sort.¡±


    ¡°Then I guess I can¡¯t retract my earlier statement about hating him. Instead, I will simply have to say that he¡¯s also allowed to be my nemesis if he wants.¡±


    ¡°... Is a level worth almost dying?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± I answered enthusiastically. ¡°Besides, I didn¡¯t die. I guess it didn¡¯t feel great though.¡± My mind finally arrived back at Midnight¡¯s other thing. ¡°Hey, why do you feel like your insides are going to melt?¡± It took a moment to remember where I¡¯d felt that before. ¡°How many mana crystals did you absorb?¡±


    ¡°Only as many as I needed to.¡±


    ¡°Follow up question. Was Mental Freedom leveled up before or after you repeatedly used it on me while I was asleep?¡±


    ¡°... I didn¡¯t check,¡± Midnight admitted.


    I clicked my tongue. That hurt down at my throat, but at least my tongue itself was fine. ¡°I was hoping we could learn something there.¡± I yawned. ¡°Why am I tired?¡±


    ¡°Because you¡¯re injured and you weren¡¯t really asleep for any of that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a good point,¡± I said, feeling myself begin to drift off.


    Then a door slammed open. ¡°Turlough! Are you alright? What happened? Why didn¡¯t anyone tell me anything?¡±


    By the voice, that would be Great Girl. What were the questions? My head kind of hurt. ¡°I¡­ leveled up.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± she said. I heard a chair get moved around, then I felt a hand on mine. ¡°But you didn¡¯t really answer the rest of the questions.¡±


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    Normally, I would have immediately done so. With my current mental state, though, my brain wandered about and then remembered some things. ¡°I think¡­ I¡¯ll have to tell you later. It¡¯s classified and all that.¡±


    ¡°Classified?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°You working with the government or something? Also, I thought I was kind of high ranking enough to hear that anyway.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to ask¡­ Calculator¡­¡± I said with a yawn. ¡°But I think the best thing would be for you to stay here with me for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± she squeezed my hand slightly. It hurt, because like everywhere else on my body it had a side that had been facing Stargirls final explosion thing. But I didn¡¯t have to think about that long because I fell into actual unconsciousness.


    -----


    When I woke up, it was dark outside. Midnight was curled up between my feet on the bed. Fortunately, our bond reminded me of his location before I did any moving, so I minimized my jostling as I looked around. There wasn¡¯t much to see. It was a recovery room, so it had a bunch of medical stuff, my bed, chairs, and a person in one of those chairs.


    Francois was an excellent outfitter so Great Girl¡¯s outfit and mask grew with her- and of course shrunk with her. I was already basically aware of her actual height, but had never actually seen it. To be fair, I couldn¡¯t really measure anything with her sprawled out in a chair, but she was visibly smaller in all manners. I wondered why she was still around as I drifted back into sleep.


    -----


    Midnight woke me up, not by doing anything but by having proper consciousness. I wasn¡¯t really tired anymore since I slept to various degrees for half a day and then properly for a full night, so my mind easily responded to stimulus. He was on his phone, looking at¡­ something. It was both mentally upsetting and amusing, which was better than it being just the first I guess.


    ¡°Morning,¡± I said.


    ¡°Good morning Turlough.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Just keeping up with the news.¡±


    ¡°Let me know if anything important happened, then,¡± I yawned slightly. I heard shifting on the other side, and saw Great Girl just waking up. ¡°Good morning to you as well.¡±


    ¡°... Morning,¡± she said groggily.


    ¡°Why are you still here?¡± I asked. Realizing that could have been worded better, I quickly followed up. ¡°You don¡¯t have to sleep in a chair.¡±


    ¡°You asked me,¡± she said.


    That¡­ could certainly have been one interpretation of what I said. ¡°Well¡­ thank you. I¡¯m feeling much better this morning.¡±


    ¡°Thas¡¯ good,¡± she nodded, her words slurring slightly, then yawned. ¡°Stupid barracks isn¡¯t much better¡¯n a chair anyway.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still restricted to¡­ um, on guard duty here, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s stupid,¡± she said, standing up. ¡°Want to go get breakfast?¡±


    I looked down at myself. ¡°I¡¯ll need to change into my stuff first,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, right. I¡¯ll wait outside, then¡­¡±


    It didn¡¯t take long to change out of the medical gown. Because it was unnecessary and I was still sore, I left off the jacket, settling for the bandages and my shirt. I tossed it into storage just so I didn¡¯t have to carry it around, then stepped out into the hall.


    ¡°You ready?¡± Great Girl asked from down below my shoulder.


    I nodded. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re coming,¡± I said, gesturing to Midnight.


    Great Girl looked up at him. She frowned, then her eyes widened. She slowly began to grow until she was my height. ¡°Uh, that was¡­ sometimes my power gets weird in the morning.¡±


    I very much doubted that. Before I really thought about it, I just decided to come clean. ¡°I know you¡¯re only five feet tall.¡±


    ¡°What? No, I¡¯m¡­ you must be hungry!¡± she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me along. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go have breakfast!¡±


    ¡°I have a very good memory,¡± I reminded her. ¡°And even if I am momentarily distracted I recognize it later.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Hah. Well, um¡­ just don¡¯t tell anyone what you think you know, okay? Wouldn¡¯t want people getting weird ideas.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°We can keep it secret.¡±


    -----


    Breakfast was fine. Standard Power Brigade food, which was a pretty good cafeteria. They weren¡¯t cheap about meals. Great Girl didn¡¯t say much, but she was probably still embarrassed about me knowing she was short. For a human, anyway.


    The silence broke around the time we finished eating, with Calculator showing up. ¡°Ah good, you¡¯re both together. That will save me some effort. How are you feeling, Turlough?¡± He was very careful with names, and since I didn¡¯t have my mask on, calling me Turlough was fine. I had the tusks either way, so it really didn¡¯t make a difference.


    ¡°Better,¡± I said. ¡°Enough to walk around.¡±


    ¡°If you weren¡¯t, we¡¯d really need to hire additional medical supers. Sorry you couldn¡¯t be fully restored, but Doctor Mishra has to keep some energy in reserve for other emergencies.¡±


    ¡°... What happened?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°Am I allowed to know that now?¡±


    ¡°It would happen eventually anyway,¡± Calculator said, not-so-subtly taking a step closer to where Great Girl was sitting. ¡°I need you to promise me that you will stay and listen, for everyone¡¯s sake.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I can do that.¡±


    ¡°Good. So, Shooting Star-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll freaking strangle her!¡± As Great Girl started to stand up, Calculator kicked her legs out from under her, knocking her back onto the bench.


    ¡°Stay and listen or you¡¯ll be fired,¡± he looked her directly in the eyes, and she swallowed. ¡°Good. I believe you will be satisfied with the eventual outcome here. Now then, one of Shooting Star¡¯s fan meetups was attacked by Gloom yesterday.¡±


    ¡°...Damn,¡± Great Girl deflated. ¡°Really? Now I feel bad.¡±


    ¡°Please leave your comments for after I finish. Anyway, it just so happened to be that Turlough was present and got caught up in things,¡± his eyes burrowed into me. ¡°That would have been very damaging to the Power Brigade¡¯s reputation if your identity had been revealed there. Some people might still guess.¡±


    ¡°... Lots of portal powers could have done that,¡± I said. ¡°Err, the visible parts of that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing your Disguise spell didn¡¯t fade until after you were in the ambulance. We¡¯d rather not be seen as provoking anything. That wasn¡¯t what you were there to do, was it?¡±


    ¡°We were looking for a Bunvorixian,¡± Midnight explained. ¡°Also, I¡¯m going to confirm right now that that great dane she has is one of them. And he¡¯s got a portal power too.¡±


    ¡°... Are you sure about that?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°Absolutely. Both of us felt him doing magic, right?¡± Midnight looked at me.


    ¡°He used Calm Emotions,¡± I said. ¡°Which makes him¡­ not a mage, at least.¡±


    ¡°The other part,¡± Calculator clarified. ¡°About being an extraterrestrial.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± Midnight said. ¡°We exchanged a few words in Bunvorixian. Also, I don¡¯t think dogs can get portal powers.¡±


    ¡°Weirder things have happened. But¡­ good. That¡¯s good,¡± Calculator smiled slightly, which only meant bad things. For someone at least. ¡°She registered a powered companion, but if she failed to mention he¡¯s of extraterrestrial origin that¡¯s extra ammunition we can use, along with the recent attack on Turlough.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Great Girl exclaimed. ¡°You were attacked again? Why didn¡¯t you say anything?¡±


    ¡°Because you would have gone and punched her,¡± I explained. ¡°And that was probably not the right solution at the time.¡±


    Calculator was still standing in position to prevent Great Girl from doing anything problematic, though his threat or her rational mind were keeping her subdued for the moment. ¡°We successfully arrested the videographer with charges of promoting supervillainy. We traced actual connections between her and the other fanatics, but unfortunately Shooting Star¡¯s hands still appear clean in this scenario. Though we¡¯re holding tightly to the comments she made on the situation.¡± Calculator shook his head. ¡°Starting any new actions against her at the moment would be ill advised, at least until we see how her reputation settles after the attack. Driving away Gloom looks good for her, but not having any additional security for the sake of her fans and the injuries will look bad for her. And we¡¯ve pushed the hero association to censure her for directly injuring innocents. If you could have been there in official capacity, it could have been more¡­ but either way, she should have better control.¡±


    ¡°So she did injure Turlough?¡± Great Girl asked.


    ¡°Physically, yes. Gloom also directly attacked him.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± she asked. ¡°Are you¡­ alright? I know how it feels.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling pretty good,¡± I nodded. ¡°I leveled up and learned a new spell.¡±


    Midnight also contributed, ¡°He means it. Also, I think that particular spell helped a lot with the side effects there would have been otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I reached out to pat Midnight on the head. ¡°Thanks again buddy.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Additional details are available if you desire, but I just wanted to inform you and Great Girl that actions are being taken related to Stargirl- dammit Turlough- related to Shooting Star. Any interference would likely make the outcomes worse for the Power Brigade and yourselves and better for her. So¡­¡±


    ¡°I promise not to punch her,¡± Great Girl said. Calculator looked down his nose at her. ¡°... or kick her. Or do anything like that, until you guys finish your legal crap.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. Good day. Oh, and you¡¯re no longer restricted to HQ.¡± With that, Calculator spun on his heels and was off.


    Great Girl looked at me, then back at him, then back at me. ¡°Wait so they didn¡¯t need me for a villain threat?¡±


    I shrugged.

 Chapter 105

    I looked at my large number of free points. Level 24 now, 37 points. If I was going to keep on track for that promise to Izzy, I would need to keep 26 of them and get the last 13 next level. Gate would cost all of those points. Though¡­ there was a pretty good chance I wouldn¡¯t even be able to cast it. At level 25 I would have a mana pool of 30. With Gate costing 20, I would be at more than half my pool for a single spell. So there was a decent chance I couldn¡¯t properly cast it until I was level 35. I was leveling fast, but how long would that take? A year? Even if I continued to get levels at the same pace as I had been- which was unlikely, since the experience cost continued to increase- it would be several months. That wasn¡¯t that bad, but I had to try.


    Technically, I only needed to keep 14 points instead of 26. Since I got points equal to my level every time I leveled up, I would have the full 39 upon reaching level 25. So I kind of had 23 points to work with, and as long as I didn¡¯t go past that point I could guarantee having enough. The question was what I wanted to use those points on.


    Just spending points upgrading what I already had was tempting. I could always use more efficiency, and the same was true with power. For the moment I was gunning for level 3 in everything to match Familiar Bond, since Midnight needed the efficiency even more than myself.


    If only I had another mage to consult, but I didn¡¯t know any. Well, I guess I knew one actually. Or if I wanted to take a gamble with a couple fistsfull of points and assume that Sending would work, I could try to contact Master Uvithar. Though I had the feeling that probably wouldn¡¯t work. It usually worked interplanar, but interreality? He should have also tried to contact me with it already. It was also kind of a waste, since technology handled that in this world. I could call someone up on my cell phone and get a clear conversation, instead of a mana intensive couple of text messages worth of information.


    -----


    I wrote a list of what I had down for Jerome. It would fit nicely in a text document, but I kind of didn¡¯t really trust in technology¡¯s safety. Did I believe that the Power Brigade did its best to keep my phone secure? Absolutely. Did I understand how? I did not. So I would write it down and burn it later. Some people could know this information, but even with power scanners being a thing now I really wanted to avoid people knowing specifics.


    ¡°So,¡± I asked. ¡°What do you think I should get? I know I¡¯m supposed to be the one with all the experience, but I would appreciate your thoughts.¡± Midnight was also given a chance to express his opinion, but besides upgrading things in general he didn¡¯t know what sort of new thing we should have if we went in that direction.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know,¡± Jerome said, scratching at some stubble growing in on his chin. ¡°It¡¯s kind of an open ended math problem, isn¡¯t it? You can spend up to 23 points now, but maybe you don¡¯t want to. Hey, did you forget to list Enhance Mind here?¡±


    See? I told you the kid was smart. He figured it out decades faster than me. ¡°The power was inside of you the whole time,¡± I said by way of deflection. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s something cool you¡¯d like to try to learn from me?¡±


    ¡°No but seriously did you try to placebo me?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what one of those is.¡±


    ¡°I thought you were supposed to be the educated one?¡± he raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°That depends. Does it involve history of Earth or anything like that? Because I have literally no understanding of that stuff. I just know how to learn, and how to do the necessary math for magic.¡± Even as I said that, I had my phone out. I wasn¡¯t unwilling to learn. ¡°How do you spell placebo?¡± He told me, and I found the definition. ¡°Oh, yes. I suppose I was using this placebo effect to make you study harder.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ pretty smart, actually,¡± Jerome nodded.


    ¡°I wish I could claim it was my idea, but Master Uvithar came up with it.¡±


    ¡°Learning from your teacher is exactly what you¡¯re supposed to do though, right?¡± Jerome grinned. ¡°I don¡¯t know if there will be another wave of portal powers or anything like that, but if I get an apprentice I¡¯ll probably do the same thing. Though uh, it¡¯s kinda early to think about that. So¡­ Enhance Mind doesn¡¯t exist?¡±


    ¡°It does,¡± I said. ¡°I just don¡¯t have it.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be useful?¡± Jerome asked. ¡°Just like, being smarter?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s expensive enough that I couldn¡¯t keep it up constantly. And while it¡¯s certainly useful, it could also be used as a crutch. At least that¡¯s what Master Uvithar said. Personally, I just don¡¯t know where I¡¯d use it. Thinking more efficiently in combat would be nice, but I could instead throw out another Sonic Lance or whatever.¡±


    ¡°You really like that spell, huh?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s effective against many things, and high powered without having too large of a radius of destruction. And it doesn¡¯t catch anything on fire,¡± I finished.


    ¡°Hmm, alright,¡± Jerome nodded. ¡°If you want my advice, I think you should¡­ upgrade Physical Freedom.¡±


    ¡°... I don''t get it,¡± I admitted. ¡°Was it useful? Absolutely. But I don¡¯t really think I need it to be better or more efficient if I¡¯m only going to use it rarely. The duration also really won¡¯t change much. What¡¯s the reason?¡±


    ¡°Call it a hunch,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Or¡­ an experiment. You have Basic Light Magic, right?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°And this is connected¡­ how?¡±


    ¡°Well, you also learned Mental Freedom the uh¡­ nontraditional way? Like you did with some of the other things. And when you spend points to upgrade Light, it combined with Dancing Lights into one thing. So maybe Physical Freedom will do the same.¡±


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    ¡°Hmm. That would be a 10 point experiment,¡± I frowned. ¡°And, Mental Freedom already leveled up? Shouldn¡¯t I spend points on that instead?¡±


    ¡°Uh, maybe?¡± Jerome shrugged. ¡°Look, I¡¯m just throwing things out there. But you already kinda tried the other way, and spending points is more of an active thing. And if you¡¯re willing to throw down a whole 20 points, you could try one then the other. The order might matter though.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± I said. ¡°Now I have another thing to think about. That wasn¡¯t even on my list. And the worst part is I can¡¯t even figure out how I ¡®learn¡¯ spells to begin with. It just¡­ it makes no sense.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s magic and/or super powers. Those things don¡¯t really¡­ make sense.¡±


    ¡°Sure they do. Just not¡­ the same way as normal things.¡±


    ¡°Alright, well I don¡¯t really have other advice besides just picking whatever you want. It¡¯s your points, right? If you want to save some for whatever, do that. If you want to spend them, do that. But also, I¡¯m a dropout so what do I know?¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re still studying, right?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t change the fact that I still technically dropped out of school.¡±


    Sure. Technically. I decided to spend some points. Worst case scenario, next time I got frozen in a block of ice and/or cheese I got out more quickly. ¡°Well,¡± I said. ¡°I have no idea how anything works now.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me?¡± Jerome shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m trying to freaking learn calculus and I think I forgot how to do basic arithmetic.¡±


    ¡°Your idea was good,¡± I said. ¡°It says, uh¡­ ¡®Variable Freedom¡¯ now. And it¡¯s¡­ in the normal spot? The section before points instead of the one after.¡±


    ¡°Oh, weird,¡± Jerome frowned. ¡°Why would that¡­ uh¡­¡±


    I had the same thoughts, or lack of them. ¡°I really don¡¯t know. And it¡¯s¡­ only one increase. Which sort of makes sense, and sort of doesn¡¯t. It didn¡¯t combine the increases from both.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s new and weird,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Also, can you teach me that? It¡¯s probably more useful for me than Sonic Lance if I want to stay out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°I can certainly try,¡± I said. ¡°But I think it¡¯s still too expensive.¡±


    ¡°Oh right,¡± Jerome said. ¡°I think I¡¯m like level 7 now, but that still leaves my mana capacity at like two thirds of what it needs to be, right?¡±


    ¡°Something like that, yes. You were able to get around the ¡®half your maximum¡¯ for Energy Ward, but this is further. We can try, though.¡±


    As we learned over the next few sessions, he wasn¡¯t quite ready for them- but he did say he felt like he learned something nonetheless. In the more abstract sense, not like he got some other spell. And practicing magic was worth experience for normal people, so it was bringing him closer to where he needed to be regardless.


    -----


    To learn more about my new weird abilities, I tried another experiment. What was the point about being on either side of the line? I could upgrade both, with points, so was it just whether I spent points to initially learn it? And then why would Variable Freedom be in the first section? Except that I spent points on Physical Freedom which was there, I supposed.


    The answer was¡­ I couldn¡¯t spend points on Basic Light Magic. That would have probably only cost 3 points if I could, which was why I was willing to take the risk. But nothing happened. This was garbage and I didn¡¯t understand it. Then I spend 10 more points to level up Variable Freedom once more. At least that worked.


    ¡°Uuuugh,¡± I vocalized as I walked around the training level.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± a friendly voice said from nearby. I recognized Shockwave. ¡°Training issues? Villain troubles?¡±


    ¡°Not really. Well, I guess I have to worry about a specific villain again, but this falls under the category of my powers doing weird things.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± Shockwave nodded. ¡°Then my advice would be to improve Haste more.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s always your advice,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°And? Have you ever gone too fast?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said.


    ¡°No, that doesn¡¯t sound right,¡± Shockwave shook their head. ¡°You must have been thinking of something else.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not bad,¡± I admitted. ¡°It¡¯s actually quite effective, but I¡¯m still limited in how fast I can cast spells. Though if I wasn¡¯t, I could exhaust my mana in like¡­ six seconds.¡±


    ¡°That does sound like a problem,¡± Shockwave admitted. ¡°But what¡¯s all that fancy combat training for if you don¡¯t make use of it?¡±


    ¡°Not everything can be solved just by being faster and punching someone in the face.¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Shockwave said, almost sounding like they were committing heresy. Briefly. ¡°Sometimes you need to go faster and tie someone up with a rope, or trip them, or spray a fire extinguisher or an ice extinguisher or something like that. But being faster is always better.¡±


    ¡°... Remember that time you had to pay for the windows in like half the city?¡±


    ¡°First of all,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°It was only the top ones in a very narrow band. And my grandma is alive so I don¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°... Wanna see if I can screw up your power?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Shockwave asked.


    ¡°Like, your whole¡­ shockwave thing.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not really a part of my power, though,¡± Shockwave pointed out. ¡°Well, I suppose it is a little bit? It¡¯s really hard to say with things like that. It¡¯s kind of an inevitable consequence of going fast, and my body just sort of goes fast and lets me handle it. That¡¯s my power, and I just don¡¯t happen to negate the shockwaves like many other speedsters.¡±


    ¡°Okay but what if you ignored friction?¡±


    ¡°Then I couldn¡¯t run,¡± Shockwave pointed out.


    ¡°... What if you only ignored friction when it was holding you back?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t even make any sense,¡± Shockwave pointed out.


    ¡°Powers don¡¯t make any sense,¡± I agreed. ¡°Anyway, you might go faster.¡±


    ¡°Sold. What do you need me to do?¡±

 Chapter 106

    In one of the Power Brigade¡¯s large, cylindrical training rooms I finished explaining myself to Shockwave. ¡°... and that part should last an hour.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s stupid,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°Yet I¡¯m inclined to believe you because I already experienced Haste. What¡¯s up with the huge variability in durations, though?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just¡­ how things are?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Also being Hasted for longer than a minuteish would probably really screw someone up.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me,¡± Shockwave sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t really get to turn my power off. I just move slower.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ sucks?¡±


    ¡°At least I¡¯m always ready for something. I can dodge a punch after someone¡¯s already hitting me.¡±


    ¡°Useful,¡± I nodded. ¡°I can¡¯t really cast anything like that right now.¡±


    ¡°You have Haste, though.¡±


    ¡°Not the being fast part¡­ dodging something already hitting you. There¡¯s a couple ways I could do something that seems like that, just not not. And one of them not for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Sure, whatever,¡± Shockwave shrugged. ¡°So, let¡¯s start the tests.¡±


    I had a barrier set up for me so we could get a baseline on Shockwave¡¯s¡­ shockwaviness. I could theoretically dismiss Physical Freedom- or now, it would be the physical component of Variable Freedom- but it would cost me the mana to re-apply it. I wasn¡¯t certain that it would completely negate Shockwave¡¯s thing, and perhaps that wouldn¡¯t happen at all, in which case we¡¯d go home disappointed.


    Swirls of wind blowing past the barrier reminded me of Shockwave¡¯s effects, and of course it was loud, but that was what my earplugs were for. If Shockwave needed to talk we had comms or they could just stop where I could see.


    It seemed enough testing was done, and Shockwave gave me a thumb¡¯s up. I nodded, holding out my hand. The Freedom spells¡­ or spell now? Whatever, they required touch to cast. I attuned my magic to the physical component of Variable Freedom, having determined that it wouldn¡¯t apply both effects at once, just like Energy Ward wouldn¡¯t protect from every type at once. Still, having two spells upgrade together was nicely efficient with points.


    Eight point two ish points of mana flowed out from me, forming an invisible barrier that clung tightly to Shockwave as we basically shook hands for a few moments. I let go, then nodded. ¡°You¡¯re set.¡± Shockwave was protected from the side effects of their own power- specifically the whole going deaf thing, so they could still hear me.


    Shockwave gave a little wave of their wrist before basically disappearing from sight. And from¡­ everything, really. In a room this size I could at least pick out Shockwave moving around, but I was unable to look because of the protective barrier. But even so, I should have felt some sort of sound or felt a stirring breeze. Then I felt it, a little bit- but I didn¡¯t hear any sonic booms or anything of the sort. After a minute or two, Shockwave was standing in front of me pointing to their ears, anxiously.


    ¡°I have my earplugs in but I didn¡¯t really hear anything.¡± Shockwave nodded, gesturing for me to take them out. ¡°How did it go? It seemed good.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Haste me.¡± Shockwave leaned closer, eyes burrowing into me. ¡°The maximum possible.¡±


    ¡­ It was fine, right? Shockwave hadn¡¯t even asked to be Hasted in weeks, and the last time had been for saving granny Charlotte. I just had the feeling that Shockwave liked Haste too much, but this was training. ¡°Alright, but just once.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Do it.¡± Shockwave bounced back and forth between feet. ¡°And put your ear plugs back in.¡±


    I did that, just in case. Haste didn¡¯t require touch, but it was very much in the shorter range of spells. I held out my hand, wrapping Shockwave in a full five points of mana, overcasting the one spell I already had four upgrades in.


    I was sent staggering back a half step as Shockwave took off, a clear sound coming from them. But¡­ it wasn¡¯t that bad. Normally I needed both the barrier and earplugs or the like to not risk damage from a Hasted Shockwave, but this time it wasn¡¯t so bad.


    Shockwave seemed to be less concerned with the safety issues as well, because they ran on the same side of the barrier as myself- I caught repeated glimpses of Shockwave passing in front of me, at the far edge of the room. And then¡­ still technically on the far edge of the room as they suddenly seemed to shrink to maybe half the size and¡­ drift up the wall?


    Ah, I was looking at a ¡®top down¡¯ view of Shockwave, running on the wall. That¡­ was that okay?


    ¡°Is this okay?¡± I shouted. ¡°What if you fall?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure if Shockwave answered me, but they moved higher and higher up the wall, tracing rings around it. That all made sense. What didn¡¯t make sense was when they ran straight up and then straight down. I could swear I saw a pause at the top, and an expression that implied to me that Shockwave almost tried running on the ceiling, before deciding against it.


    From my perspective, a little over a minute later Shockwave was standing in front of me once more, breathing heavily. Not like exhausted heavy, but like people after a standard workout. ¡°Whew. That was fun. Also, very enlightening. It seems your Freedom spell has limits.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Of course. Everything does. I supposed I could have overcast that one too¡­¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Shockwave grinned. ¡°Sounds useful. Anyway, this spell is like¡­ a major deal. I¡¯ll be so much more effective at disaster relief and stuff if I don¡¯t have to worry about bringing down the building around me. You said it lasts an hour?¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°And a little bit, yeah.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be requesting your help with that in the future, sometimes. If that¡¯s alright?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯d be glad to help people. Too bad it¡¯s not worth experience though.¡±


    ¡°I could probably find some new people to spar with you¡­¡± Shockwave said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Just¡­ come help with Deimos, if you can. I have the feeling he¡¯s not going to stop pestering me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an interesting way to say attempting to murder. Anyway, that¡¯s part of the job so it¡¯s not really a favor you have to ask for.¡±


    ¡°So is protecting civilians,¡± I shrugged. ¡°So I guess we¡¯re all even. So¡­ did you go faster?¡±


    Shockwave grinned widely. ¡°A little bit.¡±


    -----


    ¡°Gloom sucks,¡± Ceira pouted. ¡°Even worse than Shooting Star.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s certainly more direct,¡± I agreed. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have gotten you involved if I knew he was going to show up.¡±


    ¡°Obviously. Who would know something like that?¡±


    ¡°... There have to be oracles here, right? Diviners?¡±


    ¡°There are some precogs in New Bay, yeah. But they¡¯re swamped. They can¡¯t predict everything. So they try to fend off the worst disasters.¡± Ceira sighed, ¡°I guess nobody technically died, so this wasn¡¯t as bad as it could have been. But I think I have trauma.¡±


    ¡°My psychiatrist says that trauma is normal for those who encounter Gloom. It¡¯s¡­ a large component of his powers.¡±


    ¡°Crap, you too?¡±


    ¡°... I believe this is the part where I should commiserate with you by speaking about our shared experiences, but I learned a new spell that protected me from the worst of it. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Is that really true, though?¡± Ceira frowned. ¡°Because I vaguely remember him saying something to you.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯d seen him before, indirectly. He was polite about it though.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant,¡± Ceira shook her head. ¡°I looked it up, and him speaking directly to people, or at least focusing on them, amplifies the effects. In that case, even mentalists and stuff have been deeply affected, despite their defenses. There¡¯s no way you came out fine, even with magic.¡±


    ¡°It did get pretty bad, before Stargirl exploded me,¡± I admitted. ¡°But my psychiatrist and Midnight both agreed that I¡¯m not traumatized by it.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Ceira blinked. ¡°What was it like? I felt like I was drowning in a puddle of darkness.¡±


    ¡°My brain almost melted out of my ears,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡¯m alright now. Do you think it would be better or worse for you if you were able to magically ignore your fear for a while?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Ceira sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not¡­ that bad. It¡¯s not like he killed my family in front of me.¡± She quickly clarified, perhaps seeing the horrified expression on my face. ¡°They¡¯re alive! They¡¯re all fine! Being attacked by a spooky supervillain is probably the worst thing that¡¯s ever happened to me, but I¡¯ll get over it.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a psychiatrist?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I believe they help yet but lots of people say they¡¯re good.¡±


    ¡°On my budget? Pfft.¡± Ceira shook her head. ¡°No way.¡±


    ¡°Power Brigade employment includes mental health insurance.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to recruit me?¡± Ceira asked. ¡°I may have portal powers, but I¡¯m not a superhero.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a mercenary,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Same difference, you just don¡¯t get promoted as much on social media.¡±


    ¡°The Power Brigade offers positions other than combat duty. They might be interested in someone with plant powers. And there are non-powered jobs available.¡±


    ¡°Seriously, do you get kickbacks for recruiting people?¡±


    I frowned, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I never got anything when Khithae joined.¡±


    ¡°Who? Wait, you don¡¯t have to answer that if you just gave away someone¡¯s civilian identity.¡±


    ¡°She is a civilian,¡± I said. ¡°I believe she officially works in powered maintenance¡­ even before she actually had powers?¡±


    ¡°She got powers? Does that just¡­ happen at places like that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still more weirded out that people don¡¯t have classes,¡± I said. ¡°But she actually ended up with portal powers, like you. I think she¡¯s an artificer?¡±


    ¡°How do you not know?¡±


    ¡°Because you don¡¯t have a status window and I didn¡¯t live in a city with artificers. Mages¡­ tended to avoid them. I¡¯m not certain if our information on them was accurate, but it was rather derogatory so I think it was probably biased. Khithae is very nice and smart.¡±


    ¡°Do you like her?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°You already know my experience with romance,¡± I pointed out. ¡°I like all of my friends, but I don¡¯t really know if there¡¯s anything more than that. We¡¯re good friends, mostly because she was my first friend in this world and I was the only one she could talk to.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s extradimensional and I have Translation magic. I was always using it to talk with anyone, so it wasn¡¯t much harder with her.¡±


    ¡°So is she from your world too?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°More like an alternate Earth¡­ or something like that. One with gecko-people.¡±


    ¡°Cool.¡± We sat in silence for a moment. ¡°Maybe we should meet? I barely understand my powers, even with your help.¡±


    ¡°I could get you in contact with her, and my apprentice,¡± I said. ¡°There has been some talk of me attempting to instruct some others with portal powers, but the vast majority of those involved seem to be either Stargirl fanatics or uninterested in going public with their abilities.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that sucks,¡± Ceira said. ¡°But I¡¯m sure there are more people out there. I found some forums trying to figure things out, and people figured out the game connection, but they¡¯re still kind of stumbling through the other mechanics.¡±


    ¡°And they don¡¯t even have to deal with points,¡± I frowned. ¡°It¡¯s just mana. Which, admittedly, will severely limit them for a while since everyone seemed to start off at level 0.¡±


    ¡°Level 0?¡± Ceira tilted her head. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be 1?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°People have a mana pool of five plus one point of mana per level. They just¡­ usually don¡¯t have anything to do with it.¡± Level 0 had been bad, but not actually all that long. I had gotten in scraps with people who called me a stupid orc that could never use magic, and they¡¯d been right until I did use magic. I was kind of glad he hadn¡¯t picked Firebolt first because he could have seriously hurt someone. As it was¡­ I basically blindly chose Storage off a list.


    ¡°Well¡­ whatever,¡± Ceira shrugged. ¡°I gotta go for now. If you ever see Gloom again, kick him in the nuts for me.¡±


    ¡°I believe I would have to wait in line. He doesn¡¯t seem to attract a lot of friends.¡±

 Chapter 107

    ¡°... and this whole week I was kept on a pointless job where I didn¡¯t even do anything,¡± Sophia complained to her new friend, who actually managed to be smaller than herself. ¡°Just to keep me out of stuff involving Kourtney!¡±


    The most convenient meetup for the two of them was of course Corner Coffee, which certainly got its business more from its location than its branding. Izzy sat with her knees folded under her to better reach more of the table. With the height of a small child, most amenities in New Bay were not made for her. The few boosters Corner Coffee had were taken up by actual children and a pair of martians.


    ¡°That sucks,¡± Izzy said, commiserating with her new friend. ¡°This week hasn¡¯t been so bad for me since I dealt with some pests that were bothering my routes. But being on call for emergency repair for so long sounds dull. At least it¡¯s better than a disaster happening, right?¡±


    ¡°...Yeah,¡± Sophia admitted, propping herself up on the table between them with an elbow, ¡°Though there was one big incident, it didn¡¯t involve damage to major roadways or anything like that. Just a park, and it didn¡¯t need emergency repairs.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna be honest,¡± Izzy shrugged, ¡°Ever since coming here I¡¯m not even sure what counts as a major incident anymore. Like, I arrived among a ton of portals and monsters, but some crazy scientist lady also turned half a block into cheese and they barely reported it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I heard that crap wasn¡¯t even edible. At least it didn¡¯t work on living people.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather just avoid it entirely, if I had the option,¡± Izzy shook her head. ¡°Which I basically do.¡±


    Sophia drummed her fingers on the table. ¡°You know the worst part of the whole on-call thing? My phone was cut off from the internet so I basically just spent the whole time in the¡­ company gym.¡± She sighed. ¡°I know that looking up some of the crap that happened will make me angry, but I¡¯m going to do it eventually regardless.¡± Her eyes wandered over to a television screen in the corner of the shop, muted and showing the news with subtitles. ¡°Ah, dammit.¡±


    Izzy¡¯s eyes followed her. ¡°Oh, the incident with Shooting Star and Gloom. I heard everyone survived that, at least.¡± Sophia just glared at the screen. ¡°You really don¡¯t like Gloom, huh?¡±


    Under her breath, so low nobody should be able to hear her, Sophia muttered. ¡°They¡¯re both the worst¡­¡±


    For the moment, Izzy pretended not to have heard her. ¡°Maybe you should distract yourself with something not work related, since it¡¯s your day off?¡±


    ¡°Work related?¡± Sophia blinked, ¡°Right, yeah. I guess¡­¡± Her eyes still idled on the screen where the reporter flashed a large picture of Kourtney.


    The subtitles continued to report what the woman on screen was supposedly saying. ¡°This is not the only attack on Shooting Star¡¯s fan¡¯s by supers this week. The other incident involves an unknown dwarf and a mercenary named Mage. Full details are too violent to show on screen, but there were over a dozen critically wounded in the vicious attack.¡±


    Sophia¡¯s eye twitched. Izzy looked over her shoulder once more. ¡°What? Oh, that.¡±


    ¡°... You got in a fight?¡± Sophia¡¯s anger flared.


    ¡°Well, it wasn¡¯t really like-¡± Izzy tried to deflect anger she thought was at her. ¡°I can explain.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna-¡± The first thing to break the ceramic coffee cup in Sophia¡¯s hand, followed by the table in their booth, followed by Izzy¡¯s mug. The clattering of a napkin and sugar packet holder followed. Sophia looked down at the table, clenching her teeth. She took a slow, deep breath. Then she looked over at the staff. ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ll pay for that.¡±


    -----


    Outside, a few minutes later, Sophia for the moment hadn¡¯t had to pay for the broken table. She was going to make them let her, because their excuse that it must have gone bad was definitely untrue. She was quite aware she broke it, and her smaller size just made it look impractical despite her fitness.


    Still, for the moment it was best not to hang around in there. Instead, she was hanging around nearby, making faces at her phone. ¡°She called you a dwarf. I¡¯m gonna get her canceled for that.¡±


    ¡°... I don¡¯t even have a beard,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ fat, am I?¡± Izzy looked down at herself.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go getting any sort of body dysmorphia now,¡± Sophia said. ¡°She probably meant human dwarf, which is still not PC.¡±


    ¡°... There are human-dwarf hybrids?¡± Izzy asked. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t they be way taller than me still?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes humans are just born very small,¡± Sophia said. ¡°Not just¡­ short like me.¡± She pulled up some pictures on her phone.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen any.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not very common among humans, and now that New Bay has a lot of others you¡¯re less likely to pick it out,¡± Sophia said. ¡°You¡¯ve only been here a few months, right?¡±


    ¡°True,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Hey, you seem¡­ really mad. Should you be handling a phone right now? They¡¯re kinda expensive.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Sophia said. ¡°I can control myself.¡± It was just one thing to know that Shooting Star¡¯s fans had been harassing one of her friends. Now it was two? Actually, now that she thought about it she might have heard about another incident. ¡°Wait¡­ you know Mage?¡±


    ¡°Turlough and I¡­ used to be friends¡­¡± Izzy said cautiously.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    So she already got and lost a friend while here? But why? No¡­ that wasn¡¯t necessarily right. ¡°You knew each other¡­ in the other world.¡±


    ¡°When we were younger,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it.¡±


    ¡°But he fought alongside you¡­¡± Sophia pointed out. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that make you still friends?¡±


    ¡°... he just likes fighting,¡± Izzy said. ¡°And he owed me a favor.¡± Though he had also said that fighting didn¡¯t count.


    Sophia looked at her phone, ¡°Wow this¡­ is a huge controversy.¡± Her thumbs were preparing scathing comments for the public view. She would have a wider reach if she posted with her super persona, but that would also show her biases¡­ and maybe get her in trouble with a certain glasses-wearing executive. Still, she could call out both the ¡®dwarf¡¯ comment and ¡®violent orc¡¯. Sophia could hardly believe this new channel was sticking to their guns, considering the other angle she was watching for the same battle. This Channel 72 had like a billion views! Alright, not that many- Even superhero controversies had things like this on the regular- but the unedited version was at least five times as popular as the other¡­ though it seemed any other station couldn¡¯t get the rights to the clips.


    ¡°He does love fighting,¡± Sophia admitted. ¡°Seems like he tried to watch out for you though.¡±


    ¡°Should you really¡­ watch that?¡± Izzy said, standing on her tip-toes not getting her any closer to an angle on the phone until Sophia crouched into a wall-squat. ¡°You don¡¯t need to-¡±


    Blood sprayed from a thigh as the uncensored video continued to play. Sophia¡¯s face only showed discontent, not disgust. ¡°Hard to believe anyone pitched this as you attacking them. You¡¯re freaking adorable.¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­ thanks?¡± Izzy wasn¡¯t quite sure how to respond to that.


    ¡°You¡¯re pretty good. Ever think about becoming a merc-¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to work around Turlough,¡± Izzy quickly cut her off.


    ¡°Right. What happened between you two? I know you said you don¡¯t want to talk about it, but you¡¯re my friend.¡± The next words were once more whispered at a level that should not have been heard over the sound of the phone. ¡°And he is too.¡±


    ¡°Does he cause a lot of collateral damage?¡±


    ¡°Not as much as me- I mean, as much as some people I¡¯ve seen,¡± Sophia barely corrected herself.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ not working in repair.¡±


    That was the point where Sophia had to choose between doubling down on her lie, or revealing her status to someone she only met recently. A civilian¡­ but not one unconnected. And it was really more of confirming it or lying about it, because Izzy was convinced. ¡°We should¡­ talk at my apartment.¡±


    -----


    Sophia¡¯s apartment wasn¡¯t terribly far from their meeting location- everything in the area was pretty quick to get to. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t hang out at Corner Coffee. It was good, but not go-across-town good.


    However, in addition to not having many choices of beverage, there were other reasons to not bring her new friend over. Like the shelves of TRPG books in her room. Sophia nudged a few stray rulebooks under the corner of the dining room table as she passed. Non-work related friends could know her hobbies, but it was weird to reveal them around someone from a type-F world.


    ¡°So¡­ yeah,¡± Sophia said. ¡°I¡¯m Great Girl.¡±


    ¡°... Sorry,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I don¡¯t really¡­ know any supers or anything.¡±


    ¡°Mage didn¡¯t talk about me?¡±


    ¡°Like I said, we¡¯re not really¡­ friends now. Haven¡¯t been in¡­ over a decade.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I guess showing up here during the whole portal thing was a weird coincidence, huh?¡±


    ¡°... Not really. I was looking for Turlough. I was just¡­ too late,¡± Izzy didn¡¯t want to look Sophia directly in the eyes, and Sophia couldn¡¯t blame her. ¡°I guess our friendship wasn¡¯t that great to begin with. I mean, there was hardly more to it than punching each other, or occasionally other people.¡±


    Sophia wasn¡¯t sure how to respond to that. As far as she was aware, that was exactly Turlough¡¯s favorite kind of friendship. ¡°So what went wrong?¡±


    ¡°He grew taller, I didn¡¯t, and we got in a fight.¡±


    ¡°But- oh.¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to hang out with someone my size and¡­ level of maturity, maybe. At least he knew what he wanted. I¡¯m pretty sure I haven¡¯t figured that out yet.¡± She shook her head. ¡°And now I¡¯m just drifting around as he came up with some stupid promise to Gate me back home.¡±


    ¡°... Gate¡¯s a freaking ninth level spell,¡± Sophia commented.


    ¡°Ninth?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I guess it would be nineteen or twenty with the actual system you have going?¡± Sophia frowned. ¡°Mage is strong but not like¡­ that strong. How long before he could learn that?¡±


    ¡°He said three levels. I guess that might be years, but that¡¯s better than never going back. Than being here.¡±


    ¡°Is it really so bad?¡± Sophia said. ¡°I guess you¡¯ve got home and family-¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t like being so close to someone who used to be my best friend, and isn¡¯t my friend at all,¡± Izzy said. ¡°But after he learns it, I don¡¯t know if he could actually cast it. He said he¡¯d try, and he¡¯s too stubborn to not do his best. I just hope he doesn¡¯t hurt himself doing something stupid.¡±


    Silence reigned for a while, as both people were quite aware that Turlough was exactly the sort to hurt himself doing something stupid.


    ¡°... When did he say it was three levels?¡± Sophia asked. ¡°Because he levels up pretty fast.¡±


    ¡°A few weeks ago, maybe?¡± Izzy said. ¡°I¡¯m glad he¡¯s leveling up now, but it could still take a while.¡±


    ¡°... You might underestimate how much fighting he gets up to,¡± Sophia declared. ¡°I¡­ might have to talk to him about this.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to¡­ mess up your friendship. He¡¯s going to try something. Maybe¡­ he¡¯ll even be successful, and send me back. Or at least get me away from this place to die halfway. That might be better.¡±


    ¡°... We need to get you a therapist.¡±


    ¡°A what?¡± Izzy tilted her head. ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve heard that term somewhere¡­¡±


    Sophia wasn¡¯t quite sure how to explain that. This whole situation with Izzy and Turlough seemed like it would need a lot of work. How would he react to her bringing it up? Ugh. What a pain.


    Sophia also had a whole smear campaign to run against at least a couple news stations that should know better. Or¡­ maybe she would wait for Calculator¡¯s things to go through. Nah. Sophia latched onto #StargirlSucks which seemed to be getting a lot of traction from some video influencer with a portal power and added her own comments to the storm of words. They were gonna tear down the system! Or at least get someone fired.


    If only that someone could be Kourtney, but that was a pretty big ask.

 Chapter 108

    At some point the current appointment with Doctor Patenaude had transitioned to the subject of my leisure activities, after reconfirming that I was ¡®mostly alright¡¯ following the whole incident with Gloom. ¡°Mostly training, I guess,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s fun to grow stronger.¡±


    The sensory stalks Doctor Patenaude had wriggled around as they did often. ¡°Regardless of it being enjoyable, work is not a leisure activity, Turlough. What other activities do you participate in?¡±


    ¡°I spend time with my apprentice, Jerome,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s usually relaxing.¡±


    ¡°Are you actively teaching during these times?¡± Doctor Patenaude asked.


    ¡°Well, usually. He is my apprentice after all.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also going to categorize that as not leisure, then,¡± Doctor Patenaude shook his head. ¡°Can you think of anything else you participate in?¡±


    ¡°Well, I do get coffee sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Passable. Anything else.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ this would be easier with Midnight here,¡± I admitted. ¡°He¡¯s more cognizant of such things.¡±


    ¡°These sessions are not for your companion, but for yourself. Magical bonds do not change that. You need to be aware of this as an individual.¡± A pause, ¡°You mentioned activities with fellows from work¡­ aside from training.¡±


    ¡°Does going to the track with Shockwave count?¡± I asked. ¡°It wasn¡¯t work hours and I wasn¡¯t training.¡±


    ¡°Then, that.¡±


    ¡°Is that a regular activity?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°It was basically a one time thing.¡±


    ¡°What about your squad mates? I recall you talking about activities with them.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. We hung out a few times. We went to an arcade.¡±


    ¡°Did you have fun?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± I said.


    ¡°Are you planning to go again?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± I shook my head.


    ¡°I will need some clarification. Is your squad continuing such bonding exercises?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± I said. ¡°But I stopped going.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Doctor Patenaude asked, leaving me with a simple prompt I had no idea how to answer.


    After some time, I just shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It just felt weird.¡±


    ¡°What about it?¡± he asked. ¡°Did you not get along with the others as civilians?¡±


    ¡°No, they were fine. We¡¯re friends.¡±


    ¡°Then why not continue to participate? It doesn¡¯t have to be every time, if your social battery runs low, but sometimes would be good for you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It just felt¡­ weird.¡±


    ¡°What about it?¡±


    ¡°One of them said it.¡±


    ¡°I see. And that led you to not want to spend time with them?¡±


    ¡°No, I just¡­ didn¡¯t want to do it like that,¡± I said.


    ¡°In what way?¡± Doctor Patenaude asked. ¡°Work sponsored? The location?¡±


    ¡°Disguised as a human.¡±


    The sound of writing was deafening. ¡°Interesting,¡± was all Doctor Patenaude said. ¡°And what about your halfling friend?¡±


    -----


    In two levels or so, I really needed to get another level in Stoneskin. Next level¡¯s points were spoken for, due to my promise. It would have been nice to spend what I had now, but I couldn¡¯t leave my promise lingering. As for exactly why that one level mattered, it was a matter of efficiency.


    The reduced cost came with an increased duration, which together would be almost sufficient to let me completely regenerate the cost by the time it wore out. And I had a good reason to want to keep it up constantly, given that Handface was just out and about again. Also, Scrying him was still annoyingly difficult with the stuff throwing off his location. Maybe a level there too would help pierce through that crap.


    It wasn¡¯t just myself that I was concerned about using Stoneskin on either, but also my squad. Midnight shared with me, so that wasn¡¯t a problem. Likewise, because we each had our own mana regeneration Midnight cast it on Shockfire. Acid Man had been training his body to react automatically to attacks, and I¡¯d seen him get shot and just have the bullets go through him, so he would probably be fine. Rocker¡¯s abilities protected him to some extent, and he was still on probation, a fact that anyone looking for us would be aware of. That just left our captain, Ice Guy. He could defend against bullets if he was prepared, but he¡¯d have to know they were coming.


    Even so, he didn¡¯t let me use it on him. ¡°Having you at half mana at the beginning of our patrols would be bad enough, but before the end you¡¯d be out. It¡¯s natural to be fatigued towards the end, but cutting our patrols short or being completely out of power are both unacceptable options.¡±


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Our patrols weren¡¯t long- two to four hours, depending. They couldn¡¯t be the same eight hours as an office worker¡¯s shift, since we had to be on full alert the whole time. That included Shockfire using his powers to seek out any heat or electricity based anomalies, in addition to my Stoneskin.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Captain Senan assured me. ¡°Out of all of us, I am most likely to be able to react¡­ and I¡¯m not the most likely target.¡±


    So it had been decided, and thus our patrols continued in that manner. At first I had been concerned about the costs. It was only around $20 for a single casting of Stoneskin, but at $40 an hour it would start to eat into my patrol pay. I was paying for my apartment and the costs associated there, plus eating out frequently was expensive. I wasn¡¯t going to go broke with just that, but I was saving for more expensive material components. Contingency was still on my mind, and both real ivory and actual gems instead of dust were still expensive in this world- the diamond dust was partly a side effect of other processes, and thus much cheaper.


    Our patrols didn¡¯t net much, though they weren¡¯t supposed to encounter things so frequently like the whole thing with the Mod Squad and Rodentia. We were mainly a deterrent, sometimes catching petty criminals who thought they were in the clear. Our patrol locations and routes shifted, because although getting familiar with an area was good¡­ being too predictable when we knew there were people out to get us (or at least me) was something the Power Brigade didn¡¯t want to risk.


    Everything was fine up until the next round of portals.


    -----


    It happened at the end of November, after a holiday that I had been assured didn¡¯t involve any giant avians appearing to trash the city. Though I failed to see why this ¡®Turkey Day¡¯ should act any differently than Halloween and its general spooks, except for the theming. Was it because people didn¡¯t dress in costumes? No, that wasn¡¯t it- apparently those actually helped minimize the effects of Halloween¡­ somehow.


    Regardless, I did not have to deal with hundred foot tall turkeys or anything but a normal patrol upon that day. It was around another week later that it happened. I sensed the portal and the change in mana levels before anything happened, and was able to send a warning to our squad. It was possible it was a random occurrence, but we reported it to our handlers nonetheless.


    Following my sense of the magical phenomenon, I tracked it to a hotel. I strained my neck, looking up. ¡°I think it¡¯s on the upper floors somewhere,¡± I said to the gathered squad. ¡°Maybe on the roof, or maybe inside and it¡¯s coming out the easiest path.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Captain Senan nodded, ¡°Let¡¯s head in quickly.¡± At the desk, he flashed a badge. ¡°Power Brigade. There¡¯s an incident of supernatural origin occuring on the upper floors. Contact the manager and begin evacuating from the upper floors, as calmly as possible for the moment.¡±


    The receptionist looked quite stunned to have that all declared at once, but Captain Senan set them up with a contact number. We didn¡¯t have time to waste telling them how to handle things, and leaving behind one of our combat members for the task wasn¡¯t an option.


    There was only a short debate on whether to use the elevator or the stairs- but since the incident didn¡¯t seem active yet, we risked the elevator. Captain Senan inserted a key that firefighters used to override the normal functionality, sending us straight to the upper floors without it stopping for others.


    The elevator didn¡¯t go to the roof, but we were right next to the stairs when we arrived. ¡°It¡¯s still above us,¡± I said, making my way to the open doors. It was a fall evening, so I hadn¡¯t expected anyone to be present, but apparently they were a few individuals who had been inclined to hang about on the roof regardless. One of them staggered into Captain Senan as he stepped through the doors first.


    ¡°Ugh¡­ help-¡± the man said as his legs gave out, his eyes vaguely recognizing a super¡¯s outfit.


    I didn¡¯t see the thing following him until it clattered onto the ground, frozen in a thick layer of ice. ¡°Crap, imps!¡± I said, looking at the tiny red creature. It was vaguely humanoid, with bat wings and a tail equipped with a nasty stinger. ¡°They¡¯re immune to fire,¡± I looked at Shockfire next to me as I said that, then around at the others. ¡°Resistant to acid, cold¡­¡±


    ¡°And electricity?¡± Shockfire sighed.


    ¡°Nope,¡± I shook my head. ¡°You should be good. If these are the imps I know.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, metal!¡± Rocker exclaimed as he strummed a note on his guitar, shattering the imp into pieces. Captain Senan gave him a hard look. ¡°... Was that bad?¡±


    ¡°You just exploded a humanoid creature.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, they¡¯re pure evil.¡±


    ¡°Turlough, just because-¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right, you know,¡± said an imp from above as it stabbed its stinger into the captain¡¯s neck. For its efforts, its bottom half was frozen, and then yanked away and slammed into the ground. Both it and the first one were already fading from existence.


    Captain Senan looked at me, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Resistant to cold?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Resistant. Not immune.¡±


    He shrugged, ¡°I suppose the ice was less thick than I envisioned, but they¡¯re not particularly¡­ large¡­¡± He clutched his hand to his neck, ¡°Poison?¡±


    ¡°Sorry!¡± I said. ¡°Their stingers are poisonous, dexterity type. Uh¡­ kind of a muscle relaxant? Nonlethal, at least¡­¡±


    Captain Senan seemed tough enough that he was still standing, but clearly there were effects. We didn¡¯t have time to stand about talking, however- there were several more guests on the rooftop being chased by imps and oozing piles of flesh- lemures.


    ¡°The other ones are lemures! Weak and slow, but mostly the same defensively!¡± I said while focusing mostly on the portal to hell that was currently opened halfway in the pool, atop the steps. The rapidly dropping water level would leave it dry in a few moments as water poured through the portal in the other direction.


    Given our options, electricity was the best. Acid Man had to make do with what he could- acid wasn¡¯t useless against the lemures, just less than optimal. Shockfire had stored electricity, and Midnight set about using Shocking Grasp, pawing at the grounded lemures or leaping at the imps. Rocker happened to find the biggest gathering of devils- the portal itself- and was quite happy to continuously blast them back through the portal with strums of his instrument.


    I was reminded that Rocker was quite powerful, though when he had to avoid collateral damage he was a bit weaker. That included not making us all go deaf, but it was good enough that his focused attacks were comparable to maybe half of a Sonic Lance- though clearly he used a much smaller portion of his energy to do so. During our fight he¡¯d thrown out dozens of attacks, while I could manage six casts of Sonic Lance if I was full.


    Soon enough the civilians were saved- though they weren¡¯t unharmed, the bleeding was minimal and the poison was probably nonlethal. Imps were still flying about harassing us, but the lemures were rather dumb and all congregated on Acid Man who was slowly dissolving them. It couldn¡¯t have been pleasant for my companion, and he certainly would have liked the process to be quicker, but it was working. The devils were small and weak enough that Ice Guy managed to overpower their resistance, freezing them in part or whole- or simply puncturing them with spikes.


    As for myself, I was concentrating on the portal. Previously we had just waited around until they stopped spewing monsters, but this was slightly different. First, I could see through it¡­ and I didn¡¯t see a clear end to the number of enemies trying to pour through from whichever layer of hell it had opened to. A foul miasma poured out as well, as I tugged on the edges of the portal and tried to do something.


    I felt a moment of fatigue, then a headache. The portal twisted closed, and I was hit with a wave of power as I nearly collapsed from mana exhaustion, landing on one knee. I was pretty sure that wasn¡¯t supposed to work, but blasting the edges of the portal with magic wasn¡¯t going to have done anything anyway.


    ¡°Neat,¡± I said as I climbed back to my feet.

 Chapter 109

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Captain Senan asked as I stood back up following the abrupt closure of the portal to hell.


    ¡°I should be,¡± I nodded. I hoped that counted as combat, but portals weren¡¯t alive, or undead, or constructs. Were they constructs? Did I get experience for killing a portal? Unfortunately looking at my numbers it was hard to say. I kept a general track of my experience, but I didn¡¯t obsessively check. Which meant I didn¡¯t get much more than ten or twenty- though neither was exactly a negligible amount. ¡°Familiar, did you feel that?¡± It felt weird calling Midnight his ¡®official¡¯ moniker, but we were on the job right now.


    ¡°I think so, Mage,¡± Midnight scurried over to me and hopped up my outstretched arm to climb onto my shoulder. ¡°A large fluctuation of mana from the portal before it closed.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but it basically took everything I had,¡± I said, ¡°I would be surprised if I had more than a few points¡­ of mana¡­¡± My speech slowed as I took stock of myself. I certainly wasn¡¯t at full capacity, but I was over half. Considering I had almost passed out from mana exhaustion, it didn¡¯t make sense. Neither overusing too much mana at once or running out altogether made sense with those results.


    ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate to have you low on mana,¡± Ice Guy said, ¡°But at least this portal is dealt with.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I suppose¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°It was different from the others though.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Well, I could fully see through it. Did the rest of you not see uh¡­ hell?¡±


    ¡°I saw it,¡± Midnight confirmed, though that wasn¡¯t the most helpful.


    ¡°Now that you mention it,¡± Shockfire said, ¡°The other portals were either invisible or swirling barriers. We couldn¡¯t see through them.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll report this,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°But we need to get moving. This isn¡¯t the only incident. Seems like another one of Doctor Doomsday¡¯s¡­ sprees.¡±


    After a few moments of confirming that the civilians on the roof were stable- as I predicted, the imp¡¯s poison acted much like a muscle relaxant- Captain Senan had resisted to some extend, but he was still unsteady on his feet. He and the civilians had small puncture wounds, but they were easily bandaged up.


    ¡°Could really use a cleric or a druid,¡± I said. ¡°Or even a paladin.¡±


    ¡°We have healers back at HQ,¡± Captain Senan said as we made our way back into the elevator after checking the top floor¡¯s hallways.


    ¡°Yeah, but they¡¯re not exactly¡­ field guys. Could use someone to fix you right up out here.¡±


    He didn¡¯t look as if he specifically disagreed, but he said nothing else as we walked out into the lobby. He only stopped to briefly inform the hotel staff to not let people back into the area until a proper sweep was performed- after the larger incident was resolved, of course.


    When I stepped outside, I was hit in the chest, and then I heard a gunshot- in that order. I staggered back, but held my feet somehow. The second shot I was actually more prepared for, and by the third one my brain had done something besides just stand there and instead moved to dodge, which meant I got hit in the shoulder instead of the chest.


    ¡°Sniper!¡± Captain Senan called out even as he raised a wall of ice in front of us. Only after there was a good half foot of ice between us and subsequent shots did he turn to me. ¡°Mage?¡±


    ¡°Francois is a freaking genius,¡± I said, taking note of one flattened bullet that had pierced my jacket but not the shirt beneath it. The other two had, but instead of blood there was just gray skin. ¡°I¡¯m alright. This is why I cast Stoneskin.¡± I was fairly certain the first shot had shattered my Force Armor, which meant that the entirety of that plus the two layers of defensive outfit were barely enough.


    ¡°... how much better did you say Stoneskin was compared to your Force Armor?¡±


    ¡°Twenty. Well, fourteen because I have more upgrades in Force Armor. But at a base, twenty.¡± Speaking of which, I reapplied the Force Armor spell. One and a half mana to save me obtaining new holes was definitely worth it. As I did so, my eyes looked into the night, down the street. Shots had stopped after the three that hit me and then a few extra hitting Ice Guy¡¯s wall, the damage to which was being actively repaired. ¡°This would be a great time to call in Shockwave¡¯s favor if we weren¡¯t in a whole emergency thing.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s Deimos?¡±


    ¡°Handface? Probably. Can¡¯t quite make him out.¡± The ice wall and the distance were both not helping. I had some vague sense of something a few blocks away, which was still too far for any of my magic. But I was tired of getting attacked by the guy, and I wanted to be able to track him. Or at least determine if I had even spotted him. ¡°One sec,¡± I said, casting Shield as I lifted my front up onto the ice wall.


    A flash and an impact that shattered through my Shield, Force Armor, and left tusk before striking my upper lip and deflecting off of my face told me that my target was still there- and with a bit of anger and a bit of intention I shoved mana at the origin. Nothing I had could go far enough to reach him, but I did it anyway. I was rewarded by a very faint curse and a flicker of light in a window down the street.


    ¡°Damn that hurt!¡± I said, ¡°I think I tagged him though!¡±


    Ice Guy yanked me down. ¡°Are you crazy?¡±


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Crazy would be letting him continue to shoot me on his terms!¡± I said. I took a deep breath. ¡°I can feel him moving now. Come on, we can catch him!¡± As I began to step around the ice wall, I felt my feet suddenly attached to the floor, and of course quite cold. ¡°Come on, don¡¯t make me spend mana to get out of this.¡±


    ¡°As captain of the team it is my duty to keep my squad members safe,¡± he said. He looked between me and the rest of the squad. ¡°Haste yourself and Familiar, and have Familiar do the same for me. If he¡¯s truly on the move, we¡¯ll need speed to catch up and stop him. I¡¯ll create barriers along the way for the rest to follow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about getting shot either,¡± Acid Man said. ¡°I could use one as well.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Mage needs to save the rest of what he has.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving.¡± As soon as Midnight cast Haste on our captain the ice by my feet faded away, and at the same time I was empowering myself and Midnight. I didn¡¯t wait the extra couple seconds for Acid Man to get the same treatment, instead I began moving.


    Anticipating shots coming my way, I moved in what I hoped to be an unpredictable pattern, making use of what small cover the street provided- and staying out of the light as much as possible. I couldn¡¯t be sure if Handface had equipment to see me, if he was changing positions, if my tossing a tiny bit of hopefully sticky light had actually affected him or something else moving- but I had to move. And move I did, running with all my might towards what I felt. It felt like an eternity but was probably no more than a few actual seconds before Midnight was moving with me- taking a straight line instead of dodging and weaving. He was a smaller target, probably faster, and to top it all off he still had a fully intact Stoneskin.


    I assumed the others were on the way too, from the vague feel of Ice Guy¡¯s power popping up behind me, but I wasn¡¯t focused on that or what was probably blood dripping down into my mouth from my tusk or cheek or both.


    Running a few hundred feet should have taken me somewhere between ten and fifteen seconds, but it felt like much longer and shorter at the same time. Regardless of the actual time, I saw the lit up, bald head of Handface sprinting out of a hotel and around a corner by the time I was actually halfway, which meant he¡¯d probably started moving the instant my light spell touched him. Smart guy.


    What wasn¡¯t smart was that when he rounded the corner he ran right through a bunch of tiny green dragons. They would totally bite his ankles off and- it appeared his mad sprint was actually good enough to avoid them, leaping over claws, tails, and gouts of acid.


    Maybe he knew they were there. He glanced over his shoulder with a smirk, watching the angry little buggers turn towards the next target, me. It was my job to deal with them.


    As agile as Handface had been, however, I was cheating. Moving at somewhere around three and a half times normal speed, including reaction time, meant it was much simpler for me to run through the mess of angry magic lizards and finish catching up to him, right next to the portal.


    Handface had good reactions of his own, twisting around to level his rifle towards my chest. Pulling a trigger took basically no time at all¡­ but from my perspective, it felt like I had an entire second. If I had to randomly react to that I wasn¡¯t sure what I would do, but I was trained for this. Supers were still people who could bleed and die, and they really reminded us of that in terms of firearms, and our particular squad got extra training because of this guy in particular.


    In short, I didn¡¯t think about it when I grabbed the barrel of his gun and twisted it out of his hand while at the same time kicking him squarely in his abdomen. I certainly didn¡¯t think about the fact that at our specific angles he would end up on the other side of the portal. But it happened, the man landing on his ass in some sort of forest.


    And when I did, the first thing I could think to do was yank the portal closed. Having just succeeded a few minutes earlier I didn¡¯t think much about my current mana levels and just yanked. It was like pulling the drawstring on a bag, and the edges of the portal slipped closed, narrowing into a fine point just like my vision. I passed out, of course.


    -----


    When I woke up, I had a dome of ice covering me. I could see some vicious scratches on it, and feel a couple rather similar things in myself. I didn''t have enough room to sit up, only turn my head- but I saw the rest of the squad fighting the green-scaled dragons through the ice. Despite looking very unsteady on his feet now, Captain Senan was still lobbing ice every which way. Shockfire was just rounding the corner with Rocker, but Midnight was on the back of a twitching dragon around the size of a medium dog.


    Acid Man was¡­ wrestling with a pair of dragons. ¡°They¡¯re immune to acid,¡± I said unhelpfully from my little cocoon. He no doubt had already determined that and couldn¡¯t hear me. I knocked on the ice, but I didn¡¯t see anyone pay attention to me.


    Well, that was fine. I would just lie here on the ground and try to recover mana. I¡¯d already consumed a few crystals so I didn¡¯t want to risk more at the moment¡­ but I¡¯d had pretty extreme mana regeneration around some of those portals in the past. The portal which was¡­ actually, not quite closed. I could see something like a hand sized opening, and feel some mana seeping through my little shell. Not that I expected to recover to any significant amount in under an hour.


    A dragon scrabbled atop my little shell, still trying to get to me. Midnight leapt at him, and from the way he bit and clawed instead of doing anything magical I presumed he was out of mana. A spray of green, acidic gas went over his shoulder as he wrestled the dragon, claws and teeth not finding purchase in his stony fur¡­ but I knew that wouldn¡¯t last forever. I took stock for a moment to determine that I likely had enough mana for a Shocking Graspy, less than a total cost of two points, and I channeled that through my cat buddy. It was enough to knock out the wyrmling, at least.


    Midnight turned to look at me. I could feel his fear, concern, anger¡­ but I did my best to smile and project a feeling of comfort back towards him, giving him a thumb¡¯s up.


    The rest of the battle was loud as Rocker properly began to participate, blasting small dragons with pure sound. Shockfire seemed hesitant to use his fire at first, but eventually he either decided he had to test it or was low enough on his other element that he shot a cone of flame over a couple trying to flank the group. They reacted as the vast majority of dragons would to flame- in pain. Just like anything should.


    As the last of the dragons fell, Ice Guy removed the dome over me. He helped me to my feet and we staggered towards the side of the road- though I was doing a better job of supporting him than the other way around. Neither of us said anything for a moment, until he finally caught his breath. ¡°... Did you kick Deimos through that portal?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I nodded happily. ¡°Yes I did.¡±

 Chapter 110

    ¡°Thanks for keeping me from dying,¡± I said to the rest of the squad after we took a moment to get away from the nearly closed portal. Deimos was still in there, after all. HQ almost requested us to leave it, but it was kind of in the middle of the street and nobody wanted to think about what happened when a car drove into a portal too small for it. Or rather, not outside of a controlled environment. Shutting down a street was also not a popular idea.


    We were waiting for Midnight and myself to regenerate mana before¡­ whatever we were going to do next. It wouldn¡¯t take that long with the portal nearby. Wherever those dragons lived was quite mana dense, like most of the portals I had sensed.


    ¡°We are a squad after all,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°Though I have to admonish you for pulling away from the majority of the squad, even if you were chasing your nemesis. Or specifically because of it.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Wasn¡¯t that guy one of ours? No wait, that was Antagonist.¡±


    ¡°I meant Deimos. You came into conflict with him during your origin and marked him, then coincidentally and intentionally ended up in further conflict. He¡¯s definitely a nemesis.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so,¡± I shrugged. ¡°He¡¯s gone now though.¡±


    Acid Man gave me a look that I could only half interpret with his mask. ¡°You really believe that?¡±


    ¡°I kicked him through a portal, and he doesn¡¯t have any way to open them on his own. Also, I took his weapon.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll be lucky,¡± Shockfire shook his head. ¡°But I would bet that he returns. Is that portal to your world?¡±


    ¡°Or one like it¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s your world specifically, then based on Doctor Doomsday¡¯s recent flood of these things, we will see more portals and thus more opportunities for Deimos to return¡­ with an even greater grudge.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, what a pain,¡± I frowned. ¡°Should I have killed him?¡±


    ¡°You would be justified, even by the standards of a super,¡± Ice Guy explained. ¡°The fact that he failed to kill you so far does not mean the attempts weren¡¯t real. Including this last one. If we had encountered him in a situation where he was easy to incapacitate it would be our duty to try¡­ but it would have been acceptable to kill him here.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying I should have used Sonic Lance¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡­ might have had unfortunate consequences,¡± Ice Guy shook his head. ¡°As he should be defensively close to a normal human and thus would be¡­ everywhere. It¡¯s not a good look.¡±


    I looked at the street with various pieces of dead dragon floating about. ¡°Yeah I suppose not.¡±


    After about fifteen minutes I was confident I had enough mana to finish closing the portal- only because of the increased density of mana that came through it- and it was decided to not let it stay. Information from HQ indicated that the other portals weren¡¯t closing automatically like the previous wave. Supers were required to secure the area around them¡­ but it seemed that this time there were slightly fewer portals as well. Aside from the exception of there being two within a couple blocks of us- the one on the hotel and this one in the street- they were spread out enough that they were being managed, for the moment at least.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I rubbed my hands together. ¡°Midnight, pay careful attention here. I assume you can do this too, though it¡¯s pretty mana heavy so it might be difficult.¡± I reached out for the portal, feeling the flow of mana that came through but also that held it together. Stable. This third attempt was sufficient for me to have a better understanding instead of just fumbling around¡­ and it was surprisingly easy. I gathered mana, instinctively stopping at around ten. I felt like I had spent more for it previously, but perhaps this was the right amount for a mostly closed portal? Though that would have put the others beyond me by a significant margin.


    Deciding not to worry about it too much I finished drawing the portal closed until it winked out of existence. The mana I spent to perform that task was quickly exhausted¡­ and then replenished, as I tore away the strings of power that had been the portal. The feeling of mana rushing into me was exhilarating¡­ and I almost threw up.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Midnight asked, presumably having felt something close to what I did.


    Taking stock of myself, I determined that nothing hurt, and the wave of nausea had passed. ¡°It seems I absorbed the mana of the portal? Though I had to fully close it before that happened. Now I¡¯m¡­ basically full again. Though absorbing that much mana so fast was¡­ unsettling.¡± Absorbing mana was good, but that had been too much. I didn¡¯t feel like when I had too many mana crystals but¡­ it also wasn¡¯t entirely different.


    ¡°Can you do it again?¡± Ice Guy asked. ¡°New Bay¡¯s got everyone with dimensional powers on dealing with the portals already, but accelerating the process would probably be for the best.¡±


    ¡°I can do¡­ at least another one,¡± I said cautiously. ¡°I might be able to do more if I can control the wave of mana.¡± Had I gotten too full on mana? I really didn¡¯t want to find out that would make me explode or something.


    ¡°Okay,¡± he nodded. ¡°Midnight, you¡¯re responsible for monitoring his situation. ¡°Don¡¯t let him push too far.¡±


    ¡°On it!¡± Midnight declared seriously.


    I thought for a few moments. ¡°Actually, if we work together on the next one¡­ we might split the drain and the after effects.¡± I frowned, still uncertain of this new ability. ¡°Probably.¡±


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    ¡°Let¡¯s try it,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°I can handle at least one thing.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Captain Senan declared, ¡°Let¡¯s get moving. The closest one is this way.¡±


    It took a few minutes of jogging through the streets, curious people looking out their windows but remaining safely inside, for us to arrive at the next portal. Through it, instead of a murky forest or literal hell, I saw an idyllic landscape. That could have been one of any number of places, and unfortunately my planar lore was rather insufficient on the deeper details. I hadn¡¯t expected to be interacting with any of it outside of textbooks, after all.


    ¡°What came through here?¡± I asked of the small squad of supers guarding it.


    ¡°Nothing, so far as we can tell,¡± said their leader. ¡°Though we saw some¡­ elephants and wolves. And some sort of large winged creatures.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ umm¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll try to seal this place up. Familiar?¡± I looked at Midnight, finding it probably just as awkward to use his moniker as he did with me. Maybe more.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±


    Coordinating magical abilities could be quite difficult, but with the bond of a mage and familiar and whatever sort of bond Celmothians had, it wasn¡¯t difficult at all. Where our efforts overlapped we didn¡¯t conflict with each other, and soon we had the portal half closed. Interestingly enough, though I felt this technique should cost ten mana¡­ perhaps that was the minimum required. Certainly with both Midnight and I it should have done more than close halfway. Still, we looked at each other, nodded, and gave another magical tug, closing up the portal. As it was about to be closed, I thought I saw a light green skinned bald figure step in front of it and nod. Not like a Martian, but closer to my height. I couldn¡¯t quite be sure, though.


    This time I was ready for the wave of mana, and I intentionally chose not to absorb it all. Midnight had felt what I did but had no firsthand experience, so I saw him stagger and internally recoil from the overload, but it didn¡¯t feel that bad. Splitting it seemed to help at least a little.


    Despite being full on mana, however, I was feeling drained and tired. We managed two more portals together before we had to call it quits. There was a lingering discomfort I felt inside, certainly similar to the mana crystal buildup. The Power Brigade wasn¡¯t going to require us to push our new ability beyond safe limits, especially with the emergency now being more or less contained.


    -----


    Doctor Martinez scanned both Midnight and I when we returned, then sighed. ¡°I¡¯m getting far too used to diagnosing mana based maladies these days.¡± He shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you stopped when you did¡­¡± He looked at me, his eyes sharp. ¡°You¡­ with the combination of overusing those mana crystals and whatever this was, your internals aren¡¯t in great shape. I¡¯m not really sure what I should say except¡­ perhaps you should spend some mana. If you really absorbed excess, it might have nowhere to go but into your body. I¡¯ll monitor your situation while you do so.¡± He coughed, ¡°Start small and nondestructive please.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t blow up your stuff,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Maybe¡­ light?¡± Midnight nodded, and the two of us began to play around with Basic Light Magic, which was kind of whatever I wanted it to be¡­ within limits. I couldn¡¯t create anything but simple shapes, but I could move it around and either have it stick to things or float in place. I remembered how I managed to fling it further than it should normally go, attaching it to Deimos. I couldn¡¯t exactly do that in the confines of a doctor¡¯s office, but I could try to stretch it to its limits, inflating its size until it fell apart or creating as many distinct orbs as I could. Four was the normal limit inherited from Dancing Lights, but I could manage five or very briefly six. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was a magical limitation or due to my own mental limitations.


    ¡°Well,¡± Doctor Martinez shook his head. ¡°I think it¡¯s helping slightly. I would recommend keeping yourselves below maximum mana capacity at least for the next few hours. Come check with me again before you clock out.¡±


    -----


    Though the persistent portals had been a problem, the actual danger had been less than Doctor Doomsday¡¯s previous attempts, due to the smaller number. With that problem solved over the course of the night, there was only one more thing for me to do.


    Look at my points. As I suspected, someone attempting to kill me was amazing for my experience growth. I imagined that someone doing the same thing Deimos did but without the actual intent to kill me wouldn¡¯t have given me so much. Sparring had diminishing returns for interacting with the same people, and also was affected by seriousness, more or less. I had only barely passed the requirements for level 25, by 4 experience, but that was still a significant amount in a short time.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 25


    Experience: 1629/1755 (Author¡¯s note: We can just pretend the second part of that experience was always there. I realized it¡¯s not terribly meaningful without a reference)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +3


    Firebolt +3


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +2


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +3


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +3


    Sonic Lance +2


    Scrying


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +1


    Variable Freedom +2


    Remaining Points: 42


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana Crystal Deposition +2


    Water Breathing


    Basic Light Magic +2


    Locate Object


    Alter Portal


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I couldn¡¯t really spend points at the moment. I would need 39 of them for the promised Gate, after all. I was quite interested to discover the further improvements of Mana Crystal Deposition and Basic Light Magic. Then of course there was Alter Portal.


    It wasn¡¯t surprising, exactly. It was another spell that definitely wasn¡¯t a spell, so it went in the weird section that shouldn¡¯t exist. That was fine and apparently normal now. It was just a weird name. Close Portal would have been more accurate. But maybe it meant it. I couldn¡¯t think of anything I wanted to do to portals but close them though. Except that temporary Gate for Izzy, but that hardly counted.


    I still didn¡¯t understand how any of this crap worked without points. I didn¡¯t hate that I had it, but I really, really wanted to understand. Maybe Handface¡¯s scanner thing would have helped? It would have been nice if I ripped that thing off his face before I kicked him through the portal, but I didn¡¯t exactly have the luxury of time. Or at least¡­ not that level of clarity in the midst of battle.


    At least I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about him trying to kill me. I did keep in mind that it might be more on the temporary side since he hadn¡¯t died, but as long as I grew stronger and he didn¡¯t keep up, I could manage. A couple levels of Stoneskin would do wonders¡­ shame I had to keep those points for something else. I¡¯d just have to get more levels in the future.

 Chapter 111

    Having achieved level 25 and 42 free points to spend, I now had something I needed to do. That involved sending Izzy a text and asking her to meet up. There wasn¡¯t really any point in delaying, since she wanted to go back. I still hadn¡¯t spent the points yet because¡­ I didn¡¯t need to. It would work just as well later. I nodded to myself as I walked towards Corner Coffee, where we were most likely to meet up. Even if she was busy or something, I¡¯d still be closer to wherever we did meet up.


    As I walked along the streets at a quick pace, I couldn¡¯t help but take in the sights of New Bay. Apartments and businesses dominated the streets, places for people to come from and go to. Not that there could really be anything in a city that wasn¡¯t for people. As for those people, there was quite a wide variety of them. Humans, of course, but also people extraterrestrial and extradimensional. Martians were pretty easy to pick out, though they were only a tiny portion of the population. Others filled the gaps near or far from the human average, though people like Jim were a rarity. Most fell vaguely in a range that was comfortable for Turlough, though there was a lack of what he considered most familiar.


    I saw some people that were certainly elvish or dwarvish in appearance, though the former was easier to miss unless one specifically took note of the ears. The stocky width of a dwarf was rarely matched by humans, and truly small folk like halflings were rare even counting martians.


    I simply took in everything around me, appreciating my new life- especially the opportunities to level up. Even after I finally spent these 39 points- 12% of everything I¡¯d had to this day- I was way more advanced than I could ever have imagined. I¡¯d gone from level 10 when I arrived in this world less than half a year before all the way to level 25, which I¡¯d never thought I could reach. I had somehow even surpassed the minimum one would expect for my age, though not by much. I should have been in the low 20¡¯s instead of 10, but I simply hadn¡¯t been able to get real experience.


    Thinking about the numbers and what I was on my way to do, I almost missed the orcs. A whole bundle of them, a half dozen maybe? They just strode down the sidewalk together, walking awkwardly. Well, even two wide they did kind of take up a lot of space, bumping into people. One of them looked at me, then shouted something. Was that Orcish? I waved back, and the man just shrugged and moved on.


    Then I felt Midnight approaching. He wasn¡¯t just scampering along, he was zooming past people at a breakneck speed using Haste. He jumped up to get a grip on my outstretched arm and then hopped the last bit onto my shoulder. ¡°Turlough!¡± he said. ¡°Areyoualright?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve still got Haste, buddy,¡± I patted him on the head, and felt a release of tension. Was that me or him?


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Midnight said carefully to keep his words to a sensible speed.


    ¡°I reached level 25. I have enough points, so I¡¯m going to meet Izzy for our promise.¡± A twinge of sadness and regret. ¡°... Sorry buddy. She¡¯s not happy here, so I should do what I can to fix things. It¡¯s not really my fault she came here but¡­ I can do something.¡± I sighed, ¡°You¡¯ll probably still have more friends than me after she¡¯s gone. You¡¯ll be alright.¡±


    Midnight just sat on my shoulder, waves of emotions I wasn¡¯t equipped to handle rolling off of him. Ugh, stuff like this was difficult. ¡°I should be with you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sorry, I didn¡¯t think about that. You¡¯ll probably want to say goodbye. I guess it doesn¡¯t have to happen right away.¡± Somehow, that didn¡¯t make the feelings any better, and I felt a sympathetic twinge in my gut. ¡°... It might not even work anyway. I have like, 75% of the mana to cast Gate without passing out,¡± I sighed. ¡°And I can¡¯t be sure it will cross dimensions.¡±


    A pause. ¡°Perhaps you shouldn¡¯t rush into this.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sorry, as I said I didn¡¯t think about it.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Midnight said, resting a paw on my head. ¡°Once you decide to act you forego much of the thinking you otherwise spend your time on.¡±


    ¡°... I feel like that could be taken as an insult.¡±


    ¡°It is just you,¡± Midnight said. ¡°That¡¯s all.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t much I could say about that. I felt the honesty, and the lack of ill intent. It would probably be easy to get angry over something stupid like that, but I didn¡¯t like being angry and I especially didn¡¯t like feeling both sides of an argument. At least that usually left our rare conflicts short, if sometimes intense.


    I walked into the cafe. Might as well get some bean water and pretend like it made any difference besides a momentary feeling of alertness. I could get some water for Midnight since the other options weren¡¯t great for someone with a small mass and feline stomach. Maybe a plate of bacon to snack on. One of us was trying to maintain a calm demeanor, but I couldn¡¯t tell which as I finished our order and prepared to wait for a response from Izzy.


    I turned to look for a booth and I saw them. Izzy was obvious, but I wouldn¡¯t have recognized the other woman with her if not for my recent exposure to visual proof of height and my longer term exposure to that same face with a mask. Masks did a good job of preventing people unfamiliar with an individual from determining their identity, but I was not unfamiliar with her. I just¡­ had to dredge up her actual name.


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    My steps carried me to them, since I was here to talk with Izzy to begin with. ¡°Hi Sophia, Izzy.¡±


    The response was not what I expected. Specifically, the part where Izzy vaulted over the table and landed in Sophia¡¯s arms. ¡°Gah!¡± Izzy propped Sophia¡¯s arm in between us defensively. ¡°Don¡¯t sneak up on me like that!¡±


    ¡°... Sorry?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure to be concerned about her reaction, or to marvel at the cuddly pose of a woman and a smaller sister. Way smaller, but not younger. ¡°Did you not check your texts?¡±


    Izzy pulled a phone that seemed more like a tablet in her hands out of an oversized pocket in her pants. ¡°I uh¡­ only ever get messaged by Sophia, Midnight, and work. I didn¡¯t want to think about work, and Midnight is patient.¡± She read the text. ¡°Uh, I guess we¡¯re already together so, we can meet here. Or whatever.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Sophia looked confused by several things, and started by nudging Izzy out of her lap. ¡°I can scoot over, if Turlough is joining us¡­¡± she narrowed her eyes at me. ¡°How do you know my name?¡±


    ¡°Meztli said it when we first met. Or second met?¡± I shrugged. ¡°When we were both around her that one time. And I¡¯m good at recognizing friends.¡± Izzy had returned to her proper seat and Sophia usually known by me as Great Girl scooted in, so I sat next to her. Midnight sat ¡®next¡¯ to Izzy, though he was on the table instead of awkwardly on the seat trying to see people. The cafe was quite used to his presence now, and there was always at least one employee who recognized his personhood instead of cathood. And we didn¡¯t make a mess so they had little to complain about if they didn¡¯t.


    ¡°So,¡± Izzy broke the silence. ¡°What¡¯s the important thing you had to meet about?¡±


    ¡°I leveled up,¡± I said. ¡°Now I have enough points to learn Gate and try to send you back.¡±


    ¡°I- uh- what?¡± Izzy blinked. ¡°Already?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I can attempt today, if you want. Or did you mean the level thing? I¡¯ve been fighting a lot here. You were even there for two of them.¡± I smiled slightly, feeling my tusk slide against my lips. ¡°It¡¯s nice.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not- uh,¡± Izzy¡¯s eyes darted around as if she was looking for somewhere to run, then settled on my face, her eyes widening. ¡°... What the hell happened to your tusk?¡±


    I instinctively reached up to feel the uneven edge. ¡°Handface shot me. Either Stoneskin doesn¡¯t work on tusks or¡­ the shot almost went through two layers of it on my tusk and face.¡±


    ¡°What? And who¡¯s Handface?¡±


    ¡°My nemesis,¡± I shrugged, ¡°Apparently. But everything¡¯s fine now because I kicked him through a portal.¡±


    ¡°... Okay?¡± Izzy tilted her head.


    ¡°Wait, did this happen yesterday?¡± Sophia asked.


    ¡°Well, yeah. Portals don¡¯t just show up randomly, except when they do. And you know my tusk was fine not that long ago. I feel like it¡¯s pretty obvious, right?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± she said. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough details about that,¡± Sophia looked around. The booths were decently private, but someone could have been listening. Though talking about the whole portal thing yesterday would seem pretty normal, I imagined.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I got a ton of experience for that. So now I have points. I can try to send you back whenever. It should¡­ probably work.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Izzy nodded. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if¡­ I want to go right away.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± I said. ¡°You can wait.¡± Happiness. At least Midnight was pleased at this result. With that not happening¡­ I didn¡¯t really have anything else to say. ¡°So¡­ run into any trouble with the portal thing yesterday?¡±


    Izzy shook her head. ¡°No way, I just stayed inside and let the professionals deal with it. I¡¯m not equipped or paid to fight monsters. Still processing that license to get my swords back.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s reasonable,¡± I said. I could only get experience from fighting- and I got extra experience for it being the only option. She had safer alternatives. My phone rang. Nobody ever called me. Everything should be texts. Looking at the caller, I answered it. ¡°Tylissa? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Izzy stiffened across from me as I answered the call. Tylissa¡¯s words were quick, a tremor in her voice unmistakable. ¡°Jerome is missing,¡± A quick intake of  breath, as if saying those few words had drained her of air. ¡°He was over at a friend¡¯s last night. Jerome went to investigate a portal and¡­ didn¡¯t come back.¡±


    I was already standing up as she spoke, gesturing for Midnight. ¡°I¡¯m on my way. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll come help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m coming too!¡± Izzy said, leaping out of her seat. She stepped towards me, jumping to snatch the phone out of my hand. ¡°Tylissa! I¡¯m coming too.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t hear what was on the other end, but Izzy continued with her reassurances. The two of us were out of the door almost immediately. ¡°We can take my car,¡± Sophia said, startling me. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing, but it seems important right? We won¡¯t have to wait for a ride that way.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said. ¡°I appreciate that.¡±


    I could barely say that. Worry pulsed in my veins- first mine, then Midnight¡¯s resonating with me and adding to it as we explained what happened along the way. Jerome¡­ he wasn¡¯t supposed to be like me. He was supposed to be smart. Cautious. Not the kind of person who would run off towards an active portal with monsters coming through it¡­ or step through one with unknown dangers behind it.


    Izzy continued to speak with Jerome¡¯s mother, but I didn¡¯t hear any of it. At some point I think I gave Sophia an address. One of us must have, because we were moving and Great Girl was too responsible to drive randomly. My brain wasn¡¯t able to think anything except stupid thoughts like carrying around a large mirror- as if I could expect to need to suddenly Scry someone. I almost wasted my mana trying on one of the car¡¯s stupid tiny mirrors, but I was basically able to control myself. I wasted maybe a point or two of mana as I actually started before I caught myself, but that would recover by the time we arrived. We were moving far too slow¡­ though I knew that there wasn¡¯t really any way to go faster, not over a long distance with multiple people. I was tempted to burn all of my mana with Midnight and run to the house with Haste, but even with the crazy increase in speed it was too far to manage. Instead, I took a deep breath¡­ and thought about punching something that wasn¡¯t a friend¡¯s car.

 Chapter 112

    Waiting on the familiar stairs where I had seen Jerome many times before was Shockwave- or rather Jo, out of their outfit and instead wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt, along with a little fanny pack at their waist. After a big event like yesterday they looked visibly tired, actually leaning back instead of standing around jittering. Unfortunately, I needed whoever I could get to arrive quickly, and though my squad was willing to help me out they weren¡¯t exactly able to scramble to my location. If there was an active issue they could have hurried up, but I only really called Shockwave in panic and they had already arrived by the time I got off the phone with Captain Senan.


    ¡°Thought you were going to save the favor for that Deimos guy?¡± Jo said as I approached.


    ¡°My apprentice is in danger so that takes priority,¡± I said confidently. ¡°Also I kicked him through a portal last night.¡± I hadn¡¯t really considered that part when asking for the favor.


    ¡°Huh. I¡¯d kind of feel like an asshole if I actually made you use your favor for that,¡± the normally blue outfitted speedster said, taking a swig of coffee. Or rather, it was probably an entire normal sized to go cup full of espresso, if my memory didn¡¯t fail me. The Corner Coffee branding meant Shockwave had gone there between when we left and when we arrived here. The time wasn¡¯t surprising- speedsters were speedsters- but the loyalty to a brand a significant distance across town was. Though perhaps they were the only ones who would actually serve that much espresso.


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t really want to count my tiny help with you getting to Hammerfist either,¡± I shrugged. ¡°So I don¡¯t really know where we stand on favors.¡±


    Shockwave shrugged. ¡°Whatever. Got anything to eat?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°... Canned tuna?¡± Midnight offered.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll pass.¡±


    A nearby door creaked open, revealing Tylissa. ¡°Mage! You¡¯re here. Err¡­ Turlough.¡±


    ¡°My secret identity isn¡¯t actually secret,¡± I said. I casually scanned the area, though I had been watching for anyone following us as Sophia drove. I determined we were fine, and more importantly Izzy had said we were fine since she was actually good at that. ¡°We should probably get inside.¡±


    As our little group stepped inside I felt strangely huge. It wasn¡¯t just the weird growth spurt, but the fact that the normal sized Sophia was pretty tiny. There was also Izzy, a halfling that was hardly bigger than a kid- and only because of her proportions being different. Finally, there was Jo, who was skinny as heck. Not counting Tylissa who was tall for a woman, somewhere around 5¡¯9¡±, these people were just tiny. I probably outweighed the other three, though I wasn¡¯t quite sure since Sophia was still muscular at her normal height¡­ just not bulky like when she grew.


    We made our way into a tiny kitchen, which was one of the few places that had room for all of us to sit down. Even with the aforementioned sizes, we could probably only squeeze one more person around the kitchen table. As we sat down, Jo¡¯s stomach rumbled loudly. They blushed, slightly- though it came and went in an instant. ¡°Uh, sorry.¡±


    ¡°I can make you something,¡± Tylissa¡¯s mom instincts kicked in.


    Jo quickly refused, waving their hands. ¡°That¡¯s not necessary. But if you have something with a lot of carbs, like a loaf of bread¡­¡±


    Tylissa pulled open the fridge. ¡°Just a couple slices and the ends,¡± she said as she tossed a mostly empty bag onto the table. She shimmied her way around the table, and I felt the slightest trace of mana being used as her scout abilities came into play to improve her balance as she reached for a cupboard and pulled out a huge bag of chips. ¡°And chips.¡±


    ¡°That would be great, thanks,¡± Jo said as the bag of chips was set down on the table. I heard the wrinkling sound of the bread¡¯s packaging being opened, but by the time I turned my head it was crumpled and empty. With deft movements, Jo tore open the top of the chip bag. What followed was a very strange experience where I heard something akin to one continuous crunch of chips. My eyes vaguely picked out individual chips being tossed into Jo¡¯s mouth and disappearing. In a few seconds, it was over. ¡°Whew,¡± Jo said. ¡°I normally eat a bit slower but I didn¡¯t want to interrupt whatever talking with constant noises.¡±


    ¡°... Not concerned about showing off your powers in front of me?¡± Tylissa asked.


    ¡°Why? I¡¯m here to help. And you and your son both have portal powers, right?¡±


    ¡°I suppose so,¡± Tylissa admitted. Then she took a deep breath. ¡°I guess I should explain what happened.¡±


    She repeated mostly what I had heard on the phone- Jerome had been over at a friend¡¯s house, but when the portals appeared he went to check one out. He insisted his friend- with no powers or fighting capabilities- stay behind at his house. Then Jerome hadn¡¯t come back.


    The following discussion included the ways everyone could help. I mentioned Scrying. They had a mirror here that was good enough- better than a car¡¯s mirror, in any case. I also had Locate Object, and I could probably track down his favorite shoes, if he was still close. Izzy was a scout, so she could pick out all sorts of signs- and Tylissa had a lesser ability in that area. She was not only newer, but focused on the movement abilities she had access to. Jo could help by covering much more ground. Sophia¡­ was another pair of eyes, and had driven us. To be fair, Great Girl¡¯s job wasn¡¯t supposed to be investigation.


    ¡°I suggest we start with Scrying,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Turlough can do that, and I can split the load by following up with Locate Object, perhaps when we get closer to where he was.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t too far to the friend¡¯s house- but a few blocks could make all the difference.


    ¡°That¡¯s the best place to start. We can get some real information,¡± I nodded.


    While the kitchen was cramped, the bathroom was more so. There was room for me to stand next to Tylissa, with the others out in the hall. A mirror on the front of a medicine cabinet was large enough to get a decent scrying window.


    As I began to draw upon my mana to reveal Jerome, I thought to explain the process. Then I thought better of it, because there were some potential ways it could fail and I really didn¡¯t want to mention one of them. If it didn¡¯t work¡­ I¡¯d lean towards other excuses.


    Silvery fog crawled over the mirror, slowly and with much effort. I tried not to think about why that might be too much. Then, mercifully, the fog began to clear. It didn¡¯t fade away completely like it was supposed to. Instead, it merely thinned, providing a fuzzy view. It was difficult to hold onto the image I had. At least it didn¡¯t feel like someone fighting me.


    ¡°It¡¯s black¡­¡± Tylissa nervously wrung her hands next to me. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


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    That, at least, I had an answer to. ¡°It¡¯s just dark. He¡¯s somewhere without natural light. Don¡¯t worry, I can see him. I¡¯ll try to describe it.¡±


    Jerome was in a cave. That, I was fairly certain of even with the unclear view. As I took in his surroundings, he moved from lying down to sitting up, looking around. For a moment, his eyes almost locked on mine.


    ¡°Nice,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯s good at this. I think he picked out my Scrying.¡±


    His next move was to feel around next to him. Then he pulled out his phone- a smartphone that I bought him, instead of the old brick he¡¯d had. Tylissa and Jerome weren¡¯t exactly wealthy. The light from that showed him the remains of the fire next to him, and he shot a Firebolt into it.


    ¡°I see him!¡± The combination of lights was enough for Tylissa to call out- though it quickly faded as the fire didn¡¯t catch. Or rather, there wasn¡¯t much more than some charcoaled bits of wood and ashes, the fire having already run its course. Still, Jerome slowly stood up and began to stumble outside, and soon there was light.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s some good news,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡¯m not sure what else we can learn here.¡± It was kind of hard to hold onto.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Try and get a look at the surroundings.¡±


    With a fuzzy image and a mirror that wasn¡¯t large enough to give full detail, the normal ten foot radius was even less useful in its revelations, but I held on and let Izzy pick out everything she could until the spell ran its course.


    ¡°Clearly he made his way through a portal,¡± I said. ¡°Given his magic he¡¯s not defenseless. But¡­¡±


    ¡°The portal was probably closed,¡± Sophia said bluntly.


    ¡°I won¡¯t let that stop us,¡± I said, clenching my jaw. I could feel my broken tusk twinge from that, but I didn¡¯t care about the pain. ¡°Let¡¯s find this friend.¡±


    There was a lot of nervousness around as we walked. I was happy that Jerome was alive, but I had to admit that both Midnight and I weren¡¯t quite as confident as I¡¯d stated. Sure, he had a bit of magic, but that wouldn¡¯t last him long at his level, and his options were¡­ limited.


    Jerome¡¯s friend was called Haralamb, a real mouthful of a name. He nervously met us, casting his eyes down as he saw Tylissa. ¡°... I¡¯m sorry. I should have gone with him.¡±


    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t have,¡± I retorted. ¡°Unless you have powers?¡±


    Haralamb shook his head. He was one of Jerome¡¯s rare friends, and had been informed about his abilities. ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°Then, you would only have increased the danger. Just tell us where he went.¡±


    ¡°Right, it¡¯s¡­ a little bit this way,¡± Haralamb said. ¡°We didn¡¯t see anything come out of it, he just said he felt something ¡®weird¡¯ and needed to check it out.¡±


    ¡°Could you see through to the other side?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah, there were¡­ trees, I think? Nothing that stood out.¡±


    ¡°That fits with this latest round of portals.¡± I wasn¡¯t quite sure why they were different. Perhaps Doctor Doomsday was getting better at them- or he had different intentions. Unfortunately, it was hard for me to know any such things, given how the best I might get from Scrying him was a headache and a view of a wall. And I wasn¡¯t going to try in case he built something worse.


    Haralamb took us¡­ to an empty lot. Surrounded on all sides by bricked buildings, there wasn¡¯t really much of anything to go on.


    ¡°Lots of people walked through these weeds,¡± Izzy said. ¡°But I think that¡¯s a regular occurrence.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I can feel lingering traces of the portal. The mana levels here are higher.¡±


    ¡°Can you¡­ open it again?¡± Tylissa asked.


    ¡°If it was not fully closed¡­ maybe,¡± I frowned. ¡°But there¡¯s something else we can try. Fortunately, I saved up the points for exactly this spell.¡± I supposed this could count as practice for sending Izzy back. Once she decided she wanted that. I didn¡¯t have enough mana to cast Gate properly but¡­ ¡°Midnight, work with me. Focus on where this portal went.¡± What a fortuitous time to get Alter Portal. Or, if I was being logical, it was perfectly reasonable that with so much portal based shenaniganry going on I would eventually get such a thing. In that manner, it was almost late to arrive. ¡°Provide mana for that, while I attempt to use Gate. I should be able to get it¡­ complete enough.¡±


    ¡°What will we do if you get it open?¡± Sophia asked. ¡°Are we all going through?¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± Tylissa said. ¡°I¡¯m not great at fighting but-¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be down on yourself,¡± Izzy commented. ¡°You¡¯re better than those discount paladin punks. And we wouldn¡¯t just leave you behind.¡±


    It had made sense that we would, but I supposed she had a big stake in this as well. I gestured to Sophia. There weren¡¯t many people in the area, but I still didn¡¯t want to tie her name to whatever was going to happen. ¡°You should stay here. Since we¡¯re going to be opening a portal and¡­ well.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, alright, fine,¡± she nodded. ¡°I carry a mask with me.¡±


    ¡°... And your outfit?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty tough without it. And I don¡¯t need it. What, you think I have one of those garbage powers that would tear my clothes?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve mostly seen you suited up, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯ll be fine. Also, I guess we should call the Power Brigade so they can inform the city and all that. I can help keep people not worried about another portal but there are protocols.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded. ¡°Though you won¡¯t have to deal with it for long.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°If I get something open, it will only last¡­ a minute, tops.¡± I looked to the others. ¡°Speaking of which, I suppose that¡¯s a good reason for any of you to back out¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I can handle being in the wilderness for a while, if you manage it. And if you get us one way¡­ you can get us both, I¡¯m certain.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather be trapped in the same place as my son,¡± Tylissa said honestly. ¡°Though, perhaps we should bring supplies if we can get trapped?¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± Jo said. ¡°Gimme¡­ like five minutes.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said. ¡°That will help a lot. You don¡¯t need to come through with us.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡± Jo raised an eyebrow. ¡°And miss a chance to visit another dimension or whatever? I just need some of you to cover me for a second,¡± they gestured to myself, and vaguely Tylissa and Sophia. ¡°Just stand shoulder to shoulder facing away for a sec.¡±


    ¡°... Alright,¡± I said. The instant we were vaguely in position, I felt a strange wind that lasted a moment.


    ¡°I always keep a change on me,¡± Shockwave said, standing in front of us in full blue uniform. A bundle of clothes were shoved into my hands along with the fanny pack that had presumably carried the outfit. ¡°Take care of those for me. I¡¯ll be back with some tents and supplies and crap.¡± Shockwave took one step, turning to the side, then looked back at me. ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t really wanna break stuff so¡­¡±


    ¡°Freedom?¡± I asked. I took mental stock of my mana. ¡°I should be able to manage that.¡±


    ¡°I have enough for Haste,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°I hope we¡¯re not in that much of a rush,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°Hold onto that for later.¡±


    Thus, Shockwave dashed off- occasionally dropping tents and backpacks and piles of food at our feet. There was a limit to how much they could carry, but it was still faster for them to get everything. While we might not be in a hurry with Jerome looking to be in good health, delaying longer wasn¡¯t something anyone wanted.


    ¡°I changed my mind,¡± Sophia said. ¡°I¡¯m coming through with you, if it¡¯s closing. No prolonged panic to deal with.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be glad to have you,¡± I nodded. Hopefully, there wouldn¡¯t be any danger. We could just walk through, take a break to recover mana, and portal back after finding Jerome nearby. But if not¡­ I really wanted every bit of help I could get.


    Soon enough we were all equipped- Sophia and I without uniforms. I realized I should increase Storage slightly so I felt comfortable shoving my whole thing in there all the time, but Mage Armor and potentially Stoneskin would have to suffice.


    Then I took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to cast a spell that was way too much for me, even with help and a guide. My face held more confidence than I felt for Tylissa¡¯s sake. ¡°Alright Midnight. Let¡¯s do it.¡±

 Chapter 113

    There we stood, in an unused lot next to buildings that a year before would have looked strange and alien. I was a mage of level 24, about to attempt to use a spell at the highest level. That was when I first actually began to understand that I didn¡¯t know how magic worked. I had no trouble performing magic, of course. My familiarity with my spells had increased with practice, but I¡¯d run into so many odd things with my magic that I couldn¡¯t process.


    At the moment, however, my mind was more focused on achieving some sort of success. I stood with my largest mana crystals- not even quite four mana each- and pretended I knew what I was doing. Strangely enough, I felt actual confidence in us from Midnight, even though he could feel my doubts.


    In the field in front of me was nothing. The former location of a portal, closed by another super doing their job. I didn¡¯t think about that. Instead, I did my very best to pretend it was still there and I simply had to widen it once more. I gathered mana, more than I had ever used. I crushed the mana crystals in my hands, which were immediately happy to return to their gaseous form. The intent was to use them to replenish my draining mana, or to directly feed the spell, or something. I did my best to avoid thinking about the fact that I was pushing beyond my determined limit of half my mana spent in a single process. Midnight also gathered his mana, not trying to cast Gate or anything like it but working with that mysterious Alter Portal¡­ spell? Ability? Whatever it was that I had gotten.


    I grit my teeth, the only thing keeping me conscious as mana flowed out from me being the painful way my broken tusk pressed against my face. It was pretty stupid to attempt a 20th level spell when I only had an 11th, and that was if I knew completely how the spell worked and where I was going. Instead, I had to reach for a destination I didn¡¯t really know about, wherever the portal that no longer existed had once gone.


    In front of me, the world distorted, a circle expanding into an oval shape, no longer showing brick but wilderness, rocks and forest. Something warm trickled down my face, running over my lips. ¡°Go!¡± I grunted, pressing through the portal myself. I had no idea how long I could hold it- it was supposed to last at least a minute, but two seconds had almost completely knocked me flat. I felt Midnight step through, then someone pushed me forward to make more room. I turned to look at the portal and was glad that everyone else was speedy, Sophia having stepped right after me while Tylissa, Izzy, and Shockwave came through a moment later.


    Then the portal snapped closed, the shock of the magic reverberating between Midnight and I. I fell to my hands and knees, retching, while he similarly collapsed in a pile.


    ¡°Turlough!¡± Izzy¡¯s face was slightly higher than my field of vision, and I tilted my head and eyes slightly up. ¡°Are you¡­ alright?¡±


    We both knew the answer to that question. It should be plainly obvious to anyone, as I touched my hand to my face. It came away with four distinct patches of blood. That should be¡­ my two tusks cutting into my face, and trails from my nostrils. I turned my head, snorting blood out of my nostrils. Before I could answer, however, Midnight did. ¡°I leveled up,¡± my Celmothian companion commented. ¡°Almost twice.¡±


    ¡°Freaking cheater,¡± I laughed. ¡°Getting experience for normal things.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think wrestling open lingering traces of portals is normal,¡± Midnight pointed out.


    I shakily tried to stand to my feet. Izzy¡¯s offered hand was more of a token gesture- Sophia was of more practical assistance, yanking me onto my feet. ¡°Can you walk on your own?¡±


    ¡°Ever since I remember,¡± I grinned. I didn¡¯t wave off her grip on my upper arm, though. I just stood there for a moment, taking deep breaths. I felt the mana inside myself. Out of a maximum of twenty-nine, I should have spent twenty, leaving myself at nine remaining. Or rather, I should have probably passed out at fourteen or fifteen. Instead, I was fully empty¡­ but I¡¯d remained conscious. ¡°I¡¯m absolutely out of mana,¡± I stated. ¡°Still kinda dizzy.¡± I could feel my mana recovering- not just the normal background amount, or the slightly enhanced rate after all this portal stuff. I just continued to breathe as a mana crystal flowed into me, restoring my to nearly four points of mana, while the basic rate of recovery was several times the norm of one per minute- though I couldn¡¯t be precise until more time passed. ¡°I think I¡¯m alright now,¡± I stated.


    ¡°Not to rush anyone,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°But we should probably get started here.¡± In their blue outfit, Shockwave clearly stood out among the natural terrain. ¡°While I have this Physical Freedom thing still going, I should zip about a bit.¡± Then they were gone- with only the sound of dozens of people running and not the usual commotion.


    ¡°Right,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Tracks.¡± She began to look around with a frown, and for a moment I was worried we¡¯d gone somewhere different. Just any random place, and I¡¯d failed to trace the portal to where we needed to go. ¡°There. Sneaker prints. Pretty clear, too.¡±


    Tylissa was even more relieved than I was. Sure, Jerome was my beloved apprentice- but he was her son. And her only family, as far as I was aware. ¡°Let¡¯s go then. Um¡­ can you do something with magic¡­?¡± she looked towards me.


    Midnight answered that for her. ¡°We¡¯re both quite tapped out on mana for the moment. In¡­ twenty minutes, maybe half an hour, one of us can try Locate Object. It would be best if we were closer before attempting that.¡±


    ¡°And we don¡¯t have any mirrors for Scrying,¡± I explained as we walked.


    At some point, Sophia had shifted to be around eight feet tall, presumably to be ready for battle. Calling her Great Girl while using her powers would have been appropriate, but with just a mask it felt weird. Then again, everything about supers was weird.


    We walked along in silence, except for occasional sounds of Shockwave passing in front of us in their expanding spiral pattern. Izzy¡¯s eyes kept looking everywhere, at the ground in front of us and the surrounding trees we were heading into and possibly things I didn¡¯t see. She was still confidently leading us, so that was good at least.


    ¡°... How far do you think he went?¡± Tylissa asked.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°He had all night,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Even if we assume he was asleep in that cave most of the night, he¡¯s had a few hours. He shouldn¡¯t be too far. Don¡¯t worry, we can catch up even while tracking.¡±


    ¡°I wish I knew how to track,¡± Shockwave said, suddenly standing next to us once more. ¡°It would be so much faster. I could have caught up already.¡± Shockwave was just casually strolling with us now. ¡°Not that it¡¯s that useful in an urban environment. Nothing to leave behind footprints.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be surprised,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Stepping in a puddle, knocking over a bag of trash, brushing against sludge. Distinct prints are also very helpful, even if you get a partial one.¡±


    ¡°Too bad you can¡¯t get a portal power,¡± I said. ¡°... I think.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d have to connect to your world for that,¡± Shockwave pointed out. ¡°And we haven¡¯t heard of anyone with normal powers getting a portal power.¡±


    ¡°Just me, I guess¡­¡± I frowned, my cheeks hurting slightly from the tusk abrasions.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a normal power, dude. Also, it¡¯s the same thing as what you already had!¡±


    ¡°It is not,¡± I shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s all weird!¡±


    ¡°You know,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I don¡¯t really get the whole portal power thing. I mean, I trained with Tylissa obviously. We were able to learn new things and improve them without points. And I understand getting better at some things with practice, but this is the magic crap. Like, I got actual advancements and everything.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± I said. ¡°You learned new things and leveled them up too? I guess that makes sense. Still just scout stuff, I assume?¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Izzy said. ¡°It was pretty weird to suddenly get faster from running around. Like, I know that¡¯s supposed to give me experience and levels so I can spend points on things, but I get that too. I¡¯m like¡­ double dipping.¡±


    Fast Movement was one of the basic abilities of a scout. Something tickled my brain as I thought about that. ¡°Wait, didn¡¯t you already have fast movement before all this?¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Izzy rolled her eyes. ¡°It was like, the main thing I used while working as a messenger.¡±


    ¡°... Then how did you improve it?¡±


    ¡°Practice,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Like I said.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ that¡¯s¡­ not how it works¡­¡±


    ¡°It is though,¡± Izzy grumbled.


    ¡°Wait, do you mean you migrated everything to¡­ after the remaining points line?¡±


    Izzy tilted her head, ¡°What do you mean? Why would anything be after that?¡±


    ¡°Because¡­ because you can¡¯t improve anything through practice normally. And the things that end up there can.¡±


    She stopped, turning around and looking up at me, her hands on her hips. ¡°What the hell are you talking about dude? You¡¯re not making any sense.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s how¡­ it works¡­¡± My head hurt. A lot of it was probably from that whole thing where I overused my mana and should have probably gone comatose, but that wasn¡¯t all of it. ¡°Here, let me lay it out for you.¡± It wasn¡¯t possible to show my status screen to anyone- Familiar with special bonding abilities excepted- but I could at least lay out what I saw.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 25


    Experience: 1629/1755


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +3


    Firebolt +3


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +2


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +3


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +3


    Sonic Lance +2


    Scrying


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +1


    Variable Freedom +2


    Gate


    Remaining Points: 3


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana Crystal Deposition +2


    Water Breathing


    Basic Light Magic +2


    Locate Object


    Alter Portal +1


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°So like, Alter Portal got better with practice already, but I¡¯ve done all kinds of stuff with Scrying and it¡¯s exactly the same,¡± I explained. ¡°So¡­ it doesn¡¯t work like that.¡±


    ¡°Maybe scouts are different,¡± Izzy shrugged. ¡°Or mages.¡±


    ¡°Or maybe you¡¯re different,¡± I proposed. ¡°Maybe you have some special talent for this.¡±


    ¡°... Nah,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I¡¯m not bad at what I do, but I¡¯m not particularly special. If anything, it¡¯s probably you.¡±


    ¡°You think maybe¡­ it has to do with Curse of the Barbarian?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Izzy stated clearly. ¡°I don¡¯t. That just messes with experience. And the weird part of this is not experience. I think it might just be you. Maybe your brain works different.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s any help,¡± Midnight interjected. ¡°It¡¯s certainly different from a Celmothian.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if that does help,¡± I admitted. ¡°Since we don¡¯t have any other Celmothian and non-Celmothian bonds to compare to.¡± It did give me something to think about. Was it really something with me? Could I have improved my proficiency with spells I already knew?


    I wasn¡¯t sure about any of it. The only thing I knew was that I didn¡¯t understand how magic worked, even though I had thought I did. Which was pretty stupid, considering I¡¯d been studying magic for less than two decades. I wasn¡¯t even close to Master Uvithar¡¯s understanding, let alone some archmage.


    My thoughts were stopped with Izzy¡¯s movement, holding up a hand. She bent down low to the ground, her spread out fingers hovering over something. ¡°Wolves.¡± Then she took a few steps, comparing to a large print even I could make out- once I had an idea where it was. ¡°Perhaps a worg?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Tylissa asked nervously.


    ¡°A big wolf,¡± I said. ¡°Mostly.¡±


    ¡°And it could just be that,¡± Izzy said, not quite sounding sure of herself. ¡°We should keep moving. It¡¯s just after noon, and neither are really terribly active during the day, but I¡¯d like to get out of here as quickly as possible.¡±

 Chapter 114

    Our group continued to move at a fast walking pace. That should let us catch up to Jerome soon enough. ¡°He wasn¡¯t running,¡± Izzy commented. ¡°So he should have been safe at this point. He spent some time trudging around here, though.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Tylissa asked, sparing me the question.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Izzy frowned. ¡°There¡¯s nothing. Though maybe something was sitting there in the dirt? There¡¯s an indentation.¡±


    I looked at it and shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t feel any magic. But it could have easily faded overnight, if there was any.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get moving then,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I found where he left this place from. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    I was sure glad we had Izzy, because I couldn¡¯t find half the ¡®obvious¡¯ signs of Jerome passing by. I could probably track someone in boots through heavy mud, but only finding occasional shoe prints in slightly softer soil or broken twigs would have left me lost in like, 5 minutes tops.


    ¡°There¡¯s the cave,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Midnight, it¡¯s time for the thing.¡±


    Midnight was the designated Locate Object caster, given that he hadn¡¯t been the one to nearly flatten himself by completely running out of mana. At least, he had a bit more.


    I felt the mana flowing through Midnight and then¡­ confusion. ¡°What¡¯s¡­¡± I halfway stopped myself from saying what¡¯s wrong. Tylissa was already worried enough. ¡°What kind of signal are you getting? Is he too far?¡±


    Midnight shook his head as he hung on to my shoulder. ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. Instead of a clear, straight line, I¡¯m kinda getting¡­ and area? Like, he could be anywhere in that arc,¡± Midnight gestured. ¡°And either end is just as likely as the middle.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s close, right?¡± Shockwave said. ¡°And that way?¡± Midnight nodded. Shockwave was off, their seemingly infinite stamina sustained by a significant amount of training and Power Brigade Energy Bars. And like half a gallon of espresso. We took a few steps, and Shockwave was back. ¡°That way!¡± Shockwave pointed. ¡°Hurry!¡±


    That wasn¡¯t good. My mind considered various things. I could Haste myself and Midnight, Tylissa, Izzy, or Great Girl. Any of which would leave me out of mana again and one or two people ahead of the pack. I suppressed my urge to rush, and instead just took off running. Everyone else began to pull ahead- the two scouts because they had improved movement speed, and Great Girl because her legs were longer. Like, twice as long as mine now, with her shifting into a twelve foot tall combat form.


    Haste was looking pretty good, but showing up and being unable to do any actual combat magic seemed kinda¡­ wrong. Besides, it couldn¡¯t be much further since it was within range of Locate Object¡­ and the handful of seconds Shockwave took to travel back and forth indicated it was about the same.


    The slightly faster group was involved in a lot of shouting and stuff, and when the line of trees broke I saw Jerome surrounded by a number of snarling, growling¡­ people. He was crouched down, a Shield spell floating in front of him, his position by a tree putting his whole body in cover for more than 180 degrees. Smart position, but he couldn¡¯t really retaliate against the¡­ ten people around him shooting crossbows. Including the ones behind him in that angle he didn¡¯t have covered.


    I watched as three bolts sailed through the air, intent on piercing right through my apprentices back and into his organs. Then there was a blue blur and they were gone.


    ¡°Turlough, what do we do?¡± Great Girl called out. ¡°They¡¯re humanoid!¡±


    At least, that was what people told me she said later. Instead, I heard¡­ nothing but the sound of blood pumping in my ears. I was already running towards the nearest werewolf, in their hybrid forms they had snouts and teeth and claws, but still the arms and legs to use things like their crossbows and the swords they carried.


    Once I had a good angle I just chucked my most damaging spell at full force. Sonic Lance was enough to destroy my six times upgraded Force Armor five times- each of which was basically sufficient to kill a normal person. All sorts of lycanthropes were tougher than normal people, but they had a couple weaknesses. Silver was good against them, and magic was nearly fully effective, though their bodies had some natural durability to them.


    Considering Sonic Lance was enough to take out some heavy supers, the guy didn¡¯t have a chance. The scale armor on his chest shattered along with his ribs. All of that shoved into his heart and lungs, toppling him over with hardly more than a shocked look on his face.


    ¡°Get the hell away from Jerome!¡±


    Angry as I was, I was basically cognizant of my mana. I¡¯d been scarfing down the mana in the crystals I had like candy, and I really didn¡¯t want to know what Doctor Martinez was going to say about the state of my veins right now, but I needed every bit of mana I could get for this situation. And I was still mostly out, so I made sure to grab the guy¡¯s sword off his corpse.


    I pointed my finger at the next closest guy. There was another ¡®secret¡¯. Wolves didn¡¯t like fire. Therefore werewolves didn¡¯t like fire. Not because of some mystical connection or a lack of mental capacity to recognize what it was, but because nobody liked fire being thrust into their face. My target mostly ducked the Firebolt, but I got his ear. He seemed to think that I would just run into his sword as he lazily pointed it at me, and he was half right. As I thrust into his gut and he thrust into my chest, my Force Armor shattered, but it did its job of deflection and he only stabbed through unimportant guts. What was even down there, kidneys and intestines and crap? My sword angled up into his heart¡­ and the guy staggered back. But he wouldn¡¯t be done from just that. I activated Shocking Grasp, channeling it through the metal sword and cooking him from the inside.


    I was aware of others fighting around me, Midnight hanging back because of his size and low mana. Shockwave darted about, blocking bolts or finding time to strike a few blows on the enemy. Tylissa fought her way towards Jerome directly, while Izzy supported me against the few nearby.


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    I honestly don¡¯t remember much else that happened after that, except the next thing. Something bit into my arm, claws tore into my sides. There was also a bigger guy with a bigger sword, some sort of pack leader or werewolf lord or something. I vaguely recall Great Girl hitting him with one of his pack mates, then elbow dropping onto the pile they created.


    When I came back to rational thought, the first thing I saw was Midnight¡¯s face as he sat on my chest. ¡°Welcome back buddy. You alright?¡±


    ¡°Depends. How¡¯s Jerome?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m okay!¡± he called from over to the side.


    ¡°Then I¡¯m fine,¡± I grinned.


    ¡°Like hell you are,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I was just being polite. You got a sword through your guts and bite marks so deep I could see the other side of your bicep. You¡¯re lucky our friends have some idea how to patch a guy up. But we really need to get you back to a real doctor.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, alright,¡± I nodded. It hurt, even though my head was basically uninjured. ¡°Lemme just¡­¡±


    As I tried to sit up, Midnight stepped forward and put his paws directly on my face. ¡°Down. They¡¯re putting together a stretcher. You¡¯re getting carried out of here properly.¡±


    I groaned, but the attempt at movement had convinced me. ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Turlough. Or Izzy, I guess.¡± Sophia came into view, looking concerned. ¡°So like, those were werewolves, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°You concerned about them being people?¡± Izzy asked. ¡°Because yes, they are. And no, I don¡¯t regret stabbing them in the eyes.¡±


    ¡°I was more concerned about the thing where they bit like¡­ all of us. We won¡¯t contract lycanthropy right?¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Uh¡­ it¡¯s probably fine. Earth has wolfsbane, right? We just need to take some before the next full moon and maybe see a doctor.¡±


    ¡°Great. And when is that?¡± Sophia asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t keep track of that stuff,¡± I shrugged. ¡°We can look it up when we get back.¡±


    ¡°... should we just leave things like this?¡± she looked around. ¡°Bodies and stuff.¡±


    I grimaced. ¡°Bring me¡­ the sword. That big one.¡± The leader had of course had a larger weapon. It was still in the reasonable category- practical sword width, less than five pounds. Sophia got it for me, putting it next to me. I reached out and used Storage. ¡°No point in wasting that. I might need a sword.¡±


    ¡°Hey! That¡¯s not fair!¡± Izzy called out. ¡°They didn¡¯t let me keep my swords!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just a civilian,¡± I grinned. ¡°I¡¯m a mercenary.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll still need to get a license for it,¡± Great Girl spoiled my fun. ¡°And you should really avoid using anything like that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, don¡¯t kill people. I get it. I¡¯ve been very responsible, even with magic that¡¯s difficult to control.¡± My eye twitched. ¡°But I¡¯m not letting werewolves kill Jerome.¡±


    ¡°Chill dude,¡± Great Girl shook her head. ¡°I get it. I didn¡¯t exactly hold back either. Now let¡¯s get moving.¡±


    Stretchers were supposed to be carried by two people- one in front and one in back. Out of our group we had, from smallest to largest, Midnight at the size of a cat, Izzy as a halfling pretty close to three feet tall, Jerome as a young teen, Shockwave, Tylissa whose build wasn¡¯t exactly big, then myself and Great Girl at the top depending on her current size. Even when she was shorter than Tylissa in her natural size, she was still stronger.


    In short, Tylissa and Great Girl were the only options for the stretcher. Great Girl refused to let Tylissa help with her injuries so¡­ instead Great Girl just grew extra large and carried me sideways, her arms slung under the supports on either end. It seemed kind of awkward for her, but I appreciated the help.


    I looked at Midnight, riding by my feet. ¡°Should I be dizzy?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the blood loss.¡±


    ¡°Right. Hopefully that¡¯s not getting worse.¡±


    Seeing Great Girl bite her lip, I decided to end that topic and proceeded to slowly pass out for the rest of our journey.


    I woke up when we were back at the portal location. ¡°So¡­¡± I said. ¡°You remember how we barely opened the portal on the way in? And the part where we then used more magic and I passed out after a battle?¡±


    Everyone grimaced.


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying we need to wait a couple hours for me to fill up on mana completely.¡± My internal bleeding was probably minimal anyway. It would be fine.


    ¡°... I understand,¡± Izzy said with a frown. ¡°Just¡­ once you can get the portal open, we need to take you through.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯ll be¡­ a bit.¡± Man, I really wished I could just stay passed out, but I could slightly increase my mana recovery by concentrating, and I didn¡¯t want to miss my best opportunity. I¡¯d really like to be properly treated regardless of whether or not I was still bleeding internally.


    When I felt properly restored, Midnight and I coordinated once more. ¡°Remember, yank us through last,¡± I said to Great Girl. ¡°Just drag the stretcher. We can¡¯t make it big enough for you to carry it through.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you can bring us directly back to the Power Brigade?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Hah,¡± even a fake laugh hurt. ¡°Even if the place didn¡¯t have all kinds of stuff that would prevent that, I¡¯m only confident in going directly back to that field.¡± And by ¡®confident¡¯, I meant ¡®vaguely positive that it was possible¡¯. Midnight and I shared a look, but once more I felt more confidence from him than I thought justified.


    Not wanting to spend any more time, I reached out for the twice-portal which was nothing again, just a place where a portal had been. I was fairly certain it was still better than nothing. I wasn¡¯t going to gamble on spells I couldn¡¯t really use.


    Interestingly enough, it felt easier. Maybe the extra practice, or the full mana, or my coordination with Midnight, or maybe I imagined it. I still almost passed out, but the portal opened up and people dashed through, and then as promised I was dragged past. My position gave me a good look up at the night sky, and the large, round moon. ¡°Huh. Guess it¡¯s tonight.¡±


    That was about the time Jerome started crying out in pain, clutching his arms. At the same time Sophia and Tylissa began howling at the sky.


    Author¡¯s note: I just want to say I rolled dice for this, and while two of these had a pretty decent chance of something negative happening, one of these people had the highest bonus by a significant margin and got the second worst result. How fun! Personally, I like this result quite a bit.

 Chapter 115

    According to the information I had gathered, being unable to move about while one¡¯s apprentice and various other friends were in the process of (painfully) transforming into werewolves could be called a ¡°major bummer¡±. Though I had also heard that was outdated terminology.


    Jerome was writhing on the ground as his clothes burst apart due to his growing frame. The transformations of Tylissa and Great Girl were somewhat more controlled, but we were still drawing quite a bit of attention from those in the surroundings. It probably had something to do with the portal we¡¯d come through and the team of mercenaries surrounding the area. That included Calculator, Captain Senan, and Rocker who had probably shown up merely for the sake of ¡®extra credit¡¯.


    I really wished I had something to contribute to the situation, but being injured, out of physical stamina, and out of mana keeping my eyes open even in a time of crisis was basically my limit.


    Jerome was soon a full wolf with dark brown fur, crawling to his feet and snarling. He leapt for the nearest target in sight- in this case Calculator- who watched unconcerned as teeth approached him. Then Jerome was flipped on his back. Any time he rolled to his feet, he was toppled back over. That pattern kept up until Great Girl got control of herself.


    It was to her credit that the official powered mercenary was the first to recover her senses, though as far as I could see she was stuck in hybrid form, a snout and claws formed. She stepped over to Jerome, who upon next reaching his feet found himself distracted by her form. He sniffed her offered hand, something that I thought was a bit of a risk, minimized by the fact that Great Girl getting bit again shouldn¡¯t particularly change anything. It would just hurt.


    Her distraction lasted long enough for Shockwave not to have to flip Jerome any more before Tylissa got control over herself, likewise remaining in a stable hybrid form. Instead of being cautious like Great Girl, she simply embraced her son, who let out a soft whimper. It seemed the presence of additional werewolves in control calmed his aggression, though Tylissa seemed unwilling to release him regardless. I could understand that, because we had just barely gotten him back and this happened.


    Sometime during that Calculator had made his way around to me. ¡°I see you¡¯re in a state. I don¡¯t suppose you can explain any of this?¡±


    ¡°Portals. Werewolves. I guess they¡¯re werewolves now.¡±


    ¡°How about yourself?¡± Calculator asked. ¡°You seem to have some bite marks. The same with your halfling friend. Is it a case of requiring humans?¡±


    I shook my head. That hurt. I imagined mana crystals rattling around in there tearing apart my brain, but I was pretty sure that wasn¡¯t actually happening. It just felt like it. ¡°Just a coincidence. We should be equally susceptible to such a thing.¡±


    ¡°At least they¡¯re holding together,¡± Calculator sighed. ¡°Let me see if I understand the situation from your messages earlier. Jerome there went through this portal before it closed.¡± I gave a thumb¡¯s up which was significantly less painful than nodding, though I couldn¡¯t really raise my arm much. ¡°Not knowing about this, whoever was responsible for closing this particular portal did so. From the fact that you managed to tear it open again, might I assume their success was incomplete?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say it was¡­ done to within any reasonable tolerances. I had to basically create a new portal. I learned Gate, by the way.¡±


    I could see the mental gears turning within Calculator¡¯s head. ¡°The same Gate traditionally considered a top level spell? A level of power that should not be within your grasp for quite some time, given that you are fatigued by what could be considered mid-level spells.¡±


    ¡°Yes, all of that.¡±


    ¡°Am I to assume you recently got a large amount of experience or¡­?¡±


    ¡°A little bit of that, a little bit of¡­ overdoing it.¡± I gestured to my body on the stretcher. ¡°And assistance from Midnight.¡±


    ¡°Well. Far be it from me to chastise someone for risking themselves for the sake of loved ones. Let¡¯s load you all up and take you on your merry way. How secure is this former portal?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell you,¡± I said honestly. ¡°But Gate shouldn¡¯t really create anything lasting.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll allow the portal experts to come by later then, instead of hurrying them in on a deserved day off. Which you should have been taking as well.¡±


    ¡°I was!¡± I began to protest, but he just held up a hand.


    ¡°I already said I understand. Given that you have not taken most of your personal days or vacation I would suggest doing so for at least the next day or two. We can discuss later whether this excursion fits within official duties.¡±


    -----


    A knife edged hand came down towards my forehead, connecting with the crown in slow motion. ¡°Bad Turlough,¡± Doctor Martinez said. ¡°I understand you were facing off against your nemesis and then had a personal matter to deal with, but your bloodstream is full of crystals. Also lycanthropy.¡±


    ¡°There was no way I could have predicted that one, not that I would have been able to do much about it regardless.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky your body is fighting it off. I imagine it will be gone soon enough instead of¡­ melding with your DNA like happened to the other three.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Can¡¯t believe I have to keep track of another kind of werewolf.¡±


    ¡°... You didn¡¯t have to deal with normal, magical werewolves before?¡±


    ¡°I will remind you that magic is one of the least common sorts of supernatural happenings here. Until lately, at least.¡±


    ¡°So¡­¡± I said. ¡°What should I do?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely nothing. And I mean that. No magic at all. Minimal moving about. And definitely no consuming more mana crystals.¡±


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m out of the good ones anyway.¡±


    He glared at me, even if he understood it was a joke.


    Then he sighed, ¡°As for other matters, your tusk seems to be growing back without much issue.¡± Given the whole portal thing, Doctor Martinez had limited his inspections of people to what was necessary yesterday, and was now catching up with other things. Including the urgent stuff I was involved in. ¡°It will likely take quite some time, however.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care too much about being uneven,¡± I shrugged. ¡°How are the others?¡±


    ¡°Physically? As healthy as one could expect for having been bitten by diseased canines. Further details should be asked yourself. When they come visit you, because you¡¯re not allowed to walk today.¡±


    Pfft. How boring.


    -----


    Izzy was the first to come visit. Part of that was because she was least injured- experienced and small, but agile. Great Girl¡¯s wounds might have been similarly minimal, but the whole thing where she got lycanthropy changed that.


    ¡°So¡­¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to use magic for another week, so I can¡¯t send you back before then,¡± I said. Midnight bapped me on the back of the head with his paw.


    ¡°About that,¡± she said, sitting on a tall chair that brought her vaguely closer to my eyeline as I reclined in my bed. ¡°I don¡¯t think I want to go back.¡±


    ¡°You like your life here?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. And¡­ I want to be friends again. With you. Or at least try to.¡±


    I was silent for a while. I had a lot to ponder on that subject, and it didn¡¯t seem like Midnight was going to give me any help on that. ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s much left there to rebuild from,¡± I finally said. ¡°And as much as I enjoyed it at the time, my therapist has told me that maybe relationships based entirely around punching people and being the only source of social interaction is probably not a healthy one.¡±


    ¡°I think I knew that,¡± Izzy said, climbing out of the chair. ¡°I was stupid to even think about it.¡±


    Before she could make it after the room, I called after her. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry about it. We can just try again but with a foundation of punching each other and being just one of a number of social contacts.¡±


    She looked back over her shoulder, ¡°Yeah, that sounds alright.¡±


    -----


    Sophia was next. ¡°Sup, dude. Can¡¯t believe they left you incapacitated like that.¡±


    ¡°I already required healing yesterday, applying too much more powers to my body would have negative effects. Especially with the other things I did to my body.¡± I looked at her. ¡°You look surprisingly non wolfy.¡±


    ¡°Do I?¡± Sophia opened her mouth, her teeth transforming into sharp points. ¡°Maybe I just hide it well.¡±


    ¡°Being able to control your transformation on a partial level within twenty-four hours is impressive,¡± I said. ¡°Some people never get it down.¡±


    Sophia shrugged, ¡°Yeah, well¡­ it¡¯s mostly a physical transformation isn¡¯t it?¡± She grew a foot taller, ¡°I¡¯m literally,¡± she dropped to her actual height, ¡°Constantly.¡± She returned to her ¡®normal¡¯ height of around six feet. ¡°Using transformation abilities.¡± She held out her hand, transforming just that into claws, ¡°This is just another one. Though the full moon messed with my head.¡±


    ¡°... Sorry this happened to you,¡± I said.


    ¡°Not as sorry as we would have been if Jerome died,¡± she shrugged. ¡°You didn¡¯t ask me to get bit. I wasn¡¯t good enough to completely avoid it, and now I have this. Don¡¯t worry about it. Besides, now I get to tell my mundane friends about my powers. I probably have to, or something stupid and avoidable will happen around a full moon at some point.¡± She clicked her tongue, ¡°Would have liked to get bitten by a wizard, though. Could use some magic to go with my physical prowess.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not how that works.¡±


    ¡°I freaking know!¡± she threw up her hands. ¡°Think I can get a portal power, though? I went all the way through one. Was that your world?¡±


    ¡°Hard to say,¡± I admitted. ¡°I haven¡¯t traveled much. There are many places it could have been, so there¡¯s a decent chance. Given Doctor Doomsday¡¯s whole¡­ thing recently. But about getting a portal power? I seriously doubt it. Power exclusivity and all that.¡±


    ¡°You literally have your class and a portal power,¡± she pointed out. ¡°And I¡¯m a werewolf now.¡±


    ¡°First, lycanthropy is an exception. Second, my class and portal power are just the same thing.¡± I frowned. There was something about that, and what Izzy had said. I needed to talk to her about how it worked. There were annoying inconsistencies I couldn¡¯t wrap my head around.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m gonna go jump in a pile of nerdy books,¡± Sophia waved, ¡°Just in case that influences things in my favor.¡±


    ¡°Good luck with that,¡± I waved. Midnight hadn¡¯t said anything. At first it was probably because he had no input, but at some point he¡¯d gotten into some sort of mind-spiral. ¡°Hey, Cat Buddy, what¡¯s going on in there?¡±


    ¡°... Would I have turned into a werewolf if I was bitten?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the world is ready for the answer to that question,¡± I admitted. ¡°Good thing you stayed safe, huh?¡±


    ¡°My level increased but I still have regrettably little mana,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°I could only stay away from the battle.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to get some points to pour into Familiar Bond and further efficiency upgrades,¡± I promised. ¡°Should be good for both of us.¡±


    -----


    Shockwave was home sleeping off an ungodly amount of fatigue, so the only people left to meet me were the man himself and Tylissa. ¡°Nice beard,¡± I said to Jerome.


    ¡°Hah,¡± he said. He was just old enough to begin growing a patchy beard. Now, he had a proper five o¡¯clock shadow going on. He¡¯d probably get a bit hairyer in general. ¡°... Thanks for coming to get me.¡± Tylissa echoed the sentiment, standing with a hand on her son¡¯s shoulder as if she were afraid to let go.


    ¡°Of course,¡± I said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t just leave you. Now, I¡¯m not in a position where I can chastise you for making reckless decisions but¡­ why?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ actually¡­¡± Jerome nodded. ¡°Pretty simple to explain. Though I was hoping you could get some sort of technomancer in here before I pull it out.¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°A technomancer?¡± Sure, I could imagine him finding a magic something on the other side of the portal, but something that needed a technomancer¡­


    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure,¡± Jerome said. ¡°But I think I found something made by Doctor Doomsday through there. It was messing with my attempts at scrying-¡±


    ¡°You know Scry?¡± I widened my eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m messing around with Divination stuff,¡± Jerome said. ¡°That one¡¯s still too much mana. I think it¡¯s¡­ Arcane Eye? And locate spells and stuff. But everything was weird around the portal for no reason. Anyway, that wasn¡¯t the point. I thought it was weird, went to take a look, found a thing and got stuck there. And we should get someone in here because I really don¡¯t think they want me taking out anything made by that guy in this building without supervision.¡±


    ¡°Fair,¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll get someone. Though they might have you take it somewhere specific.¡±

 Chapter 116

    With the information he had something potentially important, Jerome was escorted off to a different place. They weren¡¯t going to take out an unknown piece of potential Doctor Doomsday tech in the middle of Power Brigade HQ. He was escorted away by both Calculator and Captain Punch, so I wasn¡¯t particularly worried about his safety- and even if I had been able to go there wasn¡¯t much I could do. I wasn¡¯t supposed to use magic on threat of strangling by Doctor Martinez- if further overuse of magic didn¡¯t kill me first. My physical combat capabilities, while above the average human, were still not on a level that properly competed with supers.


    It bothered me. For how much I¡¯d grown recently, there were still things I couldn¡¯t do. Even opening the gates to get to Jerome and back was outside of my true capabilities. I needed Midnight to just barely squeeze by. Though¡­ it shouldn¡¯t bother me to rely on Midnight. He was my familiar. A member of my squad, roommate, near-constant companion for the last few months. I tried to understand, and decided that relying on him was only a small part of it. Some of the rest was not my own mental discombobulation.


    Perhaps sensing something, Midnight began a conversation. ¡°Penny for your thoughts, Turlough?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t accept worthless denominations of currency,¡± I replied. ¡°I was considering my lack of power and wishing I had more.¡±


    ¡°You have more than most people will ever get,¡± Midnight pointed out.


    ¡°Not anywhere I¡¯m used to. In my former world, I would be approximately average for my age, except for the random weird things I¡¯ve learned. Here, I mainly interact with supers who have more power, endurance, or both.¡±


    ¡°Some of them, yes,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°But you make good use of the powers you have.¡±


    Maybe I did. But I didn¡¯t like passing through on the bare minimum. Things could have gone so much better with the portal or on the other side. ¡°That¡¯s about all I got,¡± I admitted. ¡°I feel like you have concerns that are not just wondering if you could have been infected with lycanthropy.¡±


    ¡°I suppose. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s really important or anything. It can wait.¡±


    ¡°I will admit I cannot do much right now,¡± I nodded. ¡°But that does not mean you need to wait to voice your concerns. I can feel how much you care. I hear it might do good to speak of it.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Midnight began slowly. ¡°I was thinking, now that you have Gate¡­¡± Midnight continued to hesitate. ¡°No, nevermind. We should at least wait until you have more levels so it¡¯s not so straining.¡±


    ¡°Midnight,¡± I reached out to pat him on the head, ¡°I appreciate your understanding of my condition, but you still did not say anything about what you want. Yes, it will likely have to wait. If it¡¯s for Gate¡­ maybe five or ten levels. That could be six months, a year¡­ I¡¯m honestly not sure. But I should know what you are waiting for.¡±


    ¡°I want to go home,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Or at least try to. I mean-¡± he corrected hastily, ¡°I don¡¯t plan to abandon you or anything after all you did and your investment into me. And I like the life I have here, but¡­¡±


    ¡°You want to see your family,¡± I nodded. ¡°Let them know you are alright.¡± As one who didn¡¯t ever have a real family, I didn¡¯t directly relate, but I knew that was a thing people were supposed to want.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Midnight nodded. ¡°We could visit.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know if it will work,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Why not?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Is it too far? Do you need to know what it looks like? I could help with that.¡± From Midnight¡¯s mind I felt what were almost images, memories of a place I couldn¡¯t quite grasp.


    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ you¡¯re an alien, right?¡± I asked. ¡°From another planet in this dimension?¡±


    Midnight nodded. ¡°Yes, that seems to be the case. Celmoth has no direct contact with this place. Mostly those jerks from Bunvorix. But some of us end up here, and it should be the same dimension.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ it might not work,¡± I admitted. ¡°Gate is meant for crossing dimensional boundaries, not moving about within one.¡± Sensing disappointment, I hastily continued, ¡°That¡¯s not saying there aren¡¯t other options. Teleportation, maybe. Though it would likely require some sort of target point. Preferably a magic circle set up for such things.¡±


    ¡°... We have teleportation pads?¡± Midnight tilted his head.


    ¡°I would need to know their rune sequence¡­ but yours use technology, right?¡± I frowned. ¡°It seems¡­ difficult. Though there are other options. If you just want to get in contact, there¡¯s easier magic for that. I haven¡¯t bothered to learn any because cell phones exist here. But Sending should work at any distance or across planar boundaries. It¡¯s not a great quantity of communication at once, but you could even use that yourself. Next level, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°That would be¡­ quite reasonable to start with,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°I would like to be there in person, at some point, but that sounds much more manageable. I would appreciate you picking that ¡®Sending¡¯ spell up at your earliest convenience.¡±


    ¡°Soon,¡± I promised. ¡°I get a lot of experience for nearly dying. Or getting into a fight that has the risk, I suppose. I don¡¯t know if actually getting injured makes a difference.¡±


    ¡°I would argue that the injuries are not worth it, even if they do. Not if you end up like this.¡±


    ¡°Half of this is just¡­ overestimating my magical capabilities and also how many mana crystals are safe to use.¡± If all went well, the crystals in my blood vessels would dissolve in a couple days and things would be good. My injuries could undergo more accelerated healing tomorrow at the latest, once my body could handle it.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    A knock at the door revealed another figure, prompting us to turn to look. It was Jim, in his outfit that was a calming sky blue arrangement of cloth that gave him a somewhat humanoid shape so people wouldn¡¯t freak out upon seeing him. It also very clearly said Power Brigade: Jim on it (with a small representation of him to indicate that he was supposed to look like that). Seems like it was a lot of trouble just existing. He said something- a greeting- and I waved back.


    ¡°Hi Jim! Sorry, no Translation magic going on right now so I can¡¯t use your proper name. Doctor said I should avoid using magic, too.¡±


    ¡°I suppose I can speak in your near unpronounceable human tongues,¡± Jim slunk into the room, moving in a way that looked unnatural since he didn¡¯t really have legs to take steps with. I wasn¡¯t sure what else I would have expected from someone whose entire body seemed to just be tentacles though. ¡°I heard you were injured in the most recent portal incident and some personal matters, and came to visit.¡± There were parts of his speech that sounded like nobody was saying them despite there being words, while other parts sounded like two or three people were speaking at once, sometimes making his words unclear.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said.


    Midnight interrupted before I could say much more. ¡°I can still use magic. That should be fine, right?¡± I nodded. Having magic cast on me would probably have different results than trying to use it myself. And if I learned otherwise¡­ well, we would know for the future. Everything felt fine as I sensed Midnight¡¯s mana flowing into both of us.


    ¡°Well then,¡± I adjusted my language to Jim¡¯s. ¡°As I was saying, thanks for coming to visit, --------.¡± He perked up as I uttered his actually unpronounceable name. Jim understood that people literally couldn¡¯t address him ¡®properly¡¯, but that didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t like hearing his proper name if it was possible or speaking in his own native tongue. Like pretty much everyone, I supposed. Now that I actually spoke both Common and English, I could say I didn¡¯t have that much preference¡­ but clearly there was some, as Translation still made everything seem like Common to me.


    ¡°Thank you, Midnight,¡± Jim bowed his body towards him. ¡°I find this much preferable.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Just a bit of effort for us to all be comfortable.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have much reason to visit besides offering my wishes for your swift and full recovery,¡± Jim said.


    ¡°Well, if you need to be going, I don¡¯t mind,¡± I said. ¡°But you can hang around for a while if you want. I believe Midnight and I were between discussions.¡± I looked at him for visual and mental confirmation, which I got.


    In the end, Jim did stay awhile. We talked about what I¡¯d been through, Jim¡¯s experience with the portal stuff, and then daily life. Jim talked about not having many friends, but if we didn¡¯t count people from work I was pretty sure he beat me out. He¡¯d been in New Bay for years, after all, and was friends with a few mundane people who were actually willing to give him the time of day or not run screaming. For that, I applauded the fact that he never just bundled himself up completely but was willing to walk around with his true self on display.


    At the same time, Jerome was off dealing with things I would hear about later.


    -----


    Jerome was now looking at a mad scientist. Living in New Bay his whole life had taught him to not make assumptions about people, and that included tech supers. Some of them were surprisingly normal, often CEOs or where they didn¡¯t have the leadership skills they took other high ranking positions in companies seeking to develop things that could be replicated by those without powers.


    This woman, however, was a mad scientist. She had long white hair that was waving about on its own, as if there were a wind of some sort in the underground bunker they¡¯d come to. She had goggles and wrinkled skin where things weren¡¯t covered up by tubes and wires coming from her overdone outfit.


    ¡°You said it¡¯s small, right kid?¡±


    ¡°About like this?¡± Jerome tilted his head, motioning to indicate a small box.


    ¡°Will it fit in there?¡± she gestured to something that looked like a safe made out of lightning.


    ¡°I think so,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how I¡¯m supposed to get it in though.¡±


    ¡°Just drop it through the top,¡± she said.


    Jerome looked over his shoulder to a window where he could see his mother watching. She was not necessary for what was being done, so she couldn¡¯t be in the room, but just letting her into a secure facility like this was more than enough. Didn¡¯t stop Jerome from being nervous though. He could see Calculator next to her, one of the Power Brigade¡¯s executives. Even he wasn¡¯t in the room.


    Captain Punch was, though. The burly man barely fit into his outfit, which simply had a fist emblazoned on his chest. ¡°Alright kid,¡± he said. ¡°Can you just pop it out wherever?¡±


    ¡°From somewhere I¡¯m touching, more or less.¡±


    ¡°Show me,¡± the mad scientist said, leaning in eagerly.


    ¡°Sure, uh¡­ ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°Oh! We haven¡¯t been introduced. I¡¯m Vilhelmiina Koskinen.¡± She nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t do any of that secret crap, so no stupid name like Captain Punch here.¡± The mercenary twitched slightly, but didn¡¯t refute her claim.


    Jerome demonstrated with a pen, pulling it into storage and making it appear near the tip of his finger. ¡°I can hold onto it as it comes out, but the tip of my finger is about as far as it goes.¡±


    ¡°What about your toes?¡± the mad scientist lady asked.


    ¡°I¡­ haven¡¯t tried?¡±


    Captain Punch held up a hand. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough for the moment. Attempting to contort his body for minimal range would likely result in unnecessary danger. Just stand behind me, reach your hand over the containment unit, and drop the device in.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Jerome nodded. ¡°Are we ready?¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Vilhelmiina said, rolling her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m ready. I have questions for after.¡±


    Captain Punch stepped right up to the containment unit, nearly touching it with his pecs. Jerome stood behind him as indicated, reaching around with his arm. ¡°Okay, dropping in three¡­ two¡­ one¡­¡± Jerome used Storage to pop out the device he¡¯d found. A small cube dropped into the lightning cage, passing through the top easily but not falling out the bottom.


    The cube distorted and bent, growing larger with a concerning fluctuation of energy Jerome could vaguely feel. Then it snapped back into its previous size and shape. ¡°Ah ah ah,¡± Vilhelmiina wagged her finger. ¡°No self destructing, little mystery box. I must pry apart your secrets first.¡± She looked it over. ¡°Yes, definitely Doctor Doomsday¡¯s work. It radiates just the right type of careless disregard for everything and the minimalistic design to accomplish what it needs to do.¡± She nodded. ¡°It will take some time to inspect, but it is properly contained. You should properly reward this young man for managing to bring this.¡± Then her eyes snapped to him with a crazed grin, ¡°So about that magic¡­¡±

 Chapter 117

    After I was discharged by my medical doctor, I didn¡¯t have the option to do most of the things I would normally do. Which was to say, magic. Considering inside my body still felt pretty bad I had to agree with the person who actually knew what he was talking about.


    Because of recent events I had been encouraged to go see my other doctor, the one for the parts of my head that were non-physical. In short, my therapist. Doctor Patenaude was the same as always, with extra sensory stalks flowing around his head. He could theoretically sense my emotions but he wouldn¡¯t tell me what any of them were most of the time. Apparently that was for my own good, and I had to admit I probably felt overall better now compared to before I¡¯d first seen him, including the negative dip in the early days.


    ¡°So how are you feeling today, Turlough?¡±


    ¡°Good, I think.¡± Was there anything to complain about? ¡°I haven¡¯t interacted with Gloom lately, which is always a positive. Oh! And I kicked Handface through a portal. That felt good.¡±


    ¡°Handface would be your nemesis, Deimos, correct?¡± Doctor Patenaude said as he took his usual notes.


    ¡°I guess you could call him my nemesis, yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°Or former nemesis?¡±


    ¡°You sound uncertain about that part,¡± Doctor Patenaude prodded.


    ¡°I wanted him to be dead but he might not be,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Should take a while for him to return, if he does. That makes me feel better.¡±


    ¡°Good to hear. Anything else you¡¯d like to bring up?¡±


    ¡°My apprentice got into trouble, then I saved him and now he¡¯s a werewolf.¡± I thought for a few moments. ¡°I¡¯m glad he¡¯s healthy, though.¡±


    ¡°What about the rest of it?¡±


    Was there more? It took a moment to dredge that up. ¡°I¡¯m also upset I wasn¡¯t strong enough to stop it. Even with help. I¡¯m so much stronger now but it¡¯s not enough.¡±


    ¡°A common feeling,¡± the therapist said. ¡°Nobody can handle everything alone, but accepting help makes things easier.¡±


    ¡°I still could have done better.¡±


    ¡°Your companions doubtless felt the same. It seems, however, that all survived, did they not? Somewhat worse for wear, but able to go on. I¡¯m sure there are difficulties associated with being a werewolf, of course, but there must be ways to manage it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I think so,¡± I frowned. ¡°If it¡¯s the one I know, probably. I might even be able to remove it, though we already missed the best opportunity for that.¡± A proper Remove Curse spell might work, though I had to admit I was unfamiliar with all of the details. I knew that like wolfsbane, it was best before first transformations, which we didn¡¯t have the luxury of. There were higher level things, but some were rather onerous to use.


    Sensing that I was done with the topic, as usual, Patenaude moved on. ¡°Anything else?¡± he asked. That usually meant he knew there was something. Or maybe it always meant that and sometimes I never figure out what.


    My brain processed through what else happened. ¡°I might be friends with Izzy again. Or we might have just become new friends.¡± He was going to ask how it made me feel. ¡°It¡¯s confusing.¡±


    ¡°Is that all you feel?¡±


    I took the question seriously, but as I searched that seemed to be correct. ¡°Right now, yeah. Maybe a little happy we fought alongside each other? This would be easier if Midnight was here.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps some day that would be an appropriate arrangement,¡± Doctor Patenaude conceded. ¡°But using him as an emotional crutch isn¡¯t necessarily helpful.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a lot easier, though.¡±


    -----


    With other activity forbidden, I settled for training my body, some additional application of powers returning me to a reasonable state. I only had a small amount of physical injuries to begin with, after what got through my Force Armor and Stoneskin. Overstraining my magical capabilities at least twice was probably the worse of the two things. Notable accompaniments were Midnight- who found humanoid physical training generally kind of pointless- Great Girl, Jim, and¡­ a guy in silver spandex from head to toe. Was that Antagonist? Didn¡¯t he just copy people and fight like that?


    Actually, given that he created a copy of someone he kind of needed his body to function well to stay safe. Same thing with me, because while I had magic I couldn¡¯t just rely on it. Haste made me several times as fast, but if my body was garbage it would hardly matter. Same with Enlarge, if I was going down that route.


    Our trainer for the session was Meztli, a good choice for not only her experience but how her power could allow us to go further or recover quickly between exercises. We did some basic warm up exercises, but the main focus was the sparring. We began with unarmed combat, during which I was able to face all of the notable opponents at least once.


    As should be expected, Great Girl wiped the floor with me. Even without using powers- besides her traditional size increase to sixish feet tall- she was much more practiced and in better shape. Whatever muscle mass I had through virtue of recent training and being an orc she at least matched. But she was nice enough to make it obvious where I slipped up the most so I could learn, even as she fought with a strangely determined face. Perhaps I would ask her about that later.


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    Fighting Jim without a weapon or magic was an exercise in futility, even as he limited himself to a small number of appendages. Grapples were kind of pointless with his flexible body, and strikes were nearly impossible to get in position for. Not that punching him in the ¡®gut¡¯ did much. It was kind of hard to say he didn¡¯t make use of his ¡®powers¡¯, but they were just kind of him to begin with. And I knew there was more than just his body involved in his skillset.


    The fight with Antagonist was the most straightforward. I had a bit of an advantage in size, but the guy clearly had skill. We went back and forth a few times with my marginally securing a victory. Then I convinced him to fight me more seriously, which meant him copying my body. It was quite useful for seeing how much more I could do with it. However, I didn¡¯t have the intention of switching my focus to traditionally orcish and barbaric tactics¡­ no matter how much I would need to continue to make use of such fighting styles to some extent.


    Fighting Midnight required him to use powers- specifically Enlarge. Otherwise, he was basically just a housecat, a creature that was while quite annoying not physically threatening. The reasons people got hurt by cats were mostly related to not actually intending to harm them. With Midnight Enlarged, juiced up to spend the full mana cost instead of the reduced amount, he was a reasonable sized dog. Maybe like a mountain lion, but not as big as any of the proper ¡®great cats¡¯ like lions or cheetahs or anything.


    The battle between Midnight and I was mostly a matter of me trying to deal with an opponent with a different body shape, while Midnight was quite familiar with humanoids by now. His size was still smaller than mine, but we easily agreed that the winner would be whoever could first incapacitate the other somehow- by pinning perhaps- or whoever broke through Force Armor. That would allow him to use his claws with impunity, instead of worrying about actual damage. What I learned was that I wanted a weapon for fighting things lower to the ground.


    When the time came for us to work with weapons, Meztli just handed them out. Blunted and padded versions, of course, still sufficient to break bones if we went too hard. Even with Midnight and I working together we couldn¡¯t supply everyone with Force Armor, so traditional methods were employed. When Meztli handed me a staff, I looked at it and blinked.


    Technically, it could be a stand-in for a spear or any other polearm with moderate reach. The important thing that was clear was that it was not a sword or an axe. It also made me feel very stupid. I didn¡¯t like using weapons, yet somehow I had no trouble with a gun. I wondered if I should have made use of that against the werewolves. Likely wouldn¡¯t have been that great, since bullets caused small wounds that would have been entirely non magical. It was one of the few reasonable times, though.


    The point wasn¡¯t about my choices in that instance, however. It was that I didn¡¯t like using melee weapons because¡­ well, it was orc crap. I could probably wield an axe, but I didn¡¯t want to. In that moment of clarity, I thought Doctor Patenaude would be proud of me later. As I gripped the staff, I felt it didn¡¯t have any particular capacity to channel magic more effectively. I wasn¡¯t knowledgeable about enchanting to begin with, and getting such a thing in this world was likely difficult, but the fact that it could do that made me feel better. And if I also happened to hit people with it sometimes¡­ well, it wasn¡¯t that bad.


    Unlike our previous sparring, we didn¡¯t just pair up. Instead, Meztli and a few other skilled weapon users sparred against each of us one at a time. A staff had passed through my hands before so I was decently aware of how to use it, but something felt better this time. Not that it meant I was any good at it yet. There wasn¡¯t even an option for me to win in the first place, given the asymmetric levels between myself and Meztli, but I tried. And I felt like I could reasonably request to carry a proper staff with me later. It was an approved weapon for supers as it leaned towards the nonlethal category as long as one avoided blows to the head and such, though mercenaries could get away with whatever the situation required.


    Midnight barely participated in the weapons portions. Celmothians did have some weapon designs, but Midnight didn¡¯t really know how they worked. He did get some advice on avoiding the additional reach and danger weapons could provide, with some practical experience.


    Watching Jim fight with weapons was¡­ terrifying. If the dozens of weapons had been sharp, he could have no doubt impaled and lacerated me with the majority of them. His opponent, however, managed to parry them with a weapon in either hand, striking back just past the guards and ¡®severing¡¯ his tentacles which held the weapons as they danced about. It was an honor system for him to drop his weapons and forego the use of the tentacles that were taken out, mostly because he had more and nobody else could really count them. If I learned anything it was that Jim was a good multitasker but a truly skilled opponent could overcome that.


    I also took note of the woman he fought. She was older, enough to be retired from active duty, but still fit. Omni was her name, and from the limited information that had been available to me in the database she was a user of not just various weapons but gadgets and the like, making constant use of her hands in battle. A good match, and I wondered what her movements would look like with Haste.


    ¡°Good job, everyone,¡± Meztli declared after the session was over. She¡¯d made most of us collapse into a puddle multiple times- the exception being Great Girl, and the most puddly being Jim- but she was ultimately a supporting trainer. ¡°Make sure to keep up with this sort of thing regularly, even if it¡¯s not your focus. You¡¯re all dismissed.¡± Her eyes caught me, and while I was trying to figure out what her look meant I accidentally fulfilled her intention. ¡°Thanks for staying behind. I wanted to talk to you about today¡¯s session.¡±


    I wondered if I had done something wrong, but decided that she would have said it right away. So I just waited for her to continue.


    She clapped me on the shoulder. ¡°You looked much more comfortable today, making use of weapons. Usually you¡¯re putting too much into grimacing and not enough into the fighting.¡±


    ¡°... I think I want to get better with the staff,¡± I declared. ¡°I like it.¡± Or maybe I disliked other familiar weapons. I¡¯d never seen an orc use a gun, so¡­ maybe that was why it felt fine. Not that I¡¯d actually seen orcs much at all.


    ¡°We¡¯d all be glad to help you with that goal,¡± Meztli said. ¡°We encourage testing development down different paths, and a staff is a good weapon for defensive use as well, allowing you to get openings for magic if that¡¯s what you need.¡±


    ¡°I need to find one that¡¯s enchanted,¡± I commented. ¡°It could make my magic more efficient.¡± An option I had overlooked in my previous struggles because I was used to both not having money and assuming that nothing in this world had anything to do with magic. But maybe there was something someone could do.


    ¡°We can certainly look into equipment options, if you can make your needs known,¡± Meztli nodded. ¡°Though you should make sure you¡¯re going to stick with it first. Don¡¯t want to waste anyone¡¯s time and the Brigade¡¯s money.¡±

 Chapter 118

    Just because I wasn¡¯t allowed to use magic for a few more days didn¡¯t mean I couldn¡¯t talk about it. I was actually only intending to do so indirectly anyway, as Izzy had mentioned something about her class abilities that confused me. We agreed to meet up together with Tylissa and Jerome, since Tylissa was going to be training with her regardless. Besides, I wanted to see them again after the whole incident.


    That was how we found ourselves meeting up on an empty basketball court near their apartment. It wasn¡¯t exactly private but it was the only place that had space to move around. Their apartment certainly didn¡¯t- nor did mine, not on the level a scout needed. When I got there Tylissa was running, a pretty boring form of exercise if useful. As she got to either end of the court she would swivel around the base of the hoop, either using pure footwork or hooking an elbow around it. She didn¡¯t slow down either way, but she stumbled a bit sometimes.


    Around the time I was actually stepping into the fenced area, she tumbled to the ground. She grumbled in annoyance, then growled. Her fingernails began to take the shape of claws for a moment before she got control of herself and climbed to her feet. I¡¯d already given them what information I had on lycanthropes, but I had to admit it was incomplete. Mainly, they¡¯d have to stay careful at or near the full moon.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Izzy said from her position nearby. ¡°You¡¯re getting better, you just have to keep working at it.¡± She noticed me open the gate, even though it barely squeaked. ¡°There you are Turlough. We were just getting in some quick training,¡± she gestured towards Jerome who was still jogging back and forth.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think¡­¡± Jerome huffed and puffed, ¡°Mages are supposed to¡­ have to run.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong,¡± I disagreed. ¡°That¡¯s one physical activity you absolutely need to be proficient in. Unless you plan to stand still and let people hit you.¡±


    Jerome stopped next to me, taking deep breaths. ¡°I¡­ suppose.¡± He didn¡¯t actually sound like he was complaining that much. Just the normal amount for people currently undergoing exercise.


    ¡°You had some questions, Turlough?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°I have so many questions,¡± I agreed. ¡°For you specifically, however, there was one main thing. You mentioned training improving your abilities, including the ones you had before coming to this world.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°The normal thing?¡± she tilted her head. ¡°They increased in ranks. +1, +2, and so on.¡±


    ¡°Is that normal?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure all classes work that way, right?¡±


    ¡°I meant, the training thing. Did it work that way before you arrived in this world?¡±


    She shook her head, at least confirming something for me. ¡°Nope. I obviously got better at using things outside of the increased ranks and stuff with training- just like your Firebolts don¡¯t aim themselves just because you spent points on them. It only began when I got here.¡±


    ¡°Did you learn anything new? I learned a new spell without spending points on it. Two and a half, maybe.¡±


    ¡°How can you learn half a spell?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°I learned a spell and then it became part of another thing,¡± I said. ¡°Light and Dancing Lights became part of Basic Light Magic.¡±


    ¡°I have to say,¡± Izzy admitted. ¡°Those names would be super confusing together anyway. It¡¯s probably better.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I agreed. ¡°But its not normal. Anyway, when I pull up my status window to look at things, all of the stuff I¡¯ve learned since coming here is put after ¡®remaining points¡¯, whether it was the actual spells or weird abilities. And depending on how I spent points it locked combo spells to either side.¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­¡± Jerome said, waving his hand around in front of him weirdly.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I already tell you all this?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Yeah, you did. Go on¡­¡± he said while squinting.


    Weird. Maybe he wasn¡¯t a morning person. ¡°Anyway,¡± I shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s how things have been working for me.¡±


    ¡°That makes no sense,¡± Izzy admitted.


    ¡°But you agree with me that training shouldn¡¯t improve these abilities?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t?¡± Izzy frowned, ¡°Not sure about that. Didn¡¯t, for sure. That was just how things were. But here, training helps.¡±


    ¡°... Mine are also before ¡®remaining points¡¯, is that weird?¡± Jerome said. ¡°Is 36 a lot or a little?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the total for level 8,¡± I said. ¡°Also what?¡± Something was wrong with what he said, but I couldn¡¯t quite place my finger on it. Jerome was clearly not fully sure himself, a confused look on his face.


    ¡°Uh, mom?¡± he asked. ¡°Could you come over here?¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Tylissa only took a few steps to reach us.


    ¡°Can you see this?¡± Jerome waved his hand.


    ¡°See what?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d know. What if you, um¡­ try to imagine a status window that has all of the things Izzy has been teaching you?¡±


    ¡°A status window?¡± Tylissa frowned.


    ¡°Cmon mom, you have to have played at least a few RPGs.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had time for games since¡­ lately,¡± she said with a sigh. ¡°But yeah, I saw a couple and- WHAT IS THAT?¡± She suddenly exclaimed.


    ¡°A status window, I presume,¡± Jerome said. Then he turned to me. ¡°Just to be clear, I definitely thought about this when you were first teaching me, and after I first cast a spell. Didn¡¯t happen at all.¡±


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    ¡°So now you see status windows?¡± Izzy interjected, drawing our attention down towards her.


    Oh, that would explain why he had been pawing at the air in front of him, confused.


    ¡°I had one since I bonded to Turlough,¡± Midnight added. ¡°But that should be¡­ normal?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I said. Most familiars were normal animals that were then magically enhanced. I wasn¡¯t sure if they had the right thought process to even bring up such a window, though I heard some of them got very intelligent given time.


    I nodded with confidence, ¡°I think it¡¯s safe to assume a couple things. First, that portal went to our former world, or one with the same mechanics, and you two got the ability to do that upon actually setting foot there.¡±


    ¡°And for some reason,¡± Izzy said. ¡°We got the ability to train our abilities from coming here.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± I said. ¡°Except we have a weird divergence, because that is not how things work. Sure, I can accept this weird Mana Crystal Deposition thing growing on its own, and the other things but¡­¡± I frowned, finding it difficult to articulate my point. ¡°Neither of the actual spells I learned have improved through training and it just doesn¡¯t make sense for anything to do that. That¡¯s now how things work.¡±


    ¡°Have you practiced either of those spells?¡± Midnight asked.


    I shrugged, ¡°Water Breathing is kinda¡­ specific? We¡¯ve used Locate Object though.¡±


    ¡°A couple times,¡± Midnight pointed out, tapping me on the head with his paw.


    ¡°... A couple times,¡± I nodded. ¡°Maybe not enough to be called practice. But it still doesn¡¯t make sense. Things don¡¯t just improve with training.¡±


    ¡°Sure they do,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Like um¡­ you got better at reading, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a spell,¡± I retorted.


    ¡°You got stronger from exercise,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Even back in our world.¡±


    ¡°Well, sure,¡± I said. ¡°But that¡¯s different. People can¡¯t spend points on muscle strength.¡±


    ¡°Turlough¡­¡± Izzy sighed, ¡°I know you aren¡¯t fond of barbarians, but what do you think they spend their class points on?¡±


    ¡°... Rage and damage reduction?¡± I postulated. Most of their features weren¡¯t relevant to mages, except the latter if we chose to fling rocks at them.


    ¡°Well, yes,¡± Izzy admitted. ¡°But also strength in general.¡±


    ¡°But wait¡­ you agreed with me that training doesn¡¯t improve class abilities in our world. Not rank wise, at least. So how can they do that?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ maybe that example doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± she frowned. ¡°Also can we go sit down or something so I don¡¯t have to crane my neck so much?¡±


    We did that, me with my back against the fence, Jerome across from me, and the two girls on either side. Midnight remained on my shoulder. Our height differences were still apparent with Izzy being only three feet tall, more or less, but while the proportions remained the same the actual numerical difference was lowered.


    ¡°So,¡± Izzy said, ¡°My point might not quite work like I wanted, but maybe your stuff doesn¡¯t work like mine because you¡¯re¡­ uh¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m what?¡± I asked sincerely.


    Izzy remained silent for the moment, so Midnight took over. ¡°Stubborn,¡± he supplied. ¡°Unwilling to believe something works a certain way.¡±


    ¡°I can change my opinion on things!¡± I said.


    ¡°Sometimes,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°But you require proof. You were quite convinced that this was how things functioned, so it would not be strange if you mentally limited your improvements.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ dumb,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s probably a mage thing.¡±


    Jerome interjected again, ¡°My window looks more like what she described,¡± he pointed to Izzy.


    ¡°Yeah but¡­ that¡¯s not¡­ how¡­ it works¡­¡± I said. My eye twitched. Something snapped inside my head. Warmth trickled onto my upper lip, confirmed to be blood as I wiped it away. Had I accidentally used magic? I still had a bunch of garbage crystal buildup inside me.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Izzy asked with worry. ¡°That doesn¡¯t look good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m ever alright sometimes,¡± I admitted. ¡°So if I were to believe you, theoretically, we could spend points on things and improve everything with training? I¡¯m also still wrapping my head around the fact that portal powers became proper classes upon passing through one of the portals. Though that makes the most sense because classes are normal.¡±


    ¡°Maybe for you,¡± Jerome retorted. ¡°Most of us only have to think about normal powers.¡± He grinned, and I grinned back.


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Anyway, I suppose maybe things could work that way¡­ with the weirdness of New Bay and this world.¡± I concentrated for a moment to bring up my status window, looking it over. ¡°... I might be bad at understanding my powers.¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 25


    Experience: 1738/1755


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +3


    Firebolt +3


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +2


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +3


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +3


    Sonic Lance +2


    Scrying


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +1


    Mana Crystal Deposition +2


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +2


    Basic Light Magic +2


    Locate Object


    Alter Portal +1


    Gate


    Remaining Points: 3


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    There it was, looking like it had always been that way, with everything in the order I had learned it. It was kind of a mess, actually. Just a big pile of spells and¡­ skills? Abilities? Class Features? I supposed Izzy and most classes didn¡¯t have any spells, but mages didn¡¯t normally have class features to spend points on either. Or maybe it was hidden knowledge.


    For people who really liked learning, we were either really bad at it or bad at sharing or¡­ evil and greedy. Or maybe some of these things really didn¡¯t exist in my world, but I knew there had to be some secrets. I had so many things to do once I was allowed to use magic again.


    ¡°Well,¡± I said, looking at Izzy. ¡°You were right. Though I have the feeling there¡¯s more about this for each of us to discover.¡± I sighed, looking at some of the numbers.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m 17 experience short of a level and I can¡¯t use magic,¡± I explained.


    Izzy stood up, which brought her to basically eye level with me. She cracked her knuckles. ¡°Is that so? I might be able to help fix one of those problems, at least.¡±


    A wave of nostalgia hit me. Her face¡­ well, she¡¯d definitely aged somewhat since I was a kid, but I knew that grin well. I instinctively got to my feet. Then I took a proper stance.


    Midnight interrupted. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if this is a good idea,¡± he said, looking between me and Izzy. ¡°Seems a bit¡­ unfair?¡±


    I used one hand to pat him on the head and then lifted him down to the ground with it. ¡°I know,¡± I agreed. ¡°But that makes it better experience. Though if you¡¯d like to use Force Armor on us so I don¡¯t get hurt, I¡¯d appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°I guess I can¡¯t stop you,¡± he rolled his eyes then began to gather mana. Midnight took a moment to complete the spell- because it was a higher rank than Familiar Bond, I usually used it on the two of us for the efficiency and power improvements. He formed one for the two of us, and another around Izzy. ¡°Go ahead and punch each other, or whatever.¡±


    And we would.

 Chapter 119

    Sparring against Izzy once more was slightly nostalgic, despite the vast differences in actual performance. I was now properly trained and over six feet tall, a serious advantage¡­ with some notable drawbacks. I had reach and muscle, but it severely limited my patterns of attack. Punching someone at waist height was more than just a little bit difficult- and lowering my stance made my intentions obvious.


    Given that she was faster without relying on powers- no class abilities that required mana usage at least- as well as having a level of physical strength greater than her body height would imply it wasn¡¯t odd for me to suffer a defeat. My only real advantage was my more formal unarmed training.


    Making use of my longer legs for sweeping attacks seemed like it would be valuable, but when I tried she managed to slip around and kick me in the back of my supporting knee. It wasn¡¯t really damaging, but it threw me onto my back and opened me up to following attacks. Those unblocked strikes were a deciding factor in weakening my Force Armor. I managed to get to my feet and duck into a good straight right impacting her ribs, but a single good hit wasn¡¯t enough and she countered with her own uppercut to my jaw. As Force Armor shattered there was barely any remaining force behind the blow, so it just shoved my head back slightly.


    I sighed. ¡°Lost again, huh. We¡¯re going to have to even the playing field for the next round.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± Izzy said with her hands on her hips. ¡°Gonna cast Slow?¡±


    ¡°Oh. I still need to learn that,¡± I nodded as I made my mental note. I didn¡¯t have to save points anymore as I already learned Gate. ¡°But obviously that would be too much. You¡¯d just have to use your abilities to counteract it, which would kind of ruin the point of a vaguely even playing field. There¡¯s a better option. Midnight can use a beneficial spell on you to even the playing field.¡±


    ¡°How would that work?¡± she raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty easy,¡± I said. ¡°Enlarge should make us basically the same height.¡±


    ¡°Can do,¡± Midnight said helpfully, refreshing the Force Armor on both sides first. It only cost about 1.5 mana for each use, so while it wasn¡¯t fully sustainable he had plenty of uses available. Enlarge was closer to 3 points, with a higher level and fewer upgrades.


    Looking at Izzy being eye level again, I wondered how I ever thought she was a kid. Maybe some combination of baggy clothes and wishing for a friend. With Enlarge she was actually slightly taller than myself. That was both a combination of its upgrades and Izzy¡¯s actual height. At more or less three feet tall, she was either tall for a woman or halflings weren¡¯t actually half human height. Just close.


    Our next fight was more of a brawl and reminded me that our former closeness, tenuous as it had been, had been founded on a solid core of what I cared about in friends. It wasn¡¯t the only thing now, but the ability to punch someone in the face for experience was nice.


    At this size, Izzy was slower than normal but somewhat stronger. More importantly, she was the one unused to fighting opponents of her size, since her last regular experience had been more than a decade prior. She still had more total combat experience and her level was still ahead of mine. Even without spending mana for things it had intangible effects that couldn¡¯t just be ignored or turned off. Not that I would have wanted her to go easy on me.


    When our next round of blows ended, the two of us were sprawled out on the blacktop with various bruises developing. I honestly didn¡¯t know which of us had continued fighting after Force Armor broke, but we both had the basic level of control to not seriously hurt each other. I had missed doing this. Yet I was also reminded of the pain of loss and separation- things wouldn¡¯t just go back to how they had been, nor should they.


    ¡°Wow,¡± Jerome commented as he leaned over me. ¡°You two really went at it, huh?¡±


    I¡¯d forgotten that he and Tylissa were still around. Midnight I couldn¡¯t ignore, both as my current access to magic and as a constant mental companion. ¡°Casual training is much less effective.¡±


    ¡°Was that training?¡± he asked. ¡°Did you learn anything?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to fight people half my height,¡± I replied. ¡°Could probably ask Great Girl about that. Either way, I got 22 experience. So yes.¡±


    ¡°Does that count as learning though?¡± my apprentice said as he helped me to my feet. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ growing stronger.¡±


    ¡°I can learn a new spell,¡± I said. ¡°So I¡¯d say so.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. Whatever.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which,¡± I said, ¡°You learned a Scrying spell without me? We didn¡¯t really get a chance to talk about that. I¡¯m impressed.¡±


    Jerome nodded, ¡°I knew you could use Scrying and stuff. I just tried to make it happen. Ultimately it was more like Locate Object and Arcane Eye.¡± He concentrated for a second, ¡°Now that I have this window, it says it¡¯s ¡®Basic Scrying Magic¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Like what happened with light,¡± I said. ¡°Interesting. Also- your window is in English, I presume?¡±


    ¡°Well, obviously,¡± Jerome said. ¡°I don¡¯t speak anything else.¡±


    ¡°Mine is in common. I¡¯ve just been translating.¡±


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    Midnight had his own thing to add to the conversation. ¡°Mine is in Celmothian. So is yours when I can see it.¡±


    ¡°And the inverse for me looking at your window,¡± I agreed. ¡°It¡¯s fairly well known that it shows up in the natural language of its users. Less well known is what it looks like for those who can¡¯t read. All I can say is¡­ I couldn¡¯t read it.¡±


    After that, I spent some time explaining the mechanics to Jerome and Tylissa. Well, aside from the basics Izzy was more helpful for Tylissa- she knew how scout abilities worked, after all. Now that they apparently had the full package of a class including points from levels, they would want to spend those points vaguely efficiently. I wasn¡¯t sure what that meant anymore, given what could be done with training. Would it be better to maximize one thing and train others? If the total level applied to the training difficulty, that would be the case. Otherwise, some combination would allow a few key abilities to grow to greater heights. I suggested they take a few days to think about what they wanted to do with the points. They couldn¡¯t just be taken back after they were spent.


    And having just learned that things weren¡¯t as they seemed, I mentally tried to unspend some points. Shield seemed like a safe bet, in case I broke something. Despite various attempts, nothing happened. I even tried my best to believe it was possible, to the same lack of results. That was comforting, in a way. Not everything was turned on its head.


    -----


    With the click of a pen, Doctor Martinez was finished with his inspection and writing the results. ¡°Okay, Mage. I can now give you a clean bill of health. There doesn¡¯t seem to be any lingering effects. However,¡± he waggled his finger, ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean you have an excuse to just start messing around with crystals again. Having you out of commission for a week is one thing, having you be dead would be something much more difficult to fix.¡±


    Even though we didn¡¯t know if it was possible to kill myself with that, I understood the point. ¡°I get it, doctor. But speaking of messing around with crystals¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°I would like to confirm that forming them doesn¡¯t come with any consequences. Since you just inspected me, you should be able to get a clear picture.¡± I could tell he wanted to object, ¡°Look, I¡¯m not going to not use what power I have if I need it. This will just let me know if my preparations are dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± he agreed. ¡°But if I confirm it comes with its own buildup, I need a promise to be careful.¡±


    ¡°I promise,¡± I said. ¡°This recent thing all involved my nemesis and apprentice, I¡¯ve been careful otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    I gathered mana, forming a crystal in my palm. It grew in all directions, eventually reaching the edges of my palm- though that was with the various offshoots. It wasn¡¯t completely covering things, as I should imagine for something containing somewhere around four points of crystallized mana. That was all I could comfortably make with Mana Crystal Deposition, about half of my thirty-one mana spent to produce the crystal.


    I felt the cross sectional scanning power of Doctor Martinez carefully move through my body, starting with my head and down to my torso, then out to my limbs. ¡°No signs of crystals. Can you do that again?¡±


    ¡°Give me a few minutes,¡± I said. I didn¡¯t want to fully run out of mana, and taking breaks between using huge chunks was good anyway.


    After repeating the process, Doctor Martinez confirmed the same results. ¡°I still see no buildup. So you can do that part of things a reasonable amount. But try not to make too much or you¡¯ll be tempted to consume them.¡±


    He was right about that, so I planned to limit myself to one per day until I had a handful at most, even if that meant leaving a bunch of mana unspent and potential recovery unavailable. Wouldn¡¯t do much good if I hurt myself again, and twenty or more spare points of mana would be sufficient.


    -----


    Squad C-4 was finally back on patrols together. There was some expected downtime after the latest portal incident, but I specifically was out of commission for actual duty. With a cleanish bill of health and the go ahead to use magic again, I was eager. I could even try out a new spell if something came up, circumstances permitting. Though realistically, it would be useful against any villain. The problem was quantity, as I could only affect a few targets.


    Our entire squad was patrolling together, including Rocker. He was nearly done with his community service requirement- in fact I was fairly certain he could be done if he wanted to. There was just the option to actually negate his record instead of just completing his time, after which he could get back to whatever civilians with sonic powers did. Or join someone as a super. Sure, he¡¯d been pretty crazy back at the mall but he¡¯d mostly caused property damage. Insurance didn¡¯t like that regardless of repair supers existing, but it was on the lower boundary of crimes. It was only a big deal because of the amount, the fact that he used powers, and the whole part where he resisted arrest.


    With Handface gone I was pretty confident that we weren¡¯t going to be targeted specifically. However, I¡¯d heard over and over that overconfidence was dangerous. Thus, in addition to ourselves Midnight and I used Force Armor on Ice Guy and Shockfire. They were the most vulnerable of the group, because even though Captain Senan was the strongest of us, he still had to be able to create a barrier or some such to resist an attack. Acid Man and Rocker had reactive powers- which put them both in a coveted tier of abilities that were resistant to most mundane dangers. Thinking of bullets in particular, Acid Man would just have a hole through him that didn¡¯t matter, and Rocker¡¯s power would deflect or limit the kinetic impact of reasonable projectiles. That included rifles.


    Unreasonable was where alien or super tech came into the picture- both more advanced, but one simply outside of the scope of Earth¡¯s general usability and the other not able to be understood by anyone except with powers. Super tech might actually function by normal rules, but nobody had figured out if there was an actual connection to the current understanding of the universe.


    The call came in at the same time as we were a block away from the bank. It wasn¡¯t a coincidence- we were contacted as the closest supers. The timing was just convenient for us to rush over to find a group of individuals who were only barely masked. Big bulky guys, they were dressed mostly in black. They shimmered strangely as I felt some sort of power around them. Atypical for mooks in this world, they carried large axes. Guns were available enough and the thought of going into melee combat with supers was unappealing for most.


    ¡°Hey, Turlough,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Don¡¯t they, uh¡­ hmm. What I¡¯m trying to say is they share some features I can¡¯t help but notice.¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°Tall?¡± No, that wouldn¡¯t be it. Ah, I got it. ¡°Oh, you mean the green skin and tusks? Didn¡¯t know there were this many orcs in New Bay.¡± I looked towards Captain Senan. ¡°So you going to do the thing?¡±


    ¡°I was just appraising the situation,¡± he said. ¡°And also it¡¯s not strictly necessary where an obvious crime is in progress. Even so¡­¡± he took a breath. ¡°Halt! You¡¯re under arrest!¡±


    The orcs acted as expected. Which was to say they turned, hefted their large axes, and charged towards us. A simple Firebolt seemed like a good start, so I aimed straight for the chest of one. My spell splashed against the shimmering nothing around them. ¡°Hmm. Interesting.¡±

 Chapter 120

    ¡°Familiar! Grease the left side!¡± I called out as somewhere around a dozen orcs charged towards our squad. I didn¡¯t know what the barrier was that had blocked my Firebolt, but I was fairly certain it would have issues with pre-existing ground hazards. Unless it was consciously controlled, but I couldn¡¯t imagine they were smart enough to perform magic like that. Unfortunately, it also meant I likely couldn¡¯t use my new spell.


    Captain Senan also threw up some ice walls to funnel them towards the grease- either they would completely stop their charge and take the long way around the walls giving us time to prepare, or just continue straight towards us. Which is what they did. On either side of me, Shockfire and Rocker blasted the orcs. The same barriers protected them, though I thought I saw them shimmer unevenly for a moment. That made sense, everything had to have a limit. But since I had easy options besides just blasting them, I went for those.


    Puddles of blackness flanked by ice walls didn¡¯t seem to deter the charging orcs, and they continued to rush towards us in a fury. Some of them vaulted over the grease- or at least attempted it. Others paid it no heed. Those who failed to jump far enough and those who didn¡¯t jump at all unilaterally found themselves on the ground. Whatever skill and natural balance they had was more than overcome by their lack of caution.


    Before the front enemies reached us, I made sure Midnight and I had Stoneskin. Captain Senan ordered Shockfire back. Rocker stayed in line with the captain, Midnight, and myself blasting the approaching enemies. Acid Man charged forwards towards one of them. Whatever barrier they had didn¡¯t seem to stop him from entering- it wasn¡¯t possible to stop everything.


    An axe cut straight into Acid Man¡¯s shoulder, slicing down to his waist. The open part of his body only showed green goop, and he fully shifted into his acid form as he leapt on the orc. I couldn¡¯t imagine that going well for the guy, since he was already inside whatever weird barrier they had- and the screams of rage and pain seemed to agree with me as the orc clawed at his body. Acid Man could theoretically dissolve the guy, but more likely he was minimizing that aspect of himself and focusing on his fluidity. He stretched around the guy, pulling taut and yanking the orc to the ground. Sometime during that process the axe was yanked out of the orc¡¯s hands.


    Ice Guy formed another wall of ice to slow the prone orcs, surrounding himself in an armor of mobile ice. I was fairly certain he could take the overhead chop coming for him directly, but he stepped forward to grab the orc¡¯s wrists. The handle of the axe hit him on the shoulder with a thud, chipping some ice as our captain¡¯s powers worked its way up to the orc¡¯s elbows. With wrists and elbows locked, the power and flexibility of the orc¡¯s attacks were greatly diminished. At the same time, the captain tossed a few globes of ice towards other orcs. They splattered on the inside of the barrier, dissipating away instead of treating it like a solid barrier and growing into crystals.


    That was something useful to know. Whatever sort of barrier the orcs had, powers wouldn¡¯t work out of it as well as in. And if the orcs were anything but barbarians, that could matter for them too. But they weren¡¯t, as their attempts to fight directly against Acid Man¡¯s grapple and furiously smashing frozen arms against the ground to break it away indicated.


    Pathetic. I stepped towards another orc, watching my outstretched hand to make sure my magic wasn¡¯t canceled. I still had my Stoneskin, so I confidently matched steps with the orc in front of me. His reckless swing with his axe opened him up to my Shocking Grasp, though he did scrape along my ribs. Even so, I reached right for his barely protected face, a mask that provided probably even less anonymity than my own.


    Electricity coursed through the orc¡¯s head sufficient to take out any normal person. Barbarians were generally resistant to some sorts of damage, but electricity coursing into their body was generally on the lesser end of that. In this case, my attack was basically successful. The orc was stunned for a moment and dropped his axe, which I kindly took off his hands. Having seen no crimes sufficient to justify killing, I nicely thwapped him upside the head with the back of the axe. Even though his powers would likely protect him more against that damage, he went down.


    Elsewhere, Midnight was having decent success with more Shocking Grasps. The ankles and lower legs of the orcs were still armored, but he was able to swipe at them a couple of times to achieve the same effect. In return, the orcs couldn¡¯t do much but kick at him or wildly chop their axes towards the ground, both of which he was quite ready for. Even if they did manage to hit him, he had the full effects of Stoneskin. That wasn¡¯t so easily overcome with just a couple swings of an axe.


    Shockfire had watched the effectiveness of powers inside their barrier, extending perhaps five or six feet from each individual. Thus, when one came for him he was ready with a cone of fire, blinding his opponent and forcing him to protect his face. Shockfire might be most effective when there were enemies that used electricity or fire for him to rebound, but he still had the ability to absorb quite a bit of power ahead of time. He was capable at range, but also up close.


    Rocker wasn¡¯t so willing to engage in close combat, instead blasting away at the shields of one charging him. Through significant effort he managed to overcome it and blast his opponent back. A useful thing to know, though I knew how strong Rocker¡¯s undiluted power was. I wasn¡¯t able to expend enough mana to keep up with him in a direct competition. It did take our squad teamwork to bring him down- though partly because we were trying not to kill him.


    By the time the orcs who had fallen into the grease trap were up and around the walls of ice, the course of the battle was clearly against them. Showing some unexpected reasoning skills, they tore away back to their vehicle, leaving our squad to finish taking care of the handful we were already engaged with. Ice Guy locked their arms and legs to the ground and each other sort of thrown into a pile in a manner he assured me would hold up against some level of super strength. Especially against injured opponents.


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    Then we ran over towards the escape van, which was just tearing off down the road. ¡°Familiar! Haste the Captain!¡± I ordered as I prepared my own move.


    I stretched out my hand, thinking about how annoying it was when people got away. And also about the complexities of distorting time. As my spell intruded upon the area around the van, I felt something resisting it, but I pushed the magic through. The spell should have normally applied to both the van itself and most of the inhabitants inside, but I had to narrow my focus to the vehicle itself.


    Slow was not as impressive as Haste. It didn¡¯t make the van suddenly a third or less of its speed. It just cut off a third or so. But combined with Midnight boosting Captain Senan¡¯s speed, the vehicle that should have been pushing fifty or sixty miles per hour was below forty. Meanwhile, Captain Senan was able to outpace it, snagging the wheels with spikes of ice as he circled around it. The driver inside the vehicle seemed to be confused at how sluggishly the thing reacted, and though the barrier seemed to prevent some of Captain Senan¡¯s attacks it ultimately was insufficient.


    The rest of us were not too far behind, but the Captain¡¯s hasted movements had already frozen the van shut, turning it into one big ball of ice. The people inside wouldn¡¯t freeze- at worst they would get chilly unless they insisted on rubbing their faces against the ice. Which they sort of did, though instead of faces it was axes.


    The orcs managed to chop their way out of the getaway van, but it was clearly exhausting. Their barriers had some sort of time or power limits as well, meaning they weren¡¯t up to stop the rest of us from acting as we pleased. Soon enough we were sitting next to an extra large pile of orcs, furiously struggling against their restraints but too exhausted to do any real damage.


    There was a lot of what I presumed was cussing coming from them. ¡°What are they saying?¡± Captain Senan asked.


    ¡°No idea,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°But you¡¯re-¡± he coughed suddenly. ¡°I mean, you have Translation, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah!¡± I clapped my hands in realization, casting the spell on myself and Midnight. I was nearly tapped out on mana now, but proper restraint squads were on the way and one more Shocking Grasp was probably unnecessary. I decided not to consume any crystals.


    As I had expected, it was mostly profanity. It took a bit to get Translation to actually tune into things fully. Then I heard something like, ¡°What are you doing fighting on the side of these paleskins, broken tusked witch?¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Same thing as you, I presume,¡± I gestured to the driver, who was clearly not an orc. ¡°I just picked the good side.¡±


    ¡°Hah! You have only petty powers compared to the great warlock who brought us here. Your stone city will fall!¡±


    ¡°Wow, you really have no idea what you¡¯re up against, huh?¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Probably should have thought about that before you assumed you were invincible.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t anything else productive that happened. I explained the exchanges to the captain, but he was clearly more interested in the exploding belts on their waists. Presumably that wasn¡¯t their primary function- they looked far too complicated to have such nice controlled explosions that didn¡¯t even do much damage to their wearers. Someone could have gotten a bigger explosion out of that if that was the intent.


    ¡°Looks like Doctor Doomsday¡¯s tech,¡± Captain Senan surmised. We¡¯d only tried removing a couple belts- the rest went off in a chain reaction, apparently realizing they were compromised. With that, any lingering feelings of the barriers were gone. I felt I might recognize them in the future before Firebolting one, but I couldn¡¯t be sure. Though it was a reasonably cheap way to pick out out regardless. ¡°I think they were each equipped with an AEGIS, which is concerning.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°What¡¯s an AEGIS?¡±


    ¡°Amplified Energy Guard Independent System,¡± Captain Senan spouted random words.


    I quickly took him by the shoulder, looking into his eyes. ¡°Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?¡±


    His eyes seemed focused and conscious, but slightly confused. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You just started spouting nonsense!¡± I said. ¡°That wasn¡¯t even proper technobabble!¡±


    ¡°I swear it is,¡± he chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s the official name.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s¡­ why not just say Power Barriers or something not garbage?¡± I frowned.


    Captain Senan shrugged, ¡°Ask Doctor Doomsday. He was the one who first shouted the name at people.¡±


    ¡°... It has to have been some sort of diversion tactic,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s not a name people would use.¡±


    ¡°AEGIS sounds fine though,¡± he pointed out.


    ¡°Ehhhh¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°Not knowing where it came from.¡±


    Reporters began to descend on the scene like flies. Attempted bank heists were common in New Bay, semi-successful ones were not. And unlike containment squads, anyone could be a reporter. Sure, the good ones had qualifications and stuff, but there were also the kind that only had cell phone cameras. A ¡®real¡¯ reporter with a good camera behind them shoved a microphone in my face. ¡°How do you feel about arresting orcs like yourself?¡± he said.


    I frowned, looked down at the pile of orcs, back at him, and punched him in the jaw so hard he flew into the camerawoman.

 Chapter 121

    Calculator looked at me, and I looked back at him. He raised an eyebrow, I shrugged. I had nothing to say unless he asked an actual question. I could do this all day. Plus, I didn¡¯t actually know what he wanted. I could tell he was mad, but that was it. Midnight wasn¡¯t in the room, but all I could feel from him was resignation.


    ¡°So, Mage,¡± he slid a tablet across the table towards me, showing a video. ¡°What would you say this video shows?¡±


    ¡°Looks like¡­ me punching a reporter in the face.¡±


    ¡°And this one?¡± he said, tapping it to the next video in the playlist.


    ¡°The same video again?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Pay attention to the details. It¡¯s the same thing from a slightly different angle¡­ with a different news channel¡¯s logo on it.¡± He tapped the next video. ¡°And this one?¡±


    ¡°Another news channel,¡± I said. ¡°I think I get it.¡±


    ¡°Do you, though?¡± Calculator crossed his arms. ¡°Normally by now you¡¯d have a reasonable explanation. I would ask what the video shows, and you would say something besides you punching a reporter in the face.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ punched him in the jaw?¡± That definitely wasn¡¯t the answer Calculator wanted, but nothing was coming to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s not helpful. Now, it is part of my job to deal with stuff like this, but I would very much prefer you had an explanation. Any sort of excuse or something.¡±


    I stroked my chin, ¡°I¡¯d have to talk to my therapist.¡±


    ¡°That might be something,¡± Calculator shrugged. ¡°So, do you remember the exact words spoken to you? I¡¯m finding it hard to get anything good from before your punch.¡±


    ¡°How do you feel about arresting orcs like yourself,¡± I quoted. The screen on the tablet cracked. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    He slid the tablet over to himself, ¡°We have repair supers for things like this. One of which you helped get on the brigade, so we appreciate that.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°Now then, about the official response. First, the reporter was too close to an active villain threat.¡± He held up a hand to stave off any response from me. ¡°They were subdued, but the actual containment team hadn¡¯t come up yet. They really shouldn¡¯t have been interrupting at that point. Second, that¡¯s actually¡­ kinda racist.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not like them.¡±


    ¡°Mhm. Alright, so, I can potentially salvage this situation. Also, don¡¯t punch reporters.¡±


    -----


    There weren¡¯t just a few orcs who appeared in New Bay with fancy tech, but a whole mess of things. Some of which were going to make things complicated for not just myself, but others. Lycanthropes and vampires also appeared, similarly outfitted by Doctor Doomsday. There was no doubting that fact, and it was clear he hadn¡¯t been trying to hide it. Not that he should need to hide it, now that he suddenly had an army. Another army? It was never really clear how many minions the tech super had except for ¡®many¡¯, plus robots and technological crap. He just had more now, and there was little doubt in anyone¡¯s mind that these had come through in the last portal incident. It was probably just a cover up to distract people while he fulfilled his actual purpose. Or, if people were to be believed, the distraction also did exactly what he wanted.


    There was no way everything could work out precisely how one person predicted, super powers included. Oracles weren¡¯t perfect, and tech supers might be extremely intelligent in their narrow areas, but they couldn¡¯t know everything. Even Calculator got surprised by things, and thinking about things was his whole power and job. He just wasn¡¯t as focused as a tech super on making potentially impossible pieces of technology, but a general increase in brain power of all sorts.


    I had a lot of time to look at the news while I was on ¡®administrative leave¡¯. I could tell the Power Brigade really liked me, because I was still employed by them. It would be so much easier for them to just drop me off on my behind. Or to deal with a single lawsuit according to their obligations and then kick me to the curb.


    Doctor Doomsday was up to a lot of stuff. Seemed like someone should probably do something about that.


    -----


    ¡°... and that made me angry, so I punched him in the jaw,¡± I said to Doctor Patenaude.


    His sensory stalks waved around as he nodded. ¡°It is good to acknowledge your emotions. But I believe we should also explore in this case why you felt that way. Was it being compared to a criminal?¡±


    ¡°Mmn¡­¡± I furrowed my brow. Certainly, that thought didn¡¯t feel good, but¡­ ¡°Nah.¡± I shook my head. ¡°That would have only made me a little bit angry.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ I wonder what it could have been,¡± Doctor Patenaude said in a manner that let me know he already knew what he thought it was. And that I was supposed to figure it out to see if I agreed with him. He never claimed to always be correct in his assumptions, though so far I couldn¡¯t really say anything in particular he¡¯d been wrong about. Either way, I was supposed to manage things with only sometimes-helpful prodding.


    ¡°... I don¡¯t like being compared to other orcs,¡± I said.


    ¡°And why is that?¡±


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    ¡°Because they¡¯re angry and violent without reason.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Doctor Patenaude nodded. ¡°Could you elaborate?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s¡­ pretty obvious. They were loading up their getaway van when we showed up. They should have just tried to go, but instead they immediately turned towards us and charged. They didn¡¯t even think about accomplishing their objective and just chose to fight. Of course they were all angry berserkers.¡±


    ¡°I see. And were these orcs from your world? Would they also have class powers like yourself?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded reluctantly. ¡°They probably were. Or from one similar enough. They definitely had mana powered rage.¡±


    ¡°So their class would be berserker, then?¡± Doctor Patenaude asked.


    ¡°Well¡­ barbarian, technically.¡± I shrugged, ¡°Or maybe whatever it would be called in orcish.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t speak the language, correct?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. I wasn¡¯t raised by those psychopaths. And I had no reason to learn it later.¡±


    There was an awkward period of silence. Notes typed or scratched with a pen. Thoughts swirled in my head with nowhere to go and nothing comprehensible inside them. ¡°You didn¡¯t like fighting them?¡± Doctor Patenaude asked. ¡°Normally you enjoy combat, correct?¡±


    ¡°Well yeah, but I have reasons for that. These orcs are just violent by nature.¡±


    ¡°You only get experience from combat, correct?¡± Doctor Patenaude tapped his fingers. ¡°It was from some Aspect you possessed, right? What was it called again?¡±


    ¡°Aspect of the Barbarian.¡± I didn¡¯t think about it at the moment, but later I realized he made me say that for a reason.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t have any information of such a thing¡¯s prevalence in different groups, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, not really¡­ some people studied that, I think, but information was pretty sparse.¡±


    ¡°How unfortunate.¡±


    -----


    Being on ¡®administrative leave¡¯ was much worse than injury leave and all the other stuff. For one, I couldn¡¯t use the Power Brigade¡¯s facilities. I had so many things I wanted to do, sparring for experience and testing out all sorts of things. Like, maybe improving my spell ranks on purpose. Because I apparently could do that with¡­ everything? Maybe. I was at least willing to accept it as a possibility, having not observed it yet for some of my categories of spells.


    Spells I was willing to use inside my apartment included Storage, Grease because it left no traces after the magic passed, Force Armor, Mage¡¯s Reach, and other spells that had either a good number of ranks already or no way to practically train them. I assumed they had to actually¡­ do something. I couldn¡¯t learn just by throwing them about arbitrarily. No, with Basic Light Magic I¡¯d been trying new, specific things. That one only had two upgrades, but I was kind of hoping for something with no rank increases. Which kind of left me with Water Breathing, Scrying, and Locate Object. Disguise would probably need someone else and Midnight was at work. And Gate was¡­ not something to play around with inside a room. If I could even use it without passing out. I was quite certain my previous successes were due to special circumstances, circumstances I pushed for with all of my power.


    I looked down at the sink, full of water. ¡°Should have gone for an apartment with a tub.¡± Then I shoved my face in it. It was uncomfortable, not because I thought I would drown or anything but because the position was unpleasant for my back and neck. I didn¡¯t have a chair tall enough to make this reasonable. Sinks really weren¡¯t made for this- neither bathroom nor kitchen.


    This was also incredibly boring. I wondered if my phone was waterproof. I knew that option existed somewhere, but did I have it? Best not to try to find out. I heard bad things about mixing electronics and water.


    What was I even trying to accomplish? Was I going to breathe water¡­ better? I could breathe it. That was really it. It could be cheaper and last longer, but those were more side effects of rank rather than the path to rank itself. Probably. I could concentrate on increasing the duration or something for a shorter duration spell but¡­ this spell lasted literally forever.


    Maybe I should go to the park. No, they didn¡¯t like swimming in the pond there. The bay? Some of that was swimmable, as long as I stayed away from bay monsters. There weren¡¯t really that many of those. But the bay was also guaranteed to be uncomfortable, with this being the cold season.


    Then I got a call from a number I definitely didn¡¯t have in my phone but showed up as a contact regardless. ¡®Vilhelmiina Koskinen¡¯. That name was¡­ vaguely familiar. Had it come up in the Power Brigade database? A tech super, maybe? Maybe they would take over my phone and steal all of my data. Though anything actually important was secured with Power Brigade stuff anyway.


    I was planning to say hello as I clicked answer, but my words were bulldozed. ¡°Turlough-Mage, come to my lab!¡± Then she started spouting off a street address, and then she hung up.


    A quick search brought me to public information on Vilhelmiina, where I got just the barest of overviews about the mad scientist before my phone redirected itself to a splash page with a primary color background and eye melting text. I actually thought it was an attack of some sort for a moment.


    I was on the ¡®about me¡¯ page of a personal website. It was mostly text, but there were also animated images crawling around the page as I read the text. Mostly, it was saying how awesome and smart Vilhelmiina was.


    Inventor of the patented ¡®Quantum De-entangler¡¯. A postmodern Einstein. And a whole bunch of other garbage titles with no explanation. ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Then the text morphed on the page. ¡°Oh I forgot to say your apprentice dropped off a cool box and I want you to come look at it with magic.¡±


    Ah. Jerome did mention meeting a mad scientist with the thing he retrieved. Government sponsored and all that. Well, I was bored anyway so I might as well.


    As I opened my GPS to try to type in what I remembered, a location automatically plugged itself in. Convenient. Also I should look into magical antitech wards for my phone. I wasn¡¯t even sure if mages could get those things, but maybe Khithae could do it? She was an Artificer or something. Speaking of which, I should get her to walk through a portal. That seemed like it would be useful, if she ¡®completed¡¯ her powers.


    The coordinates were nearby for some reason, so I just walked. I stopped when I arrived, but found nothing. Then a sound came from a metal box nearby. It was a ringing. Sure enough, it said phone on it- and it had a phone inside. It wasn¡¯t a phone booth like media had led me to believe existed, but just a phone in open air, protected by something like a fuse box.


    I picked up the phone, and then the ground fell out from underneath me. A few moments later I was inside of some sort of glass tube with light strips being the only thing I could see as I was pulled along by gravity and some sort of air pressure. Then I suddenly curved up, launching into the open air inside some sort of light filled room. I managed to orient myself to land feet first, but I wasn¡¯t expecting the ground to give way in such a manner. It was¡­ bouncy and soft. A trampoline, maybe, like in the gym.


    ¡°Good, you made it!¡± I turned my head to see a mad scientist, complete with tubes and vials and something vaguely resembling a lab coat. ¡°I wonder if I should have something to make it so people don¡¯t land head first? Nah, it¡¯ll be fine.¡± She took a wide stance, pointing at me. ¡°You! Show me magic!¡±

 Chapter 122

    With little further direction than to show magic, I used Storage, pulling out a spare mana crystal. The response from the crazy woman- Vilhelmiina- was less than impressed. ¡°Bah!¡± she waved her hand, ¡°Extradimensional storage magic is so last week. Show me something new!¡±


    At this point I remembered why I had come, briefly distracted by the whole part where I fell through the ground into random tubes to be pulled into this secret? base. ¡°Wasn¡¯t there a box I was supposed to look at?¡±


    ¡°No no no,¡± Vilhelmiina waggled her finger. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to look at it¡­ with magic!¡±


    ¡°What magic?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t have a lot of spells for looking at things.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you?¡± she raised an eyebrow. ¡°What is a Firebolt if not looking at something with fire?!¡±


    ¡°... It¡¯s anything else?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°An attack or whatever. Firebolt would actually make looking at something more difficult.¡±


    ¡°Then maybe you¡¯re using it wrong.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to claim I have a perfect understanding of magic, but¡­ you don¡¯t know how magic works,¡± I said.


    ¡°I do not,¡± the old woman admitted. ¡°Which is why you¡¯re here! And because they wouldn¡¯t let me keep your apprentice!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to thank whoever they are later,¡± I said. ¡°Anyway¡­ what spell?¡±


    ¡°I heard you had a Scrying spell these were screwing up,¡± Vilhelmiina said.


    ¡°Oh! That kind of box.¡± I nodded. ¡°It doesn¡¯t really work like that though. I can only lock onto people, and those just sort of yank me away.¡±


    ¡°Fine, whatever. Now begin!¡± she gestured grandly.


    ¡°... I need a mirror,¡± I said. That was something I was supposed to have put into storage a while ago, but honestly a proper sized mirror would probably take the majority of my capacity. And I didn¡¯t think it was that useful.


    ¡°Then I shall forge you a mirror of the finest platinum!¡± she gripped a fist tightly.


    ¡°Do you not have a mirror?¡± I asked. ¡°Is platinum even a better material for mirrors? Also it could be any sufficiently large, flat, reflective surface. Mirrors are just the best for that.¡±


    ¡°In that case, you shall use¡­ THE WALL!¡± she pointed grandly towards a brick wall.


    ¡°Uh. Brick isn¡¯t reflective.¡±


    ¡°Or is it?¡± she leaned towards me.


    ¡°It¡¯s not. Also why do you have a single brick wall down here?¡±


    ¡°I wanted some bricks for something,¡± she said, then pointed to a corner of the wall where there were¡­ glass shards and wires everywhere? ¡°Then I remembered that it is merely a screen!¡± With a wave of her hand the bricks disappeared and a plain white image appeared- now discernible as a large electronic screen. ¡°Is this sufficient?¡±


    ¡°Probably? I¡¯ve mostly used real mirrors.¡± I looked around, ¡°Is the thing vaguely around here? Because I need to scry someone near it, which would presumably be you. And if you aren¡¯t near it then I¡¯ll probably just see you. And me.¡±


    ¡°It is vaguely near here. In a sense, everything is vaguely near here.¡±


    Not very helpful. ¡°I¡¯m going to need some specifics,¡± I said. ¡°Is it within like, a hundred feet? Because I don¡¯t know how far they work.¡±


    ¡°It is not!¡± she said. ¡°But try it anyway!¡±


    ¡°... Fine, but I can only do this like three times. Then you have to wait like five hours.¡±


    ¡°It should work,¡± Vilhelmiina assured me. ¡°Your apprentice indicated the scrying anchor was interfering with him from a much greater distance.¡± I took note of the term she used for it, finding it reasonable enough.


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± I said, moving to stand in front of the wall sized screen. I certainly wouldn¡¯t be using all of it, as the visual range I had to work with would just make everything weird and distorted if I did. But it would basically sort itself out if I let it settle naturally.


    I gathered mana and injected it into the surface in front of me, swirling mists forming over the whole screen. I reached out, attempting to find Vilhelmiina herself. It wasn¡¯t simple to reach her, despite there being nothing between us. First I felt a pressure, a resistance from an ever-shifting source.


    ¡°I can feel the tendrils of your soul seeking me out,¡± Vilhelmiina declared. It seemed she could sense magic, then? Though I was also using it right in front of her.


    Then that pressure dissipated and I found myself yanked away into a wall of lightning. My initial reaction was to release my grip on the scrying, but I chose to fight. Power coursed through me unpleasantly, but it was nothing compared to immersing myself in Gloom. It was not conscious either, and I found my way through the cage. There my focus remained, regardless of my intentions.


    Upon the wall slowly formed the vision of what I had presumed to be a metaphorical cage of lightning, but it was quite real. It made it difficult to see the device in the middle. ¡°Well, there it is. It definitely pulled me in. Though this lightning cage also kinda fought me off.¡±


    ¡°Oh, of course! The suppression field would also inhibit magic,¡± Vilhelmiina nodded. She wasn¡¯t taking notes or anything, but I could hear the gears turning in her head. Not as a metaphor either, I actually heard gears. They might have been in the various bits and pieces of random gear covering her, but some were awfully close to head range. ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s difficult to see.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re just looking at a scrying grabbing thing and a suppression field, so there¡¯s not much to see. I can kind of adjust the angle,¡± I said, picking out the floor beneath and the ends of several mechanical arms that came in from multiple angles to form this suppression field.


    Vilhelmiina clicked her tongue. ¡°No, this is no good. No good at all. Cease your spell.¡±


    I did, since I had already stated my restrictions. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it? This is all you see. It is kinda weird on this white screen with the backlighting that intense but¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just no good,¡± she said. ¡°You can go home now,¡± she waved. ¡°I¡¯ll call for you soon.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°Look, I¡¯m happy to try to help you with stuff but I need something. Either explanations or money or the like.¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Explanations might be classified,¡± Vilhelmiiina frowned, ¡°And I am not allowed to have money since the incident.¡± Then she snapped her fingers, her face lighting up. ¡°I shall pay you in gadgets!¡±


    ¡°Actually if I¡¯m helping you gather information I¡¯m pretty sure I can know it, especially if it¡¯s about magic.¡±


    ¡°Gaaaaaaadgets!¡± she drew out the word, and I wasn¡¯t sure if she heard me anymore. She was already wandering off, leaving me alone in what seemed to be a very expensive and dangerous looking lab, wondering how to get out.


    Fortunately, a nice security robot made almost entirely out of cannons came to escort me out after a few minutes. His name was Frank. I got to take a normal elevator to the surface. I did end up in a back room of some ice cream shop, but they just waved and asked if I wanted some ice cream. And I did, so I took some home with me.


    -----


    PR troubles didn¡¯t resolve themselves that easily. Funny enough, Great Girl punching Stargirl wasn¡¯t that big of news because it wasn¡¯t on camera, but me punching an annoying reporter was. Though Calculator and the general Power Brigade PR team were working hard, I was still on administrative leave for¡­ a while. Which was quite nonspecific. But it did give me time to practice some magic, since there wasn¡¯t much else to do. There were frequent power outages for a few days so I couldn¡¯t do much searching on the internet. That downtime also allowed for Vilhelmiina to drag me back to her underground lab a few days after the previous visit.


    I don¡¯t know why she sent Frank instead of just telling me to show up again, but he was content with holding onto my sleeve with a pair of mechanical pincers and walking along. ¡°I have been instructed to drag you to see her, so this is required.¡±


    ¡°Can you not take her orders literally?¡±


    ¡°I cannot not do so,¡± Frank said. ¡°Required legal safety protocols allow me to circumvent the worst interpretations, but some literalness is required.¡±


    Fortunately there weren¡¯t a lot of people who paid attention to the mass of cannons ¡®dragging¡¯ me along. Or rather, they very specifically tried not to look at it. Frank was helpfully labeled with New Bay approved logos to indicate he was not some sort of villainous construct, but that didn¡¯t really make people comfortable about cannons being pointed at them- and there were always cannons pointed at them, with no discernable front to Frank.


    We did not enter the same ways I came or went to the lab, but instead entered a random apartment building and went down the stairs to the basement, except before reaching the bottom Frank flipped a hidden switch and the stairs turned into a slide that went through one of the walls. It was pretty straightforward compared to the tube entrance, and brought me casually back into the same section of the lab I¡¯d seen before.


    ¡°We are here,¡± Frank said, letting go of my sleeve. ¡°I will inform the resident mad scientist of your arrival.¡±


    A minute or two later, I heard the building around me shout ¡°This way!¡± A moment later it focused itself into an actual direction I could follow, and since it was Vilhelmiina¡¯s voice I presumed it was probably not going to murder me immediately should I follow. The Power Brigade knew where I was. Also, she was more obsessed scholar crazy than murder crazy. Frank seemed like a nice guy.


    The corridors gradually grew darker, which was perfectly fine with me. Sudden shifts screwed up my vision, but I could make my way around in the dark just fine. ¡°Behold!¡± Vilhelmiina yelled from inside a dark room, where she stood next to a cube.


    ¡°I have beholden it,¡± I said. ¡°A cube.¡±


    ¡°Not just any cube!¡± she said. ¡°A special cube.¡±


    It was a little more than half my height. ¡°What¡¯s it for?¡±


    ¡°Scrying, obviously!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ a cube though. Scrying uses flat surfaces. I can¡¯t Scry six¡­ five things at a time. Seems unnecessary. Also dark.¡±


    ¡°Just do it! But put the magic inside instead of on the surface!¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Is this supposed to be a¡­ Scrying orb?¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡±


    ¡°Orbs are spheres.¡±


    ¡°Orbs are whatever you want them to be in your heart! Now do it!¡±


    ¡°Alright, whatever,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Same thing?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    I stepped closer. Would this work? It shouldn¡¯t work. But then again, Scrying orbs worked. They weren¡¯t flat mirrors. And this one was extra flat. Yeah, sure, this could work. Though was this huge thing glass? I could vaguely tell it was translucent, but without actual light I couldn¡¯t tell how much. Just an oddity of darkvision.


    Was I supposed to touch it? I decided not to, but I did wave my hands generally near it as I summoned up my magic. Swirls of faintly glowing mist filled the cube, revealing that it was indeed fully transparent. The resistance I expected from Vilhelmiina was minimal- less than even reflex should have provided. I did indeed find myself tugged towards the scrying anchor, or whatever it should be called, but I felt like I could resist it. That wasn¡¯t the stated intention yet, however, so I let it pull me. Instead of crashing into the suppression field, I gently drifted into it. I had been ready, but it was more than just my improved proficiency. Speaking of which, that had shown itself as an actual increase in rank. Presumably I would have more by now if I had believed it possible, since I¡¯d actually been practicing Scrying on difficult targets.


    Either way, I easily navigated to the actual target, though Scrying on a scrying anchor was generally pretty boring. That was the whole point, after all. The room lit up as I could suddenly see another room. Not all of it¡­ but I could clearly make out more than just the eleven feet my spell should have allowed. Maybe¡­ fifteen or sixteen before the fogs began to take over. I tried to shift the angle, and found that I could not.


    ¡°Hmm, there¡¯s a problem,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t change the angle.¡±


    ¡°Of course you can!¡± Vilhelmiina said. ¡°Look!¡± she walked around it.


    I tilted my head in confusion¡­ then saw what she was talking about. The slight change in angle showed me that the face of the cube I was looking through saw directly into the area, it was not a flat projection. I walked around the edge, the hard corners suddenly shifting to a perspective ninety degrees removed, providing different angles as if I were looking through different, impossible windows. Because I could see more than just what was inside the cube, but what was beyond it at the sides, where other surfaces should have been. ¡°How did you know this would work?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Intuition!¡± she yelled. ¡°It¡¯s literally my power! And most tech supers.¡± She let out a deep sigh, ¡°Well then, now that that is done with, cease your spell.¡± I did so, and a moment later the lights flickered on through some intention of Vilhelmiina. I squinted, and she staggered around for a moment before removing some goggles she was wearing. ¡°Take this thing out of here,¡± she waved. ¡°I just had to build it to see it. It doesn¡¯t serve any purpose anyway.¡±


    ¡°... Weren¡¯t we using it to scry on the anchor?¡±


    ¡°We did, and now it¡¯s done. I just wanted to see how it works. I want you to actually look at the thing in person. Like with Detect Magic. That¡¯s a spell, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, sure¡­¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t know it though. Also this thing is huge. No way I can carry it.¡±


    ¡°Put it in Storage!¡± she said.


    ¡°It¡¯s like, a three foot cube of glass. It has to weigh an actual ton.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Vilhelmiina said. ¡°It¡¯s a one meter cube. That¡¯s totally different. Also it¡¯s diamond and weighs three and a half long tonnes.¡±


    ¡°... okay?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°I still can¡¯t fit it in Storage though.¡±


    ¡°Oh, of course there¡¯s a limit,¡± she nodded. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll ship it to your apartment then.¡±


    ¡°... I do not want this in my apartment. I don¡¯t think I could ever move it. How about¡­ to the Power Brigade? They have to be able to handle this.¡±


    ¡°Well, alright.¡¯ Vilhelmiina nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll do that.¡±


    I quickly sent a text to Calculator. ¡®Vilhelmiina Koskinen plans to send a 1 meter cubic diamond to Power Brigade. Sorry. Put somewhere it can be used for scrying.¡¯


    After I finished that, I frowned. ¡°How did you find a diamond this big? There¡¯s no way they come like this.¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Vilhelmiina rolled her eyes. ¡°I just made it.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Anyway come look at this Anchor with your unprotected wizard eyes,¡± she said as she started walking off, putting on a different pair of goggles. The floor began shifting, moving the cube of what was apparently diamond like it was going to the end of an assembly line. I watched that move while I wished I had whatever goggles she was putting on so my ¡®wizard eyes¡¯ wouldn¡¯t be unprotected. Was that a warning, or just an observation? Troublesome either way.

 Chapter 123

    ¡°Behold!¡± Vilhelmiina waved her arm. ¡°Here it is!¡±


    ¡°Still looks like a box,¡± I said, looking at the scrying anchor with my own eyes. The only thing of note was what was containing it, the various metal arms creating a cage of lighting around it.


    Vilhelmiina clicked her tongue. ¡°Clearly your wizard eyes are not focused enough. Look harder!¡±


    I looked harder. My eyes weren¡¯t doing much, and there wasn¡¯t much interesting to sense in terms of power. Not at the moment, at least. Just a constant flow of something. I didn¡¯t really have any of the magic for this either. Though perhaps I could learn Detect Magic? I had points available.


    But I felt something. Was it really normal to be able to sense magic and power usage? Had I always been able to do that? It felt natural, but I¡¯d been training under Master Uvithar from very young. I wished I could talk to him and ask him about the many questions I had. And I could¡­ later. There was magic for that.


    For now, I just focused on what I was here for. I could sense the supernatural power flowing- whether or not this tech could actually work on its own, it was currently powered by something. I could definitely spend points to learn something that would help, but what if I just tried to learn it? Actually learn, on purpose instead of by accident.


    Should I be applying mana somehow? Most things needed it. That seemed like the right thing to do, and how I should focus it was fairly obvious with what Vilhelmiina said and traditional spells. I already had some ability in this area, and focusing it seemed prudent.


    Mana flowed towards my eyes, not too little and not too much. A good handful, no, six points. Veins of energy lit up in front of me as I was suddenly overwhelmed with too much sight. Overlapping layers of wiggling energy that I had little way to interpret. Strong tech power, certainly, but not just one type. Then something deeper in that I recognized instinctively. Magic, specifically the school of abjuration around the box. Even as I looked, it was fighting me while at the same time drawing my sight towards it. That made sense, as this was supposed to be a scrying anchor- or rather one for all sorts of divination, to hide everything around it.


    The question was¡­ did I learn anything? ¡°Well,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s kind of what we imagined. It draws in divination in general.¡±


    ¡°Mhmm. Mhmm. What else do your wizard eyes tell you?¡± the mad scientist nodded next to me.


    ¡°Not much except that there¡¯s a lot of tech super power flowing through this and the area around it. But also, it has magic in it as well.¡±


    ¡°Actual magic?¡± Vilhelmiina asked. ¡°You¡¯re certain?¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Absolutely. Abjuration, which makes sense. That¡¯s the magic that interacts with other magic the most. But it¡¯s pretty dull behind everything else. Especially your containment field.¡±


    ¡°Ah, good point,¡± the old woman nodded and then reached her hand through the cage of lightning, pulling out the box and holding it directly in front of me. ¡°What about now?¡±


    ¡°... Are you sure this is a good idea?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m always sure!¡± she said enthusiastically. ¡°Also I probably disabled its self-destruct mechanism already.¡±


    ¡°Probably?¡± I raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°I got up to tertiary triggers and couldn¡¯t find any more,¡± she explained. ¡°So look fast just in case.¡±


    I looked, but I didn¡¯t really learn much more. I could see that the field of abjuration was sort of like waves flowing inward, and described that, but I had no context for actually seeing other magic. If I was planning to learn Detect Magic I would have had all of the helpful guides in a tome with me, but I hadn¡¯t found it useful at the time. I knew when magic was happening anyway, which should have probably seemed weird. Master Uvithar could definitely do it but my fellow apprentices¡­ I honestly didn¡¯t know about.


    Vilhelmiina asked some questions and I continued to describe as well as I could, then she finally nodded once more. ¡°Good. Your wizard eyes produced sufficient results. And they don¡¯t look to be negatively affected by the experience, I¡¯m glad.¡±


    ¡°... Did you think that might happen?¡±


    She shrugged, ¡°Who knows? Wizards, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a mage,¡± I reminded her. Though practically it wasn¡¯t different, that was the name.


    ¡°Well, thanks for your help,¡± Vilhelmiina said. ¡°Given your concern about your wizard eyes being melted, and your inability to properly judge whether you can fit something into your Storage, I have decided to provide you with these,¡± she handed me a pair of goggles. Not the ones she was wearing, or any of another handful around.


    ¡°What do they do?¡± I asked, almost putting them on before I did. But now I was concerned about my eyes melting.


    ¡°They¡¯re goggles,¡± she said. ¡°They have over a ninety percent chance to prevent your eyes from melting. Also they let you see something¡¯s mass when you press the button on the side.¡±


    I hesitantly put them on, because the more it was mentioned the less I was certain that my eyeballs wouldn¡¯t melt. They fit nicely, easily adjusting around my head. They didn¡¯t obstruct my vision much as all, and when I pressed the button a HUD lit up. I looked at Vilhelmiina. The readout said, ¡®Mass: Secret for reasons of New Bay security¡¯. I wasn¡¯t sure how knowing how much she weighed was relevant, but if she wanted it to be private I didn¡¯t care.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    When I focused on the scrying anchor, the goggles naturally reacted. ¡®Mass: 3 kg¡¯. That was kind of heavy, maybe?


    ¡°How do I switch it to pounds?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What?¡± Vilhelmiina asked.


    ¡°Imperial units?¡± That was the word I had come to understand named the system of measurement used here. ¡°Like everyone uses.¡±


    ¡°The United States has been officially metric for decades.¡±


    ¡°That does not mean anyone uses it,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°It¡¯s much more convenient to convert,¡± she said.


    ¡°It¡¯s most convenient for me to not have to convert things in my head.¡± I sensed she didn¡¯t have any intention to change things. ¡°When did you make these anyway? I have literally been with you since we were in the other room with that oversized diamond.¡±


    ¡°I had them put together as we walked into here,¡± Vilhelmiina stated as if that was perfectly normal. Her eyes flickered off to the side. ¡°Oh, some city guys are here. Probably to complain about my slightly increased power usage. We will speak again later when I require your wizard eyes once more.¡±


    With that, Frank came to drag me out, once again literally ordered but capable of sufficient interpretation that he just held onto my sleeve as I followed. I did exit the same way as before. Was the ice cream shop the only way out of the secret underground lab, or was I just being restricted to one? And if that was the case, why had I been taken in a different way?


    I had many questions, none of which would be answered.


    -----


    I now had Arcane Sight. Sixth level, a much more rapid version of Detect Magic. Developing something like that at will might be easy¡­ or it could have been that I was always on the precipice. Water Breathing was certainly less expected as such things went. This was more of adding mana to something I had already been doing for a long time.


    I wondered if there was a limit to what I could learn naturally. Would it slow down, was it simply a matter of time constraints? Should I be getting experience for it? I had Curse of the Barbarian so I wouldn¡¯t, but I wondered if normal wizards could. Then I wondered if normal mages could and shook my fist at Vilhelmiina.


    Then I was sitting alone in my apartment- with lights today, at least. I was staring at my unspent points, and wondering how they should be used. I had 20 points¡­ and a spell I really wanted cost 19. I spent an hour trying to use it but I had no reference feel for it.


    Sending was a spell to send messages between people. They had to be short, often defined as twenty-five words, but that wasn¡¯t quite precise. It wasn¡¯t a matter of words or characters or even syllables, but the definition was close enough. I tried speaking the words and shoving them through the air. I managed to expend mana on nothing several times, but nothing close to a spell. I imagined a mini gate opening up, but Sending didn¡¯t necessarily have to go to other planes. It just could, with fair reliability.


    The spell was practically useless for contacting anyone in this world. I could literally contact them more quickly and efficiently at any point with a phone. But as a potential way to contact Master Uvithar to see how much he really knew, it was quite valuable. I spent all of the points. I could have waited days trying more experiments, but contacting him sooner might allow me to learn more efficiently¡­ or at least confirm if what I was doing was unexpected.


    I composed my first message carefully. ¡°I have recently learned spells and abilities without spending points. Is this normal? Or does it have to do with being in another world?¡±


    After composing it, I spoke the words and began providing the power and then¡­ realized that the process was quite long. I was technically aware of the significant casting time, but the way I had to encapsulate the words and slowly tie them together, then push them off towards my intended destination after finding a connection between myself and Master Uvithar¡­ well, it was pretty close to Scrying. Except the only feedback I got was that my message had gone out.


    Then I waited. He was supposed to be able to send a response. If the message got to him. That implied he was alive, that it could travel between our dimensions, and that the random chance of failure for crossing planes had not occurred. Dimensions might be significantly higher in terms of failure rate as well. I thought of all these things, but I¡¯d had to try. If I got no response soon I would make use of another ten mana to repeat the process.


    After close to half an hour, a familiar voice. ¡°My most reckless apprentice. It pleases me that you have reached this level of wisdom. I cannot explain all nor contact you first, but please continue.¡±


    It was good to hear him again, even if he wasted some of his limited words. To be fair, I¡¯d probably asked too many things at once. Having received a response, I would try again. ¡°It is good to hear from you again, esteemed master.¡± I added that because I supposed it was polite, and I was not going to use all of my words on the actual question. ¡°Is learning spells without points normal?¡± Far fewer words even with the pleasantries than I was allowed, but a clear response was best.


    Another long delay. Though closer to twenty minutes than thirty after my spell departed, this time. ¡°It is not normal. But those who attain great power are generally not normal. It is a secret normally acquired by dimensional travelers.¡±


    WIth that, he¡¯d answered a previous question as well. It did have something to do with coming to this world. How much, I didn¡¯t know. I took stock of my mana. With all the waiting, I had about fifteen mana to spare- which was still only one more Sending. I thought to try to get two quick answers, though I wasn¡¯t sure if one would be ¡®quick¡¯. ¡°Can you do it? Have there been disturbances of portals appearing near places of great power?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Came the response. The delay made me think that was all he responded with, which could have still answered both questions. But his voice finished with a bit more. ¡°Sendings are not completely secure. My responses may continue to leave out details.¡±


    That didn¡¯t clarify if he was answering the first question, then, but I made the assumption that the response was the same. As for the second, if there had been portal disturbances, he might be busy dealing with them. One had appeared in his office, after all. I was suddenly interested to hear about more things in my world, but I didn¡¯t have the mana immediately available. I could wait a bit, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I wanted to continuously pester the man. And I had to think about what it was safe to ask, if Sending might be listened in on somehow.


    How complicated. Also, inefficient. I could have exchanged that whole conversation with someone via text in two minutes instead of over an hour. No wonder much of my knowledge about the world seemed to be missing key details, though it didn¡¯t explain why Master Uvithar would keep tomes with incorrect knowledge. Maybe they were just close enough.

 Chapter 124

    From the point I got it, I made sure to set aside enough mana per day to contact Master Uvithar with a Sending. Depending on various factors, that would be somewhere around an hour or more¡¯s worth of mana regeneration. All of that for a short response.


    Things I asked included ways to improve mana regeneration- get a tower- and if there were ways to improve maximum mana- nothing reasonable. I was already aware that certain places had higher ambient mana, and I was willing to trust his word on the reasonableness aspect of the latter. A shame, but that was how things were.


    Then I experienced my first failure for my Sending to arrive. I felt something was off quickly, the energy not flowing quite right. When I never received a response, I was fairly certain, enough to expend another ten points of mana to make certain. That one arrived, and I got my response- which was just confirming the previous Sending didn¡¯t work.


    I had no way to tell yet if it was the normal failure rate, but they had been overall pretty accurate in arrival, for which I was grateful. I just wished I could have a single normal conversation instead of exchanging twenty-fiveish words at once. I was getting a handful of seconds of interaction over the course of a day. Not pleasant. But at least Master Uvithar always responded to the best of his ability.


    -----


    During my time not working, New Bay continued to exist, but with more trouble from Doctor Doomsday. Specifically, minions working for him. He was never shy about marking them, and now there were suddenly many more running about the city. Orcs and werewolves and some fiends and maybe some shadow elves- though the latter were good enough at concealing themselves there wasn¡¯t much information.


    One of those was a bigger problem than the others. That was, of course, the werewolves. Jerome and Tylissa were pleasant individuals living civilian lives who didn¡¯t need to be associated with criminals. It wasn¡¯t clear how much the actual werewolf population changed, but the criminal element of it exploded in size. When the next full moon came it would be more difficult for them to hide their status. Come to think of it, that would be a problem for Great Girl as well.


    The Power Brigade was fully briefed on her condition, so they weren¡¯t going to suddenly think she was working for Doctor Doomsday¡­ but would others? What a pain, going to save some of my friends only to get another into trouble. But we¡¯d already gone over that. Risks were taken and consequences happened. That didn¡¯t mean I had to like it.


    -----


    ¡°... and now I feel bad for picking Sending because I could have gotten Break Enchantment or something,¡± I explained to Doctor Patenaude.


    ¡°Did you promise anyone your assistance in the matter?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Well¡­ no,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Not really. But I did mention there being a possibility.¡±


    ¡°Did any of them ask for help with their lycanthropy in particular?¡±


    ¡°They shouldn¡¯t have to ask for help if I see a problem I can solve as a friend.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Doctor Patenaude admitted. ¡°But it is not your job to solve all of the world¡¯s or even all of your friends¡¯ problems.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to solve all their problems,¡± I countered.


    ¡°Only those you think you might be able to.¡±


    ¡°Because who else can?¡± I threw up my arms. ¡°Most people don¡¯t have access to magic.¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± he agreed. ¡°And even with healing supers, many people have to live with worse.¡±


    ¡°Lycanthropy is pretty bad,¡± I said. ¡°And I can¡¯t heal anything¡­ normal. If they were just sick or something I couldn¡¯t do anything.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps you should be the one to assist them, then,¡± he said. ¡°Ask them about it. And¡­ I do believe that lycanthropy, while inconvenient, is not fully negative.¡±


    ¡°Huh? What do you mean? Nobody wants to turn into a crazy animal.¡±


    ¡°That is likely incorrect, but I have better counters,¡± Doctor Patenaude replied. ¡°Your friends were able to control themselves to some extent even upon their first transformation, correct? I will admit it is very unpleasant to be subject to extreme emotional and mental factors pushing you about, but they still exist. Learning to adapt is an important part of living as a person.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying it¡¯s better to just deal with lycanthropy?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe I said that, no. But a straightforward struggle of will might be more acceptable to them than other issues. And being aware of their condition, it is possible for them to act in a safe manner. Besides, I have not gotten to the positives yet. I am led to believe that most forms of lycanthropy come with increased physical ability. Is that not correct for this particular strain?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ it does improve people¡¯s physical abilities, yeah. If they transform.¡±


    ¡°And it can be controlled. It is another form of power that some might covet. Perhaps not your friends, but you¡¯re assuming they wish it to be gone.¡±


    ¡°I mean, they were pretty upset after the whole thing.¡±


    ¡°As are most undergoing sudden changes. Even receiving ¡®normal¡¯ powers is quite a change for most.¡± Doctor Patenaude scribbled notes. ¡°Regardless, until you actually have the magic to fix anything, they will have to live with it. You can consult their opinions before you have the opportunity to acquire such abilities.¡±


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    -----


    ¡°Oh. Yeah, that¡¯s an option, huh?¡± Great Girl frowned. ¡°Well, I kinda already told my friends I was a werewolf so¡­¡±


    ¡°Already?¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°It hasn¡¯t even been¡­ well, it¡¯s been less than a month.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well we had to schedule¡­ game times. And it¡¯s a good excuse for randomly running off doing mercenary stuff!¡±


    ¡°Is it?¡± I asked. ¡°Better than¡­ being a mercenary? People know about werewolves, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. Obviously.¡±


    ¡°And how they only really are impacted around the full moon.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Which, even if you count the days surrounding the full moon, is less than ten percent of the time. And your friends will be paying attention.¡±


    ¡°A fair point,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°But I wasn¡¯t going to just hide it from them.¡±


    ¡°Like your powers?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s, uh¡­¡± her eyes darted around. ¡°I¡¯ve gotta keep a secret identity.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that is useful for you,¡± I admitted. ¡°I am not familiar with anyone not already entangled in this whole supernatural thing.¡±


    ¡°Wow that¡¯s¡­ sad.¡±


    ¡°Is it?¡± I asked. ¡°I have many friends now where I used to have none. And powers only make them more capable.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s true. And since your family isn¡¯t here¡­¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know them to begin with,¡± I said. ¡°So I am not missing out.¡±


    Great Girl sighed. ¡°Right. Well. I think I¡¯m planning to work with the lycanthropy for now. The doctor says I¡¯m probably not contagious most of the time.¡±


    ¡°As an afflicted, you should only be able to pass it on during the full moon, if at all,¡± I agreed. ¡°But also, perhaps you should avoid biting people.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan,¡± she said. ¡°But I can bite like¡­ some people right?¡±


    I frowned. ¡°I suppose, but if you just want to increase your lethality you can wield a weapon. I don¡¯t see how it would be useful for you to specifically bite them.¡± Then it came to me. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you want to risk Stargirl contracting lycanthropy. Especially if you know it can happen.¡±


    ¡°It could have been someone besides Shooting Star!¡± Great Girl flailed her arms angrily. ¡°Like, uh, Gloom!¡±


    ¡°You should absolutely not get your head anywhere closer to Gloom,¡± I pointed out. ¡°That seems like an awful idea.¡±


    ¡°... Yeah,¡± she nodded, though I can tell she hadn¡¯t really considered it to begin with.


    -----


    ¡°It certainly will be disruptive to our schedules,¡± Tylissa admitted. ¡°Having to go somewhere special on the nights of the full moon, if nothing else. But¡­ I¡¯m not worried about hurting Jerome, at least. In fact, I sort of feel closer to him. Is that weird?¡±


    Jerome shrugged, ¡°It is kinda weird. But also, I can say I do like being stronger sometimes. Like I can¡­¡± he shook his head. ¡°I would show you, but I can¡¯t always change back.¡±


    ¡°It is a good thing you are already out of school,¡± I said. ¡°But it might make things difficult with your friends.¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± Jerome said. ¡°I kind of want to see what happens on the next full moon, if I can control it. If it¡¯s not a problem¡­ maybe I¡¯d like to keep it?¡± he shook his head. ¡°I might be greedy though. I always wanted powers. Everyone does in New Bay, whether they admit it or not. Now that I already have some, having more is still interesting. But it kinda depends on how inconvenient it is. I don¡¯t really need to be stronger.¡±


    ¡°If you do,¡± I said, ¡°There¡¯s magic for that.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but I could have both, right?¡±


    ¡°... You could.¡± I furrowed my brow, thinking about something completely unnecessary involving multiple spells. I¡¯d already cast Enlarge on Great Girl. Was there any practical benefit to making her stronger? At least Shockwave had fun just going fast.


    Regardless, with that discussion I was not in any terrible hurry to level up and learn Break Enchantment. I doubted it was something I could learn spontaneously, and I wouldn¡¯t want to try until they were sure. Perhaps at the end of the month everyone would realize it was a bad idea and I would have to focus on that path, but that was plenty long to get another level. Especially since I would be going back to active duty soon.


    -----


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe how much I missed being here with you guys,¡± I said to the squad. ¡°Midnight kept me informed, of course, but still. Things have been more active, right?¡±


    ¡°More active, while simultaneously sometimes less,¡± Captain Ice Guy explained. ¡°More trouble from Doctor Doomsday for heroes and mercs to deal with¡­ but the other villains aren¡¯t exactly happy with him pushing in on their turf. Some try to take advantage of the situation, some get in conflict with his new goons. And his old ones, but they¡¯re just humans with whatever super tech he gives them. It¡¯s hard to believe he gathered so many new people all at once.¡±


    ¡°Or he did it over the last few waves of portal incidents,¡± I shrugged. ¡°And kept everyone in a secret underground lair.¡±


    ¡°True,¡± Ice Guy admitted. ¡°Anyway, in this current district we¡¯re dealing with Rodentia and the Mod Squad are also quite active.¡±


    ¡°We had to deal with the cheese ray again,¡± Shockfire commented. ¡°Good news, it melts. Bad news, it¡¯s very goopy when melted.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad I don¡¯t have to deal with that much,¡± Acid Man said. ¡°Not that we¡¯ve had many run ins with Rodentia. Though I suppose two directly with the same villain is already significant.¡±


    ¡°They keep us around familiar villains for a reason,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°As long as its shown we can handle them to some extent. With the unpredictability of tech supers, we¡¯ve been doing fine.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think any of it¡¯s that bad,¡± Rocker commented.


    ¡°That¡¯s because you have a strong power,¡± Ice Guy sighed.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty strong, yeah,¡± Rocker admitted. ¡°But it¡¯s also not developing fast. Pretty sure half of you could take me down in a one-on-one now. Plus Midnight.¡±


    ¡°Energy Ward is very helpful,¡± my not-cat buddy commented. ¡°Though you have gotten better at dealing with Grease.¡±


    ¡°Enough to stagger my way out of the area, yeah,¡± Rocker shrugged.


    Now that things had settled down and I was back on the job for real, I also needed to work with Midnight to determine if he could improve any of our spells. I was leaning towards no, but then again I did get some portion of the experience that he earned. Only for battle though, because I still had that restriction. Picking some spells for only him to use would be our test for that, though in times of crisis we¡¯d use whatever we had to.


    ¡°Well then, squad C-4 head out!¡± Ice Guy gestured grandly, though we were already moving. I wondered what trouble we would encounter next. Hopefully not reporters, they were as bad as orcs.

 Chapter 125

    There was one thing about being in the mercenary category rather than the hero category that was fairly consistent- night shifts. Some heroes worked at night, many mercenaries worked during the day, but more of us got the night shifts. Which, surprisingly, didn¡¯t correlate as much with crime as I thought it might. There were many criminals active during the day, and not just in shady back alleys but doing stupid things in public. One would think that they would all be rounded up pretty quickly and locked away, but things didn¡¯t always work like that.


    But regardless of the proportions of things, here we were out at night where my ability to see in the dark was marginally useful. It would have been more useful except for the fact that the streets were pretty well lit. But when street lights started going out, I could shine. If that ever happened.


    Having not made much use of my potential ability to learn new spells in the relatively short time I¡¯d had the knowledge that actually worked, I was still considering some options. Darkvision might be nice, but the drawback was that it would take a good portion of my mana to set up. Given the duration of the spell- generally all day like Force Armor- it might be viable to gather two or so hours before a patrol and cast it on the four who needed it, but that wouldn¡¯t always work. Sometimes we had training scheduled before a patrol, other times we did not.


    And I¡¯d have to cast the spell. Though it shouldn¡¯t be too difficult to pick up something low level like that, 4 mana per use added up quickly even after I learned it. That was a project for when not on duty, and one possibly superseded by the fact that night vision goggles existed. Though having the option available for emergencies, if I didn¡¯t need points to pick it up, would be nice.


    It seemed that like most nights our current outing would be eventless. That was how things always were until, suddenly, they were not. This time the relevant events came at a distance. ¡°I sense something in that direction,¡± I stated, ¡°In the direction of that parking building.¡±


    Captain Senan furrowed his brow. I had begun my career in this world with the assumption that supers could sense different powers as well, and while that wasn¡¯t entirely incorrect¡­ unless something related to their power or supernatural senses were a component of power, the results were minimal. Like how Shockfire could sense machines and to a much lesser extent living beings because of the electricity running through them.


    ¡°Any idea what?¡± our captain asked, not doubting me but simply pointing our squad in that direction. ¡°I don¡¯t sense anything in particular.¡±


    ¡°A good question,¡± I responded, tilting my head, ¡°... magic?¡±


    ¡°Why do you sound so unsure about that?¡± Acid Man asked. ¡°That¡¯s one thing you should know for sure, as our authority on the subject.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but it¡¯s like¡­ magic without mana. If that makes sense. Which it doesn¡¯t, just to be clear.¡±


    ¡°How big of a situation is this?¡± our captain asked, ¡°Someone causing mischief or¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty active,¡± I said, trying to recall why some of it felt familiar. ¡°Should be one person slinging stuff all over or a group. Fighting, I think.¡±


    ¡°What about the location?¡± he said with his phone out. ¡°How accurate?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely that parking building,¡± I said as we drew closer. ¡°Soon you¡¯ll be able to-¡±


    There was a terrifying screech that I could feel even a block away, and something flew off the side of the third layer of the parking building. No, not something. Someone. That was definitely a human shape.


    ¡°Well, that was a guy who just got sent flying. Are we supposed to check on him first or¡­?¡¯


    ¡°Our job is to minimize civilian casualties and property damage¡­¡± Ice Guy frowned. ¡°I could only see a vague shape, but it should have still fallen near the building, right?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll check them first. Time to pick up the pace.¡±


    We moved from a quick walk into a proper jog. Sprinting was faster, but showing up panting was the least helpful thing we could do. Not all of us were in equally good shape either, though all of our squad was fit and Rocker was certainly improving in that area.


    The good news for the fallen individual was they still looked like a human. Or humanoid, at least. I could have expected much different given that fall from such a height onto asphalt. Retaining a shape was good news.


    Acid Man was slightly ahead of the rest of us, carefully placing his fingers on the fallen woman¡¯s neck- I could tell she was a woman now that we were closer. He frowned, then shook his head. ¡°No pulse.¡±


    Then she grabbed his arm and bit into it. That sort of thing was always bad news, because anything that wanted to bite you and was actively doing so was dangerous. More worrying was how easily Force Armor collapsed, and I got a glimpse of sharp fangs sinking into his forearm. Then there was a scream.


    Not from Acid Man, though. There was a reason he was the one to go forward. He was the least likely of us to be severely damaged by most things, and in this case his body automatically reacted. As it turned out, biting acid wasn¡¯t fun.


    ¡°Vampire!¡± Acid Man called out as he slammed the figure back into the ground. I wasn¡¯t sure how much damage the fall had done, enough to stun them at least, but that and acid directly in their mouth and being slammed into the ground stopped her again.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Any idea what kind?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Dunno, she just tried to suck my blood,¡± Acid Man shrugged. ¡°She¡¯s out now though.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s faking,¡± I whispered to Ice Guy. ¡°Make an ice prison. Solid.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± he hesitated.


    ¡°I guarantee she¡¯s not the type that needs to breathe. Or that can freeze to death.¡±


    Ice Guy moved forward, but he didn¡¯t need to touch his target to use his powers. It was simply easier to do larger uses of his power from up close. After an initial blast of ice covered the woman in a thin layer, it began to grow until it was a few inches thick- and intentionally translucent. ¡°Good call,¡± he said. ¡°The way she¡¯s looking at me annoyed and not panicked backs you up.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s got a Doctor Doomsday pin,¡± I said. ¡°So she should be similar to the knowledge I have, which is undead and bloodsucking and magic.¡± I clapped my hands together, ¡°Oh, blood magic!¡± That was what it was.


    A roar from the nearby parking structure reminded us that the situation was still active, and we hurried towards the nearest stairs, having already determined activity was on the third level. While we did that, I was trying to determine if one of the things I sensed was familiar.


    When we got to the third floor, everything was a mess. I wasn¡¯t just talking about the fact that there was blood all over the floor and the pillars, or the wrecked vehicles but also the giant wolf, giant bats, swarms of rats and bats, and magic flying around including spikes of blood and black flames.


    ¡°Who¡¯s our target, if any?¡± Ice Guy asked, frowning. ¡°It seems to be a civil war or¡­ is that a werewolf?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I stated flatly. ¡°The big wolf is another vampire. Also that bat-¡± I pointed, ¡°Is Rositsa. So we¡¯re fighting against the rest of that mess, probably.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound like an unbiased assessment,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°But I suppose that¡¯s not really our job. We¡¯re supposed to stop this.¡± He took a deep breath, holding his hand up as he built up a large ball of ice, ¡°Doomsday associated vampires, stand down!¡±


    He gave them exactly enough time to turn and target him with some spikes of blood before chucking his built up attack into a section of them. With his other hand he built an ice wall at the same time. Loudly announcing our presence was a bad tactic unless we were intentionally drawing fire- and given how harried looking Rositsa was, I think that was the plan.


    Seeing the masses of rats and bats, I really wished I had a big blasting spell, though even now my reasons for not having one stood. There was plenty around to cause collateral damage to. Even so, I could have something in the small to mid sized area. I¡¯d add it to the list.


    Acid Man moved to head off some rats swarming towards us- nobody was sure which side the rest were on yet. Rocker confirmed which of the larger bats was on our side before doing something that looked like a yell but sounded like nothing. To us, at least. The giant bat, however, was sent sprawling.


    I knew that in general vampires were not fond of fire, so I turned that upon the one that was currently a dire wolf. Firebolt was easy to aim at something so large and conveniently flammable, though the flames only lasted a moment before the wolf rolled around on the wet ground. There sure was a lot of blood, huh? Midnight and Shockfire followed my lead, shooting fire into the larger gatherings of things we were certain were not friendly.


    The rats were, apparently just rats, and as they charged to their death upon Acid Man their blood was forcefully ripped away from them, gathering around Rositsa and the other individual in bat form. Though there was a good amount of magic, most of it was coming from those two- unless one counted transformations and calling swarms to the fray, which I was not for the sake of convenience.


    A swarm of bats flew over Acid Man towards Shockfire, his bolts of fire causing no significant damage to the group as a whole. But as they began to swarm around him, their bites temporarily held back by Force Armor, he showed them something else. Clasping his hands together, lightning pulsed out from him in all directions, finding surrounding bats enough to turn them into smoking piles on the ground.


    Briefly, before they all dissolved into a mist which began to slink across the ground. ¡°Catch that mist!¡± I called to Ice Guy as I blasted the dire wolfed out guy with a Sonic Lance. Even if I was wrong and this guy was a werewolf, both that and vampires were tough enough that their organs wouldn¡¯t be liquified. And it would be hard to justify killing either with little additional information because I was friends with some of each now. Them being Doctor Doomsday¡¯s minions was a good reason to bring them in, but not to kill them.


    The large wolf flew backwards, blood dripping from its mouth. That blood was pulled towards the unfriendly bat, but a shriek from Rositsa blasted it away before the enemy vampire could add it to their own claws.


    A shell of ice soon encased the misted vampire, and though the battle had been heavily swayed against Rositsa when we arrived, the fact that she had been holding on one versus¡­ four-ish¡­ meant that with our help things were much easier to manage. One of the swarms of bats flew with her and long blood-scythes from her claws lashed into the enemy vampire. They pierced all the way through the form, which was already destabilizing to turn into mist.


    I have to say, that guy really gave it a good effort. But somehow Rosita ripped the blood out of the bat and then the mist itself, forcing it to reform into¡­ a desiccated corpse. At the same time, that blood poured into Rositsa¡¯s wounds and began to seal them. Her swarm of ¡®bats¡¯ suddenly turned into globules of blood as well, pouring towards her.


    The wolf form vampire didn¡¯t hang around any longer, as they were already rushing towards the far side of the parking building, leaping off a few cars in his way, their hoods crushed. His push sent them into further vehicles across the lanes, and sent him out of sight.


    ¡°Hi Rositsa,¡± I said. ¡°Did you just absorb that guy¡¯s blood.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± she said, her large head turning towards my face. ¡°Was that bad? Your face indicates it was undesirable. Yet these individuals were not some sort of authority figure. Nor do I believe they are well looked upon by the world. Is this the thing where people don¡¯t like any sort of blood magic?¡±


    ¡°... They attacked you first right? That makes it self defense.¡± I looked down at the shriveled body. ¡°Is this guy dead?¡±


    ¡°Vampires cannot survive without blood.¡±


    ¡°At least the insignias are in pretty good shape,¡± I said. ¡°Clear Doctor Doomsday markings. And maybe we don¡¯t have to mention that you took all his blood, just that he ran out.¡±


    ¡°This world¡¯s conventions are confusing.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me,¡± I agreed.

 Chapter 126

    When everything was all done and sorted, we had one capture and one dead vampire. The first one we encountered was the one that was captured, her mouth still messed up from attempting to drink Acid Man¡¯s blood. His powers minimized the damage to himself while forcing the vampire to rethink her plans while playing dead. Ice Guy had frozen her. He¡¯d also created a dome over one mist form vampire, but as we¡¯d been engaged in combat he didn¡¯t have time to make it extra secure. There must have been a gap under the edges that was incomplete, or the ground itself was permeable.


    The dead vampire was fully drained of blood by Rositsa, and the clean up crew was bringing a special containment unit so that it would not decay in the light. Or come back to life and bite someone, but I was fairly confident that wouldn¡¯t happen. The last of the four had retreated from the scene, leaping away in its giant wolf form.


    ¡°A decent result overall,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°Once we remind people how much property damage we prevented. Now then, back to Rositsa. She sure attracts trouble, huh?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t all supers?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Pretty much,¡± he nodded.


    I had cast Translation on myself and Midnight upon suspecting her presence, as we were climbing the stairs. That had been useful during battle, but now¡­ she returned to a human form. Her skin and hair had no color, and her irises only had one color, blood red. She could be vaguely compared to a human albino, though I heard their eyes could have normal colors or at most tend towards reddish. There were no half measures with her eyes, though.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to be inundated with questions, but I can at least give you a preview of them here,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°Like, what happened here?¡±


    ¡°That is a very broad question,¡± Rositsa said. ¡°Answering it thoroughly would take a long time.¡±


    ¡°Right, which is why you should think of something concise,¡± Captain Senan nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s start with¡­ why were you here?¡±


    ¡°These individuals determined I was a vampire and requested I join them. I declined.¡±


    ¡°How did they learn you were a vampire?¡±


    ¡°I walk around at night and I look like this,¡± Rositsa said. ¡°Though there are other possibilities.¡±


    ¡°Right, then what happened?¡±


    ¡°I declined and they attacked me in an attempt to enforce their will. I was insufficient to defeat them all myself, but ultimately your group arrived and I slew one of them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s best not to volunteer that information about you killing a guy.¡±


    ¡°I cannot lie,¡± she folded her arms. ¡°Besides, I understand that self defense is justified and that people don¡¯t like vampires.¡±


    ¡°Probably focus on the self defense part. Also, just because you can¡¯t lie doesn¡¯t mean you have to volunteer every piece of information.¡±


    ¡°I do not. There is quite a bit I consider inconsequential that I have not mentioned.¡±


    Captain Senan sighed. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll try to get the right people for the job.¡±


    If the attack had been on a simple civilian, the Power Brigade could have handled it all on our own. As it was, Extra was going to be involved. ¡°If Zorphax is available, he¡¯s quite reasonable,¡± I pointed out. ¡°And he had prior experience with Rositsa. Though I imagine he¡¯s generally busy.¡± The problem with the martian being so competent was that there was a lot of work he would be wanted for. ¡°But we can request him.¡±


    ¡°Reasonable enough,¡± Ice Guy nodded. ¡°We have enough to make our report now.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to mention Doctor Doomsday minions!¡±


    He grinned, ¡°I do know how this works, you know?¡±


    -----


    In the end Zorphax did not become involved with the incident, but he did send someone apprised of Rositsa¡¯s situation. She knew how to contact me if there was any real trouble, but it seemed like things were going well when we moved on. I wasn¡¯t going to just leave a friend to fend for themselves, but we also had to get back to patrolling. If we were still in good shape, that was what we were supposed to do. Fortunately no further incidents happened that night. Not near us, anyway. Obviously throughout New Bay there was always trouble, with things escalated given how much more Doctor Doomsday specifically was causing.


    After just a few days back on patrol, however, my schedule shifted again and I was brought to a new room, where I saw Calculator. ¡°What are we doing here?¡± I asked. ¡°The schedule said it was some sort of training?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°This is for you¡­ and Midnight. I assume you can figure out what you¡¯re doing from this,¡± he gestured to a large cube behind him, one I had almost missed for how clear it was. Though it still distorted things just enough, and the corners made its presence rather obvious. That was the large diamond Vilhelmiina had put together.


    ¡°Scrying?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he nodded. ¡°Given the information that you should be able to improve general abilities with training now, we need you to develop this skill in particular. We¡¯re never going to tell you how you have to spend your limited points,¡± Calculator assured me, ¡°But we can tell you how to spend your time, and some of it will be this. We need you to scry Doctor Doomsday.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°That won¡¯t work. Even with a fancy rock.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying now. That¡¯s where the whole training thing comes in. But your abilities to discover information are quite valuable to the Brigade, so we¡¯ll have you doing various things to train that. It¡¯s not like we¡¯ll ask you to scry Gloom or anything dangerous.¡±


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°I have the feeling Doctor Doomsday could come up with something to injure me for scrying on him.¡±


    ¡°... Which is why you¡¯re not going to be trying that,¡± Calculator admitted the possibility indirectly. ¡°We¡¯ll start with some practice targets and familiar individuals and see how things go. Especially with¡­ this,¡± he gestured once more to the diamond.


    I nodded. ¡°Alright. What do you need Midnight for? He can use Scrying but¡­¡±


    ¡°We are still determining if I can improve the rank of spells,¡± Midnight finished for me. ¡°Results are leaning towards it being unlikely.¡±


    ¡°Even so, he has a different mana pool from you that regenerates on its own, right?¡± Calculator wasn¡¯t actually asking- he knew the information, and he wouldn¡¯t forget. ¡°And he still needs to be familiar with how to handle the spell once it¡¯s more efficient and powerful.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded. There was more to spells than just their rank.


    ¡°Plus, having you alternate will be easier on you. You¡¯ll have several hours, during which we¡¯d like to have you perform two full uses of Scrying each. That¡¯s only forty minutes, but you do need to recover mana.¡±


    I wondered if mana recovery was a skill that would ever be codified with a rank. Then again, everything I had spent mana- including Mana Crystal Deposition- so it was kind of the opposite. Active focus could bring me above ambient levels though, and seeking out the right areas. On that topic, I was fairly sure the ambient mana recovery had increased once more, from around ten percent to around twenty percent above the ¡®standard¡¯ one mana per ten minutes.


    ¡°Alright, who am I Scrying first?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Vilhelmiina. She has given permission for you to do so under supervision. The city would probably complain about security risks if they knew but¡­ that¡¯s not their call.¡± He shrugged, ¡°She¡¯s still studying the scrying anchor, though we¡¯re unsure what might come of it. But that will be an obstacle for you to overcome as you attempt to focus on her, hopefully being useful training. Though we intend to have variety to see what works.¡±


    I focused on trying to scry Vilhelmiina and not the anchor. Mana flowed out of me, becoming swirling mists within the diamond cube in front of me. I wondered how she knew it would work with my magic, as she didn¡¯t seem to have traces of magic around her. But I couldn¡¯t focus too much on the cube itself, or I would scry¡­ me? It generally had to focus on people though. Doomsday¡¯s weird scrying anchors potentially being an exception.


    There was a brief flicker of Vilhelmiina¡¯s crazy figure within the cube, then I was snatched away to the scrying anchor as expected. I was still able to rotate the view, but walking around it proved much more interesting.


    ¡°Fascinating,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I took you at face value on needing a mirror. This displays¡­¡± he shook his head, ¡°New dimensions. Pun not intended.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ what should I work on? Distance from the viewpoint or¡­ trying to actually latch onto Vilhelmiina?¡±


    ¡°I think the latter would be best here,¡± Calculator adjusted his glasses. ¡°We can aim for distance with other targets.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I nodded. At previous times, I¡¯d fought against these scrying anchors. I wasn¡¯t sure if this one was different but¡­ I had some ideas. I mentally pushed it away with an arm, holding myself further from it. That didn¡¯t do much, but maybe if I ¡®covered¡¯ it, cutting off its influence?


    I tried a dozen different things, and in the end I was rewarded with another flash of Vilhelmiina and her mad outfit of tubes and wires, as well as unkempt hair. She didn¡¯t quite look at me as it happened, but I felt her pushing back. It was normal to have resistance when Scrying, after all, but I hadn¡¯t been ready and I found myself forced away. The spell faded. I sighed.


    ¡°Looks like it broke early.¡±


    ¡°She resisted,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Of course. That¡¯s for the training. Plus, she likely didn¡¯t know it was you.¡±


    ¡°I think¡­ it would have been easier, with this focus.¡±


    ¡°If we¡¯d known that, we could have made you a three foot cube of glass a while ago.¡±


    ¡°Vilhelmiina was very specific about it being precisely one meter,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Also it¡¯s diamond.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s-¡± Calculator put his head in his hands. ¡°Of course it¡¯s diamond. Why wouldn¡¯t it be.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I shrugged, ¡°I assumed it was difficult to make them though.¡±


    ¡°Mostly power intensive,¡± he said. ¡°Though also difficult if one wants to make something flawless like this.¡±


    ¡°Apparently she built a machine just to make this. I didn¡¯t see it though.¡±


    ¡°No doubt it fell apart immediately after fulfilling its purpose,¡± Calculator shook his head. ¡°Alright, next we¡¯ll have Midnight. We¡¯d like you to scry either Sirine or Swarm. Since your squad had negative interactions with them previously, knowing what they¡¯re up to might be useful. And good practice, since they won¡¯t be expecting it.¡±


    ¡°They might have scrying anchors?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°They might,¡± Calculator agreed. ¡°Only one way to find out.¡±


    ¡°I will choose Sirine,¡± Midnight said, walking around the cube. ¡°This does not seem like it was made for someone my height.¡±


    ¡°To be fair, it¡¯s also not for someone my height,¡± I countered. ¡°It¡¯s just kind of sitting on the floor below waist level.¡±


    ¡°We were kind of surprised with its delivery,¡± Calculator pointed out. ¡°We¡¯ll have it lifted to a more useful level later.¡±


    ¡°Maybe an adjustable height?¡± I mentioned.


    ¡°On a clear surface,¡± Midnight said. We both looked at him. ¡°So you can see it from below. Cubes do have six faces, after all.¡±


    ¡°A reasonable point,¡± Calculator admitted. ¡°Usually unnecessary but¡­ it would be best not to discount the potential information gained from ceilings.¡±


    I realized that up until that point, though I had rotated the image, it remained horizontal. Was that a requirement, or simply something I had assumed? I suppose we would find out eventually.


    Sirine was found, unsurprisingly, in the water. With the limited distance displayed beyond her, there wasn¡¯t much more information to be had. She was swimming around, but Midnight held the scene for the whole ten minute maximum.


    Then it was my turn to scry Swarm. Mists swirled within the diamond cube, then slowly parted to reveal¡­ a complete mess. It was like we were looking at many overlapping images. No, that was what we were looking at. Apparently, Swarm was in the middle of using his powers and was in multiple places at once, and we could see all of them- and comprehend none of them.


    ¡°Well this is a mess,¡± I said.


    ¡°Keep focused,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I might be able to pick out something useful, if whatever he¡¯s doing has not been called in. How¡¯s the resistance?¡±


    ¡°Not bad,¡± I admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s weak or the scrying orb helps. Though I think his actual resistance isn¡¯t that much.¡±


    ¡°... did you say orb? It¡¯s a cube.¡±


    ¡°I have been informed that it is an orb by its creator.¡±


    Calculator sighed. Ultimately, he managed to pick out something from the mess of images and send a tip, and the image faded just in time to see supers arriving to deal with Swarm- and then all of the images condensed into one, the main body of Swarm somewhere safe and away from the scene. Then the image faded.

 Chapter 127

    After directly training spells over the course of the next weeks, I had to say the effects were quite fruitful. I had to imagine it would get slower but¡­ the results were significant. No, astounding. Familiar Bond increased in rank, I presumed through Midnight¡¯s active efforts, but we did work together still. Nothing else he was training had increased in Rank, so it was either much slower or didn¡¯t apply for him.


    An interesting surprise progression was Mage¡¯s Reach. I hadn¡¯t intentionally improved it, but I did certainly make use of it. It was relatively low level and less upgraded than many other things. Did that help? I honestly didn¡¯t know. Information was only gained from Master Uvithar in short daily snippets, and I had so many things I wanted to ask. So far we¡¯d exchanged the equivalent of two short letters.


    On that topic, Sending increased in rank. That was a massive achievement, because it would have been 11 points to do that. That was still almost half a level¡¯s worth, as I gained points equal to each new level to spend. Another valuable skill that leveled up, mostly at the behest of Calculator, was Scrying. That one was 12 points worth, though it had actually improved more rapidly. Perhaps my practice beforehand had paid off? So many questions. But I was quite pleased with my growth. I¡¯d suddenly gotten almost a whole ¡®free¡¯ level!


    Non-combat abilities that wouldn¡¯t help me level up and progress suddenly had the ability to improve on their own. That was a strange thought. I tried to imagine what things would have been like if I could do this from the beginning, though in truth I still needed the maximum mana that came from levels so I was still glad to have come to Earth.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 26


    Experience: 1836/1890


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +3


    Firebolt +3


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +2


    Force Armor +6


    Mage''s Reach +3 (2|1)


    Translation +1


    Haste +4


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +4 (3|1)


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +2


    Sonic Lance +2


    Scrying +1 (0|1)


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +1


    Mana Crystal Deposition +2 (0|2)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +2


    Basic Light Magic +2 (1|1)


    Locate Object


    Alter Portal +1 (0|1)


    Gate


    Slow


    Arcane Sight


    Sending +1 (0|1)


    Remaining Points: 1


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Interestingly enough, it even displayed where upgrades had come from. Did that mean something, or was it just because I wanted to know? Another question to ask, which may or may not be answered.


    I had far too many things to train now, but on the other hand they all had their own purposes. And as I used them, as long as I had some intention of improving myself, I supposed they should naturally improve as well.


    -----


    My current position was in an observation room above one of the normal training areas. Along with me were Calculator- who belonged here- and a mad scientist who did not belong. This was the Power Brigade, and while she might be on friendly terms Vilhelmiina was very much not part of ¡®us¡¯. Ultimately, she¡¯d wormed her way into being present through terms like ¡®advancement of science¡¯ and ¡®cooperation¡¯. She was explicitly not allowed to touch anything, and Captain Punch was here to keep her to that.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that kid was a werewolf,¡± Vilhelmiina commented. ¡°I would have tried to convince him to give me some samples if I knew that.¡±


    ¡°He probably didn¡¯t want to talk about it,¡± I mentioned.


    ¡°Well,¡± she shrugged, tubes and vials and all manner of garbage clinking together. ¡°At least I made a good enough impression on him that he allowed me to be here.¡±


    I looked down into the room. There was Jerome, who we had been talking about, but also his mother Tylissa¡­ and the other person who definitely belonged here, Great Girl. The third was separated by a barrier for safety reasons, and there was another individual down there. Another executive who I¡¯d seen only rarely- Movebrain.


    We weren¡¯t just randomly standing around at night for fun. No, we were here to learn. When we¡¯d stepped out of the portal and everyone started turning into werewolves, these three had managed to handle the difficulties among them- but they¡¯d still been constrained for everyone¡¯s safety. Not knowing if they would be the same or worse now that they were more than an hour or two afflicted, and because the only other werewolves we thought had this type were quite unwilling to participate, this was the plan.


    Today was not a full moon¡­ but we were considering the potential for a three day cycle- the full moon and the surrounding days. That was something I had heard about, and as this was the first full moon since the original.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I could see them getting antsy down below as time passed. Was that just boredom and discomfort? That, I couldn¡¯t say. But they could- and we had methods to find that information. Specifically, the oldest and easiest ones.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°Uncomfortable,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Kind of itchy?¡±


    The other two confirmed the same, more or less.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re moving to the next stage of exposure,¡± Calculator said. On the walls above them was displayed an image of the moon. ¡°How about now?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ kinda annoyed?¡± Great Girl answered. ¡°But I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m really feeling much.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not actually the moon,¡± I shrugged. My comments wouldn¡¯t be heard down below unless we chose for that. ¡°It might require actual moonlight, or maybe it¡¯s really only on the actual night.¡±


    ¡°Moonlight doesn¡¯t exist,¡± Vilhelmiina said. ¡°Or does it? Perhaps it is not just the reflected light of the sun but subtle and undetectable emissions from the astral body itself¡­¡± she was clearly lost in her own head at the moment.


    Calculator kept things on track. ¡°Next¡­ is this.¡± The image of the moon changed, just slightly. There was no response, and he moved on to the next step. I couldn¡¯t discern any change myself except the picture was different. There were some clouds.


    Though I didn¡¯t notice anything, there was an immediate reaction from those down below, though I couldn¡¯t say why. It was still just a picture of the moon, wasn¡¯t it? I couldn¡¯t detect any magic or anything. Arcane sight only revealed¡­ a bunch of tech super stuff around, especially the glass and the training room itself.


    ¡°It definitely feels¡­ something like the first time,¡± Tylissa commented. ¡°Though it¡¯s easier to control.¡±


    ¡°Interesting,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Still images and video do nothing, but live video has some effect.


    ¡°It¡¯s also getting later,¡± I noted.


    ¡°True. Well then, prepare yourselves for the next stage,¡± Calculator said to the room below. There was a slight tremor as something shifted, and a small part of the wall opened. There was a mirror, presumably eventually leading to the surface.


    That drew the largest reaction yet. Great Girl immediately shifted, but her change was a smooth transition from human to half-wolf. Teeth and claws along with a feral stance. Jerome, on the other hand, collapsed onto the ground, fur slowly growing on the backs of his hands before slowly working its way up his body as teeth and claws slowly revealed themselves. Tylissa transformed the most slowly, but she did not seem to struggle as much as Jerome.


    The three howled, but as they looked up towards the reflection of the moon and around at each other, they seemed reasonably controlled. Until Jerome spotted Movebrain, baring his teeth and growling. Tylissa growled too, but more in sympathy, as her clawed hand rested comfortingly on her son¡¯s shoulder. Great Girl had no particular reaction to anything further.


    ¡°Are you prepared for opening the first barrier?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Great Girl responded quickly, her voice a bit gruff.


    ¡°We should be,¡± Tylissa said, her voice likewise changed. ¡°Jerome?¡±


    He wrenched his gaze away from Movebrain, beyond a translucent shield. ¡°Okay.¡±


    As the barrier between them faded, everyone sniffed. The two moved closer to Great Girl cautiously, unsure of how they would react. A single incident that they didn¡¯t fully recall was insufficient for them to know how they¡¯d react.


    When they were within two yards, Jerome snarled. Then Great Girl roared back. Immediately, Tylissa jumped in front of her son in a defensive stance, while Jerome cringed away, dropping to the floor.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Great Girl grunted.


    ¡°... Me too,¡± Jerome said from down below.


    Eventually they closed in on each other. They circled around and eventually reached out to shake hands- a tricky proposition with claws, though Great Girl had enough control to shrink hers. There were no further incidents, though it seemed Tylissa and Jerome didn¡¯t have much control over their forms. It was unclear if they¡¯d stopped at a hybrid form because of some sort of control or if they reflexively followed Great Girl. That would be something to determine later.


    ¡°Final barrier,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Everyone ready?¡±


    They all agreed- including Movebrain, importantly. The man stood calmly with his hands at his side, hardly looking like a high ranking mercenary super and more like a simple businessman.


    When the barrier fell, snouts sniffed and brows furrowed. Then Jerome lunged forward. There was a flurry of movement, the fastest of which was from Tylissa who positioned herself in front of her son, bending down slightly to wrap an arm around his midsection and hold him back. Jerome snarled and struggled, but importantly he didn¡¯t attack her. He calmed down slightly after a few moments.


    ¡°Ugh¡­ this is frustrating,¡± he complained- but he still managed to speak, which was good.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Tylissa hugged him. ¡°Just focus on me.¡±


    Great Girl slowly approached Movebrain.


    ¡°Should I be concerned about you losing control of your other abilities?¡± Movebrain asked. ¡°At your current size I can deal with you, but if you go larger¡­¡±


    ¡°My powers are definitely under control,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°And the werewolf stuff¡­ should be.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s find out then.¡±


    Great Girl moved closer until she was looming over the average sized man. She was still going from her approximately six foot tall ¡®normal¡¯ form. Combined with her hybrid wolf shape, she retained a similar height with a bit of a hunched back in the picture, overall slightly larger.


    Great Girl nodded, folding her arms. ¡°I definitely feel aggression,¡± she admitted. ¡°But it¡¯s not any worse than¡­ towards certain others. I can control it.¡±


    ¡°Can you?¡± Movebrain asked, raising an eyebrow.


    She lowered her eyes. ¡°Yes.¡± It was quite clear that this wasn¡¯t the werewolf thing he was concerned about. On that note, I understood a social situation. Probably. That seemed good, though I¡¯d have to ask if I got the cues right.


    ¡°Well. We absolutely can¡¯t have you near her on the wrong day. Seems your activities will be restricted a few days of the month.¡±


    ¡°A few more days,¡± Great Girl grunted. ¡°What a pain.¡±


    When Jerome felt fully calmed down, he and Tylissa approached Movebrain, at which point Jerome suddenly leapt at him, claws out and mouth wide open. Even midair he was trying to pull his arms back towards himself, which ultimately meant when a telekinetic grip surrounded him his arms were folded over his chest.


    ¡°You, young man, are going to need to take special care,¡± Movebrain said without any particular sense of judgment or indication someone had just tried to maul him. ¡°I don¡¯t imagine controlling something like this is easy when combined with natural hormones. You will have to be very aware of the cycles of the moon.¡± He turned towards Tylissa, who was standing just a little bit to the side of Jerome- clearly a bit on edge, but controlled. ¡°You have been given lycanthrope resources, correct? I will admit it is not pleasant to lock yourself up at night, but the city provides those services freely. If you choose not to protect yourself and others, the consequences of your actions can still beset you.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Tylissa half growled. ¡°And tonight?¡±


    ¡°I believe we¡¯re staying up,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°At least for a few more hours.¡±


    Calculator confirmed that from above, ¡°Once we determine if deeper night affects you among other things, you will be free to go. Though we can also escort you to secure rooms. Very comfortable.¡±


    I wondered if any of them would change their mind about removing the curse now that they had more experience- and as it dawned on them they¡¯d have to deal with this for three nights each month. I¡¯d have to work towards my next level and set aside some points, as I would prefer not to bet on spontaneously learning something along the right vein.

 Chapter 128

    New Bay was currently decked with Christmas displays all over the place. I had little understanding of Christmas beyond what I saw- everything indicated it was a time of gift giving. And¡­ snow? I hadn¡¯t seen any actual snow yet, but apparently it was coming. It seemed crazy that there was going to be a whole month of this, yet I learned that it had once taken up more time. It had taken great cultural pushback to confine it inside December, allowing previous holidays such as Thanksgiving to have their own space between the other popular holiday, Halloween. It seemed I¡¯d missed Thanksgiving with all that was going on, though it had no personal importance to me.


    But a big event coming up didn¡¯t mean that villains stopped doing their thing. And though a good part of it was Doctor Doomsday¡¯s work, apparently the rates were even higher than normal. That meant more patrols- but with occasional scuffles it also meant more experience. Fighting new and different people, even when they were weak, was valuable to me. Plus the fact that they were real fights and not just spars. There wasn¡¯t always something big happening around our squad, but we were certainly kept busy.


    A message came in to our captain. Technically, we could all get information directly, but unless it was an emergency situation the Brigade liked to speak through the captains. That was their job after all. ¡°Sounds like a break in at a local corner store,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°That would be something for cops, but villains of some sort are involved. People in fancy outfits, though details seem vague.¡±


    ¡°Danger level?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Unclear,¡± he answered. ¡°There doesn¡¯t appear to have been a physical conflict. They could already be gone by the time we get there.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± I nodded. Midnight and I had cast Force Armor on our squad before the patrol began. It would last the whole time, unlike Stoneskin. It was also much cheaper than the latter. It wasn¡¯t possible for Midnight and I to maintain Stoneskin for any real duration except as shared between ourselves, with it lasting about an hour and costing around eight and a half mana. It felt selfish, but that was most powers. Even if they could be used to augment others, there were limits to what people could do. With some increases to the rank of Stoneskin, maybe we could manage something better.


    I had been the one to cast it about half an hour ago, and I was now at about twenty-six mana out of my maximum of thirty-one. I could cast Stoneskin on the rest of the squad excluding one person¡­ and then have no magic for anything useful after that. Midnight¡¯s mana pool was ten lower than me at twenty-one, so even if we split the task we¡¯d be quite low on mana. I always wanted them to be safer- but taking enemies out of a battle might be more impactful than increasing someone¡¯s defenses. Everyone had their own methods anyway.


    We stepped into the corner store. The lights were off, the street lights outside providing only a trickle of light inside. But of course, I could see just fine.


    ¡°Mage?¡± Captain Senan asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything¡­¡± I shook my head.


    ¡°Light it up for us then.¡±


    That I could do¡­ and rather cheaply. I didn¡¯t have to do anything fancy with my Basic Light Magic- Dancing Lights was already the right thing for the job. It didn¡¯t even take a single point of mana to spread four light sources out over the room, revealing wrecked shelves and little else. The proprietor of the establishment was nowhere to be seen.


    Acid Man was the first to go deeper. The rest of us spread out, looking around. The place wasn¡¯t large, so we were all still quite close. He was the one who checked behind the counter. I saw him bend down, ¡°Hey I found-¡± Then he staggered back, a dagger in his gut. There was no time to respond to what was weird about that, though.


    After the fact I liked to imagine that I sensed the magic before I got stabbed, though in the moment it certainly wasn¡¯t clear what order they happened in. A knife slipped right through my Force Armor, not shattering it but simply slicing through it. It jabbed into my thigh, the tip poking into me. That was as far as it got with the stoneskin, but I was still very surprised as I turned my head. I expected to see someone with arms the size of my torso or some sort of power, but it was just a dark shadowy figure. The figure and blade withdrew as the shadows spread around us, swallowing up my light magic.


    Simultaneous attacks came for most of us. Midnight was not a target, perhaps because of the extreme awkwardness of trying to stab a cat sized figure. Or maybe they didn¡¯t notice him. Ice Guy had a layer of ice- flexible at the joints- covering his body. He actually managed to react to the attack and turn his body, causing the dagger to impact his torso head on instead of stabbing into his armpit. Some of the ice melted into nothing, but the momentum of the attack stopped. Shockfire was positioned closer to the door where he was difficult to reach. Rocker was the final one, a figure leaping out at him and piercing through his sonic barrier. Rocker managed to duck to the side, though- the blade merely slicing his cheek instead of cutting his neck or chest.


    As the magical darkness finished consuming my light I saw Acid Man pull a bloody dagger out of his gut. That was absolutely not supposed to happen. I could still feel the magic, there and around us.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡°Assassins!¡± Ice Guy called out. ¡°It¡¯s a trap! Make for the door!¡±


    Shockfire reacted by coating himself in fire, pushing back against the magical darkness before I could determine if I wanted to use my efforts to wrestle with it. It wasn¡¯t exactly clear but I at least caught figure shifting around beyond the edge of the light. If only my earlier magic had been a bit more we might have spotted the enemies.


    Rocker needed the most help, or at least he was closer than Acid Man. Just because he didn¡¯t exactly choose to be in the squad didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t a part of it. ¡°Go!¡± I called to him as I reached out and cast Haste. I took a step towards the counter, squinting my eyes to try to see through darkness that was darker than a lack of light. Stupid magic darkness. Rocker¡¯s hand pressed against my chest, then he spoke in a manner I could only barely comprehend because of interactions with Shockwave at extreme speeds. ¡°I¡¯llhandlethisI¡¯vebeeninknifefightsbefore.¡±


    If he thought he had it I wasn¡¯t going to stop him. Nor could I, with him already over at the counter. I was only a short distance away from the exit, but as I turned to make my way there Midnight hissed and ran past my legs. I felt the flow of lightning magic, though I couldn¡¯t tell if he hit his target or a shelf or something. I held my left hand over the hole in my Stoneskin so I didn¡¯t get a real wound there as I stumbled out past Shockfire, who was uncomfortably warm as his flames pushed against the darkness. Midnight had spun around and was only a moment behind me.


    Rocker actually made it out with Acid Man before our captain, despite the greater distance and half-dragging someone. His head was tilted at a funny angle and I felt his power encompassing the area around him- though strangely not his normal defensive barrier. Could he not reactivate it?


    The soft sound of rubber soles on concrete nearly broke my eardrums as it was amplified beyond all reason, but Rocker twisted on his heel and kicked towards the darkness. I expected a tremendous boom, but all I heard was a muffled sound, a slight crinkling sound maybe. The sound was all wrong. Rocker was around the other side of Acid Man under his shoulder and scurrying out the doors in an instant. It didn¡¯t look comfortable, but Rocker steadied Rasmus on his feet outside. ¡°Hahagottem. Howsthecaptaindoing?¡±


    I didn¡¯t fully comprehend his question, but the answer still made itself apparent anyway. Ice Guy was not far behind us, running with a trail of ice behind him. The ice armor coating his chest had its hole reformed. ¡°Get ready!¡± he said.


    I nodded, watching the door with everyone else. We all waited. I had magic held ready, a specific spell nearly formed. I saw a slight bit of movement out of the corner of my eye, just a speck through the corner windows of the place that weren¡¯t quite inundated with magical darkness. I reached my hand out, the Slow spell just catching something. ¡°There! Around the corner!¡±


    Rocker was still Hasted, and was over to the side a moment later. ¡°Wowtheseguysarefast,¡± he commented. I was angling myself that way, still keeping an eye on the door to the corner store. Rocker stretched his hand out, a blast of sound striking something in front of him.


    Captain Senan was at the corner before me, lobbing a ball of ice. I managed to see it catching the ankle of a figure, spreading to anchor it to the ground. He was dressed in dark clothes but wore no facial coverings, revealing dark blue-purple skin, pointed ears, and weirdly black hair. ¡°I thought drow had white hair?¡± I frowned.


    I had no idea what I was saying as the guy began flinging sharp objects at us, but in slow motion. The movements were smooth and precise and still not actually slow, the spell only reducing his speed by about a third, but the effects lingered on the weapons in travel for a moment as well. That difference was sufficient for my training to easily avoid them, along with the others. Captain Senan simply marched forward and coated the guy in ice, just in time for a half dozen daggers to stab into them from a nearby alley.


    I didn¡¯t have mana built up nor a clear enough visual to target anything, so they were gone before I could act. I didn¡¯t sense any more magic around, and as Ice Guy dragged our frozen prisoner around the corner, sliding him easily along the ground and using him as cover, I threw more Light into the corner store. It quickly dispelled the uncontrolled darkness remaining. I carefully peeked around to make sure the corners were lit up, but saw nothing from my position outside.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Ice Guy asked Acid Man.


    Rasmus held his hand on his gut. ¡°I got stabbed¡­ somehow.¡± He turned into a puddle, then back into his normal form- but he was still bleeding. ¡°It won¡¯t go away.¡±


    ¡°They had enchanted weapons,¡± I said. ¡°I think. There wasn¡¯t a lot of time to go over them while we were in there.¡±


    Speaking of which, there was the one that had stabbed him. Just to be cautious, I used Mage¡¯s Reach to bring it over from its position next to the counter. While I did that, Ice Guy reported the situation. ¡°Seems like it was an intentional ambush for supers,¡± he explained to the Brigade. ¡°I¡¯ll discuss more when we get back.¡±


    Before going back in- and we did go back in- Ice Guy made a solid wall over the other side of the corner where they¡¯d cut through the glass to escape. Rocker also amplified the sounds inside, listening for breathing or heartbeats or¡­ anything. There was only the mechanical hum of freezers. Ultimately, the only thing we found was the dead body of the store owner¡­ which was actually a big concern. People died when supers were involved, but usually villains wouldn¡¯t kill casually. If they didn¡¯t have a reason, it was a good way to get pushed up the list, where stronger supers would come after you¡­ and not worry too much about capturing you.


    I frowned as I looked at the dagger, and the drow- who was finding out exactly how good our captain''s control over his ice was, avoiding freezing him while making holes large enough for the man to breathe, but make no other motions. If the man was a drow- which the black hair made less certain- then chances were he was working with Doctor Doomsday. So these daggers could be meant to target any super¡­ but it felt rather too effective. Able to stab our formless acid guy and pierce through everything else? Though there were some limits, it was still very worrying.

 Chapter 129

    In the end, after the ambush, we had one captured individual and two daggers that appeared completely non powered and non magical. We didn¡¯t trust that, of course, and brought them to be contained by Vilhelmiina at her lab. Why there, when she was not part of the Power Brigade? Because she was crazy enough to have products of Doctor Doomsday in her lab untested- though not uncontained.


    ¡°I have conclusively determined these are not packed with high explosives,¡± the old woman nodded her head. ¡°Now low explosives.¡±


    ¡°Wait that second thing exists?¡± I was prepared to say something else but I had questions.


    ¡°Oh yes, it¡¯s got very little to do with whether or not it can level a building. Regardless, I am over fifty percent certain that these will not explode.¡±


    I frowned, ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound very certain¡­¡±


    ¡°With the presence of magic I am reserving my judgment for entire new categories of potential explosions.¡±


    ¡°You should be fine there,¡± I said. ¡°These aren¡¯t magical. Or rather, they¡¯re probably drained. Because they were certainly magical before.¡±


    Currently the aforementioned daggers were contained in similar zappy cages as the scrying anchor had been. That made them annoying to look at.


    ¡°You have already gazed upon these with your wizard eyes, have you not?¡± Vilhelmiina asked.


    I nodded, ¡°I used Arcane Sight, yes. It didn¡¯t reveal much.¡±


    She tapped her fingers dangerously close to buttons on a control panel that probably shouldn¡¯t be touched. ¡°You said these were likely drained. Could they be undrained? Charged?¡±


    ¡°Probably,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d basically just try putting mana in them.¡±


    ¡°Then I will have you do it,¡± she said, slapping a button on the console. Both daggers fell to the ground as they were no longer contained. I feel like there should probably have been individual buttons.


    I walked over to the daggers, picking one up in my hands. It was covered in intricate markings that meant¡­ absolutely nothing to me. Activating Arcane Sight for a handful of mana I was able to pick out extremely faint traces of something. Perhaps I hadn¡¯t looked closely enough after the battle, or it might be recharging. Both options were quite possible.


    I intentionally directed a small amount of mana into the dagger. It accepted it readily. A single point brightened the aura of magic around it. ¡°Hmm, I think that¡¯s an abjurative aura around it.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean it is protected from magic?¡± the mad scientist asked.


    ¡°Not necessarily. Based on what I saw, it might be the opposite. Specifically, it seemed to be of the dispelling type- which might indirectly protect it from magic as it removes it. I carefully took the dagger, pressing it at an angle next to my left arm, slicing slowly. I could feel it wearing down on my armor, and then it unraveled with sparkles of light- though the dagger used up the last of the mana within it as it did so. ¡°It seems to happen automatically,¡± I said, ¡°As long as it has charge.¡± It seemed quite rude that a single point of mana dispelled a two mana spell. Even if I only spend one and a half on it. Of course, if it usually took more mana to dispel things then people probably wouldn¡¯t bother and would instead just chuck more fireballs.


    ¡°And it worked against powers?¡± Vilhelmiina asked.


    ¡°More than a couple of them did, yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°I didn¡¯t sense any differences between them so they¡¯re likely the same.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also easier to reproduce the same thing,¡± she said, taking the dagger from my hand and stabbing it into her arm, where it suddenly stopped. ¡°It¡¯s broken,¡± she said.


    ¡°It¡¯s out of charge again. I didn¡¯t put in that much. Also if that had worked you¡¯d have a hole in your arm.¡±


    ¡°Bah, why by hesitance for the sake of science? Charge it up!¡±


    She handed me back the dagger. ¡°You do realize you can stab a barrier on something durable? I feel like it would be hard to science with a dagger in your arm.¡±


    I waited to inject any mana into the dagger while she mulled over that idea. ¡°I see your point. Perhaps I can get someone with super endurance to assist me.¡±


    ¡°Or stab a wall.¡±


    ¡°I do have walls,¡± she stroked her chin. ¡°And they already have barriers. Very well, we shall go with your suggestion. Now give me the dagger!¡±


    After her agreement I charged it up. I felt the mana flow into it one point at a time until it had a full seven. It seemed it would accept no more after that, and I had no intention of pushing it. ¡°Be careful,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s got more charge now.¡±


    Dagger in hand, she confidently walked up to a wall and stabbed it. I could feel whatever barrier it had rip apart and then there was a clinking of metal on metal. Vilhelmiina held the dagger up for inspection. ¡°This is not a good dagger.¡±


    ¡°I feel like magic dispelling daggers are pretty good, actually¡­¡±


    ¡°No, look!¡± she brought it right in front of my eyes. ¡°The tip is bent!¡±


    ¡°I guess. I don¡¯t think daggers are meant to stab metal walls.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t magic weapons supposed to be unbreakable?¡±


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Have you ever made anything unbreakable?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Vilhelmiina said confidently.


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Absolutely. I once atomized something into cosmic dust. From there, it could not be broken down further.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think breaking things counts as making something unbreakable,¡± I countered. ¡°Anyway, magic weapons are often broken by better magic weapons. Also I think you have to intentionally make them have those features? This doesn¡¯t seem to have that.¡±


    ¡°Do you now know?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never made a magic anything, so no. I don¡¯t really know how enchanting works.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t wizards do that?¡±


    ¡°First, I¡¯m a mage. Second, it would be like me saying ¡®don¡¯t all tech supers make robotic rats powered by cheese reactors¡¯?¡±


    ¡°... Don¡¯t we? I kind of assumed most people just kept theirs hidden.¡±


    I squinted at Vilhelmiina, but having actually seen Rodentia I was able to confirm they weren¡¯t the same person. Probably. Both were mad scientists and all, but with quite different styles.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a logical first step.¡± Vilhelmiina explained, ¡°And from there you make a death ray.¡±


    ¡°Or a cheese ray.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly,¡± Vilhelmiina shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s completely unnecessary.¡±


    ¡°I think we have learned what we can about these,¡± Vilhelmiina said. ¡°Unless you have other ideas?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say that I do,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Then you should return to your other business.¡±


    -----


    Rasmus looked down at his side. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ve ever had an injury like this.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± asked Rocker- though in civilian garb he was just ¡®Joe¡¯. ¡°Never got in any knife fights?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Rasmus said. ¡°No fights at all before I had my powers.¡±


    ¡°...Weird,¡± said our wild haired compatriot.


    Today we had a day off. Rasmus could go on patrol with his injuries, but it was better to wait for them to recover. With access to Doctor Mishra he¡¯d be recovered quickly, but forcing things to be fully healed was exhausting for both the healer and patient. Speeding things up to a few days was less troublesome.


    Walking around as a group was slightly risky for our civilian identities- and including myself and Midnight even more so- but with Handface out of the picture we weren¡¯t at significant risk. For the sake of security Midnight and I did look different, but we were still an orc and a Celmothian. Would it have been more effective if I looked like a human? Absolutely. But I was still me, even if I didn¡¯t always like that.


    The nature of today was a semi-official group bonding exercise. Since we weren¡¯t actually performing any super activities, however, it was not quite official. The whole squad was around, though- Maks and the captain too. We had discussed possible activities for some time before coming to a general consensus.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why we¡¯re not just going to a bar,¡± Joe said. ¡°I know some with excellent music.¡±


    ¡°Where most of us would be unable to hear each other,¡± said Senan. ¡°And it would take this from being vaguely work related to not. And thus it would no longer count against your remaining service requirements.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I get it,¡± he waved off the captain. ¡°Not sure if the action of a movie will be exciting when we¡¯ve been in the action, though.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± our captain said. ¡°You¡¯ll likely find it quite interesting still.¡±


    Personally, I had not seen¡­ many movies. And none in a proper theater. I found them to be enjoyable diversions- much better than dry stories, though I had learned that the arts of storytelling were quite developed in all mediums in this world. Where I was from there had been some apparently impressive performances involving magic- but they catered to those with money, which had not been magely apprentices.


    When Midnight ordered the tickets for us, the person behind the counter did a remarkably good job not exclaiming about the talking cat until we were away- and though I doubted they knew about Celmothians, they were at least knowledgeable enough to realize that anything that could speak was a person, and thus to be allowed inside.


    Apparently there were several levels of experience. Cheapest but still apparently quite interesting were projections on a flat screen. I couldn¡¯t really say how that was better than viewing at home on a television except I heard that the sound quality and overall ¡®theater experience¡¯ was better.


    Speaking of that experience, we acquired popcorn- which I presumed was some sort of fancy name for something but was explained to me to be actual popped corn kernels- as well as various drinks and candies. Not the sort of things those trying to maintain fitness should indulge in regularly, but it was also the case that additional calories didn¡¯t suddenly remove muscle. They just contributed to the overall intake which could result in undesirable amounts of body fat.


    As we walked into our theater we were handed fancy sunglasses- we were quite able to afford something beyond the ¡®typical¡¯ experience. Thus it was that we found ourselves in large seats that were more than just chairs. The fact that they came with seat belts indicated they wouldn¡¯t just be remaining stationary. Midnight looked at the seats, then at me. ¡°I don¡¯t think this will work for me.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately,¡± Captain Senan agreed. ¡°The chair will be off as you¡¯re below weight and size requirements.¡±


    Midnight did not remove himself from my shoulder. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll stay here.¡±


    ¡°If you fall off I don¡¯t want to hear any complaints,¡± I said. ¡°But otherwise feel free.¡±


    ¡°I am sufficiently protected to not hurt myself,¡± he said.


    With that, everyone settled in. I had to admit, the experience was impressive. Sights, sounds, motion, and even smells- though they were quite sparing with the latter only providing tiny hints of scents.


    By the end, even ¡®Rocker¡¯ agreed that it was a different type of excitement than actual battle as we were carried on a wild adventure- while still remaining actually safe. That was even the case for Midnight, though my shirt was less safe. I should probably learn a Mending spell, or just sparingly involve myself in intense situations where he was almost flung off my shoulder and had to dig his claws in.


    The experience was something most people could not quite have, a galaxy spanning sci-fi adventure. While there were aliens on Earth- and even some amount of interplanetary travel- interstellar technology was rare. People like Celmothians and Bunvorixians had it to some extent, but ending up all the way on Earth was usually some byproduct of something strange happening. Nobody knew why Earth and especially certain regions like New Bay received so much special traffic, or if it was the only such nexus. If there were others, they simply weren¡¯t in contact.


    After finishing the movie, I found the entire experience quite pleasant¡­ but decided I might prefer to bring in food via magic so that I would not have to skip out on the next month¡¯s rent. The prices on consumables within the theater were shockingly high.

 Chapter 130

    Mists slowly spread throughout the scrying orb in front of me, taking their sweet time. At least it didn¡¯t seem to have been a direct failure, though I could not say it wouldn¡¯t still happen. I could feel my target wrestling against me as I tried to gain a clear picture, along with other things.


    The image only came into focus briefly. The first thing I saw was the focus of my connection, the sprawling lines upon Handface¡¯s¡­ well, face. It wasn¡¯t covered, and I could see part of his upper body had gained new scars, specifically the type that made it look like his shoulder and arm had melted together. His face was still very unhappy, as it seemed to perpetually be.


    I couldn¡¯t maintain the connection for long, however, so I barely got a look at his surroundings- some sort of forest still- before the Scrying began to unravel. Then again, there wasn¡¯t really much else to expect from Scrying across planes.


    ¡°At least we know he hasn¡¯t found a way back yet,¡± I commented to nobody in particular. Calculator wasn¡¯t even around, as he was busy- though the room was still set up to record things from different angles. I would take a look at the recordings but I didn¡¯t expect to find much.


    There were still forests on Earth, of course, but I could tell well enough through Scrying that he was on a different plane. Presumably the same one he¡¯d gone through the portal to, but I couldn¡¯t be fully certain of that.


    -----


    When I arrived on the Power Brigade¡¯s roof and saw a man with a gun, I had to dig through my memory for information. The fact that he was standing around without issue certainly implied he was allowed to be there, but things weren¡¯t always what they appeared. I did manage to remember who it was from what I¡¯d seen in databases, confirmed when he turned to look at me with a single eye. Not that he was missing any¡­ or rather, there were no empty eye sockets or anything.


    Mono was actually a member of Great Girl¡¯s team, though we hadn¡¯t been introduced. The timing had never worked out, and he wasn¡¯t helpful to my training so we¡¯d never scheduled anything. Well, actually I could think of ways he could help me with training¡­ but at the moment I didn¡¯t need a sniper shooting at me. Even when Handface was after me, I didn¡¯t need a skilled sniper to tell me whether or not my defenses worked.


    ¡°Hi,¡± I waved. ¡°I¡¯m Mage. Are you working or just¡­ relaxing?¡±


    ¡°Working,¡± Mono said, looking back away from the tower. I tried to see what he was looking at but¡­ it was basically just New Bay. Guessing what he was looking for was impossible with vast city in that direction.


    I moved over to an area away from him to begin my meditation and intake of mana. Mana in New Bay were steadily rising still, though aside from active portals nothing was anything I¡¯d count as high density. In general it was around twenty percent above ¡®normal¡¯, and of course towers were still better. As for why¡­ there were many complicated reasons, but it would be easy to say mana liked high places. One might think that being in the sky would be even better, but that didn¡¯t really work the same.


    I vaguely continued looking the same direction as Mono until I saw something, or rather someone, who stood above everything else. Technically she was still shorter than the surrounding buildings, but Great Girl was larger than a car and at least taller than semi trucks. She looked to be somewhere around her max size of fifteen feet, though it was hard to know for sure at such a distance. She didn¡¯t look like such a tiny speck as everything else though.


    I felt power gathering around Mono¡¯s arms and gun, and then I heard the click of his trigger. I expected the booming sound of a bullet- silenced bullets weren¡¯t exactly quiet either- but there was nothing. I did see a muzzle flash, followed by a few more clicks and more of the same.


    If I squinted I could just see some sort of armored dude down the street, a modest eight to ten feet tall but very wide. He staggered backwards from invisible hits until he fell on his back, at which point Great Girl stomped him into the ground. I heard the muffled sound of something coming in on Mono¡¯s headpiece, and he gently took his hands away from his gun.


    ¡°So are those some sort of¡­ nonlethal bullets?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Mono said. ¡°I mostly get called out for bruisers. Most of them aren¡¯t dumb enough to stand a block away from a main street, though.¡±


    ¡°From what I¡¯d heard, isn¡¯t that what would be expected?¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of dumb bruisers,¡± Mono admitted, his one eye focusing on me. ¡°But dumb bruisers who are out on the streets for more than a job or two are rarer.¡±


    ¡°Titas got out pretty quick,¡± I said, recalling the bruiser who was part of Stargirl¡¯s fan club. ¡°At least the first time.¡± He was still behind bars, as it was much more difficult to explain an escape and a second attempt. If he was ever out, the Power Brigade would make sure I found out immediately- they did a good job of tracking those with grudges. Kept them from having to get new supers, among other things.


    ¡°So what are you doing here?¡± Mono asked.


    ¡°Concentrating on recovering mana,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Should I leave you alone, then?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to concentrate that hard. The process is normally passive, but I can talk and do this pretty easily.¡± I paused for a few moments, ¡°The database doesn¡¯t say much about your power. Some sort of¡­ sound manipulation?¡±


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Mono confirmed. ¡°It does quite well for helping conceal my position and maximizing the velocity of my projectiles. And I do have less lethal ammunitions, I just rarely need them with Great Girl and Grasp on the job. They generally handle anyone more easily subdued.¡±


    ¡°And you stay back at optimal range. Makes sense.¡± My lips brushed against my tusks as I shifted my expression. ¡°You ever go up against Rocker?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°I was briefed on his existence in case he turned rogue, but we have not interacted. I would likely be able to negate his defenses.¡±


    ¡°Sounds bad for him,¡± I said.


    ¡°It would be.¡± Mono¡¯s eye shifted around. ¡°I heard you took a sniper bullet to the face.¡±


    ¡°It hit my tusk,¡± I said, gesturing to what damage remained on the left one. ¡°That was with my good stuff protecting me too.¡±


    ¡°Interesting,¡± he said. ¡°I would make sure you remember to use that ¡®good stuff¡¯, as it will at least serve you against those who do not also have powers. Though many powers don¡¯t interface with ranged weapons well. And those that do are usually restricted.¡±


    ¡°I imagine assassins could make good use of them¡­¡±


    ¡°And they would not survive long once people found out. Supers would not tolerate their numbers being taken out of commission.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t imagine they would,¡± I nodded. I wondered if I should get something longer range to deal with snipers in the future. Defending against them was all well and good if they couldn¡¯t just load another clip¡­ but retaliating at such a range was likely to be inaccurate with most things. That wasn¡¯t a problem if I did not care about the battlefield, of course. There were many spells that could land something in a general area that would explode in a large enough radius to cover small aiming difficulties. Even Fireball was good for that. It was just being selective that was the issue. Then again, with Ice Guy making walls there were few things that could continue to cause trouble from a large distance- though I might wish to conjure some walls of my own eventually.


    -----


    I looked at Midnight, and he looked back at me nervously. ¡°Well?¡± I asked. ¡°Are you going to do it?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± he said hesitantly, ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­¡±


    ¡°That it will work?¡± I looked at him pointedly. ¡°Because if it doesn¡¯t, it¡¯s only ten mana. That¡¯s even properly within your abilities at your level.¡± Not by much, but at level sixteen a spell that cost ten mana was under the threshold of half. Slightly further than that, since I¡¯d gotten a natural upgrade through practice.


    I could feel Midnight¡¯s hesitation, but I wasn¡¯t going to let him chicken out- and he knew that. ¡°I guess I have to do it.¡±


    I could tell he really wanted it to work while at the same time hoping it might fail. That was¡­ reasonable. People were often contradictions of emotions and thoughts, after all.


    ¡°Do you have your message prepared?¡± I asked. ¡°You don¡¯t want to stutter out something random.¡±


    ¡°Right, uh¡­¡± he looked down at the phone in front of him. ¡°I have a message.¡±


    ¡°Then what are you waiting for?¡±


    Midnight¡¯s tail flicked. ¡°What if they¡¯re asleep and I wake them up?¡±


    ¡°Then the response you get will be somewhat less coherent than otherwise- and you¡¯ll have one more chance to get something afterwards.¡± It was Midnight who had pushed me to do some uncomfortable but important things- I could at least return the favor here.


    I could feel him actually preparing to act, so I waited. Then, he gathered mana. ¡°Mom. It¡¯s Midnight. I just want to let you know I am alive and well. I ended up somewhere called ¡®Earth¡¯. I am alright but unable to return.¡± Silence prevailed. Midnight paced around, looking at me. ¡°Did it fail? I screwed it up didn¡¯t I? And I didn¡¯t get to explain the message was magic! Or that she could respond!¡±


    He was starting to panic, so I reached out my large hand and placed it on his head. ¡°It¡¯s alright Midnight. The message will take some time to arrive there, and to return. She will naturally understand that she can respond to some extent. Just wait. Relax.¡±


    My words barely seemed to help- but I thought they at least slowed the buildup of discomfort and worry. My hand was soon dislodged as he paced around the apartment. We could do nothing but wait. I had spoken confidently, but I couldn¡¯t be certain that the gap between planes wasn¡¯t smaller than that between planets within the same plane. I felt the spell take form, but I had no way to guarantee it would actually work until it did. I did my best to shove down those thoughts, however. I didn¡¯t want to make anything worse for my buddy.


    Some time later, Midnight came scampering out of the bedroom he¡¯d paced his way into. ¡°I got a response!¡± he called out excitedly. ¡°From my mom!¡± He leapt though the air and landed half on me and half on the couch, but not in the intentional way. He picked himself up so he was sitting next to me. ¡°I mean¡­ obviously the response was from her. Because that¡¯s how the spell works. But it worked!¡± He lowered his head, ¡°... I don¡¯t think she got it though. She was quite confused.¡±


    ¡°You have one more chance right now,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Just explain a little. Or¡­ just assure her you¡¯re alright? Not everyone cares how things work.¡± Apparently.


    ¡°Right!¡± Midnight said. He was immediately gathering mana and started another message. ¡°I can¡¯t really explain how this works but I¡¯m really alright. Earth is good except there are Bunvorixians here too. There are a lot of people with crazy dangerous powers but I¡¯m also friends with some of them. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡±


    ¡°... You realize that message probably got cut off halfway?¡± I said.


    Midnight buried his head in my side. ¡°... Can you send another message explaining that I¡¯m an idiot? I don¡¯t know if you have a connection, but¡­¡±


    ¡°I can try,¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s her name?¡±


    ¡°Jet,¡± he said. Obviously it was translated from Celmothian, but I could still use that. ¡°Jet Deathstalker, obviously. I look a lot like her, but she¡¯d more feminine.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I need to know what she looks like or what that means for a Celmothian,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡¯ll do my best.¡± I squeezed Midnight comfortingly and gathered some of my own mana. ¡°This is Turlough, Midnight¡¯s friend. Your son is maybe a little dumb but he¡¯s my good buddy and I promise to keep him safe. Don¡¯t worry.¡± I felt the spell release and go somewhere. ¡°Well, that seems to actually be on track, so it probably worked. Expect a panicked response before I get mine, I guess. You can try again yourself later.¡±

 Chapter 131

    Being asked to return to Vilhelmiina¡¯s secret lair was an oddity considering I didn¡¯t think there was anything more for me to do there. I¡¯d already discovered everything I could about the various bits and pieces we¡¯d obtained from Doctor Doomsday¡¯s goons along with the scrying anchor. The request also didn¡¯t come through the Brigade, so it shouldn¡¯t be something new.


    But I didn¡¯t have to wait long. All I had to do was go to a certain diner, order a specific meal not on the menu as I sat in a specific spot, and then I was falling. That began to be concerning after a moment because unlike the other times I wasn¡¯t in a tube or anything. It made me think I should probably have Feather Fall, though I hadn¡¯t really been concerned about excessive vertical velocity before now. And anything that knocked me around enough for the spell to be worthwhile would probably just turn me into a pile of mush on the front end so that hardly mattered.


    I landed in a bunch of gel. I sunk all the way up to my neck, but the not-quite-instant negation of momentum wasn¡¯t too bad. I didn¡¯t feel real injuries, at least. Probably not even a concussion, though I wasn¡¯t going to guarantee that one.


    The gel drained away from around me, miraculously not sticking to me. Then a door opened where I found Frank the cannon bot waiting. ¡°Mage. Your presence is requested in pedestal room 17.¡±


    I followed him towards our destination. As he walked along on cannon legs I thought they seemed rather inefficient, but I wasn¡¯t the resident mad scientist. I was just a perfectly normal and sensible mage.


    As the name implied, pedestal room 17 had a pedestal. It felt like it might be more efficient to place multiple pedestals in a single room, but clearly Vilhelmiina didn¡¯t share that idea. It was just a lot of empty space and a stick.


    No, rather, it should be a staff. It was rounded, after all, with flat ends. Other than that, I couldn¡¯t say much except it looked plain and unadorned. It was made out of some sort of tan wood I couldn¡¯t name, and it shone with a polish.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Vilhelmiina said, appearing out of nowhere. There was also a chance I didn¡¯t notice her approaching, but I could not discount the possibility of unanticipated teleportation. This whole place was full of tech power, so a little more might not have registered.


    ¡°It looks like a staff,¡± I said. Arcane Sight revealed no active magic or tech. ¡°I can¡¯t see anything active.¡±


    ¡°Well? Pick it up,¡± she gestured.


    I wondered why, but I couldn¡¯t see any dangers with that. I did idly wonder whether someone directing me into a trap counted as combat, or even dealing with traps in general. But it would be weird for this to be a trap. It would have been easier to make the whole room the trap, and I didn¡¯t have any reason to distrust anything about Vilhelmiina except her safety protocols. Maybe I should Stoneskin myself, just in case?


    Well, it was too late for that thought as I grasped the staff and lifted it up. After which, nothing happened. ¡°It still feels normal.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I don''t know how to juice it,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s your job.¡±


    So it needed mana? I let some flow into it and could see a reaction. A familiar one, even. ¡°Is this like the daggers?¡±


    ¡°It is the daggers!¡± she proclaimed.


    ¡°This is a staff, actually.¡±


    ¡°It can be two things. I put them in it. But I suppose it is a staff now.¡± She nodded seriously, ¡°They just make the core. The outer shell is Yggdrasil wood.¡±


    ¡°Yggdrasil exists?¡± I asked. I knew some things about myths and legends in this world, but I couldn¡¯t say I was exactly well versed. I just knew it was a big fancy tree.


    ¡°Does it?¡± she asked, tilting her head.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who should know, aren¡¯t you? Since you said this is its wood?¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I have Yggdrasil wood without Yggdrasil existing? I just synthesized it from samples of every other tree. It seemed like it might grow too big, though, so I turned it into a bonsai.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means?¡± My statement turned into a question along the way.


    ¡°It¡¯s only five meters tall. Quite compact compared to the potential.¡±


    ¡°So do you want me to test this or¡­?¡± I waved the staff.


    ¡°Oh, good point! We could test it!¡± She turned to Frank. ¡°Let him whap you with that!¡±


    ¡°Vilhelmiina Koskinen,¡± Frank replied. ¡°According to your programming I am supposed to warn you about the possibility of irreparable damage to your devices.¡±


    ¡°Bah, don¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°I must insist. I would like to continue to retain my form.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± she nodded. ¡°Yes, it would be a problem to have to rebuild you. Let¡¯s see¡­¡± she looked around.


    ¡°... I can just cast Force Armor on something and see if it dispels it!¡±


    ¡°Oh, good point. Use that on me and take a good swing!¡±


    Frank managed to make a sound of a throat clearing without having one. ¡°Bodyguard protocols insist-¡±


    ¡°Fine do it on the pedestal or something!¡± she waved her hand.


    That did seem like the most reasonable option. Of the things Vilhelmiina looked like, sturdy wasn¡¯t one of them. Even if she had weird tech that might make her so, if the staff actually worked she wouldn¡¯t be. And then I¡¯d just be whacking an old woman with¡­ a sort of heavy staff.


    Stolen story; please report.


    I hadn¡¯t actually tried to cast Force Armor on an object before. It seemed to work though- though it wasn¡¯t completely encircling the pedestal. Specifically, it didn¡¯t seem to connect below. Not that it mattered. I tapped the pedestal with the staff. It bounced off the Force Armor. ¡°Uh, so, the daggers are inside this, right? Does that mean the inside of the staff has to touch magic for it to dispel it?¡±


    ¡°Oooh,¡± Vilhelmiina¡¯s face lit up. ¡°That would be an interesting experiment! Perhaps it would automatically function on spectral forces¡­¡±


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t done anything yet,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Well, obviously. You surround yourself in all sorts of magic, if it just got rid of everything it touched you¡¯d be defenseless. You have to activate it.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± she waved her arms wildly. ¡°That¡¯s your job. It¡¯s a magic item, how do those get activated?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes like a command word or¡­?¡± I tilted my head. I¡¯d never owned a magic item. Maybe I could just encourage the magic out the end? I tapped the pedestal several times¡­ and eventually it worked. It was a bit sluggish, though. It took it almost a second of contact to completely pierce the Force Armor. ¡°It seems pretty slow. Also, it¡¯s a bit heavy and long? I don¡¯t want to complain, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Vilhelmiina waved me off. ¡°It will be just the right size once you finish your growth spurt.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± I asked. Both that I was apparently in a growth spurt, which had surprised even me, and how big or strong I would be.


    ¡°Intuition!¡± she said. ¡°Also they let me analyze DNA samples from arrested orcs and I compared yours with your current parameters.¡±


    ¡°And that lets you know how tall I will be?¡±


    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t suffer from malnutrition, but I think that would be quite difficult. You¡¯re about twenty-five percent Power Brigade energy bars.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re pretty convenient,¡± I admitted. ¡°So, uh, is this all?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± she nodded. ¡°Take that thing and get going.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± I hadn¡¯t realized it was for me, but¡­ why make it to theoretically match me if it wasn¡¯t? ¡°Well, thank you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who captured those daggers, and I got to take them apart. Fair is fair.¡±


    ¡°Technically our squad got them together. Especially Acid Man-¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t care. Busy now,¡± Vilhelmiina waved me off.


    So I went, carrying with me a magic? Staff. Or an antimagic one. I was going to have to actually practice with this, wasn¡¯t I? At least it would make some things easier. I was pretty decent in unarmed combat, but I didn¡¯t have the powers to make that better than having an actual weapon. Staves were on the approved less-lethal list as long as I minimized blows to the head, a perfectly reasonable thing to make use of. And it was a staff, a proper magely weapon and not some sort of barbaric weapon like an axe.


    -----


    As a mercenary super, the day to day was mainly filled with training and patrols. Compared to heroes we weren¡¯t that different, we just got the less desirable patrols. From a certain perspective, at least. Personally I felt that areas with more violence were better, as I could both stop more trouble and get experience for combat. In return for the trouble, we were paid more- at a base level. With ¡®merchandising¡¯ that didn¡¯t necessarily stay true, and it was the image that was really what set heroes apart. Nobody wanted Captain Punch advertising their stuff. Even the gyms that thought they wanted it really didn¡¯t. I heard about one incident where he complained about some place¡¯s dumbbells not going anywhere close to one ton. The actual commercial never got recorded.


    Mercenaries also accepted a wider variety of individuals¡­ those who might not be able to get positions as heroes, for example. Say, for example, those with criminal records or who punched a fellow hero trainee in the face. Or orcs from a fantasy world who got arrested on their first day even if they were declared innocent.


    It seemed like a lifetime ago that our squad was assigned to work that wasn¡¯t for the city itself. To be fair, it had been a good portion of my stay in this world. After that point there had been so many patrols and trouble with Handface and portal incidents. It was also rare for private individuals to hire mercenary supers, as well. It was not cheap. I knew that for certain, because each of us were paid well. Enough to afford movie theater concessions every once in a while, where bags of popcorn cost as much as baggies of diamond dust.


    We went over a general reminder of the protocols for how we should act on such a job, and then our squad made our way over to the actual person hiring us. We were met with a large head, pure black eyes, and a very tall chair behind a desk that barely made our employer for this job eye level.


    She had a cigar almost as big as her hand held between two fingers. ¡°It¡¯s a pretty simple job. I¡¯ve got a dock and warehouse. There¡¯s a high value shipment coming in, and it needs to remain in the warehouse. Obviously. Don¡¯t know what villains might catch word of it, but it¡¯s your job to stop anyone from barging in.¡±


    ¡°We understand,¡± Ice Guy said, completely calm as smoke was exhaled generally in our direction. Not directly for any of us, but it was certainly¡­ smoky. ¡°I don¡¯t believe we were introduced?¡±


    ¡°Kendrux,¡± the martian woman said. ¡°I already know you. One of my employees vouched for your capabilities. So I already know you.¡± She tapped her cigar on a nearby ashtray. ¡°She¡¯ll be picking up the shipment in three days. Until then, we¡¯ll have you remain on site. We¡¯d like some of you on active duty at all times. But of course, everyone should be ready to participate in case something comes up. I¡¯ll have my guards coordinate with you. They¡¯re familiar with the area. They expect to see you in ten minutes, there¡¯s a vehicle waiting.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll be on our way,¡± the captain said.


    Once we were out of the room, Midnight spoke up. ¡°I have a bad feeling about her.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°Is it¡­ because she smokes?¡±


    ¡°And the suit,¡± Rocker pointed out. ¡°That screams mob. Haven¡¯t you seen movies?¡±


    ¡°I have seen¡­ more than one,¡± I commented. ¡°Zorphax is nice though. He wears a suit.¡±


    ¡°But he doesn¡¯t smoke cigars,¡± Ice Guy pointed out.


    ¡°He might. Just not at work.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s the thing,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°Kendrux and her organization maintain at least the appearance of legitimacy. We wouldn¡¯t sign up for this job otherwise. So unless we actually see anything criminal going on, she¡¯s just a customer with bad people skills.¡±


    ¡°She seemed pretty efficient to me,¡± I commented. But it did seem the general consensus was negative. I had to admit I didn¡¯t like the idea of lung cancer. Too bad I couldn¡¯t know every useful spell and keep them active at all points, or I could filter the air coming into our lungs a couple different ways. But obviously, I had my limits.


    ¡°But what if¡­¡± Acid Man didn¡¯t finish his question.


    ¡°What, they smuggle a shipment of drugs or guns? Then they wasted money hiring us,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°I know a few of you have special senses. If we detect anything alarming, we¡¯ll handle it then. But I¡¯m sure Kendrux is smart enough to not have anything crazy come through. Otherwise she would have hired, I don¡¯t know, Super Soldiers Inc. or something.¡± He looked off to the side. ¡°I¡¯m sure she already anticipated this sort of discussion anyway. I¡¯m betting on a shipping container full of gold statues.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re betting on that?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Then¡­ astral diamonds.¡±


    ¡°Tuna,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Probably art,¡± Rocker said. ¡°These types like their paintings by dead guys.¡±


    Acid Man and Shockfire had no particular contributions to the ¡®betting¡¯, and soon we were in the car with a guy in a suit and sunglasses, driving us towards some specific warehouse.

 Chapter 132

    As it turned out, the warehouse was a room. Technically, that was what most warehouses were, but generally they were¡­ bigger. It wasn¡¯t exactly a small room- maybe fifty feet on a side- but it was definitely a small warehouse. It looked like it was put together through a bunch of panels.


    There were metal crates placed pretty much everywhere throughout the warehouse. ¡°I wonder what¡¯s in those?¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± said the individual who had driven us, a man by the name of¡­


    ¡°Do you have a name?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Olim,¡± the suit-and-sunglasses guy answered clearly. Unlike his employer, he appeared human.


    ¡°They¡¯re actually empty?¡± Acid Man knocked on one of the metal crates, resulting in a hollow ringing sound.


    ¡°Yes. Feel free to use them as cover in case of a battle.¡± Now that he mentioned it, they were rather conveniently placed for such a thing. ¡°Until the shipment arrives there is nothing to protect. Feel free to relax until the delivery in fifteen minutes.¡± Though he said that, he kept his back straight, hands folded in front of him. I presumed that under his sunglasses his eyes were moving around.


    ¡°Who¡¯s delivering?¡± our captain asked.


    ¡°A martian,¡± Olim said. ¡°They will be lowering the package through the roof,¡± he gestured to some panels that looked as if they could flip open. ¡°I will control the warehouse doors.¡±


    ¡°And picking up the shipment?¡±


    ¡°When the individual in question arrives in six to eight hours, they will come through an alternate entrance that I open.¡±


    ¡°What if something happens to you?¡± Ice Guy said.


    ¡°Then Madam Kendrux will send a replacement,¡± Olim said flatly. ¡°She is monitoring the situation. She has sufficient subordinates to handle any similar issues, but we are not capable of combating supers.¡± He gestured to the handful of others stationed in and around the warehouse- we¡¯d seen some outside the doors.


    Silence. Awkward and long. ¡°Since we have fifteen minutes, Midnight and I could use Force Armor on two of you¡­¡±


    ¡°A defensive ability?¡± Olim tilted his head. ¡°Then I would recommend myself and Evans. It would be inconvenient to need to call in a replacement for myself and Evans is¡­ danger prone.¡± That was the closest Olim had come to expressing an opinion since we¡¯d met.


    ¡°I can¡¯t help it if people like to shoot at me!¡± A small- or perhaps average sized for what he was- martian stepped out from behind one of the crates where he¡¯d been positioned. That spot had looked rather empty, now that I thought about it. I couldn¡¯t help but think that Evans didn¡¯t sound like a martian name.


    Midnight and I cast our spells, which would expend just about as much mana as we could recover in fifteen minutes. Our entire squad was already covered, of course, and there wasn¡¯t really enough time to expend something expensive. Stoneskin didn¡¯t really work ahead of time- even casting on just myself and Midnight basically took my whole regeneration over its approximate hour of duration. Plus it cost diamond dust, but given what we were being paid today, expending $20 or so every hour was reasonable.


    Then we waited for a helicopter to arrive. I had little experience but I knew they were quite loud- so when Olim stated, ¡°They¡¯ve arrived,¡± I was surprised, not having heard anything approaching.


    A button press on a remote and the center part of the roof of the warehouse hinged open. I heard a humming sound and looked up to see what some people would wrongly call a UFO. But based on what I¡¯d learned, that was a completely incorrect name- because these were identified and had been for a while now. It was a martian saucer. I don¡¯t know why I was surprised to see that, given the prevalence of martians related to this particular job already- and yes, two was a lot.


    The ship hovered over the warehouse, a large cone of light shining on the empty center of the warehouse and slowly lowering another crate. My goggles told me it was two hundred and sixty-five kilograms. That was, of course, far beyond what I could handle with Storage, but it was always interesting to see the mass of things with the odd goggles from Vilhelmiina. It was only about a half meter on a side, relatively simple to carry if not for the weight. The beam set it down gently, with seemingly exactly enough momentum to touch the ground and an uncomfortable lack of sound. Then the cone of light disappeared as the bottom of the martian saucer closed, then it flew off- a soft humming the only sound as it did so. Olim closed the roof behind it, gears clunking slightly as they turned the heavy sections of roof back to their positions.


    ¡°... I feel like that could have delivered the shipment to wherever it needed to go,¡± I commented.


    Ice Guy shrugged. It wasn¡¯t our job to question why things were being done this way. He did look curiously at the box, though.


    So did I. Though it would slightly throw off my mana regeneration, a bit of active mana gathering over the next hour would help cover the six points to cast Arcane Sight. The box was¡­ totally and completely normal. No magic, no super tech or powers of any kind.


    It wasn¡¯t just contained, either. I felt my spell penetrating through the layers of whatever this thing was, and though I couldn¡¯t discern the internal structure I was certain I had reached most of the internals. If there was anything special, it was either very small or extremely masterfully concealed. Even then, I would expect to feel some sort of concealment¡­ thing.


    ¡°Huh.¡± I said, ¡°How boring.¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    None of the squad asked for comment- not because they were uninterested, but because unnecessarily revealing information about my abilities while being ¡®monitored¡¯ was problematic. And there was really nothing I could tell them except that it was boring. Maybe it was a gold statue after all. Or maybe astral diamonds? Were those actually non-magical? Considering a small handful could buy any city I¡¯d been in back in my world, I hadn¡¯t actually encountered any.


    Then we waited.


    -----


    The first trouble came approximately an hour later. Our first warning was Shockfire. ¡°I sense something!¡± he warned. ¡°Body warmth and the flow of electricity.¡± He paused, closing his eyes to focus. ¡°Cyborgs, perhaps. Or people outfitted by tech supers.¡±


    I turned towards the door that I expected them to blast through, but nothing happened.


    ¡°South wall,¡± Shockfire pointed out- that was about the time something like a blowtorch started cutting through the metal walls of the warehouse.


    ¡°Should we¡­ stop them?¡± Acid Man asked.


    Olim answered that one. ¡°If it is easier for you to fight them outside the warehouse, feel free. Otherwise, I would suggest getting in position to deal with them at this choke point.¡± As he said that, he pulled out his gun- a pistol- holding it on the crate in front of him that was just about the right height to support him. Evans stood on a smaller crate to achieve the same effect.


    Acid Man ducked behind a crate closer to the wall while everyone else spread into their particular positions. Ice Guy took mundane shelter- why build an ice wall when he could just use what already existed?


    Rocker had a question. ¡°Wait so we aren¡¯t concerned about damaging property?¡±


    ¡°As long as the package is unscathed, the rest of the warehouse is irrelevant,¡± Olim confirmed. ¡°Including the structure, though I should note that it collapsing would likely harm the delivery.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not that wild,¡± Rocker said. ¡°Just good to know I can not worry about ripping up hunks of concrete.¡±


    As the flames continued to lick through the wall, Shockfire edged his way closer, to the point he was actually holding his hand out to touch the flames. Even though the flames wouldn¡¯t hurt him, normally the Force Armor would prevent them from touching him- but we¡¯d tested things like this out before. As long as he was attempting to draw something in, it could bypass the magic. That only worked so much, as there were limits to what he could absorb and if something was particularly potent it might weaken the Force Armor even at his best efforts. It seemed he found a sweet spot with his hand just in the tip of what seemed to be the flames of a very large blowtorch- instead of a flame being a handful of inches, it went a good foot beyond the wall- and the walls weren¡¯t exactly thin.


    It took a good minute for the shape of a door to be carved out, after which there was a loud thudding as someone attempted to kick out the section of wall. They hadn¡¯t done the bottom yet, which was quite embarrassing for them- and it was solid enough to not bend. The warehouse wasn¡¯t just corrugated sheets on the outside, or with the power they had it would have been chopped apart in a few seconds.


    Shockfire backed behind cover while they finished their cut- apparently having absorbed enough and not wanting to risk being exposed when things actually happened. The piece of wall fell out easily the second time and then¡­ there were gunshots. I nearly ducked for cover before realizing that was from our side.


    I supposed people invading a warehouse was sufficient justification to shoot them. There might be some issues if they actually killed people, but that was something they could handle on their own. After the initial moments, I wasn¡¯t quite sure if it mattered, anyway. Bullets flew but I heard quite a few sounds of metal being struck as the few figures at their new ¡®door¡¯ staggered back.


    Then a couple of them leapt through and started shooting lasers out of their arms. I didn¡¯t think there were so many groups of cyborgs in the city, and I was right. This was the Mod Squad again.


    I was quite glad for the nearly full cover the large metal crates provided, and I kept just my eyes above waiting for the opportune moment. When somewhere around a half dozen guys had stepped through with no more visible, I released my gathered mana at them. They suddenly began to move more sluggishly as Slow came into effect. I could have focused on one and made the effect stronger, but that seemed overall less impactful on a battle.


    People began to spring into action, Rocker stepping out to strum on his guitar, amplifying the sound to blast the area they had all come in. It was clearly more impactful, sending them reeling while the gunshots had seemed only minimally effective. Yet the four out of six that remained standing managed to spread out in all directions, the copious cover also helping most of them- except the one that Acid Man entangled himself about. There were all sorts of things he could dissolve on a cyborg without killing them, and though it could take some time to dissolve metal I knew he could also focus on smaller bits, like wires or other connections.


    Ice Guy got behind one of them, but even as he was tossing out an orb of ice they were spinning around. This one had that blowtorch arm- cutting Ice Guy¡¯s attack in half. One section still impacted the man¡¯s left side, covering it in a layer of ice, but the other hit a random part of the warehouse. Perhaps if he¡¯d been able to move at full speed he might have avoided it entirely or even torched our captain.


    Midnight scrambled past the legs of one of them, swiping out with an electrified paw. From our previous experience with the Mod Squad we knew that their electronics were not particularly sensitive to electricity- but overall they were still just about as susceptible as a human. Maybe a tough one, but it didn¡¯t take much juice to lay someone flat.


    In a moment that guy was down, and Shockfire melted right through one of the beam arms. We wouldn¡¯t chop off biological limbs unless we had to- that sort of thing led to a negative reputation for being ruthless- but these were effectively just weapons. The fact that the Mod Squad had chosen to replace bits of their body with things more acceptable to destroy wasn¡¯t our fault.


    They went down easy. Sure, we couldn¡¯t expect every member of a gang- even a ¡®super¡¯ gang- to match up to trained mercenaries with real powers, but it seemed too easy.


    When I turned around to see more dropping in through high windows behind me that the warehouse definitely did not have previously, I realized half of my mistake.


    When the front doors exploded into pieces to reveal a completely different group of people in military garb, I realized the other half. There didn¡¯t have to be just one group of people who wanted this thing.


    Though what Super Soldiers Inc. was doing here at a civilian warehouse was another question. They were a mercenary company- not like ours, as the Power Brigade execs would always point out- and though we weren¡¯t on good terms at all, they weren¡¯t supervillains either. Which meant they probably had some complicated excuse to be here.


    I wondered what was in that box. Our contract with Kendrux promised it was nothing illegal- clearly, some people had different opinions.

 Chapter 133

    The doors exploded. Figures in bulky armored suits with oversized guns stepped through the smoke into the warehouse. I thought about a few things in that moment- how I wished I had a particular spell, how I¡¯d never spoken to someone from Super Soldiers Inc. and probably wouldn¡¯t today, and how I was glad that I at least had Stoneskin up.


    The rain of bullets started a moment after that- Olim and Evans were brave enough to take a few shots at the group before ducking behind their respective crates. I did the same because I had to think about what spell to use. Sonic Lance was my first instinct, but I already knew it would be slower than a gun. Unfortunately, pulling out my pistol was also not a good option- the equipment Super Soldiers Inc. had protected against anything of my caliber. And they needed that, because if they showed up somewhere no villain was going to hold back. They were the epitome of escalation in that regard. How they kept their license with their operations was some matter of debate- maybe they kept just on the right side of the line and were just useful enough to the city¡­ or maybe there were bribes. None of that was my job to figure out.


    This would have been a great time to have advanced in level. I could throw out a Fireball- no, a Lightning Bolt. Actually, maybe a Disintegrate would be more appropriate. Maybe even Meteor Swarm. Though the last one would be too much mana, and I did not want to see what happened if I screwed that up.


    But I didn¡¯t have a level and I only had 1 point left from the last one. If I survive this whole deal I couldn¡¯t imagine not gaining a level, but I couldn¡¯t distract myself for looking for it mid-battle.


    Hearing the sounds of gunfire was strangely calming. The repeating pattern of bullets plinking into metal crates was musical, if a bit loud for my tastes. Rocker was also loud for my tastes- and rather reckless. He didn¡¯t take cover. I knew his sonic powers automatically deflected bullets, but that seemed a bit¡­ too much.


    A strum on his guitar was enough to blast a couple away. I wasn¡¯t sure if they would be down for the count, but they were clearly affected. It didn¡¯t take more than a moment for Rocker to become a target, and he only got a couple more strums off before I saw him stagger backwards and fall.


    I was going to be pissed if they killed him.


    I could probably pull off a Prismatic Spray¡­ but with that armor I wasn¡¯t sure if it would hit hard enough. And if I could cast it, I could only do exactly one. But I still had no points.


    Shockfire had taken the logical shelter route. The same with our captain, though he was flinging out ice spikes and blades from either side, trying to catch any of them. Acid Man, meanwhile, could be seen creeping towards them. Midnight was panicked, though he was the least viable target. I felt him scuttling around the area, his thoughts a jumbled mess.


    Oddly enough, it was Midnight that got me back on track. I was certain that was him, while I was calm. Calmish. Enough to make a better decision than leaping out and relying on Stoneskin while I Sonic Lanced a few and then bashed the others with my staff.


    I could only take a moment to pull up my spells, as they were advancing, but a quick look made me realize I was looking at the wrong end of the spectrum. I ducked my head out by the floor and looked for where they were advancing- about half of them firing and half reloading at any time as they pressed towards our cover. A simple Grease spell right at the easiest choke point they had to pass, easily missed in the dark. Two mana, only a short moment to cast it. That wouldn¡¯t stop them, of course, but it was just the start.


    There was no massive chain reaction I could think of here. Their armored suits had to be fireproof- my jackets and pants were nearly fireproof and at least bullet and stab resistant, and they were barely different from street clothes. Francois did a great job. But the point was, what these guys had must be better or it was a whole lot of weight for nothing. A minimal fire wouldn¡¯t do.


    So I hoped that the rest of my team had something greater to contribute and did what I could. Mage¡¯s Reach, three mana. I had no idea if it was valuable to cast it at its maximum potential, but I might need a bit more force. With three upgrades, expending the full mana cost came to about thirty-five percent more force. And speed.


    Before I could start my plan, the panicked Midnight ran up to me. ¡°What¡­ w-what do I do?¡±


    I didn¡¯t have time to think. ¡°Haste people.¡± I meant, of course, our allies. I should have assumed Midnight would start with us. That was probably the correct choice, but I still felt the sudden change surprising. Before I could even say thanks, he was off.


    I stuck my head around the corner, finding my goggles suddenly useful. For example, they told me the guns carried by these guys were 10 kg. That was¡­ way too much. I didn¡¯t do exact calculations- though I did have more time to work with now- but it was somewhere more than twice a reasonable weight for an automatic rifle. Probably more than five times my pistol.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    In short, I couldn¡¯t grab those. But I could grab the ammo clips. Those were nearly 1 kg each- I really wished Vilhelmiina had made an option for these ¡®Mass Goggles¡¯ to measure in pounds, but she was adamantly against it. Too bad all of my abilities were measured another way.


    Still, they were right there on the bandolier, ready to be pulled out at a moment¡¯s notice- and they frequently were. I could see that these soldiers did so in a particular pattern, from high to low- so I started at the low end. It was unfortunate that the speed of Mage¡¯s Reach could not take full advantage of Haste, but I was able to perform more precise movements with my enhanced perception of time. I was also less worried about getting shot because from where I was lying on the floor I would have plenty of time to roll away if someone aimed down at me.


    Probably. Best not to think about that too much.


    If the whole warehouse hadn¡¯t been full of muzzle flashes, they might have seen my spell start snatching things out of their bandoliers. I did my best to grab a few without dropping them. I managed that with one batch, which I then dropped into Storage. I moved onto the next guy, and fumbled a couple of those- but nobody had noticed my work yet. In my other hand I palmed a crystal. If I needed it I should probably absorb it now, but I really didn¡¯t like my blood betraying me.


    The front ranks of the dozen or so individuals- I hadn¡¯t taken a precise count because of all the shooting- finally made it to the Grease. Their high-traction boots had a lot of fun with the magically slippery substance, proving insufficient- and as the one that toppled backwards demonstrated, they had a lot of weight with them as they went down. I think he took out two other guys- or maybe gals, I couldn¡¯t tell with all that equipment. Someone also continued spraying bullets as they went down, and though it didn¡¯t seem to take anyone out the modicum of friendly fire made everything stop for a moment.


    Then Acid Man wrapped himself around the legs of one of them. I could see him processing information, not content to passively dissolve. He wiggled around to try to find gaps he could squeeze through, but apparently they were quite adequate in that regard. But instead of working his way to the upper torso, his oozy body suddenly pushed in two directions- forward on one knee and back on the other with a bridge of green goop in the middle. A good choice- the armor seemed to defend from impacts and all sorts of damage, but it could not prevent grappling without locking its inhabitants legs in place.


    Ice Guy had been Hasted, I could tell that even without turning to look at the man himself. Though he was still limited in his maximum output, the manner in which he performed his attacks changed. I saw precise shots freezing triggers and joints instead of him flinging large orbs around a corner. With more time to think and move, he could manage those better. Shifting positions rapidly also allowed him to avoid return fire. I could see now how the maze of crates was optimized to provide the most cover to those in the middle, and less for those who might try to find their way in after.


    Shockfire was not our best bet to stand up in front of a wall of bullets- even if that wall was somewhat less now with people being taken out one at a time- but he was plenty occupied still. After all, there was still the other threat. Though I¡¯d basically written them off, the Mod Squad still had their second group coming. Good thing someone thought to prioritize the mission.


    I only caught a few glimpses, as neither group stood up above the level of the crates. I only saw blasts of fire and the energy beams the Mod Squad favored. Once or twice I smelled a burst of ozone as electricity poured through the area.


    I continued snatching every clip I could reach- and grenades, once I spotted them. These dudes were loaded with munitions. It didn¡¯t take long for Storage to fill up, and I had to dump things next to myself. I considered throwing one of their grenades at them- their actions had already escalated things beyond any level of holding back- but I couldn¡¯t be certain which were flashbangs, gas grenades, or frags. People from this world might be more familiar, but I only knew they existed. And that frags looked like pineapples, but none of them looked like apples.


    Also Acid Man was still among them, which gave me a greater motivation to not throw the wrong kind of thing among them. Combined with a Hasted captain and myself, it was too risky.


    I kept my eyes peeled for somewhere I might poke through presumably insulated armor and Shocking Grasp someone, but it probably wouldn¡¯t be easy. Instead, I snatched a last few things, shoved some faces into grease as people tried to get up, and prepared myself to cover for the captain as he began to entomb people in ice.


    Three or four guys were tied up by Acid Man, attempting to tear him off one of their companions and finding that it was extremely difficult to do when someone was a self-controlling liquid with adaptable properties.


    The martian guy, Evans, had now worked up the confidence to approach the enemy group. He picked up one of the rifles which weighed probably a third as much as he did, spraying it towards the few who were still standing and wondering where their clips went. It took him about half a second to knock himself backwards with the recoil, only a short burst hitting anyone- though it did stagger back that guy. Landing on his rear probably saved Evans, as return fire came immediately, some of it still deflecting off of the Force Armor that Olim had shrewdly indicated should go to him. It was barely enough, but that was a whole lot better than barely not enough. At least he was in a state where he could roll behind another barrier.


    One Super Soldier broke out of the restraints Ice Guy put him in. A terrifyingly sharp icicle speared through his helmet and into his eye as he lifted his gun, snapping him back. The few individuals who thought they would try to break out of their restraints decided to take second thoughts. Their organization was the one legally responsible for all of this, and no medical insurance covered death.


    Or did it? One thing I knew about healing magic from my world was that life-returning abilities were not nearly so prominent as game literature would indicate. I could assume the same was true for those with super powers as well. But rare was not nonexistent. Something to think about¡­ never. Best to just not die. Or let anyone I cared about die.


    My broken tusk twinged as I looked at Rocker. It was at that moment he let out an amplified groan of pain. So not dead, at least. But we¡¯d have to wrap up quickly so we could give him proper medical attention.

 Chapter 134

    The last remnants of the Mod Squad and Super Soldiers Inc. were quickly cleaned up. Fortunately there was no immediate followup attack, as any more would have been more than we could handle. Rocker was down. I had somewhere around 10 mana remaining and Midnight was almost out. Everyone¡¯s Force Armor was broken and my Stoneskin had mostly chipped away, leaving me with various weird bruises underneath.


    Our captain was just finishing up a call with the Brigade. ¡°We¡¯ll have some people over soon to take these guys off our hands,¡± he gestured to the individuals in cocoons of ice. ¡°The Brigade will keep SSI from causing more trouble, and figure out what they were here for to begin with. We¡¯ve also got medics coming to cart off Rocker. And their boss,¡± he looked over over at the suits nearby, ¡°Is having a necessary conversation with the Brigade. If we already had this kind of heat so early in the night, there might need to be some renegotiation. But that¡¯s not our job. Unless the Brigade calls us off, we stay to protect the package¡­ short of our lives, of course.¡±


    The ambulance for Rocker arrived first. Some quick checks by the medical professionals made certain he was stable- there was a super with them who did some sort of quick healing to bring him to that state- and then he was off.


    The pickups for the SSI troops came next, which involved a lot of quick divesting of armor and not a lot of gentleness. Some of them were unconscious and limp. ¡°... Are any of them dead, you think?¡± I asked.


    Captain Senan shook his head, ¡°Could be, though SSI makes them tough. And I do mean that. They have some natural supers, but most of them are augmented. That¡¯s not a cheap process. Which is why it comes with a twenty year contract. And why they¡¯ll be paying us for the privilege of getting their soldiers and maybe their gear back.¡±


    ¡°So we might just fight those same guys again later?¡±


    He shrugged, ¡°Same with anyone. This way just doesn¡¯t involve anyone breaking out of prison. And I¡¯d rather deal with people I know I can beat than another group that might be better.¡±


    ¡°Or they could learn from this and take us out next time,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Are you gonna let them learn faster than you?¡± Ice Guy raised an eyebrow. ¡°Because I¡¯m not. And these particular individuals wouldn¡¯t find themselves motivated to specifically kill us. It¡¯s about the best we can get. Or we could have slit all their throats and lived sheltered lives for a decade so none of their death squads got to us. Wouldn¡¯t matter if it cost SSI tens of millions or shut down their entire operation if we died.¡±


    ¡°Tens of millions?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°This here they can vaguely get away with as being a mission that seemed legitimate or whatever. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they come out a few million lighter, though. Their gear has to be worth at least half a mil.¡±


    After that, we had time to rest, looking around the ¡®warehouse¡¯ which had two large holes. One where there used to be the front door, one in the side. At least it still seemed structurally sound. ¡°You alright, Midnight?¡± I asked the sprawled out feline in front of me. Technically I should have called him ¡®Familiar¡¯, but I didn¡¯t.


    ¡°That was exhausting,¡± he said. ¡°Way harder than training. And so loud.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°You alright, Acid Man?¡±


    ¡°None of them came with form-solidifying weapons, so I can say I¡¯ve definitely been worse. Just drained. It takes a lot of work to dissolve some things. And just wrestling super soldiers, apparently.¡±


    ¡°How about you, Shockfire? Low on juice?¡± I couldn¡¯t really help with that much at the moment, but I often built up his stores.


    ¡°Actually, I¡¯d say more the opposite. Absorbed too much, and that¡¯s also exhausting. Those blowtorch arms were crazy.¡±


    I looked over to Captain Senan. ¡°I¡¯ve got more experience and endurance¡­ but I definitely need breaks just like anyone else,¡± he admitted. He tossed something wrapped in plastic to me. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to eat.¡±


    As exhausted as I was, I didn¡¯t actually feel hungry. But I ate anyway. Power Brigade energy bars were¡­ fine. I didn¡¯t hate eating them, but they weren¡¯t good. They were just something I consumed when I needed a boost. Using magic took more out of me than just mana, and scurrying around in battle and using Mage¡¯s Reach like that was also tiring.


    Half an hour passed without incident, after which our captain got a message. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll be staying. Another squad is going to run interference away from the warehouse, but we¡¯ll still be responsible for what makes it here.¡±


    ¡°Which squad?¡± Rasmus asked.


    ¡°Jim¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I know the rest of them,¡± Rasmus admitted.


    ¡°They¡¯re more¡­ traditional,¡± Captain Senan admitted. ¡°Though pretty much everyone is.¡±


    -----


    My phone vibrated shortly after that. It was that reporter guy. I figured I should at least answer. ¡°I¡¯m working. Can¡¯t talk now.¡±


    ¡°Oooh, anything newsworthy?¡± Zack Brannigan asked.


    ¡°Just guard duty,¡± I said. I wasn¡¯t going to indicate where. ¡°Why are you up in the middle of the night?¡±


    Zack sighed, ¡°I just had a good feeling, you know? My reporter senses were tingling, and most of my good stories lately involve you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sorry, maybe some other time.¡± After the job was over I could probably tell him about SSI attacking, depending on if the Brigade¡¯s silence on that topic was paid for. The Brigade did encourage keeping good relations with reporters if possible.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    -----


    Two hours since the attack. We¡¯d received official updates on Rocker¡¯s condition. He had more than a handful of broken ribs and a few clean holes through him. None of that was great, but considering he¡¯d been under a hail of bullet fire the fact that he was alive- powers or not- was quite something. Hopefully he¡¯d learn he wasn¡¯t invincible from this. Otherwise, he might not survive next time.


    Resting was hard. Sure, it¡¯s the default thing to do when tired, but it¡¯s a lot of work. Especially when I had to recover as much mana as possible. Midnight and I were close to restored, with some exceptions. We re-upped Force Armor on our squad. It was hardly possible to think of a use of mana more efficient than saving someone¡¯s life, and the spell was cheap and quite upgraded.


    What remained of our Stoneskin unfortunately faded- it didn¡¯t last much more than an hour. We hadn¡¯t been able to reinstate that yet, though it was just about time. Just for the sake of caution.


    With that amount of downtime, I honestly was beginning to believe the rest of the night would pass without incident. That was, of course, foolish. How could anything like this simply end with an attack by a villainous gang and rival mercs?


    ¡°Hmm, weird,¡± I said.


    ¡°What?¡± Captain Senan asked.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just a familiar power. I guess it makes sense. She kind of flies about New Bay as she pleases.¡±


    ¡°She¡­ who?¡±


    ¡°Stargirl,¡± I said. I frowned, ¡°Is there anything here besides docks and warehouses? Actually wasn¡¯t this warehouse supposed to have a dock? How come I haven¡¯t seen it?¡±


    ¡°The answers are no, yes, and I don¡¯t know,¡± the captain said, looking suspiciously towards the roof. ¡°Is she coming this way?¡±


    ¡°More or less,¡± I admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t really have a flight plan handy.¡±


    ¡°Can you set us up with some energy wards?¡± Captain Senan asked. ¡°Fire.¡±


    ¡°Well sure I- you think she¡¯s coming here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d prefer to bet on it and prepare than to bet against it and be unready.¡±


    ¡°... Fair,¡± I said. ¡°I can do you slightly better than fire, then. Midnight,¡± I called towards my buddy. ¡°You remember the feeling during the fight with gloom? Right before I got scorched?¡± I transmitted that as much as I could remember.


    ¡°I do,¡± he said. ¡°Clearly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get us and the captain,¡± I said. ¡°You get the other two.¡±


    It was basically fire. Or plasma? That was more ¡®correct¡¯ for what stars did. But it was also kind of its own thing. Not actually stars. Well, my ability to fine tune Energy Ward wasn¡¯t quite that good. It would be a lot like a basic fire ward in the end. I looked at a big crystal in a belt pouch¡­ and crushed it in my hand. One would be fine, and if I needed the mana I would really need it.


    Stargirl got closer. Soon enough my compatriots were able to feel her- though they could also see her light up the area outside our warehouse. She flew around the area for maybe five minutes.


    ¡°Maybe she¡¯s just on a normal patrol?¡± Shockfire offered.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± replied our captain. He slowly walked towards the front ¡®doors¡¯. Where they had been, anyway.


    A star suddenly lit up outside, the captain¡¯s silhouette being the only thing that kept me from going blind. Even so it was like walking outside after adjusting to lower light. Absolutely brutal. Wasn¡¯t there some law about how bright things could be at night? There should be. I began to rub my eyes. Hopefully they would adjust soon.


    An arrogant voice projected into the warehouse. ¡°I see battle damage. What happened here?¡±


    Our captain responded smoothly. ¡°Just mercenary business guarding a delicate shipment. It¡¯s already been handled.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to take a look.¡±


    ¡°You can like whatever you please, but you¡¯re not allowed in.¡±


    I could vaguely see now. I still had my hand in front of my face to prevent most of the light from getting to me, but I saw the light seep into the warehouse as she walked closer.


    ¡°I have reason to believe there is criminal activity happening inside. Step aside.¡±


    ¡°Did you see anything with your own eyes?¡± Captain Senan replied. ¡°Or do you have a warrant?¡±


    Hmm, that was a bit better. I wondered if I could convince Vilhemiina to give me anti-flash goggles instead. Or maybe I should just get some from the Brigade and wear those. At least I¡¯d adjusted enough that squinting let me vaguely see what was going on. Stargirl herself was too bright to see, but past her I could make out her dog. Spot, I think. The one that was almost certainly a Bunvorixian. How did he get here too, could he fly? Nah, she probably carried him somehow.


    ¡°I have enough suspicion to-¡± Stargirl¡¯s posture suddenly changed. ¡°Aha. An orc. Gotcha.¡±


    If I¡¯d been training with the Power Brigade for half a year and unable to respond to a charge, I might as well have just retired. So when Stargirl shoved our captain to the side and flew straight towards me, just skimming over the durable crates, my mind raced through options. I can¡¯t say I consciously considered anything. I just drew mana as quickly as I could, ready to form it. Haste or Slow would have both worked if I had time to gather the mana, cast, and then avoid the incoming charge. Instead, the mana went into my staff, swinging forward towards the brightness as I tried to dodge to the side.


    My staff hit something, and the mana flowed out of it. And then I could see, though my eyes were almost adjusted to light so I only managed to determine that my staff hit Stargirl¡¯s outstretched fist as I was tossed to the side- and she suddenly was no longer lit up light a star and fell out of the sky, her momentum carrying her into the crates straight ahead.


    I stumbled away, the negation of her power not having completely prevented all effects. But neither my staff nor my body was broken or exploded, so I would consider that a success. I was glad I¡¯d pushed myself to get a whole ten mana in that moment. That might keep Stargirl down for a bit.


    ¡°Aaaargh!¡± I heard a cry of frustration. ¡°My hand! That hurts! That really-¡± following that was a string of profanity that a proper hero was absolutely not supposed to use.


    I wasn¡¯t quite sure how to react, just readying myself as the rest of the squad rushed over, keeping an eye on the pile of crates.


    ¡°Shooting Star. This is a lawless intrusion upon private property,¡± Captain Senan said, raising his arm and gathering power in his palm. Not quite next to me- close enough to cover me while not getting in each other¡¯s way or being part of the same easy blast radius, but around one of the crates.


    I could feel the energy inside Shooting Star spasming. I would have to thank Vilhelmiina for her excellent adaptation of the functionality of the daggers into the staff.


    ¡°Nice¡­ try, punks. I saw¡­ an orc¡­¡± I could hear grunts of exertion as she was climbing to her feet. ¡°So you¡¯re all under suspicion of working with Doctor Doomsday.¡± The power that had been roiling inside of her push out my intruding mana. Then, like the starting of a car¡¯s motor, she was suddenly bursting with power again. And way too bright.


    Seriously, what was this woman¡¯s problem? Then I felt a pulse of power from Spot, and knew we were kicking into an actual battle. If I knew she could recover so easily, I would have kicked her while she was down. Her grudge with me was way bigger than mine with her, but I was happy to reconsider.

 Chapter 135

    The engine revved as Zack Brannigan angled the news van towards where it looked like Shooting Star had been going. News about Shooting Star was a mixed bag. Sure, she was a hugely popular hero, and was bound to get some views, but everyone would be posting the same things and the larger news channels would pick up most of the traffic. But if they could get something exclusive¡­


    ¡°I have a good feeling about this one Jody,¡± Zack commented as he turned a corner with the maximum legal haste- it wouldn¡¯t do any good to get pulled over on the way to something potentially big.


    ¡°Too bad Mage is just on guard duty. He¡¯s usually getting himself in trouble. Or maybe he is. We could have bugged his phone¡­¡± the camera woman trailed off.


    ¡°That would be excellent for getting exactly one story and then broken kneecaps and a stint in prison,¡± Zack shook his head. ¡°Also I like Mage so I¡¯d rather not snoop. Er, snoop indirectly.¡±


    A flash of light inspired Zack to make a right turn, hopefully leading him towards his goal.


    -----


    I could feel the power in our captain¡¯s palm building up to its very limit. Usually in battle he didn¡¯t have time to gather that much. ¡°You are disrupting licensed mercenary operations. This is your last warning,¡± he said. ¡°Stand down.¡±


    Stargirl¡¯s response was a blast of her power straight to his gut. Between that and her previous charge, which I¡¯d barely recovered from, I wondered if I might not prefer to fight Gloom instead of her. Sure, he filled my soul with dread, but she was terrifying. And I doubted Mental Freedom would be of any use.


    I felt the majority of my Energy Ward being torn through in that single blast of sunlight, which meant it was more than enough to be lethal to a normal person. She should know we were supers, but I wasn¡¯t sure if she would have sensed the Energy Ward.


    Our side¡¯s response was swift. The captain released his built up attack, the torso sized orb of ice shooting forward and exploding, coating the surrounding area in ice several inches thick. That included Stargirl for all of two seconds. But that was enough for me to throw a Sonic Lance straight into her center of mass. Shockfire also released a bolt of lightning he¡¯d kept in reserve from earlier in the day.


    Both of those would be only minimally hindered by the ice- even if it had been full thickness. As it was, by the time our attacks came the ice was a thin sheet that exploded apart into a cloud of steam, which was still too damn bright. Was that an intentional tactic on Stargirl¡¯s part? It seemed she could see just fine.


    I couldn¡¯t see what damage was done because of the light, but she was clearly still intact, full of power and flying. All that after enough damage to take down most heavies. Then again, Great Girl had punched her so hard she made a crater in the ground and Stargirl just walked it off.


    I wanted that power. I couldn¡¯t have that specifically, but I could grow so much stronger. And I would, if I survived this fight. That required dodging the fireballs she tossed at us, because I was not going to let my Energy Ward be wasted by tanking hits. Captain Senan got an ice barrier up between two crates- which were way more durable than they had any right to be. Acid Man collapsed into a puddle. Shockfire was crazy enough to only half duck behind a crate, his palm outstretched to try to absorb some of the fire. Suns were just fire I guess. The final blast in the quick flurry, each of which had concerningly high power output, should have been tossed towards Midnight. At least, that was the logical answer.


    Instead, it was flung at the poor little martian Evans. I couldn¡¯t see what happened to him as I only knew it was him because I saw a bit of his head poking around a crate.


    Then I sensed another source of power, and realized we¡¯d forgotten something. The freaking dog. Or Bunvorixian, actually. I could feel the magic forming, and though I wasn¡¯t familiar with the specific spell I could tell it was a malevolent enchantment targeted at our squad. As it seemed to blanket the area, dodging it would be useless.


    Then I heard a loud yelp and saw the above-average dane called Spot flip into the air above the crates. It seemed someone hadn¡¯t forgotten him- that someone being Midnight of course. I couldn¡¯t keep my attention on that because of the fire witch trying to burn me alive, but I did see him leap into the air after Spot, his paw crackling with electricity.


    Stargirl was zipping around up above, lobbing deadly attacks down at us with seemingly no limit. The captain was doing his best to hit her with ice spikes- no need to be gentle at this point. I needed to do something that would be the most effective. Fire was out. Electricity didn¡¯t seem that good even if I could touch her. Sonic Lance might work, but only if I could aim it properly.


    So Slow it was. That was honestly the best choice, a restrictive ability against a strong opponent. As long as it worked, of course. That would depend on her resistance. But as it let me vaguely target the area above us, I did my best to focus it around her and tried to slow her perception of time. For some reason it didn¡¯t immediately use all the mana I provided for it, so I pushed through the last point. Maybe it would be a waste of that point, but this had to work.


    And it did. Suddenly, both Stargirl and her following projectiles were moving like molasses. Even having absorbed the biggest mana crystal I had, I was basically out of mana. Less than a handful left. I could manage a discounted Sonic Lance, perhaps¡­ but I thought I would prefer something more enduring.


    Obviously the rest of the squad didn¡¯t miss an opportunity to play their hands. Captain Senan fired ice spike after ice spike, nearly instantly melting in the power around her but at least he was tearing up her outfit- no doubt of similar defensive utility as our own.


    We still had to run around, ducking and covering but with much more ease as the attacks had slowed in both velocity and quantity. Stargirl should technically be able to put out the same amount of power, but I wasn¡¯t going to tell her that.


    Shockfire took the opportunity to return a couple of Stargirl¡¯s fireballs back at her. I had assumed she would be resistant to that- and maybe she was- but there was enough power there to drastically reduce her glowing. I could actually see her now, instead of just a bright spot.


    Acid Man did something I¡¯d never seen before. Maybe it was a secret technique, maybe it was something wholly new. Given the nature of his abilities he wasn¡¯t good against flyers, but he had a large ball of green goop in his also green and goopy hand. He stretched back his arm, snapping it forward and flinging the orb of acid which I really hoped didn¡¯t contain any of the human part of him. Stargirl saw it coming, and though it began to boil away in her heat, it still landed on her left forearm, raised to protect her face. She said some more very unheroic and colorful cusses as it clung to her.


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    Then a gunshot rang out. My head snapped over to see Evans, half of his very large face blackened, standing fully on top of one of the crates. The bullet struck her in the thigh, only causing a bruise- which was totally unfair because even instantly melting the bullet wouldn¡¯t have removed its momentum and fire wasn¡¯t solid. The rest of a clip followed shortly after, then Evans jumped away from the slow-motion counterattack. He might have hit his head on a nearby crate if not for the stoic Olim catching him- from behind cover.


    Midnight was still in a heightened state of emotion, but stable. I had the feeling he was standing guard over a comatose Spot- and he wouldn¡¯t have much mana left either way. Even the two Energy Wards would have taken out a good third of what he could do at their reduced price.


    I only had a little more mana than necessary to cast Mage¡¯s Reach, and to retrieve something from Storage. Those two were basically unrelated- while I would have liked to carry around a little button that turned off supers if I could touch it to them, that was at best my staff, and I didn¡¯t have the mana for that. One point of dispel would have done nothing.


    Mages Reach wasn¡¯t as useful without mana for Shocking Grasp, but I still reached up to grab onto Stargirl¡¯s ankle. She slowly looked down to see what it was, and Captain Senan finally landed a good hit, freezing one of her arms. Not that he hadn¡¯t been hitting before, it was just her powers melted his ice so fast. This one lasted more than two seconds, and as she tried to yank herself away from my grip I pulled back, limiting her movements one step further than the Slow.


    And since I was out of mana, I only had one other method of attack. It was maybe not something very ¡®super¡¯, but neither was a Turlough out of mana. I aimed for the torso in general, pulling the trigger on my gun. Not a very magely weapon, but at least it wasn¡¯t a stupid axe. Each shot made Shooting Star¡¯s light fade slightly, bruises and maybe even actual wounds forming on the woman. I emptied my clip, reloading when she toppled out of the sky.


    I was tempted to shoot her on the ground. She¡¯d definitely just tried to kill me and my team. Great Girl didn¡¯t like her. She didn¡¯t like me. But I was better than that. She might be a fancy hero, but I got paid to actually follow the law.


    Captain Senan moved forward first, ice armor coating him, arm outstretched. ¡°Shooting Star. You¡¯re under arrest for criminal trespass, willful assault on active supers¡­¡±


    Somehow Stargirl still managed to talk, clutching her side where she crouched. ¡°I know you¡¯re working for Doctor Doomsday you damn filthy orc!¡±


    ¡°... And hate crimes,¡± Captain Senan said as he encased her in ice.


    -----


    ¡°... you damn filthy orc!¡±


    Zack Brannigan took a deep breath and looked over at Jody. ¡°Please tell me you were filming.¡±


    Jody looked over at Zack with every single one of her eyes. ¡°Oh, I was filming alright.¡±


    Zack raised his hands to the heavens, tears streaming down his face. ¡°The god of news does exist.¡± He grinned, ¡°Or at least the god of paparazzi. Good enough.¡±


    There was a huge hole in the warehouse, melted walls- some of the ceiling was caving in. Metal crates had turned into piles of slag. And extremely conveniently, the angle of flung about crates allowed a nice view of the scene.


    ¡°This is Zack Brannigan of Channel 72 news,¡± he said, turning to face the camera with a smile. ¡°You heard it here first folks. Shooting Star just destroyed a warehouse, attacked members of the Power Brigade in good standing- one of which she had a grudge against, I might add. Clearly this was a targeted attack on Mage and his team.¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°It¡¯s a shame when good heroes turn bad, but Channel 72 news will always be here to report on it.¡±


    It was very, very hard to not do a happy jig.


    -----


    A blue blur that resolved itself into Shockwave appeared holding a box. ¡°Special delivery,¡± they held it out to Captain Senan. ¡°Wow she¡¯s melting that stuff fast.¡±


    Inside the box was a pair of handcuffs. ¡°I¡¯ll put them on,¡± Maks volunteered. ¡°I¡¯ve got the best resistance just in case something goes wrong.¡±


    There was no argument- he just took them and clasped them on Stargirl, who had been constantly melting our captain¡¯s containment. Once the cuffs were on, all of that stopped- and Captain Senan pulled off the remaining ice before flopping up against a nearby crate.


    Everyone else looked about ready to do the same.


    ¡°You know, I heard the report,¡± said a figure suddenly standing among us. ¡°But I was hoping it wasn¡¯t true.¡±


    Standing there next to us were two Brigade Execs. Movebrain- who could teleport and thus seemed to be how they arrived in the middle of us- and Captain Punch, the one who had made the comment.


    ¡°You know I wouldn¡¯t lie about that,¡± Captain Senan shook his head.


    ¡°Yeah, but we could hope that you were under some sort of mental control,¡± Movebrain commented. ¡°Alas. This is going to be a PR nightmare even if we¡¯re in the right here.¡± His eye flickered over to Zack Brannigan. ¡°And the news got here before us?¡±


    Zack waved, ¡°We caught her being racist on camera!¡± He yelled back. ¡°It¡¯s got thirty thousand views already! Also I¡¯m definitely standing on public property so you can¡¯t stop me!¡±


    ¡°... I don¡¯t know if this is better or worse,¡± Movebrain shook his head.


    People just kept arriving, it seemed, because the next made a loud crash. The guy looked like he weighed three hundred pounds, except then I saw he was covered in metal so I had to significantly up that figure. This guy was¡­ nobody important though.


    He cracked his knuckles- which seemed like it should have been impossible given they were fully robotic. ¡°Hands off my teammate.¡±


    Teammate? Oh right, Stargirl had a team. This guy was called¡­ uh. I knew his name, for sure. I definitely didn¡¯t have to look it up on my phone. Fryzor? That sounded right. Also- funny and totally unrelated coincidence- I had no signal now even though I got a call earlier in this same warehouse.


    My skin hurt. Why did my skin hurt? And how was it darker and red and wow some of it was even flaking. Was this a sunburn? I didn¡¯t know orcs could even get sunburn. Or maybe this was just a regular burn. All that leaping around didn¡¯t mean I¡¯d fully avoided everything. I was scorched all over, my nice suit all blackened. Francois was going to be so ticked off.


    ¡°Ahem,¡± Olim tapped my shoulder- which twinged. ¡°The package is ready for departure. If you could so kindly help escort it to the dock?¡±


    By that he meant help push it on a cart, down a previously unseen ramp which led down to a little cave- with a dock. If you could call a few dozen planks slapped together a dock. ¡°What do we do now? I don¡¯t see a boat or anything.¡±


    ¡°Just shove it into the water,¡± came a voice from below. I bent over to see a familiar face. Sirine.


    ¡°... We¡¯re not fighting are we? Because I¡¯m really not up for that right now.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m here to deliver.¡±


    ¡°... Were you the one who recommended my team?¡±


    She shrugged, ¡°I knew you were competent enough and that at least some of you wouldn¡¯t just attack me. Can you let me get moving now?¡±


    I took half a moment to think about whether I could or should do anything. Was it my job to stop every potential criminal I saw working for any random person? No. Not today, at least. Also Sirine was fine. She helped save a kid from that kraken on Halloween. And Deimos wasn¡¯t here trying to kill me. I shoved the crate towards the edge, where she caught it with a large bubble of water and pulled it along with her as she swam away.


    I looked back towards Olim, ¡°So we¡¯re done, right? Because I want to go home and sleep.¡±


    ¡°We are done,¡± he nodded. ¡°Thank you for your service.¡±


    Everyone who worked for Kendrux was so nice. Too bad I didn¡¯t get to sleep until the sun rose because of stupid Brigade stuff and all of the sworn testimonies I had to make. And helping Midnight convince people to arrest the ¡®dog¡¯. At least the Brigade brought drivers for each of us to get back home quickly.

 Chapter 136

    In front of me, a figure trembled. ¡°I¡¯m gonna¡­¡± Claws and teeth grew, and the figure turned into that of a giant, ¡°Murder that bitch!¡±


    I shook my head, ¡°Pretty sure you¡¯d have to break into a maximum security prison for that. Besides, we¡¯re alright.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe she¡¯d do that though! Or rather, I can totally believe it,¡± Great Girl sighed, ¡°But I¡¯m gonna be annoyed when she gets a light punishment.¡±


    Midnight added some important information. ¡°We¡¯re currently coordinating with lady Kendrux and the reporter to achieve maximum results. Her reputation will not get away unscathed¡­ and the Brigade will certainly aim for the maximum legal sentence possible.¡±


    ¡°Mmmnrrr¡­¡± Great Girl grumbled and growled, but slowly returned to her ¡®normal¡¯ size and shape. ¡°Yeah, they¡¯ll try but Shooting Star is very popular.¡±


    ¡°And has several lawsuits pending against her from the Brigade already,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But this wasn¡¯t a personal matter. This was a direct intrusion into a mission location after being informed.¡±


    ¡°Plus,¡± Midnight added, ¡°She attacked you. A figure she clearly knows and not just some orc. There¡¯s no excuse for her to say it was too dark with that literally being her whole power, and honestly your outfit stands out way more than the rest of you.¡±


    ¡°... She was way too bright,¡± I complained, squeezing my eyes shut at just the memory. ¡°That has to be a crime, right?¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure the assault and interference in registered super merc operations are more serious¡­¡± Great Girl pointed out.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad the captain predicted her arrival,¡± I shook my head. ¡°If we weren¡¯t all warded¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have gone well. On the other hand, that fight was worth a lot of experience.¡±


    ¡°Experience isn¡¯t everything,¡± Great Girl retorted.


    My eyes flashed. ¡°That¡¯s-¡± I stopped myself. ¡°Reasonable, I guess. But I did get a level.¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 27


    Experience: 1940/2030


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +4 (3|1)


    Firebolt +3


    Shocking Grasp +3


    Grease +3 (2|1)


    Force Armor +7 (6|1)


    Mage''s Reach +3 (2|1)


    Translation +1


    Alter Time Flow +5 (4|1)


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +4 (3|1)


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +3 (2|1)


    Sonic Lance +2


    Scrying +1 (0|1)


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +1


    Mana Crystal Deposition +2 (0|2)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +2


    Basic Light Magic +2 (1|1)


    Locate Object


    Alter Portal +1 (0|1)


    Gate


    Arcane Sight


    Sending +1 (0|1)


    Remaining Points: 28


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The biggest change was Haste and Slow combining into Alter Time Flow. I could have predicted that combination if I had been thinking about it. It also explained why that Slow was so effective, as it suddenly got a significant boost. Though if I recalled the information correctly, it went from slowing people to two-thirds of their normal speed to somewhere around 58%, maybe 56% if it applied the full 5 mana being spent during the time they combined. That was still another relevant portion of speed cut off, but it went from ¡®pretty slow¡¯ to ¡®somewhat slower¡¯.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t know what to spend these points on,¡± I admitted. ¡°I¡¯ve been noticing my lack of area damage options, but I haven¡¯t been able to use them because of collateral damage concerns.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I get you,¡± Great Girl nodded. ¡°Fireball and Lightning Bolt are great until you use them inside and set the whole building on fire. Or knock down a wall. Or support pillar¡­¡± she shifted her eyes around. ¡°But that usually doesn¡¯t happen.¡±


    ¡°Kendrux did not seem to mind the damage to her warehouse,¡± I said, ¡°But I still would prefer to not be the one causing it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I get ya. Even missing a big swing can result in problems¡­¡± she frowned. ¡°But for you¡­ well, I suppose Ice Guy¡¯s got cold covered. Maybe a Chain Lightning? Or Black Tentacles. Are those options?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Chain Lightning is at the limit of my points and mana cost,¡± I said. ¡°Level 13¡­ and I don¡¯t think it completely avoids collateral damage. Though it would be quite valuable to have. I could charge up Shockfire¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°But if there¡¯s a large group of people I¡¯m not sure I could restrain it enough to not¡­ fry them all. And I don¡¯t plan to fight SSI frequently.¡± I¡¯d certainly have to keep that in mind in the future, however. ¡°As for Black Tentacles, that one isn¡¯t that popular.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°It¡¯s crowd control and damage!¡±


    ¡°It does seem useful,¡± I admitted. ¡°I have heard it does not easily discern friend from foe, though I suppose explosions don¡¯t either.¡± It was only a few levels lower- but that was a difference of four points of mana and being able to upgrade it to increase its efficiency. Though I wouldn¡¯t necessarily want to upgrade it immediately. ¡°I will strongly consider that choice, thank you.¡±


    Great Girl puffed up, standing proud. ¡°I¡¯ve studied all kinds of spells. Uh, since I found out you were a mage. Obviously.¡± I already knew her secret, but perhaps she was still embarrassed about others knowing she liked ¡®nerd stuff¡¯. Or it was just habit. ¡°So what were you guarding anyway? It must have been pretty important if everyone was trying to get it.¡±


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But I don¡¯t know. Nobody told me. All I know is its size, mass, and that it wasn¡¯t magic. Or anything, really.¡±


    ¡°Could there have been some lead or something?¡±


    ¡°I felt the whole thing,¡± I said. ¡°Arcane Sight pierced right through. It was just¡­ normal.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ suspicious. But the higher ups know?¡±


    ¡°They do,¡± I nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t think they want to tell me though.¡±


    ¡°How boring,¡± she said. ¡°There must be some way to find out, though.¡±


    -----


    Zack Brannigan- and especially the people doing the actual editing- greatly appreciated the many angles available for the security footage. A good number of cameras had been destroyed in all the fighting, but Kendrux wisely had the data stored off-site. So while they lost individual feeds over the course of the night¡¯s battles, they didn¡¯t lose information.


    Before Shooting Star showed up, it was just another round of super shenanigans. The Power Brigade would probably care about all that stuff with SSI, but they had their own copy of stuff to work with. The big news was Shooting Star, the hero. Shooting Star using some very non-family friendly words was one thing, but Zack could applaud nothing more than the squad captain¡¯s very clear statements.


    ¡°Shooting Star. This is a lawless intrusion upon private property.¡±


    ¡°Nice¡­ try, punks. I saw¡­ an orc¡­¡±


    Shooting Star wasn¡¯t quite as easy to hear on the mics, but he found the best track and used that one. Some of the footage was washed out- her power was extremely bright- but with the cameras having their own adaptation and some editing Channel 72 would cobble together a reasonable amount of what happened.


    Zack was lucky that he arrived when he did, recording from outside- otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have this security footage. He was effectively bribed with it on the condition that they not immediately release the news to give the Power Brigade time to set up their own release and statements. He much preferred keeping a good relation with them, so he was happy to comply. Plus, it was a way better bargain than some others might offer- like not breaking his kneecaps.


    Sure, he liked his kneecaps, but it should be assumed that they would remain unbroken. He wasn¡¯t going to release anything on the part with SSI so they¡¯d be safe there. As for Shooting Star¡­ what good were kneecaps if you gave up a big story like this? It would be worth it, despite her rabid and sometimes portal powered fans.


    Zack made sure he had every account ready for posting to everywhere on social media- the ones on the official Shooting Star fan pages would of course immediately be banned for sharing the truthful and extremely easy to edit videos, but that was why he made sure he had spares that met the minimum requirements for posting links.


    -----


    Calculator pressed a button on his phone, dropping his arm to his side. ¡°Looks like our time is up. Technomancy is in place to prevent them from simply erasing everything, though no doubt they¡¯ll try.¡±


    ¡°Who is they?¡± I asked. ¡°Also why am I here?¡±


    ¡°The Heroes Association. And we absolutely can¡¯t have you at home right now.¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure I can watch videos from home. And I already saw it all.¡±


    He rolled his eyes. ¡°We are invested in not having you killed by fanatics at your apartment.¡±


    ¡°... I guess it would be trouble for Oswin if we fought there,¡± I conceded. ¡°But they can¡¯t beat me.¡±


    ¡°Confidence is good,¡± Captain Punch said, ¡°But don''t get cocky. You and Familiar there can¡¯t handle everything alone, even if you were in top shape.¡±


    I looked down at my hands. I couldn¡¯t actually see them, but I felt tender and crispy skin mixed together underneath. That was with a bit of accelerated recovery involved, even. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Calculator said. ¡°This involves you and your squad, and on a larger level the Brigade as a whole. You specifically are here so we can keep an eye on you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never run off after you told me to stay somewhere,¡± I said, offended.


    ¡°Once we convinced you to do something, yes,¡± Calculator said. While he spoke, his fingers were typing communications on his phone.


    ¡°So what was even in that box anyway?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Martian organ replicator,¡± Captain Punch said.


    ¡°You can¡¯t just-¡± Calculator held his head in his hands.


    ¡°What does it do? What is Kendrux going to use it for?¡±


    ¡°It replicates organs. They¡¯ll probably be sold on the black market for transplants.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± I frowned. ¡°Is that¡­ bad? Will they not work?¡±


    ¡°Should be healthy,¡± the muscular man shrugged. ¡°Assuming the machine is genuine. People will catch on pretty quick if it doesn¡¯t work.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ the problem is they won¡¯t be selling to everyone?¡±


    ¡°Organs are not allowed to be sold anywhere,¡± Calculator interjected. ¡°But some people want to be moved up the line, thus the options on the black market.¡±


    ¡°But the replicator isn¡¯t illegal, right?¡± I didn¡¯t actually care if it was, I was just confused.


    ¡°It is not,¡± Calculator said. ¡°But neither is it entirely legal, as unapproved martian technology.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°That¡¯s why it didn¡¯t register as magic or super-tech, I guess? It¡¯s just¡­ functional technology?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Calculator replied, clearly more willing to talk now that the cat was out of the bag.


    In related news, Midnight was sitting on my shoulder and had his own things to say. ¡°Wait you don¡¯t just have organ replicators here? I assumed they were available.¡±


    ¡°Not many,¡± Calculator said.


    ¡°So this machine doesn¡¯t hurt anyone, right?¡± Midnight continued. ¡°Since market dynamics will mean more available organs lowers the price, disincentivizing people from getting them¡­ other ways. And more people will be healthy.¡±


    ¡°Pretty much,¡± Calculator said. ¡°And it could be used internally in Kendrix¡¯s organization. Injuries are¡­ quite common there.¡±


    Ah, that was the official excuse then. Not technically illegal, doesn¡¯t have to be used for illegal purposes. I nodded. ¡°So the Mod Squad and Super Soldiers Inc. probably just wanted it for themselves, right? What about Stargirl? Did she really just stumble across us?¡± Another question was how the first two knew it would be there, but perhaps Kendrux knew of moles in her organization.


    ¡°Unclear,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Shooting Star won¡¯t say, and it¡¯s not worth putting the pressure to get some proper interrogators in there just to satisfy our curiosity. We¡¯ve got a pretty easy case as long as we don¡¯t mess around. She needs to be an example so people don¡¯t just think heroes can unilaterally attack us.¡±


    ¡°... Great Girl probably made this all harder,¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°Totally,¡± Captain Punch said. ¡°Though there¡¯s some leeway for personal grudges and smashing someone¡¯s face in the pavement every once in a while. This one will keep Shooting Star locked up for¡­ what, a year?¡±


    Calculator sighed, ¡°We could have gotten ten to life if she was someone else.¡± He paused for a moment, ¡°And total views just passed a million.¡±


    ¡°On what?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Combined Power Brigade statements and Zack¡¯s news report. Though truth be told it¡¯s mostly that guy. Thousands of views from dozens of locations adds up quickly.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that like half the city?¡± I asked.


    Calculator raised an eyebrow, ¡°How many people do you think live in New Bay?¡±


    ¡°Well I mean, I guess it¡¯s actually ten million.¡±


    ¡°Tens of millions,¡± Calculator corrected. ¡°So it¡¯s not like the whole city instantly saw this. But Shooting Star isn¡¯t just news here, but around the globe.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°People like attractive superheroines,¡± he said simply.


    ¡°Oh,¡± I frowned. I guess she technically fit that description.


    Then I got a text from Vilhelmiina. It simply said, ¡°Next time try to hit center of mass or maintain contact. For Science!¡± I had to ponder what that meant for a few moments, then realized she must have meant my staff.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± I replied. ¡°Also, can you make my goggles flash resistant? My eyes hurt.¡±


    She replied quickly, asking for me to come in immediately- but I couldn¡¯t because I was still on lockdown until they decided to let me out.


    So I took a look at the video, finding it did a good job of keeping camera angles and with surprisingly clear audio. I grimaced at Stargirl¡¯s last comment- which was also the opening clip. I didn¡¯t particularly care about being clean- though I usually was- but I couldn¡¯t help being an orc. Maybe I should have kicked her in the face while I had the opportunity.

 Chapter 137

    The squad was back together just the next day, even Rocker- though he was barely waddling about. Captain Senan had offered to have our meeting in his recovery room, but he insisted on getting up and about.


    ¡°I want you to know I¡¯m proud of all of you,¡± the captain said with a smile. ¡°Even you, Joe,¡± he looked at Rocker. ¡°Though don¡¯t do anything foolish like that again. You¡¯re not invincible. Clearly.¡±


    ¡°And my axe got busted,¡± Rocker sighed. ¡°What a shame.¡±


    ¡°... when did you get an axe?¡± I asked. ¡°I thought you only had a guitar.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s another word for guitar¡­?¡± Midnight said cautiously from my shoulder.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    Captain Senan returned to his speech. ¡°The fact that we can all stand here today, even if we¡¯re all a bit beaten and battered, is a clear sign of improvement. In six months, or less for some of you, a team of newbies banded together to take on one of the highest profile superheroines in the city. You weren¡¯t even fresh.¡± He turned to Joe, ¡°And though you weren¡¯t present for that, I am confident your contributions would have been valuable. It was only with your help that we made it that far relatively intact.¡±


    Acid Man spoke up. ¡°Our victory was only thanks to you, captain. My attacks were hardly useful. And Mage slowing her, of course.¡±


    ¡°I did make her easier to take out,¡± I admitted. ¡°But barely more than that. That new ability you pulled off was critical. And Shockfire actually managed to directly rebound attacks from her.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Everyone contributed admirably,¡± the captain nodded proudly. ¡°And that includes Midnight, dealing with the supporting Bunvorixian. Ignoring him could have gone quite badly. On that topic, it was determined that he was properly registered- but that doesn¡¯t absolve him from responsibility for criminal assault. Our lawyers will be dealing with that for the next few months.¡±


    I had a concerning thought. ¡°Do you think they would have attacked if I wasn¡¯t there?¡±


    ¡°Does it matter?¡± he tilted his head. ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything wrong. If a heroine like her can¡¯t control herself, she shouldn¡¯t be in that position. On that matter, though, we will need to be cautious in public for a while. There¡¯s no guarantee she doesn¡¯t have more portal power fans who might come for any of us. And her squadmates¡­ might not take it well. Remember, the law only protects you from subsequent attacks. We have to survive first. On that topic, we¡¯ll be engaging in a period of special training and staying off the streets for a while. If you don¡¯t know what you should work on, I can provide some ideas based off of the last mission.¡±


    I did have ideas, of course. All sorts¡­ including some oddities to sort through in my abilities. I understood that training could directly result in improvements¡­ but except for Mana Crystal Deposition, nothing had two upgrades from training. I wasn¡¯t sure if I needed more focus or to do something special. Every increase I could manage there would save me points that could be spent in other areas, while still providing the power and efficiency.


    I thought about what I would work on first as I stepped out of the meeting room, only to come face to face with another figure. Well, close enough. I was taller, wider, and all around bigger. No, it wasn¡¯t Great Girl in her natural form. Rather, it was the slight figure of Shockwave with their arms crossed, leaning against the wall. ¡°Word on the street is you have improved your abilities with Haste.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really? How did you hear that?¡±


    ¡°I have my sources,¡± they grinned.


    I grabbed Midnight by the scruff of his neck, dangling him in front of me. ¡°Does this have something to do with the large fish that appeared in the kitchen last night?¡±


    ¡°It was fresh tuna, Turlough! How could I resist?¡±


    ¡°Given that Shockwave wouldn¡¯t have known anything had happened without some information, someone must have solicited a bribe,¡± my eyes narrowed as I stared at Midnight, his eyes turning away from my gaze.


    ¡°Look, it really doesn¡¯t matter who said what first, right?¡± Midnight laughed nervously. ¡°Maybe you should show our friend what we can do?¡±


    ¡°... I would make you do it, but I suppose it¡¯s outpacing Familiar Bond again. Fine, let¡¯s go. Anything in particular you had in mind? The track again?¡±


    ¡°At some point,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°But today I want to try something in one of the training rooms.¡±


    The Brigade almost always had some rooms available, and as long as we weren¡¯t going to smash anything up it was easy to snag one with a bit of waiting otherwise. Not every room was able to adaptively recover- and if they were they could only do so much with available material. Sometimes they were scheduled for something specific later, limiting the options. The worst we would do, however, was damage the paint. And maybe some speakers.


    ¡°Not gonna like,¡± Shockwave said, ¡°I don¡¯t remember if we¡¯re even or if one of us owes the other favors.¡± They shrugged. ¡°We can just say the balance shifts more towards me owing you something.¡±


    ¡°I can definitely think of ways you can repay me. I have some things to test.¡±


    ¡°As long as it doesn¡¯t hurt,¡± Shockwave shrugged, then looked at me. ¡°... It won¡¯t hurt, will it?¡±


    I thought back to Stargirl flying at me, deflecting her with my staff and the cussing that followed. ¡°... We will start slowly and if it does hurt we can stop.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of Slow,¡± Shockwave said as we entered one of the tall, cylindrical rooms. ¡°I want you to use that on me.¡±


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°I thought you hated that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I do!¡± Shockwave said emphatically. But it¡¯s for training. Actual training and not¡­ fun training.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I nodded. ¡°How slow?¡±


    ¡°How slow?¡± They tilted their head. ¡°The slowest, I guess? How slow will that be?¡±


    ¡°One moment.¡± Let¡¯s see. Two-thirds at base. Five total upgrades. Somewhere around fifty-eight percent, but at full power that was another quarter. Somewhere around forty-seven percent. ¡°Slightly less than half speed,¡± I said.


    ¡°Bleh, sounds awful. Yeah, do that.¡±


    ¡°Alright, are you ready?¡±


    ¡°Man, that¡¯s a big question. Is anyone ever ready for this?¡± Shockwave sighed. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    I gathered five points of mana, reaching out towards Shockwave. The gesture wasn¡¯t completely necessary, but it was the easiest way to mentally aim. A cloak of time draped over Shockwave.


    ¡°Is¡­ it¡­ done?¡± Shockwave asked. I nodded. ¡°Ugh, I hate this. Though it does put me a bit closer to talking ¡®normally¡¯.¡±


    After that, Shockwave took off, running around the room. Reducing their speed by half did not suddenly make them not a speedster. It just meant if we were racing I would get lapped fewer times. The small room still didn¡¯t take long to make a full loop around, though I could actually vaguely see Shockwave at the far side of the room, where my eyes didn¡¯t have to travel as quickly.


    There was still somewhat of a trembling breeze as they passed, ruffling my coat and hair. ¡°Hmm, not good enough,¡± Shockwave mumbled on one of the loops. I wasn¡¯t sure what the plan was, so I just watched Midnight.


    We had stopped by to pick up a training dummy, where Midnight was practicing swipes with his claws. When regular cat sized, those weren¡¯t really dangerous without the addition of magic, but I could tell he was practicing for maximum contact. Shocking Grasp would be most effective that way, though it didn¡¯t need more than a couple moments. During a battle, however, one would expect an enemy to be trying to avoid you.


    Midnight also conjured up Mage¡¯s Reach, maneuvering a floating paw to shove the training dummy directly in the chest and then the jaw. Though it wasn¡¯t particularly stable, the stand at least held it up against the force he could provide. Even when he used Enlarge- though he was certainly closer to knocking it down. And he was able to reach higher with his actual paws, targeting the midsection and looking actually dangerous with his claws and teeth.


    It took a while to figure out Shockwave¡¯s actual reason for training. It was the second cast I noticed them running as quickly as they could- an effort I never actually could perceive if they were hasted. When I was finally asked to take times, I saw a better than marginal increase between two consecutive laps.


    Then, halfway through the third casting, somewhere around forty seconds in, Shockwave suddenly was no longer slow as they looped around towards me. I didn¡¯t manage to click the timer as I was avoiding being bowled over, though Shockwave did turn before actually barreling into me.


    ¡°... alright¡­?¡± I heard part of a question, with Shockwave now standing in front of me.


    ¡°That was loud,¡± I said. ¡°Give me a second to recover.¡±


    ¡°What even happened?¡± Shockwave asked. ¡°It should have continued for a while, right?¡±


    ¡°Were you fighting against it?¡±


    ¡°Well, sure. That was kind of the point of the training. Pushing my boundaries while slower.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°You broke the spell.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ wasn¡¯t quite the intent,¡± Shockwave mentioned. ¡°I was trying to limit the shockwaves I let off. Like your Freedom thing does. I could go faster and¡­ not break windows. I think it was working but¡­¡±


    ¡°But you negated the spell.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. That. Does it have something to do with my powers?¡±


    ¡°Anyone can,¡± I said. ¡°But your powers might make it easier. Only one way to find out. If you focus on that specifically¡­¡±


    As it turned out, it only took Shockwave ten seconds to do when focused on that. That was still ten seconds of being less than half speed- potentially a very critical ten seconds- but it bypassed most of the duration.


    ¡°Midnight, try it on me please.¡± I didn¡¯t have much mana left- enough for another two casts. ¡°I want to see how long it takes me.¡±


    Then I was slow. With few reference points besides Midnight and Shockwave it wasn¡¯t extremely clear, but the way they stood and shifted was as if they were in fast forward. Which meant Shockwave had a lot of experience looking ¡®normal¡¯ all the time, because I hardly even noticed that. But since they had to do that for speech, I assumed it worked the same for other things.


    I felt slow, even though my thinking and movement were both equally slowed together. There was just something weird about moving around. Then I remembered I was supposed to be negating the spell. Not with my staff, though- that would ruin the purpose.


    It didn¡¯t take too long to throw off. Maybe fifteen seconds. I guess if we had similar willpower, Shockwave¡¯s power didn¡¯t help.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± Midnight said. ¡°That was like forty seconds.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. I was slowed.¡± It felt like fifteen or twenty seconds, because my perception of time was slowed. How scary. ¡°Let¡¯s try one more time, to see if it¡¯s a matter of practice or if  Shockwave is just better able to resist.¡±


    I didn¡¯t waste any time at the start wondering at the weirdness of being slowed and got straight to unraveling it. It was like trying to push away a heavy blanket with my mind, and I felt myself get tangled up in it for a while. But I found I was every so slightly faster- a few seconds of real time.


    ¡°Well,¡± I said. ¡°Considering that you broke through that in ten seconds of real time, either your power helps or you have natural talent in that regard. I don¡¯t really have other spells to compare, so¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good I suppose,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°Though now I have to resist it but not break it to continue the training. How much more can you do?¡±


    ¡°About two,¡± I said. ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to rest for a while.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± Shockwave nodded, ¡°We¡¯ll do that, maybe have lunch or a snack¡­ then we can try the thing you wanted to do. Or we could wait for another day.¡±


    ¡°Today should be good, but I¡¯ll still need mana.¡± I wondered what negating powers felt like. I didn¡¯t have anything innate to myself, so even if I dispelled everything it would only set me to normal. It might hurt, given Stargirl¡¯s reaction, but that could also have had something to do with punching a staff and crashing into metal crates. Also my limited attempts with my squad mates hadn¡¯t shown much there. I was interested to find out.


    And maybe improve some of my spells a second time, if I could learn what was stopping me- be it simple practice or a trick.

 Chapter 138

    The time had come for another holiday, a widespread event which appeared to gain its power from the majority beliefs of the local population of New Bay¡­ which was sort of a self-reinforcing phenomenon. For example, monsters came out on Halloween- and people dressed up as monsters to limit the numbers of actual monsters that showed up. And the next year, everyone had those experiences whether or not they previously believed.


    That was what my information indicated, at least, and I had no reason to doubt it- and regardless of why, it happened and was going to continue happening. The next holiday that I had to concern myself with was Christmas. It had finally come, even though it felt like it took forever. Probably because of how early they had begun putting up Christmas related paraphernalia.


    ¡°Alright gentlemen,¡± Ice Guy stood with his back straight. ¡°Time to talk about the mission plan for tonight. We have to save Christmas.¡±


    ¡°From what?¡± I asked. ¡°And how? And why us and not someone more important?¡± I still didn¡¯t understand how all of this was supposed to work. There was supposed to be some Santa guy handing out presents, and that was it.


    ¡°From villains. They¡¯ll be trying to kidnap or rob Santa, and we have to help him in any way possible. As for why us¡­ well, Santa has to go to every house in a single night. Which means being in many places at once. Everyone will be covering their own sections.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ see,¡± I nodded, vaguely understanding. Midnight didn¡¯t seem much more clear on things either.


    ¡°Because of the situation we¡¯ll be staking out a few rooftops and escorting Santa through our section. Most likely the incidents won¡¯t overlap with anything else¡­¡± Ice Guy shook his head. ¡°But there¡¯s a good chance of us interacting with nearby teams. We¡¯re to coordinate with any heroes we come across, and any mercenaries from companies neutral or friendly with us.¡± He pointed to the information displayed behind him. ¡°Expect to meet the Beast Family or the Flying Force.¡±


    I nodded. They both operated in the same region of New Bay as Power Brigade HQ along with SSI but they were certainly less antagonistic. ¡°... Why are these other mercenaries so¡­ specific? Beasts and flying and burly dudes with guns¡­ didn¡¯t seem like balanced squads.¡±


    ¡°Because branding is useful for growth,¡± Ice Guy said, ¡°And it¡¯s not like the Brigade doesn¡¯t do that sometimes. Look at us, the Elemental Magic Squad.¡±


    ¡°... We do have variability in our powersets, though,¡± I said.


    ¡°Even so,¡± he shrugged. ¡°It happens. On that note¡­ well, there are things to talk about after the season is over. For now, let¡¯s focus on Santa.¡±


    -----


    My eyes scanned the night sky, finding little but disparate clouds. My goggles picked those out as areas of higher density. And, as expected, some more distant members of the Flying Force. Presumably. I hadn¡¯t yet memorized every single super active in New Bay, especially not those of less consequence. Those who were low or moderate in power weren¡¯t something I intended to fully ignore, but if they were not from hostile organizations I treated them with lower priority. I only directly recognized The Falcon, wearing a bird-beak mask on his head.


    I saw a good number of other individuals hanging out on rooftops, but no villains yet. In the streets down below there was a steady trickle of individuals coming back from various holiday parties, many staggering drunk. But I had been given no reason to disbelieve that Santa would arrive eventually.


    My current position was on the opposite side of HQ from my apartment. It was simply easier to avoid any trouble that might occur from people looking for me around my dwelling, and I didn¡¯t exactly get to pick my assignment anyway.


    I could sense Midnight on another rooftop, though from my angle I couldn¡¯t see him. He was bored as well. I knew some people were waiting with excitement and anticipation, but I had no personal connection to this Santa, no matter how important he might be.


    Then I finally spotted something. Another anomaly in the sky, descending from above the clouds. Sleigh? Check. Reindeer? Check. Fat man in a red suit? Check. Magic bag full of presents?


    Unclear. Presumably it would be in the sleigh with him, but I was below. The only thing I could say for sure was that there was some magic going on. It wasn¡¯t just him, but something about the world itself. As the sleigh descended from the sky, snow began to fall. That was¡­ most unnatural. New Bay hardly had any precipitation on account of its coastal position and low elevation- and it was also rather dry, considering the large body of water. Snow was just wrong.


    The next thing I noticed was a flying saucer coming in- there was an immediate report on our network that it was not authorized to enter the area. The Falcon swooped towards it, landing atop the small craft and effectively diverting it as it attempted to throw him off. Santa descended until he was atop an apartment building a few blocks away. ¡°Target spotted,¡± I reported on squad comms. ¡°Should we converge?¡±


    ¡°Negative,¡± came the response. ¡°Closer personnel will deal with it. Maintain your position and watch for threats as he continues to move.¡±


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Santa stepped out of his sleigh- which was just hovering over the rooftop, the strange creatures pulling it wagging their legs like they were treading water. Out with the man came his sack- which immediately produced a mass-overflow error in my goggles. Well, extradimensional storage should do that. I just wondered why it was such an impractical designed container.


    The bearded old man walked across the rooftop until he reached out for an HVAC and¡­ got slurped up. I was told he traditionally descended chimneys, but he had ways to magically enter anywhere necessary, it seemed. And it certainly was magic, though I could not have named a school to which any of his powers belonged nor equated them to a spell- despite some similarities.


    Then I could no longer focus on that task, as villains began to come out of the woodwork. The Mod Squad was only the start, but thankfully they were conservative with their lasers when dealing with buildings. Next came rats. Flying rats too, though not the birds some people called flying rats. Rather, these were rats with jet engines strapped to them. Little ones that fit their frame, whether they were ¡®standard¡¯ rat sized or closer to mid-sized dogs. Rodentia was making her play, then- and no doubt others.


    I spotted one making her stake on the next building over. A woman with golden skin and curling ram horns, as well as batlike wings. Given the fact that she didn¡¯t appear to have flown to her position, they either didn¡¯t work freely or she was going for subtlety. Though given the way she was surrounded by numerous individuals in golden clothing and masks, that only went so far.


    This was¡­ Golden Queen. Or Golden Demon, sometimes. I could feel the power pouring off of her. It wasn¡¯t comparable to Stargirl in impact, but rather a constant flow- which made sense because as far as her power had been discerned she could empower people or nearly miraculously heal their wounds and quickly recovered her own stores almost immediately when she expended any effort.


    We¡¯d have to take them out quickly- which meant backup. Midnight was nearby, and I immediately had him head towards my location- which would unfortunately take a bit scaling the buildings. They were intentionally placed far enough for it to be difficult to leap between them, and Midnight wasn¡¯t the sort to attempt that anyway. I could probably have carried him with Mage¡¯s Reach, but I could imagine him protesting at that as well.


    Rocker was still recovering from his injuries. The captain was with Shockfire, and together they were engaging Rodentia along with some other heroes. I wished them good luck dealing with her cheese ray and flagged down Acid Man.


    No offense to him, but he wouldn¡¯t be enough with just myself and Midnight. Not based on the threat level I had seen for Golden Queen. I scanned the area, and only saw more trouble down below. I didn¡¯t recognize the face- and it was hidden anyway- but Swarm had a pretty distinctive outfit for effectively being just a guy. Or many guys.


    He looked up at me, and held a finger to his lips. I frowned. Why would I keep secret the presence of a guy who definitely shot at me at some point- even if he hadn¡¯t been the one with the sniper rifle. Actually, if he had been the one, I probably would have ended my life full of holes in either sniping incident. I quietly spoke into my earpiece, but even as he watched me do it as we maintained eye contact, he didn¡¯t seem upset.


    Swarm didn¡¯t have a weapon out, instead clasping both hands together in front of him, a look of intense concentration on his face. Suddenly, despite him always being there he suddenly felt more there. Though I couldn¡¯t really describe why. A moment later, however, he began to split into at least a dozen of him. The primary one still kept my gaze, miming something like a toss, pointing first to my building then the one with Golden Queen. Then he pointed to himself and in both directions around the side of the building. Some of him started climbing up the nearby fire escape.


    ¡°What do you think, Acid Man?¡± I asked my approaching compatriot.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but what I do know is I¡¯d prefer to be on the same rooftop as you. See you in a minute.¡±


    Not long later, Midnight and Rasmus were by my side. At some point, Golden Queen had spotted me, but merely smirked at my presence. ¡°What do you guys think?¡± I asked the two. I would have gone for the whole squad, but I didn¡¯t want to fill the lines with unnecessary chatter.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ve worked together before. And if they did, he would have just come with her.¡±


    ¡°So he¡¯s probably not planning to join up, then,¡± I nodded.


    Acid Man provided his own theory, ¡°He might be planning to take out competition. That¡¯s fine for us, even if he intends to mug Santa later. We can conserve our own strength a bit while taking out a threat.¡±


    Swarm stopped about one floor from the top, waiting- presumably for the rest of him to get in position. Then one of them caught my eye and signaled. It was pretty clear what he meant as he immediately began moving.


    I¡¯d had time to think about what to do. My first thought had been Mage¡¯s Reaching my staff over the divide and smacking her with it, shutting down her powers. However, as her power was mostly recovering power, even if it worked I imagined it wouldn¡¯t work for long, not with the amount of energy I could expend. So I went for old faithful, Mage Reach with the intention to Shocking Grasp. Midnight did the same, floating cat paw sneaking around on a slightly different trajectory than my own hand.


    I have to say, Swarm knew how to be a distraction. He first started on the far side of the building, taking shots into the enemy group and forcing them to duck into cover. They dragged their fallen comrades over to Golden Queen who glowed brightly and touched each of them, after which they seemed fine.


    On the other side, Swarm also moved in close with combat knives out. If he was a merc I might have to chastise him for not even considering nonlethal options, but as it was supervillain on supervillain and minions, it wasn¡¯t my responsibility to stop everything. Besides, after the surprise wore off those same minions fearlessly charged back into the gunfire, unafraid.


    Good for them I guess. I was just going to try to zap down their leader, and from the way Acid Man was hefting a basketball sized green orb of acid, he was ready for his move as well.

 Chapter 139

    Because of their leader, Golden Queen¡¯s minions were effectively low power supers. They weren¡¯t afraid to charge forward into a hail of gunfire, and they swiftly tore apart some of Swarm¡¯s clones, where they melted away into piles of sludge that quickly dissolved into nothing.


    The woman herself was behind cover- the buildings HVAC¡¯s on one side and a human wall on the other, where she was healing minions as quickly as they were being shot by Swarm¡¯s flanking maneuver.


    One might wonder, then, how we were supposed to defeat Golden Queen. Swarm was already down to nearly half his numbers, and she had basically unlimited power and healing. The answer was quite simple really, a well-known weakness anyone going against her had to exploit. She couldn¡¯t heal herself. Thus the human wall.


    Acid Man¡¯s lobbed attack had one of the minions throwing up his arms to block it. A brave maneuver that led to the man¡¯s sleeves being completely dissolved in an instant, along with some of his skin. The golden skinned and horned woman behind him was already pouring power into him to shield him and heal those wounds, but some of Acid Man¡¯s attack slipped past, spilling over her upper body. Most supers had some inherent durability, even if they weren¡¯t necessarily the bruiser type. That applied to Golden Queen as well- but there were divots in her mask from the acid and red patches on her otherwise golden skin. A direct hit would have been at the limits of what she could handle.


    Mage¡¯s Reach came in from above, and a brave minion sacrificed himself, pulling down his mistress and covering her with his body. If that had been all I would have just slipped around him, but another grabbed onto the hand and wrestled it to the ground- for which he got shocked. I had saved Shocking Grasp for the last moment, but I couldn¡¯t get it down to the exact instant I touched my target- so the first thing that touched the hand got shocked.


    All that, and a magic cat paw slipped past unnoticed, Golden Queen only turning her head towards the source of power she sensed before it slapped her on the shoulder. The full power of the spell flowed into her, and she collapsed.


    Her minions were quick to respond, grabbing her and carrying her towards the stairs on the far side. Swarm¡¯s clones had been wiped out on that side, as well as most of those in the flanking position. Golden Queen¡¯s minions also dragged off her other minions- unless they were fully dead she could more or less heal them, though the power database indicated there could be significant side effects if they weren¡¯t healed almost immediately.


    Golden Queen¡¯s eyes fluttered open just before she disappeared behind the building, but she didn¡¯t seem to resist her minion¡¯s decision to retreat. That was smart, because we could certainly get her again if she stayed- even if it ended up costing Midnight and I more mana. Then she¡¯d get taken in. Even if villains were out in force for Christmas, they could still get arrested. However, even though we could have probably chased her down and done so, we were also expected to be reasonable. There were more villains to fight, and there were only so many the system could handle at once. Best for people to be high profile or doing more than a simple ambush plot against Santa.


    There was a knock, a ringing metal sound on the stairs behind us. ¡°I¡¯m announcing my presence so you don¡¯t overreact, alright?¡± came an unfamiliar voice. I couldn¡¯t say I would recognize it on its own, but upon seeing Swarm step out I could vaguely place it as his.


    ¡°What are your intentions?¡± Acid Man asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to make sure Santa gets through alright,¡± Swarm said, his arms crossed in front of him. ¡°Got a problem with that?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not working with Rodentia, are you?¡± I furrowed my brow. She was currently fighting the rest of our squad, so him splitting off here to keep the rest of us occupied made sense.


    ¡°I¡¯m not wearing stupid rat ears, am I?¡± He pointed to his head.


    Midnight harrumphed, ¡°So? You could be incognito.¡±


    ¡°No way she¡¯d allow that,¡± Swarm shook his head. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m not being paid to fight against you right now, so don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s never personal, just gotta pay the bills.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re not interested in villainous acts,¡± I said, ¡°Why did you not sign up to become a mercenary?¡±


    ¡°Criminal record before I got my powers,¡± he shrugged. Then he pointed, ¡°Hey, a block that way your giant friend seems to be having some trouble.¡±


    I didn¡¯t turn away, instead keeping my focus on him while trying to sense Great Girl¡¯s power. It wasn¡¯t so obvious feeling as others, but with a clear direction to focus I certainly felt it could be true. ¡°How do you know? You can¡¯t see that from here.¡±


    ¡°I have freaking clones. Anyway it¡¯s that spook guy,¡± then his eyes widened and he fell to his hands and knees. ¡°Dammit, he saw me,¡± he rolled over to lean against something, hand clutching his head. ¡°Listen, you can go help or not. I¡¯m gonna stay here.¡±


    ¡°Spook guy?¡± Acid Man asked.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I frowned, stepping over towards the edge of the building. I couldn¡¯t see what was happening, but focusing for a moment I felt a wave of discomfort. ¡°Seems to be Gloom. We should go.¡± I turned to my companions, ¡°Midnight, get on- and use Mental Freedom on us. I¡¯ll get Acid Man.¡±


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    It wasn¡¯t a cheap spell, but if we were going anywhere near Gloom we would need it. I did not like that guy. Then again, would anyone? The way he used his abilities, he had to be pretty awful in general.


    Once we got down onto the right street, we could see the battle. As much as it was possible to see a battle involving Gloom, anyway. Darkvision was no good against supernatural emptiness and void. The street was cloaked with it, all centering around Great Girl herself. She was howling with rage- quite literally, given her lupine features. Her claws were slashing wildly into the darkness where vague outlines of a cloaked figure occasionally appeared- or rather more of a cloak without the figure. She didn¡¯t look injured, but I wasn¡¯t sure that meant anything against this particular opponent.


    Assessing the situation, I didn¡¯t have long to think about plans. ¡°Midnight, do you have enough mana to Haste us, Acid Man, and then Great Girl?¡±


    ¡°Just barely,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Then please do that. Acid Man, we¡¯re going to move in. Wait for an opening. I¡¯m going to try to make one.¡±


    The slight breeze suddenly felt slow as time poured through me. I didn¡¯t wait for Midnight to cast on Acid Man, but instead started a steady march inward. Stepping into the darkness was like diving into a pool of wriggling bones. Unpleasant, confusion. Scary, certainly- but magic was protecting me from the worst of it. It must have been so much more difficult for Great Girl to last in it longer.


    I trudged through the horribleness to get to Great Girl, moving with intent. Mana flowed into me, and I reached out to touch Great Girl¡¯s currently eight foot frame just below the shoulder. My magic flowed into her, while at the same time her eyes turned to regard me- and the claws swiped out.


    With Haste I could react more quickly, but my magic hadn¡¯t fully finished entering her. I dodged closer instead of away, stepping around her while keeping my hand in contact. Her claws still tore through my Force Armor and into my shoulder- despite also having Stoneskin. My spell finished, I leapt back.


    ¡°Turlough? Sorry!¡± Great Girl yelled. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were here!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it! Just fight!¡± I didn¡¯t know how she was going to do that, but at least she could resist the mental oppression. It would steadily eat through our defenses, but they would give us a chance. Besides, Gloom couldn¡¯t be completely invincible. Stargirl could hurt him. Though she was currently unavailable and also still a jerk.


    I focused on the unpleasantness around me. I could sense power everywhere, but I was looking for the source. Unless Gloom was actually everywhere, which I doubted. Powers all had constraints, though for some those constraints were less able to be noticed.


    Something reached into my head. Even with Mental Freedom, I felt a dark hand coming out of my face, and when it tore back out of my head I saw my dead mother¡¯s skull. That was terrifying on more than just the supernatural level, but most concerning was that I knew what it was even though I¡¯d never seen either of my parents. I clenched my teeth, one of my tusks digging into my cheek. The physical pain provided some clarity along with the remaining threads of magic.


    Midnight appeared by my side, boosting Great Girl. Haste flowed through her, bringing her movements back to the same flow as mine. She was still clearly angry, but her emotions were enough in check to attack with some measure of precision, reaching for shadows and the edges of a black cloak.


    I clutched my staff in hand, trying to sense Gloom. I¡¯d vaguely felt him before the attack, but it wasn¡¯t fast enough to react. I tried not to remain too still or predictable, stepping around. My foot slipped slightly, reminding me that there was unnatural snow unrelated to the spooky villain.


    Acid Man had joined the fray. I felt and saw Gloom attack him, but he withstood the attack with only a grimace and a partial transformation. I wondered if Gloom¡¯s spooky hands could be dissolved in acid. I hoped so.


    Great Girl was menaced the most often, but she was already able to endure his efforts without magic supporting her. Clearly it wasn¡¯t pleasant, but she held on.


    Midnight was swept over in a tide once, but the attack felt weak. Maybe Gloom would actually have to stoop down to hit him fully? So he might be physically present and not flying around like a cloak.


    The assault seemed to last forever, though part of that was due to Haste¡¯s mental distortion.


    Then my chance came. I felt another attack coming for me. From the side, this time. I angled my staff, making use of the stored mana and the remaining handful I had, jabbing it towards where I assumed a gut would be. Dispelling magic poured through it and into¡­ something. Something hit me in the head and I staggered back. I caught a glimpse of a man all in black, including a mask and of course a ragged cloak. Unfortunate. I tried to grab for the mask- but even hasted, Gloom ducked back, leaving my reach. Until powerful claws sent him stumbling forward, and I clasped it in my hand. I saw a face for the briefest moment, snarling in pain but distinctly feminine. Huh.


    Then Gloom¡¯s form once more turned insubstantial, a mass of darkness washing over and through me. I had the feeling it would have been unspeakably awful if Gloom¡¯s powers were functioning fully, instead it just felt like being covered in bugs. Which wasn¡¯t great, but on the scale of mild unpleasantness to ultimate despair, it was towards the former.


    The darkness was still for a moment, then faded.


    ¡°Where did he go?¡± Great Girl yelled. ¡°Turlough, do that again so we can catch him!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m completely out of mana,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Also he might be a she.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Great Girl said, and I simply held up the mask. ¡°You saw Gloom¡¯s face?¡±


    ¡°Not clearly,¡± I admitted. I reached into a pocket, grabbing a mana crystal. I did want to catch Gloom if we could, so as I began to absorb the mana I looked around, sensing for that particular power. But I was so low on mana as to be barely conscious, and Gloom wasn¡¯t that easy to sense.


    Great Girl ran down the nearest alley, but stopped when she didn¡¯t see anything- or, apparently, smell any traces.


    Fifteen seconds later, when I had a full point of mana to spare, I used Storage on the mask. That was going to be useful later, and I couldn¡¯t afford to have it snatched or destroyed.

 Chapter 140

    ¡°Haaaaah¡­¡± Great Girl sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t actually expect to catch Gloom or anything, but I¡¯m annoyed at how close it was. We actually injured him.¡±


    ¡°Or her,¡± I said. ¡°I saw a feminine face. Though perhaps that could have been an illusion beneath the mask?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Either way, it will be significantly easier to scry Gloom now.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that dangerous?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°Normally people just keep you away, but last time¡­ you had to be taken to the medic.¡±


    ¡°I am also capable of using Mental Freedom now, and my proficiency with Scrying has improved. With a better connection and a powerful focus, I should have some success.¡±


    ¡°Then what are we waiting for?¡± Great Girl said, rapidly growing larger. ¡°Let¡¯s go right now! Gloom is injured!¡±


    ¡°I am out of mana,¡± I mentioned, ¡°Plus, you are not in the best state yourself, despite your lack of physical injuries.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°You were being attacked by Gloom for more than a few moments before we arrived, without mental protection. You absolutely can¡¯t be fine,¡± I emphasized. ¡°Also we still need to save Christmas, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Great Girl hung her head. ¡°I guess we should do that.¡± Her form returned somewhere close to normal, except she kept her claws and sharp teeth. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was on purpose. She activated her transmitter. ¡°Status report?¡±


    The answer came to all of us who were tapped into the same line. ¡°One of the attacks tore open Santa¡¯s sack and a number of presents were snatched, but the breach was quickly sealed and the villains chased off. Santa himself remains uninjured. Allied forces are converging on the last locations in the local sector.¡±


    Good. ¡®Our¡¯ Santa was doing well, then. Somewhere in the city Doctor Doomsday was probably trying to capture another version of him, fighting against¡­ some high-tier hero that wasn¡¯t Stargirl, I guess.


    With the heroes and mercs condensed into a smaller area and the villains unwilling or unable to coordinate effectively, there wasn¡¯t much more action. That was good, because all I had left to use was the remainder of my defenses and some conventional weapons- and my Stoneskin had been significantly damaged by Great Girl.


    I was so busy looking out for threats I almost didn¡¯t notice the sleigh suddenly hovering over the apartment building we were guarding. Santa hopped down, landing light on his feet despite his own weight and an extremely large sack that must have weighed something even if it did not consider the things stored inside.


    I expected him to hop into the building immediately, but instead he approached me. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small present. ¡°Nice,¡± he said. ¡°This is for you.¡± I almost reached for it- then I realized it had little pawprints on it, and he was reaching towards my shoulder.


    ¡°Oh. Thank you,¡± Midnight said, somewhat confused. As I looked over, I saw that the package had a little loop on it that hung around Midnight¡¯s neck so he could carry it without hands.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t forget you,¡± the bushy-bearded man said, reaching into his package and pulling out something else. ¡°Mostly nice, which is sufficient for me to finish this transdimensional delivery.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I tilted my head as I took the package. Once I held it in my hands, I could tell it was a large book.


    Santa didn¡¯t clarify anything, instead turning to Swarm next to me. ¡°Mostly naughty,¡± Santa clicked his tongue.


    Swarm shrugged, ¡°I didn¡¯t really expect anything anyway.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say you weren¡¯t getting anything.¡±


    ¡°A lump of coal, then?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Santa shook his head as he pulled out a small and flexible package. ¡°Socks.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Swarm said as he tore open the packaging- which dissolved into nothing. He rubbed the socks between his fingers. ¡°These are¡­ really nice.¡±


    One of Great Girl¡¯s team, Grasp, was on the same roof with us. She looked morose at not being around to help against Gloom- but who could, if they weren¡¯t specifically prepared for it? Getting a pair of gloves didn¡¯t seem to help her mood, even though I saw her try them on.


    Great Girl¡¯s present was mostly flat, some sort of thing in one of those annoying plastic packages, I presumed. She didn¡¯t open it, though.


    Acid Man got a remote. ¡°Nice,¡± he grinned, ¡°I was planning to replace mine.¡±


    -----


    My gift was ¡®Portal Theory: A Treatise on Gates as Well as All Manner of Natural and Artificial Portals¡¯. Taking a quick look at it, it was clearly not for reading. It was still a book, of course, but the dense terminology meant it could only be studied, not casually read. It seemed interesting and I would certainly take the time to go through it, but it was weird to get it from Santa. I was under the impression that he only brought things from this world. Then again¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s a Feline Frolic Mark III!¡± Midnight said excitedly as he opened the packaging on his present. ¡°It wasn¡¯t even out yet when I¡­ ended up here. Look, look! This is how technology is supposed to be!¡±


    It was an electronic device with a wide screen, but instead of familiar buttons spread out for convenient usage, they were all clumped together in little wells. It seemed weird until Midnight put his paws on it and they fit perfectly. Just by wiggling his individual toes he turned it on.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°It even has pre-installed games! Though I suppose it wouldn¡¯t be much use without,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°This¡­¡± Midnight didn¡¯t seem to be able to say what he truly felt, and the jumble of emotions pouring over me didn¡¯t make things clearer. Joy and sadness wrapped together, among other less prominent feelings. A bit of loneliness, maybe, though that quickly went away when he looked up at me. ¡°It¡¯s nice to have something I can use properly without magic,¡± he said.


    ¡°I guess there aren¡¯t enough Celmothians here to be a market,¡± I surmised.


    ¡°Not at all,¡± Midnight shook his head. ¡°We¡¯ve basically only ended up here by accident- and because this place attracts everything. It¡¯s better than teleporting to a random point in space, but we can¡¯t exactly¡­ get back.¡±


    ¡°At least you¡¯re in contact with your family,¡± I tried to console him. I presumed a couple dozen words at once was insufficient to really do what he wanted there, but at least they knew he was safe. Safeish.


    -----


    It wasn¡¯t until the next afternoon- after everyone went home and good a good sleep- that I showed up in what was now the scrying room. Calculator was already there when I arrived, followed quickly by Mono, Great Girl, and Grasp. Then Doctor Martinez, which didn¡¯t say much for Calculator¡¯s confidence in my success.


    Not that he was shy about that. ¡°I know I won¡¯t be able to stop you if you¡¯re determined,¡± Calculator said. ¡°But do try to recall what happened last time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m better this time,¡± I said. ¡°In many ways.¡± I looked towards Great Girl. ¡°Listen, I don¡¯t want to get your hopes up too much. Even if we see something, it might not help.¡±


    ¡°I know. But¡­ if this works, you can do it again, right?¡±


    ¡°Probably,¡± I said. ¡°Though they¡¯ll be on guard, then.¡±


    First I cast Mental Freedom, covering myself and Midnight. That was an important step that I couldn¡¯t afford to forget.


    Then I held out my palm, using Storage to retrieve Gloom¡¯s mask. The secondary layer of defense, for when the hood didn¡¯t hide everything. Sure, Gloom was a spook with the power to create shadows that really made it impossible to see- but no supervillain kept their identity secret with just casual effort. They relied on layers.


    I focused on the mask, and Gloom¡¯s face- whether it had been real or not- as well as the feeling they gave off. Silvery mists swirled¡­ and grew dark. I kept pushing, and I felt the true Gloom. Clawed hands reached out to pull me into the darkness of the hood¡­ and I mentally shoved them aside. I could feel them reaching after me, but I could at least get something before I was dragged away.


    I saw the back of a head, seeing neck-length light hair and a very distinct lack of spooky hooded cloak. I tried to turn the view to see Gloom¡¯s face, but even as I did Gloom¡¯s arms came up, and darkness swirled inside the image.


    Then a surge of enmity rushed towards me, pushing me away. That power shattered my defenses as the Scrying fell apart.


    ¡°... I don¡¯t think Gloom likes me,¡± I said, blood dripping down over my lips. Given that I was still conscious and I didn¡¯t hate everything, I could say this went many times better than the previous attempt. ¡°Sorry I got the wrong view though.¡±


    ¡°I almost saw it,¡± Great Girl frowned.


    ¡°Ahem,¡± Calculator interrupted. ¡°Might I remind you the benefits of this extremely oversized diamond scrying device? It doesn¡¯t just get one angle. And we recorded all of them.¡± He turned to look at me. ¡°Doctor Martinez, if you could?¡±


    The scanner focused on my head, quickly returning with a diagnosis. ¡°Minimal actual damage. Just momentary psychic shock, I think. Don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe to try again, though. Think of it like a concussion. If it happens again before you fully recover, the damage will gradually build.¡±


    ¡°... Nothing in our databases,¡± Calculator said, pulling up the front view and that feminine face I had briefly seen some of on a screen. ¡°Anyone?¡±


    The color that was normally in Great Girl¡¯s face was missing as she stared in shock. ¡°... Avery?¡±


    ¡°Someone you know?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°Knew,¡± Great Girl said through clenched teeth. ¡°Avery is dead.¡±


    I could see in Calculator¡¯s eyes that he had a quippy comment but chose not to make use of it. ¡°Can you think of anything that would help us track down Gloom?¡±


    Great Girl shook her head. ¡°No, I- I need to go think about this.¡± She briefly stopped, putting a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Thanks for doing this for me. When you¡¯re¡­ better¡­ I hope you can try again.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°... Thanks,¡± she said as she slowly made her way out of the room.


    -----


    New Year¡¯s day came after someone dropped an expensive glass thing and broke it on purpose. Patrols were minimal during that time- crime didn¡¯t take time off for the holidays, but the Brigade made sure everyone had a chance to rest.


    I hadn¡¯t seen Great Girl at HQ since then, and she¡¯d only answered my texts of concern with ¡®later¡¯. That seemed reasonable. A former acquaintance- perhaps a friend or enemy- that was presumed dead and now was not. That could certainly affect someone, especially when it involved a nemesis. I supposed it was possible the individual in question was actually dead, because I could think of a number of ways for the body to be moving around between magic, super tech, and weird powers. That was all without it actually coming back to life, which could theoretically happen.


    ¡°I guess we just have to keep waiting,¡± I said to Midnight.


    ¡°Not too long, hopefully,¡± Midnight replied. The slight clacking of buttons let me know he was using his new pawheld game console. He really liked that.


    ¡°I wish I knew what to do about problems I couldn¡¯t punch,¡± I shook my head. Maybe¡­ maybe I¡¯d never know. I was technically an orc, after all.


    Perhaps, sensing something, Midnight stopped what he was doing and came to nuzzle up next to me. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t think whatever you¡¯re thinking. Lots of people have problems they can¡¯t solve. All sorts of things. And you¡¯ve managed quite a few not-punching solutions. Khithae has a better job, Tylissa and Jerome are about as good as they can expect to be, and Izzy¡­ at least you guys talk.¡±


    ¡°When she¡¯s around,¡± I said. ¡°When she¡¯s not on a, uh¡­ what do you call it?¡±


    ¡°Vacation.¡±


    ¡°When she¡¯s not vacating her apartment to go somewhere else,¡± I said. ¡°Though I am also curious at what other parts of the world look like. I hear most are quite different from New Bay. Except the other centers of the supernatural, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Seems rather silly to visit any of them,¡± Midnight said. ¡°You¡¯d just get in trouble and not even get paid for it.¡±


    ¡°Eh, I think the Brigade has deals with some places,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But I have plenty to do here.¡± And a whole tome to dig through. For something that was a simple concept of putting places next to each other, portals sure were complicated.

 Chapter 141

    My daily schedule was pretty consistent. Get up, have some breakfast, maybe take a shower, and then on work days I set off towards HQ. Frequently, there were a pile of fans waiting outside, and I would have to beat them back with a stick.


    The same was true today. They weren¡¯t my fans, of course. I wasn¡¯t sure if I had any, but if I did they either didn¡¯t know where I lived or were respectful.


    An angry roar came from a woman nearly my size. I felt the power of magic behind it as she swung a metal bat, which I sidestepped. My staff came up into her midsection with a single point of mana added, and suddenly she wasn¡¯t angry anymore. Or at least not supernaturally angry.


    My staff spun to deflect a knife, then continued into the man¡¯s chin. A few came unarmed, which was possibly less illegal but also more foolish given their lack of power. Midnight jumped into the back of one of their knees, sending the individual sprawling- even a cat-sized individual could be effective if they fought intelligently. He could have also jumped on someone and clawed their face, which was rather effective against people who were bad at fighting, but that was good enough.


    ¡°This is getting old,¡± I said.


    Stargirl¡¯s fans must have been extremely numerous in the past, because I was aware that many had fallen away from her fanbase due to current events. However, she still had more rabid fanatics- such as these individuals. And though a surprising number of her fans had gained portal powers due to one of the incidents, there weren¡¯t many that were not already arrested for pretty much this exact same thing.


    I looked around to see Oswin looking through the gate. The apartment manager looked rather displeased. ¡°Sorry about this. They¡¯re dealt with now.¡±


    ¡°Certainly¡­¡± he said. ¡°But this is a pretty frequent thing and they¡¯re bothering the other residents.¡±


    I thought I understood the implications there. ¡°Yeah, unfortunate. I liked living here.¡± I had come to know and appreciate the presence of a handful of other apartment residents, and of course Jim. But this was starting to be a real issue. I didn¡¯t mind fighting, but people knowing where I lived was a pain. Especially if they told anyone competent who might have had a score to settle with me. I wouldn¡¯t exactly be incognito elsewhere, but it seemed there were a few other orcs not working for Doctor Doomsday. With my tusk basically healed up, I wouldn¡¯t be picked out quite so casually.


    I¡¯d have to look for a new place later. I could afford anything reasonable even with all of the diamond dust I was going through, since I was no longer on a rookie salary and even had some savings.


    -----


    Entering the Power Brigade HQ didn¡¯t have to be done through the lobby- there were side entrances for employees with sufficient clearance- but it was the quickest route for me so I tended to go that way. Usually there was little of interest. It wasn¡¯t like people flooded the front desks with requests- for those with the actual money they rarely had reasons to show up in person. Nor was there an unlimited supply of supers trying to join up. Don¡¯t get me wrong, New Bay had one of the highest densities of supers in the world, they just weren¡¯t all trying to join the Power Brigade. Most would prefer to be heroes first, among other things.


    I hadn¡¯t expected to run into a familiar face. It was Tylissa, checking in a knife at the guard post. The Brigade didn¡¯t expect people to not show up with weapons, but they didn¡¯t allow them inside the building without authorization. That included most visiting heroes, even.


    ¡°Well hello,¡± I approached. ¡°Didn¡¯t expect to see you here. I hope you haven¡¯t run into any trouble?¡± If she had, I didn¡¯t expect she could pay the Brigade. I could help privately, of course.


    ¡°Oh, T- Mage,¡± Tylissa nodded towards me. ¡°No, no trouble. I was just¡­ looking into jobs here.¡±


    ¡°You should have told me. I can put in a recommendation for you.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°The whole point was to get something on my own merits.¡±


    ¡°Pfft. Don¡¯t be crazy. Everyone else is going to leverage their connections, you should too. I think being a decent person that others would vouch for is a perfectly valid qualification. And the Power Brigade is still going to require competence.¡±


    She nodded, ¡°Well, I suppose that makes sense. But I¡¯d still prefer not to rely on you.¡±


    ¡°So,¡± I asked. ¡°What sort of job?¡± The desk jobs seemed alright, but they weren¡¯t exactly looking for more people all the time.


    ¡°Tracking,¡± Tylissa said.


    Midnight added his thoughts from my shoulder, ¡°I¡¯m sure you know this, but that can still be dangerous. If not as much as field work.¡±


    ¡°It pays better than my current work,¡± she said, ¡°And the difference in danger might not be as much as you imagine.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know exactly how dangerous tracking was¡­ but what I did know was she fought werewolves to save Jerome and was now much stronger with Izzy¡¯s training. She was also a werewolf, but those were mostly unrelated. Sure, she hadn¡¯t been of much actual value to the battle against the werewolves, but she had the courage to fight and some ability even then. And trackers weren¡¯t supposed to end up in combat.


    ¡°Well, just take care. I don¡¯t want Jerome to worry.¡± Then again, he could definitely prefer his mother getting the chance to change jobs as well.


    -----


    Scrying Gloom was gaining little headway. After the initial attempt, Gloom was on guard- even at random times of the day. As a person who was supposed to be dead, there were no records- though having a face was still useful.


    Most of the time, we got short snippets of visuals, mostly places of little interest- and despite the wonderful scrying orb, it was still limited to the same radius. Ten¡­ eleven feet, now. Calculator was piecing together information from the various recordings, but usually I was thrown out after a few seconds. Gloom couldn¡¯t completely prevent the connection from forming, but we didn¡¯t get much.


    All that, and it was nearly twice as expensive as normal Scrying. I had to cast Mental Freedom, which was a ninth level spell compared to Scrying at eleven, each with matching mana costs. That used up half of my maximum, and somewhere around three hours of regeneration.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Still, I was motivated to continue for the sake of both Great Girl and myself. Gloom was another reason I should be moving. While it wasn¡¯t exactly public that I was getting attacked outside my own apartment complex, if Gloom found out she would be able to find that information from those fanatics. Willingly or not.


    Today was slightly different. Not only were Doctors Martinez and Mishra present, but also Reset. He had been available for my training with Hammerfist- Shockwave¡¯s grandma and a former bruiser of some previous renown. Potentially needing him had me worried. Though I already knew what I was up against.


    Which was why I was in the room alone. We¡¯d already tested that I could not activate Scrying unless I was physically close to my focus, a problem of little relevance in my world. I would have no reason to Scry something and then not see it- except for cameras existing allowing that to be preserved.


    These were probably unnecessary precautions, but given Gloom¡¯s interaction with magic we couldn¡¯t be certain. It was better for myself and the Brigade to take things seriously until proven otherwise, including magical precautions.


    Just like for Gloom, I prepared Mental Freedom. Then I began focusing on the individual in question. Having a clear image was quite helpful, though we were missing a name or physical token.


    Heartstopper was the target, a villainess of great power I¡¯d taken note of some time before as I looked through our database. Her powers theoretically only worked with direct visual contact, there was just a question of if Scrying counted.


    She was attractive enough, but still nowhere near the heart-stopping level. That was all her power. I focused on the image, swirling mists forming in the scrying orb as I cast the spell. I had to watch the process to maximize my focus, and to determine if I was actually succeeding.


    The mists parted to reveal a woman striding along the city streets. She passed people by, and since none of them fell over dead we could assume I got the wrong person or she was fully capable of turning her power off- though that wasn¡¯t actually in question. Otherwise we could have tracked her through a trail of bodies.


    I felt something pushing against my mind, but it was dull and distant. I mostly just felt like I was watching someone dressed up in a business suit walking around the city. And walking, and walking. A full ten minutes of that, without even a hint of resisting Scrying. It was like she didn¡¯t even notice. But that was crazy, because even Handface noticed without his device. Heartstopper was like a thousand tiers higher than him.


    Then again, everyone had their own weaknesses. ¡°Uh,¡± I turned towards the door. ¡°I guess I could do another ten minutes?¡±


    ¡°Please do,¡± Calculator¡¯s voice came through the speakers. ¡°As long as you aren¡¯t feeling any ill effects.¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡±


    Ten more minutes, during which she walked into some building. I was focusing more on keeping the magic going than the little details, though I knew to be a proper diviner I would have to manage both. But that wasn¡¯t my job. I had others to deal with that part, and I was glad for it. Teamwork and all that.


    After everything was over, the various doctors checked up on me. ¡°I¡¯m fine. She¡¯s not¡­ particularly troublesome to scry on.¡±


    ¡°Or she was letting us see her,¡± Calculator frowned. ¡°Perhaps obscuring her activities.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°If she was aware of the attempt coming. But I didn¡¯t see any reaction. I think she¡¯s just¡­ not.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate that you can¡¯t keep this up for longer,¡± Calculator sighed. ¡°We have other methods of looking for villains, but they¡¯ve generally taken precautions.¡±


    ¡°Doctor Doomsday also protected himself against Scrying,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t one of the most wanted in all of New Bay because he¡¯s good at making super tech. He has plans and layers and protections.¡± Calculator sighed, ¡°Too bad you can¡¯t scry him.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded, ¡°I imagine trying more would just make him angry.¡± Like Gloom. But Gloom might not know to come after me, and if that happened it was worth it for the sake of a friend.


    -----


    I didn¡¯t just agree to scry Heartstopper for fun- or money. I was under some obligation to provide my services to the Brigade, but the more I did the more they owed me in some manner. That particular risk got me some time with Captain Punch.


    ¡°I wish I could say this was a spar,¡± I sighed, ¡°But I¡¯m fairly certain you could take me out in an instant.¡±


    ¡°Dunno,¡± he shrugged. ¡°You ever let Great Girl kick you at her max size?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°We only sparred with her at more reasonable proportions.¡± Stoneskin was also slightly less effective against certain types of physical force. I could still be thrown flying backwards or stomped into the floor, though it would keep me from being crushed easily.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s still true,¡± Captain Punch admitted, ¡°But at one point that more or less matched my fists.¡±


    ¡°At one point?¡± I asked. ¡°Are you stronger now?¡±


    ¡°Of course. But so is she. We can¡¯t exactly all-out brawl on the regular, but she¡¯s young so I¡¯d imagine she grew more. Even before the werewolf thing.¡±


    ¡°Anyway¡­ I don¡¯t think I would learn much. If you go easy on me I could just be sparring with someone weaker. So I kind of need you as-¡±


    ¡°A fancy training dummy,¡± he finished for me.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t going to be what I said.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s the right idea, isn¡¯t it?¡± he grinned. ¡°Go ahead. I doubt you can seriously hurt me. Mind the face though.¡±


    ¡°Weakpoint?¡± I raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Hah. I just don¡¯t want to have to wear makeup.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure I one hundred percent believed him. If nothing else, even with super durability his head probably was weaker. But I also wasn¡¯t interested in actually harming him. ¡°I¡¯m going to try to touch you with a spell,¡± I said. ¡°Please dodge and move about so I actually have to try.¡±


    First I cast Mage¡¯s Reach, for my standard combo with Shocking Grasp. If I actually got into melee with a guy like this I¡¯d be pretty much screwed, my recent growth spurt and fancy stick or not. This was an efficient method. I was just so used to holding back that I rarely got to use it properly, and in a real combat I wasn¡¯t exactly focused on the particulars.


    My hand charged towards Captain Punch. I was fairly certain he could have just run away, but he played into the training by keeping his movements minimal, like I was in melee with him and he was looking for an opening to strike. He stepped around behind it, sometimes blocking my vision and forcing me to move. That was something I had to be aware of- both my line of sight and the fact that the rest of my body was still present. I¡¯d usually done this from cover, but that wouldn¡¯t always be the case.


    Despite his agility, Captain Punch was a bruiser. He danced and dodged, but eventually he slipped up and allowed me to touch him. Or he let me. Either way, I got a partial zap on his wrist, then fully managed to grab his ankle at a later time. By the time our training session was over, he still looked fresh while I was sweating and low on mana, and had at least used up a dozen castings of Shocking Grasp and a couple durations of Mage¡¯s Reach. Normally the former would take less time, but with how infrequent my connections were¡­ the magic lasted longer.


    Taking a look, I saw I had finally improved Shocking Grasp, a strange outlier for being a spell I used regularly. Mage¡¯s Reach too.


    ¡°So¡­ can I try Sonic Lance?¡± I asked. I wouldn¡¯t get more than a couple shots, but it was nice to have someone I was fully unconcerned about hitting. Maybe I could ask if Hammerfist would be willing to work with me some more, though she was enjoying her retired life.

 Chapter 142

    It wasn¡¯t exactly confirmed that specific training best led to ¡®natural¡¯ upgrades in skills. One incident didn¡¯t exactly indicate a strong pattern, especially as far as the ¡®scientific method¡¯ was concerned. However, I had learned that humans- and thus presumably similarly situated humanoids- seemed to have two modes. Though it was difficult to find an actual study, ¡®learning mode¡¯ and ¡®performance mode¡¯ came up commonly once I found myself searching in the right area. I theorized that being in the former was required or at least helpful for improving my abilities.


    Training would theoretically incorporate the former- but I was also often trying to win a particular spar. Experimentation usually led to failure in such contexts, so I likely had limited that to some extent. Of course, I had still improved many of my spells and abilities over the course of time, even in contexts where I required the maximum effect. People could always learn, there were just some contexts where we might learn more.


    -----


    I still had points to spend, waiting for me. Given that I had not leveled up again, however, it wasn¡¯t unreasonable to hold onto some. I was already level 27 now, and I couldn¡¯t keep getting levels every day or week. My experience gain hadn¡¯t exactly slowed down, but rather my requirements increased- and I was not encountering so many troubles outside of my level range. Which was good, because one major screw up could result in no further levels. Not all villains were willing to play nice- or heroes, really.


    I brought the decision to Captain Senan, including my options relating to area coverage. ¡°I could focus on options for incapacitating weaker people, pure damage with Chain Lightning, or area control like Black Tentacles. What do you think would fit in best with the squad?¡±


    Captain Senan stroked his chin, ¡°An interesting question. One that depends on many factors, including opponents. I think they would best be held in reserve until after our squad meeting.¡±


    ¡°Will we discuss it there?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Something like that,¡± he said. With my excellent ability to read people, I discerned that maybe, possibly, there was something he didn¡¯t want to say yet. But I wasn¡¯t sure why.


    But I wouldn¡¯t have to wait long. Today was the day, after all.


    We all sat around a table that had more room than we needed. However, the meeting rooms were designed to accommodate at least two squads, so there wasn¡¯t exactly anything smaller.


    Captain Senan sat at the head, with myself and Midnight on one side mirrored by Acid Man and Shockfire. Rocker was the last to join, taking a seat in the position just past where Midnight was sitting on the table. ¡°I¡¯m finally back up and about, and we¡¯re just sitting?¡± Rocker asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re not just sitting,¡± Captain Senan shook his head. ¡°But I suppose it will begin like that. Congratulations on your recovery, by the way. And, more importantly, the completion of your parole. You¡¯ve officially paid back the city for your previous destruction. You could even return to being a private citizen.¡±


    ¡°No way,¡± Rocker flatly denied. ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to have powers and not use them for something. Though maybe I¡¯ll be a bit more selective¡­¡±


    ¡°The Brigade never intentionally places our members in mortal danger, but there are always risks that come with engaging in combat. Not that most of our powers are much use for anything else. Nobody needs a guy who can freeze things when we¡¯ve got technology that does it just fine. At least, in a non-urgent context. Which brings me to what I have to say,¡± Captain Senan looked over all of us seriously. ¡°Squad C-4 was always a temporary arrangement. A few rookies who came in together and needed some experience, not a group carefully selected for maximum functionality. We¡¯ve done well, but¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re being split up?¡± Acid Man frowned.


    ¡°Potentially,¡± Captain Senan admitted. ¡°I want to be clear, though. Nobody¡¯s being transferred away from HQ- unless that¡¯s what you want. We¡¯ll still see each other, be able to train together, and we might even fight alongside each other. But for the near future, we¡¯ll be exploring how each of you fit into the Power Brigade. That¡¯s not just fancy corporate speak. There are plans to test everyone¡¯s synergies with different squads, and this is the time you can try out different roles. Not everyone wants to be on combat patrols, and some of you have developed abilities that might provide you different opportunities.¡± He looked at me. ¡°Then again, I¡¯m sure some of you will prefer to stick with combat, even if others won¡¯t.¡±


    I felt something from Midnight there. Something that had come up before, and likely wouldn¡¯t ever go away forever. We¡¯d have to talk more, about what he wanted. Ugh, and I already had to look for a new apartment.


    ¡°Do we have a choice in this?¡± Shockfire asked.


    ¡°Yes and no,¡± Ice Guy explained, ¡°If we ultimately decide we want to remain a squad with the current members, the Brigade will be happy to let that continue. But before that we still need to spend time exploring options. Some of us might be suited elsewhere, and it¡¯s better to not lock anyone into a position just because you all arrived at similar times.¡± He continued looking over all of us, ¡°Some members of the Brigade prefer to go without a squad, remaining flexible and filling in holes where required. And diversifying everyone¡¯s experience should help people pick what they actually want.¡±


    -----


    Everyone would be going their own separate ways, at least for a while. With the exception of Midnight and I, who were a special case. It was assumed that as Mage and Familiar we should remain together, and we were certainly more effective that way.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Being able to feel his emotions didn¡¯t make me suddenly better at subtlety, so I just said what I was thinking. ¡°Do you not want to fight alongside me?¡±


    The fact that there was any hesitation at all concerned me, but I was also aware that his feelings were more complicated than that. Our emotions echoed back and forth for a bit before he provided his answer. ¡°Alongside you? I would fight any day. I owe you my life, and would hate for yours to come to harm if I could prevent it.¡±


    Formal speech for a serious situation. ¡°But¡­?¡± I prompted, knowing there was more to be said.


    ¡°I might prefer to remain in a support role most of the time. There are things I¡¯d want to fight for still, but not necessarily the city in general.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said.


    ¡°And I know I got my powers from you so using them selfishly contacting home or just staying around HQ might be kind of a waste¡­¡± Midnight continued with his strings of words. ¡°But they are really convenient for opening doors and storing things.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Obviously I¡¯m going to continue helping you though, because I owe you a lot and-¡±


    ¡°Midnight,¡± I cut him off. ¡°It¡¯s alright. Did I help you out when you needed it? Absolutely. Have you saved my life and helped me out many times since then? Of course. Keeping track of who owes the other anything is pointless. We¡¯re friends.¡± I paused, giving him a chance to respond, but he didn¡¯t. ¡°If you¡¯re concerned about the bond, don¡¯t be. I wasn¡¯t ever intending to have a familiar, and if I had one that wasn¡¯t you I wouldn¡¯t have gotten nearly so much in return.¡±


    ¡°Still¡­ you spent your limited points to empower me¡­¡±


    ¡°Everything is limited,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Time, effort, levels and points. It was a bigger deal back then, but now¡­ a total of 17 points isn¡¯t that bad. Since I can grow in this world, in more than one way, that¡¯s long since stopped being a burden.¡± I shook my head, ¡°So don¡¯t worry about paying me back more, and just do what you want to be happy. And if that involves trying to return home with Gate, just wait uh¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how long. But eight levels should be sufficient to actually cast it.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Midnight seemed unable to find the right words. ¡°I don¡¯t want to just stop. But I also don¡¯t want to end up in fights against people like Gloom or Shooting Star.¡± His face wrinkled, ¡°But you¡¯re gonna end up there again, and I don¡¯t want to not be there to help you out.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± I nodded. ¡°You¡¯ll likely always trail behind in levels, just based on how this seems to work. You¡¯ve generally had to use mana for whatever support spells we decided.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind that,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Sure, but it left you with few options after that. You did great taking out Stargirl¡¯s dog, by the way.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Actually, that¡¯s part of the reason I don¡¯t want to just¡­ stop? I don¡¯t know if there are other Bunvorixians up to something. Or maybe they¡¯re just here, but they might still move against me. This city isn¡¯t exactly safe, so I wouldn¡¯t want to stop growing stronger anyway. I just might do things¡­ differently.¡±


    ¡°If I knew you¡¯d remain a mage, I¡¯d be totally willing to cut off the bond. You deserve your own power. Unfortunately we can¡¯t know what would happen. I also can¡¯t promise I¡¯ll develop my powers in the ways that would suit you best, but I don¡¯t have any intention of breaking the bond if you wanted to go do your own thing.¡±


    ¡°I do still want to help you out,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡®Same here,¡± I said. ¡°So if you need anything in particular, let me know- and I¡¯ll do the same. Maybe it doesn¡¯t mean you riding around on my shoulder¡­ all the time. Just sometimes.¡±


    -----


    ¡°Congratulations!¡± Great Girl said after I later came to meet her. ¡°You¡¯re no longer a rookie. As for a stint in our squad¡­ well, I¡¯m usually the only one directly tangled in the action anyway. We¡¯d be glad to have you on for a bit. Obviously that wouldn¡¯t mean anything long term, but you¡¯d get to experience a different dynamic. You¡¯ve met Mono and Grasp, right?¡±


    I nodded, ¡°I saw him on the roof, and Grasp was at the scrying.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve also got Map.¡±


    ¡°I have seen her in the database,¡± I said. ¡°Why was Grasp not with you on Christmas?¡±


    ¡°Grasp was busy stopping a robot santa in the sky,¡± Great Girl shrugged, ¡°I couldn¡¯t really contribute to that, and then I saw Gloom and¡­¡± she grimaced.


    ¡°Map is a coordinator, is she not?¡± I asked. ¡°Was Mono also unavailable?¡±


    ¡°Look,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°We might be a squad, but we¡¯re also kind of just a loose group of independents. It generally works for us, lets us cover more ground and all that. And normally I would have waited for support.¡±


    ¡°It is especially important when encountering your archrival,¡± I chastised.


    ¡°Yeah, I get it,¡± Great Girl crossed her arms in front of her. ¡°Anyway, the others don¡¯t really get into action up close, so having you around might keep me in a better position. You¡¯re not a bruiser, but you can handle yourself in a melee. It would be nice to see how we work together outside of specific moments. I know your abilities would benefit me, at least. It¡¯s just whether we can help you- or if there¡¯s someone who you mesh with even better.¡±


    ¡°Maybe Shockwave. Or rather, Shockwave really likes Haste. Do they have a team?¡± I couldn¡¯t remember one coming up.


    ¡°Not a permanent one. Speedsters can do most of what they do alone- show up somewhere first or quickly provide backup. Not saying they don¡¯t benefit from a team, but it doesn¡¯t really work for reactive missions.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense,¡± I nodded. I wondered if looking strictly by numbers if hasting Shockwave might provide the most incidents resolved. It was only a bit more than a minute at a time, but there was a significant radius that could be reached in such a time. Perhaps it simply wouldn¡¯t work out, and without Physical Freedom Shockwave became more of a liability at Hasted speeds. Though they were working on that part. Maybe we¡¯d test that at some later time, though I knew that couldn¡¯t be my permanent station. No fighting.

 Chapter 143

    As one might expect from a book titled Portal Theory: A Treatise on Gates as Well as All Manner of Natural and Artificial Portals, it was filled with copious information and very, very dry. It hardly spoke of fantastic places that one could get to with a portal- or what one might summon with a Gate spell intended for such a purpose.


    Instead, it contained practical information as well as tables calculating difficulty depending on various things such as familiarity with destinations, connectedness of planes, duration of the portal, and various other factors. Based on what I understood, I could almost certainly create a portal to somewhere in Mossley once I could cast Gate without passing out. New Bay seemed highly ¡®connected¡¯ to all sorts of things, and my world in particular through either coincidence or intention.


    I was no longer pushing myself to reach the point where I could do that- Izzy had chosen not to return immediately, and I liked my new life. The ability to do so would inevitably be acquired, since I had the spell and just needed a bit larger of a mana pool to handle the amount required for that particular spell. I could attempt to use it at reduced mana, but creating a stable connection was important.


    After a particularly long winded section, I closed the book that had only found its way to me with the help of a local magical phenomenon. I had at least confirmed it was sent by Master Uvithar, and he simply couldn¡¯t achieve it directly.


    Nearby, Midnight was playing with his Feline Frolic Mark III handheld game system. The ease of use definitely pleased him, as it was designed just for people like him instead of for someone larger, and with hands. I couldn¡¯t say if the games were any better or worse than the ones in this world, as I had limited exposure to such things outside of brief visits to an arcade, which was an entirely different category than what could be had at home.


    Overall, it was a peaceful evening until a wave of despair came over Bay View Heights. It was an immediately recognizable feeling, not one I could have forgotten even if I wanted to. Which I kind of did sometimes. I immediately gathered the mana for Mental Freedom, augmenting both Midnight and myself.


    ¡°It¡¯s just outside,¡± I called to Midnight. ¡°Can you call it in while I grab my stuff?¡± I ran to my room, picking up my staff and slipping on my jacket. There wasn¡¯t time to suit up in the whole suit, but there were a lot of important bits inside my torso that the armored jacket could protect.


    In the brief time it took me, I could feel Gloom¡¯s power remained more or less in the same spot. Given that even those without any sensing potential would have no choice but to feel Gloom while active, either Gloom was waiting or occupied by someone else. I could only presume Gloom was after me, since Gloom wasn¡¯t in the habit of randomly attacking apartment buildings.


    ¡°Done,¡± Midnight said as he hopped up onto my outstretched hand, to then be lifted onto my shoulder. ¡°The Brigade is notified, at least.¡±


    ¡°Ready?¡±


    ¡°For this?¡± Midnight gave off a sensible wave of uncertainty. ¡°Who can be? But we can¡¯t just sit here.¡±


    Our first floor apartment had easy access to the outside, leading to the little walled garden area everyone shared. Gloom wasn¡¯t directly outside, but around towards the back. As we turned the corner, I picked out what was delaying Gloom. Specifically, a writhing mass of tentacles attempting to wrestle against the darkness Gloom exuded.


    Jim. I debated calling out to him, unsure whether that would distract him or Gloom more. I didn¡¯t want another friendly fire situation like Great Girl, but on the other hand Jim didn¡¯t have claws so I¡¯d probably be good.


    Hoping to hit Gloom with a Firebolt or Sonic Lance was fruitless- most likely I¡¯d just damage something else. Possibly Jim. Gloom did have a position, but I couldn¡¯t pick it out among everything else. I needed something¡­ of course! I had Arcane Sight. It wasn¡¯t cheap, but it was kind of important. I gathered and expended the mana necessary for that, and my eyes began to adjust to the greater and lesser concentrations of power.


    Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t the only one with the ability to sense power usage. At the same moment I was beginning to pick out a concentration of power, it swarmed towards me. I lowered my staff defensively, intending to make use of the stored charge for a dispel. Realizing how much it had helped me in the past, I made sure to keep it full at all times. It held somewhere around ten points of mana in its core, though I wasn¡¯t quite sure at its level of efficiency when used.


    Gloom apparently didn¡¯t have to follow the laws of momentum, as her? trajectory jerked suddenly to the side, slipping past my readied staff. Claws of darkness raked along my side, tearing away at my mental defenses. My staff whirled but found no purchase- and so I kept the power constrained. I didn¡¯t want to expend it all counteracting the spooky darkness which could likely just be reformed.


    I spun around to keep track of Gloom¡¯s movements, looking for the areas of highest concentration of mixed illusory and necromantic energy. It didn¡¯t fully fit in the mold of magic and those schools, but that was the best I could approximate.


    My staff remained in a defensive position, but Gloom¡¯s speed continued to prove too much. Once again my guard was bypassed- but this time, Midnight was ready. As focused as I had been on the power within my staff, I almost missed the small amount of mana Midnight dumped into the spell. I didn¡¯t miss the effects, however. As Gloom¡¯s ¡®claws¡¯ touched my side, electrical charge retaliated as I found my torso charged with Shocking Grasp.


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    False visions of sinking in despair forced their way into my head. I was trapped forever in a place I could not escape without any help. Except of course, it was not forever, but only a brief instant, made ever more transient with the help of Mental Freedom. At the same time, Gloom cried out in frustration, a voice that was more whispers and background noise than words.


    I couldn¡¯t directly take many more hits before my Mental Freedom would fall apart, and I shouldn¡¯t be counting on it anyway. I just had to anticipate movements, even if they were weird. I also held onto my pride in Midnight, with his clever use of a basic spell.


    My eyes picked through the darkness, they way it glowed with power both strengthening and weakening the effect. Parts of it were much less pleasant to look at with Arcane Sight, but I could make out what was happening better. There was the sweeping form of Gloom, a mass of energy.


    A straightforward approach, but I knew that wouldn¡¯t remain. I tried to look for eyes, but there was only a shapeless mass taking form into something with a new mask, revealing little of the eyes beyond their mere presence.


    The shape sunk, then suddenly jerked upwards. I wasn¡¯t going to be fooled by sudden changes forever, and my staff had been readied to swing anywhere. Both ends were equally valid, and I brought it up into the guts of the shape jumping over me, unleashing the magic.


    The darkness unraveled, turning into nothing. Nothing at all. Not a cloaked and masked figure, but erased from existence entirely. Like it didn¡¯t exist in the first place. Which apparently it didn¡¯t.


    Midnight¡¯s alarm caused me to whip my head around half an instant before I sensed something myself as what I could only presume was the real Gloom charged towards me with two extended arms. A direct assault like that would do more than give me a little discomfort, but I¡¯d neglected to cast Haste and my staff couldn¡¯t reach in time.


    Then the darkness was yanked backwards, black tentacles wrapping around neck and shoulders. Gloom¡¯s power minimized what I could see of the results, but I pictured something like a suplex as the form of Gloom was tossed almost out of the spooky area around us, and I heard something slam into the ground.


    ¡°Midnight, Haste please,¡± I said. A temporary mistake could be rectified. I prepared myself to recharge the staff and then Haste Jim as well, but Gloom¡¯s field swiftly retreated. I saw three of four concentrations of power, and I had to leave Jim¡¯s buff for later.


    All of the gatherings slithered over the wall, and I scrambled up behind them. They each split down different alleys or up the sides of buildings. I could chase one, but I would probably lose the others. Instead, I watched them all, making sure there wasn¡¯t any sneaky doubling back.


    A figure suddenly appeared. Movebrain, one of the executives and a teleporter. I caught his eye and shook my head. ¡°Sorry, Gloom got away.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunate, but¡­ it is good to see you are alright. Any civilian casualties?¡±


    ¡°Not that I know of. Jim might have been affected though.¡± I looked down towards him. ¡°Are you alright Jim? Thanks for the save, by the way.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± he said, easily raising himself up the wall. ¡°I could not leave a notorious supervillain to roam free. That was why I initiated the conflict.¡±


    ¡°I see. Are you alright though?¡±


    ¡°I do not feel¡­ optimal,¡± Jim admitted. ¡°However, my mental faculties function quite differently from the norm. I believe Gloom¡¯s powers were less effective on me.¡±


    ¡°How did you find the real one?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Both mind and body function differently for me,¡± Jim pointed out. ¡°Illusions only go so far. Gloom does have concerning ability to move about, but when attacking requires a more physical form that can be latched onto. Alas, I was only able to cause minimal damage before insubstantiality returned.¡±


    ¡°Well, thanks again,¡± I said. ¡°And to you of course, Midnight. Movebrain as well.¡±


    ¡°Glad to help,¡± the man replied. ¡°I heard that you were looking into moving. I might accelerate that process.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I think we might need to bunk at HQ for a few days,¡± I agreed. ¡°What about you, Jim? Gloom might be mad about this.¡±


    ¡°I could change living situations,¡± Jim agreed. ¡°However, it is not difficult to track me down. There are only so many people like me. I would dare say that I stand out even more than an orc and cat pair.¡± He inclined his head to Midnight, ¡°Or at least, one that appears like a cat.¡±


    I nodded. I had things to think about. Reviewing the battle, I couldn¡¯t say I¡¯d made major mistakes- though I should have cast Haste. I couldn¡¯t have known Gloom would react to the casting of Arcane Sight, but I shouldn¡¯t have assumed my presence would go unnoticed either.


    With additional processing time, would I have noticed the fake version of Gloom? It was hard to say. Clearly Gloom was an experienced combatant, picking out how I found her almost instantly and creating masses of power to fool me. After expending my dispel¡¯s mana, even with Haste I would have at most been able to strike normally with my staff. I couldn¡¯t gather enough mana to recharge it in that instant.


    Midnight¡¯s use of Shocking Grasp as a defensive technique was good. I¡¯d used it to stop people already grabbing me, but I usually limited its contact areas to my hands- or Mage¡¯s Reach. I was glad to have such a partner, even if he didn¡¯t like fighting.


    I didn¡¯t really want to move. I liked having Jim in the same building, and Khithae was just across the way. But that was exactly why I should move, because she could be at risk if our connection became known. I didn¡¯t plan to go far, but I did have to think about various options. Then again, the Brigade could help. No doubt they had to relocate other mercs regularly. Such was the life we led.


    The good news was that battle had pushed me over the threshold for the next level. I had many points to spend, and I could afford to splurge on a few things. I even got a natural upgrade for Arcane Sight. Did it help that I used it in combat, or was just that it was a serious situation? Hard to say for sure. Hopefully I would be in enough more combats to learn those details for myself.

 Chapter 144

    The office of Doctor Patenaude was designed to make me- or anyone else visiting- as comfortable as possible. Physically it did its job, but mentally I think everyone still knew this was a place they came to deal with uncomfortable things they did not yet understand.


    ¡°Aside from Gloom, who¡¯s very power seems to be making people unhappy, I don¡¯t know why the second thing is so¡­ unimportant,¡± I explained. ¡°I know normal people are supposed to be concerned about physical danger and death and stuff. I definitely want to keep living. But I can¡¯t stop thinking about moving stuff from one place to another and I don¡¯t know why it bothers me,¡± I admitted.


    Doctor Patenaude nodded, the sensory stalks around his head undulating oddly as he did so. ¡°It is good to recognize where your woes come from. It is not strange that you are concerned about moving to a different apartment, even if the actual process is not difficult. It is a sign of change, and there are more than a few things changing for you at the moment. You have acquired a new enemy, one that can directly harm your psyche. It is reasonable to be concerned about that. And the change of your living situation comes along with changes in work, stepping away from the comfortable familiarity of your squad, even if only for a while.¡±


    ¡°I like the other people I¡¯ve worked with too, though,¡± I said.


    ¡®It is good that you get along with your co-workers, but that won¡¯t instantly make you comfortable. Changing the most stable factors of your presence in this world all at once will be a cause of concern for anyone. Was there also something else?¡±


    Sometimes, Doctor Patenaude asked questions because he didn¡¯t know something. Other times, it was because I didn¡¯t know something. Or at least hadn¡¯t properly talked about it. Was there anything else? The answer might be no. But I had something more. ¡°I¡¯m worried about Midnight living on his own.¡± And also I will miss him. It took me some effort to say that part out loud. But I did eventually, and followed it up with more. ¡°We won¡¯t even be far, but it will be strange.¡±


    Sometimes Doctor Patenaude had advice for me. Sometimes, I just needed to say things. This was more of the latter, but he still had practical things to say. ¡°Just remember that change will pass, and you can rely on your friends for support. Especially the ones going through similar changes.¡±


    -----


    Lower Hills Suites did not come from a personal recommendation from anyone I knew, but it was a well rated and reasonably located mixed size apartment complex. Perhaps I was being a bit silly with my concerns about Midnight when he would only be living across the hall, but controlling one¡¯s own thoughts was something that nobody could completely do. Even so, when I thought about Midnight alone I couldn¡¯t help but recall the first image I had seen of him, hungry and unkempt in an alleyway.


    But at this point he was fully capable, a functioning adult that might even be better adjusted than myself. He did need magic to speak English well because of his vocal chords, but Translation was cheap enough and lasted long enough to not be a point of concern. He just had trouble dealing with doors in most places, not because of manual dexterity issues- he could twist a knob with his paws- but simply as a matter of reach.


    That was one thing Lower Hills Suites offered, rooms built with smaller individuals in mind- of which Midnight was still on the lower end- as well as rooms with various adjustable features. Normal rooms could be turned into twice as many with the addition of loft features, or there were smaller and cheaper rooms that only catered to small individuals, stacked on top of each other. Midnight was in one of the small-only rooms, right across the hall from me on the lower level.


    It was cheaper and easier for a building to cater to only one size of individuals, either by building or by individual floors, but Lower Hills Suites was clear on its intention that everyone should be able to mix. For that sake, the larger adjustable rooms had floor-to-ceiling doors that could accommodate the rare particularly large individuals, up to approximately ten feet tall- and thus what a building without special reinforcements could manage. Not that there were many individuals that surpassed such a size. I¡¯d seen only a handful throughout New Bay- and they were easy to spot. Usually, it involved a power of some sort. Sometimes, that power couldn¡¯t be turned off. Quite inconvenient.


    Moving into my apartment was quite simple. Even the bed, one of the few pieces of furniture I actually owned. I simply took it up the industrial sized elevator, opened the double doors leading through my apartment and placed it right in the bedroom without any awkward fussing about. The closest I came to having trouble was turning the mattress right outside the room, because I was almost directly across from one of the supports for the walkway dividing the level of the smaller rooms.


    That convenience came with a price. No, it wasn¡¯t living next to a minotaur- the family of minotaurs next to me was quite nice and brought me a pie. It was simply more expensive to live in the building. I had more room than I needed because I was a single individual living in rooms meant to potentially accommodate someone significantly larger than human, and I had to pay for that and the flexibility of the rooms.


    But I¡¯d been working for the Brigade for a while and despite buying quite a bit of industrial diamond dust, my minimal other expenses meant I had sufficient savings to not worry. Super mercenaries got paid well, even at the rookie level- and my paychecks had quickly gone up. Plus the occasional work for Extra when they needed a translator. That wasn¡¯t often because I was only good at the part where I made words into other words, not actually talking to people.


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    I ducked down to knock on Midnight¡¯s door. He actually had a good five feet of height, so at least I didn¡¯t have to crawl on my hands and knees, but it wasn¡¯t exactly comfortable. However, the door was wide enough that I could fit inside, if there was anything I actually needed to do.


    ¡°How is it?¡± I asked as Midnight opened the door.


    ¡°Good!¡± he said. ¡°Everything¡¯s nice and convenient to reach, so I don¡¯t have to use magic, mostly. Still made for people with hands, but that¡¯s kind of hard to get around.¡±


    ¡°Nothing too high up, either,¡± I nodded, looking inside. ¡°Seems alright. You could even cook.¡±


    ¡°Hah!¡± Midnight laughed, ¡°Unlikely.¡±


    Neither of us were much in the way of cooks. I technically could- I was capable of following instructions and I had hands- but I preferred to have others do it for me. And with the money to make that feasible, I saw no reason not to avail myself of the services of others, just like for everything else I didn¡¯t have the skills for myself. That was the reason people even had cities. More or less.


    -----


    Working with Great Girl was going well. My magic was quite effective, Haste on its own and on the few occasions it was actually necessary Enlarge pushed Great Girl over the limits of being a match for most enemies to being basically undefeatable by anything with a physical form. Villains¡¯ only real opportunities were simply to not be anywhere we would show up. With Mono watching from a distance, enemies might be taken out before we arrived, and if not the problem was always dealt with swiftly.


    When Great Girl couldn¡¯t handle everything herself, Grasp and I supported her up close. Map coordinated everything from afar, guiding us to further incidents- though most of the time we wouldn¡¯t go directly from one to another. New Bay wasn¡¯t that chaotic. Though I supposed it did need a constantly patrolling combination of superheroes and mercenaries to keep things in line. Most of the trouble with supers were those who just got powers- like Rocker- and were relishing their new abilities without thinking of the consequences. Some were career supervillains, but they usually focused on completing an objective and fleeing before opposing supers arrived.


    ¡°Incident spotted,¡± Map said, relaying information to us. ¡°Five blocks away, a high threat portal unleashing alien monstrosities. Immediate response required.¡±


    That meant casting Haste on Great Girl. She didn¡¯t have to ask, I simply did it and she went speeding off at highway speeds. Or that was what people called it anyway- I didn¡¯t have much connection to highways, aside from occasionally seeing the massive beasts lumbering over parts of the city. Trains were faster, shuttling people between a few points.


    An underground network of subway tunnels had been planned and partly constructed, but various factors meant that it never really worked in New Bay. Factors like the only underground tunnels I knew of being flooded, and how tunnels did not mix well with super combat, inside it or above ground. Perhaps there would be advancements in material strength engineering that would make that better eventually. That wasn¡¯t my area of expertise.


    Not having Midnight with me meant I only had my pool of mana to count on for recovery, so I couldn¡¯t have him Haste the two of us or another individual. However, with the distance of five blocks I would only be able to catch up to Great Girl after Haste faded away if I simply ran, so I also had to expend the mana for myself. At my current mana levels, it was not too much to include Grasp. Each cast was only four mana, now, and I didn¡¯t think the benefits of overcharging it would come into play.


    I rounded the corner not far behind Great Girl and saw the destruction happening, but it only seemed bad on the scale of it being a single portal. A few destroyed cars, but civilians were trained to optimally flee the scene and the traffic lights were set up to prioritize that while minimizing accidents. It seemed there were a few injuries- possibly worse- but getting Great Girl there quickly meant that most of the carnage was dealt to what had come through the portal.


    Weird creatures with large, bladelike claws that couldn¡¯t possibly make sense with their body size. They were all insectoid, with exoskeletons, but there was some variety regarding other details. Some were only dog sized, some taller than myself with spiny tails whipping about, and there was one the size of an elephant just pushing its way through the portal.


    One of the dog sized ones was immediately stomped on by Great Girl. Her power provided not only size but proportional increases in strength and durability. She was currently somewhere around ten feet tall, a typical combat size. It provided enough power while still being reasonably sustainable. For example, she was able to grab the whipping tail of one of the mid-sized ones and crack that one against another, dropping them both out of the battle.


    Protocols for dealing with alien creatures- even ones that looked like this- were much the same as anything else. However, given the fallen civilians we didn¡¯t really have to worry about them being innocent.


    I gathered a little bit of mana and launched a Firebolt at one of the small ones trying to sneak past Great Girl¡¯s reach. The thing clearly did not like fire, raising its overly wide claw to try to block. The flames seemed to damage its exoskeleton, but it didn¡¯t die. It did stagger it enough for Grasp to yank it back and toss it blade-first into one of its compatriots.


    Those weren¡¯t the biggest concern, as the elephant sized creature- with two curved blades probably as long as I was tall stretching out- was now fully through the portal. I was prepared to move towards Great Girl and cast Enlarge, but she waved me off. ¡°Take care of the others!¡± she said, then snarled, her face stretching and growing teeth, while claws poked out of her modified gloves.


    I still hadn¡¯t gotten something for groups. Maybe now was the time. I had points, after all.

 Chapter 145

    Author¡¯s Note: Gore warning for the first half of this chapter. Just calling it out because that¡¯s not the norm for this story, it¡¯s mostly mild in my opinion. Look for the section break with ----- if you want to skip it.


    The middle of combat was technically not the right place to learn a new spell and use it for the first time¡­ but there were a large number of very sharp buglike things to contend with. I couldn¡¯t take them out one at a time, and though I hadn¡¯t used the spell I was choosing, I had studied it in preparation as one of my possibilities. The correct choice would have been getting this a few days ago and practicing, especially since I wasn¡¯t tight on points, but people didn¡¯t always make correct choices.


    25 points. That sort of luxurious expenditure would be a dream half a year ago. That was how many points it took to learn a 13th level spell, with a similar mana cost. If I was familiar with the spell I might have tried to reduce my mana expenditure, but I didn¡¯t want to lower power, range, or worst of all control.


    Lightning crackled around the tip of my staff. It didn¡¯t actually gain anything from originating there rather than my hand, except some flexibility in how I aimed. My first target was one of the large dog sized creatures with blades as front limbs. Followed by all of the ones behind it, and the larger examples with the wicked tails. And specifically not Great Girl, the ones immediately around her, or the elephant sized monstrosity.


    The lightning moved not in a bolt, but in a bouncing wave, curving up and almost away from my target before arcing back down. The first target lit up briefly as lightning coursed through it, before chaining to the next, and the next. It was good that I had planned out its whole route ahead of time, because there wasn¡¯t a moment to redirect it. Through a half dozen ¡®small¡¯ creatures, then one of the larger ones, a car, several more of the smaller ones, it finally fried two man-sized invaders before grounding itself in a stop sign, melting it.


    A couple of the smaller ones actually exploded, and I knew I would never be able to use this on people without powers unless I could reduce its power to somewhere less than a tenth. The rest of the smaller ones were smoking piles of limbs on the ground, and the larger ones fell over, twitching. The car only exploded a little bit.


    The whole display provided an opening for Grasp to deal with the lesser individuals around Great Girl, flinging them into each other in pairs, enhancing the power she could generate in any one area while at the same time avoiding damage to streets and surrounding buildings.


    The size-changing woman had her teeth and claws fully out, and her Hasted form ducked and weaved around bladed claws and tails. I realized how much she had to hold back against regular people, because she quite easily cracked the exoskeletons of these monsters. If we hadn¡¯t seen them attack people, it could have been a problem- no matter how inhuman they looked.


    That left the big one, overall much more massive than Great Girl even at her largest- though it was shorter than her fifteen foot maximum. She ducked under its scissoring front claws as it tried to slice her apart, pushing herself to that maximum. I almost moved in to cast Enlarge, but I saw something more important to be doing. The portal being no longer stopped up behind the big one, there were at least another few dozen of the smaller varieties.


    ¡°Grasp! Try to keep them in the portal!¡±


    I rushed forward, Haste close to wearing off for all of us. Half of it had been used up just getting here quickly. I didn¡¯t have to actually touch the portal, but I needed to be closer. Grasp did her part, shoving the first wave back into the others and toppling them into a pile, then holding down the whole mass. Clearly not something she could keep up forever, but it provided me the time I needed to approach and then begin tearing apart the portal.


    Something about it felt different from those I was used to¡­ but that was probably a good thing. It was most likely natural, instead of caused by Doctor Doomsday. Either way, it responded to my spell, the ten foot diameter portal shrinking quickly to half that size, collapsing towards its center. I used the last of my mana to twist it fully closed, but as I was doing that one of the smallest creatures leapt through, perhaps having climbed the pile of things. A sharp claw cut down the front of my chest. Francois wasn¡¯t going to be happy about that. But at least I was fine. The defensive material of my suit would have probably prevented most damage anyway, but I also didn¡¯t go on patrols without Stoneskin.


    I thwacked the creature with my staff, then again. And again. Exoskeletons were a pain. At least each consecutive hit stunned it or threw it off balance for a moment. Eventually, I cracked its head and it stopped moving. It would have been faster if I knew any of their weak points, because skulls hardly counted. They were tough for a reason.


    Behind me, Great Girl had for some reason gotten in a sort of wrestling match with the huge one, her hands clasped on its arms just behind the large scythe blades. Her clawed fingers were digging into the exoskeleton, leaving marks as the two of them strained against each other. Then something snapped- it appeared to be the whole segment connecting the creature¡¯s left claw to its body.


    Great Girl yanked and then she had the creature¡¯s claw in her grip. She spun it around and brought it around on the large one¡¯s head, finding it was sharp enough to cut through the exoskeleton and spraying green and purple ichor everywhere.


    -----


    When the news vans arrived, Great Girl was still covered in ichor. There were giant dead bugs all over, a few crushed cars and one that might have been exploded by lightning but could have also been destroyed by something big and stompy, maybe.


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    I had to admit, though she was quite effective, there was perhaps a reason Stargirl had a bigger following. Besides being a hero and thus specifically advertised for, Stargirl also could fly and fight from a distance, keeping herself in pristine condition for photo ops. But also Great Girl could stomp her into a crater in the ground, and Stargirl was biased more towards easy jobs than being as effective as she could be.


    Great Girl frowned hard as she looked at the carnage around her.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked. ¡°We managed to limit the casualties significantly for something so dangerous.¡± People were already being carted away in ambulances¡­ though probably not all of them were alive. I had seen some death in the various portal incidents, and while it certainly affected me Great Girl had to have more experience.


    She shook her head, ¡°I¡¯m not sure if these were the originals or the other version¡­ I just hope they weren¡¯t from our reality.¡± Technically, it was just hers. Though I did live here now, so maybe it was mine as well.


    Dismantling the portal had returned most of the mana I spent on the process- otherwise I would have been reeling on my feet. I took a closer look, really feeling it. It turned out using Arcane Sight was unnecessary. ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± I said. ¡°Just a random portal to some sort of other world.¡±


    ¡°Good. I really don¡¯t want to have to deal with a swarm.¡±


    -----


    Wrapping up after the incident, nobody complained too much about the one exploded car. I would have to work on that, of course, as it would have been much worse if Chain Lightning jumped to a living target I didn¡¯t intend. There was a lot of power in it. It was more than halfway to the top tier of spells, after all. Its power would be cut back a bit by it covering an area, but it still had more than twice the power- and more than twice the cost- of Sonic Lance.


    ¡°I think we worked well together,¡± Great Girl said.


    ¡°Well¡­ yes,¡± I agreed.


    ¡°... You don¡¯t sound like you mean that,¡± she countered.


    ¡°I do, but¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure what it is. I think the team was well coordinated. Map got us there by the best route.¡± Of the squad, Map was the only one not present- but she was listening in. ¡°This particular incident Mono was not able to show his effectiveness, as it was resolved quickly. But I have seen him in action previously. Grasp coordinated excellently with me, even with a new spell.¡±


    ¡°Was that a Chain Lightning, by the way?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°Told you it would be cool. My friends always talk about it.¡±


    Did the rest of the squad not know she was a nerd? Looking at their faces¡­ they definitely did. Who was she even hiding it from? ¡°It¡¯s good,¡± I admitted. ¡°Back to my thoughts. You of course defeated the big one. Everyone was very effective.¡±


    ¡°... And?¡± she tilted her head, waiting.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure you actually need someone like me,¡± I said.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Great Girl shook her head. ¡°There was no way we would have gotten to the scene in time without you. And I was able to wrangle with that swarm because of Haste, too. Then you helped pare down the numbers. Grasp is good for dealing with a few at a time, but her power is never going to blast things with lightning.¡±


    ¡°Sadly,¡± Grasp nodded.


    ¡°So what¡¯s your issue?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°It¡¯s okay to be honest.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure. Aside from Chain Lightning, I mostly just contributed to improving the two of you.¡±


    ¡°And closing the portal,¡± Grasp pointed out.


    ¡°So?¡± Great Girl said. ¡°You once Hasted Shockwave so they could go save their- go help support a retired super. That¡¯s a big deal. And getting us to the scene quickly. You have amazing support abilities.¡± She leaned a bit closer, looking at me intently, ¡°Supports are very important and no less than anyone else. Don¡¯t forget that.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± I had to admit.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Great Girl shrugged, ¡°If you don¡¯t feel comfortable in that role, then find something else. The Brigade had all sorts of options, though we appreciate having you here.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Grasp said. ¡°Haste allows me to make more accurate use of tactical repositioning.¡±


    Mono looked over at me with one eye. ¡°... I haven¡¯t gotten to have Haste yet.¡± He paused, almost to the point I thought that was all he was going to say. ¡°But I can definitely see how quickened thought processes would help me.¡±


    Map¡¯s voice came through the nearby meeting room speakers. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate your contributions! I calculated your efforts saved at least six to ten civilian casualties due to the rapid response.¡±


    Great Girl looked at me, clearly thinking. ¡°Is it an experience thing? Do you not get experience for buffs?¡±


    ¡°I get some experience for any contributions to combat,¡± I said.


    ¡°But less?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I believe so.¡± Though it was difficult to tell, because I could never have the same battle twice. Replicating the same battle in training would always give less experience, both because it was not serious and because it didn¡¯t involve anything new.


    ¡°I see,¡± she nodded. ¡°Anything big you¡¯re saving for? A goal?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ not really.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Just being able to get experience at a reasonable rate has been quite exciting. Though I suppose I do want more levels just to be able to cast whatever I want.¡± Chain Lightning was already kind of close to the limit on how much mana I could control at once. It was now my highest level spell outside of Gate, so that made sense. But I couldn¡¯t technically cast Gate at all, and I could barely use Chain lightning twice from full mana.


    But I had some free points. And I now had enough variety of abilities that I should strongly be considering increasing efficiency. The only real question I had was whether spending points on upgrades limited my ability to gain ¡®natural¡¯ upgrades or not. Then again, being more efficient right away might just be worth it. There really wasn¡¯t anything I had to rush towards. I just had a strange feeling I was going to need to keep increasing my levels. But that could have been all the years of missing out on being able to improve.

 Chapter 146

    Lightning sprang from target to target with little to no input from me. The training dummies melted- but they were designed to do that. Each one fell in sequence over the course of a couple seconds, one at a time. I wondered if it had to be like that. My reading as an apprentice didn¡¯t go in depth on higher level spells. I breathed out slowly. That certainly was a lot more destructive power than anything else I had.


    I looked over to the other person in the room, Shockfire. Just because the members of squad C-4 were surveying our options didn¡¯t mean we wouldn¡¯t train together at all anymore. And I particularly needed Shockfire for this, because I had no idea how to do¡­ things. Things that didn¡¯t involve using spells exactly one way with perhaps one exception inspired by Midnight. And while I knew I was still locked into fundamental forms for spells, I could probably do a bit more.


    ¡°Ready?¡± I made sure Shockfire was focused on me. He was very resistant to fire and electricity, but he could still be hurt- especially if he was not consciously protecting himself.


    ¡°I am,¡± he nodded, eyes darting between me and the new mess of targets throughout the training room. They popped up out of the floor, almost like magic but actually through some fancy tech stuff.


    I raised my staff, gathering mana into crackling lightning. I took things slowly, both so that Shockfire could prepare and to get more of a feel for my magic. This was a spell I couldn¡¯t afford to let go wrong, more than any of the others. I let it flow towards Shockfire, designating him as the sole target in my mind. It was possible this would be a complete waste of mana, but that would still teach us something.


    Fortunately, Shockfire did manage to ¡®catch¡¯ my magic in his hands, redirecting it towards the targets. I tried to make it avoid one of them in particular, but¡­ at that point, it seemed to no longer be my spell. It just hit everything.


    ¡°Wow,¡± Shockfire said, waving his hands. ¡°That¡¯s impressive. My fingers are numb.¡±


    ¡°Do you need to catch things with your hands?¡±


    ¡°It has to touch me, or get close to touching me, you know? So¡­ I¡¯d rather it be my hands than my face,¡± Shockfire said.


    ¡°A small area of influence,¡± I nodded. Given that he could remove lingering control instead of just redirecting things, it wasn¡¯t that odd. Strength of certain kinds also came with other limits. Though there were supers that were just ¡®stronger¡¯. The world wasn¡¯t fair. Though that had been true even back home for me. Like people who could get experience from normal activities. I wondered if I could wrestle Shockfire for control, before he fully got it. But I wouldn¡¯t do that today, and especially not without warning him.


    ¡°Alright, we should get some civilians in there next,¡± Shockfire said. Some of the training dummies changed color. Things weren¡¯t always so easy to pick out, but training had to start somewhere. ¡°Ready?¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s all I¡¯ve got. I¡¯d need an hour to recover the last half of my third cast.¡±


    ¡°Oof, that¡¯s rough. Gotta keep training that capacity, I guess.¡±


    ¡°I just need levels,¡± I shook my head. ¡°That¡¯s the only way.¡±


    What a pain. Part of the reason I was training Chain Lightning was to try to get a natural upgrade to make it more efficient. A single upgrade would cut off more than half a point of mana from the cost. If I spent all of my free points for two upgrades, I could get it down to a cost I could almost cast three successively. But it was also the only combat spell I had with no natural upgrades of any type. I wanted to see if it was easier to get a ¡®natural¡¯ upgrade if I didn¡¯t have any bought with points. And I also wanted those points for other things. I couldn¡¯t bet on level 29 coming quickly, as I was just over the threshold to reach it. I barely got any experience for the space bugs. Well, it was more than a tenth of a level so it wasn¡¯t nothing. Just nowhere near what I had gotten in some battles. It seemed that actually killing things wasn¡¯t really worth any more experience.


    ¡°We could work with Firebolt¡­¡± I said hesitantly. ¡°But I think we should probably devote our sessions to one thing, especially if they¡¯re like this.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense,¡± Shockfire nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s wait for that next one. It¡¯s not as easy as it looks for me, either. I don¡¯t have to provide the energy, but it¡¯s not like I can just use incoming energy forever.¡±


    So we waited, and he was able to direct the chain away from ¡®civilians¡¯. But he only took out about half the others, because he worked his way around one side and found himself too far from the next target that wasn¡¯t through a civilian. I had many thoughts about how to find efficient paths, and whether or not we might be able to curve things¡­ but that would have to be for later. I¡¯d probably taken too big of a leap with this spell.


    -----


    ¡°Yo,¡± Great Girl caught me at lunch. ¡°Still bummed about moving?¡±


    ¡°The new place is nice,¡± I said. ¡°I only miss being close to Jim and Khithae.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, only seeing people at work is rough,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°Most of my friends¡­ uh¡­ don¡¯t mix.¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t supers,¡± I nodded. ¡°I understand. That¡¯s still a concern for most people.¡±


    ¡°I almost envy you,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°Not concerned about getting recognized. Until I remember why you don¡¯t bother with it. Sucks that people suck.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I should have to,¡± I folded my arms. ¡°Even if I¡¯m an orc, I¡¯m still me. Just a person living their life.¡±


    ¡°Right? That group Doctor Doomsday pulled through is ruining everything.¡±


    ¡°They seem like pretty typical orcs, from what I know.¡±


    Great Girl frowned. ¡°... Seems problematic. So¡­ is that all that¡¯s bothering you? Usually it¡¯s power related.¡±


    ¡°I just need more levels,¡± I said. ¡°My limited number of spells I can cast is frustrating.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I get it,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°Low levels suck with limited spell slots. Though I suppose you don¡¯t have to deal with those, exactly.¡±


    ¡°Just mana,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Can you get more besides levels?¡± she said. ¡°Like a feat or uh¡­ more points in some secondary stat?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have ¡®stats¡¯, just levels and points.¡±


    She clicked her tongue. ¡°What a restrictive system. Though I guess it mostly just describes your power, rather than giving it to you.¡±


    ¡°... Maybe?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Everyone in my world has this so its difficult to say.¡±


    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you talk to my s- talk to Doctor Rose again? She helped you last time with the regeneration thing, right?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s your sister?¡± I thought back to the basement full of games and fantasy paraphernalia. ¡°That explains so much.¡±


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Why?¡± Great Girl held up her hands in frustration. ¡°How do you always get things like that when you don¡¯t even notice people¡¯s names?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Like Shooting Star.¡±


    ¡°Her civilian name is secret,¡± I said. ¡°But I think I would have noticed if it came up around me.¡±


    ¡°Not that,¡± Great Girl rolled her eyes. ¡°Her super name.¡±


    ¡°What about it?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Tell me what it is,¡± she said.


    I frowned. ¡°You just mentioned her. And isn¡¯t Stargirl your rival or whatever?¡±


    ¡°That!¡± Great Girl pointed right at me. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about.¡±


    I pondered for a second. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a secret she was your rival. Was it? I can¡¯t imagine that it wouldn¡¯t be obvious when you cratered her.¡±


    She grabbed my shoulders. ¡°You called her Stargirl.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± I tilted my head.


    For no reason at all, Great Girl began to shake me. ¡°I thought you were making fun of her!¡± Great Girl said while continuing to shake me without explaining. ¡°But you just don¡¯t remember!¡±


    ¡°I just said she¡¯s Stargirl¡± I complained.


    ¡°It¡¯s Shooting Star, not Stargirl!¡± Great Girl complained. ¡°It¡¯s so much worse because her name is cooler!¡±


    She stopped shaking me. ¡°Wait really?¡± I frowned. ¡°She is Shooting Star and not Stargirl?¡± That didn¡¯t make any sense. ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely.¡±


    ¡°... is Gloom actually called Black Hood?¡±


    ¡°For some reason you remember that one,¡± Great Girl threw up her hands. ¡°But you don¡¯t even remember your own nemesis¡¯s name.¡±


    ¡°I have a nemesis?¡±


    ¡°Deimos. Obviously.¡±


    ¡°Listen, that¡¯s more of a one sided thing. I didn¡¯t do anything to make Handface hate me or want to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Except be the one to cause that scar you¡¯re naming him after,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°And call him Handface instead of Deimos.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°... Are you sure you¡¯re not making these names up?¡±


    -----


    I once again found myself in the basement office of Doctor Rose. I looked at her carefully. ¡°You¡¯re not tall,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah, thanks, I know,¡± she rolled her eyes.


    ¡°But you are taller than your sister,¡± I finished.


    ¡°Wow, she told you?¡± Doctor Rose¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°I figured it out,¡± I said. ¡°Also that she¡¯s a nerd like you,¡± I looked at the stuff surrounding us. ¡°I¡¯m not sure which bothered her more.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s done a pretty good job of keeping it secret,¡± Doctor Rose said.


    ¡°Or nobody said anything,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Sometimes people just don¡¯t say things.¡±


    ¡°Fair point. You can be pretty blunt.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see a reason not to be, most of the time.¡±


    ¡°Great. Now then, we should get to the actual reason you¡¯re here instead of gossiping about my sister. She said you want ways to improve your maximum mana capacity.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I nodded. ¡°Mana Crystal Deposition does not return mana instantly, and overuse has health issues.¡±


    ¡°Oof, sorry about that,¡± Doctor Rose said. ¡°I¡¯m a researcher, not really involved with the practical things.¡±


    ¡°It would be easier if you stepped through a portal,¡± I commented.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ tempting, but I wouldn¡¯t want to risk it. And I doubt you can just conjure up a portal to your world.¡±


    ¡°Not until I get more mana,¡± I replied. ¡°Which is half the point.¡±


    ¡°Right, well. Your mana is related to level?¡±


    ¡°It is.¡±


    ¡°Is it linear? Geometric? Exponential? What about mana costs?¡±


    ¡°Linear,¡± I said. ¡°Specifically, I have level plus 5 maximum mana. Spells cost as much as their own level, ranging from 1 to 20.¡±


    ¡°Wow, that sounds like information that should be secret.¡±


    ¡°Everyone knows it,¡± I said.


    ¡°Everyone in your world. Here, people could calculate what your maximum is and intentionally wear you down.¡±


    ¡°Only if they know my level. Or all of the ranks of my spells. That reduces mana cost, but differently.¡±


    Doctor Rose nodded, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll assume you considered that angle already and still find yourself in need of more mana. Speaking of level, if you could give me a ballpark for demonstrative purposes¡­?¡±


    ¡°28.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ specific. Maybe you should be more precious with that?¡±


    ¡°I trust you,¡± I said. ¡°If you do something bad I can have your sister beat you up.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but people could like¡­ steal information from me?¡±


    ¡°The only enemy I have currently is also your sister¡¯s enemy. I¡­ assume that your existence is secret.¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­¡± Doctor Rose frowned. ¡°I know who you mean. And don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re cautious about it.¡±


    ¡°Should I come here in disguise?¡± I asked.


    ¡°If someone¡¯s already watching this place, it¡¯s too late,¡± Rose said. ¡°Just don''t let people follow you around. Especially for your own sake.¡±


    ¡°Noted,¡± I agreed.


    ¡°So, I do have some ideas,¡± Rose said. ¡°The numbers you¡¯re working with are¡­ not great. It¡¯s odd that it would be so limited in growth. You¡¯d go from casting 6 spells at-level to¡­ exactly one. Though if we¡¯re more reasonable and go for multiples of 5, it¡¯s more like 10 and 5. Which doesn¡¯t sound that bad until you consider that you could cast at least 100 of those first level spells.¡±


    ¡°There is a significant difference in power,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s not odd to not be able to throw around many high level spells.¡±


    ¡°It kinda is?¡± Doctor Rose frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not saying supers can operate at maximum output for long periods, but that¡¯s too little. And considering other mana-related information was unavailable to you, this might be as well.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°I suppose I did figure out ways to recover mana slightly faster. But unless I can get more than ten times ¡®normal¡¯ it doesn¡¯t really solve my problem of endurance.¡±


    ¡°Right, so¡­ I assume you¡¯ve pushed yourself to the limits, right? Any improvements?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I just pass out from mana exhaustion.¡±


    ¡°Have you done it with the intent of improving your capacity?¡±


    ¡°... no?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying it will work,¡± Doctor Rose said. ¡°And in fact if it did, I would expect it to happen automatically. But that¡¯s one thing you can try. Preferably with supervision by medical professionals. Passing out isn¡¯t good.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really not,¡± she said. ¡°The other straightforward option would be resting up to your maximum and trying to have¡­ more? You might have tried that already, I don¡¯t know.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I accepted many things as true that were not. I¡¯m willing to try these things. If they work, perhaps my apprentice could learn them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be careful with that,¡± Doctor Rose said. ¡°You¡¯re both older and higher level. Both could affect things like this. Like, maybe you don¡¯t automatically unlock all of the maximum mana from a level?¡± She tilted her head. ¡°Sadly, I can¡¯t be sure.¡±


    ¡°If I had more mana, I could portal to my world and search for forbidden tomes,¡± I said. ¡°In which case I might not need this information.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a catch-22, isn¡¯t it?¡± she shrugged.


    ¡°... 22 what?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Doctor Rose said. ¡°I can give you some other options, but those are the one¡¯s I¡¯d start with. Let me know how they go, if you would.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± I agreed.


    I had no idea if I would have any success with this, but it was nice to have options brought to my attention. They seemed like things I could think of, but it was difficult to go outside of what I ¡®knew¡¯ were the limits on my own.

 Chapter 147

    Levels of mana rose and fell throughout New Bay, though nowhere particularly stood out. I was now more practiced at determining the difference that higher locations provided with regard to regeneration. Optimally, I would position myself next to an open portal to a very magical area. Assuming I didn¡¯t care about things trying to eat me, of course. That wouldn¡¯t be a good location for careful meditation, though.


    ¡°So how did it go?¡± Doctor Rose asked. ¡°Did you make any improvements?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Meditating at maximum mana didn¡¯t seem to do anything, whether I tried to force mana into myself or gently accept it. I just kind of sat there at full.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunate,¡± she said, ¡°But we can¡¯t expect the first ideas to just work. That was the case before as well.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so,¡± I said, crossing my arms. ¡°I just wonder if this can work at all. Or if Curse of the Barbarian will change things to some other method.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way to know without access to more information. So until we succeed, we can only hope,¡± Doctor Rose said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t give up yet. There¡¯s much more we can try. But if you¡¯re concerned about that Barbarian thing¡­ doesn¡¯t it just affect experience gain?¡±


    ¡°Probably?¡± I shook my head. ¡°But the information on that¡­¡±


    ¡°Is limited. I understand. But from what you¡¯ve told me, experience and levels provide mana in their own way. I don¡¯t know if a change to experience should affect how you might improved your maximum mana outside of that system. And if there was¡­ with all the combat you¡¯ve gotten in, presumably you would have stumbled across it.¡±


    I frowned, ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°Just to clarify, Barbarian is also a class in your world, correct?¡± I nodded in response to her question. ¡°Do they use mana?¡±


    ¡°Everyone does,¡± I said. ¡°Though caster classes generally use it faster. Though there are ways for other classes to expend themselves quickly. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have access to most of the details since I primarily studied magely things. The only other natural class user I have access to is a scout.¡± She should be back in town soon, I was fairly certain.


    ¡°Then I presume they exercise¡­ and you as well. You could try pushing past your physical limits, maybe it would help? Or you could hurt yourself. Don¡¯t forget I¡¯m not the sort of doctor that can tell you if any of this is safe.¡±


    ¡°A series of efforts testing my limits and whether that results in any changes might be good,¡± I admitted. ¡°The healers would likely become annoyed if I consistently overdid myself, but a few tests would be fine.¡±


    -----


    When Meztli had offered her help with my experiments, I gratefully accepted. I should have thought that through more carefully. ¡°Come on! I know you can go another lap!¡± she called after me.


    It didn¡¯t make me feel any better that she was running along with me. I maintained a professional level of fitness, and while orcs might naturally have greater muscle than humans, that didn¡¯t necessarily include endurance running. I could only thank Francois for how breathable my clothes were, though the jacket had been too much sometime before I¡¯d collapsed onto the ground in a puddle of sweat and maybe a few tears.


    Then Meztli had shoved Power Brigade brand energy bars into my face and blasted some of her power into me, forcefully replenishing my stamina. Now I was continuing my efforts, but even with powers involved I couldn¡¯t repeat the same number of laps I¡¯d managed before. At least Shockwave wasn¡¯t around lapping me. They were fun sometimes, but at the moment I don¡¯t know if I could handle that in particular.


    ¡°Don¡¯t stop if you¡¯re still conscious!¡± Meztli prompted me as I began to drag my feet. ¡°We need to reach your true limits!¡±


    Too enthusiastic. Personally, passing out didn¡¯t bother me too much- it was just a lot more work to do through physical activity. A body naturally slowed down when fatigued, whereas mana usage continued at optimal speed until completely drained- or if you tried to use too much all at once on one thing, which only took a few seconds.


    My feet continued to move one in front of the other. Sweat dripped down my forehead, my cheeks, running over my lips and tusks and off my chin. It was also everywhere else, and I had strongly considered removing my shirt to make that minor difference, but I didn¡¯t particularly want to display that image.


    My feet moved, my lungs pumped air to my brain, and my vision darkened. Then it came back with me propped up on a bench. Meztli had caught me on the way down.


    ¡°There are plenty of reasons to not pass out,¡± Mezlti said as she saw I¡¯d come to. ¡°But extreme tests like this occasionally, with proper supervision, are reasonable enough for a mercenary super.¡±


    ¡°Ugh,¡± I groaned, taking a swig of the electrolyte drink in my hand. Also Power Brigade branded, of course. None of the products were particularly worse or better than their counterparts so I didn¡¯t really care what it was, though I did prefer the lemon-lime flavor in general. I took stock of myself. I didn¡¯t have an internal meter telling me that I was at 33 mana, just a sense that I was at capacity. So after a few minutes of rest, I cast spells exactly equalling that total, focusing on ones I wanted to improve. I didn¡¯t expect to gain anything particular from one capacity¡¯s worth, but I might as well try to be efficient.


    I passed out again, of course, but from a different cause. If I had improved my mana, it wasn¡¯t by any measurable amount- not even a measurable fraction of a single point. Doctor Martinez scanned my head, of course.


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    -----


    After some consideration, the best way to get more mana was likely through the acquisition of magical items, such as my staff. With that in mind, I should go seek out Doctor Doomsday and ask him for some materials. Not.


    I had no particular grudge against the man, but he clearly had not been pleased with my attempts to spy on him, even that single time. Nobody knew where the man himself was anyway. Instead, the best option was trying to find some of his minions. Quite a few of them had power negating weapons, and they¡¯d been causing quite a bit of trouble for people. It had been determined from the captured samples that they had limited usage of such features, but it would have been crazy to expect anything else.


    That made my next choice of squad fairly simple. Doctor Doomsday didn¡¯t exactly have an area of operations- all of New Bay seemed to be within his reach- but we could at least track the general locations of minion activity. Occasional lairs or safehouses were uncovered, but those only led to minion arrests or information about one particular mission¡¯s stated goal. Usually, that was retrieving something. Nobody knew more than that.


    But we did have some knowledge of where they might be, and I joined up with a group of mercs I¡¯d briefly interacted with in the past. Mostly in relation to the first real mission, security for a party at a fancy manor in the hills.


    First was Magnet Man. ¡°Just as a reminder,¡± he said, ¡°I do not control magnetism. I control metal. So don¡¯t worry about me yanking your weapons about on accident.¡±


    My staff still had a metal core, but I was fairly certain the point was that he targeted what he wanted to control instead of just making big magnetic fields or whatever.


    There was also Knives from the same time, able to form weapons out of her red energy. A power with very limited utility or flexibility outside of combat, but not particularly limited by going up against people that could negate it. As long as they had to directly interact with her, she just had to be aware of the possibility. She couldn¡¯t block with her power, as they could form a connection to her through that, or direct contact with her. She wasn¡¯t in the habit of letting people stab her regardless, so she simply had to avoid their attacks and because her defenses didn¡¯t rely on her power, she barely had to change her fighting style.


    The final member of the little team was Bombino. His power to make explosions wasn¡¯t exactly coveted because of the potential collateral damage, but he had sufficient combat strength to put forth when it was necessary. He could stop a vehicle or break through the AEGIS barriers that Doctor Doomsday had started handing out to orcish minions.


    I didn¡¯t think there was any chance I would permanently join up with them, even once we got past the fact that they weren¡¯t even a permanent squad. I was just here to see if I could get my hands on more stuff from Doctor Doomsday and then hope that Vilhelmiina would help me make it something usable. Though I couldn¡¯t expect her to continue to do things for ¡®free¡¯, I could at least ask what she would want, and the woman was quite effective.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Magnet Man was in charge of this particular group. ¡°Given our group size and mobility, we¡¯ll be patrolling together. Can¡¯t exactly afford to split up, and we¡¯re just looking for general mayhem. No guarantee what we¡¯ll come across, if anything.¡±


    That was normal for a patrol- we weren¡¯t raiding a hideout or anything. With nothing else particular to say, we set off. Since Force Armor was quite cheap, I had applied it to everyone before we came to the patrol everywhere. 6 mana recovered in an hour- less, with the increased ambient mana in the city- so we only needed to wander around for about half that time for me to be full.


    But of course villains didn¡¯t wait for the optimal timing. No more than five minutes into the actual patrol, Magnet Man stopped us. ¡°I sense a large amount of metal moving around the corner,¡± he said. ¡°Careful. Could be the mod squad or¡­¡±


    The dark alley was fairly clear to my eyes. It was not the mod squad. I also determined that Magnet man¡¯s senses were¡­ vague. ¡°Rats,¡± I said. ¡°Should be Rodentia¡¯s. A big swarm. This might be a pain. Though I could use my new spell.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it won¡¯t be too bad,¡± Magnet Man said. ¡°We¡¯re ready for this. Conserve yourself in case the woman herself shows up. Knives, if you could toss a couple to draw their attention?¡±


    Sometimes I forgot how big Rodentia¡¯s robotic rats were. Some had been vaguely normal rat sized, but many of these were more cat sized. If she made robots that were more efficient, with the rate she made them she might be strong competition for any tech super. But some of them couldn¡¯t help but focus on their thing. Not all tech supers were crazy, but I¡¯d yet to meet any that weren¡¯t enthusiastic.


    Red blades of energy stabbed through the torsos of the robot rats, creating sparks as they faded away leaving open holes. That attracted the attention of the rest of the swarm, and they began to quickly make their way towards us. I watched intently, while Magnet Man reached towards the mass of swarming creatures. Then the ones in front just stopped. Others began to climb over them, but he caught onto them as well.


    That was a perfect setup for Bombino. He held out his hands, reddish black energy forming a sphere of power that he tossed forward. It was clear he knew how large the explosion would be, as it barely tangented the edges of they alleyway, while at the same time shredding a majority of the metal creatures contained together.


    ¡°Wow,¡± I said. ¡°One-way walls are¡­ useful.¡±


    I was used to Ice Guy¡¯s barriers. They were very durable, and worked against pretty much any incoming projectiles¡­ but they were just walls. That worked both ways. Being able to just stop things where you wanted was great. Then again, I¡¯d seen some of that with Grasp. Magnet Man seemed stronger, though perhaps that was because his power had a narrower usage than general telekinesis.


    ¡°Robots are metal,¡± he shrugged. ¡°I could take them out individually but that¡¯s a real pain.¡±


    As he said that, he was sweeping the remains more towards the mouth of the alleyway. The robo rats that had been further back decided to flee, but he caught them and with no visible signs they stopped wiggling one by one.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty easy to disconnect a few wires,¡± he said. ¡°And from what I know the fusion reactors in these little buggers are¡­ safe. So I don¡¯t have to worry about screwing something up.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s at least as safe as exploding them,¡± Bombino agreed. Then he shook his head, ¡°Could you imagine if miniaturized fusion reactors were used for something more¡­ useful?¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± a voice yelled from down the alleyway. ¡°Robo-rats are the epitome of both art and science!¡±


    From the crazy hair and rat mask, it was pretty easy to identify the woman.


    ¡°Careful of the cheese ray,¡± I whispered. That thing was annoying. On that topic, it was also strangely nonlethal. Though that was the sort of thing that kept Rodentia off of the Brigade¡¯s priority takedown list. But since she was here and without minions, we might as well.


    ¡°More swarms incoming!¡± Magnet Man warned.


    Oh yes, of course. Silly me, thinking only a hundred or so oversized robotic rats was all she was going to have with her.

 Chapter 148

    The end of the alleyway literally thrummed with technology. And rats. Though technically the rats were also technology. I could only barely make out Rodentia herself behind her pile of rats. She called it something specific last time¡­ adaptive rat shielding?


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold off the incoming groups,¡± Magnet Man said, looking back and forth down the street. ¡°Knives and Bombino, try to deal with Rodentia herself. Mage, if you could stay in reserve¡­¡±


    Knives began with a barrage of red, her energy blades slicing through the air. They stabbed into part of the tower of robot rats, scattering oil and gears everywhere, but there was still a whole swarm of rats remaining.


    Bombino took the time to charge up a larger blast. Instead of needing Magnet Man to group things up, they actually handled it themselves, by huddling around Rodentia. A pulsing sphere of power flew towards her¡­ only to be met halfway by a yellow-orange beam. It washed over his orb, changing the color but not seeming to stop it in any real manner. Then it struck the rats, exploding¡­ into a fountain of cheese?


    A sort of chittering cackle came from Rodentia. ¡°Behold, the power of the Cheese Ray Mark III!¡±


    I certainly beheld it. Super tech always felt weird, but that thing absolutely required powers to function. Unlike the pile of rats, which were just robots that were a bit too functional. Certainly, they didn¡¯t feel like that much.


    The new swarms came in from either side, and the fact that they were able to do that meant Rodentia had way too many of them. At least she was actually present here, and there weren¡¯t just this many wandering around everywhere. Though there really were a lot.


    Magnet Man was trying to hold off two waves at once, but he could only affect so many at once. If he actually controlled magnetism he could probably just pull them all into the center of a heap or two, but he seemed to be holding the ones in front to block them, while toppling others that made it over.


    ¡°This is actually much harder than I thought!¡± he complained.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take one out!¡± I said. ¡°Bombino, perhaps you should get the other?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep Rodentia occupied!¡± Knives called back.


    With our plan in place, I looked towards one of the piles. Should be pretty easy to avoid collateral damage. I gathered mana, focusing on the robotic rats as lightning arced between my outstretched fingers. It didn¡¯t really matter which one I targeted first, as the whole pile was quite close together. Thus I let the Chain Lightning go, seeing it take an odd path that curved a bit to the side before contacting the first one.


    Tech supers tended to make their robots shock resistant, since that was otherwise a large weakness- but such a thing could only go so far. I honestly didn¡¯t know if Rodentia fit in that group. What I did know was that there were numerous bright flashes with lightning snaking every which way through robotic rats towards other ones, and a moment later the whole pile was half-melted slag that smelled strongly of ozone.


    Bombino took out the other pile easily enough. There were a few individuals that Magnet Man bashed together so that we wouldn¡¯t have anything sneaking up on us, but my Chain Lightning didn¡¯t seem to have missed anything, especially since it wasn¡¯t restricted by the rats covering each other like Bombino¡¯s explosion.


    I only caught a few glimpses of Knives, red and yellow flashes. One of the cars across the street was just a big wedge of cheese now. With the Cheese Ray Mark I it might have simply been covered, but I had the feeling this one did more. Hopefully it still didn¡¯t replace organic matter, or Rodientia would be jumping a handful of danger tiers. That would get her taken out quickly, but I really wanted to not be one of the casualties that made it happen.


    Either way avoiding the cheese ray seemed important. Though Rodentia seemed quite focused on shooting Knive¡¯s ranged attacks out of the air, turning them into little cheese wedges that the rats in front of her then chewed up.


    ¡°Bombino!¡± Magnet Man was done mopping up the little guys, ¡°Ready?¡±


    They didn¡¯t have to say what, they just knew. Bombino charged up a pulsing sphere of energy, flinging it forward. The rats tried to move in front of it, but¡­ stopped. There was a large explosion, with dust and smoke filling the alleyway.


    ¡°Did we get her?¡± Magnet Man asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯re not supposed to ask that,¡± I said. ¡°It will only lead to-¡±


    ¡°Chahahaha!¡± Rodentia¡¯s voice rang out from within the smoke. ¡°You¡¯ll never pierce my RAT shield!¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it called adaptive rat shielding before?¡± I called back.


    ¡°That¡¯s a different thing!¡± she retorted. ¡°And you seem to have indeed busted that! RAT stands for Repurposed AEGIS Technology!¡±


    I frowned. ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to put acronyms inside of other acronyms! It¡¯s bad form!¡±


    ¡°Who can stop me?¡± Rodentia cackled.


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    ¡°Nobody really,¡± Magnet Man shrugged, clearly not speaking for her benefit. ¡°Lots of people do nested acronyms and it hasn¡¯t stopped. About that AEGIS¡­¡±


    ¡°Probably stolen Doctor Doomsday tech,¡± I supplied. ¡°Repurposed, I mean.¡±


    That made things a bit more difficult. Or did it? That was exactly the sort of thing we were looking for. And she must have already bypassed anti-capture measures.


    Yellow beams flashed past me as I took cover behind a dumpster. Or rather, a particularly large camembert. I noticed the car wasn¡¯t a yellow ¡®swiss¡¯, as well. Apparently the new cheese ray didn¡¯t have just one result. Also I didn¡¯t know it was definitely camembert, but the cheese was famously stinky and the former dumpster didn¡¯t have other obvious features.


    I ducked out from behind the cover to see the adaptive rat shielding still rebuilding itself, and I took the opportunity to fire off a Sonic Lance. Chain Lightning was just too expensive for a single target. Sonic Lance was already overkill for most non-bruisers, far beyond the killing threshold for normal people.


    Cracks appeared on the surface of the nearly invisible AEGIS. Or RAT shield? This was why people shouldn¡¯t be allowed to just name stuff. Either way, it showed I both had an effect but could do a little bit more.


    I considered my options as a small rectangle was tossed towards me. When it landed where I had been standing I recognized it as a rat trap, the sort with the snapping lever. It wasn¡¯t particularly hard to avoid, knowing where it was, but it would still be an inconvenience. Taking shelter, I summoned Mage¡¯s Reach and slapped it. It almost exploded under its own force, as it grew several feet across and flipped over. Seemed dangerous.


    I scoured the alleyway for more. At their miniature size they would be difficult for those with worse darkvision to handle. I worked on the ones away from my companions first, making them all snap closed as Rodentia continued doing her thing, shooting her cheese ray and rat cannon and tossing all sorts of garbage everywhere.


    I saw an opportunity when I finished with the traps I could find. I slunk back towards Magnet Man as Bombino and Knives worked on Rodentia¡¯s defenses. ¡°The AEGIS is that metal belt. I don¡¯t suppose you can just¡­ disconnect it?¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said. ¡°It blocks powers.¡±


    ¡°Then, when they break the shield¡­ can you pull it off? Or hold it still?¡± I whispered. ¡°I still have Mage¡¯s Reach. We can coordinate to yank it off.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± he said.


    As he did, I cast another Mage¡¯s Reach, representing my left hand, slipping it along the dark corners of the alley. Bombino blew away the pile of rats- there probably wouldn¡¯t be enough for it to reform- and Knives directly hit Rodentia¡¯s stolen shield even as the mad scientist tried to shoot her attacks out of the sky instead of¡­ dodging or something.


    The cracks expanded and then¡­ disappeared. Both of my hands moved in, grabbing. Rodentia turned to run, but was held still by her belt. I barely saw her pull something more out of her backpack. I fiddled with everything that seemed like it might be a latch as I yanked on the belt. It came free around the same time the blinking rat Rodentia had below her double in size, then tripled. Then it exploded, of course.


    The entire alleyway shook. Windows shattered, cheese and oil got all over everyone, and bricks crumbled off of the nearby buildings. Rodentia was rocketed into the sky- not the most sensible method of travel, but it worked for her I guess. She managed to land on a nearby building, stopping only to yell, ¡°Cheese you later!¡± before she disappeared.


    I frowned. ¡°... That doesn¡¯t even really sound like ¡®see you later!¡¯¡±


    ¡°What should you expect?¡± Bombino shrugged. He looked around the alley. ¡°Good thing none of us were fighting up close.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Knives said, hanging her head. ¡°Lucky me I guess. I just didn¡¯t want to be in point blank range of a stupid cheese ray.¡±


    I looked at the AEGIS or RAT in my hands. ¡°Well, good news. It hasn¡¯t immediately disintegrated.¡± Maybe this would give us some knowledge for how to manage that more. If we could get some from the myriad of orcs running about, it would be useful. Or learn how to defeat them in general.


    -----


    ¡°Unfortunately¡­¡± Vilhelmiiina drew out the word, ¡°It is now powered by cheese. So even if Doctor Doomsday is using mana to power some of these, this one is¡­ not useful for you.¡±


    ¡°I mean, a cheese powered barrier would be¡­ fine?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Vilhelmiina agreed. ¡°But I will need to do destructive tests to learn more about the methods intended to stop me from doing¡­ well, exactly this.¡±


    ¡°Does Rodentia not do the same thing?¡±


    ¡°She seems to prefer obfuscation though obscurity,¡± Vilhelmiina replied. ¡°Intentionally or not. Even as a tech super, I don¡¯t know if I could replicate the most important parts of her constructions- specifically the mini-fusion reactors. I don¡¯t know if them being cheese-fueled would make it easier or more difficult to replicate, as all of it is¡­¡± she just shook her head.


    ¡°I see. So, it doesn¡¯t store mana? What about other things?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen much that does,¡± Vilhelmiina replied. ¡°Just those murderous daggers. Unfortunately, after the ones you obtained Doctor Doomsday seems to have included protections against capture. Perhaps that was always the plan and the first batch was rushed.¡±


    ¡°Does it completely destroy them? At least the materials should remain, right?¡±


    ¡°I suppose. But that doesn¡¯t do much good. I don¡¯t know how to make anything work with mana. How about yourself?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ enchanting materials wasn¡¯t an area I had a chance to delve into.¡± Master Uvithar should have had something on the subject, but it might not have been available to apprentices. Or maybe I glossed over it since it didn¡¯t seem like it would help me. There was only so much I had been able to study in the decade or so I was working under him. ¡°How do you think Doctor Doomsday does it? Is it just¡­ tech?¡±


    ¡°A good question, to which I don¡¯t know the answer,¡± Vilhelmiina admitted. ¡°He might have greater understanding, or¡­ accomplices. Or potent minions, more likely. He doesn¡¯t really do a good job working with people. He has a way he wants things done, and I saw it lose him conflicts in the past when allies disagreed with his notions.¡±


    ¡°He sure does have a lot of minions now,¡± I said. It kept the Brigade very busy, though most of us would prefer dealing with lesser threats. Even I wouldn¡¯t want to go up against Doctor Doomsday directly. Sure, surviving a conflict like that would be great experience¡­ but I heard he had actual death rays and managed to avoid being taken out even though he¡¯d been near the top of the threat list for a long time.

 Chapter 149

    A length of wood arced towards my nose. I leaned left to catch it on my shoulder instead, which wasn¡¯t exactly comfortable. Usually I would have defensive magic going, a simple Force Armor spell being more than enough to absorb such a blow. Here, I had to do without.


    I countered with my own staff, feeling it bend slightly as it accelerated. I aimed for the midsection of my target, but she cleanly blocked by catching my attack in the middle of her weapon. Her position allowed her to lever her weapon up into my ribs. It hurt, a little bit. But the weapons were intentionally designed to lower how much force was imparted to those struck, at the cost of a bit of realism.


    My sparring partner was Meztli, her experience using weapons without powers being very helpful. Such a limited battle did not provide me with much experience in terms of numerical value, but I would be better able to use my weapon when it was required. It was also part of another attempt to improve my maximum mana- I alternated between sparring at full mana, and completely out. Neither seemed to have any change, though Doctor Rose was quite reasonable to suggest that if the Curse of the Barbarian affected it, such physical activity would be reasonable.


    When my stamina flagged- it was always mine, to the point that I wondered if Meztli was secretly using her powers on levels I couldn¡¯t notice- she would help me recover, and then we would continue. In the worst case, this training would allow me to be more effective when out of mana in a situation where firearms were unwarranted or even not useful.


    ¡°Well?¡± she asked when we were finally finished.


    I took a few deep breaths. ¡°Still¡­ the same¡­¡± I had hoped that each of these activities might have provided me with a slight increase in maximum mana, but with everything combined I could not feel any difference. Various tests told me the same. Perhaps it was true that everything was limited by level. It was already good that I could improve abilities in both power and mana efficiency without spending points.


    But I kept running into the limits of how much I could use in a short time. Increased ambient mana levels improving my regeneration didn¡¯t make much difference in the short term, as battles usually lasted a few minutes to perhaps ten or twenty if there was a large amount of maneuvering. I might recover enough mana for a lower level spell in the more extended engagements, but I would be lucky if it was actually sufficient for Mage¡¯s Reach or a couple Shocking Grasps. A Sonic Lance would be the extreme end requiring perhaps half an hour, and that was almost a third of the cost of a Chain Lightning.


    To be fair, Chain Lightning had been a stretch. It was powerful, certainly, but there were many intermediate levels of magic I could have opted for. Just not any with both power and flexibility- specifically avoiding collateral damage was a priority. Even if I didn¡¯t care about the background, I was always part of a team and I wouldn¡¯t want to damage any of them. A little friendly fire could be worse than doing nothing at all.


    So far my efforts at training the spell had not resulted in a ¡®natural¡¯ upgrade. However, I was not willing to give up on that. It would happen eventually, and whether it meant I needed to use it more in practical situations or its level simply required more training I was uncertain. I was still holding onto the hope that not using point upgrades would speed that process, but I had no chance to compare just yet. I would need another combat spell of similar level to actually compare.


    -----


    The first thing Doctor Rose did when we got in contact again was express her concerns. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m actually helping at all. This whole time, I¡¯ve only really come up with one¡­ maybe two things that helped you. And a ton of failures.¡±


    ¡°My own efforts to improve my mana regeneration and capacity have done nothing at all,¡± I pointed out. ¡°So two successes given your limited actual information is quite helpful.¡±


    ¡°It sure doesn''t feel like it,¡± she sighed. ¡°I¡¯m down to the last few ideas, and I honestly don¡¯t like any of them.¡±


    ¡°No harm in trying, though,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing. There might be some harm in trying some of them. Those mana crystals you make¡­ they cause you some trouble if you overuse them for recovery, right?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°There is a sort of buildup that comes with various negative side effects.¡±


    ¡°So the one thing that really works¡­ isn¡¯t great for you.¡±


    ¡°It gives me an option I didn¡¯t have,¡± I countered. ¡°And¡­ it was the first step towards me discovering there was more to how class abilities could work. Seeing Mana Crystal Deposition listed without spending points on it¡­ was quite enlightening.¡± I thought for a couple seconds. ¡°I assume one of your ideas has something to do with that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just like my sister said. You¡¯re too insightful, but only in the most awkward situations.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes.¡± What could it involve? Obviously, making more of them did nothing to improve my mana capacity.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to hear it?¡± Doctor Rose said. ¡°It¡¯s potentially risky to your health.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to eat mana crystals, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ both very close and extremely far off,¡± she said.


    As she didn¡¯t continue, I assured her. ¡°I am here to listen to your suggestions. And though people might think I don¡¯t care about my own safety because I desire to get into combat frequently, that is untrue. If I determine it¡¯s too much of a risk, I will avoid it.¡±


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    ¡°Fine,¡± Doctor Rose nodded. ¡°I guess that¡¯s the best I can ask for. So, you¡¯re trying to increase your maximum mana.¡± I nodded. ¡°Basic math says you need to have mana, and then add more.¡± I nodded again, frowning slightly. ¡°So, if you¡¯re full on mana and try to absorb a mana crystal, what happens?¡±


    ¡°I explode?¡±


    ¡°God I hope not,¡± she put her face in her hands. ¡°Please don¡¯t say things like that. Actually, forget I made the suggestion at all. It¡¯s probably a terrible idea.¡±


    ¡°I can see the logic behind it,¡± I admitted. ¡°I will try it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I just said not to do!¡±


    ¡°But you came up with the suggestion. It sounds like it would work, and you want to know if it will.¡±


    ¡°Not if it hurts you!¡±


    ¡°Your desire to know and your desire for me to not be hurt are not mutually exclusive,¡± I said. ¡°You still want to know. And so do I.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t want to be the reason you got hurt more than I want to know. So please forget I said it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s entirely true,¡± I countered. ¡°Or you would have avoided saying it at all costs. You just don¡¯t want to be the cause of me getting seriously hurt. So¡­ I am going to leave, and not tell you if I attempted it unless it succeeds without problems.¡±


    At that, I turned to leave. ¡°This might be worse!¡± she called after me.


    It might be. But I also wasn¡¯t planning to do my test in a basement.


    -----


    There were two choices I had. One was to recruit Doctor Martinez and inform him of my intent to experiment. That would allow any damage I did to myself to be quickly assessed. On the other hand, it would also let the Power Brigade know I was performing ¡®dangerous experimentation¡¯ which could sometimes be frowned upon. So the question was, did I want to be safe more than I wanted to risk not being allowed to make this attempt?


    Ultimately, I rationalized that I was going to try eventually anyway. It would be worse to do so if I was told not to, so I wouldn¡¯t bring it up. There was a thing that people said- better to¡­ not get caught? Something like that.


    I found myself in my new apartment, facing one final question. Should I involve Midnight? Or more specifically, if there was even a way not to involve him. If something bad happened, he was literally across the hall- and I wouldn¡¯t be able to hide it. Attempting that and then surprising him with danger would be the worst thing that could happen.


    So I invited him over, where we sat in my ¡®living room¡¯, where I had a couch and a coffee table. So far, it had not been involved with coffee in my presence.


    ¡°I am going to try something,¡± I explained to Midnight. ¡°I¡¯m not sure exactly what will happen, perhaps nothing at all. But I would like you here to watch over me in case something goes wrong.¡±


    ¡°Why not go to the Brigade, then?¡± he said with a bit of worry.


    ¡°They don¡¯t need to be involved in everything,¡± I deflected.


    He let it go at that.


    I had in front of me one of the largest crystals I had made. Approximately palm sized, and containing somewhere around four mana. Or rather, it cost somewhere around sixteen mana to make, but I was able to recoup four mana from similarly sized crystals.


    I was at full mana, but I waited another few minutes just to be sure. Then, I squeezed the crystal. It didn¡¯t break. Of course not. I didn¡¯t have the grip strength to break apart large crystals. Mana crystals weren¡¯t so fragile that they fell apart at the slightest touch. The only reason I could ¡®crush¡¯ them normally was because I coaxed them into the form of free mana as I absorbed it.


    Now, the crystal and my full mana were fighting against me. So I pushed- and pulled. This crystal would release its power, and it was going to go inside me.


    The first part was easy enough. It was made to sublimate back into mana, after all. It just took a bit of prodding to circumvent my natural instincts.


    Then I pulled it into me, where the dense mana clearly did not want to go. I felt a pressure building up within me, but I didn¡¯t release my grip. I felt like my body might crack apart, my skin threatening to explode. Somewhere along the way, my nails dug into my palms, providing a surge of pain- but the different pain helped me push through.


    Then, the pressure began to lessen. Uncertain if I had been successful, I began to repeatedly cast Variable Freedom, not for any particular reason except that it had the highest mana cost of something that could be cast quickly and dismissed consequence free. I made sure to use its full nine point cost instead of the upgraded discount. One. Then I let it unravel. Two. Three. Twenty-seven points. Six more should remain. I cast Arcane Sight. I was feeling drained, but not empty.


    Finally, I finished with Energy Ward, my instincts telling me that four points of mana was extremely close. I reeled momentarily, sensing I had reached my limit. But I remained conscious.


    Four extra points, just as much as the mana crystal. But, had I truly achieved my goal, or just temporarily overcharged my maximum? That was still an option. And if I had the choice, I would much prefer to consume a mana crystal to recover over the course of a minute or so than spend that same amount of time fighting the pain of absorbing a crystal.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Midnight asked. I felt concern, but also relief.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I nodded, ¡°Thank you for keeping watch. And not distracting me.¡± He¡¯d concealed his emotions during the process to help, something I¡¯d forgotten to ask for.


    ¡°What was it for?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I attempted to increase my maximum mana forcefully.¡±


    ¡°Did it work?¡± Midnight prompted.


    ¡°At least in part,¡± I admitted. ¡°I can¡¯t exactly know for sure at the moment. I¡¯ll have to see if I can naturally recover to the same point.¡±


    Midnight swished his tail. ¡°I didn¡¯t like that. It¡­ hurt. And I know it hurt more for you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I pursed my lips. ¡°Pain doesn¡¯t bother me that much. Not when I have a good reason to endure it.¡±


    After that, I waited. It would take somewhere around five hours to recover to maximum, though I could significantly reduce that time by intentionally drawing mana into myself- and going up to the roof would help a bit as well. The process could likely be sped up by consuming mana crystals normally, but I didn¡¯t want to distort the results. I was hoping for something, but I still just had to wait.

 Chapter 150

    When the time came for patience, I could be good about it. Especially if I was waiting for something uninteresting. I totally expected the most recent experiment to fail, but I couldn¡¯t exactly take my mind off of it because recovering mana more quickly took effort. I was up on the roof of Lower Hills Suites, giving myself nearly the same view of the bay as Bay View Heights. Which was to say, almost negligible actual sightings of water.


    I didn¡¯t have a skill to go with my ability to meditate and recover mana. I wasn¡¯t expecting to pick up skills for everything, but could detect actual improvements in how my focus affected recovery. It didn¡¯t require my total attention, allowing me to plan my next steps. What other experiments could I do? How might I best find some minions with more materials that could store mana? I also thought about my future with the Power Brigade, and what sort of squad I would commit to longer term. It might or might not involve some of those I¡¯d been with up until now, but they were all currently going through the same process.


    Eventually, I was full on mana. It was hard to say how much I had recovered to. The basic speed was ten minutes per point of mana, but that was in an area with ¡®standard¡¯ ambient levels, and without actively working to recover more. On the extreme other end, I had gotten multiple points per minute during portal incidents, where high ambient mana mixed with dismantling portals. I couldn¡¯t exactly say the latter was a good way to recover mana, because it was a lot of effort, but the potential recovery rate swung significantly depending on circumstances.


    So taking ten or twenty minutes more than my calculations didn¡¯t necessarily mean I had a higher maximum mana. I could have just been off, either with my assumptions of the ambient mana rate or my ability to improve it.


    Because of that, I was very careful with how much mana I used, making certain everything added up. 10, 20, 30. All of that was normal. 33¡­ should have been my limit. But I had more. 34. 35. 36¡­ and finally 37. Spending that final point on Storage, I was quite dizzy. Clearly, I had reached my limit.


    Good. I was pleased.


    I took the stairs back down- I could always use the exercise, and if I was fast enough I could beat the elevator. Soon enough I was on my own floor, where I ducked over to Midnight¡¯s door, knocking.


    ¡°Go ahead and open it,¡± he called. So I did. ¡°Hi, Turlough. You¡¯re looking much better.¡±


    I ducked into Midnight¡¯s apartment. It was somewhere around five feet high, much too low to stand- but spacious for a decent number of individuals. ¡°I didn¡¯t ever feel particularly bad. Just¡­ uncomfortable for a while. But it doesn¡¯t matter, because it worked! I improved my maximum mana!¡±


    ¡°Oh, congratulations,¡± Midnight said with sincere happiness. ¡°How much?¡±


    ¡°The full four points I overcharged earlier! I can¡¯t wait to do it again.¡±


    ¡°Turlough¡­¡± Midnight said with a bit of hesitation. ¡°Be careful, please? You don¡¯t know what repeating that might do. Especially in a short time period. And¡­ what if it doesn¡¯t last?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I frowned, ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that. But it wasn¡¯t just a one-time thing.¡± I shrugged, ¡°Either way, I¡¯ll give it a week. You¡¯re right, I don¡¯t want to rush into it.¡± I pondered for a moment, ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll wait until after I get a level? I suppose it¡¯s possible that it¡¯s tapping into that, and I¡¯d just not gain mana on level up? If only someone wrote this stuff down¡­¡± I frowned.


    I had the feeling Master Uvithar might know some things. But I couldn¡¯t possibly get to him without the mana to cast a full Gate, and I wasn¡¯t even sure if that would be enough due to it being interdimensional instead of just interplanar. I didn¡¯t have a path to follow, either, but at least I had a proper connection- I did live in that world for most of my life, after all.


    But, I only needed 3 more mana. That would bring me to 40, half that would be 20 which was just enough. It would be a bit shaky to go through a portal that stretched me to my limits like that, so I might have to practice or something. Maybe buy an upgrade? That could shave off an entire point of mana. Well, I¡¯d consider it as I got closer. It wouldn¡¯t be right away. I could feel the possibilities approaching, though.


    ¡°Well anyway,¡± I said, ¡°My neck is starting to hurt so I¡¯ll be heading back to my place soon. Thanks for watching over me as I tried this.¡±


    -----


    It was amazing, the increase to my mana was like going up four levels at once. More than a ten percent increase to my capacity, which didn¡¯t necessarily let me throw out another big spell, but it was enough for Alter Time at its discounted mana cost, or a couple lower level spells. It was even most of a Sonic Lance.


    I wanted to try so many things, like overcharging my mana again and creating larger mana crystals and everything¡­ but that had to wait. I had my regular training to get to, and of course I had to do actual patrols. Even if I got to choose which ones I went on and where, I had a quota to fulfill. Even if nothing happened, it was apparently important to keep people familiar with the Power Brigade logo.


    -----


    Due to cascading circumstances, I somehow found myself at the mall with two kids. I guess they were probably old enough to be called something else. Young men, teens, or whatever. Either way, it was Jerome and his friend Haralamb. I got the feeling he didn¡¯t have many other friends his age. Or in general. Still, this friend had been around during the latest portal incident and was willing to go through with Jerome- it was just that Jerome stopped him.


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    Haralamb¡¯s mother was supposed to be the one watching over the two of them. But something came up at the last minute, and Tylissa worked her way through other associates before determining that I was not busy. I had the day off, while she was on duty. Since she just got her new job, she couldn¡¯t afford to miss it- but the boys were looking forward to the mall.


    So there I was, at the New Monolith Mall- the same place Rocker had been causing trouble near the start of my mercenary career. It wasn¡¯t a coincidence we ended up there, because it was one of the few surviving examples of its kind in New Bay. For many people it was still quite a bit out of their way, but malls weren¡¯t really big business these days. So I¡¯d heard when I looked up what a mall was. Until now, I had been purchasing what I needed via the internet, or specific stores in my local part of the city. Though the latter was mostly coffee, or preferably coffee-adjacent things like hot chocolate and pastries.


    In general, if anyone asked what my connection was to Jerome I would say I was his tutor- which was partly true. Haralamb knew more, both because of his connection to the portal incident and because Jerome couldn¡¯t just not tell his best friend he could do magic, and had a magic teacher. Not that I cared that much about secrecy even if it was possible anyway.


    ¡°So we have arrived,¡± I said, observing the large open space. The last time I had been here, nearly everyone had already fled from Rocker¡¯s incident. Now, it was overflowing with people. ¡°So¡­ what do we do?¡±


    ¡°Walk around, mostly,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Window shop. Probably browse the game stores and look for some clothes. The usual.¡±


    ¡­ would they sell windows here? This seemed like the most difficult place to navigate a large glass object out of. I wondered why Jerome needed new windows, and also whether or not I could fit one in Storage. Maybe if there was nothing else, and it wasn¡¯t too heavy.


    Though my concerns in that area were quickly assuaged when I determined that window shopping was actually not shopping at all, merely peering in the windows of shops. Occasionally that involved us going inside somewhere, but more often than not we just looked.


    When we got to the game store, I was somewhat confused. ¡°Would it not be easier to look for what you want online?¡±


    Jerome rolled his eyes. ¡°Easier? Sure. But only if they have what I¡¯m looking for.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t they always have it? Computer games are just copies of information, are they not?¡±


    Jerome picked up a nearby case and wagged it at me, ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean they all have to be digital download. Some people like disks,¡± Jerome said. ¡°And not everyone has fast download speeds.¡±


    Ah. That was a logical point. I did not find such things to be terribly expensive, but given the size of the apartment he was in, I knew they were not terribly wealthy. Though it was likely that Tylissa was earning more now than before. The Power Brigade paid well, even for non-combat jobs. And it was still powered work. Most people could learn to do jobs that didn¡¯t require powers, but to track down dangerous supers generally required another of the same. Those who didn¡¯t need power to find them would get caught very quickly, and never really became a big deal.


    Haralamb also contributed his own thoughts to the conversation, ¡°You can also see things you otherwise probably wouldn¡¯t,¡± he commented about the store. ¡°Since things are physically next to each other, instead of displaying things that some online store thinks you want to buy. Or wants you to think you want.¡±


    They did each end up buying a previously owned game, spending just a small amount of money. They didn¡¯t exactly have income of their own, so there was only so much they could buy. Even so, we continued our excursion.


    As we passed through the mall, I saw many different styles of clothing. I saw them on the streets as well, but the particular demographic of the mall trended more towards teens instead of whoever happened to live near the Power Brigade HQ, or the various different patrol routes I¡¯d been on branching much further.


    A notable difference of teens was they were more likely to have t-shirts, often with images on them. Those images were often various supers from around New Bay. Not quite all of them, because I did recognize a couple prominents supers from one of the other cities where they were common. All places with a thin veil between worlds, presumably. Supers could and did live elsewhere, but they were most common in a small number of locations.


    Frequently, but perhaps not quite so frequently as in the past, I saw Stargirl¡¯s face. It just so happened that some of those also involved her being locked up behind bars. It didn¡¯t seem people were afraid to express negative opinions of supers on their chest, though I did see a few groups take stock of each other. I was fairly certain the most rabid Stargirl fanatics had also been arrested, and nothing came of anything except a few harsh words between people. Most seemed to ignore me.


    The most surprising were those who had unflattering images of villains. I didn¡¯t think the villains deserved better, I just thought it seemed¡­ incautious. Among other things, I saw a shirt with an image of ¡®Doctor Dumbsday¡¯ on it. He wasn¡¯t known for being particularly restrained, so it seemed risky.


    On the other hand, I couldn¡¯t imagine he would have anything to do in a mall. Nothing seemed to be of significant value, especially not when compared to the scale of what things he regularly did.


    I continued to believe that as we headed towards a clothing store, and I was correct about most of it. Doctor Doomsday would not stoop to the level of coming to a mall.


    I did see some orcs, though. And no, I wasn¡¯t just assuming they worked for him. Because I spotted them as they each activated their AEGIS, feeling a surge of power that drew my attention.


    One of them was speaking as they hefted their axes- weapons which I had no idea how they got this far without people noticing. They obviously noticed now as people began running and screaming. In turn, I cast Translation. My very insufficient knowledge of the orcish language wouldn¡¯t tell me what they were up to without it.


    ¡°The big guy said we¡¯re here to smash up anything that ¡®besmirches¡¯ his image,¡± said a slightly larger individual, perhaps their leader. ¡°And to make an example of them. So we¡¯re starting with this store,¡± the orc said, smashing his axe through the glass into a dummy wearing a recently familiar shirt.


    I supposed I should probably do something about this situation. ¡°You two should probably get somewhere safe.¡± I was going to beat up some stupid orcs.

 Chapter 151

    Spending a couple points of mana to pull my mask, staff, and jacket out of storage was an important step before I actually engaged in battle. The mask I only got because I was getting the other two things, but they were both important. The staff was a weapon for if I was out of mana- and its own battery of power-dispelling mana. The jacket was armor, not as good as having my full outfit on, but it would protect my vitals well enough. I didn¡¯t intend to test it directly against the axes these orcs carried, but it would be there in case I got hit.


    The orcs had already hacked their way inside the graphic t-shirt sort, chopping up the windows and the dummies out front. That sort of damage was unimportant, but they didn¡¯t look as if they were going to stop at mere vandalism. Inside of the shop were workers and shoppers alike, and out of the handful of orcs a couple were heading towards them.


    This was a position where I could not afford to be conservative with my mana. ¡°Hey, idiots,¡± I didn¡¯t even need the Translation spell to say that in orcish. ¡°Back here.¡±


    Drawing attention while I was in the middle of gathering mana for a spell carried some risk, but I had to delay them for a moment. It didn¡¯t take more than a couple seconds to gather enough mana for Chain Lightning, but it was the most expensive spell I regularly used and I could feel the difference in time required.


    Orcish heads turned, big dumb tusks on green skin. They hefted axes, of course, effective but primitive melee weapons. They angled their weapons towards me just in time to witness the Chain Lightning arcing towards them. They were just close enough I could hit all of them, and the electricity punched through one AEGIS and then a second, laying flat two orcs. Though Chain Lightning would nominally maintain full power for each of its targets, something about the AEGIS weakened it, and by the third one it only barely broke through to zap the slightly bigger one who had been giving orders. I still managed to make it arc towards one of the other ones, though it fizzled out against the AEGIS.


    That left three orcs standing, one fairly close and the other two further into the store. The leader and one of the others charged towards me, while the other turned back towards the shoppers.


    The leader charged towards me, roaring. Strangely enough, I couldn¡¯t feel him activate Rage, but I didn¡¯t have the time to dwell on the small quirks of senses in the middle of battle. I prepared for his clumsy charge, raising my staff to deflect his downward swing. Then I would counter with a strike to his neck, giving me time to pick out my next spell.


    The axe came down, my staff catching it just below the blade. Catching it. Blocking it. At least deflecting it a little? Yet somehow none of that happened, and I found my staff almost twisted out of my hand. It must have been due to the overwhelming strength of his rage. Yes, that made sense.


    Unfortunately, understanding didn¡¯t stop the axe from cleaving into my chest. It sliced through my jacket straight into my ribs, and I had never been more glad to be sent flying by the force of a blow. The jacket had spread enough of an impact that I wasn¡¯t cut straight through, and I had time to cast the one spell I absolutely could not forgo when fighting against weapon focused enemies- Stoneskin.


    I learned a couple things. First, that Stoneskin formed a solid coating even over the bleeding gash in my chest. Convenient. Though it didn¡¯t actually heal any of the damage to my muscle and bones. Second, that there was no point in having the ability to prepare for things if you didn¡¯t. I was usually paranoid enough to cast Stoneskin all day, even when off duty, but today I hadn¡¯t. Because I felt safe, for some stupid reason. Sure, that meant a little baggy of diamond dust per hour, but the industrial stuff was surprisingly cheap. At least when considering the pay a super merc got.


    Before I could do much more, the leader was upon me again. This time he was making a wide sideways swing, the sort that might reasonably slip through my ribs. Though the vertical chop had been close enough to ignoring that little barrier. My left side chest muscles didn¡¯t really want to work, so I had to swing my staff out as I ducked down. Instinct had me channel Shocking Grasp, using Midnight¡¯s technique to extend it around myself and my staff.


    Even ducking backwards and doing my best to knock the weapon sweep upwards, the release of Shocking Grasp tightening my opponent¡¯s muscles, the axe still cut through my right tusk and across the bridge of my nose. Stoneskin likely prevented that from going through my head.


    The pain clouded my vision. I needed time to think. Time to do¡­ anything. That, I could do. I managed to gather the mana for Alter Time, Hasting myself. I didn¡¯t hold back, using the maximum five points possible. Time slowed, and I was able to see not only the leader swinging his weapon back to follow up, but also his raging companion not far behind. I couldn¡¯t really stand up to one, so both would be tricky.


    At this point, I couldn¡¯t Chain Lightning again- even though I wasn¡¯t too concerned about what turning an AEGISless orc into a bunch of chunks of meat would do for my image. I would have been completely out of mana, maybe a point or two left, except for my recent successes in improvement.


    With my sudden speed I was able to jab the leading orc in the ribs- something a barbarian like him would obviously shrug off- while still maneuvering my staff around to deflect his attack. Watching it in slow motion, I saw how his overpowering strength tried to knock away my attack. Okay, weird, it almost looked like he twisted the axe and shifted his stance to alter its momentum towards me. Fortunately, with Haste I could just step back.


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    The other orc had come up to my side, and I could feel the pulsing Rage empowering him. Even with Haste they could make things difficult for me with two of them, so I swung my staff towards the second one, making sure to call upon the power imbued in it. The AEGIS broke away, though it still absorbed some of the momentum of my attack. I smacked the guy in his cheek, flipping his head around and sending him staggering back.


    I heard screams further into the store. Dammit. My eyes flickered over for a moment- at least Haste gave my time for that. Maybe I could manage to reach there with a spell¡­?


    I saw Jerome, and even more oddly his friend. Sure, I¡¯d told Jerome and Haralamb to get somewhere safe- but I hadn¡¯t necessarily believed Jerome would listen to that. He was too stubborn, and he couldn¡¯t just sit around and do nothing. The kid was like that.


    Now that I took notice, in the back of my head I¡¯d felt Firebolts. Now, I saw them, with Jerome ducking around shelves and clothing racks avoiding the orcs while splashing his AEGIS with repeated attacks. And then¡­ Haralamb did the same from behind. How would he be able to cast Firebolt? Actually, he had been around for the portal incident, at least to show us where Jerome went. I should have realized.


    That fraction of a second distraction was almost enough for the leading orc to catch me off guard. But moving so much faster, even with my wounds I was able to avoid his attacks. They came with the brutish strength and fury of¡­ an angry guy, I guess. Because I still couldn¡¯t feel actual Rage from the guy. He was definitely making use of mana in his attacks, which explained how he redirected the axe to almost cut off my head even though I was so much faster. Was he actually¡­ not a barbarian? Weird.


    Either way, I couldn¡¯t afford to let the battle drag on. Partly because of the blood loss that was still happening, and the fact that Haste would eventually run out. Also because I still had to go help Jerome. My magical senses lit up with the feel of a Grease spell, but I avoided looking over.


    It sucked that the first blow I¡¯d taken limited my ability to use my staff two-handed. I lost much of the fine maneuverability that way. Still, I shifted my grip to hold it towards the end, gathering mana and thrusting like a spear.


    The orc slapped my spear away with a simple wiggle of the haft of his axe¡­ but he fell for the bait. Focused on that, whether or not he could sense mana usage didn¡¯t matter. I raised my left arm just enough to direct Sonic Lance from it. The spell blasted the guy backward with enough power to shatter one of their AEGIS barriers all on its own.


    Then I turned my attention to the other guy, and it was easy enough to avoid his wide swings- I could have likely done it without Haste- first cracking his wrists so he dropped his weapons and then swinging my staff up into his jaw, jolting the nerve there and sending him reeling unconscious.


    To my surprise, one of them got up. The leader, though he¡¯d taken a much bigger beating. He was breathing heavily, but functional. ¡°Magic¡­ huh¡­¡± he said in orcish. ¡°A coward¡¯s methods. Unable to fight properly.¡±


    ¡°You want a proper fight?¡± I said, intentionally slowing my speech so he could understand. ¡°Very well.¡± I didn¡¯t have mana left for anything anyway.


    I stepped forward, recognizing the orc¡¯s combat prowess and skill. He was good, but the vast increase in speed from Haste would last for another thirty seconds or so, close to a full pair of minutes from my perspective. Instead of trying to cross weapons with him, I avoided his weapon if at all possible, dancing around to his sides and behind him. If he thought that taking advantage of my mobility was cheating, I honestly didn¡¯t care. I cracked his knee, his hip, an elbow, and managed a half dozen strikes around his torso before he finally toppled over. All that after being hit with the remnants of a Chain Lightning and then more relevantly directly with Sonic Lance.


    Turning to the remaining enemy, I saw the final orc- his AEGIS apparently shattered- being kicked in the ribs by several of the shoppers, his axe torn away. Jerome looked uninjured, but he was standing in a way I knew quite well¡­ and was currently experiencing. The slump of being out of mana. Haralamb¡­ had passed out. But I didn¡¯t see any blood.


    ¡°You should probably stop at some point,¡± I said to the group of people kicking the downed orc.


    That caught their attention, and they did stop, looking down and around at each other before stepping back. Then everyone was just standing there awkwardly.


    ¡°Hey uh¡­¡± one of them said. ¡°You¡¯re that Mage guy, right?¡±


    I nodded. Then I looked at his shirt. Stargirl.


    ¡°Oh. You¡¯re pretty alright, I guess.¡± He looked down at his own shirt, then awkwardly sidled out of the store.


    Mall security was already helping to provide restraints- though with the repeated incidents, it was possible they might have to hire full-time supers. Then again, it had been months. That wasn¡¯t such a bad record, for New Bay. Unless there were incidents I missed.


    I would talk to Jerome and Haralamb later about their choice to participate in the battle. I couldn¡¯t really blame them for wanting to use their magic, and it did help. But I wanted my apprentice and his friend to keep safe.


    But that sort of conversation would be better for when my head wasn¡¯t fuzzy. This was more of a time for things like idly looking at my status screen, wondering if I had leveled up. I hadn¡¯t, but I was just barely short. My current experience amount was always increasing, but it still felt like I should have gotten more experience. Then again, leveling had to slow down eventually- and I¡¯d gotten some natural improvement to spells, so I couldn¡¯t complain.

 Chapter 152

    Because of the incident at the mall, we didn¡¯t really get much shopping done. ¡°You boys alright?¡± I asked Jerome and his friend Haralamb. ¡°That was dangerous, what you did there.¡±


    ¡°We couldn¡¯t just let those people get killed,¡± Jerome protested.


    I couldn¡¯t really argue with that. ¡°At least you used clever tactics instead of trying to fight directly. That would not have gone well for the two of you. Speaking of which¡­ how long has Haralamb been able to use magic?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Jerome scratched his cheek timidly. ¡°Since the incident.¡±


    There were many incidents in New Bay, but for him there was one of note. It was where he both gained full grasp on his power as well as developed some unintentional side effects.


    ¡°Do you have full control over your abilities?¡± I asked Haralamb directly.


    ¡°Well, uh, I don¡¯t have a class window, or points and stuff. Just the portal power version. I never stepped through one¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe if we can find a way to do so with low risk, we can attempt that,¡± I said. ¡°But for the moment, have you been training properly?¡±


    ¡°Jerome has been teaching me,¡± he admitted.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Jerome bowed his head.


    ¡°Why are you apologizing?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you think I would be mad? You got your powers by accident, and so did he. It¡¯s only hiding it that has me slightly upset.¡± I shrugged, ¡°But it¡¯s also your choice, I suppose.¡±


    Jerome and his friend exchanged glances, ¡°I guess I didn¡¯t really think about it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± Not thinking about the right things was where a lot of my problems historically came from. ¡°I assume you¡¯d like mention of your involvement to be kept to a minimum?¡± I didn¡¯t exactly want to have to explain Jerome being in danger around me to his mother. Though I had told them to get somewhere safe.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Jerome nodded.


    ¡°Good. And I suppose I should say, it would probably be better for the two of you to sign up for an official training program, whether you want to be heroes or mercenaries or whatever. You¡¯re still too young to actually get involved in proper hero work, but the training would still let you use your powers. And uh¡­ it is apparently good for a ¡®resume¡¯, whatever, that is.¡± That was something Tylissa would care about, probably.


    -----


    Since I was right on the edge of leveling after that battle with the orcs, it didn¡¯t take long for me to level up with a few days of training. Though the fact that it took so long for 6 measly experience was concerning. At that rate, it could take three months to get another level. Obviously that meant not getting involved in actual combat, and if I were to compare that to the expected rate of growth, it was more than a few times better. But that was comparing to people living normal lives in my previous world, not those who faced constant struggles that they needed to be strong for.


    It was just a concern that came up when I determined something. My spellcasting capability had not increased. By which I meant the fatigue point that should have been half my mana had not increased. In short, I was not as close to my goal of casting Gate as I hoped. It kept slipping from my grasp, with miscalculations and misunderstandings. The fact that I¡¯d gotten a book on it made it seem to be important. Though I had no desire to live back in my previous world, I had many questions for Master Uvithar- and he was reluctant to even skirt around the topics while we communicated via Sending.


    So I would either need 6 more levels, or I would have to find some way to push through that barrier. It already seemed like an extreme portion of my mana to use at once so I wasn¡¯t sure how valuable such a skill would be- exhausting myself in two moves was bound to be an issue.


    There was another alternative where I saved my points for next level and spent them all on Gate to reduce its cost. However, that would involve neglecting immediate needs. Even with just one upgrade spent on Chain Lightning, I could potentially eke out another use. Stoneskin could increase my safety further, or I could even upgrade Storage so I could retrieve necessary equipment more easily if incidents like the mall repeated themselves.


    The only thing I was certain I shouldn¡¯t do was just hoard points. I had two level¡¯s worth now, and I should spend at least a portion of them. Even if I wanted to force Gate as early as possible, I could still spend 27.


    Chain Lightning had gotten its natural upgrade. I still had no solid basis for that being easier or not without point upgrades spent on it, but I wanted that efficiency. Along with another upgrade to Storage, allowing for a bit more space and efficiency, I was also going to try something crazy. Without knowing how much it would cost, I attempted to spend points on Mana Crystal Deposition.


    At some point in the past it might not have worked, but things had changed significantly. Either way, it worked seamlessly¡­ subtracting 5 points from my total. That put it more towards the level of a lower level ability, and I wondered if there were higher level ones that could be discovered even if just a few.


    With that cost, I couldn¡¯t really upgrade much else of interest without going below my intended threshold. But it was crazy to save enough points for two Gate upgrades. Rushing for it next level was just greedy. At least I was fairly certain that the reduced cost would be what I had to wrestle with my fatigue threshold for- nominally half of my maximum, until recently.


    I added another point to both Stoneskin and Sonic Lance. Chain Lightning was cool, but it was far too expensive and trying to cast it with less mana came with a loss of control. Electricity was also more commonly resisted than sound based attacks, with Rocker being one of the few exceptions.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 29


    Experience: 2176/2325


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +5 (4|1)


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    Firebolt +3


    Shocking Grasp +5 (3|2)


    Grease +3 (2|1)


    Force Armor +7 (6|1)


    Mage''s Reach +4 (2|2)


    Translation +1


    Alter Time Flow +5 (4|1)


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +4 (3|1)


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +3 (2|1)


    Sonic Lance +3


    Scrying +1 (0|1)


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +3 (2|1)


    Mana Crystal Deposition +4 (1|3)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +2


    Basic Light Magic +2 (1|1)


    Locate Object


    Alter Portal +1 (0|1)


    Gate


    Arcane Sight


    Sending +1 (0|1)


    Chain Lightning +2 (1|1)


    Remaining Points: 22


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Quite a few things had improved with training- and practical use. Both Stoneskin and Chain Lightning were pushed to their limits against the orcs, and I got something beyond injuries for my efforts.


    On that note, after being checked out by the Brigade doctors and having no obvious problems beyond the physical wounds which were set on the right track, I felt confident in continuing my attempts to absorb mana crystals. With Mana Crystal Deposition improved and another level, I was able to create larger crystals. Almost five points worth, if I was not incorrect. This was where I first determined that my fatigue threshold had not really changed. With Gate being the only spell I had that could surpass that expense, I couldn¡¯t really test much else. Unlike a certain doctor, I wasn¡¯t going to try to open portals to random places. Or even an intentional place when I was uncertain what could go wrong.


    My reading indicated that as long as there was a proper connection, my gate should arrive where intended- but I wasn¡¯t going to risk sloppy spellcasting screwing it up and opening a hell portal while I was unconscious on the ground at barely more than half mana. How would I even get experience from that?


    Absorbing another mana crystal while I was at capacity hurt just as much as the first time. Fortunately for me, it was not more. And while it hurt no less, it did come with a reduced increase in my mana capacity, even with a larger crystal. A little more than half as much. Given how many things had changed, that was the best I could determine. Still, I did have a capacity more than a handful of mana higher than I was ¡®supposed to¡¯, so I couldn¡¯t complain too much about any results. It was just that the effort seemed like it might become not worthwhile at some point.


    -----


    With bruised and cracked ribs and a large visible cut across the bridge of my nose, as well as other less notable injuries, I had only trained just enough to get the experience required to level up. I shouldn¡¯t be going on missions, so I had free time. It was just¡­ most of my friends didn¡¯t, with their day jobs and all that.


    I did have one friend with a day job that was actually enhanced by wandering around doing as she pleased¡­ and another friend who was back from her vacation. Though she was technically doing something involving work.


    ¡°This is very far,¡± I said as we drove on roads from which we couldn¡¯t even see any city.


    In the driver¡¯s seat of the car was Ceira, my first friend whose job involved¡­ something with videos and the internet. I rode next to her in the front, with our third companion strapped into a device in the rear seat. ¡°This sucks,¡± Izzy said, looking at the platform beneath her.


    ¡°Seatbelts don¡¯t really work for people your size,¡± Ceira said. ¡°You¡¯re lucky the martians have proper replacements or you¡¯d be in a kiddie booster seat with cup holders and armrests.¡±


    ¡°... That actually seems kinda useful,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°Would still be weird,¡± Ceira said. ¡°You¡¯re just a miniature adult, not a kid. Every time I look back I almost think the car is giant.¡±


    ¡°So this job you¡¯re applying for involves what?¡± I asked Izzy. ¡°A park ranger? Does that mean you hunt down bears and wolves who would attack visitors?¡±


    ¡°Uh, not really,¡± Izzy shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure they wouldn¡¯t want weapons to be involved. Except for Halloween or whatever, but they¡¯d just keep the park closed.¡±


    ¡°It is quite a long distance from home,¡± I said. ¡°I doubt you could comfortably travel several hours each way daily.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, if I work here it would be seasonal, and I¡¯d probably stay in a cabin.¡±


    ¡°I thought your delivery work was going well?¡±


    Izzy shrugged, ¡°I guess. It¡¯s inconsistent, though, and I don¡¯t necessarily like hanging out in big cities. Which was part of what the vacation was for. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re taking one.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he is,¡± Ceira commented. ¡°He just said he can¡¯t go on patrol because he¡¯s injured.¡±


    ¡°Eh, still counts.¡±


    Some time earlier, I had connected Ceira- the druid- with Izzy. She needed to understand her portal powers, but even though we were both spellcasters her abilities were nearly as close to Izzy as a scout as she was to me as a mage.


    ¡°Is the camera going?¡± I asked, looking at the device placed in the car.


    Ceira shook her head. ¡°Nah, takes too much storage space to have good quality footage. Everyone wants ultra high quality and I need to be able to crop and edit. I just flip it on when I need it.¡±


    ¡°That is fine,¡± I said. ¡°I would just have you cut out parts of our conversation otherwise. I wanted to discuss increasing your maximum mana.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m kinda reluctant to try the method you said earlier. Not good with pain.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± I nodded, ¡°And I would imagine it to be different for other classes. Though it could be possible.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really need it,¡± Izzy added. ¡°So I¡¯m also going to decline that method.¡± Non-caster classes still used mana, but generally at a slower rate- instead of being able to go through their whole supply in less than a minute.


    ¡°I would hope that we could discover something else that works for the two of you,¡± I said, ¡°But there is still the matter of Ceira not having gone through a portal.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a thing I definitely don¡¯t want to encourage my audience to do. There was one idiot¡­¡± Ceira shook her head. ¡°Or should I say, one who survived. He got like a billion views. And a city investigation. Wonder if he had the full kit?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°It could require separate incidents, one of exposure and one passing through. And it would have had to lead to my world, though it seemed that many of Doomsday¡¯s portals have done so. I don¡¯t think it is a coincidence.¡±


    As we approached the park, I looked ahead. ¡°Those trees don¡¯t seem so big.¡±


    ¡°Really? Did you grow up in a magical forest or something?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I shook my head, ¡°I grew up in a large town. But they seem hardly bigger than the ones we¡¯ve been driving past.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s probably the perspective and distance,¡± Ceira said. ¡°See those dots? Those are cars.¡±


    ¡°Those trees are big,¡± I said. About that time, we passed a sign welcoming us to the Sequoia National Forest. Apparently, the trees had always been very big, and though they were generally far enough from New Bay that the supernatural influence was minimal, it was speculated that this forest was its own, lesser nexus. It did exhibit a similar collective phenomenon during some holidays if there were visitors, though it didn¡¯t have so many people stepping through natural or artificial portals.  So I¡¯d heard, anyway.

 Chapter 153

    Upon approaching the sequoias, I decided there must be larger trees in my previous world. Somewhere. But it was rather hard to imagine them.


    Ceira drove us through a tree, fallen on its side with about two-thirds of it carved out. The last third still had significant clearance over any vehicle passing by. This was not the largest tree in sight, but it was still at least twice as tall on its side as I was. Which made it at least four Izzys.


    We arrived at a parking lot and got out, then began walking around. I strained my neck looking up, experiencing an illusion of the trees leaning in around me. I was impressed, but¡­ ¡°Is this it?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°Just¡­ big trees.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just big trees. It¡¯s living history!¡±


    ¡°Is that so.¡± My eyes didn¡¯t know where to look. Everything was so open, yet there were layers of concealment in every direction. At least there weren¡¯t any branches for anything to hide behind- not anywhere near ground level.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Izzy asked.


    An odd question. ¡°Of course,¡± I said. ¡°My injuries are not yet fully recovered, but they will be soon. It is better to let them take its course.¡±


    ¡°I knew that, you big oaf. I also know what it looks like when someone is scanning for enemies. But nothing is going to jump out and attack us.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°Why do you sound disappointed?¡± Izzy sighed.


    ¡°I¡¯m not, really,¡± I said defensively.


    ¡°You definitely are,¡± Ceira agreed with Izzy.


    ¡°... I like experience. It is gratifying to increase in level.¡±


    ¡°You need to stop worrying about that,¡± Izzy said. ¡°You¡¯ll probably pass me up soon. You¡¯re not behind anymore.¡±


    ¡°Being slightly above average does not make me feel qualified to combat supers.¡±


    We walked in silence for a while. It was rather peaceful, listening to the sounds of the forest. I also had to admit it was much more telling to come to this place in person, rather than simply viewing images. Just looking at a picture, I would have thought ¡®ah, that¡¯s a big tree¡¯, but I wouldn¡¯t have really gotten it.


    ¡°I think I could roam here forever,¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Izzy commented.


    ¡°I have seen it and will remember it fondly,¡± I added.


    ¡°... not much of a nature guy, are you?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°I am not. But you are obviously a nature girl, or you would not be a druid.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Oh, maybe that¡¯s a good name for my rebranding¡­ nope, taken.¡±


    The arrangement of the various sequoias and the path through them was somewhat interesting, visiting both standing and fallen trees. Because of their great size, the fallen members lasted as logs almost indefinitely.


    ¡°Here we are at the biggest tree in the world! By, uh¡­ volume, I think.¡± Ceira was not speaking to us, but to her camera- held out at arm¡¯s length. The reason she was able to do such a thing on a weekday was because this was technically her job. Or at least she was able to make that excuse to herself. Personally, I liked the flexibility of my job. It paid well and I could get time off whenever I needed it for recovering from injuries. Or for breaks or whatever.


    Having a third individual present made interactions between Izzy and myself less awkward. We were friends again, but we had not yet made up for the years where our main form of interaction was punching each other- in a friendly matter- and then the years where she had just been gone and we were no longer friends.


    It was quite clear now that we would never be the sort who went everywhere and did everything together. Not without one of us changing significantly, because she quite liked to travel and I quite liked staying in one place. But we still shared some interests like sparring, and I did not mind her introducing some variety to my life.


    Somehow, we managed to pick a time where there were crowds, at least around this particularly large tree. I looked down to see Izzy dancing back and forth trying to see past people. I caught her attention and held down my hand. She grabbed it, and I had the intention to lift her up. Instead, she used it as a platform to propel herself upward, vaulting to stand on my shoulders.


    ¡°Hah! You¡¯re not tall for nothing, Turlough! This is a much better view.¡±


    There were reasons people didn¡¯t stand on other people¡¯s shoulders. The first didn¡¯t seem to bother Izzy, as she didn¡¯t seem even slightly concerned about falling. I was initially hesitant to move around, but I found I didn¡¯t have to contribute to Izzy balancing herself at all.


    The second¡­ well, it was rather uncomfortable to have someone¡¯s shoes on your shoulders. She wasn¡¯t heavy, but humanoid bodies weren¡¯t designed to have another forty pounds placed atop their shoulders.


    But the crowds didn¡¯t last long, soon dispersing entirely. Izzy hopped down, requiring no assistance on the way.


    ¡°... I want to climb it,¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°Oh, me too!¡± Izzy agreed.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure the signs say very specifically that you should not.¡±


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    ¡°Then, I want to touch it,¡± Ceira countered.


    ¡°The answer is the same. Also¡­¡± I looked down at her camera.


    ¡°Relax, I stopped filming. I¡¯m not so dumb as to do something like this and put it up for everyone to see.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°That would be unimaginably stupid. I would be surprised if it ever happened.¡±


    ¡°Then you¡¯d be very surprised by some of the internet.¡± Ceira frowned. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I need to touch it.¡±


    ¡°Need to¡­ for what?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, exactly,¡± Ceira admitted. ¡°Druid stuff. I won¡¯t hurt it! And even if I did I¡¯m certain I could fix it.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I am both off-duty and it is not my job to enforce park rules,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But if you get caught, don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t tell you.¡± I looked to Izzy. ¡°And if you intend to apply for a position here, I think you should also not get involved.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which¡­ I should get moving,¡± she said. ¡°We can meet up again for lunch. Then I hear there are other trails that you¡¯ll hopefully find more engaging.¡±


    With that, she darted off- her tiny legs taking her at least as fast as a human striding with purpose. That left me behind, watching Ceira walk towards a very large tree.


    Of the various scenarios I imagined, ranging from nothing at all happening to some park ranger sternly lecturing Ceira, I did not imagine what actually occurred. I felt a pulse of mana as Ceira touched the tree, prompting me to cast Arcane Sight. Instead of any specific magical signatures, I only saw a thin swirling of power, glowing motes of light flowing from Ceira to the tree, gliding up its surface and dancing into it. Some flowed into her as well. I couldn¡¯t say how long the process took- it felt quite long, but it also seemed too short.


    ¡°Wow, uh¡­ you should try that,¡± Ceira said.


    I had my doubts about whether any such reaction would occur with myself. But I couldn¡¯t not try. I bypassed the simple blockade and approached the tree, touching it. ¡°Yes,¡± I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s definitely a tree.¡±


    ¡°But when I-¡±


    ¡°You are a druid,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t have a status window yet. I am not.¡±


    ¡°Oh. What do you think it did?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps something you should have asked before encouraging me to attempt it,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Well, uh¡­ I know it wasn¡¯t bad? Also I definitely have to climb it now.¡±


    ¡°If by ¡®now¡¯, you mean ¡®some other time when you can be certain people aren¡¯t watching¡¯, then by all means do so safely. But I believe we have pushed our luck enough at the moment.¡±


    I directed her back to the approved paths, put there for a reason. ¡°What do you think it was?¡± she asked.


    ¡°If you¡¯re lucky, an improvement to your mana in some regard. Or experience.¡± I shrugged, ¡°Or perhaps a new ability, though I believe you could likely develop most of those on your own.¡±


    ¡°That is decidedly unhelpful.¡±


    ¡°I am not a druid,¡± I reiterated. ¡°Also I¡¯m pretty sure people in the world I came from intentionally hid important details about how the system worked.¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh¡­ that sucks, man.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I agreed. ¡°If I find a mage that intentionally concealed helpful information, I am going to punch them in the face.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you shoot lightning at them?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll be ready for that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have Stoneskin?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I pulled out a baggy of diamond dust. ¡°Want to try? What level are you, actually?¡±


    ¡°Uh, like 10 maybe?¡±


    We needed to find her a good portal. It would be a shame to have to wait until I could use Gate.


    I shook my head, ¡°That¡¯s not quite high enough. You would need to be able to easily use 9 mana at once.¡±


    Was level 10 bad? Not particularly. It was about where I was when I came to this world, and after only a few months. Which really said something about how little I had been able to grow given the confines of my own world. Though interestingly, there seemed to be serious conflict hidden away.


    The rest of our little trip involved more large trees and no more magical shenanigans, except for when Ceira felt that certain plants needed a boost in growth. Izzy completed her interview, but aside from her thinking it went well there was as of yet no feedback. They would call her to tell her the results, apparently.


    -----


    I was back with Bombino, Knives, and Magnet Man. Using some sort of principles from Rodentia¡¯s captured junk, various tech supers had attempted to retrieve the AEGIS from the orcs I brought down with minimal damage. Though apparently they expected Doctor Doomsday to make changes rather quickly, once word got out. For the time being, we wanted to capture as much of his tech as possible, so our group continued to look. But this time, we had a specific tip and another individual with us.


    ¡°Good to see you, Wolf,¡± I nodded. That was Tylissa¡¯s code name.


    She returned my greeting. Then, she began to explain. ¡°Given various pieces of information, the Brigade tracked some of Doctor Doomsday¡¯s minions to this point. It is presumed there is a safehouse nearby, but¡­ none of those involved were combat trackers. I¡¯m not either, even if I can fight. So¡­ I¡¯ll just be leading the way, but I intend to stay out of trouble.¡± She paused, ¡°Oh, and I won¡¯t be able to talk as well while tracking.¡±


    The reason for that was rather simple. With a few seconds of focus, her body- and most notably her face- began to shift under her outfit. A furry snout poked out from under her mask. She was not a combat member, but in a way that meant keeping her anonymity was more important as she would be less able to handle danger. Though I was quite aware of her ability to fight, she also had no desire to and had a son waiting for her at home. The difference in pay for being a combat member was not worth the risk for her.


    She began to sniff around the scene, wandering back and forth down an alleyway. We followed her at a distance so as to not disrupt her efforts. The reason she was chosen for this task was her lack of reliance on technology. Doctor Doomsday had all sorts of counters to scanners from jamming devices to ways to melt the wires inside something. Without being able to determine precisely where a safehouse was, that would leave people at a dead end. They couldn¡¯t just tear apart buildings that people live and worked in or dig up the street just because their stuff stopped working a block away.


    Tylissa threw up her arm as a something flew at her face. A spray of noxious liquid, nothing that seemed sufficient to harm her though. Francois made excellent outfits. Unfortunately, whatever it was did stink though.


    She found some way to pry the small device- along with some sort of sensor to trigger it- out of the nearby brick wall. That didn¡¯t make the smell go away, though. ¡°Ugh,¡± she grimaced, her face returning to human shape. ¡°That¡¯s truly awful when amplified. There¡¯s an annoying hum, too. Proof against all kinds of senses, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Did you lose the trail?¡± Magnet Man asked.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Tylissa admitted. ¡°I need a small break. If only there were some sort of magic to get this smell off.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± I said. Then I frowned. Wait, wasn¡¯t there something? It was just a tiny, stupid spell. I couldn¡¯t find it in the list, though. But if I could learn any spell quickly, it had to be a measly level 1, right? I gathered a single point of mana, and thought about cleaning. What even was clean? How would magic define it?


    Then I gave up on that and just focused on what I actually needed, which was to get rid of a sprayed liquid with a foul smell. Magic formed into something concrete, and the smell was indeed gone. Gone where? I wasn¡¯t sure about that. The matter might have been annihilated, or transformed. I didn¡¯t really care though.


    Wait, people were going to ask me to clean things now, weren¡¯t they? How bothersome.

 Chapter 154

    As it turned out, a single use of Clean only removed enough of the foul smelling liquid for normal humanoids to no longer smell it. It took two more applications to get all the little droplets spread over a wider area that were relevant for people with enhanced senses- like, say, werewolves.


    It was still a very effective use of mana, and I didn¡¯t even have to spend a point to learn the spell. Then again, it was as low of level as a spell could get- but if something did what was necessary, it was actually better for it to be lower level unless it was involved with a contest of power. Random liquids didn¡¯t exactly fight back, for which I was glad.


    ¡°Thanks, this is much better,¡± Tylissa said. ¡°We should be getting closer. The traffic in this section is heavier.¡± She sniffed. ¡°Quite a few passed through here.¡±


    ¡°Any orcs?¡± I asked.


    She shrugged, ¡°How should I know? As a general rule, people all smell similar enough in a group. I could tell you if one has been smoking, but not if they¡¯re an orc.¡±


    ¡°... have they been smoking?¡±


    ¡°Several of them,¡± she nodded.


    Weird. Though I understood people liked to destroy their lungs, it never appealed to me. Regardless of the type of plant, I didn¡¯t want it in my lungs.


    She poked around by a dumpster for a few minutes, scrunching up her nose. I understood, because even I could tell it smelled bad. Unfortunately, I doubted I could clean a whole dumpster full of trash. What would the spell even do? I was curious, but now wasn¡¯t the time to expend unnecessary mana.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s behind or around this,¡± Tylissa gestured, ¡°Some entrance. But I don¡¯t know if moving it would be a good idea. It might trigger something.¡±


    Magnet Man stepped forward, reaching out. ¡°Hmm, there¡¯s definitely something. Pieces of a lock, and something else. Not all of the parts are metal so¡­¡± he shook his head. ¡°Well, we just need to step back. Also, everyone get ready. We can presume this will set off an alarm.¡±


    Tylissa was the first to comply, since she wasn¡¯t even supposed to participate in combat anyway. ¡°I¡¯ll get out of sight. Get in contact if you need me to track someone fleeing.¡±


    Four of us. If Midnight were here, it would be an easy split for one of us two haste two of our companions, and the other the pair of us and the last. Eight mana each wouldn¡¯t deplete us too much. But here, not only couldn¡¯t I guarantee there wouldn¡¯t be another trap immediately after, it would be a little more than half my mana. I had Stoneskin up on myself, so I just held back with my staff at the ready, ready to adapt to what came.


    Magnet Man yanked the dumpster away from the wall, and I felt his powers fiddling with something else. There were no explosions or anything, but something did fly directly out from the wall, hitting the dumpster with clangs and a few other sounds. The bricks had swung open to reveal a normal sized doorway heading down some stairs into a dimly lit hallway.


    ¡°I¡¯ll head in first,¡± Magnet Man said.


    I considered telling him to be cautious, but that seemed redundant. I had cast Force Armor on everyone to provide another layer of protection, so we would merely have to deal with whatever else remained.


    In that first little hallway, nothing. However, there were doors on either side and at the end. Magnet Man opened the door on the right, stepping away as he did so. A figure immediately lunged towards him, but in his current position they had to catch themselves and take extra steps to actually reach him.


    This was another drow, based on the pointed and dark ears and the way he was dressed like the previous assassins. What followed as a dagger thrust towards Magnet Man was one of the most interesting magical interactions I¡¯d ever witnessed.


    An arm thrust forward, then stopped. Then, as if a wall suddenly fell away, it jerked forward then stopped again. It was much quicker to happen than to describe. It was only a fraction of a second as Magnet Man¡¯s powers activated, were sliced apart, and activated again in sequence. I had the feeling the dagger was going to win that exchange, if Knives hadn¡¯t inserted her own efforts into the mix. Several blades of red energy flew through the air, forcing the drow to pull back- without his own weapon, as it was still held in place. A moment later it dropped to the ground with a distinct clatter, seemingly through the dissolution of Magnet Man¡¯s power once more and not him choosing to release his grip.


    I felt bubbles of power popping up across the hall. ¡°Watch out, they¡¯re also coming from the other door!¡±


    Bombino reacted first, leaping for the door. Instead of flinging it open or holding it closed, he reached out a hand and laid his palm flat on the door. The whole thing began to glow red and black, then he slapped it.


    A good portion of the resulting explosion went back towards him with no discernible effect, as if he were an immovable object. The rest propelled the door forward, ignoring that there had been a door frame and hinges keeping it in place a moment before. Bombino¡¯s explosions weren¡¯t really bright which I was thankful for, as it allowed me to see a couple orcs off to the side of the door. There might have been a couple directly in front of it, but if so they were no longer in that position, AEGIS or not.


    I had to do something, and as darkness began to swallow up the room to the right with the drow as they created magical darkness, I decided their power negating weapons were a greater danger. I had been ramping up my mana for something, and that thing took form about the time two more drow were replacing the first into the hallway.


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    It was bad to get into the habit of using your new tool all the time, but Chain Lightning seemed like exactly what I needed here, dealing with an unknown number of enemies in a dark room. From one of those at the door, it leapt into the room following my direction. I had been very careful to guide it to not come towards us, and I hadn¡¯t realized that would mean missing one of those by the door. But it was just one. I felt it leap towards two, three, four, five¡­ before suddenly losing its momentum on the sixth. It should have had more power- it wasn¡¯t punching through AEGIS barriers after all- but such was life.


    Two orcs shoved their way into the hallway, causing Bombino to step back. He launched a tiny explosion in front of one¡¯s face as she swung at him, distracting her aim slightly and allowing him to step back. Obviously such a quick attack would not damage an AEGIS, but it was good enough.


    The other stepped towards me, our eyes locking. ¡°You¡¯re the one,¡± he grunted.


    ¡°... You speak common?¡± I was momentarily surprised.


    ¡°Obviously. You dumb?¡± He didn¡¯t give me a chance to respond, swinging his axe. Training took over, my quarterstaff coming up to catch beneath the head of his axe and lever it to the side.


    I felt power flow through him, and the next swing was stronger as he used the power of barbarian rage. Even at the optimum angle, my arms trembled at the force of his attacks. Strangely, his face continued to appear calm. And there was no more expenditure of mana, even though it was supposed to be a constant drain.


    ¡°A staff, huh?¡± he muttered. ¡°Not great lethality there, but fine for a mage I suppose. Until¡­¡±


    Another surge of mana, once more feeling like a few points all at once. The axe pointed towards me as I held my staff in a guard position and then¡­ I felt it twisting in my hands. Magic? I tried to resist, activating the power in the staff. I was too late to completely stop what was happening, but my staff went from straight resembling a gnarled branch, retaining its form slightly due to the metal core.


    What was that? It didn¡¯t make any sense. I tried to bring up my staff to stop the incoming chop, but my grip was all wrong and I didn¡¯t contact where I intended. And then the axe suddenly came to a halt.


    I leapt back, feeling Magnet Man¡¯s power grabbing onto the axe. I wondered how he was dealing with the AEGIS, then I realized that the axe head had to be outside that. The orc I was fighting struggled against Magnet Man¡¯s grip, and I got an idea.


    I dropped my staff. I was going to be very upset about its state later, but for the moment I couldn¡¯t think about that. Lightning crackled around my right hand, and then my left. I stepped forward, slapping them onto either side of the stationary weapon and forcing the power through the axe, down its handle. The AEGIS reacted slightly, but it only shaved off of a portion of the effect.


    A fully powered Shocking Grasp wasn¡¯t anywhere close to my most damaging ability, but two of them was not a lot of mana either- and one was usually sufficient to knock out a person. Even so, when two didn¡¯t bring down this particular fellow, I wasn¡¯t that surprised. He wasn¡¯t just a random guy, and he certainly had some levels. I did feel him gathering mana for something more, when the handle of his axe hit him in the chin. Repeatedly, with his grip on the weapon going from overly tight to nothing at all over the course of the lightning magic.


    If my understanding of electromagnetism was at all sufficient- which I was going to be honest and say was probably untrue- it would have really screwed up any sort of magnetic control on the weapon. But that was still not Magnet Man¡¯s power. He just controlled metal, and through the fact that the metal head was firmly attached to the rest, he levered it to smack the orc¡¯s jaw until he went down.


    Knives had stretched large blades all across the frame of one door. Bombino was lobbing explosions through the doorway with the orcs. There were times for restraint, and times we were fighting Doctor Doomsday¡¯s minions. We couldn¡¯t exactly expect them to play nice.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said to Magnet Man. I wasn¡¯t ready to handle that orc, even if I should have been stronger than him. Unexpected abilities had really ruined my internal flowchart. With a moment to breathe, I considered using much of the rest of my mana to help with the orcs¡­ but I felt something at the end of the hall. ¡°Uh¡­ some sort of powered¡­ something!¡± I gestured vaguely down the hall. ¡°Multiple behind the door!¡±


    I needed a weapon. The axe¡­ was no good. I had no experience with the things, and I wasn¡¯t going to assume anyone would give me a few practice swings to get used to the differences. I did have a backup weapon, though. Not one good for fighting up close, but I could stop people before they got to us. Storage pulled it out, and then I cast Haste.


    The door swung open to reveal just¡­ humans. Humans with guns. Like me, except I didn¡¯t recognize the type of gun. Nor was I going to wait and see what was different.


    My first shot was center of mass on the woman in front. She was knocked backwards, which said to me that they were wearing bullet resistant vests. Why wouldn¡¯t they be? Doctor Doomsday could at least equip them with that much, when the orcs had AEGIS and the drow had dispelling daggers.


    Why didn¡¯t they have AEGIS? The answer came from the definitely super tech powered guns. One of them shot a beam right at me, a weird yellowish one. It only clipped me as I stepped to the side, but I felt most of my Force Armor unravel. Not like the dispelling, but in a somehow more unpleasant way, like it was being ground into powder.


    Three shots to make sure that one went down, and then it was only people in the room behind cover. The furniture did not seem like it should withstand anything, but after a few shots failed to damage a couch I had to reassess my understanding. I had to target people directly when they came out of cover. Watching people peek around a corner in slow motion was enough for me to draw a good bead, shooting at a head and an arm and a careless leg. No doubt it seemed like I was firing frantically, but I was actually being quite calculating in my shots with the benefits of Haste.


    I saw another beam fling vaguely towards me, striking some of the wall and nearly erasing it, leaving behind only dust. Some sort of disintegration ray? I wasn¡¯t sure if Stoneskin would help against that, and really didn¡¯t want to find out. The only good thing about it was that the ray traveled somewhat slower than a bullet- I could actually comprehend it traveling while Hasted.


    Magnet Man ducked down, and I learned one more good thing about the guns. Specifically, that they shared significant properties with other guns, such as many parts being made of metal. A few disintegration beams swayed around in the room, ripping apart the door and some of the walls around the area. A few briefly drove down the hallway towards us, before everything stopped.


    ¡°Aww. Anti-control contingencies,¡± Magnet Man sighed. ¡°At least they might be disabled?¡±


    My thoughts rapidly considered where we might need Chain Lightning. Or some other big spell. As the dust settled, however, I couldn¡¯t hear any more active enemies in any of the rooms. Had they all died? It was possible, but after quickly poking my head into the rooms I saw that whoever had been left had run away. I also noticed a half-melted dagger with no matching assassin. It seemed one of them had actually cut apart my spell as it was chaining between people. That likely only saved a couple of them, but it was still concerning that someone had been able to do that.

 Chapter 155

    There were times during battle when I did not recognize the danger. This was the case with the safehouse, as part of my jacket was gone leaving a wide hole over my chest. I had no way to know if Stoneskin could block whatever sorts of mini death rays those minions had. Though if we actually managed to capture some, we might be able to test on some sort of dummy.


    Clean up and investigation crews swarmed over the area, along with a few people from the Brigade trained to secure Doctor Doomsday¡¯s equipment using the principles of Rodentia¡¯s super tech. There were some with generally weaker tech powers who could at least reproduce certain things. I saw them retrieve at least one fully intact AEGIS from the orc who warped my staff- which now looked like a gnarled corkscrew. I was also interested in the remains of the knives the assassin drow had. The material had become the core of my staff, providing storage for mana and a dispelling effect. I was quite eager to have more of that.


    On that note, I picked up my staff, activating the dispelling power to return it to its proper form. I was about as disappointed as I had expected. The wood remained exactly as it was. Which, unfortunately, made sense. It was not actively being held in its shape, it had just been twisted. The magic was done. I wrung the staff in my hands, as if that could somehow return it to its former state¡­ or do anything. How did an orc even learn magic?


    -----


    ¡°So,¡± Doctor Patenaude asked. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± I said.


    ¡°Mhm,¡± he made the familiar sound of taking notes.


    ¡°That sounds like you don¡¯t believe me.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? What would cause me to not believe you?¡±


    I wanted to say previous experience, and that maybe I had been bothered by encountering orcs before but I was fine this time. But I also knew he could read my feelings. ¡°How am I feeling?¡±


    ¡°That is what I asked you,¡± he pointed out.


    ¡°But I know you know.¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± he said clearly. ¡°But the point is not for me to know. It is for you to know. Have you been losing touch with your emotions?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been keeping track of them. I think.¡± I paused to think. ¡°Learning a way to expand my mana capacity made me happy.¡±


    ¡°At risk to your own health, it seems. It is my job to make sure your mental state is taken care of, but I also cannot recommend improving your mental health via physical risk.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I got checked after.¡± Not directly, of course, but I was scanned and there were no signs of problems less than a few days later.


    ¡°I will trust your judgment on that,¡± Doctor Patenaude said. ¡°So, what do you feel?¡±


    ¡°About what?¡±


    ¡°The orcs, of course.¡±


    ¡°Angry, I guess. Why did they have to be¡­ like that? Attacking people for Doctor Doomsday. Hiding out with drow assassins. Making everyone think I¡¯m violent.¡±


    ¡°I will concede your final point, given their continued presence in this world,¡± Doctor Patenaude said. ¡°But when you were one of the solitary individuals here, that was mostly true of your own world. Or at least the parts you knew.¡±


    I didn¡¯t like feeling angry. It made me think of being a barbarian. So I tried to move onto something else. ¡°The drow made me kind of¡­ jealous? Is that an emotion?¡±


    ¡°It is certainly involved with emotions. What about them? Their physiques? People¡¯s perceptions?¡±


    ¡°Hah, no. They¡¯re probably worse than orcs. That comes with vows to evil and all that. But I don¡¯t really care about that. They just have cool magic materials for their daggers and I want more of that.¡± I sighed, ¡°Especially if I have to replace my staff. I hope Vilhelmiina could make another, though the wood probably isn¡¯t replaceable.¡±


    ¡°What happened to your staff?¡± Doctor Patenaude asked.


    ¡°This,¡± I said, pulling it out of Storage. ¡°It¡¯s not really¡­ wieldable anymore. Not even close. Makes me want to smash in his stupid face. The battle was kind of busy for that, though.¡±


    ¡°And smashing in the face of an unconscious individual would be rather barbaric.¡±


    ¡°...Yeah.¡±


    -----


    ¡°So, can you fix it?¡± I held up my staff for Vilhelmiina.


    ¡°That would imply that it is broken. Which, by a certain perspective, it is not. But it¡¯s also not useful.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I hung my head. ¡°I was hoping it could be fixed.¡±


    She answered quickly, ¡°As much as I would like to make a wood-straightening machine or whip you up some Yggdrasil Wood MK II with magic resistance, I have more important things to do right now.¡±


    It seemed I had been taking her help for granted. I had heard about the flights of fancy that tech supers experienced, but I had not yet found myself on the other side of an obsession. ¡°Alright. I guess I¡¯ll see myself out.¡±


    As I turned to leave, she called after me. ¡°Mage. I have lived long enough with limited social skills to have learned to pick up on basic things.¡± I turned to look over my shoulder as I listened to her words. ¡°You seem disappointed, and I want to assure you that my words were not sarcastic. But I am quite busy at the moment, and neither the city nor your Brigade would be pleased if I were to delay my efforts. I expect this situation to continue for at least a month¡­ so I would suggest you continue to look for solutions elsewhere.¡±


    I left slightly less disappointed. She was right. Clearly, I either didn¡¯t know her as well as I thought, or I knew her well enough and simply second-guessed myself. Of course she would actually want to immediately swap to a random idea she had, but just because she had before didn¡¯t mean she was always capable of doing so. And I couldn¡¯t really ask for anything more, since I¡¯d already benefited from her expertise.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    I wondered if I could create a spell that would improve my social interactions. I was technically aware I could enhance my mind or persuasive power, but neither seemed to fully fit. And that was the problem, wasn¡¯t it? I needed to understand what it was that I wanted, and if I didn¡¯t how could I use a spell for it? Even the spells I learned through a menu I had some practical understanding of. That was why it had been so hard to use Storage at first.


    -----


    Recognizing that something bothered me unfortunately did not stop me from being bothered. Instead, it brought it to the forefront of my mind. I couldn¡¯t stop talking about it. Midnight was one of my victims, though the only thing he could offer me was supportive pity. I knew it was genuine, at least.


    ¡°It does look much harder to wield,¡± he said. ¡°Though I couldn¡¯t have picked it up anyway.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, good point,¡± I nodded. ¡°Except with Mage¡¯s Reach, you can make sorts of hands.¡±


    ¡°Not having fingers normally makes that only minimally practical.¡± Midnight paused, then came up with another one of his surprising insights. ¡°Is the problem with your staff that you would hit yourself with it being distorted? Could you not hold it in your hands with two of Mage¡¯s Reach?¡±


    A few moments later, I was holding my staff floating in the air in front of me, held up by both a left and right hand Mage¡¯s Reach. I almost swung it around, but that wasn¡¯t appropriate to do most places. I did wiggle it a bit, and I came up with a problem. ¡°The lack of symmetry would make it difficult¡­ but I like the idea.¡± Nothing would stop me from doing it if the staff was fixed, though. Except the mana cost, which wasn¡¯t too bad.


    The next person that I brought it up with was Khithae, when I saw her at lunch. ¡°Do any of your powers let you fix this?¡± I asked. ¡°I can put in an official request, if you need.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± the gecko-woman clasped her fingers around the staff. ¡°This is not something I¡¯ve had to test.¡± She turned the staff over in her hands, ¡°How did it end up this way? I don¡¯t see any signs of stress or fracturing.¡±


    ¡°Magic,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what spell.¡±


    ¡°I will make the attempt,¡± she said. ¡°One moment.¡± I felt her gather mana. Not more than a handful, but more than a first level spell. I felt the magic flow through the staff, and it did¡­ nothing. ¡°My apologies. It appears this is the natural state of things, now. It is not damaged, really.¡±


    ¡°Not damaged or broken, but definitely not right. Thank you for trying,¡± I said. ¡°If you ever need me¡­ well, you know where I live. It¡¯s not as conveniently located anymore though.¡± I thought for a few moments. ¡°How are the Western Luxury Apartments treating you?¡±


    ¡°Better,¡± she said. ¡°They are closer to luxury than they used to be. Much of the building is in better repair.¡±


    ¡°Are you¡­ maintaining that place too? All by yourself?¡±


    ¡°I am being paid by the landlord. It is not as much as I could technically earn otherwise, but it was not allowed to deteriorate on purpose. There were physical and financial restraints.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in a pretty good part of the city. Money shouldn¡¯t have been bad.¡±


    ¡°The rent has traditionally been low. It simply seemed to be because of its condition when I moved in, but it is also in part due to the care of the landlord.¡±


    ¡°If only there were more people like that,¡± I said. ¡°I feel the prices, and I have a good paying job.¡± I had seen where Tylissa and Jerome lived. They were thinking about moving soon, with the main thing keeping them around being Jerome¡¯s friend. Tylissa¡¯s new job should earn more than what she was doing before. Everyone at the Power Brigade was paid well, which wasn¡¯t surprising based on what independent supers could manage to pull in if they had a method. Though people like me weren¡¯t useful outside of a mercenary context, Khithae¡¯s ability to repair things that were considered irreparable was of great value. She also had magic.


    ¡°Whoa, what happened to your staff?¡± Those words heralded the appearance of one of my primary complaint vectors, though even if I didn¡¯t expect Great Girl to solve most of my problems, she had a surprisingly high success rate.


    ¡°My staff got messed up,¡± I said, leaving out the ¡®by an orc¡¯ part. I didn¡¯t want to admit to such a thing, even if I was the one not in special power restricting cuffs.


    ¡°I see that,¡± she said. ¡°That sucks,¡± she sat down.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I agreed. ¡°It does. Khithae can¡¯t repair it because it¡¯s not broken. Vilhelmiina said the same thing, and she¡¯s too busy to make up some super tech thing.¡±


    ¡°So what caused it?¡± Great Girl said, taking the staff in hand and flexing it slightly. ¡°Clearly wasn¡¯t bent by hand. It would snap, right?¡±


    ¡°It was magic,¡± I said.


    ¡°What kind? Some sort of curse?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not certain. It doesn¡¯t seem to still be magic though.¡±


    Great Girl nodded, ¡°I see. What sort of caster was it?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± The correct answer was still not ¡®an orc¡¯. ¡°He enhanced his strength then did this. I didn¡¯t see him do anything else.¡±


    ¡°I mean, I guess that could be a lot of things,¡± Great Girl admitted. ¡°But like, this is wood. So probably a druid? This could be the Warp Wood spell.¡±


    I narrowed my eyes. ¡°That¡¯s a spell?¡±


    ¡°I thought you read the spell list on the website to compare?¡±


    ¡°... I read the ¡®wizard¡¯ spells,¡± I admitted. ¡°I didn¡¯t know enough about druid spells to compare. But I suppose it makes sense that he was a druid.¡±


    ¡°Too bad you don¡¯t know any druids.¡±


    I blinked. ¡°I should talk to Ceira.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°She was involved in the Stargirl incident.¡± I realized that was insufficient context. ¡°The one with Gloom attacking the fan rally we were infiltrating.¡±


    ¡°Oh. She was fine right? I guess if you¡¯re mentioning her¡­¡±


    ¡°She was physically unharmed and barely injured mentally,¡± I said. ¡°Unfortunately, she will have to manually learn the spell as she does not have the¡­ full experience.¡± While the Power Brigade was aware of the other side of Portal Powers, not everyone inside would know. ¡°We were thinking of bringing her to correct that, if we should find an opportunity. Speaking of which¡­ I haven¡¯t explained that to you yet, Khithae. We could figure out what class you are.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t she just an Artificer?¡± Great Girl asked, then looked at our confused faces. ¡°What? I know they¡¯re not in every version, and you¡¯re not from a world with classes, but come on. They¡¯re like¡­ tech mages. Or object focused ones, at least.¡±


    ¡°... I had not considered that avenue of power exploration,¡± Khithae said. ¡°Repairing things in impossible ways was already quite amazing.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can show you what you might be able to do,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t look it up on your own. Weren¡¯t you curious?¡±


    ¡°I am not used to such things,¡± Khithae said. ¡°Like type-F worlds. I assumed since Mage had no explanation¡­¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I shrugged, ¡°I wasn¡¯t that interested in reading that stuff.¡±


    ¡°But you love reading and magic!¡± Great Girl said.


    ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s not real.¡±


    ¡°None of it-¡± she sighed, ¡°It¡¯s probably real somewhere. Doesn¡¯t make it less cool if it isn¡¯t.¡±


    The way she folded her arms was one of the signs I had learned. I didn¡¯t know exactly what I meant, except it wasn¡¯t good. There I went, upsetting one of my few friends after she helped out. Though she would likely get over it quickly with a proper apology.

 Chapter 156

    As it so happened, I did know a druid. There was no guarantee Ceira would be able to fix my staff, but all of her abilities currently came from this side¡¯s ability to learn without points. I still didn¡¯t know if others from my world accomplished such a thing, but that didn¡¯t matter at the moment.


    Since what we were doing was sort-of secret, in that interacting with myself where I was clearly Mage would put her at some risk, I ended up going to her apartment. The part of the city was quite different, fitting typical apartments for humans which were still the majority population, and somewhere around the average in most physical respects.


    ¡°Wow, have you¡­ always been that tall?¡± Ceira said looking up at me.


    ¡°No. But you did see me not that long ago.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I didn¡¯t stand right next to you. And in a car, everyone looks closer in height.¡±


    ¡°Do they?¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Even Izzy?¡±


    ¡°... With her seat, her head was at least closer to the same height. So yes. Anyway, uh, come in. It¡¯s uh¡­ set up for filming.¡±


    Immediately after stepping through the door, I almost kicked a plant. That led me to place more awareness on my feet, and following Ceira through the tangled jungle of her apartment, filled with dozens of overflowing pots. I passed sliding glass doors leading to a balcony, which had all sorts of plants dangling over the edge. ¡°This is a lot,¡± I commented. ¡°How do you breathe in here?¡±


    ¡°The plants make the air fresh!¡± she commented. ¡°As long as I¡¯m not breathing in their pollen. Good thing I don¡¯t have allergies. You don¡¯t have any, do you?¡±


    ¡°A what?¡±


    ¡°Things that make you sick.¡±


    ¡°My constitution is healthy,¡± I replied.


    ¡°... Your world must have a bunch of people who really hate certain seasons.¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯s true here as well.¡±


    We eventually made our way to the only open space in the whole apartment, which had a camera facing a funny colored wall. No, it was a sheet of cloth the same size. I couldn¡¯t tell what color it was because it went from gray to a purplish pink to all sorts of other colors, shifting with the angle. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°A greenscreen.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not green,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Well, obviously. Can¡¯t exactly use one when filming plants.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    We stood there awkwardly in the only open part of the apartment, though I¡¯d come to understand that many of my interactions with people were awkward. Ceira looked around, her eyes eventually settling in the kitchen, where I could just make out a sink and some buried chairs and hidden cabinets. ¡°Uh, I guess we just sit on the floor here.¡±


    There was a single stool, but I silently agreed it would be awkward for either of us to sit on it. So we sat on the floor.


    ¡°Uh¡­ right. Did you forget your staff? Because you said you wanted me to look at it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes,¡± I nodded. A small expenditure of mana, and I popped it out of Storage. ¡°Here it is.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, cool. You can just pull it from nowhere? Can I learn that?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know,¡± I admitted. ¡°I think it¡¯s a mage thing, and that has little overlap with druid things.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay,¡± she sighed. After I placed my staff in her outstretched hands, she began turning it over. ¡°Wow, this thing is super twisted. Except here, I guess?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where there¡¯s a metal core.¡±


    ¡°Cool. What sort of wood is this? I don¡¯t recognize these patterns. I¡¯m not really an expert, but I¡¯ve kind of become closer to one recently.¡±


    ¡°Yggdrasil wood,¡± I said.


    Her face exploded into expression. Confusion, excitement, and more. ¡°This is Yggdrasil wood? Yggdrasil is real? How did you get it?¡±


    ¡°Sort of. No. A super tech individual synthesized it,¡± I answered in sequence. Seeing that even Ceira didn¡¯t remember what order she asked questions in, I clarified. ¡°She said it was supposed to be like what she imagined for Yggdrasil, based on samples of many woods. I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s a real one, but not in my world. Which might not be real, I guess. Does that answer your questions?¡±


    ¡°... How do you create a tree by mixing others? They¡¯d have to be from the same family to breed them,¡± she frowned.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s super tech. Which means it doesn¡¯t really have to work.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s dumb. Can it make seeds?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a stick. So no?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Can I try something?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°That is the point of having you here. Druidic magic was used to warp it into its current shape, and should theoretically be able to return it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. I uh, don¡¯t know how to do that.¡±


    ¡°And I can¡¯t,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But you should be able to learn, like everything else. It should be in the four to five mana range.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the spell called?¡± Ceira asked, pulling out her phone.


    ¡°Warp Wood,¡± I said. ¡°Though I¡¯m uncertain why it should matter¡­¡±


    ¡°Just looking for a description. It helps. Hmm, I see.¡± She looked between her phone and the staff, gathered mana¡­ and nothing happened, except the mana seeping out as she tried to use it. ¡°Dammit. That¡¯s like half an hour of recovery.¡±


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°How accurate is that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Normally it¡¯s one point per ten minutes. The ambient mana in the city has increased by at least ten percent, but that¡¯s still not much more.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you told me most of that. Uh, should be pretty close to half an hour.¡±


    ¡°So you recover at around fifty percent faster than normal,¡± I frowned.


    ¡°The plants help,¡± she said. ¡°Even more if I focus.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand druids,¡± I admitted. ¡°Though the ambient levels do feel slightly higher here, it doesn¡¯t seem like that much.¡±


    She shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s just how it works. So, about that thing I wanted to try.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Uh, I want to see if it can grow a sprout? I have a spell to make things bloom. It can even work on dead wood. It¡­ shouldn¡¯t hurt the staff.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty unusable anyway,¡± I pointed out. ¡°If you can straighten it, I could deal with whatever else happens.¡±


    ¡°It should only be additive, so you could sand it down,¡± she said. Then she concentrated. Instead of gathering a set amount of mana, it seemed like a continuous infusion over a duration. More than a few points. A weird protrusion began to stretch from it, and then¡­ Ceira passed out.


    She didn¡¯t have far to fall, landing gently on the floor. Without even having to consider it, I knew it was mana exhaustion. I debated trying to straighten out her position, but by the time I came to a conclusion her eyes were fluttering open. ¡°Did I¡­? How embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°Mana exhaustion will get anyone,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah I just thought¡­ my maximum increased slightly, and I thought I had more. But that previous attempt and it being more difficult than anticipated¡­¡± She smiled awkwardly.


    ¡°Quite understandable. It takes a while to improve your level. My growth has been greatly accelerated lately, but less than a year ago I barely had more capacity than your current state. Just keep getting levels. Though you could also try absorbing mana crystals, I don¡¯t know if that would be good for you.¡±


    ¡°I thought those just helped you recover quickly?¡±


    ¡°I found a way to use them to boost my maximum beyond that from my level.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I think¡­ visiting the sequoias did that for me as well.¡±


    ¡°Did it hurt?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No?¡± she tilted her head. ¡°Why would it?¡±


    ¡°... just wondering.¡± Was there something else mages were supposed to do? Could Ceira also absorb crystals? I didn¡¯t know if she could even make them, that hadn¡¯t come up. If that was a mage thing, it might hurt her to try. So if we tried anything, it would have to be a smaller crystal.


    ¡°Well, can I hold onto this for a while?¡± Ceira asked. ¡°I need to spend time trying to learn Warp Wood, and I¡¯d still like to see if I can make it properly sprout.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I nodded. ¡°It would be better if it was fixed sooner, but as it is there are no other options for repair. So I will be using a backup weapon, if I have to get into melee combat.¡± I would also need to remember that I couldn¡¯t use the dispelling feature, either.


    I also planned to explain my ideas- and the potential risks- to see if Ceira would help with my studies. Hopefully, I could learn something interesting.


    A soft mewl came from the back room, beyond another forest down a hall.


    ¡°What was that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nothing!¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°It sounded like a cat. Maybe one broke into your apartment?¡±


    ¡°No, everything¡¯s fine. Anyway you should go.¡±


    ¡°... There¡¯s nothing wrong with having a cat,¡± I said as Ceira attempted to push me out the door, which was impossible for a number of reasons even if there was a clear path.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell Midnight!¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a cat,¡± I said. ¡°Not like you have a dog in there.¡±


    ¡°Haha. Yep. Definitely not.¡±


    -----


    It was always easier for Midnight to come over to my place, because mine was¡­ roomier. In short, I didn¡¯t have to hunch over, and the only thing Midnight had to deal with was doors, instead of constant back pain.


    ¡°So, how¡¯s it going buddy?¡±


    ¡°Looking into other duties with the Brigade had taught me a lot,¡± he said. ¡°But¡­ I¡¯m not as effective away from you. I¡¯m not brave enough to not go around with defensive magic, so it costs more.¡±


    ¡°You mean stupid enough.¡± Midnight tilted his head, and I continued. ¡°It¡¯s not brave to go around without proper defensive magic. It¡¯s stupid, and you know better. And you¡¯re right, it¡¯s more efficient when we can share spells.¡±


    ¡°The same with enhancements,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Like, Haste and stuff. It¡¯s very useful utility even if I¡¯m not fighting, but I can¡¯t really use it on myself since I can use it to support others. I¡¯m not that useful around HQ with our spells, and if I¡¯m supporting anyone out in the field it might as well be you.¡±


    ¡°Sorry to hear about the spells,¡± I said. ¡°Actually, if I hadn¡¯t done the familiar bond, you might have full class abilities now. So you could level and get points and even make your own choices. That might have been better.¡±


    ¡°Nah,¡± Midnight dismissed that quickly. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine things would have gone better any other way. You¡¯re my good friend who saved my life. I like having this bond.¡± Midnight¡¯s feelings were very clear, not muted in the slightest. ¡°I probably wouldn¡¯t have access to the same power I have now, if I were on my own. Not as much mana, and all that.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which,¡± I said. ¡°Did you ever figure out if your mana capacity improved?¡±


    ¡°A little bit,¡± he said. ¡°Less.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ good?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°It means we probably shouldn¡¯t try the same with you. Speaking of which, I¡¯m planning to do it again.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°The first time was four points. Then two. Then one. You¡¯re willing to go through that pain for less than a single point of mana capacity?¡±


    ¡°And to know how the limit works. I think it¡¯s heading towards double the size of mana crystal I can make. But I need to know for sure. And I¡¯m not certain if I can reach it. Is it really going to be an infinite series, or will this one or the next one fill in the last slivers?¡±


    Midnight sighed in an exaggerated fashion. ¡°Well, I guess you have to, then. For SCIENCE.¡±


    ¡°Magic,¡± I said.


    ¡°You¡¯re sciencing magic,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And magic has rules.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Then¡­ let the experiments begin!¡±


    -----


    Ceira sat on a stool scavenged from her kitchen through a lengthy expedition. ¡°Alright guys,¡± she said talking to the camera. ¡°I¡¯m still getting some comments about the decreasing posts on my gaming channel, asking why that is. So I¡¯m just going to say it again. I have magic now. So I¡¯m not ¡®wasting time on a gardening channel¡¯. I¡¯m using freaking magic!¡±


    She sighed.


    ¡°Do I cut that part out? Eh, I¡¯ll leave it in.¡± She straightened up. ¡°As for your more constructive comments, I¡¯m pretty sure I can¡¯t make a wood computer, but I¡¯ve been trying to encourage some plants to grow into sorts of panels?¡± She held up a few examples. ¡°They¡¯re not much good yet, but that¡¯s the idea. About the aquaponics idea, I don¡¯t really have the room. And I-¡±


    A sudden burst of barking marked a puppy chasing a cat across the frame of the camera. The puppy caught up to the cat and pounced on it, bringing them both to the ground in a heap.


    ¡°Cel! Bun! Settle down!¡± Ceira called towards them as they ran back the other way, this time the cat giving chase. ¡°Ugh. Should I leave them in? Does Midnight watch this?¡±


    Constant editorial decisions were made, but the ones she didn¡¯t think about were the most important. Such as the small corner of the frame where a twisted length of wood could be seen. That was the sort of thing that wouldn¡¯t matter unless someone or something was watching for it, but there were all sorts of eyes throughout New Bay.

 Chapter 157

    Whenever possible, I would walk to work. It wasn¡¯t that far, and frankly it wasn¡¯t any faster in a car. I also liked to get familiar with the various shops along the way.


    Because of my familiarity with the route, I nearly ran into a glass box placed on the sidewalk. The only thing that brought it to my attention was the sudden sounding of chimes from inside. I stared at the box as it made noise, and it simply stood there, making the noise.


    Then it came to me. There was a device inside this glass box that resembled the arcane symbol people used to represent phones. It was a sort of hook shaped object with rounded ends. And if I stretched my imagination, I could say that the sound coming from it resembled the sounds of a phone.


    I tilted my head in confusion, looking around. Then I continued on my way past it, thinking of it no more.


    -----


    The next day, the box was still there, but with a man inside it. As I approached, it rang. He answered. So the call had been for him. Did he own this small section of sidewalk?


    Then he stepped out of the box, phone outstretched. A strange cord was attached, perhaps to prevent it from being stolen. ¡°Hey. It¡¯s for you.¡±


    ¡°For¡­ who?¡±


    The man gestured with the phone, and I took it.


    ¡°Mage,¡± said a voice on the other end. ¡°I was under the impression that you were a curious individual.¡±


    It seemed to work just like a phone, but it was much larger, and the weird bottom lump rubbed against my right tusk. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Come now. Surely you know.¡±


    Something about the seriousness of his tone made me think. Where did I know that voice from? I had definitely heard it before. I kept my comments to myself as I looked around me, finding the man who¡¯d handed me the phone already gone, but also spotting nobody that stood out. I cast Stoneskin.


    ¡°That won¡¯t help, you know,¡± the voice said. ¡°You really don¡¯t remember? Those attempts to spy on Deimos in my captivity, and now disrupting my operations.¡±


    Aha. I had only heard it once. At least, directed at me. ¡°Doctor Doomsday.¡±


    ¡°That is correct.¡±


    ¡°What is this strange contraption?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°This glass box.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ a phone booth.¡±


    ¡°... Why?¡±


    ¡°To contact you.¡±


    ¡°But why would anyone make a stationary phone?¡±


    ¡°... Kids these days. No, I suppose given your origin it¡¯s more excusable. These were quite common in the past, you know? Before the development of other technologies.¡±


    ¡°Why the box?¡±


    ¡°Privacy.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s glass.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for private conversations,¡± he said. ¡°Speaking of which, would you mind stepping inside?¡±


    ¡°Is it going to drop me into an underground lair or a pit of lava?¡±


    ¡°Where would I even get lava around here? No, there are much more efficient ways to kill you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll stay out here, thanks.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± he said. ¡°Now then, I have established communications for two reasons. First is to ask you for a partnership.¡±


    ¡°Doing what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Studying magic. I believe you are interested in the topic, and I have information from your world you would find quite interesting. I am also interested in an orc who chose that path.¡±


    ¡°Why would I work with you?¡±


    ¡°Besides being the most brilliant mind in the area? I can provide you with as much combat as you desire. You won¡¯t be limited in how you use your powers.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t think I can work with you.¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m a villain?¡± he asked. ¡°You would not have to join me publicly, if you have attachment for your current relationships.¡±


    ¡°You work with orcs,¡± I said plainly. ¡°So I don¡¯t want to deal with you.¡±


    For some reason, he laughed. ¡°Is that it? Interesting. Then, my second reason for establishing communication like this. Stop interfering with my plans, or you will find consequences are already available. Oh, and don¡¯t tell anyone about this or I will consider it to be the same as continuing to act against me.¡±


    -----


    ¡°... And then he threatened me not to tell anyone,¡± I said to Calculator. ¡°Which is why I had to. Because it means he feels threatened and I can actually do something. Right?¡±


    Calculator nodded, ¡°That is generally the case. However¡­ Doctor Doomsday doesn¡¯t tend to make idle threats. I would be careful with who else you tell, and where you do it.¡± He was looking down at his tablet, as usual. ¡°The phone booth has already been dismantled. It shouldn¡¯t have had a physical connection to anything regardless. As for your ability to disrupt his plans¡­ he takes offense to even small roles, sometimes. So we can¡¯t assume there¡¯s any major disruption you can cause besides taking out his goons.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± I frowned. ¡°And since he knows about magic, he should know what I can do.¡±


    ¡°Some of it. But if he wanted further study, no doubt there are things he is missing. Unless he wanted you as a test subject, but he is usually honest with his words. Though perhaps when you had run out of your usefulness as an underling you would have come to that result. He¡¯s not so honorable as to not go back on his word sometimes.¡± Calculator frowned. ¡°So what else did you talk about?¡±


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°That was it?¡± I shrugged. ¡°There wasn¡¯t much else.¡±


    ¡°I see. Please describe everything in detail, starting from the first time you noticed the phone booth, and including the man who handed you the phone.¡±


    ¡°Well, I heard the sound. The ringing. Then I saw the glass box that hadn¡¯t been on the sidewalk before. I almost walked into it.¡± I continued with my explanation until the door to the office opened. Then I was disrupted by several people waving batons at me. ¡°Uh, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Clean,¡± one of them said as they stepped past me.


    They then surrounded Calculator, who held his arms out to the side to make things easier. One of the batons glowed and beeped, and then chaos ensued. I felt a surge of tech power, a woman dived forward to grab something I couldn¡¯t see, and then the desk Calculator had set his tablet on exploded.


    I was the first to regain my feet¡­ out of the two who were actually affected. Calculator had avoided any visible effects, stepping back and pulling two adjacent people with him. So it only left myself and the individual who reached for the exploding thing. I had Force Armor, so I was cushioned from the explosion. Stoneskin was less effective against that, and didn¡¯t come into play anyway. The woman who had lunged for something was scorched, but able to stand.


    ¡°... What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Doctor Doomsday snuck a spying device into HQ with you,¡± Calculator explained.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I hung my head.


    ¡°It could have been worse. You followed protocol and passed through our stationary scanners.¡± While he spoke, the individuals with the sensing batons continued to sweep the room, going over everything two or three times. ¡°They should have picked it up, but they aren¡¯t perfect. However, we have to assume that everything we said was overheard. Even now, until this unit is done with their work. So be cautious.¡±


    Rather than screw anything else up, I waited until they were done. ¡°So, uh¡­ am I in trouble?¡±


    ¡°If we punished people for Doctor Doomsday getting the best of them, we¡¯d have pretty low retention. However, next time you have any encounters of this sort- with Doctor Doomsday or anyone else- there are ways to request additional scanning.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± I said. ¡°So, uh, what should I be worried about?¡±


    ¡°He knows at least part of your route to come here. Be careful on your way home. It was possible you were randomly spotted by one of his minions, or through other means, but you could have been followed. We¡¯ll perform some subtle checks¡­ with decoy locations as well.¡±


    ¡°It sounded like he might have something specific,¡± I said. ¡°But he didn¡¯t say what.¡±


    ¡°You should stay here overnight at least,¡± Calculator suggested. ¡°And Midnight, since he has a connection to you and lives nearby.¡±


    ¡°... I hope I don¡¯t have to move again,¡± I said. ¡°I just did that.¡±


    ¡°Such is the life of a super,¡± Calculator shrugged. ¡°Now you understand why people like to maximize secrecy. Though usually people don¡¯t have to deal with Doctor Doomsday.¡±


    ¡°What else should I do?¡±


    ¡°If it were someone else, I would suggest contacting everyone who knows your identity and warning them of danger.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s everyone I know!¡±


    ¡°I am aware. But also¡­ if Doctor Doomsday already knows of someone, they could already be under surveillance, and contacting them might only compromise your own security.¡±


    -----


    I had a lot to think about. Everyone who worked for the Brigade already took sufficient levels of caution¡­ but I made sure to find people throughout the day. My former squadmates- Ice Guy, Acid Man, Shockfire, and even Rocker. Great Girl who just sighed. And of those who were more vulnerable, Khithae and Tylissa.


    Friends outside the Brigade¡­ I honestly didn¡¯t have many of. Jerome was covered by speaking to Tylissa, and I very much hoped our connection wasn¡¯t known. But it was impossible to change things like that now. That only left Izzy and Ceira. Should I call them? Would it make them more or less safe?


    I stewed. I really didn¡¯t like feeling like this. Angry. Anxious. The worst part was I couldn¡¯t just defeat the problem. Could I? Doctor Doomsday was famous. Dangerous. But perhaps I was a real threat.


    Or I was just a guy who slightly annoyed him that he would disintegrate if we ran into each other. But maybe his threat would be a bluff.


    I called Izzy, warning her of the danger. Then I called Ceira.


    The phone rang several times. Was she filming? Usually she answered right away. Then there was a click.


    ¡°Hey Ceira, I just wanted to-¡±


    ¡°Did you think I didn¡¯t mean it?¡± came a clearly masculine voice from the other end of the line. ¡°That my warning was just for fun? Your friend here was highly incautious for someone with just a portal power. It also will make her an interesting test subject.¡±


    My legs were moving. Where they were going to carry me, I wasn¡¯t quite sure. Was I going to storm out of the building and run to Ceira¡¯s house? Into the garage level to take the biggest vehicle I could to run over traffic? Neither of those made any sense. They would be too slow. Shockwave¡­ I would have to contact somehow. And I didn¡¯t want to just hang up. ¡°Is this really worth it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you need to ask yourself. If you continue to bother me, it won¡¯t stop with just one friend. It could be any of the others. Even your young apprentice.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± I said.


    I hung up. There was only one thing I could do. I didn¡¯t want to risk anyone¡¯s lives.


    But I also wasn¡¯t going to accept this.


    I started with a message to Shockwave.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    I want to call in any favors I have. But they might not be enough.


    What ya need?


    Before I say, it involves a very dangerous villain.


    Where?


    Where are you? HQ?


    Scrying room.


    Why?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Before the last message sent, Shockwave was standing behind me, arriving with a sudden gust of wind. But no extremely loud sounds. ¡°Who is it? What do you need?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Doctor Doomsday. I know it¡¯s a big risk so you can refuse.¡±


    ¡°What do you need?¡± Shockwave repeated.


    ¡°I need you to check out an address. My friend lives there. Just check to see if there¡¯s anyone still there¡­¡± I grimaced.


    ¡°Address?¡± Shockwave held out a hand. ¡°Come on, this needs to be fast, right?¡± Then they snatched my phone. ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Ceira.¡±


    ¡°...¡± thumbs clicked wildly. ¡°Your phone lags. Okay, got it.¡± My phone was back in my hands. ¡°Haste me.¡±


    ¡°I-¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to go or not?¡±


    I gathered mana. I wasn¡¯t sure if a small amount would make any difference, but I made sure to use maximum power instead of the reduced cost. Power flowed from me into Shockwave. ¡°Wait a-¡± I didn¡¯t even get to say the first syllable before I was knocked back. My eardrums didn¡¯t burst, which told me their practice had paid off. And I guess the Physical Freedom I was going to do wasn¡¯t necessary. But it should be faster. Why¡­?


    I got a message, which turned into a series.


    ¡®Door open¡¯


    ¡®No people¡¯


    ¡®Trashed plants¡¯


    ¡®Cat and dog in another room¡¯


    It wasn¡¯t that far, but I had still expected it to take more than a handful of seconds. Then again, Shockwave had gotten halfway to another city where their grandma lived on a three minute Haste months prior when it had been less powerful.


    The information wasn¡¯t good. ¡®Bring back anything connected. Pictures or hair or whatever.¡¯


    I don¡¯t know what I expected, but less than a minute later Shockwave was back- slowed by having to have a serious scan while carrying in a few pictures, a gross clump of hair, and a cat and dog.


    Now to begin scrying¡­ and get everyone I could to help. I was going to find Doctor Doomsday and save Ceira, or I was going to find him and he would kill me. As long as I kept others out of the final part, they would likely be fine. I didn¡¯t want anyone I knew to get hurt. Which is why it was convenient I didn¡¯t know anyone with a grudge with him. The Brigade would, though. And if I found a chance? They¡¯d jump on it. Whatever happened to them wasn¡¯t important, though I would prefer them to succeed.

 Chapter 158

    I stomped my way into the scrying chamber, quickly activating the recording devices for later review. There was only so much I could see at once. I checked my points, having not quite enough for two upgrades to Scrying, so I went with one. Doctor Doomsday had been a pain before, with his scrying decoys. Once again I wasn¡¯t looking for him directly, but he was involved.


    The clump of hair was snatched out of Shockwave¡¯s hands, leaving them with a confused cat and dog. What we did with them would have to wait, though I didn¡¯t intend any solution to have to be long term. I was going to rescue Ceira and kill Doctor Doomsday. Him bothering to threaten me at all indicated I was a problem, and I wasn¡¯t going to stop.


    Mana coursed through me as I pushed Scrying to its limits to look for my friend. With three upgrades, using it at full power made it somewhere around fifty percent stronger. I also had some experience getting around the scrying anchors. The diamond cube Vilhelmiina made was also critical to the attempt.


    I clutched onto the connection in my hand as the mists swirled and tried to form into something solid. Were we close? I didn¡¯t really know. However, Ceira was one of my limited friends in this world. She just wanted to talk to plants and animals. I wasn¡¯t going to let Doctor Doomsday kill her. Or keep her captive, I presumed was the intent. Otherwise she would have already been dead.


    Up until that point, I had known he was a great danger. But the fact that he could immediately respond in such a manner for something minor like telling people about our encounter¡­ having him around was unacceptable.


    As I pushed my way through the swirling mists, I knew that my chances weren¡¯t actually that great. But I couldn¡¯t just let this happen. I was furious. Doctor Patenaude might be proud of me for recognizing my emotions, but personally I wasn¡¯t enjoying it.


    I was vaguely aware of people entering the room, but I didn¡¯t let them throw off my concentration. A boring stone came into view, but I pulled myself away from the scrying anchor. Ceira¡¯s face came into view, along with metal chains and some sort of platform. Floating, it seemed as I changed my view. Costly. I walked around the scene, taking in pieces of a laboratory- I assumed. Ceira was currently unconscious, but focusing close on her indicated she was breathing. At maximum distance, I could see fifteen feet in each direction beyond her. I needed a clue. Nothing. A location. Impossible to glean. Anything¡­? A gnarled bit of wood.


    The scene faded. Had it been that long? Was it shortened from resistance? I honestly didn¡¯t know.


    I saw Calculator. ¡°Location,¡± I demanded.


    ¡°I¡¯m not quite-¡±


    ¡°A neighborhood,¡± I said. ¡°Or something. You have to have assumptions for where his bases can be.¡±


    ¡°The real ones are well hidden,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Many are strewn about the city. However, it is most likely that this location is near your friend¡¯s apartment.¡± A pause, ¡°The logical thing is not to go.¡±


    What a waste of words. ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a starting point,¡± Calculator said. ¡°You¡¯ll have to find it yourself.¡±


    ¡°My staff is there,¡± I said by way of explanation. The rest of my points went into Locate Object, just two ranks. I¡¯d thought it was nearly useless, but now it might be my most important option. I couldn¡¯t pick up something useful for combat with that anyway. I already had that.


    I took out a mana crystal- they were nearly 5 mana, now. I crushed it. I couldn¡¯t afford to wait for normal recovery. I¡¯d already spent 11 points of mana for the Scrying, plus 5 for Haste. I passed Shockwave on the way out.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± they said. ¡°I can¡¯t help with Doomsday himself.¡±


    ¡°I get it,¡± I nodded.


    I headed to the lower levels, where a vehicle should be waiting for me with a driver. Midnight was there already, worried. Once we came face to face I shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous. You shouldn¡¯t come.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why I should. You need help.¡±


    How could I argue? I didn¡¯t have time for that. I just wished the help I needed was coming from people I didn¡¯t care about. A sudden fluctuation made my spin my head, and two people appeared. One I recognized. Movebrain. The other¡­ seemed to be one of the remaining executives. Her name, at least, was available. Swiss Arms. Anything beyond that such as her powers were above my clearance when I¡¯d checked, though. Her arms looked¡­ pretty¡­ normal¡­ Except for the super tech.


    ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there,¡± she said. ¡°If you¡¯re going, let¡¯s go. Fair warning, he does have a death ray.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t learn Death Ward anyway.¡± If I couldn¡¯t prepare for him, I¡¯d just have to be quick about fighting my way to Ceira. I cracked another crystal. I could do one more without issues.


    We hadn¡¯t yet made it out when, arriving by more traditional methods, Ice Guy appeared from the elevator and approached the car. ¡°The rest of the squad isn¡¯t here right now,¡± he said. ¡°Or I¡¯m certain they¡¯d join.¡± He sat next to me. ¡°If you wait a short time, many people are mobilizing in case you actually find one of his bases.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t wait,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯ll have to catch up.¡± As we drove along, I really didn¡¯t have anything to do¡­ so I looked over to Swiss Arms. ¡°Why are you coming?¡±


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want help?¡± she raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°You¡¯re just¡­ not known for doing things.¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I¡¯m in the right mood.¡±


    I tried to make plans, but I couldn¡¯t. My head was filled with fog, and all I could think about was turning Doctor Doomsday into a smoking pile of garbage. Though obviously he¡¯d have an AEGIS, so it wouldn¡¯t be that easy. I imagined it would be better than what he gave the orcs, too.


    Then again, he didn¡¯t necessarily do things himself. It could just be minions at this base. On that note, I would need my weapon for efficiency. Especially with how I was using mana.


    We approached the vague area- just a neighborhood where statistically there was a higher rate of Doctor Doomsday incidents. I cast Locate Object, trying to get pointed towards my staff. It didn¡¯t work. But it didn¡¯t not work. The four points of mana gave me only a vague feeling. A sort of direction, but it could be anywhere towards the edges of the area I felt or in the middle. So we weren¡¯t too far. But due to various factors, likely partially distance and partially the scrying anchors, it didn¡¯t provide a continuous pull towards the object but quickly faded after a few pulses of information.


    I took careful note of the location and direction, then had us continue moving. Even if I couldn¡¯t get a clear read on what I was looking for, I could make use of a special technique Calculator had taught me. The guy would be a good mage, if he didn¡¯t already have another power.


    A second use. A third. None of them told me what I needed to know, precisely. But, together, I found the right direction. Yes, this was the power of Triangulation. ¡°I¡¯ll need to do it once more,¡± I said as we approached, cracking my third crystal. Much more, and the total quantity I could absorb in a day would be surpassed. I wasn¡¯t certain if it was actually correlated with my fatigue threshold, but it was similar to half my normal mana pool. I hadn¡¯t tested since overcharging my mana pool. Perhaps this expanded as well, since my body would be more used to mana crystals. That would still make at most one more safe. I would certainly have to use it in a couple minutes.


    Putting together the information from the other points, I was now close enough to be confident that my spell would work properly. But just as I was about to gather the mana, I realized I didn¡¯t need it. Unless there was something else that would produce a continuous flow of mana?


    I grimaced. I didn¡¯t have time to ponder. One more cast, four more mana. I could feel a generally downward pull, which told me we were in the right place. Unfortunately, it was basically a waste as it didn¡¯t tell me how to get there.


    But I didn¡¯t tell anyone else that, instead walking towards the source I felt. That wasn¡¯t a direction, but a flow. It would be coming by the route that was least restrictive, which means it would probably lead to a door.


    It did. Kind of. Technically, it was a manhole cover tucked into an alleyway. ¡°Great,¡± I said. ¡°The sewers.¡±


    I was only half right. As it turned out, sewers in a city such as this were mostly smaller pipes, not massive open flows. Once we managed to lift up the cover- clearly not meant to be done by hand, but with a specific tool- I could only see a small chamber. There were some pipes running beneath, but it was just a single intersection.


    I climbed down the built in ladder. ¡°There must be a door or something.¡±


    ¡°Uh, if you wait a second¡­¡± Midnight said. ¡°Someone might help?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± I heard the sound of running feet. Tiny feet. I poked my head over the edge to see Izzy. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Wow, way to be¡­¡± she stopped for a couple breaths, ¡°Appreciative of my¡­ help¡­¡± she panted.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you.¡± Great. One more person I knew at risk. I¡¯d have to get them all out somehow. Potentially at the cost of myself. A fourth crystal would be fine, if I didn¡¯t use any for a week or so. I couldn¡¯t reject the help though. ¡°There should be a door or something somewhere here¡­¡±


    Swiss Arms spoke up, ¡°Are you a civilian?¡±


    ¡°I have powers,¡± Izzy explained as she dropped down into the hole behind me. ¡°I¡¯m just not employed by heroes or mercs.¡± I did notice she had her swords- which were basically daggers for normal sized people. She wrinkled her nose, ¡°Honestly isn¡¯t as bad as I¡¯d thought these would be.¡± She traced her fingers across the wall. ¡°Yeah, I can definitely see the seam there. Not sure how it opens though.¡±


    ¡°Let me handle it,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°If you could step out, Turlough?¡±


    There really wasn¡¯t room for one and a half people let alone two and a half, so I climbed out. Izzy pointed him to the spots on the wall and¡­ he used just a tiny bit of power. Then I could see the outline of the doorway as ice poked through. Useful, I suppose, but it didn¡¯t reveal a handle or anything.


    ¡°Get ready,¡± he said. ¡°You should step out, by the way,¡± he said to Izzy.


    I saw Swiss Arms wave away the driver, then her right hand folded back. Her wrist had a cylinder inside it. A gun? It was certainly like a gun, but the thing that shot out was less¡­ violent. ¡°A tracker,¡± she said as I looked at her curiously. ¡°To mark our location.¡±


    Ice Guy¡¯s power flared, and there was the sound of cracking stone. Then wrenching metal. Then a loud boom. Fire flared up from the manhole, spewing into the sky like a geyser.


    I bit my lip. The captain¡­? Was fine, of course. He was covered in a shell of ice. And I could feel the pulse of mana more clearly, one obstacle removed.


    The uncovered tunnel was small, such that I had to crouch down. I wasn¡¯t the first one in, though. That was Izzy, with Swiss Arms right behind her. At some point she¡¯d put on some sort of headset. Or had it come out of her head? I certainly hadn¡¯t seen her pull anything out.


    When we came to an intersection, I confidently declared we go left.


    ¡°Why?¡± Izzy asked, looking back and forth.


    ¡°I¡¯m following the mana,¡± I said truthfully. ¡°There¡¯s got a big source. Maybe a portal.¡± If this was something unrelated¡­ I didn¡¯t want to think about that. So I didn¡¯t. The tunnels continued deeper¡­ and got smaller, winding in odd ways as they had to circumvent official utilities. They seemed to be made of brick at first, but were cement as we got deeper. They didn¡¯t smell bad, just a bit stale. Certainly not actual sewers. Though I wasn¡¯t certain why there was more than one tunnel, if this was an entrance. Were the others trapped? Was the fastest route trapped?


    Neither Izzy nor Swiss Arms had picked one out yet, and I didn¡¯t sense any magical ones. Should I use Arcane Sight? Could I afford the mana? Could I afford to not spend the mana?


    My tusks rubbed unpleasantly against my lips, and the only thing stopping me from biting into my lip was Midnight casting Stoneskin on us as we approached.


    This had to be the right way. It simply had to.

 Chapter 159

    ¡°Wait, stop,¡± Izzy held out her arm- as if anyone in their right mind was going to walk in front of the scout. ¡°There¡¯s something¡­¡± her head flicked back and forth. ¡°Some sort of invisible wires?¡±


    ¡°Infrared laser grid,¡± said Swiss Arms, holding fingers circled in front of her face revealing a lens somehow. ¡°Good catch.¡±


    ¡°Can we squeeze through?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Of course not. You think they put them at funky angles to almost cover a whole room? It just covered the whole hallway. Barely more than a couple inches between them.¡±


    ¡°... That¡¯s almost enough,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°But I¡¯d prefer not to be cut to pieces.¡±


    ¡°These aren¡¯t a deathtrap, but rather a detector,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°They probably set off the deathtrap.¡±


    Izzy agreed, ¡°I think so. There¡¯s something beyond them, seams in the wall. Difficult to make out though. Doesn¡¯t matter if we can¡¯t get past.¡±


    ¡°Well, I might be able to cook something up,¡± Swiss Arms said. Some of the executives- like Calculator and Movebrain- wore something resembling a traditional suit. Captain Punch wore a brightly colored and more traditional super outfit. Swiss Arms was more towards the latter, but with a notable exception of lacking gloves with her arms uncovered. Which made a lot of sense, as her fingers and arms began to twist, suddenly reflecting light. ¡°So, theoretically there''s some sort of check for the lasers being broken. I should be able to redirect them¡­¡± she then lay on her back on the floor, head just short of where I thought the lasers were supposed to be. She held up her arms, but obviously they were a full head short of where they needed to be.


    Until her shoulders simply extended away from her body. Mechanical parts were visible within, though that was already obvious to me. What wasn¡¯t obvious was why there would be such a function. Who would do that and why? Very convenient though. This lady was like some sort of¡­ multitool.


    ¡°Alright, you¡¯ll have to crouch down,¡± she said. ¡°Don¡¯t let any part of you get near the tips of my fingers.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure, I¡¯ll ¡®crouch down¡¯,¡± Izzy said stepping past her and only barely ducking.


    Midnight¡­ was still the size of a cat. He got off my shoulder and went ahead, which was good because I was already unsure about how well I¡¯d fit through.


    Ice Guy was next, stepping through cautiously as he nearly ducked through the safe area.


    Then it was just me. Of our group, I was the largest in all dimensions. Ultimately, I managed to duck down and step over Swiss Arms. Her head was fortunately not in the way given the distortion of her form, so my back foot was able to rest right below where her shoulders normally belonged. My hands supported me on the other side as I pulled my rear leg over, trying not to knock into her hands.


    Then everyone was through. Except¡­ ¡°How are you going to get past?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need some assistance,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°If you and Ice Guy could each grab a bicep and hold me steady. Stand to the side, please.¡±


    Biceps were not meant to be held onto. They were round and fleshy, both awful for grabbing. But some sort of protrusion like a rod formed inside and gave us something to actually grab onto. That¡­ also made no sense. There was no way something like that could fit in there with shoulder extenders and mirrors and also presumably something resembling muscles and¡­ swords? I¡¯d heard something about arm-swords. Though that part was unverified by myself.


    But whether it made sense or not, it certainly worked. Swiss Arms shimmied herself so that her shoulders were basically in the right place, her head slightly past the laser grid. Then she folded her knees to her chest, and then her feet passed through. An impressive maneuver, though even I had the flexibility for most of it. My toes might have poked beyond the blocked part of the grid though.


    Then came the impossible part, where her motion continued with her arms barely trembling. I did my best to hold it still even while distracted from a one hundred and eighty degree shoulder rotation. Then Swiss Arms managed to extricate her head and arms without any alarms or death traps or even bits of laser scorching.


    ¡°If we have to make a quick exit¡­¡± Swiss Arms frowned. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to run and stay together.¡±


    ¡°I can coat the walls in ice to damp whatever sort of horrible thing comes out,¡± Ice Guy mentioned. ¡°There wasn¡¯t anything on the outer side, was there?¡±


    ¡°Not that I could find,¡± Izzy said.


    That was going to have to be good enough, because I couldn¡¯t detect anything here. Or rather, the whole place thrummed with super tech to the point I could barely pick out Swiss Arms¡­ arms.


    Maybe I should use Arcane Sight? But I might need the mana. And it didn¡¯t last that long. Dealing with Doctor Doomsday was a pain.


    One thing I could still sense was the portal. And just to secretly confirm there wasn¡¯t another base here unrelated to the goal, I activated Locate Object one final time. Good. We were actually close enough for it to be specific with direction, meaning there weren¡¯t too many obstacles. I held onto the feeling to make sure we continued in the right direction.


    We continued on, encountering a few more traps we had to circumvent, though none quite so invisible as the first.


    ¡°... Shouldn¡¯t we have run into enemies by now?¡± Izzy looked around. ¡°Or cameras or something?¡±


    ¡°Are the traps not enough?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Clearly they aren¡¯t,¡± Izzy pointed out.


    ¡°I agree,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°Doctor Doomsday is not to be underestimated. At this point, I would recommend waiting for backup.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not-¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯re not going to wait. But I would still recommend it. Or rather, I would if we weren¡¯t already inside. Waiting around in here seems like a terrible idea.¡±


    We finally came to the door. It was huge, somewhere around ten feet on a side and made of thick metal. Which surprised me, because that should have blocked off most of the flow of mana. ¡°There¡¯s a portal in here,¡± I said, gesturing. The Brigade already knew I could sense portals, and I thought they¡¯d want to know.


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    ¡°Of course there is,¡± Swiss Arms sighed. ¡°Do we need to go that way?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± I shook my head.


    ¡°... We should still get it open. See where it leads. Or, you can close it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s expensive,¡± I said. Technically, I could recover mana from it¡­ possibly. Or it could drain me empty, if it was exceptionally stable. One in a permanent installation seemed more likely to be the latter. ¡°Maybe on the way out?¡±


    ¡°We need to at least see it,¡± she said.


    I nodded, gesturing towards the door. I was neither responsible for looking for traps nor opening doors. It took a minute, but¡­


    ¡°That was surprisingly easy,¡± Swiss Arms said as her arms stopped looking like flat snakes squeezing between the seams in the metal door and returned to being arms. The door itself opened with the sound of pistons activating. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a big one.¡±


    Inside of a basically empty room was a semicircular portal at least twenty feet wide and tall. Beyond it was a forest with dense brush and trees.


    ¡°Recognize it?¡± Izzy asked.


    I frowned, ¡°... should I?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the guy who knows about planes and stuff!¡±


    ¡°This could be the material plane or a number of fancy planty ones,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t really tell unless we see what sort of things live there. And if it¡¯s the kind that needs to be sealed shut¡­¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± Izzy waved me off. ¡°We don¡¯t want to be here then. Can we¡­ reseal the door?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°Not without taking an uncomfortable amount of time.¡±


    We continued on, passing by an open room that had a tiger, a monkey, and some birds in cages. ¡°... Is he starting a zoo?¡± I frowned. I tilted my head, and finally it hit me. ¡°Oh. Wow, those are some big megafauna.¡± The cages were scaled to visibly fit the creatures, and bare space- this base had a lot of empty space somehow- didn¡¯t help my depth perception. Even the floor panels were larger in this room, but I only noticed when I glanced down near us.


    ¡°I think we¡¯ll be leaving those cages closed,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°Agreed?¡±


    Everyone nodded. Though if we could get them out without approaching, they¡¯d be good at wrecking things. Presumably.


    More traps, but still no goons. Then we found the room with Ceira- and my staff, casually placed on a table among all sorts of equipment.


    ¡°This is¡­ shockingly good luck,¡± Swiss Arms commented.


    I had to agree. I cast Arcane Sight, but could barely see from all the threads of power on everything. I focused on Ceira herself, where I was relieved to find besides clear power on the shackles binding her there was nothing directly on her. So she wasn¡¯t an illusion or a robot or something. I didn¡¯t actually know what Doctor Doomsday could do.


    ¡°... Turlough? Uh, I mean¡­ Mage?¡± Ceira looked kind of dazed, but she raised up her head when we started moving around in the room.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I said. ¡°Pretty sure even the Doctor knows my name. We¡¯re here to get you out.¡±


    My staff was¡­ still the same. Including the unfortunate physical distortion. I picked it up.


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t get what¡¯s going on,¡± Ceira admitted. ¡°I think¡­ Doctor Doomsday¡­?¡±


    ¡°Something like that,¡± I said. Four shackles. Would I have enough to dispel that? Oh, wait. There were a few daggers sitting around. Charged? I hoped so. Doctor Doomsday sure had too many of those things. We couldn¡¯t really afford to sit around. Izzy was already inspecting Ceira¡¯s shackles by the time I snatched up the daggers.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can disarm this¡­¡± Izzy said. ¡°Not without some tools I don¡¯t know how to get in this world.¡±


    Swiss Arms shook her head, ¡°I don¡¯t sense any tech I can disrupt either.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I nodded. ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee nothing will go wrong, but we can¡¯t wait. Captain, Swiss Arms, please be ready to help break apart the manacles.¡±


    I pressed one dagger against a shackle and nothing happened. Neither exploded or melted. It also didn¡¯t dispel anything. Until I coaxed it, at least. Then I felt power unraveling, but the dagger still didn¡¯t explode. Maybe the protective measures weren¡¯t yet built in? Lucky. It was drained, but it managed to get one shackle. I¡¯d have one extra at this rate.


    ¡°That one¡¯s deactivated, at least for a minute or two,¡± I said. I had no idea if it would automatically refill from ambient mana, but it wouldn¡¯t be permanently disenchanted no matter what. I quickly did the same with the others, handing the daggers to Izzy. ¡°For later. I think the shackles are as safe as they can be.¡±


    Ice Guy quickly got to work, forming a coating of ice around Ceira¡¯s wrists. Swiss Arms then simply squeezed them, shattering the rigid structure of the manacles. One by one, until Ceira was standing free.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m free. Thank you. I can¡¯t believe you came. And so quickly¡­ I think?¡±


    ¡°It was rather quick, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    I recognized that voice. ¡°Dammit.¡±


    I turned to see Doctor Doomsday, fully decked out with goggles, what I could only presume to be a death ray in one hand and some sort of cannon in the other. His power signature didn¡¯t stand out from anything else in the room except for being more. Why would it? Everything here ran off of his tech, except perhaps the few bits of magic like the shackles and daggers which still felt like they had a little super tech.


    ¡°I must say,¡± the man said, stepping forward slightly. He wore a silvery lab coat that reflected things around him. Behind him I saw some of the expected minions. Mostly human, but I saw at least one orc. Were there dark elves, hiding in the shadows? ¡°I had expected this to take longer. I was actually out making some preparations. But then you tripped the alarms. Honestly, did you not expect me to have ambient light sensors? Let alone the temperature fluctuation sensors to determine warm bodies entering my lab. And of course, the laser grid has nanosecond scale disruption detection, so deflecting it a whole couple of meters makes a very obvious break.¡±


    What the hell was I supposed to do here? Respond? Could we distract him? I avoided letting my eyes focus on Midnight. He could already sense what was inside me. Instead I gathered mana to cast Haste on us¡­ and hoped he would get the idea. He did immediately step over towards Ice Guy, so I presumed he did.


    ¡°Fascinating,¡± I said. ¡°Though I imagine cameras would have done just as well.¡± One cast. I did my best to keep my speech regular. Seconds were ticking away, stretched several times from my perspective.


    ¡°Cameras? Primitive technology. Easily exploited and unreliable. I can¡¯t imagine that anyone of note would be detected by them.¡± One of the goons whispered in his ear. ¡°Oh, how disappointing. I thought there was something special about you, Mage. But perhaps your orcish heritage holds you back.¡±


    Two casts. Three casts. Midnight only had to reach Swiss Arms now. ¡°What can I say? I didn¡¯t get to choose how I was born.¡± I was going to rip out his heart and eat it. No, that was silly. Disintegrate it. I gathered mana.


    ¡°You know that I know you¡¯re activating magic?¡± Doctor Doomsday said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t care.¡± The instant Midnight touched Swiss Arms, I used an uncomfortable amount of my remaining mana to cast Chain Lightning. It went directly for¡­ the first human mook. Apparently, they weren¡¯t worth enough to provide an AEGIS for. None of them were, as was instantly made clear as they were flattened, the last jump of the spell striking Doctor Doomsday in the back. He had his own AEGIS, of course. He was the inventor, and I had no doubt it was several times stronger.


    According to my calculations, I had just enough mana for one more Chain Lightning. But I couldn¡¯t imagine it doing much good. I pulled out my sadly mundane gun and took a shot at Doctor Doomsday. It obviously was stopped in its tracks by his AEGIS, but a direct hit had to take some energy. It was also something to do as I dashed to the side, splitting to the left with Ice Guy and Ceira. Midnight, and Izzy went to the right. And Swiss Arms¡­ went directly forward.


    A sickening green death ray shot from Doctor Doomsday¡¯s hand, and hit her directly¡­ in her left palm. I certainly wasn¡¯t going to attempt to block a death ray with my hands, but a Power Brigade exec? Maybe that was more reasonable. I can¡¯t imagine it would work forever, or against everything, but I was glad she didn¡¯t immediately perish. She¡¯d be a terrible distraction if she died.

 Chapter 160

    ¡°The rest of you flee! I¡¯ll hold him off!¡± Swiss Arms called out as she blocked another beam from Doctor Doomsday, slamming her fist into his AEGIS and causing the spherical barrier to shudder.


    Well if she was going to make a noble sacrifice out of it, I was going to feel bad. But I also wasn¡¯t going to stick around longer than I had to fighting Doctor Doomsday himself.


    A wall of ice blocked the orcs on the left side, stopping them from directly swarming us as we ran along. Ceira was¡­ a little bit slow. Okay, very slow for someone Hasted. It came to mind that videographer wasn¡¯t the most physically active profession, even if she went outside now.


    Ice Guy recognized that, and instead of sprinting for the door instead stopped past where his wall reached, stepping towards the first orc to come along. And stepping closer. And closer. Hello, AEGIS? Are you going to do something?


    The answer was that it was not going to do something. Ice Guy was practically hugging the orc, then he hooked his leg behind the big guy and shoved him back into the others.


    Ceira was not fast¡­ but she wasn¡¯t so out of shape that going more than triple her normal speed she wasn¡¯t able to outrun someone. She made it to the door only slightly behind Izzy, who had taken the long way around. Midnight wasn¡¯t high on anyone¡¯s targeting priorities, so he caught up a moment later.


    ¡°Where do we go?¡± Ceira said, jerking her head left and right. Fortunately, everyone was Hasted so we could talk basically normally.


    ¡°Back along the path we entered,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°There could be goons anywhere, so we have to deal with what is familiar. Perhaps we could even get to the incoming reinforcements.¡±


    Ceira nodded, then took one last glance back into the room. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we¡­ help her?¡± Swiss Arms  had just grabbed an incoming axe, then wrested it out of an orc¡¯s hand to smash against Doctor Doomsday¡¯s barrier. Her movements were taking full advantage of Haste, for as long as it lasted.


    ¡°Most of us would just get in the way,¡± Ice Guy indicated. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go.¡± He briefly looked right down the hallway- the direction we had not continued down. With a wave of his hand, slippery ice coated the floor. Then we were off in the other direction.


    We couldn¡¯t afford to stand around for a single second, because not only were enemies doubtless responding- a couple handfuls of goons wasn¡¯t anywhere near what I would expect in a base of this size- Haste would also end soon enough. If we ran into trouble after that, everything would be more difficult.


    On our way back past the locked cages, I wished I could open them up and let the animals out. Not because I particularly cared for what happened to them, but because giant creatures causing havoc might help our situation. But I had neither the points to purchase a spell that could do that, nor the spare mana to cast it. I barely had ten or twelve points of mana.


    Then we basically ran into a squad of bots. Ice Guy reacted fastest- at least in a way that could reach the enemies- lobbing a ball of ice that expanded into a shell that mostly blocked them off. And us, of course. As we¡¯d been basically going down a hallway with no real splits, that didn¡¯t leave us with much options. The sound of gunfire and flashes of beams indicated the shell wouldn¡¯t block anything for long.


    ¡°Dammit,¡± Ice Guy shook his head. ¡°Do we go back?¡±


    ¡°In here,¡± I said, slapping my hand on the button that opened a nearby door.


    ¡°What¡¯s in-¡± Ice Guy stopped. ¡°No way.¡±


    I was already halfway to the portal when I looked back. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Do you just go through any random portal in front of you?¡±


    ¡°Who do you think I am?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Only when I¡¯m not fighting stuff coming out of them.¡±


    I stepped through, going from metallic floor to springy undergrowth and dense jungle complete with hanging vines and large trees. Not great sequoia large, but¡­ nothing was small, either. The rest had already half followed me, and when an explosion appeared in the hall behind them they rushed through after me, with varying levels of uncertainty.


    ¡°Time to close this,¡± I said, stepping to the side of the huge portal. I didn¡¯t want to get shot, but I wasn¡¯t certain about fleeing along the line of sight of a bunch of robots with guns. Unfortunately, this portal wasn¡¯t as cooperative as the other ones. After a full application of 10 points of mana, it went from a twenty foot semicircle to fifteen. ¡°Ugh, I can¡¯t do this.¡±


    ¡°We need to get moving! Follow me!¡± Izzy said, running off behind the portal- and as it was one-sided, that was the best place to avoid the bullets and explosions that were currently pumping their way out of the portal. It was a good thing the forest was very wet, so that fire shouldn¡¯t spread far.


    Just as we began running, Haste was wearing off. I¡¯d juiced the one for myself and Midnight a bit more, so we probably had fifteen real world seconds after the others. But we couldn¡¯t just leave anyone behind. Without mana, I considered how my pistol would function against full metal constructs. Better to just keep pace with Izzy.


    ¡°Ugh, move!¡± Ceira waved her arm angrily. Not at any of us, but the plants. ¡°Come on, do something! Why do I even have powers if they don¡¯t work? At least grab the things blowing you up!¡± she yelled towards the forest.


    That was not supposed to work. But she had mana- and this seemed like a place that might be more inclined to move on its own. Either way, I saw some of the trees and vines bend towards the portal and the things coming out of it.


    We didn¡¯t run. We couldn¡¯t, really, with the dense jungle. Or rather, most of us couldn¡¯t. Izzy could, but she didn¡¯t leave us behind. Instead, she used her blades to hack a way through for us larger folk. Midnight was keeping his position on the ground because being on my shoulder would just result in branches slapping him in the face.


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    A few minutes had passed without the sound of gunfire or explosions. ¡°... you think we lost them?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°Only for the moment,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Our trail will be fairly obvious, and they have to have some way to move around here to have brought back those big animals. Though the area around the portal didn¡¯t look particularly worn down,¡± she frowned. ¡°Perhaps they baited them through? Or moved the portal?¡± Izzy shook her head. ¡°Whatever. We need to keep moving or they probably will catch up.¡±


    Ice Guy sighed, ¡°I was supposed to be going out to dinner tonight.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said.


    He shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s part of the job. And I can¡¯t really say I didn¡¯t want to go to another world. I just would have liked it to be¡­ planned.¡±


    ¡°You seem very calm,¡± I said.


    ¡°You seem very calm,¡± he retorted.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been through portals before,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°And I know you¡¯ve got the Gate spell. So though I imagine it will be an unfortunate amount of time we are away, our mysterious disappearance insurance will keep our apartments paid for and things like that.¡±


    ¡°Uh, I- I don¡¯t have anything like that,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Is that a problem? Wait, what about-¡± she looked at me. ¡°My, uh, pets?¡±


    ¡°Cel and Bun were picked up by Shockwave, actually, so they¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°And my houseplants?¡±


    ¡°Your jungle?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Dunno.¡±


    ¡°... We could have picked worse places to end up,¡± she said. ¡°I feel great. There¡¯s so much natural- hey, are you alright?¡±


    ¡°Hm? Me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re looking¡­ pale?


    ¡°Oh, hold on.¡± I turned to the nearest bush and vomited a mouthful of blood. ¡°Hmm. Turns out that 20 mana worth of crystals within an hour or so is too much. But¡­ I¡¯m not going to pass out. So that¡¯s a plus.¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°Nice mana density around here though. I should recover to a reasonable amount soon enough.¡±


    ¡°I hope so,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Because we¡¯re in danger here.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard any signs of being followed,¡± Ice Guy commented.


    ¡°Not that,¡± Izzy said. ¡°It¡¯s the locals I¡¯m more worried about.¡± She pointed to a tree with alarmingly large gouges in it. ¡°We¡¯re going through the territory of too many different things. I can¡¯t keep avoiding everything forever. That¡¯s not to mention the other problems with surviving out here. Food and water¡­ should be available, if we can find anything safe. Shelter will be a big problem. No telling if this jungle gets cold at night, but that would kill us faster.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a problem,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°We can make a fire, right?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Especially with magic involved,¡± Izzy looked at me.


    ¡°I do have Firebolt. So if you find some dryish stuff I can absolutely light it.¡±


    ¡°I can make us an igloo then.¡±


    ¡°What kind of glue?¡± Midnight asked.


    The rest of us- except Ceira- had similar questions.


    ¡°It¡¯s like an ice house.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that cold?¡±


    ¡°Not if you do it right. You can have a fire inside, and if it¡¯s sealed it will keep heat from leaking out. I¡¯m not going to guarantee any authenticity¡­ but it will also be far easier on manual labor.¡±


    ¡°Hurrah for super powers,¡± Ceira said.


    I idly checked my experience. It increased, certainly, but I was nowhere near a level. Then again, I didn¡¯t really engage with Doctor Doomsday or any of the rest. I threw out one Chain Lightning and some buffs. For that followed by running away, the experience was in fact quite good.


    ¡°Oh hey. Ceira. Can you bring up your status window?¡±


    ¡°My what now?¡±


    ¡°We went through a portal,¡± I reminded her. ¡°It could let us know if this is the same world Izzy and I are from, or another one. You might have a full power now.¡±


    ¡°Huh. I didn¡¯t even- how do I- Oh. Oh!¡± she jumped up and down. ¡°There it is. I¡¯m level 8. Is that good?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Izzy said before I could respond. ¡°If you¡¯d had your power your whole life you should be 20-something, but clearly you¡¯ve put in real effort.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. I learned magic, obviously I was going to make it as good as possible!¡±


    ¡°... So I¡¯m the only one here with a normal power,¡± Ice Guy said.


    ¡°No,¡± I countered. ¡°You¡¯re the only one here with a weird power. This is the normal thing.¡±


    Unfortunately, despite both Midnight and Ceira having powers tied to this system, we lost that vote 3-2 instead of winning 4-1. But I stuck to my declaration that it was normal.


    ¡°So, uh, have you guys recovered a good amount of mana?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling much better at the moment, yes,¡± I nodded. I mean, all of my blood vessels hurt like I was being stabbed with needles. But that would solve itself over the next week or so. ¡°I have about a third of my mana.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯m full?¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°Good. Because I¡¯ve been trying to lead us around things that want to eat us.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Yeah. I did my best but, I think, uh. I might have missed some signs or something.¡± She pointed, revealing a weird black spot in front of us. Had we stumbled into some sort of magical void? I should have noticed that. But upon taking a better look, I could make out some shape to it. It sort of folded over and through the surrounding bits and pieces of the jungle, ultimately revealing yellow eyes. And presumably the rest of it was the other bits and pieces of a giant black panther.


    I tried to think of the correct response to the thing. Ice Guy was halfway to trying to freeze it when Ceira began making weird strangled noises. I thought she was choking on something at first, but then I heard it transform into a sort of growl. Well, if she was provoking the thing at least we could more easily predict its movements?


    ¡°So, uh.¡± Ceira said. ¡°The good news is I can talk to her. The bad news is that she says she¡¯s going to eat us.¡±


    Having druids around was pretty handy. Now I wouldn¡¯t feel bad about setting it on fire.

 Chapter 161

    One might expect that a ten foot long black panther delaying more than a moment in attacking could be reasoned with. At least, since we were able to speak to it.


    ¡°So,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°The giant panther is going to eat us if we don¡¯t leave her territory¡­?¡±


    A couple exchanged growls which involved Ceira taking a step back and shaking her head told us the answer. ¡°She, uh, doesn¡¯t seem to understand conditionals. I can talk with her and she¡¯s still just a big cat.¡± Ceira swallowed, ¡°I know I probably shouldn¡¯t show fear but I really can¡¯t¡­ not.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really want to kill a wild animal¡­¡± Ice Guy began.


    ¡°Why not?¡± Izzy interrupted. ¡°She¡¯s a manhunter, we have to deal with-¡±


    Ceira was still trying to talk, but apparently the giant cat was done. It was fortunate we¡¯d spotted it before the assault, because it sprang forward the intervening handful of meters without any apparent effort. Its first choice of prey seemed to be Izzy, the smallest of us discounting Midnight. Perhaps that was the rationale, or perhaps it was random choice.


    With a blur or motion, Izzy tumbled to the side. We were lucky she was the fastest of us because each of the panther¡¯s limbs were basically Izzy sized, and it could probably bite her in half if it got a chance. In an instant she had blades out, the rest of us making our moves at the same time.


    My mind had been on Firebolt, and since it was my cheapest offensive spell I was able to cast it the most quickly. Technically, Shocking Grasp would be cheaper and faster by a tiny margin- but I didn¡¯t want to try to touch that thing. Just because the black panther could only bite off half of my torso at once instead of all of it didn¡¯t mean I would feel more secure up close.


    The bolt of fire sufficient to cause serious damage to a human struck the creature right in the side. The fur instantly caught alight, reinforcing the impression that this was just an overly large animal and not a magical creature. The flames burned bright and strong for a few moments, but ultimately fizzled out leaving a scorched area.


    I could do that seven more times. Or cast Stoneskin and do it three more. But as great as Stoneskin¡¯s value was, it wouldn¡¯t prevent my neck from snapping. Another factor I hadn¡¯t considered before was my limited supply. I tended to carry around a couple handfuls of the baggies with me, keeping a usable amount. I had ten on me, and no more. My mental process was solved by Midnight casting Haste on the two of us. Yes, entirely avoiding attacks was better here.


    Ice Guy first armored himself- forming a rigid series of barriers that still moved with his intentions. I imagined he didn¡¯t do that while we were discussing so as to not alarm the panther. As the panther turned to sweep towards Izzy with its giant paws, he chucked a sphere of ice at its hindquarters, freezing its upper thighs and tail into position. It still seemed able to move, but its situation would only worsen as he continued his assaults..


    Izzy darted back, wisely choosing to not engage in melee despite that being what she had weapons for. Yet she didn¡¯t get particularly far either, staying just out of the panther¡¯s reach while somehow navigating the dense brush around her instead of getting caught on it.


    As she did so, I felt mana flow through Ceira. The undergrowth and tree roots began to move about, wrapping around the legs of the panther¡­ and I felt my own legs caught. ¡°Wait no! Not them! Grab the panther!¡± she yelled at her own magical ability. That did nothing, of course.


    Well, at least everyone was equally restrained. Then the panther tore apart the roots and brush grabbing onto it with a great roar.


    As the creature shifted focus towards our larger group, I knew I had to do more at once. I couldn¡¯t even cast a single Chain Lightning, and it wasn¡¯t as good against a single target anyway. Sonic Lance was the thing for this, and I gathered my mana from my churning insides. It was only a few times the cost of Firebolt for significantly more damage at their current upgrades, but the effect was markedly more impactful. The great cat staggered back, giving us a moment to try to free ourselves.


    But Ceira took care of that. It was her own fault to begin with, but while I might blame her for using poorly understood magic in the middle of combat, I wouldn¡¯t blame her for trying. The entangling plants pulled away, but it seemed to take great effort for her.


    Ice Guy continued his assault with a whip of ice, coiling around the large cat¡¯s front limbs and then detaching from him, forming a sort of shackles. They cracked apart under the beast¡¯s mighty strength, but still hindered its movements for another moment as it snapped at me. Even with Haste, I very much appreciated the hindrance as its jaws got much too close.


    Midnight had just about as much mana as I did right now, since we hadn¡¯t recovered to full, and he performed his own Sonic Lance from a low angle, striking the creature in its chest and briefly lifting it off the ground.


    From behind, Izzy was cutting at one of its rear legs with her twin blades, darting in and out. When the cat crashed back to the ground, she rolled out of the way- and that leg collapsed, leaving it crouched at an awkward angle.


    A shard of ice stabbed into its throat and more into its upper chest. Even then, the panther didn¡¯t fall right away and pulled itself forward to swipe at us. It took most of the rest of my mana on another Sonic Lance before Ice Guy finally finished it off by a spike through its eye into its brain.


    Everyone was breathing heavily after the battle, but our constant bombardment had kept it in check enough that nobody had injuries. A proper hit by the creature might have been enough to seriously wound any of us.


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    At least, I thought we were all fine based on my initial look. Izzy poked her head out from behind the creature before trotting over to us. Ice Guy was still coated in his armor. Midnight had stayed safe, and I didn¡¯t feel any external pain.


    I did hear sobbing though, and looked at Ceira. ¡°Are you alright? Where are you hurt?¡±


    ¡°I- I-¡± She collapsed onto her knees among the dense underbrush. ¡°I¡¯ve never¡­ killed an animal before.¡± She swallowed, ¡°She was so¡­ so angry¡­¡±


    Oh right. She still had magical animal speech active. Personally, I had never felt bad about people shouting profanities at me as they tried to murder me, but then again I also hadn¡¯t killed¡­ many people. I couldn¡¯t guarantee it was nobody, especially in some of the incidents with Doctor Doomsday¡¯s minions. Had I killed someone? A human, an orc? Certainly, Chain Lightning might do that, even with an AEGIS. I also just shot some of the humans with their disintegration rays.


    And none of this was helping. I looked over at Ice Guy in desperation. He was certainly better at people than I was. But he just shook his head and gestured. Izzy was hugging Ceira, and Midnight was rubbing his head on her leg.


    Ultimately that seemed to fix things- or at least make her stop crying. Then Izzy began to speak awkwardly.


    ¡°So. Uh, how should I say this?¡± she looked between all of us. ¡°We need shelter. And uh, food. And maybe blankets? Depending on if it gets cold at night. Igloos sound good, I guess, but we might be able to find something else for tonight. We still need water though.¡±


    I looked at Ice Guy. ¡°Hey. Is that water ice, or power ice?¡± The important distinction was that power ice didn¡¯t really exist. A lot of powers got around thermodynamic laws and the creation of matter by being only temporary. Otherwise, they would require massive draws on their users despite supernatural forces. Given how much Ice Guy was able to sling around¡­ ¡°It¡¯s power ice, right?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately,¡± he nodded.


    ¡°Can you¡­ induce condensation? Like, make a metal thing cold?¡±


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been necessary for me to try,¡± he admitted. ¡°But whenever we find our camp location, I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    ¡°... I have tuna,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Good job buddy,¡± I said honestly. ¡°Though we should mostly preserve that for dire emergencies.¡±


    I saw Izzy whispering to Ceira, but with things suddenly quiet I overheard some of it. ¡°... need to go?¡±


    ¡°N-no. I should¡­ I should help.¡±


    With that, Ceira stood up, dwarfing Izzy. She wasn¡¯t that tall- taller than Sophia, but probably eight inches shorter than myself. Or nine? Was I still growing? Hadn¡¯t checked in a bit.


    Anyway, she semi-confidently walked over towards Ice Guy and I. ¡°So¡­ uh, we need to¡­ b-butcher the body. I don¡¯t know if we can fully c-cure the hides here, but we can maybe get something?¡± she looked down at Izzy.


    ¡°And fill up on meat,¡± Izzy said. ¡°How much room do you have in storage?¡± she looked at me.


    ¡°Maybe half of it? Fifteen pounds or so.¡±


    ¡°Damn. That¡¯s not much,¡± Izzy admitted. ¡°But if smoke and dry it, we¡¯ll do a bit better there. Did I hear something about condensing water?¡±


    ¡°Possibly,¡± Ice Guy said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll try that, and if it doesn¡¯t work I¡¯m sure I can find water. This panther had to drink something. For now, I need your muscles Turlough. Just cut where I tell you.¡± She handed over her blade, which was basically a long knife in my hand. The handle was a little awkwardly small, but fortunately it was sharp so my imperfect grip was made up for.  By the end of things, I was covered in blood and things that were much worse. ¡°So¡­¡± Izzy said. ¡°We¡¯re going to need to find water for sure now. We can¡¯t go around with you like that. Our noses aside, we don¡¯t want to attract more trouble.¡±


    ¡°... Wouldn¡¯t it keep away some creatures?¡± Ceira asked. ¡°I¡¯m not saying he should stay like that but-¡±


    ¡°Anything it would drive away we can defeat ourselves,¡± Izzy said. ¡°And anything it would draw in, we really don¡¯t want to notice us.¡±


    Ceira still looked pretty pale as we made a sort of dragging sled out of some branches and half cleaned fur, but she stayed determined to assist even if she definitely ran off behind a tree to throw up a few times. The reason? ¡°We killed it so¡­ we need to m-make sure it doesn¡¯t go to waste. That would be d-doubly terrible.¡±


    Well, that was fair. I wasn¡¯t in the business of killing things for fun either. I did it for experience. What happened to the bodies of the portal creatures that was the business of the cities clean up crews. Were they just throwing things into a dump somewhere, or did they use the wyvern parts? I felt like I heard something about collectors or something to recoup city losses.


    The location we were set up to stay the night was the panther¡¯s own den. Somehow, when we got there and looked around Ceira breathed a huge sigh of relief.


    ¡°Did you think there would be another one?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I thought¡­ there would be a pair of cubs. I was going to name one of them Jet and one of them Ebony, and then I was going to have to raise them. The whole time, I would be stricken with guilt about killing their mother, conflicted about whether or not to tell them. And I could because I can talk to animals¡­¡± she shook her head sadly.


    ¡°But they don¡¯t exist,¡± I said. ¡°So that¡¯s¡­ good?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Ceira nodded. ¡°I will miss Jet the most though.¡±


    ¡°Jet is my mother¡¯s name,¡± Midnight interjected. ¡°Also, Ebony is my brother.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°I thought you said your family weren¡¯t all named after the color black?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± he turned away. ¡°N-no, I don¡¯t think I said anything like that.¡±


    ¡°You said it would be weird and confusing.¡±


    ¡°It is!¡± he exclaimed. ¡°I mean, uh¡­ I was definitely named this because I was born at Midnight, alright?¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯m going to ask your mom,¡± I said. I had been the first to use Sending to contact her, when Midnight didn¡¯t have the mana. It should¡­ probably still work from here. But first I had to use mana for other things. Like blood and viscera all over myself and the fur. Fortunately, Clean seemed to understand quite well what I wanted to get rid of. And using mana in small amounts didn¡¯t hurt much at all.

 Chapter 162

    Despite my great fatigue, sleep only came over me sparingly. Perhaps I had gotten too used to the comfortable mattresses of my new world instead of the cheap mattresses I had as an apprentice. Of course, the ground was never really a good place to sleep to begin with. At least it was a reasonable temperature inside the den, and the fire we set kept the larger area warmer. We didn¡¯t get to test out an igloo, but that was probably for the best.


    Though my back and general body ached, it was nowhere near as much as the sharp pains inside. Absorbing 20 mana worth of crystals seemed to be too much, though I couldn¡¯t really say it wasn¡¯t justified at the time. I¡¯d been worse, as well. But unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t just choose to not use mana for a while. We were still in some weird forest. It might seem unfair to call something from my original world that, but that was just how it was.


    I had to admit that my knowledge of the world¡¯s forests was limited, but even so this had to be a more obscure one- which would be odd considering its potency- or something extraplanar that my studies had not covered. The latter was reasonable enough, given that I hadn¡¯t expected to go planes hopping any time soon. Though if I¡¯d known there were things to fight, I might have considered it.


    Scents filled my nose. That of roasting meat, but quite unfamiliar. This would be the large panther we killed, whose den we had slept in. Or at least the portions we had managed to carry with us. Between all five of us, we really couldn¡¯t carry close to that much. That was counting Midnight, whose total carrying capacity was inside Storage. He didn¡¯t really have any way to carry more than that, and it was all full up with cans of tuna. Useful, actually, though it was uncertain if it was a higher caloric density than the meat we were drying.


    ¡°Have some. It¡¯s¡­ better than snake,¡± Izzy held out a strip of meat to me.


    Snake must have not been very good, or at least whichever sort she was referring to. It was tough, though that wasn¡¯t terribly hard to deal with. But it was sure¡­ gamey? That was the sort of fancy words people used to describe weird meat. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    More important than the meat was the fur, which had been separated into various shapes and sizes depending partly on how it was damaged. Much of it was waiting to be Cleaned still, and I began with some of the smaller pieces that would be making temporary waterskins. We didn¡¯t really have the necessary components to put those together, specifically needle and thread, nor did we have anything like proper stoppers. So we improvised. Which is to say, I did my best to prepare the inside with magic, and Izzy and Ceira came up with some sort of fibrous plant that vaguely pulled apart into thick ribbons. Ice Guy contributed sharpness with various bits and pieces of ice, and we only ruined three or four sections of fur before we finally got our first functioning waterskin-like vessel. The top was frozen over so it would not spill out, a minor effort on Ice Guy¡¯s part but one that would have to be maintained during the day.


    Beyond that, we kept a handful of large sections of fur, rolling them up to later use as bedrolls or blankets or cloaks or whatever. Even after casting Clean they didn¡¯t smell good, and without special treatment I was pretty sure they wouldn¡¯t last terribly long. But we did what we could.


    ¡°Ugh, I still can¡¯t figure out how to make water,¡± Ceira said. ¡°It should be easy, right?¡±


    ¡°Presumably,¡± I said. ¡°But you do not yet have a breadth of magical knowledge to draw from. Or maybe it¡¯s level that¡¯s making things difficult. Either way, I can¡¯t give you an example, since it¡¯s a different sort of magic than I have. Only a small number of spells will overlap between us.¡±


    ¡°I give up,¡± Ceira said. ¡°We just have to fill stuff up at the place Izzy found.¡±


    ¡°I think you might be able to purify it, as well. Just an option to try out,¡± I commented.


    ¡°Yeah, maybe.¡± She looked over at me. ¡°I have plenty of mana here, so I might as well try fixing your staff again. I barely got started on that when¡­ well, you know.¡± She grimaced. ¡°Thanks for coming to save me. I just wish I had my stuff.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything about,¡± I admitted. ¡°Just my staff lying nearby and a bunch of gadgets I didn¡¯t understand. Probably should have snatched some.¡±


    Midnight joined the conversation with that topic. ¡°What do you think happened to that lady? Swiss Arms?¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°She seemed to know what she was doing. I¡¯m not sure if her grudge against Doctor Doomsday would help or hurt her, but¡­ other people from the Brigade should have been preparing an assault. Maybe others. It¡¯s possible he got taken out. We might be able to just go back through the portal nice and safe.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t count on that,¡± Izzy said, appearing nearby and handing me one of the waterskins filling her arms. ¡°I spotted some of those bots about. We should probably get moving.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ how many?¡±


    ¡°Does it matter? I saw some of their weapons leaving fist sized holes in the metal flooring.¡±


    ¡°... Your fist or my fist?¡± No response. ¡°Yeah alright I can see how we wouldn¡¯t want to tussle with them. But they should probably run out of power eventually.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Captain Senan shrugged. ¡°Knowing him, he could have created perpetual motion engines. Or something close. Though he definitely saps large amounts of power from the city too.¡± He wasn¡¯t acting as a captain here, so was he just¡­ Senan? That was his first name, right? People with two confused me. Seemed unnecessary.


    We were up and moving again, and as I followed along behind Izzy every couple of minutes I would use Clean on more of the pelt. Ambient mana here was several times the norm, so I was just matching my regeneration rate.


    With the majority of us not being proficient in stealth, we had to assume we would be noticed Izzy and Midnight were the exceptions, but we couldn¡¯t just march all day without conversation. Especially Midnight, the social little guy.


    ¡°How did the robots not catch us sooner?¡± Midnight asked.


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    ¡°They¡¯re not good at routing through forests, I assume,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°The fact that they can navigate this terrain at all¡­¡± Ceira shook her head, ¡°It¡¯s pretty crazy.¡±


    ¡°So we can pull ahead of them during the day,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But we probably still have to watch out for them at night.¡±


    ¡°Them and everything that lives here,¡± Izzy said. ¡°But yes, especially since we only had a few hours to pull away yesterday I¡¯m confident we can leave their reach if we keep going. And eventually we can find¡­ civilization? Another portal?¡± Izzy shook her head. ¡°Probably shouldn¡¯t circle back.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Senan nodded. ¡°I imagine these robots can relay their location to Doctor Doomsday, so any chance of us sneaking into his base and out would be minimal. Though if we didn¡¯t have other options, I would say we had to try.¡±


    ¡°What other options are there?¡± Ceira asked. ¡°Just¡­ living here? Surviving? I- I do like nature, but not this much of it.¡±


    ¡°We kill stuff,¡± I said. ¡°Until I level up a couple times.¡±


    ¡°How long will that take?¡±


    Years should be the norm. Months would be more reasonable. I had been slowing down somewhat lately, but it wasn¡¯t as if I was leveling slowly. A world with constant combat available was the situation where Curse of the Barbarian allowed me to overcome my previous issues. ¡°Depends on what we fight, really,¡± I admitted. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t bet on anything faster than a few weeks though.¡±


    She swallowed. ¡°My family is going to be so worried.¡±


    ¡°The Power Brigade should keep them up to date,¡± Senan said. ¡°Though we can¡¯t keep in contact with them, they should know we didn¡¯t die.¡±


    ¡°Actually,¡± I said. ¡°We probably can.¡±


    Before I could explain, Izzy stopped. ¡°Hey, Ceira. You do plant stuff right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a Druid, yes,¡± she said. ¡°But I can really only use Sprout.¡±


    ¡°So like, if you wanted to kill a plant¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d use a weed killer or something.¡±


    ¡°Can you do that¡­ ahead of us?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not magic. It¡¯s just like¡­ chemicals we have. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Can you learn a spell like that?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Ceira frowned. ¡°Turlough, what¡¯s the point where you pass out?¡±


    ¡°Level plus 5 over 2 in mana cost which is the same as spell level.¡±


    ¡°So like¡­ 6.5?¡± Ceira shook her head. ¡°Nothing that¡¯s standing out to me. I could try to talk to a plant. Oh, or shrink them?¡±


    ¡°Alright, good to know,¡± Izzy said, slowly stepping backwards. ¡°Let¡¯s just¡­ not go that way.¡±


    ¡°I can kill plants,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Can you kill that?¡± she pointed. All I saw were a bunch of trees and bushes and undergrowth.


    ¡°What specifically?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Literally all of those vines all at once?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ probably not,¡± I admitted, following her as she continued to move away. ¡°It¡¯s it poisonous?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s mobile,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°Oh. That kind of plant,¡± I nodded. ¡°Best to avoid it.¡±


    ¡°I could also kill a plant,¡± Senan reminded us. ¡°Or at least greatly hinder it. But avoiding conflicts can be useful. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll run into enough trouble anyway.¡±


    I kind of wanted to fight it, but I also didn¡¯t want to have to cast Chain Lightning or something big that would hurt my insides. More than that, I didn¡¯t want Ceira to be at risk. Nor Izzy, but she was strong enough to handle herself. Either way, I kept quiet and just followed along as we trekked around, making use of whatever criteria Izzy had for our route.


    Ceira was obviously not doing well in the current circumstances, and Midnight was worried. Ice Guy seemed to be fine, but he was a professional mercenary. Izzy seemed to be focused on utility, I couldn¡¯t tell how she was feeling. As for myself¡­ I felt fine. Perhaps I was supposed to be feeling fear or worry because we were in the middle of an extraplanar forest with things that were both actively and passively hunting us, but I didn¡¯t. I felt fine. Slightly happy, even. A friend had been saved, and the current opportunity to get experience was good as well. Of course, we still had to get to actual safety, but I was confident with the group we had.


    We continued moving, to keep ahead of robotic dangers as well as looking for some sort of civilization so we didn¡¯t have to bet on me gaining levels. That was quite reasonable, because we couldn¡¯t really be certain that I wouldn¡¯t die. But at least everyone had Force Armor to help them out, so we would be ready when something came.


    The only thing I heard was the sound of air catching and a roar. Then a spray of green covered the area in front of us, leaving behind only devastation. The one tree in the area snapped apart as a huge amount of its trunk was melted away, crashing to the side in a oblong mess of scoured underbrush, green goop fizzling away the last bit of it, leaving bare dirt and stone where there had once been thick leaves and dead branches. Izzy herself was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°Freaking dragons!¡± she shouted from behind a tree that I couldn¡¯t believe she¡¯d gotten to. But upon thinking about it, I had felt a burst of mana from her- and from the source of that attack as the figure swooped through the trees above us.


    We were lucky she had been out in front far enough that nothing but tiny flecks of acid reached the rest of us, but now we had to deal with a dragon. My head snapped around, and I was amazed at how it maneuvered between the trees without crashing into anything. Impressive. Dangerous.


    ¡°Midnight! Acid resistance for those two!¡± I gestured to Izzy and Senan. I cast Energy Ward on both of us together, then Ceira. ¡°Careful, it¡¯s probably not enough to protect against a direct dragon breath¡­ but it should at least get you out with your bones intact. Also, spread out so it can¡¯t hit us all.¡±


    The dragon was too far for Ice Guy to reliably hit with all the cover, so he simply armored himself and prepared for the incoming attack. Ceira watched the path of the dragon and I felt her preparing a spell. She didn¡¯t have that many, so it wasn¡¯t a surprise it was her newly learned Entangle. Trees reached out for the dragon- catching it, but only for a moment. Though they should have reasonably stopped its momentum with their branches and the hanging vines, the dragon flew through the area without even tearing its way out.


    ¡°Oh right. Magic resistance.¡± That would make things harder, especially if it applied to powers. But resistance wasn¡¯t immunity. ¡°We¡¯ll have to work harder, then.¡± It was hard to tell how big the dragon was since it kept weaving behind trees, but it was big enough to be worth a lot of experience. And I highly doubted it was interested in letting us leave. I didn¡¯t speak much Draconic- maybe more than I spoke orcish because mages were quite interested in dragons- but I thought I recognized the word ¡®prey¡¯. Not that its opening move indicated an interest in diplomacy.

 Chapter 163

    As the dragon flew past us, Senan immediately began his experimentation of whether powers were affected by magic resistance. Which is to say, he attempted to freeze the dragon, to variable effect. Somehow it maintained breakneck speed while flying between trees, despite the presumption that they should limit its mobility. Then again, why would such a creature choose to live in a forest if it couldn¡¯t manage the terrain?


    Ultimately, about half of his attacks missed, condensed motes of ice impacting branches or flying off into the distance. Another large portion hit the creature directly in the chest, which while a reasonable target was also not terribly effective. Layers of ice atop scales simply peeled off, indicating to me that some amount of magic resistance applied. The bits that struck the creature¡¯s wings seemed more effective, though we were unable to capitalize on the opportunity. The dragon was already far past us when the ice spread over its wings and it still managed to avoid crashing into the trees.


    Though with its wings restricted, we were able to see how it dealt with the forest. Seeing it nearly clipping trees, its body rolled and more importantly its claws scraped along the powerful trunks, allowing it to maneuver even with a massive wingspan. The ice on its wings shattered before it got far and it was able to fold its wings, but if Senan could get a little more it might actually cause a helpful disaster.


    ¡°Should have brought a bow,¡± Izzy commented as she saw it fly past. ¡°Or a gun. Hey Turlough-¡±


    ¡°Do you have a license? Or training?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen them used.¡±


    ¡°Then no,¡± I said. ¡°You cannot have my gun.¡±


    ¡°Tch. Guess I¡¯ll have to do this the hard way.¡± Even as she said that, she was scampering up a tree, weapons stowed at her sides.


    ¡°What kind of ranged stuff am I supposed to have?¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°Dunno,¡± I admitted. ¡°I think the tree magic worked, though. If you could time it with Ice Guy, we can bring the dragon to the ground. Hopefully hard.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t as concerned about range as I was about hitting it. It moved fast, and not fully in straight lines. Firebolt was certainly worth trying- the trees wouldn¡¯t catch, and it was cheap on mana. Green dragons weren¡¯t particularly fire resistant. Sonic Lance would be more effective, if I hit. While the speed of sound was indeed quite fast, it actually took a moment for the spell to function, so it was harder to properly effect a fast moving target. Maybe I could get Shockwave to help me with target practice later¡­ if I could hit them, I could hit anything. Obviously with Energy Ward.


    But I was getting distracted. Chain Lightning would seek out a target, but it was expensive. And given my current mana situation, I was hesitant to use it.  Manawise, I could use it three times. But drawing upon so much all at once was bound to be bad for me while I was still suffering from crystal overuse.


    The time for thinking came to an end when the dragon circled back around. Midnight and I had the same thoughts about Firebolt, it seemed, and we actually managed to hit the creature directly in the chest. We certainly left scorch marks atop its scales, but it didn¡¯t even let out a grunt of pain. Not sufficient. I gathered more mana as it continued to approach, while doing my best to take cover.


    With another great roar, a spray of green covered the area. Midnight got behind a large root, and I was most of the way around a tree- though it spread around that barrier slightly. Ice Guy had formed a sloping ice barrier, which if it were a bit larger we should have all taken cover behind. Perhaps the next time.


    Ceira was¡­ the least experienced in these matters. She certainly tried to reach cover, but she was slow to recognize the attack. I felt the Energy Ward around her dissolve completely, and the Force Armor crack.


    At least she¡¯d been gathering mana, and held onto her spell. As it flew directly over us, trees and vines bent to wrap around it, slowing it briefly. Enough for Senan to launch attacks of his own, specifically spikes of ice piercing through its wings. As it tore out of the entangling vines at a slower pace, he managed to clip it with an orb of ice near the joint connecting its right wing to its body, reducing that flexibility.


    I only had time for one more Firebolt, hoping to at least damage its wings. At the same time, I felt a wave of emotion from Midnight, seeing him begin to climb up the scraggly bark of a large tree. He never looked down. Even I was shaking, and not from fighting a dragon but from the rolling waves of emotion. How brave. Too bad I couldn¡¯t climb quickly.


    ¡°Stay behind this,¡± Ice Guy said as he formed a thicker shield in front of Ceira, adding onto the cover of a nearby tree for near complete protection in every direction. At least, any the dragon could be expected to return from.


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    And return it did. Roaring now in anger rather than confidence, I saw blood running down its wings. Far from lethal, and not enough to prevent it from flying, but real damage nonetheless. I gathered mana for a Sonic Lance. Perhaps it had some sense of magic itself, because it swerved away from my attack. I managed to only clip its chest, cracking some scales with a glancing blow. Midnight, however, had a better angle. He got it right in the chest.


    Prepared to release its breath, that drew its ire to Midnight- and Izzy. I¡¯d lost track of her until the very moment she leapt through the air towards it. Either it had better senses or simply picked a lucky angle. As she flew through the air, she was well within the area.


    Mana gathering for another spell, my chest tightened. I didn¡¯t want to see either friend hurt, but I couldn¡¯t do anything in that moment. But I was not the only one with abilities. The flow of mana around Izzy twisted my vision, and somehow she managed to avoid some of the cone of acid, despite still clearly being in the area. I felt a large part of the Energy Ward fade away, but she still landed on the dragon¡¯s back without injury, swords slashing towards its wing.


    Midnight chose a much less elegant route to avoid the incoming attack. ¡°Catch meeee!¡± he yelled. I was floored by his overwhelming fear and confidence in me twisting together. And though I wasn¡¯t close enough to reach him, wasn¡¯t that what magic was for? I had about a second for it, and fortunately the spell I needed was both familiar and low mana cost. Mage¡¯s Reach formed a hand that flew towards him, and as my hand wrapped around his chest, fingers under his front legs, I was glad that my hands were proportionate to my height. It was still barely enough, but I arrested his fall- though along the way he¡¯d lost all of his energy ward, and I thought I saw a patch of melted fur.


    At least Ice Guy continued to show his experience, being prepared with dozens of small ice shards that he peppered the dragon with- even avoiding Izzy who had suddenly appeared in his attack radius. Most impressively, instead of just making holes in the dragon¡¯s wings, the shards lodged themselves halfway through. Whatever magical resistance the dragon had couldn¡¯t just erase his ice, merely preventing some from piercing its flesh.


    With the extra weight of a halfling as well as numerous holes and the weight of ice, the dragon dipped slightly. As it careened towards a tree, it flicked its tail to rotate its body, extending its claws to push off. And then¡­ it suddenly yanked to a halt. From the dragon¡¯s strained cry, it seemed to be surprised about that. The tree didn¡¯t seem particularly happy about the situation either, groaning and cracking as its bark was rent asunder.


    Having lost most of its momentum, the dragon could do nothing but fall downward. ¡°Yessss!¡± Ceira yelled, ¡°I did it!¡±


    Indeed she had. Somehow, she¡¯d focused all of the mana for a wide area entangle spell into the point of contact the dragon made with the tree, forming an instant shell of bark over its grasping claw. Either magic resistance or physical limitations of the tree meant that it broke immediately after, but the results were clear. It crashed to the ground, landing on its right wing with a horrible snapping sound. Izzy was still there, but she rolled free- blood on her small swords.


    If only the dragon had been dead, we could have celebrated our victory. But while it most certainly would not be flying any time soon, it was still clearly a threat as it thrashed about, standing to its feet and towering over Izzy. Even Great Girl wouldn¡¯t have been able to match its height on her own. Though if my understanding was correct, this was far from as large as dragons could get as it should be around the beginning of adulthood and capable of significant further growth.


    The dragon was certainly slower on the ground, because as it snapped at Izzy she simply danced away from it. Not wanting to assume she could do that forever, I flung a Sonic Lance at the extended neck of the dragon. It would have been nice if that snapped its neck, but instead it shoved its head to the side and cracked some scales. Midnight did the same aiming for the body, and Senan launched a barrage of ice, overcoming its spell resistance through force and creating layers of ice on the topside that would weigh it down.


    Izzy was crazy enough to dodge in and out of the thing¡¯s reach, slashing at the thing¡¯s face when it tried to bite her. And Ceira¡­ tried to hold onto mana without releasing it. The good news was that she passed out a good distance away from the dragon and probably didn¡¯t have enough mana to seriously hurt herself.


    The dragon was beginning to look ragged. The fall had clearly not been good for it, and the various broken scales were revealing bits of vulnerable flesh. A state Izzy seemed quite capable of taking advantage of, darting beneath the creature and stabbing one of her blades into its side. That was deep enough to cause some real trouble, but I was fairly certain its most important organs were even deeper.


    Having seen the cycles between when the dragon could make use of its breath and feeling the flow of mana in the area, I knew it was going to be ready again soon. And while we were spread out so that it could likely only target one of us, Midnight was vulnerable and Ceira was unconscious should it want to simply cause harm at the edge of its potential. Izzy also had little Energy Ward left and likely couldn¡¯t avoid its breath forever, especially as she seemed to be fatiguing herself.


    So a faster finish was better. I gathered several times as much mana as for a Sonic Lance, reaching the threshold for Chain Lightning. Not really meant for a single target, but hopefully better at punching through its scales. I aimed for its head, the lightning happily coursing towards an eye. I knew the spell should only attract to a single enemy once, but I still tried to make it bounce towards its wing or its tail or anything that wasn¡¯t Izzy around there. Somehow, I felt I almost accomplished what I wanted but it was going to take much more work than that. Ultimately,, the remnants of the spell arced into the ground¡­ and then into the small sword left behind in its side.


    The creature convulsed and collapsed- but Ice Guy wasn¡¯t the sort to just assume it was dead. Instead, he created a spear of ice which he lobbed through the eye of the creature into its brain.


    ¡°Well. That could have gone worse,¡± I said. ¡°And it was worth great experience.¡± So close to reaching a level. I looked towards Ice Guy, held up a finger, and vomited a small mouthful of blood into a nearby bush. ¡°Oh right. I was going to tell you. I do have Sending so we can try to contact home.¡±

 Chapter 164

    Assessing everyone after the battle, our injuries were much less than they could have been. Midnight, Ice Guy, and I were in the best state. This was partially because of our familiarity with combat, but also due to a simple factor known as armor. Because Francois made every outfit for the Power Brigade and his work wasn¡¯t shabby. Even Midnight had something that sat atop his fur comfortably. Midnight and I had some patches where bits of acid had gotten through our other layers of defense, but were otherwise uninjured.


    Ceira had taken a single direct blast of the breath weapon, completely wiping out the Energy Ward upon her. She had a few patches of reddened skin and some bits that looked worse, matted with dirt and a bit of blood.


    Then there was Izzy, who had expertly avoided the vast majority of the acid and tumbled past claws and underbrush unscathed. I expected to find her in the best shape except perhaps for Ice Guy, and at first glance that remained true. Until I saw her left arm dangling by her side.


    ¡°So, uh,¡± Ceira looked at the dragon piled up in front of us. ¡°What do we do with this? Can we eat it?¡±


    ¡°We should not,¡± I said clearly. ¡°Dragons can be carriers of diseases from humanoids they consume.¡±


    ¡°Is that not true of the panther? Are we all going to get sick?¡± Ceira looked around at all of us with eyes wide.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°And the panther isn¡¯t sapient so¡­ it¡¯s still the better option.¡±


    ¡°Sapient? Like¡­ thinking and feeling?¡± Ceira confirmed.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°... the dragon was?¡±


    ¡°It wanted to eat us,¡± I reminded her. Meanwhile, Ice Guy was taking a close look at Izzy. ¡°Do you happen to have any healing skills? What are they called¡­ cure, heal, regenerate? Something like that.¡±


    ¡°I-I don¡¯t but¡­¡± Ceira bit her lip and I could see her eyes focusing on her invisible status window. ¡°Uh, Regenerate is¡­ too expensive. I can¡¯t quite afford- oh I have more points.¡±


    ¡°Make sure you have enough mana,¡± I reminded her.


    ¡°It¡¯s still not quite enough anyway. That¡¯s level 15.¡±


    ¡°There should be lower level things,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m just not particularly familiar with healing options.¡±


    ¡°Cure poison¡­ is not what we need right now,¡± Ceira continued. ¡°... Replenish?¡±


    ¡°That certainly sounds like something in the right ballpark,¡± I said.


    ¡°It¡¯s level 3. So it¡¯s only 5 points to learn and I just got more. So who needs- Oh, Izzy!¡±


    ¡°Make sure you have-¡± I tried to warn her as she began to gather mana then fell face first onto the forest floor. ¡°-mana.¡± She did brush against Izzy as she fell, and I felt the mana flow into her. That was good at least. At least, I thought it was good.


    Ice Guy was putting Ceira into a more dignified position. She should wake up in a few moments.


    Izzy had a pleasant smile, ¡°Oh wow that¡¯s-¡± Izzy¡¯s smile turned into a frown, ¡°That¡¯s kind of odd,¡± she looked down at her arm, part of it still bent slightly. ¡°Uh, at least it doesn¡¯t hurt now.¡± She winced, ¡°Unless I try to move it.¡±


    I looked at the dragon. ¡°Too bad we have to leave all of this here.¡±


    ¡°I thought we weren¡¯t eating it?¡± Midnight said. ¡°I¡¯m not humanoid but the sapient thing-¡±


    ¡°Can still use its hide and scales, or claws and fangs.¡±


    ¡°Is that better?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Using bits and pieces of a sapient thing?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Dragon parts are really good.¡±


    ¡°No wonder it wanted to eat us.¡±


    I frowned. How would that statement connect to it wanting to eat us? Oh. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it called us prey.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean a tradition of hunting dragons to use as materials didn¡¯t provoke this conflict,¡± Ice Guy said.


    I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not like we had a choice here. But also¡­ I suppose we can¡¯t really make use of it. Though with a small amount of experience, I could triple the space of Storage.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Midnight perked up. ¡°That would be so much¡­¡±


    ¡°For just me,¡± I clarified. ¡°It¡¯s already beyond what Familiar Bond supports. And upgrading Familiar Bond is less efficient point for pound.¡± I shook my head, ¡°Not that I have the level yet, nor the desire to spend 30 more points on a level 1 spell.¡±


    ¡°Uuugh¡­ what¡­?¡± Ceira was just coming to.


    ¡°You overused your mana,¡± I reminded her, kneeling down to be more at head height as she leaned back against a tree. ¡°You should wait at least half an hour before you attempt any more. And that¡¯s even with the greater mana regeneration rate here.¡±


    ¡°... Did I heal Izzy at least?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll be fine for now,¡± I said. Izzy nodded.


    ¡°So,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°We really need to find somewhere to rest up. Do dragons have¡­ lairs?¡±


    ¡°They should. I don¡¯t know how easy it is to track one¡­¡± I looked at Izzy. ¡°Since they fly.¡±


    ¡°Lots of claw marks,¡± Izzy pointed with her good arm, and the blade carried in that hand. The other one had been stowed away. ¡°I can at least try.¡±


    ¡°Any shelter you find would be appreciated,¡± he replied. ¡°Then we can continue to patch people up and attempt contact with home,¡± he looked at me. His words were authoritative and efficient, as usual. He was a good captain, but I wondered if he was upset that I hadn¡¯t brought up Sending yesterday or this morning. Then again, we were all pretty exhausted the whole time, and even more now.


    Eventually we set off, regretfully leaving the dragon behind. It was tough so it would have been a pain to dismantle to begin with, given our limited options. Izzy took the lead, somewhat more slowly I felt. Yet even so, it was Ceira who began to lag behind first as we trudged our way through the wilderness. ¡°Do you need to take a break?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, I can-¡± she grit her teeth. ¡°I¡¯m fine to keep going.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re the only one not trained for this yet.¡± Midnight rode on my shoulder much of the time¡­ and had four legs and a light body for the rest. But even he had endurance training as a member of the Power Brigade.


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    ¡°We should eat something,¡± Senan agreed. ¡°Even if our options are¡­ limited.¡±


    Technically, nothing stopped us from chewing the smoked jerky on the move, but Izzy found a nice spot to stop with some fallen trees to sit on. We sipped from our makeshift waterskins as we chewed the tough meat.


    Since it was as good of a time as any- and my mana was recovering nicely due to the high ambient mana levels- I worked with Senan to put together a message. For Calculator, since he would properly remember it all even if he wasn¡¯t ready to write it down.


    I gathered the necessary mana, the full 10 points to make sure Sending was at maximum effectiveness given it had to cross a dimensional barrier. ¡°Turlough reporting with Ice Guy, Midnight, and friend. Hostage rescued, entered portal. Pursued by robots. Return will be quite delayed. Status of Doctor and Swiss?¡±


    ¡°Did it work?¡± he asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ll find out in ten or twenty minutes,¡± I answered. ¡°It¡¯s not instant. Which is why it¡¯s useless on Earth.¡±


    Meanwhile, another conversation was happening nearby. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! I didn¡¯t mean to heal it wrong. I thought¡­ I thought healing magic would just work.¡± Me too. But I wasn¡¯t sure why. Other powers had their own restrictions, including the healing from Earth.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Izzy said, using her good arm to pat Ceira on the head in a comforting manner despite the huge size gulf between them. ¡°It¡¯s better than leaving it as it was.¡±


    ¡°Will it be like that¡­ forever?¡±


    ¡°Just until we can fix it.¡±


    ¡°It can be fixed?¡±


    ¡°Definitely,¡± Izzy lied. At least, that was what I determined. She might have something in mind, but with our only healing having done that¡­


    ¡°Should I try again?¡± Ceira asked. ¡°I¡¯m recovered now.¡±


    ¡°Better to leave it for the moment,¡± Izzy said. ¡°We need to keep moving. Its lair should be close.¡±


    ¡°I would expect a flying thing like this dragon to range a significant distance,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°Is that not correct?¡±


    ¡°Not with this canopy,¡± Izzy said. ¡°It could fly high and out of the forest, but it wouldn¡¯t be able to hunt anything in the forest. No way it flew at its combat speed all the time, it would exhaust itself quickly. But the signs are getting denser, and there are fewer other creatures. So regardless of what might be, I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯re close to its lair.¡±


    Shortly after we set out, I got a reply from Calculator- which was highly encouraging for multiple reasons. ¡°Doomsday escaped. Swiss Arms injured, but recoverable. Lair self-destructed, likely including portal. Can you use Gate?¡± His message was a bit shorter than necessary. Either that meant there was nothing more to say, or he was being conservative to not go over. I was fairly certain it should just get cut off, but that could still cause misunderstandings.


    Close was another couple hours of hiking, but on the grand scale of things that counted. We found the lair, flanked by piles of bones. Yet they didn¡¯t seem haphazardly placed but intentional. The same was true of the insides- there was indeed one larger pile of bones and scales, but it was still organized.


    ¡°I thought dragons liked coins,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°And magic weapons.¡±


    ¡°They do like coins,¡± I said. ¡°In general. And I would assume these bones are the most valuable thing to be found on this plane, or at least in this forest. They¡¯re certainly¡­ shiny. And scales from it and perhaps other dragons or something¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°Wait, stop!¡± I called out to Izzy.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me,¡± she said. ¡°I noticed just fine. Some kind of ward?¡±


    ¡°I think my staff should be able to dispel that,¡± I said. I pulled it out from Storage- it wasn¡¯t useful even as a walking stick in its current tangle- and moved over to behind Izzy. ¡°It feels like one thing, but I¡¯m not quite sure.¡±


    ¡°Try this angle,¡± Izzy said, pointing to a particular spot. ¡°Should be among the safest if things go wrong.¡±


    Ultimately, the dispelling magic from the staff was sufficient to unravel the magic. I¡¯d thought so, as it didn¡¯t feel terribly strong, but one never knew with dragons. Which was to say, I¡¯d never actually interacted with any, but my learning said their magic varied from only their innate breath to quite powerful, though not all dragons improved their magical capabilities.


    ¡°I need to learn the spell to fix your staff too¡­¡± Ceira commented. ¡°I think I have enough points. Was it¡­ Warp Wood?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± I said. ¡°But we should focus on other things first.¡± I looked to Izzy.


    ¡°Oh yes. Since we¡¯re fairly safe here, I think we can¡­ take some time to work on my arm.¡±


    ¡°Sorry!¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Anyway, Turlough, I need you to break my arm.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I agreed.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± Ceira commented. ¡°You agreed just like that?¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I? It¡¯s to help.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, so¡­¡± Izzy rolled up her sleeves. ¡°I¡¯m not an expert, but it should look more like this, than like this,¡± she gestured to each arm in turn with her head. I could see a noticeable bump above her left elbow.


    ¡°Before we do that,¡± Senan provided some guidance, ¡°We should prepare something for you to bite down on. First aid training and all that. And maybe some splints, in case the magic doesn¡¯t work instantly.¡±


    He was right, of course. Even my limited first aid training told me that much, I just didn¡¯t have the practical experience for it all to come to mind easily. So we scurried around to prepare, ultimately using the largest part of the pelt for Izzy to lay down on- we didn¡¯t want her to hit her head- and some conveniently sized bones shaped into a pseudo-splint we would wrap around her arm if it seemed necessary.


    ¡°Mrrmph.¡± Izzy pulled the bit of hide out of her mouth. ¡°Ugh, gross. I¡¯m ready. Or¡­ next time I mutter that.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± I made sure she had the thing back in her mouth, then I placed my hands on her arm. They barely fit on her upper arm together, but in a way that would make this easier. I had to do this properly. If I didn¡¯t provide enough force, it wouldn¡¯t be clean¡­ but I didn¡¯t want to push too far, either. It wasn¡¯t clear exactly what was going on under the skin, but we wanted the bones to line up properly. I didn¡¯t have much magic that could help with this. Speeding myself up or slowing her perception of time both seemed like problematic options that could lead to unintended results. For example, with Slow her perception of time was slowed the pain would come and go more quickly- Haste would do the opposite, dragging it out. One might overwhelm her, and the other would just prolong suffering.


    I took a good long look at the good arm, seeing where muscles and bone lay, then did my best to set or possibly break and then set this bone in Izzy¡¯s arm. The bad news was that her body was somewhat tougher from having levels, but the good news was that I was quite strong and the effect of levels on durability only stretched so far for classes like ours. Like Earth¡¯s superpowers, we were generally tougher but nothing like even a newbie with an actual durability power.


    The sound wasn¡¯t very pleasant, nor were the moments of moving things around trying to line them up. I snapped something into what I thought was the right place. ¡°Ceira. Now.¡±


    Mana flowed through her and out of her continuously. It was odd, seeing magic function like that. As for the visible effects, there were only minor sparkles around the wound. Everything should be internal anyway.


    It was good that Izzy was biting down on something, because it sounded quite unpleasant. But, after a few moments Ceira stopped. ¡°I think that¡¯s all I can do at once. If you give me a second I can do another burst¡­?¡±


    Izzy shook her head, using her good arm to pull the panther hide strip out of her mouth. ¡°I think it¡¯s better. We should let it heal on its own some.¡± She poked it. ¡°Still tender. Maybe we¡¯ll splint it just in case?¡±


    ¡°Are you sure I shouldn¡¯t do more?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure we should use too much magic at once,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°Speaking of which¡­ what level is that?¡±


    ¡°3,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because you used at least 6 points of mana, which should be impossible.¡± And not just in the I-was-told-it-worked-that-way, but also having specifically tried to get around those limitations myself. ¡°Is that spell special?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Ceira admitted. ¡°Uh, I guess I can try Warp Wood now? I already spent the points.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± I nodded. ¡°Then yes please,¡± I handed my staff to her. ¡°Careful, there¡¯s a metal core. In that straight bit there, but I don¡¯t know if you can pop that out on accident.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just work around it,¡± she said. I felt the mana gather then flow from her to the staff- an even 4 points. It certainly straightened somewhat, but only part of it. ¡°Uh, I can do that again. Might as well use my mana before we sleep, right?¡±


    That was true. It seemed like it would take more than a handful of uses for her to fully restore the staff- either because it was more difficult to straighten or her lack of understanding. Though she should only have one more use at the moment. I also prepared to spend some mana for Sending. Maybe one or two myself, and maybe Midnight could provide another. It was more important that we had some mana in reserve if something attacked in the night, so I wasn¡¯t planning to completely drain us.

 Chapter 165

    While dragons most certainly had a desire for comfort, the definitional differences between comfort for a scaled and winged quadruped and a humanoid were quite significant. At least everyone had bundles of pelt to soften the stone floors of the cave and keep us warm, but I was also keenly aware of how much proper camping equipment would make a difference.


    ¡°I hate everything and want to sleep in a real bed again,¡± I said.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to like the wilderness?¡± Ice Guy asked.


    ¡°Not necessarily. And only on purpose.¡±


    ¡°Same here,¡± Ceira echoed.


    ¡°I¡¯m a metropolis dweller,¡± Midnight added.


    Breakfast was the same thing. Panther and tuna. And we were going to run out of the former soon enough, because we could only carry so much. With five people eating- realistically closer to four in actual consumption given our two smallest members- we only really had enough for a few days. Technically we could eat less, but hiking all day wouldn¡¯t be possible without nourishment. Speaking of which¡­


    ¡°... All my muscles hurt,¡± Ceira commented. ¡°Can Replenish fix that?¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°I guess you can find out. Do be conservative with your mana though, even if we recover quickly here.¡±


    I felt her use a few points of mana. ¡°I feel better, but that might be placebo. Anyone else- Ah, Izzy. What about your arm? Let me take another look.¡±


    Before actually looking, she did perform some more of her healing magic. At worst, it should have no effect. I did feel it dance around inside the arm, and it was likely there was still some damage there.


    Then we took off the wrappings and splints. ¡°Ow,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°Still hurts?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°I think it was too tight. Blood is returning along with a reminder of feelings.¡± She rotated her arm around, trying to help the process or at least recontextualize the tingling pain. ¡°I think it¡¯s mostly better,¡± she said, poking her upper arm with her opposite hand. ¡°But uh,¡± she sniffed. ¡°It wasn¡¯t exactly breathable.¡±


    ¡°Time for a round of Clean spells, then,¡± I said. ¡°Probably on all of us.¡±


    Between Midnight and I we spent probably twenty mana on the whole thing. Maybe that was excessive, but instead of it taking a couple hours to recover that mana we could expect it to only take half an hour, perhaps less. Ceira added a bit of healing to all of us, and it did certainly help with muscle aches. Not the internal issues, but those were probably getting better on their own.


    ¡°I need to get some sort of shelter spell,¡± I said.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t I be the one to get it?¡± Ceira asked. ¡°Like, transforming the surroundings into¡­ something?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d just conjure a temporary house. Or mansion,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, can you?¡±


    ¡°Not without points to spend. I should level up soon, though,¡± I looked over at Senan.


    ¡°We¡¯re not sparring here,¡± he said flatly.


    ¡°What about when we get to our stopping point tonight? We have protections and healing magic and I only need literally 3 experience.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± he said, arms folded.


    ¡°It will come with beds.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in,¡± Izzy said before he did. ¡°You just need to fight, right?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded. ¡°Though it might take a couple evenings. Otherwise I could be at level 50 or something if I averaged multiple points of experience every day of casual effort.¡±


    ¡°That sure would be convenient,¡± Izzy replied. ¡°But we should probably get moving. No telling when those robots will catch up to us.¡±


    ¡°They might not even have a portal to go back through,¡± I grumbled. ¡°I wonder if I can slag them with Chain Lightning?¡±


    ¡°They should be fairly well protected against damage,¡± Senan replied. ¡°But their energy sources are most likely limited. But first you would have to be protected against explosions and bullets.¡±


    ¡°Stoneskin and Energy Ward together should cover that¡­ but you have made an excellent point about not getting in a straightforward fight with them.¡± I frowned, ¡°Oh right, one thing about the Shelter spell. I need dirt and rocks and wood, I think.¡±


    ¡°What for?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°As a focus. It represents the foundation and structure. There might be more there that I¡¯m missing?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the status thing say things like that?¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡±


    ¡°How did anyone figure it out?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ good question,¡± I admitted. ¡°Maybe people invented these?¡±


    ¡°How would they be on every spell list then? Wouldn¡¯t you have to learn from someone?¡±


    ¡°Listen,¡± I replied. ¡°Some of that information was intentionally obfuscated and I don¡¯t know why. I think Master Uvithar knows more, but it was a risk for him to share.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ceira frowned, ¡°That sucks. Hiding information everyone should have access to.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I agreed.


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    ¡°I would say that there might be legitimate safety concerns,¡± Senan commented, ¡°Except the information you currently have instead leads to you experimenting in risky ways. So they¡¯re clearly not worried about the individual, if there even are valid concerns.¡±


    We were already off, traipsing through the woods. Our conversations were kept relatively quiet, and infrequent because we¡¯d just run out of things to say. Like how we wanted to be back home, or at least somewhere comfortable.


    I did notice some oddities in the forest itself. Perhaps many less than Izzy was noticing, but some things couldn¡¯t escape even the untrained eye. ¡°Are we getting smaller?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s more reasonable to assume that the trees are getting bigger,¡± Senan pointed out. ¡°And everything else. But¡­ do you detect any magic?¡±


    ¡°This forest is brimming with it. But it¡¯s mostly free mana,¡± I admitted. ¡°Not active spells. Just to be safe though,¡± I activate Arcane Sight. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like there¡¯s anything. Nothing I can detect.¡±


    ¡°I can confirm things are bigger,¡± Ceira said. ¡°The dirt particles are pretty much the same size, even if the leaves and ferns and undergrowth are also larger.¡±


    ¡°I guess I was just looking at things the wrong way,¡± I admitted. ¡°Soon enough these will be as big as those great sequoias. But everything else matches.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good we¡¯re not getting smaller,¡± Izzy said. ¡°As it¡¯s already inconvenient to be a halfling. At least that other world has places optimized for us smaller individuals¡­¡±


    ¡°Not people without hands, though,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing I have magic.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of magic,¡± I said. ¡°Should¡­ would it be better for you to try to get your own class?¡± Even bringing it up made me nervous. I didn¡¯t want Midnight to be dependent on me, but sometimes I had the feeling Midnight was only my friend because of magic.


    Immediately, I was hit with a wave of his feelings, but just because they were completely different on the topic didn¡¯t suddenly stop my own doubts. ¡°Bonds are not so easily broken. Neither that of Celmothians, nor I suspect that of familiars and mages.¡± He flicked his tail, ¡°And I don¡¯t want to.¡±


    ¡°I guess you¡¯ll just have to live with my choices, then,¡± I shrugged, trying to repair the mood.


    ¡°One of those choices should be improving Familiar Bond since you have several spells with 5 total upgrades. And others that might get there soon.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. Should easily fit in with Shelter.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which,¡± Izzy said. ¡°What sort of dirt do you need?¡±


    ¡°... Let¡¯s just go with a sample of various kinds,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t need much.¡±


    ¡°Where are you going to keep it?¡±


    ¡°In Storage,¡± I said.


    ¡°... Won¡¯t that get dirt on our food?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Everything is stored separately.¡±


    Ceira turned at that. ¡°Like¡­ each grain of sand?¡±


    ¡°Each handful,¡± I said. ¡°Specifically determined by the packet of stuff I put in. Though if the limit of multiple is below the weight I can retrieve at once, I can retrieve multiple packets.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s weird.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± I admitted. ¡°But so it is.¡±


    We continued along in peace, and I was surprised at how little danger we had encountered. I expected to be beset by even bigger wild beasts as we moved into a place of larger trees. I did not voice my thoughts, however, because I did not want to ruin the moment.


    ¡°How about this?¡± Izzy asked. ¡°Got some sand, and clay. You said you needed rocks?¡±


    ¡°Yes, um, just some small ones. But I¡¯m not sure precisely what kind.¡±


    ¡°And wood?¡±


    ¡°Just splinters,¡± I said.


    ¡°Do you need something for mortar?¡± Ceira asked. I turned to look at her, tilting my head. ¡°... What? Since I started my new channel I had to research the genre. People don¡¯t just make lean-tos or tiny cabins with sticks, you know. Speaking of sticks, does your staff count? Or would that be bad? Will the spell eat it?¡±


    ¡°The spell will not¡­ eat it. These are not material components, but a focus.¡±


    ¡°... I don¡¯t get it,¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°They are to make one recall the necessary features, or sometimes to form the heart of a construct. They are not magical themselves, like diamond dust.¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure diamond dust isn¡¯t magical,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Don¡¯t you get artificial diamond dust?¡±


    ¡°Does not energy go into them when they are made? That imbues them with the properties required.¡± Probably. ¡°Look, if I start questioning it now Stoneskin might stop working, okay? This would be a bad place for that.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Ceira nodded.


    We stopped for lunch during the afternoon, still having encountered no violence. Ceira took the time to Replenish Izzy¡¯s arm, as it was still apparently sore, if functional. She also spend some effort on repairing my staff. Another day or two and it would be good as new, which just went to show how easy it was to totally screw it up. I couldn¡¯t imagine that particular druid had hundreds of points invested in one spell, though. So there had to be something more to it than ranked improvements. Perhaps a lack of confidence, or an unclear image. But I wasn¡¯t going to complain about an impossible task being done over a few days.


    ¡°It¡¯s getting late,¡± Izzy said. ¡°So the next thing I find resembling shelter is where we set up camp.¡± That thing turned out to be a half rotted of what had once been a massive tree, the insides having all melted away into a layer of thick dirt, while a shell of mainly bark was still a foot or so thick. I could have stood upon my own shoulders and still not been able to reach the top. It wasn¡¯t terribly deep, not because the tree wasn¡¯t tall but because the rest was simply filled up with dirt and unrotted wood. ¡°I guess this will do,¡± Izzy said. ¡°But tomorrow I want to sleep in a bed.¡±


    She turned around to punch me in the gut, and then we were scrapping. It brought back so many memories, mostly good. However, those memories also came with bad habits. When we were of a similar size, Izzy had also been lower level. Thus, grabbing her forearm and tossing her had been vaguely within the realm of possibility. Now I was much better at grappling¡­ and she was as slippery as an eel.


    When everything ended my lip was bleeding- though not from a direct hit. Instead she¡¯d leapt up to punch my jaw, and that caused me to bite my lip. Or maybe my tusk sliced it.


    ¡°Wow,¡± Izzy shook her hand, ¡°Are you made of rocks? This is why scouts are supposed to use weapons, I guess.¡±


    ¡°I hope you didn¡¯t break it,¡± I said.


    ¡°No, it should be fine in a bit,¡± she said. ¡°But¡­¡±


    Ceira sighed, ¡°I do have healing magic now. But did you have to draw blood?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Izzy said with confidence.


    ¡°More serious is better experience,¡± I concurred. Speaking of which, I checked my experience. Still one short. Only 2 points for all that? Then again, neither of us were laid out flat on the ground, so what could I expect?


    Izzy got her hand healed, and I my lip. Then we were lying in the half-shelter around us. Everything was going to be so dirty in the morning.


    ¡°Hey Turlough,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°Yeah Izzy?¡±


    ¡°... The beds aren¡¯t going to be made of rock and dirt, are they?¡±


    ¡°... no way,¡± I said. ¡°Who would ever make a spell like that?¡±


    ¡°Do you need a focus for sheets?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know,¡± I shook my head. ¡°We have cloth, though.¡± We were just wearing it. But that was fine, since it wouldn¡¯t be consumed by the spell. I would have to make sure to consider that as part of the focuses though. I didn¡¯t want a sheet made out of splinters. Or perhaps the default was bare frames? That made me worry about what the spell actually did. But if it didn¡¯t work right¡­ I¡¯d just have to force it to.

 Chapter 166

    ¡°All of the stories¡­¡± Ceira breathed heavily as she tried to walk, ¡°About heroes trekking through a forest¡­ has them effortlessly going all day¡­¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Sounds like you read the wrong stories.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t¡­ seem to have a problem,¡± she said.


    ¡°I mean, I went through physical fitness training,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Along with Senan,¡± I gestured to Ice Guy. In our current situation, it was easier for us to just use real names for each other, especially since we would be traveling together for¡­ at least a while longer.


    ¡°It was also my job,¡± Izzy said.


    Midnight also worked on his physical fitness- but being able to ride on my shoulders gave him alternative options. Ceira was an average sized human woman, so that wasn¡¯t exactly something we could sustain for more than a few minutes. So we took more frequent breaks, which was for the best because we needed to find as much water or supplemental food as we could. Just eating dried panther was not great. Though when Izzy and I couldn¡¯t confidently identify scavenged plantlife, we erred on the side of not dying to horrible poisons.


    Moving around gave us time to stretch out our kinks from sleeping in suboptimal circumstances, and frequent breaks let us keep going for more of the sunlight filtering through the trees above. But just because Ceira was the one showing the most fatigue it didn¡¯t mean the rest of us were doing just fine. Senan was still in the best shape¡­ probably. Midnight was mostly uninjured. Izzy had her arm, and I really needed to just sleep for a few days to let my internal mana take a rest.


    ¡°Should we look for something to fight¡­?¡± I asked. ¡°So I can level up.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Izzy asked. ¡°You should level up tonight if you get in a decent spar, right?¡±


    ¡°Probably,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But I might have to push myself some. And I¡¯d rather expend the effort earlier in the day.¡±


    ¡°... Would we just attack some beast?¡± Ceira asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s a good idea. They just live here. They aren¡¯t hurting anyone, are they?¡±


    ¡°A fair point,¡± Senan said. ¡°Anything that attacks people can¡¯t be tolerated near populated areas, but out in the wilderness provoking battle is unnecessary and unwise.¡±


    ¡°We could hunt something, then. If we could find anything small enough we wouldn¡¯t waste too much of it, at least.¡±


    ¡°Everything¡¯s getting bigger,¡± Izzy said. ¡°But maybe some insects?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure any of us know how to cook those,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Like lobster or crab?¡± Ceira surmised. ¡°Boil them for a while in their shells? I don¡¯t know if that would be any good though.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know either. It made me both a little bit hungry and a little sick feeling to think about it.


    Ultimately, we didn¡¯t hunt anything down, but after a proper spar at night I just pushed over the border to the next level.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 30


    Experience: 2325/2480


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +5 (4|1)


    Firebolt +3


    Shocking Grasp +5 (3|2)


    Grease +3 (2|1)


    Force Armor +7 (6|1)


    Mage''s Reach +4 (2|2)


    Translation +1


    Alter Time Flow +5 (4|1)


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +5 (4|1)


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +3 (2|1)


    Sonic Lance +3


    Scrying +1 (1|2)


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +3 (2|1)


    Mana Crystal Deposition +4 (1|3)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +2


    Basic Light Magic +2 (1|1)


    Locate Object +2


    Alter Portal +1 (0|1)


    Gate


    Arcane Sight


    Sending +1 (0|1)


    Chain Lightning +2 (1|1)


    Clean +1 (0|1)


    Shelter


    Remaining Points: 11


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Purchasing the Shelter spell took 15 of my 30 points, and then I upgraded Familiar Bond once for another 4. The remaining points would stay in reserve, possibly to be spent on upgrading Gate next level. With these remaining points, I could upgrade it twice which should put me on the very edge of being able to cast it next level. It would probably still be over the threshold where I passed out and thus not useful¡­ but it was an option to consider. Alternatively, I could pour points into upgrading Storage. I could get 25 whole pounds of storage with 10 points. Which was both a lot, and not that much.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve got it.¡± Since we¡¯d been planning for this, instead of looking for a cave Izzy had found for us a relatively open area. ¡°If I recall correctly, this doesn¡¯t create a particularly large place. So don¡¯t expect much.¡±


    Let¡¯s see, we had some stone, sand, bits of various rocks and claylike stuff that might make up something like a mortar, a bit of water, splinters of wood¡­ and cloth just to make sure we had actual sheets. It was a weird mishmash of stuff that should really have their own little baggies, but instead I just held them in my hands, to go back into Storage after.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Shelter was a level 8 spell. Not that high in the grand scheme of things, and I would have had plenty of mana even if I¡¯d had to spend more than just that for Force Armors throughout the day- helpful against things so mundane as branches snapping in our face.


    In front of us appeared a log cabin. Or perhaps a log hut? I opened the door.


    ¡°Looks¡­ cozy,¡± Ceira commented.


    ¡°It¡¯s bigger than my apartment,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Though only because of the verticality.¡±


    Personally, I thought it wasn¡¯t bad. There were beds arrayed around the room- two sets of bunks flanking a fireplace. In the middle of the room were some stools around an actual real table, and there were windows to let in light¡­ if not much.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I frowned as I stepped into the room. ¡°Was this the limit? I think I missed a spot for Midnight.¡±


    ¡°I will be quite fine with the furs,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Humanoid beds aren¡¯t great for me anyway. And it should be nicer regardless.¡±


    ¡°True,¡± I nodded. Everyone got a few rounds of Clean before they sat down on their chosen beds- Senan and Izzy took the top bunks, with myself and Ceira on the lower levels.


    ¡°Hmm, there¡¯s no way to cook on this fire,¡± Ceira said. ¡°I mean, besides roasting over it with sticks still.¡±


    ¡°I might be able to customize it more,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯d need some example metal, I think. I don¡¯t know if weapons steel is any good for cooking?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Well, assuming I can change things at all.¡±


    ¡°You must have had some effect,¡± Senan pointed out. ¡°Feel the sheets.¡±


    I did. It was quite familiar. ¡°Oh, wow. This is super quality.¡±


    ¡°Super quality sounds good,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s very soft,¡± she said, burying her face in the bed. ¡°Super indeed.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost like the material Francois makes,¡± Senan said.


    I nodded, ¡°Probably not as durable though. Not that it matters because this only exists for¡­ eightish hours?¡±


    ¡°What? Nooo~~¡± Ceira moaned, ¡°I want to stay here forever.¡±


    ¡°I think I can extend it, but we¡¯re not exactly going to live here¡­ It¡¯s good motivation to keep moving.¡± I wondered if I could make the stools and table only for less mana. Would be nice for a midday meal.


    We ate properly, and even if it was the same dried meat and tuna, it tasted better not just sitting on logs. Being very hungry helped too.


    We all climbed into bed soon after- Izzy making her way stubbornly up the ladder one-handed. She was the one who picked the top bunk, so there wasn¡¯t much I could say.


    Despite how exhausted we were, we also woke up at a reasonable time, ready to get moving. Breakfast eaten at a proper table was also tasty, though I did notice how thin our supplies were getting.


    -----


    ¡°Do you think we¡¯ve lost the murder bots?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°I hope so,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen signs of them,¡± Izzy said. ¡°But I¡¯m also not ranging far. They could still be shortly behind us, and we¡¯re leaving quite a decent trail pushing our way through the underbrush here.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t much to be done about that. We physically couldn¡¯t go around things, so some massive ferns got stepped on and bushes and grasses likewise got damaged.


    ¡°Given it is Doctor Doomsday,¡± Senan said. ¡°I would expect their batteries last an annoyingly long time. So if they haven¡¯t been ordered to give up¡­¡±


    I nodded. We¡¯d managed a few Sendings back to Earth, but unfortunately there wasn¡¯t anything they could really do to help. Making portals to other worlds wasn¡¯t something supers could do very consistently, and they¡¯d need to have details I couldn¡¯t give them. We did discover something about Sending though. Probably. It could have been random chance, but over the next few days and a dozen messages we had somewhere around a twenty-five percent failure rate for transmission. Which meant that this place was even more removed from Earth than the rest of my world. But Ceira got the full version of class powers, so it should still be the same world, or something markedly similar. I had the feeling this was the right world¡­ just not the right plane. And maybe that made Sending one step more difficult somehow.


    There was a sudden swishing sound, then a thunk and rattling as an arrow struck a tree right next to my head. Everyone jumped into action, with Senan conjuring a wall approximately in the direction the arrow came from. But there was no immediate follow up except for someone saying¡­ something.


    I sure didn¡¯t know what they said though.


    Izzy frowned, ducking behind the wall with the rest of us. ¡°Uh, that¡¯s¡­ elven I think?¡± She called out something I also didn¡¯t understand.


    I cast Translation, for myself and Midnight. Perks of learning English fluently- I could speak without issue and didn¡¯t have to constantly expend mana for Translation, limiting my regeneration. The downside was not always having Translation on if something new came up. Midnight used it if he wanted to be nice to his vocal chords, but it still wasn¡¯t constant here.


    ¡°... forbidden ¡­ intruders ¡­ magic ¡­¡± said the voice.


    ¡°... peaceful ¡­ didn¡¯t know,¡± Izzy said in return. Though for some reason my head hurt as she spoke. There was no way less than 3 mana was pushing myself, right? ¡°Hey, uh,¡± Izzy looked at me. ¡°I¡¯m getting less than half of what they¡¯re saying.¡±


    ¡°Same,¡± I said. ¡°Can you keep them talking please?¡±


    Another arrow appeared next to my head, this time on the back side of Senan¡¯s ice wall. Izzy kept trying to speak, and my head continued to hurt, like it was being jerked back and forth. It was like rapidly trying to swap languages. Ah.


    ¡°Can you let me try?¡± I stopped Izzy.


    ¡°Sure thing. I think they¡¯re willing to talk, at least. But difficult to understand.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± I said, trying to speak whatever they spoke and not the elven Izzy was speaking. ¡°I am trying to use Translation magic so it would help if you spoke more.¡± Some of those words came out in common since I didn¡¯t know them.


    ¡°... agreement with the orcs to stay apart.¡±


    ¡°Terribly sorry,¡± I inclined my head, ¡°We did not come here on purpose.¡±


    ¡°How could you not?¡± Translation was finally hitting full stride and I was finally understanding the voice consistently. ¡°It is quite clear.¡±


    ¡°What is?¡± I shook my head, ¡°I am sorry, we did not even intend to be on this plane, let alone in this forest.¡±


    ¡°Planar travelers? That explains your odd garb. Just return.¡±


    I was hesitant to cast Translation on more people because they might think it was some other kind of spellcasting, so I had to continue to do this. ¡°We can¡¯t choose to return. There is another world with a powerful¡­ warlock. He is bridging between this world and his, and we fled from him through a portal that brought us to this forest.¡±


    ¡°... You know this warlock?¡±


    ¡°We are enemies of him. He captured my friend,¡± I gestured to Ceira, ¡°And we were retrieving her, but we could not flee the way we came. We don¡¯t want to intrude on your territory, but if you could guide us around?¡±


    ¡°That cannot be done,¡± said the mysterious figure. ¡°You must be observed. You will speak with a wise one. Follow me.¡±


    Leaping down from high branches, a figure with long sandy hair alighted upon the forest floor. Smooth facial features and olive skin led to pointed ears- obviously. Except they weren¡¯t quite speaking elven.


    ¡°Wow, she¡¯s pretty,¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°Equal chances of being a man,¡± I told her in English. I didn¡¯t get any response to that but Ceira narrowing her eyes as if she was trying to see fine details.


    ¡°Come,¡± the probably-elf said, walking backwards through bushes with a bow dangling, but ready to be drawn if necessary. We all began to move. ¡°Just the orc and his bonded animal.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not an animal,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°You speak as well¡­ regardless, the rest should wait outside.¡±


    ¡°I can cast Translation on others,¡± I said. ¡°If you just want one, it should be someone better at speaking.¡±


    ¡°That is the reason it should be you,¡± the elven figure said.


    Couldn¡¯t argue there. ¡°Well, looks like Midnight and I are supposed to go alone to talk to a ¡®Wise one¡¯.¡±


    ¡°What if they try to kill you?¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°Either this archer is very inaccurate or was never trying to kill me,¡± I pointed out. ¡°But keep an eye out for lightning and flames if I have to fight my way out. Or I refuse and they bring friends to hunt us down, probably.¡±


    ¡°Hurry up,¡± said the figure, moving backwards faster than I thought I could probably push through those bushes while seeing where I was going. Midnight and I started following to the best of our ability.

 Chapter 167

    The trees around us were nearly incomprehensibly large. I wasn¡¯t even sure how the elf we were following had gotten up, or where they had been standing. There were massive branches, of course, but they were mostly a hundred feet off the ground. I looked around, thinking I might see more guards or scouts, but found none. Then as we walked around the great roots a tree, we were suddenly met with a dwelling.


    Something akin to shutters made of leaves and twigs covered a hole in the roots, while some sort of cloth or thin hide draped over what was probably a doorway. Had we passed other such dwellings along the way, or was this one the most remote?


    ¡°Wise one,¡± called the escort. ¡°A planar traveler has stumbled into our domain.¡±


    ¡°Enter,¡± came an old and somewhat creaky voice. The escort pulled back the cloth, gesturing for Midnight and I to go in. Inside I was surprised to find worked furniture. I thought they had avoided using wood, but there were tables and stools, as well as another dividing cloth behind which I presumed there was a bed. Even so, the whole thing was buried under the massive roots of a tree- and the floor was still bare dirt. Everything was fit into the natural curves of the dwelling. ¡°I see. An orc, and¡­ a familiar?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s correct,¡± Midnight replied. ¡°Though I¡¯m not a cat.¡±


    The individual speaking was clearly elven as well- or at least something close to elven. There was just one issue, that they were old. Wrinkled skin, drooping ears, age spots and every sort of thing one did not think of with elves. Then again, I was aware elves could get old¡­ they just usually did so gracefully, and slowly. ¡°You two are planar travelers?¡± the figure asked from where they sat at a table, perusing some sort of book. ¡°Please, sit.¡±


    I was quite glad to, because the roof wasn¡¯t particularly convenient for someone of my height. And by ¡®roof¡¯ I meant ¡®wherever the large roots decided to grow over this area¡¯. ¡°Yes. We came here after rescuing a friend, and there are several others along with us. We did not intend to enter your territory, but were unfamiliar with everything.¡±


    I felt a trickle of mana, almost undetectable given the ambient mana but quite obvious once I picked it out. This individual was performing some sort of magic- or using another class ability. ¡°It does seem that you are ignorant of many things. Tell me, where do you think you are?¡±


    ¡°This forest or¡­ this plane?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know either. My studies might be lacking on planes, but I haven¡¯t heard of anything quite like this. Some of the celestial planes should have forests, but I wouldn¡¯t expect them to have dragons¡­¡± I shook my head.


    ¡°Well, it is not strange that you would be unaware of details regarding the old world,¡± the wrinkled figure said, placing their hands that looked almost like gnarled twigs on the table in front of them. ¡°It is difficult to come to this place.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t under our own power,¡± I confirmed. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not sure if this is even the right world. Do you know of Granbold?¡±


    ¡°Is that some place on the current material plane?¡± they asked. ¡°Whether it is a city or a country, I have no knowledge of it. But don¡¯t let that cause you concern. There is very little contact between us, and there is supposed to be less travel.¡± They paused, ¡°Another world, you said?¡± I had, more or less. But it wasn¡¯t really a question. ¡°It should be even more difficult to get here from such a place.¡±


    ¡°One of the most powerful villains from that world has recently developed the ability to create portals nearly at will. It was through one of his portals that we escaped with my friend.¡±


    ¡°We are aware of these portals,¡± the elf replied.


    ¡°You are? Well, I¡¯d say we¡¯d like to return through them but¡­ they¡¯d just lead us back into danger. And the one we came through should be closed anyway.¡±


    ¡°How do you know this?¡±


    ¡°A Sending spell to speak to my world.¡±


    ¡°Your world? I see, that would make sense. If you consider that place your own, the connection might be sufficient to have a non-negligible contact rate.¡±


    ¡°And the quantity of mana here is great enough I could try quite regularly,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Ah¡­ I do believe he¡¯s siphoning off some of that power.¡±


    ¡°Interesting. You are quite honest.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I be? You¡¯re checking for that anyway.¡±


    ¡°So I am. You can tell that?¡±


    ¡°Well, sure. I think it¡¯s fairly common to be able to sense mana usage.¡±


    ¡°You still must have been exposed to a wide variety of magic relative to your age to sense me working. Or I have lost my touch.¡±


    ¡°Magic? Not particularly,¡± I admitted. ¡°But definitely various powers.¡±


    ¡°Mysterious powers?¡±


    ¡°Relatively commonplace in my¡­ in the other world.¡± Was it my world now? I guess so. But it still felt weird to admit it. ¡°But not so ubiquitous as classes.¡±


    ¡°I am aware of some of the oddity of other worlds.¡± The figure nodded, sandy hair moving in front of darker skin. ¡°So what are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Well, nothing specifically. We were simply fleeing some enemies and stumbled into your area.¡±


    ¡°By random chance? I suppose it is possible, but unlikely.¡±


    ¡°We were led by a scout trying to find the safest routes. I can imagine that would ultimately coincide with your territory.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. And then you were brought to me.¡±


    ¡°Apparently,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re not allowed to be here, it seems. I asked to be escorted around, but was then brought to you.¡±


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°That does sound like Ailen.¡± The figure cleared their throat. ¡°Ailen! Escort this fellow and his group to Comhghall!¡±


    ¡°Who is that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Your best chance of returning somewhere familiar.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Alright,¡± I nodded. ¡°I thought¡­ well, I suppose that even a figure like yourself might not have Gate.¡±


    A half smile. ¡°It¡¯s a bit more complicated than that.¡±


    I frowned, ¡°I suppose so.¡± My limited understanding of social skills led me to believe we were done, especially with Ailen standing at the doorway semi-patiently. ¡°Thank you for your time.¡± Ailen moved ahead of me, presumably back along our route. I felt like I was still missing a lot of information. ¡°Sorry to get you dragged up in this. I¡¯m sure you had other things to do.¡±


    ¡°It is but a short trip. Easy enough to do at the request of a wise one.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear,¡± I said. ¡°I had thought you would be¡­ less friendly. Because I¡¯m an orc.¡±


    ¡°We might be ancient enemies with your kind, but here those words are more true. It is ancient. Today, the truce stands firm. Confirming that you were truly lost, it would be inappropriate to do more.¡±


    ¡°... Alright,¡± I looked at Midnight, intentionally swapping my language. ¡°I don¡¯t really get what¡¯s going on, but they seem nice.¡±


    ¡°It seems like we¡¯re being removed from the area expediently,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But at least they¡¯re not rude about it.¡±


    It didn¡¯t take long for us to return to the rest of our companions, who looked quite relieved. I gave them the quick explanation, ending with, ¡°Ailen will apparently be escorting us to someone who can potentially help.¡±


    ¡°At least we have someone who knows the area,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Our trek through this area has been circuitous enough.¡±


    I translated for her, and Ailen just nodded.


    ¡°Do you need to get anything before we go?¡± I asked. ¡°We¡¯ll wait here.¡±


    ¡°I am prepared,¡± Ailen said, gesturing to bow and quiver.


    Good. Seemed like we weren¡¯t too far.


    I should have suspected something when we stopped by a river. Or when Ailen foraged berries- though it was good for us to learn some particular ones were edible. Izzy had avoided berries because of how volatile they could be as food. A particular berry could range from a standard blueberry to deadly nightshade without appearing much different. It was possible that Ceira could magically determine what was safe- that sounded like a druid thing- but it was best for her to reserve her points for things we actually needed. Though it seemed like we would be fine. We should be returning home soon, and we had shelter.


    ¡°We should rest for the night,¡± Ailen said as it began to get dark. ¡°Dangers abound during the night.¡±


    I nodded. Keeping Translation active constantly was easy with the levels of ambient mana, so I made sure to do that. ¡°You said that it was a short trip. Should we expect to arrive tomorrow?¡±


    Ailen looked at me like¡­ well, I didn¡¯t know quite what that look said. A bit of confusion, mixed with pity? ¡°Not that short. Should all go well, I would expect to arrive in less than a month.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ am unsure if Translation did its job correctly. By a month, do you mean thirty days?¡±


    ¡°That is the standard length of a month, yes,¡± Ailen said. ¡°The journey could take several days less or more in either direction.¡±


    I broke the bad news as we ate. Ailen looked with curiosity at the Shelter spell, sitting at an extra stool along with the rest of us.


    ¡°A month?¡± Ceira said. ¡°I¡¯m going to miss so much!¡±


    ¡°At least we have a path to return,¡± Senan said.


    ¡°I was just about to start my new job, too,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I would rather help out a friend¡­ friends.¡± She nodded, ¡°I knew it was dangerous when I joined you.¡±


    Ultimately, what could we say but it was unfortunate that we¡¯d have to wait a month- just to get to the next step, which might not even bring us back. But we couldn¡¯t guarantee I would level up sufficiently to change anything in that time, and if I did it meant we encountered a lot of danger.


    Ailen clearly didn¡¯t know what was happening in the conversation, but made a comment anyway. ¡°Dried meat, is it?¡±


    ¡°Is that a problem?¡± I asked. ¡°Are elves vegetarian? Or vegan?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what a ¡®vegan¡¯ is,¡± Ailen said. ¡°But you will not sustain long term travel well with just one type of sustenance. You will need more than just meat.¡±


    ¡°If you could help us find some more berries,¡± I said. ¡°We would appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°Well I- Actually, it would just be easier to cast Translation on Ailen, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± Sure, technically Midnight and I were getting a two-for-one deal, but we only had one person we needed to speak to. If I used Translate on Ailen, everyone would be able to talk freely. A silly mistake.


    ¡°I will accept your magic for the sake of convenience,¡± Ailen said.


    And that was that.


    As we settled down for bed, Ailen got up and went outside. I followed. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t think about making more beds. I¡¯m still new to this spell. I think the floor will be more comfortable.¡±


    Ailen looked at me, face inscrutable. Harder to read than normal, and I wasn¡¯t great at that with anyone but those I was most familiar with. ¡°I prefer to sleep outside.¡±


    ¡°Without a bedroll?¡±


    ¡°Of course. My clothes provide sufficient warmth for the season.¡±


    ¡°Is it really alright to bring you a month¡¯s travel away without notice? And then you have to come back.¡±


    ¡°My return will be more swift,¡± Ailen said. ¡°And it is but a month. My kind are longer lived than yours.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I haven¡¯t met that many elves, but I don¡¯t think they were so casual about that much time.¡±


    ¡°Likely a side effect of dwelling among others,¡± Ailen said.


    And then, apparently, the conversation was over. I said goodnight, and we slept. In the morning, we were off once more, going through a forest of gigantic proportions.


    Izzy and Ailen were out front, occasionally speaking- sometimes Izzy asked something, and other times Ailen was the first to speak. I didn¡¯t really overhear them.


    ¡°We¡¯re getting close,¡± Ailen said, turning back towards the group as a whole.


    ¡°To what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Food,¡± Ailen said. They gestured, and we began to follow. Then, we arrived in a grove of trees- almost appearing tiny compared to the rest of the forest. Perhaps they were shrubs instead? Either way, heavy fruits hung from their branches. ¡°Here it is.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Ceira said. ¡°I could really stand to eat something besides dried panther.¡± As she stepped forward, Ailen placed a hand on her shoulder¡­ stopping her just in time for one of the trees to only smash the area in front of her instead of pulverizing her.


    ¡°You do not mind fighting for your sustenance, do you?¡± Ailen asked. Not that we had much of a choice now. But also, of course I didn¡¯t mind.

 Chapter 168

    Plant monsters. I¡¯d barely fought any, Halloween being the last time I¡¯d deal with any significant amount. Ceira had been there as well, but she probably didn¡¯t cause it. At least, her description of her status window indicated she didn¡¯t have spells for that.


    Not that any of that mattered. At the moment, we had to deal with a grove of trees swinging fruit-flails at us. The good news was that though they were uprooting themselves, they didn¡¯t walk fast. That allowed our local archer companion Ailen to drag Ceira somewhere safer without much difficulty.


    ¡°Is there some reason we shouldn¡¯t turn these into firewood?¡± I called towards the people who might know. Then I proceeded to shoot one in the torso with a Sonic Lance. Ailen said we had to fight, so it wasn¡¯t my problem if some of them perished.


    ¡°This is part of their typical life cycle,¡± the elf said. A torso sized fruit was swinging towards my head on the end of a tree branch, but at the top of its arc an arrow severed its stem causing it to instead carry forward its momentum and fly over our group. ¡°It is unlikely we will cause significant ecological damage no matter what we do. But it is polite to drop seeds along your route.¡±


    I nodded. The trunk of the tree I¡¯d blasted remained far too intact for my taste, and there were a good number of trees. Fortunately, lightning tended to be quite effective against living trees for the same reason Firebolt was typically ineffective. They were quite wet.


    Chain Lightning was too expensive to use as I pleased, at least over the course of a single battle¡­ but if I could thin out the crowd a little bit it would be quite helpful for Izzy,  Ice Guy, Midnight, and I who were trying to dodge around out of the range of the grove. Especially as we found they could intentionally detach their oversized fruit, turning them into very large projectiles. And some of them exploded, apparently. Fortunately those explosions could only be so bad- compressed chunks of fruit flesh and high velocity seeds were still quite dangerous, but their impact was in large part absorbed by my Force Armor- and once that shattered my Power Brigade outfit.


    I had to dodge quite a few attacks in the seconds it took me to gather the mana for Chain Lightning. Bluish lightning streaked from my staff- not augmented but merely handily aimed by the tip of the weapon. It tore apart the first target, the one I had already used Sonic Lance on. The already shattered bark left vulnerable the inner parts of this tree, and the lightning coursed through it and out the other side. As it was supposed to, but the amount of damage it could cause was quite variable. That one toppled as my spell moved between each of the enemies in the grove- losing some of its power as it coursed through them. Those with fresher bark resisted the spell more effectively, and the remnants of the spell were rather lame upon reaching the furthest specimen, but I found the mana usage quite worthwhile.


    Midnight had the same complement of spells as me, but with his lower level he stuck to Sonic Lances. He clearly remembered the thing with Firebolt from before. Izzy was darting around between the trees, easily distracting them and avoiding their tripping roots but unable to cause serious damage. It wasn¡¯t like trees had organs to aim for, and as it turned out small swords weren¡¯t exactly made for chopping apart trees. But she handily kept them occupied while we tried to bring them down quickly.


    Ice Guy seemed to have a simple task, targeting slow moving behemoths. What was more, they froze quite well. Which is to say, well for us but not for them. Even if whatever tree-muscles they were using to be self mobile could overpower the ice he covered their limbs with, they would often shatter in the attempt. Dangling inanimate branches were hardly any threat compared to the rest of things. His direct offensive capabilities seemed limited however, spikes of ice not finding much purchase in the thick wood of the trees.


    Ailen, despite wielding a bow, managed to continue to significantly hinder the trees¡¯ attacks. Shooting apart thinner connections with almost impossibly sharp arrows and causing the exploding projectiles to do so early in their flight were both quite useful. Most of what the elf did involved mana in some manner, though I wasn¡¯t sure if it was spells or the abilities of a class I was unfamiliar with.


    And Ceira¡­ was not fully out of the combat. She¡¯d let Ailen pulled her away after she almost blundered into their attacks, but she still seemed determined to attack them with her almost nonexistent offensive capability. What did she even have? Could she control the other plants to slow them? Would Entangle work on them? She gathered mana to be released into a nearly invisible spell and one of them leaned to the side, then toppled to the ground.


    Oh right. Warp Wood still existed, and proved to work on even living wood. As for what actually happened, it seemed a slight and unexpected bend in the trunk of a tree completely threw off its balance. They did seem rather top-heavy.


    At some point, the trees understood they were losing and they began to retreat. Whether they had proper intelligence was unclear, but either way we were happy enough to let the remaining ones go. We already had way too much fruit.


    ¡°Is this all edible?¡± I asked, looking around.


    ¡°That would depend on definitions. They have a thick rind that is¡­ not appetizing. But technically edible,¡± Ailen explained. ¡°The innards are quite delicious. Even the seeds are edible, if you are willing to put in the work. As for the other type¡­¡±


    ¡°The ones that exploded?¡± Ceira said, touching a line of blood on her forehead.


    ¡°Yes. They are also edible, but rarely worth the effort. They can be safely depressurized, but only by someone with the right expertise. I would not recommend trying. Be careful to avoid them on the fallen trees by making note of the lumps, compared to otherwise smoother surfaces.¡±


    Ceira began to go around treating everyone¡¯s injuries, which were fortunately minor. ¡°Sorry,¡± she said. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that we would be attacked by plants.¡±


    ¡°An odd mistake for a druid,¡± Ailen said.


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    ¡°I¡¯ve only been a druid for a few months!¡± she protested. ¡°And nobody taught me anything.¡±


    ¡°Ah. My apologies,¡± Ailen said. ¡°I will be more forthcoming with information in the future. At least my estimation of the combat abilities of the others was correct. Flailfruit groves are not terribly dangerous, but I should have warned about combat beforehand.¡±


    Ailen showed us how to cut apart the non-exploding fruits, which basically just involved chopping through the thick outer layer and pulling them apart, revealing familiar citrusy fruit. The actual edible parts were contained to a small center, though despite being a small portion of the volume each had more actual fruit than a large grapefruit. We easily filled up our Storage. It wasn¡¯t quite empty, because we had leftover panther and also all of the leftover cans for tuna. It seemed a bit inappropriate to just toss them in an ancient jungle.


    ¡°The acidic juice can also be used in certain tanning processes,¡± Ailen mentioned as we were trying to determine if our various furs or hides could be used to store any more. ¡°I can also help you construct more effective packs.¡±


    It was amazing what a few sticks could do to provide structure for storage. Some of those furs were being used as bedrolls and blankets, but we didn¡¯t need them for that anymore.


    ¡°Glad someone knows this,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I know how to make use of these tools, but I mainly traveled between cities. And I didn¡¯t learn how to make them. Do all elves learn stuff like this?¡±


    ¡°We also tend to develop into specialties, but we often have more time to pick up extra tidbits of information. And here, we prefer to learn at least something of every relevant profession to maintain our position.¡±


    ¡°So,¡± I began to ask, ¡°I didn¡¯t see many dwellings, but you indicated you had a city or something we stumbled upon¡­ how many of you live there? If that¡¯s okay to ask.¡±


    ¡°It is a rather large settlement,¡± Ailen said. ¡°Thousands of us dwell together.¡±


    ¡°How many, uh, thousands?¡± I asked. ¡°Like a hundred thousand? A million?¡±


    ¡°One million? Certainly not.¡±


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s not that large of a place then. But it¡¯s probably difficult to live here.¡±


    ¡°The ancient plane is certainly not for the faint of heart,¡± Ailen said. ¡°But Omelos is quite prosperous. However, our population will never match that of the material plane cities, for various reasons.¡±


    ¡°I just thought with so long, you¡¯d have reached a large population,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°We chose not to,¡± Ailen replied. ¡°And the natural limitations of our kind contributed greatly. If those with long lifespans produced numerous children, they would find themselves in a constant struggle for resources. More like your kind.¡±


    As we moved along, Ailen became more talkative. Which was not to say there was much conversation- but notable features such as odd plants and signs of wild beasts were pointed out to Izzy and Ceira. While the former had a fairly reasonable record of avoiding danger, there was always more to learn. And the terrain around us continued to shift, changing from towering but otherwise typical seeming trees to a growing plethora of flora that seemed to want to kill us. The local fauna were another question entirely, but our elven friend worked with Izzy to direct us around most of them.


    ¡°The razorshrub does its best to protect its fruit and provide a suitable environment for more to grow. Instead of preferring animals to spread its seed, they are quite insular and prefer to let the patch spread. Anything unaware will cut itself on the bladed leaves,¡± Ailen explained. ¡°Though usually they appear soft until something is fully within the area, to maximize the gathering of blood.¡±


    ¡°These are the worst plants,¡± Ceira said. ¡°You¡¯re awful, you hear me?¡±


    ¡°You can speak to plants?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not yet. But I learned to speak with animals, didn¡¯t I? Plants seem to be harder, though.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Alien said. ¡°What do you mean by learning to speak with animals?¡±


    ¡°Well, I kept trying it until it worked.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Ailen nodded. ¡°I thought so. That would make sense as you are planar travelers.¡±


    ¡°You know about that?¡± I frowned.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Ailen said. ¡°How could I not?¡±


    ¡°Literally nobody from the material plane knew. Or told me, at least.¡±


    ¡°Or me,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°That is odd,¡± Ailen said. ¡°Perhaps they forgot? The risks seem worthy of bringing up.¡±


    ¡°What risks?¡± I asked. This was important knowledge. Or at least, it could have been.


    ¡°Developing a new spell or ability unexpectedly can lead to deaths. For example, if you imagined lightning targeted at your friends¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh. Is that it?¡±


    ¡°It is a significant risk, heightened in times of stress,¡± Ailen explained. ¡°It should be considered.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it was intentionally left out so that nobody was tempted to seek out portals?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Ailen said. ¡°I am not familiar with the situation. Did it work?¡±


    Izzy caught my eye. ¡°Nope.¡±


    I had more to add, ¡°I don¡¯t know if we¡¯re the best specimens, as obviously taking a sample of people tempted to go through portals from those who actually did is¡­ like checking for horses before a cart?¡± Was there a phrase for this? Eh, whatever.


    ¡°I doubt it was for benevolent reasons,¡± Senan commented. ¡°Especially not if your mentor is unwilling to share information on it remotely. That sounds like a group in power trying to maintain control.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of that,¡± I said. ¡°When we stop for the night I should continue to contact the Brigade. Since they can¡¯t exactly initiate anything.¡±


    So I did. Ultimately, there was nothing to relay. Not from the Brigade, at least. But Great Girl had apparently found out I was contacting them, so Calculator relayed her message. Which basically summed up to her yelling about warning her about danger and then not bringing her along on the raid. Which was probably fair. Would have been nice to have her with us, too.


    Ailen just looked at me. ¡°What?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You are an odd individual.¡±


    Lots of people told me that. But I wasn¡¯t sure what that meant in this context. And I didn¡¯t feel like asking at the moment.


    Shelter was nowhere near as good as sleeping in my own bed¡­ and a hundred times better than sleeping on even the most carefully selected cave floor. Magic was good. But I wanted to be back home. Only another month¡­ until we figured out if it was even possible.

 Chapter 169

    Traveling through ancient and deadly forest was starting to become routine. Wake up in a relatively comfortable bed, have breakfast of dried meat, plus whatever fruit or vegetables we could get our hands on. Everyone got used to the trek and everything was going well.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how the rest of you keep up with this every day,¡± Ceira complained. ¡°I¡¯m always exhausted!¡±


    Except for that. But she was actually at a faster pace than before- it was just that she was the slowest one of us, and remained that way as we set the pace to what she could manage.


    ¡°If we run into any more thorn patches I¡¯m going to start having to wear random furs¡­¡± Izzy sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not fair that you guys have tear-resistant outfits.¡±


    And that.


    Then there were Midnight¡¯s stomach issues. Fruit and vegetables weren¡¯t high on the diet priority for Celmothians, and his stores of tuna had run dry. Eating random meat was fine for most of us, but he was more sensitive to the changes.


    Senan caught me staring at him. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°... Nothing?¡± He tilted his head.


    ¡°Oh. Everyone else was having problems,¡± I said.


    ¡°What about you?¡± he asked. ¡°What are your problems?¡±


    I went through the checklist. Mentally¡­ I was doing fine. Perhaps I was supposed to be stressed out by being surrounded by danger, but I could watch my experience go up regularly and we were going to get back home, eventually. ¡°Nothing,¡± I said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t even hurt to use mana anymore.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a serious problem.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Not much I could do about it. I needed as much mana as I could get, and I can only process so many crystals per day. And yes, it was necessary,¡± I said, tilting my head towards Ceira.


    ¡°I understand,¡± he said.


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re fine?¡± I asked.


    ¡°If we get back to Earth without anyone sustaining permanent injuries or death? I will be quite satisfied,¡± Senan replied. ¡°Plus we might be able to do something about Doctor Doomsday, while also being far away from him. If we can get people here to deal with his portals.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how many of them are going here specifically,¡± I said. ¡°But there¡¯s probably a few. And more on the material plane.¡±


    ¡°Do you desire to find these portals?¡± Ailen suddenly turned towards us and asked. I suppose we hadn¡¯t really been trying to be secretive, and an elven scout or whatever had to be pretty good at hearing.


    ¡°I would think that would be relevant to your people,¡± Senan said. ¡°Since this is your forest.¡±


    ¡°Some part of the forest, yes,¡± Ailen nodded. ¡°And we are not fond of intruders. We may yet devote ourselves to removing them from our territory, but they have only appeared recently.¡±


    I frowned, ¡°I thought they might have begun popping up about a year ago. Is that not the case?¡±


    ¡°One year is quite recent.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± I nodded. ¡°I see. Speaking of which, you said it would take us about a month to arrive at this Comhghall fellow? How much longer?¡±


    ¡°Approximately one month.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°I had estimated our travel speed for those unused to the terrain, but I overestimated some individuals. Depending on the rate of improvement, we may regain some lost time. The two of you will be relevant factors as well.¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure we¡¯re both going to remain faster than Ceira,¡± I said.


    ¡°She is a druid, is she not? Along with physical fitness, I expect she will acquire the ability to travel adverse terrain easily enough.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I should have thought of that,¡± I admitted. ¡°She could spend points too, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°That seems unnecessary,¡± Ailen said. ¡°Points are limited. Training abilities is much more efficient. But perhaps the time is a significant factor. Humans live¡­ two centuries?¡±


    ¡°One on the top end,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I see. I have not met one before.¡±


    Those thoughts stuck with me until evening. ¡°Ceira,¡± I said. ¡°You are the least trained of us-¡±


    ¡°I know!¡± she grumbled. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying.¡±


    ¡°-and I think it would be better to intentionally train you instead of just dragging you around with us,¡± I finished.


    ¡®I¡¯ve been learning things all day,¡± she said. ¡°And I¡¯m tired.¡±


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    I nodded seriously. ¡°That may be so, but we must make use of our time. There are only twenty-four hours in a day-¡± I caught myself, then looked towards Ailen. ¡°Are the lengths of the days here the same as on the material plane?¡±


    ¡°The same sun shines on both.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± I asked, leaning forward. ¡°I thought the planes were separate from the system.¡±


    ¡°This plane co-locates with the current material plane, sharing certain features.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s coterminous?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ailen denied. ¡°Co-location is different. But I am afraid that is the limit of my knowledge on the subject. Perhaps Comhghall could explain better, or the wise ones.¡±


    ¡°As tempting as it is to suddenly turn around¡­ I think we should hope that this Comhghall guy knows more,¡± I said. ¡°Anyway,¡± I turned back to Ceira. ¡°Twenty-four hours in a day. We can travel what, eight or ten? Let¡¯s say we travel ten, sleep ten, and eat for two hours. We don¡¯t have to spend time setting up or taking down tents or anything. We¡¯ve been spending a few hours lazing around before we go to sleep. So we should make use of that time.¡±


    ¡°... It¡¯s no fair that I¡¯m the only one who has to do extra work,¡± she sighed. ¡°But I guess I am the worst one¡­¡±


    ¡°A good point,¡± Senan said. ¡°The rest of us should devote some effort specifically to training as well.¡±


    I was going to do it anyway, especially now that I could cast things without it hurting. ¡°What do we need the most?¡± I asked. ¡°Enhancements? Offense?¡±


    ¡°Utility, I think,¡± Senan said. ¡°Storage specifically, as when we find food we come across a lot at once. We can only manage a handful of days, even with dried food being more weight efficient. I don¡¯t like betting on finding food regularly.¡±


    ¡°If it bothers you,¡± Ailen said. ¡°I can find food more regularly.¡±


    ¡°I have no doubt you will be able to keep us supplied,¡± Senan said. ¡°But if you were to be incapacitated for any reason, we would be back to where we were. With a bit more knowledge about the area, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense,¡± I replied. ¡°Plus, we had to leave behind basically a whole dragon¡­¡± I sighed. ¡°I kind of wanted to see what Francois or Vilhelmiina could do with dragon parts.¡±


    ¡°I can help with the training as well,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Except¡­ if it increases more it will surpass Familiar Bond again.¡±


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s what you should train,¡± I suggested. ¡°There are several things at the limit still.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not really sure how we train that,¡± Midnight admitted.


    ¡°I guess we hang out on purpose. And see if we can do anything more with the bond?¡± Sensing emotions, casting spells. There might not really be more features, but we might improve those. ¡°There are range limits, perhaps you can try to stretch the range at which we cast spells on the both of us?¡± That might come only with improvements, but he would still be working with magic and he might get us a natural upgrade with something else.


    Izzy planned to train her offense, working on her weapon stances. Her mobility- and legs- were being used all day. She seemed concerned about how she wasn¡¯t much use fighting plants, but I think it was really more of a matter of her equipment not aligning. Maybe I should get a spell for enhancing her weapons as well¡­ or at least repairing them. We were running into trouble with that. Unfortunately, all of the more powerful repairing options I knew about were out of the domain of a mage.


    Captain Senan only had limited options for what he could do without damaging the forest for no good reason. Mainly that involved ice walls, or coating himself or the Shelter in ice. Adding it, removing it, and occasionally moving ice around- though the last part seemed the most troublesome, once he¡¯d made something solid.


    Ceira decided to focus on her plant-based abilities. Which was to say, that was most of what she had and Speak With Animals wasn¡¯t much good without animals around. Obviously one could find animals here, but wandering about alone at night was a good way to get eaten before she gained any improvements. And being able to speak with it hadn¡¯t stopped the giant panther from trying to eat us.


    She had already finished straightening my staff, which was now as it should have been. Maybe with the grain distorted and twisted a bit, but that didn¡¯t seem like a practical issue. Thus, she focused on Entangle and Sprout. Plants and trees bent and grabbed under her will, before returning to their natural positions when the mana faded.


    I didn¡¯t know how to make Storage better. Practice, obviously- but was there something specific I could try? Taking things in and out was easy enough, and what I wanted was to expand the space. So what if I shoved more things in there? Or tried to move more at once? That seemed like a good method. And also a good way to horribly break stuff. ¡°Can I have your empty cans, Midnight?¡±


    ¡°Sure, what do you need them for?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m just worried about exploding things or permanently banishing them to a demiplane. So I¡¯d rather start with trash.¡±


    I carefully removed everything I was worried about destroying somehow and supplemented with random fallen sticks and leaves. Though strangely some of them didn¡¯t work. After some effort, I determined that they were too ¡®alive¡¯, though it was odd because I was able to store fresh fruit well enough. Was it some kind of mental barrier that I had to bypass? And did that mean I could store living things?


    I wasn¡¯t supposed to be able to do that. But maybe it was an arbitrary or skill based limitation. Obviously I wasn¡¯t going to try with any of us- based purely on weight requirements Midnight would fit into Storage and Izzy almost would without her equipment. But I wasn¡¯t going to risk danger or even discomfort for them.


    ¡°I need bugs,¡± I said to Ailen, who was shooting at a tree chosen as a target. Actually, if I recalled correctly they always stayed out to do this even before we were officially training at this time.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ailen asked without losing focus.


    ¡°I want them for magic testing. Preferably not too small or too large, and not dangerous. If that¡¯s even possible.¡±


    ¡°How about an earthworm?¡± Ailen asked.


    ¡°That seems reasonable,¡± I said.


    ¡°I will find one.¡±


    And so they did. The elf wandered off into the darkened forest and came back ten or twenty minutes later covered in dirt and carrying a small snake. I guess that worked, but it wasn¡¯t an earthworm. No wait. It was. It was just a little over a foot long and something like an inch in diameter at its thickest point.


    It wriggled a lot.


    ¡°Here you go,¡± Ailen said.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I replied. Some clean spells quickly cleaned up the dirt on the elf, though we could have probably brushed off most of it. Then it was time for me to wrestle with the earthworm.


    It was too big. It was several pounds, not too far from the limit of what I could put into Storage at once. Well, maybe half of it¡­ but it was at least twice as hard to transport. It wrestled with me physically and magically. I felt like I might have been able to put it in Storage. It was like I was pressing up against some sort of thick membrane, but it seemed like it should give out. But using mana a bit faster than it recovered for the next hour or so wasn¡¯t enough. There was probably technique too. Maybe I should start with what I knew worked, and see if the overstuffing idea had merit.

 Chapter 170

    After a certain size, managing to get over a root was just about as much of a chore as climbing a smaller tree. Except roots didn¡¯t tend to have branches or other handholds, so rough irregularities had to be relied on. Our helpful elven buddy Ailen always found places we could climb over, where the tangle of plants was too much to conveniently go around. Ceira could slightly move around plants with magic- but even with the high ambient mana, we came across such situations far too often for her to deal with the majority of them.


    For the most part, it ended up being the taller and stronger three going up first, sometimes providing assistance to Ceira and Izzy. Izzy could climb fairly well on her own, but her size hindered her somewhat with reaching new holds. On the other hand, she could use smaller ones, things less able to support the weight of a full sized individual. Midnight was perfectly able to climb up with his claws, though he was also content to hang out on my shoulder if we weren¡¯t actually going far.


    Over the course of our travels, all of us picked up our share of falls- except for our elven guide. Maybe Ailen was falling down out of sight, but I had the feeling that a century or a few of experience traveling through this specific forest also helped. Of course, Force Armor prevented most annoying cuts and the like, but it couldn¡¯t stop us twisting an ankle or wrenching an arm. We were cautious enough to avoid most of that, and Ceira¡¯s magic took care of the rest given time.


    We generally avoided fighting when we could, mainly just by avoiding dangerous territory. Fortunately that was already factored into our travel schedule¡­ and Ailen¡¯s estimation of our arrival time had finally dropped below a month. Now we were at two weeks, if we could keep up the same pace or perhaps slightly speed up. Ceira was improving, but she didn¡¯t exactly explode forward in levels. After all, it was supposed to be a gradual process. Going from level 10 to level 20 was about 4 times as much total experience. It was supposed to happen over a number of years. So even if she was working harder than average, having already leveled up on our journey was somewhat of an exception.


    At least Curse of the Barbarian was good for something. In approximately 1 year, I¡¯d grown to over 8 times my total experience. And all it took was almost dying a few times along with almost daily battles. So there were certainly tradeoffs. And I would have been quite content with being at the vaguely expected half my current experience value if studying books worked like it was supposed to. Maybe I would be a little behind ahead based on how hard I¡¯d worked, but I couldn¡¯t really know for sure. I only got to live life once.


    And reincarnating probably wouldn¡¯t count. Any sort of revival magic wasn¡¯t as straightforward as Earth made it out to be. Then again, they had to change a lot of things for it to actually work as a game, cross-dimensional inspiration could only go so far.


    -----


    Wandering through a jungle at night was not high on my list of things I wanted to do, and everyone else quite agreed with me. So we continued our nightly training, working on our skills- even Senan, who didn¡¯t have a proper experience number and had to rely on less direct factors to know he improved. Of course, he had enough time spent in training that he understood those factors, and the Brigade was well equipped to measure people¡¯s progress. It was just easier for me in particular because I had numbers.


    I was about a handful of uses through Storage, popping things in and out, when I heard it. A warning shout from outside. And then the front door of the Shelter exploded into a rain of splinters. So much for it protecting us. Except without it, we would have been hit directly by¡­ whatever that was.


    Everyone scrambled into action. Ailen was already outside, practicing their archery presumably. They had been responsible for the warning. Izzy sprang for the wall next to the door, Ceira ducked behind the beds, and Senan tossed a ball of ice out the door. It didn¡¯t go far, so either he missed badly due to the smoke or he was trying to set up a wall or something.


    Midnight scrambled over towards me. I gathered the mana to Haste us both. ¡°Get Izzy and Ailen,¡± I told him. He was a smaller target so once he was outside he could at least take care of himself. I didn¡¯t want to think about what would happen if another explosion made it inside the Shelter. I could take care of Senan, which I did first. He just nodded as I touched him for Haste.


    ¡°Good luck,¡± he said, placing his hand on the wooden shutters on one side window. Which he then proceeded to kick through after they were frozen, after which he leapt out. The Shelter was only temporary but it was sad to see it getting smashed like that.


    I scuttled to the back of the room, ducking down next to Ceira. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± she said in a panic.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. We¡¯re just under attack by-¡± a few lasers smashed into the fireplace at the back of  the room, a few feet away from us. Then there was a hail of gunfire. ¡°Doctor Doomsday¡¯s robots. Just stay safe.¡±


    ¡°I- I can help!¡± she protested.


    ¡°Not if you aren¡¯t safe,¡± I reminded her. ¡°So take cover first, use magic second.¡± I pulled out one of my baggies. I had been pretty conservative with the industrial diamond dust, so unless we got into a lot of physical confrontations in the near future this was the time to use it. I just didn¡¯t have enough mana to use it on everyone. I couldn¡¯t afford to hold back at all, so I used it at maximum capacity on Ceira. ¡°Just a warning¡­ Shelter is not gonna last long. I plan to let it fade away instead of risking it falling on someone.¡±


    Midnight and presumably Izzy were already out the front- I felt Midnight, and didn¡¯t see Izzy. The smoke had cleared enough for me to see a vague wall in front of the building, though given how many lasers had just hit the fireplace it wasn¡¯t in great shape. I could use a small corner of it and try to draw the attention away from the Shelter. Though preferably I would explode some enemies before actually getting attention.


    I could feel the robots now. They were equipped with a powerful AEGIS¡­ except that didn¡¯t quite make sense. I clutched my staff in my hand as I ducked behind the remaining ice wall momentarily. It seemed everyone else had spread out too, so only a small amount of fire was coming my way.


    I could finally see the bots, a handful of them all standing together and covering the area. I was barely able to see them through the ice, but I felt something. Something more than the spray of dirt as projectiles landed next to me. If only I could remain in shelter for long enough for their ammunition to run out¡­ but of course, that wasn¡¯t going to last.


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    Best focus on the enemies. I waited until the one aiming my way stopped shooting for a moment, then threw out a quick Firebolt. At the same time I was sprinting for the nearest undergrowth, and then I was going to duck behind a root my height. The attack was really more of a distraction, and I got exactly the results I wanted, and expected.


    Which is to say, my Firebolt splashed off of the AEGIS without even the slightest indication it caused any damage. Sure, it might not have seemed like much but that could still kill or at least heavily injure a human. One without powers or levels, at least.


    I had to dive when the bot swiveled to face me. It coordinated with another one to spray death upon my location. Fortunately, I had something like three to five feet of fresh wood between us. Maybe two to four. Yeah¡­ I wasn¡¯t going to count on that lasting forever at the rate I was getting splinters spraying down on my head. I had to keep moving.


    Flashes of mana came from around the area. Midnight was about as relaxed as I would expect in the middle of a pitched battle, currently sheltering behind a massive tree. I had felt a second Haste come from him, so he should have found Ailen. And Ailen was probably the source of the mana.


    An arrow soared through the air, striking one of them. The AEGIS responded, a visible flaring of energy and a surge of technopower. The arrow stopped entirely, but I could feel the impact. That wasn¡¯t just an arrow, but one magically enhanced. It even sent the bot staggering back half a step. Too bad, if that had come a moment later¡­


    I needed to share what I had learned. Perhaps it should have been obvious, but it hadn¡¯t come up. Especially with Ailen. But as much as I wanted to shout the weakness I¡¯d figured out to everyone, doing that would compromise my best chance of actually using it.


    What was the best spell for this? Splinters and shrapnel rained down on me, and the smell of burning wood reminded me to cast Energy Ward. I crushed one of my biggest crystals. One had to be fine. 5 mana. If I needed it and didn¡¯t have it, it would be a lot worse than a bit of coughing up blood.


    I wished I knew a larger variety of spells. Or had a dozen more levels. Or could have just Gated us away from this. But I didn¡¯t have enough mana to cast it without passing out, and I didn¡¯t have a portal to work with to reduce that cost. So here we were. That left me with two sensible offensive options. Maybe three and a half on the far end.


    I gathered mana, feeling the ebb and flow of power around the bots. I needed a moment where the ones facing me weren¡¯t firing but the largest number of others would be. I felt a moment that might have worked. A lull in the fire, two shooting elsewhere. I wanted more, but I realized I couldn¡¯t be picky. So when I felt another moment, I took my chance. I couldn¡¯t hold onto 13 mana for much longer anyway.


    My staff poked above the roots first, a bit off to the side. Then my head poked up. The bots had to already be reacting. Something struck my staff. Lightning poured from the tip of it over the root, directly towards the bots who had already been firing for more than a few moments. Chain Lightning hit one, breaking through its AEGIS. And though they were undoubtedly resistant to shocks, that didn¡¯t mean they were invulnerable. It just meant their sensitive equipment wouldn¡¯t fall apart from a little static.


    An arm exploded off of the first one as the Chain Lightning leapt to the next one, piercing through the AEGIS once more. These were more powerful than the ones the orcs wore, but with one caveat I could sense. They were powered by the bots, and either because of that or because they couldn¡¯t properly shoot out of them otherwise¡­ the power was lower while they were attacking. It wasn¡¯t an instant change, which was why I had to target the ones steadily firing.


    My head already ducked down before the Chain Lightning reached all of its targets. It would either follow my intentions or it wouldn¡¯t. I should have at least caused real damage to one, and nuisance to one or two others.


    I sniffed. Was that my hair that was singed? The tip of my staff too. And I thought I felt a bit of blood dripping down my forehead. Well, my skull still seemed intact so that was about the best I could imagine the whole thing going.


    I crouched down, glancing back towards Ceira. The Shelter was gone- temporary magic could only sustain so much damage. Fortunately, Ceira was also gone. There was some clear scarring on the ground in the area, but I didn¡¯t see her.


    Senan¡¯s location was fairly obvious as the source of the only chilly powers around, and when he lobbed something. He seemed to be avoiding direct assault, which I could wholly understand. Neither of us wanted to be filled full of lead or barbecued. At least the bots didn¡¯t seem to have any more rockets.


    With that thought in mind I was surprised they didn¡¯t immediately fire one up into the trees, where Ailen was. But they really might have been out. The archer I could only track from the bursts of mana, and what I felt was terrifying. Their Hasted movement never stopped, but they were up in the branches. They had to be running along them moving from tree to tree as they shot down below.


    I felt another impact, this time of a lightning enchanted arrow. It was once more repelled by an AEGIS. Disappointing. That hadn¡¯t been the message I meant to convey. But immediately following that was another shot that circled around the back of the bots and struck one in the spine. Not that they fully had spines. They weren¡¯t particularly humanoid, but the middle of the back was basically the spine. And the arrow pierced not just through the AEGIS- weakened as that one was firing- but also through the outer shell into something I hoped was important.


    So now they knew that we knew, but it wasn¡¯t too bad for us. Because if the bots stopped shooting, then they couldn¡¯t kill us. But if they kept shooting, we could kill them. I couldn¡¯t count on Doctor Doomsday¡¯s bots to have any self preservation instincts, but if they did have them it should be colliding with their intent to kill.


    I circled around the tree. I felt the power of the bots thin out. Apparently, the bots had decided to split up. Probably because of the Chain Lightning. I wasn¡¯t going to tell them I didn¡¯t have enough mana to do that again. Too many other things cast, but I wasn¡¯t going to regret the Hastes that were keeping people alive or the other defenses.


    It was unclear if the bot would be able to sense me coming, but one was circling the opposite direction of me. I gathered mana. I would prefer to surprise it if possible, but that might not work. My staff almost got caught.


    Oh right. I was being stupid. I had one more move to use first. I had no idea if it would work this way, but I activated the magic in my staff and tossed it. I sure wasn¡¯t willing to hope the bot politely let me get into melee.


    My staff hit a surprised bot, and my magic followed up immediately. Just 5 mana. Sonic Lance was my punchiest spell for what I had remaining, though I didn¡¯t expect it to pierce through an AEGIS.


    But my staff had a good chunk of mana stored in it strictly for its dispelling feature. And as it turned out, Doctor Doomsday hadn¡¯t perfectly insulated his bots against that effect, even though I stole it from him secondhand. It worked enough that my spell hit the chassis of the bot, at least.


    We stood there looking at each other. It felt like an eternity, but was probably less than a second. Guns swiveled. I used the last of my mana to fire another Sonic Lance, holding back just enough that I finished casting the spell before I passed out. In fact, I got to watch the bot fall over and even managed to stagger into the nook of some roots before I fully blacked out.

 Chapter 171

    Waking up some time later to hear my companions regale me with the remainder of the battle was quite pleasing, specifically because none of us had perished. Though we were not without injuries, that was only to be expected.


    The elf Ailen was first to comment when I asked how the battle went. ¡°After determining the weaknesses of the metal golem¡¯s attack patterns, I was able to injure them more effectively with my limited use ammunition.¡±


    ¡°Is that how you shoot arrows that come from behind things?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No. That is one of my class abilities.¡±


    ¡°As a Scout?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I never said that I had the Scout class.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that is true,¡± I said from my position reclining on some nicely stacked leaves.


    ¡°... I killed one,¡± said the most unlikely of my companions. Specifically, Ceira.


    ¡°How?¡± I asked. Maybe she wrapped it in vines or something¡­ but she didn¡¯t have any offensive magic that I knew about.


    ¡°After¡­¡± It took her a moment to ready herself. ¡°After I was no longer being shot at, I ran for cover behind one of the trees and hid.¡±


    ¡°Sensible,¡± I commented.


    ¡°... Yeah,¡± Ceira replied. ¡°Um, and then I was looking through the spells I could learn. They all seemed a little too¡­ uncertain. Some fire and lightning, but you already had that and they weren¡¯t doing enough. So I picked Rust without thinking about it. These robots are probably non-ferrous and rust resistant.¡±


    ¡°That does seem like Doctor Doomsday¡¯s design sensibilities. So how did you kill one?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ one came around my tree and I panicked and¡­ it worked anyway. At least on some of it.¡±


    ¡°How did you get past the AEGIS?¡± It should have at least been partially functional even if it was attacking.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Ceira shrugged.


    For that, Senan had an explanation. ¡°They have to let through low kinetic energy motion, or they would burn through all their power just walking around in atmosphere,¡± he explained. ¡°I did not bring it up because I did not expect anyone to try to touch them.¡±


    ¡°But we did,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°You certainly did,¡± Senan agreed.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill it entirely on my own,¡± Ceira admitted. ¡°Sorry, Midnight.¡±


    ¡°Having help doesn¡¯t mean you didn¡¯t kill it,¡± Midnight said. ¡°You did not stop after just causing a small amount of damage.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± I nodded. I looked towards Izzy, sitting up on a nearby root. ¡°Did you get to stab any?¡±


    ¡°I need magic swords,¡± was her answer. So not as much as she wanted, then.


    With all of that out of the way, we could move onto the next most important thing. ¡°Did anyone level up?¡±


    I got a full 60 experience, but that still put me only halfway to level 31. At that point I would be able to use 18 mana for a single spell, but that was still short of what Gate needed without a recent portal or something similar to work with.


    ¡°I did,¡± Ceira reported. ¡°I¡¯m level 10 now.¡±


    That was unsurprising. It was also as expected that most of us did not. Izzy had apparently been close enough. I¡¯d just recently gotten a level, so I wasn¡¯t surprised. And Midnight didn¡¯t get as much combat experience as I did. He was actually fairly close, though. I didn¡¯t know what level Ailen was, but a couple of fights over the course of what I presumed to be centuries probably didn¡¯t change much. The elf was probably higher level than all of us by a good margin. And Senan didn¡¯t have a class or levels, so obviously he wouldn¡¯t level up. How unfortunate for him.


    We sat in silence for some time, exhausted. ¡°So¡­ why are we all just sitting out here?¡± I asked.


    Oh right. Shelter was down. Fortunately this forest was flush with mana, and I¡¯d regenerated enough in the time I¡¯d been unconscious and however long our talk went.


    Hopefully we wouldn¡¯t get attacked by more robots. Ceira did her best to patch up the worst of our wounds before we went to sleep, then everyone passed out in the conjured beds.


    -----


    It was a shame we couldn¡¯t bring back bot parts to be analyzed, but we were already pushing our limits for what we could carry. None of us were experts on what was important, so carrying around a bunch of hunks of metal wouldn¡¯t be practical anyway. Dragon scales would have been better. This was why people made magic bags.


    Or bags at all. Though Ailen had helped us make semi-functional packs, so we weren¡¯t limited strictly to what we could hold in our arms and Storage.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    We fell back into a typical routine of travel, finding food where we could and dealing with dangers we came across. Though avoidance was a main components of our efforts there, and we even avoided several fights through Ceira entangling things. We didn¡¯t need to kill things after all, and most creatures wouldn¡¯t chase us far. The wilderness savvy Ailen would know which were which.


    By the end of the month I had run into enough scenarios where Stoneskin seemed prudent that I was down to the last two little baggies.


    I noticed a gradual shift in our surroundings, from ancient forest to the intrusion of rocky terrain. However, the plantlife continued to be plentiful and massive, there was simply more exposed rock and vertical movement in our daily treks.


    We spent several days walking up a river, until we came to a waterfall that stood out from the surroundings, water dropping from at least a hundred feet. It was majestic, but also kind of in our way.


    ¡°We will climb this,¡± Ailen said as if it were just that simple. And while I was confident in my physical fitness, I didn¡¯t really have much practice with climbing cliff faces in particular. However, the confidence of the elf was high, and so far we hadn¡¯t done anything beyond our capabilities. Even for Ceira, who was at least able to keep up with us on our daily treks now.


    Before saying anything more, Ailen pulled out a coil of rope. They had a proper pack, which was something we should have probably thought about before we had left behind the elves¡­ but then again, they did provide help even though we were random people who showed up where we should not be. Perhaps asking for more would have been pushing it.


    Regardless, the coil of rope was quickly affixed to an arrow. It seemed like it would be impossible to fire the bow, but with a great bit of both skill and magic the arrow sailed over the top of the cliff, impaling itself in a tree.


    ¡°Wait here,¡± Ailen said. Instead of climbing up the cliff, it looked more like they were running up it while barely laying a hand on the rope.


    I wondered why the arrow didn¡¯t pull out of the tree. At first I thought it must be deeply embedded, but Ailen pulled it out with ease when at the top. Then the rope was secured around the tree, leaving quite a good bit dangling on the ground.


    Before we could decide what we were supposed to do, Ailen had slid back down the rope to us. ¡°You can make ice that is not slippery, correct?¡± they asked Senan.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he nodded. ¡°Though if I have to maintain much of it, it can begin to melt.¡±


    ¡°Let me describe my plan. You will create footholds along the way, sufficient for people to step on. Can you maintain that many?¡±


    ¡°I should be able to,¡± he nodded. ¡°I can know for certain by the time I reach the top.¡±


    He seemed confident in going up on his own, which made sense. With the ability to create his own footholds it was less like climbing and more like walking up very steep steps. He held onto the rope, pulling hand over hand, but most of the work seemed to be done by his legs. And I learned that he didn¡¯t have to create ice from his hands. Actually, that was obvious when he created an armored shell around himself, but I hadn¡¯t really thought about it.


    Ceira went next, upon confirmation that the ice would hold. It took her a bit longer, but the footholds were sufficiently large to require almost no balancing.


    Next was Izzy. ¡°... I can definitely climb that,¡± Izzy said. ¡°But the footholds are kinda far apart.¡±


    ¡°I have a magical solution for you,¡± I said, holding out my hand. She reached out to let me do my magic, and I cast Enlarge. After which, she was a little bit taller than Ceira.


    ¡°I always forget you can do that.¡±


    ¡°Your fighting style doesn¡¯t benefit from being bigger so¡­¡± I shrugged. Most people didn¡¯t, actually. It came with strength, but also being a larger target.


    It didn¡¯t take her long to climb up, and then I went with Midnight on my shoulder. My upper body strength was probably sufficient to climb only with the rope, but that was much more difficult than using the cliff to brace against, and the footholds were another step easier. It was odd, stepping on ice that tightly gripped my shoes, but it worked.


    Ailen followed up the rear, and then all of us were ready to continue onward.


    Not long later, we got an announcement. ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Ailen declared.


    ¡°Already?¡± I asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem close to dark. Will we be camping already?¡±


    ¡°Not camping. We have arrived,¡± Ailen said.


    ¡°Oh.¡± It had been so long, I almost began to imagine we would be hiking forever. It was a continuous routine.


    But soon enough I saw a wooden palisade, the river flowing beneath it. Ailen yelled something I didn¡¯t understand towards it. That was odd, because Translation was very used to elven. And it wasn¡¯t anything like common.


    A small gate opened up next to the river, behind which stood an armored guard. Armor which made no attempt to conceal tusks. An orc, then. But Translation didn¡¯t immediately pick up on orcish, though I¡¯d used it before. It seemed to be a different version, though I shouldn¡¯t have been too surprised. Humans on Earth had myriad languages, and where I¡¯d come from there were still regional variations in the languages.


    Ailen led us into the fort- or whatever was the proper name for it. The wooden palisades surrounded a number of other wooden structures built on bare stone and dirt, clearly carved out of the surrounding wilderness. The occupants watched us curiously, more orcs.


    Finally, we ended up at one of the structures, not the smallest nor the largest example, but with a different aesthetic. Bone appeared to be a common decoration, but this also had plants woven into the structure.


    ¡°This is Comhghall¡¯s,¡± Ailen said as we approached. Before we could even reach the door, it burst open and an orc tumbled out past us. I heard a voice from inside, the only snippet of which Translation managed to get was ¡®try again¡¯. Then a figure came into view. Tall and muscled, but also heavily scarred and with gray hair. And of course, greenish skin.


    ¡°Comhghall,¡± Ailen said. There was a word before that. Perhaps a title? I got the vague sense it was that. ¡°... outsider come for aid.¡± Oh good, it was getting better.


    ¡°Very well,¡± the old orc who was apparently Comhghall said. He looked over our group, then locked eyes with me. His eyes narrowed. No doubt mine did as well.


    We focused on each other to the point I couldn¡¯t hear my companions speak, nor did I immediately notice them moving away. I was pretty sure I didn¡¯t like this guy, and that he didn¡¯t like me. But no matter how much I instinctively wanted to punch him in the face, he was our best ticket out of here. So I didn¡¯t do it, or even mention how much I wanted to.


    Because of my restraint, I lost the opportunity to throw the first punch. I managed to react as powerful muscles tensed, but I was still too slow to avoid it. At least I tensed enough to stop the wind from getting knocked out of me.


    A moment later my fist hit him in the jaw. Since he started it, I might as well.

 Chapter 172

    There wasn¡¯t really a lot of thinking that went into things after I was punched in the gut. My fist just went straight for Comhghall¡¯s face, and most of what happened after the old orc¡¯s head snapped back was a blur. We were a tangle of limbs and nothing more.


    Blood came into the picture at some point, probably due to our tusks. Either someone misaimed their strike or one of us headbutted the other. They weren¡¯t practical to actually use as weapons, but they were still there and dangerous.


    I know I took at least a few knocks to the head during the whole thing, which didn¡¯t help much with my recollection. I mostly remembered my vision coming into focus, looking into the dirt while I felt a heavy weight on my back.


    ¡°Why are you angry, kid?¡±


    I tried to shift and throw him off, but somehow he¡¯d gotten my arms. ¡°You attacked me out of nowhere.¡±


    ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean so? Responding to hostilities with hostilities is perfectly rational.¡±


    The old man¡¯s gruff voice came close. ¡°But why be angry about it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s perfectly reasonable when someone you don¡¯t know attacks you,¡± I grunted. ¡°I shoulda used magic.¡±


    ¡°Now that would be an unreasonable escalation,¡± Comhghall said. ¡°Someone could get hurt.¡±


    I looked at a few droplets of dirt encrusted blood below my face, ¡°Can get hurt without magic too.¡±


    ¡°Only if you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing. Tell me, kid, did your parents never teach you how to fight?¡±


    My head hurt. It wasn¡¯t just from being battered around, though. Translation was working as hard as it could, and something about the way he said fight messed with me. In my head, it almost came to mean ¡®meet new people¡¯. But given the context, it was pretty clear. ¡°Would have had to meet them for that,¡± I said.


    ¡°Then your chief of shaman. Or literally anyone else.¡±


    ¡°I picked up¡­ combat,¡± I struggled with the words.


    The pressure on my back lifted, and a moment later I was dragged to my feet. Sharp eyes stared into my own from up close. ¡°What are they even doing on the material plane? Did they forget everything?¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°People know a lot of things,¡± I said. ¡°But it¡¯s not like they¡¯d share them with orcs.¡±


    ¡°And why not?¡±


    ¡°Maybe because orcs are the type of person to punch someone in the gut before saying hello.¡±


    His confused frown made me confused. As if I was somehow the crazy one. ¡°You have Aspect of the Barbarian, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Not by choice,¡± I replied.


    ¡°If the orcs still have that, I don¡¯t know why you wouldn¡¯t greet each other this way.¡±


    I spit a little bit of blood to the side. ¡°Don¡¯t know. I¡¯d have to meet other orcs I guess. Grew up basically among humans.¡±


    ¡°... And orcs never passed through?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± I said.


    The old man frowned, his dark green skin bunching up on his forehead. ¡°Can¡¯t believe they¡¯d give up our culture like that.¡±


    ¡°What, punching people? They still do that.¡±


    He shook his head, ¡°That¡¯s not it, kid. Helping out other orcs. With Aspect of the Barbarian, isn¡¯t it just polite to help each other get some experience when we meet each other?¡±


    ¡°Normal people get experience for battle too,¡± I said.


    ¡°Normal?¡± he raised a bushy eyebrow. ¡°Sure, they do. But it¡¯s not the same. Who taught you about orcs?¡±


    ¡°Books,¡± I said. My tongue felt along my teeth. Were some of them loose? Hopefully Ceira¡¯s magic could fix that. ¡°I was told you could help us get back home.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your class?¡±


    ¡°Mage,¡± I folded my arms across my chest.


    ¡°Then I¡¯m already helping, aren¡¯t I?¡± Comhghall grinned. ¡°Unless some of your other friends are higher level than they seem, you¡¯re the best option.¡±


    ¡°It sounded like you were a shaman of some sort,¡± I frowned, ¡°Can you not cast Gate?¡±


    ¡°Hmmn. What did they tell you?¡±


    ¡°That you were the best chance of returning somewhere familiar.¡±


    Comhghall nodded. ¡°That I am. But I can¡¯t just whisk you off to the material plane. Disregarding other reasons, I¡¯ve never been there.¡±


    ¡°Then what was the point of coming here?¡±


    ¡°To help you do it, I imagine,¡± Comhghall said. ¡°Most of your friends¡¯ magic there doesn¡¯t seem like the right type.¡±


    Oh right. My friends. I looked over at them, all standing around doing nothing. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you help, Midnight?¡±


    ¡°You looked like you had it handled.¡± The black-furred Celmothian didn¡¯t even have an ounce of shame as he said that. No, he mostly seemed to feel¡­ curiosity?


    Some of the others should have stepped in as well, but only Ceira looked ashamed about not helping. I doubt she could have done anything, and ultimately I wasn¡¯t in serious danger.


    ¡°I can level up on my own,¡± I said to the old man. ¡°Seems like we wasted our time coming here.¡±


    ¡°You know how Gate works?¡± Comhghall asked.


    ¡°Obviously. I¡¯ve used it before.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± He raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°I reopened a portal¡­ with Midnight¡¯s help.¡±


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°That is much more achievable,¡± Comhghall said. ¡°What level are you?¡±


    That wasn¡¯t information I normally kept secret but¡­ I wasn¡¯t feeling inclined to give this guy anything.


    ¡°He¡¯s level 30,¡± Ailen said, immediately betraying me. I clicked my tongue.


    ¡°Quite a bit early to be learning Gate. Didn¡¯t think about the mana cost? Thought you could overcome the fatigue?¡±


    I didn¡¯t really want to answer him but¡­ he was also theoretically our best shot out of here. For some reason. ¡°Well, there were all sorts of portals popping up everywhere so¡­ it should have been easier.¡±


    Comhghall furrowed his brow, ¡°How many is ¡®all sorts¡¯?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Dunno. Dozens? Hundreds, maybe, over the last year.¡±


    ¡°To where?¡±


    ¡°All sorts of weird places. But mostly those with high mana. Which is odd, because back home most people can¡¯t use mana at all.¡±


    The old orc nodded. I realized he still didn¡¯t have a shirt on, and though Francois made sure that our outfits were extremely breathable I could see the benefit. I was still sweating from out battle, but this guy was almost cooled down already. ¡°Likely the cause of the disturbances here.¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± Ailen said. ¡°This individual also made many metal golems.¡±


    ¡°Robots,¡± I said. I wondered why none of the others shared their own opinions, then I realized it was likely that only Midnight and I had Translate going at the moment. ¡°So can you actually help? Because if we¡¯re just going to punch each other I could have stayed out in the jungle killing things for another month or two.¡±


    ¡°Experience is just part of the process,¡± the old shaman said. ¡°What do you actually know about magic?¡±


    ¡°More than enough to fill a small library,¡± I said.


    ¡°Do you, though? Where does mana come from?¡±


    ¡°Mana comes from¡­ things that are magical¡­¡±


    ¡°What about levels and points?¡±


    ¡°I know how those work.¡±


    ¡°Do you, though?¡± the old man tilted his head almost ninety degrees. ¡°Have you ever learned anything without points?¡±


    ¡°He has,¡± before I could answer that, Ailen gave the reply. ¡°This group has been working to develop their abilities outside of the level system. Except for that one, who has a strange power set.¡±


    ¡°Most people on Earth have no powers,¡± I explained. ¡°But if they get them, they¡¯re usually like him.¡±


    Comhghall nodded, ¡°Interesting. I will inquire more about that later. But first we should determine the limits of your knowledge so that I can help you in the most expedient manner. Or you can go off on your own to fight things for a few months.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Midnight said when I briefly considered that option.


    I sighed. ¡°Fine. I will learn what you have to tell me.¡±


    -----


    Somehow I had ended up on the ground again, except instead of sitting on me this time the shaman was sitting in the dirt in front of me. ¡°So about mana. It doesn¡¯t come from ¡®magical things¡¯, or nothing would be magical to begin with. It comes from life.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said, pushing myself up into a sitting position. ¡°Why would people not say that?¡±


    ¡°I cannot speculate about what people on the material plane might have taught you,¡± the old man said. ¡°But while it seems simple, it is more complicated than just that. Not all life produces the same amount of mana.¡±


    ¡°And mana is not alive,¡± I said.


    ¡°How do you know that for sure?¡± Comhghall asked.


    As a response, I pulled out a mana crystal. ¡°This is mana, and it is not alive.¡±


    Comhghall held out his hand. I gave it to him, and he turned it over to inspect it carefully. ¡°Where did this come from?¡±


    ¡°I made it,¡± I said.


    The crystal was tossed back at me with some force, but I caught it. ¡°Well, you are correct that mana is not alive. But it is not far from it.¡±


    ¡°If something is not alive, it simply is not,¡± I said. ¡°How could it be not far from it?¡±


    ¡°Life tends to make more of itself. Mana, like a flame, consumes and grows. But it has no thoughts, not even the primitive sort of insects.¡±


    ¡°... What does it consume?¡±


    ¡°Life force. Consciousness. Willpower.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Will magic kill me?¡±


    He shrugged, ¡°It might. But not if handled responsibly.¡±


    ¡°When someone runs out of mana or tries to push past what they can control¡­ is that dangerous? I was told that it was not.¡± I trusted Master Uvithar¡¯s intentions, though some of his instruction might not have been his own will.


    Comhghall rubbed his scarred chin. ¡°In most cases, it is not dangerous. That is the body¡¯s defense against actual harm. And while mana consumes life force, it is not some predator or parasite. It takes only what life energy overflows and would otherwise be wasted.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because if it worked differently we would all be dead and mana as well,¡± Comhghall said. ¡°Or perhaps it is best to say that it doesn¡¯t have a why and simply works this way or it would not work at all. It is not truly alive, after all.¡±


    ¡°What about levels?¡± I asked. ¡°My friend Ceira¡­ and others from Earth. They have classes and the level system.¡±


    ¡°Though I know many things, in truth¡­ if you speak of another world, I will know less than you for having been there. However, I can say that if they are here it would be stranger not to have it.¡±


    ¡°Right?¡± I asked. ¡°They think it¡¯s abnormal.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps it is. Like mana, it is a construct that simply is. But it is an odd one.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re telling me,¡± I said. ¡°It works in our own language, and I have no idea how it selects that. Before I could even read, it was in common.¡±


    ¡°Was it?¡± Comhghall raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Of course. I picked a class early, and a spell.¡±


    ¡°And it was in common.¡±


    ¡°Well, I couldn¡¯t read it at the time but it was letters and numbers¡­¡±


    ¡°Or your impression of letters and numbers.¡±


    ¡°I- no, it was definitely¡­ it had to be the same, right?¡±


    The shaman carved something in the dirt with his finger. ¡°What does that say?¡±


    It was just squiggles. But Translation didn¡¯t work with just speech. Unfortunately, not having been exposed to these letters before meant it was difficult. ¡°I think¡­ your name? In orcish?¡±


    ¡°Basically,¡± he said. ¡°And this?¡± he wrote something else.


    ¡°... Turlough?¡±


    ¡°Is that how it is in your status window?¡±


    ¡°Well, no. It¡¯s in common.¡±


    ¡°And this is how my name looks in mine,¡± he gestured.


    ¡°Well, sure. But that¡¯s your first language, I presume?¡±


    ¡°More or less,¡± he said. ¡°But before I could read, it would have been just the concept of letters.¡±


    ¡°... How do you know?¡±


    ¡°Children have been asked to transcribe what they see. No matter how carefully they write, the letters are not letters. Nor arranged into words if they are. Except¡­ words they might see frequently. But these would not be words that should appear in their status windows.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡±


    ¡°Before they understand, it is just shapes. And they mean nothing. If children are informed about the meaning of what they write, what do you think happens to their status window?¡±


    ¡°... Nothing?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°They don¡¯t really change.¡±


    ¡°Of course they do. All the time. They update with what you have learned, or what you hope to learn when you are looking to choose a class or spend points.¡±


    ¡°I suppose,¡± I said. ¡°And¡­ when I actually began to learn stuff, it got weird. Like, with a separating line and stuff.¡±


    ¡°Is that how yours looked?¡± Comhghall nodded. ¡°Reasonable enough.¡±


    ¡°Is it not normally like that?¡±


    ¡°It is like whatever people believe it should be like. In short, a form that is accepted and understood. Most likely, you, I, and Ailen would find our status windows quite different. As for your companions, they either grew up around you or had your explanations and mental impressions, so they should be similar.¡±


    ¡°... but in English. For Ceira and Jerome, at least.¡±


    ¡°Their native tongue, of course,¡± Comhghall nodded. ¡°But this is enough for now. Before the day is out, you must meet new people.¡±


    Strange. I could have sworn I recognized a word in there that meant something else.

 Chapter 173

    My fist came up in a right hook, clipping the face of the orc in front of me. I had some idea about her response based on the other few orcs I had been introduced to. But unfortunately, just like them I was quickly subdued. All of them were too strong, moving too quickly. Their level advantage seemed to dominate my training. At least, that was what I thought at first.


    But while the way they responded to my attacks seemed wild, the fact that there was a pattern between individuals spoke of some level of martial arts. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t drag enough out of them to know how in depth it was. An elbow to my neck threw me off balance, then a hook behind my knee brought me to the ground. And then¡­ there was a hand in front of my face.


    ¡°Sadhbh,¡± she said. Having been briefly exposed to orcish letterings, the vague similarities to common made me have a disconnect between how her name sounded and how Translation thought it was spelled.


    Her hand remained in front of my face, unmoving. It took a moment before the dizziness faded and I realized what was going on. I clasped her hand and let her pull me up. ¡°Turlough.¡±


    I brushed myself off. It was not shameful to get beaten by people. Losing to women wasn¡¯t an issue either. But up until now I hadn¡¯t lost a fight based on pure physique to a woman old enough to be my mother. I pondered. Losing to Hammerfist didn¡¯t count, as she was a grandmother and had also used her powers. But Sadhbh wasn¡¯t nearly that old, simply showing some signs of wrinkles and lightening hair, but nowhere close to as much as Comhghall or Hammerfist. And unlike with Hammerfist, this was a fight without mana, which made my loss more convincing. Was everyone here able to beat me in a fight?


    Actually, given how people greeted each other, I would be more surprised if they could not. After all, I had one good year of experience in combat, and about a decade or more of pathetic attempts. These people should have much more than that.


    ¡°What is that martial art?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Our fighting style? It is an instructive style developed over the grand scale of time.¡±


    ¡°Instructive¡­ so you were going easy on me?¡± I frowned.


    She tilted her head. ¡°Have the orcs of the material plane really forgotten so much?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know,¡± I replied.


    Her face twisted. ¡°I see. That is unfortunate.¡± She turned her head, ¡°I think you should be finished with introductions for the day. Your companions appear to be waiting for you.¡±


    So it seemed. I could see my traveling companions gathered together. As I went to meet them, Ceira came running towards me. ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°Clearly,¡± I said.


    ¡°But you¡¯re bleeding! And covered in bruises!¡±


    As she gathered mana to use Replenish, I shook my head. ¡°Most of the bleeding has stopped.¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s full of dirt!¡± she said exasperated. She reached up for my face, and her magic began to spread throughout my head, soothing the aches.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said.


    ¡°If you need healing magic, you¡¯re not alright,¡± Ceira chastised me. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t tell the healers at the Power Brigade you were fine if you were bleeding, would you?¡±


    ¡°He would,¡± Senan said, approaching the two of us. ¡°But beyond physically, how are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m exhausted,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°And?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Confused, I guess.¡± That wasn¡¯t just hiding things. I really didn¡¯t know. I had been angry, for a while. But now I was too tired for that. Nothing made any sense here. I looked over the rest of them. ¡°All of you look better.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Izzy made herself known, ¡°That¡¯s just because they weren¡¯t as friendly with us.¡±


    ¡°Friendly?¡± I raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°None of them even threw a punch. I was ready for it too.¡±


    ¡°You are not one of them,¡± Ailen said as if that was a proper explanation.


    Seeing the elf I was reminded of an earlier grievance. ¡°Hey. Why didn¡¯t you tell me that Comhghall was an orc?¡±


    ¡°Why would I?¡±


    Ugh. I didn¡¯t have the energy to argue.


    Ceira continued to poke and prod. ¡°Hey, I can¡¯t see any of the rest. You¡¯re going to have to tell me where you¡¯re bruised.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said.


    ¡°And¡­? Oh.¡± She sighed, and started with my torso. She got two neighborhoods on the front and back before she was out of mana. ¡°You should at least get those cleaned.¡±


    ¡°Mmn,¡± I grunted. I looked at my fist, with plenty of torn skin, covered in mixed blood and grit. I focused Clean on it, expending a small amount of mana. It got rid of most of the external dirt, but the stuff under my skin mostly remained. That would take more effort, it seemed.


    I felt Midnight approaching and lifted him up onto my less-bruised shoulder. ¡°So what have you been up to¡­?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been getting introduced to the village,¡± he swished his tail. ¡°There is an open hut they said we can use to store stuff, and room near it for you to use Shelter. They clearly weren¡¯t expecting visitors, but they offered to make us cots if we need them.¡±


    ¡°Either of us can cast Shelter,¡± I said. ¡°And I think that will be more comfortable.¡± The dwellings here didn¡¯t seem particularly large, though they looked sturdy at least. I had barely seen inside any of them, as I had been going around introducing myself to people.


    Along with the open space, the orcs directed us to bathing locations within the walls. Clean was useful, but there was only so much one could do with it.


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    Senan, Midnight, and I all stepped into the little side-pools off of the river together. There were shared showers in the Power Brigade so it wasn¡¯t unusual. The girls went off to their own section, and Ailen didn¡¯t seem interested which left a question unanswered.


    The water was nice, if brisk. It at least soothed the aches in my body. Midnight paddled around in the water after I helped him brush away the worst of the grime. He wasn¡¯t the biggest water cat, but he more than tolerated it.


    ¡°I almost can¡¯t believe we finally arrived,¡± Senan said.


    I nodded. ¡°It was quite a long distance we covered¡­ unfortunately, leaving here will not be as easy as I thought. It seems I will still be responsible for our return.¡±


    ¡°What will that take, 5 levels?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ am hoping for less,¡± I replied. ¡°But Comhghall indicated it was not a trivial task.¡±


    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it the highest level of magic?¡± Senan asked.


    ¡°I suppose so. It is just that I was able to partially use it already to rescue Jerome, but it is not enough to do anything now.¡±


    ¡°You tried it already, I know¡­¡± Senan nodded. ¡°How bad was it?¡±


    ¡°Let me show you,¡± I said. ¡°It will be hardly different. Prepare to catch me, if you would.¡±


    I gathered mana, picturing my apartment back home. I began to release it as I did so, creating a sort of shimmering ellipse in the air. But before it could even finish taking shape, let alone show or allow access to the other side, it fell apart. A few moments later some water splashing on my face returned me to consciousness.


    ¡°I get it,¡± Senan said. ¡°Is it really that far short, though?¡±


    ¡°It is supposed to last for several minutes. Never forming indicates¡­ something.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I haven¡¯t used it that much, but I don¡¯t feel like it will be possible even with the full amount of mana.¡±


    ¡°What did that Comhghall guy say about it?¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t do it so¡­ I don¡¯t know. He seemed to think I should be able to.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps once it is complete it stabilizes with little expenditure,¡± Senan shook his head. ¡°Well, nice as this is¡­ it¡¯s also a little chilly.¡±


    ¡°... You have ice powers.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not relaxing to insulate myself from the cold.¡±


    I could have offered Energy Ward, but I was also quite tired. It was time for us to go to bed. Fortunately, Shelter¡¯s sheets were as soft as ever, and the mattresses and pillows just right.


    -----


    There was a rapping on the door in the middle of the night. No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. I felt rested, at least. But it was dark.


    ¡°Time to get up!¡± came the voice of Comhghall. ¡°You¡¯ve got things to do!¡±


    I staggered over to the door, ready to give the old orc a piece of my mind. But once again, I failed to strike first due to hesitation. That resulted in me being grabbed and tossed over his shoulder. I crumpled to the ground in a pile. I staggered to my feet¡­ but he was already on his way. Was that the end?


    ¡°Am I supposed to attack you from behind?¡± I asked as I scrambled after him. ¡°Because I can still fight.¡±


    ¡°... it¡¯s a shame nobody ever properly taught you to socialize. But at least you asked. So no, you shouldn¡¯t attack anyone from behind. Unless you¡¯re still clearly in a tussle and slipped around them, of course.¡± Here, ¡®tussle¡¯ rang in my head the same as ¡®polite greeting¡¯. ¡°What do you know about orcs?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re violent.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a lot to go off of,¡± the old orc said. ¡°But I would wager at least a few things survived the course of time. You might have figured this out by now, but Aspect of the Barbarian is very common among us.¡±


    ¡°... I did have questions about that. Master Uvithar didn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°For us, there are a few that don¡¯t have it. But communally, the purpose of greetings still serves its role.¡±


    ¡°Letting people know who is in charge.¡± By his combat record, Turlough was at the bottom rung in the hierarchy.


    Comhghall turned around and frowned, ¡°Who told you that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s how orcs work. The strongest lead.¡±


    ¡°No wonder they couldn¡¯t even manage to pick up an orphan,¡± the shaman shook his head. ¡°If they¡¯ve fallen that far. Do you actually know this?¡±


    ¡°That is at least the common view.¡±


    ¡°Well, I suppose we won¡¯t solve anything talking about what the orcs might or might not do. But here, everything is for a sensible reason. For the good of the community.¡±


    I waited for him to continue. I had some thoughts, but I was still waking up and I felt like my observations weren¡¯t helping.


    ¡°Why would we greet each other as we do?¡± Comhghall asked. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    I frowned. Given what he said wasn¡¯t true about that¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Speculate. Why would you do it?¡±


    Why did I fight people? ¡°For experience. You did say it yesterday, I think.¡±


    ¡°And yet you forgot already.¡±


    ¡°I just woke up.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky those golems attacked while you were awake,¡± Comhghall said. ¡°If you can¡¯t wake up properly. Another thing to work on. Anyway, experience is part of it. It¡¯s growth. But let me ask you, how much experience do you think I got for stomping you to the ground yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Not much,¡± I said. ¡°So you would have to do it often.¡±


    ¡°Hah! Not much. More like none at all. And no, I don¡¯t mean part of an experience point. You were far enough from being a real threat to not count at all.¡±


    ¡°... How can you tell?¡± I asked. ¡°Can you see smaller values in your status?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the same with all the youngsters. Low levels and lack of skill. Nothing to be ashamed of, unless you stay that way. As for the status, it¡¯s difficult to make it display such things. It¡¯s only an idea, regardless, so you can lose accuracy that way despite gaining precision.¡±


    ¡°Your fighting style¡­ Sadhbh said it was for training. Is it not better to be serious? More serious spars brought more experience for me, so going easy¡­¡±


    ¡°Training does not mean going easy,¡± Comhghall chopped me on the forehead. ¡°So don¡¯t insinuate anyone was doing so, okay? It¡¯s as serious as possible precisely for training. A swift defeat might not be pleasant, but there is much one can learn from it, beyond just numbers. But we do attempt to maximize the numbers as well. That is why your training will have different aspects in optimal quantities.¡± He stopped, the two of us having arrived outside his hut. ¡°Now try to make a Gate home.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± I said.


    ¡°Thus the try. I want to see.¡±


    I made sure there wasn¡¯t anything for me to hit my head on when I passed out, and repeated the same thing I had done the night before. The results were precisely the same, a shimmering field not even completing or getting close to actually opening up.


    When my eyes came back into focus, Comhghall was holding me up. ¡°Alright, that one was my fault. That¡¯s never going to work.¡± I blinked. But before I could spiral into the idea of being trapped here forever, he pushed past that. ¡°What I meant was create a Gate to the material plane.¡±


    ¡°But I came here directly¡­¡±


    ¡°Not through any old portal, though. This plane is a step more removed from other worlds. So after a quick sit down we¡¯ll have you try the material plane properly, which will be more achievable. Can¡¯t just expect to hop between worlds and strange dimensions however you please if you can¡¯t simply travel between planes.¡±

 Chapter 174

    Since I had just attempted- and failed- to cast Gate to get back to Earth, I needed a moment to recover. Nothing was trying to kill me at the moment, so I sat down next to Comhghall in front of his house.


    All around me, orcs were busy and yet¡­ unhurried. Unlike humans back home on Earth,  they were moving at a casual pace as they carried jugs of water, baskets of food, and various planks and other building materials about the village. From one spot, I could see almost everything that was going on. Among everything else I noticed people greeting each other, quick brawls that ultimately had both parties continuing on their way. I noted that they did make sure to put down whatever they were carrying first, or if that was too difficult they simply went on by with a nod.


    Even as I did nothing, I could feel the mana flowing into me. It was a shame so many places had to live with the minimal rate of mana flow. I only took a short break and I had a handful of mana recovered, it could have taken me easily an hour back home. Even with New Bay¡¯s ambient mana levels creeping upward, it was still not that much.


    The entire time, Comhghall said nothing, simply letting me watch the village. I didn¡¯t really know what to make of it. Orcs were clearly violent but¡­


    ¡°I think I¡¯m ready,¡± I said. After a pause, I continued, ¡°Should I bring my friends in case I succeed?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about that,¡± Comhghall said. ¡°If you can do it now, then you can do it again in an hour or two.¡± His initial words led me to believe he didn¡¯t think I could do it. And¡­ I had no reason to doubt him. He at least seemed to know more than I did. ¡°Focus on somewhere memorable on the material plane.¡±


    That was easy. I thought of the last place I had been. I considered the desk overflowing with papers and the shelves stuffed full of books in Master Uvithar¡¯s office in his tower. I gathered mana, releasing it as I went to begin forming the portal. At least, that was the intention.


    Instead of anything forming in front of me, I actually felt a sort of pressure pushing back against me. Like I was trying to reach my hand through a wall. Instinctively, I pushed harder¡­ and the force pushed back. A wave of blackness poured over me, all too familiar.


    Sunlight filtered through a blue sky was the first thing my eyes were able to comprehend. There was something blocking the center of my vision, which slowly resolved itself into the pitted and scarred face of Comhghall, wrinkles and gray hair coming into focus shortly thereafter.


    ¡°Well now, I think you might have picked the wrong place,¡± Comhghall said. ¡°Looks like something fought back, didn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°... I guess so,¡± I sat up. ¡°But there was a portal there before¡­¡±


    ¡°Where?¡± the old orc asked.


    ¡°The office of Master Uvithar.¡±


    ¡°And he wanted that portal there?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s perfectly reasonable for him to have taken precautions such that it would not happen again.¡±


    I should have thought of that. Or even used a Sending to let him know I was coming. Though he seemed a bit hesitant to respond to some things via magical communication.


    ¡°... Can people steal Sendings?¡±


    ¡°What do you think?¡± the old orc asked.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of a spell that does that,¡± I said.


    ¡°Does that really give you an answer?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No. Not really. I thought I was aware of what spells did, but it seems the list available from the system is incomplete.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Magic is not so tightly constrained as to fit into a list of mere hundreds of distinct applications.¡±


    ¡°So you can do anything?¡±


    ¡°Me personally? Or anyone in particular? No. There are limits based on which direction one approaches magic from. For example, your friend Ceira will be able to do very different things from yourself, with only a small amount of overlap. Learning won¡¯t change that.¡±


    I bit my lip, feeling my opposite tusk squeeze against my skin. ¡°So we are constrained by our classes?¡±


    ¡°Do you think so?¡±


    ¡°If I didn¡¯t have a class, couldn¡¯t I learn¡­ anything?¡±


    The old orc shrugged, ¡°Could you? Perhaps. But you couldn¡¯t learn everything. In my opinion, classes are more permissive than they are restrictive. Nobody gets far without a class.¡±


    ¡°Has anyone tried?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes,¡± Comhghall said. ¡°Though very few, given how they can be chosen with just a little bit of willpower. Often before people fully understand.¡±


    ¡°It seems unfair,¡± I said.


    ¡°Do you regret your choice?¡±


    ¡°Not particularly,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Not of class, at least. Perhaps my first spell.¡±


    ¡°Storage is very useful.¡±


    ¡°No good for experience, though.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a problem of your upbringing,¡± Comhghall shook his head. ¡°If people don¡¯t have a suitable environment, they won¡¯t learn optimally.¡±


    It annoyed me that such well reasoned words came out of the mouth of this shirtless, overly muscled and violent old man. And I was annoyed that I noticed it annoyed me, because I would have to tell Doctor Patenaude about it. Assuming I ever got back to Earth and my therapist, instead of just dying out here somewhere. I didn¡¯t feel like I was in danger at the current moment, having survived all the way here. But every step we took made it seem like it would be more difficult to return home, as if I were getting further away instead of close.


    ¡°Should I contact Master Uvithar?¡± I asked.


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    ¡°Should you not?¡± Comghall asked. ¡°You did just attempt to get into his office.¡±


    ¡°It was never that secure anyway¡­¡±


    ¡°Not against his apprentices, at least,¡± Comhghall shrugged.


    I shook my head, ¡°I don¡¯t know it it really matters. I¡¯ll just plop us down somewhere outside. I have enough mana to cast Gate twice when full, so after making sure I won¡¯t be overloading myself we can be out of there in half an hour at most, and back to Earth. So maybe there¡¯s no point.¡±


    ¡°You would not speak to him, then?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± I frowned, ¡°I guess I did have things I wanted to ask him.¡±


    ¡°Returning to Earth from the material plane won¡¯t necessarily be easier than going from here to there. It is another step, but many factors influence the difficulty of planar travel. Like the cycles of seasons.¡±


    ¡°Really? Why didn¡¯t anyone¡­?¡±


    ¡°It is not so common, is it?¡± Comhghall said. ¡°Even this Master Uvithar of yours likely doesn¡¯t travel between planes with any frequency.¡±


    ¡°Well he¡¯s only¡­¡± Only what? I had the vague idea of him being in his 30¡¯s or 40¡¯s. A reasonable level for an adult, at least in my mind. But even then, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for him to have 20th level spells. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if his knowledge outstrips his level.¡±


    ¡°It could,¡± Comhghall shrugged. ¡°But you¡¯d have to ask him about that. I wouldn¡¯t be in a hurry to rush back to this Earth.¡±


    ¡°I could just come back, though.¡±


    ¡°Unless people are tired of some sort of madman breaking into their plane¡­¡± Comhghall said.


    ¡°You can¡¯t be sure they¡¯d be taking measures like that¡­¡± I frowned.


    ¡°I know people,¡± he said. I couldn¡¯t really disagree. I¡­ didn¡¯t really know people. They still made no sense.


    -----


    My time in the village didn¡¯t start and end with punching people and sitting around chatting and testing magic. There was more intentional training- sometimes self directed, and sometimes guided by Comhghall.


    And then a couple days later, we were no longer in the village. That is to say, we were out on a ¡®practical excursion¡¯. Combat training in the wilderness, in other words.


    ¡°It¡¯s just the right season to find a Rainbow Lotus,¡± the old shaman had said. ¡°So go find some.¡±


    More details were available, but it seemed that Ailen knew most of them as well. Speaking of which¡­ ¡°Why are you still here? Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m glad to have you assisting us but¡­ I assumed you would go back home. You said you¡¯d only be staying at the village for a short time.¡±


    ¡°It has still not been long,¡± Ailen answered.


    Midnight was the one who ultimately got things cleared up. ¡°This is the same thing as before, right? For Ailen, a month or more is a short trip.¡±


    Ailen seemed to agree with that.


    ¡°Oh, okay,¡± I nodded. ¡°When are you planning to return home, then? So we can plan around it.¡±


    ¡°I will return home after you do the same,¡± Ailen said.


    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t like us,¡± Ceira commented. Depending on our group, it was actually easier to just have Ailen be the one with Translation active.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t really talk much.¡±


    ¡°But you do,¡± Ailen said.


    ¡°... Do I?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°All of you speak abundantly,¡± Ailen stated.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s just you who does not talk much,¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°I speak a normal amount,¡± Ailen replied.


    ¡°... Maybe for elves who live centuries,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Do you split your words up between all that time?¡± Then she grimaced. ¡°Sorry, that didn¡¯t come out right.¡±


    Ailen shook their head. ¡°You may be correct. At least in relative terms, I speak less.¡±


    ¡°Well, you also had to be ordered to take us here,¡± I pointed out.


    Ailen denied that quickly. ¡°I was instructed to escort you to Comhghall. But I could have refused the wise one. But I do believe that it was understood I wished to go with you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because you are likely the only extraplanar visitors we will receive for centuries.¡±


    ¡°Well, with Doctor Doomsday still at work¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°I feel like there will at least be more robots here.¡±


    ¡°I imagine the wise ones will be in the process of sealing the plane from such attempts.¡±


    ¡°Uh, how big is the plane? And¡­ how many of them are there?¡±


    ¡°Enough,¡± Ailen said. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was secret, or they didn¡¯t know. Or perhaps there was another option- they didn¡¯t even care about numbers. That was weird to think about.


    It was strange, to be casually chatting while traipsing through a dense forest. But so it was. We walked upriver, away from the orcish village. ¡°Hey, uh¡­ we¡¯re not going out for days again, are we?¡± I asked. ¡°Because I think we left behind some of our stuff.¡±


    ¡°Do not worry,¡± Ailen said. ¡°I would have informed you of what you require should you be gone for so long. And the Rainbow Lotus should be easily carried in magical Storage.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay,¡± I nodded. ¡°So how far can we expect to go?¡±


    ¡°It should be a matter of but a single hour or two of travel, then the same in reverse.¡±


    ¡°So half a day?¡±


    ¡°More or less. The combative sections should not take long.¡±


    ¡°Right, we should be expecting to fight¡­ what?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with Rainbow Lotus so I don¡¯t know what would covet them.¡±


    ¡°Any creature inclined to grow stronger,¡± Ailen said simply. ¡°And of course, those who do not mind the rain.¡±


    ¡°Rain¡­?¡±


    The sound of lightning in the distance coincided with the moment heavy droplets began to pour over us.


    ¡°Of course. How else would one expect to have a rainbow?¡±


    A good point.


    ¡°... You could have warned us about the rain,¡± Ceira said as she began to shiver. ¡°We could have gotten something in the village.¡±


    ¡°... Oh,¡± Ailen said. ¡°Right. Humans like to be covered from the rain.¡±


    I held out my jacket to Ceira. ¡°You should probably take this.¡±


    ¡°Uh, thanks,¡± she said, covering herself. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°The rest of my clothing is still made by Francois. It is quite comfortable even in inclement weather,¡± I said. ¡°I probably should have given you the jacket before, to bolster your defenses¡­¡± It only covered the torso and arms, but that was where most of the vital organs were anyway.


    Suddenly, Ceira snorted as she began to laugh.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°Oh, nothing. This is¡­ exactly what I should have expected, thanks.¡±


    ¡°You are welcome. Ailen, if you could inform us when we are approaching dangerous territory¡­ I have conserved enough resources to apply Stoneskin to our most vulnerable members. But if we can have a warning or ten or twenty minutes, we can recover expended mana.¡±


    Normally, with Stoneskin¡¯s duration it cost more mana than one could recover over that same time. But here, with mana recovering five times as fast as normal or more, it could actually be very useful if there was forewarning. We hadn¡¯t had that before, but since we were now searching for trouble it was best to make use of what we could.


    ¡°I will have to obtain more diamonds if we do this more than a few times, though,¡± I continued. I didn¡¯t want to waste resources, but I also didn¡¯t want anyone to get hurt or killed because I was conserving them. I needed to ask the orcs about it. Surely they had need of material components themselves.

 Chapter 175

    The rain falling down on us was actually relatively warm. Unfortunately, there was little qualitative difference between warmish mud sticking to our shoes and colder mud. Ceira had managed to get replacements for her shoes, as it turned out random sneakers were not meant for trekking through wilderness for a month. We were lucky Ceira and Izzy¡¯s gear lasted as well as it did, even with our efforts to keep things in good repair. We didn¡¯t currently have any magic to help.


    ¡°We are approaching the lakes most likely to produce Rainbow Lotus,¡± Ailen declared. ¡°We should arrive soon, and expect trouble not long thereafter.¡±


    In short, this was the time to make use of Stoneskin. Midnight and I as a pair were the most efficient use, so I cast on us first. Ceira was the most at risk, so Midnight¡¯s first use was on her. Izzy was next, because while I believed in her ability to avoid attacks, those that she couldn¡¯t were quite dangerous for her.


    ¡°I will be alright with my own abilities,¡± Senan said. Well, without having to use it on Ice Guy, that left¡­ Ailen.


    The elf nodded, ¡°I would appreciate an extra defensive advantage. Especially if we have to fight away from the trees.¡±


    There it was, then. 18 mana spent for both Midnight and I. But we should be able to recover at least half of that by the time we encountered significant hostility. That was the plan, at least.


    We came up to the edge of the lake to see some pale flowers floating in the shallows. ¡°... They don¡¯t particularly appear to be rainbow,¡± I said.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± Ailen agreed. ¡°They will only transform upon the skies clearing away. Until that point, we must hold our position and fend off any attackers. Alternatively, we could stay away from the area, but that risks desperate beasts snatching the lotus before they complete the transformation, or powerful ones establishing a foothold.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t we have to fight more enemies if we take over the position immediately?¡± Izzy asked. So we could secure our prize and get more experience. Sounded like a double win. But she seemed to know what I was thinking, looking up at me. ¡°Experience isn¡¯t worth anything if someone gets injured.¡±


    I disagreed. But I was aware that injuries weren¡¯t the worst that could happen. Every battle had its own risks, and it only took one bad move or moment of poor luck for things to go off the deep end. Especially where wild creatures were involved.


    Senan offered his thoughts, ¡°I say we should set up a defensive position. I can fortify the area to funnel things as we please. Ailen, would the local beasts be intelligent enough to focus on us, or would they fight with each other?¡±


    ¡°For the most part, they will attack anything they perceive as being in their way,¡± Ailen explained. ¡°So we could make use of that. However, you will need to account for swimming creatures.¡±


    Even as we were talking, he began to set up a basic perimeter. ¡°What do we want? I can create something more complex if we have time¡­¡±


    ¡°Begin with a basic set of walls,¡± Ailen said. ¡°However, make them as tall as you can while still being sturdy. One entrance would be preferable, perhaps where the lake and shore meet on one end. And optimally, we would have proper battlements to stand upon inside. Many of us can make use of ranged attacks, while few beasts have anything of the sort.¡±


    ¡°We might need multiple entrances,¡± Senan said. ¡°There¡¯s a limit to how sturdy I can make them, so it would be better to show a route through. I¡¯ve seen some of the local creatures, and they could topple my walls easily enough if motivated.¡±


    He was walking around, walls of ice growing up behind him. It was a mixture of clear and opaque ice, demonstrating his idea to visually funnel creatures towards our approved entrances. It was a good idea. While it was presumed that anything in the area would already know of the lotus flowers, as he walked through the water he made the walls around that area particularly opaque, barely even letting any light through.


    ¡°Things are gathering,¡± Izzy commented.


    ¡°... Should we do something about those trees?¡± Ceira asked, pointing to some with branches dangling over our walls. All of the plant life dwarfed our walls- they were somewhere around ten feet high, but Senan was just one man. Instead of waiting for an answer, Ceira used a bit of her own magic, twisting branches away from our little fort so nothing could drop directly into our fortifications.


    ¡°Where should we set up?¡± I asked Izzy and Midnight.


    ¡°The two of us,¡± Izzy gestured to Midnight, ¡°Won¡¯t be as good at blocking off an area. While we might bet on beasts fighting each other outside the entrance, I think we¡¯d do better with two of us. You will at least make things hesitate.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of beasts,¡± Ailen interrupted. ¡°Our first foe is approaching.¡± The elf gestured towards something plodding along in the shallows of the lake.


    I hadn¡¯t seen one in person at any point, but I was aware of the general aspects of a moose. People said they grew as large as a car, but those were the ones that didn¡¯t live in a magical forest. This one was not quite tall enough to step over our developing walls.


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    Ailen took a shot with their bow and¡­ missed. I blinked, confused. The moose only flinched back. Then it stomped forward with determination. ¡°Oh well,¡± Ailen said. ¡°That one has made its choice.¡±


    I see. Attempting to scare it off, so we didn¡¯t have to fight it needlessly. And hitting it might frighten it more, but it could also enrage a beast. Smart. But it didn¡¯t stay away, so we would be getting the experience for this and that was fine. Though I was having a bit of trouble figuring out how to deal with the rack of horns on its head the size of a snow plough.


    The twang of a bow, and then an arrow was sticking into the side of its massive neck. If only that had been enough to bring it down or drive it away. Instead, it seemed offended and lowered its head. I was quite uninterested in fighting such a thing in melee, despite my staff being restored to its proper shape.


    In the interest of not dragging things out, I gathered a handful of mana for Sonic Lance. I couldn¡¯t afford to use Chain Lightning on a single target, especially if we were going to be dealing with many attacks by beasts throughout the duration of the rains.


    My invisible spell hit the thing right in the middle of its forehead. I would have aimed for its chest, but from my angle its head was completely in the way. The whole thing went sprawling backwards from the sudden force, splashing into the water. Even on its side, it was only half covered by the shallows. I watched it closely, seeing a thin cloud of red in the water. Then it began to move again, stepping shakily onto its feet. It was almost sideways to us, and I could see one eye focusing on us. Then it turned and plodded away slowly. I hit it directly in the head and it just walked away. What a tough guy. And smart enough to know he should leave, too.


    Senan was almost done setting up our wall. Ceira had finished what she could, twisting branches away from our area. I climbed up a few steps of non-slippery ice so I could look over the wall. I¡¯d prefer something else to stand, but Shelter wasn¡¯t exactly durable. That wasn¡¯t its purpose. I could see some creatures lingering about in the rain, back in the woods. And I likely missed more.


    ¡°So¡­¡± Ceira said. ¡°I can¡¯t do much else. I guess I can Entangle things?¡±


    ¡°That will be very helpful, especially around the entrances,¡± Senan said.


    ¡°I suppose,¡± she said. ¡°I was thinking¡­ could I try to talk to the animals? I do have magic for that. I¡¯m not great at persuading things but I might accomplish something.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± Izzy said. ¡°If you could turn them against each other, that would be even better.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Uh, what can I promise them?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, if they¡¯re going to do something for us¡­ we should give them something. They probably all want Rainbow Lotus¡­¡± she looked at the floating flowers being rocked back and forth by the rain. ¡°Do we need all of these?¡±


    ¡°There are eight of them¡­¡± I looked to Ailen. ¡°Do you know how many will actually become Rainbow Lotus?¡±


    ¡°It is uncertain. Perhaps half. However, the process should have begun.¡±


    ¡°I can feel magical fluctuations,¡± I said as Ailen shot somewhere off into the trees. Whether to take down a threat or scare off something, I wasn¡¯t sure. ¡°But I can¡¯t place them to individual plants.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s six of them,¡± Ceira said, moving over to the edge of the shore.


    ¡°This is why we have Druids,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°I want to try something.¡± She jumped into the water. ¡°Ugh. I was already soaked, but¡­¡± she grumbled as she waded over into the middle of the lotus. I heard a growling sound from our downlake side, watched by Izzy and Midnight. Soon enough Senan and Ailen would be manning simple emplacements on either side as well. Ceira reached out, a small bit of mana in her hands as she touched two of the flowers. Compared to the others which had gained a bit of color, those had been slightly more dull, made more obvious when they briefly shimmered, ripples of magic flowing through them. ¡°I think, maybe, this is more likely to make them proper Rainbow Lotus?¡± Ceira said. ¡°They seemed like they needed a push.¡±


    ¡°Either way, we should not expect druidic magic to harm them,¡± Ailen said. ¡°Be prepared for your parts.¡± The rain was intensifying as they spoke. ¡°They rains will come and go quickly, but we may need to maintain our positions for up to an hour.¡±


    Senan¡¯s walls weren¡¯t in jeopardy of melting. They were walls of ice between one and three feet thick, and formed of powers not sculpted out of true ice. However, I could tell that creating this small fort had taken quite a toll on him. Best for us to take the pressure off of him at the beginning of battle.


    A large snake slithered in from the other side. Izzy and Midnight were upon it in a moment, slashing at it and striking with Shocking Grasp. I couldn¡¯t focus on them, however, as some sort of thorny bush was walking towards me.


    ¡­ Was this thing intending to devour the lotuses? Was that cannibalism? No, it was more like a berry bush. Not at all the same thing.


    Ailen was very accurate with their elven bow, but as it turned out thorny bushes were not particularly susceptible to puncture wounds. So it seemed it would be up to me to deal with this thing, ambling thorny segments making it look like it was down on all fours. Not that it had properly defined limbs.


    I held my staff in my hands, channeling Shocking Grasp through it. I wasn¡¯t confident in smashing a thorn plant with just my staff, not without letting it wear down my defenses¡­ so a bit of cheap magic seemed best. It seems I had judged correctly, because as my staff smacked down on the thing it quickly began to smoke. It also nicely blocked off about a third of the opening between our walls.


    The pair of assaults seemed to be just the beginning of everything. There was hardly a moment of rest before more beasts and mobile plants began to pour from the woods. Ceira was making weird noises at a lot of them, but I couldn¡¯t tell if it helped. What did prove useful was the relative narrowness of our entrances, because while they were easy to get through they also forced competitors together. Thus it became our job to deal with the things that slipped through clashing groups, all vying for some flowers. Flowers that were undoubtedly quite magical, but flowers nonetheless. Then again, us humanoids and Midnight in the center were risking our lives just the same. Hopefully these would actually help with the path to getting back home. Being around Comhghall too much bugged me.

 Chapter 176

    The tip of my staff jammed into the ribs of an oversized wolf. Its jaws snapped at me in return, but they barely scraped me as my blow staggered it back. The force of my blow could only be so strong, but I couldn¡¯t use even the cheaper spells like Shocking Grasp forever.


    Rain continued to pour down as we fought to defend our fort. The local animals seemed quite keen to sink their teeth into some rainbow lotus, and I couldn¡¯t fault them. Even in their current state, they were quite enticing, sparkling in the shallow water and pulsing with mana. I wondered if it felt different to a druid. But our druid was currently busy Entangling groups of attacking creatures.


    Roots and underbrush choked the area outside our proper entrances to our fort, courtesy of Ceira. It seemed she was able to focus what Entangle affected to some extent, and though it took continuous effort she had little more to contribute to combat so it was the best use of her time. It was somewhat of a risk for her to be with us, but it was her choice to join. I could only hope she would grow stronger quickly. While we would hopefully return home soon, knowing how to handle herself in combat would still be useful in New Bay. Even if she stayed away from hero and mercenary work, civilians were often dragged into danger. It was something people took as part of life, and if they couldn¡¯t expect to have powers and get stronger I understood that. Even if it was weird to not have classes.


    At the other entrance, Izzy darted around, striking at vulnerable locations of anything approaching. It hardly mattered how they tried to defend themselves, as she was able to move quickly enough to step inside anything¡¯s reach. A somewhat risky fighting style, but the benefits were clear. Her blades were coated with the blood of beasts who didn¡¯t learn from those before them.


    Midnight contributed his own efforts when necessary, but there was little he could do without mana. His small body didn¡¯t allow him to injure anything larger than a human, and these wild beasts had thick hides that would completely stop his claws. But he was still able to be a distraction, drawing attention and occasionally throwing out a well placed spell.


    Senan and Ailen focused on deterring enemies before they got close. Arrows and spikes of ice could go quite a long distance, and many animals chose to retreat after receiving even small injuries. That was good, because we were already at our limits for what we could handle.


    The beasts weren¡¯t working together, but were instead also each other¡¯s competitors. Panthers fought wolves, deer, and even plant creatures. Overall, there was a near constant flow of danger.


    Sounds surprisingly like a whining dog came from Ceira. She was standing at our little fortifications, looking over the wall so I presumed she was trying to talk to some of the animals. A wolf, maybe? Though I expected more growls and snarls. Then again, it wasn¡¯t exactly language so I couldn¡¯t really say.


    ¡°The moose says he¡¯ll help us for one Rainbow Lotus!¡± Ceira said. ¡°I think it¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    Taking stock of my remaining mana¡­ and looking up at the continuous rain and lurking creatures, I had to agree.


    ¡°Have him watch the lake!¡± Senan called. ¡°Some sort of fish or something are damaging my walls!¡±


    I could see the moose splashing around now, an arrow still dangling out of its neck. It didn¡¯t seem particularly worried about that, though. Nor did it seem particularly concerned about its skull, even after taking a Sonic Lance straight to the head. On the other hand, it was willing to negotiate so it at least understood our power.


    It traipsed off into the waters, and I saw various fish and a few turtles launched into the air, the moose catching them with its wide horns and flipping them up. Some onto the shore, others simply away from our waterside wall. That let Senan focus on other parts of our defenses, which some creatures were clearly trying to break through. I couldn¡¯t tell if they stupid- not noticing the entrances- or clever, avoiding our choke points and the other creatures.


    Most of them didn¡¯t do much, thudding into the ice and causing it to tremble a bit. Senan had made it thick enough to be extremely durable. Ice was only fragile when thin. Anyone who¡¯d tried to smash even as much as ice cubes knew how little effect you would have on something larger.


    Of course, that was considering humanoids. As it turned out, everything was relative. For example, you could have a ten foot tall flaming boar that didn¡¯t seem to care about pesky little things being in his way. The crashing sound drew my attention to one, steam rising from its body as the rain continued.


    Was this¡­ okay? Were boars supposed to be on fire? Probably not. That might be why it seemed to angry, but it certainly couldn¡¯t have been any of us that made it like that. And the fact that it stayed on fire indicated that it was at the very least something supernatural.


    The boar¡¯s head swiveled, looking through the opening it had smashed on the landed side of the wall. It took in the people on the walls and at the missing gates, and then looked straight ahead to the developing Rainbow Lotus. It snorted.


    ¡°Someone stop it!¡± Ceira called out.


    I had a pretty good idea what it was going to do, and I wasn¡¯t going to let anything grab our Rainbow Lotus. Especially not before they were done! It would just be a waste to eat them now, and I highly doubted a boar would stop at just one.


    There was no way I was going to stand in front of a boar, especially not a giant flaming one. But I could mitigate one of those factors quite easily. It was just a few points of mana to cast Enlarge on myself. It didn¡¯t last very long, or I would have used it throughout the battle. The most important part of it was that it didn¡¯t just make me bigger. It also made my stuff bigger. All temporarily, of course.


    But importantly, I didn¡¯t have to step in front of the boar. Instead I took a wide swing at it with my staff. Did I think that would kill a boar? Absolutely not. It might only barely slow it. But I didn¡¯t want to bet on Stoneskin preventing me from being disemboweled.


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    I knew targeting a boar¡¯s head was the worst place to swing- they ran straight towards enemies with that out in front. So instead I swung low aiming for a leg. A loud crack told me I hit it dead on, and while I had hoped to snap it and stop the boar¡¯s charge, I didn¡¯t do much but cause it to stagger to the side slightly, causing it to carreen into the lake away from the central mass of the Rainbow Lotus. It might have trampled through one, though.


    The boar¡¯s momentum still carried it into the far wall, and through it. But there it stopped for a moment, the perfect target. Arrows and ice spikes began to rain down on it, and Midnight and I blasted the thing with Sonic Lances at the same moment, sending it even further into the lake. Water bubbled around it as its flames rose even higher. It stomped and huffed as it turned around¡­ but our moose friend walked into its path. The moose was certainly massive, but while it was taller the boar packed its size into a dense cluster. It lowered its snout to charge and the moose lowered its own head. Both were injured.


    But I could tilt the odds more in our favor. Reaching out with the tip of my staff, I barely had to step into the water to enchant our moose with the same spell I used on myself. I had to say, it was extremely satisfying to augment something that was already significant. Seeing Great Girl grow to half the size of a ten story building or Shockwave move beyond all comprehensible limits¡­ I always enjoyed it.


    The moose didn¡¯t quite understand what was happening¡­ but he did thrash his head about, which was good enough. He did kind of topple the rest of the wall in the lake, but when the boar charged forward our buddy flipped the thing all the way into the middle of the lake. I wondered if the boar could swim. If it floated, at least, it might end up in the village downriver.


    The moose let out a great howl, sort of like a bullhorn. And just like that, the clouds cleared away. The moose turned around, and I slightly regretted making it so big. On the other hand, it did a very good job of scaring off everything else.


    The moose looked at us. Then Ceira.


    The lotus flowers sparkled ever more brightly as the sun shone on them. I felt something change in them. And the moose lowered his head to snatch one up, swallowing it whole. Then he began to waddle away.


    ¡°Hey, Ceira,¡± I called to her. ¡°He¡¯s be a very useful Animal Companion.¡±


    ¡°I- what? Where would I even put a moose? I live in an apartment! Heck, I live in a city and I¡¯m pretty sure all of New Bay has a no-moose allowed policy.¡±


    Fair enough. But it was a shame to miss out on such a cool guy. With the rain clearing up, we plucked the remaining flowers- then threw them in Storage so they wouldn¡¯t attract unnecessary attention on our way back to the village. Though somehow, I thought I felt some of their aura lingering around Midnight and I.


    ¡°No doubt the wild animals will consume many of the fallen here,¡± Ailen said. ¡°But we should at least take something back to the village.¡±


    Ceira looked uneasy at the bodies of the animals- even if there were only a dozen or so, the rest slinking off as they got injured. I didn¡¯t think it was appropriate to kill animals for no reason, but we had a goal, and I imagined a similar number might have perished without our presence. And looking at the big picture, I really doubted a few deaths was going to cause anything in this place to go extinct. Unless that thing was elves or orcs, because as far as I could tell they were massively outpopulated by everything else.


    -----


    ¡°So what are these even for?¡± I asked Comhghall as I wiped blood off my lip. ¡°They¡¯re certainly very magical, but¡­¡±


    The old orc nodded seriously, ¡°Well, the first reason was for the experience of battle. Training must involve a balance of safety and true danger. But the other reason is the effects they have when consumed. For people of our size, it must be prepared properly.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡± I asked. ¡°What do they do?¡±


    ¡°In their basic form, I would say¡­ they are like liquid experience.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not quite correct, but it¡¯s the easiest explanation,¡± the scarred orc said. ¡°If humanoids like us simply consume these Rainbow Lotus and do nothing else, at most we¡¯ll have an oddly full stomach and heightened mana regeneration. But if you follow your consumption with a method to gain experience, the results are quite astounding.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ I take some of this, then fight and attempt to get to level 35?¡± I grimaced, ¡°I¡¯d need¡­ 637. More than 20% of my total.¡±


    Comhghall shook his head, ¡°That would be a waste. For you, the purpose is to train towards a specific goal. Because not only is it experience in the numerical sense, but it also lets you develop other abilities. You,¡± he pointed at me, and also Midnight, ¡°You will be developing your bond.¡±


    ¡°Begging your pardon sir,¡± Midnight flicked his tail nervously. ¡°I don¡¯t know if improving my own casting efficiency is¡­ much value here.¡±


    ¡°Not like that,¡± the orc shook his head. ¡°But instead, what you can do together. Your sake is a bit unusual in that you are intelligent to begin with, but you haven¡¯t been shown to be lacking any capabilities. Thus, I imagine it should be even more effective for you to provide mana for a spell.¡±


    ¡°But-¡± I began to protest.


    ¡°Yes, yes. Only one person can control mana, and things like that. And while that¡¯s broadly true,¡± the man shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s not universal. Have you never used your mana together


    towards the same purposes, even a little?¡±


    I frowned. There could have been a few times, but they were rather vague. ¡°The closest I know for sure is¡­ when we had to get Jerome. Midnight used Alter Portal while I used Gate to try to re-open the portal.¡±


    ¡°Perfect,¡± Comhghall grinned. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what we need.¡±


    ¡°But it only works on portals that exist, or existed¡­¡± I frowned. I actually didn¡¯t know that. ¡°Or, uh, it wouldn¡¯t be altering it really.¡±


    ¡°Is an incomplete portal a portal?¡± the old man asked.


    ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t actually know.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± he said. ¡°The point is, you have experience working together towards the same task. You just need to develop that.¡±


    That did make sense, and he was the shaman afterall. So I supposed I just had to listen.

 Chapter 177

    Gray goop with a swirl of rainbows in it sat in a cup in front of me. It seemed inadvisable to drink it, but the person here with the most experience with the situation was the one telling me to do it. So I drank it.


    It tasted like mud. Which would have been fine, if it hadn¡¯t been followed up with an acrid taste- both sour and bitter together. Not in pleasing amounts or with anything else to show for them, either. The mud really helped to dull the taste.


    ¡°Bleh,¡± I stuck out my tongue after I finished. ¡°Why would anyone drink this?¡±


    The old shaman shook his head, ¡°Not for its taste, obviously. It is only for the effects.¡±


    I was glad I had finished so quickly, because I felt a wave of nausea. I could concentrate on suppressing that, instead of experiencing it twice at once. Midnight was having a more difficult time with his. The thick concoction was in a bowl, lapping it up as quickly as he could. But his anatomy simply wasn¡¯t made to drink such a thing quickly, so he got to experience prolonged contact with the flavor. But it was kind of important that he also ingest this thing.


    I didn¡¯t begrudge him a short break through. ¡°Are you sure this is okay for me to consume?¡± Midnight asked.


    Comhghall nodded. ¡°The giant wildcats eat rainbow lotus just as much as any of the others. In fact, I don¡¯t know of anything that can¡¯t consume it¡­ regardless of its enjoyability.¡±


    My stomach felt odd. It was full of mana, but it also felt like it was trying to kill me.


    The scarred orc caught my eye. ¡°While he finishes that, we¡¯ve got business.¡±


    That business was punching each other. I don¡¯t know if it really helped with my stomach, except it made me stop thinking about it. I didn¡¯t really think much about how I moved my body, I just did my best to keep up with Comhghall. Not that I thought that I ever had a chance of beating him, but the harder I worked the more I would learn, probably.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s enough,¡± Comhghall said as he held my arm twisted behind my back. ¡°We need you at your best working with your friend there. Might be best to start with a spar.¡±


    Midnight looked up at me, and I looked down at him. I could feel the doubt in his mind. ¡°What?  You get to be Enlarged, obviously,¡± I said. ¡°And though it¡¯s not your only way to get experience, it¡¯s still increased right now.¡±


    He swished his tail. ¡°Very well. I accept a sparring match. Even if it is weighted in your favor.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have anything that can just make you a humanoid.¡±


    The larger sized Midnight did have the advantage of a low center of gravity. However, he also couldn¡¯t make use of the normal advantage a feline would have- claws. Out of respect for not seriously hurting each other and Francois¡¯ clothes, as well as Midnight¡¯s claws that might get tangled in said clothes, we had previously decided that would be best. In turn, I was not allowed to throw strikes.


    Because of the rules, it ultimately evolved into a sort of wrestling match where winning was difficult to parse. Eventually, both of us were laying on the ground breathing heavily. We couldn¡¯t relax for long, however, as the old guy dragged us off for training.


    Soon enough we were by the river- not that it was ever far, running through the middle of the village. ¡°Now then, despite what I said earlier¡­ it is likely best for you to start with something other than attempting to create a portal. Though your previous attempts at teamwork there will be beneficial, it is better to begin with lower mana cost spells, both to avoid side effects and give you more attempts before running out of mana. Storage is your cheapest spell, but I think I would suggest one of your level 2 spells. Something with visible effects.¡±


    ¡°That leaves Firebolt, Shocking Grasp, and Grease,¡± I said, looking to Midnight.


    ¡°We¡¯re already best at Shocking Grasp,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So perhaps that?¡±


    Firebolt would work too. There was a reason we were by the water, I imagined. But Shocking Grasp didn¡¯t have any risk of flying about. ¡°I agree. So then¡­ what do we do?¡± I looked to Comhghall, the one who seemed to know what he was talking about.


    ¡°Simple. Gather half of the mana for your spell. Each of you. Then, cast it together.¡±


    He said that, but I knew the default result would be each of us casting a powered down Shocking Grasp. Still, we had to try to have any chance of success.


    The mana required was a paltry amount. It only took a moment to gather, and I felt it was the same for Midnight. And then¡­ I released my grip on the mana, and felt he did so as well.


    Small bits of lightning coiled around our individual limbs.


    ¡°Clearly that wasn¡¯t it,¡± I said. ¡°Should we try reaching out or something? Mentally, I mean. Physically, that¡¯s a good way to zap each other.¡±


    Midnight nodded, ¡°I know we can do it if it¡¯s possible.¡±


    We both let the magic fade away into the ground. Then we tried again. We gathered about a point of mana each. I sort of tried to pull Midnight¡¯s mana into me, and then¡­ a burst of lightning appeared between us. Force Armor shattered, and I was glad we had the habit of keeping that up at all times.


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    ¡°I¡¯m fairly certain that wasn¡¯t supposed to happen,¡± I said. ¡°Sorry. I sort of tugged on your mana. Was that incorrect?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re asking me?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°How should I know? But at least we know for sure that it does something.¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± I agreed. ¡°Normally, nothing could have gone wrong.¡±


    I refreshed Force Armor on us. Comhghall was just watching, but he didn¡¯t seem to have any guidance to offer at the moment. So it was time to try again.


    And again.


    And again.


    Maybe our problem was timing. I began to count down for our subsequent attempts.


    Most results were either the first option, where nothing happened but us individually casting part of a spell¡­ or the second, where it appeared between us and exploded. Though we did get better at containing the explosion, I think.


    ¡°... Maybe we should swap to Grease?¡± I asked after the third time we had to replace Force Armor.


    ¡°Well, the river is right there in case we get ourselves.¡±


    ¡°It should fade away on its own. Magic, and all that.¡±


    We gathered mana. And then¡­ a patch of black appeared on the ground between us.


    ¡°Hmmn,¡± I frowned. ¡°That¡­ worked, I think.¡±


    ¡°Why, though?¡± Midnight asked.


    A good question, to which I had no direct answer. But I did have theories. ¡°We might be changing the point of origin.¡±


    ¡°Okay?¡± Midnight tilted his head.


    I gestured between me and him. ¡°The spell originates between the two of us. So when it¡¯s supposed to latch onto someone, it doesn¡¯t have a target and goes wild. But Grease is supposed to originate away from the casters already, and I automatically aimed it between us. I imagine you did as well, since that is where we¡¯re focusing.¡±


    ¡°I think I get it,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So how do we know?¡±


    ¡°We aim things. Starting with Grease. First, we pick different locations. Let¡¯s say¡­¡± I pointed next to us, ¡°I aim here, you aim there.¡± Comhghall might know some of this stuff, but he wasn¡¯t revealing anything. Then again, we didn¡¯t need help right now. ¡°We¡¯ll learn something no matter what.¡±


    Even without verbal timing, it was actually pretty easy to cast our spell. We both knew how much mana it took. Half each, though that might become a problem soon- Midnight¡¯s pool was about half mine. Just a little more, really.


    The results were immediately apparent. The Grease appeared unambiguously where I intended. ¡°There¡¯s our answer,¡± I said. ¡°But there¡¯s something more. Come next to the water with me.¡± I moved closer to the river, so I could properly see in. ¡°Stand over there somewhere, please.¡±


    ¡°Firebolt?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I agreed. ¡°Though that gives me another idea. Like if we attempt different spells. But first, Firebolt. Aim for the water, obviously.¡± It didn¡¯t matter if I overrode the control sometimes. It was better to be certain. We probably wouldn¡¯t light a house on fire, but it was better to avoid the very possibility.


    I reached out my hand, aiming my Firebolt¡­ though I had the feeling it was a pointless endeavor. The two of us gathered mana, and a Firebolt appeared¡­ between us. At least it kept the correct angle to hit the water.


    I sighed, ¡°I was afraid of that. Looks like it splits the origin point between us. Not just for self-targeted spells, I mean.¡± Grease was another type, targeting an area. It didn¡¯t really matter if its origin point was between us unless we blocked it. We should check if that happened.


    After a little bit more testing, Midnight was tapped out on mana. We were both using and recovering the same amount, so his lower pool was the limit. ¡°We should try something else, after our break,¡± I said. Normally, it would have taken four hours to recover his mana to full- but that was only at the minimum rate. Here, it was somewhere around five or more times as much, though that still gave us a decent time to wait. Probably best to have lunch.


    After we returned, we started with another simple attempt. A Firebolt into the river, just like we¡¯d done before. It would only cause a simple sizzle and have little other effect. But instead¡­ we failed. Two pathetic Firebolts came from us, aimed at the river.


    ¡°Good thing you kept your focus proper,¡± I said to Midnight.


    He nodded proudly, ¡°Of course, I take this very seriously.¡±


    We tried several more times before finally managing to share our mana once, creating the full bolt between us.


    I grimaced, ¡°Why is this suddenly so difficult?¡± As I asked the question, I knew the answer. I considered my full stomach. ¡°Oh right. We probably finished processing that sludge.¡± Hopefully we didn¡¯t waste it- though I doubt Comhghall would have let that happen. I looked towards him, since he was still watching our training.


    ¡°That¡¯s how it is,¡± he confirmed. ¡°It amplifies magic and all sorts of experience gain, but it doesn¡¯t last. Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll have more for tomorrow though. Same for your friends.¡±


    ¡°Is there some reason we can¡¯t have more now?¡±


    ¡°Better to wait,¡± he said. ¡°You don¡¯t want to deal with the side effects.¡±


    Good enough. Though I was curious about that. ¡°What about the wild animals that eat Rainbow Lotus?¡±


    ¡°They deal with it because they have to. It reshapes their bodies quite rapidly, but painfully. It¡¯s not the same that happens to humanoids,¡± he looked at Midnight. ¡°Or, people in general I suppose. Not feeling any pain, are you?¡±


    He wasn¡¯t. And Midnight confirmed that verbally. ¡°Nothing I shouldn¡¯t be. A little bit of bruising from earlier, maybe.¡±


    ¡°Good. I was certain the effects would be positive in any case. It¡¯s hard to go wrong with Rainbow Lotus. It¡¯s just possible to be more or less efficient.¡±


    ¡°How many days of training do we have?¡±


    ¡°I have rationed enough for a week, for you and your allies. It will be much more efficient and tolerable to spread it out. I imagine you have noticed some fatigue.¡±


    ¡°Well, we were practicing, but I do feel rather sluggish,¡± I admitted. I thought about the others. They had their own ideas for how to train. Though I did wonder in particular about Senan. Unlike the rest of us, he didn¡¯t have a class. So would it be effective for him? I hoped so. The easiest thing to do would be to ask. Though we could continue to train without the boosted effects for the rest of the afternoon, now that we had some idea of what we were doing.

 Chapter 178

    After Midnight and I finished our training, we went to check on the others. I had clearly felt the effects of the Rainbow Lotus, so most of the others likely would have as well. The one most in question was Senan, Ice Guy himself. He was the only one with powers from Earth.


    When I found him, he was waving around an ability I hadn¡¯t seen very frequently, a whip of ice that bent as he pleased. It twisted and turned as he sketched out patterns of ice on the ground and some nearby boulders as targets.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t used that much, lately,¡± I commented as we approached.


    He turned to regard the two of us, Midnight riding on my shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s a bit difficult to use, and not great range. Though we have been encountering more things willing to come up close.¡±


    ¡°How is your training going? Getting a lot of experience?¡±


    He pondered for a moment. ¡°I did feel more focused for a while. Could be the placebo effect though.¡±


    ¡°Placebos are pretty effective from what I hear,¡± I nodded my head. ¡°So should we expect cool new moves?¡±


    ¡°Not from me,¡± Senan shook his head. ¡°Even if it works, don¡¯t forget I have more experience already. I¡¯m unlikely to learn something new suddenly.¡±


    ¡°Depends on how fast this stuff works,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I got¡­ a couple years of casual experience? Though that¡¯s also counting the fighting we did. Actually, that¡¯s probably most of it.¡± Though I should have gotten some experience for sparring while affected by the concoction, I wasn¡¯t sure how much it would be even when boosted. Comhghall should know, but the point wasn¡¯t for me to increase that number, but rather to improve the other things Midnight and I had been working on.


    Senan shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s an odd topic, because it¡¯s always possible for something to just click and a person is suddenly capable of something. Though it¡¯s not quite so literal as for you, I suppose.¡±


    Unfortunately he didn¡¯t have a status window, so we had to go with how he felt. Focused was good, at least.


    The next person I found was Ailen, diligently training. ¡°How is it going?¡± I asked the archer.


    The elf spoke without looking towards me, instead focusing on shooting consistently. There was a target a significant distance away with a bunch of arrows sticking out of it. ¡°It is encouraging to receive a short time of accelerated growth.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I asked. ¡°Senan didn¡¯t seem to think that to be very useful, in his opinion. Not that he actually was negative about it.¡±


    ¡°Time saved is still time saved,¡± they said, ¡°Besides, I am still relatively young so this is quite effective.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you came along then. Plus, we needed your help fending off the beasts.¡±


    The next of our group I found was Ceira, who was lying on her back in the middle of a field of tall grass. Midnight hopped down and ran over to her. ¡°How are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Uuugh,¡± Ceira said. ¡°I think I got a whole level.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only¡­ approximately 50 experience?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot when I had less than 300 total,¡± she said as she pulled herself up to sitting. ¡°I think I burned through it all already.¡±


    ¡°Same with Midnight and I,¡± I said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t last that long, or rather I think it¡¯s only a small amount that it¡¯s easy to use up. Which is good because it tasted¡­¡±


    ¡°Terrible,¡± Ceira and Midnight said together.


    We all nodded in consensus at the memory.


    ¡°So,¡± I asked, ¡°What are you working on? Any new spells or anything?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± she sort of shrugged. ¡°I dunno about new spells. I have some points, but I don¡¯t think there¡¯s much that I can actually do to help us here. I can¡¯t portal us back or anything¡­¡±


    ¡°Neither can I, yet,¡± I reminded her. ¡°Honestly, you¡¯re already around where I was a year ago¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like it,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not that useful in combat.¡±


    ¡°Your main problem is you¡¯ve been fighting things you shouldn¡¯t have to be going up against,¡± I pointed out. ¡°If you were up against normal people, you could handle them pretty easily.¡± I held up a finger, ¡°And you killed one of Doctor Doomsday¡¯s robots. That¡¯s not insignificant.¡±


    ¡°... Barely.¡±


    I sat down next to her. ¡°Wanna hear about how many times I¡¯ve almost died?¡±


    -----


    Izzy was done with training by the time I got to her. Not really knowing what to say, I asked, ¡°Did you know anything about orcish culture?¡±


    ¡°Nah,¡± she shook her head. ¡°I just wanted to punch someone. And I found a good excuse. The bullies, I mean. With you it was proper fun.¡±


    ¡°So how is your training going?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Fine,¡± she shrugged. ¡°I really didn¡¯t intend to be fighting this much. I came along to help, and I guess¡­ I shouldn¡¯t have expected everything to go well. It doesn¡¯t, usually.¡±


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    I nodded, ¡°Yeah, if you have to go rescue someone¡­ things have already gone wrong. And they don¡¯t usually get better quickly. Thanks for being there, though.¡±


    ¡°Hey, your friends are my friends too. Or at least, enough of them. I¡¯m not just gonna sit around and do nothing.¡±


    ¡°But you don¡¯t want to fight,¡± I said.


    ¡°Maybe if I got extra experience for it. But being able to live comfortably is enough for me. And like, punching people is an acceptable sport on Earth if I ever feel it¡¯s necessary.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s also quite accepted here specifically.¡±


    ¡°... How are you feeling about that?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Now you sound like my therapist.¡±


    ¡°... And?¡±


    I sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Most of the time I want to punch Comhghall in the face and all of the time I know he wouldn¡¯t care. They have a good reason to be like this and it annoys me.¡±


    We just remained in silence for a while after that, without much else to say. It was nice to have friends.


    -----


    The next morning, after wishing the concoction tasted more like mud and less like Rainbow Lotus, Midnight and I got to training again.


    ¡°Alright, here¡¯s the plan,¡± I said. ¡°I want to try out gathering different amounts of mana. After all, your maximum and fatigue threshold are both lower, so if we¡¯re pushing our limits for something¡­ it¡¯s better if we can distribute things between us proportionately.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that sounds useful,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Though perhaps only if we¡¯re doing things we shouldn¡¯t be able to?¡±


    ¡°Doing things we shouldn¡¯t be able to sounds like a great use of teamwork,¡± I grinned.


    Since we had some weird magic goop inside of us, it was probably best to get cracking. According to Comhghall it was used up when gaining experience, but that didn¡¯t mean the effects wouldn¡¯t just fade on their own given time.


    We began with simple and safe spells. Grease was a good one because it didn¡¯t cause any damage or permanent effects and was quite visible. And unlike Shocking Grasp which could normally be prevented from causing harm, it didn¡¯t explode when the mana for it was off on its own.


    The first cast didn¡¯t work out for us. I wasn¡¯t sure if we spent too much mana and the spell failed or something else, but either way the intended two-thirds to one-third ratio was screwed up. Or perhaps we failed for other reasons. After a few more attempts, we finally got it.


    Our second success made me quite glad we were going with a safe spell, as instead of affecting the area in front of us where I was aiming, it half splattered over my right arm.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s¡­ concerning,¡± I frowned. ¡°I know grease hits things in its path but¡­¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be in the path,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Right? I think¡­ we¡¯re going to have to try something. Time for Energy Ward.¡±


    Specifically, I protected us against fire. Energy Ward could wholly block at least three uses of Firebolt, so even if something went catastrophically wrong and both Midnight and I were hit with the full force of two spells, we should be fine.


    ¡°Okay Midnight, we¡¯re doing Firebolt again. Aiming for the river,¡± I said. We edged closer to it. ¡°Ready¡­ go.¡±


    Both of us began to gather mana. Instead of me pushing to gather mana faster, Midnight instead took a more leisurely pace to keep his proportion. That was sensible, as that was the way things would be least likely to go wrong. Rushing to gather mana could result in easy mishaps.


    Fire scorched my right arm, or rather sprayed off of it as the spell appeared between us and struck the Energy Ward. It was clearly aimed in the correct direction¡­ but it was also clearly skewed much towards my position. ¡°Ah¡­ I think I get it,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Me too,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It¡¯s closer to you because more of the mana is yours.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s try again just to be sure, but we¡¯ll stand further apart,¡± I said.


    And indeed, we got the answer we were looking for. For a spell like Firebolt that had a point of origin at the caster, that was how it worked. Or rather than originating at the caster, it might be at the center of mana, with some leeway for a caster¡¯s body. Then again, that might just be directly adjacent to a continuous portion of mana and¡­ none of that mattered right now. We did discuss the possibilities for a short time, but we also continued just practicing our synergy.


    It worked about the same way as the day before, which is to say our practice was phenomenal for the duration of the Rainbow Lotus, and then much rockier thereafter. However, because we were splitting the mana costs more fairly- whether or not we successfully cast a spell- we were able to continue longer after the Rainbow Lotus ran out. Eventually, both of us had just the mana we had regenerated, which was more or less equal.


    ¡°Let¡¯s use up some of the rest, but an even split,¡± I said to Midnight.


    ¡°Yeah, I want to know if it¡¯s actually easier,¡± he agreed.


    And as it turned out¡­ it was. Even without the Rainbow Lotus being active, an even split of mana meant we were able to pretty consistently cast spells with the cost shared between us.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said to Midnight. ¡°So, we know how to do this, and how spell origins get screwed up¡­ but there¡¯s one other thing we can test.¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­ is it Storage?¡±


    ¡°... I don¡¯t want to mess with that right now,¡± I shook my head. ¡°So, two more things at least. But no, what I meant was our ability to share spells. I want us to split Enlarge, with the intention of affecting us both. Will the mana explode between us, give us reduced effects, or work as if just one of us cast it properly?¡±


    ¡°Hopefully the last one,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°That is what I want to aim for,¡± I agreed.


    One and a half mana each, and we both ended up quite large. That was a relief.


    ¡°I¡¯m not certain it would have worked this well without our practice,¡± I said to Midnight.


    ¡°Same,¡± he agreed. ¡°Our synergy is definitely improving.¡±


    ¡°When we get back to the Brigade, we should have them record things to determine if we¡¯re using my upgrades or yours, or some combination,¡± I added. ¡°For now, I would suggest we always aim for our proportion of the maximum mana, since we won¡¯t be trying to conserve mana for Gate anyway. Just the opposite, really.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing!¡± Midnight said. His voice sounded confident, but I could feel something underneath.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong buddy?¡± I asked.


    ¡°... I want to visit home.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re returning to Earth,¡± I said. ¡°I promise you.¡± Since that was the same feeling of homesickness for me, it took me a moment. ¡°Oh! You mean Celmoth. Well, once we get to Earth¡­ if we can do that, of course we¡¯ll get you home. And if we¡¯re not good enough, we just need more practice! I already told you we¡¯d bring you home when we could, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Midnight nodded, more calm. ¡°Just to visit though.¡±


    ¡°Hey, if¡­ if you want to move back, that¡¯s okay.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding? And leave Earth to be overrun by Bunvorixians? I wouldn¡¯t do that to you, Turlough.¡±

 Chapter 179

    Days continued to pass in an almost natural manner, though the daily scenery and the imperfect replica of proper beds both reminded us we were not at home. Perhaps some day I might be able to replicate the highly advanced bedding technology of Earth with the Shelter spell, but today was not the day. Nor tomorrow, probably.


    Today I once more faced off against my nemesis. The scarred face of Comhghall was presented to me, and while I certainly had complex feelings about his presence¡­ my true nemesis was held in his hands. A cup full of grayish mud with a swirl of color. ¡°Today is the last of it,¡± he said. ¡°I would suggest pushing for an attempt at opening a Gate. But,¡± he cautioned, ¡°I would not attempt to go through. You want to create several stable attempts before you go through, lest you be separated from your friends¡­ or from yourself.¡±


    Separated from myself? I doubt he meant in a spiritual or mental capacity. I hadn¡¯t really thought about it, but a portal closing at the wrong time could certainly be troublesome for people.


    ¡°Do you think we can do it?¡± Midnight asked, tail flicking back and forth.


    ¡°Of course we can,¡± I promised him. ¡°That¡¯s what all this training is for.¡±


    As much as I enjoyed improving my abilities, I would rather do so back home. We had to succeed. Though I tried to remind myself this was still practice.


    We returned to the river, even if we weren¡¯t intending to shoot any Firebolts. ¡°Do you think we should do a warm up?¡± I asked Midnight. ¡°Something smaller first, maybe.¡±


    ¡°Grease is fairly consistent,¡± he said. ¡°And then¡­ perhaps Shelter? That would be our closest to middle cost that is safe and wouldn¡¯t require further experiments. Like Sending or Scrying.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded. ¡°I think that makes sense. And we¡¯ll still have more than enough mana left. We could even cast a Gate ourselves¡­ except for the mana fatigue thing. And the other factors making it difficult here. But numerically.¡±


    That was enough stumbling over my words. Casting Grease was simple. Even without speaking, Midnight matched my pace of drawing mana. We only gathered a small amount, but we knew where it would be originating and could avoid getting a mess on someone. A mess that would magically disappear in a couple minutes, but was still annoying for a time. Grease worked flawlessly, as expected.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll start Shelter on the count of three. Two and two-thirds mana for you, five and a third for me. One, two, three.¡±


    I was a little less focused on the details of Shelter this time compared to simply getting the spell cast. I gathered mana at an even pace, with Midnight keeping to half my rate. The building was a little wonky, though that might have been because it was placed on uneven terrain without accounting for it. It was only a temporary structure regardless, so it would fade into nothing given time or damage.


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°Same for Gate. But we want to push ourselves near our limits.¡± I frowned. Would twenty mana be enough? Could we use more? It was one spell, and they didn¡¯t normally allow infusing more mana. But the rules I had learned weren¡¯t necessarily so solid as they had been laid down. ¡°Something like¡­ sixteen and eight?¡± My vision briefly flickered to the watching Comhghall, but he didn¡¯t seem to have any reaction. ¡°On three. The target is¡­ Master Uvithar¡¯s office. There was a portal there once, after all.¡±


    When casting alone, I simply let mana flow unfettered. There was a natural reaction for when to stop according to the spell I desired. But Gate was beyond my abilities alone, so I couldn¡¯t let it push to its natural limits or I would simply pass out.


    Swirling colors gathered together in front of us as we cast the spell, a continuous process as an ellipse a bit wider than a doorway began to form a step in front of and between Midnight and I. Midnight and I both poured the last bits of mana into Gate and¡­ the spell fell apart. It didn¡¯t resolve into an opening or even hint at any of the things I had been expecting to see on the other side.


    No. Why? It shouldn¡¯t¡­


    We¡¯d done it perfectly, hadn¡¯t we? I had felt only a bit of pressure from the attempt, but I thought we were doing well.


    ¡°... What happened?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I admitted. ¡°... Comhghall?¡±


    The old orc stepped closer. ¡°It appears to have failed.¡±


    ¡°Obviously. I don¡¯t¡­ why?¡±


    He reached out, but instead of punching me or throwing me to the ground he simply placed a hand on my shoulder. I grabbed it out of instinct, but he just squeezed my shoulder. ¡°It looked to me like it went just fine. It just didn¡¯t complete. Why do you think that could be? Besides inadequate spellcasting.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ uh¡­ maybe the location is warded? But it wasn¡¯t before.¡± I frowned, ¡°Then again, I don¡¯t know if I would leave my office like that if someone did put a portal in it.¡±


    ¡°Did it feel warded?¡± Comhghall asked. ¡°Did it reject you?¡±


    ¡°No. I don¡¯t think so. I had to kind of push through some resistance though. Was twenty-four mana not enough? We could definitely push a little bit more¡­¡±


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    ¡°That may indeed be necessary,¡± Comhghall said. ¡°But if you faced a gentle pressure resisting you, that is as it should be. This plane is not easily traversed. This fellow from Earth,¡± he said the english word with an odd accent, ¡°Must be quite powerful to have sustained any connection. However, your connection to the place you intend to return to should mitigate that difficulty.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what else it could be, then.¡±


    ¡°... Did he move his office?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°What?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°You can¡¯t really¡­ I mean, we definitely didn¡¯t have any modular buildings like that.¡±


    ¡°Maybe his desk was in the way?¡±


    ¡°I think the portal would end up nearby¡­?¡± I looked to Comhghall, who just smiled politely as we traded ideas. I had the feeling he should know the solution already. ¡°It should only fail if the room is so changed as to be unrecognizable. Or gone.¡± I scrunched my lips, feeling my tusks slide against my skin. ¡°I¡­ need to contact Master Uvithar.¡±


    Actually, I should have done so before trying to make a portal into his office. Just because I didn¡¯t expect it to work didn¡¯t make it a good excuse. It was a good thing that mana recovered so quickly here, or I would burn myself out in a few minutes here. As it was, we¡¯d probably have to take a short break.


    ¡°Master Uvithar. I attempted to visit your tower through the same means I left, but failed to open the door. Did you change the locks?¡± Since he had reason to be secretive lately, I figured that should be vague enough for him to get the idea. So I just had to wait. My spell went out¡­ and was slow about returning. Perhaps he had to think about a good reply. He had somewhere around ten minutes to concoct it. It could also take variable time to arrive, traveling between planes.


    And then, my spell returned to me- but without a response. That was quite different from before, where it failed to reach the target- or the return message did. I frowned, trying to remember what that meant.


    ¡°Are you okay, Turlough?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Not really,¡± I admitted. ¡°So. The Sending returned- without a message. Either he is warded against things finding him or¡­ he isn¡¯t anywhere to be found.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean¡­?¡± Midnight leaned up against me to comfort me.


    ¡°He¡­ shouldn¡¯t be dead,¡± I said. ¡°He is an intelligent man. I find it more likely he is simply concealed or¡­ this plane might interfere.¡±


    ¡°It could,¡± Comhghall admitted. ¡°But you have achieved communications before, have you not?¡±


    ¡°To Calculator, yes,¡± I nodded. ¡°But there was a portal¡­ I guess not anymore, however. And when those failed to return, it was more¡­ familiar.¡±


    ¡°It usually feels different when someone is dead,¡± Comhghall added. ¡°And given the situation, I would already lean towards your first explanation. Intentional obfuscation. Not from you, I imagine- but it is risky to leave any avenues open when doing so. They are weaknesses that can be exploited.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so¡­ we can¡¯t access his tower or contact him,¡± I frowned deeply.


    ¡°I think there is a simple solution here you are not considering,¡± Comhghall said.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Regardless of the situation with the tower, the portal you considered is long gone. Any connection it would facilitate is likely faded. So I would suggest the polite form of showing up at someone¡¯s doorstep. Which is to say, you should really aim for the doorstep instead of inside someone¡¯s room.¡±


    ¡°... we can just make a portal outside on the road,¡± I said. ¡°Or¡­ off to the side? In case anyone is walking along.¡±


    ¡°Anywhere you are familiar with.¡±


    Familiarity was important. I knew the tower well. Uvithar¡¯s office, the libraries, and my room especially. But I also spent time outside. Gating into Mossley might not be a good idea, but there were fields around the city I knew quite well.


    I estimated my remaining mana. ¡°Alright Midnight, I think we can make one more attempt. We don¡¯t want to wait too long or the horrible goop will fade away with marginal benefits. This time, a slightly different target. Outside in a field. And¡­ we should aim for slightly more mana. One point for me, a half for you, bringing us to seventeen and eight and a half.¡± Haves were much easier than thirds, though in truth only one of the two of us had to be accurate with fractional points of mana. We just had to match our proportions intentionally beyond that.


    The process was the same as before, forming the beginnings of a portal, or at least the shape of it. The spell ate mana as quickly as we could give it, and it only took a few seconds to gather the requisite amount. I felt the same sort of resistance, but it only took one solid push to get through. And then I was looking not at the river and a lingering Shelter spell, but at a familiar field.


    ¡°That¡¯s-¡± I began to exclaim. And then the spell snapped shut, leaving no trace of its presence but the lingering aura of mana. ¡°... It worked,¡± I grinned. ¡°But¡­ I couldn¡¯t call that a stable Gate by any means.¡±


    ¡°But you have done it now,¡± Comhghall said. ¡°Proving that it is possible. And so you merely need to capture that feeling for later. Hold onto it. And with a bit of practice and a steady flow of mana you will succeed once more.¡±


    ¡°I just remembered. We used mana crystals to augment the first time, including finding a recently closed portal¡­¡±


    ¡°A risk,¡± Comhghall shook his head. ¡°Should you find that you cannot sustain one long enough to step through, it may be worth the burden to do it again. But without proper facilities, your mana crystals may not be a boon to stability.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. Then I turned to Midnight, who was brimming with happiness. ¡°We did it, buddy!¡±


    ¡°A celebration is called for. However, I would prefer to continue our practice. By this evening, we should be able to recover enough mana to do this several more times at least. I would like to show our companions something more¡­ enduring?¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± I nodded. ¡°And¡­ I imagine we¡¯ll have a bit of trouble without the rainbow sludge. So a few practice rounds will do us good.¡±


    Because Midnight and I recovered mana at the same rate, he would reach full if we continued as we were. Though it was unlikely to come up in practical circumstances, whenever he reached that point we performed smaller spells with him taking the lead- and the greater portion of mana expended. After all, our combined casting could be improved with more than just Gate. And using large chunks of mana like that up more than hourly was rather straining, regardless of how much mana we actually recovered.


    But we had good news. We might get to go home, and it hadn¡¯t even been two months since we came to this plane.

 Chapter 180

    Over the course of the next few days, Midnight and I managed to repeat the process of opening the Gate, but it barely lasted a few seconds. Without more Rainbow Lotus, our improvements were slow. More like perfectly normal, but in comparison it felt glacial.


    After we had shown our companions the portal, I couldn¡¯t help but notice Izzy and Ceira watching occasionally. Perhaps they were eager to get back, though Ice Guy seemed patient about everything. Or maybe he just didn¡¯t want to get his hopes up. I knew he had people he wanted to get back to.


    I frowned as I looked at Midnight, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m certain we¡¯ll get it eventually¡­¡± he said.


    I sighed, ¡°I was hoping to have a proper upgrade already. Our teamwork is quite stable now but¡­ this requires more than just using Gate, it seems.¡±


    ¡°If we can manage a consistent time, we could have people run through?¡± Midnight said uncertainly.


    ¡°It would need to be more than just a couple seconds,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Sure, people can physically move through faster than that, but trying to go through before it¡¯s fully open is dangerous. It¡¯s not really stable. It¡¯s supposed to last somewhere around a minute if done properly.¡±


    ¡°That does sound pretty bad, then,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So, what do we do?¡±


    ¡°While I might gain something if we stay around here and continue to hunt some of the crazy monsters in the wilderness¡­ I think it¡¯s better if we move on as quickly as possible for everyone else. I¡¯ve already grown a lot here.¡±


    Just taking a look at my status screen, I had a number of improvements and new abilities since we came to save Ceira. Plus a good amount of experience, which meant levels and points.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 31


    Experience: 2555/2640


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +5 (4|1)


    Firebolt +4 (3|1)


    Shocking Grasp +5 (3|2)


    Grease +3 (2|1)


    Force Armor +7 (6|1)


    Mage''s Reach +4 (2|2)


    Translation +2 (1|1)


    Alter Time Flow +5 (4|1)


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +6 (4|2)


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +3 (2|1)


    Sonic Lance +4 (3|1)


    Scrying +1 (1|2)


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +3 (2|1)


    Mana Crystal Deposition +4 (1|3)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +2


    Basic Light Magic +2 (1|1)


    Locate Object +2


    Alter Portal +1 (0|1)


    Gate


    Arcane Sight +1 (0|1)


    Sending +2 (0|2)


    Chain Lightning +2 (1|1)


    Clean +1 (0|1)


    Shelter +1 (0|1)


    Assistive Familiar Casting +1 (0|1)


    Remaining Points: 42


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°I saved just enough points last level to be able to get two upgrades to Gate,¡± I reminded Midnight. ¡°I was hoping we could get a natural one first, since it seems like that might be easier.¡± I¡¯d only gotten the last level when we were securing the Rainbow Lotus, and we¡¯d had very efficient training after that. But apparently it wasn¡¯t quite enough, or perhaps most of the effects went towards Assistive Familiar Casting. Which was also another upgrade target, but not knowing how it worked¡­ it was better to not think about it too much. We could experiment later, if necessary.


    ¡°So two upgrades would be¡­?¡±


    ¡°Somewhere around twenty percent more power, plus another ten percent if we use the full 20 point mana cost as we¡¯ve been doing with our 2:1 split.¡±


    ¡°Thirty percent¡­ would that get us somewhere around 1 second?¡±


    ¡°That¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± I admitted. ¡°I would like to think it would be more. We¡¯re still much below the base time, after all. Let¡¯s call what we get 1/10 of the duration, which is already high. If we¡¯re using the full power of the spell and only getting that, then the interference from this plane should be causing a reduction of 9/10 of the power, right?¡± It was awkward to put into words. ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be able to go between planes without upgrades at base. Upgrades are for mana efficiency or weak connections or¡­ well, I don¡¯t know for sure. But the point is, with more power I feel like we¡¯ll get way more than a second out of it. We might get a full third of the duration? But~¡± I squished my lips against my tusks as I made a face, ¡°We might only get that 1 second. In that case, we would really want a natural upgrade for an additional half second. We could at least get people through one at a time if it lasted longer, and even a half second greatly reduces the danger.¡±


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°So you spend the points now and things either work or¡­ we have to spend longer here to get the next upgrade. Whether it¡¯s natural or from your next level.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do¡­¡± I looked around, not seeing Ceira anywhere. ¡°Ceira especially seems to be having a hard time. If we can get home without waiting longer, it seems like we should.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you have it all figured out, then,¡± Midnight said. ¡°If waiting is a problem, wouldn¡¯t people rather see progress?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ suppose so?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°So you think I should spend the points?¡±


    ¡°It might solve the situation right now,¡± Midnight shrugged. ¡°And if not, we¡¯re already spending an arbitrary amount of time training.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Might as well do it then.¡± I spent the points, bringing us exactly to nothing. I didn¡¯t regret spending so many at once, and this is what I had saved them for¡­ but I really hoped it would be enough. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s take a couple minutes to get ready. I think we should try to continue as we¡¯ve been doing.¡±


    The split was 2:1, with myself doing 13 ? of the 20 points required for the spell. That wasn¡¯t perfect for our respective mana pools, but it was close enough. The proportions were easier to sense, and we sort of adjusted our levels based on each other. It was likely imperfect, but so was doing any amount of mana that wasn¡¯t the maximum or automatically discounted amount used for a spell.


    The two of us worked together to perform the spell as we had done many times over the past week, spread out throughout the day in multiple attempts. There was something awkward about it this time. Like I was trying to push past a barrier that didn¡¯t exist, stumbling forward through an open doorway¡­ and then running into something.


    But we managed to open a portal. It stood open for¡­ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.. 6 whole seconds? I breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°I think we did it.¡±


    ¡°Good job,¡± the words came not from Midnight, but from Izzy, approaching from nearby. ¡°I actually got a good look this time. The destination looked quite familiar.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s good to have somewhere with memories.¡±


    ¡°A random field?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°We used to spend time together there,¡± I said. A good amount of friendly combat¡­ and then there had been one real fight that involved practically no punching at all.


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ve never been back there together,¡± Izzy said. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ looking forward to it. I should get out of your way, though.¡± With that, she strode away.


    Well then.


    Midnight and I had enough mana to make several consecutive attempts, though a short break of a minute or so between attempts seemed to help. Our second attempt involve a little less stumbling- I thought I maybe counted another second in there, but it was difficult to do while holding onto a spell. The third attempt got us somewhere close to 10 seconds.


    I look at Midnight with a grin. ¡°At this rate, we can go back tomorrow. As long as we can keep this consistent.¡±


    ¡°Very good news indeed.¡±


    We continued our practice throughout the day. By evening, I was fairly certain what the sticking point was for the awkwardness with casting Gate. There was a limit to what we could do with Assistive Familiar casting, much like regular Familiar Bond. In short, the second upgrade in Gate might not be fully accessible. We experimented with some cheaper spells, especially those with more upgrades. Observing direct effects was more difficult, but the natural point at which the spell was complete did not consider most of the upgrades. Force Armor was a whole .4 mana different when one considered its 7 upgrades to 1 rank of Assistive Familiar Casting. But even so, a single upgrade in Gate and using the full mana cost should make it at least 15 percent better. We didn¡¯t get that much time, but I didn¡¯t necessarily expect every bit we pushed past to give us an exact proportion of Gate¡¯s duration back.


    So I might have wasted 21 points. Or at least, spent them unnecessarily early. Though another upgrade wouldn¡¯t hurt. If I got another level, and was somewhere ¡®normal¡¯, the second upgrade might even let me cast Gate alone. Though I didn¡¯t really need to scrounge for upsides. I learned something, and while points were limited to some extent, being able to upgrade via training made an unbelievable difference.


    -----


    ¡°So,¡± Midnight and I addressed the rest of our group. ¡°Due to recent improvements, we should actually be able to use Gate. The plan is to return to Earth in two steps tomorrow. First, we have to get through to the material plane of this world. We¡¯ll go through in groups, since the duration of the spell is so low. Izzy and Senan first. Then Ceira after them. Then Midnight and I.¡± My eyes rested on the elf with us. ¡°I suppose you¡¯ll be heading home after that?¡±


    Ailen nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Well, thank you for bringing us here, and watching over us,¡± I nodded. Everyone else offered thanks in their own way.


    ¡°So we can be home tomorrow?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°Yes but¡­ it might take all day. Mana regeneration here,¡± I gestured around us, ¡°Is much quicker. Midnight and I will practically exhaust ourselves just getting us through. We¡¯ll need to wait somewhere around two hours to cast another Gate. The first one should be just a test. It might¡­ take a bit more to return to Earth.¡±


    Senan had something to add to that. ¡°Unlike this plane, New Bay and a few places around Earth are nearly the opposite. Which is to say, it¡¯s easier for portals and the like to connect to them. I have high confidence it will work.¡±


    ¡°I hope you¡¯re right,¡± I agreed. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ll have to wait. So while we do that I want to check on Master Uvithar nearby. Getting us back to Earth will probably be an all day thing anyway.¡±


    -----


    I was having trouble sleeping because of the nervousness. Not mine. I wasn¡¯t the type to get stressed out about anything. Part of it was the general atmosphere among us. The rest was Midnight specifically.


    I snuck out of the room and he naturally followed me, knowing I was awake.


    ¡°Hey buddy,¡± I said, sitting down in the dirt next to him. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°... What if we mess up? Someone could get hurt!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I stroked his head. ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re doing it in parts. You know how consistent we were at the end. We could probably sustain one Gate long enough for all of us to step through if we had to. But if we¡¯re safe about it, it¡¯s not a problem at all.¡±


    ¡°Teleportation is dangerous, though,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Sure, but it¡¯s just a portal. We¡¯ve been through portals before. Two, three times each. Actually, four for me and you came to Earth from- ah.¡± That¡¯s right. A teleportation accident. ¡°We¡¯ll keep getting better, you know. Until you can go home.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ I didn¡¯t have time to think about any of the rest of the trips. We had to go save Jerome, and then with Ceira we had to run. Now I have time to anticipate it.¡±


    I scratched Midnight behind the ears, trying to project¡­ nothing, really. I had emotions, of course, but the important one was my lack of nervousness about Gate. ¡°We¡¯ve got it. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Of course, telling someone not to worry didn¡¯t usually accomplish anything. But just like Midnight and I would occasionally resonate when we felt the same strong emotions, amping each other up¡­ so too could we damp each other¡¯s feelings a bit.

 Chapter 181

    Morning came as it always did. Or at least, on any world I¡¯d actually been on, which was three of them now. Which was admittedly not that many, in the grand scheme of things. Regardless, plans were still in place to go back to the first one posthaste and all that. Midnight was still nervous, but not quite as much. And I didn¡¯t plan to give him much time to think about it.


    First I had to go find Comhghall. I thought I managed to catch him off guard, but I was the one who ended up on the floor as usual. ¡°We¡¯re leaving this morning,¡± I said from my position.


    ¡°I am aware,¡± he said, pulling me to my feet. ¡°Try not to come back.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± I said.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if I hated this guy or not. I guess Doctor Patenaude would help with that. Just thinking I could be back home this evening was exciting.


    Our little group got together after saying our few goodbyes to the locals. The last exception was Ailen. ¡°Thanks again,¡± I said. ¡°I doubt we could have gotten here¡­ ever, really. Not without a good map, at least.¡± Izzy was decent with navigation, but it was a long way through an unfamiliar plane.


    ¡°You are welcome,¡± Ailen nodded their head. ¡°It was interesting to meet new people.¡±


    Did that not happen here? Actually, that made a lot of sense. In the vast area we¡¯d gone through, there were maybe like a hundred orcs and one city of elves. Theoretically a city of elves, since we only saw two.


    ¡°Alright Midnight,¡± I said. I didn¡¯t want anyone to sit around being nervous. ¡°Come on. Remember, Izzy and Senan go through first. Ceira alone through the second portal. Then Midnight and I will go through the third.¡±


    For maximum familiarity, we went to our training spot at the river. I counted down to synchronize Midnight and I. The portal shimmered and formed a few moments later. When it was stable, I nodded to the first two who hurried through. Though for the sake of it, we kept the portal open for its full duration. It only took them a couple seconds to get through, so it was simply sitting there for three or four times as long.


    Then it closed up, and the two of them disappeared from our sight. ¡°Okay Ceira, you¡¯re next. You have plenty of time, but don¡¯t dawdle.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± she said nervously. She¡¯d already been through a portal, so it was probably the limited nature of mine that was the issue. Well, that was what all this work was for so it would actually exist and be safe.


    After about a minute of rest we opened the next portal. She hesitated for a few seconds, but seeing Izzy and Senan on the other side waving encouraged her. She scurried through with a few seconds to spare on the back end.


    Midnight and I could have probably squeezed through, but it was better to be cautious. After another bit of rest, we created one final Gate. Midnight was on my shoulder, so it was up to me to step through. I confidently strode forward, taking a couple steps past and turning back to see Comhghall and Ailen. The elf had a strange look on their face, as if they wanted to say something. But then the Gate closed.


    ¡°Whew,¡± I said, shaking my head. ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve felt so much pressure from a portal.¡± Before we had the benefit from opening a previous portal. Actually, why didn¡¯t that apply here? Maybe because it was never stable or long term enough to make that sort of connection. Well, it didn¡¯t really matter. ¡°I guess we just need to wait around for a few hours for each of the next ones. We could probably do it in two or one, but I don¡¯t want to push things,¡± I said. ¡°Though the first one has to be a test anyway¡­ just in case.¡±


    ¡°That was the plan,¡± Senan agreed. ¡°But¡­ we also intended to visit your master.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± I said. ¡°Right. It¡¯s better than sitting here in the field anyway.¡±


    ¡°Mmn,¡± Izzy nodded.


    I didn¡¯t know why she had such a noncommittal grunt. Not until the trees got out of our way. ¡°Weird,¡± I said. ¡°The tower should be right¡­ there¡­¡±


    It should have been right there, but I couldn¡¯t see it. Until I looked lower, and caught a glimpse of a pile of stones.


    I ran forward, the wreckage of the tower coming into vision more clearly. The whole thing was collapsed, barely one stone upon another. Broken chunks and burned debris were all that remained.


    ¡°... what happened?¡± I couldn¡¯t believe it. It didn¡¯t make any sense.


    As I collapsed to my knees, I felt Midnight¡¯s paw rest on my head. ¡°It will be okay, Turlough. You said Sending was deflected¡­ so he has to be around somewhere, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    I don¡¯t know how long I was there, just staring at the rubble. But by the time I was paying actual attention again, Izzy and Senan were scouring the remains of the tower.


    ¡°Looks like a magical attack?¡± Izzy said uncertainly. ¡°Fireballs or something¡­¡±


    ¡°It should be¡­¡± Senan frowned, picking up some scraps of metal. ¡°Since we¡¯re in this world, magic is the logical conclusion. I would have judged it to be explosive ordinance though.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Izzy spotted something and ran over to pick it up. Just a little bit of metal. Brass, maybe? ¡°Turlough, what would you say this is?¡±


    I approached to look at it closer. ¡°Definitely some sort of brass¡­ thing.¡± Familiar, for some reason. ¡°I don¡¯t know what sort of magic it would be for.¡±


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    ¡°And if it wasn¡¯t magic?¡± Izzy asked.


    I frowned. Then I cast Storage, pulling out my gun. I popped out the clip, retrieving a cartridge. It was smaller¡­ but honestly comparing them was totally unnecessary. Just looking at the bottom of the casing with English letters and numbers made it very clear. ¡°Why are there bullet casings here?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Izzy shook her head. ¡°I see some impact holes too,¡± she brought me over to a few pieces of debris. ¡°And maybe a bullet?¡± she held up a disc of metal.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Ceira asked, a worried look on her face. As if it was somehow unclear what happened here. But she probably didn¡¯t want to believe it any more than I did.


    Midnight had something rather calming to say about that. ¡°Looks to me like a bunch of people blew up an empty tower.¡±


    Empty? Actually, aside from doors and walls, I didn¡¯t really see anything. From another angle, I spotted a bookshelf- but while it was scorched, it didn¡¯t have ashy remains of books on it.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ceira said, looking over at me. ¡°You¡­ grew up here?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, mostly,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure your friends are okay,¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°... Friends?¡± To be honest, I didn¡¯t really have any of those in this place. On the other hand, I didn¡¯t want the other apprentices to be hurt either. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can find out more in town,¡± Senan surmised. ¡°I do believe I see one nearby.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Mossley isn¡¯t far from here,¡± I nodded. ¡°They¡¯ll know what happened.¡±


    As we walked towards town, Izzy naturally took up the lead position. And when she stopped, the rest of us stopped with her.


    ¡°Hey Turlough. And Senan. And Midnight, I guess. Do any of you know what a sigil of crossed rifles means? Like, who that belongs to?¡±


    ¡°What kind of rifles?¡± I asked.


    Izzy shook her head. ¡°Can¡¯t tell.¡±


    ¡°Colors?¡± Senan asked.


    ¡°Gray on a blue background,¡± Izzy explained. I just assumed she could see this, but I could barely make out the town gates.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Senan closed his eyes for a few moments. ¡°That might be¡­ the Grey Gunners? But they¡¯re all the way out in Yew-Kay, what would they be doing here?¡± He paused for a second, ¡°Oh right. Literally a different world.¡±


    I grimaced. ¡°Another mercenary group, I presume?¡± I knew the ones local to New Bay, but I was less familiar with those outside.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    A small bit of lightning crackled through my fingers, ¡°What do you think the chances are that they aren¡¯t responsible for that destruction.¡±


    ¡°Low, but¡­ technically possible,¡± Senan shook his head. ¡°We need to learn more first. They might have a good reason to be here.¡±


    ¡°And to blow up the tower?¡±


    ¡°Maybe it was full of¡­ ghosts or something,¡± Senan shrugged. ¡°Look, I¡¯m not saying that this seems fine. Or that we should be seen by them. But we do have to inspect the situation first. They could be here to protect Mossley from¡­ something.¡±


    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be anything dangerous in the area but them,¡± I declared. ¡°But¡­ I will defer to your wisdom. Also I¡¯m still low on mana and this area has low levels of natural mana.¡±


    ¡°It is rather¡­ sluggish, isn¡¯t it?¡± Midnight commented. ¡°I thought this was supposed to be a magical world.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and most of it¡­ has something like this as a baseline.¡±


    ¡°We should get off the road,¡± Izzy said. ¡°If they haven¡¯t spotted us yet, the longer we stay the more likely it is to happen.¡±


    ¡°You actually saw some people?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. A couple fellows with guns,¡± Izzy said. ¡°And patches like I described.¡±


    ¡°They have supers too, just to be clear,¡± Senan said. ¡°But their regular soldiers are just¡­ guys. Or they should be. Not like SSI.¡±


    Taking Izzy¡¯s advice, we moved away from the road where we shouldn¡¯t be seen. ¡°So what next?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I sneak into the city and get information,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Simple. The townsfolk know me, and I¡¯m not¡­ orc sized.¡±


    ¡°Bring me too,¡± Midnight said. ¡°... Please?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m climbing over the walls.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well, uh¡­ they¡¯re only like¡­ ten feet high?¡± Midnight said nervously. ¡°I¡¯m sure that will be¡­ fine.¡±


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t mind having some magic with me,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°Yeah I have¡­ a little bit left,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Enough for a Haste or something.¡±


    ¡°Well, if I need it¡­ I¡¯ll really need it,¡± she said. ¡°But let¡¯s hope we¡¯re sneaky. Mossley isn¡¯t that secure anyway. It doesn¡¯t look like they¡¯ve changed much.¡±


    ¡°Ahem,¡± Senan brought attention to himself, ¡°Before you go, might I suggest looking like a normal cat?¡±


    ¡°But I-¡± Midnight looked down at himself. He had his Power Brigade outfit on. ¡°Man, Francois does good work.¡±


    The three of us nodded. Comfortable and functional. And apparently stylish, for people who knew that sort of thing.


    ¡°Usually this goes directly into Storage,¡± Midnight complained as he began to remove his outfit. ¡°But I¡¯m not exactly overflowing on mana.¡±


    I bundled up the cloth and put it in one of my pockets. ¡°We¡¯ll wait here for the two of you to return. Try to be back before dark.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan,¡± Izzy confirmed.


    Then they were off. I was only able to track them because they weren¡¯t hiding from people in our direction, but even then I lost them for a bit. I could see enough of the walls to pick them out when they approached those, however. But Izzy picked just the right spot between two protrusions in the wall to sneak up. It was like she had done it before.


    And maybe she had, though Mossley didn¡¯t have a habit of turning people away.


    I frowned as they went out of sight on the other side. I felt like I was supposed to have a thing to see what was going on. But perhaps that was the influence of Earth¡¯s media. Something about sharing senses with a familiar? Or scrying on them?


    Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have anything good for Scrying, or enough mana to reasonably use it. It would pretty much tap me out. And using anything new would be a bad idea, especially if it distracted Midnight. At least I could keep track of their general location, and the fact that Midnight was moving around. And he was only a little nervous, never anything that made me think they were in real danger.

 Chapter 182

    Waiting for Midnight and Izzy to come back out of Mossley, there was a spike of nervousness as they approached the wall. Fortunately, that seemed to be his normal fear of heights instead of some sort of emergency. In the time they were away I had recovered some mana, but I was nowhere near full capacity. I had saved up some extra mana crystals while in that other plane which nobody had bothered to inform me the name of, but I really didn¡¯t want to use them if I didn¡¯t have to. More than three of the large ones, approximately 5 mana each, would push me into the territory of uncomfortable danger. Or more smaller ones, with my limit being somewhere around 18 mana, the same as my fatigue point. That was unlikely to be a coincidence, even if they weren¡¯t directly linked.


    The rest of us were glad to see Izzy and Midnight approaching after we waited a couple hours. Thanks to my connection with Midnight we knew they were fine, but that didn¡¯t mean we wouldn¡¯t still worry about them or ourselves being found out at any moment.


    ¡°How was it?¡± I asked nervously.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Izzy hesitated. ¡°They¡¯ve been doing about as well as one might expect for a city under military occupation.¡±


    ¡°So it is that¡­¡± Senan frowned. ¡°Do you know how many of them there are?¡±


    ¡°It seems the numbers fluctuate,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Somewhere between 10 and 20. They have a portal somewhere, it seems.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you find those?¡± Senan asked.


    ¡°Sort of,¡± I said. ¡°But this would be going to a place of lower or at best similar mana density, so I¡¯d have to get close enough to detect the portal itself. I¡¯m sure we can probably manage something,¡± I looked at Midnight. ¡°But I can¡¯t use Scrying, and Arcane Sight literally only works on things I can see. And if we can see the portal¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°That leaves Locate Object, which I¡¯m not sure works on stuff like that. I might be able to find something through the portal though.¡±


    ¡°What about portal generating technology?¡± Senan asked.


    ¡°If I knew what that was, sure,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But a bunch of electric wires inside something? That would just find our phones or earpieces. Or maybe these mercenary guys.¡± I frowned, ¡°How has nobody noticed? Pretty sure the rest of Granbold would be kind of upset about a city suddenly going off the grid.¡±


    ¡°There could be other trouble,¡± Senan said.


    ¡°Ugh,¡± I grimaced. ¡°Do you think these guys are working with Doctor Doomsday?¡±


    ¡°The Grey Gunners are half a world away,¡± Senan reminded me. ¡°Which doesn¡¯t mean they aren¡¯t, but it would be easier for them to be here independently, or working with another supervillain. News about the Doctor Doomsday¡¯s connections here has to have spread some, maybe others would want to take advantage of it.¡±


    ¡°... Isn¡¯t this like, super illegal?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°Certainly,¡± Senan said. ¡°But what are we going to do, call the cops? We¡¯re the kind of people that would get sent. Besides, it¡¯s not like we can.¡±


    ¡°We can though,¡± I reminded him. ¡°Sending should reach Calculator more often than not from here.¡±


    ¡°You do realize you make a lot more work for that man,¡± Senan grinned.


    ¡°If I contacted someone else about things, it would just go through him eventually anyway,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good idea,¡± Senan said. ¡°The situation here doesn¡¯t seem to be an emergency. Obviously we want to handle the occupation as soon as possible, but there isn¡¯t active harm¡­¡±


    Izzy was fidgeting nervously. ¡°Depends on when they next open the portal. It seems that some people have been going missing. And some of the locals spotted them bringing in outside captives.¡±


    I looked down at my gun and shook my head, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I have enough ammo for twenty people. And they¡¯ll have supers, right?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t sense any?¡± Senan asked.


    ¡°The guards at this one gate weren¡¯t,¡± I shook my head. ¡°But that¡¯s all I know.¡±


    ¡°Still¡­¡± Senan shook his head, ¡°We should still have some time. Hopefully at least a day for you to be at full mana.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so much slower here,¡± I complained. ¡°We were just supposed to wait around all day and Gate back but now¡­ ugh.¡±


    ¡°We should still do that,¡± Senan said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving my hometown like this,¡± I growled.


    ¡°Come on,¡± Senan said. ¡°You know me. What I meant was we kind of need to follow the same plan as before. But if you can make stable portals from here, we can get reinforcements instead of going in with less than a full squad.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ yeah that makes sense,¡± I nodded. ¡°And we can get Ceira somewhere safe.¡± She made a face at that. ¡°Sorry, but a mostly bulletproof jacket really isn¡¯t enough. And there aren¡¯t a lot of plants in the city.¡±


    ¡°I could, uh¡­ Rust their guns?¡± she said hesitantly.


    I shook my head. ¡°You would have to touch them, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ probably true,¡± she nodded slowly.


    ¡°Look, you¡¯re still a civilian,¡± I said.


    ¡°But Izzy-¡±


    ¡°Is several times your level and knows how to fight. And I think we still have to recommend she goes back,¡± I looked at the halfling.


    ¡°Can¡¯t make me,¡± she folded her arms.


    Senan shrugged, ¡°She also has ties to this place, and the Power Brigade knows better than to try to stop people from helping home or friends.¡±


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    ¡°So why can¡¯t I help?¡± Ceira asked.


    I didn¡¯t really have a good reason. ¡°You can, if we can lure them into the woods. But we should see what sort of backup we can get first.¡±


    ¡°So, how confident are you making a portal back here?¡± Senan asked. ¡°From Earth. Would it be different? Harder, easier?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t say it wouldn¡¯t be different,¡± I admitted. ¡°Probably best to see what we can do from here and assume that¡¯s the best we¡¯ll get.¡±


    Ultimately, we came up with a message for Calculator to be delivered by Midnight- because he was nearly full on mana. ¡°Returned to material plane. Hometown illegally occupied by Grey Gunner mercenaries. Requesting reinforcements. Please advise of best location for test portal. Unwarded, familiar to Turlough.¡±


    As we were waiting for a response, we made plans. Senan had a good point. ¡°I should go through with Ceira.¡± Before she could protest, he continued. ¡°I will be able to explain things, and you will be able to choose between safety and at least getting a helmet and a flak jacket.¡±


    ¡°If the portal works at all,¡± I said hesitantly.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it? Comghall said that planar travel was more difficult than usual from there. This should be easier. And you crossed dimensions before, remember?¡±


    ¡°Sure, but that was riding on the back of a recent portal.¡±


    ¡°Sounds more difficult to me,¡± Senan shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ve got this. Or¡­ we spend the night to fully recover, and start killing guys from the gate. And then we¡¯ll have more guns. You have enough resources to Stoneskin us all, right?¡±


    ¡°Barely,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I know we can do it together.¡± That was very nice of him to say, even as our shared nervousness echoed back and forth between us. We¡¯d done more than a few tests from the previous plane, but not from here to Earth. ¡°Ah, the message came back,¡± Midnight said after about half an hour. ¡°Calculator says: ¡®Wait thirty minutes from receipt of message, then portal into the living room of your apartment. Hope to see you there.¡¯¡±


    ¡°... How will they know when we got the message?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I assume he will simply be waiting and wants sufficient time,¡± Senan said.


    ¡°... Yeah that makes sense,¡± I admitted.


    So we waited. Our electronic time telling devices were basically all dead after more than a month in the jungle, regardless of them being off. But we only really needed an approximate anyway. After basically half an hour, Midnight and I began our work. Not that it was a terribly long process. A few seconds of gathering mana, then a few more as it formed into shape.


    Unlike before, the process felt somewhat easier. I wasn¡¯t certain that was actually correct until the actual Gate started forming, its dimensions nearly twice as much as it had been previously. It had to be close to eight feet wide, at least, not just similar to the size of a doorway.


    From swirling magic to suddenly looking at the inside of my apartment with furniture shoved over to the edges, the Gate turned solid. There was a sudden gust of wind. ¡°Alright,¡± I said to Senan and Ceira. ¡°It¡¯s stable enough.¡± At least, it wouldn¡¯t collapse in the next second or two as they hustled through. About that same time, I saw others stepping around.


    First was Great Girl. Since she was in full costume, that was her proper name instead of Sophia. ¡°Should we, uh¡­?¡±


    Ice Guy shook his head. I guess he¡¯d been in costume the whole time as well for defensive purposes, but it was awkward to keep calling him Ice Guy for so long, away from the world where identities had a place being secret at all. ¡°This is just a test for stability and timing. You wouldn¡¯t want to be in there if it collapsed.¡±


    I saw Rasmus- Acid Man- come into view as well. ¡°Hi. Been a while.¡±


    Great Girl had her arms crossed as she looked at me. Was she¡­ angry? Nah, that would be silly.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ not really by choice,¡± I admitted.


    Calculator stepped into view as well. ¡°Impressive. How long will this last?¡±


    ¡°Maybe a minute? Perhaps less. That¡¯s what we¡¯re testing, after all.¡±


    ¡°When can you make the next one?¡±


    ¡°Give us¡­ half an hour?¡± I looked to Midnight, who nodded. We should have enough mana immediately, but consecutively making Gates was strenuous and I was pretty close to the amount I¡¯d actually need. Having a few more points would be a nice buffer.


    ¡°Glad to see you made a calm-¡±


    The portal began to wobble, then snapped closed.


    ¡°So like thirty seconds,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Oh well, that¡¯s way better than our previous record.¡±


    ¡°Cool,¡± said an unfamiliar voice. No, not unfamiliar. Just unexpected.


    I turned to see Shockwave. ¡°When did you get here?¡±


    ¡°When the portal opened, obviously,¡± Shockwave said as they held up some sort of weird object.


    ¡°What is that?¡±


    ¡°A camera.¡±


    ¡°... no, cameras are small like this,¡± I held up my phone and pointed.


    Shockwave laughed, ¡°No, see? This is the lens.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s like ten pounds,¡± I said. It might not have been quite that much, but it was enough that I would consider bludgeoning someone with it. ¡°What is that for?¡±


    ¡°Long distance photography. Can¡¯t exactly expect wireless transmission to work through a portal, so I took some pictures of those guys at the gate and that ruined tower.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything¡­?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°I got way better at controlling that part. Though weirdly enough, at a certain threshold I actually get slower instead of faster when preventing shockwaves around me.¡±


    Izzy frowned, ¡°I noticed something pass by but¡­ I didn¡¯t realize it was you.¡± The two of them had met before, when we were rescuing Jerome.


    ¡°You probably shouldn¡¯t run through portals like that,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Why? I trusted you to keep it open for at least a tenth of a second. Plenty of time.¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°Anyway, I assume there are more of those guys?¡± Shockwave asked.


    ¡°At the other gates,¡± Izzy said. ¡°And they have taken over a few buildings.¡±


    ¡°Want to point me to ¡®em? I can shuffle you around real quick.¡±


    ¡°I guess?¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°How are you with motion sickness?¡±


    ¡°Fine I think but-¡±


    A rush of wind was the last thing we saw or heard of the two of them, and I barely even saw leaves being disturbed. They seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth for at least for the next ten minutes. When they reappeared, Izzy slumped against a tree. ¡°... People aren¡¯t meant to go that fast.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Shockwave agreed. ¡°We¡¯re meant to go faster. But that¡¯s all I can do without hurting anyone. Unless¡­¡±


    ¡°Definitely don¡¯t have the mana for it now,¡± I said. ¡°Also, aren¡¯t you done?¡±


    ¡°I could take pictures inside if I was fast enough¡­¡± Shockwave said. ¡°And them standing around in front of old buildings could totally happen in Yew-Kay. We need some more incriminating evidence.¡±


    That was actually a good point. And while Shockwave seemed eager for Haste, I also sensed a sincere desire for more information.


    Time for one crystal, just to be sure. After this, we¡¯d hopefully have more backup to rely on. ¡°Alright. Midnight, help me out here. Even split of the full 5.¡± Might as well conserve what mana I could, even if it probably meant Alter Time would be a bit less effective due to the limits of Assistive Familiar Casting.


    ¡°Okthanksbye!¡± Shockwave said after the spell finished. And I did hear a slight pop as they took off. Hopefully nobody in town would notice, but either way we would have backup soon enough and Shockwave could at least escape if it came down to it.

 Chapter 183

    During my short wait to cast the next Gate, I grew envious of Comhghall and the others on their plane. Being here where mana regeneration was normal was painfully slow. But there had to be some downside to that place, or more people would live there. For the orcs, I couldn¡¯t think of what it would be- the wild creatures would be a positive, not a negative. Maybe I should have asked more about why things were the way they were, but it was rather late now.


    Shockwave was already back after having scouted the entrances to Mossley. They reported nothing unexpected- Grey Gunner mercenaries at all of the gates.


    ¡°Alright Midnight,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡±


    It felt like I was almost capable of casting the spell on my own, but I doubted it would last long even if I could complete it. Either way, sharing the burden made it much better. The portal opened smoothly, this time revealing people already in front of it.


    They began to step through in succession. First was Great Girl, then the sniper from her team Mono. Ice Guy came back through, along with Calculator himself. Finally, we got Acid Man. That brought our total numbers to nine, basically two squads worth.


    ¡°Anyone else?¡± I asked.


    Calculator shook his head. ¡°We successfully convinced Ceira to sit this out. Additional members of the Power Brigade will be watching over her safety and keeping your apartment secure.¡±


    The apartment was still mine only due to perks of the Power Brigade. The sudden disappearance clause presumed people would return, and the Brigade took care of things like informing friends and family and keeping bills paid. Sure, the money ultimately came out of my pocket but I still had my guaranteed salary for up to six months without contact. Though since I had Sending, they would have handled things until whenever I could return, since they wouldn¡¯t just be hoping that I was alive.


    Midnight and I let the portal fade. Great Girl watched that, then stomped towards me arms folded in front of her. ¡°You warn me about Doctor Doomsday potentially going after me and then you didn¡¯t invite me along for the rescue?¡±


    ¡°Uh, sorry?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°We kind of went with whoever was immediately available.¡±


    ¡°I could have helped!¡± she complained.


    ¡°Well¡­ here you are,¡± I said. ¡°Thank you for showing up.¡±


    She pursed her lips, but left things at that. Though my growing level of basic proficiency in social interactions told me she had more she wanted to say.


    ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± I asked Calculator. ¡°I don¡¯t expect we¡¯re here to have a friendly conversation with them if we¡¯re bringing a team like this.¡±


    Calculator was holding a pair of binoculars, leaning at a slight angle to peek through the woods. ¡°The Grey Gunners have no official license to come through portals, and given what has been uncovered by Izzy, we can presume their presence here is fully illegal. However,¡± he held up a finger. ¡°We¡¯re going to test them. Some of us will approach, making no effort to hide our allegiance. We will not be the ones to open hostilities. But of course, we won¡¯t be careless. The plan is to have Great Girl and myself approach first for visibility reasons. They can¡¯t claim they didn¡¯t recognize us.¡±


    ¡°That makes a lot of sense,¡± I nodded. ¡°And when they shoot you?¡±


    ¡°We obviously won¡¯t hold back if they do. But what we really need to watch out for are any powered members. It is more than improbable that they don¡¯t have any present,¡± Calculator said. ¡°That is why Shockwave will be approaching along with us, specifically watching for attempts to raise comms. They will have to do something to contact the others. It is unlikely they have a proper network setup here for constant monitoring day in and day out.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I nodded. ¡°And the rest of us?¡±


    ¡°Mono will be watching from wherever he deems best to cover the gate,¡± Calculator said. ¡°The rest of you are to stay hidden until we contact you.¡± He pulled out a handful of small devices. ¡°Fresh batteries in these, since you have been unable to access any sort of recharge.¡±


    He even had the special earpiece for Midnight.


    ¡°Oh, and if you would be able to Disguise Shockwave,¡± Calculator said. ¡°That would make our ploy more effective. If the Grey Gunners spot a speedster they may make some sort of report immediately, and competent mercenaries know not to ignore even a moment of garbled comms.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I said. ¡°What do you want to look like?¡±


    ¡°How much can you change?¡± Shockwave asked.


    ¡°Visually quite a bit, but it has to stay vaguely your size or it gets weird.¡±


    ¡°Well, there aren¡¯t a ton of people as skinny as me,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°So can you make me a bit bulkier, maybe with a suit like Calculator?¡±


    Calculator nodded. ¡°That should do nicely.¡± He wore a nicely tailored black suit like a couple other executives. Not that anything Francois made would be caught dead looking bad. I was pretty sure the man destroyed clothes to make sure that when they tattered in combat they would still look good. ¡°We¡¯ll have the rest of you approach close enough to join us swiftly, if necessary.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m quite low on mana,¡± I reminded him.


    ¡°Then hopefully you kept up with your arms training.¡±


    ¡°Until I was in a magical jungle for a couple months,¡± I nodded.


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    Midnight made the disguise for Shockwave to look like a generic, possibly-executive member of the Power Brigade. Mono moved to wherever his position would be, and the rest of us settled into a position up the road, where we couldn¡¯t quite spot the gates- and thus couldn¡¯t give ourselves away in turn.


    From our position, we couldn¡¯t hear what was going on. I could only see Calculator, Great Girl, and the disguised Shockwave walking up the road. Calculator raised his hand as he said something. A moment later, Shockwave disappeared at a speed that should have resulted in sonic booms. Calculator almost casually twisted his body, causing telltale puffs of dirt behind him as bullets landed. But again, the sound of gunfire was missing.


    ¡°... Did I go deaf?¡± I whispered. No, there was the feeling of a power. A subtle one, but it was there.


    ¡°Should be mono,¡± Ice Guy said.


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded. The sniper¡¯s power was actually shaping sound, and he wasn¡¯t limited to just around his own vicinity. It was nice to see people who knew what they were doing at play.


    A clear voice came through to my ear. ¡°You are free to approach the gate. Mono, maintain watch until we are inside.¡±


    As we approached, I soon saw two pairs of guards trussed up using their own camo jackets. It certainly wouldn¡¯t last as a long term solution, but they couldn¡¯t exactly wiggle out in front of several supers either.


    I suddenly heard yelling from them. Something like, ¡®They¡¯ll get you¡¯ or something stupid. Then I saw Calculator bend down, placing a hand on the throat of either of one pair. They continued to yell until they faded out and slumped over. He repeated the process with the other pair.


    ¡°Know anywhere we can purchase some rope?¡± Calculator asked as he frisked the guards. ¡°Hmm, they seem to be lacking any local currency.¡±


    ¡°I doubt they paid for anything,¡± Izzy said. ¡°How¡¯d you knock them out like that? You don¡¯t look that strong.¡±


    Calculator held up one hand, wiggling his fingers and emphasizing his thumb and pinky. ¡°You just have to apply pressure in the right places. Crushing someone¡¯s windpipe is inefficient.¡± Even as he spoke he was pulling off their boots, and using the laces and their socks he formed gags to stop them from making further noise. ¡°At this point I am ready to declare this an illegal military occupation. On the assumption the locals are in no position to pay us and since they have not agreed so, if it is convenient we should keep people alive for ransoms and/or bounties. But of course, only if it does not bring any risk to us.¡± He repeated the same information over the comms for Mono¡¯s sake, adding. ¡°Lethal force is still authorized.¡±


    ¡°So what do we do next?¡± I asked. ¡°The gates are closed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get it!¡± Shockwave said, running up the wall and disappearing into the guardhouse on top. The disguise distorted oddly at those speeds, but it would fade away soon anyway. ¡°... I don¡¯t have it!¡± Shockwave said, looking down over the wall. ¡°There are some cranks here that require at least two people¡­¡±


    Great Girl approached the wall, growing as she did, until she was taller than the wall. Then she simply put her arms up on it, pulling herself over as her body shrank to ¡®normal¡¯ size. Six feet tall, more or less.


    The two on the walls moved into the guardhouse, and a moment later the gates began to creak open. When they were fully open, the two walked out of a narrow stairway on the back side.


    ¡°I definitely contributed,¡± Shockwave declared.


    Yeah, well. I seriously doubted that Mossley¡¯s gates actually required more than just Great Girl to open. Still, Shockwave was more capable of physical labor than they let on. They just had the strength of a normal strong individual, not a super.


    The streets were deserted. ¡°Is everyone gone?¡± I asked Izzy.


    ¡°No. Not most of them, I think. Just¡­ keeping off the streets.¡± Izzy walked up to one of the nearby buildings- Carl¡¯s General. ¡°Carl? It¡¯s Izzy and Turlough. Can you open up?¡±


    Carl poked his head out. ¡°Is it really you?¡± he asked, looking us over- and seeing the pile of soldiers at the open gates. ¡°Our wayward scoundrels have returned. With some other strange individuals.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯re on our side. Not like those guys,¡± I gestured. ¡°Also I¡¯m not a scoundrel.¡± Carl raised an eyebrow. In response I held up a hand with only the tiniest amount of electricity sparking between the fingers.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Izzy said. ¡°The thing is, we need some rope but we¡¯re kind of lacking in funds.¡±


    ¡°Done,¡± Carl said. ¡°Assuming you¡¯re using it to tie up these Gray Shooter guys. Just come in off the streets.¡±


    We followed him inside. ¡°What are they even doing here?¡± Izzy asked as Great Girl tossed the soldiers into a pile. That left me with the job of translating for the rest of us. Only Izzy and I spoke common, after all.


    ¡°Whatever they want,¡± Carl shrugged as he started tossing rope from behind the counter. ¡°They¡¯ve got their strange magic and enchanted weapons.¡±


    ¡°Technically guns aren¡¯t magic,¡± I pointed out, hefting one of their sidearms. A pistol with much more ammunition than I had available.


    ¡°You¡¯re the mage,¡± Carl shook his head.


    ¡°Actually,¡± Izzy said. ¡°They¡¯re pretty easy to use, if you know of any villagers who want to fight. Of course, you¡¯d still be in danger.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m too old for that,¡± Carl shook his head. ¡°But Rordan might be interested. Or if you can find any former guards¡­¡± he frowned. ¡°Please tell us your new friends are high level.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Izzy said. ¡°They¡¯re strong. And you should see how different Turlough is.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll believe it when I see it,¡± Carl grinned. ¡°But seriously, we¡¯re glad for the help. But you¡¯re gonna need to get moving before they notice these guys are missing.¡±


    ¡°Ask if he has a basement to stuff these fellows in,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Or a hitching post or something.¡±


    After Izzy translated, Carl nodded. ¡°Sure, I can keep them in the storeroom for a bit. But only if you promise to pick them up later. I can¡¯t get caught with them.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re planning to clear out the whole town,¡± Izzy said. ¡°These guys are hostages and negotiating pieces.¡± Some of the soldiers were wiggling now, and I declined to translate the second part, just pointing to them. Calculator no doubt understood.


    ¡°Well, they control the gates, of course.¡± Carl said. ¡°So you¡¯ll have to deal with that. But they also patrol throughout the city with a few of ¡®em, and they¡¯re also holed up in the mayor¡¯s house next to that portal.¡±


    ¡°The portal is outside?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°Yeah, just kinda appeared there one day,¡± Carl said. ¡°Never really got a good look but it¡¯s got all sorts of weird things behind it.¡±


    ¡°Interesting. Seems they can¡¯t re-tune the location with precision,¡± Calculator nodded to himself. ¡°We should clean up the outlying parts of the town first. We don¡¯t want to be flanked if we run into the real mercs.¡±


    The tied up soldiers grumbled at that comment. But they also couldn¡¯t do much to protest without powers.

 Chapter 184

    Calculator addressed all of us as we continued on. ¡°It is not my preferred position to be active in the field. However, given that I am already present it is most effective for me to continue to participate until the matter is settled. The probability of my presence being a liability instead of a boon is negligible.¡±


    I nodded. Despite being a thinking guy, he could also take care of himself. As clearly evidenced by his lack of bullet holes right now.


    He continued, ¡°Given our current knowledge of the situation, we must assume there are supers stationed here. At least one or two, perhaps more. Though greater numbers would be difficult for the Grey Gunners to conceal back on Earth, it is likely the portal mentioned has access to more of them. Thus, we must take care of them as swiftly as possible. This includes their gunmen. Izzy, Shockwave- you¡¯re responsible for watching our flanks for those gunmen. If possible we want to go directly to the portal and have Mage and Familiar shut it down. Acid Man and Great Girl will cover the front.¡±


    A voice came over the radio. ¡°I¡¯m in position. Can¡¯t get eyes on the portal.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Mono,¡± Calculator responded. ¡°That will suffice.¡± He looked to the rest of us. ¡°Let¡¯s move.¡±


    Mossley wasn¡¯t a large city, but there was still some chance that our actions at the gate hadn¡¯t been noticed. However, eight powered individuals approaching the core of the city where we knew they had set up shop could hardly go unnoticed unless they were incompetent. Mono didn¡¯t count among that number because he would be no closer than a half mile away, but he should theoretically have a clear shot down the main street.


    Someone showed themself down the street. The woman pretty obviously stood out from the local populace, because even if it was dull gray the uniform was too modern. And the mask gave it away too, until the mask exploded as the woman¡¯s head snapped back. I didn¡¯t hear the shot, but that was the whole point. Mono¡¯s actual powers had nothing to do with sniping, but instead it was sound control- allowing his bullets to reach supersonic speeds while avoiding pesky side effects like noise that would alert enemies.


    I rubbed my face, knowing that even with Stoneskin at full I would have probably had a hole in my skull after that. But the woman straightened herself up with no obvious injury. Her mask did fall apart.


    ¡°Mighty Diamond,¡± Calculator said calmly. ¡°Great Girl, she¡¯s yours. Super strength, but her durability is focused on her skin.¡±


    Great Girl nodded, sprinting forward. Each stride propelled her a great distance, but she angled herself so the power of her legs wouldn¡¯t launch her into the air. At the same time, she grew to somewhere around ten feet tall, a comfortable combat size for her.


    ¡°To the left!¡± I warned as a surge of power came from an alley. My warning was a bit slow for Great Girl, but fortunately Ice Guy was ready with a response of his own. As a gaseous whip reached for Great Girl, a wall of ice sprang up at the mouth of the alleyway, cutting off the attack.


    ¡°Smog,¡± Calculator said. ¡°She can make solid barriers, and her gas will knock you out almost instantly if it gets in your lungs. Keep your distance.¡±


    Gunfire rang out a moment later, mainly targeting Great Girl and Acid Man running not too far behind her. Great Girl wasn¡¯t invincible, but it would take more than a few bullets to cause her more than bruising. Acid Man, meanwhile, was fully unaffected- and he conveniently slowed the bullets passing through him and lowered their danger. I felt the silent trail of power from one of Mono¡¯s shots, tracking it to a couple soldiers further down the street. They were out of convenient range, so Midnight, Calculator, and I took cover down a side street.


    Shockwave was definitely somewhere, as I could hear noise from our right, and Izzy should have snuck off somewhere to our left side to look for incoming soldiers. I kept my eyes on the situation as I looked for a good target. Not having an abundance of mana at the moment, I couldn¡¯t just start throwing Chain Lightnings. But I had my pistol in hand, ready for someone closer than those soldiers.


    It only took a moment to find someone. Great Girl was almost upon the one called Mighty Diamond when she suddenly punched a hole right through Acid Man. Though it was mostly an annoyance for him.


    ¡°That has to be Mindmirror,¡± Calculator grimaced. ¡°Careful, he can control your actions!¡±


    That was a problem. I had only felt a vague impression of power, and I couldn¡¯t trace it to the source. Great Girl continued to take a few swings at Acid Man, delaying him while Mighty Diamond launched herself into Great Girl¡¯s ribcage with a flying kick.


    I was just about to climb up onto the rooftops to try to pick out Mindmirror when I found him. His location became abundantly clear when I felt a tendril of his energy enter my head. I shifted slightly, my gun pointing at the back of Calculator¡¯s head. My finger squeezed the trigger.


    Weird, wasn¡¯t it supposed to shoot when I did that? Not that I wanted to. I literally didn¡¯t have control of my movements there. Ah, I hadn¡¯t even noticed him reach up and grab my gun. Impressive, he grabbed the slide and toggled the safety all without even turning his head.


    My body kept trying to shoot until he twisted around, removing it from my grasp with a twist. Impressive, though if I had been in control I was fairly confident I would have a chance to hold onto it.


    Then I felt a soothing wave of energy wash over me. I looked at Calculator, who looked back at me with the gun pointed at my face.


    ¡°He¡¯s safe now,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Mental Freedom.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for that,¡± I said. ¡°How does this guy work?¡± I asked Calculator.


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    His face twitched. His finger pulled. And then¡­ nothing. Oh right, safety was still on. I lowered into a stance, but Calculator shook his head. ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary,¡± he said, his face returning to a passive state. He flipped the weapon around and held it out for me. ¡°He won¡¯t be able to remain in my head any longer. However, I will be of little use until you shut him down.¡±


    ¡°I could cast Mental Freedom on you,¡± I said.


    ¡°Save it for taking out Mindmirror. That¡¯s your task now.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Got it. We¡¯re heading to the roof.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not sure if it will still affect you now but¡­ he distorts intent to attack him. There¡¯s a good chance you¡¯ll miss when you think you should have hit.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said as I climbed up some crates. ¡°Good to know.¡±


    Down below, I could feel the battle raging. Ice Guy was facing off against someone- presumably Smog- out of view in another side street. Great Girl was no longer being influenced by Mindmirror- was he limited to one at a time? Either way, she had shrunk to her ¡®normal¡¯ height and had Mighty Diamond in a headlock, using her as a shield from the incoming gunfire. Speaking of gunfire, there was a lot of that from either side as soldiers seemed to be moving in from their posts at the gates.


    On the roof, I looked for Mindmirror. He wasn¡¯t far from where I¡¯d sensed him, though he hadn¡¯t remained precisely still. He was clearly keeping cover from Mono behind another roof, keeping as much of it as possible between himself and the sniper while staying off of the battlefield below. His eyes caught mine as I aimed my gun and pulled the trigger. One shot hit him in the shoulder. That wouldn¡¯t be enough, as even if they didn¡¯t have a full Francois he had to have some level of bulletproof defenses.


    Something crashed down on my mind. It told me to hold my gun up to my chin and pull the trigger. All it managed was to slightly raise my aim, my shots going over Mindmirror¡¯s head as I emptied my clip. I felt a burst of mana from next to me as Midnight cast Sonic Lance. I felt a shift in power from him as he must have noticed Midnight¡¯s efforts. The rooftop exploded into splinters and I saw Mindmirror spin around as his side was clipped. But I still felt the pressure keeping me from properly hitting him, and the same on Midnight. Mental Freedom wasn¡¯t perfect, it seemed- but I was fairly certain this was going poorly for the psychic.


    If I understood correctly, he was supposed to be able to fully control people¡¯s bodies with active effort and passively redirect attacks. Now he was focusing all his efforts to maintain the second condition for the two of us. Midnight applied Mental Freedom to himself as well, obviously.


    ¡°Midnight,¡± I whispered. ¡°Chain Lightning, standard split.¡±


    We gathered power. I held out my staff, the tip refusing to accurately point at Mindmirror. I was going to have to apologize to whoever owned that house, but I aimed Chain Lightning without targeting anything but a vague area. Lightning appeared, not from the tip of my staff or even going in that direction, but between Midnight and I. It arced towards him and¡­ disappeared into nothing.


    The pressure on my mind disappeared as well, but I was astounded how my magic just¡­ disappeared. ¡°What happened?¡± I looked around. I didn¡¯t feel a source of power resisting my attack.


    ¡°It¡¯s Deadzone!¡± Calculator shouted from below. ¡°She negates all powers in an area. Be careful, you¡¯ll be defenseless!¡±


    Well that sounded unfair. I looked around cautiously as I watched the battle below. There were far fewer gunshots now, and it seemed that Ice Guy and Acid Man were teaming up against Smog or whatever.


    I also saw Great Girl wrestling Mighty Diamond. The two seemed closely matched, with Great Girl not quite able to overcome her. She was clearly going for an armbar but couldn¡¯t pull the other woman¡¯s arm out of position.


    Then, suddenly, Great Girl shrank to five feet tall. Mighty Diamond was looking over her shoulder and grinned as it happened. ¡°Not so big without your power, huh?¡±


    Immediately following that was a popping sound as I was fairly certain Mighty Diamond¡¯s shoulder popped directly out of its socket. Or maybe her elbow snapped. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re weak without your power,¡± Great Girl said as Mighty Diamond screamed. ¡°... Do you not work out?¡± That question was rhetorical, of course. She couldn¡¯t possibly expect her opponent to answer while she continued to twist her limbs around. I felt Midnight¡¯s thoughts mirror mine as we looked at each other. That girl was gonna need a super healer after this.


    With Deadzone focused elsewhere, I tried to focus on Mindmirror, but I¡¯d lost him. ¡°Dammit,¡± I muttered. We¡¯d have to wait for him to act again. And I wasn¡¯t quite sure how we¡¯d take him out as that Chain Lightning used most of the rest of my mana.


    I reloaded my pistol, intending to join in on dealing with Smog. But she was clearly outmatched. She seemed to know that as she turned into dense cloud of smoke and- ¡°Ahh, what even is this?¡± I heard the sound of someone not understanding how Acid Man could cling to them. The smoke cleared and¡­ she was clearly not transformed into it. Instead she was mostly encompassed by Acid Man.


    ¡°How much do you like having skin?¡± Ice Guy asked, a charged sphere of ice held in his hand.


    ¡°I like it a lot!¡± Smog shouted. ¡°I surrender! Please don¡¯t melt off my skin!¡±


    ¡°No more of it, at least,¡± Ice Guy shrugged.


    I heard a slight scratching sound. Something wrapped under my armpit and cold metal pressed against my neck as my defenses melted. ¡°Surrender,¡± came the cold voice.


    My fingers coiled around the blade as I headbutted backwards. I twisted around, swinging my staff for the ribcage of my attacker. Then her hand, as she was still holding onto the knife. My foot stomped down on her belly and I raised my staff to counter whatever her response was.


    ¡°.... wow you¡¯re weak,¡± I said to the person who was presumably Deadzone.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you¡­¡± she coughed. ¡°Aren¡¯t you an energy projector? Why are you¡­?¡±


    I continued to hold my staff at the ready with one hand while pointing my pistol at her with the other. ¡°I¡¯m an orc, lady. And a trained mercenary. You¡¯re the one who should be better without powers, given that it¡¯s your whole thing.¡± I could feel it now. And by it, I meant the complete lack of any and all powers around this woman. Including natural mana.


    ¡°Mindmirror, now!¡± she yelled. I felt power flow back into existence around us. That included my defenses like Force Armor and Mental Freedom, though they seemed a bit sluggish. I braced for an incoming mental attack and¡­


    I heard a groan. Not a voice I recognized, which meant it was probably the heretofore silent Mindmirror.


    ¡°Yeah, that won¡¯t be happening,¡± Calculator called from across the road. ¡°Mage, restrain Deadzone and hand her over to Great Girl.¡±


    ¡­ Wait, I thought he assigned taking out Mindmirror to me? He said he couldn¡¯t do anything. Which was pretty dumb on my part to believe him, and the same for the enemy.

 Chapter 185

    Great Girl provided powered restraints for Deadzone- though it was unclear if they could limit a negation power. Either way, the physical handcuffs would be sufficient unless Deadzone had another power she was keeping in reserve for some reason. Either way, Great Girl would be able to handle her while I made my way towards the portal, Midnight riding along on my shoulder.


    I arrived in time to see Calculator holding some sort of device, waiting around the corner from where I¡¯d seen glimpses of the portal. ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I toss this through,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Then you try to seal it with your Alter Portal ability.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t worked on a permanent portal,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°It is my understanding that most portals don¡¯t maintain their status automatically. In addition, this will serve as a disruptor,¡± Calculator held up the device. ¡°If we overload the systems we should at least not have to worry about more troops pouring through.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it,¡± I said.


    A figure zoomed past us. ¡°Doorway¡¯s clear. And blurry,¡± Shockwave reported.


    Calculator nodded, and we stepped forward. The portal really was blurry. He pressed a button on the device and tossed it through. I almost thought it would act like a grenade, but I felt a pulse of power from it. Tech powers, specifically, and little more than that.


    ¡°Midnight. Even split on Alter Portal to shrink this thing,¡± I said.


    I felt his acknowledgement as we worked together, gathering and spending mana continuously. The portal wobbled, the image behind distorting even further as we wrestled with it. Vaguely humanoid figures appeared, but before they could do anything the portal twisted shut like a bag with its drawstrings pulled tight. The power of its closing shook me on my feet, but I felt a wave of mana fill Midnight and I. Interestingly, that didn¡¯t just happen with the ¡®loose¡¯ portals Doctor Doomsday spewed around us.


    ¡°What¡¯s going to stop them from opening the portal again?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Hopefully, a large swarm of supers descending upon their location,¡± Calculator said. ¡°We established contact with agents in Yew-Kay, and they should be looking for the massive signals that was putting out on every conceivable wavelength. It should penetrate the shielding of most underground lairs. It also acts as an EMP, so that should hopefully damage their portal technology.¡±


    ¡°Turlough?¡± I heard a familiar voice. It had been almost a year, but I saw Rordan standing there. ¡°You dress funny now,¡± the man grinned.


    I snorted. ¡°Quiet, you. I am vastly more powerful than I used to be.¡± I grinned as I let a little bit of electricity dance between my fingers.


    Rordan laughed. ¡°We were worried, you know. All of us.¡±


    I folded my arms and held my head high. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you should have been. A chance to go somewhere else was exactly the thing I wanted.¡±


    ¡°But you weren¡¯t particularly strong¡­¡± Rordan said.


    I sighed, ¡°No. I wasn¡¯t.¡± I frowned as I looked to him. ¡°What¡­ what happened to the tower?¡±


    ¡°Most recently¡­ those weird fellows seemed to find some fun in destroying it. But before that Master Uvithar and the rest had left. They weren¡¯t really clear on why.¡±


    I pursed my lips. If Rordan didn¡¯t know where they went, I doubted anyone else in Mossley would. He was a frequent supplier of magical reagents to the tower, after all. ¡°What¡¯s been happening here?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a very big question, even before these strange individuals came from an unknown plane.¡± He looked around, ¡°What are you going to do with those soldiers?¡±


    A good question. I asked Calculator, and then translated for him. ¡°We¡¯re going to take them back to the other world. At least the ones with powers. Magic. The rest we can leave to be dealt with by your local laws, if you wish. Though you won¡¯t be able to interrogate them without Translation magic.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going back?¡± Rordan asked.


    I nodded. ¡°I only came here by accident, actually. It was the easiest stop on my way through.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Rordan said. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear you¡¯ve found a home you wish to return to.¡±


    ¡°I have some fond memories of Mossley but¡­¡±


    He held up a hand, ¡°We understand. We¡¯ll miss our local scoundrels. In truth, we just wanted a proper goodbye. We only found out you were alive some time later, through Master Uvithar.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t exactly have time to leave a note.¡±


    ¡°You probably didn¡¯t think about it, either.¡±


    Well, yeah. There was a portal right there. How could I not go through it?


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    -----


    To get back to Earth, Midnight and I needed to save up more mana. The burst of mana from the closed portal was nice, but it was still going to be an hour or two before we could cast Gate.


    I saw so many familiar faces throughout the day. But not quite as many as I might have hoped. Now that the occupation was undone, Mossley sent riders to nearby towns and cities. Calculator was fairly certain the portal wouldn¡¯t be opening up soon, and at some point this world had to take care of itself. It wasn¡¯t that it was incapable- it was simply that the location and timing had been poor. If Master Uvithar and the others had been around, they likely could have handled a few supers, and even soldiers with guns. Though some of that was predicated on understanding how guns worked.


    Either way, there would be people who could handle things. After all, everyone had a class. And while not everyone engaged in combat, there were enough people in this world who did. After all, while I had been told the world was peaceful¡­ I now knew that wasn¡¯t entirely true. Even before the connection to Earth. Maybe it was to protect me, so I didn¡¯t run off into any conflicts that I couldn¡¯t handle, or maybe people simply didn¡¯t want to think about it. Either way, my friends and I could solve the problems in front of our eyes- but it would be quite rude to think that we were the only solution available. We were just the one that had been here at the right time.


    Besides, we weren¡¯t even getting paid. Were we?


    ¡°Depends on what happens with the Grey Gunners,¡± Calculator answered my question. ¡°We¡¯ll find out when we get back. No point in trying to message ahead if it makes us take another two hours to get back.¡±


    I nodded. In addition to that, Calculator was the one least likely to freak out when a Sending popped up in his head, and he was here.


    As the time passed by, I kept thinking about something. Maybe if I¡­ no, too risky. But what if¡­? No, I shook my head. It was an agonizing time, but ultimately I came to the final conclusion¡­ there was no way to zap all of the townsfolk before using Gate. I wasn¡¯t confident in maintaining both Mage¡¯s Reach and Gate at the same time, and nor of casting the latter while running away. So I wouldn¡¯t be able to give them a proper sendoff. This time, at least.


    Hopefully, I could come back. Gate should work in both directions, after all. It might be slightly more difficult so if not possible immediately, a little more training and proficiency should be sufficient. It wouldn¡¯t be so bad to visit this place sometimes.


    Though I wasn¡¯t sure New Bay would be happy about me opening more portals, even temporarily. They had far too many sources of trouble as it was.


    The townsfolk came to watch us leave. My last sight of them stuck with me, as the way they looked at me had changed. And probably not just because I had a suit on or was a little bit taller.


    Midnight and I worked together to cast Gate once more. It was becoming almost familiar now. Not quite as smooth as most other spells, but I was confident we had at least the same thirty seconds or so of before.


    All of us poured through the portal- prisoners in tow. Some of the gunners without powers were going to be dealt with locally, but the supers all came with us. I did warn people about the possibility that the soldiers would awaken class powers¡­ and of course the locals of Mossley weren¡¯t worried about little babies who just discovered their abilities. It was the guns that had been a danger, and now they were simply disarmed humans.


    The Gate open up to my living room, and as people filed through and spread out, Midnight and I were the last two. We stepped through the portal, looked back to make sure it was safe to close, and let it fade away. Standing behind the portal were about a dozen agents from Extra- along with some others from the Power Brigade.


    Of particular note was Malaliel, the angelic woman who had been so nice when I first arrived. Though she didn¡¯t look particularly happy right now. She had a glare that softened slightly as I waved, then returned to its hardness as her eyes swept over the captured supers.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take them from here, if you don¡¯t mind,¡± she said.


    Calculator nodded. ¡°If you would give me time to make some reports¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°But I¡¯d like to get started right away.¡± Calculator agreed, and she approached the mercenaries. ¡°Mercenaries of the Grey Gunners. You all stand accused of extradimensional crimes, including illegal military action, theft, as well as other crimes. You have the right to remain silent. Bear witness that I shall know if you lie. But also consider that you don¡¯t want the burden of your crimes to rest solely on your heads.¡±


    I don¡¯t know how they felt about it, but I was sweating profusely with none of her focus being on me. I almost felt pity for them. But also they shot up my childhood home for fun and hurt people I cared about. And probably more.


    People began to filter out of my apartment a bit at a time. It really wasn¡¯t meant to hold so many- though if it had been set up differently it was capable of accommodating individuals who were quite large.


    I looked down at the furniture. ¡°Mind helping me move this back in place, Great Girl?¡±


    ¡°Geez, you¡¯d think that super strength would be used for something other than helping people move stuff sometimes,¡± she said with a clear sarcastic tone. ¡°But I suppose I can help.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still the strongest friend I have in terms of regular strength,¡± I pointed out. ¡°And also you¡¯re still here.¡±  Ceira poked her head out of the kitchen. ¡°And you too?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°... I wanted to wait for you guys to come back.¡±


    ¡°Here we are,¡± I grinned. ¡°All in one piece.¡±


    ¡°Is that blood on your neck?¡± she asked.


    ¡°It might be,¡± I shrugged.


    Shockwave had left, though I wasn¡¯t certain if it was before or after the talk of moving furniture. Izzy was still around, though she was mostly useful for putting end tables back in place. And by back in place, I meant in some place because I honestly didn¡¯t know how things had been set up. The apartment came pre-furnished, and I didn¡¯t really have friends over a lot. Senan and Rasmus helped as well, moving a few armchairs about. Midnight supervised, given his lack of size and appropriate limbs.


    After we finished I suddenly felt very tired. People trickled off. Midnight went back to his apartment across the hall. Most everyone else went home- Senan likely eager to see his family for the first time in months. Ceira was the only one who wouldn¡¯t be going back to her apartment, but she was escorted off by Power Brigade members. We¡¯d deal with the longer term issues due to her being targeted by Doctor Doomsday later.


    I fell into my bed. Even doing my best to replicate it with Shelter, I had missed some details. I planned to engrain those into my mind for the future, just in case. But that would have to come later, when I was conscious.

 Chapter 186

    Waking up with only a modicum of muscle aches and bruising was an odd feeling. I almost didn¡¯t recognize where I was, despite being a place I had lived in for over a month. Then again, I had probably spent more time away from my third apartment than living in it. Courtesy of Doctor Doomsday.


    ¡°Ugh, I hate that guy,¡± I muttered. If it had simply been that he tossed us through a portal to our probable deaths it would have been one thing. But he had specifically targeted Ceira just because I did the sensible thing and talked about my conversation with him. Though I didn¡¯t have any indication he was going to honor anything to begin with. He might have already had the plan in motion from the time I refused to join him.


    Some day, I was going to punch him in his smug face.


    As I rubbed the sleep from my eyes I tried to remember what I had to do today. First was a status check, health and training and the like. Then a debriefing. Finally after that would be a meeting with Doctor Patenaude.


    I could sense Midnight was already awake in his apartment across the hall. We ultimately made our way to the Brigade together, avoiding the most convenient route just in case Doctor Doomsday was watching. Our apartments had been thoroughly checked out while we were away, and they were found to not be compromised.


    Hopefully Doctor Doomsday had forgotten about us. Or at least had other priorities. New Bay was a big place, and he had so many schemes going that one guy from a single mercenary organization shouldn¡¯t matter to him too much. Though his ability to keep up so many schemes meant that as soon as I was back in the news, he would likely find out. Maybe he would want some re-revenge. I should keep my head down.


    I shuddered. Was I afraid? It had to be me, I hadn¡¯t even told Midnight what I was thinking. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked.


    ¡°A good question,¡± I responded. Well, I owed him at least that much. ¡°I think I¡¯m afraid of Doctor Doomsday.¡±


    ¡°Who isn¡¯t?¡± Midnight replied. ¡°He¡¯s one of the biggest bads in all of New Bay. Anywhere on Earth, even. And he already caused us so much trouble.¡±


    ¡°But we survived and grew stronger so¡­ I shouldn¡¯t be afraid.¡±


    ¡°But are we enough stronger?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think his whole villain organization is something we can catch up to in a couple months.¡±


    ¡°So what do we do?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Same thing as always. Rely on all of our allies.¡±


    I grimaced. I still wanted to punch the guy. Did¡­ did the orcs who worked for him get to punch him? If they didn¡¯t, were they just wasting their time not growing as much as they could? Maybe they didn¡¯t even know how to make the most out of Aspect of the Barbarian. Somehow, I doubted Doctor Doomsday cared about their personal growth as long as they made competent minions for specific plans. Anyone who worked for him was an idiot swayed by promises of power. Though he did provide some power, a quick boost from equipment wasn¡¯t as good as consistent long term growth. Though having both was nice.


    -----


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see that you weren¡¯t overusing those mana crystals of yours,¡± Doctor Martinez commented. ¡°Other than that, your health seems surprisingly good for the conditions. You gained a good bit of muscle and grew a little taller, even.¡±


    I didn¡¯t have the heart to tell the man that mana crystals were nearly pointless on a plane with five or more times the normal amount of mana regeneration. Theoretically I could get something like half an hour¡¯s worth of mana over the course of a day from crystals, which wasn¡¯t really worth it most of the time. I hadn¡¯t needed to do that the entire time we were with the ancient orcs.


    And now I was back here where the mana levels were¡­ still higher than Mossley. Discernibly above the norm, and higher than when I left unless this particular room was an anomaly.


    I felt like something was missing on the way out, but I couldn¡¯t quite place what it was. I continued to ponder it until I came across Great Girl. ¡°Hi Mage!¡± she waved and smiled.¡±


    ¡°Good morning,¡± I said. Then I punched her in the gut.


    Even though that resulted in me being grappled on the floor a few moments later, I didn¡¯t think it could have happened with a better person. ¡°What the hell was that, huh? You under some kind of crappy mind control?¡±


    ¡°... I am not,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s just a bad habit I picked up. And why crappy mind control in particular?¡±


    ¡°Because if it was any good it wouldn¡¯t involve you starting a purely physical confrontation with me,¡± Great Girl pointed out. ¡°Also, how is punching people in the gut a ¡®bad habit¡¯?¡± She let me go so that we could face each other.


    I gave a quick explanation of my time among the orcs. And why it made sense with everyone having Curse of the Barbarian.


    ¡°Huh. I get it,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°But you¡¯ve gotta warn a girl! And I don¡¯t necessarily mean each time, but you were lucky to get out of this with all your bones still intact you know. Or like, your everything if you had spooked me too much. I can have claws and sharp teeth.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± she said. ¡°So, should I expect this in the future?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ probably not,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Oh,¡± she sounded somewhat disappointed. ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°I mean, you don¡¯t get experience or anything so¡­¡±


    ¡°But you do,¡± she pointed out. ¡°I don¡¯t mind helping out. Especially if things are meant to be quick. Speaking of which¡­¡± she stood up. ¡°I do have things I¡¯m supposed to be doing.¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°Me too,¡± I admitted. Hopefully Calculator wasn¡¯t too annoyed. Though if he was, he probably wouldn¡¯t admit it.


    -----


    The full debriefing involved more than just the Brigade. Ceira and Izzy were part of it, and also some people from Extra. Specifically Malaliel, but not Zorphax. Well, it made sense that the Martian wasn¡¯t here because this had nothing to do with anything Extraterrestrial.


    Our job was to fill everyone in on the things that happened between Sending spells. Which was really quite a lot, as it turned out a few sentences wasn¡¯t enough to describe a day.


    ¡°... So he had a permanent portal there,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°Well, not that that¡¯s unexpectedly criminal. But considering it was an especially difficult place to enter, we have to assume he can sustain portals to anywhere he is aware of. At least in theory.¡± The angelic woman pondered for a short time. ¡°You are now able to traverse to your home dimension at will?¡±


    ¡°I should be able to. I haven¡¯t actually attempted to go back just yet. It might be harder from this direction?¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Malaliel nodded. ¡°Either way, you need to become aware of some restrictions now that you have the ability. Extradimensional travel has restrictions for good reason, as I¡¯m sure you have experienced. Your hometown was occupied, after all. Given those circumstances it was approved to bring through other members of the Brigade, but that may not always apply in the future. As long as we can confirm the security of these Gates we will not restrict you from returning to your home world, of course.¡±


    Calculator interrupted, ¡°And you have a work visa with us so you can always come back here.¡±


    ¡°To approved locations, so that we don¡¯t have anyone panic,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°Specifically, don''t use your living room in the future.¡±


    ¡°I needed somewhere familiar.¡±


    The angel nodded. ¡°That is understood. But the situation is no longer an emergency, so it would be best if you stuck to approved locations. And if possible, give prior warning.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, sounds annoying.¡±


    Calculator shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s probably not any worse than flying.¡±


    People just flew from place to place without restrictions though? Oh right. On airplanes. I had heard about the necessary security involving them.


    ¡°Annoying as it is, we would also prefer you keep the amount of unnecessary extradimensional travel down. Though we do have a request related to that.¡± Malaliel shifted her wings behind her. ¡°If you could act as an ambassador to your world, we would greatly appreciate it. It seems to be involved more than casually in Doctor Doomsday¡¯s plots, and Extra would prefer to coordinate with them instead of coming into conflict. There¡¯s no indication your world as a whole is attempting an invasion, after all.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Listen. You¡¯ve met me.¡±


    ¡°I have,¡± Malaliel agreed.


    ¡°I¡¯d be a terrible ambassador.¡±


    ¡°You are capable of both traveling to the necessary place and communicating with the people there. Those are the most important qualifiers.¡±


    ¡°Or¡­¡± I drew the word out. ¡°I could just bring someone else and make them talk. Because all of that also works for other people.¡±


    ¡°As long as you would remain available,¡± Malaliel said, ¡°That would be acceptable. Though you still need to personally be involved in setting up relations in the first place. It is unlikely that they would be open to outsiders for a myriad of reasons. You at least know people there.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I admitted. ¡°But the most important person I know is missing.¡±


    ¡°Something that might best be solved through cooperation,¡± Malaliel said.


    That was actually something I hadn¡¯t considered, and quite important. ¡°I suppose so.¡± I looked at Malaliel. ¡°Do you have a power?¡±


    ¡°You could consider it that way,¡± she said.


    ¡°So if you went you wouldn¡¯t get a portal power. What about Zorphax? Do Martians have powers? Does he?¡± I frowned. ¡°Can I just give people portal powers?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Malaliel¡¯s words were firm. An order. ¡°While it is none of our business to restrict individuals from gaining powers in general, we don¡¯t know if it¡¯s safe yet.¡±


    ¡°Literally everyone from my world has these abilities,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°And everyone from elsewhere has had them for a year at best. So while the people of your world might be safe, we cannot guarantee that remains true for others,¡± Malaliel said sternly. ¡°So on behalf of Extra, I wish to make it clearly known that unauthorized use of portals with the intent to give people powers is strictly forbidden.¡±


    ¡°... Don¡¯t you wanna know, though?¡± I stroked my chin. ¡°Oh. That¡¯s why you said unauthorized huh?¡±


    ¡°We will not make such decisions likely,¡± Malaliel shook her head. ¡°But the option will be left open for the future.¡±


    ¡°... My apprentice is already affected, can I bring him with me?¡±


    ¡°I would advise caution. And if I recall correctly, he is still young enough to require his guardian¡¯s position.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d ask his mom of course,¡± I said. It was strange. For most of my life, I¡¯d wanted to get away from Mossley but found there was nowhere to go. Now I could go anywhere, and I was itching to go back. I¡¯m sure Doctor Patenaude would have something to say about that later.


    -----


    Everything wrapped up in time for me to have a late lunch, though I hadn¡¯t even gotten in any exercise or training yet so the day kind of felt wasted so far. Still, I found Sophia at lunch. Her mask was off, so that was her name.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I said as she eyed my approach. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t waste food or break anything you were carrying on purpose.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s important to have those restrictions,¡± she nodded. ¡°Though being on your guard in general is good. She¡¯s at it again, you know? You should be careful.¡±


    ¡°She¡­ who?¡±


    ¡°Dark Star,¡± Great Girl sighed. ¡°Man, I hate her.¡±


    ¡°No really, who?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Seriously, again? I thought we already went over this.¡±


    I frowned. Dark Star. Dark. Star. Stargirl. Shooting Star. ¡°... Is she Stargirl¡¯s sister or something?¡±


    ¡°It is Shooting Star!¡± Sophia said. ¡°You know, after she was broken out of prison.¡± I looked at her. She looked at me. ¡°... Oh right, that happened while you were literally in another world.¡±


    ¡°Does that usually happen so fast?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Superheroes turning supervillain?¡± Sophia shrugged. ¡°I mean, you know how she was. It¡¯s not a surprise except for those who ignore the warning signs.¡±


    ¡°I meant the breaking out of prison thing,¡± I admitted. Either way, I kind of understood why Sophia had been so grumpy during our reunion. She had probably been dealing with all sorts of trouble. And based on people¡¯s naming preferences, the edgy upgrade of her rival¡¯s name was probably annoying. After all, Sophia didn¡¯t have any choice but to be Great Girl, and now her rival got to be Darkstargirl.

 Chapter 187

    The clearly tailored comfort of Doctor Patenaude¡¯s office surrounded me as I lay in physical comfort. That was all he could offer, because his job was to cause people discomfort in all other areas. And maybe fix that, but that was mere speculation.


    It was somewhat fascinating to watch the various sensory stalks protruding from his head move around. Maybe that was intentionally comforting as well, like his voice.


    ¡°So, Turlough, you were saying you met orcs?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°And how did you feel about them.¡±


    ¡°Every second that I was there I wanted to punch Comhghall in the face,¡± I said.


    ¡°And did you?¡±


    ¡°Well, no. He was much more experienced with that kind of stuff so I never managed solid hits like that.¡±


    ¡°So you fought each other?¡±


    ¡°Well, it was a sort of training thing¡­¡± I explained. ¡°Since like, it became clear that it¡¯s not just speculation that orcs are more likely to have Curse of the Barbarian.¡±


    ¡°I was under the impression that you enjoyed training,¡± Doctor Patenaude said. ¡°Physical expression of yourself and experience all bundled together in one. Did that change?¡±


    ¡°Well, no.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± he said in that one way he did that was always followed by taking notes. ¡°Did the interaction shift your opinion on orcs as a whole?¡±


    ¡°Not really. Taking advantage of that is pretty clever, but all the rest seem pretty stupid for not explaining such things.¡±


    ¡°So you met other groups as well?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Mhm. So what was your overall impression of this group and this Comhghall fellow?¡±


    ¡°Weird,¡± I said.


    -----


    Midnight and I arrived in a vaguely remembered office building. It had been months since either of us had to show up at Extra¡¯s HQ, and closer to a year for anything not involving translation work. This time we were escorted to a different part of the building, finding Malaliel and Zorphax at what looked like a big empty hall.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t quite empty. There were clearly marked zones in little alcoves along one wall. I expected there to be something special about them, but they felt extremely¡­ normal. There wasn¡¯t even anything differentiating them from each other. The only thing that stood out was the text on the wall behind them. Extra: New Bay.


    ¡°What are these for?¡± I asked Malaliel.


    ¡°Teleportation,¡± she said cleanly.


    ¡°But¡­ they don¡¯t do anything.¡±


    Zorphax chuckled. ¡°They¡¯re for people with powers. So the actual effects will be provided by people on their own. We¡¯re still a good bit of development away from having working teleportation stations.¡±


    ¡°But Doctor Doomsday-¡±


    ¡°Uses powers to make his tech work,¡± Zorphax reminded me. ¡°Tech powers use the mere possibility of something working to surpass the actuality of it being functional. Though there¡¯s a lot that can be learned from them.¡±


    ¡°We have teleportation,¡± Midnight flicked his tail nervously.


    ¡°Unless you brought full manuals with you, that doesn¡¯t change our situation here,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°Only a relatively small number of Celmothians have ever come to Earth.¡±


    ¡°Regardless,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°We are here in this sterile environment to divine the limits of your powers. It has been indicated that you don¡¯t know the full of them yet.¡±


    ¡°Until this last month, I¡¯d only ever used Gate to rescue my apprentice,¡± I explained. ¡°Reopening a temporary portal made by Doctor Doomsday. So now I can add to that returning from one of the planes of my home dimension to another, then back here.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Malaliel nodded. ¡°We have prepared various scenarios for you to test.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°But we can only make three attempts, then each additional one will take about two hours of resting.¡±


    ¡°We have plenty of other duties to busy ourselves with,¡± Malaliel assured me. ¡°Perhaps we should make several attempts now, then ask you to come back this evening?¡±


    ¡°We can do that,¡± I nodded. ¡°Unless you¡¯re busy, Midnight?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had time to schedule new social engagements so¡­ no.¡±


    ¡°Alright then,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°We have several ideas prepared. First, it¡¯s of relevance to us particularly if you are now able to return to your home world from here. Of course, we¡¯re not rescinding your refugee status-¡±


    ¡°And the Power Brigade would no doubt provide you a work visa.¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Zorphax nodded. ¡°Anyway, we need to determine the actual possibility of return. This is important for New Bay overall because of the recent events repeatedly involving your world.¡±


    ¡°I still wouldn¡¯t be a good ambassador,¡± I reminded him.


    ¡°But you might be able to pass through someone who is,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°And interdimensional transportation pays way better than translation services.¡±


    I suppose I was going to be in the market for expensive statues eventually. It was certainly worth considering. And it seemed kind of important.


    Before we could do any of that, however, we needed to know if I could get back. That was where Malaliel explained the setup. ¡°You create portals. Is their appearance¡­ safe?¡±


    ¡°I believe so,¡± I said. ¡°But I didn¡¯t have much of a chance to study Gate before I had it as a spell. Since I was low level until I came to this world.¡±


    ¡°Fortunately we¡¯re prepared to test that,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°You can do two attempts in a row, right? I can have people set something up.¡±


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°We can,¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°If you could attempt to form a Gate back to your home world,¡± she gestures to one of the alcoves.¡±


    ¡°I can do outside Mossley, yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°Standard split, Midnight.¡±


    Was it a little more difficult than in the other direction? Hard to say for certain. Pretty soon, the magic formed into its proper shape and the Gate opened. ¡°... We¡¯re not going through, right?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not right now,¡± Zorphax confirmed.


    It lasted about the same time- thirty seconds approximately. So it was about half what Gate was supposed to do, but given it was interdimensional instead of interplanar here, that was fine.


    ¡°So that is possible,¡± Zorphax nodded. ¡°Good. Next I want you to make a portal to Mars.¡±


    I looked up. Not that I could see the sky. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that will work.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the whole point,¡± Zorphax said.


    ¡°Alright, but I haven¡¯t been to Mars or really seen it. Besides vague pictures. I need a connection to it. And a proper destination.¡±


    ¡°How about a Martian?¡± Zorphax asked. He held up his tablet. ¡°And this is your destination.¡±


    The picture on the tablet was a room very much like this, except the text on the wall was all gibberish. Oh, wait. It had smaller text under it. Extra: Martian Headquarters.


    ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll have to find out,¡± I said.


    ¡°Before you begin, is it safe to throw stuff through?¡±


    ¡°As safe as throwing stuff through an open door,¡± I said. ¡°Unless the portal is unstable and you care about your rock or whatever surviving the trip. But it will be pretty obvious. I would suggest not sticking your arm through.¡±


    ¡°Noted,¡± Zorphax said, pulling out a piece of paper and crumpling it. ¡°Please continue.¡±


    I nodded. Once again, Midnight and I split the burden. I had seen that Assistive Familiar Casting had improved, which should potentially make this easier. I focused on Zorphax, and his home. I also focused on the particular image. It was slow, but the magic slowly formed into an open portal aimed at the very wall I envisioned. It was slightly wobbly, but it was there nonetheless.


    Zorphax chucked the crumpled paper through it. He said something in a language I presumed was Martian, and then the portal began to wobble. It didn¡¯t even last fifteen seconds.


    ¡°That one wasn¡¯t very good,¡± I admitted. ¡°It¡¯s pretty difficult.¡±


    ¡°It is very strange that interdimensional travel is easier for you than interplanetary,¡± Malaliel commented. ¡°But perhaps it is simply a particularly strong connection to your home dimension.¡±


    ¡°You can do one more, right?¡± Zorphax asked.


    I nodded. ¡°What was the paper for?¡±


    ¡°So they could tell me where your portal appeared,¡± Zorphax replied.


    ¡°It was where the picture was,¡± I said.


    ¡°Was it?¡± he raised an eyebrow, looking at the very similar alcoves along the wall here. ¡°It¡¯s not a universal truth, but similar looking locations that are similarly connected and situated tend to draw imprecise teleportation methods.¡±


    ¡°How is Gate imprecise? I may not be that good but I can put it exactly where I picture.¡±


    ¡°That is why it¡¯s imprecise,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°You don¡¯t do calculations to get an exact angle and distance. You just picture a spot and arrive there. Anyway-¡± He showed me a picture of another similar wall. ¡°This is your next destination.¡± Extra: Yew-Kay.


    Midnight and I worked together to gather the necessary mana, then began to form a portal. Or rather, we released the magic¡­ but it just fizzled out. ¡°Hmm,¡± I said.


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Zorphax asked.


    ¡°Well, this is still on Earth after all so I didn¡¯t really expect it to work,¡± I explained. ¡°But I thought maybe it would be difficult, and it wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°But it failed,¡± Zorphax said.


    ¡°Yes, but there¡¯s easy failure and then difficult failure. This just¡­ won¡¯t happen,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°Strange,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°It should be easier, shouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily,¡± Malaliel said.


    ¡°It is easier,¡± I replied. ¡°It¡¯s just a different spell. And not a portal, I think. I don¡¯t have Teleport though and I could be missing some details. It¡¯s still a relatively high level spell that I didn¡¯t get more than a vague overview of.¡±


    ¡°Interesting,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°Do you have plans to acquire such a power in the near future?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t plan to go anywhere that far. And planes exist if I wanted to. I wouldn¡¯t use Sending to make a phone call. Though I guess Teleport is actually faster instead of just slower like Sending.¡±


    ¡°Can you do another? Since that one failed?¡± Zorphax asked.


    I shook my head. ¡°We still expended the mana. It just didn¡¯t do anything.¡±


    ¡°Well then,¡± he said. ¡°I hope you can meet us here this evening. I¡¯m sure we both have paperwork and the like to get to.¡±


    -----


    With that, Midnight and I had the rest of the day off. He had the good idea to go visit Ceira. Her apartment was obviously unsafe- even if Doctor Doomsday didn¡¯t know of her return- so she was currently under the care of the New Bay Hero Association until she decided what she was going to do. From what I understood, there was some sort of supervillain threat related relocation and witness protection thing.


    But for the moment, we were still able to visit her as part of her approved guest list. She had a little apartment in a secured area. I knocked on the door.


    ¡°Yes? Who is it?¡± Before I could answer, she opened the door. ¡°Oh, hi! I should have known it would be you two. The list of people who might come here is pretty small¡­¡± Ceira shrugged. ¡°Would you like to¡­?¡±


    As she opened the door to welcome us in, a golden labrador puppy charged up to us, hugging my leg and wagging happily as it looked towards Midnight.


    ¡°Bun! Off!¡± Ceira commanded. The dog backed away, but still wiggled in delight. Midnight looked at her with suspicion.


    At about that moment, a calico cat leapt onto the top of the open door and looked down at Midnight from its slightly higher perch. It meowed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t speak cat,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Does anyone speak cat? Do they have a language?¡±


    ¡°... I can speak to animals,¡± Ceira said. ¡°But¡­ no. Come on Cel¡­ery. Let¡¯s get you down from there,¡± Ceira held out her arms, and the cat acquiesced to being picked up. ¡°Come on in.¡±


    She set down Cel when she shut the door, and the puppy and it began to chase each other around the couch, which was about the only thing in the room besides an end table and some lamps.


    ¡°It¡¯s not super luxurious here,¡± Ceira said. ¡°My computer was compromised by Doctor Doomsday so I¡¯ve kind of been cooped up in here. I¡¯m not sure if I should pick up all my plants or not.¡±


    ¡°Are they at your old apartment?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No. Because of the situation, the Association and Power Brigade cleared everything out and took care of it for me under the indefinite disappearance protocol. So they¡¯re being taken care of, but I wasn¡¯t ready to go through all that effort so soon after returning to this world. And I don¡¯t have a cell phone or anything so it¡¯s hard to coordinate anything.¡± She reached down to scratch the dog who had come up to her once again. ¡°Of course I did have to get these guys as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°What did you say his name was again?¡± Midnight narrowed his eyes.


    ¡°This is Bun¡­go. Bungo,¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°That¡¯s a weird name.¡±


    ¡°All pet names are weird,¡± she shrugged. ¡°So was there something in particular you wanted or¡­?¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re just here to check in on you and perhaps hang out,¡± I said. ¡°Though I¡¯m not very good at that second thing so you and Midnight will have to decide how that will work.¡±


    Despite the situation, Ceira looked quite happy with being back home and not having to fight for her life, and also not being captured by a supervillain. So all that effort was ultimately worth it for her smile. And the levels were just a bonus.

 Chapter 188

    Awkward silence radiated between Midnight and myself, as his emotions echoed and amplified. We were on our way back to Extra the same evening. ¡°I don¡¯t really think this is a good idea,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°And why not? If you don¡¯t trust them, we don¡¯t have to bring it up of course.¡± I knew the actual reason, but I wanted him to say it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave,¡± Midnight admitted.


    I scratched the back of his head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry buddy, you don¡¯t ever have to leave. Look, we went through Mossley and I¡¯m still here, aren¡¯t I? But I think you might want to have a way to visit home eventually.¡±


    ¡°But what if¡­ I bet my room¡¯s all changed around now! I bet it wouldn¡¯t even work anyway.¡±


    ¡°We could ask,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Look, you¡¯ll have to be the primary for that Gate, and if you don¡¯t want to we won¡¯t even try. But I think you should have the option. To know if you can.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But I can¡¯t¡­ manage two-thirds yet, can I?¡±


    ¡°We can still do half and half,¡± I pointed out. ¡°The reason we do two thirds with me is because I have more mana capacity and a higher level.¡± And that would always be true, unless something seriously odd happened. Because his combat experience made me improve, and even with the ability to learn through study it would be a decade of intense work to catch up to me if I did nothing at all.


    ¡°... What if it¡¯s not enough?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°You know what I¡¯m going to say. We¡¯d just need more levels. To improve our ability and all that. And maybe, in the worst case scenario we work with Celmoth to construct an interplanetary teleporter a few sentences at a time.¡±


    ¡°Can we do that?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°We? No. But maybe a tech super or Martians can.¡± I didn¡¯t really understand the restriction on bringing Mars¡¯ higher level tech to Earth when we already had super tech mad scientists around, but there were probably reasons.


    Soon enough we found ourselves in the teleportation¡­ hallway. Surprisingly we actually saw a couple people going in and out this time, but I wasn¡¯t close enough to sense what sort of effects there were for those coming out, and Zorphax and Malaliel pulled us aside and distracted us from the other individual going in.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°We have a couple attempts planned. And I believe you had one idea of your own¡­?¡±


    I felt Midnight¡¯s head turn towards me. ¡°Well, we should see if we can connect to Celmoth.¡±


    ¡°Just in case it works¡­ is it possible to contact them to warn them?¡± he asked. ¡°Since there is some theoretical danger.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we can do that,¡± I said. I should have just enough mana for Sending and the particular portion of Gate I was going to cast. ¡°If we do three total, at least.¡± If we got a reply from Sending, it would be at least half an hour.


    After a quick discussion, Midnight and I settled on a message- it would have been better for him to send it but he needed to conserve his mana. He was the one with the necessary connection to Celmoth, after all.


    The message was simple enough, to Midnight¡¯s mother Jet. ¡®Is Midnight¡¯s room the same as it was? Testing magic. Please keep anyone out of the room for the next several hours.¡¯ If we got no response, we would just have to assume it was unsafe to attempt. It seemed that Sending could get lost in either direction, so it wasn¡¯t guaranteed to make it to her or back.


    After we were ready, Malaliel prepared us, handing over a feather from her wings. ¡°The first place you will attempt to create a portal is to Celestia.¡±


    ¡°Is that-¡±


    ¡°It is not the one you would have heard about,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°But rather the Earth name for the dimension I came from. Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have any pictures for you so the feather will have to suffice.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°It can work in theory, but I suppose I could end up somewhere similar. But I guess we just have to try. Midnight, standard split.¡±


    We were just a bit short of being able to use all of Gate¡¯s potential compared to the upgrades I had. All of out practice and actual use had actually resulted in a natural improvement after I spent points¡­ and even though Assistive Familiar Casting had improved a second time, that was still one short. Of course, there was further mastery to be obtained in the future, as three upgrades wasn¡¯t the limit. There might be an actual limit, but nobody had truly encountered it as far as I¡¯d heard it.


    I focused on the mana flow and the feather. I wanted a Gate to Malaliel¡¯s home plane. Power surged, flickered, and then faded away. I shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s just like trying to go somewhere else on Earth.¡±


    Malaliel and Zorphax shared a look. Then she spoke, ¡°I was afraid as much. My connection has been severed. But it was possible that your power would circumvent that.¡±


    ¡°Apparently not,¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright, one more,¡± Malaliel said, producing a golden orb a bit smaller than her palm. ¡°This should have a connection to another dimension. The reason we don¡¯t have pictures is different, but it should be safe. It is still better for you to not go through the portal should it open.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± I said. Not that I needed warnings. I wasn¡¯t the type to unnecessarily step through portals to unknown places without cause. The first time had totally been justified by the lack of things to fight.


    This time I could feel it was different. The orb began to hum as Midnight and I wove our mana into the spell. It began to form into a portal, shimmering as it grew to the size of a person. A smaller Gate, compared to what it could be, but it still resolved itself into an image of the other side.


    Probably. I was not entirely sure what I was looking at, to be honest. It was a room with strange angles and odd sources of light, perhaps best compared to the inside of an irregular prism. But I didn¡¯t get a very good look, as the portal didn¡¯t last more than a few seconds. But in that time, a wave of mana poured over me. It wasn¡¯t the familiar mana of home, but a very clear magical font nonetheless.


    ¡°Well, I guess it works to whatever that place is.¡±


    Zorphax actually looked relieved. ¡°At least you probably won¡¯t be making portals to all sorts of weird dimensions, if that¡¯s the result.¡±


    ¡°I have the feeling it was¡­ far away?¡± I tilted my head.


    Malaliel nodded. ¡°As dimensions can be considered adjacent or not, that one was somewhat removed. Not the limit of what has arrived here, but not the closest. Of course, it is impossible to say if any dimensions could be entirely disassociated with our own.¡±


    ¡°Because we¡¯d never interact with them to prove they exist,¡± Zorphax grinned. ¡°We can¡¯t prove the negative, only the limit on the number of dimensions to which we theoretically have access.¡±


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°Which is¡­¡± I asked.


    ¡°Classified,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°... But I can tell you that we publicly admit to having encounters with over a hundred dimensions just here in New Bay.¡±


    -----


    It almost seemed like the Sending would be lost when I finally got a reply from Jet. ¡®His room should be almost exactly as remembered. We will keep it clear. Please stay in touch.¡¯


    Oh. Right. We¡¯d not been able to contact her as much from a different world. Though it didn¡¯t seem that the loss rate was any higher from where we were to Earth and Celmoth. Midnight had extra mana because of the high density on that plane, but he¡¯d eventually stopped because of how many times nothing got through.


    I passed the message on to Midnight- and indirectly Zorphax and Malaliel, who were busy fiddling around on tablets, likely doing ¡®paperwork¡¯. Without paper, of course.


    ¡°So if we¡¯re going to do it, you should be in control,¡± I said. ¡°Though I believe the easiest split would be half and half.¡± His capacity wasn¡¯t a problem here, he just couldn¡¯t quite handle thirteen-and-a-third mana all at once at his level. It would require a couple more levels. ¡°Are you ready?¡± I didn¡¯t really intend to give him a chance to reject making the attempt. Because we needed to know, one way or another, if it was really possible. And I knew he would regret not trying.


    ¡°Give me a moment,¡± Midnight said, closing his eyes in concentration. I could feel his emotions fluctuating, and did my best to support him with calm of my own. ¡°I suppose I¡¯m about as ready as I can be.¡± He looked at me for a moment, and I looked back at him. ¡°Oh right. Uh, Turlough. Even split.¡±


    The moment after he spoke, the two of us began to channel mana. I didn¡¯t often give over control of the spells to Midnight in our practice, but we¡¯d still done it before. Our overall practice significantly helped the process. I felt Midnight molding the mana, saw it beginning to take form, and then¡­ the flat disc in front of us stopped growing, and failed to resolve into a portal.


    I felt a wave of shame from Midnight, among other things. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t do it,¡± he hung his head.


    I reached up to pat him. ¡°You mean you can¡¯t do it yet. Remember when we were trying to get back to my home plane? It was just like that. It¡¯s never done that except for portals that can be made. It will just take a little bit longer, right?¡± I asked Midnight.


    He raised his head. ¡°Right. And I¡­ I already resolved to stay here. I just wanted to¡­ see it.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m telling you, when we can do it you can just pop back and forth whenever you want. You¡¯ll want to visit, of course.¡±


    The sound of someone clearing their throat brought my attention back to the short form of Zorphax. ¡°Please don¡¯t treat interplanetary or interdimensional travel so lightly.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked. ¡°When we do it, it will be safe. And we won¡¯t if it¡¯s not.¡±


    He grumbled to himself, but didn¡¯t really have an argument. ¡°Well. This is about the limit of the testing we have for you. Some things seem impossible, or so far off as to be similar,¡± Zorphax shrugged. ¡°I must always remind you to use your powers responsibly, and in accordance with the supernatural based laws of the world and New Bay in particular.¡±


    I tried to remember what they were. I had read a lot of laws when I came here but it turned out they were nearly limitless. The supernatural ones were actually rather concise, however. Use of superpowers in the commission of a crime elevated the level of offense. Otherwise, as long as they were used safely they were fine. Which was why they had this teleporty place here.


    ¡°Well, I think that about wraps us up,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°I hope you can start on that diplomacy thing soon.¡±


    Ugh. Did I have to?


    I guess I couldn¡¯t just ditch Mossley, or assume it would be able to avoid all future problems. And it would be my best bet to find Master Uvithar.


    -----


    In the morning, without other duties to attend to, Midnight and I made our way to the Power Brigade. It was weird, to get back to some sort of routine. While we could technically take some vacation or post-disaster rest days or whatever, it was honestly better for us to just go in. It would make us feel more normal again, now that we weren¡¯t stuck in a strange world.


    Just after we clocked in, we got messages from Francois asking him to come see him.


    So we took the elevator up to his spot. ¡°There you are!¡± he said. His clothes were as vibrant as always, somehow managing to be a vast mix of colors but just barely short of overpoweringly garish. Of course, Francois would never be caught dead in exactly the same clothes two days in a row. Or¡­ on any two days, as far as I could tell. ¡°When Ice Guy came by and I saw the damage to his outfit, I almost fainted. It was ruined I tell, you. Ruined!¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you patch it?¡± I asked.


    Francois¡¯ eyebrow twitched. ¡°My boy, one does not patch, works of art! I could have repaired it perfectly, of course, but that was not how things were meant to be. No, it was completely tossed out as I came down with inspiration!¡± The man spun around, grabbing the hem of my jacket as he approached. ¡°I see yours is no better. What happened to it?¡±


    ¡°Well, there was the dragon. And Doctor Doomsday¡¯s killer gunbots. And some magical creatures. And training.¡±


    ¡°Were you training in mud pits?¡± Francois demanded.


    ¡°Just outside,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It involved some wrestling.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°Clearly my stain resistant clothing was imperfect. No matter. I have an entirely new outfit for you.¡±


    ¡°I really like my current one, actually,¡± I said.


    ¡°I am aware of your stagnant tastes,¡± Francois waved his hand. ¡°Do not worry, it is of a similar enough style. After all, you must remain recognizable as Mage and Familiar. But here, let me show you.¡± He handed over a new jacket, much the same blue as I had before. ¡°Try it on.¡±


    I took off the old one, which Francois instantly cut into ribbons in front of me with scissors that seemed to materialize in his hands. That was¡­ actually quite frightening considering how durable that stuff was. I put the jacket on and¡­ ¡°It¡¯s good,¡± I said. ¡°Just like everything you¡¯ve made.¡±


    ¡°Not just like it. Twist the top button. With intention,¡± he emphasized.


    Intention to¡­ what? I wondered that, but apparently intention to activate something was good enough. As my jacket suddenly disappeared. ¡°Uh, that¡¯s neat,¡± I said. ¡°But I don¡¯t know if disappearing clothing is practical?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not gone,¡± he said. ¡°Simply camouflaged.¡±


    ¡°With what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The material underneath, of course,¡± he gestured to my shirt. ¡°The point is to wear your civilian clothing underneath. Otherwise it would ultimately show your underclothes. Speaking of which,¡± Francois pulled out a pair of boxers. ¡°Extra durability, but and in the style of my personal brand. Just in case.¡±


    In case of what, I wondered.


    Ultimately, my entire outfit was replaced. ¡°Won¡¯t wearing normal clothes under this be uncomfortable?¡± I asked.


    Francois frowned. ¡°You doubt me?¡± he asked. ¡°No, don¡¯t answer. The answer is simple. It will be no more uncomfortable than the clothes underneath. It¡¯s a true breakthrough in clothing engineering, I must say. Oh, and before I forget. Your new mask. It can fold down into the breast pocket and¡­¡± he slipped it in to demonstrate, ¡°Disappear. Along with anything else in there, though I wouldn''t recommend anything bulky. Now try it on.¡±


    I pulled it out, finding it naturally flipped open and fit on my face. But at that same time, I felt something wrapping around my head. I grabbed it, but could barely see anything between my fingers.


    ¡°A compromise,¡± he said. ¡°Wearing a helmet is not only unpleasant but sight restrictive and unfashionable. But complete transparency in material at that thickness would ultimately compromise the integrity. In short, it covers your head, replacing the earlier options. Thought I might still suggest¡­¡±


    ¡°Not getting bludgeoned on the head?¡± I grinned.


    ¡°Avoiding all sorts of head trauma,¡± Francois smiled in return. ¡°Don¡¯t think I forgot you, Midnight,¡± he turned to the Celmothian. ¡°You get the same features, and you won¡¯t even feel it on your fur at all. It¡¯s even a step better than the previous version. Additionally,¡± he pulled out four small objects. ¡°Footwear. Able to transmit the feeling of the ground without worrying about cutting up your cute little paws, and additionally to suit your fighting style¡­ well, why don¡¯t you try them on.¡±


    Midnight looked skeptical at first. Not that he doubted Francois, but putting on shoes wasn¡¯t really a cat-body thing. Until his paws naturally slipped inside the shoes. He held up his paw and flexed it, when suddenly long claws sprang out. ¡°... Extendable claws?¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Francois grinned. ¡°Much more durable than your natural ones, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find. And I do believe your shared pool of power should channel through all of these materials without incident,¡± Francois looked between us. ¡°Though do let me know if there are any issues.¡±  He took a step back, then yawned widely. I suddenly saw the bags underneath his eyes. ¡°Now that I¡¯m done with all that, I can finally get some sleep,¡± he said. ¡°Ta ta~¡± He waved.

 Chapter 189

    It was amazing how many things I got out of touch with just by being in a different world for a couple months. I had so many things to catch up on, and I was reminded of another when I saw Tylissa at the Power Brigade. I think her official moniker was ¡®Wolf¡¯, which was troublesome for any number of reasons. Not least of which was that she wasn¡¯t the only werewolf in the Power Brigade, since there was at least Great Girl as well. But that was how names ended up.


    ¡°Finally we run into each other,¡± she said as I approached.


    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve been in and out of HQ since I returned. I haven¡¯t been spending much time around here.¡±


    ¡°Well, I know you¡¯re probably quite busy still¡­ but Jerome would appreciate seeing you in person. You should come see us some evening.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± I said. Even if half of my contacts had been with me in the other world, I wasn¡¯t going to suddenly forget the rest when I came back. At this point it was basically only Rositsa that was not associated with the Brigade, but either way everyone had been kept up to date by them. ¡°When are you free?¡±


    ¡°Any evening I¡¯m not working,¡± Tylissa said. ¡°Though Jerome will be there regardless, so you can drop by any time.¡±


    ¡°You moved, right?¡± I asked to make sure.


    ¡°Of course. I wouldn¡¯t have worked this job for a few months and not taken us to a better place. Then there was the risk with Doctor Doomsday¡­¡± she shook her head. ¡°But either way, the pay of a tracker is fantastic.¡±


    Combat pay was more. But I wasn¡¯t going to push her towards that. ¡°That¡¯s great to hear,¡± I said. ¡°I should be free this evening. The last couple of days have been a lot of work with Extra so¡­¡±


    Tylissa held up a hand, ¡°We understand. You made sure to inform us immediately when you came back. And we knew you were alive through the Brigade. But he¡¯d love to see you in person. This evening works for me as well, and I¡¯d like to hear what¡¯s been going on. Whatever you can say.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anything¡¯s secret,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll see the two of you this evening, then.¡±


    -----


    After a short exercise and training session, I set out to find Khithae. I was planning to have a quick lunch before heading over to the next part of my day which was supposed to be going back to Mossley to keep in contact. Official work and all that.


    According to her message, she wasn¡¯t working on repairs on any of the rooms but down in one of the labs. I didn¡¯t have a reason to go there most of the time, obviously. My access allowed me onto the floor or the elevator wouldn¡¯t have even stopped in B4. I was still careful in how I approached, though.


    Inside room 17, I found Khithae looking at a pile of junk on top of a big workbench, gesturing to the man next to her, an old guy with poofy white hair. ¡°See, this could be repaired if you just had a sixth order regulator¡­¡± Khithae frowned as she spoke, English words taking effort for her no matter how proficient she became. ¡°I don¡¯t know the right words to explain it.¡± She looked over to see me. ¡°Oh! Mage, perhaps you can help? Translation might provide the words I need.¡±


    ¡°I can certainly try,¡± I nodded, casting the spell on her with only a small effort. ¡°There you go.¡±


    ¡°Let me see then,¡± Khithae spoke more comfortably. ¡°The part I need is a special wire that goes by the name¡­¡± unfortunately, we didn¡¯t get any useful words. ¡°Ah, a shame,¡± she shook her head. ¡°Does it not exist here?¡± she tilted her head.


    ¡°It means nobody around here has the mental concept for it,¡± I explained.


    ¡°Well,¡± Khithae shrugged. Then I felt a flow of mana from her, concentrated around part of the machine. ¡°It can still be magically repaired.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said the old man. Then he looked to me. ¡°Mage, right? I¡¯m Old Shock. And just to be clear, I¡¯m not actually old.¡± He pointed to his hair. ¡°This is from the low tech powers. And my face is only a little wrinkly, okay? I¡¯m not even thirty yet!¡±


    ¡°... okay?¡± I replied. ¡°Nice to meet you then. Are low tech powers-¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not cool things with radios and CRTs,¡± he shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s a nice way to say weak tech powers. I can make some things like this,¡± he held up the small motor with wires sticking out of it, ¡°But I can¡¯t reliably produce individual components or bridge the gap between modern technology.¡±


    ¡°Sounds frustrating,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°It is!¡± he agreed. ¡°But also, having any powers is still like winning the lottery. Well, it¡¯s not quite that rare in New Bay but it¡¯s still a smaller fraction of people that have a job reliant on powers in any way. Counting villains.¡±


    ¡°Lots of Portal Powers now, I¡¯d imagine,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah I guess. Things have been kind of quiet on that front the past couple months though. Maybe Doomsday got all of the things he wanted from portals?¡± Old Shock shrugged.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°More likely they were distractions so he could set up permanent ones in his secret lairs,¡± I surmised. I looked back at Khithae. ¡°Anyway, you understand this stuff? Even though it¡¯s tech power based?¡±


    ¡°A lot of things from tech powers should be possible,¡± Khithae said. ¡°It¡¯s just the power surpasses the production and other intermediate steps required to achieve it. All of them end up missing something and thus don¡¯t function without powers to sustain them. But in my alternate reality, I worked with some of these things. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have a massive database of schematics on me when I came here.¡±


    ¡°How hard are those to get?¡± I asked.


    ¡°When they¡¯re in another dimension? Quite difficult.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but if you were there.¡±


    ¡°If I had money or access to my old stuff,¡± she shrugged. ¡°Not too difficult.¡±


    ¡°Interesting,¡± I said. I would suggest just going there, but there were some sort of laws about future tech that I should probably look into. Maybe the Brigade could get permission? I wondered what would happen to Old Shock¡¯s powers if the base level of technology advanced. Would it just mean he could make semi-functional stuff by hand, or would he learn things another step advanced? I almost asked, but I could see how that might sound rude. Better to ask someone who was more than a step or two removed.


    -----


    After gathering Midnight- extradimensional excursions still required his presence- we headed to Extra for official business. Though mostly it was going to be me going through a portal and asking around Mossley about what had been happening in the last couple of days. And checking that the portal stayed closed. I didn¡¯t actually know if the supers in Yew-Kay had managed to shut down the Grey Gunners hideout or anything. Accusations being thrown back and forth might not be enough to resolve that sort of thing in just a couple days.


    As we were going around one of the last corners to our destination, something bumped into me. I stepped back, taking a ready stance. Something clattered to the ground as I saw a woman fall on her butt. She was bundled up, covered almost from head to toe. The only thing that was visible were her eyes. I looked into them and I felt¡­ something. But it only lasted for a moment before she scooped up her sunglasses.


    I reached out my hand, intending to help her to her feet, but she just picked herself up and pushed past me.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I dunno, some weird woman,¡± I said.


    ¡°Something happened to you,¡± Midnight said.


    I did feel weird, my pulse heightened. But I was still able to think well enough to cast Mental Freedom. Whether due to that or it just being a normal burst of adrenaline from something unexpected, the feeling slowly faded. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But I don¡¯t have the feeling it was on purpose. Did you look at her eyes?¡±


    ¡°I was trying not to look down,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°It¡¯s a long drop.¡±


    Well, if she was a gorgon or something and wearing sunglasses to not petrify people, all I could suggest was that she get a better fitting pair that wouldn¡¯t fall off so easily. Or perhaps she should avoid bumping into people. Though to be fair, I should have been ready for someone coming around the corner.


    -----


    Inside Extra, Midnight and I made our way to the officially approved portal and teleportation room. We made sure to let people know we had come, but nobody needed to oversee us. We were the only ones who would be going through today, since I was a native of the world and Midnight was my familiar- and required.


    I made sure to go to a location outside of Mossley again, since I didn¡¯t know anywhere in the city that I could guarantee was safe to pop through a portal. When we approached the city gates, I saw a pair of guards in shiny armor. That was quite different than normal. Also different was that they stopped me.


    ¡°You there in the strange garb! State your business!¡±


    My clothes weren¡¯t that weird. I was trying out the camouflage ability of my new outfit, and underneath I had ordinary street wear. I didn¡¯t think the style was that different from the norm of this world, but then again I wasn¡¯t the right person to ask about such things. ¡°I am Turlough, a former resident of Mossley,¡± I declared. ¡°I came to check up on the results of recent troubles.¡± I was prepared to cast something, but these felt like normal people. Which is to say, I could tell they had class levels and a faint aura of magic around them, but no weird powers.


    Who were these guards? Certainly not residents of Mossley. I swear, if another group of weirdos took over my hometown in two days I would be quite put off. But I saw the brazen insignia on their gear, the head of a lion. The particular color pattern told me they were part of the Order of the Lion. A big paladin group from the capital, which was the limit of my understanding.


    ¡°The mage Turlough?¡± One of them lowered his weapon. ¡°Sir Kalman will wish to see you.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like something I should do,¡± I agreed. ¡°Where is he?¡±


    They directed me towards the center of town- though of course, that was where most things ended up.


    There were a lot more people out and about compared to last time- which is to say, last time there had not been anyone at all.


    ¡°Oh, Turlough!¡± Carl waved to me as I passed his store. ¡°You ran off so quick to that other plane or whatever, we didn¡¯t get a proper explanation. At least not enough to satisfy the king. You said you¡¯d be back to check on us, but I thought it might be longer.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say how regular I will be,¡± I began. ¡°But it is an achievable journey, at least. I¡¯m on my way to see a Sir Kalman.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that one¡­¡± Carl nodded. ¡°He¡¯s a bit rough, but has a good heart from what people have said. Hopefully you can sort things out together.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I nodded. ¡°Now, I must be off.¡± He ducked back as I swiped at him, the tiniest bit of a shock on my fingertip. I clicked my tongue.


    ¡°You¡¯ll not get any of us that easily, kid!¡± he called after me.


    -----


    I made it to the right area easily enough. Now I just had to find the particular building. But before I could, someone called out to me.


    ¡°Halt, fiend! Your true garb conceals more than it reveals!¡± I turned to see a short man in shining armor, his fists raised. ¡°Prepare to make an accounting!¡±


    By instinct, I almost punched him in the face. But my training was better than that. The guy was wearing a helmet, after all. Diving in for a grapple was going to be much more effective.

 Chapter 190

    Everything became a blur as the man in shiny armor and I fought back and forth. I immediately recognized I wouldn¡¯t be able to do any damage to him with strikes due to his armor, and while his metal clad fists could likely break through my Force Armor in due time he shifted his strategy to match mine after a few moments. I had a slight advantage in size, though what my opponent lacked in height he made up for in width. It was also clear he had trained his strength and skill.


    Though I didn¡¯t sense him using any class abilities, it quickly became clear that I was his inferior in terms of physical prowess. I had grown too used to Earth, where powers applicable to martial combat were slightly more rare compared to the class system here.


    Soon enough I was on my back with the heavy weight of the armored fellow on my chest. ¡°Now we shall see what you are hiding!¡± the figure declared. He removed my mask and his eyes narrowed. ¡°... Well you¡¯re not on any of the wanted posters. Though I thought there was something about an orc¡­?¡± He tilted his head as he raised his fist, seeming to ponder punching me in the face.


    A familiar voice broke through the atmosphere. ¡°What¡¯s going on here, Sir Kalman, Turlough?¡±


    We both looked over to see Rordan stepping out of his shop. I looked back at the knight, seeing the clear image of a lion. He looked down at me, then stood up. ¡°Well obviously it was just a sparring session,¡± he said, reaching down towards me with his hand. ¡°I recognized the figure of the savior of Mossley and wanted to test his abilities.¡±


    I took his hand, letting the stout fellow yank me to my feet. ¡°And of course I wanted to test myself against a ranking knight in the Order of the Lion,¡± I said. He might have taken a combat stance first, but I was maybe technically the one who made the first move. And then he¡¯d won quite handily. At least he was breathing heavily.


    I realized Midnight had been watching the whole time, and I could still feel a small amount of concern overwhelmed by amusement.


    ¡°Pfeh,¡± the man Rordan had called Sir Kalman tore off his helmet, revealing a beard that must have been screaming to get out. ¡°These helmets are so stuffy.¡±


    It was technically possible for a human to grow a beard like his, but it would be a matter of great struggle. Given his barely five foot height and stoutness, however, I had to conclude that he was a dwarf. The local version, of course, not Earth¡¯s version that encompassed a variety of extremely small humans..


    ¡°So¡­¡± Sir Kalman began slowly. ¡°The townsfolk here tell me you have some idea about the events that happened here. Involving competing groups of similarly oddly dressed fellows.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not quite that simple¡­¡± I began. ¡°But it¡¯s not that complicated either, I guess. Recently there has been a connection to another world where people have strange powers. I disappeared from Master Uvithar¡¯s tower through one of those, and learned that many of those portals were caused by a supervillain in that world.¡± I paused to think, ¡°There are a lot of nice people there too, though.¡±


    The dwarf stroked his beard. ¡°A supervillain, you say? A villain who rules over other villains?¡± That wasn¡¯t quite right¡­ but it also wasn¡¯t that wrong. ¡°Like some sort of dark lord.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I said. ¡°But mixed in among the populace of a large city instead of off on his own. Anyway the people who caused trouble here were¡­ probably unrelated to him.¡± I frowned, ¡°Though we don¡¯t actually know. Just that it¡¯s recently more common and potentially easier to make portals between our dimensions.¡±


    ¡°We have several of their members in custody,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°These Grunners. Due mainly to you and your allies, I hear. Unfortunately even with Translation magic we haven¡¯t been able to learn much as they seem to be minions.¡±


    ¡°This place wasn¡¯t exactly equipped to restrain people with weird powers,¡± I said. ¡°So we thought it best to keep them somewhere that we could. I¡¯m here to try to establish more formal communication between us.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? How did you get here anyway?¡± Kalman asked.


    ¡°Through the Gate spell.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± he raised an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s a powerful one. I¡¯m surprised someone of your age can cast that.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t quite. Not on my own,¡± I admitted. ¡°I require my familiar Midnight to assist me,¡± I gestured.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Midnight said from his position to the side. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡±


    Kalman recoiled for a second. ¡°Ah!¡± Then he cleared his throat. ¡°I did see you earlier. Hello, Midnight. It is a pleasure to meet you as well.¡± He turned back to me. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect a familiar to be so eloquent.¡±


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s not really a cat,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯s something more magical to begin with.¡± Magical was a good enough word.


    ¡°Interesting,¡± Kalman said. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t matter much to me. I¡¯m more interested in you. I heard that just over a year prior you were¡­ underleveled. But now you are capable of using top tier spells.¡±


    ¡°Well, due to Curse of the Barbarian I wasn¡¯t able to really level here in Mossley. The other world has more opportunities to engage in battle, so I grew quickly. And probably overstretched myself learning Gate, to be honest.¡±


    Kalman sighed. The two of us exchanged a serious loook. ¡°It¡¯s difficult, isn¡¯t it? ¡®Oh no, Kalman, you mustn¡¯t talk about the monsters in the hills. Definitely don¡¯t go fight them. Just mediate and pray all day and you¡¯ll somehow get better at using your sword¡¯. They say this country is peaceful, and then a whole town is taken over without us being able to do anything,¡± he grimaced.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure people lied about everything,¡± I said. ¡°Because just imported from this world I fought wyverns and an ooze and some dragons¡­¡±


    ¡°Dragons?¡± Kalman frowned.


    ¡°Wyrmlings,¡± I shook my head. ¡°But I didn¡¯t even mention the orcish horde Doctor Doomsday has been importing!¡± I coughed, ¡°Villainous orcs, of course.¡±


    ¡°... Doctor?¡± Kalman tilted his head again.


    ¡°They use that word for people with a lot of education. Like a learned scholar or¡­¡±


    ¡°An archmage?¡±


    ¡°Well, not quite. But it¡¯s not that wrong either. Except with how their weird powers that doesn¡¯t always matter.¡± I frowned. ¡°Come to think of it I don¡¯t know if Doctor Doomsday is an actual doctor or just got called that after he got powers.¡±


    ¡°It sounds strange.¡±


    ¡°It is!¡± I agreed. ¡°You never know what to expect with people. Some just fly around, shooting lasers, while others turn into acid and still others go really fast!¡±


    ¡°While I would love to hear more about these oddities,¡± Sir Kalman said, ¡°I need to get the details about what happened here in Mossley.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± I explained about the Grey Gunners, and why I even happened to come back to Mossley through a weird other plane in this dimension. ¡°And Master Uvithar¡¯s tower is destroyed! What happened with that?¡±


    ¡°Another concern,¡± Kalman nodded. ¡°He was not in frequent magical communication with others, or we would have noticed sooner. The strange damage to the tower was from these¡­ ¡®guns¡¯ and explosives?¡±


    ¡°I think he moved out before they showed up and they just blew up the tower for fun,¡± I said. ¡°Based on the lack of books in the rubble.¡±


    ¡°Still, this Grey group has committed many crimes. And now that we know about them, it is simple to connect them to the disappearances in the area.¡±


    ¡°Disappearances?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Abductions, more like,¡± Kalman shook his head.


    ¡°That¡¯s bad,¡± I said. I looked to Rordan.


    He shook his head sadly. ¡°Some from Mossley are gone too. Aside from those we know were killed, I mean.¡±


    ¡°Why would they¡­?¡± I didn¡¯t even have to finish the question. The same reason people would commit any crimes, because it benefited them in some way. The Grey Gunners were already committing illegal acts, so why not kidnapping and potentially slavery? Though it did make the matter require more serious escalation on Earth. ¡°We have to try to get them back.¡±


    ¡°Well, I would assume they were taken through that portal,¡± Kalman said. ¡°And with the portal closed¡­¡±


    We should have stormed their base. Except, of course, we simply didn¡¯t have that many people- nor did we know the full situation at the time. Calculator had done his best to reveal the location with the device he¡¯d tossed through, but the local heroes and mercenaries couldn¡¯t do anything to save people they didn¡¯t even know were in trouble. And with the takeover of Mossley lasting as long as it had, some of those people could be anywhere.


    There had to be magic that would help. Scrying¡­ wouldn¡¯t tell me anything if I didn¡¯t know who I was looking for with some detail. Though if we could gather possessions of those missing, it might be possible. Otherwise, Locate Creature wouldn¡¯t really work even if I had it because it wasn¡¯t any good at locating general things. Except¡­


    ¡°Who was abducted?¡± I asked. ¡°Any features in common?¡±


    Kalman shrugged. ¡°All sorts of people. Mostly young, but that¡¯s expected.¡±


    ¡°Humans?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Some, I think,¡± he frowned. ¡°But maybe less than average?¡±


    That was something that might work, then. Though the range wasn¡¯t anything spectacular, I could pick out many of the missing people by looking for elves, dwarves, halflings, and anything of the sort in general. There might be a few false flags from other extradimensional individuals, but it was something.


    I sighed. I was resigning myself to a lot of work that wouldn¡¯t involve combat again, wasn¡¯t I? Though if I was lucky I would be able to beat up a few people at the end of every trail.


    But first we would have to deal with all sorts of other details. ¡°You said you have people with Translation here?¡± I asked. Kalman nodded. ¡°Mind if I bring over a little green man to engage in diplomacy?¡±


    ¡°A goblin?¡± he tilted his head.


    ¡°Not at all. Actually, I guess the correct option would be the angel.¡± She was the one in charge of extradimensional stuff, after all. Though perhaps someone of lower rank would be more appropriate.


    What else? Calculator would want to have a list of everyone missing. Every detail we could get. Because even if the Power Brigade didn¡¯t get directly involved, someone would pay to have them back.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not actually like a hero or something,¡± I pointed out. ¡°I work for a mercenary group. Can we arrange to be paid in gold?¡±


    ¡°As they are common folk, I can¡¯t imagine you would get many golds each.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but people on Earth really value gold,¡± I said. ¡°Though I guess it¡¯s not my job to negotiate payment.¡± We might be able to get Yew-Kay to pay us instead for stopping criminals? Or some of both? There was some ethical limit, of course, and I wanted to save everyone regardless. But more people would get involved more easily at a higher price.


    By the end of the day, I had a list of details and Kalman promised to get as many personal effects related to people as possible, for the sake of Scrying. Then it was time for me to return home- but not before securing a location that should be safe to Gate in and out of for the sake of not having to walk from outside town. It was just an alleyway, but it wouldn¡¯t disturb people too much.


    When I returned to Earth, I realized I wasn¡¯t done with work because Midnight and I had to spend hours explaining things to Extra and the Brigade, though at least we got them together instead of doing it one by one.


    After that we were going to test if I could scry on anyone with just their names and descriptions. Because while it was already time for us to go to bed, people in Yew-Kay were just waking up. And this wasn¡¯t really the sort of thing we could delay on.


    At that point, it was already very late to go anywhere, but Jerome wasn¡¯t constrained by school hours and Tylissa now worked whatever hours were necessary. So we were still able to meet up.

 Chapter 191

    Whoever yawned first was unclear, but ultimately all of Tylissa, Jerome, myself, and Midnight all caught it from whoever started it. It was late, after I had spent all day in Mossley and then getting the ball rolling on the additional problems we found about. At least I was able to keep track of time even though the days were slightly desynchronized between New Bay and Mossley, since I brought my phone along. Otherwise I might have been up even later.


    ¡°You really made it back,¡± Jerome said.


    I shrugged. ¡°Of course. You should have been in the loop along the way.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­¡± Jerome shook his head. ¡°It turns out that even having powers for a while doesn¡¯t make you able to accept that someone can just arbitrarily come back from some weird dimension they got trapped in.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± I admitted. ¡°I should really have to be a little higher level before it was possible. Though that assumes working alone, which might not be the best way to do things.¡±


    Jerome nodded, ¡°Do you think I should get a familiar?¡±


    I looked at his mother, who shrugged. ¡°Well, I suppose you aren¡¯t limited by your living arrangements as much.¡± For example, the living room we were seated in was almost the size of the entire apartment they¡¯d previously lived in. At the very least it had a similar amount of open floor space, considering how the kitchen had been cramped with tables and the bedrooms barely fit the titular devices. ¡°I doubt you¡¯ll get a familiar as good as Midnight, though. You¡¯d probably have to settle for an animal.¡±


    ¡°...are there other options?¡± Jerome asked. ¡°Besides semi-psychic animal formed individuals like Celmothians and just¡­ animals.¡±


    ¡°You could make a homunculus, I guess?¡± I shook my head. ¡°A little clay construct. Not any of the other things that go by the same name trying to replicate humans or whatever.¡±


    ¡°Artificial creatures work?¡± Jerome raised an eyebrow. ¡°How does that make sense?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± I admitted honestly. ¡°It wasn¡¯t something I had the opportunity to study in depth, and I imagine the information wouldn¡¯t have been fully available. Given how things were run there.¡±


    Jerome pondered for a few moments, then grimaced. ¡°I just remembered that an animal might be difficult. Since their reactions are more¡­ varied now.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which, how¡¯s the lycanthropy business going?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t have any points right now but if the side effects have gotten too much I can get something to try to deal with it next level.¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m getting pretty decent at controlling it. And the enhanced senses can be useful too.¡±


    ¡°And he likes being stronger,¡± Tylissa noted.


    ¡°Well¡­ who wouldn¡¯t?¡± Jerome smiled shyly.


    ¡°So what about what happened with you?¡± Tylissa asked. ¡°Tell us.¡±


    I nodded, beginning by explaining Ceira¡¯s rescue. Then the huge jungle on the¡­ backup material plane? I still wasn¡¯t quite sure what it was supposed to be. Meeting a couple ancient elves, and then some orcs. Then all of the training to finally make it back here.


    ¡°Oh right. And then there were some mercs from Yew-Kay in my hometown!¡± I spoke indignantly. ¡°So we kicked their butts and tossed them out of there, obviously. The consequences of all that are still ongoing, though.¡± Their local government had to balance the danger of mercs turning villain against the accusations of a foreign mercenary group. We had some proof, but governments were slow to handle things. Though I heard that the turnaround time for super related matters being limited to just days instead of weeks or months was quite a bit faster than other things. ¡°And now they¡¯re making me go talk to people and start up diplomacy and stuff.¡±


    Tylissa snickered. ¡°You make that sound like such a terrible job, being able to use magic and travel between dimensions.¡±


    ¡°I barely even fought anyone today!¡± I complained. ¡°Just some sparring this morning and like one guy in Mossley.¡±


    ¡°... Did more mercenaries sneak back in?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°Nah it was the knight captain guy I was supposed to find. Hopefully he won¡¯t suddenly turn boring tomorrow.¡±


    After that, Jerome went over what he had been learning. He was well beyond the point of my education being able to help him, as upper level mathematics and of course this world¡¯s history and politics hadn¡¯t come into play in my studies. Though perhaps such mathematics would matter for some magic, and that was yet more hidden knowledge. Maybe there was a way to make Gate more efficient, for example. Did exact orientation matter? It might. I hadn¡¯t really had the option to experiment, just doing my best to scrape by and actually make it function.


    I looked at Jerome. ¡°School really wasn¡¯t great for you, huh?¡± His grades hadn¡¯t been much to look at when we first met, and now he was learning so much more. He was clearly intelligent, but that hadn¡¯t been enough.


    ¡°Well, it didn¡¯t help to live in that other apartment,¡± Jerome pointed out. He would have had to cram himself into one of the chairs and sprawl his homework out on the kitchen table. And there were other issues with staying out to wait for his mom to get home from her previous work.


    We could have probably continued to talk for a few more hours, but it was already late when we met up, so we didn¡¯t last much longer after that. I went home to flop into bed, exhausted once more.


    Maybe there was magic so I didn¡¯t have to sleep. Wouldn¡¯t that be nice.


    -----


    Returning to Mossley the next day, I realized that the lack of cars was a huge factor in the ability to gather physical things quickly. And technology like phones was so convenient, with anyone able to contact anyone else at pretty much any time instead of spending 10 whole mana on Sending. It was not only slower and more information, but not a whole lot of information. Sure, Sending was a thousand times better than sending a horse with a short message across a country, but still at least a few times worse than just sending a text.


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    In short, Sir Kalman was away dealing with that stuff and wouldn¡¯t be back for a while. There was someone else waiting when I got back. A tiny guy covered in wrinkles.


    ¡°Hello,¡± he said in a faint voice. ¡°I¡¯m Zenfer.¡±


    I looked down at him. Zenfer was a halfling, so it was a long way down. His hunch didn¡¯t help his height, either. ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Turlough.¡±


    ¡°It is so nice to meet you, young man,¡± the old fellow said slowly. ¡°They sent me out here just for that, you know?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I tilted my head. Just to meet me didn¡¯t make any sense. I was just a guy.


    ¡°Oh, well you see. I¡¯m your magical contact. For the Sending spell, you understand. I am a mage myself, after all. So I can transmit important information from you to others I¡¯ve met, if it¡¯s important.¡±


    ¡°Ohhhh,¡± I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s a very important job,¡± I said. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t you run out of mana pretty quickly? I mean, I can¡¯t be the only person you¡¯re relaying messages from.¡±


    ¡°Not to worry,¡± the old man said. ¡°I have some upgrades to Sending. And most of the time, I¡¯ll be in the capital. So there will be plenty of others I can just pass a written message to.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Yeah that sounds a lot more efficient. Thanks, Zenfer.¡±


    ¡°Not a problem,¡± he nodded. ¡°It is my job, after all.¡± He extended his hand. I took it, of course. It was effort not to throw him to the ground, but I doubted he would appreciate me doing that so I resisted.


    ¡°I suppose we should shake as well?¡± Midnight said from my shoulder.


    Zenfer recoiled. ¡°Oh! The familiar speaks¡­? And it¡¯s Translation, not some sort of Speak With Humanoids magic¡­¡± He leaned closer. ¡°Are you capable of independent casting?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Midnight confirmed. ¡°I¡¯m not a cat, by the way. To explain most simply¡­ I¡¯m one of the people native to the dimension Turlough is from.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating. It is a pleasure to meet you as well¡­?¡± he extended his hand, shaking Midnight¡¯s paw.


    ¡°Midnight Deathstalker,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°A fine name,¡± he replied. ¡°I¡¯m Zenfer Cloudfound.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow. This guy had a surname? No, I guess that wasn¡¯t that weird, for an old mage. Or a good portion of people with parents. Or pretty much anyone from Earth. Even Master Uvithar had¡­ another name. Probably.


    ¡°Well now,¡± the old man said. ¡°We should be able to contact each other. Though that depends on whether the Sending gets lost on the border of dimensions, hmm?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty reliable,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s a strong connection for some reason. Probably no more than a five percent loss rate.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s hardly different from an adjacent plane. Fascinating,¡± Zenfer stroked his chin as he looked up at the both of us. ¡°Say, can we go somewhere to sit down? Preferably with me sitting on a raised chair.¡±


    ¡°Can we use the building the Order¡¯s occupying?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oh yes, that should be fine,¡± Zenfer nodded, wobbling off. ¡°It will be easier to talk. I heard you had questions about Master Uvithar.¡±


    ¡°I do. Do you know him?¡±


    Zenfer didn¡¯t answer until we were sitting down. Himself on a raised chair, Midnight sitting on the table between us, and myself in a lower chair so we were at a similar enough eyeline. ¡°I did know the man, yes.¡± I didn¡¯t like that wording at all. ¡°He studied in Granbold City, in fact. So we saw each other there as fellow mages. A lot of talent in that one, but he came all the way out here and picked apprentices as he pleased. But at least one of them seems to have turned out well.¡± I didn¡¯t honestly get along with the other apprentices that well, so I didn¡¯t know who he meant. ¡°Not many people can cast Gate at your age, you know.¡±


    Oh. It was me. Probably. Could also be another one of those my age, though. ¡°Well, it was kind of a matter of necessity,¡± I admitted. ¡°And it takes teamwork still.¡± Should I be telling him that? Were magic things supposed to be secret? Was he part of the people keeping secrets or part of those having secrets kept from him?


    ¡°I assume you have some upgrades to manage it?¡± he asked. ¡°Unless you¡¯re level thirty-five already.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I wish. No, it took two point upgrades to barely cast it.¡± Was it even okay to tell him what plane I was on? Well, I had the feeling I could tell Zenfer. But I would have to think about it with others. I didn¡¯t mind sharing information with the Power Brigade, but they hadn¡¯t been hiding information about how my abilities worked from me. Or they were extremely good at pretending otherwise, but it seemed like it would be a lot of expense going into having me develop my powers with them if they already knew everything. And they would have had to be really good at faking surprised and confusion at random abilities, because half of the things they seemed confused about weren¡¯t even that hard.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll reach that level eventually,¡± Zenfer shrugged. ¡°Just keep studying.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°I have Curse of the Barbarian.¡±


    ¡°And you became a mage?¡± he raised an eyebrow. ¡°Fascinating.¡±


    ¡°It was before I could read¡­ though knowing what I do now, I wouldn¡¯t make a different choice.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good to keep to your convictions,¡± the old man said. ¡°Now, we were talking about Uvithar. I knew him back in the day. And I know he was too clever to die easily. That rubble that was his tower might have been bombarded with magic, but it¡¯s unlikely he was in there at the time.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah,¡± I said. ¡°There weren¡¯t any remains of books. Or anything else but furniture, really. Also some of the damage was caused by the people who took over this town. For fun, maybe?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Zenfer said. ¡°But you never really know with such things. I¡¯d keep your eyes and ears open. You never know what you might find. You already said that other world and ours are connected, right?¡±


    ¡°It does seem rather unlikely they could develop the technology for a portal like that all on their own, or in secret.¡± Unless they had a tech super, but Calculator had fed me some additional profiles of their members and we didn¡¯t know of anyone like that. Which didn¡¯t necessarily mean anything.


    ¡°Develop the tec what?¡± Zenfer looked actually confused.


    ¡°Basically ever more complex machines. Things a lot more useful than wagons and drawbridges.¡± Ugh, I didn¡¯t even know how much I could say about that. Not that I could give anyone the secrets to anything anyway. I could hand over a whole smartphone and it would just be a confusing mess of wires and weird plastic to people. And by weird plastic I meant¡­ any plastic.


    ¡°Like those weapons they had?¡± Zenfer asked. ¡°I heard the occupying people had loud weapons.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, guns. They use explosions to propel little bits of metal,¡± I said. Were there guns in this world? On Earth they¡¯d been around for a long time in various forms, apparently pretty early. Though perhaps they were less interesting here when you could just be a mage.


    ¡°Seems dangerous,¡± Zenfer said.


    ¡°That¡¯s the point of weapons,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Anyway, if you ever get in contact with Master Uvithar, let me know alright? Or at least let him know that I¡¯m looking.¡±


    ¡°Certainly,¡± Zenfer said. ¡°If he pops up I will pass on your words.¡±


    The old mage and I chatted a little bit more, Midnight mostly listening. At least now we didn¡¯t have to come to this world to share a quick bit of information with them. I still wanted to get someone that wasn¡¯t me to stay here long term doing the diplomacy thing though.

 Chapter 192

    Metal gauntlets narrowly passed over my head as I ducked the blow. One would think that fifty pounds of metal might slow down a person, but if so it didn¡¯t seem to be by much. I was only at the advantage of a slightly better range of motion, though I also took advantage of the ability to strike my opponent upside the head, ringing his head through the helmet. As long as I struck with the correct part of my body I wouldn¡¯t break something.


    A knee impacted my ribs, but was not quite able to break through Force Armor. Even if it had, it would have been somewhat blunted by my outfit, despite it being thin cloth. I tried to grab and twist an arm, but ultimately only one of the two of us was a specialized melee combatant.


    Sir Kalman stood victorious once more. ¡°You alright?¡± He asked.


    I stood up and nodded. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± This time we had moved out of the public eye. While it might be perfectly normal in orcish society- or at least old orcish society- spontaneously fighting people wasn¡¯t valued even though most people would get experience from it. The exceptions were those with Aspect of the Sage or the like, but most people didn¡¯t have any Aspect and just gained experience normally.


    ¡°I heard you met with Zenfer yesterday,¡± Kalman said. ¡°A fine old fellow, though someone¡­ mysterious.¡±


    ¡°Really? He didn¡¯t seem that way to me,¡± I replied.


    Sir Kalman shrugged, ¡°Perhaps as a fellow mage you can make more sense of him. Either way, it is good that the capital is taking this matter seriously. Now then, I have something for you,¡± he said.


    I watched as he pulled out a modest chest, which upon opening revealed a number of small compartments. Each had something in it- a random shirt, a shoe, a trinket, or a lock of hair. There were also notes explaining who each thing belonged to.


    Looking at Kalman, I could see bags under his eyes. I also noticed that the horse nearby was a different one from what I had previously seen. He must have been riding around the local area all day yesterday¡­ and possibly the nights on either end as well.


    ¡°Great, I can begin scrying with these.¡± He looked at me with anticipation, but I shook my head. ¡°Not instantly, of course. We don¡¯t have a proper scrying surface here, and the people are supposed to be on Earth. So it will be easier to do from there.¡±


    The man grimaced. ¡°I don¡¯t like waiting around doing nothing. How long will it take?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s about an hour and a half of regeneration for each casting, however. Then we have to learn details on how to find these people. There¡¯s what, a couple dozen individuals? It would probably be two days of work before we could check up on all of them.¡± I looked to Midnight, ¡°Though I guess you could help with that. You should be just as effective at Scrying as I am,¡± I pointed out.


    Midnight nodded. ¡°Being as quick as we could would be better,¡± he said. ¡°Sir Kalman, are there more missing that you have no tokens of?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°This is every individual we have heard of. Perhaps we shall stumble upon a few more as the word spreads, but this should hopefully be everyone.¡± He paced back and forth. ¡°Can you return and get started immediately?¡±


    ¡°We can,¡± I nodded. With Midnight and I sharing the burden, we could Gate three times- though that would be our limit. A second time wouldn¡¯t leave us with a huge amount of mana left, but we could at least get started. And since each of us recovered mana independently, we could do a bit more.


    ¡°I wish I could be there to help¡­¡± Kalman frowned.


    I didn¡¯t know if he would be of any help though. Paladins weren¡¯t the sort that could simply track people down, especially not in a strange world. Still¡­ ¡°Will Mossley be okay without you? You could come with us and we could report to your lieutenant or whatever.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ really?¡± he tilted his head. ¡°To another world, just like that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how Gate works,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Bringing more or fewer people really doesn¡¯t make a difference. Have you traveled to another plane before?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t,¡± Kalman said.


    Ah, wouldn¡¯t this awaken natural upgrades? Well, that wasn¡¯t my problem. And he could do so much more diplomacy on Earth. And I would have to do less! A perfect option. I was fairly certain I even had permission to bring someone. At least sixty percent.


    Midnight just gave me a look, and I shrugged. He just rolled his eyes in return.


    ¡°Is traveling to another world particularly¡­ unpleasant?¡± Kalman asked.


    I shook my head. ¡°Not with Gate. It¡¯s just walking through a door to somewhere else. So we can go whenever you are ready. Though Midnight and I won¡¯t be able to send you back until at least tomorrow, maybe later. Not without using up some mana that could be going towards Scrying.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I wouldn¡¯t dream of occupying your efforts for that. In fact, until this situation is resolved perhaps it would be best if we didn¡¯t need you going back and forth each day anyway.¡± He paced back and forth. ¡°Give me some time to prepare.¡±


    If he took more than an hour Midnight¡¯s mana would be full which would be kind of a waste, but between the two of us we might still be able to complete the necessary Scrying by the end of the day. A long day, perhaps, but that was the way things tended to work out.


    Kalan scurried around talking to people. There were many other knights around so the town should be safe without him, but it still took a bit of time to inform all of the right people of his absence.


    When he finally returned to us, he was carrying a heavy pack strapped to his back.


    ¡°I am ready,¡± he said.


    ¡°What¡¯s all that?¡± I gestured to the pack.


    ¡°Travel supplies, of course. I have camping supplies, rations, and other essential needs. And of course the chest of connected items.¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°... Alright, if you want to bring that extra stuff.¡± I didn¡¯t feel like explaining that it would all be completely unnecessary. But having him carry the chest was easier, since I wanted to be able to keep my staff in hand.


    I probably should have spent the mana for a Sending to inform people we were coming back with an official envoy¡­ but there were better things for us to do with that mana when we got back so I didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Make sure you¡¯re ready,¡± I said as we moved to the official Gate room. Which was basically just a closet. ¡°It¡¯s only a few steps through, but we can¡¯t hold open the Gate for more than half a minute. So don¡¯t hesitate too long.¡±


    ¡°I will not hesitate,¡± Sir Kalman said with his back straight.


    ¡°Alright. Good. Midnight?¡±


    ¡°Standard split, obviously,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± I said. Perhaps that would change someday, if his mana pool grew more quickly than mine. But at the moment this was better for maximizing the amount of Gates we could cast in a short time period.


    It was a familiar path back and forth, and we even had a natural upgrade to Gate. Probably from the abnormally large amount of extraplanar travel, and of course our hard work being able to leave the old plane to begin with.


    The Gate opened up to Extra, Midnight and I walking through first and Kalman striding confidently after us.


    The paladin then looked around with wide eyes. ¡°Such a strange location. Is this some sort of¡­ holy shrine?¡± He looked at the pristine walls of the little alcove we were in with great interest.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s just a portal room.¡±


    As we began to make our way out of the area, another portal opened up in an alcove we were passing. It smelled of fire and brimstone, and out stepped a woman with red skin and curved horns.


    Sir Kalman¡¯s sword was on his back- fortunately nestled between himself and his overlarge pack. So when he reached up for it he wasn¡¯t immediately able to draw his sword. ¡°Halt, fiend!¡± he shouted.


    I was glad we hadn¡¯t cast Translation yet.


    I smacked him on the back of the head, and he spun around to face me. ¡°Bad paladin,¡± I chastised. ¡°Remember you are in another world. It isn¡¯t your job to enforce the laws here. And not everyone who looks a certain way will conform to the standards you expect.¡±


    ¡°My apologies,¡± he bowed his head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t apologize to me,¡± I gestured.


    He turned, pulling his hand away from his sword, bowing properly.


    ¡°Friend of yours?¡± the demonic looking woman asked.


    ¡°This is Sir Kalman,¡± I said. ¡°He won¡¯t bother you, Georgina. This is just his first time here.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± she said waving awkwardly as she walked past us.


    I knew Georgina from this very portal room. Having gone back and forth for several days, I recognized a few people I had seen coming and going.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to cast Translation on you now,¡± I said to Sir Kalman. ¡°But I need you to promise to follow my lead. If we need to fight someone, I¡¯ll tell you.¡±


    His fist hit his breastplate as he stood straight. ¡°Understood. I am at your command. Though don¡¯t expect me to stand around if I see someone getting attacked.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to do that either, but you need to trust my judgment on which side to join.¡±


    I cast Translation, and we began to make our way out. Sir Kalman looked with interest, not at anything in particular but at a stairwell. ¡°I feel a holy presence approaching.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably¡­¡±


    Malaliel showed up, striding purposefully towards us. Sir Kalman immediately threw himself to one knee. ¡°Milady angel, it is an honor to be in your presence.¡±


    Malaliel looked at me, and I looked back at her. ¡°Sir Kalman is a representative from my world,¡± I said.


    She nodded, looking back towards him. ¡°Rise, Sir Kalman.¡± He stood as instructed. ¡°I must ask you something.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± he nodded seriously.


    ¡°Do you intend anyone in this world harm?¡±


    ¡°Of course not!¡± he declared. Then he frowned. ¡°Unless you count the individuals responsible for the capture of my people.¡±


    ¡°Good enough,¡± she said. ¡°I will tell you that it is likely you will find none of them nearby. And I will need to ask some more questions.¡±


    ¡°The two of us need to be back at Brigade HQ within the hour,¡± I said. ¡°To begin Scrying people.¡±


    ¡°With you vouching for him, it will not take that long,¡± Malaliel assured me.


    He was bombarded with questions similar to what I remembered, and at some point during the process Basant showed up with some temporary visa papers for Sir Kalman. I didn¡¯t even notice anyone ask for them. Then again, more than a few people had been paying attention to our particular odd cluster as we had made our way to Malaliel¡¯s office.


    -----


    ¡°... What sort of place is this, with such vast towers blotting out the sky?¡± Sir Kalman stared in wonder as we stepped outside.


    ¡°Oh, yeah. Welcome to New Bay,¡± I gestured. ¡°Super metropolis and all that. Oh, there¡¯s our ride,¡± I said as a car pulled up. It wasn¡¯t a terribly long walk to the Brigade, but with Kalman carrying the heavy pack and the sword it was just easier to get a car.


    To the driver¡¯s credit, he didn¡¯t even blink as someone in a Power Brigade outfit, a knight in full plate armor, and a cat climbed into the back. Then again, the first thing was probably the least odd thing from his perspective, as he worked for a company contracted for the Brigade.


    Fitting Sir Kalman¡¯s pack and sword in with us took a bit of maneuvering, but my staff just went into Storage. And then we were off, while I tried to explain everything that Sir Kalman was staring at to him.


    ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Stoplight. And that¡¯s a shipping truck.¡±


    He was going to have to get used to seeing new things.


    We passed through security at the Brigade. The scanners were much more complex than metal detectors, which wouldn¡¯t be that useful for him in particular. With me vouching for him the main thing they were looking for was any sort of outside influence. Like stuff from Doctor Doomsday, though I didn¡¯t think either of us should be bugged by him.


    ¡°This is an elevator,¡± I explained the concept to him, which was straightforward enough.


    Then we entered the Scrying room, where Calculator was waiting.


    ¡°And this is the diamond scrying orb. Well, obviously it¡¯s not actually an orb,¡± I gestured to the cube. ¡°But the woman who made it was an eccentric.¡±


    ¡°... Did you say diamond?¡± he looked at the massive cube.


    ¡°Yeah don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s artificial.¡± Probably still worth an insane amount of money, but that value might be more easily achieved by using it for its proper purpose. Finding one person at a time. ¡°I¡¯ll go first,¡± I said to Midnight. The cost of Scrying was low enough it was just easier for us to use it individually, in alternation.


    We pulled out a leather cap and the description of someone. A female wood elf, dark barky brown skin with somewhat lighter brown hair. Young. And apparently, this was her favorite hat.


    I drew upon that connection, power swirling within me and then the scrying orb. And then, something yanked me off course and I was looking at basically nothing. Except for¡­ a scrying anchor.


    ¡°Dammit, does everyone have those now?!¡± I grumbled. Well, that was what my practice for wrestling out of their grasp was for. I shifted and twisted, and then the face of a woman began to form, in high contrast with one side in bright light and the other in shadow.

 Chapter 193

    The scrying anchor had been somewhat confusing and not very effective. And now we were looking at a place with terrible lighting. Even I was having a little trouble seeing with bright lights on one side messing with my darkvision. We did find who we were looking for, though, as the wood elf I¡¯d been attempting to Scry was front and center.


    What did they call a place like this again? Some sort of club. I think it was one of those ironic naming things like¡­ gentlemen¡¯s club, given that there wouldn¡¯t be any gentlemen present.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Some sort of brothel?¡± That was another word that sometimes fit. ¡°Where is it?¡±


    ¡°We will find out soon,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Mage, if you could rotate the view to complete our available angles to discover details.¡±


    I did, of course. Unfortunately even with the fantastic scrying orb the distance of vision only reached thirteen feet from the target, so we couldn¡¯t see much more than the shape of the stage.


    ¡°You will find this place?¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°And then we will destroy it?¡±


    ¡°Not quite,¡± Calculator said. ¡°First of all, this is probably halfway around the globe so it will most likely be someone else involved in the operation. And they won¡¯t be acting immediately.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Sir Kalman asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple. Because there won¡¯t be just one place where people are being held, and they will have connections through which they could warn each other once we act. For the moment, they shouldn¡¯t realize that we can find these people.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe not that we have found them, but there was a scrying anchor.¡±


    ¡°... Dammit. Does Doctor Doomsday have his hands in things all the way over there¡­? No, more likely these were simply black market sales to fund his exploits. And a scrying anchor could be a counter for any mage from your world.¡±


    ¡°Probably,¡± I said. ¡°Because if it was Doctor Doomsday running things, the scrying anchor would have been more effective.¡±


    Midnight and I traded off operation of the Scrying, during which time Kalman became increasingly more agitated. And I couldn¡¯t blame him. I wasn¡¯t a fan of seeing people being mistreated either. But that was why we were finding every detail we could. Some places were more identifiable like the club, but others were in stark rooms and still others locked in cages.


    Our mana ran out soon enough, and Midnight and I sat exhausted. We had perhaps gone through a quarter of the list.


    ¡°... What do we do now?¡± Sir Kalman asked.


    I pondered. Even if I were to make use of mana crystals, I could at most get one or two Scrying attempts before I started to cause myself harm. ¡°We just have to wait,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m going to go meditate on the roof.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll come with you,¡± Midnight declared. I looked at him with surprise. ¡°... We need to work as hard as we can for these people. I have to.¡±


    Kalman looked between the two of us, but decided not to say anything. ¡°I can¡¯t really do much,¡± he said. ¡°I am only useful in person. I could help, if only I could get to any of them¡­¡±


    ¡°Calculator¡¯s working on that,¡± I said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come with us? I have an idea.¡±


    We took the elevator to the roof, a usual process for me but exactly the second time Kalman had been involved with one. And seeing how high we were, he was astounded. ¡°I knew these buildings were tall. I didn¡¯t think it would be possible to surmount them so quickly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what happens if you go straight up and down,¡± I said.


    ¡°It is like a giant propelling a pulley system, right?¡± Sir Kalman said.


    ¡°Well, without an actual giant,¡± I said. ¡°Just something with that much strength.¡± The motors were much more consistent than an actual giant could be.


    ¡°I see. Ah-¡± he turned, spotting the other occupant of the roof, standing over by the edge. ¡°I hope I¡¯m not disturbing-¡±


    ¡°He probably can¡¯t hear you,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s Mono.¡± He was taking shots at something. Probably some idiots fleeing down a main street again. Mono would be suppressing the sound of his weapon- and likely the sound to his own ears to ignore distractions. But a few moments later he lowered his rifle and turned to us.


    ¡°Turlough,¡± he nodded. ¡°And Midnight. What a surprise.¡± Then he turned to Sir Kalman, ¡°I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve met. I¡¯m Mono. I¡¯m going to go out on a limb and guess¡­ Knight?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not a new member of the brigade,¡± I explained the situation. ¡°Anyway this is Mono. Because he can control sound.¡±


    ¡°Is it not¡­?¡± Sir Kalman looked at his eye.


    ¡°Also because I have one eye,¡± Mono shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve had worse reactions from people of this world who should be used to it. Anyway, I assume you¡¯re here to meditate so I¡¯ll let you get to it.¡±


    ¡°We are,¡± I said. ¡°And Kalman¡¯s here to help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure how, but I¡¯ll do my best,¡± he placed a hand on his chest. ¡°My powers can remove physical fatigue, but they are unable to restore mana. Nor transfer it.¡±


    ¡°He probably wants to fight you,¡± Mono said.


    ¡°Wow, how¡¯d you guess?¡± I looked at Mono with surprise.


    ¡°We worked together so I looked at your profile. And you might have said that fighting could potentially increase your man regeneration.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not completely sure, to be honest,¡± I said. ¡°Battles aren¡¯t usually protracted enough to calculate for certain.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well that I can certainly do,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°I can recover both injuries and fatigue with my own mana.¡±


    ¡°In the worst case,¡± I said. ¡°We get experience. Which will help.¡± Kalman and I needed to punch something since we couldn¡¯t reach those responsible at the moment, so each other was the next next option.


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    We alternated between intentional meditation to draw in as much of the ambient mana as possible and sparring. Even with my fatigue being recovered, I knew I was going to end up exhausted.


    Recovering from empty to full took most of the day- about six hours- which wasn¡¯t significantly off from projections. Midnight had already gone down earlier as his maximum mana was lower, enough to use Scrying twice at once but not quite enough for three.


    Some of the Scrying took us back to adjacent holding areas, where we¡¯d managed to spot people that might have been on the list. But we had to confirm it. At least none of them resisted- or not successfully, anyway. I felt the semi-conscious resistance of a couple, but they seemed mentally fatigued before I arrived. Which was quite understandable.


    I saw a few people in what Calculator determined to be underground fighting rings, where they likely had to use their class abilities. I could only hope some of them had Curse of the Barbarian so they could get better returns on the horrible situation.


    ¡°You can go home for the day,¡± Calculator said. ¡°You look exhausted.¡±


    Midnight and I just shared a look, and I shook my head. ¡°We¡¯ll stay here. Set alarms to wake us up every couple hours.¡±


    Calculator smiled. ¡°Good to see some dedication. We might even be able to finish by morning.¡±


    Depends on what you counted as morning, I supposed.


    -----


    While Calculator simply looked as if he¡¯d been watching me work while he browsed on his tablet all night, I knew that his power had been active most of the time I was working. Indeed, he might have been working harder than Midnight and myself together, and he wasn¡¯t even connected to the captives. They were all from my world, and I recognized the couple actually from Mossley. Nobody that I was close with¡­ but I still wasn¡¯t going to leave them high and dry.


    All of us had heavy bags under our eyes in the morning, including Kalman whose main contribution had been worrying.


    I looked to Calculator. ¡°Did we get enough?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it would be possible to get more, without prescient timing,¡± he shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve confirmed a number of locations.¡±


    ¡°But¡­?¡±


    ¡°Some of the locations are too generic. There¡¯s only so much I can do to match individual bricks to their manufacturers and wear to determine what days they were produced and likely sold.¡±


    ¡°... Did you do that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sometimes that was all I had,¡± he said. ¡°Unfortunately, it¡¯s not sufficient to find everything. I¡¯m not a locator. We¡¯ll need one to be there.¡±


    ¡°Is that different from a tracker?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Significantly,¡± he said.


    ¡°Do we have any of those?¡±


    ¡°A couple,¡± He looked at me. ¡°Do you know Locate Creature?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ do not,¡± I said. I looked at my status screen. ¡°But I could.¡±


    Sometimes between the battle with the Grey Gunners and the initial fighting with Kalman I had leveled up. I was a little bit over the threshold for level 32 after all of that.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 32


    Experience: 2648/2805


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +5 (4|1)


    Firebolt +4 (3|1)


    Shocking Grasp +5 (3|2)


    Grease +3 (2|1)


    Force Armor +7 (6|1)


    Mage''s Reach +4 (2|2)


    Translation +2 (1|1)


    Alter Time Flow +5 (4|1)


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +7 (4|3)


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +3 (2|1)


    Sonic Lance +4 (3|1)


    Scrying +1 (1|2)


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +3 (2|1)


    Mana Crystal Deposition +4 (1|3)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +2


    Basic Light Magic +2 (1|1)


    Locate Object +2


    Alter Portal +1 (0|1)


    Gate +3 (2|1)


    Arcane Sight +1 (0|1)


    Sending +2 (0|2)


    Chain Lightning +2 (1|1)


    Clean +1 (0|1)


    Shelter +1 (0|1)


    Assistive Familiar Casting +2 (0|2)


    Remaining Points: 32


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°How far does that function?¡± Calculator asked. ¡°Is it limited to a specific range?¡± He held up another TRPG website.


    I looked at the description. ¡°Oh, no. It¡¯s not strictly like this. The same with objects.¡± I¡¯d used Locate Object to help find Jerome based on what he was wearing, after he¡¯d gone through the portal. ¡°It¡¯s pretty vague at longer distances though. I¡¯m not really a great diviner, either.¡±


    Kalman interrupted, ¡°You say that, but I do not believe even the great Zentha Qitris has such a potent¡­ scrying orb.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make me better, though,¡± I pointed out. ¡°It means that a crazy old lady made it to see what would happen. On that note, do you think it would be possible to get the services of Zentha?¡± I remembered that she told Izzy exactly what portal to go through to find me. And when. It seemed like a big deal.


    ¡°She is currently¡­ away,¡± Kalman said.


    ¡°She¡¯s missing too?¡± I raised an eyebrow. ¡°Why are all the mages I¡¯ve heard about missing?¡±


    ¡°Not missing,¡± Kalman said. ¡°Not exactly. She told her staff she would return at a specific time. It¡¯s just that nobody can get them to say when that will be.¡±


    ¡°... We really need to look into this after,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, well,¡± Calculator got our attention back. ¡°Until then, you are the best option we have. Because while Yew-Kay likely has locators of their own, they could always use another. And I¡¯d prefer to have another trusted representative there. Along with that, you have more leeway for such an endeavor given that the sought after individuals are from your world.¡± He turned his gaze to Sir Kalman. ¡°And you could act as well, under the extradimensional retrieval doctrine.¡±


    ¡°The what now?¡±


    ¡°The details aren¡¯t important,¡± Calculator said. ¡°The point is that you wouldn¡¯t have the same sort of restrictions on using your abilities as apply to you elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Then what are we waiting for?¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°We should make haste!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re waiting for our driver,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Speaking of which, we should make our way to the garage. I suppose I should ask, Mage, if you have any urgent business to deal with here.¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± I said. ¡°I guess I should let people know I¡¯ll be gone.¡± I just got back, but such was the life of a super mercenary. Though to be honest most of it had been pretty easygoing, except for those times I almost died.


    ¡°Good. You can sleep on the plane.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that¡¯s difficult,¡± I said. ¡°Also, can Sir Kalman get through security in¡­ that?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Since the security check just involves verifying our identities. Do you think they expect supers to travel without weapons?¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± I said. ¡°Potentially related, do you think we can stop by the armory for some ammo?¡±


    ¡°A good plan. Also, how bulletproof is your armor?¡± he asked Kalman.


    He frowned, ¡°I haven¡¯t fought a bulette personally,¡± he said. ¡°But it is magically enchanted.¡±


    ¡°It would be good if we could do some tests,¡± Calculator said. ¡°To make certain that your armor won¡¯t just be an impediment.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s some really powerful magic items here,¡± I said when Sir Kalman looked offended. ¡°Though they might damage your armor.¡±


    ¡°That is not a problem. It is self-repairing.¡±


    ¡°... No wonder it always looks shiny,¡± I said.

 Chapter 194

    The loud sound of a gunshot rang out. Sir Kalman staggered back half a step. And that was the end of that. Maybe there was a small dent? If so, it faded away fairly quickly.


    ¡°I¡¯d say that¡¯s sufficiently bullet resistant,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Now we should get back on track. The sooner we get there, the sooner people can act.¡±


    It had only been a shot from a pistol, but that sort of thing was enough to shatter my Force Armor spell. Obviously a bit of low level magic wasn¡¯t going to be as strong as properly enchanted steel, but it was surprising how much difference there was. Then again, the more important layer of defense was my outfit which could stop a few shots as well. Just not so effortlessly.


    It had just been a test to make sure Sir Kalman would be at least somewhat protected, given how annoying it would be to lose our otherworld diplomat. I certainly didn¡¯t want to have to explain that, and besides I liked this guy. There was always the chance that he would still die- battles with supers and those who worked with them weren¡¯t exactly save- but it was just as likely that both of us or just myself would die, cutting off all access to my former world and making everything pointless. And I wouldn¡¯t be around to have to deal with it, so bringing Sir Kalman along was fine.


    Calculator shuffled us along quickly to a car that brought us to the airport. I¡¯d heard about planes and how annoying it was to actually get aboard them, but we drove directly onto the airfield with only a brief stop by someone with a scanning power. Perks of working for a fancy mercenary organization, most likely. Then we got directly onto a fancy jet, walking directly up some stairs.


    Aside from the pilot, there was exactly one other person there. Calculator introduce the man, dressed in plain clothes. ¡°This is Zakaria Beridze, from Extra. It is his job to help with verification of world resonance and confirmation of extraction as we find individuals from your world.¡±


    ¡°A pleasure to meet you,¡± Zakaria extended his hand. ¡°I¡¯m not much use as a combatant, but I can at least help smooth the process. Especially if identities can¡¯t be verified easily.¡±


    Sir Kalman and I shook his hand in turn. I didn¡¯t really know what to say, so I went with vague greetings. Midnight extended his paw as well, and Zakaria didn¡¯t hesitate for a moment to reach out and shake it.


    Not long later, we were preparing for takeoff¡­ and I was about to fall asleep in the wide chairs. The only thing that kept me from passing out was the desire to actually see what achieving flight was like, and the creaking of Sir Kalman¡¯s armor as he nervously shifted in his seat.


    It was a strange feeling, becoming heavier then almost feeling weightless for a moment before finally returning to the realm of normalcy. It was strange, looking down on New Bay from above. It looked so small, and I supposed compared to the size of the world it was small. But its towering buildings and density made it seem far vaster than it really was¡­ and compared to any city from my world, it certainly had more to it, given it was a conglomeration of continuous cities that had merged together to better resist the troubles of the increasing supernatural occurrences in the area.


    I looked over at Sir Kalman, who was frozen in place instead of jiggling his leg or drumming on his knee like he had been. ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°... People were not meant to fly.¡±


    ¡°Of course we were,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s why there¡¯s a spell for it.¡±


    ¡°How does such a large metal thing stay in the air?¡±


    ¡°Mostly by going very fast, and pushing itself along,¡± I said. There was also some stuff with lift and whatnot, but that hardly mattered. It was all about being tossed into the air really fast. I looked over at Midnight, who had his own chair. The seatbelts were varied enough that smaller folk like martians could have put them on, but they weren¡¯t made for someone like him. Still, the handful of seats on the private jet were large enough he could curl up in the middle of one without any worries.


    Midnight did look out the window for a bit, seemingly bored. ¡°This would be so much faster if we were teleporting.¡±


    That was true. But unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have the ability to accomplish that. To my understanding, there wasn¡¯t a long range teleporter in the Power Brigade either. In theory we could take two Gates which would technically only take a couple minutes but would expend four hours worth of mana that we didn¡¯t have. Or we could spend somewhat longer and arrive rested. And bring along this guy without going through another dimension or Mars. It seemed that extradimensional travel was preferred only if it was the only option.


    Mana and rest were the most important things here though. Midnight would be back at full before we arrived in seven or eight hours, and we could actually get some sleep. We¡¯d been Scrying people all day and night, and were back into the daytime now. We would be arriving sometime in the early morning, given the time difference.


    Best to sleep. Though first we needed to help Sir Kalman relax. Fortunately, each seat came with its own set of headphones, and while I didn¡¯t even want to try to convince him to take off his armor, he would at least remove his helmet. It took a while to find music he found pleasing, but with the window next to him closed he could forget where we were and relax.


    It was kind of funny, actually, because I had the feeling the guy would be more relaxed if he were in hell or under attack by monsters. Yet here we were, perfectly safe in the air.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    -----


    After I got some sleep, I felt better. But despite the technical comfort of the seats and their ability to recline exactly as much as desired, they still weren¡¯t an optimal location for rest. I got maybe five or six hours.


    Seeing that I was awake, Calculator came over to me.


    ¡°... Do you sleep?¡± I asked quietly.


    ¡°Enough,¡± he said, turning the seat in front of me to face a small shared table. ¡°Since you are awake we can begin with relevant briefings. We will be working directly with the Crown Forces and Roscolm Subdual. The first to verify everything is on the up-and-up, as well as to manage political fallout¡­ the second to help deal with the involvement of non-supers. They have specialists for taking out mundane folk who don¡¯t directly fight.¡±


    I could do that too. I just didn¡¯t have the spells for it. ¡°Like who?¡±


    ¡°Like rich idiots who got involved with criminal activities,¡± Calculator explained. ¡°It¡¯s much harder to get anything from charred corpses.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t go around frying people.¡± I could knock someone out with Shocking Grasp by controlling the amount of power it had. Though I suppose they sometimes got a little charred.


    ¡°It¡¯s still preferable to have specialists. And locals,¡± Calculator reminded me. ¡°Since as you might have noticed our combat forces are somewhat limited here.¡±


    Well, we had me, Midnight, Sir Kalman¡­ and Calculator. Which was admittedly kind of limited if we were going to be doing much. Not really good for raiding a mercenary base- if that was what we even ended up doing.


    -----


    As we came in for our descent, I saw Yew-Kay for the first time in person. There were two larger land masses connected by a single land bridge. Sir Kalman watched as well, though I could tell it took more effort.


    Calculator explained things to us as we approached. ¡°For most of history there has been a complicated relationship between the neighboring countries inhabiting this area. Great Britain came about from the larger island merging into a single country, and then expanding their reach towards nearby Ireland. Northern Ireland joined them, creating the United Kingdom. But the majority of Ireland was still its own independent country until things got shaken up by the arrival of supers. And one super in particular.¡±


    ¡°Who was that?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°The supervillainess Volcanus. One of the most powerful supers the world has seen to this day, she created a very large chain of volcanic lairs in a string between the two main landmasses. And then¡­ she died. Probably. Either way, they all exploded at once, both rising up and leveling out. With the sudden addition of a landbridge from the center of Ireland¡¯s east coast into Wales, the dynamics changed rapidly. In large part because of the disasters resulting from that very same incident. The name came about from people fooling about regarding extending the UK, and somehow this happened. There was a vote for the official name and¡­ somehow this one slipped into the list. I¡¯m fairly certain everyone involved blames the other guy, and perhaps it only came about because more people thought everyone else would vote for something sensible. But ultimately, it is what it is. And nobody can agree on anything for long enough to change it to something else.¡±


    ¡°What an odd story,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Why was it decided by a vote instead of the monarch?¡±


    ¡°Because that¡¯s how most countries work now,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Besides, they couldn¡¯t really agree on rulership at the time. Ultimately there was a ceremonial marriage of Irish leadership into the current Crown, and nobody¡¯s bothered to think about it too much.¡±


    -----


    When we arrived, we were met by a black stretch limo. It had no official markings or anything, but I felt a bit of super tech involved with it. Out of the vehicle stepped a wrinkled old woman, who came forward to greet us. ¡°Calculator,¡± she said, extending her hand.


    ¡°Lady Recollection. Good to see you in person.¡± As soon as their hands touched, I could feel the woman¡¯s power activating. No, it was before that. But I had anticipated such a thing, as it was better for both ends to verify identities. Calculator introduced each of us, and we were inspected by Lady Recollection in turn.


    ¡°You say you work for the Crown?¡± Sir Kalman asked.


    ¡°Quite so, but that does not make us knights like yourself,¡± she smiled in turn. ¡°Even those of us who are knighted would be quite unrecognizable to you, I imagine.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°So I have heard. I have only seen a small amount of the strange powers of this world.¡± He looked around. ¡°You come unaccompanied?¡±


    ¡°Squad Ten is in the car,¡± she gestured. ¡°And if there was to be a fight here, might as well just sacrifice an old lady like myself.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean-¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she waved him off. ¡°I am aware of my own lack of combat prowess. Now then, let¡¯s get you in contact with the others.¡±


    We filed our way into the limo, where we found one fellow in military garb waiting for us. ¡°... Where¡¯s the rest of the squad?¡± Sir Kalman asked.


    The guy just chuckled and pointed to his chest.


    ¡°I¡¯d bet he¡¯s a splitter,¡± I explained. ¡°He should be able to make copies of himself.¡±


    ¡°Not too hard to figure out,¡± Squad Ten said.


    ¡°Yeah. But the question is¡­ do you change your name often?¡±


    Squad Ten raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Well, if you train and are able to make another copy of yourself¡­ do you become Squad Eleven?¡±


    He just shrugged. Not very talkative. Or perhaps¡­ smarter than he looked. Because if I was a splitter I wouldn¡¯t want everyone to know what my maximum number was. I didn¡¯t know the details of how Squad Ten¡¯s particular powers worked, but given his setup I assumed it wasn¡¯t terribly far from Swarm¡¯s in that it would replicate equipment. The most important factor was whether injuries were shared or not. From what I could tell, that was the defining detail that separated strong splitters from the weak- if injuries were shared between clones or even just a portion as they merged with the main body, a splitter was much more fragile.


    We drove through the darkness of pre-dawn, presumably to go meet up with the promised other supers. Presumably some people good at fighting, and some good at not killing people. Those capabilities could overlap, but that wasn¡¯t always the case.

 Chapter 195

    The limousine took us away from the airport towards¡­ well, not much. I hadn¡¯t seen so few buildings since I went with Shockwave to train with Hammerfist.


    ¡°Seems pretty rural,¡± I commented.


    ¡°Ha! I suppose you might say that, coming from New Bay,¡± Lady Recollection replied. ¡°I know you¡¯re from somewhere even more rural than this, surely you didn¡¯t think everywhere on Earth was the same?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t really think about it,¡± I admitted.


    Midnight also contributed his thoughts, ¡°New Bay seemed about normal for me. Except built for humanoids.¡±


    ¡°I personally have no expectations,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Having only been whisked back and forth throughout this world.¡±


    ¡°Regardless,¡± the wrinkled Lady Recollection said. ¡°It¡¯s not exactly a small town, though the lack of people out on the streets at this time might make it appear so. Petalton happens to be located somewhat centrally to the areas in question. And it is near the location of the Grey Gunner¡¯s base that possessed the portal. The base in question has already been raided. They left no obvious trail to connect them to others, but that¡¯s where your abilities came in. Scrying, I believe it was called?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s just normal magic,¡± I said.


    Zakaria shook his head, his response reminding me that the man from Extra was still present. ¡°Portal powers aren¡¯t exactly considered normal here. Excuse me, do you mind that terminology? What would you normally call it?¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ normal.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I guess class abilities as a whole. But portal powers is a fine name, even though the origin of the powers was kind of the opposite for me.¡±


    The man nodded, making a mental note. ¡°Some people don¡¯t like the name.¡±


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Lady Recollection brought us back on track. ¡°Petalton is the closest place where the Crown Forces have any facilities, and Roscolm Subdual is the closest group with a good reputation that wouldn¡¯t arouse further suspicion. We can gather here and make our plans, hopefully without tipping anyone off to our knowledge.¡±


    -----


    We arrived at a building equipped vaguely like a police station, or at least it reminded me of the ones in New Bay. There, we were gradually introduced to the main individuals involved.


    Along with Squad Ten, who had remained silent during our ride, there were two more from the Crown Forces.


    First was Current, a woman with a weird eye. I couldn¡¯t help but notice it since its iris had a clear hexagonal pattern. They had already been briefed on the few of us, so she explained her role. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to deal with security systems and the like. I can even knock out the power if we need to, leaving people in the dark.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that one sounds good,¡± I said. ¡°We should do that.¡±


    She looked at me. ¡°Are those nightvision goggles?¡±


    I looked down at the pocket she was indicating. ¡°Oh, no. These are mass detection goggles. Some tech super thought they would be more practical than they are. It¡¯s usually just extraneous information.¡± I paused for a moment. ¡°I can just see in the dark.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Useful.¡±


    ¡°Me too,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°I must say I unfortunately have the eyes of a surface dwarf,¡± Sir Kalman added. ¡°So I am not as well adjusted to the darkness.¡±


    Current shrugged. ¡°Well, we can probably find you some night vision equivalent that would fit under or perhaps over your helmet. Not quite perfectly, but it¡¯s a good option to have.¡±


    The other member of the Crown Forces we had all been struggling to ignore. But when he spoke it drew our attention, and his nearly glistening skin kept it. ¡°I¡¯m Lustre,¡± he said, extending his hand. I shook it, and found his skin was weirdly smooth. Almost uncomfortably so. I didn¡¯t care much about the smooth skin or perfect hair, but it was difficult not to be envious of his jawline. ¡°And yes, that is my power. Except the hair,¡± he smiled, his teeth glinting.


    ¡°Are you involved in negotiations or¡­?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m actually part of the combat corps. I know, it doesn¡¯t even look like I¡¯ve gotten scratched or had my nose broken. Seems suspect, right?¡± He continued to grin. ¡°But that¡¯s what the Lustre is for. I draw attention¡­ and survive. And then I heal up to look like this.¡±


    ¡°Regeneration?¡± Sir Kalman asked. ¡°An impressive ability.¡±


    Lustre nodded, ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯ll excuse me if I don¡¯t demonstrate, because I still feel pain and I just changed my coat.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be joining yourselves and Squad Ten on the battlefield,¡± Lady Recollection clarified. ¡°Along with two members of Roscolm Subdual.¡± She gestured to the last two individuals.


    A man with craggy skin nodded, then blew a puff of wispy gray smoke into his hand. ¡°Agent Smoke. I can fill a room with an incapacitating cloud that has minimal side effects. Better than innocents being caught in a crossfire, at least.¡±


    The other was a woman with orange hair- except the tips which were speckled black and blue. I had the feeling it was impossible to dye her hair in that particular manner, and her skin had a little bit of the same coloration so it must be an aspect of her power, much like my own blue and yellow-tipped hair. ¡°Yo. I¡¯m Dart,¡± she said. She flicked her tongue out. And then it was right in front of my face, before it pulled back into her mouth. She held up her gloved hands. ¡°Best not to touch me, because while you¡¯ll probably survive it will be a lot more painful than Agent Smoke here. I apply precision incapacitation to high priority targets.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Lady Recollection brought things back to herself. ¡°And I will be involved in the process of determining if we have the right locations. I am able to put together a decent picture of the movement of people and the changes in a scene¡­ if I know a relevant location to look. I can¡¯t just go to any street corner and expect to gather meaningful information even if it is a high traffic area. As for the areas we have already identified¡­ I have verified some of them from the outside. As one would expect, all locations are private property.¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s an awkward time for all of you,¡± Calculator chimed in. ¡°But when can we be expected to begin? My associates and I got at least some rest on the way over.¡±


    ¡°Actually, we were thinking of adjusting to a nocturnal schedule for this operation,¡± Lady Recollection said. ¡°And given the timing of your flight, I think that matter is settled. So it might as well be now. Or rather, that is up to Mage, who will be required for narrowing down locations of individuals. And Familiar, if you are able to replicate that power?¡±


    ¡°We share all of the same spells,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯s just lower level with a smaller mana pool.¡±


    ¡°Then we shall make use of the two of you to ascertain the locations of our most uncertain targets,¡± Lady Recollection said.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± I said. Midnight concurred.


    -----


    We split up, obviously. There wasn¡¯t much point with both Midnight and I going to the same place. More specifically, what drew us apart was the initial draw from Locate Creature, which I had already spent the points for.


    Neither of our targets were within range, obviously. So we got more of a wide zone rather than a proper line to our targets. Calculator was able to work with that, however. He explained the methods for triangulation, and what sort of notes I should take so that he could put together the information later. I couldn¡¯t believe I was using an actual compass.


    We made our initial marks before splitting up, and I had something like a thirty degree cone to work with. I looked down at my compass and thought it would be easier if the compass just pointed to the target and I didn¡¯t have to measure against north. The compass twitched¡­ and I decided that experimentation would have to happen later. Especially since I couldn¡¯t be certain if that would be more accurate than the general area I was sensing.


    After our initial measurements, we sped off in cars at the maximum non-suspicious speeds possible. We only had ten minutes per casting, after all, and it was eight whole mana per cast. Basically an hour¡¯s worth of recovery or a little more. I could manage six, maybe seven without a longer period of rest if the ambient mana levels here were high enough.


    I sat in the back with Lady Recollection and Sir Kalman- who didn¡¯t want to be separated from someone familiar but promised to stay in the vehicle. ¡°It¡¯s not getting much more precise. I think it¡¯s going to lead us to a nearby town.¡±


    The first casting ran out before we could get much more useful information, but we picked out a section in the seedier part of town and tried again. We were closer, and my direction became more exact. The actual location had been off center of the perceived area, but that was usually going to be the case. If the exact line was always right down the middle of the extremes, it would only take a little calculation to get perfect results.


    The cone was closer to ten or fifteen degrees, and within five minutes we were close enough for me to just hold out my arm with a near exact direction. Distance was a bit less clear, but by measuring at a few points we could take where the lines crossed on a map. Then it was Lady Recollection¡¯s turn, looking for the most part like a typical old lady strolling down the street. She stopped at a nearby bench, and I felt her powers activating.


    ¡°I confirmed suspicious movements. An uptick in activity in the last few weeks. Useless on its own, but enough for us to get a warrant with your information. Especially since you have no pre-existing biases about any of these establishments.¡±


    I checked the remaining descriptions and pictures (obtained via Scrying, ironically) and associated objects. We wouldn¡¯t get to all of these people tonight, even with Midnight and I splitting up to cover more. Not unless we were particularly lucky, anyway.


    The first should have been an elven woman, then a half-orc man, a dwarf, and then weirdly a couple humans. By the end of the night I¡¯d gotten lucky enough and found four targets, which could have been much worse taking three or four castings of Locate Creature instead of just a little over two. Cars were helpful, as it allowed us to cover much more distance. And we only had to get a couple good angles to rapidly narrow down the possible areas.


    I saw Sir Kalman waiting impatiently, as if he wanted to crash down the doors immediately. But he did wait. Because like the rest of us, he wanted to save as many people as possible.


    -----


    Two nights of that, and along the way Midnight and I sensed a few supers at or around the locations in question. That wasn¡¯t immediately a red flag since Yew-Kay was also a supernatural hotspot, but being inside a specific building already in question was something else.


    Not that we were surprised, as many members of the Grey Gunners had split and run. It would make sense if they were taking shelter with criminal associates- or perhaps those associates also had other connections to supers.


    Either way, the third night everyone was rested and ready to act. A few people had been so far outside of the radius of Locate Creature that they simply couldn¡¯t be found, but we couldn¡¯t just spend months roaming the countryside hoping to catch signs of them. After we did what we could, more Scrying would be involved later.


    There were more people involved than just those that would be part of our squad, but Midnight and I, Sir Kalman, and the others we had been introduced to would all be targeting one particular place. This one was known to have super individuals providing security. That was legal, of course, but if there were crimes going on behind the scenes then charges would be escalated to supervillainy.


    Lady Recollection did her best to explain the situation to us. ¡°The Uptown does its best to maintain a good reputation. Some prominent figures spend their time here regularly¡­ which is to say, we can¡¯t afford to screw this up. We need to gather every scrap of evidence here, and capture every individual present. For the sake of Granbold¡¯s citizens, as well as for the local populace.¡±


    ¡°Corruption finds its way to the upper ranks too easily,¡± Sir Kalman grimaced. ¡°Worry not. We shall capture and bring to justice all involved.¡±


    I had the feeling he was of a similar opinion to me. That is to say, who cared if anyone had fancy titles. They were still getting fried and/or stabbed. No wait, it was our job to take out supers and other security. Capture was for Agent Smoke and Dart. Unless one of the supers happened to be the mayor or something. Then anything that happened would be their own fault if they didn¡¯t surrender. Which unfortunately we had to offer, because of rules and stuff. But not in a stupid manner.


    The place was surrounded by Squad Ten, as well as a number of mundane individuals. Nobody was getting out easily. And if we were lucky, Agent Smoke would be able to fill the whole place and we¡¯d experience no trouble. But most likely, at least the supers would remain conscious in such a situation. And I doubted he could fill such a large volume rapidly, or they wouldn¡¯t have bothered to have the rest of us.

 Chapter 196

    We stomped up to the front of the Uptown, and obviously the bouncers reached for their radios. But Lady Recollection stopped them as she held out her warrant. ¡°Before you report to your superiors, you might want to take a look at this warrant. Because what you say will be the difference between two people working a job, and third degree supervillainy. Or second degree, depending on what you do. So you can properly announce agents of the crown, or hope your contracts pay for good lawyers.¡±


    The two of them lowered their hands that were about to trigger their headsets. One took the warrant, reading it. ¡°So we just gotta say Crown Forces are here with a combined search and arrest warrant¡­?¡±


    ¡°And if you could remind them that fleeing from arrest bumps up the degree of supervillainy by a level.¡± Did it? People sure did that fleeing and fighting thing a lot though. Then again, supervillainy got people put away for a long time regardless of which country they were in. And I couldn¡¯t say if the laws were different here in that regard.


    ¡°Alright,¡± said the one taking the lead. He watched our reactions as he reached to activate his radio. ¡°Mister Elliott. Crown Forces are here with a warrant for search of the Uptown, and possible arrests. They wanted me to remind you that resisting ups the charges.¡± He dropped his hand and looked at us.


    I could vaguely hear a response. ¡°... idiot! ¡­ delay ¡­ paycheck!¡±


    The man just shuffled to the side, pushing his compatriot with him. ¡°So we just go or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Talk to those fellows with suits over there,¡± Lady Recollection said. ¡°They¡¯ll take care of everything.¡±


    The proactive bouncer sighed, taking off his headset that was still yelling at him, and began to walk away.


    ¡°Now then, we must be swift,¡± Lady Recollection said. ¡°And while I would love to go in and make the announcement, I must admit that I am rather fragile.¡±


    Sir Kalman was about to step forward through the door, but Current tapped him on the shoulder. Then she reached out her hand towards the club. The sounds inside all came to a sudden halt, replaced by her voice as she spoke, echoing from all of the speakers inside. ¡°This is Crown Forces. Everyone is to make an orderly exit from the premises and subject yourself to questioning regarding the illegal trafficking of extradimensional persons. As a friendly reminder, the building is surrounded.¡±


    ¡°... So they just come out peacefully now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oh no. This is the part where they break down the doors and flee while those involved go for their secret tunnels.¡±


    ¡°I feel like we should have tried to find their secret tunnels first.¡±


    Current shrugged.


    While we had been busy with that, Agent Smoke had already begun to enshroud the outside of the building with his incapacitating gasses. That meant he caught those who made initial sprints for the outside, swiftly dropping them so that nobody had to attempt to bring them down in a more crude fashion. Like with some less lethal rubber bullets and the like. Meanwhile, those who actually tried to be orderly wouldn¡¯t reach the outside for some time.


    On our end, I Hasted Sir Kalman, with Midnight applying the same to the two of us. Nobody had run for the front door, and when a knight in shining armor stepped through anyone who had been considering that option backed away.


    And then a chorus of gunshots rang out as from the club floor and balcony above came a hail of bullets. And with each, the corresponding sound of ricochets off of Sir Kalman¡¯s armor. That was a problem for everything around him, but it was mostly just the Uptown¡¯s fancy entryway anyway.


    As he drew attention, charging forward with his shield out in front of him, I stepped in to pick out my targets. I doubted that even Sir Kalman could sustain an infinite amount of gunfire. Sadly I wouldn¡¯t be able to get both the upper and lower levels of people shooting at us, but I could pick either one. Upper seemed like it was the best bet, as there were both fewer civilians around and they would be harder for other people to deal with. Plus, there were two supers up there.


    Lightning crackled in my hands, stretching through the room. It looked almost slow, with Haste. It was nowhere near the actual speed of a lightning strike. Instead, it was tendrils of lightning that latched onto the first individual, jumping from enemy to enemy form left to right as Chain Lightning sought out my enemies. It was unfortunate that the supers were in a better position so I couldn¡¯t target them directly, because in the short time it took to propagate to them one of them created a sort of barrier around them. It didn¡¯t fully stop the lightning, but it deflected enough that they continued standing.


    On the lower level, Sir Kalman circled around the central stage. He could have gone directly over it, but there were presumably innocent workers there, crouching down to try to stay safe. Perhaps even some of the people we were here for.


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    Sir Kalman had pushed through anything in his way until he collided with a brick wall. Or rather, an individual somewhat built like one. Until that point Sir Kalman hadn¡¯t drawn his weapon, but he drew it out and slashed towards the man¡¯s neck, light shining off of his weapon. His blade struck and¡­ bounced off. Oof. Had to be careful about those heavies.


    ¡°Well, looks like that¡¯s my job,¡± Dart said as she passed by me. ¡°Hopefully we¡¯ll get a distraction in a moment here.¡±


    And we certainly did.


    ¡°Hey!¡± A loud voice cut through the sounds of everything, only for everyone¡¯s eyes to turn to Lustre on the stage, dangling off the side of one of the metal poles. His gaze was directed towards the remaining guards below. ¡°Might I have your attention?¡±


    Bullets ripped through the air, including some that went through him. But he somehow managed to spin his way up the pole as that happened, drawing fire away from Sir Kalman and the crowds and everything else.


    Everything was happening quickly, even with my increased processing speed from Haste, so before I could ready another Chain Lightning the second super above responded with a weird green and purple bolt of her own. It slammed directly into me, piercing right through my Force Armor without harming it. How did that happen? What was going on? Right, I was going to¡­ lightning, yeah. I needed to zap Sir Kalman. Or the guy fighting him?


    I began to gather mana. I was going to use it for something¡­ like¡­ like¡­ I felt a mental tug from Midnight. He had darted off through the crowd with a purpose, but we were still connected. And that single tug directed my thoughts just enough to cast Mental Freedom instead of Chain Lightning at a literally random target.


    It still too a moment to shake off the confusion, during which I felt a trail of power pointing towards my head. And then a rifle slug hit me in the forehead. My head snapped back, and I was glad that we had forewarning about the battle. The bullet cracked through my mask and impacted my skull. Well, just in front of it. Stoneskin was a must for anything where there was going to be this much shooting.


    If we didn¡¯t already know better, I would have begun to suspect this was too much high powered security for a normal club. Or even one where important people came to hang out. But of course I did know better.


    I also knew I was chewing through my mana too quickly. I could do one more Chain Lightning, or a couple smaller things. But I also had my staff and gun. The staff could dispel one thing. I thought about the tough guy trading blows with Sir Kalman, but Dart was theoretically going to solve that.


    The area was pretty well cleared out of civilians now, and I sheltered against a pillar as I targeted some of the regular guards on the ground floor. They must be paid very well to bother. Then again, that was what the crime was for.


    I was vaguely aware of Current wrestling with some other super with similar powers, presumably for control over some sort of electrical crap. The lady that confused me was firing her powers at Lustre now, who was either dodging the beams or¡­ getting hit by all of them. It was honestly difficult to tell, because he was spinning up and down the pole in the middle of the room regardless. It was wild to see blood flowing back into his body. But fortunately Mental Freedom kept him from actually distracting me. So maybe he was confused and not directing his power properly, for that to be necessary.


    Ducking and weaving from cover to cover, I took quick shots wherever I could as I made my way towards the stairs, and the two supers upstairs. The one who had shot me continued to manipulate air currents to bombard me and I knew I couldn¡¯t simply conserve my mana.


    But I also didn¡¯t necessarily need a big spell to take her out. I took a shot at her, mostly for distraction, while I gathered a tiny amount of mana. Just a couple points. My bullet was tossed aside by the winds around her- and the lady with the confuse rays- but my actual attack was aimed towards the floor. It didn¡¯t quite go as plan, as Grease was caught by her wind powers as well. But it did still cause a distraction as the pair were suddenly surrounded by flying goop.


    Another ray of confusion came for me, but I was both shielded against it and ready for the effects. It only caused a momentary dizziness. Meanwhile, I used the last burst of speed from my Haste to duck behind a very fancy couch. I doubted it would do much to stop bullets, but it would make me harder to aim at.


    I raised my staff above the lip, immediately having it shot at several times. But it wasn¡¯t a full sized target, and whatever went into the ¡®bonsai Yggdrasil¡¯ was tough. So when the bullets stopped for a moment, I was ready with a spell. I still made certain to peek around the edge of the couch instead of over. Then Sonic Lance shot for the gut of the windy woman. Her barrier of air did¡­ precisely nothing to stop it. Alright, maybe it was a little. Powers were weird like that. But air was a carrier of sonic vibrations, not a barrier against it. The woman was blasted backwards, the confusing lady behind her dodging to the side.


    With my staff in hand, I charged forward. I took a few shots at her with my gun, but nobody would engage in a battle of superpowers without at least the equivalent of a bullet resistant vest. I ducked out of the way of her rays, not because I necessarily needed to but out of caution. The effect might build up. Then I was right next to her, and thrust my staff forward into her gut, activating the magic and power suppressing ability using the stored mana.


    On the level below, the big guy who had been facing off with Sir Kalman was twitching on the ground, a weird greenish film on his face.


    Lustre was hanging upside down with his knees wrapped around the pole, halfway between levels¡­ and he slowly spun down until he rested upon the stage.


    Fighting had stopped, and we were beginning to secure the supers with our provided restraints. But there was something still missing, namely a Mister Elliott. But I could sense Midnight on the chase of someone, so hopefully there were others succeeding in that area.

 Chapter 197

    The doors of the elevator were only open a fraction of their width, due to the constant gain and loss of power. Midnight found it sufficient to squeeze through as he continued his chase of a man in a fancy suit. He¡¯d already snuck through some vents, and he was making liberal use of Mage¡¯s Reach to deal with pesky doors. It was only because he¡¯d been so far behind to begin with that Midnight hadn¡¯t already caught up.


    ¡°You¡¯re under arrest!¡± Midnight declared as he leapt out, entangling himself under his target¡¯s feet. Midnight jumped back as the man toppled over, leaving him face-to-face with the man¡¯s bald patch as his toupee went flying. ¡°Cease your resistance or I will be forced to shock you.¡±


    The man pushed himself to his hands and knees and took a swipe at Midnight. ¡°I¡¯m not going to be caught by a stupid cat!¡±


    Midnight ducked the first swipe of the man¡¯s arms, but let him connect with the second- as he coated his body with Shocking Grasp. ¡°I am neither stupid nor a cat,¡± Midnight said to the twitching figure on the ground. He¡¯d gone light on the electricity, since the man didn¡¯t seem to have any ability. Then it took a good minute of fiddling around with Mage¡¯s Reach to get the man¡¯s hands behind him and cuffed, the cuffs taken out of Storage obviously. There was also a little transmitter he left behind inside the neck of the man¡¯s coat, for others to be able to retrieve him or in case he managed to get up and away.


    But Midnight wasn¡¯t done yet. He knew there were others somewhere down this tunnel, and he wasn¡¯t going to let them get away. He could probably catch them by simply running, but he had the spare mana for another Haste, and if he ran into actual trouble he had the option to retreat or fight.


    He darted down the tunnel, barely large enough for a human to move down but quite roomy for a Celmothian like him. Then he came up on them. As soon as he spotted the pair, he ducked into a corner. They were lit up in a strange manner. A woman was carrying a flashlight by hand, like the running man had been. The other¡­ had it attached to a hardhat.


    ¡°W-what are you doing here?¡± the woman yelled. ¡°This is private property!¡±


    ¡°Private property?¡± the man said, blocking the hallway. ¡°Yes, it might be. But it¡¯s certainly not your property.¡± In the light of the woman¡¯s flashlight, he could be seen pushing back his glasses as he held up a clipboard. ¡°Which means not only did you not get permits for this shoddy construction, you¡¯re responsible for criminal trespass. And what looks to be millions in stolen land usage. It¡¯s also going to be very difficult for you to claim you didn¡¯t know of this when you were fleeing an arrest warrant through these very tunnels.¡±


    The woman swung her flashlight like a club, striking the man on the top of his head. Where he happened to be wearing his hardhat.


    ¡°Assault of a civil servant is also illegal, you know. But I¡¯m not much of a fighter. Excuse me, you in the shadows. Can you help me arrest this woman?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes. Of course!¡± Midnight said. ¡°I was worried you might also be involved in villainy.¡±


    ¡°Nope, just the Building and Safety Division. We were informed of potential code violations, so here I am.¡±


    The tunnel wasn¡¯t wide, but in theory there was room for two humans to squeeze past each other. But the man performed an excellent job of standing in the way of the fleeing woman.


    Midnight repeated his warning about shocking and the like. The woman, of course, did not comply. ¡°Hey can you help me cuff her?¡± Midnight said. ¡°No hands.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± the man said. ¡°I do have the authorization to arrest people for violations of building codes.¡±


    ¡°And supervillainy,¡± Midnight reminded the man. ¡°I believe you should be informed of that¡­?¡±


    ¡°Supervillainous building codes violation are even more egregious,¡± the man agreed.


    -----


    I saw Sir Kalman come out of one of the back rooms with a vaguely familiar elven woman clutching onto his shoulder. ¡°I believe this is everything. Can we burn this place to the ground now?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said a woman in a hardhat. ¡°That would be unsafe. But those involved in the crimes here will be paying to restore the integrity of the underground. And the building will likely have to be dismantled at their expense as well, given it served as a lair of supervillain operations. It can¡¯t be resold like this.¡±


    ¡°... That seems like a light sentence,¡± Sir Kalman said.


    At this point, Calculator made himself known. ¡°There will of course be criminal charges. And I wouldn¡¯t underestimate how serious the Building and Safety Division is about pursuing charges. And you can bet that the taxmen will get involved.¡±


    ¡°As for other punishments,¡± Lady Recollection said, stopping her patrolling of the area for a moment, ¡°We will be negotiating with you on who it is appropriate to bring back to your world¡­ for a proper trial of course.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dream of anything but a proper trial,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°And I likewise wouldn¡¯t bring anyone in without solid evidence. More than solid,¡± he gestured to the elven woman.


    ¡°We are glad to hear that,¡± Lady Recollection said. Then she turned to me. ¡°I¡¯m certain you¡¯ll be wanting to return her home as soon as possible. We¡¯ll just need to carefully document her presence for the folks at Extra among other things.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t have the mana right now anyway. It¡¯ll take a couple hours regardless. Until then, she¡¯ll probably want something else to wear.¡± I stepped closer, mentally switching to Elvish. ¡°Excuse me, miss. With your permission I will use some magic to make your appearance however you prefer. Until we can actually get you something.¡±


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    She was still clutching onto Sir Kalman¡¯s shoulder, and leaned forward to whisper to him.


    ¡°She asks why you are speaking old elven.¡±


    ¡°... Because those are the only elves I¡¯ve talked to with Translation,¡± I admitted. ¡°But you seem to be adjusted to modern elven.¡±


    ¡°I just speak it,¡± Sir Kalman said.


    ¡°Oh. Good. Could you translate?¡±


    Ultimately she was a little timid about letting an orc touch her, even briefly, but with Sir Kalman there and the fact that I hardly dressed like a typical orc she agreed. I gave her some garb that looked more like what Ailen and the elder had worn. It was just Disguise, though, so it was only visual.


    Around that time, I sensed Midnight coming back. ¡°Hey buddy. How many did you catch?¡±


    ¡°Only two, technically,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But they seemed important, for some reason? Or they seemed to think they were important?¡±


    ¡°A city councilman and a mayor¡¯s wife,¡± Calculator commented. I wasn¡¯t surprised he already had that information, as he sought out details above all else. ¡°And there were others in another secret tunnel.¡±


    ¡°I missed that one,¡± Midnight admitted, hanging his head.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright buddy. We can only be in one place at a time right now.¡±


    ¡°I find myself concerned at your phrasing,¡± Calculator said. ¡°But I suppose I was aware of similar magic in theory. It just seemed implausible.¡±


    ¡°And expensive,¡± I said. ¡°Though diamond dust is pretty cheap so maybe¡­¡±


    Lady Recollection continued her work, and Calculator seemed quite interested in the results. As for what was actually happening, I got the vague impression of shapes moving back and forth. Lady Recollection should be receiving a clearer picture of how things were in the past¡­ and from what Calculator had said, being able to ask people where they were at specific times was very useful in court. In theory, she could trace back the steps of several people for this entire night. There was some limit to how far back things worked, and there were limits to how much was directly admissible in court¡­ but that wasn¡¯t my job.


    It sounded like those Building and Safety Division guys would be throwing the book at these people regardless. And I had no doubt that anyone who got shipped off to Granbold would be facing the harshest penalties.


    ¡°Uuugh,¡± Current collapsed into a chair nearby. It seemed she chose me as a target to complain to. Or she was just speaking to the air and I happened to be nearby. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I lost to Switch. The drives are all garbled.¡±


    ¡°Computer storage?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah. I would have been nice to have it as additional evidence. Especially for conspiracy charges.¡±


    ¡°Maybe there are online backup?¡± I titled my head.


    ¡°You¡¯d make a terrible villain,¡± Current said. ¡°Listen, nobody¡¯s going to be that¡­¡± she frowned. ¡°The server¡¯s connected to wifi. Technically secured¡­ but if they did that then maybe¡­!¡± she threw herself up out of the chair. ¡°I have to go check!¡±


    ¡°Okay bye!¡± I waved.


    Sir Kalman came back around to find Midnight and I sitting together. The wood elf woman came along with him. Her name was¡­ ugh, there were too many. Ant something? I had seen it for Scrying, but it dropped out of my head as we went over so many. But her face was familiar, and I remembered the leather cap connected to her that was now back on her head. And proper if ill-fitting clothing.


    ¡°You have a difficult job here,¡± Sir Kalman said to me. ¡°Not only do you have to deal with various restrictions on your actions, the battles¡­¡± he shook his head. ¡°I wasn¡¯t even able to scratch that fellow.¡±


    ¡°Iron Bloke is invincible. Don¡¯t worry ¡®bout it.¡± We looked over, and Squad Ten cleared his throat. ¡°Sorry, I was just standing here and couldn¡¯t help but overhear. Nobody can hurt that guy. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Dart took him down in mere moments,¡± Sir Kalman crossed his arm.


    ¡°Yeah, so?¡± Squad Ten said.


    ¡°It simply shows that I was lacking. Not even my holy power could damage him.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Invincible is invincible.¡±


    Sir Kalman frowned, ¡°That doesn¡¯t even make sense.¡±


    ¡°Everyone has a weakness though,¡± I said. ¡°It just didn¡¯t happen to be swords or holy power.¡±


    ¡°But- it should have done something. An agent of evil¡­¡±


    ¡°Look,¡± I said. ¡°Villains can be evil. No doubt. But they¡¯re by and large not followers of evil gods or devil worshippers or anyone particularly susceptible to holy stuff. But I think the most important thing is¡­ during that fight, did you get experience?¡±


    Sir Kalman paused, looking at his status screen. I couldn¡¯t see it, but everyone knew the look. ¡°... Quite a bit, actually. But I wanted to be more¡­ impactful. I came here to save people.¡±


    ¡°And they¡¯re safe,¡± I pointed out. ¡°You drew fire away from the innocents when those maniacs were shooting up their own club. Well, you and Lustre,¡± I gestured towards the guy who was sighing about bloody holes in his clothes and trying to fix his hair with just a mirror and a comb. ¡°But you were out there first. Speaking of which¡­ did you take any injuries?¡±


    ¡°Nothing major. Though I feel like there¡¯s some sort of lingering effect. I healed my wounds but¡­¡± he tapped his belly. ¡°There¡¯s something pressing on me?¡±


    ¡°... Let¡¯s hope your healing popped the bullet out of you and it¡¯s just stuck inside your plate,¡± I said.


    ¡°Bullets?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re like tiny arrows that go real fast. You know, the things guns shoot?¡±


    ¡°I thought they shot magical force. Or¡­ super force, I suppose,¡± Sir Kalman shrugged.


    ¡°Nah.¡± I popped a bullet out of my magazine, showing him the casing and stuff. I explained how a little hammer hit an exploding thing that exploded more things and pushed some metal- often lead- out the end of a gun really fast.


    ¡°I see. A strangely complex design for something so simple.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really hard to make bullets go straight,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s where all the work comes in, I hear.¡±


    With that, our first round of work in Yew-Kay was over with. But unless I¡¯d missed something, we hadn¡¯t found everyone yet. There were other raids that happened simultaneously, but in the future we¡¯d have to deal with prepared villains. Or if they were smart, they¡¯d just let people go and hide themselves away. I¡¯d much prefer that option, to be honest, but we weren¡¯t going to count on it.

 Chapter 198

    The guy who came over with us from New Bay, Zakaria, confirmed the status of a dozen people. Not for us, so much, as for Yew-Kay and the people of Earth. And to officially document the involvement of certain people in illegal extraplanar stuff. It was pretty easy to pick them out, of course. Anyone who spoke common and elven and stuff instead of english was easily picked out. But people like doing things all official, and it was a helpful way to expedite the process of returning people home. And it was an important step to explain why most of them wouldn¡¯t be showing up as witnesses in later trials.


    Just because I was capable of traveling between planes regularly didn¡¯t mean it was easy. And normal people might not be so comfortable with that and would prefer to simply be home.


    As for Midnight and I, we were poised to bring them home. Along with completing the official stuff on Granbold¡¯s side. Then we would be returning to Yew-Kay for another round of raids and the like, plus Sir Kalman would be negotiating for criminals they could prosecute in Granbold. Fortunately there were plenty of those, so it wasn¡¯t as if we would run out.


    With everyone gathered up at the local Extra branch, Midnight and I cast Gate. Sir Kalman stepped through and out of the storage room door, leading the way for everyone else to get shuffled through followed by Midnight and I. Because it was much easier for us to coordinate timing by just being there when Sir Kalman needed to return.


    Kalman was already working with his lieutenant Sir Harold on sorting out how everyone was going to be getting back home, so I had nothing to do but sit around recovering mana. I could just relax all day without having to deal with anything complicated.


    ¡°A moment, Turlough,¡± Sir Kalman caught my attention as we were heading outside. ¡°I must speak with you about something.¡±


    He already knew how long it would take to recover mana¡­ so what could it be? Wracking my brain, I couldn¡¯t really think of anything.


    When he finished his immediate business, we headed outside the city for a private meeting with just us. And Midnight, of course, because there was nothing to gain from keeping secrets between a mage and their familiar.


    ¡°... Is there something about these trees?¡± I asked. ¡°Because I¡¯m not a druid.¡±


    The stout fellow chuckled. ¡°Oh no. This is just for privacy. I have a question that someone of learning like yourself might possess the answer to.¡±


    ¡°I might,¡± I said when he hesitated. ¡°But I have to know what the question is.¡±


    ¡°So about the class system. You know of the Guard Breaker skill?¡±


    ¡°Only vaguely,¡± I admitted. ¡°Was it not working against Iron Bloke?¡± I was pleased to find that the Power Brigade was not the only group that came up with terrible names. That guy didn¡¯t have an ounce of iron on him, either. ¡°Because if it wasn¡¯t, that¡¯s probably just a quirk of mixing power systems.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing. It was beginning to, I think,¡± Sir Kalman frowned. ¡°Before Dart took him down.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the issue, then?¡±


    ¡°... I never spent points to learn Guard Breaker,¡± he said.


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said, waiting for his point. But it never came. ¡°Oh!¡± I clapped my hands together. ¡°I get it. Yeah don¡¯t worry about that. It¡¯s just a thing that happens. You can learn stuff without spending points now. It might be a bit weird at first, but it¡¯s only beneficial so I wouldn¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    What I could see of Sir Kalman¡¯s face indicated a frown. ¡°But I- it doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. In fact, probably best not to talk about it at all. It¡¯s just a consequence of extraplanar travel. In theory a bunch of powerful people know about it and don¡¯t want word to spread¡­¡±


    ¡°I feel like that¡¯s an excellent reason to worry,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Just by traveling to another plane and engaging in battle, such a strange thing occurs?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t think you have to fight. It just happens. It even happens to normal people from the other side just by standing near a portal to here.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Sir Kalman looked at Midnight, ¡°Surely you must realize there¡¯s something weird about this?¡±


    Midnight shook his head, ¡°I was introduced to magic after being in New Bay where there are a bunch of people in superpowers. Both of which are weird to me.¡±


    ¡°Kalman! Sir Kalman!¡± Our conversation was interrupted by someone calling out for him. The wood elf stepped into view from a distance. Some exposure had allowed Translation to actually process modern elven. ¡°My apologies for interrupting but¡­ Harman said I should go to you with my request.¡±


    Sir Kalman turned towards her. ¡°What is it, Antiele? We¡¯ll get you home as soon as we can. You¡¯ll be leaving in a couple days at most, as the wagons will need to go a bit further for your area.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ well¡­¡± the woman apparently called Antiele shifted nervously, looking between him and me. ¡°I was wondering if you could teach me how to fight? I don¡¯t want to¡­ to not be able to do anything.¡±


    ¡°Are you a warrior of any type?¡± Sir Kalman asked. ¡°What is your class?¡±


    ¡°Well, I am¡­ a director.¡±


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    I leaned over towards Sir Kalman, speaking quietly in conspiratorial common. ¡°What does that class do? I¡¯ve never heard of it¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a non-combat version of a marshal,¡± he whispered back. Then he straightened his back. ¡°The thing is, miss, that with such a class there¡¯s a limit to how much you can¡­¡± he trailed off, looking at me.


    ¡°You¡¯re agile and fit, right?¡± I asked. ¡°There¡¯s a lot you can do without class abilities. What about archery?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not strong enough for the good bows. And they take a decade of muscle training to be really good at them¡­¡± she frowned.


    ¡°You could use a gun,¡± I said. Since she seemed confused at the word I added, ¡°The loud weapons those people used. This is one too,¡± I said popping my handgun out of storage.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to use one¡­¡± she said. ¡°Besides, they must be expensive.¡±


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s a bit difficult to get ammunition here,¡± I admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about the director class. What can it do?¡±


    ¡°Well, it is mainly a wide variety of utility abilities. Experience increases, cooperation skills, utility magic¡­¡±


    ¡°What sort of utility magic?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Little stuff like cleaning, repairs, refilling containers, producing water¡­¡± she shook her head. ¡°Nothing much.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding? Repairing spells are great,¡± I said. ¡°Anyway, Kalman has a pretty good right hook so he can probably teach you that. Or I know some martial arts. And there¡¯s weapon stuff.¡±


    Antiele nodded, ¡°Thank you. I know it probably won¡¯t be enough to actually matter, but I would feel more secure.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t look dangerous,¡± Midnight added. ¡°Then being just a little bit dangerous can be a huge surprise for people.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I said. ¡°And if you were a mage who could hit people, for example¡­ they will be surprised. You¡¯d be surprised how many people assume that I stop being big because I have magic.¡± In fact, I was larger than I used to be now that I¡¯d grown more magically. It might have just been a coincidence of timing, but I had a feeling levels were also related at least a little bit.


    ¡°Also,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°We should see how many of a director¡¯s ability apply to combat training. Because I imagine you village might want more than additional individual fighting fit.¡±


    ¡°The only problem is,¡± I added, ¡°Sir Kalman can¡¯t always be here to help you train. Especially in the near future he¡¯s needed on Earth. And he¡¯ll be somewhat occupied as an ambassador¡­¡±


    She bit her lip. ¡°Oh. Right.¡±


    ¡°My men here can still help you train,¡± Sir Kalman said.


    ¡°Yeah I doubt you¡¯d want to train back on Earth so-¡±


    She interrupted me, ¡°Can I? Train on Earth, I mean? With those guns and¡­ powers.¡±


    ¡°Well we kind of just rescued you¡­¡± I began. But I could understand wanting to fight, for various reasons. ¡°I guess I could bug someone. Maybe Squad Ten? He should know how to train without powers.¡±


    Or maybe someone in New Bay? That would keep her away from where she¡¯d been held against her will. Coming up with a reason to bring a random person to Earth was going to be a pain though.


    -----


    ¡°Here,¡± Antiele held out cups of water to Sir Kalman and I. We naturally began drinking them.


    ¡°Wait¡­ shouldn¡¯t we be the ones calling for a break?¡± I asked


    ¡°I know when people are tired. Including myself,¡± Antiele said. ¡°So I would have had to refuse if you tried to push me past my current acceptable limits.¡±


    The water was refreshing. More than just cold water had any right to be. The tingle of mana. ¡°Is this a skill? It reminds me of Meztli¡¯s power¡­¡± She also used her ability to help people train. But that wasn¡¯t all. ¡°Surely the director class has to have some sort of ability enhancement?¡±


    Antiele nodded. ¡°I can boost both power and endurance of others.¡±


    ¡°Just others?¡± I asked. ¡°Not yourself?¡±


    ¡°Well I¡­ never really thought about it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you work with your subordinates or whatever?¡± I asked.


    ¡°There is sufficient labor involved with what I do already,¡± she said defensively. ¡°I help the entire village, so I need to remain in a central location for the most part.¡±


    ¡°So¡­?¡± I gestured. ¡°Are you going to try?¡±


    I felt a small flow of mana. Somewhere around five mana, perhaps, a bit more than Energy Ward. It was actually closer to Sonic Lance, but they were quite different flows of mana.


    ¡°... It does seem to work,¡± Antiele said. ¡°But I am afraid that even with this, I would still be lacking in power compared to someone with the right kind of class.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t stop with just one thing,¡± I said.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Sir Kalman added. ¡°As a knight, I don¡¯t merely make use of my weapon skills, Smite, or physical training. They¡¯re all part of the same thing. I could defeat a great number of lower level thugs without any special abilities. Even without weapons or armor. You might not have Power Strike, but the principles behind it can still allow you to swing a weapon. We train all new recruits the same regardless of what level they are and what skills they plan to pick up.¡±


    We finished our rest and Sir Kalman handed her the training weapon. Instead of dealing with a dummy, he just had her directly attack him. It might have been demoralizing, but he at least let her blows push him back to look like they had some impact. Then he would demonstrate proper technique again, and the process would repeat.


    ¡°The difference between a proper swing and a Power Strike is significant, but the same could be said of this training weapon and a real blade. So if I do a Power Strike here¡­¡± he swung what was basically a fancy stick down upon a training dummy, and cracked it in two. ¡°With a real weapon and a good angle, you can do the same. Go ahead and give it a try,¡± he said, once more gesturing to himself.


    Antiele took her stance. Her windup was a bit slow to be practical in combat, but the flow of mana around her was quite good. There was a ringing sound from Sir Kalman¡¯s helmet as he took a step back.


    ¡°Look at that, lass,¡± he said. ¡°A mighty good blow.¡± He actually looked a bit uncomfortable. And I felt him using a bit of his healing magic.


    Mana. ¡°Antiele. Could you¡­ see if there¡¯s anything new in your status window?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked. ¡°Experience only changes slowly, for someone like me,¡± she said. But I could see her eyes moving around, clearly complying. My ears picked up some muttering as she looked it over. ¡°Ally Technique? Lesser Power Strike?¡±


    Yeah that made sense. It wasn¡¯t like Sir Kalman was the only one who went through a portal.

 Chapter 199

    Midnight, with his greater sense of responsibility about things, reacted to the news of Antiele learning things with greater concern than I would have. ¡°We need to do something about this. If there are people who don¡¯t want knowledge like this to spread¡­ people could be in danger.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, do we have to?¡± I sighed. ¡°I mean, how often is this going to come up?¡±


    ¡°All the time!¡± Midnight said. ¡°It happens just from people doing things, after all.¡±


    I looked to Sir Kalman. ¡°This is your job.¡±


    ¡°Of course I will take on the responsibility of keeping safe the people of Granbold,¡± he stood up ¡®tall¡¯ and straight.


    ¡°Great, now that we have that settled¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh come on,¡± Midnight said. ¡°He can¡¯t do everything alone!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what he¡¯s got subordinates for,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Umm¡­¡± Antiele, the individual at the center of this whole issue, took her opportunity to speak up. ¡°Can someone explain what is happening?¡±


    Easy. I began listing things off on my fingers. ¡°Going through portals to another plane unlocks growth functionality aside from points. It¡¯s still limited by time and effort. It seems to be a secret for some reason so presumably there¡¯s a shadowy cabal suppressing the information and they¡¯ll probably try to kill anyone they find out about.¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of presumptions there,¡± Sir Kalman pointed out. ¡°What if people simply don¡¯t know?¡±


    ¡°Then Master Uvithar would have been surprised rather than worried, and he wouldn¡¯t have suddenly gone missing. Hopefully into hiding and not disintegrated or something. It¡¯s not like people don¡¯t travel between planes, you know? A normal level 35 mage could do it if they wanted to, and a level 39 could learn Gate with literally no points saved up from a prior level.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps you overestimate the standard level of mages,¡± Sir Kalman said.


    ¡°Nah. It might take more casual people until they¡¯re much older to reach that level range, but who wouldn¡¯t want to travel to other planes as soon as possible?¡±


    ¡°Most normal people,¡± Sir Kalman said.


    ¡°Oh yeah? Show me one person.¡± Two hands and a paw went up. ¡°Well that¡¯s hardly fair,¡± I crossed my arms. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s say it¡¯s half of mages. You¡¯d still expect some person in the latter half of their lifespan to want to go visit Elysium or somewhere safe and pretty.¡±


    ¡°Most people don¡¯t make it past a couple hundred,¡± Sir Kalman said.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Antiele nodded. ¡°It is a long and slow road to higher levels.¡±


    ¡°... I meant people who were like fifty,¡± I replied. ¡°Do people really level up that slowly?¡¯


    ¡°It¡¯s a slow road,¡± Sir Kalman nodded. ¡°I am past seventy but barely level 45.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t count,¡± I pointed at him. ¡°This world is intentionally engineered to ruin our experience progression.¡±


    Antiele tilted her head. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°We both have Curse of the Barbarian and everyone says there¡¯s ¡®no wars to train for¡¯ and ¡®no monsters in the wilderness¡¯ and ¡®you shouldn¡¯t just fight everyone you see¡¯. And having seen the monsters portaling into New Bay, at least that second one is garbage. The third one too because it¡¯s good experience even for people without the Curse.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see,¡± she nodded. ¡°I never intended to have a life involving combat, so I hadn¡¯t really considered any of that. But I can say level progression is quite slow for long lived races.¡±


    That seemed like a huge disadvantage. How did they not get wiped out? Well, dwarves like Sir Kalman were more in a middling range so their growth wouldn¡¯t be that slow.


    Sir Kalman was pondering furiously. ¡°Turlough. You truly believe the world is made so that those with Aspect of the Barbarian do not grow quickly?¡±


    Did I? ¡°It makes more sense, if you ever run into ancient orcs.¡±


    ¡°I will admit to not having met any, and the orcs I have heard about tend to be rather violent.¡±


    ¡°They are,¡± I said. ¡°Or at least¡­ the ones the supervillain Doctor Doomsday recruits are. My psychiatrist keeps telling me to not just assume that of all of them.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a psychiatrist ?¡± Antiele asked.


    I shared a look with Midnight. ¡°It seems so obvious I forgot they don¡¯t have that here. They¡¯re um¡­ head doctors? For when your thoughts don¡¯t work right.¡±


    ¡°So for crazy people¡­?¡± Antiele asked.


    ¡°Only if everyone is crazy,¡± I replied. ¡°Hey, Kalman, you need to add a psychiatrist to the negotiations list. I¡¯d bet that most of the people who got abducted are at least a little traumatized.¡±


    Sir Kalman nodded. ¡°An unfortunate burden. But with time, they might recover.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Or help,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t know about you but I¡¯m rather more attached to what¡¯s in my head than my arms and legs, but I still go to a doctor when I break a limb. And all these civilians weren¡¯t prepared for the stress involved so they¡¯ll be way worse off than you. And how Antiele looks.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Antiele protested. ¡°But determined to fight back.¡±


    ¡°I like that part,¡± I said. ¡°But all my talking with my fellows from the Power Brigade tells me that normal people don¡¯t handle life and death situations well.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Midnight nodded, ¡°I¡¯d prefer to stay out of them entirely, if it were a simple option. But there are things to be done, and people to be saved.¡±


    ¡°You two are oddly concerned about people for mercenaries¡­¡± Sir Kalman looked at me.


    I just shrugged. ¡°What? If I¡¯m going to be fighting people anyway, might as well do it for a purpose. And get paid. Seems like the best option.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t this other world have heroes?¡± Sir Kalman asked. ¡°Would that not be a better option?¡±


    ¡°Nah. Heroes just get their faces plastered all over billboards. I don¡¯t think half of them do more than that. Well, there are probably some legitimately good ones, but for every one of them you have a chance to get Stargirl.¡±


    ¡°... Who?¡± Sir Kalman tilted his head. ¡°Sorry, you¡¯ve only barely introduced me to this other world.¡±


    ¡°Nobody important,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Just someone posing as a hero while primed to do a heel turn into villainy at the first opportunity. A personal rival of a friend.¡±


    Sir Kalman grimaced. ¡°A fallen hero. It is a shame, that such a thing would happen to this Stargirl.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s Darkstargirl now,¡± I replied. Midnight just reflected amusement.


    ¡°So,¡± Antiele attempted to get us back on track. ¡°I might be in danger, not just from this other world but our own. And the rest of those involved as well¡­?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I said.


    ¡°Then I must do my best to be strong. And the others as well. Sir Kalman, would you introduce me to them?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± he said. ¡°Perhaps we were too hasty in sending them home.¡±


    ¡°Just one thing,¡± I said. ¡°Do you uh¡­ speak common?¡±


    ¡°... some,¡± Antiele grimaced. ¡°Do people not speak elven regularly here?¡±


    ¡°Sir Kalman is an exception,¡± I pointed to him, then Midnight and I. ¡°And we¡¯re using magic. Does your class allow you to learn languages quickly?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll need a teacher for such things,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Perhaps it would be best if you-¡±


    ¡°Oh wow look at the time. We should be Gating back to Yew-Kay any moment now. Also she gets along with you better. And I¡¯m an orc.¡±


    ¡°Dwarves aren¡¯t much better known for getting along with elves,¡± Sir Kalman mumbled.


    -----


    Ten minutes later, and we were back in Yew-Kay.


    Midnight¡¯s tail flicked back and forth. ¡°So, were we supposed to bring her¡­?¡±


    ¡°Would it be better for me to stay behind?¡± Antiele said. ¡°Where I can speak to no one and people might be looking to kill me.¡±


    ¡°You were going to be brought home as soon as we could arrange it¡­¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°And I try to diversify the languages my subordinates speak.¡±


    ¡°But also,¡± I shrugged. ¡°We¡¯re here now. And it¡¯ll probably be fine.¡±


    We had come to the Extra branch closest to Petalton, though it wasn¡¯t directly in the town. Crown Forces had an official presence, but Extra tended towards larger cities. So it was a bit of a drive back to our temporary base. To save on resources, Zakaria was coming along with us on the same trip. He¡¯d had paperwork to do all day regardless.


    ¡°I can¡¯t help but notice you brought Antiele back with you,¡± he said.


    I made the executive decision to cast Translation on her to save on headaches. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. She¡¯s a political refugee now.¡±


    ¡°...What happened?¡± Zakaria asked


    ¡°Whatever it¡¯s called when people are afraid of potential want to quash those that might be a threat to them some way.¡±


    ¡°Related to powers specifically? I hadn¡¯t heard of power-based persecution in your world. Is that an issue?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, probably,¡± I said.


    Zakaria pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°I suppose we can offer temporary refugee status until we get things worked out,¡± he said. ¡°But it would really be better if people were returned to their homes.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s also easier to reach for witness statements,¡± I added.


    ¡°At least some people will be happy about that,¡± the man shrugged.


    When we arrived back at the base, Calculator was waiting, probably with some specific intent. Instead, he looked at Antiele, and then back at me. ¡°Why?¡±


    I felt like I was going to have to give this explanation a lot. So I repeated the salient points. Calculator seemed intrigued, annoyed, and resigned at the prospect of a conspiracy in my world. ¡°Also she might be able to provide training benefits to others.¡±


    ¡°We need to test that,¡± he said.


    ¡°How?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s not like we have a bunch of exactly identical people for me to fight for the first time.¡± I looked around, but didn¡¯t see Squad Ten. ¡°Also I¡¯m pretty sure Squad Ten would only count once.¡±


    ¡°I can at least perform my own calculations on training efficiency,¡± he said. ¡°And perhaps that same ally of ours might be useful, depending on how his powers work. Either way, I would be interested in verifying how much¡­ especially given how useful your own powers are.¡±


    Sir Kalman folded his arms. ¡°Next I imagine you¡¯ll be trying to recruit me.¡±


    ¡°Interested?¡± Calculator grinned.


    ¡°Sorry, but I have my own attachments. And this is still a strange place.¡±


    -----


    While it would be nice if we could spend a few weeks in training to see what Antiele could learn and fit her into our combat strategy, we didn¡¯t have the luxury of time. So while we was able to train alongside us, we barely had more than a couple days to prepare for the next move. During that time Midnight and I were responsible for keeping in contact with Harold back in the other world, with Sir Kalman providing his lieutenant orders to keep watch on the safety of those who had come back. Just in case there was some shadowy cabal who would come after them for just having been to another world. Sir Kalman himself was another case that would have to be dealt with after all of our current stuff.


    Along with that and some more Scrying- using standard quality mirrors instead of my far superior ¡®orb¡¯- and I had little mana for other training. But between Midnight and I we scrounged up enough to get into a few tussles and slowly edge higher in level. Midnight was 20, almost 21, and I wasn¡¯t quite halfway to 33. Getting experience from Midnight¡¯s efforts and the quick rate of growth from Curse of the Barbarian would keep me ahead of him for a long time- unless we spent years without combat of any sort.


    Sir Kalman didn¡¯t suddenly develop any new abilities- not beyond Guard Breaker- but he was as ready as any of us to make the next move. This time, it involved an actual secret underground lair and hopefully the largest remaining portion of the Grey Gunners and their allies¡¯ power.


    We¡¯d captured a number of influential people who were trying their best to fight back against the myriad of supervillainy charges the more political members were levying against them. The hope was to get the last of them, or more evidence. Evidence which included most of the remaining captives from my former world. After that, the job would be done¡­ as far as my involvement in this world went, at least. I would still have to straighten things out with Sir Kalman and the other side, and we¡¯d have to figure out what we were going to do about all these people who went through portals. Why couldn¡¯t other supervillains just be simple and straightforward like Rodentia?

 Chapter 200

    We were just about ready to storm a particular factory, but checking the current conditions was a decent priority. Especially since we wanted to keep track of the captives there. Using a plain old mirror- though at least a large one- an image slowly came into focus as I wrestled against the modestly effective scrying anchors they had in place.


    Into focus drifted some dwarves carrying tools and working with unfamiliar machinery. Their language was¡­ still unfamiliar to me. Fortunately, Sir Kalman translated the few lines before my magic began to catch up.


    ¡°So we¡¯ve got these bolts,¡± said one dwarf.


    ¡°Right,¡± another nodded.


    ¡°And some screws.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±


    ¡°Plus some big wrenches,¡± the first dwarf frowned. ¡°I¡¯m going to be honest, I don¡¯t fully remember the introduction we got. These seem like some sort of forges?¡±


    ¡°Could be.¡± Some of the others shrugged.


    ¡°And we¡¯re supposed to maintain or upgrade or¡­ watch them work?¡± the lead dwarf gestured to a lever, and then pulled it. ¡°Because it seems to mostly do what it¡¯s supposed to with just this doohickey here.¡±


    At this point, Translation was properly picking up, but I wasn¡¯t quite done with needing Sir Kalman¡¯s help. Calculator and the others would want the translations anyway.


    ¡°Gerard. You¡¯re an artificer, right? Understand any of this crap?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m barely an artificer, Scrag,¡± he frowned. ¡°Haven¡¯t gotten the practice. You know our town. And then we came out here because¡­ because¡­¡±


    The dwarves began to look around confused, but a woman came into the picture, just barely hovering at the edge of the visible area. It was difficult to tell through Scrying, but I had the feeling there was a wave of power of some sort.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s the boss,¡± the one known as Scrag said. ¡°We¡¯d better get to work.¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Gerard, in agreement with the others hanging around. ¡°We came to this¡­ city¡­ to perform our jobs¡­ after all?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Scrag said, his frown briefly returning.


    The woman called ¡®the boss¡¯ spoke up¡­ in pretty clipped dwarven. ¡°These things,¡± she gestured to the machines. ¡°You imbue it with dwarf magic.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Dwarf magic,¡± Gerard nodded. I saw the wrench he was holding glow, then tap on the side of a conveyor belt. It¡­ probably did something.


    The woman continued to speak, but before we could really hear more the Scrying faded.


    Everyone present looked at each other. ¡°Well, that¡¯s concerning,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Some sort of mind control, surpassing language barriers?¡± He looked to Lady Recollection. ¡°I didn¡¯t read of any registered supers with any powers like that. Was I missing something or¡­?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that such powers are registered,¡± the older woman said. ¡°If you understand my point.¡±


    ¡°Straight to villainy then,¡± Calculator shook his head. ¡°We¡¯ll have to be careful about this one.¡±


    ¡°I prefer my mind uncontrolled,¡± I said. ¡°Or¡­ only by me?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Best to face such things with an iron will,¡± Sir Kalman said.


    ¡°I have Mental Freedom,¡± I said. ¡°So that¡¯s what I have to use.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll need to plan battle strategies,¡± Calculator said. ¡°We can¡¯t know how fast the mind control would take effect. And it seems to be usable on groups.¡±


    ¡°Even if it can¡¯t,¡± Squad Ten interjected. ¡°It would be problematic if it was used on me. I have mental resistance training, but I can¡¯t guarantee to resist such things.¡±


    ¡°How many people can you affect with Mental Freedom?¡± Calculator asked me.


    ¡°Between Midnight and I, 8. Or 9, if two of them are us. But then we¡¯re basically down for the count. No mana left for other stuff.¡±


    ¡°Then it should be yourselves, Dart, Squad Ten, and Sir Kalman. Assuming bringing her down negates or at least loosens the control.¡±


    Lustre cleared his throat. Everyone locked eyes on him. ¡°I know I¡¯m not the greatest offensive threat but I don¡¯t think you should underestimate what happens if I¡¯m compromised.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I¡¯ll be recommending you sit out this particular one. We¡¯re not expecting a great many guards here. And I would expect a mental manipulator to be more resistant to your particular abilities to begin with. You¡¯re welcome to convince me otherwise, and I¡¯m not the final say but¡­¡± he shrugged.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s fair,¡± Lustre admitted, ¡°I can remain on standby.¡±


    ¡°What about me?¡± Agent Smoke asked.


    Lady Recollection answered that. ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to end up in direct combat anyway. We were planning to just have you flood the factory floor, but¡­ the Building and Safety Division was quite against it. Leaving machinery unsupervised and more relevantly potentially having innocent workers fall unconscious¡­¡± she shook her head. ¡°It would be better if you simply helped secure the perimeter instead of going in.¡±


    ¡°And me?¡± Current brought the attention to herself. ¡°I can turn off any troublesome machinery, but I¡¯d likely have to go inside.¡±


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I was able to answer that, ¡°That would leave me with a tolerable amount of mana left, as long as we don¡¯t have to fight many other supers¡­¡± Something around two chain lightnings. A little less, since I was keeping up Translation on Sir Kalman, but I could instead throw out four or five Sonic Lances. Or maybe just stick to support¡­ nah, that sounded like garbage experience. I needed to fight.


    -----


    The ability to be prepared for certain contingencies was very useful, and the good new was even if we were wrong about the particulars of this woman¡¯s powers Mental Freedom would still be helpful. Unless everything was a massive ruse and she was controlling every physical action of the dwarves including having them chatter in a language she barely seemed to speak. Though her speaking it at all was¡­ weird. She definitely seemed like a local super, not someone from my world. Then again, mind powers.


    ¡°Man,¡± I said to Midnight as we wrapped up casting Mental Freedom five times. ¡°It really is a pain to buff a bunch of people, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°It would be nice if we could cover everyone at once,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°But everything affects just one person. Except us, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°And Squad Ten,¡± I said. He¡¯d been a little bit reluctant to do tests- probably being secretive about his powers- but ultimately we determined that I could apply stuff to all of him if he allowed it. It didn¡¯t necessarily work if he wasn¡¯t trying to make it possible, though that could have been subconscious resistance. Either way, Squad Ten was more a single person than Midnight and I. We just had a bond as mage and familiar plus a Celmothian mental bond sort of haphazardly included.


    We were looking at a warehouse that should ultimately just be one large factory floor. Nominally it was producing some sort of cybernetic parts, but it was unclear if that was actually the case at the current time. Or what the dwarves were there for, as it seemed to have taken a while to actually get them working, and they still might not be doing whatever was wanted of them.


    Maybe they had strong willpower, or the mind controller¡¯s power was limited somehow. It would be nice if she was weak and everything went smoothly, but I wasn¡¯t going to count on it. Then again, if I said it was going to be easy I might jinx it. Then we could have a big fight and I would get a lot of experience.


    Nah. Not worth the complaints.


    It was unfortunate we couldn¡¯t just smash open the doors, but we were here to rescue people. Including potentially mind controlled ones. We had a couple people rigged up with megaphones, for official announcements in english and dwarven. Funnily enough, heroes might have had more leeway to smash through a high window or something like that. But we definitely couldn''t do that working with Crown Forces. Nor did we have anyone who could fly or that was particularly good at climbing, so it was a moot point anyway.


    ¡°Petalton Mechatronics!¡± Squad Ten made the announcement from literally all over, as the official representative of Crown Forces along with Current. ¡°All operating staff are under arrest for supervillainy and other crimes to be enumerated later! Come out with your hands up!¡±


    We didn¡¯t wait around to see if anyone would. Because they never did. Instead, Sir Kalman raised his sword up high, where it sparkled in the sun, ready to bring it down and smash through the door.


    Until Current just grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. ¡°Electronic lock. Literally less secure than a doorstop.¡±


    Sir Kalman kept his sword ready as he held up his shield and the megaphone in his other hand. ¡°How does this¡­?¡± he pressed the button and could hear it working. ¡°Fellow dwarves, I know you might be confused as to your current circumstances, but we are here to help! Please gather around in an orderly fashion.¡±


    We all moved in, with Midnight running beneath tables and conveyor belts and squeezing into areas we couldn¡¯t to scout things out. Sir Kalman was in front, with Dart just a bit behind him. Current stopped a little bit inside, ducking down and placing her hands on part of the assembly line. I was behind Dart, with Squad Ten bringing up the rear.


    I couldn¡¯t see much with all the machinery in the way, just some vague shapes of people moving about, but nobody immediately opened fire or anything as we stepped in.


    After we turned down the first row of machines we met a middle aged man determined to prove me wrong. His hands were in the air, and he called out as he heard us turning the corner. ¡°I surrender!¡±


    The man was dressed in clothing not too out of place for a factory environment, including thick work gloves. Sir Kalman stepped forward, his sword pointed vaguely towards the man. ¡°Don¡¯t give us any trouble and things will go much better for you.¡±


    Something was weird. I recognized the feeling. Sir Kalman¡¯s sword pointed near the man¡¯s wrist but as soon as I began to say, ¡°Watch out for-¡± it was already too late. Two of the man¡¯s fingers grabbed the tip of Sir Kalman¡¯s sword and flicked it out of his grip¡­ which was a sight to see, because the dwarf was yanked a full step forward in the process. It took a lot to make him move.


    That was the man¡¯s left hand. His right came down, and he¡­ flicked Sir Kalman on the forehead. Dart and I ducked as Sir Kalman turned into a projectile. One of Squad Ten got taken down, being packed in somewhat tighter.


    ¡°It¡¯s only his hands!¡± I called out.


    ¡°Digits,¡± Dart said sternly.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s the whole-¡±


    ¡°Dart.¡± Oh she wasn¡¯t correcting me. Seemed like they knew each other. Or at least knew of each other.


    Dart¡¯s tongue shot out. The man¡¯s arms moved strangely, and his fingers curled around her tongue. He didn¡¯t yank his arm, but instead with just his wrists and fingers he caught her tongue in his gloved hands. A quick movement tossed her much further than it made sense for her to move given the physics involved. He didn¡¯t even bend his elbow or shoulder, so she should at most have jerked forward half a foot. But instead she went flying into the wall.


    Ugh. I stuck out my hand, casting Sonic Lance. The man Dart identified as Digits literally backhanded my spell with a flick of his wrist, and the machine next to him exploded. Well, his power might all be in his hands but he had pretty good senses, given my spells was basically invisible.


    He began to walk calmly towards me, and I calmly backed away to the side¡­ providing ample room for Squad Ten to bring the man down. A hail of gunfire rained down on the man- theoretically rubber bullets, but in such numbers they would probably kill most people. But there was only a very short burst of fire before Squad Ten stopped shooting to get cover of his own¡­ because dozens of bullets ricocheted in all directions.


    Wow, this guy was annoying. I began to gather mana for a Chain Lightning, one which would involve a little trick. But I stopped before I got there, sensing something.


    Digits noticed as well, spinning his body and swinging his arms down. But they couldn¡¯t reach Midnight, who charged in and clawed the man¡¯s shin. With Shocking Grasp, of course. The man stepped, trying to stomp on Midnight¡­ and in some brilliant maneuvering Midnight brushed against his other leg with a second quick cast of Shocking Grasp. Jolts of electricity went up both of the man¡¯s legs as Midnight dashed underneath, causing him to entangle his legs with each other as his arms still tried desperately to get close to Midnight.


    Supers were more resilient than others, but it seemed most of Digits everything was in his hands. He toppled forward, catching himself in something like a pushup position. Two bursts rang out. The man¡¯s shoulders crumpled, and with that the rest of him.


    Squad Ten stomped forward- just one of him. ¡°Restraining this guy¡¯s gonna be a real pain,¡± he muttered as he walked past. Then he raised his voice. ¡°Just so you know, if you resist again I¡¯m just shooting you in the head.¡±


    The man groaned in pain as Squad Ten grabbed the man¡¯s upper arms and yanked them behind his back, fitting a multi-size restraint around his biceps sequentially. That must have hurt like hell with his shoulder shot out, but I wasn¡¯t going to pity him too much. He was the one who faked a surrender. Fighting straightforwardly I could respect. Surrendering I could respect. This? Not so much.


    Digits struggled to reach his restraints, but it was a very tough position for his hands to reach. It might be possible with his shoulders as they were, but that was also the other thing keeping him from pushing that far. After a few grunts of pain he gave up. Squad Ten stomped down to shackle the man¡¯s legs while at the same time reporting on the radio with another of him.


    Dart was just climbing to her feet, and Sir Kalman was staggering back in through the hole in the warehouse wall.


    ¡°That was a good one, Midnight,¡± I said.


    ¡°Good thing the guy didn¡¯t know how to use his toes, huh?¡±


    I focused on the man¡¯s feet, frowning. Nope, no power there. Boots would have been in the way anyway. ¡°Yeah.¡± What a weird power. That said, we could have probably just kneecapped him if we¡¯d been expecting him.

 Chapter 201

    Squad Ten dragged the guy known as Digits out of the warehouse as the rest of him and us avoided the guy¡¯s hands, just in case. He would be watched, and Squad Ten could immediately tell us if something went wrong. So what else was here? I felt¡­ one strong power, and a bundle of weaker ones.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s just the mind control lady and the dwarves,¡± I said. ¡°Pretty much nobody here to keep them captive or defend the place.¡± Except the mind control and Digits. To be fair, the guy seemed pretty powerful in an individual capacity.


    Sir Kalman was back in front, a clear dent in his helmet and a trickle of blood running down his face. But he obviously didn¡¯t care as he moved along with us. I watched the machinery somewhat nervously, but the sounds were gradually getting quieter and quieter as it began to shut down via Current¡¯s interference.


    I felt power reaching out for Sir Kalman. And he continued to stomp forward, ignoring it. Then, what could only be the figure of the mind controlly woman rapidly began to grow more distance.


    ¡°She¡¯s running!¡± I said. ¡°But we¡¯ve got the captives in our way first.¡±


    ¡°Leave them to me,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Find a way around if you can.¡±


    I would have loved to, but the place was pretty cramped to begin with, and with a dozen dwarves together- including Sir Kalman- there really wasn¡¯t a chance to go past.


    ¡°We can¡¯t have you interrupting our work site,¡± the leader among them- Scrag, wasn¡¯t it?- held a very large wrench in his hand, slapping it into his palm.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t your work site,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Remember your home back in Granbold?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± the one we¡¯d heard called Gerard replied. ¡°What do you think we¡¯re working for? To send uh¡­ coins¡­ back home?¡±


    Sir Kalman shook his head. ¡°No. That is not the case.¡± He began to radiate a golden light. I was kind of worried about what might happen as he strode forward.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. Get him boys!¡±


    Sir Kalman had sheathed his sword as he approached the group. With one hand he caught Scrag¡¯s wrench, while blocking another half dozen with his shield. A good few still clanged against his armor.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get your head straight,¡± Sir Kalman declared, headbutting Scrag.


    Scrag staggered back. ¡°Stupid paladin, interfering with our¡­ work?¡± Scrag looked around. ¡°We came here to¡­ do something with these machines? Agh, why can¡¯t I remember? Hey, guys, what are you doing?¡±


    The answer was pummeling Sir Kalman. But one by one he slapped them upside the head, conked them with his shield, or most often smashed his head against their own. Each time he did that, they became more confused¡­ and then ultimately they stopped.


    Dart was still looking for an opportunity to squeeze by, and Squad Ten had no hope. I was looking for other trouble, but Midnight had just run back. ¡°She¡¯s gone¡­¡± he said. ¡°Into some locked door. I didn¡¯t have the mana to pop it open.¡±


    A good Sonic Lance or two would open most doors, but with him having already spent a good two-thirds of his mana on two casts of Mental Freedom it didn¡¯t leave an awful lot. It would be nice when he had some more levels¡­ but he didn¡¯t want to try my current methods of increasing maximum mana separately, which I supposed was fair. It kinda hurt to overload on mana crystals.


    ¡°So uh,¡± Scrag was standing in front of the rest of the dwarves now, clearly subdued. ¡°What is going on?¡±


    ¡°Your heads were messed with,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°I am projecting an aura that should help. It¡¯s more effective up close.¡±


    ¡­ Is that why he headbutted them? I felt like there had to be better ways. Then again, I couldn¡¯t think of any at the moment, especially since he did need to affect their heads. ¡°How long can you keep that up?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A few minutes at least. Maybe half an hour,¡± Sir Kalman said. As he turned to speak to me, I could see more than a few significant dents in his armor. He hadn¡¯t been willing to cause these mind controlled fellows any real damage, and took a beating for it. And that after the thing with that Digits guy.


    At this point, I¡¯d lost track of the mind control lady. The tight confines of the warehouse factory had made it difficult to chase her- not that we¡¯d ever gotten within sight of her. That part was kind of unfortunate, actually. It would be harder to track her down later.


    Squad Ten got on the radio. ¡°Seems one of our targets might have escaped. Anyone spot anything?¡±


    No replies came in the affirmative.


    Sir Kalman shook his head. ¡°I am uncertain what will happen when I run out of mana. I would prefer to prioritize our rescues.¡±


    ¡°Hmmn,¡± I frowned, looking over the dwarves. ¡°Can you explain what kind of mental control you were under?¡±


    The leader among them, Scrag, scratched his beard. ¡°I can¡¯t quite say. I mostly felt like I was acting like myself. Except¡­ my memories were all screwed up? I think they might still be,¡± he grimaced.


    ¡°Do we have any memory fixers available¡­ promptly?¡± I asked via our comms.


    ¡°Not rapidly available, unfortunately,¡± came the response from Lady Recollection. ¡°Unfortunately, my own powers are a different sort of path.¡±


    I nodded, then leaned closer to Sir Kalman, ¡°Unfortunately, we might have to restrain them for a short time. I can potentially help a few of them fight back, but¡­¡±


    ¡°I get it,¡± Sir Kalman nodded. ¡°Alright lads, I¡¯m going to need you to trust me. Clearly you didn¡¯t choose to be here. And with your minds in a right state, I¡¯m going to have to ask you to submit yourself to temporary restraints. So no more of this happens.¡±


    As he was speaking, I pulled out several of my largest mana crystals. I kept making them occasionally to make sure I had a stock for emergencies. I could only handle so much in a day- approximately three larger ones or an equivalent number of smaller ones. I squeezed one in my grip, letting the mana flow into me. In approximately one minute, I would have the full amount it could provide. The same was true of smaller crystals- which meant the larger ones were more efficient timewise, though less efficient to make.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Scrag, right?¡± I addressed the lead dwarf, as the group began subjecting themselves to restraints. They weren¡¯t happy, but they understood. Especially since Scrag himself agreed. ¡°I¡¯m going to cast a spell on you. Mental Freedom. If the fake memories start coming back, I need you to fight them, okay?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± he agreed- though he did look to Sir Kalman for confirmation that my spell would be helpful.


    ¡°Great,¡± I said. It would be 9 points of mana for that. I didn¡¯t want to skimp on it by using the discounted cost. ¡°I can get one more right now. Who¡¯s the best second?¡± Midnight was probably close to having sufficient mana for a third, but we¡¯d figure that out later.


    ¡°Gerard,¡± he said. ¡°He¡¯s the one we most need in charge of his faculties besides myself.¡±


    Truthfully, I wasn¡¯t certain Mental Freedom would help as much against an effect already in place¡­ but hopefully its originator being away would help. By the time everyone was comfortably restrained, I had absorbed two more emergency crystals. Squad Ten had checked out the rest of the warehouse, ultimately finding a little escape hatch. Probably where that lady escaped through.


    I moved towards Gerard, wishing I could use my magic on more people at once without it being so expensive. For a second, I felt like it almost might be possible¡­ but as I sat at the full mana for the spell, the feeling began to slip out of my grasp. I didn¡¯t want to waste it, so I simply made sure it affected the dwarf as intended.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to release my aura now,¡± Sir Kalman said to the dwarves. ¡°I want you to remember what this felt like. And remember where you¡¯re really from. This isn¡¯t it. Should be pretty obvious.¡±


    Everyone watched with anticipation. As soon as his aura faded away, a few dwarves began to complain. ¡°You can¡¯t just come into our work and tie us up like this! The foreman will have your head!¡± However, though they said that¡­ they seemed to either understand that we were working for lawful authorities or simply that we had enough power. They didn¡¯t really struggle much.


    Scrag¡¯s face was tight, his eyes closed in concentration, and Gerard as well. After a few minutes, Scrag let out a deep breath, sweat dripping down his forehead. ¡°Can¡¯t believe I ever fell for this. That lady¡¯s magic, I mean,¡± he clarified. ¡°She kinda made us forget getting captured, I guess. But there was a huge disconnect between where we had been and where we ended up. And nobody even introduced us to our jobs!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the worst part,¡± Gerard agreed. ¡°What were we even supposed to have been doing here? Seriously, they only made me use artificer magic recently, and these things still just produced weird junk.¡±


    ¡°Someone more qualified in the area of¡­ technology will have to answer that,¡± Sir Kalman said to the dwarves. ¡°So, you good to be let go?¡±


    ¡°I certainly won¡¯t be hitting you with a wrench,¡± Scrag said. ¡°Head¡¯s a little fuzzy, but I don¡¯t feel any reason to do stupid crap anymore.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d wait,¡± I said. ¡°Until after Mental Freedom wears off. See if it sticks. We don¡¯t have any precedent for how this particular power works.¡±


    ¡°How long is that?¡± Gerard asked.


    ¡°About an hour,¡± I said. ¡°I could try to end the effect early, but I¡¯d probably keep rooting around in your head and make sure there¡¯s no junk left in there.¡±


    Gerard grumbled to himself. ¡°Gonna club that woman upside the head if I see her again.¡±


    ¡°An excellent idea,¡± I said. ¡°Though I might suggest throwing something heavy from a distance.¡±


    After we double and triple checked to make certain the memory modifier was no longer around, people began to secure the factory while people distributed information to important departments.


    Among other things, the Building and Safety Division was determining who owned the second warehouse that the short escape tunnel led to. It was possible that they were careless and that the villains had built a connection to their warehouse unknown- in which case they would only receive a small fine for negligence- or they might be complicit, in which case the bureaucracy would have a larger group of people to begin sorting through.


    Digits was taken away in his thorough restraints, and we were left wondering why they had two supers at this warehouse. Either they weren¡¯t expecting anyone, in which case our as of yet unnamed mind messing lady would have been sufficient for continuing to mess with the dwarves, or they should have had more. This Digits guy had been weirdly powerful considering how specific his powers were, but they had to know what force we could bring to bear. Unless this place was less connected to the other villains we were bringing down, but the fact that they had victims from the same slaving scheme meant there was at least some connection. Maybe we¡¯d just gotten enough for them to not warn others.


    Wouldn¡¯t that be nice. Fully wrapping up a crime ring and not having more problems from it in the future.


    But back on Earth, Scrag was rubbing his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think memories are meant to come and go so¡­ forcefully,¡± he said. ¡°Glad to be back to a state where more things make sense. Except I still don¡¯t know where the hell I am.¡±


    ¡°You got taken through a portal to another world,¡± I explained. ¡°Which is further removed than another plane.¡±


    ¡°But why? Why us?¡±


    ¡°I dunno. Maybe they expected dwarves to be inherently talented working with machines,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°That¡¯s what we have schools for!¡± the dwarf huffed. ¡°Nobody just knows things.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say it made sense. Though to be fair, Gerard there is an artificer and could actually do some of that stuff.¡±


    The second dwarf shrugged, ¡°Still need to know how things work to make real progress.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded. Khithae already knew how a lot of technological stuff worked- perhaps even more advanced than what was on Earth. Then she was exposed to a portal. Now that I thought about it, she only had the growth-through-effort part of the system. I wondered if we should fix that. Then again, to people here her powers fit in more as they were. But I didn¡¯t know any disadvantage to having more options. Extra might not like me dragging people between worlds, though. And that was a problem for when I was back in New Bay.


    The good news was that Mental Freedom was sufficient to revert the memory changes- or at least let these fellows recognize false memories. We were still going to get them checked out by people who knew what they were doing, of course, but the two leader folks were able to calm down the rest. Because even the common fellows recognized their memories were hazy, and they¡¯d be willing to trust those they respected. Enough to wait for further help.


    I wondered. Could I do that thing I¡¯d almost tried? And why had it failed? Maybe it was something impossible, just a feeling I dreamed up. Most of the rest of what I¡¯d tried showed some sort of result otherwise. Then again, casting a spell at full effect on multiple people¡­ that was crazy, right?


    As crazy as learning new things without points. So I definitely had to try.

 Chapter 202

    It was rather difficult to test things on a group without a group, so in addition to Midnight and I, we got Sir Kalman, Calculator, Current, and Lustre to volunteer. It would have been easier to just get Squad Ten if we wanted a group, but he was also just one person so for this particular scenario that wasn¡¯t actually helpful. Ultimately, we got the people with nothing to do¡­ and Calculator who wanted to be there for experiments.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be starting off with something simple,¡± I explained. ¡°Force Armor doesn¡¯t use a lot of mana and doesn¡¯t have a lot of risk if something goes weird. So we¡¯ll be attempting that.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the purpose here again?¡± Lustre asked. If others had been free it would have been better to not have him, because his power literally involved distraction. But as long as he wasn¡¯t trying, the effect wasn¡¯t too bad.


    ¡°I want to cast a spell on multiple people.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you do that already?¡± he asked.


    I shook my head. ¡°Only one at a time. In a combat scenario, that means both the time to shape sufficient mana as well as the required downtime between casts.¡±


    ¡°It might also use less mana total,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Given the potential that such a thing acts like a higher level spell. Though that¡¯s an extrapolation from¡­ unreliable literature.¡±


    ¡°He means fantasy wikis,¡± I said. ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t know if crossdimensional inspiration will be right about this particular thing, but it could be. And I had a feeling that it might be possible. So, let¡¯s get started. Everyone gather round, please.¡±


    Force Armor and many other spells were best cast from close up. Often touching, but it wasn¡¯t actually required. I gathered mana for Force Armor, reached out and¡­ a flash of light sent me staggering back. Well, that was better than when Midnight and I first attempted Shocking Grasp together. Which is why I had been trying Force Armor. But it didn¡¯t stick to anyone and kind of fizzled away.


    I frowned. ¡°Okay, clearly I need to be more specific with my aiming.¡± I had been thinking of everyone at once, maybe I needed a primary target that it would sprout from? Like Chain Lightning. But without the lightning part. Just Force Armor.


    I concentrated. Gathered a small bit of mana. Even before I cast, I knew it wasn¡¯t correct. Well, it technically worked, but only as a normal casting. Sir Kalman had the spell on him, but nobody else.


    ¡°You need more mana,¡± Midnight advised.


    ¡°Well, yeah. It¡¯s obvious when you say it, of course,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Hmm, I suppose we have to remove that now.¡±


    Sir Kalman nodded. He swung his gauntleted fist into his own chest. The first swing cracked the Force Armor, revealing its form as mana trickled out of cracks in nothing. The second one shattered it, and it was gone. It was kind of terrifying that Kalman could do so much damage with such a bad angle. That was basically as much as cracking a skull right in front of your own chest. Then again, we knew he was strong.


    ¡°Next attempt,¡± I said. I didn¡¯t want to jump too much at once, so I went for double the base cost of the spell, trying to target Kalman and if I got a secondary target from there Lustre. Once more, the spell affected Sir Kalman- but the extra mana intended for Lustre simply fizzled away. ¡°Double wasn¡¯t enough,¡± I frowned.


    ¡°I¡¯d expect triple or quadruple,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Though in your case it might also increase to an odd number from where it is, given the wider range of spell levels.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°It would cost a lot more to try every point of mana, but I felt like I was getting closer.¡±


    Midnight nodded, ¡°There was something.¡±


    I pondered. Triple the cost was next. Triple the cost for two castings was less mana efficient, so unless I had vast quantities of mana and extremely little time, it would be inefficient. But maybe that was how things were going to be. Or maybe I was tricking myself, and this wasn¡¯t actually possible.


    Triple. 6 mana, since I didn¡¯t want to assume the cost reductions from upgrades would apply in this situation. Sir Kalman and Lustre. I felt the spell take hold on the two of them, but between the three of us erupted a quantity of leftover magic that immediately shattered the Force Armor just formed- both theirs and mine.


    ¡°Ugh, what?¡± I held my head. ¡°Double isn¡¯t enough, but triple is¡­ far too much?¡±


    ¡°It worked though, right?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°I felt it form on the two of them. Before it broke.¡±


    Calculator poked his head closer. ¡°Indeed, I saw the visual effects. Mage, how many targets were you envisioning?¡±


    ¡°Well it hadn¡¯t gotten to two yet, so it was just them,¡± I said.


    ¡°And what proportion of the mana would it have taken to cause such an explosion in the middle there?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really sure,¡± I said. ¡°Honestly, uncontrolled like that it shouldn¡¯t have been able to break the armor. Because magic should be less powerful when unintentional. I think. To be honest, a year ago I wouldn¡¯t have thought it could be¡­ inexact.¡±


    ¡°Regardless,¡± Calculator said. ¡°It should require at least one more target. And it may do you well to consider a fourth. I must ask, did you get an ability for this?¡±


    Looking at my status window, I shook my head. ¡°Nope, nothing. I probably have to do it right, first.¡±


    Fourth attempt. This time, it would be 6 mana again. Three targets? No, four was best. And one of them being myself or Midnight would be¡­ a bad idea at the moment. So that meant everyone.


    ¡°Okay, everyone get ready. I won¡¯t be using more mana so the worst that can happen is¡­ that again. But I¡¯m including you two now also,¡± I pointed to Calculator and Current. The two of them nodded.


    6 mana. It should at least affect Calculator as well. Current was in my mind as the final target if there was enough mana. And if it split a weaker version between everyone, we¡¯d still learn something. I held onto the mana for a brief moment before releasing it with my mental command. I was worried about another backfire or¡­ something. But instead the magic settled in place without a fuss.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    A quick tap on everyone with something sharp confirmed the presence of Force Armor, though I could sense the active spell regardless.


    ¡°I guess it worked,¡± I said.


    Time to check this window.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 32


    Experience: 2748/2805


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +5 (4|1)


    Firebolt +4 (3|1)


    Shocking Grasp +5 (3|2)


    Grease +3 (2|1)


    Force Armor +7 (6|1)


    Mage''s Reach +4 (2|2)


    Translation +2 (1|1)


    Alter Time Flow +5 (4|1)


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +7 (4|3)


    Enlarge +2


    Energy Ward +3 (2|1)


    Sonic Lance +4 (3|1)


    Scrying +3 (1|2)


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +3 (2|1)


    Mana Crystal Deposition +4 (1|3)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +2


    Basic Light Magic +2 (1|1)


    Locate Object +2


    Alter Portal +1 (0|1)


    Gate +3 (2|1)


    Arcane Sight +1 (0|1)


    Sending +2 (0|2)


    Chain Lightning +2 (1|1)


    Clean +1 (0|1)


    Shelter +1 (0|1)


    Assistive Familiar Casting +2 (0|2)


    Locate Creature


    Multicasting


    Remaining Points: 17


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Quite a bit of progress there. Familiar Bond had improved once naturally. I¡¯d spent a good amount of points to get Gate two upgrades, but all my use since returning to Graotan and then Earth had ended up with a natural improvement as well. That also ended up improving Assistive Familiar Casting. Locate Creature hadn¡¯t combined with Locate Object¡­ though I assumed it had to get an improvement for that. Mostly we had been using Scrying, but there was also the odd factor that they were different levels unlike my other combined spells.


    And then there it was. Multicasting. With only one successful use it was difficult to say precisely how it worked, but for precisely Force Armor with a base cost of 2 mana, it cost 6 for four targets. Which was both more time and mana efficient. But there were quite a few experiments yet required.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°Next we should have Midnight attempt this. I don¡¯t expect it to be any different but¡­¡± I shrugged. I explained to him what it felt like. 6 mana, four targets. It wasn¡¯t that crazy or anything.


    Before Midnight could test it, of course, people had to remove the Force Armor in whatever way they were comfortable. Lustre just let Sir Kalman punch him, which ended up with him having a broken nose dripping blood for approximately five seconds. Calculator also asked for Sir Kalman¡¯s assistance, but angled himself so that Force Armor exactly broke and Sir Kalman¡¯s fist slipped past him. Current¡­ well, I just used some of the stored mana in my staff to dispel the effect.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not really meant for¡­ combat roles.¡±


    I didn¡¯t really understand that myself, but that was her choice. And her powers really weren¡¯t geared towards it. She was only here because it was something to do that would still let her rest for whatever we were up to next. Shutting down a whole factory took some effort.


    With the ability officially notated, it wasn¡¯t a surprise that Midnight succeeded the first time. He knew what to do, and our bond helped smooth over any issues. It was probably still something that should have been difficult, but we hadn¡¯t trained together to end up not better at things.


    ¡°Alright, now we need to test for some sort of¡­ level limit?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°So I plan to jump to the next spell that would be most useful for this with the least complications. Which is to say Haste. It¡¯s a good bit more expensive but¡­ it should be manageable.¡± The only things intermediate in cost were Disguise and Energy Ward, and the former had weird choices that I didn¡¯t want to mess around with for purposes of Multicasting. Energy Ward would probably be fine, but I just wanted to know if this spell would work.


    15 mana. This would also serve as a test of whether or not upgrades and ¡®overcasting¡¯ to improve power applied in this scenario. Specifically, Calculator would be determining whether things were closer to three or four times in terms of relative time. Though a simple timer would tell us the duration, which was also one of the factors.


    I was worried the spell might not split in four. Or that there might be some other factor at play. We were only assuming a triple cost. It could have scaled higher or it might be less for a different spell. But I let my intentions guide my mana, and it felt natural up until the fifteen mark. I could have tried to push past, but I didn¡¯t know to what purpose. Much further and I would reach my fatigue point and risk other issues.


    The magic split out from me and¡­ the small movements people made while standing still were instantly amplified. I heard the sounds of accelerated conversation. Though it was our job to make sure they could see examples of ¡®normal¡¯ movement for Calculator¡¯s sake.


    ¡°Looks like it worked from here,¡± I said to Midnight. ¡°It¡¯s not that different from before, of course. But if we can save a quarter of our mana costs, I feel like we can accomplish a lot.¡±


    ¡°I suppose this would make me mainly responsible for augmenting the two of us?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think you can actually cast it like this,¡± I admitted. ¡°Fatigue points and all that. It would be a few levels.¡±


    Soon enough the experiment was done. Or rather, it was one minute from my perspective. Pretty much exactly, which meant¡­


    ¡°No upgrades,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Though I assumed as much. The flimsiness of that Force Armor¡­¡± he shook his head.


    ¡°That¡¯s too bad,¡± I said. ¡°And if that¡¯s the case¡­ it might actually be better to manually Haste people. It would be 1 more mana for both a greater effect and longer duration on four people. But,¡± I held up a finger. ¡°I suspect it follows the same rules as Assistive Familiar Casting. Which is to say, its own upgrades limit the base spell. I¡­ assume.¡± I shrugged, ¡°We won¡¯t know until we can get at least one upgrade. Which would cost¡­¡± How much would it cost? Mentally half-spending the points, I estimated 10. Which I could spend, but I kind of wanted to go for natural upgrades which still seemed easier to get first. And with no guarantee how that upgrade would help, I decided to save the points.


    Calculator¡¯s phone got his attention. Then he sighed.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Just realizing that a city-wide portal event in New Bay is no longer enough to merit a high priority message to me.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯d it beep then?¡± I asked.


    He looked around at us. ¡°A good question, isn¡¯t it? We¡¯ll be going to Lady Recollection to meet with her on this topic. But it appears that someone failed to follow supervillain separation protocol and an incident has occurred.¡±


    ¡°... What does that mean?¡± Current asked, looking down as her own phone got a message as well. ¡°Oh. They just all escaped together?¡±


    ¡°All of who?¡± Sir Kalman asked as we strode towards the hall.


    ¡°Every super we secured in the last week,¡± Calculator replied.


    ¡°So we did all that for nothing?¡± Lustre complained.


    Calculator shook his head. ¡°We still rescued quite a few people, and there are a good number of individuals still in containment. Just not the supers.¡±


    That was a shame. Someone really screwed up. But it wasn¡¯t us and ultimately this meant the Power Brigade was doubtless going to get paid again so things weren¡¯t that bad. Kind of a shame, though. A proper break would have been nice.

 Chapter 203

    Everyone was gathered around for an emergency meeting. Midnight looked around at everyone else before speaking. ¡°So¡­ how did these people all break out?¡±


    Calculator shook his head. Lady Recollection sighed, ¡°That is one of the first things we will be investigating. They weren¡¯t supposed to even be at the same location. It has to have been the work of that mental super.¡±


    ¡°Actually¡­¡± Calculator frowned. ¡°Unless every security protocol failed, it¡¯s impossible for such a situation to occur without the intentional assistance of insiders.¡± He saw the looks people were giving him and raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that I did consider the other options. But having gone through them all, it ultimately came down to this. Alternatively, this unknown super has been slowly infiltrating local organizations in the long term. But you should be prepared to do some restructuring.¡±


    Lady Recollection looked defeated. ¡°Crown Forces look like a joke.¡±


    I had a thought, but I didn¡¯t say it out loud. It felt weird to not just say what I was thinking, but perhaps this was progress. Or maybe I was being twisted by politics. Either way, it didn¡¯t seem that bad to me that there was a breakout just as a group was being secured. Was it really any worse than Stargirl escaping? Or rather, Darkstargirl now.


    ¡°Well, come on then,¡± Lady Recollection said. ¡°We must go assess the location in person.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°What are the chances that it¡¯s a trap and they¡¯re all still there, including the mind control and memory altering lady?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not impossible,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Especially with Switch there, altering the security camera footage.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Lady Recollection said. ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to approach with caution. You two can protect people against mental influence, correct?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not perfect, but yes,¡± I nodded. ¡°Up to four people is fairly simple¡­ eight would mean we couldn¡¯t do much else.¡±


    We discussed as we made our way to the vehicles. Ultimately, it was determined that we should protect Squad Ten, Dart, Lustre, and Sir Kalman. Calculator was here in more of an advisory role, and while he was more than capable in combat that wasn¡¯t his main strength. With Midnight and I sharing one Mental Freedom and our new Multicasting ability, we spent about as much mana as we would have for four people previously. A bit more, given the missing mana efficiency from upgrades, but it would require six upgrades in Variable Freedom before Multicasting would lose out on efficiency. And by that point¡­ I really hoped Multicasting would get an upgrade. Sure, it was new and I couldn¡¯t expect it to grow terribly rapidly, but slight increases would still be significant.


    We went the the holding facility- notably not the maximum security one most of them were supposed to be in- and the six of us approached ahead of the others. A quick circle of the facility and its alert guards revealed a brand new hole in a back wall, with security standing around it nervously. Rubble had burst out away from the facility and only barely been cleared away from where they were currently standing.


    We moved to the front and approached with caution, but I didn¡¯t sense any super activity except from the facility itself. It could have been covering up a bunch of hidden supers, but ultimately we had to make our approach eventually. The looks of relief on the guards seemed genuine, and I didn¡¯t sense any lingering power on them.


    They saluted. ¡°The director should be inside. He arrived just before you.¡±


    ¡°We need to sweep the facility first,¡± Squad Ten declared. One of him walked bravely next to Sir Kalman. Was that a copy? Or were people just supposed to think it was? Well, either way I knew his copies were all offensively viable, and he would know what the best defensive option would be.


    It took us a while to get through the layers of security, which was ironic because we could have saved so much time going in the back through the big hole. Once in the area of the cells, we saw bent and twisted bars. It was a relatively small facility, since each cell rated for supers of any level could be rather expensive.


    The only real oddity we found was that there was one woman in a cell. Specifically, one that was still twisted open. When Sir Kalman stomped towards her cell, she held up her hands. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know anythin¡¯! I was just booked for shoplifting and then all these looneys tore the place apart.¡±


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you in a secured cell?¡± Squad Ten asked.


    She shook her head. ¡°This was my cell and nobody moved me to another one.¡±


    ¡°You appear to speak the truth,¡± Sir Kalman said.


    ¡°Uh¡­ thanks?¡± the woman tilted her head.


    He nodded. ¡°We should go find this director.¡±


    After we checked out the last few cells and found nothing different, we made our way back through security. Though realistically, there was only exactly one inmate to worry about. Squad Ten was remaining in contact with the rest, and we had confirmed the official side of her story. A simple shoplifting arrest- though with powers involved any crime was a step more severe.


    ¡°Thank goodness you¡¯re here!¡± a well dressed man stepped out of a nearby door as we approached. ¡°This has been a crazy night.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Director Abrahams?¡± Squad Ten asked.


    ¡°That I am,¡± he nodded. ¡°Come in. Let me explain what I know.¡±


    His office was large enough to not be cramped with two well armored individuals, my largish frame with Midnight on my shoulder, plus Lustre and Dart. Though any more might have been an issue.


    ¡°The prisoners seemed to be reasonably well behaved¡­¡± Director Abrahams began. ¡°Everything was going well, until one of the guards seems to have loosed the restrictions on that ¡®Digits¡¯ fellow. At least, that¡¯s the theory we¡¯re working with. I¡¯ve been reviewing the security footage to try to find the exact moment.¡±


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    ¡°Let¡¯s see it,¡± Squad Ten. ¡°I¡¯d like to go over it in detail.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± the director said. ¡°I have the timestamp right here. As you can see, he enters the cell at this time. Then he changes Digits'' restraints from spread arms to either side to simply locked in front of him. And it¡¯s likely that the power suppression was insufficient as well.¡±


    That sounded weird. Specifically, that they would even have restraints with insufficient power suppression. Then again, it was easy to say why things ended up as a disaster after the fact. Maybe everything seemed reasonable at the time. Or perhaps it was broken. Waves of suspicion and curiosity were also radiating from Midnight.


    Director Abrahams brought up more on his screen, showing it to us. ¡°If we match the video to our employee logs, it appears to be this man here who was responsible, Arne. I was hoping to have your help arresting him. Arne is not supposed to have powers but working with these fellows you can¡¯t be too careful.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Squad Ten said again. ¡°Show me his face in the video again.¡± The process continued like that for a good ten minutes, with Squad Ten clearly looking for something. There was a lot of zooming in on the video, which was quite high quality. I honestly didn¡¯t see how the face could be mistaken for the wrong person. With tech supers existing it might have been meddled with, but it was still a place to start.


    I honestly couldn¡¯t tell what Squad Ten was looking for, and I was beginning to get annoyed. This was a waste of time. Especially since I didn¡¯t need to be in here. I could be out grabbing that guy with Sir Kalman. Fortunately, that problem solved itself soon when he popped in. Along with Lady Recollection, Calculator, and Current. Plus more of Squad Ten.


    ¡°Ah,¡± Director Abrahams said. ¡°The honored Lady Recollection. I see you¡¯ve already found him. Good, that should help me not have to explain things twice.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± she said. ¡°We are aware of what to do.¡± For a guy under arrest, Arne sure didn¡¯t seem particularly restrained. ¡°Director Abrahams, you are under arrest for aiding and abetting supervillainy.¡±


    Huh. Not what I had expected. Nor, apparently, the director. Squad Ten had been rather quick on the cuffs, though. It was like he already knew what was going to happen. Which was¡­ quite reasonable, considering he had also been with Lady Recollection.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± the director said. ¡°Arne was the one who-¡±


    Lady Recollection cut him off. ¡°While he was indeed the one who performed the tasks, he was only following official orders.¡±


    ¡°From who?¡± Director Abrahams said.


    ¡°You, obviously,¡± Sir Kalman said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± Director Abrahams rejected the accusation. ¡°I sent no such orders.¡±


    ¡°You said the orders to me directly,¡± the security guard finally spoke up.


    ¡°A fine excuse to cover yourself,¡± Director Abraham shrugged. ¡°But that¡¯s just your word against mine. When do you say this happened?¡±


    ¡°In the west corridor, right before I went to follow your orders. So about ten minutes before the breakout,¡± Arne said.


    ¡°Then a simple check of the security cameras will reveal the truth,¡± Director Abrahams said. ¡°Just look.¡± Squad Ten was quite happy to take control of the Director¡¯s computer. And the security footage of the area showed¡­ nothing. ¡°See? Now, perhaps I was a bit hasty in my accusations, Arne. After all, there is a memory manipulator associated with this group of supervillains.¡±


    ¡°And how do you know that?¡± Calculator asked. ¡°Because that information is secret.¡±


    ¡°Well I am the director of a security facility. Of course I was apprised of-¡±


    ¡°We specifically didn¡¯t reveal that information,¡± Lady Recollection said. ¡°Just that there was a mental controller.¡±


    ¡°Well perhaps she¡­ manipulated my memory too?¡±


    Lady Recollection sighed. ¡°Sir Kalman, does he appear to be under any mental influence?¡±


    ¡°He certainly seemed in control of his own actions for all of this. And he was lying up a storm earlier. Actual lying, not just being incorrect,¡± Sir Kalman replied.


    ¡°Well then. It appears we must take you in after all, Director,¡± Lady Recollection said.


    ¡°I¡¯m innocent!¡± the man protested. He certainly wanted us to believe that, but even I felt it was a little¡­ desperate? Then again, that would be true of someone innocent.


    ¡°Our investigations will reveal the truth. You don¡¯t have to worry if you are.¡±


    Once he was brought out of the room by a pair of Squad Ten, Lady Recollection looked at the rest of us, then gestured to Current. ¡°If you could attempt returning the security footage to its prior status, that would be excellent. As for the rest of you¡­ the director appears to be unclear on my powers, and I would like to keep it that way.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s only the normal security camera,¡± Current said.


    ¡°We will discuss further away from here.¡±


    -----


    ¡°I saw him give the orders,¡± Lady Recollection said. ¡°I reviewed back from the breakout, after you all determined it was safe to enter. So I know the security footage should have him, unless it was being manipulated during the recording. And if not, we can compare to everything along Arne¡¯s path. Regardless of anything else, that man was following official orders. He might have been more cautious to get it in writing, but from the director¡¯s mouth is still official. And now I have to follow the Director¡¯s former path to determine if there might be some more subtle manipulation¡­ though it does seem most likely he¡¯s one of those involved with the corruption. Obviously he didn¡¯t have the authority to transfer these people here, however.¡±


    ¡°As we discussed,¡± Calculator said. ¡°We¡¯ll have Familiar help escort you, just in case of mental tricks. They can¡¯t afford to get into a big public conflict or it would draw in greater forces. Meanwhile, Mage will be attempting to scry our missing supers.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°Who¡¯s the weakest willed in their group? Digits?¡±


    Calculator stroked his chin. ¡°It certainly won¡¯t be the mental manipulator. Nor the one with confusion powers. But I think it would be that one individual. Iron Bloke. Based on his profile, anyway.¡±


    Dart nodded. ¡°Digits isn¡¯t dumb. Otherwise his power would be¡­ extremely ineffective. That other guy seems like a straightforward ¡®invulnerable¡¯ type¡­ which most likely means extreme gaps in defenses.¡±


    Well. All the mana we spent on Mental Freedom was wasted¡­ or at least it hadn¡¯t been necessary. But I could attempt a Scry or two. And then hopefully I could sleep while people figured out where this group was and planned stuff. If they were smart they¡¯d be trying to flee the area, but in pretty much any direction they went the population density would increase and that meant passing by more supers who could be looking for them. So we could speculate all night about whether they would be taking their time or try to find where they were. Though perhaps we should have had me Scry immediately before going to the escape site, my mana was needed for Mental Freedom and potential combat.


    With every level I got, I always felt like I needed more. At least there was no lack of combat¡­ and if we fought these supers again, I could almost certainly level up. Though perhaps that might only be true if I fought new ones, and that might not be our most effective strategy. Then again, I had barely done anything to Digits and I had a dozen ideas for bringing him down so I thought that would be a good matchup for me.

 Chapter 204

    The process of Scrying began, and I soon felt the resistance of a scrying anchor trying to yank me away from my goal. They must have scavenged one from one of their bases- or this was placed in another one we hadn¡¯t found yet. However, it was once again merely the old versions that Doctor Doomsday had first used, and I was able to wrestle my way past it to reveal a grumpy face.


    Calculator was present, of course, and clearly just as disappointed as myself that we were using a regular mirror and a camera filming from a single angle. All I saw was a bare hallway, concrete walls, some pipes. Nothing that stood out to me. I naturally rotated the view to try to find something. Focusing up and down provided little more.


    I crossed my arms. Perhaps Scrying first really would have been the right choice. We could have probably caught them moving. Surely there must have been something to see. Maybe he would walk somewhere interesting or- no, he was just leaning against the wall now. I would have ended the spell early, but the mana was already expended so we might as well make use of it. And unlike a few other people I¡¯d scried upon, this ¡®Iron Bloke¡¯ didn¡¯t seem to have any idea he was being watched.


    Soon enough he got tired of leaning on the wall, after which he punched it. Turned out the guy wasn¡¯t all defenses, as he broke off a good chunk of concrete from the wall. Sir Kalman had been fighting this guy for a while at a standstill, which said something. It also made a clear comparison to Digits, who knocked Kalman flying. Though some of that was most likely the unexpected nature of his abilities.


    ¡°There,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Focus on that.¡±


    ¡°The wall?¡± I asked. I rotated the view as much as I could to not get Iron Bloke in the path, but I couldn¡¯t exactly zoom in. It didn¡¯t help that he was suddenly stomping away. ¡°Looks like more stone behind it¡­?¡± I said vaguely as the wall faded into the mists, soon followed by everything else as the spell began to reach its end.


    Calculator shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s not just any stone. That¡¯s volcanic rock.¡±


    ¡°So that would mean¡­?¡± It had to mean something. Did they fly out to an island nation? Oh right. ¡°To the west?¡±


    ¡°It could be one of Volcanus¡¯ former lairs. Or just anything out that way that someone co-opted,¡± Calculator shrugged.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there like¡­ a big freeway there?¡± I asked.


    ¡°And nothing else,¡± Calculator pointed out. ¡°Nobody will much take note of some people pulling off to the side in the middle of the night. If we go by those assumptions, we can greatly narrow down our search area. After all, there is only so far they can travel in a certain time frame unless they have another super we don¡¯t know about that would allow them to achieve greater speed without looking like much. Either way, it narrows it down significantly. A fifty mile line instead of hundreds of square miles to search.¡± Calculator glanced over at the various Yew-Kay locals, ¡°That¡¯s about eighty kilometers, not that the precise numbers actually matter for this.¡±


    Squad Ten nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll get this information to Lady Recollection. She was attempting to discover what sort of getaway vehicle they might have so we can spot it elsewhere.¡±


    Calculator gave his sign of approval. ¡°I can give her a narrower timeframe for when they would have had to hit the freeway. Now then, I don¡¯t believe Mage has much mana left¡­ but perhaps we could get Familiar to Scry Digits?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°I have enough for that.¡±


    The mirror filled with mists as the image slowly resolved- Midnight would also have to deal with the scrying anchor, but we did share upgrades. Personal practice still made some difference beyond the level of points, but he had done almost as much as myself.


    Digits shoulders were clearly no longer busted like they had been at the end of our battle. While Crown Forces would have monitored him to make sure no permanent harm would come to him, results like that could only be the work of a super which should only have come into play if necessary. ¡°Did that containment facility have a healing super?¡±


    Calculator nodded, ¡°There was one on staff. We can review the records, but most likely it was the orders of Director Abrahams. And very few healing supers would question something like that.¡±


    I agreed. ¡°On its own, it wouldn¡¯t have been enough for him to break out.¡±


    ¡°Next time I¡¯m cutting his hands off,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°What?¡± he asked when we all looked at him. ¡°Not while he¡¯s incapacitated or anything.¡±


    Personally, it seemed like a pretty good idea to me. And it was one thing to deal with supervillians who committed reasonable crimes like grand theft dairy, and another to deal with slavers.


    The location Digits was in was only slightly more interesting than a hallway. He was sitting at a table alone, drumming his fingers. Shortly after he came into focus he looked around, frowning. Then he flicked his fingers through the air, slightly shaking a glass on the table even when it was close.


    ¡°He¡¯s resisting,¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°Let it go,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Better to let him think it was just an idle feeling than hold it for too long. If he mentions he thought he was being watched, it will make our jobs more difficult.¡±


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    The swirling mists slowly faded away as Midnight let the spell lapse. ¡°Sorry we didn¡¯t get anything.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault,¡± I said. ¡°He just had better senses. So, what do we do now?¡± Midnight and I were pretty tapped out on mana, considering our use of Mental Freedom on everyone. And that was wearing off now, so the only thing I had was my staff, half charged with dispelling juice. I could probably get Sir Kalman to fill that, since he had more mana left.


    ¡°Most of you need to get rest. I¡¯ll work with Lady Recollection to finish the investigations, and we¡¯ll see from there. But most likely you should expect an assault.¡±


    -----


    Sleeping in random places sucked. A technically comfortable bed that wasn¡¯t my own wasn¡¯t that great. I might have even preferred my Shelter spell, except that cost mana and people didn¡¯t like buildings popping up in their cities even temporarily.


    Midnight was better at falling asleep than me, and that helped because once he was out it soothed my mind indirectly. That meant I only spent an hour or two trying to get to sleep instead of four or six.


    How would we fight? How much mana would I have to spend? We¡¯d have to deal with that mind control lady again, so it was going to be a lot for Mental Freedom. 45 mana, which would literally drain me dry by myself. And even splitting with Midnight, we wouldn¡¯t have a whole ton left. That meant mana crystals. How many could I use safely?


    Who would be going with us? Could we handle Digits and the group from the club at the same time as an unknown mental villain? There was the one who confused people. Headspin or something like that. Would her powers burn through Mental Freedom and make us vulnerable to manipulation? Then there was the air control lady. Gust. And Iron Bloke and the cyborg and Digits and¡­ we still hadn¡¯t sent the dwarves back.


    Eventually, I managed to sleep.


    -----


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Midnight asked me as we got in one of the armored transport cars.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I said.


    ¡°What are you worrying about?¡±


    I could have said nothing, but it was probably obvious even to people who couldn¡¯t feel my emotions. ¡°How we fight them. If we¡¯ll have enough mana. Just loading us up with Mental Freedom will leave the two of us low unless we use Mana Crystals.¡±


    ¡°... How much is safe?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°For you? I think two.¡± He could also absorb a mid sized one, but the largest ones I could make were approximately five mana. I didn¡¯t want to push him too far, especially considering his reluctance. And I was uncertain how his smaller size might affect things.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± Midnight said. ¡°If you have them.¡±


    ¡°I have just enough for both of us,¡± I said. It was something I did with spare mana, especially while we were in that high mana ancient plane. I kind of regretted not making more, not that I could use more at once anyway. Three was the safe limit for me in a day. Or an equivalent amount of smaller crystals, which took proportionately longer to absorb, though potentially much less mana to create. Crystals around 3 mana in size might be good, taking about twice as long and being barely more than a third of the cost. But that was only relevant for building up my stocks in the future.


    Calculator and Lady Recollection had stayed up late- or rather, into the morning- verifying the getaway car and its route to the west. It had taken some time to follow the ¡®trail¡¯, but they found where they turned off the road. They hadn¡¯t approached from there, but we would have a tracker with us just in case it was necessary. It shouldn¡¯t be terribly far, though- the chain of volcanoes had only been so wide when they burst up from the seafloor and exploded.


    The volcanic causeway had nothing along it except for a few gas stations and mechanics. On the flight over, Calculator had explained that there had been attempts at tourism stops, but among other things difficult terrain and fighting over what jurisdiction they would be in had meant efforts went nowhere.


    So here we were driving across a land bridge that had pretty well ruined a few ports, with nothing to look at besides some rocks and the road and some ocean stretching to the horizon. It might not have been bad, if there had been more life. And if I hadn¡¯t been tired and grumpy.


    ¡°There will be aquatic heroes watching for any escape attempts,¡± Squad Ten explained to us- he was riding in every vehicle for the sake of convenience. He was also the official member of Crown Forces, so he was in charge of things. ¡°We¡¯re going to verify an entrance as we approach, but we¡¯ve been keeping our operations as subtle as possible to prevent forewarnings. We can expect traps and battle, but we don¡¯t know if they have other supers there. If I say to retreat, we need to do so.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s going against who?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sir Kalman should be able to cause some damage to Iron Bloke, correct?¡±


    The dwarf nodded inside his armor. ¡°Indeed. I¡­ learned a new ability.¡±


    ¡°As long as you can withstand his attacks, any amount of damage is sufficient. We¡¯re not certain about the mental manipulator, but our best bet is for me to take her down with us shielded. If she has deflection abilities, we will adapt. Most likely Gust will be covering for her, however. Dart will target either Iron Bloke or Gust. We will hope that Headspin is minimally effective, but my weaponry should potentially be effective against her or Switch as well. In short, the main objective is to take out Iron Bloke and Digits first.¡±


    ¡°I have a plan for that,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I can just go for his ankles again.¡±


    Squad Ten frowned, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t count on that working twice. Though I will try to shoot out his kneecaps.¡± He tapped one of the guns at his side, ¡°And given that these are escapees and we don¡¯t expect a civilian presence, I¡¯m using standard ammunition.¡±


    ¡°I also have a plan,¡± I said. ¡°He¡¯ll probably block any spells I throw at him, but I think I can slip past. Or alternatively, try to distract him with untouchable light spells. Or trip him up. Or¡­ all of those? Perhaps in a different order.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± Squad Ten said. ¡°There are their tracks,¡± he gestured off the road as we passed by.


    I tilted my head. ¡°... Aren¡¯t we supposed to turn off, then? It¡¯s going to take half an hour to get to a proper turnaround, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Well obviously we¡¯re not going to go directly next to them. That¡¯s where they¡¯d put all the land mines.¡±


    Good point. I¡¯d lead this job to the professionals. Which included some tracker I hadn¡¯t met in the other vehicle.

 Chapter 205

    It was entirely possible that there were exactly zero land mines, or indeed traps of other sorts, outside of this particular lair. However, there was a large difference between assuming that was true when it was not, and assuming that there would be dangers and merely taking a bit longer to approach.


    Some guy named ¡®Gumshoe¡¯ was leading the way, though he didn¡¯t seem to have any gum at all on his shoes. I guess that would be related to him activating his power¡­? Well, we should have probably seen that already considering he was the tracker leading us to them.


    We trudged along on pumice and obsidian and other volcanic rock that probably normally wouldn¡¯t be piled all on top of each other¡­ but normally there wasn¡¯t a chain of volcanoes that sprang up all in one place all at the same time. So it was hard to say what the ¡®natural¡¯ look for this place might even be.


    As we approached, Midnight and I provided Mental Freedom for people while consuming mana crystals to replenish our mana. He was more conservative, while I used enough to stop close to my safe limit. This wasn¡¯t a group I had a long history with or anything, but it was personal. They snatched up my people, and I wasn¡¯t going to accept that even if I wasn¡¯t really part of that world anymore. Sir Kalman doubtless felt even more strongly.


    We came to a dead end, where the tracks suddenly stopped. Even I could see that, as tire tracks were pretty obvious wherever there was a bit of dirt.


    ¡°Looks like they went into a secret door,¡± Gumshoe gestured at some boulders and the like. He fiddled with a smoking pipe in his mouth- but the thing wasn¡¯t lit. ¡°Best to avoid it for the moment.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s got security,¡± Current commented helpfully. ¡°I could take it over.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the only entrance, it¡¯s probably the best bet,¡± Squad Ten said. ¡°But I imagine their own tech super is watching carefully. Just having a struggle would be enough to give us away.¡±


    ¡°What are we looking for?¡± Midnight asked as we moved further towards the coast.


    ¡°A vent for airflow¡­ secret escape passages¡­ underwater docks. That sort of thing,¡± Gumshoe commented.


    If we found one of those underwater docks, it would be a great time to use Water Breathing. Though that would pretty much wipe out the rest of my mana. How inconvenient. If only I could cast everything all the time¡­ though according to general rules, that would make everything weaker. Which I could technically do. I suppose I didn¡¯t need it to last that long.


    We didn¡¯t find anything that looked like an airflow vent- if we did, we would have regretted not having Agent Smoke with us. But there was a limit to how many people we could cover with Mental Freedom. A slightly higher limit now, but still a limit.


    ¡°There,¡± Detective Gumshoe pointed with his pipe.


    ¡°I don¡¯t sense anything,¡± Current admitted.


    ¡°That would be the point, I think. This appears to be an entirely mundane opening. No electronic security.¡± He put his face real close to the ground. ¡°Manual opening from the inside only, looks like.¡±


    ¡°So, how does that help¡­?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Dunno. It¡¯s not my job to open things. Unless they¡¯re locked.¡±


    ¡°This thing?¡± Dart pointed.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Gumshoe nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a hatch.¡±


    Dart¡¯s frog-like tongue shot out, sticking to the attached pumice. I could see some strain, but¡­ ¡°Bleh.¡± She snatched her tongue back. ¡°It¡¯s pretty well secured.¡±


    ¡°Well don¡¯t look at me,¡± Lustre said. Obviously, we all did. ¡°Seriously, don¡¯t. I got nothing.¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± Squad Ten said. ¡°We¡¯ve got one more joining us.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I have the juice for more Mental Freedom¡­¡± I said.


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary,¡± said a voice that appeared from nowhere. I turned, seeing a man who hadn¡¯t sounded the crunch of rocks beneath his work boots, nor could I sense a hint of power from him. ¡°I won¡¯t be approaching any supervillains.¡±


    ¡°With stealth skills like that, you definitely could,¡± Lustre said. ¡°You must be confident to sneak around with a reflector vest.¡±


    ¡°Not my job,¡± the man shook his head. ¡°Neither sneaking nor confronting supers.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Midnight said. ¡°You¡¯re that guy. From the Building and Safety Division.¡±


    ¡°Pleasure to see you again, sir,¡± the man in the hardhat smiled. ¡°You all may call me Robert, if you need a name. Robert Smith. No fancy code names here,¡± he shrugged. ¡°Now then, there¡¯s some sort of door here?¡± He bent down and shook his head. ¡°No way they could get a permit for that. What did they glue rocks onto this thing?¡± He reached down to a tool belt and pulled out a hammer and chisel. ¡°I¡¯ll pop this thing open for you. By the way, anyone see an air vent anywhere around here?¡±


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    ¡°Nope,¡± I shook my head.


    ¡°Should be at least two, if they can fit a vehicle in this place,¡± he said. ¡°Actually, they¡¯d probably need more if they have emissions inside.¡± He wedged the chisel into a small crack I hadn¡¯t seen, tapping it in with the hammer. Then he gestured to Sir Kalman. ¡°Hold that there, would you?¡± Sir Kalman acquiesced, holding it in place as Robert took out another chisel and once again seemed to be pounding it through rocks- until another small edge revealed itself. Then¡­ ¡°Yank opposite me, would ya?¡± Robert gestured. It seemed to take a bit of straining, but the chisels got in beneath. ¡°Could use everyone¡¯s fingers.¡±


    Sir Kalman and I were the first to get in there with Robert, and there really wasn¡¯t much more room as we strained and pulled against whatever primitive mechanisms were inside. But while it took effort, clearly this wasn¡¯t meant as a security door- it was just supposed to be hidden.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s me,¡± Gumshoe waved as we opened up the hatch. ¡°You don¡¯t want me getting in your way if it comes to a scrap or whatnot.¡±


    Robert pulled out a tablet as he looked down the hole. ¡°I¡¯ll be here documenting violations. That ladder is hardly regulation.¡±


    We began to infiltrate one by one. Sir Kalman went down the ladder first, followed by a couple of Squad Ten. He had walked over as a single individual, but now he was splitting- a fascinating process that mostly just looked like another one of him stepping out of wherever he was with a shimmer.


    Current went down second, then me with Midnight on my shoulder. Ladders weren¡¯t meant for catlike creatures anyway. Then more of Squad Ten, and then Lustre and Dart.


    When we got to the bottom Sir Kalman was just pushing out into a cramped corridor not even two people wide. I felt Current doing something, so clearly there was electronic security around. She¡¯d tell us if she felt resistance, but at this point we kind of had to assume they would be attacking at any moment. Squad Ten was also remaining outside and watching the front entrance we knew about, which was fine because we already had enough of him down here.


    We came to our first split pretty quick. I couldn¡¯t sense anyone in either direction, but presumably there were many tons of dirt, concrete, and doors between us which made that more difficult.


    ¡°Computer lab down the right branch,¡± Current commented. ¡°We can look through some cameras from there, but I¡¯d hope this facility isn¡¯t that large¡­¡±


    ¡°We need to go that way,¡± Midnight pointed.


    ¡°What¡¯s that way?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I sense¡­ something¡­¡± Midnight¡¯s tail twitched. He was agitated, for certain, but I didn¡¯t feel something controlling him. Mental Freedom was still quite solid on both of us.


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold this side,¡± Squad Ten said. ¡°Go.¡±


    Though he said that, it was really a four-two split for him. There wasn¡¯t a whole ton of room for firearms here, but it was still nice to have him watching our backs if nothing else.


    I could feel Midnight agitation increase as we moved only a short distance towards our destination¡­ and I could almost feel something. Though as we came to a door, that feeling was trumped by that of several supers.


    The door didn¡¯t open as Sir Kalman reached out for it, but before I could tell him to try pulling¡­ his shoulder went through. That was both good and bad for our surprise. The first and most obvious individual there was Iron Bloke. The large fellow was already spinning towards us as the door tore off its hinges the wrong way. There was that confuse ray lady- Headspin- and the currently unnamed mental manipulator. But behind them was the most obvious feature of the room, a dozen cages of various sizes. Some held people- elves, dwarves, and humans- while the others held cats. No¡­ those weren¡¯t cats, were they.


    ¡°Prepare to account for your crimes!¡± Sir Kalman yelled as he charged headlong into the nearly invulnerable bruiser. Dart¡¯s tongue slipped past him towards Iron Bloke, but the guy was fully covered head to toe with gloves and a mask and the like, so her poisonous touch couldn¡¯t get him.


    Second into the room was Lustre, and though he was trying very hard to not hinder our side, I couldn¡¯t help but watch as he danced past Iron Bloke- only to get a ham sized fist to the back of the head. But he sailed through the air in a majestic manner, spreading arms and legs wide and forcing the two others to duck as Headspin shot her beam at him- almost striking Iron Bloke by mistake.


    The unknown mental manipulator was yelling into some sort of radio, presumably. At least, it didn¡¯t make much sense to be yelling ¡®they¡¯re here¡¯ to her two compatriots in the room or the rest of us.


    Midnight was off my shoulder and halfway across the room before I could react, but I didn¡¯t have any intent to stop him anyway. My job right now was to get into this room and out of the way so Squad Ten could open fire¡­ except¡­


    ¡°Watch the cages!¡± I said.


    ¡°I clocked them,¡± he replied quickly.


    As I angled myself into the room, considering what spell to prepare, I saw Sir Kalman¡¯s sword come down on Iron Bloke¡¯s head. The sword trembled¡­ but he left a small line of blood.


    The unknown super was fully focused on Lustre, her hands clutched on either side of his head. He smiled, his head wound already recovering as his skull snapped back into its proper positioning. He grabbed a pair of her fingers in each fist and twisted.


    She might have been incapacitated there, but I didn¡¯t know he would accomplish that and I was already releasing my spell. Simple and straightforward, I had angled around the man-shaped wall in the middle of the room and cast Sonic Lance. The force with which it knocked the unnamed super away was almost sufficient to tug Lustre off his feet just by his grip on her..


    Her crumpled body hit the wall, and I realized it was probably only in one piece because of the inherent durability of any super and whatever gear she was wearing. Though her ribs and internal organs might disagree about her wholeness. I wasn¡¯t used to hitting people with minimal defenses¡­ but I didn¡¯t really regret it either. It was one thing to avoid killing supervillains who were robbing places and hadn¡¯t just escaped from jail, and another when facing supers. And she might not be dead.


    Gunfire sounded from down the hall immediately before it came from right next to me. Squad Ten was presumably dealing with the others coming towards us, as well as peppering Iron Bloke with bullets. They didn¡¯t seem to be doing much, but they might have made him wince slightly? Anything to give an advantage to Kalman would be fine. We had to be ready for the other three incoming- and we couldn¡¯t discount Headspin. Mental Freedom wasn¡¯t unlimited, after all.


    This was going to be a brawl, and I couldn¡¯t pretend I wasn¡¯t excited.

 Chapter 206

    Even as I was turning to face the second trio of enemy supers, I could feel Sir Kalman rapidly drawing upon his mana with every swing. It seemed he was still grouchy about not being able to harm Iron Bloke the first time, and was drawing upon his recently learned Guard Breaker ability. Though it was meant for battering past shields and through armor, it seemed to have some effect on durability superpowers as well. Obviously it didn¡¯t completely pierce through it- or he would be cutting off the guy¡¯s arm with every swing or chopping through his skull. But I did see he had drawn blood in several places, and placed the semi-invincible powerhouse on his back foot.


    Dart was still looking for an opportunity to catch Iron Bloke. Her poison should take him out of the fight, but he was clearly aware of that as well and making full use of his head-to-toe covering. Though that wasn¡¯t quite as true now, with Kalman¡¯s slashes and even Squad Ten¡¯s hail of bullets- even if he couldn¡¯t be hurt by said bullets, they could chew through a protective suit given time.


    Lustre seemed to have Headspin under control- his fitness and hand to hand combat abilities should be sufficient to take her down unless she showed another power we didn¡¯t know about. And in the worst case where she wore through the effects of Mental Freedom¡­ the one ending up confused was our least offensively capable ally. No offense to Lustre, because that wasn¡¯t his job in the slightest.


    Slipping into the hall to avoid the combat radius of Kalman and Iron Bloke, I could see Digits advancing relentlessly. It seemed he was more than capable of protecting his kneecaps- though I did notice his legs seemed slightly more armored. Either way, he advanced forward in a half-crouch to reduce his profile, his fingers flashing as his hands and wrists twisted to block a barrage of bullets. It could be said he ended up with a stupid power¡­ but he was making great use of it and turned it into something strong.


    I didn¡¯t want to wait for the two women behind him to make use of their powers. There was a simple and quick opener I had at my disposal that I¡¯d already planned as a counter to Digits. With a single instant to gather two mana, I cast Grease at his feet. I was disappointed that he didn¡¯t immediately slip and fall onto his back, but he did slow his advance as he struggled to keep his footing. It was unfortunate that the struggle would likely be successful, but I couldn¡¯t complain given the amount of mana I¡¯d spent.


    On some level we were lucky to be fighting in the cramped corridor- even though it made things awkward with Squad Ten. Because while the wind powered Gust and the cyborg called Switch stood behind Iron Bloke, I could see some non-supers behind them unable to fire because of the crowd.


    Gust didn¡¯t seem to have trouble directing her powers along the top of the hallway, however, a continuous blast of wind that staggered the few parts of Squad Ten that were between me and Digits. I could feel the wind pushing on me from behind him, but he looked like he was struggling to keep his feet and more importantly keep his weapons trained in the right direction.


    I must have missed something in the briefing about Switch, because while I was prepared for laser eyes or things like that I was not prepared for her hand to suddenly fly off and towards my face. I still dodged it, as the rocket propelled hand¡¯s trajectory was predictable, but it was startling.


    The reduced hail of bullets let Digits fully regain his footing and begin to walk beyond the patch of Grease. If I had spent a similar number of points on it as I had Gate, it would probably be three times as wide¡­ but as it was only a few steps from the middle. Definitely something worth training when I had time, though I had to be aware of how it might mess up my allies in some circumstances.


    Seeing Digits beginning to move forward with speed, I could tell he would reach Squad Ten in a moment. And while I didn¡¯t know what would happen if he got the head of one of his copies squeezed off, it was better not to linger and find out. I gathered my next spell, using a grand total of a single point of mana! Light flew from my hands directly towards Digit¡¯s face. However, he blocked it with his hands! And if it had been something besides light, that would have done something. But it was light so¡­ it just kind of moved past. I might have lost a little bit of the mana from the collision- powers could be weird like that- but it was still bright and hovered right in front of his eyes.


    At that moment, Midnight jumped out from behind some random pipe, striking Digit¡¯s ankles with Shocking Grasp. Unfortunately, his protective leg gear seemed to minimize the damage- and he kicked out at Midnight, forcing my buddy to dodge away. It seemed he was done with the cages for the moment¡­ which was good because we could really use him here.


    That was even more true after I got knocked in the back of the head. Force Armor shattered as my head was knocked forward. I saw stars and a trail of a rocket-propelled fist returning to its owner. I didn¡¯t know it could return to her¡­ but I should have also figured that she could control it in flight. Otherwise it would be strictly worse than a gun.


    Gust swirled her powers near the floor, driving my Grease up against the wall and allowing her and Switch to continue closer, along with the regular soldier types behind them. I vaguely saw Current slip down the hallway behind them as they passed our branch into the area. Ah, so that was what she was up to. Well, I didn¡¯t actually know, but something sneaky seemed like it could be helpful.


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    The main problem was we kind of had to take down Digits, and I didn¡¯t know if I could gather enough mana safely with a rocket fist flying at me. It seemed it didn¡¯t take more than a few moments for Switch to catch it and shoot her hand again, and while it was still easy to dodge going out¡­ I had to be aware of it on the way back. If I got knocked in the back of the head again, I¡¯d might be out- even if I cast Force Armor again. Which I did, because it would be foolish not to. Stoneskin was also a thought, but that wasn¡¯t optimal against concussive force to the head, and I had to think about my remaining mana. I needed to conserve enough for Chain Lightning, specifically.


    Since I had to watch my back, I stuck to quick spells- after Force Armor, it was another Grease. Except this time, I aimed at the ceiling. It fell on Switch and Gust, momentarily blinding them. Meanwhile, Digits had successfully clawed away my light magic and was looking annoyed. But hopefully that meant we were making progress¡­?


    I stood at an angle, keeping my eye out for the return path of the flying fist. Midnight had raced closer to me, and suddenly my job was much easier as he Hasted both of us. That allowed me to look between forward and backwards several times as quickly. I could easily dodge the returning fist¡­ so obviously it didn¡¯t come for me. Squad Ten was a practical sort who wore a helmet as part of his combat uniform, but it didn¡¯t help enough when he was hit with great force directly in the back of his head. The others of him flinched as that one fell apart into wispy smoke. I couldn¡¯t tell if they were less durable or if the hit was just that good.


    Digits was charging forward, but Midnight went to meet him. And while the guy was trying to catch a Hasted Celmothian dancing around his ankles, I launched a Firebolt as he half turned away. Small mana spells, still, so I could respond at any point. The battle behind was not over yet, with Iron Bloke only going down slowly- I could still feel the clashes of power.


    Sadly, Digits wasn¡¯t stupid so one arm was still ready to defend himself from the Firebolt. It probably wouldn¡¯t kill him or anything, even as a super, but it would have been nice to see some damage. It did make his attempts to catch Midnight worse, though.


    Gust put on a sudden burst of power, forcing the three remaining parts of Squad Ten against the wall of the corridor while Switch took another couple moments to fire her rocket fist again. But I could sense something was different, this time. I could feel a greater injection of her tech power.


    It looked almost as fast as before- but I was Hasted now. And as I dodged to the side, I saw it rapidly change its trajectory. I wasn¡¯t sure I could dodge this¡­ but I had an idea anyway. I didn¡¯t have the time to cast much of anything else, so I had to try.


    I reached out with my staff, channeling a small amount of mana through it. I didn¡¯t think much about it, but I was very glad it hadn¡¯t been my hand a moment later as the force knocked my staff back, and through it me. It apparently took a moment for my spell to take hold. And then¡­ the rocket fist was gone. Oh good, it did count as an object. Though it seemed I had to overcome some of the owner¡¯s control to grab the hand.


    Gust¡¯s winds were growing even stronger, forcing Squad Ten down into the corner. Even crushed by her power, however, Squad Ten wasn¡¯t helpless. The rear one used the piled up front two of him as a way to prop his arm away from the wall just enough, a simple pistol held in his hand. I wondered if it had special ammunition, but it didn¡¯t. That wasn¡¯t going to do anything to Digits¡­ but that wasn¡¯t the target.


    From his position on the ground, Squad Ten took a few shots at Gust¡¯s leg, grazing her ankle- but that was sufficient to disrupt her concentration, letting him stand up. Just in time, as Digits seemed to have given up on Midnight and was instead just charging towards the two of us.


    ¡°Buy me a couple seconds!¡± I said to Squad Ten.


    He nodded, bravely stepping in front of me as I gathered mana. Two of him on either side forced Digits to spread his arms wide to deflect the incoming fire, while the one in the rear quickly began to reload their weapons. Everything seemed to take an eternity¡­ but that was only because I had Haste. Squad Ten took his job very seriously, holding his ground to slow Digits just a moment more. There went two of him, exploded by a single finger each. Seeing the remaining one¡¯s reaction, I knew it hurt.


    But I wasn¡¯t going to let his sacrifice be in vain.


    ¡°Hey, Digits, block this!¡± I called to him. Lightning crackled between my fingers as I reached towards him. And yes, the taunt was on purpose. He was quite good at predicting attack trajectories, so I doubted the warning changed anything.


    Lightning arced from my hand towards his. I didn¡¯t even try to avoid his fingers. It crashed directly into his frontmost outstretched hand. I knew that couldn¡¯t do any damage. But I wasn¡¯t trying to hurt him there. Instead, my spell did exactly what it was supposed to. It chained from one thing to the next. It spread throughout his fingers, jumping to his other hand that tried to block¡­ and then to his body, and through it to the supers and mundane soldiers behind who were still trying to get a proper line of fire.


    The power would be greatly reduced, as the initial portion was technically blocked. But it didn¡¯t really matter, as the remaining power still packed just as much punch as a direct hit from Sonic Lance.


    Switch was staring in shock at her empty wrist when she and Gust were hit by the spell, kindly reducing the power once more so that the mundane individuals behind might not go into immediate cardiac arrest. Then again, they might.


    People toppled to the floor all along the hall. But not Digits. This guy was¡­ annoyingly sturdy. Though it did seem that was due to specifically getting gear to resist Shocking Grasp, which sadly also limited the effectiveness of Chain Lightning. But the way his hair stood on end and his eyes were bloodshot with rage, I think I caused some real damage finally.

 Chapter 207

    With Digits basically upon us, quite angry, and not as incapacitated as I would have liked Squad Ten and I continued our fighting retreat down the hallway towards Sir Kalman and the others. And by ¡®fighting retreat¡¯ I meant flinging Grease across the hallways as we ran, then once more at the actual doorway.


    We entered just in time to see Lustre catch the attention of Iron Bloke, tapping on his shoulder. ¡°About time we finish this battle¡­ you big idiot.¡± His eloquence might have been limited by the fact that his jaw looked to have been broken mere moments before, plus potentially a few knocks to the head. But he was still a great distraction.


    He got what I sure hoped was his intended response. The heavy wheeled around and slammed his meaty fist directly into Lustre¡¯s chest with the sound of cracking bones, sending him flying into one of the cages lined up on the back wall, making the horrific sound of mental bending as he hit and crumpled to the floor. I really hoped his power could keep up with more wounds, but there wasn¡¯t really time to check.


    As soon as he turned his back, Sir Kalman was swinging his weapon, charged with glowing light. There was definitely some sort of honor possessed by paladins, but the battle had already begun. Iron Bloke getting distracted was his own problem. Instead of aiming for his neck, however, the dwarf¡¯s sword came down at the top of his thigh, at an angle where it merely deflected off of his leg. All that mana, and the strike was a flub. He barely even managed a scratch down that thigh, even with Guard Breaker. The guy was seriously tough.


    But I was thinking too naively about the wound. It might not be enough for a pivotal attack, but Sir Kalman was thinking more clearly than me. Because along with a small bit of skin, he had cut quite a lot of protective gear. And Dart clearly saw the opening. With Iron Bloke swiveling back towards Kalman, whose armor had more than a handful of worryingly deep dents, Dart¡¯s tongue lashed out at the large man¡¯s leg. It didn¡¯t stick, instead yanking back even before the man¡¯s hand slapped down towards his thigh.


    ¡°Ugh, gross!¡± Dart said as she let her tongue dangle out of her mouth, trying to wipe off some of the blood on it.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got incoming,¡± I called to her as Squad Ten and I came into the room. I looked around, finding that unfortunately we were missing the two that had been back here. Most likely ran afoul of the bruiser. Obviously the rest of him had to know that, but there hadn¡¯t exactly been a lot of time to communicate that.


    I was nearly out of mana, so there weren¡¯t going to be any big spells from me. The bruiser returned to beating on Sir Kalman, and while the dwarf might have the willpower to stand forever, his armor wasn¡¯t going to last. And while it was certainly absorbing some of the force of the blows, the lasting dents would certainly be making it more difficult for him. I thought about using Grease, even as Digits was sliding through the doorway, but it could disrupt Kalman as much as it did Iron Bloke.


    So I went for another old staple instead. Mage¡¯s Reach was convenient for many things, and while I doubted my ability to wrestle with a bruiser I could at least disrupt his movement at inopportune times. Except upon spotting some buckles on his boots, I had an even better idea as my ghostly hand floated along the ground.


    My other eye was on the door- I hadn¡¯t suddenly forgotten about Digits. The sounds of Squad Ten shooting at him couldn¡¯t make me forget either. He split off to either side, only two of him left now. Hopefully that would make things more difficult for Digits. He was practically-


    My thought was cut off by a sound even louder than gunfire, with Digits staggering forward from the impact. In all the excitement I hadn¡¯t been paying attention to the buildup of mana behind him- not that it was a particularly large spell. Well, Sonic Lance wasn¡¯t a small spell either. It wasn¡¯t the sort of thing you could just use on a regular person and expect to not kill them. Given that his body seemed more or less intact when his face hit the floor, I was impressed by his durability and that of his outfit. Francois¡¯ stuff was great, but maybe he could take a peek at this and see if there were any special tricks. If we could get it exported from here, obviously. Yew-Kay and Crown Forces specifically had first dibs on that kind of stuff.


    There was a momentary pause in sound. Then some clicking sounds. Squad Ten¡¯s voice cut through the silence. ¡°This is your final reminder that you are allowed to surrender at any time. That includes you, Iron Bloke.¡±


    ¡°Screw¡­ you¡­¡± Digits said, raising his hands up to either side with his elbows resting on the floor. A moment later, Midnight leapt onto his back with Shocking Grasp going at full power. Compared to Chain Lightning and Sonic Lance- even if most of the first spell was wasted- Shocking Grasp wasn¡¯t much. But the middle of his back was pretty thinly protected now, and the man was half an inch from collapsing on his own.


    ¡°That was okay ri-¡± Midnight was saying as Sir Kalman suddenly flew over his head, causing him to duck.


    ¡°I can still take out¡­ all of you,¡± Iron Bloke said. I might have believed him, if his eye didn¡¯t twitch, or if they were able to focus on anything. He took one step forward. Two¡­ then fell almost directly next to Digits.


    There was a loud sigh. ¡°Finally,¡± Dart said. ¡°Ugh, he built up way too much resistance to that for being affected just one time. Freaking bruisers.¡±


    ¡°We need to secure them,¡± Squad Ten said. ¡°I¡¯ll watch over these two while you guys secure the others.¡±


    ¡°What about the mundanes?¡± I asked. ¡°There could be more further in¡­¡±


    ¡°Taken care of,¡± Squad Ten said. ¡°But if not, we¡¯ll have warning.¡±


    Ignoring the two I really didn¡¯t want to approach, I started with Headspin. She was not far from Lustre, and had a few clear marks on her face. A dwarf in one of the cages had his meaty arm through the bars and was holding her up against the cages by her neck.


    ¡°Is she dead?¡± I asked in common.


    ¡°She can be,¡± the dwarf narrowed his eyes at me. I almost believed him, but if he was going to do it he probably already would have.


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    ¡°That paladin over there probably wants to arrest them,¡± I gestured to Sir Kalman. ¡°Better to have their fate public somewhere. Also, I¡¯d imagine you¡¯re more upset at her,¡± I gestured to the woman on the floor. ¡°Uh¡­ whatever her name is.¡±


    ¡°Reprog.¡± I raised an eyebrow at Squad Ten. He tapped his helmet. ¡°Current has been doing her thing. Including isolating the rest of the goons with the few security doors they have. She just found her moniker, not that that tells us much.¡±


    I pulled out some cuffs and began locking people up. The caged dwarf let the unconscious woman drop. Well, it was a good idea if things didn¡¯t go our way at least. I spun around. How was everyone else? Lustre was cussing now, which meant his lungs were working. Dart seemed alright, having avoided stupid things like taking direct hits. Squad Ten still only had two of him, so I could presume it took some time or energy or whatever to refresh. Or maybe the main him was outside¡­? Assuming he had a ¡®main body¡¯, I mean. I would do that, if it was a choice.


    Sir Kalman was¡­ climbing to his feet. Current was apparently fine down the hallway. Midnight was coming up to me.


    ¡°Turlough,¡± he said clearly, catching my eye. ¡°Sit down.¡±


    Was the room supposed to be spinning? Maybe he had a good idea. I managed to fall onto my butt instead of my face, and I coughed up a little bit of blood.


    ¡°... I thought you said you knew your limits and only pushed yourself close to them.¡±


    Technically, I was close to my limits with the mana crystals. Not far past the limits was still close. ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to talk to all of these guys,¡± I gestured to the people in the cages. Including Celmothians, it seemed. ¡°I think I need a nap.¡±


    ¡°Try to stay conscious until the cleanup team gets here,¡± Squad Ten called out to me.


    Sure. I was totally going to do that. Conscious. I was definitely conscious of what was happening. There was talking. People moving around. I thought about the supers we¡¯d taken out.


    Some people didn¡¯t deserve to have powers. Maybe there was a way I could take that away from them¡­?


    I vomited up some black blood. I deserved that, really. There were some ideas you shouldn¡¯t entertain to begin with. Taking away powers, making people mundane? That was horrible. We could just kill them. They¡¯d done more than enough to get executed in Granbold ten times over. And even if this world was a bit more hesitant with such things, their security would be significantly heightened for this group.


    Oh, hey, it was the hardhat guy. He had some big tools as he approached the cages. Was he going to cut them open? He set down some heavy things and¡­ pulled out a little pouch. Then doors started opening one after another. Whatever worked, I guess.


    -----


    Someone was shining lights in my eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t understand the symptoms,¡± they said.


    I was going to reply that my eyes hurt because of the light and it was obvious, but my voice didn¡¯t work. Someone else said something though. A small voice.


    Why did everything hurt? Oh right, mana¡­ something. There wasn¡¯t a good name for it. Not that I had been told about, anyway. Nobody wanted to talk about how magic worked so I just had to figure crap out. So since I had put too much mana in me it would be called¡­ mana poisoning. Yeah, that was a great name. Something stuck into my arm, and then I was unconscious again.


    -----


    Even as my eyes were fluttering open, I heard Calculator¡¯s voice. ¡°I thought we agreed you weren¡¯t going to use large quantities of mana crystals again.¡±


    ¡°Uuugh,¡± I groaned. ¡°And people also say they¡¯ll never drink again, then drink themselves under the table the next weekend.¡±


    ¡°Are you comparing this to alcohol? Does it impair your judgment? Does it feel good?¡±


    I grimaced. It was too bright in this room. ¡°Doing things feels good. And I wasn¡¯t going to let my people be slaves.¡±


    ¡°... Curious. I was under the impression that you didn¡¯t have much of a national identity or a lingering fondness for your previous world. That¡¯s always how you talk, at least.¡±


    ¡°Mmmn¡­¡± I grumbled. ¡°Why do we have to do hard thoughts now?¡±


    ¡°Because you¡¯re awake,¡± Calculator said. ¡°And off-guard.¡±


    ¡°... Honesty hurts as much as the light.¡±


    ¡°Have you tried making yourself better?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m constantly wishing I didn¡¯t have to feel this,¡± I said.


    ¡°What I meant was¡­ you seem able to spontaneously generate new abilities.¡±


    ¡°If I use mana I might explode.¡± That was an exaggeration, of course. At most, I¡¯d have an aneurysm or stroke or something.


    ¡°To my understanding, the whole problem is because of crystallized mana in your system. So perhaps intentionally dealing with that would be helpful?¡±


    I grimaced. I tried to focus on something happening, but my head wouldn¡¯t work. Maybe later, though. ¡°... How is everyone? Kalman looked pretty bad.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s already up and walking about,¡± Calculator said.


    I coughed, which had almost been a laugh. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean anything.¡±


    ¡°His injuries were purely physical. His armor is slowly moving away from its rather concave nature, and his healing has been boosted. It is anticipated he will recover fully. Lustre¡¯s physical restoration is already complete, but he said something about hibernating for the next month.¡±


    ¡°Do you think he actually does that?¡±


    ¡°Given the chance? Probably. I¡¯d guess he¡¯ll be dragged out of bed by next week, however. There are never enough supers on the right side of the law.¡±


    ¡°... I would have expected a lot more reinforcements for a supervillain breakout,¡± I admitted. I could kind of see now. Some sort of hospital room, obviously.


    ¡°London and Dublin are the centers of much of the supernatural activity. And they seem quite occupied with their current load.¡± Calculator stood up, ¡°Anyway, they need my assistance with the investigation. There¡¯s a lot of stuff to pore through. There¡¯s at least a few more corrupt officials to bust somewhere along the chain, but we¡¯ll be doing it more with paper than steel.¡±


    ¡°... You use paper?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You got me. It¡¯s all digital. Either way, it shouldn¡¯t require combat. Just rest up and get yourself back into peak form. There are some people waiting for you¡­ but don¡¯t rush.¡±


    ¡­ Waiting for me? Oh right, the dwarves. And all of this new batch of people from my old world. And Celmothians. We couldn¡¯t Gate to Celmoth. Also, how did they get so many? More than one or two was already weird.


    Ugh. So many things I couldn¡¯t get answered yet. Better do that recovery thing. Maybe I could make this stuff go away faster. I just had to be delicate about it. No active magic if I could help it.

 Chapter 208

    During my whole time in Yew-Kay, I had been running all over the place investigating and fighting and Gate-ing people back to Granbold and otherwise exhausting myself. But now, I was facing my most difficult and exhausting task- doing nothing at all.


    I could exercise, but I couldn¡¯t engage in any sort of useful sparring. After all, the power of a mage came from mana. Unlike other classes which might develop their bodily abilities for long-term power, pure caster types relied on the mana they had at their immediate disposal.


    Combined with an unfamiliar gym- Crown Forces was nice enough to give us access to their facilities- I really didn¡¯t feel like doing what few things I could. I couldn¡¯t even read my books on magic, trying to pick out new secrets, because they were in Storage. I knew how reliant I was on magic, but it still really sucked to be locked out of it. But it was worse to feel like I was going to explode, so I had to make the choice to avoid magic.


    I noticed Midnight outside my room. I don¡¯t know if I missed his knock or if he simply hadn¡¯t, but I got up to let him into the room with basic furnishings and not much else. Theoretically Crown Forces members were supposed to customize it, but I wasn¡¯t going to stay here long term.


    ¡°Hey buddy,¡± I said.


    His tail swished back and forth. ¡°Hey.¡±


    ¡°You know, you can still train magic right now.¡± Though that probably wasn¡¯t the reason he was despondent. And it wasn¡¯t simply a reflection of me, either.


    ¡°We should probably be happy,¡± Midnight said. ¡°We saved a lot of people.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be happy when things don¡¯t hurt anymore,¡± I said. ¡°And we¡¯re not really done yet, are we? We¡¯ve got a lot of people to bring back home. Including yours.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not so easy to reach Celmoth,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Well, not from here no. But maybe from my world.¡±


    ¡°... that doesn¡¯t make any sense,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Isn¡¯t a parallel dimension further away?¡±


    ¡°It might not be enough,¡± I said. ¡°But it should be easier from there. That¡¯s what Gate is for. Well, planar travel but that¡¯s basically the same thing.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s further away¡­¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Is it?¡± I asked. ¡°If we bring up a galactic map, with Earth here and Celmoth here¡­ where is my world?¡±


    ¡°Well, uh¡­ somewhere near Earth, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not from a parallel Earth like Khithae,¡± I pointed out. ¡°The only connection is that some of the places on Earth are more suited to interdimensional travel and the like.¡±


    Midnight hopped up on the arm of the couch I had moved to. ¡°But there isn¡¯t anywhere like that on Celmoth.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there?¡± I asked. ¡°Because you somehow ended up on Earth.¡±


    ¡°That was an anomaly. A teleporter accident.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like teleporters might be a good place to look, then. But also, what about the rest of your people? How did they get here on Earth?¡±


    ¡°... It shouldn¡¯t be teleporters. My incident was an exception.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°I just thought you would have talked to them already.¡±


    ¡°... It¡¯s difficult.¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°Why? I thought you were better with people than me.¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­¡± Midnight¡¯s emotions didn¡¯t provide a clear answer, just a bit of chaos and uncertainty.


    ¡°I figured you were talking with them a lot already. They¡¯re probably pretty worried.¡±


    ¡°... I told them we would find a way to get them back home. Eventually.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not super reassuring,¡± I admitted. I snatched him up, placing him on my shoulder. ¡°Come on then. Let¡¯s go talk to them.¡± I had a vague feeling of where they were, most likely through my bond with Midnight. Presumably, his connection was stronger. It seemed they were all in a single room, and the door was propped open with a door stop. That made sense, given that doors were rather troublesome for the felines. I knocked on the door. ¡°Hello, may we come in?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± came the response from inside. ¡°The prince and his wizard are always welcome.¡±


    I suppose it made sense that they could feel us too. But¡­ ¡°Prince?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a prince!¡± Midnight said, half to me and half to everyone else. ¡°My family doesn¡¯t even run for political offices anymore!¡±


    Upon entering the room, I was greeted with the sight of a wide variety of cats. It was possible that someone who actually knew about animal breeds could tell the difference between them and house cats, but the large physical features and general patterns all seemed pretty similar to me. That was odd, because as far as I knew Celmothians weren¡¯t from a parallel universe or anything. Or maybe it was cats that were the odd ones¡­?


    ¡°That does not make you any less a prince,¡± said a striped cat that was only missing the bright orange to truly look like a tiger. ¡°You have powers and a wizard companion that speaks fluent Celmothian.¡±


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    ¡°To be fair,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s magic. My vocal chords can¡¯t do this,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Speaking our language through magic is no less impressive,¡± the cat said.


    ¡°If you say so,¡± I replied to the spokesperson. ¡°Do you have a name¡­?¡± The response wasn¡¯t something that translated to a meaning. So I decided I would just think of this guy as Steve. I could still say his name correctly, but it was weird to think cat noises. ¡°Nice to meet you, Steve. I¡¯m Turlough.¡±


    Obviously they would have trouble saying my name as well. Unlike Midnight, they didn¡¯t have the benefit of Translation magic. Fortunately for my current state, he was able to cast that on me so I could participate here.


    ¡°So¡­ we had some questions.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Steve said. ¡°We will happily answer anything you ask.¡±


    I seriously doubted that, but I also had no intention to ask anything personal. ¡°Do you recall how you ended up here, on Earth? How much do you remember?¡±


    Between the dozen or so Celmothians, the answers were widely varied. From ¡®stumbled into a weird portal in an alley¡¯ to a few whose ship had fallen into a wormhole to some who had been captured by Bunvorixians at some point and two who couldn¡¯t remember, it seemed there wasn¡¯t a single cause. At least there didn¡¯t seem to be some portal to Celmoth the Grey Gunners or Doctor Doomsday or someone related had. Instead, they had mostly been abducted while on Earth, usually during their early confusion. Most of these had ended up in London, though there were two who apparently ended up in New Bay and were brought here later.


    ¡°Do you know what they wanted?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Vaguely,¡± Steve replied. ¡°There was one lady who tried to mess with our memories. No¡­ she was succeeding rather slowly. We did our best to work together to fend her off¡­ but we were being worn down. Until you arrived and defeated her. Now¡­ the false memories are unraveling, with the prince¡¯s help.¡±


    Midnight nodded, intentionally speaking in English. ¡°I did help with Mental Freedom cast on them one at a time over the last couple of days. I couldn¡¯t manage Multicasting on my own¡­¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That one is too expensive for either of us alone.¡±


    Steve continued. ¡°We were told there might be a way to get back¡­?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I confirmed. ¡°It might take a while though.¡±


    The cat nodded. ¡°If we had access to our fallen ships, we might be able to help with construction¡­ but the good news if such things are made for people like you they won¡¯t have to be very big by your standards.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we could make a ship capable of reaching your home in any reasonable amount of time,¡± I admitted. Though maybe the martians¡­?


    ¡°... Another sort of device that can bring us home seems like it would be more difficult,¡± Steve said.


    ¡°We should be able to make some portals,¡± I said. ¡°But I need to recover first. It might take a week. I know it¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°So fast,¡± Steve said. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have expected less of the prince.¡±


    Considering that the actual time to use the Gates was one or two minutes, a week was rather long. But I suppose given other options, it did seem rather quick.


    ¡°Our methods might not work,¡± Midnight said cautiously. ¡°But we can make the first attempt then, and test out the safety and viability of our strategy.¡±


    ¡°Most of us were worried we would never be able to get home,¡± Steve admitted. ¡°So any chance is astounding.¡±


    -----


    ¡°Why did you promise we could do it in a week? We don¡¯t know it will work!¡± Midnight complained when we were alone again.


    ¡°It¡¯s good motivation to try, then,¡± I pointed out. Besides, I think it should. You just have to take over the majority of the spell to guide us. You¡¯re our connection, after all. You reached level 21, right?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Midnight confirmed.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not quite enough to do two-thirds of the spell¡­ unless we we let it settle on the natural mana limit. But I think for stability it would be best for you to try to use your maximum of 13 mana. Or we could do a 12-8 split, for a more approachable proportionality.¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯ve never used 13 mana before. I don¡¯t know if I can do that consistently.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easy. Just max out Chain Lightning. You can do that now,¡± I pointed out.


    Midnight¡¯s eyes sparkled. ¡°You¡¯re right, I can¡­¡±


    ¡°Twice, even. Though uh, don¡¯t forget to rest in between or you¡¯ll wipe yourself out completely. Anyway, about the final spell, we can also upgrade Assistive Familiar Casting to get greater efficiency from¡­ Gate¡­¡± I frowned.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Well, I have 50 points so I thought I would just buy that upgrade. But I can¡¯t spend points on it.¡±


    ¡°Maybe because it¡¯s not a spell?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I said. ¡°But even Mana Crystal Deposition allowed it.¡±


    ¡°But that still does something on its own,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It makes a crystal. Assistive Familiar Casting modifies something else.¡±


    ¡°I suppose so. By this world¡¯s game terms, those would be metamagic¡­?¡± I tilted my head. Something I couldn¡¯t spend points on at all, that felt extremely unnatural. I really needed to talk to an experienced wizard about this. But Master Uvithar was missing and I didn¡¯t know how much I could trust Zenfer. Though he did know about me going extraplanar, so if he knew the associations with that he might already know most of my secrets. But maybe people didn¡¯t always discover the results of extraplanar travel. Or was it only extradimensional? ¡°Multicasting doesn¡¯t work either. Spending more points on Gate won¡¯t help because we can¡¯t make use of those levels without a greater rank of Assistive Familiar Casting.¡±


    ¡°I can do it,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I have time to get used to using my new limit. You just focus on recovering.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± I said. ¡°Not much luck with that so far. What about you?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Well, you did use a couple mana crystals for the first time. Any success in removing the built up gunk?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t overuse them,¡± Midnight pointed out.


    ¡°Which gives us a perfect opportunity to test this from both sides.¡± I patted the couch next to me. ¡°Probably best to get off my shoulder. We¡¯re going to try to feel that stuff and get rid of it.¡±


    ¡°Or¡­ I remain in contact and help you?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I said. ¡°Just be careful about using mana in me, okay? I don¡¯t know if it would just be me using it that would be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Noted,¡± Midnight said.


    With that, Midnight balanced on my shoulder in a precarious position only a cat could manage while meditating. I had gotten used to such activity when trying to improve my mana regeneration rate- and I had achieved small success. No skill in my screen, though. I wasn¡¯t quite sure what that meant. Either way, I could feel the tiny remnants of the mana crystal absorbed into me, clinging to my veins and arteries. They were slowly breaking down, but perhaps I could speed up the process¡­ somehow.

 Chapter 209

    It was a laborious process to clear crystallized mana from my body, and my active efforts seemed to only slightly influence the process. While it was two or three times faster by my estimations, I could only focus on the task for a few hours at a time. Throughout the day, that resulted in six to ten hours of increased progress. It was a draining task, and normally I would have been content just lying around all day waiting for a week or so to recover.


    But this time, people were waiting on me. On us, really. Because Midnight was necessary for Gate as well, especially with regards to the Celmothians. We might not be able to get them back home yet, but we could certainly try.


    -----


    ¡°Are you certain you are ready?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°As much as I can be. I¡¯ve cast some small spells and didn¡¯t even feel a tingle,¡± I said. ¡°So I can either try now and maybe waste a few hours, or wait around for another day or two doing nothing. Which isn¡¯t any fun.¡±


    ¡°Then we will meet up with Mr. Beridze. He¡¯s had plenty of time to calculate the dimensional origin of those involved, but he¡¯s still responsible for seeing them returned to where they belong.¡±


    ¡°He can come through the first Gate,¡± I pointed out. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t mind being gone for a day or so. He can see how things go with the Celmothians.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll notify him of the possibility. Though I¡¯m sure Extra has some sort of protocol regarding that.¡±


    -----


    A couple hours later, we were back in a familiar room. I¡¯d only technically been through once in each direction, but Extra¡¯s facilities were designed to be familiar so that small details wouldn¡¯t throw people off. I could imagine certain things actually having issues with the similarity, but they knew what they were doing. And the walls being marked certainly helped.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so nervous, Midnight,¡± I said. ¡°It will be alright. And if it takes a bit longer in the end, they won¡¯t mind too much. Having the hope of getting back and a community of people they can speak to should be much better than the situation you found yourself in.¡±


    ¡°... I don¡¯t want to mess up,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Nobody does,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll support you. We¡¯ll head to Granbold, take a break, and then move on. You already used Sending to have the other side prepared as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°But what if the teleporter is in the wrong configuration¡­?¡± Midnight said. ¡°What if it won¡¯t accept a Gate?¡±


    ¡°Then we try your room or something. It will be alright,¡± I said, scratching him behind the ears. ¡°Alright, people are coming. Let¡¯s be ready.¡±


    Zakaria Beridze didn¡¯t look like much normally, but he was in official Extra uniform here. Of course, there was still a significant difference between support personnel like himself and those who were tasked with security. ¡°Are you certain you can bring this many people?¡±


    ¡°Numbers aren¡¯t a problem. As long as people don¡¯t dawdle, it will be fine,¡± I said. ¡°We can get a couple dozen people through a wide doorway easily enough. Sir Kalman will lead the way. Now then, I suppose we have to coordinate people.¡±


    ¡°Since I¡¯m lacking relevant languages¡­¡± Zakaria shrugged.


    ¡°Midnight and I will handle it. Alright everyone,¡± I said first in common. Sir Kalman would be translating for those who only spoke dwarven or elven. ¡°We need to be efficient about this or you have to wait a few more hours. It will be boring.¡± Technically, we could immediately make a second Gate to Granbold, but it would require extra waiting for our plans trying to connect to Celmoth. Midnight didn¡¯t have enough free mana, especially since we would be creating a test Gate from the other world. Maybe it wouldn¡¯t work at all, but I wasn¡¯t too concerned about that. ¡°Make sure to move together. We¡¯ve practiced, but we don¡¯t want anyone tripping up.¡±


    We could have had the Celmothians carried, but without being familiar with people they wouldn¡¯t really like that. So they would be going through on their own, and they needed to be conscious of not disrupting the bipeds.


    Sir Kalman finished his translation- I could have done the same with magic, but it was just more efficient to let him do it. Magic didn¡¯t need to be the solution to everything, I supposed.


    Everyone was ready, formed up with Sir Kalman at the front- his lieutenant Sir Harold was expecting us, as communicated through Midnight during the days I was recovering. Midnight and I would be the last ones through, with Zakaria.


    Gathering mana, Midnight and I had settled on the same ratio as we would be attempting with him in the lead- a 12-8 split. We could technically perform three attempts in a row, but it was just walking through a wide door.


    The Gate formed and Sir Kalman strode through confidently, flinging wide the closet door on the other side. We hadn¡¯t really found a better spot for the Gate in Mossley, unless we just did it outside. But that would mean cordoning off the area, and it was just easier to go with something already secure.


    People followed after Sir Kalman, slightly nervously at first. But the portal was wide enough for two dwarves to walk side by side. The door beyond wasn¡¯t, but people understood what they were supposed to do. And as it turned out, people were generally experienced with walking. The Celmothians went after the dwarves, elves, and a couple humans and other folk. They could fit three or four at a time through the doorway comfortably, and could basically all fit through the Gate at once. Though they went in two waves to avoid the edges. They should be safe, but it was still weird to think about touching the edge of nothing.


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    Then, Zakaria went through followed by Midnight riding on my shoulder. We had, by feel, about five seconds to spare. A bit close, but I was confident in my understanding of the stability of the portal. I intentionally closed it behind us, watching it shrink into a small point and disappear, instead of letting it collapse.


    It sure looked like a lot more people now that we were in this small building and pouring out onto the streets. Sir Kalman was going to have a lot of fun with logistics in the coming days.


    But things weren¡¯t exactly resolved without incident. Even those who had made it back weren¡¯t going to be lacking in trauma¡­ and there were other factors to consider as well. Like the things people would almost certainly notice involving ¡®free¡¯ skills. Not just Sir Kalman, but also Antiele and I was fairly certain Gerard and Scrag had already noticed. And someone didn¡¯t want people to know about these things. But we also couldn¡¯t stop people from going home, if they wanted. There was no point in rescuing them just to restrict them ourselves.


    A lot of people came up to thank us, seeing they were back somewhere they recognized. Sir Kalman I expected, but I was just an orc. And while they were a bit nervous approaching me, that was about it.


    The knights did their best to make everyone comfortable. They would be brought along to their various towns and villages in the coming days, but before that there was something else we had to deal with. And it only technically didn¡¯t involve any cats.


    ¡°So the two of you won¡¯t be going through¡­?¡± Sir Kalman asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re just going to make sure people recognize things on the other side,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re not quite certain if a Gate would be equally stable in the other direction, or the quantity of mana there.¡±


    ¡°I want to show you my homeworld,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But only when we have the choice to travel as we please. We probably need a bit more power to be certain about that. And there¡¯s not much to fight around Celmoth. Not without getting involved with the whole Bunvorixian thing so¡­¡± Midnight¡¯s tail flicked.


    ¡°We¡¯ll remain here for now,¡± I said. ¡°Then rest up and go back home. But I¡¯ll stay in regular contact with you via Sending. Or in an emergency you can get Zenfer to contact me, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Let us know if you need anything.¡±


    We nodded.


    I spoke to Midnight in English- anything but Celmothian would do, of course, but he was more familiar with that than Common. ¡°Do we think we can trust people not to rush through the first portal? They can help you confirm that it should be the right place, but I don¡¯t want any accidents.¡±


    ¡°It will be alright,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I can feel that there are none so reckless among them. They¡¯ll wait another hour or two.¡±


    ¡°In that case, we can make our test run now. Whenever you¡¯re ready.¡±


    Midnight nodded, then explained to the other Celmothians, though they already knew the general plan. Then he turned to the closet.


    ¡°8 and 12,¡± he said. ¡°You ready?¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± I agreed.


    As he began to gather mana, I focused on doing so while maintaining the proper ratio. We spend a good ten seconds slowly ramping up to the necessary numbers. Then, I saw something expanding in front of us.


    The view wasn¡¯t much to look at. Basically a tube with a plain room beyond it. The portal was also a bit small- though still as wide as the doorway so it hardly mattered. I might have to duck going through, but it wouldn¡¯t be an issue. The important part was time. The image remained mostly stable as we waited, though I could feel Midnight straining. Then the portal collapsed.


    ¡°I told you that you could do it,¡± I grinned at Midnight. ¡°30 seconds. That will be plenty.¡±


    ¡°That was the right place,¡± Zakaria confirmed. ¡°Though I¡¯m sure your recognition will be accurate, observing it myself will be more reassuring for Extra back home.¡±


    ¡°It was hard,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But I did it.¡±


    ¡°A weaker connection. Like the old plane, I suppose,¡± I said. ¡°Come, we need to rest. It¡¯s going to require at least an hour. And since we have to bring ourselves back to Earth later, it won¡¯t hurt to go over a bit.¡±


    I found a good place to sit and pulled out the book Uvithar sent me. I didn¡¯t remember anything about travel strictly between planes within the same ¡®world¡¯, but maybe there were references I could glean. I began to flip through it idly. The couple points of mana wouldn¡¯t be relevant for me, since Midnight was the one taking the brunt of the two portals to Celmoth.


    I took a look at some of the notes in the margins I didn¡¯t remember. Some things about resonant frequencies and the like, commenting on the chapter. It seemed there was more to it than simply connecting to a plane. Seemed a bit dense to get into right now though.


    Then I saw it. At the back of the book, a single page that had definitely been blank. Even more so as I read the notes there.


    ¡°If you¡¯re reading this, my gift managed to reach you¡­ and you managed to return home. Though Zentha said you wouldn¡¯t consider it home anymore. I wish I could say more, but even this is a bit of a risky proposition if you are captured or someone replicated your mana signature. Same with your familiar- keep him safe. Not that you should need such a warning.


    I wish I could tell you where I was going and why, but there is too much risk. Don¡¯t look too hard, and be careful who you trust. Your discoveries already put you at risk. But since it¡¯s already come to that, do your best to keep getting stronger. I will attempt to contact you later. Until then, you can focus your mana and use the mana resonance of this world to reveal the extra notes I hope will be helpful.¡±


    Well that was¡­ something. The only thing it told me that I didn¡¯t know was that he¡¯d made plans instead of having to hide spontaneously. And he¡¯d indirectly admitted to working with Zentha Qitris, the diviner. But I somehow doubted I could contact her, and even if I could I also doubted that she would tell me any more than what these notes said. I did learn that hiding notes like this was possible, however, so that was interesting. I wondered if the notes throughout the book would have anything useful. There must be something, but I could feel Midnight getting restless. It was about time to make the second Gate, for real this time.

 Chapter 210

    Before we actually got around to casting Gate, I did my best to limit the nervous resonance between myself and Midnight. This wasn¡¯t as important to me as it was to him except by virtue of me caring about what he cared about. I wasn¡¯t sure how perfect it was, but I managed to inject some calm into the situation.


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Midnight said. ¡°Everyone in your place. We¡¯re going to start in a few moments. You know the split, Turlough.¡±


    The two of us gathered mana simultaneously, with Midnight providing the greater quantity and the necessary control. I just had to keep my part stable and not mess anything up.


    Our experience didn¡¯t let us down, and the Gate formed as expected. The same room from earlier appeared, theoretically the teleporter room.


    ¡°Go!¡± Midnight urged. They had thirty seconds or so, but we didn¡¯t want them just standing around. It only took about ten for all of them to get through, since they could go through a handful at a time.


    We could see how excited they were to return somewhere familiar. ¡°Thank you!¡± they began to call back towards him.


    Then a black cat stepped into our line of sight. There was a moment of recognition and then¡­ the Gate snapped shut. Not due to instability, but intentionally closed.


    I sat down next to Midnight and scritched behind his ears, gently rubbing his fur. ¡°How you doing, buddy? Was that¡­?¡±


    ¡°Jet. My mother,¡± Midnight replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­ want either of us to do something stupid.¡±


    ¡°... Want me to Send her a message? I have enough spare mana, since we have to wait for yours to recharge before heading back to Earth.¡±


    Midnight hung his head. ¡°I want to make sure I can come back here before returning. I can¡¯t just leave behind my friends, and you need me to manage this.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± I said as I pat him on the head. ¡°I¡¯ll tell her you want to bring her through so you can talk here sometime.¡± Before Midnight could finish processing what I said, I was already gathering the necessary 10 mana. Or 9.09 and such, but using the full cost made it more reliable over extreme distances and interdimensional.


    ¡°W-wait!¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Already sent it,¡± I half lied. ¡°Just waiting for her response now.¡± It would take twenty minutes to half an hour, but we needed to rest for approximately an hour regardless. I browsed the book some more but didn¡¯t find anything particularly revelatory in the early notes. Then I got the reply. ¡°She said it better be soon because two sentences a day isn¡¯t enough.¡±


    Midnight put his face in his paws. ¡°... Maybe it wasn¡¯t an accident,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡°What wasn¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ the teleporter accident. I wanted to run somewhere far away.¡±


    ¡°Did you tamper with the teleporter?¡±


    ¡°... No.¡±


    ¡°Do you have other powers I don¡¯t know about?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s possible,¡± he admitted.


    ¡°Then it was a coincidence,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I assume you had a reason to feel the way you did. I suggest talking to a therapist.¡±


    ¡°Uuugh,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you told me that.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s working for me. I presume.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just that it had to be you.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Who else knows the feelings you let slip out? You can also just talk to me about stuff. But we¡¯re wasting all this Power Brigade mental health insurance if we don¡¯t use it.¡±


    ¡°I think the point is not to need it¡­¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Then¡­ get to a point you don¡¯t need it,¡± I shrugged.


    Midnight grumbled.


    After some more waiting, we were charged enough on mana. ¡°Alright, Mister Beridze. We¡¯re ready to go back.¡± I pondered. ¡°We could just go directly to New Bay.¡±


    ¡°I-¡± the man frowned for a moment. ¡°As a representative of Extra, I must discourage that behavior. Also, I do believe you will be needed for transfer of prisoners for extradimensional sentencing.¡±


    ¡°Oh, a good point,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°And customs would be really upset if we country hopped through another world.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll go back to Yew-Kay.¡± I looked at my phone where I had a picture of the place we left. Specifically, the writing on the otherwise similar wall. Something about the place would guide travelers into their own safe alcove, in one of many extremely similar locations.


    The Gate to Earth was easier than Celmoth. Was it because we practiced that in particular, or was it really ¡®closer¡¯? Then again, it seemed Celmoth wasn¡¯t a hotbed of supernatural occurrences, at least not on the receiving end, which would make the connection more difficult. But clearly not impossible.


    -----


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    I spent the rest of the day training with Squad Ten, who was basically as good as anyone ¡®without powers¡¯ could be. He¡¯d honed his body and trained his use of various weapons- over more hours than normal people could actually accomplish in a lifetime. I don¡¯t know if there was any benefit to him for me joining, but we were combat buddies now so he was quite happy to help. Obviously one more day wasn¡¯t going to result in a miraculous transformation, but it was nice to add some physical tiredness so I could sleep.


    -----


    ¡°So how do they choose who gets sent to Granbold?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Anyone who actually went extradimensional is an option,¡± Zakaria explained. ¡°By doing that, they subjected themselves to those laws, whatever they are. That includes things like executions which we perform much less frequently. Some people aren¡¯t happy about it, but as a matter of interdimensional diplomacy we have to keep up the practice.¡±


    ¡°What about¡­ if there were things that were illegal in just one place?¡±


    ¡°Then things quickly become a headache,¡± Zakaria said. ¡°Though we don¡¯t have to worry about such things in this case. Military coups, kidnapping, and slavery are pretty universally reviled. Even those places that allow slavery don¡¯t tend to accept taking random civilians from within their own populace. If it was a murkier thing, like magic being illegal somewhere, we might allow people here as political refugees.¡± I just stared at him. ¡°What? You¡¯re looking at me like I said the worst thing possible.¡±


    ¡°... There are places where magic is illegal?¡±


    ¡°Sure, why not? There are all kinds of ways people try to restrict the power of others.¡±


    ¡°... Remind me to never go somewhere like that.¡±


    ¡°You know, magic and supernatural abilities are also restricted on Earth,¡± Zakaria pointed out.


    ¡°But mostly in regards to breaking other laws, right?¡± I replied.


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± he admitted.


    The discussion came up after I transported a number of individuals into the care of Sir Kelman and the Order of the Lion, from which they would be taken to the capital. I hadn¡¯t been to or properly seen the capital, or I could have sent them directly there¡­ though there were several reasons not to do that even if it had been possible.


    Zakaria¡¯s job had involved confirming they had gone to these places extradimensional.


    ¡°So what about those politicians and stuff?¡± I asked. ¡°They¡¯re going to stay here and just get locked up for a while even though they were responsible for funding this stuff?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more than that,¡± Zakaria said. ¡°Especially since the Crowns seem interested in making an example of them. Their sentences will be long, and they¡¯re getting hit hardest where they hurt the most. Their pocketbooks. Pretty much everything they have will be seized as the proceeds of crimes, or through fines. I hear the Building and Safety Division doesn¡¯t mess around with regards to secret tunnels- and there was clear evidence they were aware of their presence. Also, that¡¯s just what¡¯s happening locally. Extra has additional avenues for punishment even if they didn¡¯t go extradimensional themselves. So while they might not get executed¡­ it¡¯s pretty clear most of their lives will be over. A few of those who were least involved might get plea deals to help secure the rest.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°It would be nice if everything was resolved with that. But they still ended up with Doctor Doomsday¡¯s tech¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like he¡¯s picky with who he sells ¡®old tech¡¯ to,¡± Zakaria shrugged. ¡°But we¡¯ve got a bunch of brainiacs looking into possible connections there. Best to not worry about it, as much as that¡¯s possible with Doctor Doomsday¡­ existing at all.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we could fix that.¡±


    ¡°Hah. Good luck. And by that I mean¡­ best not to get entangled. You¡¯d have infinite thanks if you succeeded, but too many good heroes are lost trying to make a name like that.¡± He looked at my expression. ¡°And good mercenaries.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    -----


    My second time on an airplane was much like the first, which was to say rather boring. I spent most of it trying to make my book show the secret notes- which was apparently possible according to the ending message, but not automatic except when in my previous world.


    In a way, it felt like I had been on one extremely long trip ever since running off through a portal during Ceira¡¯s rescue operation. Now, the plan was to be back in New Bay for the foreseeable future. I would be keeping in contact with Sir Kalman, but actually going somewhere extraplanar should be more rare.


    -----


    Midnight and I were eager to get back to a normal schedule of showing up to the Brigade for daily training, and who should we see first except one of our best friends. Specifically, Great Girl- at least at work.


    She was outside talking to someone in some sort of official looking uniform. Well, ¡®talking¡¯. ¡°For the last time, I¡¯m not interested!¡± She appeared slightly taller than average, though I couldn¡¯t see her actively shifting size.


    ¡°But we-¡±


    ¡°You go back and tell your bosses that they made their decision years ago, and if they don¡¯t stop pestering me I¡¯m going to make a very public mess for them regarding the very details of that situation.¡±


    ¡°... I understand,¡± said the man, who slunk away.


    I should recognize that uniform, probably. I¡¯d been a bit far to read the badge, though. ¡°Who was that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Mage! You¡¯re finally back from that foreign world!¡±


    ¡°We already talked since I came back,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°I meant Yew-Kay,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°How are you doing, Familiar?¡±


    ¡°Unprepared for the weight of responsibility on my shoulders,¡± Midnight said bluntly.


    ¡°Yeah, I feel you there,¡± Great Girl nodded. ¡°Come, let¡¯s get off the streets.¡± It was true we were just standing in front of Power Brigade HQ. ¡°That was the hero association. The whole thing with Dark Star means they¡¯re now lacking the right sort of young female super to fit headlines. So they¡¯ve been trying to poach me.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it your dream to be a hero¡­?¡± Midnight asked as we passed through security.


    ¡°Sure, it was,¡± Great Girl shrugged. ¡°Until they kicked me out and promoted her. And then maybe for a while after that. But I¡¯m not really a fan of how they run things on a greater level, and being in the limelight probably isn¡¯t for me.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°You could probably get a different super name, though.¡±


    Great Girl staggered back. ¡°Whoa. You gotta warn people before you drop bombs like that. Are you trying to get me to leave?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright, well¡­ that wouldn¡¯t be enough anyway. The only time I want to step foot on the hero association¡¯s doorstep in the future is with Kourtney¡¯s head on a pike.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± I asked. ¡°And where would you even get a pike?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Dark Star¡¯s real name. And I¡¯m sure not going to protect her secret identity now,¡± Great Girl shrugged.


    ¡°Oh. Kourtney is Stargirl. Darkstargirl now.¡±


    ¡°She sure is,¡± Great Girl grinned widely for some reason. ¡°So, have you been keeping up with your training while you¡¯ve been gone?¡±


    ¡°Only one way to find out,¡± I said. ¡°Though unless you¡¯re planning to go to another world, there¡¯s not much new.¡± Not besides Shelter, Assistive Familiar Casting, and Multicasting. The latter two of which were of great interest to me personally, but not particularly flashy.

 Chapter 211

    It was only when I had been back for a full week that I felt things had returned to some level of normalcy. From Ceira to the abductions from my former world, there hadn¡¯t been more than a few moments back in New Bay, and then barely enough to see Jerome in person and convince people I was still alive. I¡¯d been in contact with the Brigade, so they had been able to keep them informed, but it wasn¡¯t the same as hearing from someone in person or at least directly through magic.


    ¡°You almost made me learn Sending myself,¡± Jerome commented.


    I shrugged. ¡°Maybe you should have. It¡¯s useful.¡±


    ¡°For what?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°Rapid communication over long distances¡­¡± I lost my verbal momentum as he held up his phone. ¡°Okay, fine, but there are situations where it¡¯s better than technology. Beyond being on other planes¡­¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter anyway. I can¡¯t cast it yet.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked. ¡°It only takes 10 mana.¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t forget I¡¯m growing at the rate of a normal person who doesn¡¯t get into many- who doesn¡¯t get into fights.¡±


    ¡°What level are you?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Just 14. It¡¯s pretty close, but I¡¯d have to have two upgrades to guarantee casting Sending. Or one more level,¡± Jerome shrugged.


    ¡°You must have been studying hard to catch up so quickly,¡± I said. ¡°When you get your next level, I¡¯ll teach it to you. You never know when you need something like that.¡±


    Jerome sighed. ¡°You sound a lot like my mom. ¡®Get defensive spells, you need to keep yourself safe¡¯.¡±


    ¡°You know she can probably hear you,¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°I know,¡± Jerome said. ¡°My hearing improved too. Anyway¡­ it¡¯s not like I thought it was a bad idea. I spent a lot of my recent time, effort, and points on acquiring Variable Freedom. It¡¯s useful for uh¡­ full moons. And just in case anyone tries to grab me.¡±


    ¡°Is the second one frequently a problem?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± Jerome said. ¡°But with you as my master and my mom working for the Brigade, something might happen eventually. Mom¡¯s had to accept that I¡¯m not going to be normal, though. And her new job is¡­ much better.¡±


    ¡°Have you learned anything else interesting?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Uhh, I learned Knock. It¡¯s useful for opening doors or unlocking security or whatever.¡±


    ¡°Security?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Like on phones,¡± Jerome held his up. ¡°You know, because it¡¯s locked.¡±


    I furrowed my brow. ¡°Is that¡­ how it works?¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t make the rules. It works, that¡¯s all I know. Though to be fair I haven¡¯t gotten to practice on anything I don¡¯t have the key or password for. It¡¯s, uh¡­ loud.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°That does sound like one of its features. Could you teach me?¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, sure,¡± Jerome nodded. ¡°I think I can.¡±


    ¡°It worked for light,¡± I pointed out. ¡°I¡¯m sure you can. Oh, also¡­ I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re going to be able to use it as much, but I learned a new technique. Multicasting. It takes about triple the cost of a spell for four applications of it. Which means for you¡­ level 3 or lower spells.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the majority of my stuff,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Except the Freedom spells which I really stretched for. The one that would push me the most is Mage¡¯s Reach. What happens when you make four hands anyway?¡±


    ¡°A good question,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s find out.¡± 9 mana later, and I had four hands floating. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was conscious or subconscious, but two were left hands and two were right. When I began to move them, they moved in pairs with a bit of effort, though they easily synched up with my actual movements. Getting either pair to operate independently¡­ took more effort. And using my actual hands at the same time? Well, only a quick reaction from Jerome kept a lamp from shattering on the floor. ¡°Sorry about that,¡± I said as he pulled the lamp back out from Storage. ¡°The answer is¡­ more hands. Which the mind is not designed for.¡±


    ¡°What about with Enhance Mind?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°I would assume that would help,¡± I admitted. ¡°But I don¡¯t-¡± I stopped myself.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Jerome said. ¡°I already figured out you were using the placebo effect. Especially after I learned it myself and felt the effects.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°I suppose that it wasn¡¯t that convincing to begin with.¡±


    ¡°It was really helpful, actually. I learned to believe in myself. And you taught me how to actually study and gave me something I cared about.¡±


    ¡°Right. Well, that¡¯s another thing I could learn from you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad. I¡¯ll learn anything you¡¯re willing to teach me¡­¡± he looked vaguely towards the other parts of the apartment. ¡°Though mom would definitely prefer I started with¡­ utility.¡±


    ¡°Clean is really easy,¡± I said. ¡°Shelter is¡­ hopefully irrelevant. But since it doesn¡¯t take points, I think teaching you everything possible is probably worthwhile.¡± Natural upgrades for individual spells were harder to come by the more upgrades of any type you had, as far as I had determined. But that didn¡¯t mean learning new spells would become more difficult. In fact, it seemed like it should be easier. Comparing to the concept of a wizard in this world, it was more or less as expected¡­ without a big book where everything was written down.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    -----


    Water Breathing was something I had only used a small number of times in total, and it had been semi-accidental that I learned it at the time- I had basically been intending to use points without properly taking the steps required, and I ended up just casting it. It was the first actual spell that I learned without spending points on it, starting a cascade of strange discoveries. There was hopefully never going to be practical benefit for Jerome to know it, but it was still useful for teaching purposes. It was practical for a demonstration of the spell, of Multicasting, and an unnecessary demonstration of Assistive Familiar Casting.


    Plus it was fun. Jerome¡¯s apartments shared a pool, so it was a perfect place to use it. With multicasting, we could target Tylissa, Jerome, his friend Haralamb- who was also around to learn- as well as Midnight and I since we counted together. Haralamb had also been exposed to portals and ended up with the mage class, so he and Jerome had been training together.


    ¡°Feels weird,¡± Tylissa commented. ¡°Like a¡­ film in front of my mouth?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m a bit nervous about it.¡±


    ¡°I know it works,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll show you.¡± I dove into the pool. I took a deep breath¡­ which was just like any other breath I had taken in my life. Except with water instead of air. Unlike what I had first felt, it wasn¡¯t quite that my lungs actually filled with water, but the filtered air was certainly colder and wetter. The spell also came with helpful mental bypasses that didn¡¯t make people reject breathing underwater, otherwise they might just pass out from not breathing at all.


    Ultimately, most of that particular afternoon was spent swimming around and having fun rather than actual magical training, but we still got some done. Jerome and Haralamb trained Multicasting with Shield. It was the cheapest spell that easily went on other people with a clear visual effect. Whether it was some quality of Jerome¡¯s or that he was higher level- though those factors weren¡¯t unrelated, since he had become quite the studious individual- he was the only one who actually managed to learn it.


    It had only taken me a few casts to get it down, but that was after getting a spark of inspiration. Jerome had me to demonstrate, and it took him his five full casts to manage, which was his full mana capacity plus two more hours. That didn¡¯t leave him any mana that afternoon to teach me Enhance, but I wasn¡¯t particularly in a rush.


    ¡°Ugh,¡± Jerome said as he managed it. ¡°These mana limitations are brutal. Maybe I should get a familiar¡­?¡± he looked at Midnight.


    ¡°I should be an anomaly among Familiar,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But I think it should still be helpful? Comhghall knew about Assistive Familiar Casting, at least.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Indeed. Though I wouldn¡¯t suggest picking a companion casually. If the bond breaks¡­ it¡¯s not a comfortable process, from what I hear.¡±


    ¡°So if I got a hamster¡­ in a couple years I would regret it?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Midnight said. ¡°You would regret it immediately. Hamsters are terrible.¡±


    I laughed, ¡°What I think Midnight means is that a normal animal¡¯s lifespan should be lengthened by the bond. You don¡¯t have to worry about that part too much, but don¡¯t get anything highly susceptible to disease. Pick something smart.¡±


    ¡°Are you encouraging my son to get a pet right in front of me?¡± Tylissa raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°The familiar will also be able to use the Clean spell,¡± I said. ¡°Once I teach it to Jerome.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­ it¡¯s a bit awkward because animals don¡¯t necessarily like us.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ right,¡± I nodded. The werewolf thing. Would that make dogs a better or worse idea?


    ¡°Were you just thinking they should get a dog?¡± Midnight asked.


    There was no way my thoughts were that clear. It was probably just experience. Midnight and I were barely separated in the last year and a half, after all. ¡°Real dogs aren¡¯t that bad,¡± I reminded Midnight, who grudgingly agreed.


    ¡°Do you think I should get one, sir?¡± Haralamb asked. ¡°A familiar, I mean. Not necessarily a dog.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a reason mages or ¡®wizards¡¯ are rarely pictured without one,¡± I said. ¡°Though if your parents aren¡¯t in the loop, it might be more difficult to convince them. And there¡¯s the cost of supporting another living being. A typical familiar can¡¯t just go out and get a job.¡± Haralamb was from the same neighborhood as Jerome had been¡­ which meant his family was not wealthy. Tylissa and Jerome were much better financially since she became a tracker for the Brigade, but that didn¡¯t somehow make Jerome¡¯s friend more wealthy.


    Jerome might actually be able to make money with his current magic- though he seemed focused on improving his powers more than using them at the moment. Haralamb was behind in time and experience, plus he was still going to school normally.


    ¡°Probably better to leave a decision like that for later,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s a lot more than just getting a pet.¡± Making Midnight my familiar was more of a matter of spontaneity and a bit of naivety. We both needed someone who would stick with us, so it worked out. But a wrongly chosen familiar could be a lasting thorn- or require an intentional bond breaking which was by all records an awful experience.


    -----


    Numbers filled the pages in front of me. Okay, that wasn¡¯t quite true. In fact, a relatively small portion of what I was looking at were numbers, but it was all math.


    ¡°So what¡¯s this?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Math you haven¡¯t learned yet,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Unless I missed something.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I honestly don¡¯t know where to start.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what Enhance Mind is for,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Pay attention to my casting because I can¡¯t do this that many times.¡±


    I focused on the flow of his mana¡­ and how it affected my thoughts. My thoughts were faster¡­ in a different way from Haste. There, they felt like the same speed with everything else slower. Here, it was truly faster. I grabbed my pencil, looked down at the work and¡­ ¡°Yeah, I still have no idea.¡±


    ¡°Well, obviously. You still have to learn. But you should be able to skim the previous chapter here much faster. In fact, I¡¯m going to put a time limit¡­ which is more or less the duration of the spell. Then you try to do what you can, and hopefully replicate the spell after that. Or we repeat.¡±


    ¡°Why not just cast the spell a few times?¡¯ I asked.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s always better to do something practical, right?¡± Jerome asked. ¡°You try to give something tangible to focus on too, and math is the one with the most straightforward results. We could do puzzles and stuff, but once you learn how to solve them you don¡¯t really need Enhance Mind. We could get some, though.¡±


    That all made sense. Though I was pretty sure the logic would have followed normally regardless. I began to read through the indicated section of the book, finding I quickly made connections to things I already knew. But I wasn¡¯t sure if the spells was helping, since I could only read things for the first time once. Perhaps a review after this would tell me.


    If only studying gave experience like it was supposed to. Wouldn¡¯t that be great?


    Though if it meant not having Aspect of the Barbarian¡­ I likely wouldn¡¯t be at my current level. Why didn¡¯t anyone teach me properly? What was wrong with people who just got stronger by fighting?


    Perhaps I answered my own question there. But people in power wouldn''t have to worry about that so much if they weren¡¯t making things difficult for people on purpose. Knowing what I knew now, however¡­? I might have a reason to actually do something once I became truly strong.

 Chapter 212

    Over the next few days of training, I continued to teach Multicasting and utility things like Clean, while Jerome assisted me with Enhance Mind followed by Enhance Body. Since he knew both, I learned both. Simple as that. Both had a duration of about ten minutes, which was a significant amount of time but not enough to recoup their costs during the duration. As nice as it might be to constantly think faster, it was impossible. And by impossible, I really meant that it would take eighty upgrades and hundreds of points which would be a bit much to ask until my level was in the fifties or sixties. Though even at seventy it would be about a tenth of my total.


    While going all in on a particular ability sounded like a certain path to power, it wasn¡¯t really feasible. However, I did happen to have more than a level¡¯s worth of points I was looking to spend. Perhaps focusing on a few spells might be useful. Then again, if I could avoid using them, I could save them for something important. As long as I was getting upgrades through training and didn¡¯t let anything fall behind, it should be fine. But just remaining at my current strength would be a bit¡­ risky. Supers were expected to grow over time, with those who had reached their limits generally relegated off to the side dealing with boring stuff. Or eventually going beyond their limits and finding an early retirement.


    -----


    ¡°You sure go all over the place, huh?¡± I said. I¡¯d been trying to track down Calculator for like an hour, always remaining a step behind him.


    ¡°I do have a position that requires more than sitting behind a desk,¡± Calculator pointed out.


    ¡°I dunno, I bet you could do more stuff from behind a desk,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Though I guess there are many things here not connected to each other.¡± It was for security and stuff. Wouldn¡¯t do to get a computer hacked and compromise all of HQ.


    ¡°Right,¡± Calculator said. ¡°So why are you looking for me?¡±


    ¡°At the risk of acquiring more utility roles, I need to test a spell on you.¡±


    ¡°And what does this spell do?¡± Calculator asked.


    I was going to say it would be faster for him to experience it¡­ but summarizing it wasn¡¯t difficult either. ¡°It makes you think fast.¡±


    His expression was unreadable as he looked at me. ¡°Fine. Go ahead.¡±


    I gathered 5 points of mana, then cast it on him. ¡°Well, that¡¯s basically it,¡± I said. ¡°I guess it¡¯s not necessarily easy to tell how much it¡¯s doing, though?¡±


    ¡°It''s relatively low level, isn¡¯t it?¡± Calculator asked. ¡°Sixth rank?¡±


    ¡°Fifth,¡± I replied. ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°From how long it takes you to cast the spell. I think you¡¯re getting a bit faster, though. As for this¡­¡± Calculator held up a finger and looked down at his watch. I waited. And waited. Then a full minute passed, more or less. ¡°I¡¯d say about a fifty percent increase in cognitive speed.¡±


    ¡°Is that¡­ good?¡± At that rate, Haste was better. Except for being ten times less mana efficient, of course. Or was it closer to four after factoring in the relative increases?


    Calculator shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s useful. It also seems to last longer than Haste.¡±


    ¡°About ten minutes,¡± I said. ¡°Though obviously with less¡­ movement ability.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s useful,¡± he said. ¡°The amount I calculated is just one factor. It provides a certain clarity of thought that would be difficult to quantify. It would be useful to see how it interacts with other powers.¡±


    ¡°Like what kind?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Tech supers.¡±


    -----


    ¡°Oh my,¡± Francois¡¯ eyes lit up. ¡°I have some truly marvelous ideas. Ten minutes, you said?¡± He pulled out a tablet and began drawing rapidly, while also scribbling notes. About halfway through he furrowed his brow, and focused more on the notes. At the end, he sighed. ¡°Unfortunate. It¡¯s less than a moment of inspiration, but look at these notes!¡±


    He turned the tablet towards me, but I honestly couldn¡¯t read any of the handwriting. ¡°It¡¯s a mess.¡±


    ¡°A mess indeed!¡± Francois said. ¡°I can understand some of this, but honestly¡­ most of it was too far reaching even if I were to remain in that state constantly. But if I could call upon you occasionally to help puzzle through some stumbling blocks, it might save me a good bit of time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to see,¡± I said. ¡°Since it doesn¡¯t involve, you know, combat.¡± I didn¡¯t want to be stuck doing this stuff. But I didn¡¯t want to just hide new abilities from the Brigade if they could be useful.


    -----


    The next person on my list was Great Girl. Not to cast Enhance Mind, because she had her job pretty well figured out. Well, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to think faster in combat, but Haste was probably better for that. But instead, the point was to enhance her current powers to see if it was relevant or not.


    ¡°It¡¯s weird,¡± Great Girl said.


    I tilted my head. ¡°What about it? It¡¯s just supernatural strength.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ I¡¯m not any bigger. They¡¯ve always gone together. Even with your Enlarge spell. Now I¡¯m just my totally normal size and¡­ stronger.¡±


    I looked at her. Was she six two or six three now? Taller than when we¡¯d first met¡­ in short, more or less exactly my height. ¡°You did the thing again,¡± I said. ¡°Do you not have an internal impression of your height¡­?¡±


    Great Girl grumbled. ¡°It gets easier to maintain a larger size, so it¡¯s difficult to judge¡­¡± she folded her arms. ¡°Besides, nothing wrong with being a little taller.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I suppose it wouldn¡¯t be too weird for the public to see your natural height increase. If they even notice.¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°They probably will¡­¡± Great Girl sighed. ¡°People like collecting stats on supers. Even if they¡¯re guesses. Still, this magic is neat. It¡¯s nice to have more strength without the inconveniences of being overly large or¡­ other inconveniences.¡±


    ¡°Other ones?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be called Wolf Girl,¡± she explained. ¡°Well, none of this is strictly necessary though. I don¡¯t really need most of your enhancements unless New Bay is attacked by a kaiju.¡±


    ¡°A what now?¡±


    ¡°... A big friggin monster,¡± she said. ¡°Though uh¡­ I¡¯d rather not fight one anyway.¡±


    ¡°Because they¡¯d be bigger than you?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°Because I can¡¯t afford that.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. What else was I supposed to say?


    -----


    Khithae frowned as my spell affected her. ¡°I think I could do this one?¡± she tilted her head.


    ¡°Yeah, maybe,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s some overlap between our spells, it seems. I can teach you sometime.¡± Plus, that would take the pressure off of me if people needed it. And make her more valuable to the Brigade, though I really doubted they could find a replacement for her anyway. A tech savvy individual capable of repairing things that were beyond broken and also able to reach every point of the training rooms without issue. But more utility shouldn¡¯t hurt. ¡°So how have things been?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, you know I mostly stay inside. No danger. Good income. And enough friends,¡± she said, her lizard-like jaws opening in something like a smile.


    ¡°So.¡± I didn¡¯t really know how to broach the next topic. ¡°You like it here?¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± Khithae said. ¡°Working for the Power Brigade I feel useful.¡±


    ¡°I meant¡­ here in general. This Earth. I know you said you preferred it to your dimension,¡± I vaguely remembered that from when we first met, at least. ¡°But you haven¡¯t really had the option so¡­¡±


    ¡°It is better here, I think,¡± she said. ¡°But what is this about options?¡±


    ¡°Well, I can use Gate to travel between places. So¡­ I wouldn¡¯t want you to be stuck here without offering the choice.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that¡­ very difficult?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Well, I think the connection would be the hard part. But it should be possible. In terms of actual effort, we could be certain with something equivalent to an afternoon¡¯s work. Maybe a bit more.¡±


    ¡°... Is it allowed?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Extra does have some ideas about such things. But you returning to your home dimension would certainly be alright.¡±


    ¡°Except I wouldn¡¯t stay,¡± Khithae said. ¡°At most, I would look¡­ and gather some pieces of technology. Though I doubt they would like the latter.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re pretty picky about that stuff. Anyway, I¡¯m glad you like it here. I just didn¡¯t want you to have to tell yourself that because there wasn¡¯t another option.¡± I might be able to offer help to Extra, returning people to their home dimensions¡­ but it could easily take up all of my time. Or mana, which was basically the same. It seemed kind of selfish to ignore people who were stuck away from home, but I also couldn¡¯t guarantee actually making a connection with just a person from somewhere. Maybe when I was stronger. And if I could find some way to have more mana.


    -----


    Shockwave looked at me with eager eyes. ¡°Well? How is it?¡±


    ¡°Things have been going well with me,¡± I said.


    ¡°Good to hear,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°But I also wanted to know about¡­ you know.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Sorry, Haste is still the same power as it was before.¡±


    ¡°But I thought you said you¡¯d been training!¡± They complained. ¡°What did you even do if you weren¡¯t improving that?¡±


    I began to list things off. ¡°Going to other dimensions with Gate. Making Shelter so we didn¡¯t get eaten at night in the jungle. Casting things on more people at once.¡±


    Shockwave rolled their eyes. ¡°Yeah whatever those all sound fine I guess. You didn¡¯t use Haste in battle?¡±


    ¡°I did, but that doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that it would improve. Sometimes it does, sometimes it takes a specific mindset,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It might take specific training.¡±


    ¡°Great!¡± Shockwave said. ¡°So, uh, given that you¡¯ve been away for a while you¡¯re still not attached to a team. So we should work together for a few days. It would be training for you, and practical work for me.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about this idea,¡± I said. Obviously, it was going to involve Haste.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple. There are some neighborhoods with increasing supervillain incident rates. Alarmingly high, in fact. So we just go to one of the stations there, and I answer the call.¡±


    ¡°I assume my job would be to cast Haste on you? Aren¡¯t you worried about¡­ windows?¡±


    ¡°I have much greater control over my own shockwaves now,¡± they said.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I frowned. ¡°It¡¯s a good way to use a lot of mana quickly, though that¡¯s not really difficult. I guess I could get practical feedback, though. You could also help me train a few other spells. I wouldn¡¯t want to do that long-term, though.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°But it would really help me out. There¡¯s a ton of stuff happening and some of the incidents are over very quickly. I can¡¯t always even arrive on the scene. You allow me to go faster with or without breaking anything.¡±


    ¡°You know¡­¡± I said. ¡°I do have one thing that might actually let you go faster.¡± Running involved the body, didn¡¯t it? Speedsters were often limited by potentially hurting themselves, and Enhance Body improved things in all areas.


    -----


    Ten minutes. That was all it took. I sent Shockwave out with Haste, Enhance Body, and Physical Freedom. The district apparently had a lot of low level thugs and criminal gangs, generally not a problem for the city as a whole but a huge deal for the people who lived in the area.


    It would obviously take more than ten minutes to clean the place up, even with a speedster. Instead, that was how long it took to exhaust my mana. ¡°I can¡¯t believe there was continuous trouble¡­¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯d been scouting out a bunch of these places. This was just a good opportunity to clean them up. It might not seem like it, but at my normal speed people can get in a lucky shot or whatever. If I get a cracked rib or bruised thigh, I¡¯m out of commission for a while. Obviously I still finish dealing with whatever problems, but¡­¡± Shockwave shrugged. ¡°With Haste, I am able to push past minimum human reaction times. Plus I¡¯m limited in speed due to the whole shattering window thing normally. All that together, and I can get quite a lot done. Just have to wait for the clean up crews to come along and take these fellows in.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Next time we shouldn¡¯t push so hard, though.¡±


    ¡°Why not? You¡¯re here to train Haste, right?¡±


    ¡°We just don¡¯t want people to figure out these limits,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Makes things harder in the future.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what the training is for,¡± Shockwave grinned. ¡°Just improve and become more efficient.¡±


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°If only it was that simple.¡±


    ¡°I do agree about the predictability though,¡± Shockwave said more seriously. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t tend to focus on the same areas. New Bay is plenty big for us to just pick out a spot for an afternoon. But beyond that¡­ want to go get lunch? I¡¯m wiped out too. After all, I just spent half an hour sprinting in relative time.¡±

 Chapter 213

    The downtime during which I was doing little other than training was nice. It was comforting almost to the point that I wished I could continue with that lifestyle forever, never facing any actual conflict. Almost. But it would take forever to get levels if I only sparred with people and didn¡¯t engage in actual combat, and I wasn¡¯t content with what I had learned. Being able to learn new abilities through training simply wasn¡¯t fast enough, though I certainly appreciated what I had.


    But I shouldn¡¯t have been worried about things settling down long term, as New Bay hadn¡¯t really changed. Soon enough, we were called for an all hands meeting in the auditorium, on floor 7 of HQ.


    ¡°... Did you know this auditorium existed?¡± I asked Shockwave.


    ¡°Of course,¡± they replied. ¡°It¡¯s not used much though.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know about it,¡± Midnight replied.


    It seemed we only tended to learn what the floors were once we went to them. Then again, some things were kind of secret. Though those tended to be in the basements, where they would be more secure should something go wrong.


    I didn¡¯t see Great Girl among the crowd, though I did spot some of her team- and my former teammates. I still trained with the captain, Shockfire, and Acid Man occasionally¡­ but they were all parts of longer term squads now. Meanwhile, I¡¯d been too infrequently available to be attached to anything long term. It wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d intended to go through a portal, it had just been the best available option at the time. It hadn¡¯t really come up since I¡¯d been back, either.


    ¡°Whoa, this must be serious,¡± Shockwave commented. ¡°All of the executives are up there.¡±


    I took a look. ¡°Aren¡¯t there supposed to be seven of them? That¡¯s only six.¡± Five were more or less familiar to me, having interacted with them a couple times. And Calculator a lot more, obviously. ¡°Is she uh¡­ Lady Light?¡±


    ¡°Clearly,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you- well, I suppose you weren¡¯t really around during her active period, huh?¡±


    ¡°The database is also rather light on information regarding the executives.¡±


    ¡°Really? I feel like you should have the clearance by now.¡±


    ¡°... I will admit to not having checked in some time.¡±


    As much as I would have liked to keep talking, it appeared things were getting started as I finally saw Great Girl joining them on stage. Along with Captain Senan and a couple others.


    Calculator began speaking without ceremony. ¡°Before I begin, understand that much of the information we will be speaking about is confidential. With that said, I am certain many of you will have noticed many of your patrols have been quieter as of late. The number of recent incidents has dropped significantly. While in part this is due to your dedication and that of others in the city¡­ our investigations have turned up other reasons. Ones that are most unfortunate for the state of things. Villains fighting villains¡­ and while that might seem like a positive, there are multiple reasons we should be concerned. Our source of income is the least important of these.¡±


    Lady Light took over next. She was¡­ difficult to look at. Were her powers constantly active on purpose, or was that just an unfortunate side effect? Either way, the sequins on her outfit reflecting more light than what she already produced was rather unpleasant. But perhaps this was good for concealing her identity, because I couldn¡¯t even make out a proper body shape.


    ¡°The short version of things is that these aren¡¯t normal territorial squabbles,¡± Lady Light explained. ¡°Instead, it is the result of a few groups trying to absorb other villains. Traditional supers, and the recent wave of portal powered individuals as well. The major contenders are Doctor Doomsday¡¯s faction and that of Gloom and Dark Star. So far, only the martian mafia seems to have been able to resist either of them, and we have indications they might play the field as well. Either way, it¡¯s not good for more villains to fall under more organized leadership.¡±


    ¡°Kourtney¡¯s as organized as a pile of bricks!¡± Great Girl interjected. ¡°I mean, uh¡­¡± she stepped forward properly into the spotlight. ¡°Dark Star is a much more charismatic leader than Gloom, for obvious reasons. Gloom didn¡¯t previously have much resembling a faction, besides what we could describe as ¡®terrified cronies¡¯. Our information indicates that this pair knew each other in the past.¡± Great Girl gestured to a sudden projection- which involved more than just displaying a picture on a flat wall. Instead, there seemed to be something closer to a three dimensional image projected besides her. ¡°Kourtnay Ingham, formerly known as Stargirl-¡± for some reason she waved around the mic she was holding. ¡°Sorry, I mean Shooting Star. Currently going by the moniker Dark Star.¡±


    Displayed were pictures of her in her superhero outfit, her villain outfit, and in street clothes- an older picture, presumably provided by Great Girl herself given their history. Strengths and weaknesses were gone over- not that we knew much in the way of actual weaknesses for Darkstargirl. Among other things, her powers might have shifted with the visuals. Other than that, her powers counting as fire to some extent, which wasn¡¯t really a weakness so much on its own. And vulnerable to dispelling, but that was kind of niche in relevance since nobody else used magic or had my staff.


    I wondered if Lady Light would be a good counter to her now that she was Darkstargirl. Well, perhaps they¡¯d figure that out soon enough. Following the information on Gloom- which basically just indicated that mental protections were required- some of Doctor Doomsday¡¯s tactics were discussed. Though mainly that counted his minions, and how he had been outfitting them lately. That included his normal human mooks, as well as the orcs and dark elves. Though there was also concern regarding what groups he was absorbing.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Swiss Arms also provided some of her personal experience, talking about different gadgets Doctor Doomsday used. Telescope and Movebrain didn¡¯t have much to say, and Captain Punch was completely useless. ¡°Remember, if you hit anything hard enough you can win.¡± He wasn¡¯t wrong, but that didn¡¯t mean people could do it. Myself included, even.


    Things returned to Calculator who proceeded to wrap up the meeting. ¡°Ultimately, we¡¯re planning to increase patrols in the short term, despite the appearance of peace. Some of you will simply be on call, but the point is that we can¡¯t have you exhausting yourself in training. We expect something to happen within the next few weeks, and if possible we¡¯d like to prevent any supers from being absorbed into larger factions.¡±


    Well, as long as we got to fight that didn¡¯t sound so bad, but for me personally it meant cutting back on some of the training I was doing. Just when I was focusing on improving spells, too.


    Then again, I was satisfied with most of my progress.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 33


    Experience: 2900/2975


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +5 (4|1)


    Firebolt +4 (3|1)


    Shocking Grasp +5 (3|2)


    Grease +3 (2|1)


    Force Armor +8 (6|2)


    Mage''s Reach +4 (2|2)


    Translation +2 (1|1)


    Alter Time Flow +6 (4|2)


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +7 (4|3)


    Enlarge +3 (2|1)


    Energy Ward +3 (2|1)


    Sonic Lance +4 (3|1)


    Scrying +4 (1|3)


    Shield +1


    Stoneskin +3 (2|1)


    Mana Crystal Deposition +4 (1|3)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +3 (2|1)


    Basic Light Magic +2 (1|1)


    Locate Object +2


    Alter Portal +1 (0|1)


    Gate +3 (2|1)


    Arcane Sight +1 (0|1)


    Sending +2 (0|2)


    Chain Lightning +3 (1|2)


    Clean +1 (0|1)


    Shelter +1 (0|1)


    Assistive Familiar Casting +2 (0|2)


    Locate Creature


    Multicasting +1 (0|1)


    Enhance +1


    Remaining Points: 47


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Finally, another natural improvement to Force Armor. I used it constantly, but it also had many upgrades from points. Beyond that, I didn¡¯t necessarily practice when I used it. I just let it flow naturally without thinking about it most of the time.


    Beyond that, relevant increases included Alter Time Flow- Slow and Haste. Chain Lightning also got an upgrade due to it being used in high profile situations in rather fancy manners. And I¡¯d managed to improve Multicasting, allowing me to snag some of the efficiency of upgrades from other things.


    I¡¯d properly learned Enhance Mind and Enhance body, then spent a point on an upgrade to force them to combine. I wasn¡¯t certain if that was the best method, but it was the most straightforward one and they were both useful in a variety of situations. I still had enough points to do basically whatever I wanted¡­ but I needed to know what that was before I spent them.


    -----


    ¡°Trials and executions completed. Investigations continue, however.¡±


    That was the response I got from Sir Kalman when asking for weekly updates. Sending couldn¡¯t say all that much, so being concise was useful. And if there was nothing more to say, there was no reason to bloat things. It was odd, though. Investigations into what? Perhaps how the portals got there in the first place? That was something I should ask Zenfer, probably. I hadn¡¯t really been in contact with him at all, but it seemed like something important to ask.


    Sir Kalman might have meant something else, but he hadn¡¯t chosen to elaborate. I decided not to speculate too much. And I could inquire with Zenfer even though I wanted to be cautious regarding the other mages. He knew I had Sending and Gate already, so as long as I kept to reasonable topics I shouldn¡¯t have to worry.


    What should I say? Something like¡­ ¡°Worried more portals might appear. Can the mages of the capital do anything to prevent it?¡± Perhaps I should have said something sooner, but honestly I hadn¡¯t been thinking about contacting him. Then Uvithar¡¯s secret notes reminded me to be cautious. But I also had to try to get some information, and he was the only other way.


    The reply took about as long as normal, arriving about half an hour after I sent my question. It was unclear if Zenfer was prepared ahead of time, but the old halfling man managed something within the proper response time. Of course, his response was only so long.


    ¡°The Archmages are looking into the situation. Granbold will not so easily let our people be abducted.¡±


    That didn¡¯t tell me much. I barely even knew who the archmages were. I mean, I¡¯d read about them but¡­ I had kind of figured if I needed to know something specific I could look it up. And now I didn¡¯t have access to Master Uvithar¡¯s library or the man himself.


    But that was how life went, sometimes.


    In addition to his response, I also happened to get a message from someone else. Specifically, Vilhelmiina the tech super.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    I require your presence for testing.


    Sorry


    On call


    Gotta stay in top form


    Can¡¯t expend all my mana


    This testing will require none of your personal mana.


    I will arrange for your presence with the Brigade.


    I can promise your rapid mobilization should an incident arise.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Well, I had no real reasons to refuse. I liked the crazy old woman. It was even a good opportunity to see what Enhance Mind did to a ¡®normal¡¯ tech super, unlike Francois. The only question was if that was something I could get away with. It was only 5 mana, so using it once wouldn¡¯t be an issue¡­ but she could likely be very persuasive to have me use it more than once if she found it interesting. And it was very likely that she would.


    Well, I could figure that out later. First, I could see what she wanted. It usually ended up going well for me in the end. I¡¯d gotten some cool goggles I hadn¡¯t been using that much, my dispelling staff made of faux Yggdrasil wood, and a nice scrying cube. I couldn¡¯t expect to get another device, but visits with her were always interesting.

 Chapter 214

    All it took to enter Vilhelmiina¡¯s lab this time was pressing twenty-seven bricks in the correct order. Presumably, mistakes would come with consequences. But since she informed me how to enter, it wasn¡¯t an issue to follow instructions. Upon pressing the last one, the wall folded away and led to some stairs. I began to walk down, Midnight on my shoulder, when the stairs folded down, collapsing into a slide.


    An uncontrolled descent hadn¡¯t been on my list of plans for the day, but just like all of her weird entrances it ultimately involved coming to a mostly safe stop. This time, Midnight and I were caught by some sort of slowing field, depleting our momentum and dropping us to the floor gently.


    Moving around in the area was like swimming through water, but ultimately we found our way over to the cannon bot, Frank, who led us towards Vilhelmiina. The place was both extremely familiar and completely unknown, and I wondered if this woman spent more time rearranging her lair than actually doing other stuff. Then again, I was aware that she was quite efficient with her results when it mattered, so some eccentricities could be excused. And might make sense, if she was worried about her safety.


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re here,¡± she handed me a pistol. ¡°Use this.¡±


    ¡°On what?¡± I asked. ¡°And why?¡±


    ¡°On that,¡± she pointed to a target. ¡°Because I want to see what happens.¡±


    The room wasn¡¯t really a proper firing range, but there was nothing close around the target at least. Though it did feel like it was protected by something. And the gun¡­ no, the ammunition was something special. ¡°Ear protection?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, fine,¡± she waved her hand, grabbing a pair of earmuffs from somewhere and shoving them onto Midnight and me. ¡°Now get shooting,¡± she said, her voice coming through the muffs that also seemed to double as headsets.


    I held the gun up, taking careful aim, then squeezed the trigger a few times. The bullets hit right in the center of the ¡®torso¡¯- though there shouldn¡¯t be any other results considering the distance wasn¡¯t that great. Before it hit, however, I felt the struggle of magical forces. ¡°Is that it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Hmm. Why did that happen?¡± Vilhelmiina asked.


    ¡°Well, I assume the bullets dispelled a portion of the protection around the target.¡±


    She clicked her tongue. ¡°Tch. You knew? There go the blind results.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Sorry, I felt it.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least I confirmed that it works. And that there is some reason they don¡¯t work for people with the wrong kind of powers.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡°They¡¯re just bullets.¡±


    Vilhelmiina gestured, and I handed the gun to her. She aimed the pistol at the target with one hand, squeezing the trigger. I wasn¡¯t certain about her stance, but her aim was accurate enough. However, instead of the soft sound of hitting the target there was a clear plinking sound as the bullet deflected off of something hard. ¡°That,¡± she said, tossing the weapon towards me without even engaging the safety. ¡°I would assume it to work with for anyone with portal powers.¡±


    ¡°Interesting,¡± I said as I lined up another shot. What was different? I squeezed, and another bullet hit vaguely clustered with the others, slipping through the barrier with only a vague feeling instead of a clear contest.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s basically it for that experiment. You can keep the rest of the clip, might be useful against Doomsday¡¯s minions or the like. After that, it¡¯ll cost you ten thousand per.¡±


    ¡°Per clip?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Per bullet,¡± Vilhelmiina corrected me.


    I suddenly felt a little bit wasteful. ¡°Why so much?¡±


    ¡°The materials aren¡¯t exactly abundant here, and I¡¯m not the only tech super in the city interested in working with it. If you can get me some of Doomsday¡¯s stock out of the hands of his assassins it¡¯s another story. Oh, and try to retrieve the bullets,¡± Vilhelmiina gestured. ¡°The material is at least partly reusable.¡±


    ¡°Good to know,¡± I said. Looking at the weapon in my hand, it certainly seemed usable. However, I also didn¡¯t like that it existed. How much magic could these bullets punch through? ¡°What¡¯s their limit?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A good question,¡± Vilhelmiina said. ¡°I calibrated them around the most recent AEGIS,¡± she gestured towards the target. ¡°But I haven¡¯t seen them work without you.¡±


    ¡°There have to have been people with portal powers you could have had help test you.¡±


    ¡°Certainly, there are a lot of individuals that would be technically capable. However, the vast majority are random civilians. Very few chose to go into super business. And a good portion of those went into villainy.¡±


    ¡°Darkstargirl¡¯s stupid fan club?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Among others, of course,¡± Vilhelmiina shrugged. ¡°Now then, I do have other tasks I could use your help with.¡±


    ¡°What do you need?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Frank!¡± Vilhelmiina yelled. My ears twitched as her voice was amplified next to my head. I turned to see the cannon bot come into view¡­ after which he aimed a significant portion of his cannon-self at the target. Several simultaneous explosions went off at once, eliminating the rest of my feeling of the barrier. Vilhemiina walked forward into the smoke and dust, coming back out with a belt. ¡°I need you to figure out how to charge these things.¡±


    ¡°I assume you just inject mana,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t right now but¡­¡±


    ¡°No no no, it¡¯s no good if I need you or someone else. Perhaps Doctor Doomsday uses his minions for such purposes, but those portals are another matter entirely. He must have some understanding of manipulating mana through alternate methods. I¡¯ve been attempting to replicate something but¡­ well, let me show you.¡±


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    She yanked off our headsets and tossed them to the side. Then we were effectively dragged along through cris-crossing corridors until we came to a room labeled ¡®juice lab¡¯. She slapped the belt in front of a bulbous machine that looked like it should produce some sort of death ray. Then she yanked a lever.


    I could feel the mana in the room being drawn towards the device. The whole contraption then condensed it into a beam that began to fill up the AEGIS before shuddering to a halt. ¡°And that¡¯s what happens. This thing is about half juiced at best,¡± Vilhelmiina complained. ¡°Now why would that happen? I can measure the total ambient mana should be sufficient, but¡­¡± she gestured.


    ¡°Most likely some of it was wasted,¡± I said.


    ¡°How?¡± Vilhelmiina asked. ¡°And why?¡±


    Midnight flicked his tail. ¡°If I had to guess, it probably hit its fatigue point.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Vilhelmiina asked.


    ¡°Well, just looking at it¡­ wouldn''t you say that¡¯s about five mana, Turlough?¡±


    ¡°Vaguely,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°But there¡¯s no buildup,¡± Vilhelmiina said. ¡°It just suddenly stops.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s about right,¡± Midnight said. ¡°There¡¯s a very thin margin between functional and unconscious for mages.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a mage. It¡¯s a machine.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Those are both good points. Anyway, have you tried gathering only in smaller chunks?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t,¡± the old woman admitted. ¡°It just didn¡¯t seem necessary. After all, the throughput was sufficient and it wasn¡¯t overheating or anything.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be honest that I haven¡¯t had the opportunity to work much with enchanted objects,¡± I said. ¡°But most of this device isn¡¯t particularly mana conductive, is it?¡±


    ¡°Only certain parts. Otherwise it would go every which way¡­ right?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I shrugged. I pondered for a few seconds. ¡°Wanna test something?¡±


    ¡°Always,¡± she said. ¡°Oh, you mean right now? You have an idea?¡±


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t make much of anything happen here.¡± Feeling the depleted ambient mana was¡­ weird. I¡¯d never run into that before, but it was fairly obvious what happened. ¡°But yes. I can provide you a short boost.¡± I looked over at the old woman, whose lab coat was covered in all sorts of odd devices. ¡°As long as none of that will try to stop me.¡±


    ¡°One moment,¡± she fiddled around with some dials on her coat. ¡°You have ten seconds.¡±


    Knowing her, it was exactly that precise, so rapidly gathered my internal mana. It was only 5 points for Enhance Mind, which put me well under the time limit. I could tell exactly when it came into effect not just from my end, but from the way her eyes widened.


    She immediately wandered over to the edge of the room, waving her arms around- at which point a projected image appeared on the wall. Through some arcane method of waving her arms and moving her body- or perhaps more- words and images began to rapidly fill the available space. Ten minutes elapsed, and her frenzy slowed down. The whole time she didn¡¯t say a single word to us. ¡°That was interesting,¡± she said. ¡°Again.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t keep something like that up long term except in the most mana dense area I¡¯ve ever experienced,¡± I said. The old plane had been something special. So much power¡­ why had people been willing to give that up? Or perhaps they didn¡¯t have a choice.


    ¡°Bah,¡± Vilhelmiina said, turning back to the screen, her arms flailing and tossing away about half of what was there.


    ¡°Are you¡­ deleting your notes?¡±


    ¡°If they weren¡¯t clear enough to be understood in my normal state, who can say what other flaws there might be in the reasoning? I¡¯d rather not distract myself from more fruitful pursuits.¡±


    That made sense. Personally, while it was useful I hadn¡¯t felt like I achieved the same leaps in logic and insight that the tech supers had. My thoughts were just faster. Then again, Tech Supers were known to get flashes of inspiration over time so perhaps that was exactly what they needed sometimes.


    Vilhelmiina stroked her chin, muttering to herself. ¡°If I gain an increase in cognition¡­ hours per day¡­ time spent achieving goals¡­¡± Eventually, she nodded. ¡°Thank you for your assistance. I may be able to make my juicer more functional. I might also ask for more assistance in the future.¡±


    Frank escorted the two of us to a perfectly normal seeming elevator that came out of the ground in an alley, shoved us out, and then sunk into the ground as if it had never been there. Abrupt entrances and exits weren¡¯t that odd when dealing with that particular tech super, and I got a commission fee. Not enough to pay for even a single one of the bullets I¡¯d come away with, but quite significant compared to my everyday income.


    -----


    ¡°How do you feel about teaching?¡± Calculator asked.


    I shrugged. ¡°Teaching what?¡±


    ¡°Magic,¡± he declared. ¡°Specifically, to those with portal powers.¡±


    ¡°Eh,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I already have an apprentice.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It is unfortunate he is too young to get involved with the Brigade. It would be relatively simple, since his mother already works for us. But no, I meant others of course.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Complete or incomplete portal powers?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°Have they been through a portal, or just next to one?¡±


    ¡°Ah, that particular distinction had passed my mind. There were very few incidents where people actually passed through¡­ and returned here.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well, it¡¯s important,¡± I said. ¡°Because if it¡¯s the incomplete type, mostly what I can tell them is to look at wikis and screw around until they succeed at something. I guess I could help people pick classes. But if you¡¯re thinking of more mages, they¡¯re going to be really hampered by the complete lack of magical tomes here. Though I suppose other intellectual reading is abundant enough to make some progress. For normal people, without an aspect. Growth will generally be slow, though.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°I had made some assumptions based off of your rate of growth.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no good,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Even if they got in constant fights they would grow less than me. Which would make fighting less motivating, resulting in even slower growth.¡±


    ¡°How long would it take people to be capable?¡±


    ¡°If you just want street thugs with tricks, that kind of happens right away. We¡¯ve seen it with the fan club. But for someone properly effective¡­ usually it takes a while. Perhaps 3-5 years of training?¡± I shrugged. ¡°That would get them to be more effective than my initial arrival, but significantly behind where I am now I think.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve given me things to think about. Still, it might be worth it. Are you willing to give it a try?¡±


    ¡°As long as it includes combat training. I don¡¯t want to give up my own advancement rate for others.¡±


    ¡°Certainly not,¡± Calculator agreed. ¡°And you wouldn¡¯t need to be present at all times, if I understand correctly. Just give people guidance on where to start.¡±


    ¡°Then yeah. I can do that at some point.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Or Midnight could.¡±


    The Celmothian flicked his tail. ¡°Are you sure¡­?¡±


    ¡°You know more than they would, at least. Don¡¯t forget you have over a year of practical field experience now. And the basics of training are pretty easy. Do stuff that fits your class.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t interested in being in charge of anyone¡­ but I didn¡¯t mind helping people get better. Especially if they were struggling. The fewer people like myself who were stuck going nowhere, the better.

 Chapter 215

    Training a moderate amount was an odd thing. Obviously, there was a good reason for it. If people constantly pushed themselves to their limits to try to get maximum improvement, what would we do when an actual emergency happened? We¡¯d be exhausted, so what we would do would be practically nothing. The divisions of training, patrol, and on call were useful for those reasons.


    But the last one was boring. Midnight and I were sitting around bored, only able to use small amounts of mana for training. Sure, it was good for training lower level spells since the total amount of mana regenerated over a day stayed the same, but it lacked intensity. Which¡­ might not actually matter for magic training. Though being able to use things in actual combat certainly helped me in particular.


    Basically just sitting around between castings of Mage¡¯s Reach and the occasional Enlarge or the like, I had a lot of time to think and feel. Things felt weird and I wondered if that was the kind of thing I should report to someone, or just keep to myself. I had been debating that for several minutes when a message came out through the speakers that permeated all of HQ.


    ¡°All combat personnel, prepare your equipment and wait for further orders. Elevators will be entering prioritized mode.¡±


    Midnight¡¯s ears twitched. ¡°This sounds like¡­¡±


    ¡°Something is finally happening,¡± I said.


    ¡°Like trouble.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. Trouble is usually what happens,¡± I nodded. Let¡¯s see, what did we need to do? We were already suited up, so making sure I had my weapons with me was the next step. Pistols holstered at my hips- I didn¡¯t want to spend ridiculous quantities of money shooting certain people for no benefit. And using Storage to bring them out in the middle of combat sounded like a good way to be behind a couple points of mana at a critical moment. I had my staff as well, and it felt nice to walk around with it so I kept it out anytime I was on Brigade business.


    Not so much walking along the streets in my civilian form, of course. People seemed to think it was weird.


    I already had my communicator ready, so I just made sure it was connected to the network properly and comfortable in my ear.


    ¡°Mage,¡± a voice came through. ¡°You are to make your way to the ground floor and meet up with Great Girl and her squad. Communication will be routed through Map.¡±


    ¡°Hear all that, buddy?¡± I asked Midnight.


    He nodded. ¡°Yep. suppose we should get moving.¡±


    When we came to the elevator, there was a bit of a crowd. People were scanning their Power Brigade IDs. Various instructions came from the elevator as they did so. ¡°Elevator number two, downward. Elevator number one, upward. Elevator number three, downward. Use stairs for optimal arrival time.¡± Someone sighed at the last one.


    Mine was elevator number four, going down. It showed up about ten seconds later, and Midnight and I crowded in with the others going down, which included Mono. ¡°Hey,¡± I waved. ¡°We¡¯re working together today, it seems.¡±


    The cyclops nodded. ¡°So I have been informed.¡±


    We¡¯d met a few times and had some good chats, but I didn¡¯t have much that synergized with him in particular, so we didn¡¯t really work together. What was I going to do, cast Haste on a sniper? It might be useful in the most extreme of situations, but it would be a very narrow window and I¡¯d have to be specifically working with him and not the rest of the squad. Though Midnight could do that, technically.


    When we arrived in the lobby, it was quite easy to find Great Girl. She was standing at a standard combat height, which was about eight feet tall. Not a ton of people who could match that. Well, the Brigade did have other heavies, but the point still stood.


    ¡°Grasp is just outside,¡± Great Girl commented. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± I asked. Then we stepped outside, and she just gestured. ¡°Ah.¡±


    One of the largest portals I had ever seen hung in the sky. It had to be a good fifty feet across¡­ though fortunately it didn¡¯t seem to be getting much traffic. Not none, though. I could see a couple sizable dragons gliding around the portal.


    The voice of the last member of Great Girl¡¯s squad came through our earpieces. ¡°Sizable flying creatures are a danger even if we take them down. Our task is to get Great Girl and Grasp into positions where they can prevent as much damage as possible. Getting Mage and Familiar close to the portal to attempt to close it is also high priority, but the hostiles have to be cleared out first.¡±


    ¡°It looks a bit hard to reach,¡± I commented.


    ¡°It will help if you can be held forty feet from the nearest building,¡± Great Girl commented. ¡°Speaking of which, I¡¯ll be relying on you for extra height.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± I said, squinting. ¡°Hey, what color are those guys? They¡¯re too reflective for me to tell.¡±


    ¡°Gold,¡± Mono said.


    ¡°We¡¯d better watch out for their fire breath, then,¡± Great Girl commented. ¡°And their paralyzing gas. Uh, so I-¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯ve heard, yeah,¡± I commented. ¡°Midnight, 6 mana at a half split for Energy Ward.¡±


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    ¡°Got it,¡± Midnight said.


    The two of us gathered the aforementioned 6 mana, totaling enough for three castings. But with Multicasting and Midnight and I counting as one for receiving benefits, it was enough for all of us. Great Girl, Mono, Grasp, Midnight, and myself. Map was theoretically safe in some room somewhere, and either way she wasn¡¯t going to be close anytime soon.


    ¡°Stoneskin next,¡± I said. ¡°13 and a half.¡± This was going to drain Midnight quite a bit, but it was more mana efficient overall this way¡­ and I was not going to go up against dragons otherwise.


    ¡°Oooh, nice,¡± Great Girl commented.


    ¡°I can¡¯t afford Physical Freedom for everyone and still do things like stand up straight or help close a portal, so that will have to be it,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t get gassed, I guess.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s always the plan,¡± Grasp commented. ¡°Being warned about it, I should be able to deflect such an attack with a telekinetic barrier.¡±


    ¡°Oh right,¡± I said. ¡°Might as well give us everything useful.¡± I could use Multicasting for Force Armor without Midnight- it was only 6 mana total. ¡°I doubt it will fully stop even a single hit from a dragon, but it will at least help preserve your Stoneskin.¡±


    ¡°Great, let¡¯s get moving,¡± Great Girl said.


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± I said. Then I looked over at Mono. ¡°I don¡¯t quite know how to say this¡­ but why are you down here with us?¡±


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to be up on a roof away from my squad when facing flying opponents. And I might need a more central angle.¡±


    ¡°Fair points,¡± I said.


    All of us were fit and able to run swiftly. Midnight didn¡¯t have to, because he was on my shoulder, but he could.


    ¡°Hey, Turlough,¡± Great Girl used my real name, but I didn¡¯t actually care about that. ¡°Are gold dragons¡­ good?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­ it seems like a nice color? Ugh, I mean¡­ traditionally that¡¯s the case.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I would say they¡¯re definitely less likely to burn down surrounding towns, at least.¡±


    ¡°Why are they here, then?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Probably because a massive and weird portal appeared near their nest.¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯m gonna chuck ¡®em back through,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°If I can¡¯t talk them into leaving.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d need to speak their language,¡± I said. She looked at me. ¡°It takes more than a few seconds to calibrate. Though I have used Translate for Draconic once.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better to try,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see all these buildings on fire. So¡­ we¡¯re going over towards that one,¡± she pointed to the one closest to beneath the portal.


    As we moved, the streets were in a state of chaos. It wasn¡¯t just the one portal above us- or the whole Brigade wouldn¡¯t have mobilized, at least not in this manner. I could vaguely feel others further away.


    Great Girl threw open the doors to a nearby and quite fancy hotel, the Aquamarine Luxury Suites or something. ¡°Power Brigade. We¡¯re using your elevator,¡± she declared to the people huddling in the lobby. She marched over towards a person who worked in the hotel. ¡°Do we need a key to the roof?¡±


    ¡°Sorry?¡± one of the men cowering behind the desk said.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to the roof. Is the door locked? If so, give us a key or I¡¯ll punch it open.¡±


    ¡°Uh,¡± the worker turned around, scrambling for something. ¡°I think this will do it?¡±


    ¡°Great. Stay inside unless the building catches fire.¡±


    We squeezed into the elevator- only relevant because Great Girl was sized up. ¡°I can cast Enlarge as we get out onto the roof. Probably awkward before then. Besides Translate, I think I should hold back on anything else if I¡¯m going to close the portal.¡±


    As we rode the elevator, Map reported through our comms. ¡°A third dragon has come out of the portal. All three are currently patrolling a perimeter around the building. No hostilities yet from this group.¡±


    The key didn¡¯t work. An alarm went off when Great Girl smashed against it. The door actually stayed intact¡­ but the surrounding frame, not so much. As the door toppled onto the roof, Great Girl stepped out and I cast Enlarge. Then she began to cry out towards the dragons. ¡°Hey! Dragons! You¡¯re not supposed to be here!¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure if that was going to work. Oh, right. They might speak common well enough to give us a moment. ¡°Can you listen for a second?¡± I called. I don¡¯t know if it was my words or Great Girl¡¯s booming voice, but they turned towards us as Mono scoped out the area for the best cover. Grasp focused on the three dragons circling around.


    One approached, hovering next to the building. I could see how big it was- and why the portal was that size. The actual body was maybe ten or fifteen feet wide and twice that in length counting the head and neck but not the tail. The wingspan was tremendous, and a fifty foot wide portal might require some wing folding to actually get through.  ¡°What --- --- say?¡±


    Oh, my prior experience got partial translations. Great Girl seemed to get something as well. I understood what she was trying to say, but I was fairly certain only a few words properly translated. ¡°You go portal.¡± She pointed to emphasize her point. The dragon might not have gotten it.


    ¡°--- can¡¯t command --!¡± the dragon roared, flames flickering in its mouth.


    At that point, Great Girl grew to her largest size- fifteen feet was the norm, but Enlarge was another double on that. Even as she was reaching her fullest height, she was leaping towards the dragon¡­ which was quite surprised to be tackled by something close to its size and slammed onto the roof of the next building over. It clawed and spewed flame, but Great Girl grabbed its wings and twisted herself around behind it. Then she lifted it, spinning a few times before flinging it through the portal.


    ¡°And stay out!¡± she shouted.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if this was the best or worst form of diplomacy with dragons. Well, it was what it was. The other two obviously didn¡¯t take kindly to the aggressive actions, and one breathed fire on our rooftop. Fortunately, Grasp was ready, forming a hemisphere of telekinetic power shortly in front of the creature¡¯s maw and causing it to spew back around towards the creature. The dragon didn¡¯t get injured by its own flames, but it kept the building from catching fire. And you know, us.


    Mono took a shot at the second one as it began to draw in breath. It was a simple quiet click, and then a plinking sound inside the creature¡¯s mouth. Then there was a roar that made the building tremble for a moment¡­ before it was muted to a more reasonable level.


    Great Girl leapt to tackle that one from behind, but the other one was charging forward towards us, and Grasp probably wasn¡¯t strong enough to stop a full sized dragon- even if this one was slightly smaller than the others.


    At least we probably wouldn¡¯t be burned or clawed to death instantly thanks to our defensive spells. It was important to look on the bright side of things.

 Chapter 216

    Being in a battle and not fighting was an awful feeling. Our initial purpose was to not antagonize the dragons, but simply to get rid of them. But now we were fighting, and there was hardly a spot on the roof that wasn¡¯t getting sprayed with fire. Great Girl was wrestling with one of the two dragons that hadn¡¯t been tossed back through the portal, but we couldn¡¯t be certain the third wouldn¡¯t fly back out.


    I ran by the roof entrance to drop Midnight off at the stairs. Perhaps he should have waited there anyway, since he couldn¡¯t do much in combat with low mana. Unlike him, however, humans made weapons that fit me.


    I could hear the subtle clicks of Mono¡¯s rifle among the cacophony of roars and crashes and the crackling fire. Fortunately, while Grasp was not able to completely stop a full sized dragon, she was able to angle its head away when it breathed fire so that the whole building wasn¡¯t on fire. It was solid brick, but everything could burn if it was hot enough.


    We were going to be nice to the dragons but they attacked first¡­ and I wasn¡¯t going to feel guilty at all about shooting a few holes in this dragon¡¯s leathery wings when Mono was shooting a high powered rifle into its chest.


    It drew close enough to grasp to claw at her, shattering through the telekinetic barrier she made- then sending her flying. While that might seem like a bad thing, being sent flying was much better than the alternative of absorbing all of the kinetic energy with your bones breaking or being cut in half. She didn¡¯t topple off of the roof either, so all in all it was great.


    In that brief moment where the dragon was alone, Great Girl flipped the dragon she was wrestling with onto its back, nearly crashing it onto the other- who was saved only by leaping backwards off the building. The building itself wasn¡¯t so lucky, with part of the roof collapsing- but I didn¡¯t hear another floor collapsing beneath so overall it seemed fine.


    Mono ran over to the edge of the roof, getting a bead on the dragon that had dropped. There was some amount of magic involved with them flying to begin with, so it wasn¡¯t strange it was able to hover there.


    Great Girl ripped the dragon she was wrestling out of the rubble and spun a few times to build up momentum before tossing that one through the portal as well. We had a good angle here, which was part of the reason we chose it. And then¡­ she leaped off the building at the sole remaining dragon, wrapping her arms around its jaw. Her momentum and weight sent the dragon crashing into the ground, making a shallow crater in the street.


    The dragon bucked, tossing her away- leaving an opening for Mono to shoot. At that distance, my hand pistol wasn¡¯t accurate enough. I could hit a dragon, but not anything vulnerable, like the cracked scales from Mono¡¯s rifle. So I did the next best thing I could think of, which was getting Grasp to her feet.


    ¡°We need to watch the portal,¡± I said. ¡°In case-¡± I took a shot as one of the dragons became visible on the other side. ¡°-they try to come back through.¡±


    Grasp nodded, reaching out for some chunks of the roof, her telekinetic powers latching on with barely visible strips of translucent energy. When one of the dragons approached the portal again, she tossed the five foot long hunk of concrete at it, sending it reeling away.


    ¡°Just give up!¡± Great Girl yelled in draconic. ¡°This is our land and you¡¯re. Not. Welcome!¡±


    A dragon rocketed up above the roofline, but its trajectory was going to put it just below the portal. I had no way to help with that, but Grasp was able to nudge it up just enough that its upper body went over the portal, which sent it tumbling over the lip when it struck.


    ¡°Get up here!¡± I called to Great Girl, ¡°We need to close the portal and I can¡¯t really affect it from here!¡± I could feel a tenuous connection, but it was still a good thirty or forty feet away. With its size it felt like I was right next to it, but it really wasn¡¯t.


    Midnight scurried out from the stairs. ¡°I need to get a weapon.¡±


    ¡°Or we need to not fight dragons,¡± I replied.


    There was a loud sound as two hands suddenly grabbed onto the edge of the building, from which Great Girl yanked herself onto the roof- a task that was much more difficult than it seemed at first. We would really have to praise the architects and construction of this particular building for barely even cracking with that maneuver.


    At thirty feet tall, Great Girl was hard to comprehend in size, the easiest comparison I could make was that her hand was about half my height, from wrist to fingertips. I could probably stand on the single palm she put down, but it was a bit awkward- so she placed her second hand for my other foot so I could take a wider stance. Midnight was on my shoulder, and Great Girl tried her best to move in a way that wasn¡¯t too abrupt.


    As it turned out, bodies made a lot of very small movements that scaled up significantly when one was thirty feet tall. She held us out towards the portal and managed to stabilize her arms- which would actually take a lot of strength.


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    ¡°Alright Midnight, let¡¯s try a three to one split of continuous mana for Alter Portal,¡± I said, mentally calculating our remaining mana levels. There was a massive flow of mana through the portal, but having only been nearby for a couple minutes that would only make the difference of a point or two on the outside.


    I had shrunk smaller portals before. It took somewhere around ten mana. This one was somewhere around five times as wide, but the good news was that it didn¡¯t take twenty-five times as much mana. However, we only managed to get it about half of its diameter before I was wobbling on my feet. ¡°Okay, stop,¡± I said to Midnight- though he¡¯d already responded to my own cessation of activity. ¡°We need¡­ a second¡­ could you set us down?¡± I asked Great Girl.


    I felt a surge of mana. That had only happened before upon fully closing a portal, and I felt that perhaps¡­ this wasn¡¯t really the limit. ¡°You feel that too?¡± Midnight confirmed.


    ¡°Yeah. I think¡­ we can finish closing it in a bit here,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s just taking a second for this surge to actually settle.¡±


    A small clicking sound brought my attention to Mono, and then back to the portal. One dragon had been poking its head through the portal. Nothing happened for ten or twenty seconds.


    ¡°You good, Midnight?¡± I asked. I could still feel the adrenaline in him, but my mana had subsided for the moment.


    ¡°As much as I can be,¡± he agreed.


    Great Girl crouched down. ¡°Ready?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this.¡±


    As we stood in front of and below the portal beginning our work, another dragon showed up. Mono shot at it, but it refused to pull back, breathing fire towards Midnight and I. I felt the scorching heat of the flames as my Energy Ward reached its limits and all that was left was the final barrier of the Power Brigade uniform. I shielded Midnight with my body- no point in having two people directly in the flames. ¡°If you like having a head,¡± I said in draconic. ¡°You¡¯d better pull it back through the portal.¡±


    With one final yank, Midnight and I cinched the portal closed like a drawstring bag. The closure of the portal began to release large quantities of mana, a byproduct of whatever method Doctor Doomsday was using to open the portal in the first place.


    Great Girl lowered us to the roof, where Grasp was carefully putting out a few glowing embers. My face hurt. And my hair¡­ was scorched off, which was technically better than it still being on fire.


    ¡°Wow, we should do this more often,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It¡¯s nice suddenly being full on mana.¡±


    I looked at Midnight. He looked back at me. I felt increasing discomfort. ¡°Midnight! Chain Lightning, right now!¡± I pointed to the sky. My cat buddy felt my sense of urgency, and did exactly as instructed. Maybe he didn¡¯t know why. Could have been an invisible enemy, or some remnant of the portal that needed breaking. But he listened. Lightning shot out, fizzling away depressingly as there were no targets for it. I could feel my own stores filling rapidly as well, but I had a greater capacity. ¡°Again!¡± I said, while I did the same.


    The lightning was for no other reason than to shoot off my most expensive non-Gate spell. For Midnight, Chain Lightning was near his fatigue point- but no longer beyond it, especially counting upgrades. Thus, he managed two casts while remaining on his feet. He was just a little wobbly. ¡°So why are we doing this?¡±


    ¡°Do you know what happens when you absorb more mana than you can hold? Twice as much, even?¡± I asked Midnight.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Neither do I,¡± I said. ¡°But you were getting uncomfortable and I don¡¯t want to find out the hard way.¡±


    Midnight nodded, waiting for his mana to nearly reach full again before firing off a third Chain Lightning. For my own part, I let my mana reach full for a moment to feel what it was like firsthand. Having mana felt good. Having too much mana¡­ felt dangerous. One more Chain Lightning put me in a fine place, while Midnight used four total.


    Both of us ended a little bit below our maximums¡­ but even if we had the mana, I wasn¡¯t sure if we could really use more magic. I didn¡¯t feel the same negative effects of mana crystals, so this was probably its own new thing entirely. Hopefully, it was short term.


    Great Girl returned to her ¡®normal¡¯ size plus Enlarge, though that would fade soon enough. ¡°Can you guys manage any more?¡± she asked. A clicking sound drew my attention to Mono, who was aiming at some sort of weird puffball above the city, the holes in it causing it to spew a green gas.


    ¡°Give us a minute to find out, I guess,¡± I said. ¡°We can at least walk.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°We kind of have to as well, since I don¡¯t know if the elevator shaft is uh¡­ still intact.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure this amount of collateral damage is in the acceptable threshold,¡± I comforted her as we began to make our way down the stairs. ¡°It was three dragons and we kept people unharmed. And the building is totally fixable.¡±


    ¡°Other places are worse,¡± Map agreed through our commlinks. ¡°Also I¡¯m going to assume that growling and stuff was helpful?¡±


    ¡°That was draconic,¡± I said. ¡°We tried to tell them they weren¡¯t supposed to be here, and they decided they didn¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°How would you rate your continued functionality?¡± Map asked.


    ¡°... I think I can do more. What do you think, Midnight? Are we capable, or am I just stubborn?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m tired,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But I don¡¯t feel internal pain. We might regret something tomorrow, but we can probably do more. Though¡­ I don¡¯t think we should touch any big portals.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that too much,¡± Map said. ¡°They were the priority targets, so most of them are assigned already. The best available option for you guys is to deal with street-level threats right now. Unblocking streets and guiding civilians while keeping away or defeating enemies that have reached the streets. Most things came through airborne portals this time, for whatever reason.¡±


    ¡°So fighting?¡± I asked. Fighting was good, especially if it was with things that were more¡­ reasonable. Multiple dragons of that size were just too much at my level. Even if my level was now one higher.

 Chapter 217

    About a quarter of our time on the streets was spent watching Great Girl shove, lift, or otherwise reposition vehicles that were getting in the way of people running for shelters. There was enough transportation infrastructure in New Bay to make it not a total nightmare, but traffic was still very real. People moving on foot took up vastly less space, but there was also less space available.


    That was where another half of our time went, freeing up space from things trying to take far too much of it. Aggressive, bitey sorts of things. A few police officers in riot gear were forming a line to hold back a bunch of rabid wolves, their durable plastic shields making it difficult for the creatures to find purchase. However, the constant press was likely to wear them down- and the creatures might find their way around given time.


    For a mass of individuals like that, Chain Lightning was one of the most efficient things I knew. A single casting could take out a whole pack at once without worrying about the diminishing effects of hitting many subsequent targets. I could still only do it a few times, but even if I were to perfectly snipe wolves with Firebolt I could only take out 7 or 8 for the same price. And while there were lower level area of effect spells, there weren¡¯t many that let me pick and choose targets.


    Grasp began to pick up the bodies of the wolves and toss them onto the vehicles. ¡°We¡¯ve broken through!¡± she called out. ¡°Continue to get them to safety!¡±


    ¡°Critical point one block southwest,¡± Map commented in our ears. ¡°Fire creatures, the spread is barely being held back by Quench. Heroes are engaged and in need of urgent assistance.¡±


    We were already making our way there, hopping from roof to roof of cars for the most part. Power Brigade training was diverse enough to involve mandatory obstacle courses¡­ and I very much appreciated all of the physical training I had gotten. Jumping around made it difficult to keep Midnight on my shoulder, but it was also very easy for him to run between and under cars. Great Girl shrunk herself down so as to not cause significant damage to the vehicles.


    ¡°Before we get there,¡± I called after her. ¡°Let me give you another Energy Ward.¡± We might need more for the rest of us, if the fire things had ranged abilities, but it was slightly more efficient to do three castings individually- counting Midnight and I as one, of course.


    The situation looked pretty dire. There were six figures standing over ten feet tall and clad in fire. I could vaguely make out a form beneath, indicating they weren¡¯t pure fire elementals, but I didn¡¯t recognize them exactly. Perhaps they weren¡¯t from my world, or simply something less common that wouldn¡¯t have been in the books I studied.


    One of them staggered back as I didn¡¯t hear the sound of a rifle. But despite a temporary hole appearing in its head, it only staggered back for a moment. But at least that relieved the pressure on the two heroes fighting the creature as they dodged beneath the flailing limbs.


    One was a woman in purple, wielding two blades of energy matching the color of her outfit. Or probably the other way around. She chopped at the legs of the creatures as she went, slicing into them and causing them momentary pause as she did so. Then there was another figure in blue and yellow. Lightning went from him in all directions- except for his battle partner, so that was something at least.


    ¡°Oh, I know those guys!¡± I said. ¡°Slicer and Dicer! We¡¯re here to help!¡±


    The guy shoved the figures away with lightning and turned to look at me. ¡°That¡¯s not my name, you idiot! Oh, Mage!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s wrong?¡± I said as Great Girl charged in, putting one in an immediate headlock. I was trying to figure out how to best contribute to the situation. ¡°... Sparky and Zappo?¡±


    A giant purple blade cut one of the figures in half vertically, revealing her with both hands on a single blade. She also revealed the inside of the creatures briefly, a solid core of some sort that didn¡¯t involve any sort of organs. ¡°Now you got me wrong!¡±


    Well, I guess I didn¡¯t remember their names then. I did remember we ¡®fought¡¯ an ooze ¡®together¡¯ though. By which I meant they chopped it into pieces and zapped it with lightning, both of which simply made it split into a great number of violent lumps. I was anticipating the same thing happening with the fire creature, though I had hope that it would instead fall to the sides and go out. Instead, it simply shot some of its dark brown core goop between the severed halves that pulled it back together. That one then began to march towards the flaming building- and presumably Quench.


    ¡°Lightning doesn¡¯t seem to take them down,¡± I hypothesized aloud with Midnight. ¡°And obviously fire is out. The best Sonic Lance could do is blast a hole in their middle, which probably won¡¯t be enough. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°It has to take some energy to burn like that, right?¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily,¡± I said- but as Grasp shoved another flaming creature into Great Girl¡¯s arms, I took stock of the battlefield. Energy Ward was good but¡­ it shouldn¡¯t really work for sustained contact like that. And neither of the heroes were extremely burnt. Singed, at worst.


    But the building was very much on fire, and despite the water hero¡¯s efforts he wasn¡¯t able to completely stop it. I thought about readying a Sonic Lance to take down the one approaching him, but I saw it reach out towards the fire and pull it away. That only momentarily reduced the burning in one section, but it gave me critical information.


    ¡°Did you see that, Midnight?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It¡­ ate the fire?¡±


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    ¡°It ate the fire. More than that, the others are clinging together in a group instead of surrounding those three. I think it¡¯s worth trying Energy Ward to see what that does to them.¡± With that, I called out in front of us, ¡°Great Girl! Drag those two over here, please! Sparky and Slicer, try to hold off the rest!¡±


    She was somewhere around twelve feet tall right now. I knew it was awkward and tiring for her to be at max, and even this height was something only reserved for battle. Great Girl began to drag the two towards me immediately, and the two heroes also jumped into action even though they were yelling at me for some reason.


    The one who had moved off to the side began to angle towards Great Girl, but a silent shot to its knee brought it down for a moment. Then another toppled it forward. All that, and I was pretty sure Mono was also shooting at something further down the street. Grasp doubled down on that one¡¯s isolation, wrapping her transparent energy tightly around its arms and chest so it was facedown on the asphalt and unable to easily get itself up.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get the left one,¡± I said to Midnight, reaching out towards but not actually touching the flaming creature. I had never used Energy Ward to try to keep a creature away from its own energy, and wasn¡¯t even certain it would do anything. I felt some resistance as the creature subconsciously resisted the effect, but it was also busy trying to tear beefy arms away from its throat so it couldn¡¯t concentrate fully. On the other side, the effect was much the same as Midnight performed the same action.


    A moment later, the flames flickered out leaving behind only¡­ dirt? Clay? Dark mud? I didn¡¯t imagine there was much potency left to the Energy Ward, but it didn¡¯t seem to be combating anything now.


    The creatures began to slow their struggles, moving sluggishly. The formless heads popped off the creatures as Great Girl squeezed harder all at once. It was unclear if they were actually dead, but they were at least incapacitated for a moment.


    ¡°The other ones are trying to get to these!¡± I warned, but Great Girl was already charging towards the four that Sparky and Zappo were holding back. ¡°Quench! I know you¡¯re doing important building protection but could you splash that one?¡± I called, pointing towards the prone one.


    ¡°I already tried to put them out!¡± he yelled. ¡°Look!¡± The guy conjured a bathtub full of water in the air over the prone figure, and its midsection went out. ¡°... Huh.¡± Without me prompting him again, he tossed two more globules of water at its head and legs, everything faded. Then he went back to dealing with the building. ¡°If you can hold them still like that I might be helpful!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great, Quench!¡± I said. ¡°We should be able to bring these down with Slicer and Dicer!¡±


    For some reason, those two were showing significant increases in their abilities. Maybe it was fighting just one opponent each that was doing it, but purple blades were chopping one of them into even chunks faster than they could stitch back together. And the other one was convulsing with power as the lightning guy yelled something. The flames on both were dimming, even without being directly put out by something.


    Great Girl flung a fire creature towards Midnight and I. We exchanged looks and thoughts, each gathering mana frantically in that instant. It landed right in front of us, struggling to its feet but our spellcasting was far faster. It only took a quick instant to gather two mana each, and we simultaneously finished our Energy Ward. Which was great because if we had been planning on different spells I had no idea what would happen. All that training together allowed us to communicate without clear verbal instructions, it seemed.


    Unfortunately, we only half put out the creature and it reached its feet. Maybe because it wasn¡¯t distracted, or maybe it was the small loss in efficiency due to Assistive Familiar Casting having only two upgrades. Either way, it didn¡¯t matter. ¡°I¡¯ll distract it!¡± I said, leveling my staff. ¡°You find an opening to get it!¡±


    Ducking under a flickering arm, I was reminded my hair was already mostly burned away. I thwacked the creature¡¯s elbow with my staff as it reached for me, and found that it was still slightly slower than previously seen. I had thought I might need to dodge around for longer, but Midnight was already behind its ankles waiting. I waited for another swipe and ducked in to strike it in the belly. I knew it wouldn¡¯t significantly hurt the thing, but that was the highest I could easily reach and should be good for a distraction.


    The second casting was enough, diminishing its flames. However, I did spot tiny flickers coming from the two bodies it had walked over. I stomped them out, making sure they were truly gone before looking back towards the others. Great Girl was waiting patiently in front of Quench as he conjured water over a few seconds and dumped it onto a creature she was holding at arm¡¯s length. Her Energy Ward seemed to have worn off, but Francois¡¯ outfits were still highly fire resistant- fireproof by ¡®normal¡¯ standards, but he reminded us there was always something hot enough.


    As for the other two, the flames had faded away. Apparently doing a sufficient amount of damage to the central body was sufficient to defeat the creatures. Useful, if we ever encountered them again.


    ¡°Good job Quench,¡± I said. I turned to the others. ¡°Sparky and Zappo.¡±


    ¡°Why?!¡± the purple woman held her hands up.


    ¡°Why what?¡±


    She put a hand to her forehead. ¡°You obviously remember us. But why do you only remember his name?¡± she gestured to Quench.


    ¡°Sorry. It was Slicer, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Dicer,¡± she said.


    ¡°And I¡¯m Zappo,¡± the man clarified.


    ¡°I said those.¡±


    ¡°Only like half the time!¡± the lightning guy complained.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ well, don¡¯t worry about it. You guys should probably watch these to make sure they don¡¯t relight or something. You¡¯re breathing hard.¡±


    Grasp was in the middle of pulling them away from each other with her powers, just to make sure if there was any flame it wouldn¡¯t easily spread. There was plenty more to do in the city, but I was missing something I expected.


    ¡°Where are Doctor Doomsday and his minions?¡± I asked. ¡°I assume they¡¯re doing something in this chaos.¡±


    The purple lady had an answer for that. ¡°I heard they¡¯re fighting Castle and Captain Control in another part of the city.¡±


    ¡°I can confirm that,¡± Map said in my ear. ¡°It isn¡¯t quite clear what his target is, but heroes have engaged him.¡±


    I wondered if I should get involved with that.


    Nah, not yet. If I was going to fight someone crazy like that I wanted to have a plan. And it was probably quite far anyway, since I couldn¡¯t hear the sounds of battle. Speaking of which, we should probably seek out the last vestiges of trouble.

 Chapter 218

    Everything began to settle down, and Midnight and I were hit with a wave of fatigue. Not sickness, like overusing mana crystals- just plain old tiredness. There were plenty of people on call for any pockets of monsters that continued to crop up, but that was hardly different from New Bay¡¯s day to day.


    After the day¡¯s fighting I had reached level 34 and had entirely too many points to spend. It was a good problem, I supposed, but it was something that had been neglected.


    ¡°What do you think we should do?¡± I asked Midnight. He was also using my spells, after all. And he could use any upgrades I put, unless I increased something beyond 7 improvements. That wasn¡¯t likely at all, at the current moment. Technically Force Armor was beyond that, because I had spent so many dumb points on it early on. Though it was only as many points total as learning Scrying, so it wasn¡¯t unreasonable now.


    ¡°Well, what did we use?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°And do we want to do that more?¡±


    ¡°Stoneskin was a big one. Chain Lightning isn¡¯t cheap either. We¡¯re going to want to use Energy Ward on groups fairly often¡­ but the limiting factor there is Multicasting. Actually, that¡¯s a problem for all sorts of things, since point upgrades didn¡¯t work there.¡±


    ¡°We believe that our training slows if we buy point upgrades, correct?¡±


    ¡°That seems to be true,¡± I said. ¡°But obviously our testing hasn¡¯t been that thorough. Given we only have ourselves and various different spells at different levels and upgrade amounts.¡±


    ¡°Even so,¡± the feline said. ¡°Going with that assumption is of some worth. Things we wouldn¡¯t be able to train but want to use frequently would be optimal uses.¡±


    ¡°Along with that¡­ expensive spells. But at the current moment, the most expensive things are Gate- which is suitable for the moment- and Chain Lightning. That actually just reached a second level of training on its own. Does that mean it would be good to spend points to upgrade it, or keep training it?¡±


    ¡°A good question,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I think we need to consult someone knowledgable. And that we trust.¡±


    People who knew about how levels and stuff worked¡­ Izzy and Kalman came to mind. But both of them were less experienced with the training part of things than myself. Master Uvithar might know more but he was¡­ well, somewhere. Uvithar didn¡¯t want me to get caught looking for him, and I honestly felt less familiar with my old world now so I probably would if I tried to find him. Zenfer probably knew some things, but I wasn¡¯t certain I should speak to him either.


    That left people from this world who were knowledgeable and intelligent who might be able to help us sift through things. Calculator came to mind, but we already took enough time from him as it was. He was certainly on the list of people we would consult, but there should be more.


    ¡°How about Great Girl and Doctor Rose?¡± Midnight suggested.


    ¡°Well,¡± I frowned. ¡°I trust them enough. But their knowledge is the most theoretical. They could maybe help us pick out new spells, but optimizing which ones we upgrade is another story. And I think our variety isn¡¯t an issue at current.¡±


    That left us with few options but to consult our other local mages, who certainly knew less than us. But it was a place to start.


    -----


    Jerome shook his head. ¡°I haven¡¯t really had that problem,¡± he admitted. ¡°At least not to the same extent. I don¡¯t level up that fast, so I conserve some points for things I might need to learn. Then I-¡±


    An annoying high pitched whine mixed with other sounds interrupted us. ¡°What is that?¡± Midnight asked, leaning his head down over the edge of the table. His ears twitched. ¡°It¡¯s annoying.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Jerome said, getting up. ¡°It¡¯s our stupid cleaning robot. It¡¯s pretty effective and saves us work but¡­ well, you hear it,¡± he gestured. He walked over and picked it up. ¡°You don¡¯t need to run right now. Back you go,¡± he said, placing it back on its dock. ¡°I guess on that topic, think about what you can do without magic. I didn¡¯t buy the Clean spell because¡­ this,¡± he gestured. ¡°I might still learn it for other places, but I don¡¯t know if I want to spend the effort. But mostly it sets a bad precedent to have the spell. Then mom might want me to use it.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I see. I have a few things like that, but they were too useful to not get.¡±


    Scrying was one. With 3 natural upgrades and 1 from points, it was actually quite powerful as such things went. But that brought me down another track. ¡°You know about spell combinations, of course. In fact, you were basically the progenitor of that.¡±


    ¡°Hah, something like that,¡± he shrugged.


    ¡°The point being, everything has been the same level. But I have two spells that naturally feel like they should combine, but are of different levels.¡±


    ¡°Those are?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°Locate Creature and Locate Object,¡± I said. ¡°Obviously the names alone tie them together. And they have similar functionality. But they¡¯re still separate things.¡±


    ¡°Well, have you upgraded both of them?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I used Locate Creature intensely for a short while, but it didn¡¯t improve.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Jerome nodded. ¡°Then either spend the points or¡­ put it to work.¡±


    ¡°And how would I do that?¡±


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Play hide and seek with Midnight, I guess?¡±


    Midnight shook his head. ¡°That wouldn¡¯t do any good. We already know where the other is. But we could search for you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, that might actually be a good idea,¡± I said. ¡°We could point towards him from two directions and get a pretty accurate location. Or¡­¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Whatever happens with Assistive Familiar Casting.¡±


    ¡°... I guess I have to go along with this now, huh?¡± Jerome asked. ¡°Since I suggested it.¡±


    ¡°And because you¡¯re not going to school.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I study plenty,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Just not in a building with lots of other people.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Yes, I wasn¡¯t complaining. It just means your time is flexible.¡±


    Our first round was short. The apartment- while significantly larger than their previous place- was still only a handful of rooms. Plenty for two people, but pointing a straight line to him meant there were only a couple places to check. I found Jerome inside a cupboard.


    ¡°What?¡± he said. ¡°There aren¡¯t a lot of places to hide.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps we should go outside, then.¡± Using Locate Creature for a few seconds was¡­ pretty wasteful. It cost 8 mana, which was over an hour of recovery. Though not as much over, as the ambient mana in New Bay seemed another notch higher. Was that intentional, or simply a side effect of Doctor Doomsday¡¯s plans?


    We made our way out to a park. The point wasn¡¯t for Jerome to hide long term, but simply to see how quickly we could find him- though I was once again the only one who had to use magic to track him down. Even if I didn¡¯t know a distance, narrowing down things to a thin line was very useful.


    ¡°This is a problem,¡± I said to Jerome.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked. ¡°It¡¯s working, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s so easy to find you among the others here. Which also means it would be easy to find me.¡±


    ¡°And who would be able to look for you, except Midnight who already knows where you are?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said. ¡°But that¡¯s the issue. You can¡¯t even resist this spell, can you?¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Jerome frowned. ¡°I hadn¡¯t tried but¡­ I didn¡¯t really feel anything,¡± he admitted.


    I furrowed my brow. The spell did require some knowledge of the target and relative proximity, but it was still uncomfortable that it would end up unknown. No wonder people cared about the magic to counter that. It wasn¡¯t something I¡¯d considered much before, but it was becoming more relevant. Because of that, now was a good time to purchase it- and it used some of those excess points. Though only a small portion.


    ¡°The protection against this is Nondetection,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m going to demonstrate on Midnight and myself, and I¡¯d like you to try to learn it.¡±


    ¡°That one is¡­ level 7?¡± Jerome determined. ¡°Or 6?¡±


    ¡°7,¡± I said.


    ¡°I should use Enhance Mind first. Just to hopefully catch it better,¡± he said.


    I nodded. Once he could sort of cast it, then practice would provide what he needed. So a temporary boost would be fine.


    He cast his spell, and I cast mine. Nondetection didn¡¯t really feel like much, just a thin layer hanging over me that was easily ignored. Of course, if it was obvious then it wouldn¡¯t be much good, would it? At the very least, you could sense someone was hiding something. In this case, I was hiding myself and Midnight.


    Relevantly, it didn¡¯t seem to dull our connection anyway. I only thought about the possibility afterwards, and that opened up some sources of danger. But I was already incentivized to keep Midnight safe as my non-cat buddy and wanting to keep him safe as a potential weakness was just an extra thing I didn¡¯t have to consider. And this would make both of us harder to find with magic and hopefully other things.


    ¡°How was that?¡± I asked. I could feel Jerome fiddling with his mana.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t quite get it,¡± he admitted.


    ¡°That¡¯s to be expected,¡± I said. ¡°Midnight, split the cost with me. Or I¡¯ll just run out soon.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± he said.


    It took two more tries, which was honestly pretty good. Jerome still only half cast it on his first ¡®successful¡¯ attempt, but he managed to pull the whole spell together the second time. It did leave him nearly out of mana, but the spell felt¡­ Well not solid because I only knew it was there because I expected it and watched him cast it. But good enough.


    Then Jerome went off to hide once more, and I tried to find him. ¡°Huh,¡± I said. ¡°Well, at least it works,¡± I looked at Midnight. ¡°Doesn¡¯t feel like he wandered out of range. It would still be a vague direction at least.¡±


    I had the feeling like I might be able to force my way through, which was certainly a good option for training. But I wanted to see if potentially getting closer might let me feel something with the spell already ¡®active¡¯. If I pushed, it might use up the mana sustaining the spell. Was that an actual insight, or just weird thought? We¡¯d have to test.


    ¡°Hi!¡± a voice called out. ¡°Didn¡¯t expect to see you here. What are you doing at the park?¡±


    I turned to see Ceira- as well as a cat and dog both on leashes. ¡°Looking for Jerome,¡± I replied.


    ¡°What? Is he missing? Did something happen?¡± her eyes widened and she looked around.


    I shook my head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s just magic training.¡±


    The dog began to sniff his way over to Midnight, his eyes set on him. The cat, meanwhile, seemed to intentionally ignore my companion.


    ¡°Easy, Bun,¡± Ceira said. The dog stopped. ¡°Leave him.¡± The dog looked slightly disappointed, but began to wander around on his leash, seeking out other interesting options.


    ¡°He¡¯s not so bad like that,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be making friends with a dog anytime soon.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well,¡± Ceira shrugged. ¡°It works for me.¡±


    ¡°So why are you here?¡± I asked. ¡°At this time, I mean. Obviously you¡¯re taking your pets out for a walk.¡±


    ¡°Well, you know. No job,¡± she said. ¡°If I make videos, then D- some scary guy knows I¡¯m back and might try to find my new place.¡±


    Hmm, that was indeed a problem. ¡°He might be able to assume anyway. I I participated in dealing with the last portal stuff. Though I suppose revealing things about yourself makes that more risky for you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m kind of looking for normal jobs.¡±


    ¡°Power Brigade is always open,¡± I said. ¡°I can vouch for you. Beyond that¡­ I have a spell I am uncertain if you can learn that might help if you can. But that¡¯s for after I find Jerome. Walk around with me for a bit.¡±


    I focused mentally on Locate Creature. It had no feedback, but it was still ¡®active¡¯. If we got close enough, I could hope for something without a magical wrestling match. But maybe the latter would be more effective for me at improving the spell. But I could always try that after, and there was no way to go back to the subtle approach if I didn¡¯t keep on course. Hopefully, something useful would come of this besides some justified paranoia.

 Chapter 219

    Ultimately, Locate Object began to pick up the warded Jerome about the same time I saw his sneakers poking out from behind a tree. In short, Nondetection served its purpose well enough as a protection against something that otherwise was no contest. It did require manual effort, after all.


    ¡°Found you,¡± I said.


    ¡°That definitely took longer,¡± Jerome said as he came out from behind the tree. ¡°Oh, hello Ceira.¡± She waved, and Bun walked up to Jerome, wagging his tail. Jerome reached down to scratch the dog¡¯s head. ¡°And who are you, boy?¡±


    Ceira and Jerome had met once or twice recently, given that I¡¯d ended up on an unexpectedly long trip to another plane for Ceira and Jerome was my apprentice. I¡¯d had to save Jerome from portal related shenanigans as well, but that was a much shorter duration endeavor.


    ¡°So you were talking about a spell¡­?¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± I nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a thing druids can learn because¡­ well, I didn¡¯t even consider that I would need to know in the past. It¡¯s called Nondetection, and protects you from divination magic. Though it might be irrelevant because I wouldn¡¯t expect that much magic to be involved.¡± Then again, Doctor Doomsday had technology that interfered with my magic. Why not the same in reverse?


    Ceira¡¯s eyes focused on something I couldn¡¯t see for a moment. ¡°Yeah it¡¯s on there,¡± she said. ¡°The list of what I could learn, I mean. It¡¯s¡­ poorly organized.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it was organized,¡± I said. ¡°I think it just is.¡± Probably.


    ¡°So you think I should spend the points to learn this?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d prefer to try teaching you first,¡± I said. ¡°If nothing else, we can discover if you can learn from mages. We might do things differently,¡± I shrugged. Certainly, most of her magic I was certain I couldn¡¯t replicate even if I vaguely understood what might happen. Mainly stuff involving plants and animals, which was most of what she had. ¡°Jerome, Midnight, and I can alternate demonstrations.¡± That way none of us would drain ourselves so quickly.


    ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± Jerome shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m low on mana.¡±


    Oh right. His earlier practice was already all of what he had. I was once again thankful for my level providing a significant mana pool.


    ¡°The two of us, then,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll start. Watch carefully, and be aware that the final result doesn¡¯t feel like much¡­ which it shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    On her first attempt, I felt something from Ceira. It was certainly different, but it seemed like it could become something instead of simply being failed mana manipulation. ¡°It¡¯s weird,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Definitely different, but I think I can do it.¡±


    Midnight demonstrated next, replacing the previous casting upon us with a new one, not that it had degraded to any noticeable extent from when I¡¯d first cast it.


    Ceira frowned, then attempted to repeat it. I could feel she didn¡¯t quite manage it.


    ¡°One more time?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you have enough mana?¡±


    ¡°Just barely. But I don¡¯t think I need another demonstration. I should be able to do it.¡± I felt her gather her mana and turn it into a spell. Being insubstantial, I couldn¡¯t tell if it was particularly different from the magely version once finished- it felt like pretty much nothing. Plus, I was distracted with her passing out.


    I grabbed Ceira under her shoulder to hold her up. Her consciousness flickered back a moment later. ¡°Mana exhaustion,¡± I said. ¡°So apparently you didn¡¯t have quite enough.¡±


    ¡°Weird,¡± she said. ¡°That was¡­ 7 mana? And I should have 21.¡±


    ¡°A minute or two of passive regeneration isn¡¯t necessarily enough to get above an extremely low threshold,¡± I said.


    ¡°Eh, it should have been almost half a point,¡± Ceira said.


    I furrowed my brow. ¡°I don¡¯t see how. The ambient mana here is¡­ maybe 1.2 or 1.3 times average. That¡¯s over 10 minutes, which means 2 minutes would net you .26 mana.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but this is a park,¡± Ceira said like that meant something.


    Ah. Right. ¡°How much faster is your recovery here?¡±


    ¡°About twice.¡±


    ¡°Twice of the normal 1 per ten minutes or twice the 1.3¡­?¡±


    Ceira shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t know. Either way, the point is I should have had¡­ enough to not pass out. Probably.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s higher level for you?¡± I surmised. ¡°No, you wouldn¡¯t have completed it that way.¡±


    ¡°No idea,¡± she admitted.


    ¡°I can¡¯t think of anything either,¡± Jerome shrugged.


    Midnight just looked at her dog.


    ¡°Well, we should probably get Jerome back home,¡± I said. ¡°And the two of us to work. It¡¯s just afternoon training, but that doesn¡¯t mean we can skip it.¡± I waved to Ceira, ¡°Don¡¯t forget my recommendation.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll¡­ consider it,¡± Ceira said.


    -----


    Midnight and I strode into HQ, passing through security and into the elevator. I pressed the button for B7, since we would be hitting up the gym. As it turned out, combat involved a lot of running and physical exertion even when you were only attacking with magic.


    It was a lonely ride, with just the two of us, but it wasn¡¯t that unexpected at the time we came in. The Power Brigade didn¡¯t have a strict nine-to-five workday, but there were still general times people came in and out most frequently. We just happened to be in an off time.


    I stretched in anticipation of physical exertion. Then I yawned slightly. ¡°Elevator¡¯s slow today,¡± I commented.


    ¡°That¡¯s odd,¡± Midnight agreed as the floors ticked by slowly. ¡°Usually they¡¯re quite speedy. We should report this to maintenance.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± I said, sending a text to Khithae.


    ¡°... that¡¯s not an official report, Turlough,¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°Eh, she¡¯ll remind me later.¡±


    We stepped out into the hallway leading up to the gym. Empty¡­ or was it? There was something¡­


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    A door opened as we passed by, and I turned to see a man with a fist insignia emblazoned on his chest. ¡°Oh, good afternoon Captain Punch.¡±


    ¡°And to you as well, Mage. Familiar,¡± he nodded to each of us in turn.


    Then we stood there awkwardly for a few moments. I was never good at smalltalk. ¡°Well,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re off to the gym. I assume you were just there?¡± Great Girl could benefit from workouts that were more or less standard equipment, but I wasn¡¯t certain about someone with powers like him.


    ¡°Just in the morning,¡± he said.


    ¡°Okay.¡± I sensed someone else behind me as I turned towards the gym. It was the feel of super tech. ¡°Oh. Swiss Arms,¡± I waved. ¡°Were you using the gym?¡±


    ¡°What do you think?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m uncertain if it¡¯s useful for you given you¡¯re mostly cybernetics. Do you have a heart and lungs that need cardiovascular training?¡± I tilted my head. For some reason, Midnight was feeling nervous. Should I?


    ¡°He certainly seems¡­ genuine,¡± came the voice of Calculator from further down the hall, drawing my eyes to him.


    It was weird. Usually I would hear sounds of the gym by now. ¡°Is the gym closed¡­?¡± I muttered.


    Calculator walked closer, standing near Swiss Arms. ¡°Mage. What was the name of the first villain you fought?¡±


    ¡°...Rodentia?¡± I guessed. She was certainly one of the first.


    ¡°Before you joined us.¡±


    ¡°Some street thug,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I learned his name.¡±


    ¡°After that,¡± Calculator said. ¡°In the warehouse.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Handface? It¡¯s not like you to forget something like that. Isn¡¯t it written in some database somewhere anyway?¡±


    Calculator folded his arms. ¡°Very convincing.¡± Swiss Arms nodded. I couldn¡¯t tell if Captain Punch nodded, but I could feel he was still there.


    ¡°What are we convincing them of, Midnight?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Umm, I think-¡±


    ¡°Familiar,¡± Calculator interrupted. ¡°You need to go with Swiss Arms.¡±


    ¡°But I-¡± Midnight protested.


    ¡°That¡¯s an order.¡±


    I frowned. I was pretty sure I didn¡¯t like this situation. But I also trusted these people. Especially Calculator. ¡°You should probably do what he said,¡± I scritched Midnight behind his ears and then lowered him down from my shoulder.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ll tell you in a moment,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°This way,¡± she said, leading him into a room down the hall.


    ¡°We¡¯re going in here,¡± Calculator gestured to the room Captain Punch came out of.


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t remember this room at all,¡± I said as I opened the door, revealing a stark room. Almost an interrogation room. Hmm.


    I felt a gentle hand prodding me forward, and I walked inside. Calculator came through first, then Captain Punch closed the door behind us with a click. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked. Clearly, there was something weird going on.


    ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re here to find out,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Sit there, if you would.¡±


    ¡°... I didn¡¯t know we made seats this bad,¡± I said as I sat on the metal fold-out chair. ¡°Don¡¯t let Francois see this room.¡±


    Calculator chuckled. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry, he stays far away from this place.¡±


    ¡°So?¡± I prompted. ¡°I assume you want to ask me something.¡±


    Calculator glanced at his tablet. ¡°Still nothing,¡± he said. ¡°Amplifying sensors.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ don¡¯t want to ask me anything?¡± I tilted my head.


    He tapped a few buttons. There was definitely something happening. I felt a pressure around me. And then¡­ a veil was sliced away.


    ¡°How about it?¡± Captain Punch asked from behind me. It was going to be very hard to talk to two people like this.


    ¡°... Everything is reading normally now.¡±


    ¡°Is anyone going to explain?¡± I asked. ¡°What sensors?¡± I looked down at my jacket, twisting my neck to try to see the back. ¡°Did I get bugged or something?¡±


    ¡°We have no indication of that,¡± Calculator replied, straightforwardly for once.


    ¡°Good, because I just got a new thing that I was hoping would help me avoid stuff like that. Though I don¡¯t know if it would work against stuff someone put on me.¡± Something clicked into place. That was what had broken. But why? ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not sure if it would work against technology at all.¡± Another click. ¡°We should probably test-¡± The last piece. ¡°Oh. I figured it out.¡±


    ¡°Did you?¡± Calculator asked, raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°I got a new spell,¡± I said. ¡°Nondetection. To resist divination magic. And I¡¯m betting it works against sensors. But why didn¡¯t I get stopped at the security station?¡± I could answer the question as well. ¡°Because they couldn¡¯t stop me. Or might not have been able to. And it was easier to send me to a basement floor where I couldn¡¯t get out if I was a bad guy. So¡­¡± I waited a few moments. ¡°When can I go? Because I¡¯m me.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. You certainly appear to be. But you could be a very impressive fake,¡± Calculator said.


    I thought about that for a few moments. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t like that line of thought. Because it could easily spiral into me never getting out of here. So how about this, I cast whatever spell you want to prove myself.¡± I thought of an issue there, of course. If I could convincingly appear to be me, I could also convincingly fake a spell. Probably.


    ¡°I think that will be unnecessary,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I have a plan. It won¡¯t take long.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so¡­?¡±


    ¡°We wait,¡± he said.


    Boring. But waiting it would have to be.


    After four or five minutes passed, during which I mostly listened to the nearly empty room and projected calm towards Midnight who seemed nervous still, there was finally a knock on the door.


    ¡°Keep your eyes focused on me,¡± Calculator said.


    I looked at him. ¡°Am I not supposed to see them?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°Okay but I¡¯ll still be able to feel their power.¡± Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have reminded him, but the words had been said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to accept that risk,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Captain Punch, get the door please.¡±


    A grunt of acknowledgement. The door opened. I felt someone vaguely familiar. I couldn¡¯t quite pick it out, and after the door was closed the feeling went away. But I still remembered it and was trying to figure it out. ¡°Oh, Antagonist, right?¡± That guy could copy powers and stuff. Did it work on people like me? We¡¯d somehow never gotten around to that. Calculator didn¡¯t respond. ¡°So¡­ more waiting?¡±


    ¡°More waiting.¡±


    ¡°Got any books?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not that you can have access to. Sorry.¡±


    I waited. Calculator got a message. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a bit,¡± he said.


    Then it was just me and Captain Punch. ¡°Can you not stand menacingly behind me?¡± I asked. ¡°You could stand menacingly to the side or something.¡±


    Instead, he sat across from me. ¡°Eh, it¡¯s fine. I think we¡¯re pretty much done here anyway.¡± The man was entirely different when relaxed. ¡°Personally, I¡¯d say we were done half an hour ago. But you know how Calculator is.¡±


    I sighed. This was kind of my fault. At least we got a blind test of Nondetection and sensors, so that was something.


    The door clicked open. Calculator¡¯s power didn¡¯t have a strong feel to it, but I could still tell it was him before I turned.


    ¡°Well,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s it. You¡¯re free to go. But please do warn us if you walk around with new magic.¡±


    ¡°I was going to¡­¡± I shrugged. I supposed I would have to make sure I didn¡¯t have it on when entering, in the future. ¡°Sorry about wasting your time.¡±


    ¡°At least we know our security is worth something,¡± he said. ¡°Though I wouldn¡¯t expect such an odd response as you. No feedback at all. In a way, it was almost more obvious.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s just how it worked. So, what was it that convinced you that we were us?¡±


    ¡°Everything, really,¡± Calculator said. ¡°But if I had to pick one thing¡­ tuna.¡±


    ¡°Tuna?¡±


    ¡°Tuna.¡±


    I had to ask Midnight about that.

 Chapter 220

    Being away from Turlough wasn¡¯t normally a problem for Midnight, but in this peculiar situation he didn¡¯t feel good about it. He went with Swiss Arms to a different room, where she began asking all sorts of questions¡­ and occasionally staring off into space. Obviously they were suspicious of something, but he couldn¡¯t quite figure out what.


    Eventually, he had enough. ¡°What¡¯s the point here?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Do you think we¡¯re¡­ not us?¡±


    Swiss Arms sighed. ¡°Well, something like that. Calculator is trying to prove things one way or another with Mage.¡±


    ¡°Would it help for me to say that it¡¯s really him?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Not really. Since your identity is in question as well. Unless you can prove it somehow. Calculator¡¯s trying to be all complicated about it¡­ but I don¡¯t have the skills for this,¡± she shrugged. ¡°So? Got anything?¡±


    ¡°I suppose my identification doesn¡¯t matter. How about showing you magic?¡±


    ¡°Could be an illusion.¡±


    ¡°Telling you about when we met?¡±


    ¡°Could have been interrogated. Or had your memory read.¡±


    Midnight¡¯s tail flicked back and forth. ¡°That does make this difficult. If that¡¯s possible, anyone could be replaced.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, never say that in front of Calculator. He¡¯ll go mad. I¡¯m willing to accept something tangible that others might not think is important.¡±


    Midnight pondered for a moment. ¡°I have tuna,¡± he said. He cast Storage to pull out a few cans of tuna.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­¡± Swiss Arms shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s something I guess.¡± She paused for a moment. ¡°Do you have¡­ more?¡±


    ¡°Turlough told me to stop worrying and carry less. So I only have¡­ 15 cans,¡± Midnight said, piling them in front of him in batches. ¡°Does this help?¡±


    ¡°It does,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°Though I¡¯ll have to inspect it.¡±


    Midnight stared at her soulfully.


    ¡°You can afford to buy more cans of tuna. Or someone will pay you back, if it really matters. But I have to take a look at these elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Midnight said. Then he was left to wait for¡­ either a long time or just a few minutes.


    -----


    I nodded, ¡°Hmm, that makes sense. It¡¯s something only you would carry around in quantity, and if an impostor could perfectly replicate all of our abilities, it would be a problem. Plus, there would have to be a range limit or similar on illusions, so having something they could take away was quite valuable. Either that or they would be facing someone of such power that they couldn¡¯t possibly see through the illusions and we shouldn¡¯t have even been suspected in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Something like that,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I would suggest we don¡¯t come to HQ with Nondetection on anymore.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. I suppose we should be fine inside HQ, but that means expending more mana when we go out. Which is just another thing to factor into our mana costs.¡±


    ¡°We might be able to cast it after we arrive,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Though we¡¯d want to consult Calculator.¡±


    ¡°And probably be subject to tests,¡± I agreed. ¡°Well, they learned it¡¯s possible to break Nondetection with power¡­ and Calculator is a bit less worried since there¡¯s no proof that any security measures failed. Because even us not registering anything had safeguards in place to warn them.¡±


    -----


    Before we got into any more trouble, Midnight and I had a discussion on how I was spending my points. Since it affected him, I had to at least consult him, even if I didn¡¯t agree. There was one thing we debated on for a while, but I ultimately had to give in.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 34


    Experience: 3025/3150


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +8 (6|2)


    Firebolt +4 (3|1)


    Shocking Grasp +6 (4|2)


    Grease +3 (2|1)


    Force Armor +8 (6|2)


    Mage''s Reach +5 (3|2)


    Translation +3 (1|2)


    Alter Time Flow +6 (4|2)


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +8 (4|4)


    Enlarge +3 (2|1)


    Energy Ward +4 (2|2)


    Sonic Lance +4 (3|1)


    Advanced Divination Magic +6 (3|3)


    Shield +1


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Stoneskin +4 (3|1)


    Mana Crystal Deposition +4 (1|3)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +3 (2|1)


    Basic Light Magic +2 (1|1)


    Alter Portal +2 (0|2)


    Gate +3 (2|1)


    Sending +2 (0|2)


    Chain Lightning +5 (3|2)


    Clean +1 (0|1)


    Shelter +1 (0|1)


    Assistive Familiar Casting +3 (0|3)


    Multicasting +1 (0|1)


    Enhance +1


    Nondetection


    Remaining Points: 17


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    From the top down, it was Storage- the ability in most debate. But ultimately Midnight convinced me to put two more ranks, and since it only cost 4 points total¡­ it wasn¡¯t that big of an expense. Shocking Grasp got an upgrade as well, because Midnight used it quite often and so did I when I ended up in melee. It was quite efficient for taking someone down. Saving a bit of mana and having a bit more oomph behind it when we needed it wouldn¡¯t hurt. Mages Reach was a frequently used utility as well, and Midnight needed it for manipulating things.


    One of the biggest changes that didn¡¯t cost any points directly was Advanced Divination Magic. It folded in Scrying, Arcane Sight, and the two Locate spells, ending up with more point upgrades somewhere in that process.


    Stoneskin was a consistent defensive option, and since it cost more than just mana it didn¡¯t hurt to have it last a bit longer. Chain Lightning got a lot of the point expenditures, since it was the highest level spell I knew. Two upgrades at a full 13 points each. But that would save us somewhere around a point of mana each cast, and make it hit harder too.


    A single point of mana might not seem that big, but it could easily be a difference between another cast or not having the ability. It was also bigger for Midnight, who only had 28 mana maximum versus my¡­ 50ish. Strictly by level I should have 39, so my work overstuffing myself with Mana Crystals had paid off.


    More than a few things had gotten natural upgrades as well, the most notable being Familiar Bond. It didn¡¯t matter for literally anything except Force Armor, since it was a limiter on total upgrades, but it was still nice. For the future.


    I had 17 points saved, which was much closer to optimal than how much I had built up. I might train some things slightly slower naturally now, but I needed to balance that with actual effectiveness at the current moment. It wasn¡¯t like every day was training without practical use. We literally fought dragons the other day.


    What I needed to train most was Multicasting, which would allow me to use more upgrades and thus be more efficient with applying group buffs. I literally couldn¡¯t spend points on that, and while there was some chance it was a mental block of some sort- I really needed to get my hands on someone who knew this stuff- attempting to force it seemed like a bad idea. I might just waste my time, or I could break my magic or destroy the points. Some of the theoretical consequences I could imagine were serious enough to push me away from that.


    -----


    ¡°Time for training,¡± I said. ¡°If only we had more people around. I¡¯d really like to cast something like Haste to see if I can make that better. It¡¯s a short duration so we can let it run its course. But alas, it would be so inefficient to cast with just myself, Midnight, Great Girl, and Jim here.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that four?¡± Jim asked, his voice like a hole in reality.


    ¡°One of Midnight and myself don¡¯t count if applying things to both,¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay so¡­ message Shockwave?¡± Great Girl said. ¡°They¡¯ll totally show up. Probably even if they¡¯re on shift.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± I said. ¡°I was just wondering if merely speaking about it would be enough. Sometimes it is.¡±


    I pulled out my phone and prepared a text. ¡°Hi, I got a text that said something about Haste?¡± My finger hit send as the voice appeared next to me. I was pretty sure things happened in that order, but maybe it was my mind playing tricks on me. Such things were actually less reliable than people thought. Like the stopped clock effect. Your mind would project a still image into the ¡®past¡¯ to make things seem smooth.


    ¡°Hi Shockwave,¡± I waved. ¡°You¡¯re really improving. Nobody¡¯s eardrums broke and you came through a closed door.¡±


    ¡°I know right?¡± Shockwave stood proudly in all of their blue glory. ¡°It¡¯s still really useful to blast people off their feet though. So, Haste?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I said. ¡°Though it will be significantly less than the maximum you have experienced. Which is the point of this exercise.¡±


    Shockwave sighed. ¡°The sacrifices I make for the Brigade. Very well, I¡¯m ready.¡±


    ¡°And the rest of you?¡± I asked. ¡°Midnight and I will be focusing on the casting.¡± I could multicast it all by myself. Midnight was just short of being able to do that, and we could train Assistive Familiar Casting at the same time by splitting it. So it was just more efficient to split things. Though speaking of that, it was upgrading quite well since we used it so frequently.


    Everyone indicated their readiness. We cast Haste, distributing it among all of us.


    Shockwave, of course, began to run around the room- but only a little bit on the walls, because they didn¡¯t have Physical Freedom and it was also weaker.


    Great Girl¡¯s intention was to practice her size changing abilities at speed. While physical movement were accelerated, many power activations were still limited to how they functioned in real time. It depended somewhat on the limiting factor- if it was simply mental processing speed, Haste could work. But for things like gathering mana, it still took the same time. At best, Midnight and I could be more efficient by releasing the exact moment we gathered enough mana. But we weren¡¯t planning to expend unnecessary mana here.


    Jim was also practicing his movements. As a writhing mass of tentacles, his body had some amount of distortion involved with movement. Beyond that, he also had some sort of mental powers. He also had to see if his outfit could keep up with his changes during Haste.


    It lasted just over a minute, with only a single upgrade counting. A relative time of somewhere around three minutes for the users. During that time, Midnight and I mostly discussed what would make Multicasting more efficient.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s something about our distribution of mana,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re probably losing some between people. I don¡¯t know if they actually need to be closer or if that would just make things easier.¡±


    ¡°Probably just easier,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Which means we might want to try the opposite. Test the limits of range. Have people stand further apart, or be moving around while we cast.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Good point. We might also have to take into account the specific individuals we¡¯re affecting. Somehow.¡±


    Between Midnight and I, we could manage five rounds of Multicasted Haste- which was effectively casting the spell twenty times total, which would have been out of our reach by a good margin. It was the difference between having about 8 points of mana left, not counting our bit of regeneration, and being 8 points short even with 6 total upgrades involved.


    Unfortunately, we neither got an upgrade to Multicasting or Haste¡­ but what else could we expect from ten minutes of our time and a single mana pool? If it was so easy to get natural upgrades to things, we¡¯d have hundreds. And we¡¯d already gotten the first one, which was the easiest. Even if we didn¡¯t have an actual upgrade, we understood more¡­ and I could imagine it wouldn¡¯t be too far. Maybe a few days or a week, but that was fine.


    Since we were low on mana, returning to the gym for part of the day would be the plan, and then we might gather more free people for another round. Ambient mana levels were still climbing, but it was still over two hours to recover Midnight¡¯s full amount, and nearly twice as much for myself given our relative mana pools.


    It was a cause of concern that it had increased again, but it wasn¡¯t really a surprise with Doctor Doomsday throwing out more portals. Was that his intention, or a side effect? Or it could be many things all at once. Nobody really knew what he wanted, just that he didn¡¯t care how his goals were accomplished.

 Chapter 221

    After the incident with the dragons, I was left without hair for a while- I had shaved off the remaining parts that hadn¡¯t been scorched away. Some people could pull off that look, but I didn¡¯t think it was for me. My beard grew in more evenly than it used to, but it along with the rest of my hair was tinged with something odd. Normally it had been blue-white with yellow tips, but now there were streaks of orange-red. I didn¡¯t find it to be an improvement, but it seemed I would have to live with it until I could convince my hair to pick a single style.


    Other than that, life was filled with training and checking up on friends. Everyone tied to the Brigade was doing well. Beyond that, Ceira and Izzy were some of the few friends that didn¡¯t have any ties to the Power Brigade. Both were doing alright for the moment, though the inconsistency of Izzy¡¯s employment was a consequence she had to deal with for helping out a friend. Rositsa was fine as well, last I checked, working night jobs.


    I made sure to continue with Sending spells to Sir Kalman, just in case there was an issue. I never got much in the way of responses, of course. ¡°Things still continuing as normal.¡± ¡°Training has been boring.¡± ¡°Nothing important to report.¡± That sort of thing. But he couldn¡¯t necessarily contact me if I didn¡¯t contact him first, so the price of some mana every few days was what I paid.


    Until we did get a response of note, and I was glad I¡¯d stuck with it.


    ¡°Need to speak in person. Lieutenant will be waiting for your arrival in town.¡±


    ¡°Huh,¡± I said, looking over at Midnight. ¡°Weird.¡±


    I explained the message, and I felt some concern from him. ¡°He does know we can¡¯t just traipse off to another world whenever we want, right?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I mean¡­ we kind of can,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Sure. But to have the Lieutenant waiting means sending him significantly ahead of time. They no longer have a permanent base set up in Mossley, right?¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I nodded, ¡°Good point.¡±


    ¡°We still need to go, obviously. Part of our official duties are related to handling incidents from that world, after all.¡±


    Settling things on the side of the Power Brigade was fairly easy. ¡°Do you need backup?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t receive any indication that we would,¡± I said, repeating the message.


    Calculator nodded. ¡°Then it would be best to keep it to the two of you. I suppose you should probably get going.¡±


    ¡°Seems pretty easy,¡± I said. ¡°You don¡¯t need me here?¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°We have people in reserve for a reason. And you¡¯ll be paid out of Extra¡¯s pocket for this.¡±


    Which meant the Brigade would actually be making money off of us while we were handling this matter. Active patrol or specific missions were paid for by the government, but training was something the Brigade generally had to eat the costs for. ¡°Great. I guess we¡¯ll be off, then.¡±


    I sent a message to friends to let them know Midnight and I would be out of town for a few days. Communications should be secure enough for that, and if they weren¡¯t there were bigger issues at hand.


    We popped off to Extra, both because that was where they wanted us to do Gate related things, and also because it would let them track official on the job stuff. Malaliel was actually there to meet us when we arrived.


    ¡°Wow,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re usually so busy.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes there are breaks in the action,¡± said the angel. ¡°And these extradimensional matters are of specific concern. You said you got a message?¡±


    ¡°The returned half of my Sending spell,¡± I said. ¡°It can deliver a few words from the recipient of the original message.¡± I explained the contents- once again, quite simple and straightforward.


    ¡°So it is not a matter of immediate peril,¡± the angel said. ¡°But nonetheless one that seems to come with a requirement for secrecy and perhaps some amount of haste.¡±


    ¡°That was what we figured,¡± Midnight agreed.


    ¡°Well, I won¡¯t hold you up,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°Good luck with your efforts.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll keep in contact if we have extra mana.¡±


    ¡°Right. Interdimensional communication.¡±


    ¡°Yep. And we can¡¯t do it if we don¡¯t know the other person so¡­¡± I waved. ¡°It only works for a few things. Bye!¡± Comms work was definitely not a job I aspired to. No fighting or room for growth at all.


    Where did we want to show up? That closet we used before belonged to someone, so outside of Mossley was probably best. Maybe something would have happened with the ruins of Uvithar¡¯s tower?


    Midnight and I split the mana cost for the sake of regeneration, but I was actually close to the point where I could cast Gate alone. Or maybe it was already possible? Certainly, next level it should be fully possible.


    It wasn¡¯t important at the moment though. We popped through the portal out in a small clearing, then stopped for a small glance at the rubble. ¡°Hasn¡¯t really changed much,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°That¡¯s probably good. Nobody poking around.¡±


    ¡°Not obviously,¡± I agreed. ¡°Though using magic, nothing would have to move.¡±


    We made our way to town along the road. The guards were vaguely familiar and I felt a sudden urge to run¡­ after zapping them with a weakened Shocking Grasp. Instead I properly approached them.


    ¡°Greetings, Turlough,¡± said one of them- a woman. That was some of the most respect I¡¯d gotten in Mossley, though I suppose things had been different after the whole incident. ¡°Sir Harold has been expecting you. I can escort you to him.¡±


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Well, at least that was easy. We didn¡¯t even have to ask.


    Sir Harold looked like most other members of the Order of the Lion- except for his specific insignia, of course. But the point was that he was a human covered in armor, so they all looked rather similar, by design. ¡°Excellent,¡± he said upon seeing us. ¡°I was worried I would have to wait significantly longer. I have only been here a few days.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean you were sent out a couple messages ago?¡±


    ¡°Most likely,¡± Sir Harold said. ¡°Sir Kalman indicated the results would be like that.¡±


    ¡°And he didn¡¯t say anything sooner because¡­?¡±


    ¡°It would still require my presence to escort you,¡± Sir Harold shrugged. ¡°It would be more awkward for you to wait here than myself.¡±


    True. I was the one who kinda-sorta didn¡¯t belong in this world anymore. ¡°So what¡¯s the issue?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It would be best if Sir Kalman told you himself.¡±


    ¡°... I have Nondetection, if you¡¯re concerned about people listening.¡±


    ¡°Good. Make sure to use it on yourself, and not on me. If someone is looking, I shouldn¡¯t suddenly¡­ disappear,¡± Sir Harold said. ¡°Now then, do you know how to ride a horse?¡±


    ¡°I do not,¡± I said.


    ¡°Then this is your chance to learn.¡±


    He brought us out to some stables on the edge of town where he saddled his horse. ¡°We¡¯ll be sharing,¡± he said. ¡°As it¡¯s rather suspicious to ride two horses on one¡¯s own.¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t see another option,¡± I admitted. ¡°But are you sure it can carry both of us¡­?¡±


    ¡°Lily is a good horse,¡± Sir Harold said. ¡°She is more than capable of carrying an extra individual, even one of your stature. And Midnight.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone was particularly concerned about me in this scenario,¡± Midnight admitted.


    Sir Harold climbed up first. ¡°You are fairly physically fit, so it should be easy enough. Put your foot in the stirrup there. I¡¯ll help pull you up. Just make sure to get your leg across the far side.¡±


    I did exactly as suggested, and was quite glad for pants instead of a robe. It wasn¡¯t that difficult, as I¡¯d had to make worse movements at the obstacle course. It was still awkward to be done, though. Not comfortable at all.


    ¡°This sucks,¡± I said.


    ¡°Work with the Order long enough, and you will find yourself in much worse scenarios. Have you ever camped on rocky ground without a sleeping bag, with a torn tent?¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you need better logistics,¡± I said. ¡°Also, no. And I never will.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be surprised what can happen.¡±


    ¡°Nah. I have the Shelter spell,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh. Right. Sir Kalman did mention that came quite handy during your jungle excursion. But I likely shouldn¡¯t chat too much, in case we¡¯re being watched.¡±


    ¡°... we¡¯re not, though,¡± I said. ¡°I would sense if we were being Scryed.¡±


    That didn¡¯t change Sir Harold¡¯s opinion on the matter, however, but at least Midnight and I were able to chat between us.


    ¡°I can¡¯t even read back here,¡± I grumbled.


    ¡°We should learn a spell to charge our phones,¡± Midnight said. ¡°We could have music. Or I could since you don¡¯t listen to music.¡±


    ¡°... Phones can have music?¡±


    ¡°I seriously don¡¯t know how you live without,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s like I¡¯m from a world without any technology at all.¡±


    ¡°Would that actually make a difference?¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°A little. And hey, I do use my phone. For practical stuff.¡±


    At least that distracted us from the discomfort of the road. Until we stopped for the day and I got off the horse.


    ¡°Uuuuuugh,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°I¡¯m the one who feels this, you know,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah but you don¡¯t properly respond to pain signals!¡±


    ¡°Sure I do. Hmm, should probably stretch here.¡± I frowned. ¡°I guess this doesn¡¯t count as combat, huh? How disappointing.¡± My thighs ached for nothing. Sitting against a metal plate all day hadn¡¯t helped either.


    It was a good thing Sir Harold had food and paid for the room at the inn where we stopped, because we had none of that stuff. Somewhere I¡¯d had a pouch of coins, but they wouldn''t have lasted long anyway and they had probably been lost a few apartments back. Or were they in a safety deposit box? Not Storage, at least.


    -----


    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Sir Harold said finally after a few more days of travel.


    ¡°Oh, good,¡± I said. ¡°I¡­ forgot to ask where here was?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have said, anyway,¡± Sir Harold said. ¡°But we can speak more freely here. It is much more legitimate to ward a fortress of the Order of the Lion against scrying than a random Lieutenant.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s here!¡± I recognized a voice, though only barely. Because the words didn¡¯t quite fit. The accent was¡­ ah, elven. Antiele waved to Midnight and I. ¡°Hello, Turlough!¡±


    I looked at the wood elf. ¡°Weren¡¯t you supposed to be taken home?¡±


    ¡°I was supposed to be returned to where I belonged. And ultimately, that became here.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t dressed in fancy armor or anything, just more or less normal clothes with the Order¡¯s insignia.


    ¡°What are you doing? I mean, like your job.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a training coordinator!¡± she said excitedly. ¡°I don¡¯t actually get involved in actual fighting much, but I still get to learn.¡±


    ¡°Turlough!¡± a booming voice caused me to turn. And then look down at the beard pouring out of some armor. There was a single moment where I looked at Sir Kalman before his armored fist came for my chest.


    And that hesitation was what cost him the first round. Though to be fair, it wasn¡¯t entirely a fair fighting field. I only had to hit him, not cause damage- but then again, he got to be in full metal armor to start off. To even be close I would have had to cast Stoneskin.


    I spit blood onto the ground as I stood up at the end of the third round. ¡°Good to see you, Sir Kalman.¡±


    ¡°Aye. And good to see you haven¡¯t slacked off on training, Turlough.¡±


    ¡°How could I ever?¡± I said, offended.


    ¡°You¡¯d be surprised what happens to some people after a perilous journey. They just curl up and accept being done.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ why am I here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Do you trust Archmage Zenfer?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who brought him to me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not exactly. So, do you?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say I do,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But I also don¡¯t have any specific reasons to not trust him either.¡±


    ¡°Damn,¡± Sir Kalman frowned. ¡°I was hoping we could get a definitive answer one way or another.¡±


    ¡°... Is that the only reason I¡¯m here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Of course not. That¡¯s just the first thing on the agenda.¡±

 Chapter 222

    ¡°So asking about Zenfer was part of the agenda¡­ what else?¡± I asked Sir Kalman.


    ¡°Well, aside from that¡­ you can come directly here now, correct?¡±


    ¡°I should probably study it carefully if I want that to be consistent,¡± I said. ¡°Though even now I should be able to appear close by.¡±


    ¡°Better if you come here directly. We don¡¯t want to risk them knowing exactly when you¡¯re here or not.¡±


    ¡°Does that make a difference, though?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll be less able to notice anything here. Nobody can particularly complain about keeping one of our bases concealed from divination magic, now can they?¡± Sir Kalman shook his head.


    ¡°Can they even detect Gates opening?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Can either of you say with assurance that it¡¯s not possible?¡± Sir Kalman replied.


    I looked at Midnight, and we shook our heads. ¡°It¡¯s powerful, so it makes sense.¡±


    ¡°And they must have some method, because they know about the permanent portals.¡±


    ¡°The what now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The permanent portals. From Earth to here.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there are¡­ New Bay has been closing all the portals we find.¡± I frowned, ¡°Could they be going somewhere else or¡­? No, it¡¯s possible Doctor Doomsday has more permanent portals.¡± After all, a single one in a single base was pretty unlikely. ¡°Do they know where these portals are?¡±


    ¡°Some of them, I believe. However, the information hasn¡¯t been directly shared with me,¡± Sir Kalman harrumphed. ¡°As if the Order of the Lion wouldn¡¯t need to know such things. Then again, I suppose this isn¡¯t the only thing kept secret.¡±


    ¡°Right, well. If I can get to any of these portals I can probably close them. However, I¡¯d imagine the people here can also do that just as well. So you probably don¡¯t need me for that.¡±


    Sir Kalman stroked his beard. ¡°Aye, as long as people actually want to close up the portals.¡±


    ¡°... Why wouldn¡¯t they?¡± I asked. ¡°I know why Doomsday would want them open. To bring through monsters or an army of orcs or whatever. And probably mana. But I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s any benefit in the opposite direction.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Sir Kalman nodded. ¡°What benefit would there be? Except, perhaps, this ¡®technology¡¯ of Earth.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± I agreed. ¡°Except that most of it won¡¯t work without the infrastructure Earth has. At best, it will work until it runs out of power.¡±


    ¡°Which is an excellent way to keep people indebted to you if you¡¯re some sort of supervillain,¡± Midnight said. ¡°If they require constant replacement of things. That¡¯s just speculation, though.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°It¡¯s not the worst idea, though. Perhaps he¡¯s working with people on this side. Not just those he brought through. The orcs and dark elves and the like we¡¯ve seen had to come from somewhere, and it would be a pain to contact new villages and make new arrangements forever¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°Though so far there have only been a few hundred or so involved, which is both a lot and not that noticeable on a global scale.¡±


    ¡°Right. So, the point being,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°If we discover any portals, you¡¯re the one the Order can trust to shut one. And New Bay and this ¡®Extra¡¯ are motivated to assist you in this process, so we won¡¯t have to make do with just what we have here.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there anyone outside the Order of the Lion you can trust¡­?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s mainly what I¡¯ve been working on. I¡¯m not going to assume other paladin orders are working to good purposes. Don¡¯t get me wrong,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°I believe more people in this world are good than not. But it only takes letting in one wrong fellow to find everything sabotaged. The stronger they are, the more we want them on our side¡­ and the more they could ruin. So you can understand us taking things slowly.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded. And to be fair, he¡¯d only been back where he could manage this for a few weeks. Half of the time we¡¯d known each other had been spent cross dimensionally on Earth. ¡°So, anything practical I can do while I¡¯m here? Or are we just going over things you don¡¯t want overheard?¡±


    ¡°There is one thing. We¡¯ve set up a Scrying mirror. I was hoping you could find some of those portals.¡±


    ¡°Well, you see, Scrying only focuses on people so I don¡¯t think-¡± I stopped myself. Because not only was that not always true in my experience, I was even less sure about that given the fusion of several spells into ¡®Advanced Divination Magic¡¯. That didn¡¯t mean that my talents were necessarily advanced, just that it was much higher level than things like ¡®Basic Light Magic¡¯. Then again, it had a good number of upgrades from Scrying and then the fusion afterwards. ¡°Well, we can try,¡± I said.


    ¡°Good,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to the room, then. It¡¯s nothing fancy, but getting large mirrors isn¡¯t so easy. Not like that big glass cube you¡¯ve got on Earth.¡±


    ¡°Diamond,¡± I said.


    ¡°Hmm? What?¡±


    ¡°The cube is made of diamond. Apparently.¡±


    ¡°Like hell it is,¡± Sir Kalman crossed his arms. ¡°This is the world with magic, isn¡¯t it? And even our diamonds don¡¯t come so big.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s artificial.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s a fake diamond?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a real diamond made outside of the natural processes. Which mostly involves a lot of heat and pressure.¡±


    ¡°Right, so¡­ if it¡¯s made clear like glass, is it really any different?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just know that one is very effective. Could be the shape, though.¡±


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Well, I doubt we¡¯re getting a cube of glass that size here either,¡± Sir Kalman shrugged. ¡°Here¡¯s the room. Not particularly spacious, and we don''t have anything fancy. The lack of windows isn¡¯t a problem, right?¡±


    ¡°We can see just fine in the darkness,¡± I confirmed. ¡°And if there¡¯s anything to see on the other end, it¡¯s best that it be the only light source anyway.¡±


    ¡°Right. So uh, portals.¡±


    ¡°Any idea where they are?¡±


    ¡°Not a clue,¡± Sir Kalman admitted. ¡°But I¡¯m sure some exist.¡±


    ¡°Uh, just as confirmation. On the Material Plane? Because this is a significant step harder if not.¡±


    ¡°Should be some,¡± Sir Kalman frowned. ¡°But that¡¯s just my supposition.¡±


    ¡°Time to start trying things, then,¡± I said. Portals. They should be quite easy to pick out, with strong magical signatures. I¡¯d seen quite a few, as well. Both Doctor Doomsday¡¯s portals, and my own Gate spells.


    I focused on tracking down not a memory or image of a person, but the feeling of a type of thing. It was encouraging to me that the magic didn¡¯t immediately fail as I poured a similar amount of mana for a Scrying into the spell. 11 points, which should be the maximum. Probably. That was something I could fiddle with later, however.


    Slowly, ever so slowly, I felt something. I got a vague feeling of direction. West? Southwest? I didn¡¯t care about that as much right now as actually making something happen. Swirling mists on the mirror slowly resolved into an image of a grand city. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That¡¯d be Granbold. The city, I mean,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Is there a portal there? I don¡¯t see anything.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I frowned. ¡°Well, there could be. It might also just be a concentration of magic. As for this particular point, I think¡­¡± I tugged on the magic slightly. It was a different feeling from Doctor Doomsday¡¯s Scrying anchors, but I could certainly feel something pulling me to that point. ¡°It¡¯s just a distraction. So really, all we know is that there¡¯s some sort of magic in the capital.¡±


    ¡°Well, interesting as that is, it¡¯s not of much consequence. The capital¡¯s one of the places I could think of legitimate reasons to have a permanent portal.¡±


    ¡°Or just some sort of large, continuous magic,¡± I added. ¡°Since we haven¡¯t actually found a portal yet, I might not be that accurate. I¡¯ll try again. Maybe I can¡­ avoid this place?¡±


    Another chunk of mana invested, and I determined that at the very least¡­ I could direct my attention away to find nothing instead of the capital. Which wasn¡¯t that useful. Distance wasn¡¯t usually relevant for Scrying, but that was with a specific target.


    ¡°Ugh, that didn¡¯t really work,¡± I said to Midnight. ¡°I think it might be better to let it lock onto somewhere and nudge it away. Were you able to feel it when it worked?¡±


    ¡°More or less,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I can make an attempt now, if you¡¯d like.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll pick something out I wouldn¡¯t,¡± I said. And if not, it was still enough time to recover a point of mana or more. The ambient mana here¡­ well, it was at least above average.


    Midnight remained on my shoulder as he cast the spell, looking directly at his own eyes in the mirror until the image was replaced. A short time in, there was a flicker of the capital- but then the angle changed. ¡°I¡¯m guessing¡­ the mages live there?¡±


    ¡°From the towers and the draw of magic¡­¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m surprised they don¡¯t completely block Scrying. We should probably let it fade so as to not draw their attention, though.¡±


    Midnight did so.


    ¡°If you want my opinion,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°It seems easier to misdirect someone¡¯s scrying, does it not? And they might want people to look at their big, fancy towers. That way, it¡¯s doubly effective.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I nodded. ¡°Good point. Still, best to avoid the area entirely. And we still don¡¯t know if there¡¯s portals or¡­ something else.¡±


    Given our relative mana pools, it was my turn next. Midnight and I would have to rest some before heading back to Earth, but I wasn¡¯t even certain if that was going to be today or not. We¡¯d taken the time to come here, after all. Then again, we didn¡¯t have to ride again so it wasn¡¯t actually that inefficient to just leave and return every day. Still took a good quarter of the day¡¯s mana, of course, but it could have been worse.


    How to focus on not the capital? Rather than specifically ignoring that direction, I opted to filter out those magical signatures we had felt. I had learned a bit about that stuff from Uvithar¡¯s secret notes. Was that intended for a scenario like this, or was it just generally relevant? The secret text did appear only for me, after all, so there were more than a couple ways to use such things.


    I had the feeling that without the upgrades and boosting the magic to its limits, tracking down portals or whatever with magic like this would be almost impossible. And it still wasn¡¯t clear if we were finding that.


    I concentrated on staying away from what we¡¯d discovered so far, and the spell slowly took form. When it revealed a new area, I found there was at least some success. I realized just now that the view of the previous Scrying spells had been far more distant than it should have been- we should have barely been able to recognize a single building, like this. Even boosted to its limits, I wouldn¡¯t expect a view wider than twenty feet or so. Kind of like this.


    ¡°That architecture,¡± I frowned. ¡°I should probably know that.¡±


    ¡°Ethus,¡± Sir Kalman said.


    ¡°Hmm. I see. But the problem here is, this isn¡¯t what I was trying to pick up. But I got pulled into it.¡±


    ¡°Another Scrying anchor?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°No, not just that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I said. ¡°Familiar, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Doomsday.¡±


    ¡°And not his older ones, either. This one I can wriggle away from.¡± More than that, the image faded more quickly than it should have, leaving us with very little information. Except that there was something to hide in the area, I supposed.


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a problem,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°How can I say this¡­ it fits with some of the information we have.¡±


    ¡°Ethus is a desert, right?¡±


    ¡°Something like that. And they have more than a few orc tribes.¡±


    ¡°That was a proper city, though,¡± I pointed out. Then I had to add more because otherwise Doctor Patenaude would bug me about it later. ¡°They¡­ probably have different architecture than that. It looked like a human style, and from what I remember the main cities in Ethus are human centric.¡±


    ¡°Certainly,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°But it¡¯s not like they¡¯re exclusive in any of that. There might be a good amount of historical conflict about such things, but they can¡¯t completely deny orcs entrance to their larger cities without causing more trouble.¡±


    It was a good thing we had someone who knew this stuff, because I honestly hadn¡¯t delved deep into the history of other nations. Or Granbold, for that matter. Then again, I was aware that some was likely intentionally missing.


    ¡°So,¡± I said. ¡°Doctor Doomsday is working with Ethus. But we can¡¯t just pop in and wander around the city. Not least because I don¡¯t think I can actually get us there.¡± I¡¯d seen very little of it, and I could imagine that Doctor Doomsday might be motivated to redirect Gates going near any of his work.


    ¡°Don¡¯t need to act immediately,¡± Sir Kalman pointed out. ¡°Just gaining this information is useful. Something is happening there, and that will let me figure out who knows things and isn¡¯t sharing based on their reactions. Can¡¯t exactly go around asking people if they¡¯re part of some big conspiracy to prevent people from gaining levels and attaining ¡®natural¡¯ upgrades, but I can ask if they¡¯ve heard about some sort of funky business in Ethus. Gives an avenue to pursue.¡±


    ¡°We still don¡¯t know what¡¯s there, though. Just that they have something to hide.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good enough,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°And maybe the two of you can find out more¡­?¡±


    We did have enough mana for a couple castings between Midnight and I. Then we could figure out what Extra and the Brigade needed to know.

 Chapter 223

    ¡°So, we need to tune out both Granbold and Ethus,¡± I frowned, preparing my last casting of Scrying. I was fairly certain Midnight and I were only able to attempt this at all because of things being folded into Advanced Divination Magic. So far, we¡¯d only obtained one particularly useful point of information. Knowing that mages in the capital deflected Scrying spells was interesting, but not surprising. And so far, we hadn¡¯t confirmed a single portal. My magic slowly coalesced into¡­ Ethus again. ¡°Seems I wasn¡¯t able to properly tune out two locations. Perhaps my thoughts wandered too much.¡±


    I let the spell dissipate, as I didn¡¯t want to give anyone an opportunity to determine they were being watched, if it wasn¡¯t something that happened frequently. Not that I could actually see anything from that location.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s my turn, then,¡± Midnight said. I could feel his concentration through our bond, his magic flowing into the mirror. He managed to end up looking at a new place. The outer edge of a tower, as far as I could tell. ¡°There sure are a lot more Scrying anchors than I anticipated. This one feels more magical, though.¡±


    I looked at the building, trying to figure out where it was from. ¡°Do you recognize that architecture?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not much,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°But I think¡­ Adrela?¡±


    ¡°That would make sense. They¡¯re known for their mages, after all. We still don¡¯t actually know if we can spot a portal, though,¡± I sighed.


    ¡°We¡¯re done, right?¡± Midnight asked, letting the spell fade after turning the view in all directions and finding nothing of note. ¡°Too bad we didn¡¯t learn anything.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that,¡± Sir Kalman commented. ¡°The information about Ethus is rather pertinent. Working with this Doomsday guy. And you learned something about your own abilities, as you¡¯re able to pick out things that you shouldn¡¯t, normally.¡±


    ¡°True,¡± I agreed. ¡°We¡¯re not supposed to be able to target points. Actually, that¡¯s something we should test more directly instead of searching for magic. Maybe when we¡¯re back on Earth. You don¡¯t need us here anymore, right?¡± I asked Sir Kalman.


    ¡°The main thing was that you make this journey, so it doesn¡¯t happen during an emergency. And of course, discussing what might not be safe through Sending. And learning even a single place to focus our efforts could be useful.¡±


    ¡°Do you think we should stay, try to pick out something else?¡± I asked. Then I frowned. ¡°Or should we figure out if we can do this from Earth?¡±


    ¡°Could you?¡± Sir Kalman said, surprised.


    ¡°Sure. Normal Scrying has a pretty high interplanar success rate, at least. Interdimensionally¡­ well, it works sometimes, at least.¡± Zentha Qitris managed to Scry me for Izzy, among other things. Though she wasn¡¯t necessarily a good guidepost for if it was reasonable. She was famed for her divinations, after all. ¡°We do have a very good Scrying¡­ thing¡­ back on Earth, so that might even things out. Plus, we¡¯d get to sleep in our own beds.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m suddenly very motivated to go back to Earth,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Or to improve our ability with Shelter, so we have something consistent and nice. Hmm¡­¡± Midnight pondered. ¡°Or we could improve Storage so I would have room to fit a bed.¡±


    ¡°Cat sized beds aren¡¯t very heavy,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Why can¡¯t you fit one now? We can carry like forty-five pounds each.¡± Midnight just looked at me, and it was clear that in his opinion it was currently full of necessities.


    ¡°I think it would be fine for you to go back,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Just keep up the regular communication.¡±


    ¡°You should get a mage you trust,¡± I said.


    ¡°There¡¯s you. And I don¡¯t know how to find anyone else,¡± he shrugged.


    ¡°Maybe someone who was dragged to Earth? One of them had to be a mage, right? And with the ability to learn without points¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Their safety has to be monitored regardless.¡±


    I didn¡¯t suggest it, but there was also the possibility of taking any random person from Earth and bringing them here. But I had the feeling Extra and perhaps some others wouldn¡¯t like that option. Plus, that wouldn¡¯t necessarily increase their trustworthiness.


    Having decided to go back to Earth, it took a couple hours for Midnight and I to rest up and restore sufficient mana for Gate. Between us, twenty points was really only a bit over an hour and a half, or even less if we focused on mana recovery. But it wouldn¡¯t hurt to have a bit extra. Getting too close to empty made things¡­ wobbly. Which wasn¡¯t good for going through portals, as it turned out.


    -----


    ¡°... And then we came back here,¡± I finished my report to Calculator. ¡°I assume Extra and some other people need to know about those scrying anchors in Ethus.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Calculator said. ¡°And we need to test our own.¡±


    ¡°We have some?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Doctor Doomsday may be paranoid in his thoroughness- or perhaps it is entirely reasonable, considering how much New Bay would like to take him down- but ultimately, he has good ideas about security measures. And if you¡¯re going to be using HQ to spy on extradimensional wizards, we want to be protected against the reverse.¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± I said. ¡°Just to be clear, I don¡¯t know how to make¡­ any sort of permanent magical things.¡±


    ¡°We weren¡¯t going to rely on you for that anyway. Actually, we¡¯re already warded against whatever superpowers we¡¯re aware of, so we¡¯re really just tweaking what we already have. We¡¯ll just need you to test with regards to Scrying type things in particular.¡±


    Midnight tilted his head. ¡°So the Power Brigade already has that stuff?¡±


    ¡°Sure, but just in our HQ, and not in any of dozens of secret bases that Doctor Doomsday has. So while we might match his quality for a single structure, he likely has to use fewer resources to achieve the same effect. Or when he¡¯s had a successful string of crimes, more resources for greater effects.¡±


    ¡°So once you make something good enough,¡± I began, ¡°People won¡¯t be able to Scry us, right? Not that I¡¯ve noticed anything like that.¡± Hmm, that was actually odd. Wasn¡¯t there some shadowy cabal from my world that would probably hear about my extradimensional travels and would be motivated to keep tabs on me? And I¡¯d only just gotten Nondetection.


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    ¡°Depends on how good they are,¡± Calculator shrugged.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a problem?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s the perpetual problem of security. Ultimately, we have to settle for good enough. It¡¯s a constant arms race between offensive and defensive security. That¡¯s computers, locks, fortifications¡­¡± Calculator shrugged. ¡°Could some determined supers blow through the wall of HQ? Sure. If they don¡¯t mind never leaving. And a casual attack wouldn¡¯t do it. So it¡¯s good enough. And since you¡¯ve gotten past Doctor Doomsday¡¯s basic level scrying anchors, if you can¡¯t get past our new security it will be declared sufficient.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°It is possible to have perfect network security, though,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Is it?¡± Calculator raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Oh yes, many of these problems have been solved on Celmoth,¡± he said. ¡°Of course, you can never ignore the dangers of social engineering, but nobody¡¯s going to help Bunvorixians get through our planetary security so it¡¯s only minor dangers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the reason we reacted so strongly when you walk in with Nondetection,¡± Calculator pointed out. ¡°A compromised agent, either mind controlled or an imposter, are both extreme risks. So are people being bribed, but that¡¯s one of the many reasons we have good pay and benefits. And robust friends and family rescue plans.¡± Calculator looked at me. ¡°This hasn¡¯t been an issue with you so far, but I just want to remind you that if someone threatens your friends and tells you not to contact anyone¡­ you should definitely get those people involved because they¡¯re afraid of them.¡±


    ¡°I am aware,¡± I said. ¡°Though last time I got in trouble with Doctor Doomsday and he kidnapped Ceira and we spent months in another dimension.¡±


    ¡°And we sent members to support you and everyone made it back alright. Now, I¡¯m not going to say we can guarantee success¡­ but I can say it will always be better than the alternative of giving in to the demands of supervillains.¡± He paused. ¡°And if negotiations are possible, we¡¯re the best qualified to handle it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve negotiated things before,¡± I said.


    ¡°And you were successful because of your ability to magically learn new languages and your aggressively uncomfortable honesty and your concerning adaptability.¡±


    ¡°It also helped that it was mostly communications issues,¡± I said. ¡°Like with Rositsa.¡±


    ¡°Very few people would see a blood portal and go ¡®ah, that¡¯s probably fine.¡¯¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Zorphax was the one who called me.¡±


    ¡°And there are very few people who do as well as him in Extra,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Regardless, we¡¯re glad to have you working for us, and we appreciate you not assuming you can get through everything on your own. Calling upon us is the correct option¡­ even if I might wish you gravitated towards trouble less.¡±


    ¡°I probably wouldn¡¯t be here if that wasn¡¯t the case.¡± Where would I be? With Master Uvithar, having not gone through the portal? Or would my life have been entirely different? Eh, didn¡¯t matter. I was here now, and I liked it. Even if there were a lot of looming threats to deal with.


    ¡°When we¡¯re ready for testing,¡± Calculator returned to a previous topic, ¡°We¡¯ll have you Scry from somewhere outside the building. And then we¡¯ll see if there¡¯s a difference from the inside.¡±


    ¡°The Scrying focus might matter,¡± I pointed out. ¡°There¡¯s a big difference between regular mirrors and¡­ that thing Vilhemiina made.¡±


    ¡°True,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I think it will be best to use a standard mirror in both cases.¡±


    ¡°So we should probably wait to Scry stuff in the other world until that¡¯s ready.¡±


    ¡°Right. Though it is somewhat concerning that one of the nations is using Doctor Doomsday¡¯s newer anchors, it¡¯s also not¡­ surprising? We would appreciate information about that country, however.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Right. Probably should have brought a history book.¡± That was something to ask Sir Kalman for, since while I knew some things- and the book wouldn¡¯t be fully accurate- it was better to have one than not.


    -----


    Not everything I did was directly related to super activities. Except for the fact that all of my friends had powers, but that was just coincidence. Even so, supernatural stuff kept coming up, though that was probably more the fault of New Bay.


    Even just a day at the park hanging out with Ceira had something crop up.


    ¡°You don¡¯t look like you¡¯re enjoying Cel and Bun running around,¡± I said. I didn¡¯t know what her face was supposed to be saying, but it wasn¡¯t that.


    ¡°I am!¡± Ceira protested. ¡°I mean, I should be. But I can¡¯t help but worrying about things.¡± Ah yes. Worry. I did that, sometimes. But sometimes I just thought about threats without it really being worry. ¡°Like, you¡¯re protecting yourself against detection. And then you taught me Nondetection, and I couldn¡¯t help but think about you using it on Midnight.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± I said. ¡°Go on.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ Doc- that guy knows about Bun and Cel. I¡¯ve been casting it on them but it takes my whole mana pool for the three of us and I feel like I can¡¯t afford to do anything else with magic. And¡­ I like magic.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I frowned. ¡°And there are three of you.¡±


    ¡°Well, yes. That makes it take three times as much.¡±


    ¡°So Multicasting wouldn¡¯t help, because it¡¯s also triple price for four times as many targets,¡± I thought out loud. ¡°Which one is your animal companion?¡±


    ¡°My what? Isn¡¯t that a ranger thing?¡±


    ¡°Is it?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. I mean, it is. But it¡¯s mostly a druid thing.¡± I pulled out my phone, holding something up. ¡°See, look.¡±


    ¡°No but¡­¡± Ceira also opened up a website. ¡°This is the only place it comes up.¡±


    I crossed my arms. ¡°I see. You have been led astray by changing editions.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Ceira asked. ¡°You¡¯re not the druid.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but I know a couple things about them. Also, one of those two,¡± I gestured to the running animals. Currently, Cel was chasing Bun around. ¡°Is infused with mana. So they¡¯re at least on the way to being your companion.¡±


    ¡°Wait, so¡­ it¡¯s like a familiar right?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no. They¡¯re not going to be smarter.¡± I looked at Midnight. ¡°Though Midnight is a weird exception, having already been intelligent, so he didn¡¯t really pick that up. Anyway, you should pick one of them. It will save you mana.¡±


    ¡°But I can¡¯t pick a favorite!¡± Ceira said. ¡°They¡¯re both the best!¡±


    ¡°Well, you probably already have,¡± I said. ¡°With what I¡¯m feeling. We should inspect them so at least you know.¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­ fine. Cel, Bun, come here!¡± The two animals twisted mid-chase and charged over towards us. Midnight swapped to my far shoulder as Bun slid to a halt just after ramming into Ceira¡¯s knees on the bench. Cel hopped up onto her lap. ¡°So which of them is it?¡±


    I looked at them closely. From here, the mana infusion was easier to feel. I looked at Midnight. He looked back at me. ¡°As an expert on bonds, would you say you share my opinion?¡±


    Midnight looked at Cel, and then Bun, and then back to Ceira. ¡°I think so.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just say it then. Tell me if you were thinking something else.¡±


    ¡°... Actually-¡± Ceira began.


    ¡°It¡¯s both of them,¡± I said. Midnight nodded.


    ¡°... What?¡± she asked.


    I shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me. You¡¯re the druid.¡±

 Chapter 224

    Just because Midnight and I could tell that Ceira had a proper bond with both Cel and Bun didn¡¯t mean we knew what it meant. So I attempted to answer questions as they came in.


    ¡°Does this mean it¡¯s less effective for each of them?¡±


    ¡°That might be,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Can I share spells with both of them?¡±


    ¡°I suppose you have to try that.¡±


    ¡°Will this inevitably make them weaker than they should be, leading to some sort of horrible disaster?¡±


    I blinked. ¡°How? They¡¯re literally a cat and dog. I¡¯m certain they won¡¯t be any more vulnerable than you expected them to be five seconds ago.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Ceira said, relaxing slightly. ¡°So what should I do?¡±


    ¡°The same things you¡¯re already doing, I guess,¡± I shrugged.


    Midnight nodded. ¡°Make sure you test casting spells on them.¡±


    Ceira nodded. ¡°I suppose I should do that now. So I just use Nondetection while thinking of both of them?¡±


    ¡°And yourself,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Because you could just cast it on them.¡±


    Ceira closed her eyes, concentrating for a few moments. I could feel the mana flow around her, while at the same time covering her companions. Though it was difficult to detect that particular spell after it completed, I presumed it had worked just fine.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure this information would be very valuable to some people. But I have no idea who they would be,¡± I admitted. ¡°Did that feel more taxing than normal?¡± It was technically possible she¡¯d simply learned Multicasting there. I didn¡¯t think I felt that much mana, but I could have been mistaken.


    ¡°No, it was just¡­ normal.¡± She looked around. ¡°Hmm. Is it okay for druids to get tired of being outside?¡±


    ¡°As a complete novice on druids, I can tell you clearly that I don¡¯t see why not,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But hey, I¡¯m a mage and I get tired of reading books.¡± I still did it, obviously. They were very useful. But without getting experience for the task, I found it much less valuable. Normal mages could just sit in a library all day and grow stronger, but that didn¡¯t work for me.


    ¡°Great,¡± Ceira said, standing up. ¡°Come on you two, we¡¯re heading home.¡± The striped cat stopped chasing the golden retriever around and the two of them scurried over, running circles around Ceira. ¡°Have you seen my new apartment?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Nope¡­ just the old one. And only uh¡­ in a video.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ well, I should show it to you. Just in case you need to know where it is. I¡¯m really hoping to avoid any super related shenanigans but¡­¡± she looked down at her companions. ¡°I have the feeling I can¡¯t return to a normal life. Not that I really want to, but I¡¯d prefer to avoid the dangerous stuff as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°Clearly you don¡¯t have Aspect of the Barbarian.¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Can people from Earth even have aspects?¡±


    ¡°Huh. You know, I don¡¯t know. I only know a few people with this sort of power from Earth, so it¡¯s not a large enough sample to expect any Aspects. It¡¯s not like everyone has one.¡±


    I recalled Calculator talking about a potential portal power training program. Maybe I should express interest in that. I could at least guide people through early growth in whatever classes they had, and a general explanation of how things would work. Except it was a question of whether they had the whole package or not. Only passing through portals seemed to give points, while mere exposure from this side gave the ability to grow through training after ¡®picking¡¯ a class.


    Unsurprisingly, Ceira¡¯s apartment was not far from the park. Otherwise it was unlikely she would take her companions for a walk there, considering she didn¡¯t have a car as far as I was aware. Even if she wanted to pay for a taxi or whatever, they weren¡¯t likely to allow pets.


    When Ceira opened the door to her apartment, I had comments about the inside immediately. ¡°When you said you were tired of the outside¡­ I didn¡¯t think that we would be going into the outside, inside.¡±


    Which was to say, her apartment was full of plants. They were in pots, dangling off of every surface. Hanging from hooks on the ceiling. On the windowsill. Dangling through an open window. And the most prominent of all, a whole tree smack dab in the middle of the living room.


    ¡°Well, all of these guys were rescued from my old apartment so¡­ I figured I owed it to them to keep them alive. And they kinda just kept growing.¡±


    ¡°Why do you have a whole tree?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°That¡¯s not even an indoor plant.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah. That uh¡­ that was a sprout. From your staff. I planted like a half dozen and this was the only one that survived. And since we got back and I moved in here it¡¯s been¡­ growing rapidly. I uh¡­ I don¡¯t know if I can fit it out of the building now.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°You still need a job, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, look I thought about the Power Brigade but they don¡¯t really need gardeners or vets or whatever. And I¡¯m not really interested in combat roles.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t mind working with heroes, right?¡±


    ¡°Why would I?¡±


    Midnight had an answer for that. ¡°Because some heroes kinda suck.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ yeah,¡± Ceira shrugged. ¡°But that¡¯s because they¡¯re people, and some people suck.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Right, well, I know a lady who would be interested in this tree. Oh, and I suppose you wouldn¡¯t be working directly with heroes if it works out. Instead it would be¡­ working with a mad scientist who works with heroes.¡±


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°That sounds worse but you say it like it¡¯s better.¡±


    ¡°Vilhelmiina is great,¡± I said. ¡°And the heroes let Darkstargirl take the limelight for years.¡±


    ¡°Everyone makes mistakes,¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°They¡¯d better hope it was a mistake,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± I shrugged. ¡°You really need to get this tree out of your apartment. Or it¡¯s going to start growing through the floorboards and you¡¯ll lose your deposit.¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure that ship¡¯s long sailed,¡± she said, looking at her two companions dashing around the apartment and sometimes on the walls.


    ¡°You can probably fix any wooden components¡­ You might see if Khithae or someone with repair abilities can come over and help. You know, whenever you move out. Assuming you can¡¯t learn that stuff yourself.¡± I hesitated to say it but¡­ ¡°I also know Clean. So I can help with stains, at least.¡±


    ¡°For the moment, I¡¯m just keeping my landlord out. But I really should do something about this tree. You think anyone would notice if I just planted it in the park? They put in new trees all the time.¡±


    ¡°Can you carry it there?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, no. I was thinking with Warp Wood I could bend the branches to get it out the door, though, and we could kind of drag it along¡­?¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t think it should be in a park. My staff is genuine fake Yggdrasil, after all.¡±


    ¡°I- you said that before and it still doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±


    ¡°Tech supers do weird stuff, and Yggdrasil might not ever have existed in this world. But it¡¯s probably as close as it can get.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­ I¡¯ll think about that option, I guess.¡± She looked around the apartment. ¡°I think today¡¯s the day I need to water most of these guys. So uh, it won¡¯t be that exciting. I¡¯ll see you later, I guess?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± I said. ¡°Any time. Well, I mean, when we¡¯re not on shift. But other than that, I¡¯m glad to hang out.¡±


    ¡°Me too,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Even if those two are a bit too eager to play.¡±


    -----


    Calculator apparently had something that required my attention, as I learned when I came in to work the next day. So we met up when he was available- which took a bit, as he was always darting between things. The Power Brigade could probably use another person or two that fulfilled similar roles, so he wouldn¡¯t have to be involved in so many things. He was probably constantly thinking about a dozen things. Then again, mundane managers survived and some of them were apparently effective. And he wasn¡¯t really the only one involved. Just the most important one.


    ¡°Good, both of you are here,¡± he said. Without waiting for a response, he went directly into his explanation. ¡°There are quite a few people in New Bay employed in the avenue of reviewing security footage about incidents involving criminal supers. This information is shared easily among certain organizations for the sake of tracking and cataloging threats. The Brigade had numerous individuals flagged, and one just popped back on the radar that is of particular interest to you.¡± He flipped around the tablet that was constantly with him and began a video. ¡°Recognize anyone?¡±


    A dark room, through which a fellow in a green mask was stalking. If I hadn¡¯t been expecting to see someone there, I might not have picked him out- and even with the high angle it was difficult. That was why the security guard didn¡¯t notice him in time. The figure grabbed him from behind, his hands doing something to the security guard¡¯s throat. Perhaps he had a knife? A pool of blood began to form under the fallen figure.


    The villain passed closer to the camera, revealing a bald head with a green sheen to it. And then the clip ended, freezing on the last frame that had been considered relevant. Presumably.


    ¡°A bald guy¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°With a green mask¡­ Wasn¡¯t he in a movie?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Calculator frowned. ¡°You watch movies?¡±


    ¡°No. They do get advertised to me on search engines, though.¡± I frowned. ¡°Do you think it was because I¡¯m green skinned?¡±


    ¡°... It shouldn¡¯t be. Mostly because we put anti-tracking tech on all of our members'' profiles.¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s not actually like that movie anyway.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t recognize anything?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I looked at the image. Then at Midnight. ¡°Do we know this guy?¡±


    ¡°I feel like it¡¯s familiar,¡± Midnight said.


    Let¡¯s see. Mask. Claws? Bald head. Veiny lightning scars. ¡°Oh! Do you think this guy is a relative of Handface? Except with claws.¡± I could vaguely see the shape of a few ¡®fingers¡¯ pointing out past his mask. ¡°Also he¡¯s green.¡±


    Calculator just waited for a few moments, taking a deep breath before responding. ¡°Pattern recognition indicates the same exact pattern of electricity scars as Deimos.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ a twin brother?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You- he wasn¡¯t born with scars, you know?¡± Calculator finally sounded annoyed. ¡°You gave those to him.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right! But I¡¯m pretty sure he didn¡¯t have green skin.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. Something has changed. Along with those claws you noticed, we picked out scales, seemingly all over his body except where the scars are.¡±


    ¡°Scales. Claws.¡± I pondered. ¡°Last I saw him, he tumbled through a portal that green dragons had come out from. Green dragons live in swampy areas. And also in those areas, there are sometimes lizardfolk. Did he¡­ did he become a lizardfolk somehow?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Or,¡± Midnight said. ¡°He got dragon related abilities.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, that would make a lot of sense,¡± I agreed. ¡°Everyone¡¯s always getting tainted with draconic crap.¡±


    ¡°... How easy is it?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°Well, for a powerless guy like him, he¡¯d just have to not get eaten by a dragon and perhaps gain their favor.¡±


    ¡°Do you think this could be related to your world¡¯s class abilities?¡±


    I frowned, thinking.


    It seemed I was taking too long. ¡°It¡¯s fine if it doesn¡¯t fit. If you have to search hard for a way it makes sense, we can consider other avenues.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no. I was just counting how many classes I¡¯ve heard about having their origins in draconic magic. It¡¯s probably like a third of all of them. Or at least a good portion of the magicy, combat related classes. There aren¡¯t like a ton of blacksmiths with draconic origins. At most like two or three I can think of.¡±


    ¡°That sound like a lot,¡± Calculator said.


    ¡°Eh, like half of mages claim to have their powers boosted by a draconic connection. It¡¯s probably no more than one in ten but still. People say it. A few blacksmiths throughout history is honestly barely worthy of a footnote.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t they be good blacksmiths?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°With fire powers and stuff?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only like, a third of dragons. Some would be actively weak against fire, and the others would be basically neutral. I guess they might get tough skin, though,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°I would think you would be more concerned about an individual who wants to kill you, and who had previously almost succeeded, coming back with powers.¡±


    I pondered for a few moments. ¡°I don¡¯t think dragon powers make sniper rifles better. So, I¡¯d say he¡¯s at a similar risk level.¡±


    ¡°Except he¡¯s more stealthy now,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Yeah, maybe that.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t ignoring the threat, of course. I just had to make sure I kept up with my bulk orders of industrial diamond dust and granite. I was already a lot stronger than last time we¡¯d encountered each other, and as long as his new powers didn¡¯t augment the specific dangers I¡¯d dealt with before, it probably wouldn¡¯t be that bad.


    I did kind of wish Handface had gotten torn apart by dragons, though. He was kind of annoying.

 Chapter 225

    Due to various reasons, I¡¯d never been assigned to a permanent squad. Now I had various duties that could call me away on short notice, like having to deal with things in my previous world, so it seemed like that situation wasn¡¯t going to change.


    I didn¡¯t mind it too much, though. Training with whoever was available and going out on patrol with Great Girl¡¯s squad or Captain Senan¡¯s new group were both good. Plus, I was available to be called to active combat situations.


    Senan- Ice Guy at work- now had a squad with himself, Jim, Mace, and Rocker. Shockfire and Acid Man were doing well in their new squads, from what I heard from them, but I hadn¡¯t been assigned to work with either group just yet.


    Usually, Midnight and I went together but sometimes we were called to separate situations. Our spell options had a lot of utility, so unfortunately we didn¡¯t always go to active combat situations.


    I already felt like I had enough on my plate, but things about Portal Powers kept coming up and helping more supers reach a functional level of effectiveness in the Power Brigade might be good. Though I could only half train people if I wasn¡¯t allowed to shove them through a portal, so there was some ongoing discussion with Extra about that.


    The knowledge that Handface had returned led me to focus my training on bolstering Stoneskin, which was my best defense if he continued his previous attempts to snipe me for no reason. If he came after me with claws I wasn¡¯t really concerned, but for the sake of that I made certain my training with Shocking Grasp was solid. Though he would likely have stuff to try to resist that, I could just throw a Sonic Lance at him if it came down to it.


    -----


    During the middle of the day, I was called in to help deal with a conflict. Specifically, a supervillain conflict. It wasn¡¯t that a supervillain had shown up and needed to be dealt with, but rather two groups that were clashing.


    In this case, it was the Mod Squad and Rodentia, though the Mod Squad might have been absorbed into Doomsday¡¯s whole thing. Either way, it didn¡¯t show other signs of Doctor Doomsday.


    If it weren¡¯t in the middle of the city, just letting supervillains duke it out would be the normal policy. If they chose a nice park or abandoned lot, or were in the warehouse district, then letting things settle down would be best. But they were in the middle of the city.


    ¡°Several heroes are already on scene, but they requested further backup,¡± came the information from the dispatcher. Of the available personnel, you are judged to be the most familiar with those involved, along with the others you will meet up with in the garage.¡±


    I¡¯d only dealt with the Mod Squad a couple times, but Rodentia had been a pretty frequent appearance for a while. ¡°Come on Midnight,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ve got some robots to bust.¡±


    ¡°The rats?¡± Midnight asked, hopping onto my hand and then up to my shoulder.


    ¡°And the people.¡±


    ¡°People with robot parts are called cyborgs.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ they¡¯ve got robot parts.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re still people though.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see what that has to do with anything,¡± I frowned. ¡°I guess cyborg is shorter than calling them half-robots. Or unknown-proportion-robots.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Midnight pondered. ¡°How to explain this¡­ does your world have golems?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, though I haven¡¯t seen that many.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s like putting golem parts on people. If you did that, would you call them a golem?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°I would. Or a half-golem. But also there¡¯s some part where you¡¯ve replaced enough that they¡¯re just a golem, since some golem parts are just¡­ other people.¡±


    ¡°I regret bringing this up,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°It¡¯s super forbidden, obviously,¡± I shrugged. ¡°And I don¡¯t know why you would bother with it anyway.¡±


    There was a transport waiting for us, obviously. And once I opened the back, I saw Shockfire and¡­ some other guy from his squad who had a name.


    ¡°Hey you two,¡± I said. ¡°Looks like we¡¯re fighting cyborgs and robots.¡±


    ¡°Mage,¡± Shockfire nodded.


    The other man waved.


    ¡°I think it was Kicks?¡± Midnight whispered in my ear. ¡°Look at his legs. Subtly.¡±


    Ah. So he was a cyborg too. Was this¡­ profiling?


    I was never good at subtle, so he obviously noticed. ¡°I was actually part of the Mod Squad a couple years back,¡± he commented. ¡°Now I go by Kick.¡± Midnight had been so close. Frankly, Kicks fit better because both legs were cyborg replacements, but I wasn¡¯t in charge of naming things. Not that the conventions would necessarily improve under my leadership. But maybe someday the Power Brigade would have someone actually good at that task.


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    ¡°Rest of your squad isn¡¯t coming?¡± I asked as the door shut, and we drove off.


    Shockfire shook his head. ¡°We were in for training today, the others are on a short vacation.¡±


    I¡¯d heard that word before, but I still didn¡¯t understand it. Days off I got, because people needed to rest, but a bunch of them in a row? I¡¯d get so bored. Especially if a day or two was spent on planes going somewhere. Ugh. My one flight was already too much.


    ¡°So they said there were heroes already on the scene,¡± I commented. ¡°Do we know who?¡±


    Our dispatch operative answered that one. ¡°There are only two¡­ Chuck and Sprint.¡± Neither of those names were familiar to me. Then again, I really only knew the big name heroes. If they were on the scene, we probably wouldn¡¯t be needed. ¡°Chuck has super strength and telekinesis.¡± That didn¡¯t sound too bad. ¡°Sprint has super speed.¡± Oh, like Shockwave. Nice! ¡°Unfortunately, it seems that Sprint is incapacitated.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Kick asked.


    There was a pause. ¡°Without trying to advertise weaknesses, he used up his available energy.¡±


    ¡°How unfortunate.¡± I said, ¡°He must have been working hard.¡± The situation would obviously be too much for even a guy with super strength to handle, and there was a good amount of variety there to begin with.


    We got as close to the scene as we could, emergency sirens clearing the road, but as expected there was a crowd of people and cars not far from the battle site. We got out of the transport and began to push our way through the people.


    The first thing I noticed was a blasted storefront, glass shattered everywhere and even the doors twisted off their hinges. I could see a handful of guys outside, blasting beams of energy through the shattered windows. Part of the Mod Squad, then. I did see a few robo-rats gnawing at their legs, so presumably Rodentia was inside and not some overzealous workers trying to endure a siege.


    One of the cyborgs was suddenly lifted up and tossed towards¡­ well, between the others. I followed the flow of energy to a large man in red waving his arms around. No¡­ grabbing at the air? And then another cyborg got tossed, this time towards the building and inside the window. Well, that was probably a worse spot for them. Maybe.


    Next to the guy who was presumably Chuck, I saw a thinner man all dressed in green- with pools of sweat that were extremely obvious in his outfit. He was leaning against the base of a stoplight, breathing heavily.


    ¡°Power Brigade, here to provide assistance!¡± Shockfire announced our presence, and the two turned to look.


    ¡°Good!¡± Chuck declared loudly. ¡°We aren¡¯t enough to hold them off, and that building¡­ I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to stand up to too much more damage.¡± Even as he said that, there was an explosion and the ground trembled.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Kick asked the other who could only be Sprint.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± the man breathed heavily. ¡°I¡¯m just¡­ out of juice.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, rest up. We¡¯ll take over from here.¡±


    ¡°I mean it¡­ more literally,¡± the man said. ¡°Juice¡­ a sports drink¡­ even soda¡­¡± he shrugged. ¡°It¡¯d get me back in the race. But I can¡¯t even¡­ stagger over to a corner store¡­¡±


    Too bad I didn¡¯t carry any of that in Storage.


    Midnight, rather than lamenting that, hopped down from my shoulder. ¡°I can go get some. It¡¯s always valuable to have a speedster.¡± With that, Midnight began to scurry off, running through the crowd towards a corner store we¡¯d passed a couple blocks back.


    ¡°Thanks buddy!¡± Sprint called. Then he looked to me. ¡°Wait, can he even carry anything?¡±


    ¡°As long as he reserved some space. Or leaves behind some tuna,¡± I shrugged. Hopefully the message about ten or twenty pounds of tuna being a sufficient backlog was enough. Given the situation I¡¯d first found him in I wasn¡¯t going to begrudge him carrying food, of course. There were just reasonable limits to such things. Especially when we were never far from a corner store.


    ¡°I can¡¯t really get in there to make use of my super strength,¡± Chuck mentioned. ¡°Their laser beams will tear me up,¡± he gestured to a burn on his arm.


    Ah. So super strength, but not so much durability- at least against energy attacks. Not a proper heavy, then. ¡°I¡¯ve noticed your telekinesis has enough range,¡± I said. ¡°Is that not enough?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m just¡­ not that accurate,¡± he admitted. ¡°Look,¡± he reached out to the air, grabbing. I felt the link of power and observed nearly invisible hands grab one of the remaining outdoors cyborgs, who was then tossed over the head of someone. ¡°He was¡­ supposed to hit that guy next to him.¡± Chuck squinted. ¡°That is another Mod Squad guy there, right?¡±


    ¡°... Do you need glasses?¡±


    ¡°Whaaat? No, of course not. I¡¯m totally good, man. I¡¯m just better up close.¡±


    He needed glasses. ¡°Well, good news for you, I can protect against their beam weapons.¡± If I recalled correctly, it felt like fire and light. ¡°Shockfire, I presume you don¡¯t need protection?¡±


    He shook his head. He could at least partially absorb it, given its firelike properties.


    ¡°What about you, Kick?¡± I asked. He was one of them, but that didn¡¯t make him immune to the beams necessarily. Just like having a gun didn¡¯t make you bulletproof.


    ¡°It would be appreciated,¡± he said.


    Alright. That was myself and Midnight, Kick, Chuck, and Sprint. One Multicasting of Resist Energy. I realized halfway through that Midnight might have been too far, but apparently Familiar Bond was ranked up enough to still affect him a block away. It wasn¡¯t that surprising since it had the most improvements of anything I¡¯d learned. We should probably test the limits again, just for ease of use.


    ¡°So what¡¯s the plan then?¡± Chuck said. ¡°Go in, take out the Mod Squad from behind, then squash Rodentia?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not,¡± I said. ¡°Our job here is to prevent civilian casualties.¡± I looked back at the crowd, and at least most of them were smart enough to stay across the street while filming the situation on their phones. ¡°We just need to take out one side of the conflict, and the Mod Squad will most likely be the weak link.¡±


    ¡°But Rodentia is just one woman,¡± Chuck said, then coughed. ¡°One person.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why she¡¯s a threat. She¡¯s mostly an independent villain, so the fact that she survives without any permanent minions or allies should tell you something,¡± I said. ¡°Also, I can only do so much against a cheese ray. But cyborgs we know how to handle.¡±


    ¡°So we just go in there, take out the cyborgs and¡­ let Rodentia go?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Shockfire confirmed, solidifying my position. ¡°If it seems like it will turn into a brawl in there, it would be dangerous for us and the stability of the building. But if she¡¯s sufficiently weakened, we can try to capture her.¡±


    Around that time, I heard a vaguely familiar cackle from inside. ¡°Yess! Bring me more parts! But don¡¯t think you¡¯ll walk away!¡± Rodentia¡¯s voice was amplified by some artificial means. ¡°Unless you remembered to bring your natural legs!¡±


    ¡°... I think that¡¯s our cue to get a move on,¡± I said.

 Chapter 226

    About the time I was going to push into the front of the building with the two others from the brigade and the hero Chuck, Midnight was rushing into a local corner store. Except it wasn¡¯t on the corner, so it was just¡­ a store?


    ¡°Hi I need all of your sports drinks put them on the tab of the hero association okay? Thanks!¡±


    Midnight opened a fridge with Mage¡¯s Reach  while the clerk stared on in confusion. Then Even more confusion as a small tower of tuna cans appeared out of nowhere, while suddenly primary colored sports drinks began to disappear from the fridge as the floating, semi-translucent hand touched them.


    ¡°Okay thanks bye!¡± Midnight said, running out the door before they could even think to block it.


    -----


    Having heard Rodentia threatening to literally tear apart the members of the Mod Squad, we figured it was time to run in and either deescalate the situation or at least make sure one side won smoothly. And while it sounded like my preferred side was already winning, there was no guarantee that such would remain the case.


    Shockfire took point as we charged the building, a few cyborg lasers targeting him from inside as we approached. Chuck had finished taking care of the ones outside, throwing them with his telekinetic powers. He couldn¡¯t accurately crash them into each other, but smacking them into the ground was a shot even he couldn¡¯t miss. They¡¯d probably survive, concussed.


    We had our own cyborg with lasers beams as well, and Kick went legs first through what used to be a window- destroyed before we showed up- blasting down a few targets. It wasn¡¯t weird that as a former member of the Mod Squad he could easily defeat their members. He knew their weaknesses, and more importantly the Power Brigade didn¡¯t hire people who weren¡¯t worthwhile- or who couldn¡¯t become worthwhile.


    Our main goal being to gain a proper understanding of what was happening, we forced our way into the building, taking out the Mod Squad members on one side. The ground floor of what had once been an electronics store of some sort might have had poor lines of sight once, but now there were so many fallen shelves- half of which had been turned into cheese- we could see basically everything going on, especially around Rodentia.


    The woman was cackling, though I couldn¡¯t quite see her through the uh¡­ Adaptive RAT Shielding she was covered with. Wait, was I conflating two things? She was definitely covered by swarms of robot rats, which was the first one I remembered. Then there was the other thing.


    A dozen or so beams of cyborg heat-ray-laser-things struck her at once, revealing the clear shape of a super tech barrier. Which was supposed to be a bunch of hexagons, but I realized that particular piece of technology had been reclaimed during a previous mission. So instead¡­ robot rats appeared to teleport into the paths of the attack. I was pretty sure she was going to get her mad scientist shield license revoked unless she turned those rats into hexagons.


    Of course, Rodentia wasn¡¯t the only one covered in robotic rats. A few members of the mod squad were as well, screaming in terror until the swarm left them alone- minus their fancy robot eyes, arms, and legs. At least she left them their hookups so they could replace things without too much fuss. Or maybe she didn¡¯t want to clean off the blood.


    ¡°Unfortunately for you, the latest shipment of cpus shipped to this store has been claimed by myself. So you can all run back to your iron mom and complain about not getting upgrades today. Shoo!¡±


    The back of the building trembled. ¡°Is that so?¡± came a booming voice. Then a ten foot wide section was blasted apart. The dust settled to reveal a large truck, and a full robot standing there. ¡°Actually, we¡¯re the ones who are going to be leaving with everything.¡±


    ¡°Iron Shell!¡± Kick hissed. ¡°Dammit, I didn¡¯t think she¡¯d be here.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± I nodded. ¡°She¡¯s the boss lady, right?¡± So not a robot then. Just¡­ enough cyborg replacement parts that I couldn¡¯t see anything else. Well, some of that might have been armor covering up some vulnerable human flesh. I ducked down. ¡°So what are the risk factors?¡±


    ¡°Well, aside from the lasers-¡± Kick began to explain. And then he disappeared for a moment as light brighter than the sun filled my vision. A moment later, I could see a clear hole bored in the rubble he¡¯d been sheltering behind, and I could feel his Energy Ward was nearly depleted almost instantly. ¡°... X-ray vision.¡±


    ¡°What a fortunate day,¡± Iron Shell said. ¡°I can take out an unfortunate rival¡­ and a traitor.¡±


    A Sonic Lance from my hand struck her directly in the chest, and she took half a step back to keep her balance. That¡­ was the only apparent effect of my spell. ¡°Oh,¡± I said. ¡°So she¡¯s one of those modest size heavies.¡± I had some goggles for this sort of thing, and with the numbers calculated¡­ ¡°I¡¯m seriously betting none of that stuff is made of iron. Or at least, not mainly. She¡¯s actually heavy. Hey, Chuck, how much can you lift?¡±


    Obviously we weren¡¯t just free to talk- but Rodentia didn¡¯t simply stand around when an enemy boss entered the building. She¡¯d already turned the getaway truck into cheese with her cheese ray, and Shockfire was blasting beams back at the Mod Squad members trying to make their way towards us.


    ¡°Eh, around a ton?¡± he said. ¡°Two tons on a good day.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope this is a good day, then,¡± I said. ¡°Grab that robot-lady!¡±


    ¡°You got it!¡± he said. Then he reached out in front of him like he was giving a bear hug to a ghost. Telekinetic arms closed around Iron Shell¡¯s torso, and immediately tossed himself backwards. I could see he was leaning far beyond where gravity should support him¡­ and he wasn¡¯t making any progress. ¡°Ugh, it¡¯s not enough!¡± Meanwhile, Iron Shell was moving around slightly slower, but still blasting swarms of rats with her lasers.


    Also Kick, occasionally. I threw a quick Shield on him, since at least there was a clear directional target to block.


    ¡°Shockfire, can you return those beams?¡±


    ¡°Maybe if I have nothing else to focus on!¡± he called.


    Hmm. I put a hand on Chuck¡¯s shoulder, casting Enhance Mind. ¡°I¡¯ve just enhanced your mind,¡± I told him. ¡°So you should be able to toss her now. If you can ever lift two tons.¡±


    Chuck¡¯s face was strained. ¡°It¡¯s no good! My main power is super strength. I use that to throw people!¡±


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Ugh. I didn¡¯t want to waste more mana. ¡°I meant I enhanced your body,¡± I said. ¡°I have done it with Great Girl before and she went and wrestled dragons.¡±


    Chuck got a determined look on his face. ¡°I might not be as strong as Great Girl, able to toss cars as I please¡­ but I can at least throw a metal woman!¡± He roared, and his body finally moved backwards. Across the room, Iron Shell was picked up and flipped head first into the ground as he flipped back.


    So¡­ was it a mental power, or was that the placebo effect and he could always do that? Eh, didn¡¯t really matter.


    Even though she left a massive crack in the floor with her head, Iron Shell didn¡¯t stop for long. In fact, her body flexed unnaturally and she slipped out of Chuck¡¯s telekinetic grip. She crushed some of the dog-sized robot rats that were attacking her, jamming her hands inside of them and then¡­ pointing them at us.


    ¡°Watch out for rat lasers!¡± I yelled.


    And indeed, the rat lasers fired. Yet only for a brief instant, when there was an explosion. ¡°Nobody is allowed to abuse my rats like that! Feel the power of cheese fusion reactors!¡±


    It turned out, in fact, that Iron Shell did feel that power. Her arms were a mess of torn metal and exposed wires. For all of about three seconds, before the outer layers twisted and closed. Did she have technology control powers, or were her mods just that advanced? Hopefully, there was some sustained damage involved there.


    Iron Shell reached down for one of her fallen companions, tearing away even the bits and pieces Rodentia had left behind. Then she reached for a metal shelf, ripping it to pieces and shoving in into a vent that opened in her chest- along with all of the electronic components on that shelf.


    ¡°I feel like this might be something we want to stop,¡± I said. ¡°But unless she¡¯s oddly weak to lightning where her minions are resistant, I¡¯m pretty sure I don¡¯t have something for this situation.¡±


    Rodentia¡¯s cheese ray clearly wasn¡¯t affecting her either. As she was tearing things apart, a sustained beam only managed to turn one of her arms slightly yellow, instead of the shiny black chrome look it had.


    Iron Shell¡¯s right arm arm transformed into what was clearly a cannon- pointed at Rodentia fortunately- firing a spray of metal shards at her. Fortunately? Her RAT shielding blocked it. But Iron Shell¡¯s arm was already reaching for more- another member of the Mod Squad.


    Then that guy disappeared right before she could touch him. There was obviously more to it than that, but I¡¯d seen speedsters work before. Only the wide angle allowed me to spot Sprint dragging the guy away. That didn¡¯t stop Iron Shell from stomping forward to grab another¡­ and when Sprint rushed in, a cone of metal shrapnel covered the whole area.


    ¡°Oh crap!¡± I heard the yell from across the room, and then right beside my ear. ¡°Yeah, uh, she¡¯s got way too good of reflexes for me to continue that.¡±


    ¡°Sprint! You¡¯re back in business!¡± Chuck grinned.


    At this point, I could feel Midnight helping Shockfire to take out the regular members of the Mod Squad. There had been dozens at the beginning, but they were probably half that when we arrived, and now there were only a few still able to act.


    Sprint was chugging a blue drink. ¡°Yeah, Midnight got me a whole stash of juice! Too bad I¡¯m still not fast enough to deal with that robot.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re a speedster right,¡± I said. ¡°What do the words ¡®too fast¡¯ mean to you?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing!¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± I said. ¡°Time to be too fast,¡± I said, casting Haste on him. I waved my arm around so he could notice the change. I could feel him doing a few dozen laps around us, and then he was grabbing stuff away from Iron Shell again- and avoiding the shrapnel. ¡°Kick. Do you know about Iron Shell? Any weaknesses?¡±


    ¡°We just have to keep throwing things at her. We can wear our her parts if we keep it up.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Chuck said, tossing a metal shelf at her. ¡°I have made a mistake!¡± Chuck said.


    ¡°Yeah, I think you should probably be tossing her into sturdy non-metal things,¡± I said.


    ¡°Right.¡± He reached out¡­ grabbing at her shoulder and waist. And then he threw her into the central column of the building. Everything trembled.


    ¡°Hey Chuck?¡± I said. ¡°Please hold that pillar up.¡±


    ¡°... How much does it weigh?¡±


    ¡°Just over two tons. I believe in you,¡± I lied. Twice. I looked towards the exit, and we were all kind of halfway through the building, nowhere close to escaping. Time to find out if we could survive a building falling on us.


    Aaaand¡­ nothing happened. Chuck¡¯s face was very red, however, as he had his arms spread wide.


    ¡°Everybody evacuate!¡± I said. ¡°Chuck, you hold that up for just a few more moments. We¡¯ll have Sprint pull you out of here. Speaking of which, Sprint! Help drag everyone out of here!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my cue.¡± Rodentia said. ¡°Normally I would escape with explosive ordinance hiding my movements, but I don¡¯t want the building to collapse on me!¡±


    ¡°... Building?¡± Chuck asked. ¡°Wait, is this-?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a pillar that could have fallen on¡­ that guy,¡± I pointed to a random member of the Mod Squad. ¡°Remember, if you can, you have to save even the lives of villains! So we should get working on ourselves.¡±


    I rushed towards the front of the building with Kick. It was unfortunate that Iron Shell showed up so he didn¡¯t get to demonstrate his abilities more. Shockfire and Midnight were already across the street, next to a large pile of empty bottles. And a handful that still had colorful sports drinks in them.


    ¡°Building¡¯s clear,¡± Sprint said, in a way I could only understand because I¡¯d hung out around Shockwave enough to be used to sped up speech.


    A moment later, Chuck was standing in front of us. His face was red and he was breathing heavily.


    ¡°Sports drink?¡± Sprint offered, opening one up.


    ¡°Oh, thanks!¡± Chuck grabbed it. Then the building collapsed. He looked over at me.


    ¡°Hey, so I lied a little,¡± I shrugged. But one of the things I said was true now. I totally believed in this guy.


    ¡°... Weren¡¯t we supposed to prevent a building collapse?¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°It basically imploded and didn¡¯t fall on any civilians,¡± I said. ¡°So it all worked out.¡±


    The Power Brigade probably wasn¡¯t going to like this¡­ but the hero association was slightly more at fault than we were. Unless we counted me telling Chuck to throw Iron Shell at something solid.


    ¡°... You think she¡¯s dead?¡± Kick asked.


    I put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°I think you know the answer to that.¡±


    ¡°... I thought I got stronger, but it wasn¡¯t enough.¡±


    I shrugged. Maybe I could juice some tech super when they were working on his next upgrades. Or maybe not. But really, what he needed was to steal Iron Shell¡¯s legs. That was a project for another time, however.


    A gunshot rang out. I pat down my torso and head, but didn¡¯t feel anything. I¡¯d been keeping Stoneskin active, and it should have only taken some damage from the various things flying around in there. Then my vision suddenly changed, and I was down a side street before the second shot came. There in front of me on the ground was Shockfire, hand covered in blood, pressed just below his ribcage. His teeth were clenched tightly, but he still appeared to be conscious, at least.

 Chapter 227

    On the ground in front of me lay my friend, bleeding. As a mage, I had no access to healing in any form. Injuries were also something I couldn¡¯t hit with my staff, which left me stumped.


    Midnight¡¯s panic was much more visible than my own. He was running around in circles. ¡°He¡¯s bleeding! What do we do? Should we pick him up? Should I-¡±


    Fortunately, we were saved by our dispatch coordinator. ¡°Do you require an ambulance?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± being prompted with a practical response made me able to speak. ¡°Preferably also someone with¡­ coagulating powers. Serious bleeding.¡± A moment passed. ¡°And avoid the street of the incident. There¡¯s a sniper.¡±


    Normal, sane villains wouldn¡¯t shoot emergency services personnel. That was the way to get sent to the very top of the kill-on-sight list. But it wasn¡¯t that far below that to directly attempt to kill mercenaries. Heroes might have their image to be concerned about and a strict code about how they dealt with people. We just had to get villains off the streets in a reasonable manner. And when they were high threat, more things became reasonable.


    I knelt down next to Shockfire. ¡°Hey buddy. Stay conscious.¡±


    He grunted. ¡°Trying.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re bleeding a lot.¡± I looked at where his hand was, just now realizing he was already wrapped in gauze. Sprint had been busy. It made me feel slightly less stupid about not having pulled my first aid kit out of storage. Shockfire looked like he probably needed second and third aid, though.


    Kick looked down at Shockfire, grimacing. ¡°Should I try to¡­ cauterize it or something?¡±


    ¡°Bad idea. I¡¯d prob¡¯ly absorb it. Or¡­ you could overdo it.¡± Then his brow furrowed. Flames billowed around his hand. ¡°Raaagh!¡± he cried out in pain. ¡°Can do it to myself, I guess. Help¡­ flip me over¡­¡±


    I did so, carefully. The exit wound was¡­ much worse. I could tell that by the way the gauze had no traces of ever being white. ¡°I don¡¯t know if this will help. You¡¯ll still have internal bleeding.¡±


    ¡°At least now¡­ only one exit¡­¡± he grunted as he lay on his belly.


    Looking at the area, at least he didn¡¯t have any vital organs there. It was his belly, and the only thing that could be there was¡­ his liver, or kidneys maybe. Okay, actually both of those were kind of important.


    A screeching sound of someone sliding to a halt on the pavement made me swivel my head. There I saw Sprint, leaning against the wall, hacking and coughing. ¡°That sniper¡­ room full of freaking poison¡­¡± Then he fell to the ground.


    ¡°Uh¡­ this seems bad,¡± I said, looking over at Chuck. ¡°You work with him right?¡± In the half second I looked away, Sprint had gone from pale to a greenish blue hue on his skin.


    Chuck reached over towards the pile of sports drinks. One bottle exploded as he crushed it, but the rest were tossed vaguely towards us. I managed to catch a couple- Kick got several more. ¡°Get as much of that in him as you can! And some food!¡±


    ¡°Tuna coming right up!¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°... I thought you got rid of all your tuna to fit these drinks?¡± I said as I lifted Sprint into a sitting position, trying to pour the drink into his mouth. Oh good, he swallowed on his own. I didn¡¯t want to have to figure out a weird magic way to make that happen. The drink disappeared as fast as I could dump it in his mouth.


    ¡°I got rid of all my unnecessary tuna,¡± Midnight clarified. ¡°The last few cans, clearly, were necessary for emergencies.¡± He already had one out, had opened it with Mage¡¯s Reach, and was shoveling fingerfuls into Sprint¡¯s mouth. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t bite the fingers!¡±


    Sprint looked worse. And then¡­ he started looking better. He coughed up a bunch of blackish gunk. Way too much of it. Was this guy okay? No, obviously not. Was that blood? How much blood could someone lose? It might be more than Shockfire was losing.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t stop!¡± Chuck said, walking over with his arms full of retrieved sports drinks. ¡°He¡¯s probably processing all that poison he talked about right now, so he needs fluids. And calories.¡±


    Shoveling stuff into the man¡¯s mouth was much better than sitting around worrying about my buddy. At least I was only half thinking about that. And then¡­


    I felt someone appear. At least I was getting used to that particular power. It was still startling, but not frightening. ¡°Movebrain!¡± I said. ¡°Thank goodness you¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± the man said. ¡°I¡¯m snagging Shockfire.¡±


    And then, he was gone.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Chuck asked.


    ¡°One of the higher ups in the Brigade,¡± I explained. ¡°He teleports. Obviously.¡±


    ¡°I wish I could do that,¡± Chuck sighed.


    That was silly. Not that he wanted to, but because he already had a completely unrelated power. Teleportation and telekinesis were only related linguistically, and I wasn¡¯t even sure if they should be. Then I remembered Movebrain had both. Well, whatever.


    ¡°He¡¯s looking less green,¡± I commented about Sprint.


    Chuck frowned. ¡°Why didn¡¯t that guy take him too?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I admitted. ¡°I¡¯m sure there was a reason.¡± Could be limited in number of people he could teleport, or he was going somewhere secure or¡­ any number of things.


    Sprint groaned. Then he sat up. ¡°I¡¯m taking a vacation,¡± he announced.


    ¡°Come on man,¡± Chuck said. ¡°Sick days.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m using one then the other,¡± Sprint declared. ¡°I uh¡­ my body was not prepared for that fast. Shows I still have a lot to improve.¡± He made a face. ¡°Why does my mouth taste like fish?¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Uuugh, now I have to worry about mercury for a while,¡± he complained. He looked around. ¡°Where¡¯s your friend?¡±


    ¡°Hopefully being teleported towards an ambulance or other similar destination,¡± I said. ¡°Hey, you saw the sniper?¡±


    ¡°Saw is a loose word,¡± Sprint said. ¡°I picked out what building and room he was in from the second muzzle flash, and ran to that floor, but the whole thing was lousy with green gas. Which is like¡­ ten steps better than invisible poison because otherwise I would have killed myself. But it was still bad. Pretty sure he¡¯ll have skedaddled, though.¡±


    ¡°I hope so,¡± I said. ¡°Are you really alright now?¡±


    ¡°Nope, not at all. Hey Chuck?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Carry me to the nearest restroom.¡±


    ¡°On it, buddy.¡±


    -----


    With that, the situation was resolved. I would have said with only minor side effects, but there was a whole collapsing building. And much worse than that, Shockfire was hospitalized. Private medical wardized?


    He was in a bed with only half a liver, and unfortunately the half he was missing was the middle. He was hooked up to a bunch of tubes and junk putting things into his body and pulling other things out. That was all I could see from outside the room- nobody was allowed in while he was being worked on.


    ¡°Today sucked,¡± Kick said. ¡°I was all ready to walk all over the jerks I used to run with, then Iron Shell showed up. I have a long way to go.¡± He looked down at himself. ¡°Do I need to replace the rest of me?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t jump to that immediately,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Fleshly bodies are really good at a lot of things.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s your buddy Midnight?¡± Kick asked.


    ¡°Negotiating with a store owner for the release of his tuna. But he has to get someone to pay for the sports drinks first.¡±


    ¡°I assume that either comes out of the hero association¡¯s budget or Sprint¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Something like that,¡± I nodded.


    A throat cleared down the hall. ¡°Gentlemen.¡± We turned to see Calculator. ¡°Since you can only wait on the developments in there, how about something to get your minds off of it? Like an end mission report.¡±


    ¡°Uuugh, fine,¡± Kick rolled his eyes.


    We first gave a verbal summary of things, from our own perspectives- just the audio from our headsets wasn¡¯t a good picture of the situation on the ground.


    ¡°I see. Deimos again. I wonder how he found out you were at that particular site¡­¡± Calculator frowned. ¡°And you said Chuck held up the central pillar of the building?¡±


    ¡°For a few moments, yeah,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s far outside of the bounds of his rating.¡±


    ¡°Well, you know,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s all about adrenaline and lying to yourself.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Calculator tilted his head.


    ¡°... Motivational words?¡± I finally came up with. ¡°I told him he could do it, and he believed me.¡±


    ¡°I see. Perhaps he has a mental limiter in place. The hero association will be eager to know about this development.¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°Now then. Let¡¯s talk about the building falling.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t do that damage!¡± Kick immediately protested.


    ¡°There were two serious villains there,¡± I added. ¡°I think that result is acceptable.¡±


    ¡°Well, don¡¯t,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I can admit it¡¯s not the worst possible outcome, but it¡¯s far from reasonable. However, you did arrive in a timely manner and properly assist the heroes, as required by mission parameters. But it¡¯s never okay to accept property damage on such a scale.¡± The man was always looking at his tablet- and probably doing five other things on it. ¡°Oh, interesting.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, I think Kick will be interested in what we pulled out of the wreckage.¡±


    ¡°Is it Iron Shell¡¯s corpse?¡± he asked.


    There was a moment. Then all of us laughed.


    ¡°Good one,¡± Calculator said. ¡°If only it were so easy. Do they still use that line in training?¡±


    ¡°It came up at some point, I think,¡± I said. ¡°Something like¡­ ¡®Collapsing buildings will kill you but never your enemy¡¯.¡±


    Calculator nodded. ¡°Obviously that¡¯s not perfectly true. But people need to keep safe around such things.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I agreed. ¡°We only went in the building at all because we were hoping to finish the battle in Rodentia¡¯s favor quickly. Which was about to work until Iron Shell smashed through the back wall.¡±


    He continued to ask various questions about details, including the powers of the heroes. Knowing that Rodentia was back to her own rat based tech for defenses instead of using repurposed Doctor Doomsday tech was also of interest to him.


    -----


    The Power Brigade knew that typical hospital chairs were uncomfortable for those waiting, especially if you were lying down on a row in the hallway trying to sleep. Which was why they kept them. To encourage people to go back home and sleep, instead of lingering in despair.


    It didn¡¯t work though. I had already given up on my back, but at least my belly was comfortable with Midnight napping atop it. Down from me in either direction were Ice Guy- Captain Senan- and Acid Man.


    ¡°Dude, I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re all still here,¡± said the final member of our one time squad. Now, Rocker was no longer on probation but a proper member of the Power Brigade. ¡°I just got off my job.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t slept either, though,¡± I pointed out. ¡°We were just worrying here instead of there.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± he said, sitting down against the wall. ¡°It¡¯s crazy. Being a super and still having to worry about this stuff. Like, don¡¯t we have access to the best medical crap in the city?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why he¡¯s still alive,¡± Ice Guy said, standing up to walk over. ¡°Trauma like that isn¡¯t so easily survivable.¡±


    Acid Man didn¡¯t comment, but he was probably glad his organs turned to goo automatically. That¡¯s what I would have been thinking, at least.


    Instead, I was thinking I should have also cast Stoneskin on him. What was mana, compared to this? And it could have been any of the others instead. Then again, conserving mana had saved lives before, and we couldn¡¯t have predicted Handface showing up just then, there really wasn¡¯t anything that could be done. My therapist would tell me that later. And I would pretend to believe him.


    The door opened, and we all turned. It was Doctor Martinez, the one with scanning powers. He shook his head. ¡°Our surgeons had to remove the last of his natural liver. We installed a synthetic replacement, but it seems his body is rejecting it. Or more likely, his power. We might have to remove it to prevent it from melting inside him.¡±


    ¡°What if he was conscious?¡± Ice Guy asked. ¡°Would that help?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not sure,¡± Doctor Martinez admitted. ¡°However, he is stable. You¡¯ll probably be able to talk to him in the¡­ afternoon,¡± he said. ¡°After you all go get some sleep.¡±


    He could make me go home, but he couldn¡¯t make me sleep. Which was too bad, because it would have been nice. Should I get magic to make myself sleep? Sounded like a really bad habit to get into. And hopefully, things like this wouldn¡¯t come up too often.

 Chapter 228

    There sure were a lot of tubes required to replace the function of a single organ. We had so many of those things too, but it seemed it was hard to get by without some of the more important ones.


    As predicted, Shockfire was conscious. Conscious-ish, at least. He grimaced. ¡°My powers really weren¡¯t happy about that thing,¡± he said, referring to an already removed artificial liver. ¡°I could have kept it in check while conscious, but that means a third of the day I¡¯m fighting myself.¡± He shook his head. ¡°There was some talk about getting some sort of super-immune suppressors, but that¡¯s not something they could set up immediately.¡±


    I frowned. I didn¡¯t like any of this. And it was kind of my fault. No wait. It was the fault of whoever had the crappy security that let this guy escape in the first place. Doctor Patenaude had words to say about blaming oneself for things that they couldn¡¯t control, and I was trying real hard to believe them. ¡°I¡¯ll rip out his liver and give it to you,¡± I said.


    Shockfire laughed, and then groaned. ¡°While I appreciate the gesture, chances are he wouldn¡¯t match. And someone might raise some ethical issues.¡±


    ¡°What about regular organ donation?¡± Rasmus asked. ¡°Surely that would work better?¡±


    ¡°Lists are pretty long,¡± Senan said. ¡°And they can¡¯t just openly prioritize supers. Or if they did, it would be heroes.¡±


    Midnight was quiet, though I could feel his consternation. It seemed like something I should ask about later.


    Nobody said much, but Rocker was the last to comment anything of note. ¡°I don¡¯t know about taking his liver. But we¡¯ll definitely rip Deimos apart when we catch him.¡±


    When we caught him. Yeah. The hunt was going to be on, once we caught wind of his location. I wondered if he still had protection from Scrying? That was something I should have looked into as soon as I caught wind of his re-emergence.


    -----


    ¡°So what were you thinking?¡± I asked Midnight as I headed to the mostly-empty room with my Scrying ¡®orb¡¯. ¡°I got the feeling it wasn¡¯t something that would make Maks feel any better about his situation.¡±


    Midnight nodded. ¡°Yeah, the thing is¡­ if he was Celmothian, we have the technology to grow a new liver just for him. But even with my¡­ status¡­ I doubt I could convince anyone to put in the massive effort to retune that stuff for humans.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I guess that didn¡¯t need to be said. Have you asked, though? Like, maybe it¡¯s not that hard to focus it on different DNA.¡±


    Midnight frowned. ¡°I suppose I should.¡±


    ¡°Great. You use Sending while I deal with this.¡± He¡¯d be able to watch the recordings anyway.


    I made sure everything was ready- Calculator would hate it if I wasn¡¯t recording when I spotted some critical information. Then I charged my mana for the spell, and swirling mists began to fill the huge cube in front of me.


    I knew Handface well enough. That scar tied us together, along with his history of being a jerk who tried to kill me for no reason. I pulled on that thread, and soon got something like an image.


    The problem with Scrying Handface had been that he had an annoying willpower, and he used to have Scrying anchors from Doctor Doomsday. We didn¡¯t know if they were still working together.


    Fortunately, I got the feeling he wasn¡¯t around a scrying anchor. But as soon as he began to come into proper view, I could tell something was wrong. I could barely see him, let alone his surroundings. Then he glared at me, and I felt the spell tear apart.


    Hmm. That wasn¡¯t right. Willpower or whatever was one thing, but for the spell to not function right before he noticed it? Something was quite wrong. At least it made me feel better about not trying it before. Or it should have, but I couldn¡¯t help but think that maybe I could have caught him off guard or something.


    -----


    Midnight got bad news back. Which was to say, the news we had both expected. Jet had looked into the possibility of making a non-Celmothian organ, and all of the equipment was finely tuned for them specifically. It had taken a massive project to deeply understand their own genome, and they didn¡¯t have any real information on humans. While we could get them some DNA, even if they were willing there were other issues.


    Like the organ cloning devices being cat sized. A human liver absolutely wouldn¡¯t fit, and with such delicate devices simply making it bigger wasn¡¯t going to cut it. So that was a dead end- not that we could have expected results in anything shorter than years.


    We had to remind ourselves that Shockfire was going to live. He would eventually get a liver donated. The Brigade would take good care of him until then. But after months in bed, could he continue a career as a super? How long would it take to recover, if he could even catch back up?


    No, it was unacceptable to just wait. And there was some chance his powers would reject organic tissue just as much as synthetic. ¡°Uuuugh!¡± I let out my frustration verbally. It barely helped. Which did mean it helped just a little. ¡°I hate situations that can¡¯t be solved with magic.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t it?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Is there a single healing spell on our spell list?¡± I asked. ¡°I mean the potential one, not what we have right now.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ yes?¡± Midnight tilted his head. ¡°If you count all the life draining ones and the false life boosting things, it kinda combines into one thing. But that¡¯s not what I meant. We know other people with magical healing. Paladins and¡­ a druid. Can they do anything?¡±


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°Uhh. Paladins can do a lot of things, but outside of patching people up to survive a combat they¡¯re not great at healing. Druids, though¡­¡± My phone was in my hand in a few moments.


    ¡°Hello? Turlough?¡±


    ¡°How many points do you have?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I- what?¡± Ceira asked confused.


    ¡°How many points. From leveling up.¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh¡­ a lot? I haven¡¯t found a good reason to use them.¡±


    ¡°More than forty?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, actually. Should I¡­ should I be spending those more? I really don¡¯t know what spells I¡¯m supposed to have.¡±


    ¡°Uh, maybe,¡± I said. ¡°But I need you to do me a favor that will require spending a bunch of them.¡±


    ¡°I mean, sure,¡± Ceira said. ¡°What spell do you need?¡±


    ¡°Regenerate.¡±


    ¡°One second,¡± Ceira replied. I could vaguely hear her talking to herself after she put down the phone. Then she spoke properly again. ¡°Uh, wow. That¡¯s pretty high level. That¡¯s twenty-nine points.¡±


    I didn¡¯t like to pressure friends for favors. I preferred them to be happy to do them. But¡­ this was important. ¡°I did save your life, you know.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the issue. I¡¯ll totally purchase the spell. I just uh¡­ don¡¯t know if I can cast it.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± I said. ¡°Right. What level are you now?¡±


    ¡°17,¡± she said.


    That was¡­ actually not that bad. It was some levels lower than Midnight, but he¡¯d been gaining experience for longer and was involved in pretty much every mercenary battle I¡¯d been part of. I just got more experience for combat specifically, so I was quite a bit ahead of him still.


    ¡°So that means your fatigue point is like¡­ 11?¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s a level 15 spell,¡± Ceira said. ¡°So I can cast a little over two-thirds of it.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°That sucks. I don¡¯t know if that will work.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can try, right?¡± Ceira said. ¡°What do you need this for anyway? What does it actually do?¡±


    ¡°It heals old scars and regenerates lost limbs and damaged organs.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Ceira said. ¡°... This is a thing I really should have gotten eventually anyway. It really does that?¡±


    ¡°It should,¡± I said. ¡°I haven¡¯t met any high enough level druids, nor needed it before.¡±


    ¡°... Wait, did you lose an arm or something?¡± Ceira panicked.


    ¡°One of my companions,¡± I said. ¡°His liver got destroyed by a villain. And his powers aren¡¯t happy with artificial organs.¡±


    Ceira sighed in relief. ¡°Look, I¡¯ll try to cast the spell. But¡­¡±


    ¡°No guarantees it will work, I get it,¡± I said. ¡°Thanks for being willing to try.¡±


    -----


    It didn¡¯t take too long to get authorized to pick up Ceira and bring her to the Brigade. After all, Captain Senan was familiar with her already. The longer part was arranging things so that she wasn¡¯t noticed by outsiders. She might already be in danger because of her association with me, but it was better not to draw attention. There were already plenty of armored vehicles moving in and out of brigade HQ throughout the day, so one more wouldn¡¯t change anything for those watching.


    The doctors wanted to reduce the number of people crowding into Shockfire¡¯s room, but as the resident expert on magic I needed to be there, Midnight didn¡¯t really take up space, and Ceira obviously was the most important part. Doctor Martinez was there to check the internal effects.


    I was filled with anticipation as Ceira attempted to cast Regenerate. It took just a couple seconds for her to gather the mana, but as she pushed to her limits and attempted to make something happen, she passed out. That was expected, of course, and I was there to cast her. But¡­


    ¡°I didn¡¯t feel any magic flow out of her,¡± I shook my head. ¡°The spell wasn¡¯t complete.¡±


    Everyone just waited in silence for Ceira to wake. It was similar with pushing the fatigue limit and mana exhaustion, unpleasant but ultimately short term consequences. Ceira¡¯s eyes fluttered open. ¡°How did it go?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°The spell didn¡¯t seem to be completed. I would suggest trying a reduced version. Maybe ten points?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Ceira nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± This time she remained conscious, but that just meant we could all feel the spell fizzle out as it flowed into Shockfire. ¡°Ugh. It¡¯s not enough¡­¡± she said. ¡°Maybe if I bought upgrades? I could get three¡­¡±


    ¡°No, the spell wouldn¡¯t be complete,¡± I cautioned. ¡°Maybe if it were closer, but¡­ I don¡¯t think this will do it. Though we can see what Doctor Martinez says.¡±


    Watching the man use his powers didn¡¯t look like much, though I could feel a sort of flat sheet of power sliding back and forth, scanning layers of Shockfire¡¯s body. Eventually, Doctor Martinez shook his head. ¡°Unfortunately, it doesn¡¯t seem to have begun any sort of regenerative process. How long is it supposed to take?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ a few minutes?¡± I said. ¡°Something like that. It should be obvious.¡±


    ¡°Then I can conclusively say it didn¡¯t take.¡±


    ¡°... Sorry,¡± Ceira hung her head.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re not the first solution that has failed. But I have to ask¡­ what if your companions were here? Could you share the spellcasting burden with them?¡±


    Ceira shook her head. ¡°No. You talked about that, but I don¡¯t get the feeling they¡¯ll ever be able to do that. They¡¯re not familiars, and especially not a unique one like Midnight.¡±


    What else could we do? ¡°What if I shared the load with you?¡± I was just spitballing, but¡­ ¡°Ugh, we can¡¯t test that here, though. Split casting with Midnight with our innate coordination was already problematic enough. Would you be willing to try something like that¡­ elsewhere?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± Ceira said. ¡°How could I not try?¡±


    Outside the room, I was glad I hadn¡¯t invited the others. Only Captain Senan was there, and he alone was already doing his best to hide his disappointment. Maybe I¡¯d been providing miraculous solutions too often.


    ¡°We¡¯ll figure something out,¡± he said, half to me, and half towards our companion in the room. ¡°I promise.¡±


    Shockfire was spending a lot of time sleeping- understandably, given the strain on his body and the medicine they had to pump into him to keep him stable.


    Now then, we only had a question about where we should experiment. A park would be good for Ceira, but it was rather public. Then again, if Handface could watch our every movement he would have probably taken me out at home a long time ago.

 Chapter 229

    There were some pretty decent spots surrounded by trees available so that there wouldn¡¯t be any nosy parkgoers snooping on us as we tried to learn new magic. Or to use magic that was already learned in a new way¡­ or whatever it should be called.


    ¡°I suppose Regenerate is the only spell you have that¡¯s too high for you,¡± I said. ¡°Which means we won¡¯t be able to experiment with much. But at least it¡¯s one that should be mostly safe if we screw up.¡±


    ¡°Mostly safe?¡± Ceira asked. ¡°I¡¯m not going to make anyone grow a third arm, right?¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re not,¡± I said without any evidence. ¡°It¡¯s just if the mana for the spell ends up without a target, it can dissipate wildly.¡±


    ¡°You mean it explodes.¡±


    ¡°It only explodes a little bit.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not particularly reassuring,¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°It will be fine,¡± I said. ¡°It is something Force Armor will easily take care of, should it happen.¡±


    Midnight was currently fulfilling the important role of keeping Bun and Cel distracted. He wasn¡¯t a young animal like the two of them, but his form was suited for running around and he kept up with physical training for the Brigade. And if necessary, he could cheat a little bit with magic.


    ¡°Alright, so you¡¯ve seen Midnight and I cast spells together with our bond a few times.¡± Most notably with Gate to return home. ¡°We obviously don¡¯t have that sort of magical connection, but we can try to work together towards the same task. You try to cast Regenerate, and I¡¯ll try to add my own mana to support you,¡± I said. ¡°Try to aim for half the mana you need for the spell so you don¡¯t pass out.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡±


    I could feel her gathering mana, and while I had no trouble matching her in quantity, the particular form it took was much more difficult. I also failed to establish a connection, so our gathered mana just leaked out of us like water through a sieve.


    ¡°It didn¡¯t work,¡± she said.


    I nodded. ¡°The connection was missing, among other things. We¡¯ll try to focus on a combined target. How about¡­ that flower? It should be a valid target for the spell.¡±


    We tried again. And again. Unfortunately, that was it for Ceira, because her maximum mana pool was limited by her level. That was over twenty-two mana spent, and while she could recover quickly here in the park, it still wouldn¡¯t be a short wait.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do it,¡± Ceira shook her head. ¡°... Sorry.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say it¡¯s your fault. Neither of us really made any progress on a connection between our magic. And¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°I wasn¡¯t even close to replicating the feel of your spell forming. I think it¡¯s a problem of class incompatibilities, if it¡¯s not simply impossible. So really, I suppose it¡¯s my fault for having you waste your points to begin with.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not wasted,¡± Ceira said. ¡°They¡¯re just¡­ pre-apportioned for something I¡¯ll be able to use later. And it was for a good cause.¡±


    Around that point, Midnight jumped onto my head- which wasn¡¯t very high since we were sitting in the grass. ¡°Watch out for-!¡±


    At that time, I got tackled by a cat and dog at the same time. I was surprised they actually knocked me down- I was pretty strong after all.


    ¡°Easy, guys!¡± Ceira commanded. The cat and dog turned towards her voice. ¡°They¡¯re still getting used to being stronger,¡± Ceira explained.


    ¡°I think they did pretty well,¡± I said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t hurt, after all.¡±


    ¡°I overestimated my capabilities,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But magic practice is done now, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Unless we want to wait around for half an hour,¡± Ceira said.


    I frowned. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not enough to conclusively determine what we were trying is impossible. But¡­ I don¡¯t think it would be possible in a short time. So we can look into other options.¡±


    ¡°What other options do you have?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re¡­ still figuring that out,¡± I admitted.


    -----


    ¡°A power rejecting artificial organs?¡± came an excited voice through the phone. ¡°I¡¯d love to look at the test results from that.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like you have a solution, Vilhelmiina. Or even that you think you could come up with one.¡±


    ¡°Oh no. Certainly not. Organic compatibility isn¡¯t my forte,¡± the woman replied.


    I¡¯d wanted to try talking to her at least, but that was about what I expected. Tech supers weren¡¯t always able to do everything.


    Unfortunately, the Power Brigade didn¡¯t have every sort of imaginable super working for them, and specifically medical supers- or tech supers who worked on medical devices- were not terribly common. Not even money could solve everything. The few medical supers known to be able to regrow organs were booked pretty much indefinitely, and skipping ahead in a line was either impossible or too costly for even the Brigade.


    I wasn¡¯t the only one looking for solutions, either. Ice Guy and the rest of the squad were probing their various contacts, and the Brigade itself was still putting out feelers to try to find something. But the sooner we could find a solution, the better off Shockfire would be. As it turned out, people weren¡¯t meant to be hooked up to machines to survive. Though it was nice to have the option, because back in my old world he might not have made it if we couldn¡¯t immediately get him to a high enough level healer type.


    Speaking of that¡­ Sir Kalman also didn¡¯t know anyone of sufficient level in the right sorts of classes to regrow organs. Surely there were some people, but finding them was another matter. He at least said he was willing to look for someone, and that I should keep in contact regularly.


    -----


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    Given that what I wanted to do was going nowhere, work was a nice reprieve from depressing thoughts. I had kind of been hoping for something where I would get to beat someone up, or just get punched in the head myself, but instead Zorphax wanted me as a translator for a situation Extra was dealing with.


    The martian was still small and green with surprisingly large pupils. Not that I¡¯d expected any changes there. ¡°Good to see you again, Mage, Familia,¡± he nodded his head to the two of us. ¡°We¡¯ve had a few people pop up that we have trouble communicating with. They¡¯re not troublemakers, but we can¡¯t really send people home or set them up here without knowing some things about them. But it will take a moment for us to set up the first meeting room. How have you been?¡±


    ¡°Personally?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯ve been fine, physically. But one of our former companions¡­ he¡¯s injured,¡± I shook my head.


    Zorphax frowned. ¡°I think I heard about that. Nasty business. A damaged liver, was it?¡±


    ¡°Destroyed, more like,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And he¡¯s rejected artificial organs. So it¡¯s a wait for someone compatible and hoping his powers don¡¯t fry organic ones too¡­¡±


    Zorphax sighed. ¡°That¡¯s awful. And Earth organ cloning tech being only in its budding stages of development, growing him a new one is likely off the table. Mars wouldn¡¯t do him any better. Permission to travel there is a pain in the neck, even for natives, and all the organ cloning devices are tightly tied to martian genetics.¡±


    I frowned. If it wouldn¡¯t do us any good, why even bring it up, then? No, he was just trying to be sympathetic. Helpful. But I got a weird tingling in the back of my head. Looking at Midnight, I could tell he had it too. There was something we were missing. It felt like it should have been obvious, but neither Midnight nor I had been sleeping that well. I knew, because we had apartments across the hall from each other and the bond was pretty strong at that distance.


    I talked to some sort of thing made of fire, while Midnight had a chat with some sort of bird person. We were actually able to figure out their worlds of origin, and it seemed Extra had methods to return both of them home. So that was nice, at least.


    -----


    I couldn¡¯t get the thoughts out of the back of my head, and the cleverest fellow I knew was Calculator. Since he was probably already busy wracking his brain about this problem along with a billion other things related to the Brigade, I figured it shouldn''t hurt to bring it up.


    ¡°I just can¡¯t help but feel there was something, you know?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Like, about martians.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve worked with Zorphax quite a few times,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Plus, there was that job where Shooting Star tried to kill you.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± I said. ¡°Right. I totally forgot about that. What with the almost being murdered part. There were a number of Martians working for that nice lady. Uh, Rolly and Olly? I don¡¯t remember her name, though,¡±


    ¡°Kendrux,¡± Calculator said.


    ¡°Right,¡± I said. Pieces were fitting together in my tired brain. What had we been protecting there?


    I looked at Midnight, and he answered my unspoken question. ¡°Some kind of martian tech¡­ the supers thought it was illegal or something.¡±


    ¡°But it wasn¡¯t, though,¡± I said. ¡°Since, you know, they were Martians. Unless the laws about that topic got updated since then?¡±


    ¡°I am not aware of any such change,¡± Calculator commented.


    ¡°Right. And the thing was¡­ an organ replicator?¡±


    ¡°Selling organs is quite illegal,¡± Calculator added.


    ¡°So they could be handed away for free?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I can direct you to the relevant laws if you wish. Explaining it all myself would take too much time and rely on my own potentially flawed interpretation,¡± Calculator said.


    ¡°... Yes please,¡± I said. ¡°Telling us where to find this, I mean.¡±


    -----


    Midnight and I were figuratively buried in books. Obviously we didn¡¯t actually pull out law codexes, when they were easily available in digital forms. But I sure felt buried.


    ¡°This is a lot,¡± I said.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I don¡¯t think¡­ these laws are good like this.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It makes a lot of sense. Like, you don¡¯t want anyone grabbing a guy and selling their organs to someone else. So it¡¯s doubly illegal.¡± I frowned, ¡°I don¡¯t see anything that makes it illegal to buy organs if they¡¯re otherwise legal.¡±


    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is¡­¡±


    ¡°This is our chance to help Shockfire. Though we might need to gently bring it up with the docs here, to see if they could actually, you know, put it in him. And then figure out how much this kind of stuff costs.¡±


    -----


    Somehow, setting up a meeting with Kendrux was easy even though she was maybe a mob boss. But she was very straightforward and to the point when I started getting into things.


    ¡°We don¡¯t sell organs,¡± Kendrux said.


    ¡°Well, I mean, obviously you wouldn¡¯t do anything illegal but-¡±


    ¡°We especially don¡¯t sell organs to mercs.¡±


    I frowned, ¡°We worked for you, you know.¡±


    ¡°And you got paid. Association over.¡±


    I was not good at negotiations. But I wasn¡¯t going to not try. ¡°Okay but, without us going above and beyond you wouldn¡¯t have had your device. And then where would things be? Don¡¯t you have some gratitude? Couldn¡¯t you, I dunno, just give us something?¡±


    Kendrux shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not ungrateful. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t be having this conversation at all. But it¡¯s not a thing we could or would do.¡±


    I looked at Midnight, hoping he had some ideas. ¡°Well¡­¡± he flicked his tail. ¡°Obviously you wouldn¡¯t sell such things. But what if we traded some things with each other? Things the other person might need? You trade things, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, sure,¡± Kendrux shrugged. ¡°But nothing of direct monetary value. Or I¡¯d just buy it.¡±


    Was that a hint? I wasn¡¯t very good with hints.


    ¡°So do you have something I¡¯d need?¡± Kendrux asked.


    ¡°... You don¡¯t happen to be in dire need of tuna?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Got some.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Midnight frowned. ¡°What if I got you a cool souvenir from Celmoth?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not much for novelty items. And anything valuable would probably be illegal for me to own, though perhaps not for you.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Right.¡±


    What did I have? Books on magic- valuable, but not to her I was fairly certain. Diamond dust, which was extremely purchasable with money and not even that expensive. Power Brigade outfit, which obviously wasn¡¯t something I was allowed to exchange. My gun. A couple pieces of tech from Vilhelmiina.


    ¡­ special bullets.


    I pulled out one from Storage. They were all in a clip for an emergency situation, but I could grab individual ones since they were still just in Storage. It was just awkward to use them. ¡°I got a few of these from a tech super,¡± I said, displaying the bullet between my fingers. ¡°Having seen you were attacked by some unethical supers, you might be interested to know that these things can counter powers. Punch through special defenses, disrupt attacks. That kind of thing. Standard caliber. Even with my special deal, I can¡¯t really buy these,¡± I said.


    ¡°And you expect me to trust you on that?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I am an extremely trustworthy individual.¡± Then I rolled it across the desk to her. ¡°But you can take a look at it if you like. Or bring it to people for testing. Whatever pleases you.¡±


    I wondered if I should have made use of those during the incident¡­ but no, it never really made any sense. Iron Shell was the biggest threat there, and still made of metal even if I shot her. And she hadn¡¯t been the cause of Shockfire¡¯s injuries. It was simply showing up at a job that did it. Being publicly visible, and perhaps randomly close enough to Handface that he was prepared to respond in time.


    ¡°Come back tomorrow,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°If this is legitimate, I might be interested in a trade.¡±

 Chapter 230

    Waiting a day was not usually difficult for me, but having finally found a solution that could work for Shockfire it was difficult to sleep. I considered knocking myself out with mana fatigue, but that sounded like I would only be piling problems on top of each other. So instead I wandered into the bathroom to make it difficult for someone else to sleep.


    Oddly enough, even though the mirror was way less fancy than the scrying ¡®orb¡¯ Vilhelmiina made, I actually managed to lock onto Handface. It was once again barely long enough to pick up vague surroundings, and it faded the moment his eyes snapped open. But I learned something. He didn¡¯t have the protection of scrying anchors, nor was it simply a matter of willpower. There was something else protecting him.


    But what? It wasn¡¯t like scales could protect against scrying. I wasn¡¯t stabbing him with my spell or anything. So it must have been- ah, dammit. I¡¯d forgotten about a particular feature. They weren¡¯t just scales, but dragon scales. So he might have gained some portion of their resistance to magic.


    When I still couldn¡¯t sleep, I cast the spell again a bit more than an hour later. There was some vague thought about overpowering that protection, but mostly it was me thinking how annoying it was to be woken up at random times. And since I was already awake, it wasn¡¯t any worse for me.


    It took a bit less than an hour and a half to recover the base mana expenditure of the spell. However, the maximum amount I could use based on the spell level was about a quarter more than that, taking closer to an hour and forty minutes. But using it at such exact regularity would be too predictable. So I just threw it out whenever I felt like it, though I did aim for maximum potency.


    By morning time, I¡¯d determined I could probably push past his resistance with more practice of my own. Assuming he didn¡¯t improve either, which wasn¡¯t necessarily going to be the case. Though I could hope that losing sleep would make him sloppy enough to show himself somewhere. Our group of buddies would gladly take him down- plus the rest of the Brigade, really.


    -----


    Waiting for a reasonable hour to return to the martian lady Kendrux was a pain. But I didn¡¯t want to bug her, since we needed her cooperation. At least when we got to her office she was waiting, and Midnight and I got in easily.


    Before I could even say anything, she placed the bullet on the desk between us. ¡°According to our tests, it should act much like you said,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°So I can see the value. But a single one is not valuable enough for this trade.¡± She held out her hand, palm up.


    I had expected that. It was unfortunate, because these were potentially lifesaving ammunition. Then again, what was I doing with them right now but saving a life? I handed over four more, half of the total number I had received. I was willing to give up more for a friend, but it seemed like a reasonable value.


    But even with those placed in her hand, her big black eyes seemed to stare at me. She kept her hand out. ¡°What? You expect me to sequence your friend¡¯s DNA from the air? I need that too.¡±


    ¡°... Right,¡± I said, handing over a small vial of his blood prepared for that purpose. It was a valuable thing in its own regard, a sensitive bit of information about my friend. But it was entirely pointless to not give it up. ¡°Don¡¯t abuse it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d never betray a business associate,¡± Kendrux said straightforwardly. ¡°Or a trading partner. And of course, I¡¯m not looking to become an enemy of the Power Brigade. I like this desk too much,¡± she said, rapping her knuckles on the dense wood.


    ¡°How long does it take?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°And can your device accommodate someone of human size?¡±


    ¡°A week,¡± she said. ¡°And of course it works for humans. You think I got such a device only to take care of my martian friends here? It would go to waste anytime Olim, Evans, and the rest of the boys weren¡¯t getting themselves cut up. Which is fortunately rare.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure if a week was quick or slow. Well, for something like this, it was definitely quick. But it sure sounded like forever.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I just said.


    ¡°And to you as well,¡± she replied. ¡°Always appreciate a good trade. It is possible for both sides to be happy with a deal, after all. Anyway, don¡¯t bother coming to pick it up. My boys will get it to where it belongs.¡±


    -----


    ¡°So anyway,¡± I said to Ice Guy, Rocker, and Acid Man. ¡°I set up a trade to solve the problem.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that-¡± Ice Guy began.


    ¡°A perfectly normal thing to do? I thought so,¡± I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s so nice of her to help us out.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind it¡­ as long as you won¡¯t get in trouble, or get the Brigade in trouble¡­¡± Ice Guy frowned.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s totally fine,¡± I said. ¡°We read all of the relevant legal garbage.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯d you find it?¡± Rocker asked. ¡°I looked at laws once and man, never again.¡±


    ¡°Calculator pointed me to it,¡± I said.


    ¡°You think he¡­?¡± Acid Man began.


    ¡°I assume he¡¯s either spying on our conversation right now, or will listen to all the recordings later,¡± I said. ¡°I mean, we are inside HQ. But everything is legit so I¡¯m not worried.¡± That was true, in one manner of speaking. I wasn¡¯t worried about that part. I was worried about Shockfire¡¯s health for a week, and whether or not the cloned organ would actually function, and whether the surgery would go alright, and Handface maybe hurting more people I cared about. But I wasn¡¯t worried about the legal or illegal nature of stuff.


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    ¡°So what do we do until then?¡± Rocker asked.


    ¡°Well, maybe we could get presents for when he wakes up?¡± Midnight suggested.


    ¡°We could bring Handface¡¯s head,¡± I suggested. Everyone looked at me. ¡°What? I¡¯m joking. I¡¯d just take a picture of the body.¡±


    ¡°... You really want to hunt him down?¡± Ice Guy asked.


    ¡°Obviously. I know the rest of you would as well. It¡¯s just whether we can. And that¡­¡± I shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t know. So I¡¯m going to ask Calculator to figure out the worst possible sleep schedule and force him onto it while bombarding him with Scrying spells.¡± I looked to Midnight, ¡°It would really help if you were part of that plan.¡±


    ¡°Can we manage that?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Won¡¯t we run out of mana?¡±


    ¡°Mana recovery is up again,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe one point three times ¡®normal¡¯?¡± I shrugged. ¡°So even at full power, either of us would only be down about three points of mana per hour. That means you can cover about six hours without me involved, which is a decent enough night¡¯s rest. And the rest of the day we can alternate and still recover mana, except during whenever you sleep, but I have a larger mana pool so I can cover more time if necessary.¡±


    ¡°Sounds alright to me. As long as you think it will actually help, and if we can get the execs to sign on.¡±


    ¡°And what about the rest of us,¡± Ice Guy asked. ¡°We just wait?¡±


    ¡°Depends on how safe you and your squads feel. You could go out on patrol. If we find anything about location, we¡¯d share it. Though uh¡­ it can¡¯t be too far unless it was a massive coincidence that he showed up during that incident. He might pop around, but I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be somewhere near our prominent districts. Because that guy can¡¯t get over¡­ whatever it was that made him hate me. Maybe losing that fancy thingamajig at the party?¡±


    ¡°I think it was for maiming his face,¡± Rocker said helpfully.


    ¡°... He should have robbed a bank and paid for cosmetic surgery,¡± I said. Now that I thought about it, hadn¡¯t this come up before? Eh, the reason wasn¡¯t that important, but maybe I should remember it. It could come up again.


    -----


    It didn¡¯t take long for Calculator to be convinced that Midnight and I should focus on finding Handface instead of assisting with other patrols- though he did caution us that if possible we should keep a reserve of mana for emergencies.


    ¡°I do like the idea of disrupting his sleep schedule once again,¡± Calculator said. ¡°And as you¡¯re able to overcome issues with potential scrying anchors, this magic resistance is the main concern. Do you think it will help resist other powers?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± I hadn¡¯t particularly considered that. ¡°It might.¡± I frowned. ¡°Most of the former Elemental Magic Squad will likely be less effective. But it shouldn¡¯t do much about snapping his neck. If we could get Great Girl¡­¡±


    ¡°While I have no doubt she would be effective,¡± Calculator said. ¡°She might not be the right choice. Her public image issues are already enough without her turning someone into paste.¡±


    I hadn¡¯t considered that part. ¡°You¡¯re right. I don¡¯t want to make thing hard on her.¡± Thinking of the people I knew¡­ ¡°What about Mono? Mono¡¯s powers won¡¯t be directly acting on Handface. Give him a taste of his own medicine. Preferably right through his head.¡±


    ¡°Or Shockwave,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°Except for the issue with poison gas clouds, they should be¡­ more than capable of killing someone. If¡­ that¡¯s not an issue for them.¡±


    ¡°Mono would be your best bet,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Again, public image stuff.¡±


    ¡°I mean, if I get the chance I¡¯ll do it,¡± I said. ¡°But he¡¯s really slippery and too far away most of the time. And I don¡¯t care about my public image. What¡¯s going to happen, people attacking me on the streets?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that already happen?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°My point exactly. Actually, I¡¯ve been strangely fine since we returned. Even though Darkstargirl is out and about with her roaming bands of thugs.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s an easy answer for that,¡± Calculator said. ¡°All of her insane fanatics- especially those who got powers- officially joined her evil organization. And they¡¯re not actually roaming about too often, since they seem nearly incapable of going incognito.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Or at least all of those who were swept up in the initial burst of activity.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°It would be problematic if she knew I was back as well.¡±


    ¡°Managing nemeses is an important part of any super¡¯s day to day,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I¡¯d definitely try not to act too publicly until you deal with Deimos. Anyway, I¡¯ll help you set up something to distract him at random times. And if we manage to catch recordings of him sleeping, I might try to modify it to disrupt REM.¡± Calculator nodded, already thinking of the possibilities.


    ¡°Great. So we just have to get good enough to actually¡­ see things. It¡¯s not a problem of Scrying levels, I hope,¡± I said. ¡°Because if that¡¯s the case we¡¯ll never manage.¡± I could really use some guidance from that fancy diviner Izzy met. Too bad she was all up and disappeared.


    Ugh, and I still hadn¡¯t found any permanent portals for Sir Kalman. It hadn¡¯t been that long, really, but that was another use of Scrying that had to be worked on. We¡¯d have to see if we could slip that in between other stuff, if we had enough mana.


    Was it too much to ask to be able to punch someone through a Scrying spell? I didn¡¯t need a magical punch or to be allowed to smack someone with my staff. Just a regular punch would do.


    ¡°I suppose we¡¯d better get started,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Calculator said. ¡°We don¡¯t know when he¡¯ll be sleeping, so if he has other villainous activities planned¡­ and there are other options I should bring up. For example, spying on any former associates to see if they have hooked back up.¡±


    ¡°Boyan and his minions are still locked up, right?¡± I asked. ¡°Sirine and Swarm are¡­ still free. Ugh, is it possible he¡¯s working with Rodentia again?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d hope she¡¯s smarter than that,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But it could be why he showed up.¡±


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s easy enough to test. If one of them has scrying anchors and the other doesn¡¯t, then they¡¯re at least not at the same location.¡±


    Calculator nodded, ¡°That would be valuable information indeed. The other two you mentioned seem to be work for hire types, so there¡¯s no reason they couldn¡¯t work with him again. But there was no loyalty for either Sirine or Swarm.¡±


    ¡°And neither of them keep trying to kill me,¡± I said. ¡°So they¡¯re a lot more reasonable.¡±


    But money made people do stupid things. Like fighting alongside that guy.


    We¡¯d track Handface down again. This time, however, we weren¡¯t going to accept him getting away.

 Chapter 231

    Before we could really start on our project of bombarding Handface with Scrying spells, we figured it was best to check out known associates. We started with Rodentia, which would be the most problematic of the bunch because she was really good at what she did, which fortunately wasn¡¯t focused around killing people or widespread destruction. If they were working together, it would make it much harder to hunt him down.


    The ¡®orb¡¯ began to clear as I focused on her, and a rat appeared. Well, not a real rat obviously. Its eyes immediately began to glow red, and it screeched in an unnatural manner. Clearly, an alarm of some sort. I dropped the spell, both because it was annoying and because we couldn¡¯t really get more information. At best, we would annoy Rodentia if we kept trying and that could easily backfire.


    ¡°I¡¯ll review the footage from all angles,¡± Calculator commented. ¡°But I doubt that will reveal anything of use.¡±


    ¡°At least it¡¯s fairly certain Deimos isn¡¯t working with her,¡± Midnight commented.


    I nodded. ¡°A good start, overall. Just to be clear, the draw to that was stronger than the first generation Doctor Doomsday scrying anchors. It¡¯s hard to compare to current ones because of the risks.¡± I didn¡¯t want to draw the attention of Doctor Doomsday again, obviously.


    Next on the list was Sirine. I was first drawn to an odd box, but then the vision flickered to Sirine herself. We actually got a decent amount of time before she seemed to notice and tried to push back against the spell. It seemed she was working at some kind of docks.


    ¡°Get anything from that?¡± I asked Calculator.


    ¡°Most likely still working with Kendrux,¡± he said. ¡°That looked like martian tech.¡±


    ¡°How can you tell?¡± I asked.


    ¡°There are certain aesthetic choices made,¡± he shrugged. ¡°Though I would hazard a guess it was produced locally. For a few reasons, chief of which is that they wouldn¡¯t need those elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, hey, why does everyone suddenly have Scrying anchors?¡± I asked.  Calculator just stared at me. ¡°What? Am I that big of a problem?¡±


    ¡°You could be,¡± Calculator said. ¡°But it¡¯s not just you. There are all the various portal powers to consider. Many of them have had a good amount of time to develop. They might have reached the point they can cast Scrying, or at least use lesser versions of divination spells. But the biggest threat is from Doctor Doomsday and his minions. He has been recruiting individuals from your world. That would include others with similar powers, most likely. Everyone will want to protect themselves from that. Speaking of which, we still need help testing ours. Most likely they are imperfect, but it¡¯s better to make sure they¡¯re at least functional against casual attempts.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded. ¡°Midnight, can you get the next one?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± he said. ¡°Swarm, right?¡±


    ¡°That was the plan,¡± Calculator confirmed.


    I could feel the flow of mana from Midnight, and the spell began to fall into place. For once, the image went directly to the person in question, seemingly without too much fuss. And what an image it was, a mask half on. Swarm froze in place for a moment before shoving the mask the rest of the way on and swiveling around. And then the image flickered. Something about him changed and then¡­ the image was gone.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I lost it. There was certainly a shove of willpower there, but also something else?¡±


    ¡°His body twitched oddly,¡± Calculator confirmed. ¡°As if it was suddenly receiving different muscle signals.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know if I could have confidently stated such a thing from that little information, but my power wasn¡¯t information processing. ¡°What could that mean?¡±


    ¡°There are several possibilities. All most likely relate to his power. Splitters are known for creating multiple bodies in different fashions, but one key component is they must control them all. Those who are lower tier seem to guide them only with one primary thought pattern. Swarm is more effective than that, so he should have some sort of mitigation. Either parallel thoughts within a single consciousness, or split consciousness- most likely on a temporary basis while the power is functioning. But normally they wouldn¡¯t be able to swap those between ¡®bodies¡¯, so there should be something else going on.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t look like he was anywhere special.¡±


    Calculator fiddled with his tablet. ¡°Indeed. We may have caught him off duty, so to speak. Though it seems he was smart enough to keep concealment available, we had very fortunate timing. Even a partial facial match could be useful in the future.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t clear if Handface might be there,¡± I said. ¡°Since we haven¡¯t been able to see stuff around him very well.¡±


    ¡°I do believe it unlikely, but still possible. We may wish to test Swarm again in the future.¡±


    ¡°Why not now?¡± Midnight asked.


    Calculator smiled. ¡°Because now you get to start your campaign against Deimos. I imagine within a day or two we will learn whether bypassing his resistance through experience is possible.¡± My phone beeped. ¡°I have sent the two of you the prepared schedule. You will more or less be alternating, taking into account shifts for sleep and mana pools. If you recover more mana via meditation or the like, I suggest you use it for other training.¡±


    ¡°Why does it only show one time?¡± I asked.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Because you only need to know the next one. And information cannot be leaked if it is not given.¡± Calculator held up a hand, ¡°I know the two of you would not leak it. But no network is perfectly secure. I will be manually adding the next time to the schedule as they come up for the next segment.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but¡­ if that¡¯s the case, when will you sleep?¡±


    ¡°A good question,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I ask myself that very frequently. And the answer is whenever I can.¡±


    -----


    ¡°This was a terrible idea,¡± I reported to Midnight as we finished our first eight hour stretch of moving between the scrying room and the various lounges or training rooms. ¡°It¡¯s hard to get anything done. We can¡¯t just start anything.¡±


    Midnight nodded. ¡°At least we have a bit of advance warning. Hopefully, it¡¯s worse for him.¡±


    I grimaced. ¡°I sure hope so. But we¡¯ve barely gotten more than a glimpse of him. We need something more.¡±


    ¡°... We could try casting together? Maybe that will throw off¡­ whatever it is.¡±


    ¡°I guess we could try,¡± I said. ¡°But we¡¯re already casting at full power. It would still be just one of us guiding the efforts, and then our concentration split.¡±


    ¡°Then what if we just¡­ both cast it?¡±


    ¡°What like, twice in a row?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve basically done that,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I mean at the same time.¡±


    ¡°But wouldn¡¯t that- if we got an image at all they might be offset in angle or. Hmm¡­¡± I furrowed my brow. ¡°I guess we really don¡¯t know what would happen. I think we should ask Calculator to be there in person, though.¡±


    -----


    Ultimately he had us wait until between sleep sessions to be in an optimal crime time. Though I don¡¯t think he said ¡®crime time¡¯, but something like ¡®higher than average rate of criminal activity¡¯.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you thought of this idea now,¡± Calculator said. ¡°If it was after another day, it would be suspicious. You might notice that I basically skipped a cycle. That was to indicate to him your fatigue- or your choice to give up. Now, he might still be on guard for such a thing, but the timing is still best to catch him performing some sort of activity. And if he is spending all day doing nothing at all¡­¡± Calculator shrugged. ¡°That would not be the worst result. Though it¡¯s a rather expensive way to deal with a single villain.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d rather not spend forever just hanging out inside.¡± I couldn¡¯t get experience like that. But more importantly, we couldn¡¯t get revenge for Shockfire.


    ¡°So how do we do this?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°It was your idea,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Well, yeah. But do we stand on the same side? If I¡¯m on your head, will we get a tilted angle? On the opposite side, will we get things backward?¡±


    ¡°Only one way to find out,¡± I said. ¡°Where do you feel most comfortable?¡±


    Midnight hopped up on my shoulder. ¡°Here.¡±


    ¡°Great. Then we¡¯ll synchronize our casting. It¡¯s just like splitting a spell, we watch each other¡¯s gathered mana. But we just¡­ don¡¯t split anything.¡±


    It crossed my mind that, since this was an entirely untested thing, there was some chance it would cause unintended side effects like breaking our scrying focus. Which happened to be a massive piece of artificial diamond. But I figured it would be fine. Probably.


    Scrying at 11 points of mana each. We weren¡¯t really trying to combine the spells so much as we were throwing two things at the same point. And the only real thing we were supposed to return was light and sound, so it should all fit in the area.


    Were the mists thicker, or was that just a coincidence of their particular arrangement? They certainly didn¡¯t begin to clear any faster. But what was revealed was not only a view of Handface with his green scales, but also some of the room around him. A more limited view than normal, it extended perhaps a few feet around him. But it was there.


    His reaction was about as expected. He certainly could sense the Scrying, but he might have been thrown off by the double. He pushed back against me, but not hard enough for me to lose my connection. I could feel some strain from Midnight as well. I wasn¡¯t really looking at the image so much as simply holding my concentration.


    I was the one who lost the connection first, and I could see the image degrade from what it was to basically just the man in question, and an unclear picture at that. It was only a second or two more before Midnight lost his connection as well.


    ¡°Hmm, interesting,¡± Calculator said. ¡°That certainly proved useful.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not gonna lie, I really didn¡¯t see much,¡± I said.


    ¡°That is what the recordings are for. Come look.¡±


    I did, and what I saw gave me a headache. ¡°Ugh, the images are doubled up and slightly offset.¡±


    ¡°Yes. But you can still see some of the area around him. And what¡¯s more, with some image compositing tricks we might be able to regain clear quality.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oh yes. It might take our techs some time, but I¡¯m certain we can get something. And look here,¡± he pointed.


    ¡°That¡¯s uh¡­ a couch?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just any couch. It¡¯s a couch with a tag.¡±


    I squinted. ¡°I guess. I can¡¯t read it though.¡±


    ¡°Me neither,¡± Calculator admitted. ¡°But there¡¯s enough of it that we can potentially figure out where Deimos has been shopping or heisting from. Or some of his associates.¡±


    Well, this was why it was Calculator¡¯s job to track him down from a few random cracks on walls of warehouses, and not mine.


    ¡°Good luck with that.¡±


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t need it,¡± he said. ¡°But if you do have some magic for that¡­?¡±


    ¡°Nah. Fortune effects are more in the cleric area of expertise,¡± I said.


    It was Midnight¡¯s turn to sleep, which meant it was my turn to stare daggers at the large crystal, wishing I could punch people through Scrying. I just wanted some experience for all this work!


    But I suppose I could punch people. In a place like this, someone had to be down at the gym training at all hours. And indeed, though it was odd hours, Meztli was there. Just perfect, we could train weapon skills. And she could also help us sort out our bruises when everything was over.


    ¡°Hey. Fight me,¡± I said.


    ¡°You mean spar with you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. That.¡± I really had to admit that Comghall¡¯s orcs had some great ideas in that field. Too bad all the ones here worked for Doctor Doomsday. No wait, that just meant I didn¡¯t have to hold back to avoid people losing teeth. It just wasn¡¯t good timing to fight any of them. Later, though. For sure.

 Chapter 232

    I had to admit, having an odd schedule made me feel tired. I sure hoped it was doing the same for Handface. But worse. Unfortunately, any glimpses we got of him didn¡¯t reveal his expression or much of anything. Most of the time, we got a few moments of him and very little else.


    But gradually, Midnight and I were improving our control. We could pierce through his resistance to some extent, revealing the area around him. Alone, it worked fine, but together we sometimes revealed some or even all of the expected area around him. Even if it wasn¡¯t for long, there was so much Calculator could do with tiny glimpses.


    Once we saw out a window- not to the cityscape beyond, but just barely out the window a handful of feet away. ¡°Interesting,¡± Calculator said. ¡°North facing windows, and likely not directly next to anything else. Given the construction style of the building¡­ hmm, I see,¡± he muttered to himself.


    I wanted to ask what he figured out, but he would tell us when he actually had something. And while I didn¡¯t think interrupting him would cause him to lose his train of thought, I supposed it was better to wait.


    Midnight noticed something. ¡°There¡¯s a crack, here in the wall.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Calculator said. ¡°That might go all the way through the brick. We can pick up that pattern from the outside.¡±


    Unfortunately, while we got almost a full minute of non-blurry images that time, Handface eventually shook off both of our spells. ¡°Ugh,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m so tired of this. Hopefully we find him soon.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Oh, by the way. Someone delivered something for Shockfire. The doctors are quite excited. But that doesn¡¯t mean you can neglect your work here. If you let up and Deimos gets a period to relax, things might not go so well.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± I sighed. During this period of time, I had been thinking about who might help us out. Knowing what we knew about Handface, he still used sniper rifles and had poison breath now. Who would be good against both? First, I wanted Mono if he would help out. The poison shouldn¡¯t be usable at great range, and I had to believe he was a better sniper. We weren¡¯t planning to go easy on Handface, either. To that end, I was hoping Great Girl herself would be available. While she wasn¡¯t strictly bulletproof, she was quite durable and I could enhance that enough. Though I supposed I should ask her about poison in particular.


    If I could have literally anyone friendly, Swiss Arms would be great. I couldn¡¯t imagine a full body cyborg didn¡¯t have lung filters and the like. Rositsa? Could her sort of vampires be poisoned? I guess I could text her, but she might not want to get involved in a combat situation anyway.


    Who else? Jim, maybe. He might not have to worry about vital organs getting holes in them, and his weird anatomy might not react to poisons meant for normal people. He should certainly be on the list. And then¡­ oh! Sir Kalman might be good. Dwarves were hardy and poison resistant to some extent. He could also help with healing, and I¡¯d seen him shrug off bullets with his enchanted armor. Maybe not from a high powered rifle, but I could add some security on top of that.


    Shockwave would likely run into the same trouble that Sprint did, though I couldn¡¯t be sure of that. Perhaps those very shockwaves could shove harmful gasses away? But only if they reasonably had somewhere to go.


    Obviously Ice Guy, Acid Man, and Rocker would want to get involved. But how many people was too many? Would we give ourselves away? Or did Handface have a bunch of companions to worry about? Even though he was terrible he seemed to get people to work with him often enough.


    I shook my head. That list probably needed paring down. It would happen on its own, depending on how people were available. They had their own things, after all. But if we never asked, we wouldn¡¯t get anything.


    Then my thoughts came back to myself and Midnight. ¡°We¡¯re really not poison resistant, huh?¡± I asked.


    ¡°... Nope,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Can we do anything about poison?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Maybe if it¡¯s flammable?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Otherwise we uh¡­ don¡¯t get near it. It¡¯s not an energy type, and gasses pass through Force Armor.¡± I scrolled through the spells we had, and what we could get. ¡°Ooh, Water Breathing. We could wear buckets of water on our heads.¡±


    ¡°Or we could just get sealed suits?¡± Midnight said. ¡°Like diving helmets or something.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± I said. ¡°We should ask about that stuff.¡±


    Of course, we also had pestering to do. Couldn¡¯t forget that.


    -----


    Apparently, it was actually kind of difficult to put a whole liver in someone. Fortunately, Shockfire¡¯s body didn¡¯t seem to show any early signs of rejection after the all day- or night, I wasn¡¯t sure if I was on AM or PM hours- surgery.


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    Eventually Midnight and I swapped enough times of casting Scrying on our wonderful friend handface and enough time had passed that Shockfire was awake.


    Ah, daylight. That answered one question. The rest of the squad was already there, and we were quite a crowd. But the doctors knew it was pointless to keep people away for longer.


    ¡°I assume you¡¯ve been asked how you¡¯re doing about twenty times already,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yep,¡± Shockfire grinned. ¡°And the answer is great, thanks to you.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t one for false modesty. I also wasn¡¯t interested in inflating Kendrux¡¯s status for no good reason. It wasn¡¯t really an inconsequential cost, but certainly one worth my friend. But no need to bring that up. ¡°Glad it¡¯s going well.¡±


    ¡°They said I¡¯ll be out of here in a couple days,¡± Shockfire said. ¡°Mostly to make sure my body is happy with my new liver.¡±


    ¡°It better be,¡± I said.


    ¡°Man, I almost wish I could get a new liver,¡± Rocker said. ¡°But I¡¯m not really up for all the effort this took. Or the getting shot part.¡±


    There was only so much we could stand around talking about livers, so eventually the team trickled out into the hall. We had things to do, after all. And some of those involved planning an assault on Handface. Should we wait for Shockfire to recover? Well, even if he was released in a couple days, it would take longer than that before he was fit for active duty.


    -----


    ¡°We found him,¡± Calculator said, with no preamble. ¡°I believe he¡¯s been hopping between safehouses every day or so. You¡¯ll have to move out ASAP to make sure to catch him. Because of that, your team will be limited.¡±


    I looked around. It was the old squad minus Shockfire. And Jim. ¡°Is this all of us?¡± I asked. ¡°No offense, Jim, we¡¯re glad to have you.¡±


    He waved his faux humanoid form inside his uniform. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, everyone wants Great Girl.¡±


    ¡°Which is why she is very busy,¡± Calculator replied. ¡°And we couldn¡¯t pick the timing. So as for this being it, that depends on if you can easily retrieve your dwarf friend.¡±


    ¡°Uh, it will take about half an hour. If he can show up,¡± I said. ¡°I guess we can pop over to extra during that time?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no good,¡± Calculator said. ¡°However, during an emergency you can use Gate somewhere else, if necessary.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Great,¡± I said. ¡°Still have to warn him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d suggest doing so immediately if you want him.¡±


    I sent the message. Something to the effect of a poisonous half dragon nemesis with powerful weapons trying to kill me, asking if he was available to come through a Gate at the Order of the Lion HQ. It would be a waste of mana if he couldn¡¯t come, but at least we wouldn¡¯t spend the mana on Gate if his reply was negative.


    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± I said. ¡°What next?¡±


    ¡°You need to use Scrying,¡± Calculator said. ¡°At the designated time. He might notice the lag otherwise.¡±


    ¡°So we do that, pull Sir Kalman through hopefully, then scurry out of here?¡±


    ¡°That seems to be your option. Of course, if the team is not feeling confident you can delay the opportunity. But I don¡¯t think that would be wise.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re prepared,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°As long as we can get those gas masks.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re ready,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Francois made sure they matched your outfits, if you were concerned about that for some reason. Well, I admit it will be more comforting for any surrounding civilians to see brightly colored ones. The rest of your outfit is meant to filter poisons that get absorbed through the skin, but don¡¯t assume it can¡¯t happen.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Rocker said. ¡°I¡¯m not going to stand in any gas clouds for fun.¡± To be fair, he was the one most likely to do it out of our group.¡±


    ¡°What about the building?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you. It¡¯s fairly simple, on the surface. But it might have escape passages. He¡¯s that type, after all. Otherwise we¡¯d just bring it down on him and sort things from there.¡±


    ¡°Would that be okay?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Supervillain lairs don¡¯t count unless they crash onto nearby structures at your own fault. Otherwise every time one self destructed we¡¯d lose out big, and then no mercs would ever take jobs that have a chance for that. And heroes would have to take the risks. Besides, the city doesn¡¯t want the inevitable code violations of the lairs sticking around.¡±


    ¡°Too bad we don¡¯t have those Building and Safety Division guys here,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯d snoop out any secret tunnels real quick.¡±


    ¡°Well, there are similar types here,¡± Calculator said. ¡°But they¡¯re not quite as bold for the most part.¡±


    -----


    We didn¡¯t really have time to stand around chatting, so we Scryed on Handface- at least confirming he hadn¡¯t left that particular lair yet. And I got a response from Sir Kalman.


    ¡°I will be armored and in place by the time you receive this reply.¡±


    Midnight and I split the cost to bring him through. And then we had just about enough mana to Stoneskin everyone but Acid Man, leaving us at a bit more than ten mana each as we rode in the deployment vehicle.


    Sir Kalman was definitely worth the thirty mana it took to get him. It just meant I¡¯d have to use less other magic, which was fine. I had half a clip of bullets with Handface¡¯s name on them. I mean, not literally. Pretty sure I¡¯d just screw up the bullets if I did that. And I might shoot some at his associates.


    He really wasn¡¯t far. After all, he had been hanging around the same district to get a crack at us- and while he was a bit out of our normal zone of operations now, it was reasonable he¡¯d moved around in the last week or so because of the constant Scrying. Hopefully he was very tired. And preferably alone and in a building with no escape routes.


    Obviously that wasn¡¯t going to be the case. We approached the building with generous alleys on either side of it, and the moment Acid Man stepped around the corner he got a hole in him. Which was why he was the one going first. Obviously we would have preferred reaching the building without being noticed, but even leaving the transport a couple blocks away Handface seemed to have gotten notice. But he was twitchy. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have shot Acid Man.


    Ice guy blasted the whole window with ice, trying to get inside the building and block further shots coming out. Then all of us rushed closer. I was tempted to call for Haste, but we didn¡¯t have far to run and that would drain the last of Midnight and my combined mana.


    Sir Kalman charged forward towards the door Calculator had identified for us before we approached, his armored dwarf body barreling through. If we had Great Girl, we would have gone through an arbitrary wall to avoid traps. Fortunately, that one only seemed to have smoke bombs. Maybe he didn¡¯t want to collapse his whole lair for random intruders. But I was sure there would be more trouble.

 Chapter 233

    A short moment after Sir Kalman barreled through the front door of Handface¡¯s lair, a discordant note from Rocker blasted apart the smokescreen- or at least greatly thinned it. That was good enough for us to see a line of green coming for us. And as anyone who lasted in a super profession knew, you dodged lines of green. Also every other color. Never let anything touch you if you didn¡¯t know you wanted it to.


    With the smoke thinner we could see that the place immediately split into two rooms. Sir Kalman had angled to the right, and was now facing off against two people who looked like they were about to die. Which was to say, they didn¡¯t have weapons or armor. I did feel some mana from them, though.


    On the other side was a guy in a green outfit currently drawing in a massive breath, enough to cause his body to bulge. Which was obviously not normal. ¡°Watch out!¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ Hawk?¡±


    I was reasonable and moved to somewhere he couldn¡¯t see me, thus providing cover. I saw everyone else did that as well.


    A spray of green splattered through the door, making pits in the ground beyond. Ah, that was right. Hock. Well, it sounded the same anyway. ¡°Hey, why is supernatural acid green?¡± I whispered to Acid Man next to me.


    ¡°Collective consciousness,¡± he replied. ¡°Do you know if he¡¯s resistant to acid as well?¡±


    ¡°I do not,¡± I admitted. ¡°But I do know he can¡¯t change form, so you can just punch him in the face.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± he said, shoving off of the wall and causing some of it to crumple. He still chose to step through the proper doorway.


    With my improved field of vision I was just in time to see the two people inside punch either side of Sir Kalman¡¯s helmet in perfect sync. No, was it two people? Or one person twice? Maybe twins. The important thing was the mana that flowed from them into him, and the way he froze up.


    For about a tenth of a second, before he grunted and slashed his sword horizontally across the chest of the one to his right. To his credit the guy leapt away with great agility, but the amount of blood that was seeping through his clothes a moment later didn¡¯t look great for him. ¡°Should have been smarter than to go for the head!¡± Sir Kalman roared.


    The way they moved was clearly supernatural yet also¡­ flawed? They combined street brawling styles with mana. Which made me think they were local-born portal power monks. They should have probably made better choices with their lives.


    A loud crack tempted me to peek around the corner and see how Acid Man was doing, but I suppose I should have been able to intuit that from the way Rocker and Ice Guy were already rushing into the room. Ice Guy pivoted to the right to help Kalman finish off the twins, I supposed they were. Rocker went to the same side as Acid Man and Hawk. Hock.


    It had only taken Acid Man a couple seconds to bring the guy down, and Hock was prone on his back. Even so, he didn¡¯t give up but pulled in a deep breath. Acid Man bent over and thrust his hands over the guy¡¯s mouth. Acid sprayed into them, deflecting in an irregular circle around the area. Rocker danced away, and the nice carpet was ruined. On that note, it looked like Hock¡¯s outsides were just slightly less resistant to acid than his insides. Part of his clothes were melted through, and some of his skin was¡­ well, I was pretty sure it wasn¡¯t supposed to be bubbling.


    Acid Man punched the guy in the jaw, then flipped him over onto a clear patch of floor. ¡°That¡¯s your own fault, buddy,¡± he said. Then he looked at his hands, ¡°Aww man, I liked these gloves.¡±


    The palms were practically gone. Midnight commented, ¡°Good thing you were resistant to this particular acid, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Nah. I spent a couple months dipping my hands into stuff you¡¯re not supposed to get on your skin,¡± Acid Man said. ¡°I earned this.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sorry,¡± Midnight said.


    Our banter was interrupted by a slew of profanity from Rocker. ¡°Watch out! Lasers and crap!¡± His public image still needed some fine tuning, but he was trying.


    I did indeed ¡®watch out¡¯ as another laser bounced off of a mirror on the opposite side of the room- up some stairs on a landing. It clipped me briefly, but my movements meant it didn¡¯t get a sustained beam on me. Francois was still going to be terribly upset at the state of our outfits after this was over, but it¡¯s not like we took damage on purpose.


    As it turned out, however, mirrors were not a great way to attack Rocker. He gave a single yell and it shattered, then he rushed over towards the stairs. The instant he poked his head around the corner he predictably got blasted with another laser, which his particular defenses weren¡¯t great at deflecting. He ducked behind corner again and yelled in frustration.


    I was pretty sure he shattered the windows in all of the buildings around us. Which was going to get him a stern talking to, no doubt about that. ¡°You got the laser guy?¡± I called.


    ¡°Not at all,¡± Rocker said.


    ¡°Oh. I¡¯m pretty sure we need to go that way. Handface was upstairs.¡±


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go!¡± Kalman called out, followed closely by Ice Guy.


    ¡°Someone should watch the outside,¡± Ice Guy said. ¡°Rocker, Acid Man. Sweep the outer perimeter.¡±


    Good plan. They were the most bulletproof of us, and the one we really needed to catch was Handface. That left four of us to go upstairs and deal with some sort of laser guy or gal, and Handface. And whoever else they had.


    Ice Guy ran up the stairs first, with a nearly transparent shield of ice held in front of him. It seemed quite effective, as instead of lasers he just got sprayed with rainbow light. We couldn¡¯t bet on that holding forever, but we were already charging after him- myself and Midnight behind Sir Kalman, obviously.


    When Ice Guy reached the top of the stairs, someone swept out their leg to trip him. And if that had been the end of it, he would have danced over them and probably frozen their face. Instead, I only saw a foot and something like four feet of shin, but no knee. Not a thick, meaty leg of a giant but instead a thin and rubbery leg that rose up at an unnatural angle. So it wasn¡¯t odd that Ice Guy toppled forward. He had a good recovery, though, rolling back into a kneeling position and creating a ring of ice around him.


    The ice was thick and opaque, providing a useful barrier for the lasers coming from the left and the gunfire from the right.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get the laser guy!¡± Midnight said, scurrying off my shoulder- while casting Haste on the both of us with about half of his remaining mana.


    Sir Kalman immediately swiveled right at the doorway- his sword held down to stop anyone foolish enough to try to trip him. I saw a bit of leg wiggle unnaturally away. So whoever that was had control. Good for them.


    I trusted my buddy Midnight to succeed at his self-appointed task, but I also wanted to make sure it went as well as possible. I backed up against the right wall to get an angle looking off to the left, my pistol in hand. I could just make out some guy pointing a metal arm towards Midnight, carving grooves into the floor as Midnight¡¯s catlike body sprinted.


    I gave the guy a single shot in the chest. Which was good, because he had some sort of super barrier thing. No, an AEGIS? Should have shot for the waist. But the anti-magic bullet did its job, negating the barrier at least for a moment- though it didn¡¯t keep enough momentum to pierce through the guy¡¯s metallic skin. I heard the bullet plink off of him.


    Then I spun around the corner to the right, towards the sound of more gunfire. There were a few guys with handguns much like mine, some weird stretch guy trying to wrap around Sir Kalman, and Handface.


    Handface had a bigger gun. And he¡¯d save his shot for me. How nice.


    I was knocked back a step as the shot hit my chest. But with the layers of super material, Force Armor, and Stoneskin¡­ I¡¯d still probably have a half dozen broken ribs. Couldn¡¯t let that keep happening.


    I steadied myself and shot at Handface. My first shot was a very expensive miss as he ducked behind some shelves in the middle of the room. This place was a mess I wouldn¡¯t want to lair in.


    Ice Guy was no longer under fire for a moment, and he tossed a sphere of ice that landed on the ground near Sir Kalman- covering both him and the stretchy guy in a thick layer of ice.


    I could hear more shots outside. Maybe there were reinforcements downstairs or from a nearby building. Handface never seemed to run out of thugs willing to work for him, somehow. What was he paying them? Couldn¡¯t be worth it.


    I rushed closer to where Handface had gone, only to see a cloud of green gas puff out from behind a couch. Time to test if it was flammable. I shot a Firebolt towards it as I retreated.


    The answer was¡­ maybe, but only in a terribly disappointing manner. Perhaps the cloud had pushed away all the oxygen, but ultimately I only made a small hole in the middle through which I vaguely spotted a glint of metal. Haste gave me enough reaction time to determine it was the barrel of a gun.


    I ducked down, focusing some of my remaining bits of mana into a Shield spell. I intentionally angled my body so that he wouldn¡¯t hit the same part as before. This time, I felt something enter my gut. But there was nothing immediately fatal around there.


    I cast Mage¡¯s Reach as I ran around the cloud of gas. This upper floor was surprisingly open. Maybe to make room for random and now shattered mirrors. The ghostly hand went straight through the cloud as I circled around behind Handface faster than he could draw a bead- though he did take another shot, it went over my shoulder.


    My pistol came up, shooting at his gut a couple times. The first one was enough to remove the barrier he had, the second destroyed the device- but sadly seemed to not have enough juice to penetrate his scales.


    At that point, Mage¡¯s Reach clicked the safety on his gun. That wouldn¡¯t hold him for long, obviously. But it stopped him from shooting me while at the same time breathing a cloud of gas. I saw his mouth begin to open, and angled my gun.


    This guy had good reactions. His mouth snapped shut just in time for my bullet to slam into his mask and the side of his jaw beneath. Not past that into his skull, though. Dragon scales sure were tough, huh?


    Some poisonous gasses had still leaked out, and I brought around my staff in the other hand. Dragon breath was magic, and my staff was charged for dispelling still. It came down on his head with as much force as I could manage with my left arm.


    The last bit of his mask fell off, and I could see his green scaled face with huge bags under his eyes. And a hand shaped pattern where there were no scales.


    ¡°Listen, Handface,¡± I said, kicking his wrist and knocking the gun out of his hand. ¡°This is all your fault.¡±


    ¡°Pfeh,¡± He spit blood. ¡°Just what should be expected from a barbaric orc like you.¡±


    I could tell he was trying to get me angry. Probably so he could stab me with the knife he was reaching for. ¡°Your taunts are pathetically outdated. My therapist does great work, and I met an old guy.¡± I swung my staff- still left handed- towards his arm as he tried to lunge for me. My right hand crackled with Shocking Grasp, using a couple points out of my handful of remaining mana. The knife scattered to the floor.


    I had a little bit of Haste left and realized he probably hadn¡¯t heard my words clearly as I grabbed his face. From his reaction, the part without scales seemed to be lacking magic resistance. He crumpled to the floor. I bent down and did it again, leaving only blackness in the shape of my hand. ¡°You should have been happy just trying to kill me,¡± I said.


    Was I supposed to feel good after this? I would have liked to ask Comhghall, but I¡¯d have to settle for Patenaude.


    No wait, I had magic for that. I could do both.

 Chapter 234

    Flashes of massive trees rushing past were paired with the sound of flapping wings, stirring up the air around them. No sensation lingered longer than a few seconds, and I wasn¡¯t able to wrap my head around the topography or why anything was happening. Then there was a flash of green scales and teeth. A roar. And then I awoke, the dream fading rapidly as they all tended to do.


    The dream was not remembered, but I did notice that I felt an odd sensation, as if something was watching me.


    -----


    I might not have felt good seeing Handface¡¯s body crumpled on the floor, but I did feel good when we got to tell Shockfire about it. And when we determined both Midnight and I got a level, I also felt good there.


    Certainly, there was some relief of stress, knowing nobody would be shooting at me. Or at least that particular guy. I could think of a couple rather dangerous individuals that might have it out for me, but I wasn¡¯t at the top of their list. I couldn¡¯t be, with half or all of the city having it out for them. I was thinking of Darkstargirl and Doctor Doomsday in particular. The latter might have a grudge against me, but it was one of many. Just another foiled plan out of a sea of activity. Darkstargirl¡¯s grudge was probably more personal, but she was probably more likely to target Great Girl. And while I didn¡¯t want my friend to have to deal with that kind of stuff, at least she was prepared with a good power and a good team to back her.


    Not that I was lacking those, except for a set team these days. There just hadn¡¯t been time to settle down into anything, and honestly I might be spending a large portion of my time back in my old world or messing around with that so it might make sense to stay as I was. The Brigade was still able to call upon me when incidents happened, I just wouldn¡¯t be one of those out in the field with the intent to handle further away incidents.


    -----


    Doctor Patenaude¡¯s sensory stalks swayed as I explained my current state of mind. ¡°I thought I was supposed to feel better after this but I barely do. I¡¯m still worried this guy might come after my friends even though¡­ he can¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°In the most certain way.¡±


    ¡°Who told you that it would make you feel better?¡± Doctor Patenaude asked.


    ¡°Well, I mean¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°I just kind of got that impression. I didn¡¯t swear vengeance on this guy in my youth or whatever, but I thought it would be¡­ more. Aside from the level up which I still feel good about.¡±


    ¡°That is more or less the expected result,¡± Doctor Patenaude explained. ¡°Your mind will take some time to get used to a relaxed state. Your worries about this particular fellow will decrease slowly, but surely. As you said, this wasn¡¯t really a goal you had set for yourself- a proper one that could be worked towards and accomplished- but something reactionary. And even achieving set goals only provides a limited amount of emotional fulfillment.¡±


    ¡°Sounds awful,¡± I replied.


    ¡°That is the experience of sapient life,¡± Doctor Patenaude said. ¡°Permanent satisfaction is difficult or impossible to achieve. However, if one focuses on the relationships around them it is possible to derive longer term contentment.¡±


    I nodded. It was not that I was actually unhappy¡­ I just didn¡¯t feel the way I expected. And perhaps I should have already realized that I almost never would.


    -----


    In the various texts I had perused in Master Uvithar¡¯s tower, the rates of failure of cross-planar spells were known to have certain failure rates, but nobody was quite aware of why. One theory was that the conflux of celestial bodies affected the transmission of mana for spells such as Sending. I had been inclined to agree with that until I had been to more planes and made some discoveries.


    First of all, some planes didn¡¯t have celestial bodies. Was I then to believe that all Sending spells inevitably went through a material plane even though there were open portals between elemental planes and various others?


    I would have also expected a greater failure rate when attempting contact between two worlds laden with celestial bodies, such as Earth and my former world. But it was all in all about what was expected. Certainly not double or even a multiplicative failure rate.


    Thus, I was now more inclined to believe that there might be a simpler solution. Perhaps each spell found a route that connected to its destination but that connection could close while in transit. Or it was just more difficult and imperfect casters simply failed.


    Regardless of what it was, contacting a sealed plane like where Comhghall resided was a pain in my butt. Transmission of Sending spells seemed able to fail in either direction, so it took a handful of attempts to finally receive an answer.


    But ultimately I did get an answer, and it was quite different from what Patenaude had said. I couldn¡¯t say the answers were incompatible, necessarily. I had asked why I didn¡¯t feel fulfilled after defeating a problematic foe. Comhghall¡¯s response?


    ¡°This foe likely wasn¡¯t strong enough to feel like an accomplishment.¡±


    That hit me because¡­ wasn¡¯t he strong? He nearly killed me more than once, and caused trouble for the squad before the incident with Shockfire. But¡­ no, if I was asked if Handface was strong I would say that he was not. He had learned to use a powerful weapon, but he used it precisely because he was weak. And while I would not say someone like Mono was weak simply because he used a rifle to fight from a distance, there was still that feeling in my head.


    But that wasn¡¯t all. Handface had obtained the power of dragons. Which might not be as exclusive as it sounded, but in practical terms the only things I could say he actually got were the scales and that poison breath. The scales resisted magic, yes, but he was still vulnerable to normal things. Like being shot or stabbed. The latter might have been a bit less effective, but he could have worn a kevlar vest or the like.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    He didn¡¯t even show off any other class abilities. Though to be fair, we had intentionally weakened him by keeping him sleep deprived. Being off balance like that could make everyone forget stuff. And if he had class levels, he¡¯d only had them for somewhere around three months. Which as it turned out, was not that long even if you knew how to train properly or where you should spend points. Considering Midnight who was with me in pretty much every battle, he was only level 23 after a very intense year. I couldn¡¯t reasonably expect Handface to be more than level 10-15 in a few months.


    In short, my mental picture of his threat had been significantly skewed by what happened to Shockfire. Handface had been dangerous, but not strong. Like a child with a gun. Or magic.


    ¡­ I really needed to look into that whole Portal Power training program so that people didn¡¯t get themselves killed. At least mana exhaustion was likely to stop most people from tossing out anything too dangerous right away.


    -----


    It was great to see Shockfire up and walking around. And according to him, aside from feeling generally weak most likely due to laying in bed without a liver for a week, he was feeling fine. Looking at him, I didn¡¯t get the sense he was lying about that.


    ¡°I have to say, though I¡¯m not sure if your actions were a bit hasty¡­ I¡¯m glad you took out Deimos. That kind of thing hanging over me- or the rest of us- would make it difficult to walk around outside.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I get it. Even if it would be useful for me to be attacked, I still didn¡¯t want to deal with something like that,¡± I replied. ¡°We couldn¡¯t have him still around to get to you, or the rest of the squad. Or anyone else I know.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of weird,¡± Shockfire said. ¡°How quickly that was resolved.¡±


    ¡°Death happens quickly, I guess,¡± I said. ¡°It was¡­ you were almost gone in an instant. Compared to that, it took forever for us to catch the guy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say a week is pretty good,¡± Shockfire said.


    ¡°I think he was too self assured with his new abilities. He probably felt invincible, until he found out he wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Do you ever feel like that?¡± Shockfire asked.


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ve had my powers my whole life, remember? That¡¯s normal to me. I was weak until I came to this world, and even then it took a while for me to begin growing stronger. I can barely even cast spells of a certain tier on my own. My fatigue point just hit 20 so I can just manage¡­ huh¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Shockfire asked.


    ¡°I¡­ can cast anything now?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Is that a question for me?¡± Shockfire asked. ¡°Because you know I don¡¯t know anything about your abilities that you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I just¡­ hmm¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°Technically, I think there¡¯s nothing I can¡¯t do on my own. But of course only if I have the spell. And upgrades are still important. Base level functionality definitely doesn¡¯t work for everything.¡± I looked at Midnight. ¡°Did you realize this?¡±


    He tilted my head. ¡°Well, you told me you were level 35. But I didn¡¯t really think about it. It¡¯s weird now that you mention it.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ find it hard to believe this is the end. No,¡± I frowned. ¡°More like the beginning. From here, I could do anything, but I¡¯m only going to improve in specific categories.¡± I furrowed my brow even further. This had sort of snuck upon me. I¡¯d been messing around with Gate far longer than I ought to have had it, and it had skewed everything.


    ¡°You still have to develop your abilities though, right?¡± Shockfire said. ¡°You can¡¯t just suddenly chuck a meteor down on the city or anything.¡±


    ¡°No, uh¡­¡± I pursed my lips. ¡°Not enough points for that,¡± I said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I mean I don¡¯t think they would be proper meteors,¡± I said. ¡°But there¡¯s a spell for that and all. Upgrades would always help, of course.¡± I realized how big of a gap I had between Gate and the next highest level spell- Chain Lightning. 7 tiers between them, and the rest were all tier 10 and below, with the exception of Scrying- now Advanced Divination Magic- at 11.


    I was really going to have to fill in those gaps eventually. Though to cast many higher level spells I was still limited by maximum mana. No point in collapsing after two spells.


    Now I was too distracted to talk to Shockfire. ¡°Good luck with your new liver,¡± I said. ¡°I think some of the guys mentioned testing that on the weekend, if you clear it with the docs.¡± I wasn¡¯t a huge fan of bars or drinking, but with a few friends it was decent enough.


    -----


    ¡°Why are we here again?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Testing,¡± I said. ¡°And this is the only place they want us to use certain things.¡±


    ¡°Well it has to be Gate, then,¡± Midnight said, as we walked through the doors of Extra. ¡°What could we be testing?¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s quite simple,¡± I said, approaching an empty alcove. ¡°Especially for you,¡± I said. ¡°Your job is to do nothing here.¡±


    With that, I took a deep breath and gathered 20 mana. The maximum amount that could be spent on Gate, which seemed to be required for a stable portal¡­ especially between worlds. I picked a spot next to Uvithar¡¯s tower, since I¡¯d connected there before frequently enough. I¡¯d already sent Sir Kalman home to the Order of the Lion after he helped take out Handface¡¯s group, and I didn¡¯t want to disturb the people there.


    The Gate opened, and while it seemed strong¡­ didn¡¯t even consider going through it. Because while it was steady, I was not. That was what happened when you pushed right up to the limit of the fatigue point. I probably wouldn¡¯t pass out, but that wasn¡¯t the sort of thing you wanted to be on when going through a portal. Instead, I held it as long as I could which turned out to be almost a full minute.


    ¡°Cool,¡± I said to Midnight. ¡°I can do that one on my own, now, if I¡¯m willing to chuck forty percent of my mana at it. Still better to split, obviously. Now then,¡± I turned to him. ¡°It¡¯s your turn.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t cast Gate on my own.¡±


    ¡°No. But you can be the main caster for two thirds of a Gate spell to somewhere you are familiar with. Such as, say, Celmoth. And I¡¯m much more confident we could actually go through.¡± I could feel Midnight¡¯s emotional response. Excitement. Fear. Doubt. Anticipation. Worry. ¡°Hey, buddy, I¡¯m not saying we have to do it right now. Probably best to set that sort of thing up with people on both sides. But you leveled up as well, so we don¡¯t have to worry so much about you taking charge of it.¡±


    ¡°... Yeah,¡± was all Midnight said. ¡°I-¡±


    ¡°Obviously I¡¯m not gonna let you go for good,¡± I said. ¡°Actually, the two of us would probably have to go together. But it would be a nice vacation, I think.¡±


    Midnight hesitated. ¡°I guess we should try.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m sure you want to visit occasionally. And don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t snitch and tell your mother we could technically be there every day.¡±

 Chapter 235

    Even if we took into account the minimum possible casting requirements for Gate due to upgrades, Midnight was still a long way off from being able to cast it alone. He would need more than a handful of levels to barely complete it- any less might not even finish creation of the portal, let alone give time to go through it. He was a full dozen levels behind me when considering being able to cast the spell at full power, and even then, casting a spell like that at the fatigue threshold made me uncomfortable about the spell being properly sustained.


    Given a similar rate of advancement, it would only take him a couple years- but that wasn¡¯t actually sustainable. Unless we kept fighting stronger and stronger opponents to keep maintaining our growth, but that was likely to result in a battle going against us sooner rather than later. And depending on who we were up against, that could be the end of our career. Handface had obviously been trying to kill us. Doctor Doomsday probably would, if he considered us inconvenient. Gloom and Darkstargirl¡­ well, one might want to kill us, and we would certainly suffer greatly if we lost to them.


    But the point was, even though I liked fighting I knew we couldn¡¯t remain at our same rate of growth forever. We¡¯d already sparred with most of the people in the Brigade a dozen times at least, and there was some limit to how much we could train with outsiders.


    Not that I was disappointed in our growth. In slightly more than a year, I had gone from barely any experience to something expected of a proper experienced mage, it wasn¡¯t surprising if things would slow down a bit. And if it only took Midnight 2-3 years, that was significantly better from the ¡®expected¡¯ 5-10 years of adulthood studies to reach level 30. Combat experience was good for him as well- just not as much as for myself, who could only receive such experience.


    But the point was that Midnight could still cast Gate as long as we worked together. He¡¯d done it before, returning his people to Celmoth. We¡¯d mainly had hesitations about being able to return as we couldn¡¯t guarantee the difficulty would be the same in both directions. That issue was less of a concern now, with my larger mana pool. I should be able to get us somewhere, even if we had to return home from another world.


    It came to my attention that we hadn¡¯t attempted to open a Gate directly to Celmoth from Earth before. It had been from my old world. But I quashed that thought and didn¡¯t bring it up with Midnight, as he was just finished psyching himself up. It was one thing to send some people back home, and another to potentially return himself.


    ¡°I can do two thirds,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Leaving one third to you.¡± I nodded. Managing a ratio like that would probably be best. I felt him begin gathering mana, and joined in, lending my power to his image.


    Space itself expanded from a single point, the wall in front of us replaced by a previously seen view looking out of what was apparently a teleporter- I still hadn¡¯t seen them used, so I could only take his word for it. The Gate was a bit wobblier than before, but it was better than that one time we had made a portal to Mars.


    ¡°See, nothing to worry about,¡± I said to Midnight. ¡°Except for anything you might have forgotten about.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, something about bringing someone through a portal at some point?¡±


    The portal closed.


    ¡°... I haven¡¯t contacted my mother in over a week,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°I¡¯d suggest the excuse that one of your friends was dying.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, though.¡±


    ¡°You could have still snuck in 10 mana somewhere this week,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s still an excuse. Just a good one.¡±


    Midnight grumbled.


    ¡°So what do you think about the portal stability?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Good enough to bring someone through,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°If they were waiting properly. But going through ourselves¡­ still has issues.¡±


    ¡°I felt some level of mana there,¡± I said. ¡°And we could definitely bring enough mana crystals to get back. But first you should probably fulfill that earlier promise.¡±


    -----


    Even though she was quite eager to visit, there were still some steps we had to go through for Jet to visit Earth and she needed some time to be prepared. She had responsibilities and things which prevented her from just hopping between worlds whenever she wanted. Sounded like a pain.


    But I had other things to work on anyway. Things like trying to find permanent portals between worlds using Scrying. Which hadn¡¯t been working great before everything with Handface, but a week of trying to deal with magical resistance and constantly casting the spell had resulted in another upgrade. Actually, there had been quite a few of those from various things.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 35


    Experience: 3225/3330


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +9 (6|3)


    Firebolt +5 (3|2)


    Shocking Grasp +7 (4|3)


    Grease +3 (2|1)


    Force Armor +9 (6|3)


    Mage''s Reach +5 (3|2)


    Translation +3 (1|2)


    Alter Time Flow +7 (4|3)


    Disguise


    Familiar Bond +8 (4|4)


    Enlarge +3 (2|1)


    Energy Ward +4 (2|2)


    Sonic Lance +5 (3|2)


    Advanced Divination Magic +7 (3|4)


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Shield +2 (1|1)


    Stoneskin +6 (4|2)


    Mana Crystal Deposition +6 (2|4)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +3 (2|1)


    Basic Light Magic +2 (1|1)


    Alter Portal +2 (0|2)


    Gate +4 (2|2)


    Sending +2 (0|2)


    Chain Lightning +5 (3|2)


    Clean +1 (0|1)


    Shelter +1 (0|1)


    Assistive Familiar Casting +3 (0|3)


    Multicasting +1 (0|1)


    Enhance +1


    Nondetection +2 (0|2)


    Remaining Points: 36


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I had upgraded a couple things with points- notably Stoneskin before our raid, since I wanted to minimize holes in people that came with destroyed organs. Other things had improved naturally. Gate was a surprise, since it was a particularly high level spell.


    Natural upgrades to Force Armor and Storage happened to put the final upgrade outside of the boundary of Familiar Bond. That wasn¡¯t too important at the moment, but it was something to consider in the future. The last tiny bit of efficiency wasn¡¯t too important there, though Midnight had used Storage to great effect when helping Sprint get juiced up. That might have been a contributing factor to the upgrade, I supposed.


    Further uses of Scrying, now part of Advanced Divination Magic, didn¡¯t reveal much from my previous world. I kept getting stuck up around large cities, and I hadn¡¯t yet confirmed whether my methods would actually find portals or just high concentrations of magic so it wasn¡¯t useful. At least I was learning to tune out particular places a little bit at a time.


    I was hesitant to do anything of the sort on Earth, and especially within New Bay. Because most likely, I would stumble into Doctor Doomsday¡¯s operations, learn nothing of value, and draw his ire. And I would be perfectly happy if nobody I knew was kidnapped by him in the future ever again. Just because things had ultimately worked out with Ceira¡¯s survival didn¡¯t mean we¡¯d be so lucky in the future.


    Was I letting myself be intimidated by a bully? Yeah, probably. But I had to have a vaguely realistic understanding of my own strength to survive. And where I found myself was still insufficient.


    -----


    The Brigade¡¯s shooting range had all sorts of targets to accommodate various weapons or different powers. It was pretty easy to get flame resistant targets- with my level of power, they might as well have been completely fireproof. It was probably impossible to make anything absolutely impervious to heat of any level- there was no upper limit on temperature as far as people were aware- but there were various thresholds to consider. But my magic was just at the level of normal- if magical- flames.


    Firebolt was my one fire spell, and my first offensive spell. Which also made it useless for most of my career, because I didn¡¯t have any enemies to attack. Shocking Grasp toned down could be an annoyance, but a small spark from Firebolt could still light clothes on fire. I doubt I would have survived in Mossley if I set people on fire or burned down people¡¯s shops. I was fortunate that the forest was quite wet, or I might have made some serious mistakes in my early days.


    As for what I was doing, training a weak spell that I hardly ever used¡­ well, that was the point. I wanted it to not be weak, and to at least be able to use it sometimes. Its damage potential was in some ways lower than a simple handgun, but I was more likely to fight a super who was bullet resistant than fireproof. And while they could be generally resistant to things, there tended to be weaknesses to those with ¡®proper¡¯ super powers. Neglecting my only attack of a certain type would be shameful. I couldn¡¯t assume I would be in a team with Shockfire, after all.


    There was also another conundrum I was dealing with. Chain Lightning was vastly more powerful than Firebolt- but I¡¯d also spent more than five times as many points on it, with just a purchase and a couple upgrades. This training was ultimately part of a test to determine efficiency.


    I needed to confirm a potential theory. It might have been my training being skewed, but it seemed to me that higher level spells gained natural upgrades nearly as quickly as lower level spells. If that was true, then spending points to upgrade lower level spells was actually more efficient. Upgrading a spell cost points equal to its level, approximately. Upgrading Gate was ten times as many points as upgrading Firebolt. I could make Firebolt nearly fifty percent stronger and a quarter cheaper than its already upgraded state for the same price as upgrading Gate once, which would improve it about ten percent.


    With my natural upgrades in Gate having reached two, that wasn¡¯t so far behind my highest spells at four. I was quite certain each natural upgrade got harder but¡­ I had to determine the time efficiency of training.


    And perhaps training Firebolt like this was pointless. It wasn¡¯t being used for its intended purpose. Combat would probably be better, but obviously Aspect of the Barbarian didn¡¯t limit me in the same ways as my actual level. Otherwise, half of my spells would never get natural upgrades. Using Haste in combat might do something, but Gate had literally never been used in combat. There was strain in using it, but it wasn¡¯t battle. It was basically exercise. Normal training.


    In short, either I would determine some way to speed up my gain in Firebolt- which would then mean I could focus on Shocking Grasp or other spells I used frequently- or I would determine that spell level had a much smaller factor on natural upgrades compared to point upgrades. Since it was a factor of ten to one with Firebolt and Gate¡­ I should be able to figure it out soon. But in truth, I hadn¡¯t really spent the same effort making Firebolt work as Gate or Scrying. A week or more of spending all of my mana on either of those two spells was just part of what I¡¯d done.


    I might have exhausted myself casting Firebolt at a rock when I was younger, but that would have been a handful of casts in a single session after which I would have probably counted myself as done for the day. Now I could cast more than thirty Firebolts before being exhausted, and do that several times throughout the day- or split up into a larger number of sessions.


    My improved mana recovery from practicing meditation and the convenient and concerning growth of ambient mana levels in New Bay also improved the maximum amount I could manage in a day, ignoring all other factors.


    I cast just all of my Firebolts at the ¡®natural¡¯ level. With five upgrades, the mana cost was 1.6 per cast. Overcasting to maximize my power was limited to mana equal to the spell level, which was 2. I could manage about twenty-five casts, if I only used those. But that was the plan for next week, to see if I could determine any difference between the two methods of training.


    Something I¡¯d learned from managing more difficult spells was that there were technique improvements that didn¡¯t show in the upgrades. For example, Scrying Handface while he had magical resistance. Midnight and I got a single upgrade during that time, but we weren¡¯t merely ten percent more effective. At least against our particular target, it was a world of difference- from a few seconds of his image with the world around him blurred beyond any recognition, we had sometimes upwards of a minute where we could see at least a few foot radius around him properly.


    A year or so ago, I would have completely rejected the notion that upgrades didn¡¯t represent the whole of proficiency with a given spell. But I also would have rejected the idea of ¡®natural¡¯ upgrades. This was just another thing people had been trained not to think about¡­ or perhaps this was an issue with me in particular. I would have to talk to Sir Kalman. Knights certainly still trained in ways other than sparring, didn¡¯t they? They must understand there was some value to it.


    Master Uvithar would have likely been able to explain some of this. He hadn¡¯t discouraged me from practicing spells where it was safe, even if I didn¡¯t get experience for it like the other apprentices. If only I¡¯d known enough to ask the right questions at the time¡­


    Well, I couldn¡¯t exactly say I would have preferred my life to take a different trajectory than it was currently on. Because I was quite happy, especially with one particular individual no longer trying to kill my friends. A life of training myself and fighting against people with powers? It was better than I could have ever imagined. And uncovering mysteries about magic, when I thought studying was pointless- and in some ways it had been- that was an amazing shift.


    I grinned as I shot my last Firebolt for the session, focusing on hitting a specific part of the target. Accuracy certainly wasn¡¯t determined by points. I couldn¡¯t slack off there.


    Whichever result I got from this experiment, I was going to¡­ how would people here say it? Ah yes, ¡®game the system¡¯. Though in a way, one could say that eating healthy and following a good physical training plan worked for normal humans even without a ¡®system¡¯. It was just less visible, and that was what I needed to focus on, rather than the numbers. But numbers were good too.

 Chapter 236

    Regular Sendings to Sir Kalman usually had little to say as a response. I wasn¡¯t deeply included in everything the Order was up to, and it wasn¡¯t as if a couple sentences every week would be sufficient for that to happen anyway. The point was simply that we stay in contact, because finding another way to contact me was quite difficult. He would have to find a strong enough mage who knew me or have some other sort of connection, and we weren¡¯t necessarily able to trust random people at this current point. Though I¡¯d heard he was working on expanding the pool of allies, he never gave any details. There was no telling if Sendings would be intercepted. And obviously we had reason to believe they could be.


    When I did get a more significant response, it was always important to pay attention. Not that I could easily disregard a spell speaking directly into my head. ¡°Need to talk in person. Three days from now at this time, bring me to you.¡±


    Something important enough that he needed to be here to talk about it? Hopefully, it was just sensitive information and not an emergency. If it had been, three days might have been a bit much. I sent another message to confirm I¡¯d heard him- and got a reply properly. The chances of a Sending getting lost in transit to and from my old world were not too bad.


    Three days wasn¡¯t far out, but there were some things necessary before then. Things like informing the Brigade I would be busy during that time, and of course scheduling something with Extra. A previously cleared individual wasn¡¯t difficult to get approval for, and my mercenary work gave me some leeway. And there was no indication he would be staying for a long time, so that also made things easier.


    -----


    ¡°Alright Midnight,¡± I said. ¡°Even split.¡± I could cast Gate alone. The default cost wouldn¡¯t even be pushing my limits. But there was no reason to be lax with such a potentially dangerous action. I never wanted to find out exactly what happened if a portal closed while someone was going through. The tests with a stick had painted a clear enough picture.


    The Gate was a more than comfortable size. In fact, you could fit a few people side by side with the full casting, since movement was relatively easy between our two locations. I would have to look into restricting the size and how that functioned with stability, duration, and the like.


    Sir Kalman was waiting- he kind of had to be, given the duration. He stepped through almost immediately. ¡°It will be just me, today,¡± he said. I nodded, and let the portal fade behind him.


    The first thing I did after that was cast a spell on him. ¡°Nondetection. Just in case.¡±


    ¡°Much appreciated,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°Though I would hope not to need it. Today, I am mostly here for a delivery.¡±


    ¡°A delivery?¡± I raised my eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s unexpected.¡±


    He nodded, and I could see the sizable rucksack at his side. ¡°If we could go somewhere private. And secure.¡±


    ¡°How secure?¡± I asked. ¡°Something dangerous?¡±


    ¡°I hope not,¡± he said.


    ¡°We should contact the Brigade,¡± Midnight suggested. ¡°They should have something?¡±


    I probably wasn¡¯t supposed to directly contact an executive for everything. But also, I figured it would eventually get to and bug Calculator so I might as well start with him. ¡°What is it, Mage?¡± he answered almost immediately.


    ¡°I have a thing that needs a secure location to be brought out,¡± I said.


    ¡°For how long?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Uh¡­ how long?¡± I asked Sir Kalman.


    ¡°I might suggest a few days to check it for danger,¡± he said. ¡°Preferably away from anything important.¡±


    ¡°Long enough to investigate something,¡± I said to Calculator. ¡°A few days. Preferably isolated from anything sensitive.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I¡¯ll send you a location.¡±


    How efficient. I hoped he got some sleep sometimes. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    -----


    Not half an hour later, our ride pulled up outside an inconspicuous building. I sensed some tech power related security, though I couldn¡¯t quite pick out where or what. The door clicked open as we approached, and almost immediately we went down some stairs into a basement. Third door on the left was a room equipped with some variety of investigative devices, from simple magnifying glasses to some sort of scanner in the corner.


    ¡°So what is this thing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A book,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°From Zenfer Cloudfound himself. I think it unlikely he would be willing to obviously expose you to danger, even if he is not a friend, but his status still remains in question.¡± He pulled out the tome, placing it on the table in the center of the room. ¡°I suggest caution in your approach.¡±


    I hadn¡¯t been practicing Arcane Sight in particular, but it had been folded into Advanced Divination magic with the various Locate spells, so I should at least be decently proficient with it. It didn¡¯t last long enough for me to be comfortable adding it to my list of combat abilities, but perhaps now that it was less expensive it would be wise to test it out in sparring to see if it provided useful insights, or just extraneous information.


    Here, where proper magic was likely to be involved instead of superpowers, it should be more accurate and useful.


    The immediate results I got indicated abjurative magic to project the tome itself. That wasn¡¯t much surprise, as it looked to be in good shape instead of yellowed and worn. I walked around, not seeing anything else immediately. But what I wanted most were things that would react to specific mana signatures. That would either reveal hidden notes like in Master Uvithar¡¯s book, or be an excellent way to create a trap that only reacted to me.


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    ¡°Have you read it?¡± I asked Sir Kalman.


    ¡°I browsed through it,¡± he admitted. ¡°Had to check it out myself. Unfortunately, it appeared to be tailored towards mages in particular. Talks about meditative techniques and mana growth, among other things.¡±


    ¡°Is that not useful for a paladin?¡±


    ¡°Even before meeting you, I¡¯d learned some traditional training methods that helped expand my mana pool. Much like our friend Ceira in nature, as a paladin I have my own proper methods. I should note that it mentions a technique much like that mana crystal method you spoke about¡­ and that it was dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m aware of that,¡± I admitted. ¡°But so far I¡¯ve found the risks acceptable for the sake of expanding my mana pool.¡±


    As we spoke I was studying the tome. ¡°Could you put it in that scanner in the corner?¡± I asked. ¡°I think I heard something about it determining the total power contained in something. Which is a decent enough threat level observation.¡±


    Sir Kalman nodded, happily picking up the book. I followed behind him to fiddle with the machine- though having it perform a basic test was simple enough. Beams of light passed over the tome.


    ¡°Ah, internal power not verified,¡± I said, reading the results. ¡°Could you open it somewhere down the middle?¡±


    I also took another look with Arcane Sight as the scanners were working- it was a bit painful, as I got more feedback about what they were doing. Clearly my spell wasn¡¯t prepared for so much¡­ active investigation.


    After the scans finished, they gave a total level of power and a threat level. Low- but not none. It could be dangerous if all the mana inside exploded out.


    With the tome laying open, I was able to observe it once more. Oddly enough, I felt a familiar spell. Nondetection, which should have made it difficult to pick out with my magical senses. Then again, I hadn¡¯t noticed immediately. This was a more permanent enchantment woven into the tome, not something that would require constant upkeep. Perhaps that made it weaker? It might only protect against longer distance effects.


    I explained what I knew to the others.


    ¡°That might be a problem,¡± Midnight said. ¡°What if it fooled the scanners and there¡¯s more power hidden within? Why would it even be hidden, anyway?¡±


    ¡°That one¡¯s easy enough,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Sensitive contents.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°It could be for exactly that. Or it could be hiding danger.¡± I frowned. ¡°It¡¯s difficult to tell, because it might be so complex that I can¡¯t see through it, or it might really be as it appears.¡±


    I pondered for a while, and then came to a conclusion. It was at that point I began divesting myself of magical protections.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Midnight asked, sensing the change first.


    ¡°I want to have none of my magic on me. Except Nondetection, to hide my aura. Then it shouldn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s looking for me. And I¡¯m not exactly defenseless. The Power Brigade outfit will still help.¡±


    ¡°What about my own magic, then?¡± Sir Kalman asked. ¡°I could do something.¡±


    ¡°I think that would be fine,¡± I said. ¡°Since he would know you were delivering it. Ultimately, this could be paranoia, but Midnight, I want you paying close attention to make sure nothing sneaks its way into me for later.¡±


    ¡°Aye,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Zenfer would have to know that the Order of the Lion wouldn¡¯t stand by and let him deliver an obvious danger to a friend. So I would expect this to be fine. But we should still be cautious.¡± He reached out for me, and I could feel abjurative magic stretch between the two of us.


    ¡°Is this¡­ Shield Other?¡±


    ¡°Of course. And don¡¯t worry¡­ I¡¯m sure I can take more injuries than you, if it comes to that.¡±


    ¡°What does that spell do?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°It splits wounds between the two parties,¡± Sir Kalman explained. ¡°Unfortunately, secondary protections won¡¯t apply to me.¡±


    ¡°Right. Well, we can come here for days speculating,¡± I said. ¡°But ultimately, we have to try at some point and I think it¡¯s safe. Do keep an eye out, Midnight. And both of you should probably stand back.¡±


    I reached out for the tome and¡­ picked it up. I didn¡¯t feel anything with my passive senses. Which was¡­ kind of expected. But better to be safe. ¡°I¡¯m going to scan through it,¡± I said. ¡°Open each page. Just in case.¡±


    My eyes passed over everything. Enough, I thought, to trigger any spells hidden within the pages. Not that I had deep experience with such things, but trapped tomes were no small concern for mages, and so I¡¯d at least heard about the possible options. Explosions and paralyzing magic, for the most part, though perhaps there could be more foul options.


    ¡°I don¡¯t sense anything,¡± I admitted. ¡°So it¡¯s most likely safe. I think we should keep it here for a few days, though. Just to make sure there isn¡¯t something timed.¡± I left it on the table. ¡°We can also scan it again later.¡± I turned to Sir Kalman. ¡°So, you didn¡¯t say much on the ride over. Was there anything else?¡±


    ¡°Not that merited its own trip. But now that I¡¯m here, I might as well say it. We¡¯ve been monitoring those who were taken to another world. And we¡¯ve spotted a few spooks. No good opportunities to try to bring anyone in, however. As for the people¡¯s development¡­ we¡¯ve advised them to try not to stand out. If they look as if they haven¡¯t discovered the alternative growth methods, they should hopefully be left alone. But about that¡­ having experienced it for myself for a while now, I think we need more paladins in the Order with these opportunities. My most trusted would be preferred.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a problem with that. New Bay wouldn¡¯t be happy with me just bringing a bunch of people through to enhance their powers, I think.¡±


    ¡°Ah, but you don¡¯t need to. You just need to come to us¡­ and send us to one of the planes within our own world. That should be sufficient, shouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    I frowned, ¡°I suppose so. That would be how everyone else discovered it, I would imagine.¡±


    Midnight also had a suggestion. ¡°We could also send them to Celmoth and back. It¡¯s not like Extra had jurisdiction regarding what we do in other worlds with the permission of the natives.¡± They would take action if we were using New Bay as a base to cause trouble in other worlds, but if everything was with permission¡­


    ¡°Yeah, we could potentially do that,¡± I said.


    ¡°Sooner would be better,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Perhaps even on a return trip with me?¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯ll use Sending,¡± Midnight said. ¡°You helped a bunch of our people, so I¡¯m sure it wouldn¡¯t be too big of a deal. Especially since you wouldn¡¯t be staying.¡±


    I really wanted to read the tome properly, as the few bits I¡¯d picked up were much like Sir Kalman said. And mana was always something I was concerned about. If I could improve my numbers or at least my safety it would be great. But also waiting to make sure the book wasn¡¯t going to randomly try to eat my soul or something seemed good.

 Chapter 237

    It certainly seemed that the tome from Zenfer was not trapped, but I would still be waiting a few days so any potential temporary enchantments wore off. There were plenty of other things to be doing, like returning Sir Kalman home after he delivered the gift. The only question was what Midnight and I would be doing there. He wanted us to help him bring some paladins to another world, so that they could unlock training potential. It might make them targets, but they were already working with others who would be seen as threats by¡­ whoever it was that didn¡¯t want people to be effective.


    There had been a suggestion from Midnight that we bring people to Celmoth, as they would only be entering and then immediately returning. But that had all sorts of other complications. Would it create more connections between worlds? Would someone set their sights on Celmoth? From what I¡¯d heard of their advanced technology that might be foolish, but it would still be something we didn¡¯t want to cause.


    The easiest thing should be interplanar travel within those planes connected to my old world. I had studied quite a few of them, and seen a couple. The old plane where Comghall and the ancient orcs were¡­ didn¡¯t count. Though I should be able to make that Gate pretty consistently, they had made their choice for isolation and I wanted to respect that.


    ¡°The biggest issue,¡± I explained to Sir Kalman, ¡°Is we don¡¯t know exactly how long of an exposure you need. From Earth, portal powers popped up from people who were simply next to the portals for a few minutes. But Ceira and Jerome only properly unlocked classes after being on the other side for a longer time. It¡¯s difficult to say if it¡¯s immediate or not.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Sir Kalman nodded. ¡°Which means¡­ we¡¯ll have to stay for a while?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d suggest a few hours, at least. Midnight and I will potentially need time to recover mana, and it would be better to not have to return. We don¡¯t have very many samples for people with classes unlocking the ability to grow through training, except where it was long term. Jerome was probably the shortest, and it was more than a few hours.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps overnight, then?¡± Sir Kalman said.


    ¡°In that case,¡± Midnight joined in. ¡°We¡¯d want to go somewhere relatively safe. What¡¯s the least dangerous plane you know of?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I frowned. ¡°That depends on your definitions, I suppose. The elemental planes¡­ have the trouble of being rather unsurvivable, except for air if I recall correctly. I can cast Water Breathing, but I suspect you¡¯d want to take more than a couple people along so the plane of water is out. Fire is most straightforwardly deadly, and earth¡­ we might end up in an unstable cavern.¡±


    ¡°Not my idea of a good time, that last one,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Might be why I was never much for mining. So about this plane of air, what¡¯s there?¡±


    ¡°Air,¡± I said. ¡°And very little else, except creatures of air.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying¡­ we¡¯d be up in the air, falling forever?¡±


    I frowned. ¡°I think you¡¯d¡­ be able to fly.¡±


    Sir Kalman nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s say that¡¯s true. What about the natives? They friendly?¡±


    ¡°Wild elementals aren¡¯t¡­ unfriendly. But they can certainly be dangerous.¡±


    ¡°And they¡¯d be able to see us from miles off. More, perhaps. Nothing in the way but open air. So anything that wouldn¡¯t like us could easily spot us.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound great,¡± I admitted.


    Sir Kalman nodded. ¡°My men and I are up for a fight, if need be, but I imagine it would be quite different to do so in such a place. Why not go somewhere more pleasant, like one of the heavens?¡±


    ¡°Why indeed,¡± I said. ¡°Mostly that if anyone there does take issue with our presence, they¡¯ll be quite dangerous. Outsiders are not to be trifled with. And I¡¯d rather not bump into the domains of any deities.¡±


    ¡°Wait hold on,¡± Midnight interrupted. ¡°You¡¯re saying we can just go to¡­ heaven? And then we might bump into God?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Just one of the heavens, and a god. Also, most likely we wouldn¡¯t see them. They might not even be real.¡±


    ¡°Turlough,¡± Sir Kalman cautioned. ¡°I¡¯d be careful where you say that.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I can say confidently that those gods, such as they are, have no domain in this world. I have not investigated gods in this world. Either way, I¡¯d rather not unintentionally intrude into the domain of a deity.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°And lest you forget, not all deities are the sort that reside in the heavens.¡±


    ¡°I changed my mind,¡± I said quickly. ¡°I¡¯m totally uninterested in interplanar travel within that sphere and we should instead go to Celmoth.¡±


    Sir Kalman shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ll want to consider it eventually. Even though they mostly stay out of the affairs of mortals, the gods would have great wisdom to share.¡±


    I pondered. ¡°Or the gods could be involved in this whole plan,¡± I said. ¡°That of keeping particular growth methods out of people¡¯s hands.¡±


    ¡°If that were the case, our struggle would be pointless,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°They could simply wipe us out.¡±


    ¡°Or they¡¯re not as strong as they want people to think.¡±


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    Sir Kalman frowned. ¡°Why are you so against the gods?¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t get the point of being involved with entities like that. The only thing they¡¯ve ever done for me is give me Curse of the Barbarian.¡±


    ¡°And how¡¯s that working out for you lately?¡± he asked.


    ¡°... Great, actually. But that¡¯s not the point.¡±


    ¡°It could be,¡± he replied. ¡°But I must admit I would be hesitant to seek out any of the gods without a proper reason, or an invitation of some sort. However, I can say that should you attempt to enter one of their domains unwelcomed, you will know and find yourself rejected.¡±


    ¡°So they have anti-Gate magic,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°It is the power of their domains,¡± he said.


    ¡°We need to get more widespread versions of that here,¡± I pondered. I knew that certain facilities- usually those manned by supers, and high security things such as bank vaults, were protected against portals and teleportation. Those protections were meant for supers, but they still worked against magic. I knew that, because the Brigade had me test some of their defenses.


    ¡°We should probably let people know we¡¯re going to be gone,¡± Midnight said.


    I nodded. The Brigade knew I would be busy with Sir Kalman for part of the day, but this could easily stretch into and throughout tomorrow. ¡°Are all of those you wish to bring stationed at your headquarters?¡± I asked Sir Kalman.


    ¡°Not even close. But I think you¡¯ll have more than enough. After all, how many people can pass through a Gate comfortably?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ currently? Like¡­ ten to sixty,¡± I said.


    He raised an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s a big gap.¡±


    ¡°Depends on how easy it is to make a Gate somewhere. At maximum size, it¡¯s somewhere around fourteen feet wide and lasts about a minute. You could easily fit people through three wide. Or it could be barely four or five feet wide and last half a minute, or twenty seconds. You might have to rush through for ten, at that point.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°I suppose you¡¯ve seen more of it than myself. Travel to that Extra place looks to be quite stable.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the point,¡± I nodded. ¡°But a random plane? We have to test. I¡¯d have to go through with you for safety if you¡¯re staying. And you couldn¡¯t just have people standing by for hours expecting to be the next batch.¡±


    ¡°Aye, I understand,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°I have plenty of good folk to pick from for a journey. And I suppose we should see whether it works properly with one batch before causing too much ruckus. People shouldn¡¯t be able to monitor portals in and out of our grounds easily, but there¡¯s no saying for sure.


    I nodded. ¡°Depending on whether it works properly, we can plan the next steps for later.¡± With this and the potential connections to Celmoth¡­ it seemed I wasn¡¯t going to be getting out of practice with Gate anytime soon.


    -----


    Malaliel happened to be present as we passed through the lobby of Extra, so we went up to greet her. ¡°Good afternoon, Malaliel,¡± I said.


    ¡°And to you, Mage,¡± she said, using my super name since I was in uniform. ¡°You are bringing your friend back home?¡±


    ¡°Yep. And then we might go see some other angels.¡±


    ¡°... I see,¡± she said.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked. ¡°Don¡¯t believe me?¡±


    ¡°It is rather outlandish to say.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but you know I¡¯m telling the truth.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t, actually. You have a strange lack of aura about you.¡±


    ¡°... oh yeah,¡± I said. ¡°I guess that makes sense. I don¡¯t mind if you can truthread me, but this is for the sake of avoiding certain sorts of danger.¡±


    The angel nodded. ¡°That, I do understand. But it still makes me wonder if your unflappable and outlandish honesty might be compromised by my inability to read you.¡±


    I frowned for a moment. Then I dismantled Nondetection. ¡°I probably won¡¯t see angels later. But I might, since we could be going to the heavens.¡±


    Malaliel sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to make you dismantle your wards. I can tell they took some effort to put into place.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like an hour of regeneration,¡± I said. ¡°A little bit less, maybe. But I¡¯d rather have you believe me.¡±


    ¡°I already did,¡± she said. ¡°Because in addition to my own abilities, you¡¯re a poor liar. Though obviously that wasn¡¯t something I would have known when we first met.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve¡­ successfully lied about things before,¡± I replied. ¡°I think.¡±


    She chuckled. ¡°Well, I probably shouldn¡¯t hold you long. You have business to attend to.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not interested in the angels I might meet?¡±


    ¡°Would you be interested if I spoke of orcs from whence I came?¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°... Maybe?¡±


    ¡°And my answer would be much the same,¡± she replied. ¡°Without meeting them, they are simply another unknown group of people. Sharing a name and physical features tells me little.¡±


    ¡°They should be the good sort,¡± I said. ¡°Certainly better than the ones from Rositsa¡¯s world.¡±


    ¡°You see? You are already aware of angels whose behaviors I find intolerable. That woman is a model citizen that merely happens to be a vampire. And yet they would wipe the whole world of her kind. In a quite disruptive manner, I might add. Eternal sunlight isn¡¯t all it¡¯s cracked up to be. Worlds not meant to sustain such a thing may have plants shrivel and die as the world grows hotter and hotter, until all life goes up in flames or all magic is drained from the world.¡±


    ¡°... you think that happened?¡± I asked.


    ¡°One would hope that they would cease their foolishness before wiping out those they professed to protect,¡± Malaliel shrugged. ¡°But we are not aware of any further contact with that world, either through refugees or any other sort.¡±


    -----


    ¡°Have you ever met an angel?¡± I asked Sir Kalman. ¡°Aside from Malaliel, obviously.¡±


    ¡°I have not,¡± Sir Kalman admitted. ¡°Nor any of their associated kin. Even so, we have records of their goodness. Their kindness and mercy tempering their great power.¡±


    ¡°What goodness?¡± I asked. ¡°Good for humans, elves, and dwarves? Would they feel the same about orcs?¡±


    ¡°I should hope so,¡± he said. ¡°As long as they¡¯re as reasonable as yourself and those few among Order of the Lion.¡±


    ¡°What about Celmothians?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason for them to dislike you,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°People with the form of animals are not unheard of here. And if they were to cause trouble, the rest of us would stand with you as much as we would Turlough.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°As reassured as I am by your words, I¡¯m still going to make sure we¡¯re full on mana before we go, so we have enough to immediately come back if things aren¡¯t looking good.¡± Ultimately, we were still going to go to one of the heavens. I¡¯d seen a glimpse of one, I thought, though one of Doctor Doomsday¡¯s portals. And if I tied it to what I knew of the various planes, I should be able to end up somewhere appropriate.

 Chapter 238

    The respective nerves of Midnight and myself echoed back and forth between each other as we prepared for our excursion to one of the various heavens. ¡°Elysium, I believe.¡± I began to explain what I knew as a way to not actually think about things. ¡°It¡¯s peaceful, for the most part. Not attuned to any extremes of order or chaos. Should there be difficulties returning immediately, it should have bountiful surroundings to forage.¡±


    ¡°Sounds about right,¡± Sir Kalman commented. ¡°We¡¯ll be ready in but a moment.¡±


    Great. That was great. We¡¯d be going soon. And then there wouldn¡¯t be any reason to be nervous, because either everything would be safe or we¡¯d be in actual danger thus able to respond to that, instead of just thinking about an unknown level of danger.


    It seemed to take forever, but the time finally came with around twenty of us lined up in an arbitrary courtyard. Well, arbitrary from my perspective. I was certain the Order of the Lion had some reason to choose this one in particular. Perhaps it was a bit more isolated than others.


    ¡°Even split,¡± I said to Midnight. Despite theoretically being able to do it alone, sharing the mana costs was still more efficient in some aspects, given our separate regeneration. The only issue was that Assistive Familiar Casting was a point short of the total upgrades of Gate, but I figured the loss there was just as much as I would have pushing to the limits of mana fatigue. And less risky.


    The portal opened up easily, a circle opening up into perfect midday light reflecting off of a tranquil lake, rolling hills and trees surrounding it. The thing that most told me I was successful was the flood of mana through the portal.


    ¡°It¡¯s stable,¡± I declared, walking through with Midnight. We couldn¡¯t guarantee to get back to this specific point with Gate, not necessarily being familiar with it. Thus, we needed to be present just in case.


    Sir Kalman followed directly after, and his fellow began marching three across through the gate. It took only twenty seconds at their heightened pace. We weren¡¯t planning to push the limits of what could be accomplished at this point.


    ¡°That¡¯s everyone through,¡± Sir Kalman declared.


    ¡°I¡¯m closing the Gate,¡± I nodded, making sure I could see through just in case. The courtyard of the Order of the Lion faded away as the portal spiraled closed.


    That was¡­ not exactly easy. But routine. A difficult task, but one I¡¯d performed many times before. Multicasting was often more intensive in terms of mana, and many of those couldn¡¯t be accomplished alone.


    ¡°Well,¡± I looked around. ¡°Here we are.¡± Fields full of flowers, bright but not overly harsh sunlight, green trees and soft grass. ¡°What¡­ what do we do here?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about you,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°But we¡¯re going to do a small patrol of the area. And then some drills.¡± He breathed in deeply. ¡°This place is full of mana.¡±


    I nodded. It was nearly as much as the old plane, several times what I considered ¡®normal¡¯ mana regeneration. Or rather, what I had learned was normal. Maybe it was low. Earth had had that much mana, and it didn¡¯t have anyone who used it for the most part.


    I joined the paladins for a patrol around the area, but there wasn¡¯t really much to see. There were a few animals in the distance, and also some glowing figures¡­ but we stayed away from them, and they didn¡¯t bother us.


    After that, Sir Kalman set about drilling the paladins in basic abilities, hoping that they would be able to reveal upgrades from training at the earliest possible point. The first was easy enough to get, so whether it was just a couple hours that ultimately counted or the full time we planned to be around, they should probably have some success.


    On that note, I was still on my quest to determine the relative difficulty of training spells. For that, I ultimately made the choice to purchase two new spells. Combat spells, for maximum similarity. One was Water Blast- a low level spell like Firebolt that targeted a single individual, though obviously without so much fire being involved. It could also push people. A decent spell for keeping enemies away from myself or a civilian, and a reasonable less-violent option if I needed one besides clubbing people with my staff.


    The other was Blizzard, for a more widespread but still not immediately fatal option. It only superficially froze people, after all. As long as they received help quickly enough. It was still a mid level spell, so it certainly could kill people. Especially non-supers. But its main purpose here was for me to practice with. I couldn¡¯t afford a max level spell to test, nor were there many places I could train with those, but I could add more data to what I already had about skill growth with just two new spells.


    I realized I was spending points to potentially save points in the future, but it wouldn¡¯t be a waste to have more variety in my combat options anyway. Actually, it would be best if I had some secrets to pull out, just in case someone researched my abilities. It sure would have been nice to have some water or ice when we were dealing with those flaming guys a while back. And then the dragons.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Most of my time was spent casting Water Blast above the nearby lake. I wanted to use Blizzard to take advantage of faster mana regeneration, but there were fish in the lake and everywhere else was covered in lively plants. It seemed like a bad idea to kill a small part of heaven. And I had grown out of the age where I would have been fine killing random foliage to begin with.


    Even with the improved mana regeneration from the plane, any spell could easily outpace that. It took at most a second or two to gather mana and carefully aim a level 2 spell, and it would take more than two minutes to recover a single point of mana. So it was about ninety-nine percent downtime. Thus, I would cast a handful of spells and then meditate or train with my staff. There was only so much I could do without sparring, and Sir Kalman was occupied, but it was still worthwhile.


    Eventually, however, I ran out of things to do. It was kind of annoying, so I sought out Midnight who seemed quite content. And there I found him, laying in the grass. I plopped down next to him.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± he said. ¡°Just relaxing.¡±


    ¡°... Oh,¡± I said. I lay back in the grass as well. I¡¯d forgotten people could do that. Sure, I took days off¡­ but various craziness lately had disrupted that former schedule.


    I just lay there, the heat of the sun somehow being the perfect amount of warmth. I didn¡¯t even have to take off my jacket, and Midnight¡¯s black fur didn¡¯t make him too hot. And yet I had the feeling that if I stripped off my shirt, it would also be just the right temperature while the paladins sweated in their armor- but didn¡¯t seem to be overheating.


    This place was¡­ nice. I dozed off, only to wake up to the smell of something cooking. I stretched, and I was almost happy to find that the ground wasn¡¯t perfect. I was still a bit uncomfortable from just laying on the grass for a while. Though that feeling faded away as I looked around the sunset sky, beautiful colors reflecting off of the clouds and the lake nearby. There wasn¡¯t a sun, strictly, but there did appear to be a source of night and cycles of night and day.


    We ate with the paladins, cooking sausages over a carefully dug fire pit field with fallen branches. Even the smoke was sweet and did make me choke. I almost wondered if we¡¯d accidentally stumbled upon some fey realm and were about to run into some sort of dark side of magic. But it was difficult to believe that anything terrible could happen here. This place felt good¡­ and because of that, like we didn¡¯t belong.


    It was odd. I was so comfortable here and yet that simultaneously made me uncomfortable. I was more at home on the old plane where I might be attacked at any moment. And whether that was because I was an orc, because of Aspect of the Barbarian, or just because I was me¡­ I supposed it didn¡¯t really matter.


    There was still some time before bed, so Midnight and I continued to train Water Blast¡­ and I was beginning to get a good sense for how quickly it improved. I still needed to confirm, but it seemed to me that while lower level spells indeed got natural improvements faster, it wasn¡¯t so much faster that it was more effective than the point costs. In short, higher level spells seemed to grow more efficiently with training rather than points, and vice versa. That was a hypothesis I¡¯d had, and it was closer to being proven. But perhaps a mid level spell like Blizzard would make me change my mind.


    Together Midnight and I use Multicasting to make several copies of Shelter. They could each fit around eight people, comfortably, so there were a few spots left. It crossed my mind that I hadn¡¯t experimented with that spell much. It wasn¡¯t really necessary to do so, because it was functional when I needed it, but I still liked pushing the limits of magic. Not everything was as straightforward as it seemed.


    I probably didn¡¯t need the blankets pulled around me, nor did we strictly need the door sealed to keep out the cold. But it was still comforting to sleep in familiar surroundings, constructed from familiar and slightly uncomfortable materials.


    -----


    Morning came soon enough, which meant we would be returning to the material plane soon enough. After breakfast, perhaps, since there were still no signs of danger.


    The first point of training was fairly quick, and a few of Sir Kalman¡¯s men were able to confirm they¡¯d gotten an improvement. Was that an indicator of personal differences, or some working harder and others slacking off? I was inclined to think it was both- though none of the paladins were true slackers. They were hand picked, after all. But small differences could be exaggerated among a group of top performers.


    And here was more confirmation that this worked. And that this ability could potentially be shared with everyone. At twenty people per day, it would only take a single mage who could cast Gate to acclimatize an entire large city within a year. The biggest metropolises would need more, and of course it couldn¡¯t be assumed that such mages would have free time year round¡­ but it wouldn¡¯t have to be done all at once. Over the course of a lifetime, it would only take one mage for hundreds of people. And there could easily be enough of us, or others who could also cast Gate.


    On the return trip, Midnight and I were the last ones through the Gate- for the same reasons we came through first to this side. We could get out on our own, but the others had no such ability within their skillset.


    I glanced over my shoulder as I was stepping through the Gate, and noticed a glowing figure watching from the top of a nearby hill. This one was closer than most had been so far, though I still couldn¡¯t make out its proper form. I was pretty sure it was one that wasn¡¯t just a glowing light, though. Those existed too.


    After Midnight and I were through, we confirmed everyone¡¯s presence and let the Gate close. I felt a momentary suffusion of mana in the Order¡¯s grounds, but it wasn¡¯t anything like the constant buildup in and around New Bay. Through some combinations of permanent portals or many more widespread ones, the levels were increasing. Yet here, there was quite a large area of the ¡®normal¡¯ mana threshold for the mana to mix with in the surrounding area.


    ¡°We appreciate your assistance,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Remember that you can call upon me any time, as you have need. I will gladly fight by your side again.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°We won¡¯t forget. And of course, we¡¯ll be glad to help in the future, as you increase the size of your operations.¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯ll be conservative for the moment,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°We¡¯re still keeping this as secret as possible. Until we are positioned to spread the word without too much fear of retaliation. That means strength¡­ but also political standing.¡±


    I nodded. I understood that, basically. Though thankfully, most of the stuff involving public relations wasn¡¯t my job, except keeping up a positive appearance. Which didn¡¯t always mean friendly, since we were mercenary supers after all.

 Chapter 239

    It was weird, to have gone to a new plane and come away without any trouble¡­ but that was why we picked Elysium in the first place. We wouldn¡¯t be going back for a while, to avoid causing too much of a disturbance on either side.


    Shortly after that, Midnight and I returned home to Earth, where we were back to the most normal that things got. Though we couldn¡¯t relax long, because we had things to do. Like checking out the hopefully not cursed tome sent over by Zenfer Cloudfound.


    There had been no signs of activity while we were gone, and scans had still produced no worrying results. That was heartening, but it still required some caution.


    ¡°If you could wait outside the room, Midnight,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯ll be able to react if something weird happens to me.¡±


    He didn¡¯t do anything silly like try to tell me he should be in there too. ¡°We should ward ourselves first.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Good idea.¡± Reviewing what we had, aside from the constant options, there were three spells that stood out as helpful. ¡°If we use both Physical and Mental Freedom, Stoneskin, and five types of Energy Ward to cover the normal types¡­ that should probably cover it. Though it¡¯s 47 mana, so we¡¯ll have to split the cost.¡± If I was completely full, I could just barely eke out everything, but there was rarely a moment that was true.


    I cast the Freedom spells and Stoneskin, leaving 20 mana worth of Energy Wards for Midnight. It would be nice to have all of them going all the time, but 20 mana per hour was simply impossible to keep up, even with nothing else. So they were only used when we actually had an idea of what we were going up against.


    ¡°That¡¯s everything, I guess,¡± Midnight said as he finished.


    I nodded. The final step was to use Arcane Sight, just in case any of the enchantments on the tome had shifted. Both of us were nervous. We¡¯d never really interacted with strong mages, and didn¡¯t have a good basis for how dangerous this could be. All I knew was that some of the things I had access to were stronger than I thought reasonable, so I had to at least consider protecting against those.


    All signs so far indicated nothing wrong, but there was no way to tell if Zenfer was part of the shadowy cabal trying to force everyone else to be bad. Because that was effectively what they were doing. Which really made me want to do everything else they didn¡¯t want¡­ if we could actually learn about them and whatever else they wanted.


    Deciding that if I kept delaying I would never get anything done, I entered the room, carefully opened the tome, and began to read. Nothing seemed to happen, but somehow that didn¡¯t help relax me immediately. My mind couldn¡¯t help but think about what would happen after an hour, when most of the more potent defenses would be gone.


    My worries faded away naturally as I got invested in the text. I didn¡¯t have access to many books on magic anymore, and even though I knew I couldn¡¯t get experience from reading them, they still contained valuable knowledge. Not spells themselves- the system covered that- but things about how magic worked in general.


    I didn¡¯t read everything in order, instead looking for a section I¡¯d skimmed before. About growing mana pools, mana crystals, and the dangers involved. I¡¯d obviously learned some of the pitfalls already. Consuming too many crystals in a short time- specifically too large of a total quantity of mana from crystals- made something build up in my system, making me sick for a time period afterwards.


    I wanted to see if it had information about using them to overcharge my maximum mana. It was uncomfortable, certainly, but I hadn¡¯t noticed any long term effects. But if there was something that happened years down the line I wouldn¡¯t have, yet. I didn¡¯t think I would regret some side effects, though. I had increased my mana pool by more than ten points, somewhere around a quarter. That wasn¡¯t insignificant in its value.


    It said many things. Something about extreme pain and unsuited individuals receiving temporary mana loss, escalating to more permanent if they kept trying. But that wasn¡¯t a problem, because it ultimately said that those suited would find it effective. It even had numbers similar to the values I¡¯d measured. It was still listed as not recommended, however.


    ¡°Other techniques of similar efficacy with less unpleasant effects have been developed. The increase in time investment tends to be worthwhile.¡± That was interesting. ¡°However, so far no techniques have been shown to work concurrently with another, with the more practiced eclipsing the others.¡± Oh, so everything else was worthless, then. I¡¯d already found something that worked.


    Well, maybe Midnight could benefit from one. It would be good for him to have a larger mana pool, as that was one thing limiting him from being equivalent to me in power. The other was his mana fatigue point, but he could already cast most reasonable things without hitting that threshold.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see here,¡± I muttered to myself. ¡°Mana fatigue¡­¡± Oh, there was a proper index. Good. I turned to that section, and found it disappointingly short. Aside from a table- unnecessary, as it was literally always half of the base maximum mana- there were a couple paragraphs. At least they confirmed no adverse effects should one accidentally hit the limit and pass out- aside from potential falls.


    There were some notes that the response should actually be a self defense mechanism to keep people from using actually dangerous amounts of mana. There was a short aside about young mages who pushed themselves past the limits somehow- but they weren¡¯t available to comment on the methods as they usually went catatonic.


    Well, that was fine. I didn¡¯t need to do that now. Unless I somehow discovered more things that cost more than 20 points of mana. So far, only Multicasting seemed to have that potential. Though maybe there would be spells higher than level 20 somehow? I couldn¡¯t imagine what they would be necessary for, as they were all far too strong to begin with.


    Before I got too deep into things, I stepped outside to tell Midnight he didn¡¯t need to hang around. ¡°I¡¯m not seeing any dangers, so you can probably find something better to do with your time than waiting for me. Even if it¡¯s just going home to wait somewhere more comfortable.¡±


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Midnight nodded. ¡°Good, this particular facility is¡­ not comfortable,¡± he said looking down the bare halls.


    It was true. Even the chair in the room was a hard plastic one. Even the little bits that would normally be metal studs were plastic, to avoid interfering with the scanners.


    Hours went by, and my perusal came across a section about ¡®Free Mana Casting¡¯. If what the tome said was true¡­ it was possible to mix free mana from the surroundings with a mage¡¯s own mana, effectively saving half the cost. The downside being draining the local area- obviously- and it taking significantly longer. Like, minutes per spell instead of seconds. And then of course there was the note about it requiring extraplanar mana attunement.


    Was that what they were calling it? That was odd, as there wasn¡¯t anything different about extraplanar mana. Mana was mana. ¡­ Right?


    I sighed. Clearly, I was going to have to look into that more. I was used to the mana of Earth, and to me it felt like all of the mana around Mossley, but I hadn¡¯t really looked for differences, had I?


    At least Free Mana Casting was something that I could test before having Midnight try any of the other mana building techniques. Just because this had some accurate information in it didn¡¯t mean there weren¡¯t traps somewhere. Though perhaps even this Free Mana Casting could be the trap. But I decided that there was too much value here to not trust something. There were plenty of reasons for Zenfer to send me a functional spell tome even if he was part of a shadow cabal- which we had no particular reason to believe except for his position among the mages in the capital.


    -----


    I didn¡¯t finish reading the book in a single session, so I left it in containment. Just in case. Calculator had offered me scans of the pages, and I would certainly be glad to have those later, but there was something about a physical tome. And I didn¡¯t just mean the feeling of the leather or the smell. No, it might have magic woven into it that was useful, as well as the possible detriments. I hadn¡¯t found any hidden text yet, but I was wondering if I might fake a different mana signature.


    I couldn¡¯t tell if that was working unless I actually had something I knew reacted- which was the tome from Uvithar with notes. And even then, the best I could do was confirm that I could conceal my mana from it, not replicate someone else¡¯s. So that idea would stay on the back burner for a while.


    There were too many other things for me to do this week. Like testing out Free Mana Casting, and whatever else before Jet came to visit. We¡¯d finally got that arranged, and Midnight¡¯s mother was going to come visit.


    Midnight, of course, was nervous about it. I wasn¡¯t, because Midnight had a high opinion of her and my few interactions had upheld his assessment. She wasn¡¯t going to be disappointed about Midnight having magic and helping protect the city from supervillains. Plus we rescued a bunch of Celmothians that one time, and we had a rival Bunvorixian.


    -----


    ¡°Stop being nervous,¡± I said.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t work like that!¡± Midnight complained.


    ¡°Then, think about tuna,¡± I suggested.


    ¡°Okay,¡± he said. There was a moment of peace. Then panic. ¡°What if she wants good tuna? We need to go catch some fresh bluefin tuna. Or-¡±


    ¡°We have restaurants, you know,¡± I said. ¡°You can get pretty much anything in New Bay. And we can pay for expensive chefs and stuff.¡± Speaking of paying for things, I should consider purchasing more dispelling bullets from Vilhelmiina. I¡¯d kind of used or bartered the entire clip of ten she gave me. And I didn¡¯t regret any of it, but that was exactly why I wanted more. The only issue was, while my salary as part of the Power Brigade was high, it wasn¡¯t so high I could easily afford to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a few bullets.


    At least diamonds were cheap.


    ¡°Keep thinking about that,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It¡¯s helping.¡±


    ¡°Diamonds?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Whatever it was. Anything.¡±


    I wondered if Midnight¡¯s mom could fight. And if she had powers, and how the Celmothians with portal powers were doing. Celmoth had a strange connection with Earth- though very rare, it seemed that many of their mysterious technological disappearances ended up on Earth. And not just New Bay, but other hotspots like the ones in Yew-Kay.


    Then our alarm beeped. ¡°Well, it¡¯s time,¡± I said. ¡°She should be waiting.¡± We¡¯d put in some effort to properly sync up our times. Even with some error, the plan was to have Jet waiting early. And in the worst case scenario where we ended up early, we still had enough mana to try again ten minutes later. Midnight was the anchor here, obviously, as he was the only one who¡¯d actually been to Celmoth.


    I projected as much confidence as I could towards Midnight. I didn¡¯t even have to fake it. We¡¯d already opened this Gate before. And I also knew he was going to be the focus of any social interactions, so I didn¡¯t have to be nervous about that.


    The Gate slowly opened- we kept it modestly sized, which was still a few feet wide. Far more than any Celmothian would need, but hopefully more stable and enduring. Not that we needed much time. On the other side of the Gate was Jet¡­ presumably. Midnight seemed relieved to see the Celmothian at least. I¡¯d only seen her once or twice, and I hadn¡¯t gotten much practice with the subtle variations of Celmothian physiology.


    Also there was the part where she had a silver coating over most of her body, which made her look quite different from before. But Midnight seemed to think that was normal. I imagined it was made with similar intentions as his Power Brigade outfit- something that could go over fur without being restricting.


    Jet strode through the Gate confidently, then turned around. ¡°Huh. It¡¯s actually that easy, is it?¡± Then she turned back towards Midnight, walking up to him and touching her nose to his, then rubbing her head next to him. ¡°It¡¯s difficult to believe it¡¯s you.¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah,¡± Midnight replied nervously.


    ¡°And you,¡± Jet looked up towards me. ¡°I heard you were tall, but I hadn¡¯t imagined quite that tall.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well, I got taller,¡± I shrugged as I knelt down and offered my hand. There wasn¡¯t really an established formality that Midnight knew about for Celmothians meeting humanoids.


    Jet seemed willing enough to go with the flow, touching my hand with her nose. ¡°And you speak Celmothian fluidly, without a translation device. I had heard it, but it is still curious.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s magic,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Otherwise my vocal chords aren¡¯t great at this.¡±


    ¡°Magic, is it?¡± She tilted her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think I will get used to that easily.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s surprisingly quick,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°If you¡¯re around him long enough.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re basically as magical as me,¡± I pointed out.


    And that was how our first real meeting went. Now we just had to figure out how to fill the rest of the time she was here. We had some ideas, but neither of us really knew what made sense.

 Chapter 240

    Before Jet was officially welcomed into New Bay, she had to meet with Extra and receive a briefing on local laws, especially as they related to her use of technology. Fortunately, that process was made easier by planning ahead, and our ability to cast Translation for her. She¡¯d already been briefed on the major points.


    Mostly it was noted that penalties for crimes would be more significant if advanced technology was involved- a standard bump up to supervillainy. She also couldn¡¯t sell or give technology to others, though Midnight might be an exception since he was Celmothian. But to stay in the graces of Extra, we weren¡¯t going to push the limits of what they would let us get away with. Even though they were prepared for extradimensional travel, most of what they were meant for was accidental, with those who could choose to travel between dimensions being more of a rarity.


    Interplanetary travel was only common with Mars. Celmoth was a great number of systems away, so only wormholes or similar features like portals resulted in their arrival on Earth. And ultimately, those portals tended to converge on certain hotspots like New Bay.


    The general rules were easy enough for Jet. Purely defensive measures were always okay, and using weapons for self defense purposes was fine. The last thing was more of a note for Midnight and me, but we obviously weren¡¯t supposed to take a civilian along on mercenary work. But we were taking a low duty week for that purpose. Aside from maintaining our training, we would only be called upon if something critical happened.


    So it was a coin toss, basically. We could have a peaceful week, or there could be another portal incident with Doctor Doomsday and krakens would be destroying everything along the edge of the bay. Midnight would probably prefer peaceful, but it wouldn¡¯t be an accurate representation of our day-to-day.


    -----


    Accommodations for Midnight¡¯s mother Jet were easy enough, since Midnight¡¯s apartment had sufficient room. If her stay was going to be longer term perhaps that might be an issue, but for a single week it was reasonable enough.


    ¡°This city is not too bad,¡± Jet commented after surveying his apartment. ¡°Even if it¡¯s not properly set up for people like us, there are at least some accommodations for people of different sizes.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not so great without the right knowledge,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I might have starved, not knowing there were people that could help. Because we look like some animals they have here, called cats. And sound like them.¡±


    ¡°And you didn¡¯t have anything with you,¡± Jet nodded.


    ¡°Well, yeah. I wasn¡¯t planning to go out, so I didn¡¯t suit up or anything. And then the teleporter¡­¡± Midnight shrugged.


    ¡°You have picked up odd mannerisms from this¡­ Earthling?¡± Jet looked at me.


    ¡°I¡¯m not from this world either,¡± I replied. ¡°Except more.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Hmm, yes. A world with magic.¡±


    ¡°This world had magic from other realities already,¡± I added. ¡°But mine was more newly connected, as far as we know.¡±


    ¡°I have felt the effects of your magic several times,¡± Jet said. ¡°Both with your strange messages and your portals.¡± She looked at Midnight. ¡°It¡¯s strange to see my son using magic as well.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t even seen the weird things yet,¡± he said.


    ¡°I think magic hands are pretty weird,¡± she replied.


    I frowned. ¡°Really? It¡¯s not that different from what your suit does, correct?¡± I had seen the silver coating covering her stretch out and close the door behind them as they left Midnight¡¯s apartment, for example.


    ¡°But why does it make hands?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Because hands are useful,¡± I said. ¡°Pretty sure he could just make paw shapes if he wanted to.¡±


    Midnight just stood there for a moment. ¡°... I never thought about it. Because I just copied what you did.¡±


    ¡°Your magic comes from Turlough, correct?¡± she asked. ¡°Though your bond?¡±


    ¡°Something like that,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Though I have my own mana and level. We effectively share points and practice.¡±


    Speaking of bonds, I could vaguely feel something from Jet, filtered through Midnight. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s odd? Our bond?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Mostly that it¡¯s with a non-Celmothian,¡± she replied. ¡°That¡¯s not something that is supposed to happen. Though we mostly have experience with those fiendish Bunvorixians as neighbors.¡±


    I stroked my beard. ¡°So you might actually be able to bond with people in general and just never had the chance with other decent individuals?¡±


    ¡°We have other neighbors,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But most of our people remain on our homeworld. But I feel like someone should have noticed. Wouldn¡¯t it make sense that we mostly are attached because of Familiar Bond?¡±


    I raised an eyebrow. ¡°You think I¡¯m unfamiliar with assumptions about how the world works affecting how it actually does? Just assuming you can¡¯t or won¡¯t form bonds like that would probably have a huge effect.¡±


    ¡°... huh,¡± Midnight vocalized. ¡°Hadn¡¯t really thought about it like that.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    I felt a tidbit of thirdhand turmoil from Jet. ¡°Surely we would have tested something like that already.¡±


    ¡°Everything has to happen for the first time at some point,¡± I said. ¡°Clearly being around people isn¡¯t enough. Midnight has been here with friends and hasn¡¯t formed a bond with someone else.¡±


    ¡°But I also thought I couldn¡¯t,¡± Midnight added. ¡°So that doesn¡¯t prove or disprove anything.¡±


    -----


    After that discussion, it seemed reasonable to meet some of Midnight¡¯s friends. It¡¯s just a lot worked for the Brigade and had secret identities that it was better to avoid even potential compromises of. Though we could do something with disguise. Midnight and I didn¡¯t like to use that when meeting with friends, as I wasn¡¯t ashamed of being an orc anymore¡­ but when moving around the city, it was sometimes useful.


    There weren¡¯t a ton of orcs with cats that would ride around on their shoulder, and we did have some enemies. So we tried to keep some level of subtlety for the sake of friends outside of the business. Which was mostly Ceira, Jerome, and Izzy. Even Jerome¡¯s mother worked for the Brigade now as a tracker.


    Of those available randomly throughout the day¡­ well, that was actually Ceira and Jerome. Izzy had a day job doing deliveries, but Ceira was still figuring things out. Though she¡¯d need to do that fairly soon, as there was only so long supervillain relocation funds would last for. The whole national park thing had fallen through for them with Ceira¡¯s abduction and that journey, though perhaps either or both of them would look into things outside of New Bay again.


    The only thing that made us hesitant about Ceira was that she had a dog. Jet kind of needed to get used to the idea that dogs weren¡¯t Bunvorixians before that made sense¡­ or we at least needed to arrange for a time where she could leave her pets home alone for a bit.


    Jerome, however, was still homeschooled. Or rather, I think he had just started taking a couple classes at a local community college while he was still finishing up requirements for his G.E.D.


    Thus it was that we chose to contact him first. When I told him that Midnight¡¯s mother was on Earth, he was happy to invite us over.


    Jerome¡¯s current apartment was much better than the previous one, which had about enough room at the dining table for one person- if they didn¡¯t care about fitting into one of the chairs. This one had a comfortable sitting room, still only about enough for a handful of people but a reasonable step up.


    When Jerome opened the door, there was an electronic cleaning robot behind him. The flat round kind, of course. Tracking for the Power Brigade paid well, but not enough to get humanoid robots. They were a rarity even in New Bay. Well, ones with more than basic functionality at least. Even most tech supers didn¡¯t make humanoid death bots. Rodentia¡¯s were rats, obviously, Vilhelmiina¡¯s were more gun than body, and Doctor Doomsday¡¯s weren¡¯t humanoid either. The closest thing were the Mod Squad, but they were cyborgs which was a human base, not robots.


    ¡°Welcome!¡± Jerome said as he opened the door. His eye flicked between the two Celmothians, easily settling on Jet as the new figure- the gear among other things gave her away. ¡°Jet, right? Do you have Translation cast?¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± she said.


    ¡°I still need to learn that,¡± Jerome admitted. He looked at me. ¡°Do you think it would help if I learned other languages first?¡±


    ¡°Help what?¡± I replied. ¡°Because learning the spell isn¡¯t that difficult. Though obviously I did it with points.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really understand this points thing,¡± Jet admitted as we entered the sitting room. ¡°What a strange mobility device.¡± She moved closer to the cleaning bot, taking a good look. ¡°No, it¡¯s something else isn¡¯t it? It¡¯s not large enough or fast enough for a human to ride, and it has buttons in the middle of its top."


    I was somehow surprised, even though I knew she should understand technology. She was wearing it, even, quite a bit more advanced than this cleaning bot.


    ¡°It¡¯s for cleaning,¡± Jerome replied. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s what it does at a base.¡±


    The sound of its vacuum and the whirring of its mechanisms was actually rather quiet, on the scale of such things. We were able to talk comfortably instead of yelling over it. Then it did something weird. Both its spinning brush and the vacuum stopped. It turned towards Jet and began to move towards her. She took a few steps back and to the side, but it turned and followed. ¡°What is it doing?¡± Jet asked.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Jerome frowned. ¡°Try patting him on his forehead.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Jet asked.


    ¡°Wait for him to get close and tap your paw on the front,¡± Jerome said.


    Jet looked and indirectly felt uncertain, but she stood and waited. It was odd. When she tapped the robot it beeped and booped¡­ happily?


    I furrowed my brow as it then turned towards me. It rolled right up to my feet, stopping a few inches away. I bent down and pat the cleaning robot on top. It spun around completely, beeping rapidly. ¡°Jerome¡­ what¡¯s going on with this thing?¡±


    ¡°Well, you see,¡± he began to explain as it circled around my legs. ¡°I was messing around with some magic and¡­¡± The cleaning robot began to beep and whine. ¡°Uh, I think he wants to meet Midnight too.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Right so,¡± Jerome finished his earlier thought. ¡°I was planning to get a familiar. Like a normal one. Maybe a bird or something. I bought the spell and was just messing around but then it actually did something with Rob here.¡±


    The little robot seemed quite distressed with Midnight being out of reach, so I helped Midnight down to let them ¡®meet¡¯. ¡°I thought I felt something odd,¡± Midnight said.


    I thought I was the one who sensed it. But who could say? Either way, it was clear enough now there was a bit of magic bonding the two. Midnight placed a paw on the robot, which seemed immediately satisfied with its results, before turning and scurrying over towards Jerome, where it sat on the floor next to him.


    ¡°It¡¯s weird, right?¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°Usually people build their own homunculus, if they¡¯re going to bond to a construct,¡± I said. ¡°Though that is in part because that¡¯s the only way to get one.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s not weird?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°It is extremely abnormal,¡± I replied. ¡°I would place it one tier lower than the oddity of Midnight and I in terms of strange results involving the Familiar Bond spell.¡±


    ¡°... Why do you call it ¡®him¡¯?¡± Jet asked.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know,¡± Jerome shrugged. ¡°I just picked something. Same with his name.¡±


    ¡°Why does he have a personality?¡± she asked.


    Jerome looked at me. I had an answer to that. ¡°Well, normal animals and constructs are imbued with greater intelligence when they become familiars. I don¡¯t see why that couldn¡¯t be the case for the simpler intelligence of a robot.¡± In short, it was magic either way you looked at it.


    ¡°Right,¡± Jerome said. ¡°So, yeah. Everyone, this is Rob. Rob, this is my teacher Turlough, his friend Midnight, and Midnight¡¯s mother Jet.¡±


    The robot whistled, a sound I was fairly certain was not part of the normal repertoire of a cleaning robot.


    ¡°I picked a good apprentice,¡± I smiled at Jerome. I would much rather have this than something boring.

 Chapter 241

    There was something odd about watching a cleaning robot use magic to remove a pile of dust rather than its own bristles. Not that there was much to be found around the house, given Rob¡¯s purpose there.


    ¡°That¡¯s the only spell he¡¯ll cast on his own,¡± Jerome explained. ¡°Though I can make him cast other things, if I order him.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not terrible,¡± I said. ¡°Better than him using the wrong thing.¡±


    Jerome shrugged, ¡°Not that I have many dangerous spells. I¡¯ve been focusing on defensive stuff and utility, and don¡¯t really intend to change that anytime soon.¡±


    ¡°Good choice,¡± Jet commented. ¡°Too many young fellows would want to have flashy abilities.¡±


    Was that directed at me, or Midnight?¡¯


    Jerome did have other things to do aside from hanging out with me all day. If we were going to practice magic that would be one thing- and we would likely do so soon- but today was not that day. Next on the list was touring the city for the afternoon.


    -----


    It came to mind that Midnight seemed to have been more places in New Bay than myself. Aside from work related things, I didn¡¯t really go many places- and Midnight was with me for the vast majority of that.


    I¡¯d been to arcades a few times with the old squad, and I had certainly enjoyed it, but I didn¡¯t tend to seek out such experiences. For me, there was little better than knowing I was improving myself. Whether exercising, sparring, or simply practicing spells I gained something of value. Now that I could gain improvements to spells from simple use rather than points only, it was quite different. But sparring got me experience and practical training with spells, so that was the best thing short of actual combat.


    In summary, I loved my job and was glad it existed. And though I had seen my fair share of troubles in New Bay, including problems in the hero association as well as mercenary companies that went too far¡­ I thought it was better run than my previous world. At least here I didn¡¯t know of anyone trying to stop me from reaching my full potential. Though maybe they were just sneakier about it. Villains didn¡¯t count, obviously. Anyone acting outside the law at least meant they were publicly condemned. Also, I got to attack them so it balanced out.


    Midnight definitely knew more about various parts of New Bay than I did, from fancy seafood restaurants- he didn¡¯t just love one sort of fish- to tourist attractions and shopping.


    ¡°This planet is even more different than I imagined,¡± Jet commented. ¡°Beyond just the differences in body types. There is both high and low technology commonly found everywhere. And so many types of people¡­ it is quite different from Celmoth. However, I can certainly see the appeal of such a place.¡± Jet turned towards me. ¡°I look forward to showing you Celmoth, when the opportunity arises.¡±


    ¡°We do need to actually spend a proper amount of time working,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°But I would also like Turlough to see home. Though perhaps he might find it¡­ uncomfortable.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Jet said. ¡°We do appear to be placed higher than most individuals.¡± The two of them were riding on my shoulders, which was rather odd. Not because it was bad, but because usually it was just one occupied at a time. Fortunately, both Midnight and his mother had great balance so I didn¡¯t have to think about it too much. ¡°In fact, we are almost concerningly high. But you do not seem bothered. Have you¡­?¡±


    ¡°He knows about my fear of heights,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°And no, it¡¯s not really better. I just feel safe around my best buddy. Oh, here we are,¡± Midnight said.


    Jet looked around at our current destination. ¡°I fail to see what about this particular place you might recommend. It looks like mixed residential and businesses.¡±


    I looked around too. Indeed, it wasn¡¯t much to look at. But¡­ Midnight¡¯s head was turned towards a particular place. An alley. ¡°It¡¯s where we first met,¡± I commented.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Midnight said, his tail swishing happily. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if you would remember.¡±


    ¡°How could I not? It¡¯s not every day that you see someone in such obvious need.¡±


    ¡°You fed me hot dog,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°... I assume it is not cooked dog,¡± Jet said. ¡°Considering they are kept as pets here.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Midnight nodded. ¡°It¡¯s just a sausage.¡±


    ¡°Do you like them?¡±


    Midnight shrugged his shoulders. ¡°They¡¯re alright. At the time, though, they were divine.¡±


    I looked around. ¡°The hot dog stand is still just a couple blocks away,¡± I commented. ¡°We could see how they fare.¡±


    ¡°We just came from lunch,¡± Jet said. ¡°And you consumed a massive amount of food.¡±


    ¡°We all split a single meal,¡± I said. ¡°Though I¡¯ll admit it wasn¡¯t that small. But I am something over twenty times as heavy as you. Besides, we don¡¯t have to eat the whole thing.¡±


    ¡°Sounds wasteful,¡± Jet said.


    ¡°I suppose so,¡± I said. ¡°Most likely something will eat it.¡±


    To me, the hot dog was much the same. It was alright, though it really needed the condiments. Midnight and Jet split one without a bun, Jet holding the packaging with her fancy moldable suit. Midnight was both happy and extremely unimpressed. ¡°It¡¯s better when you¡¯re starving.¡±


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    ¡°It¡¯s certainly less impressive than that restaurant,¡± Jet commented.


    ¡°And a hundred times cheaper,¡± I pointed out. That wasn¡¯t even an exaggeration, either.


    A tingling sensation caught my attention. I looked around, trying to figure out what it was. But there was nothing of note that I could find. Just a woman walking her dog. A very big dog that sniffed as it walked past us.


    ¡°Hey, Midnight¡­¡± I said. ¡°What kind of dog is that again? A strong dane?¡±


    ¡°Great dane,¡± Midnight said. ¡°... Like Spot.¡±


    I turned away, just trying to feel behind me. ¡°You sense that?¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Similar power from both of them. It doesn¡¯t seem active but¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still a problem,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s not Darkstargirl though.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Jet asked. ¡°Is there something about that¡­ dog?¡±


    ¡°He might actually be one of the few verified bunvorixians on the planet,¡± I said.


    ¡°Then we should take him out,¡± Jet said. ¡°Oh, right. You¡¯re not at war with them here.¡±


    Midnight tilted his head. ¡°We kind of are, though. Not like, all of them. But if that¡¯s the one we think.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to follow them,¡± I said. ¡°But I think we should leave. We don¡¯t want to follow them into an ambush.¡±


    ¡°... Really?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°I¡¯m surprised.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to drag your mother into a battle,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Ah. I see,¡± Midnight said vaguely.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have been concerned about me,¡± she said. ¡°It is my duty to fight enemy combatants. And I can fight.¡±


    ¡°Too late now,¡± I shook my head. ¡°They¡¯re gone. But we might have others watching us. Aside from you being a civilian here, you also might not have a full grasp of what we¡¯re up against.¡±


    ¡°Then perhaps you should tell me,¡± Jet suggested.


    ¡°Sure. We can show you some things¡­ but we can¡¯t really include others from the Brigade.¡± I frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not really sure where the line is.¡±


    ¡°We can always look on video sharing sites,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°If it¡¯s been recorded and posted, it¡¯s all public knowledge.¡±


    ¡°Oh, good point. I forget about that kind of stuff.¡±


    Jet sighed. ¡°... is it because he comes from a world without technology?¡± she tried to whisper to Midnight.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think so,¡± Midnight replied. ¡°This is just how he is.¡±


    -----


    ¡°Raaagh!¡± the screaming voice came through my phone. We took a circuitous route home so we wouldn¡¯t be followed, and now we were watching Great Girl throw things. Like cars. And a bus. And some sort of golem. And eventually we would get to dragons.


    ¡°This is a very small screen,¡± Jet commented.


    ¡°Yeah, well, Turlough doesn¡¯t watch television,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And human computers aren¡¯t great for me.¡±


    ¡°Give me a moment,¡± Jet said, placing her paw over the phone. ¡°Hmm, it certainly doesn¡¯t have familiar adapters. But I can at least expand the image.¡± The silvery sheen around her began to flow over the phone, and then it expanded to a few times the size in each direction. Since the limitation wasn¡¯t the resolution the screen could display, it worked out quite well when it began to replicate the image below.


    ¡°That stuff sure can do a lot, huh?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That is what adaptive nanotech is best at, yes,¡± she said. ¡°I couldn¡¯t be certain what I would need, so I brought this.¡± As we watched more Great Girl videos, Jet nodded slowly. ¡°The size is a bit difficult to comprehend, but I can tell she is quite powerful. Not someone I would wish to take on without backup.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s one of the good guys,¡± I said. ¡°But the fact that she¡¯s necessary to fight against some of the threats here is the point.¡± I tried to touch the phone, but the coating was in the way. ¡°Oh. I wanted to look up Stargirl.¡±


    ¡°I can do that,¡± Jet said. She put her paw on the screen, and the coating slipped away. ¡°Stargirl, was it?¡±


    Before she finished punching in the search, Midnight interrupted. ¡°You¡¯re going to want to search for Shooting Star or Dark Star,¡± he explained.


    That was what I¡¯d said. Well, not the part about Darkstargirl, but obviously Stargirl would find that too.


    ¡°Was she the one with that Bunvorixian?¡± Jet asked as she saw a video pop up with Spot in the thumbnail.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°No, that wasn¡¯t her. She looks and feels way different. That was probably one of her fanclub.¡±


    We actually had a chance to see her real face since she turned villain. Specifically after she broke out of prison, though the information wasn¡¯t publicly available until she was sentenced. There were all sorts of rules about supers with regards to prosecution and villain status that I didn¡¯t care about, but a relevant thing was she didn¡¯t even bother sending a lawyer to defend herself in court. Maybe she thought going full villain would be good for her image. And¡­ it was. At least in terms of popularity, though obviously there were all sorts of legal issues with selling merch for villains. Some still managed it though.


    ¡°Hmm. Energy powers,¡± Jet commented. ¡°These would actually be easier to counter than excessive kinetic force. Though it would depend on her durability¡­¡±


    ¡°Pretty high,¡± Midnight said. ¡°She¡¯s not a heavy or anything, but her power protects her from damage.¡±


    ¡°And the two of you fought her?¡±


    ¡°We have energy ablative barriers,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Approximately. Also, we had more squadmates with us.¡±


    Jet was eagerly flipping through various recommended videos about supers. Since it was my phone, she got some of my recommendations. ¡°Who is this Shockwave? The videos are uh¡­ low quality.¡±


    ¡°A speedster from the Power Brigade,¡± I commented. ¡°They¡¯re¡­ fast, obviously.¡±


    ¡°This is perhaps the most troublesome ability of all,¡± Jet commented. ¡°How could someone even react to this?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be surprised what experienced supers can manage,¡± I said. ¡°Also, our personal solution is Haste.¡± Of course, if Shockwave was in a murderous mood, I think only heavies would be safe. I had seen them kill a swarm of rats with a knife. Self preservation prevented Shockwave from using the vast force of momentum to cause harm, but a fast cut with a fit person¡¯s strength or a bit more was still possible. ¡°Also Slow. The combination really makes us pretty close in speed.¡±


    ¡°I am ever more curious to see a demonstration of your abilities,¡± Jet commented. ¡°How would you rate your own strength?¡±


    ¡°Average,¡± I said.


    ¡°Significantly above average,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°We survived an encounter with Doctor Doomsday and triumphed over Stargirl. Shooting Star,¡± Midnight caught himself. ¡°Though our current limitations are that of combat longevity due to limited mana.¡±


    ¡°You need to tell me about mana too,¡± Jet said.


    ¡°Oh, I have a whole book on it,¡± I said. ¡°Though I haven¡¯t verified it¡¯s all correct or safe, yet.¡± Midnight could really benefit from boosted mana stores, though it wasn¡¯t as if I was happy with my limits either. And greater recovery would be nice too. Maybe Celmothian technology could help, somehow? That would be interesting.

 Chapter 242

    Jet nodded as we went over the basics of mana to her. ¡°That fits in with what we have figured out on Celmoth, through the efforts of those you previously rescued. You indicated that they might develop strange abilities but¡­ most of them seem fairly normal. They¡¯re just¡­ better at things? Until they get tired quite rapidly.¡±


    ¡°Better at what kinds of things?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Oh, you know, their nanosuits run more efficiently and so do many of their workstations,¡± Jet commented.


    ¡°... So did all of them become artificers?¡± Midnight pondered.


    I frowned. ¡°I would suppose that makes sense, since that¡¯s the main thing they are exposed to. But I would still expect different things.¡±


    Jet continued her earlier statements, ¡°Well, I did say most of them. A couple of them exhibited lightning and fire based abilities. And one¡­ became strangely good at influencing people. He said something about a shiny human¡­?¡±


    ¡°In armor or¡­?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Seemingly unarmored, yet able to survive concerning injuries,¡± Jet commented.


    ¡°That was probably Lustre,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°And the others¡­ could have unconsciously sparked their class choice from us,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Since we were using spells when we rescued them.¡±


    ¡°So what do artificers do?¡± Jet asked. For some reason, the two Celmothians turned to look at me.


    ¡°Why should I know? They¡¯re weird, even in my world. You¡¯d probably do better asking Khithae, since she has more experience.¡± She didn¡¯t have the full class unlocks, since she was only exposed to a portal without going through. Unlike the Celmothians. ¡°Midnight, did we tell your people about status windows?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°Would we need to? That only matters if people are exposed to your original world¡­ for an extended period¡­ oh.¡±


    Jet frowned- a facial expression I recognized from my long term interactions with Midnight. ¡°I don¡¯t remember anything about a¡­ status window? Does it happen occasionally or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Like a projected computer interface,¡± Midnight explained. Translation couldn¡¯t quite clear up the wording on its own, but Midnight could explain in his native language just fine. ¡°People should have a level and points to spend¡­ kind of like a game. That will also let them preview most abilities they can unlock.¡±


    ¡°I certainly don¡¯t recall anything like this,¡± Jet admitted. ¡°How would they access such a thing?¡±


    ¡°You just have to think about it,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It¡¯s really that simple.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, that would mean I could¡­?¡± Jet tilted her head.


    ¡°Only if you went to Turlough¡¯s former world.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Jet nodded.


    ¡°You might also have to spend time there. It¡¯s not super clear.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Everyone involved happened to do so unexpectedly, for the most part.¡±


    ¡°Though,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Maybe they weren¡¯t there long enough. Since we only waited a couple hours.¡±


    Ultimately, we didn¡¯t have an easy way to contact anyone until Jet returned. Technically Midnight or I could use Sending for one of the group we rescued but our connection was¡­ tenuous. I didn¡¯t even know their names.


    ¡°This has been an enlightening conversion,¡± Jet said. ¡°We might be able to produce something that could detect mana.¡±


    ¡°We can also give you a primer on levels and mana and stuff to give to them,¡± I added. ¡°Since we didn¡¯t have a good one prepared before.¡± We hadn¡¯t exactly been expecting to find them among others.


    -----


    About half of Jet¡¯s weeklong trip had already passed. A week wasn¡¯t enough to learn about a new world, country, or even city¡­ but it was enough to see some of Midnight¡¯s favorite bits. But not all of Jet¡¯s time ended up being spent with us. Some of it was spent on¡­ what was it called? Oh right, ¡®official diplomatic matters¡¯. Something about establishing proper contact with Celmoth into the future, considering their people had appeared on Earth¡¯s hotspots before and likely would continue to.


    Midnight and I might have to do some of the actual contacting stuff and definitely transporting, since even with space flight and on-planet teleportation it didn¡¯t seem that Celmoth had a way to reach Earth through normal means. Then again, maybe they simply hadn¡¯t known it was something they could or should do. Some people had simply disappeared without the indication that they should have showed up somewhere else.


    It wasn¡¯t my job to think about that stuff though. I¡¯d help for Midnight¡¯s sake- or if I got paid- but that was about where my interest ended. I had no intention of being part of Extra¡¯s day-to-day operations.


    -----


    Since Midnight and I didn¡¯t want to be selective about introducing our friends, we were finally going to meet up with Ceira. We just needed some time for Jet to get used to the idea of cats and dogs being animals and pets. She¡¯d technically heard that before she came to Earth, but she hadn¡¯t seen it.


    I had to admit that it was an odd idea. It was a step further than me imagining humans keeping an ape like a chimpanzee or orangutan as a pet- they were present in zoos, and sufficiently far removed from humans that it wasn¡¯t odd. Instead it would be something nearly indistinguishable from human. Though Midnight seemed to have learned to spot the difference, aside from the intelligence they acted with.


    We could have tried to arrange to meet Ceira without her companions, but it seemed a bit dishonest. She didn¡¯t have to be with them all the time, but they were her buddies. And we also wanted to show Jet that dogs could be friendly. This was our best opportunity.


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    Obviously we were going to meet at a park. Parks were nice. And the two animals had far too much energy to be cooped up inside all the time. Or almost any of the time, from what I heard.


    Our attention was drawn by friendly barking from Bun, though obviously Jet didn¡¯t get the friendliness in the sound.


    ¡°Bungo, sit!¡± Ceira said, calling out to her dog with his code name. ¡°That¡¯s not Midnight.¡±


    ¡®Bungo¡¯ looked at the cats on my shoulder, tilted his head, then whined. He then began to sniff around, looking between the two and ultimately turning his head towards Midnight.


    ¡°It¡¯s strange,¡± Jet said. ¡°The sounds are familiar, but not really close to speech at all, are they?¡±


    Having little exposure to proper Bunvorixian language, I didn¡¯t know what to say. Certainly, actual meowing didn¡¯t sound like Celmothian to me, though I probably couldn¡¯t properly vocalize the animal sounds or the speech.


    The brown and black striped form of ¡®Celery¡¯ skittered onto Bun¡¯s head, finding that he was intentionally stopped. The higher perch brought the cat closer to the two Celmothians. Cel meowed.


    ¡°Very odd indeed,¡± Jet repeated. ¡°You would be Ceira, then?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ceira nodded. ¡°Your son looks a lot like you.¡± Coming from her, that meant something. I might not distinguish between black cats- or Celmothians- all that easily, but she should be better at it.  Midnight had jumped down, and Bun looked at Ceira, whining. ¡°Free,¡± she said. ¡°You can go play.¡±


    Cel immediately wrapped paws under Bun¡¯s chin, pulling him back, and then the three were racing around. Seeing the intentional way Midnight moved, I thought I could probably pick out someone like him without the bond. Obviously with it the matter was trivial.


    ¡°I hear you have powers as well?¡± Jet began the conversation.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ceira nodded. ¡°I¡¯m a druid. That¡¯s uh, plant and animal based stuff.¡±


    ¡°Can you show me? If it¡¯s not too difficult,¡± Jet added.


    ¡°Sure, lemme just find¡­¡± she looked around on the ground, picking up a dandelion puff. ¡°Perfect,¡± she said. First she blew at it, letting the pretty white fluffy bits fly around, then she caught one between her fingers. From there, just a small injection of mana and it grew into a yellow flower over the course of half a minute, like watching an accelerated video. Then she bent down, poking a small hole in the dirt and placing its roots in there. ¡°I can make seeds sprout. That¡¯s the easiest yet most miraculous thing.¡±


    ¡°... Wow,¡± Jet said. ¡°That¡¯s quite a bit more impressive than simply throwing around energy like Turlough and Midnight.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Though Turlough does some pretty amazing things too.¡±


    ¡°Mostly for fighting,¡± Jet pointed out. I just shrugged. That was how things were for me.


    ¡°... Turlough,¡± Ceria commented as she stood, looking past me. ¡°Don¡¯t look now, but¡­ there¡¯s a great dane over there.¡±


    ¡°Is that a problem?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I mean¡­ I think it¡¯s Spot.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a problem,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°... I¡¯m impressed you actually didn¡¯t look,¡± she said.


    ¡°Practice,¡± I explained. ¡°Can you get a picture or otherwise confirm?¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­¡± Ceira said. ¡°How about¡­¡± she pulled out her phone, turning it horizontally. ¡°Say cheese!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Jet asked, swiveling her head back towards Ceira- she had been looking towards Spot. Or maybe just a big dog.


    ¡°It just means to smile for the camera,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, it¡¯s not supposed to make sense.¡±


    The digital shutter sound came from Ceira¡¯s phone, and she turned around to show us. ¡°Actually you could have just used your front camera,¡± she commented. ¡°But there he is.¡±


    ¡°It certainly looks right,¡± I said. ¡°But I can¡¯t feel anything. Oh hey look, it¡¯s Titan.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°That big guy. One second.¡± I tapped my comm so it would start actively broadcasting to Power Brigade HQ. ¡°This is Mage, we have a code DSG at Coon Meadows.¡±


    ¡°Elaborate,¡± came the response. For some reason, I got the impression they didn¡¯t understand what I was saying at all.


    ¡°Spot and Titan are here, as well as a smattering of thugs related to Darkstargirl.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Dark Star¡¯s minions¡­ Spot and Titas, are you certain? Do you see her or Gloom?¡±


    ¡°Not currently. I¡¯ll broadcast from my phone.¡±


    At some point during that process, Ceira whistled. ¡°Cel! Bun! Come here guys!¡± she kept her voice enthusiastic, but I could detect a strain of worry. Or maybe that was from Jet, as I still had trouble reading people¡¯s emotions without some sort of magical connection.


    ¡°Those fellows are villains?¡± Jet asked. ¡°Including a Bunvorixian?¡±


    ¡°Seems like it,¡± I said, performing that camera trick Ceira mentioned. This was certainly a lot more covert than pointing my arm directly at people.


    ¡°Match confirmed with high accuracy,¡± came the voice from my comms. ¡°Orders are to continue monitoring the situations. Try to stay out of trouble while backup is sent.¡±


    ¡°You know me,¡± I said. ¡°Which means that was never going to work anyway.¡± Also, they were already approaching. It was odd, I couldn¡¯t feel any mana from any of the suspicious group individually, but as a whole it was still there. ¡°You should probably stay out of this, Ceira.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡± she said. ¡°That guy is making dogs look bad. Also you¡¯re my friend, and this is my park. I would suggest we go over towards those trees there, though,¡± she gestured.


    ¡°We¡¯d better do that quick,¡± I said, already walking. ¡°They seem to have suspicions we caught on.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Midnight asked, running behind Cel and Bun. ¡°Is it a fight?¡±


    ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because you have that weird calm excitement,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Time for buffs?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± I said. ¡°But with six of us, we¡¯ll have to stretch I think.¡±


    ¡°... We have a lot of bonds though,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I think we can do it.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± I acknowledged his determination. ¡°Stoneskin first, at two to one.¡±


    Just about the time we began gathering mana, I felt the same from behind us- and the echoes of the various mana among the crows was unleashed. Ugh, those thugs had a lot more time to practice now, didn¡¯t they?


    As for our magic affecting six people¡­ Midnight was right about the bonds. The one between Midnight and Jet didn¡¯t seem to help any but Ceira, Cel, and Bun seemed to only count as one between them. Or at least¡­ no more than two. Which meant with Midnight and I counting together, we would be fine regardless of other factors. It still required focusing on more targets at once, but that wasn¡¯t too bad.


    Jet was surprisingly calm, lifting up her paw and watching as her fur gained a stony gray texture. ¡°Fascinating. This is some sort of defensive magic?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I wouldn¡¯t count on it too much though,¡± I said.


    ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Actually¡­¡± Ceira said. ¡°Can you¡­ make them big?¡± she asked, gesturing to her companions. ¡°I don¡¯t know how yet.¡±


    I grinned. ¡°We can make everyone big,¡± I said. I kind of wanted to kick Titan right in his big fat face. Or whatever his name was.

 Chapter 243

    ¡°We are fighting, then?¡± Jet asked as we headed into a nearby copse of trees.


    ¡°I suppose we don¡¯t have to,¡± I admitted. ¡°However, they¡¯re already approaching so Midnight and I will need to hold them off while backup arrive. You and Ceira should probably go.¡±


    ¡°If you are confident in survival with just the two of you, then I would not suggest retreating from a Bunvorixian with my addition, even considering odd powers,¡± Jet said, glowering towards the approaching group. Then something odd happened. She barked, loudly. I had a small amount of exposure to the Bunvorixian language before, but I wasn¡¯t able to pick anything up from what she said.


    ¡°What was that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Just reminding that fellow that I have diplomatic protections and he is a criminal,¡± Jet said.


    Midnight flicked his tail. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to convince him to not attack us,¡± he pointed out. ¡°Given he¡¯s already very wanted and all.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t trying to convince him not to attack. You should probably do that thing you were talking about where everyone is made big, or whatever. They¡¯re getting quite close.¡± She tilted her head. ¡°It¡¯s odd, I don¡¯t see ranged weaponry among them.¡±


    It was actually possible for either Midnight or I to cast Enlarge on all of us together without sharing the burden, but we split it anyway. It was good practice, and we didn¡¯t want to hit either of our mana pools too much.


    Before we actually cast, Midnight hopped to the ground, and Jet followed suit. Which was good, because I really didn¡¯t want something as large as they turned into on my shoulder. Midnight, Jet, and Cel were all about the same size, and then they were vaguely the size of a mountain lion. And not the small bobcats, either, a proper great cat. I estimated they were about the same size as Spot, the great dane. Not quite the same proportions, though.


    Technically, since I¡¯d also Enlarged myself they didn¡¯t look bigger to me, but comparing them to the nearby trees and the people walking towards us¡­ they were big. And Bun? He was enormous. The way he growled at the approaching people wasn¡¯t that scary from my angle, but some of the people shuddered.


    It was just about time to start throwing lightning, but we needed to give official warning. Mostly because I didn¡¯t recognize everyone as escaped criminals or fugitives. I let a little bit of electricity play between my fingers as I withdrew my staff from Storage. ¡°Two among you are fugitive supervillains, if the rest of you don¡¯t want to be charged with supervillainy you¡¯ll take this chance to leave.¡±


    ¡°No way man!¡± one of them said.


    ¡°Yeah, supervillainy is awesome!¡±


    Well, at least that would make some lawyers happy. And unlike the big guy and Spot, the rest of these guys wouldn¡¯t get rescued specifically. Though if we caught Spot and Titan or whatever he was called then they would be thrown into somewhere with much better security than before.


    I could feel people gathering mana all around me, and I was worried about what they might do. But the first spell to be finished came from Ceira. Suddenly, half of the trees around the group suddenly swung towards them, their branches extending. The grass in the area also began to wrap around their feet.


    Most of them were caught. Titan ripped himself out immediately, roaring. Spot, meanwhile, suddenly grew quite a bit larger. But it wasn¡¯t Enlarge, as it came with a lot more glowing after the fact. Well, there went Bun¡¯s size advantage. Spot could give Great Girl a run for her money with that size- though I suspected Great Girl would overcome him through other means. She wasn¡¯t just big.


    My Chain Lightning hit Titan directly, and I had to say¡­ I really expected more. As it flowed through him, he only slightly grimaced. Just that, but it was supposed to hit harder than Sonic Lance. Then again, he probably barely had any levels at the time.


    The big guy charged towards us as my lightning moved to its next target, Spot. He also didn¡¯t go into sudden cardiac arrest, which was both expected and disappointing- though he looked like it worked a bit better than on the other guy, despite his current massive form.


    The rest of the chain lightning zapped through various others. At least they convulsed properly, though I noticed how much my spell weakened with each one. They weren¡¯t unprotected, but had some sort of super suits¡­ even though their clothes had mostly looked normal.


    Ah. I realized there were no smoking holes in any of their shirts. So it was some sort of illusion. Perhaps related to why I hadn¡¯t sensed them individually. That wasn¡¯t helpful immediately, but perhaps later.


    As it turned out, they weren¡¯t all stupid enough to come fight us unarmed. Several had hidden blades, while others pulled weapons out of nowhere. Or rather, Storage. It was easy enough to recognize that. One of those few who hadn¡¯t been Entangled even pulled out a few guns.


    That was when things got chaotic. A massive dog and cat dove into a pile of people, while an even more massive dog and a big angry guy shoved their way through that crowd. Just because the big guy didn¡¯t have a weapon didn¡¯t mean he was less dangerous. And maybe he would start ripping out a tree or something. Sure, he was within ¡®normal¡¯ human size limits, but I was pretty sure he was a Barbarian so he might still be able to do that.


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    Another pulse of magic from Spot flowed out over the group, and I could only presume it was bolstering them somehow. From there, the battle became pretty chaotic. I was glad I¡¯d taken out some of the masses, but there were still at least a half dozen people with unknown powers, and weapons as well. They wouldn¡¯t remain tied up forever.


    Jet had¡­ disappeared somewhere. Midnight was backing up Cel and Bun. The two animals were flanking Spot, who was biting and clawing at them. The two of them worked quite well together against the larger dog, though I could tell they didn¡¯t have proper combat training. Midnight, however, did. And he was quite good at picking out weak spots in people¡¯s gear. In this case, it was Spot¡¯s tail. He slapped it with a good Shocking Grasp, and while it was probably less effective than my Chain Lightning still, it wasn¡¯t that far off for much cheaper.


    I made a mental note that whoever made their outfits had trouble with odd shapes like tails. For the record, Midnight¡¯s tail was well protected by Francois¡¯s work.


    The big guy was actually smaller than me at the moment, as Enlarge made me almost as tall as Great Girl¡¯s limit of fifteen feet. I was still a bit shorter, and it didn¡¯t come with as much proportional strength increase, but the size was still valuable for things like smacking Titan in the face with my staff, sending him staggering backward. I would have expected to have shattered his skull, but he was charging back towards me a moment later.


    There were two yelps. One as some of the random fanatics attacked Bun, injuring my favorite dog as they attacked en masse. Then another much more pleasing cry of pain from my least favorite dog shaped individual a moment later, as Spot somehow got a cut along his forehead and across part of his eye. I couldn¡¯t see Jet, but it hadn¡¯t come from any other source so it had to be her, right? The Bunvorixian barked angrily, and while I didn¡¯t get a clear translation I could tell it carried with it the weight of profanity.


    ¡°You jerks!¡± I heard Ceira yelling. ¡°That¡¯s my dog!¡±


    That didn¡¯t do much for her except get one of them to point his gun towards her. It was there I somewhat regretted making Ceira large- it didn¡¯t really improve her combat capabilities and just made her a bigger target. Two shots rang out. Well, at least Stoneskin was working as she only grimaced- but that wouldn¡¯t hold out forever.


    Ceira didn¡¯t just stand there, of course. She reached out her arm, causing a tree branch to wrap around the man¡¯s outstretched arm. That pulled his arm off center as he continued to shoot wildly, but only for a moment before the sounds suddenly stopped. I suppose that made sense, as the gun looked to be more rust than anything else. Modern materials might be a little bit rustproof, but they weren¡¯t magically rustproof.


    It was a pretty cool combo, as I was fairly sure Ceira had actually channeled the rust through the tree. I would ask her about that later- when we weren¡¯t actively being assaulted.


    ¡°Uh-oh,¡± I said as I felt something. ¡°Midnight! Help split some Energy Ward!¡±


    Midnight obviously felt the same thing, and he scurried over. We gathered mana as I continued to fend off the big guy who would not go down while sweeping my staff to keep back a few others who were more cognizant of their bones being breakable.


    Alright, so we needed to protect against fire. Star fire. Dark¡­ star fire. Would that make it cold? Ahh, hell, I didn¡¯t know. I just thought about whatever crap the incoming Darkstargirl had bursting out of her. I didn¡¯t know where Jet was, but I tried to reach out to her as well as the companions I could see as I cast Energy Ward.


    I watched the sky momentarily, and saw Darkstargirl sway off course for a brief moment. But I had to admit, I wasn¡¯t ready for this. I¡¯d calculated for all of the people who had been around, and we¡¯d been doing fine¡­ but Darkstargirl was a bigger threat.


    ¡°We need to hold off for reinforcements!¡± I called. ¡°Watch for her specifically!¡±


    I activated the dispelling magic stored in my staff as I thrust straight into Titan¡¯s chest. He never even tried to avoid it¡­ so when suddenly his magical rage and whatever Spot had done to bolster him began to unravel, he wasn¡¯t ready. I heard a decent crack sound as he tumbled backwards. I really wished I could save that for Darkstargirl, but we couldn¡¯t afford to fight all these guys and that flying jerk.


    I thought we had a few more moments before she got to us, but I forgot. She wasn¡¯t a melee combatant, but an omnirange high powered super. Which sucked. We had about half a second to dodge behind trees as she gathered a huge ball of black fire and threw it into the copse.


    The very good news was that I¡¯d attuned Energy Ward properly. The other good news was that Ceira was the furthest from the center, so she wasn¡¯t as affected. Bun and Cel were surrounded by a bunch of people¡­ which muted the blow. Because obviously Darkstargirl didn¡¯t care who she hurt. She barely avoided exploding her fans before she officially turned evil.


    Once I could see, I made out a bunch of scorched humans, flaming trees, and a tumbling cat and dog pair that was very swiftly no longer on fire. Their fur didn¡¯t look great, though. Maybe we should get them a proper super suit.


    I managed to spot Jet momentarily, as her shimmering silver suit worked to blend back in with the surroundings. It seemed she¡¯d come prepared with more than utility, which very much explained her confidence.


    It seemed Darkstargirl couldn¡¯t repeat such a large explosion indefinitely, or maybe she was too busy blocking something from her face- though I couldn¡¯t see or hear whatever it was. Just a tiny trickle of power. Ah, wait. That would be Mono, wouldn¡¯t it? It didn¡¯t fill me with confidence that she was so easily shrugging off rifle shots, but it still made me feel better that she was being inconvenienced at least.


    I wished I had gotten more magic negating bullets from Vilhelmiina. Then again, I didn¡¯t regret how I used them.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you this time, you damned filthy orc!¡±


    Well, at least Darkstargirl knew what she wanted. I just had to figure out how to make her not achieve those goals¡­ with practically no mana remaining.

 Chapter 244

    If we were fresh, I couldn¡¯t necessarily say we had a good chance to beat Darkstargirl, but I would have bet we could hold her long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Unfortunately, Midnight and I had already spent most of our mana providing protections for our group and the rest fighting Spot and this big guy.


    After Darkstargirl destroyed the entire copse of trees we were sheltering in with a single attack, negating most of our Energy Ward as well, things weren¡¯t looking good for us. So I immediately set my sights on the sturdiest piece of cover still around.


    That cover tried to fight back. Indeed, rather forcefully. But while Titan or whatever was a fairly big guy his raging fury wouldn¡¯t last forever¡­ and I was bigger. More importantly, I was better at wrestling. With my staff out of juice, I had moved to hand to hand combat for this particular endeavor.


    Ultimately, I managed to exploit the difference between a thug working under a supervillain and a proper mercenary. I faked a twinge in my knee¡­ and then the guy was too slow to exploit it. So I did it again, and he lunged towards me. That was enough for me to slip around his side, twisting my arms around him on one side, then securing my position behind his back with my arms twisted under his shoulders and behind his neck. Because of my current size, my arms crossed each other quite a bit, my hands almost reaching my own shoulders on either side.


    That did ultimately make him less good as a human shield, but he was still quite functional when I used him to block a few small blasts of energy from above. For some reason, that seemed to annoy the flying woman quite a lot, which made me want to keep doing it. When she tried to target someone else, I simply used my long stride to carry my shield to cover Cel and Bun.


    Midnight was most capable of avoiding things himself, so I figured he was fine. Ceira was somewhat vulnerable, but she was sheltering behind one of the few half-standing trees. Jet was¡­ presumably still invisible somewhere.


    The cat and dog were fending off Spot, and even though the Bunvorixian was using magic to augment himself he seemed to be running out of steam. Or mana, really. Most of the rest of the fanatics were already down from Darkstargirl¡¯s opening explosion.


    I felt a larger surge of power come from the sky, and I knew I only had a moment to react. I could barely block for Cel and Bun, but Ceira might be in trouble. However, Darkstargirl had dropped closer to the ground so I attacked with the only weapon I had available, specifically the seven foot or so man I was holding in my arms. I doubted it would hurt someone as strong as her, but enough momentum in a projectile always had a chance of disrupting people.


    For my toss, I imagined what I¡¯d seen Great Girl do in the past. It wasn¡¯t really close, but the inspiration helped me send the man end over end, resulting in him going foot first into Darkstargirl¡¯s face. He hit just about the time she released her blast of stupid shiny black power, which shot from her flailing hand and streaked towards a nearly empty part of the park.


    Nearly empty because there happened to be a news van there, just out of range of the explosion. Well, most of it anyway. Pretty sure I heard shattering glass, but the frame of the van was intact so they probably survived.


    Not that we had time to worry about other people. Darkstargirl didn¡¯t suddenly stop existing just because I sent her reeling, though she did seem to have caught her large fanatic and was lowering him slowly to- no wait she dropped him from like twenty feet up.


    My plan was to catch the final piece of cover remaining. Spot was pretty close to my size, as he was a massive dog to begin with and we¡¯d both been magically enlarged through different spells. Cel and Bun were half singed, but their other injuries were smaller as Stoneskin had prevented quite a bit of damage.


    Midnight seemed to have a plan. At least, wherever he was running off towards the edge of the park he felt fairly hopeful. Maybe that was just a plan to take shelter, which I honestly didn¡¯t think was a bad one. I¡¯d been ready to fight a couple of these guys, not for Darkstargirl to show up a few moments later. Lesson learned, if I survived.


    Something hot hit me in the side. No, it was cold. Freezing. Actually, it was both. It was a very unpleasant feeling, but it was a purely physical one. I thought it wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as the direct mental anguish that Gloom caused. Speaking of which¡­ wasn¡¯t Gloom buddies with Darkstargirl now? If Gloom showed up, it would not be good. But Gloom couldn¡¯t fly, I think, so hopefully we had time.


    I staggered towards Spot, reaching out for him, but the Bunvorixian leapt backwards. I was prepared to charge after him, but large roots suddenly blocked my path- along with Cel and Bun. At the same time, another wave of heat and cold rolled over me. The roots and remaining stumps of the trees were all scoured away, leaving no cover for any of us.


    I saw an evil grin on Darkstargirl¡¯s face, and realized Spot had retreated to a safe distance. Looking around, the only thing of use I could find was my dropped staff, which I lunged for. My outfit had already protected me from quite a bit, but Francois was already going to be mad at the damage to said outfit and also myself. My staff was a bit sturdier.


    It had grown with me as I first held it, but now it looked rather pathetic. Objects would shrink a few seconds after losing contact with the primary target. Even so, I held the staff in one hand, tilted across my body for all the good it would do. I actually managed to parry a small ball of blackness, but Darkstargirl was tossing attacks with both hands, half and me and half at the other targets she could find. Everyone was dodging around as they could but we were exhausted and this flying woman still looked fairly fresh.


    I had felt Midnight cast Haste at some point, but the speed at which he was now moving was still outside the bounds of my prediction. It was a sudden acceleration that I couldn¡¯t help but turn towards¡­ and my head snapped up. He was like a streak of lightning through the sky, swiping his paw across Darkstargirl¡¯s face as she held a particularly large orb of darkness over her head. He continued on through the air, and then he was falling as his arc continued. He certainly didn¡¯t feel happy about that falling part, but I saw him land on his feet halfway across the park.


    Sadly the attack didn¡¯t stop Darkstargirl from charging her attack. I stood at the ready. Should I throw my staff? No, that was stupid. I did have enough mana to cast Mage¡¯s reach, though, and position it closer to her so that any explosion would spread out before it reached us.


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    She didn¡¯t even bother avoiding my obvious attempt to block¡­ and she was right to do so, as while the staff held up just fine Mage¡¯s Reach dissolved under the power. Sparkling black like the night sky flew towards me. And then my vision was filled with purple.


    A scream more of anger than of pain came from in front of me. The explosion of dark power didn¡¯t make it around the large figure- larger than even myself at the current moment. But the purple figure was only there for a moment. It then turned into a blur, as I just barely comprehended Great Girl backing up briefly¡­ then charging forward, leaping into the air.


    The panic on Darkstargirl¡¯s face as she flew directly up into the air was quite satisfying, as was the way she tumbled head over heels a moment later. Presumably that part was Mono¡¯s work as Great Girl didn¡¯t manage to touch her.


    Great Girl spoke in a manner I only barely understood from my previous exposure to Hasted people- Shockwave always knew how to modulate their speech rate properly. ¡°I¡¯mgoing toripyouapart!¡± Great Girl growled.


    For her part, it looked like Darkstargirl believed her, flying even higher once she stabilized her spin. She looked towards something I couldn¡¯t see then shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s getting too hot here. I¡¯ll get you next time!¡± With that, she began to fly away.


    That didn¡¯t stop Great Girl in her wolfed out form from looking like she was going to pounce, but even Hasted and fifteen feet tall I wasn¡¯t sure she could reach a hundred feet up.


    ¡°We can catch Spot!¡± I said, yelling to draw her attention and pointing towards the fleeing Bunvorixian.


    She growled but nodded, almost bending over to all fours as she chased after the not-so-great dane. With Haste, it didn¡¯t really matter if dogs were better runners¡­ and Great Girl might be a step away from going full wolf.


    I looked around when I felt a surge of power, and I looked down to see Movebrain standing there with a few sets of cuffs dangling from his hands. ¡°We should probably start securing people.¡±


    I took the biggest size available and went over to the big guy. ¡°You¡¯re going away for a long time, Titan.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Titas,¡± Movebrain corrected me.


    The big guy grunted as I approached. He was in a half crouch, and he didn¡¯t put up much of a fuss as I cuffed him. It looked like he had a broken ankle¡­ from the fall maybe. Or from the collision with Darkstargirl, but either way that was his own problem. ¡°... I like that name, actually,¡± he said. ¡°Can I be Titan?¡±


    Looking over at the news van and Zack Brannigan excitedly speaking into the camera, I shrugged. ¡°Looks like it.¡±


    My gaze soon ended up on Ceira, along with Cel and Bun. Bun¡­ looked like he¡¯d taken the brunt of the damage in the fight, and there was a lot of blood in his fur. I was fairly certain it was exaggerated by his size, and that some of it was probably Spot¡¯s¡­ but Ceira didn¡¯t seem to be getting that.


    She looked over at me as I approached. ¡°Replenish won¡¯t be- I don¡¯t think I can heal this much! My mana¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± I said. ¡°I''m sure it looks worse than it actually is.¡± The dog whimpering didn¡¯t really help my case, but he might have been trying to agree with me. ¡°If you leveled up, you¡¯ll have a little bit more mana and some points you can spend to increase your efficiency. I¡¯m sure you can do just fine.¡±


    ¡°... Right,¡± she nodded. ¡°Points. I can¡­ and with my mana¡­¡± she furrowed her brow as she grumbled to herself. ¡°But all the trees¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, I have to do it.¡± She reached out her hand to Bun and cast a spell that was definitely not Replenish. I¡¯d never seen it before, but given the amount of mana she put into it I could guess.


    Apparently, she wasn¡¯t as low as I had assumed from her earlier words. Then again, we were fighting in her domain. The park¡¯s natural environment would improve her mana regeneration, and she might be able to draw more from it¡­ though I couldn¡¯t really say there was much in our immediate surroundings that I would call particularly druidy anymore.


    I caught Ceira as her legs gave out, holding her so she could watch her spell work. Cel also watched with great interest as the wounds on Bun¡¯s side closed up before my very eyes. The dog whimpered, but the way he nudged Ceira¡¯s face it seemed more concern about her than himself.


    ¡°Regenerate, huh. I didn¡¯t think you could cast that yet.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡­¡± Ceira shook her head. ¡°After the thing with your friend, I put a bunch of upgrades in it¡­ and this one was enough, I guess.¡±


    Unlike Replenish, which boosted natural healing in somewhat less immediate way, Regenerate was quite startling to watch. It even removed most of the blood from Bun¡¯s fur, as presumably the rest of it wasn¡¯t his.


    ¡°Young lady, do you happen to be looking for work?¡± I heard from next to us.


    ¡°... Huh?¡± Ceira tilted her head, still clearly a bit dazed.


    Movebrain was standing there in his nicely tailored suit. ¡°The Power Brigade could use a healer like you. Actually, if that power works on everyone, the New Bay Super Association would gladly hire you as well. I could get you in the door if you¡¯re not interested in working for mercenaries.¡±


    ¡°... You¡¯d do that? Why?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°Because the more people we have with healing powers in the city, the better. You¡¯d free up other people to do more.¡±


    Ceira frowned. ¡°I¡¯d never really thought about it. My healing wasn¡¯t that good before.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you must have been practicing well,¡± Movebrain said.


    ¡°Well, sort of. But mostly I¡¯m just able to cast a better spell now.¡±


    ¡°... Ah. Portal power?¡± he looked between her and me. I just nodded. ¡°Well, if you can do that again, nobody¡¯s really going to care where. It¡¯s interesting, though, I didn¡¯t think they could be that strong. Then again,¡± he looked at me. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because we mostly have untrained newbies.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been busy!¡± I held up my hands. ¡°And I don¡¯t know anything about healing anyway.¡±


    ¡°If people can get this level of healing in less than a year¡­ we really need to push this angle harder,¡± Movebrain said.


    ¡°Well, most people won¡¯t be able to do this. For two reasons,¡± I added. ¡°Mostly because they won¡¯t have as much experience. But they also probably won¡¯t have the full package.¡±


    ¡°Ah yes. I was briefed on that. Now that I think of it, you were the young woman Mage here was rescuing from Doctor Doomsday, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ceira sighed. ¡°I really wouldn¡¯t recommend that just to grow stronger more quickly.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. But we can invest for a few years into the future easily enough,¡± Movebrain said. ¡°Five or ten wouldn¡¯t even be that bad if we can heal wounds like that.¡±


    I wondered what he would think if he knew that healing wounds wasn¡¯t even the astounding part of that spell. Well, I¡¯d let Ceira make her own decision about whether she wanted to explain how that was supposed to work.

 Chapter 245

    Ceira sighed. ¡°I liked this park. Now it¡¯s got a burnt out crater and people might try to kill me if I come here.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t intentionally attract trouble but¡­¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± she replied. ¡°I already knew the risks of being your friend. I just don¡¯t have the same enthusiasm for combat as you do.¡± She crouched down next to Bun, wrapping her arms around the newly healed canine. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you got hurt. I should have had you guys run away instead.¡± Bun barked in response. I wasn¡¯t quite certain how to interpret it, and the same was apparently true for Ceira. ¡°I can¡¯t understand you right now¡­ give me a few minutes,¡± she said, patting the golden furred dog. Cel also rubbed up against her and the dog.


    Movebrain was still nearby, and cleared his throat to draw our attention. ¡°I won¡¯t say something foolish like you¡¯ll be safe here in the future, but I will say that it is unlikely Dark Star will be coming back here in the short term. It would make it easier for us to track her location and potentially find her. Speaking of tracking her¡­¡±


    ¡°Scrying Gloom sucks,¡± I said. ¡°And they hang out together now. But I¡¯ll add it to my list.¡± Scrying took far too much Mana, and unlike Gate which did happen to take more¡­ I had practically limitless reasons to use it. The Brigade would like me to be using it at all hours of the day, but that wasn¡¯t any fun at all, as Midnight and I could attest from our experience with Handface. But at least that guy was dealt with for now.


    At some point, Jet came back into the picture. Perhaps she had been waiting around, hidden, but it was difficult to tell. I did notice her walking somewhat gingerly, however, and I recalled an injury in her side- now covered up by the silvery coating covering most of her.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, mom,¡± Midnight said. ¡°We should have just retreated somewhere safe.¡±


    Jet¡¯s ears twitched. From my experience with Midnight, it was something of a mild disagreement, though he often shook his head now because of his experience with humanoids. ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. You judged that you could win a particular battle, until extraneous variables appeared. But even then, you didn¡¯t fail to call ahead of time for backup that could solve that problem. Also, I can¡¯t just let a Bunvorixian harass my son, can I? Especially since this group seems to be a persistent problem.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully less in the future,¡± Midnight said, looking over to where Spot was being put into the back of one of Extra¡¯s enforcement vans. ¡°Though the bigger threats are an annoying persistent option.¡± His tail swished back and forth. ¡°How are your wounds?¡±


    ¡°Not bad enough to worry about. I¡¯ve had worse, and you know the suit will help me recover just fine.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Because I¡¯m basically out of juice. Regenerate is¡­ expensive. I only have like¡­ 30 mana.¡±


    And I had just over 50 but¡­ ¡°Aren¡¯t you still below level 20?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got that Forest Attunement ability. It helps increase that, though my numbers are just approximate.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I said. And she got it without doing something stupid involving crystals. I really had to look into those techniques so that we could pick a good one for Midnight, Jerome, and any other mages. And maybe see if any of them worked for Izzy or Khithae.


    -----


    ¡°Ugh, I can¡¯t believe she did that again,¡± Sophia complained later in her casual form, after her shift was over. ¡°She knows she can¡¯t beat me so she goes after someone¡­ less experienced.¡± She looked over at me guiltily.


    ¡°I am aware that I am weaker,¡± I said. ¡°And I doubt that I will ever be able to match your particular talents outside of short bursts.¡±


    We were lounging around my apartment, since I was a lot more obvious. I could use Disguise on myself and Midnight everywhere we went, but I really wasn¡¯t that into hiding my identity. Perhaps I should have while hanging out with Ceira, though. Obviously we would have had to disguise Jet as well, since she was quite difficult to confuse with a regular cat.


    ¡°Are you resistant to her strange fire?¡± Jet asked.


    Sophia shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m resistant enough to everything. Specifically, I could pummel her into the ground before she could really hurt me.¡±


    ¡°You seem unable to fly, however,¡± Jet added. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that hamper your ability?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯d just throw a truck at her. She can only resist so much kinetic energy at once. A bullet isn¡¯t that much in comparison.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t let the Brigade hear you talking about throwing trucks,¡± I said.


    ¡°Bah, if I brought in Dark Star they¡¯d forgive me for any property damage. She¡¯s got a freaking huge bounty, you know?¡±


    I frowned. ¡°I was under the impression that there weren¡¯t bounties on particularly powerful supervillains. Calculator said something about discouraging idiots from getting themselves killed.¡±


    ¡°Well, sure. Not a public bounty,¡± Sophia shrugged. ¡°The city has to weigh the costs of people trying to catch these villains vs the damage they¡¯ll cause. And ultimately, there¡¯s a number for those who know.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Just assume they¡¯ll throw you a big party if you kill Doctor Doomsday.¡±


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Has anyone tried getting him to meet up with Heartstopper?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I think so,¡± she said. ¡°Pretty sure his gear protects him from almost every publically available power.¡±


    ¡°Including blunt force trauma?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Unfortunately,¡± she nodded. ¡°And he¡¯s been known to make devices that could injure the toughest bruisers, so most people don¡¯t try.¡±


    I made a mental note to either never get involved with him again, or to pick up a secret spell specifically for taking him out. And realistically only the latter would matter.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Sophia said. ¡°That incident mostly worked out well. And I didn¡¯t really expect to catch Kourtney.¡±


    ¡°Is that this¡­ Dark Star Girl¡¯s name?¡± Jet asked.


    ¡°Whoops,¡± she shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone I told you, because of PR stuff. But otherwise, I don¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even live on this planet, so¡­ I think it won¡¯t be an issue,¡± Jet replied.


    ¡°Good point,¡± Sophia said.


    -----


    It was difficult to say if the time with Jet was long or short. Without any more battles, days felt kind of long¡­ but we were already sending her back to Celmoth before I knew it.


    ¡°Make sure you come visit as soon as you can, alright?¡± Jet insisted.


    ¡°We will,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But remember that¡¯s partially up to you. Turlough isn¡¯t a native so he needs permission and stuff.¡±


    ¡°Who do you take me for? Obviously I can arrange for that easily,¡± Jet said. ¡°Just make sure to send me a message. For now, you¡¯ll have to use your magic for that until we can set up a relay here.¡± Midnight tilted his head questioningly. ¡°Well I tried using the suit but clearly our quantum tunneling communications falls off after¡­ some distance.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but-¡± Midnight began, to be interrupted a moment later.


    Jet leaned forward, and a wave of silver flowed off of her onto the floor next to Midnight. ¡°You¡¯re going to have this, of course. I know how hard it is to operate without one. That Zorphax fellow had things to say about sharing with others, but you can use it yourself without worries.¡±


    ¡°Oh. But what about you?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Do you think I can¡¯t get another one of these?¡± Jet asked. ¡°You may have gotten used to living without anything like this, but we do make them you know.¡±


    Midnight looked down at the one in front of him. ¡°I¡¯ve never had a military grade one¡­¡± He leaned over to look at Jet¡¯s side. She had a bare spot from her earlier wound, but it looked otherwise healed except for the fur. ¡°Sorry about that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯d gladly do more to protect any of my kids,¡± she rubbed her face on his. ¡°Well, I suppose I should go so I don¡¯t overstay my welcome. Family is nice to see every once in a while, but I¡¯ve monopolized too much of your time. Plus I¡¯d have to fill out a bunch of paperwork to stay longer.¡± She looked up at me. ¡°You might have people coming to you. Not many, since Celmothians here seem to be rare, but we would like our people back if they want to return. And you¡¯re the one we¡¯d trust most to accomplish that.¡±


    I¡¯d never expected to work in translation or transportation¡­ but I supposed for the sake of Midnight and his people, I could do it. Until Midnight could handle it alone, of course.


    -----


    ¡°What a disaster this was!¡± Francois said. ¡°It¡¯s not so easy to just patch holes in outfits such as this. Why, I¡¯ll strangle that woman for this! And her fashion sense too. Seriously, black? Who designs this crap?¡± He flung his hands up. ¡°I can¡¯t believe my profession is being belittled.¡± He glanced over at Midnight and I. ¡°But seriously, if you find out who is supplying super suits for villains, people would love to know. We¡¯re nearly certain it isn¡¯t Doomsday, as he at least has some aesthetic capability when he wishes.¡±


    ¡°... right,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So, any luck integrating the suit with mine?¡±


    ¡°Not a one!¡± Francois grinned widely. ¡°But oh, seeing that suit¡­ it¡¯s a work of art! I imagine it¡¯s eminently comfortable in a way I could ever achieve. And so functional! Too bad it¡¯s silver.¡±


    ¡°Well, it can color shift,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Or it can settle into the fur and become nearly invisible.¡±


    Francois trembled. ¡°If only I could dismantle it to learn the secrets! But alas, I wouldn¡¯t want to deprive you of such a wonderful device. And Extra would be all over me in the worst way,¡± he shook his head sadly. ¡°Ultimately, I have little I can do for you except make the headset integrate with it. Since you still need to be on local comms and all. Otherwise, it¡¯s equal or better than my current capabilities.¡± He spun on his heels towards me. ¡°And you¡­ well, at least I get to iterate on your suit regularly. But I¡¯m surprised how much you get in trouble.¡± His eyes flickered to my hair. ¡°At least that grows back quickly, or you¡¯d have to be bald.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be so bad.¡±


    ¡°It gets chilly,¡± he said. ¡°Though I suppose you¡¯re usually covered there.¡±


    I nodded. Head protection was important, and though it wasn¡¯t visible there was part of my outfit that covered my head. It wasn¡¯t perfect, obviously, but it was much better than leaving my head vulnerable. There was only so much levels or natural toughness contributed to durability, especially for a mage. Having more layers was important.


    At least the suit was fixed. Francois was always good about that, and I was quite glad to have it. Especially if he could make it slightly more resistant to Darkstargirl¡¯s attacks. I wasn¡¯t sure I wanted to undergo enough ¡®iterations¡¯ to perfect that, however.


    -----


    Sometimes, I forgot how many different things I had committed to. I found myself with sufficient free time, though some of that was because I could perform what I would otherwise consider normal leisure activities while on the job. Like reading through my ¡®new¡¯ book to pick out the best mana growth and recovery methods to share.


    Scrying took a small portion of time, but a large portion of my regenerated mana. Obviously the Brigade let me keep enough for decent training, but there were many things to look for in this world and my old one.


    And then there were the newbies in front of me. Fresh recruits, greener than grass. And not all of them even knew what classes they had ended up with. That was part of my job, figuring out what class they had drifted towards and then doing my best to train them to actually use their abilities. At least it pulled double duty with other things I wanted to do, as I could have them help some of my experiments to understand the whole system. Though they were currently only the weird half of the class system where they didn¡¯t have points.


    Needless to say, Extra was not super hot on the idea of me bringing a half dozen individuals who were basically civilians across a dimensional barrier into a world that hadn¡¯t invited them. And Sir Kalman probably didn¡¯t count as official enough permission. I could still do it, of course, but the Brigade didn¡¯t want to cause a fuss. They also made it clear to these people that not all of them would be heading towards combat positions- which sounded like a downside to me, but might actually be preferred for certain classes.

 Chapter 246

    Just by looking at this set of portal powers, I could guess what sort of powers some of them had unlocked, but it would truly be just a guess. I¡¯d have to actually test people to see what sort of ways they used mana, especially things they hadn¡¯t already figured out themselves. We had a few clearly more fit individuals, which probably led them more towards martial pursuits. Then we had a couple scrawny fellows, who I presumed likely fit with spellcasting.


    The Brigade already had a list of what they had demonstrated they could do, but I didn¡¯t want to bias myself so I hadn¡¯t looked yet. But I would if I needed to.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°I know all of you have been training fitness with Meztli, so if you didn¡¯t have one before you¡¯re building up a decent foundation. But to see what you can do, I want to push you past your limits if possible. I think I¡¯d like to break you into two groups. Then we¡¯re going to run, and your goal is to catch me. I¡¯ll be using magic, so it shouldn¡¯t be something you can easily accomplish. Midnight will be observing from the sidelines.¡± I looked them over. ¡°I know you¡¯re unfamiliar with your powers, so I¡¯ll add one safety feature. If you feel inclined to use some sort of power that would affect something beyond yourself, aim away from people, especially your fellow trainees. We don¡¯t want anyone to get hurt if you instinctively imagine a fireball as a good way to slow someone down.¡±


    ¡°What if nothing happens?¡± asked a sturdy looking woman. She probably had a name, but I didn¡¯t remember it. They would be getting monikers later anyway, so it was better to not be in the habit of calling them something they might want to keep secret.


    ¡°If nothing happens, we get exercise and move on to the next thing. I wouldn¡¯t expect all of you to respond to this sort of stimulus.¡± I looked them over. ¡°You three are the first group,¡± I said, pointing to a pretty boy, a short guy with darker skin, and the woman who had just spoken up. ¡°Try to picture something in your mind. It doesn¡¯t have to be clear, but a goal will help.¡± I spoke as if I had great experience, even though the normal way to unlock abilities from my perspective was through points. But I did have the experiences of a handful of people to go off of for the whole learning thing.


    As we needed to be able to see everyone even if people got left a little bit behind, we were in one of the training rooms rather than the normal exercise areas. It would probably be a bit more uncomfortable, but the intent wasn¡¯t to do it for a long time.


    ¡°Alright, remember, try to keep up or pass me or other members of the group.¡± I cast Enhance to bolster my physical abilities, then took off. With magic, I began a quick jog which should keep me ahead of anyone trying to sprint. And if anyone did get close, I could speed up.


    Since I was running ahead, I couldn¡¯t exactly see the others, but I could hear their footfalls and I would be able to sense if they did magic. Almost immediately, the shorter guy began to fall behind. Meanwhile, the sturdy woman seemed to be keeping up best. The pretty boy was fit and had a longer stride, so he was somewhere in the middle.


    That wasn¡¯t good enough. I sped up slightly as the woman strained to catch me. No matter how good of shape she was in before and how much she¡¯d been training with the Power Brigade, it was unlikely she could keep up with myself without enhancements. She sure tried, though.


    Then I felt a flow of magic from the back while hearing shoes suddenly hitting harder and faster. It took a bit, but soon the short guy was actually gaining. I could feel the constant output of mana, and when I saw him huffing and puffing past me I had an idea of what class he¡¯d gotten. I could say for sure that he wasn¡¯t using a spell.


    Being passed seemed to spark something within the sturdy woman, and I shortly thereafter felt a flow of magic from her. A familiar one, even. I turned my head as I felt the spell nearly form¡­ and then she staggered over to the wall to catch herself. Well, yeah, that was going to happen when you cast a spell that took most or all of your mana. Actually, if she wasn¡¯t level 5 yet it would be more mana than she had. If she wasn¡¯t doing any activities that leveled her up, it was quite reasonable. Still, it was a good attempt at Enhance though she didn¡¯t quite manage it.


    The final guy waved as I looked back. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve got anything for this?¡± he shrugged.


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± I said, slowing to a halt. ¡°You can stop too!¡± I called after the short guy with dark brown skin. I didn¡¯t think he heard me for a second, but he slowly came to a halt, resting his hands on his knees and breathing heavily as he bent over.


    The other three were a tall woman who looked kind of similar to the short man, a skinny man with light skin and a facial structure that I thought put him in the wide category of ¡®asian¡¯, and someone with a teal mohawk and an impractical leather jacket. Francois was either going to be outraged or so delighted to make a functional version of that aesthetic if it got to the point they got a proper outfit.


    ¡°Alright, everyone ready?¡± I asked when I gathered the other three together. Two of them nodded, but the tall- by human standards- woman raised one arm up. It took a moment. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to do that spell again?¡± she asked.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s still active,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh. Uh¡­ could you?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°Think you can do it?¡± I said, letting it fade away. That wasn¡¯t actually that surprising. A surprisingly wide variety of casters got access to at least some form of Enhance.


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    ¡°I¡­ maybe,¡± she shrugged.


    ¡°Well, you should certainly try,¡± I said. ¡°Here it is again,¡± I said, casting the spell again.


    She watched with focused attention, then I felt her gathering mana. A moment later, she began to topple forward. I stepped forward, but both of the others caught one of her shoulders. The woman just shook her head. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Mana fatigue. Well, perhaps it should be split into two separate things. Either way¡­ the spell seems a bit too much for you to handle at the moment.¡±


    The woman frowned. ¡°But Anielka did it while running¡­¡±


    The sturdy woman laughed. ¡°And I almost fell over too,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Yeah, I suppose that¡¯s something I should have covered. If you try to do something you don¡¯t have mana for, or something that uses too much of your total mana pool at once, you¡¯ll pass out for a second. It¡¯s not inherently dangerous, but if you hit your head¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not great. Anyway, a good baseline is you can¡¯t use more than half of your mana pool on one thing.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a lot,¡± the tall woman said.


    ¡°It depends on how much maximum mana you have, really,¡± I shrugged. ¡°For people with early powers, it¡¯s actually¡­ just not a lot of either. You¡¯ve expended a good portion of your mana and I got some useful information, so you should sit out of the run. Unless you just want to run, but don¡¯t try to use mana.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°I think I¡¯ll sit down.¡± She sat next to Midnight, watching from some artificial chairs the room had made- it was apparently easier for the room to transform than for them to track down where everyone brought random bits of furniture.


    That left the skinny guy and mohawk, and as I ran along they both followed after fairly quickly. Pretty much immediately the skinny guy began using a sustained flow of mana, a relatively small amount but enough to let him keep pace with me. Meanwhile, Mohawk began to fall behind until she surged past me all at once.


    It wasn¡¯t a spell, but it was strange as it still came in a burst unlike most martial abilities I knew about. Which to be fair wasn¡¯t as many of them as I probably should. My studies under Master Uvithar had covered other classes to some extent, but I hadn¡¯t really spent as much time on that area as I should have. Especially if I knew how things were going to end up, though understandably that wasn¡¯t something I could have predicted.


    ¡°Alright, Midnight and I are going to confer over here for a moment,¡± I said, hoisting him onto my shoulder and bringing him away. ¡°So, we don¡¯t really know about the fancy lad,¡± I said. ¡°But we have some ideas for the others.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Armin.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll learn his mercenary name,¡± I said. ¡°Nobody wants me blurting out real names.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± Midnight admitted.


    ¡°So, starting with the small guy¡­ Barbarian. Unless there¡¯s something else I don¡¯t know about that steams up like that. It should be easy to reference his awakening.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I think that fits,¡± Midnight nodded. I¡¯d already shared with him what I knew, comparing it to fiction in this world. ¡°And his sister?¡±


    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re related?¡± I asked. ¡°No wonder they look alike. She got all the tall genes, though.¡±


    ¡°Clearly,¡± Midnight nodded. ¡°What about her?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately it¡¯s difficult to narrow down two of them because they can both mostly use Enhance,¡± I said. ¡°But we can check for mage easily enough in either the offense or defense sections, as there are plenty of exclusive spells.¡±


    ¡°That leaves the last two.¡±


    ¡°Well, they¡¯re both some martial oriented class, I think. The skinny guy got a pure speed boost, which is likely due to overall physique if I read the flow of mana right. It was quite modest but we can check how widely encompassing it is. As for Mohawk¡­ I dunno, some weird class.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Midnight tilted his head. ¡°You can¡¯t think of anything other than something weird?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Well, yeah.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep my guess to myself,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Just so I don¡¯t taint your future observations. But I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that uncommon from what I know.¡±


    -----


    We took an hour break to let people replenish their mana, because we didn¡¯t need more people passing out. Especially if there wasn¡¯t someone there to catch them.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said after having the room set up some targets. They wouldn¡¯t be super durable, but they didn¡¯t need to be. ¡°Our next test is magical offense. Some of you might already have ideas of things you can do, but I want you to all try to replicate my spells. You might find your class is different than you thought.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility that they didn¡¯t follow the rules, either, though from what I¡¯d seen of other portal powers they would. Jerome fit solidly into mage, and even those not influenced by myself like Stargirl¡¯s fanatics were fairly recognizable.


    ¡°This is a pretty simple one, Firebolt,¡± I said. ¡°If you have the right class, you should be able to do it, but if not don¡¯t worry. It just means you¡¯re probably a different class. We¡¯ll first try a couple low level spells, and then if you have discovered anything else you can show it off.¡± Midnight and I both shot a Firebolt in sequence, striking one of the targets. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about not hitting, as long as you direct whatever you¡¯re doing in that direction.¡±


    Everyone definitely tried in their own way, but without a proper spell to build towards most of them just gathered a small amount of mana which then fizzled out. Mohawk tried especially hard, but got nothing.


    The only one to actually produce results was the wall woman, leaving the tough one looking kind of disappointed.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°Now let¡¯s try Shocking Grasp,¡± I said, walking forward towards the targets. ¡°You¡¯ll want something to let the power out into.¡± I cast the spell standing to the side so they could see the electricity on my hand go into the target.


    Once again, the few I¡¯d already tagged as martial types didn¡¯t really have anything happen. The Tough woman was looking quite disappointed, but to me it was just obvious she wasn¡¯t a mage. She almost cast a spell out of her league, so actually casting one of these should be easy if it was even possible. The tall one seems to be a mage, though, so that would at least make one person straightforward. As for the rest, I¡¯d find out soon enough.

 Chapter 247

    Despite acting as if I was an expert, throughout the course of all of my testing I only managed to properly identify two of our new portal power recruits, specifically the brother and sister. One was a barbarian, the other a mage. Beyond that, I determined one of those remaining were spellcasters and two were not. The final one hadn¡¯t demonstrated any abilities in my presence.


    That said, it wasn¡¯t too difficult to figure out something about those non-spellcasters. The punk had put on a serious burst of speed while running, which didn¡¯t fit many archetypes given the way that it happened. Clearly neither of the two were barbarians like the short guy. I was able to tick paladin and related things off the list as well. As for the asian guy, all I could say for sure was that he was some sort of stable martial class.


    Looking at his records, they didn¡¯t actually reveal much more. I was worried I might be biased towards a certain option, but¡­ ¡®moved with unnatural precision¡¯ and ¡®general fitness increase¡¯ were not smoking guns. I¡¯d get back to him eventually.


    The punk was fairly clear, given her inciting incident. Apparently she had ¡®punched through a tree¡¯. The initial images I had looked more like she had punched into a tree leaving a significant crater, but the notes clarified that the image was of the backside of the tree, and the crater was actually bits that had been pushed out. Which would make her a monk. Simple enough.


    That brought me to the pretty boy who was still a mystery. His initial incident was¡­ ¡®yelled loud enough to shatter a shelf full of booze in a bar¡¯. Well, that sounded like an expensive way for it to go, but they weren¡¯t too upset as he¡¯d also broken some sort of crystal creature at the same time. Besides, super awakenings were usually covered by the city- which was a good reason for people to self-report instead of hiding things.


    Technically, I could probably do a spell that would have the same results. It might even be the same spell- but he clearly wasn¡¯t a mage. Further testing would be required, but I was definitely biased towards something with the totality of the circumstances added together. I¡¯d have him try Sonic Lance if I thought he had enough mana for it. Or fatigue limit, really.


    Then there was the tough looking lady. Her first thing was ¡®creating an invisible barrier around another civilian¡¯. That was the sort of thing that wasn¡¯t easy to report, but the other circumstances helped significantly. First, she felt herself do it, and saw the effects as a small dragon lunged towards her protected stranger. A security camera happened to pick it up too. Most importantly, she¡¯d been able to replicate it so it wasn¡¯t the other individual involved. The chances of them picking up a portal power too seemed pretty high though, but that wasn¡¯t my business.


    Protecting people was one thing, enhancing herself was another. We confirmed that it was a different spell than Force Armor- and I didn¡¯t find myself able to replicate it, which implied some things.


    My new path of discovery started with her, as I had the feeling the Brigade would be most interested if I was right. ¡°Have you ever tried to heal someone?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What like¡­ with band aids?¡± the woman asked.


    ¡°Like with magic,¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, it hasn¡¯t really come up,¡± she admitted.


    I nodded. ¡°Alright. Midnight, if you could.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± he asked as I took off my glove.


    ¡°Scratch me here,¡± I said, gesturing to the outside of my palm. There wasn¡¯t really anything important there.


    ¡°... Alright,¡± Midnight said after only a short hesitation. Most likely, he¡¯d considered the various routes for recovery that were available should this woman fail. ¡°Good luck, Anielka.¡± There went my name ignorance again.


    The scratch was not deep, but he was firm enough with his claws to make me bleed. I held my arm up so the woman could see it clearly. ¡°So yeah. Try to fix that.¡±


    ¡°Huh. You just did that,¡± she said, her arms folded.


    ¡°Oh please, it¡¯s not like I cut myself with a knife or something. This will go away on its own pretty easily. I¡¯d still prefer you to try to heal it though or it will be slightly inconvenient for a few days.¡±


    ¡°So I just¡­ heal it?¡± she tilted her head. ¡°How would I even do that? Do I like, think about stitching together the skin or¡­?¡± she mumbled to herself, but I felt her naturally gathering mana¡­ which then failed to resolve into a spell. ¡°Dangit. I almost had that.¡±


    ¡°Careful,¡± I said when she seemed about to start again. ¡°Don¡¯t forget you can only do this stuff a couple times.¡±


    ¡°Yeah it sucks,¡± she said, sighing. ¡°How do you function?¡±


    ¡°With ten times your mana pool,¡± I replied.


    ¡°I think I have enough for another attempt,¡± she said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll catch you if you pass out,¡± I said.


    ¡°...¡± for some reason, that didn¡¯t seem to reassure her. Maybe she was the sort that didn¡¯t trust new people easily.


    But ultimately, she managed to cast something resembling a spell on her second attempt. And it¡­ almost completely fixed my clawmark.


    I wiped away the blood. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s definitely a healing spell.¡± Everyone else crowded around, interested in seeing- but there wasn¡¯t much to look at. The parallel marks showed skin that was in its stage of regrowth, a lighter green than normal. I expected in a few days it would look like nothing ever happened. I think I¡¯d skipped the scarring phase. ¡°Pretty sure it should be able to do more than that even with your mana pool, but not everything is going to be perfect your first time.¡± I looked to the other guy. ¡°You. You¡¯re next.¡±


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    ¡°Armin,¡± Midnight said unhelpfully. Though maybe it was better for him to know someone knew his name.


    ¡°Right. ¡¯m not sure I can do that,¡± he said as he stepped forward. ¡°I was able to feel the magic, but that was true with other stuff before and I couldn¡¯t replicate it.¡±


    ¡°Which things?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The speed enhancement thing,¡± he said. ¡°Except for her thing,¡± he pointed to the punk. ¡°And well, his,¡± he pointed to the asian guy. ¡°But I feel like that¡¯s not magic in the same way.¡±


    ¡°Firebolts?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± he shook his head. ¡°Nor the electricity thing.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I said, removing my other glove. ¡°Midnight, this side.¡± I held out my hand again.


    ¡°Good thing I know pain doesn¡¯t really bother you. I don¡¯t really like hurting my friends.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just like exercise,¡± I said. ¡°Except I probably won¡¯t end up healthier after this.¡±


    Another set of parallel lines, all done in a careful motion. I knew he could dig far deeper than that, but he also didn¡¯t chicken out and only go for the top layer of skin. I radiated pride to my buddy.


    The pretty boy stared at my hand. And stared. And did nothing. ¡°Hey, you alright? You¡¯re not squeamish around blood, are you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no,¡± he shook his head. ¡°I just don¡¯t know how to start making magic happen.¡±


    ¡°You gather mana,¡± I said, demonstrating. ¡°Then you form it into the spell you want,¡± I cast Mage¡¯s Reach, as it was a rather safe spell.


    ¡°Okay, but I don¡¯t really know how to do that. Aside from the one spell that¡¯s worked, I mean.¡±


    ¡°How does that one work?¡±


    ¡°Well I- hold on.¡± He stepped back. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous up close. And it will still be loud¡­¡± he looked around the training room.


    ¡°We can turn on the sound dampening mode,¡± I suggested. That was enough for the room to subtly change a moment later. I could feel it, since it was super tech. I didn¡¯t know if there was someone watching or if it was an automatic response, but it didn¡¯t really matter too much.


    ¡°Right. That should do it I guess.¡± He still stepped back a few more steps. ¡°To do this spell all I have to do is¡­¡± he took a deep breath. ¡°Haaaaah!¡± he shouted, and the effects were clear, being much more than a loud noise. It was also clear to me when he gathered mana.


    ¡°Yeah, so, you¡¯re gonna have to talk.¡±


    ¡°Was I not explaining things clearly enough?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I mean to do magic,¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean,¡± he admitted.


    ¡°Speak to activate magic.¡±


    ¡°What, like¡­¡± he gestured towards me. ¡°I just yell ¡®heal¡¯ and¡­?¡±


    I looked at the side of my hand. ¡°Try again with more intent.¡± He¡¯d definitely gathered some mana though.


    ¡°Be healed!¡± he said.


    I hadn¡¯t actually meant louder, but if it made sense to him¡­ that was all well and good. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s it,¡± I said.


    ¡°Wait, really?¡± He staggered forward, clearly close to running out of mana. ¡°I have to¡­ shout to make magic happen?¡±


    ¡°I bet you could sing,¡± I said. Either way, this guy was definitely a bard, which didn¡¯t actually make my job training him any easier. Because frankly, I only knew surface level details.


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ consider it,¡± he said.


    I looked around the room. ¡°Bard. Barbarian. Mage.¡± I passed over the asian guy. ¡°Monk. Cleric. We have a pretty good diversity of classes here.¡±


    That one guy frowned. ¡°And what about my class?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s only a guess for you. But probably warrior.¡±


    The bard frowned. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t tell me we¡¯re all going to be named after our classes, like you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not up to me,¡± I shook my head. ¡°But probably not.¡± I shrugged, ¡°They¡¯d have to make her Mage II or something if they did.¡±


    Mage II clearly didn¡¯t like that idea. ¡°We need to sign a group petition to get decent monikers before it¡¯s too late.¡±


    ¡°Good luck with that,¡± I said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t even know where to start. Anyway¡­ now that we have some idea about your abilities, we can give you guys some training plans. I¡¯ll also try to make sure each of you are able to measure your mana properly so we can keep track of your level, since you don¡¯t have status windows. Unless any of you walked through the portals?¡±


    Everyone shook their heads. That was probably a good thing. Otherwise, they might not have made it back. Inconvenient for their personal growth from now on, however.


    ¡°Now, I am going to go with the assumption that none of you have any Aspects,¡± I said. ¡°If you experience a complete lack of progress, we¡¯ll reassess. But otherwise we¡¯ll have a core training regimen of fitness and sparring, with other activities tailored to your particular classes.¡±


    ¡°And mine would be?¡± the skinny warrior asked.


    ¡°Probably more fitness.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± he nodded. Well, at least he didn¡¯t seem to mind that.


    ¡°What about Aspects?¡± Mage II asked. ¡°What are those? Where do they come from?¡±


    ¡°Good question,¡± I said, nodding.


    ¡°... are you going to answer?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Right. Aspects indicate an area where your experience growth is increased, usually at the exclusion of other potential training areas. So we¡¯ll just hope you don¡¯t have those.¡±


    ¡°And where do those come from?¡± Mage II asked again.


    Orcs were more prone to having Aspect of the Barbarian. That was my only real information. So I didn¡¯t answer directly. ¡°It seems to be some combination of genetics and culture. And you might have to be born in my old world for that to mean anything.¡± Or the old dimension, I supposed, since it wasn¡¯t just the material plane where people got Aspects. Or maybe there were a bunch of portal powers with Aspects running around right now.


    ¡°So what about my training?¡± asked the small barbarian. ¡°Am I supposed to¡­ get angry?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d probably want to learn to control it so you can use it when it¡¯s most valuable,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯ll also experiment with what forms that power can be channeled into.¡±


    ¡°What about me?¡± asked the punk monk. ¡°Do I¡­ meditate and junk?¡±


    ¡°Potentially, yeah,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Sounds dumb.¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t like punching holes in trees?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather just bash someone¡¯s head in with a pipe,¡± she said. ¡°Villains, obviously.¡±


    Obviously. Though I would be willing to bet she could do that too. And that we could get her something better than a pipe.

 Chapter 248

    Setting up simple training exercises that should get everyone through the early levels was easy enough, though I admittedly had less valuable information for some of the new trainees. It was likely that sparring could get them all the experience they needed to gain some early levels, but in theory they would need alternate training methods since they couldn¡¯t spar all day.


    For the one mage in the group it was easy enough. I knew how mages were supposed to gain experience, with both reading and casting spells contributing. It was easy enough to use up mana casting spells, and I even had some proper magic books for her. Though Portal Theory might be a bit outside of what she needed to be learning early on.


    Longer term growth would require more efficient training, but I should be able to gather some useful information before it became an issue. Going from level 0 to level 5 was something that could be accomplished in a couple months with even a modest amount of effort. Sometimes I got that much experience in a single day, though it would be a bit difficult for any of the new recruits to survive a battle with Darkstargirl, let alone contribute in any meaningful way.


    Going from level 5 to 10 took about four times as much experience, and at level 15 every single level took more than the total 75 experience for level 5. Some of that could be managed by repeated battles, but sparring was worth less experience and repeated opponents especially began to provide very little. So while my experience total was around 3400, in addition to levels costing more I might also get less experience from activities. And with my Aspect, those activities were only fighting.


    But the fact that I managed to reach where I was in just over a year meant that in two or three we could probably get people without aspects into decent fighting shape. Depending on how much they actually got involved in things. And for them to reach where I was when I first came to this world¡­ well, that wasn¡¯t that difficult at all. They wouldn¡¯t be good for much other than handling street thugs, but someone had to deal with them anyway.


    -----


    ¡°Alright Punk Monk,¡± I said, raising my staff. ¡°You ready?¡±


    She grimaced. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re trying to get that to be my moniker.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry,¡± Midnight commented from the sidelines. ¡°Mage has no influence on official names or common nicknames.¡±


    ¡°Whatever,¡± she said, preparing her own staff. ¡°Don¡¯t know why I have to fight with a stick, though.¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s an order of magnitude less likely to run into a villain with wood control powers compared to metal control,¡± I said. ¡°And because we¡¯re training.¡±


    With that, I stepped forward and thrust my staff. She stepped to the side, and I could tell she had some brawling experience. But as for actual weapon experience, it was clear she was newer. Her attacks were wild and unrestrained, which made them all the easier to deflect with my staff. I usually had the time to give her a good tap on the shoulder or torso during her movements as well. She should feel the impact of those blows even if she currently had Force Armor protecting her.


    Then she gathered a surge of mana¡­ at which point I thrust my staff into her chest, knocking her back before she could finish her wild movement. With a half step back myself, she was left spinning her weapon through empty air, wasting all of her momentum.


    ¡°Dammit, what was that?¡±


    ¡°I simply sensed your assault coming and disrupted your movement before you could complete it,¡± I said.


    ¡°Aw, come on! I thought this was training. You can¡¯t tell me that everyone out there is going to be able to sense a surge of power. I know lots of the others can¡¯t.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine. If you want to focus on street thugs, I¡¯m sure we can set up a good training regimen against a bunch of punks. Or if you want to take out a real villain, you¡¯re going to have to do better.¡±


    ¡°And how can I do that?¡± she grunted.


    ¡°Draw on your mana faster,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Or don¡¯t make it so obvious where it¡¯s going. For example, if you had instead enhanced your whole body there you could have taken some quick steps inward after I pushed you back¡­¡± I demonstrated a couple movements, swinging my staff. ¡°Except it would presumably be even faster with a boost.¡±


    ¡°... are you sure you¡¯re a wizard?¡±


    ¡°I am certain I am a mage,¡± I replied. ¡°Now¡­ again.¡±


    Even if she had a bit of an attitude problem, none of these new recruits lacked drive. If they had, the Power Brigade would never have recruited them. Punk Monk or whatever she would eventually be called readied her weapon once more.


    -----


    Finding a good weapon for a barbarian was a difficult challenge. It was the same issue with all bruisers, really. Good weapons in the context of my world meant something that could efficiently kill people, usually while keeping its wielder safe. In this world, many villains weren¡¯t at a threat level where lethal force was justified. And truthfully, even giving him something ¡®safe¡¯ like a blunt weapon wasn¡¯t actually any better.


    Anything durable swung with sufficient force could break bones or worse, and restraint was a real concern where barbarians came into things. While Barbro seemed to have a pretty good handle on when he activated his abilities, alternating between moments when he needed strength and when he did not would be quite tough.


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    Because of that, one area he was trained was grappling. It was a good way to use strength to overcome an opponent, though of course technique was also important. Some people said that good technique trumped everything, but in the realm of powers you really needed both.


    I only had basic training in grappling techniques, so it was Meztli that oversaw most of his stuff. She had experience in many areas that I simply hadn¡¯t had the time for yet. We had a number of other bruiser types for him to train with, so it wouldn''t be a problem if he went a little bit too hard.


    -----


    For the other casters and our warrior, I needed more information. Most likely a warrior could figure out the limits of their abilities through simple experimentation, but if I could get good info we could save Flexy Guy a lot of wasted time. Then again, he seemed to be taking to everything in training quite well so maybe he didn¡¯t need training techniques specifically from my world. He might be the most ¡®boring¡¯ option, but flexible abilities were quite valuable. And there was some potential he might be able to use weapons like guns to great effect.


    For our bard and cleric, I really needed more information, so it was time to go visit Sir Kalman. He had some prior warning, of course. And the Order of the Lion wouldn¡¯t be putting in effort for nothing. It was about time to raise a new batch of their recruits into a planar attuned status.


    Of course, the question came up about whether we should bring the Power Brigade¡¯s new recruits to pick up proper classes- specifically points and a proper screen. But it wasn¡¯t my ability to transport them to my old world that was the limiting factor there, and Extra¡¯s policy was still to minimize any unnecessary planar travel. Plus, there was this whole thing about ¡®potential dangerous side effects¡¯.


    Well, it didn¡¯t seem to be an issue for people from my world, but it might be for others. And since it was a relatively new phenomenon for people from New Bay, we¡¯d just have to see. Personally, I was more concerned about the training side of things. So far, that hadn¡¯t been an issue in the entire year since it had happened to me¡­ and the ability to semi-spontaneously learn new things had proven to be more beneficial than the small risks of accidentally casting a fireball in my own face.


    Not long after Midnight and I returned from there, it was time for us to go to Celmoth. We¡¯d scheduled a visit, and I was excited to see it. There was the slight issue where I would be too big for everything, but a spell like Reduce would help. That would only cover about a third of my time, but Midnight said there were a lot of open air spaces where it wouldn¡¯t be necessary.


    First, though, it was time to see Sir Kalman.


    -----


    I tossed the small training manuals Sir Kalman had acquired into Storage. I realized I was going to have to translate these things into English¡­ or maybe I could get some of the newbies to do it. It was for their own benefit, after all, and they should be able to cast it. It was definitely a mage spell since I had it, and bards had to have everything talky. I was pretty sure clerics would have that option as well.


    Should have already taught them that, I supposed. It would make Zorphax happy, too. Extra could always use more interpreters, especially ones who could defend themselves. And practical spellcasting would probably give our recruits experience, so it was a good idea.


    I should probably teach Jerome too. Every utility spell I could cast should probably be on his list, and vice versa. Obviously there was a matter of time investment, but most spells didn¡¯t take that long to pick up the basic form.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°You know the drill, Midnight.¡± We were splitting the costs of Gate in half, because we regenerated mana at the same speed and weren¡¯t anticipating either of us needing a surplus of mana afterwards. I could spend more, but an even split was easier to manage and made for slightly more stable portals.


    I looked at the couple dozen paladins. The Brigade sure would love to have them¡­ and Extra definitely didn¡¯t want to manage that. If there were some official immigration situation between our worlds it would be one thing, but at the moment I was the main go-between. You know, aside from Doctor Doomsday and anyone he might be working with. So it wasn¡¯t a surprise that official channels were kind of nonexistent.


    Lush forests appeared in front of us, Sir Kalman going first as the leader, then Midnight and I going last as the ones who needed to make sure everyone went through and to keep the portal stable. We could probably also go through early, but there were more likely to be distractions on the other side.


    This little lakeside seemed like a good place to take a nap. Or, you know, to meditate or whatever. Everywhere in Elysium was idyllic and full of mana, so it was kind of an unnecessary gesture, but I did like being full on mana and some sort of break was justified.


    I was just settling in after ten minutes or so- while the paladins were just beginning to train on the shores- when Midnight sensed something coming. He was a bit further from me, but I could sense the power through him.


    Orbs of light appeared atop a hill. ¡°Sense anything specific?¡± I asked Midnight as he hopped onto my shoulder. I began making my way towards Sir Kalman at a quick walk.


    ¡°Just¡­ magic,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It feels like this place.¡±


    ¡°Well, the natives here¡­ should be mostly good,¡± I commented. That didn¡¯t stop me from  approaching Sir Kalman, though. And while before the lights had just watched¡­ this time I could see they were getting close. ¡°Hey, someone¡¯s coming.¡±


    ¡°Everyone, halt!¡± Sir Kalman called. Then he turned towards me. ¡°Where from?¡± I gestured towards the hill, and his eyes locked on the lights. ¡°Remain ready here,¡± he ordered his fellow paladins. ¡°We¡¯re going to go speak to whoever this is with just the three of us.¡±


    We only moved fifty feet or so, but that brought us out of the range where the group of soldiers would appear the most threatening. I cast Translation on Sir Kalman as we went, because it was not my job to speak.


    The orbs of light stopped ten or so feet away from us, growing in size and resolving into weird vaguely humanoid forms. Vaguely, because one of them had the upper body of a man and the rest was snake. Another was just like an elf with insect wings, and a third had a bird head. Someone probably would even know what to call these, but it wasn¡¯t me. After all, I hadn¡¯t been planning to travel here when I was level 10, and my book on portals didn¡¯t happen to cover all the inhabitants of planes I might go to. That would just be a complete list of¡­ everything. Which was probably hard to come across.


    ¡°Greetings, mortals,¡± said the man-snake. Well, I guess Translation was unnecessary because that was definitely common. ¡°You shall not remain here upon Elysium.¡±

 Chapter 249

    A trio consisting of a man-snake, an insect winged elf, and a bird headed man stood apart from Sir Kalman and me. The man-snake had just said something about us not staying upon Elyusium.


    If I was the one who was supposed to talk, I would have said ¡°Why?¡± Fortunately, Sir Kalman had a better idea of what to say.


    ¡°We apologize for the intrusion, honorable ones. We only intend to stay a short time to complete the awakening of my allies abilities. We intend to leave in the morning without disrupting your home.¡±


    The man-snake nodded his head, the motion rippling through his whole body. ¡°We are aware of your behavior during your previous visit, which is what brought us here today. No good can come of your intrusion upon our plane.¡±


    Sir Kalman pondered for a moment. ¡°If we do not visit another plane, the system-¡±


    ¡°- will remain incomplete. We understand your reasoning. However, the heavens are not meant to be accessed so easily.¡±


    Sometimes, I spoke without really thinking about it. ¡°Why is there a spell that allows it, then?¡±


    The man-snake locked eyes with me. ¡°Normally travel would be restricted to those allowed to access our plane, or who otherwise had a token that allowed their travel. You are a curious case.¡±


    ¡°Well, I saw it,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Even if I didn¡¯t step through the portal.¡±


    ¡°This portal was from a different dimension?¡± the man-snake questioned, but he didn¡¯t wait for a response. ¡°The weakening of planar boundaries is another reason to avoid this place. We will be closing our borders in the near future. But there are other reasons not to linger on outer planes. The allure of a place such as this can incorporate mortals into the plane itself, and while it is not a harsh end to remain eternally in a plane such as this, one must assume you have goals you wish to accomplish.¡±


    Sir Kalman frowned. ¡°I hadn¡¯t heard of this.¡±


    ¡°Truly?¡± the man-snake asked, swaying slightly as he tilted his head. ¡°Such knowledge should be easily available for those who intend to seek out different planes.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well a bunch of jerks have been trying to not let people learn any of that stuff or awaken the system.¡± That time I thought about it, and while I don¡¯t know what I was hoping for I figured these angel guys should know about it.


    The man-snake furrowed his brow. ¡°Odd. This must be a recent occurrence.¡±


    Sir Kalman shook his head. ¡°No, I think not. It seems to have been this way my whole life.¡±


    The elflike man smiled, ¡°From your perspective, it would certainly seem to be a long time. But it would still be considered quite recently.¡± He turned towards the others. ¡°It does seem that the regularity of planar travel had significantly dropped before this latest spike, however.¡±


    The others all nodded in agreement, then turned back to us. ¡°You may stay until the morning,¡± the man-snake said. ¡°Do not attempt to return again. After the planes are sealed, future intrusions will be dealt with harshly.¡±


    ¡°... you said ¡®the heavens¡¯,¡± I commented. ¡°Does that include the others?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. The weakening of the planar boundaries is a concern for us all. So we shall cut ourselves off for a time.¡±


    ¡°Consider but a moment,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°People are in need of the heavenly forces now more than ever. How can you be called upon with the planes sealed?¡±


    ¡°Those with the ability have not done so in recent times,¡± the man said. ¡°But should we be needed, we can still be called. As for you, I will allow you to call upon me in a time of need. Tabris is my name.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your generosity,¡± Sir Kalman bowed.


    I knew that those words were directed towards Sir Kalman. ¡°... Does that apply to me too? I mean, both the offer and the ability to do so. I¡¯m a mage.¡±


    ¡°For you, it will be more difficult¡­ but it seems you have the capability. Should you find yourself embroiled in battle with a fiendish villain, I will accept your call a single time.¡±


    ¡°Does that include Doctor Doomsday? Because I don¡¯t know if he does anything fiend related.¡±


    ¡°Who is this¡­ doctor?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the one that has been flooding everywhere with portals. He¡¯s pretty dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Ah. I understand,¡± the man-snake nodded. ¡°The level of danger does not concern me, as long as the cause is righteous. Simply call upon my name.¡±


    ¡°Great. I totally remember that,¡± I lied. I hadn¡¯t been ready for him to say his name, so it wasn¡¯t my fault.


    ¡°Take care with your future ventures,¡± the man-snake said. ¡°Away from the material plane, even the most benign seeming locale can carry unanticipated risks.¡± With that, the three of them turned back into balls of light, floating away.


    ¡°That went well,¡± I said. ¡°Too bad we can¡¯t come back.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate,¡± Sir Kalman admitted. ¡°But at least we were able to attune two groups.¡±


    -----


    ¡°It was Tabris,¡± Midnight informed me once we were back in New Bay.


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    ¡°Thank you. I was never going to get that,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°I know,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Right, so¡­ what else did we have to do before we visit your home?¡± I pondered. ¡°I learned Reduce with points, so that¡¯s covered.¡± An image of the tiniest Great Girl popped into my head, and I wondered how she would react to a little prank. She could probably still beat me up at half size. ¡°Oh, we still need to pick the best generic mana training method.¡±


    ¡°I thought we were pretty much decided on that?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Well, sure. But flipping between methods apparently comes with drawbacks, so we might want to lay out multiple options. Then again, I think it¡¯s least risky and more consistent. That¡¯s what the Brigade would want. And I would feel fine about you and Jerome using it.¡±


    ¡°... Maybe you should swap as well,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Too late for that, I¡¯m afraid,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m pretty deep into my current method so I¡¯m going to stick to it. I already know how to handle it.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t like it,¡± Midnight grimaced. ¡°But it¡¯s your decision.¡±


    There were probably better mana training methods for specific classes, but as far as generic ones went, that was the best I had. Not that I would expect different from a mana manipulation book meant for mages.


    -----


    Before we tried to teach it to our portal power trainees, Midnight needed to practice it to make sure we understood how it even worked. It was an interesting method that I might never have stumbled into, just because of the way I did things. Not that I wouldn¡¯t have gotten close, but the exact methods to achieve results were a bit beyond simple brute force.


    The result from our first test was¡­ Midnight passed out on a pillow. He came to a few minutes later. ¡°Too far?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Too quickly, I think,¡± he said. ¡°Should I replenish my mana before trying again?¡±


    ¡°Uh, looks like,¡± I said, consulting the tome. ¡°Bla bla bla¡­ repeated lapses in consciousness exacerbate mana fatigue limits hindering¡­ bla bla bla¡­ Yeah, it will just work worse.¡±


    ¡°That does make it a bit more difficult to practice.¡±


    ¡°Should be pretty easy for the trainees, though. They¡¯ll have what, five or ten mana? That¡¯s an hour at most between cycles even if they make a mistake.¡±


    ¡°And I have to wait three hours,¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not optimal. Hopefully you get the hang of it soon. Otherwise, I guess we might want to look for a useful one for mages. And of course, this assumes it even functions for you as a familiar.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I just overdid it,¡± he said.


    All we could do was wait. In theory once he reached a certain threshold he would be fine, but for our early attempts starting from full mana was best.


    Then Midnight rapidly began to expend mana, pouring it into harmless spells like Disguise. We did occasionally use that to avoid people seeing us moving around on the streets. We should probably use it more, but it never really fit our vibes. Probably would have been good for going to see Ceira, though. We didn¡¯t want to be lazy with the safety of our friends.


    The point was not to use the spell, however, but to run out of mana. Until the point that Midnight got low on mana. In theory, the point was to get as close to empty as possible without passing out. And then he was to remain there via a constant expenditure of mana. That didn¡¯t mean casting Storage every ten minutes or so, but actual constant expenditure. Alternatively, it might be easier to keep mana from regenerating, though that was never something I¡¯d have tried intentionally.


    I could feel Midnight¡¯s head growing fuzzy, but then he stabilized. He stayed that way for a couple minutes at least, before passing out. Determining if he¡¯d gotten a very tiny increase in maximum mana from a single attempt¡­ well, that might not be easy. Unlike my method which had increased my mana all in a single chunk, this one should be a smooth continuous curve.


    -----


    ¡°We have too much mana regeneration,¡± I said to Midnight.


    ¡°I really wish it was more still,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I thought you were always complaining about it too.¡±


    ¡°I am. It¡¯s just¡­ the ambient mana levels are still going up. There haven¡¯t been any recent portal incidents, so it implies continuous hidden portals throughout the city. Well, more than I thought there would be, to maintain and increase ambient levels.¡±


    ¡°... Maybe the actual natural level is above what your world considers normal?¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°That¡­ could be the case. But that would require draining mana from the entire material plane¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure about that one, but I suppose if it was just one more thing that was done I wouldn¡¯t be that surprised either.¡±


    ¡°It was just a thought,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to back it up.¡±


    ¡°Regardless, mana tends to naturally balance out so¡­ wherever we¡¯re connected to is higher than ¡®ambient¡¯ by at least fifty percent. Probably more if it¡¯s still going up. Since it¡¯s not sudden, however, it¡¯s probably a small number spread throughout New Bay.¡±


    ¡°I thought we could sense portals,¡± Midnight pondered.


    ¡°Yeah, they might be concealed. Underground, maybe, or there could be something that smooths out the flow.¡± Another thing to potentially report to the Brigade, not that it would change much.


    On Midnight¡¯s third attempt later that day, he attempted to block off his recovery. That wasn¡¯t perfect, but it did allow him to function at low mana for longer, and he wasn¡¯t at risk of dipping too low and passing out.


    ¡°If nothing else,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I¡¯m getting better at dealing with mana fatigue.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± I said. ¡°Do you think you¡¯ll be ready to demonstrate to others soon?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. In a day or two we can get them started,¡± Midnight said.


    We should include Jerome with that. I also realized I hadn¡¯t checked in on Izzy for a while. Our schedules had clashed since she was busy with work. Still, I had heard that she ended up hanging out with some of our mutual friends on occasion, since they had ¡®normal working hours¡¯, whatever that was.


    -----


    Soon enough the time had come, and we couldn¡¯t delay any longer without causing an interplanetary incident. Then again, I had the feeling that Midnight could get away with an impromptu rescheduling. Well, except for how his family might react. Especially his mother. I realized we hadn¡¯t interacted with others yet, but he did seem to have more family than that, if his reactions to comments on his name meant anything.


    ¡°You got everything you need?¡± I asked. As for myself, I was carrying a whole bundle of mana crystals in case Celmoth didn¡¯t have ambient mana. It seemed unlikely, but it was possible and we wouldn¡¯t want to risk getting stranded. We could hope to immediately Gate back, but it wasn¡¯t worth risking it.


    ¡°This suit should cover everything,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But I have emergency supplies in Storage as well.¡±


    I nodded. I had extra in Storage too. Convenient, as it meant not having to carry large boxes. ¡°Well then, I guess we¡¯re ready.¡± Next stop, Celmoth.

 Chapter 250

    ¡°Wow, this thing is smaller than I imagined,¡± I said as I stepped out of the vertical cylinder that had been our anchor point to Celmoth the last several times we had connected to the planet. I had to duck my head to get in through the portal and sort of slide out sideways.


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky that you fit at all,¡± Jet commented. ¡°Since it is not made for vertically oriented individuals.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ why is it taller, then?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Practical considerations,¡± she said.


    ¡°Right.¡± Midnight hopped down from my shoulder. The current room was just tall enough for me to stand up, but it wasn¡¯t comfortable. I felt like my head would brush against it quite easily. ¡°How do the mana levels feel, Midnight?¡± Having a second opinion was always good.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to close the Gate to know for sure,¡± Midnight said.


    I nodded. That was true, we could easily be influenced by the connection to Earth. Since the two of us had brought everything we expected to need, we let the Gate close. What was the worst case scenario anyway? I could get trapped on a planet with my best buddy, just like he had been with me. Except I already knew people here.


    ¡°It feels pretty good?¡± Midnight said, tilting his head. ¡°A bit low.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of this room to be certain,¡± I said. It didn¡¯t look like it was going to get any more open, so I cast Reduce, cutting my height in half.


    ¡°You know,¡± Jet commented. ¡°I at least expected a hello.¡±


    Midnight scurried up and rubbed his head against his mother. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you mother. It¡¯s just¡­ whether or not we can return is kind of a big deal.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°If we can¡¯t recover mana here, we will need to be very careful.¡± Then there was the small chance that magic wouldn¡¯t work properly here- despite casting Reduce, which might have been possible due to the ambient mana coming with us. ¡°But it is good to see you again, Jet.¡±


    The hallways we were walking down were perhaps four and a half feet tall. For the two Celmothians ahead of me it was several times their head height, which was quite spacious. For me, it was a bit close. But at least I didn¡¯t have to crouch or crawl. That said, I couldn¡¯t keep Reduce active indefinitely. It would be somewhere around 18 mana per hour when natural recovery was 6. Even pairing with Midnight, that would leave us at a deficit. Assuming this place had ambient mana available, which it certainly seemed to now that we were away from the Gate location.


    The hallway had windows on one side- though they were mostly on the lower third of the wall. I caught a glimpse of the outside, but it was when we got to a two-thirds high window that I had a proper angle to see Celmoth for the first time.


    The buildings¡­ well, they were indeed recognizable as buildings. I realized that even glass windows weren¡¯t actually a guarantee, I¡¯d just gotten so used to them on Earth that they seemed natural. While the general shape of buildings seemed to fit- rectangular prisms were fairly good for fitting things in- the Celmothian structures weren¡¯t as obsessed with smooth outsides. I wasn¡¯t just talking bricks, but significant protrusions. And lots of balconies, even on what I was pretty sure weren¡¯t residential buildings.


    In fact, there were even a few individuals climbing around on the outside of buildings. Not a ton compared to the ones I could see down on the surface streets below, but since the only time I saw people climbing on the outside of buildings on Earth or my previous world they were either committing or preventing crime, it was still a stark contrast.


    I also noticed that there weren¡¯t any cars on the streets, only Celmothians walking about. Which made sense, because why would they have cars¡­ when there were flying things? All sorts of them were zooming about over the buildings, though they seemed to follow predetermined routes to some extent. At the very least, they weren¡¯t cris-crossing with each other everywhere.


    ¡°How do those work?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Which things?¡± Jet asked, turning to look out the window.


    ¡°The flying things. Are they helicopters?¡± I thought I saw blades in them.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just standard antigrav tech. The propellers are backups in case of power failure,¡± she explained. ¡°Autorotation allows them to descend with minimal harm. Even if the power grid has a simultaneous failure to individual vehicles, they can have soft landings.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get why the power grid matters,¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, the nets, obviously,¡± Jet said.


    I furrowed my brow. ¡°I don¡¯t see any nets.¡± I looked at Midnight. ¡°Is Translation working right?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re gravity nets, so you wouldn¡¯t see them,¡± he replied. ¡°They, uh¡­ usually catch anything falling.¡±


    Midnight was slightly nervous. It felt like¡­ ¡°Oh,¡± I nodded. ¡°I understand. You sure have some pretty amazing technology. How do you get power for it all?¡±


    ¡°Cold fusion,¡± Jet commented.


    ¡°I suppose that makes sense,¡± I said. I didn¡¯t understand it, of course, but I knew it was a theoretical- and not actually that cold- way to produce large amounts of energy. New Bay wasn¡¯t too far away from it, and it seemed the Martians had cracked something big in terms of power generation, so it wasn¡¯t weird that Celmoth had something like that. Well, it was weird, but to me it was the same kind of weird as cell phones.


    ¡°Your friend is difficult to impress,¡± Jet commented.


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    ¡°He¡¯s actually too impressed,¡± Midnight replied. ¡°But also we live in a city which ranges from lower technology to¡­ one guy who makes sustained portals all over to different dimensions. So unless you have a big mana geyser, he¡¯s just going to smile and nod.¡±


    I smiled and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s true. A year ago, the biggest piece of technology I knew about was full plate mail. Or perhaps specialized magical staves.¡± Well, it was a bit more than a year now, but still far short of a year and a half.


    ¡°I understand,¡± Jet said. ¡°Many of our plans involve displaying such things, but if you are uninterested¡­¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t expect me to understand,¡± I said.


    ¡°And what impresses him will be unusual,¡± Midnight said.


    I shrugged. He was the one who seemed to be obsessed with canned foods. Then again, I could understand the reasoning behind that one.


    Jet nodded, turning to address Midnight. ¡°There are a lot of people who want to see you. I kept your arrival fairly private, but you should at least see some of them. And they¡¯d no doubt like to meet your friend Turlough.¡±


    ¡°As long as it¡¯s not too many at once. Turlough isn¡¯t great with people.¡±


    That was actually almost an overestimation of my social skills.


    We passed by some other Celmothians as we came to what looked like another teleporter. Though I realized upon stepping inside that the internal arrangement was quite different. As it turned out, the one we got on was just an elevator carrying us upward.


    ¡°It is a good thing you can shrink yourself,¡± Jet commented. ¡°There aren¡¯t many vehicles that would have been¡­ comfortable¡­ at your normal size.¡±


    We exited onto the roof, where there was a vehicle waiting. It looked quite like the drones people flew about, with four enclosed propellers around a central platform which appeared to mostly be a padded floor. There were a few metal poles sticking up from the platform as well. The central area was maybe five feet across and had an open top.


    As we approached, Jet stretched out her paw, and the side of the vehicle seemed to peel away. I hadn¡¯t yet gotten used to the suits that the Celmothians and now Midnight wore. While they were sometimes clearly visible, at the moment Jet¡¯s seemed to blend in with her fur. Midnight¡¯s, meanwhile, was incorporated into his Power Brigade outfit. Francois seemed to have done a grand job with that complicated task. It still retained the functionality to change its appearance, but only so much.


    While it was weird from my perspective, Celmothians weren¡¯t cats. The suits functioned as clothing more incidentally, since they had fur. Instead, they were clearly meant to be extra arms and the like. Jet was at the controls, using her front paws to perform some tasks while extra silvery ones tapped a few buttons.


    I hadn¡¯t even realized that we were already in the air until I turned to look. There had been no jerk of acceleration, we were just suddenly moving. Midnight and I were standing in among the various metal poles and I looked at him questioningly.


    ¡°They¡¯re for grasping if you need it,¡± he said. ¡°But again, mostly for emergencies given the inertial dampening.¡±


    ¡°You guys seem to have everything,¡± I said. I had also expected some sound from the vehicle, but it moved more or less silently- the main thing I heard was the wind passing us as we flew.


    ¡°For me, this is normal,¡± Midnight shook his head.


    ¡°No wonder you had trouble on Earth.¡±


    I had expected the bustling city center to go on forever, but now that we were up above I could see quite a bit of natural terrain left. In some ways, it made sense. Individual Celmothians were bound to take up less space than humans, even if they had proclivities for vertical space.


    ¡°Not everyone likes being in dense city,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And it¡¯s easy enough to alternate between things.¡±


    ¡°I feel like Earth could make great use of a lot of this technology.¡±


    ¡°Or use it for harm,¡± Jet pointed out. ¡°The supervillains in New Bay are not the only ones who cause harm. Not that I wish to imply that Celmothians are perfect, but that fellow from Extra has stated many good points about gradual adaptation. A rush to adapt could easily end up with things in the wrong hands.¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure that happens anyway,¡± I pointed out. ¡°But it isn¡¯t really my job to figure that out. Just to stop people when they¡¯re being dumb about things.¡±


    ¡°You enjoy your life as a mercenary?¡± Jet asked.


    ¡°It is my main path to self-improvement, after all,¡± I replied.


    ¡°Yes. An odd conundrum. However, I am not one to say that martial prowess is not valuable. Especially as we are at war.¡±


    I looked around. ¡°I honestly could have forgotten that. It really doesn¡¯t seem like it.¡±


    ¡°Most of the fighting happens away from the planet,¡± she pointed out. ¡°And actual attacks are infrequent. It is a long term war, and neither side is willing to commit enough resources to finish things once and for all.¡±


    ¡°That sounds¡­ troublesome,¡± I said. ¡°Most people would not be happy with the threat of danger hanging over them all the time. It¡¯s why New Bay has heroes.¡±


    ¡°It would be nice if we had some of those. Well, figures people could look up to. Our soldiers are all heroes in their own way, but they can¡¯t get the recognition. Instead, people like me get far more recognition than we deserve.¡±


    ¡°People like you?¡±


    ¡°Generals,¡± Jet replied.


    ¡°Oh, that makes sense. I thought you were a queen or something.¡±


    ¡°... is that so?¡± Jet replied questioningly.


    ¡°Well, Midnight felt like a spoiled prince or something so I just kinda¡­¡± I shrugged. But hadn¡¯t someone called him a prince as well?


    ¡°Aww come on I wasn¡¯t that bad!¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°It took forever for you to properly accept food from me.¡±


    ¡°You were big and scary! Now you¡¯re just¡­ big.¡±


    ¡°Still, you couldn¡¯t do much for yourself. Hey, why didn¡¯t you have one of these suits on?¡±


    ¡°Because they¡¯re not really necessary most of the time,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Our doors and technology are made for Celmothians. I was just going to visit family, not to end up on another world.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Jet said. ¡°It would be like you going around clad for battle at every moment.¡±


    I understood what they were saying¡­ but I didn¡¯t get it. I literally got modifications from Francois so I could always wear my Power Brigade stuff. And their planet was the one at war!


    Still, that explained why not all of the Celmothians I passed had their fancy suit things, or at least not anything obvious. Maybe they had something less complex for everyday usage. But if it was effectively combat gear¡­ ¡°Are you expecting an attack?¡±


    ¡°We were attacked during my visit to Earth,¡± Jet pointed out.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said.


    ¡°I understand you are the sort that draws trouble. I am not bothered, I just intend to be ready for it.¡±

 Chapter 251

    One thing I very much appreciated about Celmoth was high ceilings and low furniture. In fact, I shouldn¡¯t even necessarily call some of it furniture, as it was more like cushions and pillows spread about on the floor. That wasn¡¯t to say they didn¡¯t have taller pieces of furniture, but rather that they arranged things in various different levels of verticality.


    And so I was able to sit while we met Midnight¡¯s father and one of his brothers. It was good that I wasn¡¯t sitting on anything that had limited weight it could support, or it would have doubtless buckled under my weight. As it turns out, most furniture isn¡¯t made for having twenty people on it at once, and that multiplier of twenty might have been counting heavier Celmothians.


    I was able to move into position easily enough with Reduce- which also minimized my weight for ten minutes or so- but as it turned out most social interactions were longer than that. Most of everything really.


    ¡°I¡¯m Leaf,¡± said an individual who clearly missed out on the family naming conventions.


    ¡°And I¡¯m Ebony,¡± said another.


    Both were black furred. If I recalled correctly, the second one was his brother. I didn¡¯t really have an instinctive way to determine which of them were older, as my experience with both cats and Celmothians was relatively recent. Strangely, we didn¡¯t tend to have familiars around the tower. Was there a reason for that? Mine was that I didn¡¯t have the money or inclination to care for an animal. Which is why it was nice I didn¡¯t actually end up with an animal.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard you took good care of my son,¡± said Leaf, confirming his position. ¡°I¡¯m sure Jet has already said it enough, but we appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I replied, instead of saying that I didn¡¯t know that they existed or really care at the time. I saw Midnight and I helped Midnight. That was all.


    ¡°So¡­¡± Midnight helped direct the conversation. ¡°I haven¡¯t had much chance to hear about what you¡¯ve been up to lately.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you know,¡± Leaf flicked his tail in a manner quite like Midnight. ¡°Just dealing with the normal bureaucracy. Nothing as exciting as¡­ learning magic?¡±


    ¡°Something like that,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Though at first I just kind of knew it. Then we continued learning together. And what about you?¡± he turned to his brother.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been refining some of the prosthetics,¡± he said. ¡°Some of them were a bit rough on their users.¡±


    I frowned. Apparently, my question was clear enough to Midnight, so I didn¡¯t even have to ask.


    ¡°Regrowing limbs isn¡¯t as easy as organs,¡± he explained. ¡°They can be grown independently. And even if we grow a limb, it¡¯s difficult to connect properly. Or something like that,¡± he looked towards his brother.


    Ebony nodded. ¡°Realigning biological nerve growth to match the subject is more difficult than constructing adjustable prosthetics. It¡¯s much cheaper to make one, and they¡¯re not particularly worse than biological versions.¡±


    ¡°Well of course you would say that,¡± Jet joked.


    ¡°So, we¡¯ve heard most of what you¡¯ve told your mother,¡± Leaf said. ¡°But how have things been with you?¡±


    ¡°I can shoot lightning,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And together we opened a rift in space that brought us here from another planet. So uh¡­ weird. It¡¯s been weird.¡±


    ¡°Wow that¡¯s uh¡­ that¡¯s a lot,¡± Ebony replied.


    ¡°I can also store things in an extradimensional pocket,¡± Midnight said, demonstrating by pulling out a can of tuna.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Ebony¡¯s initial reaction was little more than that, but the way he flexed his claws indicated a greater reaction. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not supposed to work here.¡±


    ¡°Magic works just fine here,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Yes, but dimensional distortions¡­ should not.¡±


    Midnight shrugged, ¡°It does, though.¡±


    Jet nodded. ¡°Indeed, the greater concern would be the ability to travel here from outside.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Do you have problems with¡­ people teleporting here?¡±


    ¡°Bunvorixians have teleportation technology too,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So there are systems in place to reject outside interference with our systems.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s more than just that,¡± Ebony added. ¡°For security reasons I won¡¯t go into too much detail, but access to our network isn¡¯t the biggest concern. Freestanding teleportation is, deploying troops into our secure facilities.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Jet confirmed. ¡°We mostly believed ourselves proof against such things, until your initial experiment with Midnight¡¯s room.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a different method,¡± I said. ¡°Extra could probably provide you with something, though? They have to deal with power based things and there¡¯s overlap with magic.¡± I furrowed my brow. ¡°... Why doesn¡¯t anyone have powers here?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Leaf asked. ¡°We¡¯re not from or associated with your world.¡±


    ¡°I mean like on Earth. And¡­ how have all the accidents been one-directional to Earth?¡±


    ¡°A good question,¡± Jet said. ¡°One I will be consulting with our mutual acquaintance Zorphax about as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s that going?¡± I asked. ¡°I heard you set up communication somehow.¡±


    ¡°Yes. However, it is delayed significantly. More than your ¡®Sending¡¯ magic, but with greater throughput.¡±


    Ebony shifted. ¡°Well, it¡¯s probably not that big of a concern considering your unique abilities.¡±


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    Unique is not what I would have called myself. ¡°Any mage could do this eventually. Or several other classes.¡±


    ¡°Then is it a good thing we don¡¯t have any conflicts with your people,¡± Leaf replied.


    Jet nodded. ¡°And the one issue is locked up in an Extra facility where they can actually contain magic.¡±


    My initial impressions had been that people on Earth weren¡¯t good at containing magic, but that was because they had assumed I was non-powered and I¡¯d gone with regular police. Extra had only shown up later.


    ¡°They can handle Spot unless someone tries to break him out,¡± I said.


    ¡°I believe he¡¯s being kept in an Extra facility off-planet,¡± Jet replied.


    ¡°That probably makes it harder for Darkstargirl to get there.¡± Could she fly through space? More specifically, could she breathe in space? ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think anyone wants to piss off Extra anyway.¡± They had access to all of the special stuff.


    Eventually our conversation wound down. People asked about what Midnight was up to, and he asked about them. I might have checked out somewhere along the way, though.


    ¡°Speaking of unique abilities¡­¡± Jet commented as we seemed to be wrapping up. ¡°Tomorrow, we were hoping you could meet with the rescuees. They¡¯ve been exhibiting strange abilities and¡­ communication from a distance has not been very helpful for figuring out what¡¯s going on.¡±


    I already had one group of trainees, but I supposed we could get this group set up independently as well. And frankly, I found it more appealing than being a tourist, even though I probably should want to see the world and the technology here.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I nodded. ¡°They should have status windows to help, though,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Status windows?¡± Jet asked.


    Had we not told them about that? I could have sworn that was part of the explanation we gave with Sir Kalman. But that was a while ago, so maybe it wasn¡¯t. ¡°Well, it lets people know what class they have, experience, unlocked skills or spells, and available points,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s quite useful.¡± I looked at Midnight.


    ¡°I thought we said it too! I just¡­ don¡¯t remember specifically doing it.¡±


    Jet shrugged her whole body. ¡°They were quite overstimulated from the various events. Perhaps it was simply a detail that they glossed over.¡±


    Or we forgot. But there wasn¡¯t anything we could do about it now if it was our fault.


    -----


    There were more people in the Celmothian group we had rescued than there were in our group of trainees back in the Power Brigade. And even though some of them apparently were unable to show up- they could have been from very different parts of the planet, after all- they still maintained that lead.


    There was quite a variety of looks among them, including some patterns I hadn¡¯t seen on Earth cats¡­ which didn¡¯t mean much. Celmothians weren¡¯t cats, and I didn¡¯t even know if these were natural fur patterns.


    This time, it was Midnight¡¯s job to take charge, with me guiding him. Mostly because I didn¡¯t want to, but also because the Celmothians would feel more comfortable with him.


    We were meeting at a large outdoor training field. A military one that had required us to pass through multiple checkpoints to arrive- on the ground, no less. Flying in seemed likely to get anyone shot down instantly.


    ¡°Prince!¡± said the one I had formerly dubbed Steve, who had tiger stripes. ¡°We would like to express our gratitude once more for rescuing us!¡±


    Aha. I knew someone said it. Jet was escorting us everywhere, which made me more comfortable since Midnight was occupied. ¡°See?¡±


    I felt a third hand shimmer of emotion, though it was not that strong. ¡°I think it¡¯s this particular fellow¡¯s proclivities. We did have a monarchy some generations ago, however.¡±


    ¡°He said something about wizards. Did you have wizards?¡±


    ¡°Those are old tales,¡± Jet said. ¡°I¡¯m sure you have some fairy tales in your world.¡±


    I was fairly certain that ¡®fairy tales¡¯ wasn¡¯t the literal meaning, but it fit.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to say all of the old tales are true,¡± I replied. ¡°But I would like to remind you my old world just has magic. And fairies. Frankly, I¡¯m more surprised what things that people don¡¯t have stories about.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Well, as far as reliable history goes,¡± Jet continued. ¡°Celmoth has never had ¡®wizards¡¯ or ¡®magic¡¯. The only supernatural feature we have would be the bonds.¡±


    Oh yeah. That totally counted. In that way, everyone had powers. But clearly they weren¡¯t exclusive of class abilities, since Midnight got them through being a familiar and others got them¡­ the abnormal way. Which was to say, without first being born in that world.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Midnight said. ¡°We¡¯re going to provide a series of tests for you before we ask what abilities you have managed to access previously.¡± Rather than trying to figure out their class unbiased, it was to see what sort of style people leaned towards. Since they had the status window, we could just ask them that other thing.


    I shifted, and Jet swayed on my shoulder though I didn¡¯t feel there was any risk of her falling. ¡°I find it hard to believe my son rides on your shoulder,¡± she commented.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that high up,¡± I said.


    ¡°It really is,¡± she replied. ¡°Not a concern for most Celmothians, of course, but near the limits of our typical falling heights.¡±


    ¡°He did need steps down from the counter,¡± I agreed.


    ¡°He trusts you. And you trust him.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re buddies,¡± I agreed. ¡°I don¡¯t think anything can take that away from us now.¡±


    While I had pictures in my head of all cats being good at running around through obstacle courses, just like humans some were less fit than others. Many probably worked office jobs or something similar.


    At the end of the day, we learned there was a higher rate of artificers among them than I would expect¡­ anywhere else, really. But in this place where technology was so prevalent, consciously or subconsciously connecting to that thing made sense. I was kind of surprised there were no mages among them, since they¡¯d seen Midnight and I using magic.


    However, Steve was a paladin. Maybe the others got inspiration from different supers who had been with us? I could vaguely make connections¡­ but it really didn¡¯t matter. All of them had classes. The only real anomaly was that one of them had an Aspect. I had been fairly convinced that couldn¡¯t happen.


    It was one of the artificers, and apparently he had Aspect of the Tinker. Which was¡­ something I hadn¡¯t heard of. I could only shake my head when Midnight asked. ¡°Most likely it will mean an experience boost in a particular area while lowering others. Most aren¡¯t all or nothing like Aspect of the Barbarian.¡±


    Perhaps we could figure out what his aspect was. With proper status screens we could see and measure experience for them, so at the very least we could determine if things were worth no experience over the course of a few days.


    Most of this crowd wasn¡¯t really equipped for any sort of sparring, though a couple of them would most likely be taking it up if they wanted to improve their combat related classes. Or they could just¡­ continue their normal jobs as accountants or whatever. That wasn¡¯t something I had to concern myself with.

 Chapter 252

    For the most part, the Celmothians had developed class abilities that helped them with their work. That was why there were so many artificers, since they more or less gained their abilities just before coming back. After all, we took a route through my old world to make the Gate to Celmoth more viable. Now Midnight and I could do it from Earth directly, but that was the choice we¡¯d made at the time. Not that it was bad for anyone, since it didn¡¯t seem likely that it could block these people from gaining other powers. Celmoth didn¡¯t seem to have many of those.


    I didn¡¯t know why Celmoth wouldn¡¯t have powers when Earth did, just like nobody knew why a few points on Earth had a greater concentration of them. Or why my old world only had people with ¡®powers¡¯, which wasn¡¯t something I really thought was odd. Everything was just the way things were.


    Ultimately, we weren¡¯t here on Celmoth to create a detailed training program. That was far outside the scope of our timeframe, and we could theoretically manage things from elsewhere. Fortunately, both Midnight and I were fresh with training tips. I would have had been able to distribute more information to them, but Celmothians tech didn¡¯t integrate with earth-tech.


    That was totally normal, of course. You couldn¡¯t exactly push papers into a screen and get the computer to display them. Well, you kind of could since scanners existed¡­ but the point was that they were both significantly technologically distant and not designed by the same hands. Or paws.


    Celmoth did have ways to scan things though, and much more convenient for a book than doing it page by page. Well, we had that on Earth too- just not commonly available to the consumer. Like the safety scanners the Brigade had used for my latest book.


    Jet nodded as we finished scanning my tomes- they were up to me to share, after all, and I really didn¡¯t think Celmoth was going to cause problems with a little bit of magic theory. ¡°Thank you, these will be most helpful.¡±


    I smiled in return, ¡°I would suggest not providing open access to all of this stuff. It¡¯s fairly clear which techniques are dangerous, but nobody here has the experience to judge properly. Though that safety is mostly a concern for those who can actually use the abilities. Other people should be able to read just fine as long as they don¡¯t recklessly distribute the information.¡±


    ¡°What sort of dangers are there?¡± Jet asked.


    ¡°Well let¡¯s see,¡± I frowned. ¡°Personally I¡¯ve experienced¡­ what did Doctor Martinez call it? Something like ¡®partial gelatinization of the blood¡¯.¡±


    Jet¡¯s tail flicked anxiously. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that translated correctly, but it sounds¡­ unpleasant.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, for sure. It¡¯s not fun at all. Lots of coughing up black goop and stuff.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d better remain careful not to do that again,¡± Midnight reminded me.


    ¡°I know,¡± I waved him off. ¡°I haven¡¯t dealt with that in forever. Anyway,¡± I held out my hand, using Mana Crystal Deposition to form a small sample. ¡°Here¡¯s what one mana looks like in crystal form, more or less.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a perfect conversion back into mana, but that was as close as it got. Given that smaller crystals were slower to absorb and the total amount I could handle in a period of a few days was still limited, I didn¡¯t tend to make any of the smaller sized ones. Though right now I had a stock with me because we hadn¡¯t been certain Midnight and I would be able to replenish mana naturally here.


    ¡°Fascinating,¡± Jet said, approaching the crystal. ¡°You just created that?¡±


    ¡°You saw it,¡± I nodded. ¡°I can make larger versions, but they become much more expensive at each step.¡±


    ¡°Could we have a few for research purposes?¡± Jet asked.


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. The Power Brigade had some too, though so far their research had mostly determined ¡®yep, that¡¯s mana in crystal form¡¯.


    -----


    Celmothian civilian ships didn¡¯t all fit into the same pattern, but those used around cities tended to be horizontally oriented for the same safety features I¡¯d already noticed. However, I also saw larger things flying further above the cities, and they came in different shapes and sizes. Some of them were almost the same aesthetic tilted ninety degrees.


    Faster vehicles seemed to be sealed rather than open air, though I wasn¡¯t honestly that familiar with most of the construction of Earth vehicles. I¡¯d been on one airplane, and I didn¡¯t spot anything quite like that. Then again, everything could be smaller which allowed for various designs to work with sufficient efficiency. Quite a few designs were revealed to me over my first week on Celmoth.


    I had been dragged around all sorts of places looking at shiny pieces of technology that all looked just as impossible as cars if often with less clearly contained energy involved. Once technology surpassed a certain level, I could feel it like powers. Well, some of it at least. Perhaps that relied on the specific power sources used more than the ¡®level of advancement¡¯, as if everything that people used at a given time was all invented simultaneously. Which it definitely wasn¡¯t.


    Celmoth didn¡¯t really have plates, instead most things being eaten out of bowls. Given the general lack of silverware, I ate with Mage¡¯s Reach. Jet had offered to have them create something for me, but honestly it wasn¡¯t that important and I could have eaten with my bare hands just fine without worry. They still had soap and things, even if it was meant for furred individuals.


    The food was quite different, but not really much more of a shock than going from my old world to Earth and finding hot dogs and burritos. There were far fewer grains, however. Celmothians leaned towards a carnivore diet, though not exclusively. And they cooked stuff, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about weird plagues.


    Today we were having a casserole of some sort of bird and some root vegetables and spices. The food itself was not the main star, however. Instead, it was the area around us. Specifically a nature preserve.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    We were on a day trip to see some of the natural lands of Celmoth. Trees and bushes were quite recognizable as such, but there were numerous small differences I couldn¡¯t always figure out that made them different. The bark colors weren¡¯t quite familiar, the leaves a bit too wide, the grasses too broad leafed. Still, it wasn¡¯t like there was any stark contrast for the majority of things.


    I didn¡¯t see any bright orange grass or neon pink trees or primary blue colored leaves. There were a few more exotic colors, but those were rarer just like on Earth- where there were some quite fascinating plants that simply didn¡¯t grow in most environments.


    The fauna were in vaguely recognizable categories as well, from birds to insects to climbing mammals. Nothing quite like squirrels, but I spotted a few things.


    It was a nice day.


    A quiet beeping sound caused Jet to suddenly stand up from where she was curled up on a blanket. Though Midnight, I could feel a spike of her concern. ¡°This is General Deathstalker. What is the concern?¡± I only heard one half of what was being said, but it seemed clear she was being contacted in an official capacity. ¡°Understood, we¡¯ll-¡±


    A tremendous boom shook the world around us, and I looked up to see cracks in the sky itself. Or rather, those had to be in the barrier surrounding Celmoth. There were several weird ships. They were wide, flat discs- though ¡®flat¡¯ was a relative term. They had to be at least a few meters thick still, they were just five times broader than that at minimum.


    ¡°What are those?¡± I asked Midnight.


    ¡°Bunvorixian ships,¡± he said, his emotions rising.


    ¡°Okay, how do they attack?¡±


    ¡°... Lasers?¡±


    I grimaced. ¡°Why is it always lasers?¡± I shook my head, casting Energy Ward on the two of us. Lasers weren¡¯t a proper element, but I was getting better at such abnormal defenses.


    ¡°They also use the generated heat as targeting focuses for guided missiles,¡± Jet commented, apparently having heard us even while she dealt with her other conversation.


    What was I supposed to do about missiles? ¡°Should we worry about shrapnel?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You should run,¡± Jet commented. ¡°But yes, shrapnel could be a factor. I have no idea why these ships would attack here and now, so we have to respond appropriately. Head towards shelter.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said, casting Stoneskin on Midnight and myself. ¡°You coming?¡±


    ¡°I need to engage as I can.¡±


    ¡°Are you even able to target ships from down here?¡± I asked. ¡°Can they be taken out by infantry?¡±


    Her suit shifted, shaping parts into tubes of some sort. ¡°Yes, these are smaller ones. Now go!¡±


    I lifted Midnight onto my shoulder and began stepping away. ¡°How are your suit¡¯s defenses?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re fine!¡± Jet retorted.


    Well, maybe she could use some help still. ¡°Midnight, Stoneskin her.¡±


    ¡°Uh, right,¡± he nodded, calling upon his own mana. The spell completed, then I continued moving away. ¡°Wait, Turlough, we can¡¯t just abandon my mom!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to let us stand in the same blast radius,¡± I replied. ¡°We¡¯re going over here.¡± There was a big tree and a nice boulder. Not the best cover, but slightly better than nothing, maybe? ¡°They sure are coming closer, huh?¡± I said looking at the ships.


    ¡°They¡¯re coming for us!¡± Midnight said.


    More likely his mother. But I wouldn¡¯t guarantee that we weren¡¯t the target instead. Even though only one Bunvorixian hated us and he probably wasn¡¯t even in contact with them.


    ¡°Think they¡¯re weak to lightning?¡± I asked, gathering 13 mana and casting my strongest offensive spell. It struck a barrier around the targeted ship, revealing it and damaging the barrier but not piercing it. ¡°Ugh, annoying.¡±


    A moment later, that same ship was struck several times sequentially by bursts of light, small orbs that exploded in cross patterns. One made it all the way through the barrier and cracked off about a fifth of the disc, sending the whole thing into a spiral towards the ground.


    ¡°Why are you not running?¡± Jet chastised from a distance.


    ¡°Because they¡¯ll just catch us out of breath,¡± I commented. I needed some sort of wider area barrier so that I could make things explode before they hit me. Even if the barrier was destroyed, it would keep the explosion away from my internal organs. And the rest of me.


    Several local ships were scrambling towards the numerous discs, causing them to break into several groups dogfighting in the sky- but that left a few heading towards us and Jet.


    A burst of heat caused me to throw us to the side, Midnight clinging to my shoulder. I immediately smelled burning grass and only moments later actually comprehended seeing the laser drilling into the ground. Rather than tracking my position, however, it remained on its initial lock.


    Having heard something about what was coming next, I circled around behind the tree just in time for it to be torn to shreds by an explosion. Force Armor shattered easily, but the combination of Stoneskin and Energy Ward seemed to hold together.


    ¡°Midnight,¡± I poked my panicking buddy who was still draped over my shoulder as I lay flat on the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t forget you are capable of artillery fire yourself.¡±


    At the same time I said that, I shot a Firebolt just to test their shields. The results were to barely even stir the shield. Likewise, Water Blast which I had only gained recently didn¡¯t seem more effective. It did create a nice splash up in the air, though. At least these things weren¡¯t impossible to hit, with their wide bases.


    Still, I didn¡¯t like the way they were moving closer. If they got directly over us it might be easy to hit them, but they seemed to have more than a few avenues of attack as well.


    Jet continued to shoot at the flying discs, several explosions happening in her direction as she managed to crack another barrier but not bring down the ship.


    ¡°I- I can¡¯t form the weapons!¡± Midnight said.


    To be honest, I wasn¡¯t even sure if Midnight¡¯s suit could do that. ¡°Magic!¡± I prompted him. Sonic Lance managed to blast Jet¡¯s apparent target, but I could see the barrier pulling itself back together and my attack merely negated that. Long enough for Jet to take advantage while still protecting herself, though. Another disc fell, and three remained.


    I was up, looking for more cover. There were plenty of trees to at least partially restrict the enemy¡¯s line of sight, and while I assumed their tech had to be able to handle it, anything was better than staying in the open.


    Another beam locked in position, and I got far enough away to only feel a wash of heat from the following missile. These attack systems seemed pretty rigid, but maybe it was just that these ships were smaller.


    As I¡¯d stated, outrunning the ships was pretty much impossible. Moments later, one was directly over Midnight and me, and the other over Jet. Before I could do anything, Midnight had already completed a spell. It wasn¡¯t one we¡¯d used often, but Blizzard was supposed to match Chain Lightning. And with our target being so large, it was actually quite reasonable to use such a wide area coverage spell.


    A sheet of ice covered the ship above us, though its lasers immediately began melting holes through. That seemed to have been a mistake, however, as there was a sudden cracking sound. I was already gathering mana, but I swapped my target spell quickly. Looking at the ship listing, Haste seemed quite prudent for us.


    Maybe I would have made it out from under the fifteen meter wide disc by just running normally, since it tilted slowly- one side impacting the ground before it snapped and the whole thing shattered- but I wouldn¡¯t have been as well equipped to watch my own feet while turning around to look over my shoulder for flying hunks of ship. They were far too large to call shrapnel.

 Chapter 253

    ¡°Why did that work?!¡± Midnight asked, after having frozen a Bunvorixian disc, toppling it and causing it to snap behind us as we scurried away. ¡°They¡¯ve got universal barriers!¡±


    ¡°I highly doubt they¡¯re universal,¡± I said as we ran, Haste making it much easier to keep track of the two remaining ships. I was currently angling towards Jet because she was barely avoiding an assault by another ship hovering over her.


    Midnight leapt forward from my shoulder, and I decided it was probably unnecessary to follow him into the danger zone. Thus, I focused my attention on the ship while he rushed forward. Since it worked moments ago, I cast Blizzard on the next disc. Once again I saw a large vehicle immediately become coated in frost, though they seemed to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors and didn¡¯t continue blasting their attacks.


    That bought them a few moments as they hovered unsteadily. I cast Firebolt, hoping to create more stress in the metal hull- but the barrier properly stopped that spell. Still, the ship wasn¡¯t able to do much more than hover and Midnight had already reached Jet, casting Haste on her.


    They were already out from beneath the disc, and Jet had fired a series of shots from her suit. Once again orbs of light exploded in cross shaped patterns. With the ship¡¯s limited mobility, they were able to impact the same location and break through the barrier- cracking both the ice and the ship¡¯s hull.


    There was one more threat circling towards us, until a beam nearly half a wide as it cut through it at an angle, completely obliterating it.


    I couldn¡¯t hear Jet¡¯s radio, but she was clearly responding to some sort of communication. It took her a couple moments to calibrate her speaking pace, and she ultimately repeated herself. ¡°Yes, we¡¯re all fine here.¡± A pause. ¡°We¡¯ll gladly take an escort on the way back.¡± Jet trotted over towards me with Midnight. ¡°I¡¯m impressed. Those may have only been smaller ships, but they¡¯re still difficult to defeat.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Eh, Midnight was the one who figured out the right thing.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Jet said, looking towards her son. ¡°How did that work anyway? Ice projectiles should be blocked by the barriers as much as everything else.¡±


    ¡°Well you see,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I have no idea.¡±


    They both looked at me.


    ¡°Blizzard doesn¡¯t throw ice,¡± I replied. ¡°So I guess it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    ¡°Where did the ice come from, then?¡± Jet asked.


    ¡°Oh, we just made things really cold. And so ice forms naturally on such a surface.¡±


    ¡°You just¡­ made things cold,¡± Jet said.


    ¡°Yeah. With cold magic,¡± I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s how it works. If it threw shards of ice it would mostly puncture things instead of doing cold damage.¡±


    ¡°That''s¡­¡± Jet narrowed her eyes. ¡°How do you even protect against something like that?¡±


    ¡°Good insulation. Energy ward. Get behind cover. That sort of thing.¡±


    ¡°Concerning,¡± Jet said as we got close to the vehicle that had carried us to this park.


    ¡°Oh. We forgot the picnic stuff,¡± I said.


    Midnight shook his head. ¡°Pretty sure that was one of the craters.¡±


    ¡°Too bad,¡± I replied.


    ¡°A quite acceptable loss,¡± Jet replied. ¡°Though I have many concerns. Especially how and why they chose to attack here and now.¡± We climbed into our vehicle and set our destination back towards the city. ¡°The two of you are once again quite calm. You must have seen a lot of battle.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Midnight said. ¡°At least weekly, aside from daily sparring. Except for the rare exceptions.¡±


    Jet nodded. ¡°I¡¯m glad you have the tools to survive. That Haste is quite convenient, though I found my suit seemed sluggish to react.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Well, usually equipment should be sped up¡­¡± I pondered.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t there user safety restrictions?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Speaking of¡­ I couldn¡¯t get my suit to activate weapons.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you later,¡± Jet said. She furrowed her brow again. Another incoming message? ¡°I have just received foul news.¡± She looked towards the two of us. ¡°The Bunvorixians have just a few hours ago launched an attack to free Spot from his containment facility on Mars.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ significant,¡± I said. ¡°And a stupid idea.¡±


    ¡°The attack seems to have been successful,¡± Jet noted.


    ¡°Yeah, but now Extra¡¯s gonna be really mad,¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯m more concerned about something else,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Like, how did a sufficient amount of Bunvorixian forces get there or even know about it?¡±


    Jet seemed to find that troubling as well. ¡°They must have more advanced interstellar transportation options available¡­¡± she grimaced. ¡°It is not merely a short hop over to the Sol system. And of course the security breach here¡­ it¡¯s not impossible for a few small ships to slip close unnoticed, but their ability to target this location? Very few know those plans.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, though Spot might have been able to find you.¡±


    ¡°Explain,¡± Jet said imperatively.


    ¡°Did you feel someone watching you before they showed up?¡±


    ¡°I felt something when we entered the park,¡± Jet confirmed. ¡°But I thought little of it since we were in public.¡±


    ¡°We need to find a mirror,¡± I said. ¡°Because if it was that, you need to fight against it next time.¡±


    She flicked her tail. ¡°I have not previously encountered circumstances where not wanting people to watch you actually stopped it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well, magic,¡± I said. ¡°Of course, it could be something else. But with Spot being freed and having met you, it¡¯s not crazy. Assuming they could send a message quickly from wherever they were.¡±


    ¡°If they reached Mars, a message would be trivial,¡± Jet said. ¡°Though I am concerned about both. We only recently established a connection through your help. What advantages do they have that they managed such earlier? I am also concerned for your safety with this enemy combatant being freed.¡±


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s not a big deal. It¡¯s just one more guy trying to kill us,¡± I said. ¡°Also, it will be very difficult for him to do stuff now that he¡¯s caused direct trouble with Extra.¡±


    ¡°I hope for your sake that you¡¯re correct,¡± Jet replied.


    -----


    ¡°Alright, this is a pretty simple test,¡± I said. ¡°In a few moments, you should feel someone watching you. Try to determine if it¡¯s similar to that feeling you had before, and then resist it. We¡¯ll try a few times so you can get used to it.¡±


    Celmothian mirrors weren¡¯t exactly the same as on Earth or the ones in my previous world, but none of that actually mattered. After all, the best Scrying devices were decidedly not mirrors. Of course, we weren¡¯t going to get a stupidly sized artificial diamond here so a simple mirror was good enough.


    Jet was left in another room as Midnight and I worked, just to avoid biasing her senses. Midnight went first, causing the swirling patterns to reveal his mothers. She twitched and looked around, then I felt the pressure second hand as she resisted. It only took her a few moments to completely negate the spell.


    ¡°Pretty good,¡± Midnight muttered. ¡°But I can do better.¡± Midnight went again, and the wrestling match indeed lasted longer- though the image never took its clearest form.


    I was next, and while Jet now had some practice resisting a Scrying spell she only had the experience of tangling with Midnight. While our actual power was the same, our exact technique was not. She held off for a time in between our first tests.


    Then we swapped back to Midnight to keep her off guard. He had managed to improve his mana pool significantly with the new practice techniques, making his maximum pool just enough to manage the third attempt at full power.


    We finished with one more from me, at which point it only took her a few moments to counter me. We couldn¡¯t really do much more except attempt again at a random time of the day to try to catch her off guard.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite odd,¡± Jet said when we came out. ¡°But it is indeed what I felt before, except clearly a different presence.¡±


    ¡°You can feel who it is?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡±


    ¡°Well, not exactly. But we¡¯re family so¡­ it was easier to make the distinction. And that extends to you indirectly, Turlough.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if it would be easier to Scry on you, if you didn¡¯t resist,¡± I said. ¡°I know for certain that as my familiar, I would gain more information about the area around Midnight.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not need to know,¡± Jet said. ¡°But it is something useful to know. My concern is his ability to target other generals or important personnel.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately,¡± I admitted. ¡°He probably can. Though it will be more difficult for those he hasn¡¯t met. And if he¡¯s still hanging around Earth instead of here, I would expect a certain failure rate and time lag.¡±


    Jet nodded. ¡°Indeed, if we hadn¡¯t been taking a relaxed picnic we would have been gone before anything could come of it. But we still need to do something about this.¡±


    ¡°Ask Extra,¡± I said. ¡°People on Earth have just started dealing with this issue. Protective equipment is probably something they would be willing to share or exchange or¡­ however they do that kind of stuff. Worst case, the Brigade would probably sell you some schematics. I think they can make that stuff without powers.¡± I wasn¡¯t actually sure, though, because almost everything in New Bay I interacted with had powers associated with it. And by almost everything, I meant except coffee shops and other places where I got food.


    ¡°Or the trainees,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°Since most of the casters can probably use Nondetection.¡±


    Oh, good point. I should have thought of that, since we were using that on ourselves every day. Then again, I might have been just moments away and Midnight got there first.


    -----


    Two weeks wasn¡¯t much to visit an entire planet, and frankly we didn¡¯t try. I got to see some of Celmothian culture, meet some of Midnight¡¯s family, and get into a life and death battle. So overall an excellent trip. Could have done without the low ceilings, but magic helped with that.


    ¡°I wish you could stay longer,¡± Jet said.


    Midnight rubbed his head against hers. ¡°You know we can¡¯t. I¡¯ve set up a whole new life. But we can still visit occasionally.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to become a needy mother,¡± Jet replied. ¡°And I suppose it¡¯s not much worse than you moving to the next town over¡­ but you have to remember to keep in contact.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Though you can still keep working on official connections.¡±


    ¡°An excellent motivation.¡±


    While we could almost certainly just Gate from anywhere, it felt more correct to return to where we had arrived. For consistency and stability, if nothing else.


    Midnight and I shared the cost, and a moderately sized portal opened up. We didn¡¯t need something overly large, after all.


    I noticed something odd as we began walking through, and after fully stepping into the hall it was more obvious. There were a half dozen armed soldiers standing ready in the hall- including some martians with odd but doubtless quite effective gear. They took a careful look at Midnight and I as we arrived, seemingly ready to act if we didn¡¯t check out.


    Oh right. The thing with Spot probably had Extra on their toes. While I doubted anyone would want to come uninvited to their fancy portal place, it still made some sense to improve security. That increase seemed to include the rest of the building.


    As we left the receiving hall, an assistant came up to us. ¡°Mage and Familiar. Zorphax wished to speak to you upon your arrival.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Of course. We¡¯ll go see him, if he¡¯s available.¡±


    ¡°He said as soon as you arrived. I¡¯ll just send a message ahead.¡±


    I knew where his office was already, though this time a pair of guards escorted us. Possibly for our safety, maybe for his. Hopefully for both.


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re back,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°And we appreciate you keeping to your stated schedule. Especially in times such as this.¡± The small green man was almost completely hidden behind piles of paper on his desk. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard about Spot?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Midnight said. ¡°He escaped.¡±


    ¡°Something like that,¡± Zorphax nodded. ¡°Which means that Extra, Mars, and New Bay might be officially at war. That¡¯s still being decided, but¡­ Bunvorix didn¡¯t attempt any diplomatic methods to have their citizen released. Not that we would have done so without some sort of major penalty, given his criminal convictions.¡±


    ¡°Is he still around Mars? Or Earth?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A good question to which I have no answers,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°Their cloaking systems defeated even Martian technology, which is a problem for¡­ reasons I won¡¯t be getting into. Anyway, I just wanted to warn you. Other than that, I am sorry to say that we¡¯ll have to be restricting travel for the moment. It will likely take longer to approve any trips. I know, it¡¯s not your fault things are this way¡­ but making it look like we have control of something will appease the higher ups.¡±


    ¡°Sounds to me like they shouldn¡¯t have let their secure facility get broken into,¡± I replied. ¡°So how did it happen?¡±


    ¡°Classified, I am afraid,¡± Zorphax said. His eyes were pure black and thus difficult to read, but his tone of voice made it very clear that was the end of things. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re handling it.¡±


    ¡°So this bumped Spot up the danger ratings, right?¡±


    ¡°... We¡¯d still very much prefer if he was brought in alive,¡± Zorphax said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I replied. ¡°Unless he goes too far like Handface, it won¡¯t be an issue.¡± As for Darkstargirl, obviously we wouldn¡¯t be holding back in the slightest if we even wanted to cause her a headache. She was too strong¡­ maybe we needed to come up with some specific counters. Though if we got through any more fights with her or Gloom we could expect boatloads of experience, which would narrow that gap.

 Chapter 254

    After returning to Earth, Midnight and I got back to our schedule fairly quickly. ¡°Is it weird?¡± I asked. ¡°Visiting home again after so long?¡± This wasn¡¯t some sort of cosmic insight I had, nor would the idea have come to me naturally. Instead, the bond made things more clear.


    ¡°In a way,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I think the weirder part of everything is how normal everything here has become. I only felt like things were normal when we were getting attacked. Not sure how I¡¯m supposed to react to that.¡±


    ¡°Well, half of that is probably me,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But you¡¯ve had over a year to get used to this lifestyle. Suddenly going back to something else will always be weird. Plus, we were doing touristy stuff instead of whatever you normally did.¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯m not gonna lie,¡± Midnight replied. ¡°It wasn¡¯t that important. I was still trying to figure out my purpose. Now I have one here, protecting people. Except¡­ I also want to do that for my homeworld? I guess I never really thought that much about the war because it never reached the cities.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re in luck,¡± I said. ¡°They might be bringing the war here. Or to Mars or something,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But if the Bunvorixian military bothered to free Spot he must be important somehow, so dealing with him will solve two problems.¡±


    ¡°Only if it doesn¡¯t involve him getting broken out again.¡±


    ¡°We just need to make sure it costs them a lot to get him out. Also, Extra will be more prepared for military involvement.¡±


    ¡°We should learn more details about how he got out¡­¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Too bad it¡¯s classified, for now,¡± I shrugged. ¡°We can tell Extra and the brigade that ice magic is good against some of their ships, though.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully it will apply to other ships,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°Though if it becomes a persistent problem I would expect them to build around it.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s say they can,¡± I nodded. ¡°Super tech is pretty amazing, so I wouldn¡¯t doubt it. Or I guess it¡¯s just properly advanced tech. Anyway, how much do you think it would cost to apply to all of their ships?¡±


    ¡°... It would either be trivial if it¡¯s simply an algorithm update to the barrier functionality, or unbearably expensive if it requires modifying the structure in any major way.¡±


    ¡°Right?¡± I nodded. ¡°All for what, a handful of specific people? That said, we might expect that any ships specifically meant to come after us will fix those weaknesses. Though they¡¯d have to report back for that.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s probably some sort of limited automatic transmissions,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°Though whether it would be valuable or not is a different question. I imagine the Celmothian military is keeping things pretty well under wraps on their part.¡±


    So they had some information. None of their ships returning would make it more difficult to figure out what happened to a couple specific ones. We only had to be concerned if they specifically modified ships to come after us. Which I actually thought was pretty likely. What other spells would be difficult for tech to respond to?


    -----


    Being invited back to Coon Meadows by Ceira was unexpected considering what had happened last time. I said as much when Midnight and I arrived, finding her already there with Cel and Bun.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve already thought about this stuff a lot,¡± she replied. ¡°What kind of danger I¡¯m in by associating with you. There was the whole Doctor Doomsday thing and then this thing with Dark Star.¡± She shook her head, then gestured to the dead patch of land. ¡°Then I think about this, and how it¡¯s not weird in New Bay. It¡¯s the city that is dangerous, not my friends. Though I didn¡¯t exactly come to this conclusion on my own. Cel and Bun were a big part of things.¡±


    ¡°Oh, in what way?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Well, after the incident¡­ Bun was hurt pretty bad. I was able to patch him up, but I didn¡¯t want to go out again. Then they literally dragged me out so they could train to get stronger.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± I said. ¡°Want some help with that?¡±


    ¡°I do, actually,¡± Ceira said. ¡°But before you say what you¡¯re probably going to say, I¡¯d prefer to stay away from a career doing it. They want to be able to protect us and friends, but I¡¯m not really ready to take on some sort of responsibility for the city. I know it might not make sense but-¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°You want to train together but not be a hero or mercenary.¡±


    ¡°Yeah basically,¡± Ceira agreed. While we were talking, she was bending down and using small amounts of magic throughout the burnt area of the park.


    ¡°So what¡¯s your schedule like?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m busy like¡­ two hours per day with my new work and the rest is pretty much open. Though I can¡¯t use much mana near either end because of that same work.¡±


    ¡°Did you take up the offer for healing work?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Ceira nodded. ¡°It¡¯s uh¡­ I have no idea how regular people in the industry handle it. I don¡¯t really deal with emergencies, mostly anonymous supers with old injuries for the most part. On my end it¡¯s not that bad because I get to see people come away healthy but¡­ sometimes they¡¯re pretty bad. Did you know it can take multiple Regenerate spells to regrow limbs?¡±


    ¡°I did not,¡± I admitted. ¡°Though to be fair it¡¯s quite far from my area of expertise.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± she nodded. ¡°Older injuries are harder to get started too. Some days I only manage to heal one person. I don¡¯t deal with my waiting list but I hear it¡¯s booked out for like six months. That¡¯s like a thousand people!¡± Ceira waved her arms above her head. ¡°It¡¯s crazy.¡±


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    ¡°So how many people is that per day?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s three people in the morning and three at night,¡± Ceira explained. ¡°I have enough mana for two casts in a row, then I wait to regenerate enough mana for a third.¡±


    ¡°There are ways to improve your efficiency,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah, I know,¡± Ceira said. ¡°More improvements will help, but only so much.¡±


    ¡°Well, I actually mean Multicasting. Though I guess that would require you to have a fatigue point far beyond what I¡¯ve seen. Though if you could split the costs with your animal companions you might be able to manage it. If they have mana.¡±


    ¡°No luck with that so far,¡± Ceira shook her head. ¡°I can cast anything I have on all three of us at once, but they don¡¯t seem to work like familiars in terms of casting spells.¡±


    ¡°Well, nobody¡¯s supposed to be quite like Midnight anyway,¡± I admitted. ¡°Rob is more typical.¡±


    ¡°Rob¡­?¡± Ceira asked. She reached down into the soil with her magic and a small tree sprouted to knee height almost immediately.


    ¡°It¡¯s Jerome¡¯s cleaning robot,¡± Midnight clarified. ¡°He made Rob his familiar.¡±


    ¡°Cool, I guess,¡± Ceira shrugged. ¡°How does that work?¡±


    ¡°Constructs receive a certain level of imbued intelligence,¡± I explained. ¡°Other than that they¡¯re like animal familiars. That means having their own mana pools and assisting with spellcasting and the like.¡±


    ¡°Seems like cheating,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that just double your mana pool?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Only someone like Midnight who has the initiative to train on their own will grow quickly, and with the caveat that they¡¯ll always be weaker than the Mage because of experience sharing.¡±


    ¡°Not to be rude, but doesn¡¯t that mean Midnight is kind of worse off as your familiar?¡±


    Midnight shook his head. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say so. I don¡¯t think my progress is hindered in any way, and instead I get to feed off of Turlough¡¯s upgrades, not to mention the other benefits of the bond such as sharing spells cast on us. If my experience is slower somehow, that only really limits my mana pool which is already becoming less of an issue.¡±


    ¡°Anyway,¡± I said. ¡°It does seem that Regenerate will be difficult to Multicast even if your companions could do it. So I suppose you¡¯re mostly limited by upgrades and mana pool. Speaking of which, you had methods to improve that?¡±


    ¡°I have a skill called Plant Attunement that I¡¯m fairly sure contributes to my maximum. And I regenerate mana faster in places like this.¡± She looked down at the burnt ground. ¡°Or at least like this park is supposed to be. I¡¯m hoping to tend this place back to health pretty soon.¡±


    ¡°Do you heal people here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Uh, no. They want things done at a secure facility. As you can imagine, crippled heroes tend to have more than a few enemies¡­ though that¡¯s not entirely the case.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, not everyone I heal is a combat super. Some of them aren¡¯t even supers at all but just rich people. It kind of pisses me off that I¡¯m treating them but I guess everyone has a price for them to sell out and I found mine. I¡¯m not going to tell you how much but it¡¯s a lot.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°So why is that a problem?¡±


    ¡°Because other people deserve treatment more!¡±


    Midnight cleared his throat to share his thoughts. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be faulted for choosing what you want to do with your own powers. Especially not by yourself. If you feel bad, then simply make sure you charge them enough to earn sufficient income for yourself while also using that money on projects that will help more people.¡±


    ¡°Or I could directly help people¡­¡± Ceira said, hanging her head. ¡°Also you don¡¯t have to worry about me being paid enough. It honestly feels like too much.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t burden yourself with being unable to solve all of the world¡¯s problems,¡± I said. ¡°The world is big and has many faults¡­ even from those who overall seem to have the best interests of the people in mind. You remember my friend who was hurt?¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t help,¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°That was entirely not the point,¡± I said. It was already too late, so I continued with what I had intended. ¡°There is technology available that could and in fact did help him recover. And yet, usage of it is restricted by Extra. They have reasons to forbid things, of course, but it¡¯s still imperfect. But more than that, look at my old world. Literally everyone there has the potential to be like me or you, but they aren¡¯t. And that¡¯s not an accident.¡±


    ¡°... Was that supposed to help me feel better?¡±


    ¡°It didn¡¯t?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°I¡¯m not very good at this.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we look at positive things?¡± Midnight said. ¡°Like, everything that the people you heal are doing for the city.¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± Ceira nodded enthusiastically as she sat down in the dirt, seemingly finished with her magical plant bolstering for the moment. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m pretty sure I healed someone famous. I can tell you, but you can¡¯t tell anyone who, alright?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°It was Madame Multitude! I¡¯m pretty sure, at least,¡± Ceira beamed.


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said, pulling out my phone.


    ¡°Turlough! I literally just told you not to tell anyone!¡¯ Ceira complained.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Just looking up who she is.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? It¡¯s Madame Multitude!¡±


    I pulled up a picture. ¡°This one?¡±


    ¡°Yes, obviously!¡± Ceira grumbled.


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay? It¡¯s Madame Multitude! She was literally the most famous hero in the city! She helped so many people with everything until her career suddenly stopped like five years ago. Ah.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that would explain why we haven¡¯t heard of her,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°She seems nice,¡± I said, looking at the public info on her. ¡°Not very strong, though.¡±


    Ceira shrugged. ¡°She didn¡¯t need to be strong. She helped people with pretty much everything. She helped so many people in trouble, big or small. When I was little I saw her patching up a kid who scraped their knee on the playground.¡±


    ¡°... useful public information is very limited,¡± I complained. It seemed Madame Multitude was a splitter. Estimates on her maximum number of bodies ranged from ten to a thousand. ¡°Seems pretty active, but I can''t figure out how many villains she took down?¡±


    Ceira shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s because she didn¡¯t do that. She didn¡¯t even stop petty criminals. And yet, people loved her. She was the sort who would always stay with people after something happened. Until the injuries¡­¡± Ceira shook her head. ¡°Everyone was devastated. She was in a fire so bad that she lost use of all four limbs. I¡­ don¡¯t actually know if it was her, though,¡± Ceira admitted. ¡°She was one of the first, but she hasn¡¯t popped back in the news. Maybe it was just some other woman who suffered similar injuries.¡±


    ¡°Does it matter?¡± I asked. ¡°You still helped someone. Everyone deserves that. Even rich folk. Oh, if that still bothers you then I suggest you tell them to do something good for other people.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that would work?¡±


    ¡°If not, you still have their money,¡± I shrugged. How much would what Ceira was doing cost, anyway? Considering how much one organ was, I imagined quite a bit. Hopefully she was getting paid appropriately, though she certainly seemed to think so which meant I wasn¡¯t too worried.

 Chapter 255

    The next time I showed up at Coon Meadows park, the destroyed copse of trees had significantly recovered. Not just that, but the surrounding area of the park was flush with new life. The trees were still pretty small, but considering it was fall the fact that they had sprouted at all was pretty impressive. Other plant life had grown significantly as well.


    When I arrived, Cel and Bun were chasing someone in a nearby field. A small someone that I quickly recognized as Izzy. ¡°Hello,¡± I said as I stood next to Ceira as she watched. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see Izzy here today.¡±


    We hung out occasionally still, but since she had a job that functioned during normal hours and I¡¯d been quite busy with interdimensional and interplanetary travel lately it hadn¡¯t been that much.


    Seeing the aggressive game of tag she was playing with the pair of animals, it was clear she hadn¡¯t just been sitting around slacking off. Her class abilities could obviously augment her movements, but Cel and Bun were augmented as well. Even if Ceira¡¯s level was lower, there were two of them to deal with.


    The tactics seemed to be Cel trying to trip her up by diving between her legs- and given her size that meant quick movements to keep from even being touched. Bun would leap at her with paws extended or nip and her hands, but she twisted around while avoiding both animals. I knew how difficult it was to keep track of two opponents at once, but she was managing it expertly.


    I vaguely recalled some Scout abilities that would help with that, but her execution was clearly well honed.


    While the skirmish was clearly friendly in intent, I realized it was more than just a game of tag. They weren¡¯t able to touch her, but Bun¡¯s chomping teeth looked fairly serious. I also saw Cel¡¯s claws extending, larger than normal cat¡¯s claws.


    Then there was the part where her movements had a spare bit of room to kick Bun away, sending him tumbling. I wasn¡¯t one to accept animal abuse, but roughhousing was quite different. No, this was serious training. I could see it in their eyes.


    Cel managed to slash Izzy¡¯s ankle the second time Bun went flying- nearly all the way to us observers- and that kept her off balance for the dog to return, leaping and grabbing her arm.


    ¡°Alright, I surrender!¡± Izzy said, and Bun immediately let go. I could see a trickle of blood running down her forearm.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that hurt?¡± Midnight asked as she walked towards us.


    ¡°You¡¯re asking me if something hurts?¡± she raised an eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re standing on the shoulder of the guy who¡¯s the type to keep punching people with a broken hand.¡±


    ¡°It still hurts, though,¡± I commented.


    Midnight nodded. ¡°I have experienced Turlough. But that looks like a fairly sizable wound.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Bun has to get a proper grip or I¡¯d just slip away and they¡¯d never beat me. Plus, Ceira will heal me when we¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°Are you done?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°No way! Especially not with this guy here,¡± she poked my belly with her finger. ¡°You owe me a proper brawl.¡±


    ¡°Sure, we can head over to HQ,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Nah, not in a fancy training room. Right here.¡±


    I shook my head, ¡°I don¡¯t think that will work out. I¡¯d rather not risk fatigue out here.¡±


    ¡°It would be a no mana fight,¡± Izzy said. ¡°So you¡¯d still be pretty effective. And I already checked out everyone at the park, no fanatics.¡± She spit into the grass. ¡°But we¡¯d take them out if there were any.¡±


    I nodded, remembering a previous incident. People with portal powers would be significantly better trained now, but even Titan wasn¡¯t that big of an issue and he was one of the best I¡¯d seen working with Darkstargirl. ¡°I can agree, but I¡¯m not going to remove my outfit and that will dampen any blows.¡±


    Thin cloth wasn¡¯t generally effective against blunt force impact, but Francois didn¡¯t slack off with his gear. The concealment feature was quite nice too, though looking like I was wearing normal clothes only achieved maximum effectiveness when I changed my looks too. At that point, I would just be using Disguise anyway. Still, not being automatically picked out as Mage was good enough for me. I wasn¡¯t the only person with green skin. Or the only orc, even. Though most of the others seemed to work for Doctor Doomsday.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Izzy pondered for a few moments. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to make you vulnerable out here. How about you even things out by making us the same size?¡±


    ¡°I can do that,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it then!¡± she grinned. I reached towards her with my magic, casting Enlarge. Soon enough, Izzy was my height¡­ and then a little taller. ¡°Huh.¡± She looked down at me. ¡°I thought this only doubled my height?¡±


    ¡°At base,¡± I agreed. ¡°But you know. Upgrades and stuff.¡± I hadn¡¯t even pushed it to its maximum, or she would be somewhere around eight and a half feet tall, instead of seven and a bit. Half a foot taller than me was much closer than normal, and it wasn¡¯t worth micromanaging the spell to get closer.


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    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s not waste this spell!¡±


    After I nodded, she took the first swing. We¡¯d sparred a few times with Enlarge cast on her, so she wasn¡¯t entirely new to it, but her relative difference in size still greatly affected her tactics. Izzy was used to strikes, but grappling wasn¡¯t in her normal repertoire- at best she would tackle someone¡¯s legs. She was quite capable of resisting grabs herself, of course, so I wasn¡¯t terribly advantaged there.


    I didn¡¯t think about things too much as limbs flailed. Izzy¡¯s enhanced strength from magic made up for my protective gear, but ultimately it was hard to say if there was a winner between us. I just remember both of us ending up on the grass having toppled away from each other and unable to get up.


    A catlike tongue was licking my forehead, and it wasn¡¯t Midnight since he was still over to the side.


    ¡°Are you lunatics done now?¡± Ceira asked, looking down at me.


    ¡°Yep, we¡¯re good,¡± I said. Izzy gave an acknowledgement as well.


    ¡°Well since you don¡¯t have a puncture wound to fix I think you can get by with Replenish,¡± Ceira said.


    Before I could say anything, she gathered a few mana and cast the spell on me. ¡°Well, you didn¡¯t have to do that. A few bruises is pretty normal.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call that a few,¡± Ceira said. She walked over to Izzy, but she didn¡¯t gather quite as much mana as I expected for Regenerate. Noticing my look as I propped myself into a sitting position, she explained. ¡°Now that I can cast the whole thing, I¡¯ve been able to do partial versions. I don¡¯t think it will grow anything back except near full power, but it stitches up smaller wounds better than Replenish.¡±


    After our spar, Ceira asked Izzy and I to help her remove some old trunks and roots. Her magic helped dig them up, but she still needed someone to take them away. Apparently she¡¯d worked out something with the city, and I¡¯m sure they were quite glad to get the park not looking like a disaster zone sooner rather than later. And maybe for cheaper, since they would otherwise have to pay a plant based super.


    ¡°Are you charging the city for this growth?¡± I asked.


    She shook her head. ¡°Maybe if I needed the money, but I really don¡¯t. It¡¯s mostly because I like this place and want it to be better.¡±


    If my Storage was empty I could have taken some of the chunks more easily, but I had various things inside including my staff. ¡°Hey, did your project to grow a sprout from my staff ever work out?¡±


    Ceira shook her head. ¡°Not so far. Seems like it needs something more than a pot in an apartment, even though I can get most things to grow well. You think I should plant it out here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about that,¡± I said. ¡°The city might care about planting non-native plants. And I¡¯m going to assume most of it isn¡¯t.¡± Even by Vilhelmiina¡¯s own words, it was just a hybrid of a lot of things and not real Yggdrasil wood.


    -----


    While I might have liked to spend all my time at the park, the Power Brigade had pretty good training facilities and I was technically responsible for the growth of some of our newest recruits. Most of them were doing well with their training schedules, but they still required some guidance now and then.


    I wondered if I should ask Izzy to consult for our newbies, because she would be quite useful for some of them. For example, Flexy Guy wasn¡¯t a scout like her but he could still benefit from her combat style experience. He had some official moniker but I couldn¡¯t remember it. Same with the barbarian, though I knew it was some sort of animal. Angry Bee? No, that wasn¡¯t it.


    Well, whatever. He was the brother of the mage in the group, so he was Barbro. His problems could probably be solved by Izzy too. For example, one of his main complaints was it was hard to fight because he was short.


    ¡°I just can¡¯t get in a proper hit,¡± he said.


    I nodded. ¡°Certainly, reach is a valuable advantage in combat. However, against certain opponents you¡¯ll be so far outclassed in that category that you have to compete in different ways. Overcoming your weakness is good, of course, so find a way to leverage your strengths.¡±


    ¡°All I¡¯ve got is muscles and anger,¡± he grumbled.


    I wouldn¡¯t say it was all that reasonable for him to complain. He¡¯d put on probably twenty pounds of muscle in the past few weeks. Not enough to match a proper bruiser, but that was without raging for extra strength. He¡¯d probably surpass me in pure muscle soon, regardless of the height difference.


    ¡°Then keep working on your skill. Maybe get good with a long weapon like a spear.¡±


    ¡°Spears are a bit¡­¡± he furrowed his forehead. ¡°Lethal.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes that¡¯s necessary,¡± I said. ¡°I could suggest a long staff, perhaps. You might even be able to get one that turns into a spear when necessary. You would regret not having the option if it became necessary, I think.¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± he nodded. ¡°I just thought I¡¯d fight with my fists like a true bruiser.¡±


    ¡°You might get there eventually,¡± I said. ¡°But even most of them can benefit from a weapon.¡±


    ¡°What about Great Girl?¡± he said. ¡°She doesn¡¯t use weapons.¡±


    I had some counterpoints to that, as she used everything from other enemies to nearby trucks as weapons quite frequently. But that would get us off track. ¡°Oh, I actually have a good idea. We can show you that reach isn¡¯t everything.¡±


    ¡°I mean I understand that but it¡¯s still a problem I¡¯ve noticed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get an expert in here.¡± I might have tried to show him myself, but I was not a class meant for melee combat. My training was good enough that I could beat him at the moment in our natural sizes without additional abilities, but that wouldn¡¯t last. Like I couldn¡¯t beat Izzy, if she were really serious. She might be a good way to show him, but there was a better option before then.


    -----


    ¡°Why me?¡± Great Girl asked.


    ¡°Because you¡­ have a good understanding of the difference size makes,¡± I said. ¡°Also it¡¯s good for morale for you to train with new recruits.¡± She just crossed her arm and glared. ¡°Aww, come on. The spell will make you less than half height. Nobody will easily figure out your real height.¡±


    She grumbled. ¡°Since when can you shrink people, anyway?¡±


    ¡°Like three weeks ago,¡± I said. ¡°For my visit to Celmoth.¡±


    ¡°Ah. That makes sense.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you there later,¡± I waved.


    ¡°Wait- ugh.¡±

 Chapter 256

    Despite her protests, Great Girl was the sort who I could guarantee would show up to help with training. Even though it wasn¡¯t her job to help out newbies, she showed up right on schedule.


    ¡°Listen here, Barbro,¡± I said to our new barbarian. ¡°We¡¯ve got an expert here to help whip you into shape. At some point we¡¯ll get to advice on how to deal with larger opponents, but first you should see it for yourself.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re going to spar with her?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No, you are,¡± I said.


    ¡°But-¡±


    I reached out towards Great Girl, at first feeling a resistance to my spell before she properly shrank. ¡°That¡¯ll last about ten minutes,¡± I said as she ended up between two and three feet tall.


    Barbro or whatever his angry animal name was readied his padded long staff. Maybe bear? It was something related to bears or bees or whatever.


    He was a bit timid with his first attack, but as Great Girl continued to avoid his prods and swings he grew more desperate. She managed to slip inside his guard in only a few moves, grabbing his waist and tossing him. He activated Rage when he was tumbling across the floor of the training room, but the additional power didn¡¯t help.


    Even when he managed to swing his weapon faster, Great Girl avoided his attacks- or deflected them, even at her size. She never engaged in direct contests of strength. To me¡­ it was like watching her replicate everything she thought was most annoying about some of her opponents. She had a lot of experience fighting from the larger side, but she also understood being smaller- especially with my recent assistance Enlarging other members of the Brigade.


    Barbro¡¯s staff smacked into the ground, and she stepped on the end. He struggled to lift it, his muscles bulging as he lifted her off the ground- her position greatly increasing her effective weight. However, the maneuver was pointless as she simply slid down the staff and stomped on his fingers.


    I had to admit the fact that his fingers either didn¡¯t break or he continued fighting regardless impressed me. He ditched the staff to the side, crouching low and trying to catch Great Girl. His attempt to adapt was good, but that didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d suddenly win. He still got tossed around whenever he went in for a strike or a grab.


    At some point during the battle Great Girl picked up his staff, striking at his knees and shoulders, constantly knocking him back. He finally caught the staff in one hand, tightening his grip and stopping the motion. His second hand reached forward to get a better grip, and he swung the staff with all of his might. If Great Girl had continued to hold on she likely would have gone flying- instead he overextended and left her an opportunity to rush him while he was trying to wrangle the staff back in front of him.


    She slid low between his legs, grabbing one shin while twisting around to kick the back of his other knee, toppling him for the last time. His Rage faded, his mana drained and his stamina depleted. He just lay there on his back breathing heavily.


    ¡°Not too bad, newbie,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°I¡¯ll send you a review of the video with my notes on my strategy. You¡¯ve got potential.¡±


    ¡°Uuuuugh,¡± he groaned. Well, he¡¯d be fine later. His physical fitness was on par, but he needed more levels to maintain his class abilities properly.


    ¡°Mage, can we talk for a moment?¡± Great Girl gestured. I nodded and followed her out of the training room, down the hall into a small meeting room. ¡°What the heck did you do to my power?¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Why am I like this,¡± she gestured to herself. Still small, obviously. ¡°You said it would only last ten minutes!¡±


    ¡°Approximately ten minutes,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s only been, uh¡­ hmm. Like half an hour. That¡¯s odd.¡±


    ¡°Odd?¡± She fumed. ¡°If you¡¯ve turned me into Micro Girl I¡¯m going to throw you off the roof!¡±


    ¡°You could just bite me,¡± I pointed out. ¡°I assume you can still grow sharp teeth.¡±


    ¡°Well I-¡± she grumbled for a moment as I saw her begin to shift, then shift back. ¡°Sure but that¡¯s unrelated to my power, you know?¡±


    I tapped one of my tusks. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. The spell¡¯s over. No more magic. The only power active is yours.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked.


    ¡°How do you feel right now?¡±


    ¡°Uncomfortably small!¡± she replied. ¡°You know how I feel about that.¡±


    ¡°Have you tried growing larger?¡± I asked.


    ¡°And doom myself to having to constantly push myself to be my normal size? You need to fix this!¡±


    I nodded seriously. ¡°Have you just tried¡­ no longer concentrating on your power?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Like, let yourself shift back to your natural size. You know, like when going home from work.¡±


    She grimaced, but closed her eyes. Then, slowly, she grew in size¡­ until she was a clean five feet tall. When she opened her eyes she was still glaring at me. ¡°This better not have screwed anything up.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Hey, nothing I do is permanent. I have a simple question for you, though. Have you ever tried to be smaller before?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Like, smaller than your natural size.¡±


    ¡°My power is to grow larger.¡±


    ¡°Is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°... what do you mean? Obviously. I¡¯ve literally done it my whole career. You¡¯ve seen it.¡± She grew taller, matching my height briefly before stopping just short of her head brushing the ceiling of the meeting room. ¡°What else would you call this?¡± she asked.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s definitely growing larger, but that¡¯s not the only thing your power does is it?¡± I pointed out. ¡°Your muscles grow more than a proportional increase in strength.¡±


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    ¡°Well, sure,¡± she admitted. ¡°I also have that. But that¡¯s still basically just size increases,¡± she said, flexing.


    ¡°If you could return to your natural size for a moment¡­¡±


    ¡°Give me a moment, I spent too long small.¡± She took a deep breath, spreading her arms towards either side of the room. Then she shrunk again. ¡°Is there a point to this? Maintaining larger sizes is work, but growing also is.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I said. ¡°Now that you¡¯re here, try to be smaller.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you get it?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°My power doesn¡¯t work like that.¡±


    ¡°Have you literally ever tried? Even once?¡±


    She folded her arms in front of her. Then, slowly, she began to shrink once more. She walked out from behind the table so she could see me. ¡°I hate this.¡± She pointed directly at me. ¡°You can¡¯t tell anyone! I¡¯ll probably get a new stupid moniker! Also, it will ruin my cover identity if people realize I¡¯m not always tall.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°But the Brigade will definitely find out. They¡¯re constantly monitoring oddities in HQ. Better to tell them first. And you do have legitimate reasons to not display these abilities.¡± I shrugged, ¡°But like, couldn¡¯t it be useful for some things?¡±


    ¡°What, like if I¡¯m trying to work under my kitchen sink and¡­ I can¡¯t reach stuff. Or if I drop a book behind the bookshelf. But I can always just move the bookshelf so it doesn¡¯t matter!¡±


    ¡°It should probably be secured to the wall. Because of earthquakes and stuff,¡± I reminded her.


    ¡°Ugh, you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°Also unless you¡¯re planning to rip apart the sink, that part still matters right?¡±


    ¡°Shut up! I don¡¯t want to hear it!¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t get what¡¯s bad about being able to control your size more completely. Also, if you hate being small that much, why stay like that?¡±


    Great Girl instantly returned to her slightly over six foot form. ¡°I just forgot, okay? It¡¯s way easier to hold a small form. Ugh.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s weird,¡± I admitted. ¡°It¡¯s still just as unnatural¡­ but I guess you¡¯re manipulating a smaller amount of matter? At most, the difference would be as much as you have in your normal body, and you go over twice your volume and mass literally all the time.¡±


    ¡°If it was equally difficult then wouldn¡¯t I be able to¡­?¡± she shook her head. ¡°Ugh, this is too much to think about. I¡¯m going to head out.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°Enjoy your new power upgrades!¡±


    She grunted in response. Rude.


    -----


    I still hadn¡¯t determined whether Scrying could find portals or not. It definitely found areas of active power, but it was dangerous to poke around both in New Bay and directed towards my former world. The latter was also more difficult due to being cross dimensions.


    That meant my investigations were going nowhere. I was fairly certain there were still permanent portals connected to New Bay considering the ambient mana was high, but it was also possible someone found a different way to permanently increase the quantity. Maybe Doctor Doomsday figured it out, which would explain where there hadn¡¯t been any portal incidents lately.


    Or maybe I¡¯d missed one while I was away and nobody bothered to bring it up. Though that one was pretty easy to figure out. The Brigade database would have more details, but ultimately the portal incidents were very public. Yep, there hadn¡¯t been another one¡­ which meant either we were past that, or Doomsday was just taking his time.


    ¡°Neither option is good,¡± I muttered.


    ¡°What options?¡± Midnight asked, lifting his head from the couch next to me.


    I explained what I had been thinking about. ¡°So I¡¯m kind of worried there will be another portal incident.¡±


    ¡°I thought you were the chill one,¡± Midnight said. ¡°We can¡¯t control it and we can only react when it happens. But maybe we could patrol around looking for proto-portals? He definitely has set something up, it¡¯s not like he goes around making portals with people rushing after him. Or not just that I mean. Many appear simultaneously, which means there could be something to pick up.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Could be,¡± I admitted. ¡°I suppose we could try to look for such things when out on patrol. Arcane Sight might tell us something, but that¡¯s another spell to keep active. Even if our mana recovery is over one and a half, it¡¯s still too much,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t know if we¡¯re training the right things, either.¡±


    ¡°Think about it this way,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°You didn¡¯t expect to be able to train at all before. All of that is extra. And we¡¯re making decent progress. Honestly, I think our repertoire is wide enough at the moment, focusing on depth is useful here. We do need to think about Blizzard, though.¡±


    ¡°Because it can take down Bunvorixian ships?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good enough reason?¡± he asked. ¡°It¡¯s pretty much inevitable we fight them again. Because of my homeworld or because of Spot or¡­ any number of things.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it will work on bigger ones?¡± I asked.


    ¡°How should I say this¡­ it would be effective, but not necessarily enough to take them out? The ships get really big,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Though most of those get intercepted outside of the system and they never make it near Celmoth itself.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if we can freeze bad guys without uh¡­ breaking any rules,¡± I commented.


    ¡°As long as there aren¡¯t any delicate people among them, it¡¯s no worse than blasting people with lightning, right?¡± Midnight pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, but Chain Lightning can avoid individual targets. Then again, people usually survive Ice Guy. We wouldn¡¯t be able to remove the ice but surely someone could.¡± My phone beeped. I looked down to see a text from an unknown number. That wasn¡¯t supposed to happen, due to Brigade precautions. ¡°Weird,¡± I said. What was worse, it looked like spam.


    ¡°What?¡± Midnight asked, poking his head up to look at the screen.


    ¡°Just a dumb message,¡± I shrugged.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    We know where you live ¡°hero¡±


    We have your girl friend


    Come to the creek district or she gets the axe


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°That¡¯s, uh, pretty ominous,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we look into that?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, should we?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°I¡¯m not a hero, I don¡¯t have a girlfriend, and the creek district isn¡¯t like, a specific location.¡±


    ¡°Well it does say girl friend not girlfriend. You could at least text your female friends asking if they are okay? ¡±


    ¡°If they were captured, then villains probably have their phone,¡± I pointed out. ¡°And all of them are both of our friends. Still, I suppose we can¡¯t just let a threat like this go since it¡¯s abnormal. I¡¯ll call Calculator to talk about it.¡± A few moments later, my phone made a weird noise. ¡°Hmm, the call won¡¯t go through.¡±


    ¡°... pretty sure that¡¯s not possible unless the whole network is down,¡± Midnight said. ¡°We have the best service in the city.¡±


    ¡°Try your phone,¡± I said. A moment later, I got another text.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Nice try.


    Come to the creek


    Bring your cat


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Mine isn¡¯t working either,¡± Midnight said. ¡°One sec, getting my suit.¡± he said, dashing across the hall to his room.


    I pretty much always wore my outfit, even lounging around, since Francois had updated it with stealth capabilities. I could look ¡®normal¡¯ but have the necessary protection.


    Midnight was rushing back into the hallway with a silvery sheen covering him by the time I had locked up. ¡°So do you want the bad news or the good news?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Just say it in the most useful order.¡±


    ¡°Right. Bad news, I¡¯m pretty sure a Bunvorixian jamming algorithm has targeted our phones. Good news, with direct access my suit can suppress that.¡± His phone rang, and he pressed a button with a silver finger formed from his suit. ¡°Hello?¡± He looked up at me, ¡°It¡¯s Calculator. Yes, I understand. It¡¯s Bunvorixians. They said something about the creek district. We haven¡¯t confirmed a hostage yet.¡±


    My phone beeped again, and there was a photo. Izzy with her hands tied behind her back, right next to a creek. ¡°Take a picture of this and send it to Calculator,¡± I told Midnight. ¡°Also, tell him to call Extra. They¡¯re gonna want to talk to these guys.¡±

 Chapter 257 (fixed)

    As we were currently dealing with Bunvorixian shenanigans, another potential target was Ceira. Since my phone was still compromised somehow, we were coordinating through Midnight¡¯s.


    ¡°Can you check on our plant loving friend?¡± Midnight asked Calculator. Going through another layer of abstraction was the best way to not draw attention to potential weaknesses.


    These Bunvorixians were obviously after myself and Midnight, and either trying to not seem like they were Bunvorixians or just trying to insult Midnight by calling him a cat. Or alternatively they were someone else who got a hold of ¡®Bunvorixian jamming algorithms¡¯, whatever those were. Which seemed way too complicated when Bunvorixians in general and Spot in particular had grudges against me.


    Since we were taking threats seriously, we waited before stepping out of the apartment. They said they knew where I lived, which might be true. However, the building was secure and no suspicious activity had been spotted. It was worth checking, though, so we waited for a message from Calculator.


    ¡°Cyclops says cave is clear,¡± Midnight relayed.


    I tilted my head. Was that¡­ Mono? And what did that have to do with a cave? Was the cave outside? Eh, with him watching things should be fine. As for the confusing message, it was likely because they might be able to overhear stuff through my phone. But instead of just leaving it behind, there was another plan.


    ¡°Can we stop here for a moment, Mage?¡± Midnight commented as we walked by an alley. Then he reached into my pocket and yanked out my phone, setting it atop a dumpster.


    We continued walking without saying anything, until a car stopped in front of us at the corner a block later. We climbed into the back.


    ¡°This is as secure as we can get,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So either they know every move we¡¯re making, or our ploys might work.¡± We had verified the driver before getting in, and he was already moving the second we buckled in. ¡°The next step is¡­ let¡¯s see. Ugh,¡± he sighed. ¡°You need to Disguise me as a dog. And yourself as someone more common. Like a human.¡±


    ¡°Will that work?¡± I asked.


    ¡°At a distance,¡± Midnight said.


    Midnight was turned into a fluffy white dog, while I became a jogger. Along the way to our destination the car stopped briefly and a petite woman stepped in. I hadn¡¯t seen Sophia in her natural form in a while.


    ¡°You know, it¡¯s been nearly a month since you¡¯ve been specifically targeted,¡± she commented. ¡°I thought that was unusual.¡±


    ¡°Do you count the part where we were attacked on Celmoth?¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Eh, they were probably after your mom there,¡± I said.


    ¡°Right,¡± Sophia nodded. ¡°That¡¯s more like what I remember.¡±


    As we got closer to our destination we prepared other defenses. Stoneskin was not optimal for most of what Bunvorixians would be doing, but it would be effective in case they tried to bite us or something. They weren¡¯t necessarily limited to laser attacks either, though Midnight determined that would be the most likely form of energy.


    Thus, Energy Ward was used as well, on both us and Sophia. Stoneskin was kind of unnecessary for her unless we thought we were going up against something extremely focused on impaling people or something outside the purview of Bunvorixians- or their known associates.


    Great Girl also got a disguise spell, because we were going to try to blend in and she didn¡¯t want her face to be recorded somehow. Normally her mask would be fine, but that was way too obvious.


    ¡°Wow it¡¯s uh¡­ way cheaper to only do the expensive buffs on the two of us,¡± I noted.


    ¡°Astoundingly,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°Though of course that also means a lower total boost.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll probably be spending more mana later of course,¡± I said. ¡°When things get down to it, Haste is going to be very good. Specifically on you,¡± I gestured to Sophia.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve experienced it a few times,¡± she agreed. ¡°I¡¯m concerned about Dark Star and Gloom though. Should we prepare for them?¡±


    ¡°I think we should conserve our mana,¡± I said. ¡°If we sense either of them we can prepare then. They shouldn¡¯t be able to conceal themselves¡­¡± I said. ¡°But I don¡¯t know what all Bunvorixian tech does.¡±


    ¡°Lots of things,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But stealth isn¡¯t their best field. I¡¯d be surprised if they had something that concealed powers already, as that would have to be a new innovation.¡±


    A short time later we stopped. ¡°Here¡¯s your destination folks,¡± the driver commented loudly. Perhaps for the benefit of anyone listening, though the parking lot was pretty empty. We were at a trailhead, but it was midday on a weekday so there were only a few other cars present.


    We got out of the car and¡­ wow, they were not subtle. How did Midnight ever think a regular dog was a Bunvorixian? There was a wolfy one and one with a big head, but both Bunvorixians stood stock still at either side of the trailhead, like they were standing at attention for the military.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Oh look, dogs!¡± Sophia commented. ¡°How cute!¡± We began walking towards them, though she took quick steps and pulled ahead. That was a good idea, because they could probably smell Midnight if we got too close.


    I didn¡¯t see anyone watching the two guards. Even so, I remained ready to defend my friend and ally.


    Sophia reached out towards one of the ¡®dogs¡¯, letting it sniff the back of her hand. I saw a sudden motion, but my view was blocked an instant later as she grew larger, grabbing both dogs by the throat and slamming their heads together. ¡°Oof, that really hurts to do. Good thing they looked so unnatural.¡±


    Midnight rushed forward and scanned their bodies with his fancy new stuff, pulling small devices out of their fur. ¡°Comms devices. I don¡¯t know if they would report on them being taken out, but we don¡¯t have long.¡±


    There was a loud popping sound and a plume of smoke, indicating the distraction team had arrived at the lower trail. ¡°Well, it was only going to be a couple more seconds anyway,¡± I shrugged.


    A few moments later, Great Girl had flipped out some things from her fanny pack and tied up the two Bunvorixians. ¡°Think they can get out of this?¡±


    ¡°Without tech and with concussions?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Doubt it. Also, how long did you have to train to learn how to precisely concuss people?¡±


    Great Girl got a far away look. ¡°Way too long. Skulls are¡­ weaker than you might think.¡±


    I¡¯m pretty sure that wasn¡¯t true. Skulls were pretty strong but very much not unbreakable. I couldn¡¯t say I was all that precise about breaking them, but I knew that they could endure a solid thwack. She was probably just too strong most of the time.


    We continued down the trail in a hurry, until we came to the part that we had instructions to break away. ¡°Let¡¯s see here,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°We¡¯re heading towards a mostly concealed bend over that way¡­¡± She leapt up into a tree, balancing near the top and growing slightly. ¡°Yeah I think I see it. There¡¯s a black box or something? That might be Izzy.¡±


    Since we were all members of the Power Brigade, we were on the same page regarding hostages. If a villain took a hostage to get away from a situation, there were situations where they could be trusted to let them go free. If they kidnapped someone to draw you into an ambush, they didn¡¯t expect anyone to be leaving. Because of that, while it might seem callous you had to act like you didn¡¯t care about the hostage, taking them down as quickly as possible- preferably by sending someone they didn¡¯t expect to be dealing with.


    They expected Midnight and me, but even if they were prepared for us that didn¡¯t mean our support wasn¡¯t useful. What they would not be prepared for was the other team. It wasn¡¯t members of the Brigade, but instead our cranky friends from Extra. This was a matter of extraterrestrial intrusion, after all, and they had all kinds of tech nobody else was supposed to have. Plus they were mad about the part where these guys busted out Spot and the damage they caused there.


    Another explosion downhill. Then Great Girl cursed.


    ¡°Sounds like we¡¯ve got incoming,¡± she said as I heard the same message in my ear.. ¡°Something big.¡±


    I looked up. ¡°Yep. Haste time. Midnight, get Great Girl.¡± I cast the spell on the two of us, followed by casting Storage to pull out my staff and gun. I could already see the ship rapidly growing in size as it cut through the clouds, surrounded by at least a dozen of the ¡®smaller¡¯ ships I¡¯d fought before.


    The wide disc was at least a hundred feet across, maybe more. It seemed we might need everyone waiting in reserve. I certainly heard enough chatter, and there had to be more going elsewhere.


    Great Girl didn¡¯t hesitate to grow larger, running forward at an astounding speed through the treeline- but as she broke out from behind some trees, she suddenly slowed down by a surge of magic- a familiar spell I carried in my staff. She was still charging forward towards the bad dane known as Spot when we reached the edge of the clearing. He cast another dispel towards Midnight and I, while several beams of light shot at all of us.


    Great Girl powered through, charging towards some sort of covered box instead of Spot. She grabbed it, and a moment later revealed it was a cage covered in cloth as she tore it apart¡­ revealing nothing.


    I tried to dodge as much as I could, but Spot¡¯s spell seemed magnetized towards me. I swung my staff without really thinking about it, and ran into a very odd reaction. The staff itself didn¡¯t have any active power, the dispelling being the result of special materials stored within. In addition, none of my defensive spells covered it. So the dispelling magic found a target but also found nothing at the same time, splashing around me but mostly doing nothing. Maybe it ate a little bit of my defensive spells, maybe not.


    Spot was saying something very slowly. Probably something about falling into his clever trap. I followed his gaze up a cliff to where there was another Bunvorixian- a big poodle maybe? It had curly hair at least. The dog was pulling away at a cloth that looked like nothing at all, revealing a second¡­ similarly empty cage,


    The Bunvorixian was clearly surprised. Maybe it was being hit by Sonic Lance, maybe it was the fact that there was nothing in the cage. It could have been the laser that hit it from behind, sending it over the cliff. Most likely, a combination of all three.


    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s Darkstargirl,¡± I commented as I felt her approaching.


    Great Girl grabbed Spot, tossing him at one of the Bunvorixians coming out of the woods and tossing the cage at another. I tried to get an angle to see Izzy who had presumably freed herself, but I couldn¡¯t make her out because of the cliff angle. I might have sensed her mana but that was either her sneaking about or just my imagination.


    Midnight blasted a Bunvorixian, not with magic but with his Celmothian weapons built into his suit. I wasn¡¯t sure how effective it would be, since they were built to resist Celmothians but the Celmothians were also building to take out Bunvorixians. The ultimate answer was ¡®quite effective when it hit¡¯. Well, these were just infantry after all. We¡¯d already taken down ships.


    Sure, smaller ones than the one that was now looming overhead but still. It wasn¡¯t like Gloom was here so the situation was totally manageable.


    Nah, who was I kidding. We could totally handle Gloom too. But with the rate Darkstargirl was flying in, I didn¡¯t think Gloom was conveniently placed.


    I took a couple shots at Bunvorixians with my regular, non-laser gun. It seemed to do exactly nothing except make them flinch. Oh, right. Their guns were laser guns. At most they made cool laser noises, not loud bangs. They seemed to have personal shields, but they had to be weaker than what their ships had. Sadly, they were durable enough that Spot was still standing after being chucked at an ally.


    First order of business was to get to a better position and make sure Izzy was okay. Then Midnight and I could hopefully take out the ship. Midnight supplied an Energy Ward tuned to Darkstargirl¡¯s power for her while I gave us one ourselves. I had the feeling this was going to be fun.

 Chapter 258

    Along with the overly large disc that was some sort of Bunvorixian capital ship came a dozen smaller ships of the same style. From towards the city approached more ships that were not too dissimilar in shape, but had some more dimensionality to them. It was like someone remembered to fill them up with air, with a dome of glass on top and a thicker body. They also didn¡¯t curve down at the outer edge, but had a circular seam where the parts of their ship body met.


    The other ships were all much smaller than the big ship, and unless I was very much misinterpreting things not on the same side.


    There was some chance that the beams they were shooting were good for the ship somehow, but the way the shields were triggering I doubted it. Most likely the smaller ships were Martian, as they were the most prominent extraterrestrial group on Earth. They were from the same system after all.


    It seemed that they were properly distracting the big ship, which would let some of us focus on Darkstargirl. The only issue was that she was flying and we were not. Perhaps I should add something for that to my arsenal. I had the points to purchase a spell like that, but my mana reserves were a bit low.


    As I was pondering that conundrum, Great Girl was solving the problem her own way by throwing large rocks at her rival. Darkstargirl responded with energy blasts, shooting them out of the air. When Great Girl ran out of convenient rocks, she began to throw trees. I had the feeling some people might be upset by that, regardless of who was actually responsible for the area.


    I was quite impressed with how easily she uprooted trees, though. That wasn¡¯t easy, even at her full size. Though speaking of which¡­ was she slightly taller? Maybe I was imagining things, but either way the proportional increase in her strength was being well used.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to confirm the location of Izzy!¡± I called to Great Girl. There wasn¡¯t a ton I could do from the current distance other than that- though I did take a few shots with my sidearm. Darkstargirl was quite bulletproof, but not inherently. Which was to say, if I actually hit her body she would be close to as vulnerable as a normal human. It was her powers that protected her, cushioning blows and evaporating projectiles like my bullets. A few shots might not make much difference, but I could wear down her defenses at least a little.


    Midnight was doing much better, as he had his Celmothian combat suit. The weapons formed out of the transformative substance were practically lasers. Previously, I would have supposed Stargirl to be immune to that¡­ but in her dark form, she might at least be affected to some extent- she at least blocked her face, though that might be so her vision didn¡¯t get messed up. Either way, the beams splattered on her arms and I felt her power doing something, so I was under the impression that it worked.


    ¡°Izzy!¡± I called up towards the top of the cliff as I worked my way around to a slope that would bring me there without climbing a vertical face. ¡°I just want to confirm you got free and that you¡¯re alright!¡±


    Sounds of battle came from the top of the hill as I scrambled up it. I realized that perhaps my words weren¡¯t perfectly clear with Haste currently active, but the battle thing would be a problem too.


    Even though time was relatively slower for me, there was a lot happening all at once. Along with the Martian ships, there were other assaults on the gigantic Bunvorixian vessel. I felt a familiar power clash with the ships shields and be repelled. Even from a distance, I could pick out Movebrain¡¯s powers.


    Had he failed to teleport onto the ship? Actually, that made perfect sense. Celmothians had teleportation technology, it wasn¡¯t odd that they would have attempted to use it offensively before. And powers often tended to overlap with high technology in terms of what prevented them. Magic was an exception not because it couldn¡¯t be countered, but because of the versatility of what it provided and the ways it bypassed some of the expected restrictions.


    Just like my Blizzard spell had been able to freeze the ¡®smaller¡¯ Bunvorixian ships because freezing was the direct effect. Instead of it launching an extremely cold high conductivity substance to drain the vessel of its heat, it simply removed it. Their barriers would protect against pretty much any substance, but that was new to them.


    When I reached the top of the incline, I was able to see flashing weapons. A handful of Bunvorixians were shooting at some target I couldn¡¯t make out among the trees. Speaking of trees, their beam weapons were wreaking havoc on them. Half of the place was on fire, and smoke was billowing out.


    I ran a bit closer, catching brief glimpses of Izzy carrying a weapon a bit too large for her. It definitely wasn¡¯t made for humanoid hands, but she was making it work somehow. Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t able to get a sustained blast on any of her enemies as she had to keep running behind cover.


    Once I had the right angle for what I planned, I called out. ¡°Izzy! Dodge!¡±


    Chain Lightning had already been demonstrated as ineffective against Bunvorixians. While I might be able to overpower their barriers like the AEGIS that Doctor Doomsday was making use of, I didn¡¯t want to use most of my remaining energy on something that might not work.


    As for my warning, the Bunvorixians would obviously hear it too. But this wasn¡¯t the sort of thing that could be dodged. So why the warning? Simple. Just because it couldn¡¯t be dodged didn¡¯t mean it couldn¡¯t be dodged.


    Which was to say every power had a counter. I focused my magic on the center of the group of enemies turning to look at me. Izzy was still on the fringe somewhere. A swirling vortex of cold spread out from the center of the area, coating all of the trees in ice- and the Bunvorixians as well. It had the added benefit that it put out the fires they had started.


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    I would have felt bad for them if they were actual dogs. Bun was a good boy. He also hadn¡¯t ever kidnapped or tried to kill any of my friends.


    A moment later Izzy came out from behind a tree, looking a little frosty. I waved. ¡°Good, you did get free.¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± she replied as she looked around the area for more enemies.


    ¡°How did you get captured in the first place?¡±


    ¡°Some sort of gas while I was just leaving my apartment. I thought it was just some guy walking his dog. I didn¡¯t sense any magic, either.¡± She moved from tree to tree, stopping by one of the frozen Bunvorixians and prying away a weapon, cracking the ice. She dropped the first one and shot it with her replacement- squeezing together some sort of mechanism near the front that I saw her take from the mouth of the one next to her. ¡°Don¡¯t want them to have those when they unfreeze.¡±


    ¡°If they unfreeze,¡± I responded, making my way towards another one. Izzy had to hold the device with two hands because she was small, but I could probably brace it along one arm.


    ¡°Seriously? You¡¯d use something that dangerous with me in the area?¡±


    ¡°These dudes don¡¯t have levels,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Probably just their armor insulating them. At worst, Ceira would have had to regrow your skin.¡±


    ¡°I hate that,¡± Izzy said. ¡°But I get it.¡±


    I ripped another weapon from a second Bunvorixian¡¯s mouth, accidentally breaking a few teeth. Well, that was what they got for attacking Earth. It was basically a long tube with a bulky part that was some sort of power core. This one¡­ didn¡¯t work as I squeezed it, pointing towards the least flammable looking stuff nearby. Well, I should have expected some of them to break. But I¡¯d really like something better than my simple pistol if I were going to be fighting Darkstargirl and more ships.


    Speaking of ships, I could see patches of ice on the big disk. I wasn¡¯t sure how they got there, but I¡¯d been feeling flashes of at least two powers intertwined. As I looked up, I saw a long tube of ice suddenly appear- then it briefly looked like a familiar sphere before it struck the ship. I recognized Ice Guy¡¯s powers, though I certainly didn¡¯t remember him having such range- that had come from quite far away.


    The barrier did partially block his effect- the swirling ball exploded, but the freezing effect still reached the hull of the ship. The physical component was blocked and he lost some of the area with it detonating probably five feet from the ship itself, but it was doing something.


    I also noticed a large number of other supers approaching, as it seemed people really weren¡¯t fond of a giant alien spaceship descending near the city. Well, I was pretty sure the Bunvorixians had officially started a war with Mars and Extra, and while I honestly didn¡¯t know the structure of things well enough to know if Earth got in on that¡­ New Bay seemed to have some opinions on the way of things.


    Just as Haste was close to running out I managed to find a working weapon from the third Bunvorixian soldier I tried, just in time to level it at a charging ball of sparkling blackness.


    Darkstargirl seemed to have decided that dodging chucked boulders and trees was no fun, and that she¡¯d rather target me than properly fight her rival. Though to be fair, I wouldn¡¯t want to get within grabbing distance of Great Girl either, if she hated me.


    The Bunvorixian weapon aimed oddly, and I didn¡¯t blast her directly in the face like I wanted to. The beam splattered off of her shoulder as she charged towards me, and I ducked and rolled. Too bad I didn¡¯t have any power-negating bullets on me at the current moment, but it was taking Vilhelmiina a bit to make more of them. Something about them being ¡®highly restricted¡¯ or something like that.


    I learned that Darkstargirl had little respect for other Bunvorixians, as one of the frozen dudes was now on fire along with a section of the forest where she angrily stopped her momentum. Her powers exploded around her to stop her movement. Two beams focused on her for a moment, one from my salvaged gun and one from Izzy.


    Darkstargirl tossed a handful of black flame at me as she launched herself upward, and I had to dive out of the way. Even then, the weird heat ate through part of my specially tailored Energy Ward. If it was better made it might last longer, but at this rate I could only take a couple more misses before relying on Francois¡¯ workmanship. And while I trusted him to do his best to protect me, it was also impossible to perfectly protect against all powers with a single suit.


    I heard a roar as something sailed through the air in an arc, slamming into Darkstargirl. That would be Great Girl then- but in her werewolf form. She was instantly caught on fire as she slammed her foe back into the ground, creating another explosion.


    Boy, this situation sure had escalated a lot. I heard the sounds of crashing ships- smaller ones of various forms- but the mothership seemed to have taken a beating as well. All this over my friend. Sure, I would have caused this much chaos if I had the power myself, but I was surprised at how much everyone else was getting involved.


    And it did appear to be pretty much everyone. I felt more familiar power signatures from villains I¡¯d encountered before lingering on the edges of the battle¡­ and a sudden surge from the mothership.


    Something very small was launched out of the top of the big ship, sailing through the air. Then a voice came from within.


    ¡°A fascinating construction. I¡¯m sure no one will mind if I take this off your hands.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t see him, but I certainly recognized Doctor Doomsday¡¯s voice. When did he even get into the ship? I couldn''t tell, but then again there had been a million things happening all at once- I could barely even sense the infantry battle that Extra had been using as a distraction.


    The ship flickered once, twice¡­ and then disappeared. A moment later, a shockwave crashed over the battlefield along with a loud boom, toppling some trees and even knocking me over.


    Silence seemed to reign over the battlefield, but then I realized my eardrums were busted, even with my invisible head protection. Well that was just rude, running off with the big thing. Though that did rapidly shift the flow of the battle away from the Bunvorixians. At least Midnight was physically alright, as felt through the bond, and I got eyes on Great Girl- still trying to pummel Darkstargirl even though her fur was on fire. Izzy was also still mobile.


    That all seemed good, except for the other presence I felt approaching.

 Chapter 259

    The removal of the big Bunvorixian ship from the battle hopefully meant there wouldn¡¯t be any giant death lasers blasting our positions. The actual consequences of Doctor Doomsday running away with it would have to be worked out at another time, as that didn¡¯t suddenly make things safe.


    I could no longer hear it, because I basically couldn¡¯t hear anything after the sonic boom following the ship¡¯s disappearance, but I knew the battle between Extra and the Bunvorixians was still continuing downhill. Meanwhile, Great Girl was still fighting Darkstargirl- and she was quite on fire. Lots of blackness surrounding her. Oh, right. And Gloom was approaching. I should probably mention that to someone, just in case they hadn¡¯t felt the wave of despair yet.


    ¡°This is Mage,¡± I said into my comm. ¡°I can¡¯t hear anything, but I sense Gloom coming from the southwest.¡± I turned towards Great Girl and yelled, because even if her ears weren¡¯t busted she might need me to be louder. ¡°Gloom is coming!¡±


    I think she heard me, though it was difficult to say for certain. Either way, she slashed her claws at Darkstargirl, blasting the supervillain away. I could feel her roar in frustration as she tumbled on the ground to try to put out the black flames. Hopefully it was that and not pain. Actually, while I didn¡¯t have mana for Blizzard, I could still cast Water Blast.


    Huge bursts of steam came off her as I used Water Blast several times. The power of each spell was more about the force of how it could hit a normal person hard enough to knock them out than any specific fire dampening abilities, but it was still water. It took three to actually put Great Girl out- and that was probably only possible because Darkstargirl was still tumbling away and not close enough to sustain the power. Though in truth, we didn¡¯t know entirely how her power worked, only that it was black fire and it was bad to be on fire.


    Midnight came charging towards me, trying to say something.


    ¡°I can¡¯t hear,¡± I said, pointing to my ear.


    He nodded, and his suit displayed Celmothian writing. Fortunately, I had seen it before on the trip to Celmoth, and we constantly had Translate active so that Midnight could speak English. He had full comprehension without magic, but his vocal chords simply didn¡¯t work well for humanoid languages.


    ¡°What should I do? I have some mana left.¡±


    I pushed the feeling of Gloom¡¯s approach onto him through the link, then gestured to my head.


    ¡°Mental Freedom?¡± the words appeared over him.


    I nodded, gesturing to me and him- and then Izzy and Great Girl.


    ¡°I have just enough for two,¡± he said as he gathered mana. He cast Mental Freedom on the two of us- since we shared it, it was simply the most efficient. ¡°Who else?¡±


    I shrugged, then gestured to Great Girl. Then I looked around for Izzy, fortunately spotting her. I waved her off while telling her to run for safety, and while she disappeared into the trees I wasn¡¯t sure she actually heard me. I barely heard me, which was a slight upgrade from moments before.


    Midnight and I couldn¡¯t afford to have a long chat, and I felt Darkstargirl charging back into the mix. I turned towards her, leveling the Bunvorixian weapon and squeezing the ¡®trigger¡¯. Now, shooting lasers might be a bad idea when targeting a star and light powered super, but she was dark and edgy now so I hoped it would do something.


    She certainly seemed to think it could have some effect, as she blocked it with her arms, power splattering around her. Not quite the sort of thing that would take her out, but at least it was something. It was also enough to make her charge angrily at me, and I heard just the hint of some words I probably wouldn¡¯t repeat in polite company.


    I ducked down, propping my staff against the ground like a pike as she charged towards me. Black flames struck it, but didn¡¯t catch it alight. She attempted to fly past and punch me, and was half successful. Which is to say, she hit my staff head on, at which point I released all the remaining dispelling energy in it. But her momentum carried on, knocking my staff away and sending her directly into me. I slammed into a tree, and only thought about trying to grab her after she had disentangled herself.


    When I caught sight of her again, she was being blasted by several lasers at once- that would be Midnight and Izzy. So Izzy hadn¡¯t actually run away. Well, I wasn¡¯t able to explain why so I shouldn¡¯t have expected anything else.


    She was behind trees before I could fire my stolen laser at her, so I looked around for my staff. Even without dispelling magic it was still a practically unbreakable weapon. I would need whatever I could get for the incoming supervillain.


    I felt a pulse of magic, and realized that Spot was still active by Gloom. How annoying.


    The next few things happened quite quickly. Gloom and Spot charged directly towards Midnight. My Celmothian buddy blasted both of them with weapons formed from his special adaptive suit, but they resisted with a rather familiar spell. And it appeared that Spot was familiar enough with Celmothian tech to tune the Energy Ward spell properly.


    In turn, Gloom¡¯s spooky semi-physical body passed over and through Midnight, and Spot clawed at Midnight, his paw glowing a sickly green. I could feel the pain as Midnight toppled over.


    Gloom continued on towards Izzy, and while I shot the spooky figure in the back the Energy Ward worked quite well against Bunvorixian lasers as well. It was possible Gloom chose randomly, or Gloom might have known that Izzy was the only one unprotected by Mental Freedom. Either way, Gloom made a straight charge towards the halfling¡­ who disappeared a moment before they made contact.


    No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. Izzy turned and ran- but her movements were so fast it was difficult to follow. I felt sorry for her, having felt Gloom¡¯s power undefended, but at least she was able to put on a functional retreat. I could feel her power pulling away quickly, and Gloom was rapidly falling behind.


    Spot had converged on Great Girl with Darkstargirl, and together there was a weird purple-black swirl of energy around them. I had no idea what spell Spot was casting, but it was clearly powerful- somewhere around the level of Blizzard and Chain Lightning.


    Spot made contact with Great Girl¡¯s fist, which while clearly not intentional still seemed to be required for his spell. I could see some of her glove melted away, and what was beneath that looked pretty bad before it was covered in fire. Meanwhile, Spot went flying into the air, and that stopped Darkstargirl from doing more than the single blast coating Great Girl.


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    A moment later, two powers appeared right next to me. I recognized Movebrain¡¯s power the most easily, but from up close the steady power of Captain Punch was clear enough as well. I heard them say something, vaguely. ¡°Still can¡¯t hear,¡± I commented.


    I saw Movebrain extend his hand towards the flying Darkstargirl, while Captain Punch took off into the woods after Gloom. Just about the time Darkstargirl caught Spot, she suddenly stopped in place- but before a boulder tossed by Great Girl could reach her she tore out of whatever was holding her back. Well, the boulder was kind of off target anyway, as Great Girl¡¯s right arm was dangling limply at her side.


    Darkstargirl didn¡¯t hesitate, picking up speed as she left a trail of sparkling darkness behind her. That wasn¡¯t something I could follow after without Haste, but Movebrain could, teleporting step by step and occasionally catching her in his¡­ telekinesis? Was that one of his powers?


    Captain Punch I knew was very strong, and while he ran fairly quickly that was only at the level of normal humans who ran quickly. Barely into super territory in that regard. I saw him try to push faster, but he mostly ended up spraying dirt everywhere and stumbling forward. It seemed like he might have trouble catching Gloom, but his endurance might win out.


    I heard a high pitched noise and looked up into the air, and briefly glimpsed a short haired tiny dog flying at my face. And then I was out.


    -----


    For once I wasn¡¯t the one with the worst wounds at the end of a battle, but that didn¡¯t particularly make me feel better. I woke up to Midnight¡¯s pain as he lay on my chest, while I was being carried away on a stretcher.


    ¡°Ugh¡­ how was the battle?¡± I asked the medics.


    They seemed to know that telling supers with concussions to shut up and relax didn¡¯t work, so they just answered me. Their words sounded like they were coming from underwater, but I still understood them well enough. ¡°Your companions are all alive. The Brigade made it through alright.¡±


    ¡°And uh¡­ the villains?¡±


    ¡°Many of those dogs¡­ Bunvorixians? They were mostly captured or taken out, except a few smaller ships. Unfortunately, it seems one of those managed to pick up the primary villains. I heard they escaped but I don¡¯t know the details.¡±


    I grunted. ¡°Is Midnight stable? I think he got poisoned or something¡­?¡±


    ¡°We injected him with a stability booster. The damage was all done before we arrived. Oh right, the chihuahua was also caught.¡±


    My head hurt. ¡°A what now?¡±


    ¡°The little dog that slammed into your face.¡±


    ¡°Oh. How¡¯d he get in the sky, anyway?¡±


    The medic shrugged.


    I spotted Great Girl as they were trying to coax her to get into an ambulance. ¡°Mage!¡±


    ¡°Just concussed,¡± I said. I stayed on my back because Midnight was comfy- as much as one could get when also in great pain. I looked at Great Girl¡¯s hand, and it looked way worse than I¡¯d initially seen. Aside from being burnt black- like large parts of her body- it also looked shriveled. ¡°That was a nasty spell, huh.¡±


    She looked down at her arm, grimacing. ¡°Yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°Wanna hear a secret?¡± I said. ¡°I know a really good healer.¡±


    -----


    Despite being the one who best knew the not-particularly-secret existence of Ceira, we were not first on the list. Most of the healers in New Bay were constantly active, but Ceira was a special case. While she could provide emergency healing, there were many others better for such a task. Regenerate provided her with a fairly unique healing ability that was more useful for long term recovery rather than emergencies.


    Rather than disrupting her list, Ceira had us brought in midday when she would normally be reserving her mana for her own purposes. Well, I in particular wasn¡¯t brought in. I just showed up. Midnight and Great Girl were the ones being healed.


    We didn¡¯t just show up at her apartment, but instead came to a special super healthcare facility. We did break normal protocol by having unnecessary individuals- i.e. me- in the room, but the rest was kept.


    It was weird, knowing that it was Ceira who stepped into the room when I saw only a vague shape covered in some sort of white cloth. I couldn¡¯t even feel her power, just something from the covering that prevented me from even accurately determining her height.


    Her voice was weird too. ¡°Alright, what seems to be the prob- whoa. I was not ready for that.¡± Her way of speaking was familiar enough, but if I hadn¡¯t known it was her I might not have been able to figure it out.


    ¡°... It¡¯s that bad?¡± Great Girl asked.


    Ceira cleared her throat. ¡°Whaaat? No, of course not uh¡­ miss¡­ I can definitely¡­ I¡¯m just going to start with this cat here.¡±


    I frowned. She was acting weird. They¡¯d met, right? It was just the other week¡­ with Ceira in the park. When Great Girl furiously ran by chasing after Darkstargirl and Spot. So maybe not a clear meeting.


    Ceira had been around Ice Guy for a while when we were in the other world as part of the rescue mission, but maybe she hadn¡¯t been around Great Girl at all. Even though they both hung out with Izzy. I found it unlikely that they never met, but it might have been Ceira and Sophia instead. Well, I didn¡¯t need to force any sort of revelation at this exact moment.


    Midnight trembled in the pain of healing for a moment as Ceira cast Regenerate, and while I recognized the effects it was weird to barely even sense the workings of mana. That was a pretty good anonymity thingy she had.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I feel much better.¡±


    ¡°Right. And now for¡­ this arm. Looks like necrosis?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what the docs said,¡± Great Girl confirmed. ¡°... How bad is it?¡±


    ¡°Well, in the worst case we can cut it off and I can just grow you a new arm,¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°Hah, funny,¡± Great Girl replied.


    I was pretty sure that was serious. But I didn¡¯t mention that.


    Power swirled into Great Girl¡¯s arm, and I saw it begin to fill out. Pinkish flesh appeared where there was once only blackness, and her arm looked less skeletal.


    Great Girl winced as she suddenly got feeling in her nerves. ¡°Whoa, that¡¯s¡­ intense. And amazing.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ceira said. ¡°It looks like you¡¯ll need further sessions for full restoration, but the results are promising. What caused the damage?¡±


    ¡°A combination of Darkstargirl¡¯s weird black fire and¡­ some sort of bad magic,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you know what it is?¡± Ceira prompted.


    ¡°Some sort of illegal necromancy junk,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Pretty sure it¡¯s not even the sort of stuff that would be on my list to begin with. Spot is a cleric so they get all the most horrifying stuff.¡±


    ¡°... Aren¡¯t clerics supposed to be healers?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°Oh no,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°They can be, but he¡¯s right. They have all sorts of bad stuff. I feel like that was some sort of death spell¡­ but I¡¯m still alive so maybe not. Or I could have just made my save. I mean uh¡­ my innate durability¡­ something¡­¡± she trailed off.


    ¡°If death spells just automatically killed people, my world would be run by a cabal of liches,¡± I said. ¡°Which it¡¯s¡­ probably not,¡± I added.


    I should probably find out more about who actually was causing all the problems though. That had sort of slipped with all of the supervillain stuff and the aliens and all that.

 Chapter 260

    After the immediate health concerns were taken care of, Midnight and I turned our attention to Izzy who was currently taking shelter with Extra. That would be the case for at least a few days while the incident was investigated.


    Since Extra had access to a lot of smaller folks, Izzy was also put up in a smaller temporary apartment. Safe, but not all that comfortable. Well, it was much less comfortable for me because I didn¡¯t really fit. Fortunately, rather than crouching down I could just cast Reduce. It had unsurprisingly combined with Enlarge into Size Shift, and lasted long enough that I mostly recovered the mana expenditure for it during its duration. That wasn¡¯t true on Celmoth, but Earth currently had increased mana recovery rates compared to what I had come to know as standard.


    ¡°So how did you get captured anyway?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think that would be easy.¡±


    Izzy frowned, folding her arms in front of her. ¡°They tracked me down when I was out and about town. Bunvorixians, I mean. They released some sort of clear gas, I think, but I really only heard a hiss before feeling woozy. I¡¯m not quite sure how they found me, though. Or why they would even be looking for me.¡±


    ¡°Well, they clearly know we¡¯re associated,¡± I said. ¡°Plus, you¡¯ve been hanging around Ceira. That still mostly leads back to me, though.¡±


    Messages with Ceira indicated she was still safe- and that her companions were keeping their eyes and noses open for any signs of Bunvorixians.


    ¡°Yeah well I wish that these people would leave me alone. I didn¡¯t used to have a reason to shoot them down with their own weapons.¡± She sighed, ¡°And Extra didn¡¯t even let me keep one of those. Maybe I should try to secure a supernatural weapon permit¡­ though I guess that doesn¡¯t help getting knocked out by poisons.¡±


    ¡°You seemed to have recovered quickly at least,¡± I replied. Midnight nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Enough to be functional, but I was off kilter during the whole battle. It¡¯s a good thing they didn¡¯t expect someone to pick their crappy locks. Seriously, the cuffs and cage both had fancy electronic locks but I picked them with a handful of pine needles and a sliver of bark.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that I can actually see,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°You see, Celmothians and Bunvorixians don¡¯t have hands.¡±


    ¡°... Okay?¡± Izzy tilted her head.


    ¡°So if I were going to pick a lock, I¡¯d do this,¡± he said, extending a silvery grasping appendage from his suit. ¡°If it had been me captured they would have removed the suit, obviously. And the locks probably would have shut down any tech still hidden on me.¡±


    ¡°I get that,¡± Izzy agreed. ¡°But it still seems careless. I could just reach out of the cage and grab stuff.¡±


    Midnight held up his paws. ¡°As you might be aware, these are not arms. I¡¯d have to paw something over to the cage and up into it, then probably grab it in my mouth to try to reach a lock that was presumably on the outside¡­ Also, a mobile cage would be lacking energy barriers and stuff.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re gonna have to tell me how to disable energy barriers from the inside,¡± Izzy said.


    ¡°Information on Bunvorixian security measures is already being supplied to the people here,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Should be pretty easy to get it.¡±


    ¡°... Pretty sure I couldn¡¯t pick a lock with any number of pine needles,¡± I admitted. There had been a brief bit of security training with the Brigade, but that wasn¡¯t my specialty so it was more for emergencies. Also, if I really needed it I would probably use magic. Hmm, maybe I should actually learn that spell. Time to add it to my list of things I might want, along with every other spell in existence.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Izzy said. ¡°That sure was a mess, huh? I wasn¡¯t expecting there to be so much happening.¡±


    ¡°Neither were they, probably,¡± I admitted. ¡°They said to come alone- well, with just Midnight- which is kidnapper speech for ¡®we¡¯re afraid of your friends¡¯. So I called my friends.¡±


    Izzy nodded, ¡°Yeah, they probably wouldn¡¯t let me go even if you turned yourself over like an idiot. I still needed you to show up though because I couldn¡¯t have escaped without a distraction to get out.¡±


    ¡°We wouldn¡¯t just leave you even though we believed in your abilities,¡± I pointed out.


    She nodded, then squinted at me. ¡°It¡¯s weird to see you like this. We were the same height once but you look way different now.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°I¡¯ve been spending a lot of time small lately. Celmoth is inconvenient without. More inconvenient, I mean. It¡¯s not really made for bipedal people. Thankfully they like vertical space.¡±


    ¡°Sounds interesting,¡± she commented.


    ¡°We can probably show you at some point,¡± I said. ¡°Once things settle down, obviously. I¡¯m needed here. Speaking of which, we need to go soon to help translate Bunvorixian. But before that¡­ what are your plans for the near future? I¡¯m sure this disrupted things.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Izzy nodded. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I like it here in New Bay, but the danger is a bit too high. That¡¯s why I haven¡¯t joined the Brigade or something, since that would theoretically draw more trouble. Then again, I guess I shouldn¡¯t expect different around you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not my fault,¡± I protested. ¡°People are looking for trouble, and I¡¯m just easier to find.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Izzy waved me off. ¡°Well, maybe I should just get more serious about my own strength. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever be able to shrug off whatever that toxin was, but I could have spotted the trouble early enough to react. I¡¯m better at telling the difference between dogs and Bunvorixians now anyway.¡±


    ¡°... Is it the lasers?¡± I asked.


    She chuckled. ¡°Yep, that¡¯s it.¡±


    I was aware of them acting differently, of course. They might be able to fool me, but they¡¯d have to know what dogs acted like which wasn¡¯t always the case. Like with the ones guarding the trail, stiff like soldiers.


    -----


    Extra had received information on the Bunvorixian language from Celmoth, but that wasn¡¯t enough for anyone to speak it even if they were familiar. Apparently, automatic translators were in the works but they hadn¡¯t had that long yet. Just a few weeks, and without any helpful test subjects to determine if it actually worked they had to manually review every piece.


    Although Zorphax was nominally the one in charge of extraterrestrial issues, Malaliel was the one interrogating the tiny dog when I arrived. She stepped out of the interrogation room to discuss with me. ¡°Thanks for coming. We¡¯ve got more than just this little guy in captivity,¡± she commented. ¡°But he seemed to be the best equipped among them. He¡¯s also been the least cooperative, with the others at least responding to our attempts.¡±


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    ¡°So what do you need?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯m not good at negotiations unless you want me to call him a stupid shrimp.¡±


    ¡°We need you to maintain a Translation spell on as many of our members as you can,¡± she commented.


    ¡°Well, that depends on how long you want it to last,¡± I said. ¡°But I can do four at once efficiently. Or five if two are Midnight and me. That might help with the functionality¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°At least, one of us experiencing more of the language directly.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if having either of you in the interrogation rooms would be beneficial. However, if you could improve the effectiveness while listening outside that might be worthwhile. Especially if Midnight could offer his knowledge on Bunvorixians.¡±


    ¡°I make no promise of impartiality,¡± Midnight replied.


    ¡°Do try,¡± Malaliel commented. ¡°We might be at war, but that¡¯s all the more reason to understand what¡¯s going on.¡±


    A little bit later we gathered together the people who were going to get magic use on them. There was an angel- Malaliel, of course- some human, and finally Jim¡¯s brother. I could understand why they had trouble getting pictures of ¡®Kyle¡¯, as he seemed to both have reflective surfaces while his writhing mass also drew in light.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you worked at Extra,¡± I said to Kyle after Translation was cast. Zorphax had brought him up, but that could have been as a notable civilian.


    ¡°I can actually be quite calming,¡± he commented. The meaning was clear, but the words still made me shiver slightly. ¡°Thank you for your assistance, Mage.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome, (-----).¡± His name wasn¡¯t something I could assign any real sounds to, but I could still say it. ¡®Kyle¡¯ wriggled in delight at actually hearing his name from someone else other than his brother. Probably. I wasn¡¯t really good at reading any body language.


    Midnight was assigned to watch Malaliel¡¯s interrogation of the ¡®chihuahua¡¯, while I was placed outside Kyle¡¯s room. There, I saw a mid-sized Bunvorixian. Reminiscent of, what would you call that¡­ a border collie? It was quite odd that they fit into the intentionally bred patterns of Earth dogs. They couldn¡¯t count on extradimensional inspiration, but there was something about supernatural parallel convergence. Maybe that was how things were supposed to be, or something.


    Kyle slid into the room, but rather than shirking away his guest seemed attentive. Something about the way he moved, while still creepy, was rather alluring. I could feel some sort of power stuff happening as well. Presumably that calming thing.


    ¡°Hello, is this working?¡± My basic knowledge of Bunvorixian had filtered some level of functionality into my new targets.


    ¡°Whoa, you can talk!¡± the Bunvorixian barked. ¡°What are you? Some sort of weird tree?¡±


    ¡°I am not a tree. In fact-¡±


    ¡°Do you know any ------?¡± the not-dog asked, a word not translating immediately. ¡°I saw images of them. We used to have them but then the Celmothians killed them all! It was terrible!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know of this thing of which you speak,¡± Kyle said evenly. ¡°But if you would describe them and perhaps use the word again¡­?¡±


    ¡°You talk funny weird tree guy. Anyway, I can¡¯t believe you don¡¯t know ------ because they live in trees and in the ground and sometimes they run real fast and we chase them.¡±


    ¡°Are you speaking of¡­ squirrels?¡± The word finally translated.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± the not-dog said. ¡°I always wanted to meet them but then those terrible felines wiped them out!¡±


    I hadn¡¯t heard of that. Seemed like something we should ask about.


    ¡°I would like you to focus, please,¡± Kyle said. ¡°I am here to ask you questions. What was your job aboard the ship?¡±


    ¡°I chewed on wires!¡± the doglike individual exclaimed. ¡°I mean, we¡¯re not supposed to. But when you put them in right they¡¯re okay to chew on, we have real tough seals and stuff. I also put the wires in place and make sure the ship doesn¡¯t blow up!¡±


    ¡°... What would you call your position?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m a systems engineer!¡± the Bunvorixian declared proudly. ¡°I make sure everything is in place and working for the combat crew and command. Command is important because they¡¯re in charge.¡±


    ¡°And who is command?¡±


    ¡°It was Leo.¡± The Bunvorixian suddenly snapped around her¡­? head. ¡°I mean, commander Leofric. He ended up around here somewhere, right?¡± she sniffed.


    ¡°The chihuahua?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that is,¡± the Bunvorixian replied. The word hadn¡¯t translated after all. ¡°But he¡¯s small, like all the commanders!¡±


    ¡°Why are the commanders small?¡±


    ¡°Because they¡¯re commanders, and commanders are small!¡± the Bunvorixian replied.


    That didn¡¯t make sense. Maybe it wasn¡¯t translating properly? Usually that ended up with nothing, though.


    ¡°I see,¡± Kyle commented calmly. ¡°Oh, I forgot to ask for your name.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s okay!¡± the Bunvorixian responded, wagging her tail.


    ¡°... So what is your name?¡±


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m Zeb! What¡¯s your name, tree guy?¡±


    ¡°It is (-----), but Kyle is easier to say.¡±


    ¡°Is it?¡± the Bunvorixian asked. ¡°Krral. Well, it¡¯s kinda easier. I don¡¯t even know how to begin pronouncing the other thing. Krrial. Yeah, I got it. So when do I get treats? I heard I get treats if I¡¯m good?¡± she paused. ¡°Oh no! That was a Celmothian spy tactic I was warned about! I¡¯m not going to get treats, am I?¡±


    ¡°... We can give you treats,¡± Kyle said. ¡°In fact, you¡¯ve been so helpful we can get you something right now, and more if you keep answering questions.¡±


    ¡°Grr¡­¡± Zeb backed up slightly, constrained by a leash connecting her to the table. ¡°You won¡¯t trick me!¡±


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Kyle asked. ¡°You¡¯ll know when we bring you something.¡±


    ¡°Food! No, wait. Nothing! I won¡¯t fall for this. Then I can get a treat for being good when I¡¯m rescued!¡±


    ¡°Sure, let me uh¡­¡±


    ¡°I have an idea,¡± I said, briefly pressing the intercom so Kyle could hear me. I scurried over to where Midnight was- hearing brief snippets of ¡®you¡¯ll never get secrets from me, monkey-bird!¡¯ and got him to relinquish a can of tuna. Then I returned to the room and entered after getting permission from Kyle. ¡°I brought food.¡±


    Zeb sniffed. ¡°You won¡¯t fool me! That¡¯s not food, that¡¯s a metal container!¡±


    ¡°It has food in it,¡± I pointed out, pulling the tab. It smelled¡­ kinda bad. I knew it wasn¡¯t expired, though. Midnight was very meticulous about that. It was just a concentrated fish smell.


    ¡°Food! No wait, it has to be poisoned. I won¡¯t eat it,¡± Zeb said, straining at the limits of her movement to get to the can.


    ¡°Kyle has more questions for you,¡± I pointed out as I held the can out. If Zeb tried to bite my hand, I had protections so it wouldn¡¯t matter too much. But she just dove her nose into the can.


    ¡°Mrph mrr mrgl mruh!¡± the Bunvorixian commented.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t understand you,¡± I replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to fit my nose in the can,¡± she said. Though about half the can was empty.


    I reached my hand into the can to scoop it out, holding it towards her. She pulled the scraps off my fingers and licked my gloves clean, but didn¡¯t even try to bite.


    Zeb pulled back, wagging her tail. Then she stopped. ¡°Wait! Uh¡­ don¡¯t tell anyone I took a bribe!¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± I waved.


    ¡°Good because fish meat is hardly worth it as a bribe,¡± she said as I made my way to the door. ¡°I¡¯d prefer red meat!¡±


    I¡¯m sure Extra would be glad for that information later.

 Chapter 261

    Since the information was somewhat related to Midnight and I, and thus we would find out anyway, we were there when Malaliel, Kyle, and the human woman known as Maacah reported on the Bunvorixian interrogations.


    ¡°That chihuahua form Bunvorixian seems to be one of their ¡®commanders¡¯,¡± Malaliel explained. ¡°He was decidedly unhelpful, despite being able to communicate clearly. A liar.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the typical command structure,¡± Midnight explained. ¡°The small ones are in charge, the mid sized one do the practical work, and the large ones are usually in direct military service.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s some sort of size-based class system?¡± Malaliel asked.


    I frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t think they have-¡±


    ¡°Social classes,¡± she corrected.


    ¡°Oh, I guess so,¡± I nodded. Had Midnight explained this to me before? Maybe. Or maybe I hadn¡¯t asked.


    ¡°I won¡¯t say I got no useful information, however,¡± Malaliel added. ¡°The way people lie can tell just as much of the truth as they wish to conceal. The little twerp seemed to think he was entitled to luxurious accommodations as a prisoner of war- despite the fact that they wouldn¡¯t provide such for any of their prisoners if it came down to it.¡±


    ¡°... Are angels allowed to say mean things?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I can say anything I believe is true without issue. I could call him a hellspawn instead of a twerp, even.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Regardless, he admitted to being in command of the capital ship which is sufficient grounds to prosecute him. What about you?¡± she turned to Maacah.


    ¡°Mine just repeated her name and some sort of military rank but nothing else.¡±


    Malaliel sighed. ¡°Kyle?¡±


    ¡°We have determined that Zeb is extremely bribable, and that Bunvorixians seem to have lost their local squirrel population, or some equivalent creature,¡± the semi-reflective bundle of darkness spoke. Some people would probably find him hard to work with if not for his natural aura of calm. ¡°Oh, and they blamed it on the Celmothians.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t do that!¡± Midnight complained. ¡°They did it to themselves before we even made first contact!¡±


    Kyle nodded, his body contracting. ¡°Zeb did seem to believe it but was likely led astray. Wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡± he asked me.


    ¡°It seems pretty likely, yeah. Why would the Celmothians wipe out just the squirrels if they were enemies? They could have wiped out all of the Bunvorixians.¡±


    ¡°We¡­ wouldn¡¯t do that,¡± Midnight said. I knew that was true- and that the hesitation in his words was also relevant.


    Malaliel looked at him and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Were there plans to?¡±


    ¡°Long before I was born,¡± Midnight admitted.


    ¡°The ability to move past the instinct to destroy is admirable,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°Now, the only question should be¡­ do we expect similar results from those of the same status? We have only the one commander, it seems. Though it¡¯s somewhat odd¡­ the case of Spot, I mean.¡±


    ¡°Well, someone suddenly gaining powers would be unusual,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how he would have gotten in contact with more of his people but¡­¡±


    ¡°Probably Sending,¡± I commented. ¡°Though after he was captured, I¡¯m not sure. Did Extra have the proper facilities to contain a magic user?¡±


    ¡°We found no signs of Spot making any use of mana while contained.¡± Malaliel ended her sentence rather¡­ concretely.


    ¡°Do you know something else?¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯d prefer you to not ask,¡± she replied.


    ¡°You can say its classified or secret,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°The investigation is ongoing and¡­¡± she shook her head. ¡°Zorphax asked me not to talk about it.¡±


    ¡°You could have just started with that,¡± I said. Which, interestingly, implied that it wasn¡¯t supposed to be secret. I didn¡¯t quite know what that implied, though.


    ¡°Yes. Well.¡± Malaliel shook her head. ¡°We will request you back here on later days, at least until we have a functional translation of the language.¡± She looked over at Midnight. ¡°Combined with Celmothian information, it shouldn¡¯t take long. But your computer systems are largely incompatible with ours and the data conversion process is slow. Plus, there is the issue of remote transmissions taking time.¡±


    Midnight pondered. ¡°... I could make use of any data files. I don¡¯t think my suit could convert them or inject them into a useful system, though.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re managing just fine,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°The presence of one of both of you will remain valuable for Translation magic, though.¡±


    -----


    With the injuries and the interrogations and all that, we¡¯d only been partially debriefed by the Brigade. Which meant that now was the time.


    ¡°Where did Darkstargirl and Gloom end up?¡± I asked.


    Calculator sighed. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to be the one asking questions.¡± He paused. ¡°They escaped along with Spot, but we have narrowed down the possible locations of their lair- or at least some lair. It¡¯s not exactly a small area, but it¡¯s much closer than ¡®anywhere around New Bay¡¯. If we can find them¡­ well, the Heroes Association is not fond of turncoats. Bringing in Dark Star would be quite lucrative for us, especially given her threat rating. Extra also has a sizable bounty on Spot.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°So, your questions?¡±


    ¡°I would ask if you learned anything new during the battle.¡±


    ¡°Spot has some sort of short range death spell,¡± I said. ¡°You know, that thing that shriveled Great Girl¡¯s arm. And, uh¡­¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Bunvorixian weapons can just be picked up and used.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s super weird,¡± Midnight interjected. ¡°Because from what I know, that¡¯s not true. Any time we try to use their technology it does nothing.¡±


    Calculator stroked his chin. ¡°It could be specifically tailored to not work for Celmothians. Or the simpler solution- it requires organic contact to function. You would be using your adaptive suit to grip the weapon, correct?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah,¡± Midnight said. ¡°No hands. And small mouths.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, we won¡¯t be able to test that here. We might be able to get authorization from Extra, though, or have you work directly with them.¡±


    I liked those laser guns. ¡°Yeah, I wanted to ask if I could keep one of those,¡± I said. ¡°It was quite useful.¡±


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Calculator shook his head. ¡°It will be quite difficult to convince them to let a mercenary use extraterrestrial technology. Though you are uniquely positioned to be successful, given your association with a Celmothian.¡±


    ¡°Why would that matter?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Because they¡¯re galactic rivals of yours,¡± Calculator explained. ¡°And likely to get attacked by them again. Extra is concerned about people who should not have access to dangerous technology getting their hands on it. Those who are already associated can be an exception.¡±


    ¡°What about organ cloning tech?¡± I said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem dangerous.¡±


    ¡°The agents of Extra work hard to keep people safe,¡± Calculator answered.


    That¡­ didn¡¯t sound like an answer to my question. Before I could ask about that, Midnight said something unrelated.


    ¡°Do you know how the Bunvorixian ship got here?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Well, obviously it flew in but¡­ was anyone able to detect its arrival somewhere? Earth is not exactly close, even with FTL tech. Not something they could just pop over here whenever.¡±


    ¡°I can say I do not know,¡± Calculator replied. ¡°At least not enough to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion. But Extra is most likely concerned about the same thing. Now then, about this ¡®death magic¡¯...?¡±


    ¡°It only kills people as well as other well aimed magic of similar caliber,¡± I explained. ¡°It¡¯s just unlikely to be blocked by most protections and directly damages things. There¡¯s a similar class of powers, I believe. Though I haven¡¯t seen any of those powers functioning nor proper death magic.¡± Calculator nodded, putting data into his tablet as usual. ¡°So, I thought I sensed some of our people assaulting the big ship. Can you tell me about that?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± Calculator said. ¡°First, Movebrain tried to teleport inside. That failed.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they have teleportation protection,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Otherwise Celmothians could beam onto their ships.¡±


    Calculator frowned. ¡°I thought your teleportation was device to device?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s cheaper and easier,¡± Midnight explained. ¡°But not the only option.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see. Regardless, hearing of its vulnerability to cold, Telescope amplified the range of Ice Guy¡¯s attacks. That was somewhat effective but¡­ unfortunately we weren¡¯t able to cause major structural damage. And then Doomsday somehow found his way onto it without being noticed.¡±


    ¡°... portals might work,¡± Midnight admitted.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Calculator raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Well, we were able to get to Celmoth,¡± Midnight said. ¡°External teleportation shouldn¡¯t have gotten us there.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Portals are different from teleportation.¡±


    Calculator pondered for a few moments. ¡°I suppose so. All of our countermeasures here are designed to prevent all sorts, since powers are quite flexible.¡±


    ¡°But Celmoth doesn¡¯t have portals. And Bunvorix probably doesn¡¯t either,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°We should provide caution,¡± I said. ¡°Spot¡­ will be able to use Gate, eventually. Though I¡¯m not sure what level he is, and so far as I know he hasn¡¯t been to my old world to unlock the points system.¡±


    ¡°That would be problematic,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Because there are other portal powers working for their dark syndicate. If they could fully unlock the abilities of all of them¡­¡±


    ¡°They would be better able to see where their training was going,¡± I said. ¡°And they¡¯d just naturally be stronger.¡±


    Calculator stroked his chin. ¡°Hopefully we can get our recruits there first.¡±


    ¡°I thought Extra wasn¡¯t going to allow that?¡±


    Calculator just looked at me. ¡°Nothing is absolute. We are pursuing several possible avenues. We could just have you take them, but we prefer to remain in their good graces.¡±


    ¡°Plus they can tell if you lie,¡± I added.


    ¡°And you¡¯re terrible at it,¡± Calculator grinned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie to Malaliel,¡± I said. ¡°She¡¯s nice.¡±


    ¡°Like I said, we prefer to remain in their good graces. However¡­ if you hear of further trouble in your world, wouldn¡¯t it be more natural to bring those with powers that conform to the local situation?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to make up some sort of trouble,¡± I said.


    Calculator waved me off. ¡°Of course not. It will happen naturally, given the people you regularly interact with. Besides, there¡¯s an ongoing situation involving your world. The mana levels are still rising, yes?¡±


    ¡°Slowly,¡± I admitted. ¡°But yes. At this rate, we might hit double. I can¡¯t see it going above that except in localized pockets though.¡±


    Calculator finished putting information into his tablet- most likely responding to several conversations at the same time. ¡°Well then, if you think of anything else pertinent, you know how to contact me. Stay in Extra¡¯s good graces.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t see why I wouldn¡¯t. I like them, and they like me,¡± I said.


    -----


    In all the excitement, I had missed something important. Okay, I never really missed it. Obviously I noticed that I had leveled up- that was very common after any serious battle. But I hadn¡¯t taken time to really sit down with it.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 37


    Experience: 3608/3705


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +9 (6|3)


    Firebolt +5 (3|2)


    Shocking Grasp +7 (4|3)


    Grease +4 (2|2)


    Force Armor +9 (6|3)


    Mage''s Reach +6 (3|3)


    Translation +5 (1|4)


    Alter Time Flow +7 (4|3)


    Disguise +1 (0|1)


    Familiar Bond +9 (4|5)


    Size Shift +5 (2|3)


    Energy Ward +5 (2|3)


    Sonic Lance +5 (3|2)


    Advanced Divination Magic +7 (3|4)


    Shield +3 (1|2)


    Stoneskin +7 (4|3)


    Mana Crystal Deposition +7 (2|5)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +4 (2|2)


    Basic Light Magic +2 (1|1)


    Alter Portal +3 (0|3)


    Gate +5 (2|3)


    Sending +2 (0|2)


    Chain Lightning +5 (3|2)


    Clean +1 (0|1)


    Shelter +1 (0|1)


    Assistive Familiar Casting +3 (0|3)


    Multicasting +2 (0|2)


    Enhance +1


    Nondetection +2 (0|2)


    Water Blast +1 (0|1)


    Blizzard +1 (0|1)


    Mana Starvation +2 (0|2)


    Remaining Points: 76


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    One notable chance was Enlarge combining with Reduce to become Size Shift, though it had been expected. Then of course there was Mana Starvation- though that training was all down to Midnight¡¯s effort. I wasn¡¯t planning to change my method of increasing mana, despite the discomfort it caused. According to the information I had, the risks of my method should have already caused long-term damage if I was making mistakes. But since I had experience¡­ it was probably fine.


    I had a bunch of points to spend- though I could rapidly eat through them if I tried. A few upgrades for Gate could wipe it out. Alternatively, I could upgrade Water Blast 25 times.


    I really wanted to do that, but it felt extremely irresponsible.


    However, according to my current understanding of training it wasn¡¯t that efficient to try to increase lower level spells by training. It might be worth it. 5 ranks¡­ wasn¡¯t an unreasonable investment. It still cost less than one upgrade for Gate, for example.


    Next¡­ Alter Time Flow was very useful. I needed to remember I could use it offensively as well, using Slow on enemies. In a way, that was the most efficient as everyone else remained relatively faster. I would have to find Shockwave at some point, as they would really want to test it out.


    I wanted to improve the ranks of Multicasting and Assistive Familiar Casting. That would allow me to make use of my heightened abilities elsewhere. However, it seemed those two techniques weren¡¯t able to receive point upgrades. That was interesting, as they were not something I was supposed to have- like Mana Crystal Deposition. Was this another mental block, or an actual limitation?


    I was tempted to test Mana Starvation. It was another mana training method. However, after consulting Midnight we decided we didn¡¯t know if the point cost would be worth it at the moment. As in, we actually didn¡¯t know how many points it would cost. Would it be similar to Mana Crystal Deposition? Unfortunately, my training manual didn¡¯t give them point costs. Curious, but understandable. That information could have been unknown¡­ or suppressed.


    Understanding how useful Energy Ward was going to be in the future, I decided that the points would be a worthwhile investment. While spending those points might reduce my training potential, wasn¡¯t that all extra anyway? I couldn¡¯t train while dead, probably, so it was worth the alternative.


    That brought me to 34 remaining points to spend, enough for an emergency of some sort. Should I pick up some ability to fly? Well, that sounded nice- but Midnight probably wouldn¡¯t enjoy it. Then again, it was important utility. It wasn¡¯t like we both had to use everything. And maybe the ability to fly would reduce his fear of heights. I ultimately decided the expense was worth it, bringing me down to 21 points.

 Chapter 262

    The plans I had for the near future had not included being awoken in the middle of the night with the call to an emergency mission, but that wasn¡¯t exactly unexpected either. Usually, that meant villains were getting up to some midnight shenanigans, but despite the emergency I also wasn¡¯t rushed.


    Midnight and I left the Lower Hills Suites where we lived, getting directly into a Power Brigade vehicle. It wasn¡¯t marked, but we recognized the driver and the source of the messages came directly from Calculator. I could tell right away we weren¡¯t headed towards the Brigade, and even with very little traffic we ended up taking half an hour to reach our destination. Some random warehouses down at the docks.


    I could feel a few familiar people as we approached. Calculator was expected, though I only recognized his power because of that. He didn¡¯t emit big waves of power, as everything he did was quite internal and subtle. Then there was Swiss Arms, who I¡¯d only interacted with on a single mission before, otherwise merely seeing her in passing. And another figure I was having trouble placing until we stepped inside.


    In addition to the two I had figured out, I saw three Martians dressed up in nice suits, standing in an extremely suspicious manner, a dog, and Khithae. Oh, the dog was¡­ Zeb or something? The border collie-like Bunvorixian I had seen before. Khithae¡­ I definitely recognized her ability, but it was weird to find her here.


    Oh right, and the Martians were Kendrux and two of her best goons. Olim and Evans. Totally nailed it.


    ¡°Great,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Everyone is here. Apologies for waking the two of you in the middle of the night without warning,¡± Calculator continued, ¡°But for various reasons we were unable to inform the two of you ahead of time.¡±


    ¡°Because Mage isn¡¯t great at keeping secrets?¡± Midnight commented.


    I shook my head. ¡°Because I¡¯m terrible at keeping secrets,¡± I corrected him.


    Calculator cleared his throat. ¡°Among the various reasons, we were also uncertain when this operation might take place. It required coordination with several busy schedules.¡±


    ¡°What about the two of us?¡± I gestured to Midnight.


    ¡°I know your schedules,¡± Calculator said.


    I nodded, looking around. Something was weird about this place. I had the feeling it wasn¡¯t a random warehouse.


    Apparently, Calculator noticed. ¡°Recognize something?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t Kendrux¡¯s warehouse. That one had more holes and weird metal crates. This one had couches and bricks and... ¡°Handface?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°One of his earlier hideouts, yes,¡± Calculator confirmed. ¡°A familiar enough location, and not currently in use. The team will be returning here.¡±


    ¡°Seems kind of¡­ dumpy,¡± I said. ¡°Why not hang out at HQ?¡±


    Calculator rolled his eyes for some reason. ¡°This is a sensitive mission, so you need to work from here.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± I asked. ¡°The team?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not taking part,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I¡¯m just here to coordinate.¡±


    ¡°... When do you sleep?¡±


    ¡°When it¡¯s efficient. Now then, you are going to be performing an infiltration mission.¡±


    ¡°Uh,¡± I frowned. ¡°I¡¯m really not good at infiltration.¡±


    ¡°The inclusion of yourself and Midnight is to provide transportation and support. The actual infiltration work will be done by others.¡±


    ¡°... so where are we going?¡± I asked. ¡°Because I can¡¯t drive.¡±


    Calculator pulled out a picture- a printed picture, not just something on his tablet. ¡°Here,¡± he said.


    ¡°... Yeah, I didn¡¯t save points for any sort of Teleport stuff so I don¡¯t know if I can get anyone to this desert.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be using Gate,¡± Calculator said. ¡°We¡¯ve already verified your ability to arrive at your destination.¡± He handed over the picture, and another along with it, of our current location. ¡°Keep that second one in Storage, along with your phones.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°But I still don¡¯t know where we¡¯re going.¡±


    ¡°I thought it was fairly obvious,¡± Kendrux said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not always good enough for him,¡± Midnight pointed out. She shrugged in return.


    ¡°You¡¯ll need to make use of your abilities to Shift Size, bringing up Midnight and Zeb¡¯s size, while reducing yourself, Khithae, and Swiss Arms to about Martian height.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we can-¡± I looked over at Midnight when I felt something.


    He shrugged, looking back at me. ¡°Apparently we can? He had me test that. It¡¯s cheap enough for me to Multicast alone.¡±


    ¡°Interesting,¡± I said. ¡°And then what?¡±


    Calculator continued his explanation. ¡°Then you cast Disguise on everyone to make them look like Martians.¡±


    ¡°... That¡¯ll work for the humanoids,¡± I said. Midnight and Zeb weren¡¯t going to work out, though. ¡°Also, why is she coming with us?¡± I pointed to the Bunvorixian. ¡°Wasn¡¯t she in jail?¡±


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Zeb wagged her tail. Well, her whole backside. ¡°I¡¯m performing a public service!¡± Zeb said. ¡°If I help then I become a certified good girl!¡±


    ¡°... Malaliel had confirmed her sincerity,¡± Calculator explained. ¡°She is willing to help with this infiltration mission in exchange for amnesty for her inadvertent association with extraterrestrial war crimes.¡±


    ¡°I just kept the ship from blowing up!¡± Zeb said.


    I frowned. ¡°Why can I understand you?¡±


    Khithae pointed to herself. ¡°I synthesized a translation unit with Zeb¡¯s help, and Celmothian tech..¡±


    ¡°Cool,¡± I said. ¡°I thought that was going to take longer.¡±


    ¡°It would, without magic,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Well, it still requires Khithae or someone similar to maintain the charge on the device so the actual project is still underway.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ where are we actually going?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Mars,¡± Calculator said. ¡°You¡¯re going to Mars.¡±


    I looked at the picture in my hand. ¡°This is Mars?¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°I thought Mars looked like¡­ something else,¡± I said. To be fair, I¡¯d only ever seen the inside of Extra¡¯s transportation destination- and I hadn¡¯t even gotten to look around, just through a Gate.


    ¡°There is one final issue to resolve,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Midnight, Zeb, will you be able to work together?¡±


    The Bunvorixian spoke first. ¡°The nice bird and Kyle said that Midnight is a good boy, so I will.¡± Her entire body waggled as she looked at Midnight, up on my shoulder.


    Midnight¡¯s emotions were difficult to read. Maybe even he didn¡¯t know what they added up to. ¡°As long as I can remember, my people have been fighting the Bunvorixians. I¡¯m not sure if I can trust the word of one, even with Malaliel¡¯s confirmation of Zeb¡¯s own declaration.¡±


    ¡°Understandable,¡± Calculator said. ¡°You may remain behind. It is my understanding that Mage is more than capable of using Gate alone now.¡±


    That response seemed to bother Midnight more. ¡°And leave him alone, subject to possible treachery from a Bunvorixian? I don¡¯t know if I could do that.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do a treachery,¡± Zeb said, her mouth hanging open and tongue dangling.


    ¡°Not on my watch you won¡¯t,¡± Midnight declared. He turned towards Calculator. ¡°I would like to participate. I will remain vigilant for trouble, both internal and external.¡±


    Calculator pondered for a few moments. ¡°As long as you don¡¯t start any trouble,¡± he said. ¡°Now then, to explain the premise of the mission for you two¡­ you¡¯re not just infiltrating Mars in general, but specifically Extra.¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± I raised my hand. ¡°Isn¡¯t that kind of problematic? Most of us here had to go through Extra.¡± I looked over at Swiss Arms. She was probably an Earth-human, but she could be extradimensional.


    Swiss Arms answered my question. ¡°That has been taken into account. However, we determined this was the optimal team composition. And the request is from Extra themselves. Or rather, the local branch of individuals we trust.¡±


    ¡°Sounds complicated,¡± I said.


    ¡°... I knew there was something suspicious about how easily Spot got out,¡± Midnight said.


    Calculator nodded at Midnight. ¡°That is, indeed, the matter at hand. There is concern that certain Martian individuals are compromised, and while it is presumed that the level of corruption is limited¡­ internal investigations have been stymied. And this is not a time where we can wait for the gears of bureaucracy to turn. Doctor Doomsday got his hands on a ship that shouldn¡¯t have even made it to Earth¡¯s atmosphere.¡±


    ¡°So,¡± I said. ¡°What happens if we get caught?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± The single word was clear enough. ¡°Should it prove necessary, Gate somewhere secure in your own world, or to Celmoth.¡±


    ¡°Kind of a risky mission for Khithae¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°Unless you¡¯ve undergone secret training?¡±


    ¡°Khithae is needed for her technological expertise,¡± Calculator said. ¡°And she will be staying out of combat. Or rather, if there are any signs of combat your team is to retreat immediately. Your job is to keep an image of a potential destination in mind at all times. Only return to this location if you achieve your goals and exfiltrate without issue. Also be aware that Gate might fail within the facility. Though from the inside you have a chance of making it out.¡±


    ¡°... So no fighting?¡± I said. ¡°This seems pretty risky.¡±


    ¡°You will be rewarded appropriately,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Including with sparring opportunities. And I do believe the mission is of some personal interest for you.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°So we go now?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Calculator said. ¡°As long as you are ready. You¡¯ll work with Midnight to at least approximate the right size, then use Disguise.¡±


    ¡°Well, since you¡¯ve done it before,¡± I said to Midnight. ¡°You lead that part.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that hard,¡± he explained. ¡°Don¡¯t think about people getting bigger or smaller. Just think about them being a certain size.¡±


    Well, we had three examples. Quiet ones, in the form of our Martian gangster friends. Kendrux had said all of a single sentence. You know, some people might not have trusted this group to work with them for such an important task. They would have been pretty silly, though, because these guys were quite reliable.


    ¡°Oh right, one last piece of information. Try not to use much magic inside the facility,¡± Calculator said. ¡°The point was to pick people who would be effective without obvious signs, but there¡¯s only so much we can do.¡±


    Well, if we weren¡¯t fighting I didn¡¯t have a reason to use anything we wouldn¡¯t already have active. So I supposed it didn¡¯t matter much whether they could detect it. ¡°What about the already active magic?¡±


    ¡°Extra doesn¡¯t exactly have the resources to update all facilities against every possible intrusion type. They have general sensors,¡± Calculator explained. ¡°But they should be weakest against your sort of magic. The New Bay branch, however, is quite differently prepared.¡±


    I¡¯d hope so. Otherwise some random people Doomsday brought would be able to dismantle them, and they seemed kind of important¡­ when they were working right.


    The time came to actually do stuff, so I focused on everyone being the right size. Somewhere around Olim. We had just the right number of people for this, which was probably part of the plan. Calculator excepted, of course, but he wasn¡¯t coming. Too bad. But I also supposed being away from New Bay for a while would significantly impact the Brigade, since he coordinated so much.


    Midnight and Zeb were never going to make convincing Martians, and when we Multicast Disguise over the five of us who needed it the results were clear. They were like disfigured Martians who had legs down to normal Martian knees, waddling around with their hands on the ground.


    ¡°That¡¯ll have to do,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Seeing Bunvorixians and Celmothians would be even worse.¡±


    Midnight and I split everything at a ratio of sixty percent to forty percent. That was where our relative mana pools ended up. There were some reasons to split evenly for regeneration, but ultimately we wanted to each have a good portion of mana remaining. It was good practice, if nothing else.


    Gate took more mana than the other two spells combined- even casting them at triple cost for ¡®four¡¯ targets. I was holding the image out for Midnight and I to look at, since he was no longer on my shoulder given our similar sizes. I briefly wondered if a similar trick to what had been done with Shift Size would work with Alter Time Flow.


    Then the Gate opened up, into a red and rocky desert. Already being prepared, everyone else trudged through ahead of the two of us, Midnight and I stepping through last as tradition dictated.


    I was prepared for a long trek through the desert, seeking out some buried facility¡­ but then I turned and literally saw walls on the horizon. Well, that would explain why we picked this location to pop up. They likely couldn¡¯t make us out, but our destination was clear. Presumably. Kendrux and Swiss Arms set out that way, confirming that. As we got a bit closer, I noticed a hole in the wall- and some crumbling architecture. This might be the direct location of the prison break. What sort of evidence could we find?


    I really didn¡¯t know. Investigation wasn¡¯t my area of expertise.

 Chapter 263

    ¡°... We¡¯re just going to walk up to it?¡± I whispered.


    ¡°How else do you expect us to get there?¡± Kendrux replied as we walked over the reddish brown ground. ¡°You don¡¯t have to whisper, either. Just keep your voice below a certain threshold.¡±


    I furrowed my brow. I didn¡¯t like any of this, because I could barely even tell something was going on. There was a slight distortion around our group, as we were apparently contained in some sort of bubble. I imagined that the tech was probably illegal on Mars, but I didn¡¯t ask about it.


    Olim and Evans walked along behind Kendrux, keeping their arms down. They would be able to draw their weapons at any point, but they didn¡¯t seem to expect imminent peril.


    Zeb was proving to be an entirely unconvincing Martian, running along with her face to the ground- but she was a Bunvorixian so I wasn¡¯t even certain she could move in a different manner.


    ¡°I don¡¯t smell any of us yet,¡± she commented.


    Midnight also moved on all fours, and seemed to be sniffing too. ¡°She¡¯s right. No Bunvorixian scent out here but her own.¡±


    Zeb spun around in a circle. ¡°I can¡¯t smell me.¡± She twisted back in the other direction suddenly, and the illusion over her was stretched to its limits trying to make things vaguely believable.


    I could definitely see why they needed me to Gate us here, but the rest was¡­ less clear. Hopefully the disguises would be important soon, because they wouldn¡¯t last forever. Though they would last longer than the size changes which only lasted fifteen minutes at best.


    But before I even noticed, we were standing at a damaged section of wall, red stone scattered inward. It was covered over by a metal grate. Kendrux stopped and held up a finger. ¡°From here on we have to be careful,¡± she said. ¡°There will be guards flanking the opening, and we¡¯ll have to narrow the range of the stealth field to not incorporate them. First, though¡­¡± she looked towards Zeb. ¡°Smell anything?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Zeb replied eagerly. ¡°Martians!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be smelling for Bunvorixians. Not us.¡±


    ¡°Then nothing,¡± Zeb said, looking defeated.


    ¡°Are you certain? This is supposed to be their intrusion point.¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­ It could have been too long ago or they could have all been wearing Mark III scent suppression gear, but I don¡¯t know if they would have,¡± Zeb said. ¡°And the melt patterns are inconsistent with Bunvorixian weaponry,¡± she said, looking through the grate.


    Kendrux looked down at Midnight, who shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with¡­ melt patterns,¡± he replied.


    ¡°So how do we get in?¡± Zeb asked. ¡°They closed it up.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m here for,¡± Swiss Arms declared. She reached out towards the grate, and began melting it away from the wall around it with welding jets from her fingers.


    ¡°When we get through, press close together on the other side,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°We want everyone within a two meter area, or preferably less. Here is where we need to be more quiet.¡±


    Swiss Arms extended unnaturally as her arms circled around the grate, pulling it away when it was detached. She held it as we all slipped past. She swung around to the other side, pulling it back against the wall as all of us squeezed together. When she let go, it held in place.


    I had to assume all of that was hidden from camera view or weird alien sensors otherwise we would be caught soon.


    Kendrux strode calmly and precisely forward, and I could see the edge of the distortion had contracted. Just as predicted, there were two guards flanking the doorway.


    I spotted one of their elbows peek through the distortion field, but that didn¡¯t seem to have any reaction from them. I held my breath as we walked away.


    ¡°Now we need to access both the cell and the records office,¡± Kendrux said quietly. ¡°Swiss Arms will be coming with me to infiltrate records. These two will guide the rest of you towards the cell Spot was kept in. They know where we¡¯re going to meet up, so try to keep one of them alive.¡±


    ¡°... You¡¯re gonna be tall soon,¡± I mentioned to Swiss Arms. ¡°I think we¡¯d better recast that?¡±


    ¡°When we get to our separation point,¡± she nodded. ¡°There is supposed to be a sensor dead zone there.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a security risk?¡± I commented.


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Kendrux said. She¡­ might have rolled her eyes. But it was difficult to tell given her eyes not having a visible pupil to differentiate eye movement. They were just black.


    I was slightly concerned at how we knew so much about security holes in an Extra facility, but I supposed we did have insider information. Or maybe they weren¡¯t as secure as they thought. We were here investigating a big breakout.


    When we reached a random intersection, Kendrux stopped. ¡°Here¡¯s where we split. Walk naturally. Don¡¯t say anything suspicious.¡±


    WIth that, the slight gray tinge to the world disappeared. That was how I ended up walking along awkwardly with a dog paw on one shoulder and a cat paw on the other. Because now we were visible. Neither Midnight and Zeb were meant to walk upright, which meant we were staggering along slowly. Hopefully, they looked like old folks who just needed some support. Having elderly individuals touring secure facilities was normal, right?


    I almost jumped out of my skin when we turned a corner and spotted guards. I felt Midnight¡¯s emotions spike as well, and a tail slapped my leg from the other side. Khithae was behind me so I could see her reaction.


    ¡°Hey, we¡¯re just bringing these folks through,¡± Evans said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It obviously wasn¡¯t, of course. ¡°You know how things are.¡±


    The woman of the pair grunted.


    Was that all? Were they really not going to inspect us? We walked on, awkwardly. How could they not tell that a shrunken orc and lizard were walking along with a sized up canine and feline? Only Olim and Evans were actually Martians!


    ¡°Good thing I barely have facial muscles,¡± Khithae commented as we stopped in front of a flat wall. ¡°Is this it?¡± she asked the two in front.


    They nodded.


    It sure didn¡¯t look like much to me, but I heard Khithae muttering. ¡°Let¡¯s hope this isn¡¯t picked up¡­¡±


    I certainly felt the mana as I was standing right next to her. I wanted to ask what it was, but there was a shimmer and then wall opened up, a rotational aperture pulling away angles to make it look like the wall was never there.


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    But the guards behind the wall sure were there. Why were things like this? I couldn¡¯t ask in front of them, obviously. The worst thing was the guards just nodded at us. What did that mean? Did they just assume because we got this far we were supposed to be here?


    ¡­ I could actually see that happening, yeah. We had uniforms and everything as part of the illusion. But it still seemed¡­ bad. Wasn¡¯t this supposed to be high security? Then again, that secret door wasn¡¯t supposed to open. Tech-magic and all that to get past their fancy stuff. I don¡¯t know when Khithae learned that, but she¡¯d had a long time to practice weird spells I wouldn¡¯t understand. Which hopefully made them double difficult for people who didn¡¯t understand magic.


    I wanted to comment on pretty much everything. Like, the way that we couldn¡¯t really see what was inside the cells we were walking by. I could only see the doors by a thin outline, but that was obvious enough. I mean, would looking at whatever was contained there hurt us?


    Oh right. It definitely could. I could feel various sorts of powers, quite dim through the walls and not clear enough to even guess what they would be. But all sorts of extraterrestrial or extradimensional stuff could be contained within. Well, mostly things of a reasonable size that they had a reason to keep captive. I was pretty sure that most extradimensional monstrosities would be killed- the sorts of things that couldn¡¯t be talked to. Though I wasn¡¯t certain if the people here on Mars were as accepting of people like Jim as in New Bay.


    We walked along as quickly as we reasonably could, which was not, in fact, quickly. Then we came to the right cell. I could tell because it had collapsed inward, metal bent and twisted.


    I heard sniffing right next to my ear. ¡°I smell ¡®em!¡± Zeb commented in delight. ¡°It¡¯s old, but this was the place!¡± She sniffed again. ¡°A bunch of us came through here. And some other Martians, obviously.¡± She leaned forward, nearly dropping away from being propped up. ¡°The melt patterns fit,¡± she said.


    ¡°I thought they didn¡¯t fit?¡±


    ¡°The ones on the outside wall,¡± Zeb replied. ¡°These fit." She sniffed again. ¡°Everyone went back out that way,¡± she gestured along the hallway.


    ¡°We¡¯ll continue on, then,¡± commented one of Olim or Evans. It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t remember them, but I¡¯d met them both like one time. ¡°Preferably we¡¯d figure out how they got to the opening they busted in.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t, though,¡± Zeb commented. ¡°I didn¡¯t smell anyone.¡±


    We all thought about that as I helped the two quadrupeds waddle along. I heard something crash against a door. I couldn¡¯t quite understand, but it asked to be let out I think. Unfortunately, at least some people from Extra were my friends so I had to assume whatever was behind the door was just trying to take advantage of random people coming by. Or they couldn¡¯t talk. Maybe I could come back here officially at some point.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time,¡± I commented as we were walking along. The facilities weren¡¯t all that big so the time limit on Shift Size wasn¡¯t that bad¡­ but we were supposed to meet up with people.


    ¡°We¡¯re still going the right way,¡± Evans commented. I was almost sure that was Evans. Maybe if I could see their typical suits¡­? ¡°To reach our destination, I mean.¡±


    They had to have cameras watching. They might even have stuff that would pick through Disguise. This was probably a bad idea. But it was a bit late to think that, as we were hopefully on the way out.


    We soon reached another group of guards, and what I presumed to be a door. Either that or we hit a dead end. But Evans and Olim kept walking. Fortunately, Khithae got the word and used her spell again. The wall shimmered.


    We walked through after it slid open almost silently. It closed behind us a few moments later. I thought I heard something as it was closing.


    ¡°Hey uh,¡± Zeb commented. ¡°I know I¡¯m not supposed to talk. But that guy said something about ¡®alarm¡¯ and ¡®weird¡¯.¡±


    Olim tensed up. ¡°You all have your defensive gear on, right?¡±


    ¡°I never got any!¡± Zeb declared straightforwardly. ¡°Even when I was working on the ship.¡±


    ¡°... We¡¯d better get to the rendezvous,¡± Olim said.


    ¡°But that¡¯s the wrong way,¡± Zeb commented. ¡°They went that way.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Olim asked.


    ¡°The Bunvorixians and the Martians I haven¡¯t smelled before.¡±


    Olim looked at Evans. ¡°What¡¯s that way?¡±


    ¡°Just the roof¡­ right?¡±


    ¡°Suspicious. Come on, let¡¯s keep going.¡±


    ¡°Umm, you two,¡± Zeb commented. ¡°What sounds do martian guns make when they shoot?¡±


    ¡°Well you see-¡±


    ¡°Is it *Pew pew pew*?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± Evans said. ¡°They¡¯re energy blasters so it¡¯s more-¡±


    ¡°Because it sounds similar to Bunvorixian laser pews,¡± Zeb commented. ¡°And some Bzzzzps and Fwips.¡±


    ¡°... Where?¡±


    The building trembled as an explosion filled the hallway ahead of us.


    ¡°That way,¡± Zeb commented.


    I heard the sounds of rapid footfalls, and two figures burst forth from the smoke. Kendrux and a shrunken and disguised Swiss Arms.


    Kendrux didn¡¯t stop as she barreled past us. ¡°Get moving you punks! Unless you want to get locked up!¡±


    ¡°... Does this mean I can run now?¡± Zeb said.


    ¡°Go for it,¡± I confirmed. ¡°Hey, you don¡¯t want to run that way! There are guards straight through the secret door!¡±


    ¡°But the only other way is- the roof!¡± Kendrux said. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go! I¡¯m not looking forward to being the first in my family to get caught! And we can¡¯t exactly fight here!¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked. Running and talking was well within my capabilities.


    ¡°Because we¡¯re up against Extra,¡± she emphasized.


    Oh right. We were working for them and against them and they probably didn¡¯t want us to maim anyone associated. ¡°Did you get¡­ the stuff?¡± I asked.


    I didn¡¯t know what stuff we were here for, but it had to be something.


    ¡°We¡¯ll find out,¡± she replied. ¡°How about you? Learn anything?¡±


    ¡°They went this way!¡± Zeb commented happily, looking quite foolish as she ran along on all fours. It would have been normal if she looked like a dog but¡­ she currently did not.


    Swiss Arms was the fastest, and turned a corner ahead of us. A moment later, I heard her shout. ¡°Exit¡¯s locked!¡±


    ¡°I can handle it!¡± Khithae called back.


    I could feel her gathering mana. It was a bigger spell than I had previously pictured. She might not have much extra after this, unless she was higher level than I thought. Around the cost of Stoneskin at 9 mana.


    We turned the corner and Khithae slapped her hand at some sort of door. It beeped and booped and¡­ didn¡¯t open. ¡°Uh¡­ why didn¡¯t that work?¡± Khithae asked.


    ¡°Manual override,¡± Kendrux shrugged. ¡°Emergency situation protocol, perhaps. It might be routing the request elsewhere, depending on how your magic works.¡±


    The sound of tearing metal came to my ears, and I saw Swiss Arms pulling open a wall panel I hadn¡¯t noticed. It blended in with the walls just as well as everything else was made to. She pulled out a bundle of wires.


    ¡°No, don¡¯t cut that one!¡± Zeb said.


    Swiss Arms looked over at the Bunvorixian. ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Ninety percent chance that it will fail closed!¡± she darted forward. ¡°Let me do it.¡± She took all the wires in her mouth. Then she mumbled something as she twisted her head. Somehow, she managed to bite through just a few of the wires.


    ¡°Hmm, I see,¡± Khithae nodded. ¡°That would be a ----- bypass,¡± she nodded. Some sort of technological jargon maybe?


    Khithae reached out, and, without using any mana, began working magic. Sure, it was just a bunch of zaps and lights, but the two of them snipped and twisted wires until finally¡­


    ¡°Fr- whoa!¡± a whole squad of Martians rounded the corner into Grease. Cast by Midnight. I should have thought of that, but I was distracted.


    With a sudden whoosh of air, the door opened. The pile of Martian guards seemed to practice proper trigger discipline and hadn¡¯t blasted each other when they collapsed into the pile.


    We ran through the door out onto the roof, where we were looking down at a hundred foot drop. I didn¡¯t even remember going up so much.


    ¡°... How are you at climbing?¡± Swiss Arms looked at our group.

 Chapter 264

    There we were looking out over a large drop down to red Martian dirt down below, a pile of guards picking themselves up barely a few steps away. Even if we were to fight them, they would be followed by more and more. Most disappointingly, we weren¡¯t supposed to fight them. Sure, they were all from Extra and we wanted to remain on good terms with them after this whole mission but still.


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ good at climbing,¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°Oh, we wouldn¡¯t want to climb down this anyway,¡± I pointed out. ¡°They¡¯d have direct shots over the edge at us.¡±


    ¡°And they¡¯ll have direct shots at us without the benefit of the edge here in a moment,¡± Kendrux commented.


    ¡°Yep,¡± I agreed. ¡°Midnight, time for our new spell. It¡¯s gonna have to be¡­¡± Whoa, we were right on the edge as I did the numbers. ¡°A 12-9 split for Multicasting. I mean fly,¡± I clarified to clear up any ambiguity for Midnight. This was not the right time to make any mistakes.


    I was already gathering mana, and our training together quickly had Midnight respond. The first targets were Zeb, Khithae, Swiss Arms, and Kendrux. I chose them because, frankly, Olim and Evans were less important.


    We weren¡¯t going to leave them, though. ¡°Again,¡± I declared. ¡°Also you four can fly now,¡± I said, pointing at them.


    ¡°How do I- oh,¡± Zeb said as she floated into the air. ¡°I see, I¡¯m dreaming. That makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Nope, you¡¯re not dreaming.¡± I said as I ducked down, lasers blasting over my head as our greased buddies scrambled to their feet. Kendrux had reacted the most quickly, floating up and then flipping herself over the wall to gain cover. Swiss Arms stood beside the door, out of the line of fire. Zeb was kind of flailing.


    A final surge of mana spread from Midnight and I towards the remaining two- while also filling us, of course. We could have even gotten one more person, but I wasn¡¯t interested in letting any of the angry Martians fly after us.


    I grabbed Zeb and Midnight as I took off, making sure that everyone was moving properly. ¡°Come on!¡±


    ¡°Everyone stay close!¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°I¡¯ll guard the rear!¡±


    ¡°Get below the edge!¡± Kendrux ordered, dragging down her two subordinates and bringing them towards my clump. Khithae fit in with us quite well.


    Midnight was more than just slightly nervous as we looked down at a hundred foot drop. One that probably didn¡¯t have nice safety measures in place to keep people from falling.


    I heard the sounds of fire behind us, and saw beams streaking past our group. A quick glance over my shoulder showed Swiss Arms blockading the way to the rest of us with her body. And hopefully some sort of fancy gadgets. Also, she was¡­ growing larger? The second casting of Shift Size shouldn¡¯t have worn off just yet, though.


    Ah, I got it. She was resisting. With the spell near its end, it would be pretty easy to shrug off the effects. For my part, I let go of the hold on the threads of magic I had there- though some spells weren¡¯t easy to end intentionally before their time elapsed.


    Yes, there was some sort of barrier there, but I couldn¡¯t just look towards her. ¡°The hills there!¡± I said. ¡°They should provide cover!¡±


    ¡°And, we¡¯ll need it,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°They¡¯ll scurry some proper ships in a few moments here.¡±


    Zeb wriggled free of my grip, but kept flying along. ¡°This is fun!¡± she commented. ¡°We¡¯re going into those hills there?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but-¡±


    She began pumping her legs- half of which still looked like arms and all of which looked weird at the moment- and somehow she sped up instead of spinning out of control. I hadn¡¯t exactly been holding back on how fast I was flying, and it was surprising to see her pull ahead. Hmm, maybe she was being more aerodynamic with her head on angle. I leaned forward, finding that my body lingered in the orientation just fine. I pulled a few feet ahead of the others by the time they noticed, but most of us kept up.


    Swiss Arms was a bit behind, though not because she couldn¡¯t figure it out. She was still blocking the majority of the attacks directed at us. Not all of them, unfortunately, as the enemy had begun to spread out and she could only cover the most direct angle. There had to be at least a dozen people shooting at us, though fortunately it seemed like we were out of the highest effective range of their blaster weapons.


    The hills were further than I thought, which was both good and bad. Bad, because it took longer to get to them- but good because the random crags and valleys in them were more significant.


    I was hit in the side, though my suit blocked most of the damage. Several others of us were grazed by incoming attacks. Midnight had his own combined defensive layers, and I was pretty sure Khithae and Zeb had something functional for the mission- I couldn¡¯t see at the moment since most of us were still under illusory magic.


    I had no idea about the Martian gangsters, but they were responsible for their own survival. Casting Fly on them was the last I could help out. The local mana levels weren¡¯t that bad, but they certainly weren¡¯t anything to write home about. Midnight and I had only regenerated a few points since we arrived in this world.


    All of us chased after Zeb, bringing us to a deep rocky valley in the hills. The immediate fire we were under had dropped off, but we¡¯d spotted some ships on the horizon before we dipped down.


    ¡°We need to find cover!¡± Swiss Arms shouted to the group.


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    ¡°We also need to land soon,¡± I said. Size Shift had worn off for most of us now, making the Bunvorixian and Celmothian smaller. Khithae and I grew back to our natural sizes. ¡°Fly doesn¡¯t last that long. That includes you, Zeb! Remember that this isn¡¯t a dream!¡±


    ¡°What do you know, dream alien?¡± Zeb countered. ¡°I think you just don¡¯t want me to fly.¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m part of the dream, then I should know when you won¡¯t be able to fly.¡±


    ¡°Oh, good point!¡± she said, circling around where we were landing a few times before setting down.


    Midnight was clutched onto my shoulder. He might have preferred wrapping himself around a rock, but we had to move.


    ¡°We need to find a cave,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°Or at least an overhang. Unless you have any magic for this?¡±


    I shook my head.


    Khithae concurred. ¡°I don¡¯t have any illusions or the like. Just tech stuff. I might be able to depower part of a ship but¡­¡±


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t exactly keep us hidden,¡± Kendrux agreed.


    ¡°You want a cave?¡± Zeb said. ¡°This way!¡±


    She scurried off without explanation, but since she seemed to have some idea what she was doing and we had nothing better, we chased after her. And around a corner or two, we found something.


    ¡°Look, a cave!¡± she said. With Disguise still going for a while, she looked extremely odd. I could presume she was shaking her tail, though.


    What she called a cave looked more like a hole in the side of the hill to me. However¡­ it did seem to go some way inside. The downside was that it was barely three feet high at its highest. Short enough that the Martians felt the need to duck their heads as they went in.


    Swiss Arms tapped my shoulder. ¡°Can you make it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a little worse than Celmothian architecture,¡± I shrugged. I didn¡¯t have the mana to change size again, but I could crawl in there. ¡°I¡¯ll go last.¡±


    ¡°How about I go last,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°I can keep the back safe.¡±


    Well, considering everyone had gone in front- with Khithae now being a very tall Martian-looking individual and crawling- I didn¡¯t argue about it. Midnight hopped off my shoulder when I got down to the ground, going just ahead.


    ¡°It¡¯s dark in here,¡± Zeb commented.


    ¡°That¡¯s what happens when you go into a hole,¡± Olim commented. Probably.


    ¡°It opens wider up here,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°I think there¡¯s enough room for us all to fit?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± I said, looking into the larger area. ¡°Hey, Zeb, how did you find this place?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it was easy!¡± she commented. ¡°I just followed the scent of something that smelled like it lived in dirt.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± I nodded. ¡°That would explain the three foot tall burrowing mammal behind you guys.¡±


    ¡°... I hoped I was imagining that shape,¡± Kendrux admitted. Then the thing lunged at her. She blocked it with her forearm, and its rodent-like teeth sunk into it. Apparently the Martians could see well enough to detect the motion, at least. Her words slipped naturally to her native language as she shouted. ¡°Rust Mole!¡± The word she shouted sort of translated, though I got the feeling that the words didn¡¯t quite match the true meaning in Martian. ¡°No blasters!¡±


    Oh good. And I was worried I wouldn¡¯t get to actually fight anything today.


    Olim and Evans tried to wrestle the thing in the dark. They weren¡¯t doing great. Zeb was sniffing around trying to find anything. Khithae kicked the thing in the head, apparently having quite good vision in the dark. That shoved the whole pile back far enough for me to crawling into the room.


    For all that she was being mauled, Kendrux was taking the situation matter of factly. ¡°Blasted rodent. Mage, you can see?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± I said. ¡°Can¡¯t really get in there though.¡±


    ¡°You two lugs! Up against the wall!¡±


    Zeb seemed to think that applied to her as well, though she also didn¡¯t seem to know where the wall was. Still, Olim and Evans pulled away, letting me get past them. I didn¡¯t have a ton of experience wrestling mole-things, but I got behind it and wrapped my arms below its jaw, squeezing tight. The thing let go and started squealing.


    ¡°What are the chances there are more of these things?¡± I said as I wrestled it. It claws at my arms, but its teeth weren¡¯t able to angle towards me and I kept it in a lock so it couldn¡¯t spin around.


    ¡°Do you see any other tunnels?¡± Kendrux asked.


    I tilted my head to try to see, but Khithae answered that. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s just this chamber.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯re probably good.¡±


    ¡°Need any help?¡± Swiss Arms commented.


    ¡°No lasers!¡± Kendrux shouted.


    The clear sound of blades being released came from beyond the mass of fur. ¡°I have blades.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think,¡± I grunted. ¡°That we need to kill it.¡± Its struggles were slowing, now.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m ready if necessary.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t, as the thing passed out a few moments later. Though, that was somewhat in question.


    ¡°Well now what do we do with it?¡± Kendrux asked. ¡°It¡¯s just gonna wake up.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I frowned. If only we had Ceira. She could talk to it. Speaking of which. ¡°Why don¡¯t we bind your wounds first and then figure that out.¡±


    ¡°And yours, I¡¯m betting,¡± Kendrux replied.


    ¡°Eh, nothing¡¯s deep,¡± I said. ¡°Khithae, did you take the first aid course?¡±


    ¡°I can wipe wounds and use bandages, but don¡¯t expect stitching.¡±


    ¡°I can stitch,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°And relevantly, see in the dark.¡± She held up her hands, and her fingers split open to reveal needles.


    ¡°Well, great. Start with her. That¡¯s a deep bite.¡±


    Kendrux grunted. ¡°That¡¯s what happens if you tromp into a rust mole¡¯s burrow. Should have recognized the opening, but I¡¯m not exactly a wilderness gal.¡±


    ¡°So what happened?¡± Khithae asked. ¡°With the mission. Did we fail?¡±


    ¡°Partially depends on what you found,¡± Kendrux deflected. She grunted slightly when Swiss Arms used a cotton swab drenched in an antibacterial agent. Which might have been alcohol, but clearly stung.


    Swiss Arms answered while she was beginning to stitch up the Martian- from the inside out. ¡°Well, the good news is we retrieved database information. Our extraction wasn¡¯t exactly clean, though. As you can tell.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Midnight asked. He was hanging out in my lap, and I was just glad that the roof here was high enough for me to mostly sit up.


    ¡°Well, my identity got compromised,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°My face is too well known, I guess.¡±


    ¡°She means she ran into her ex,¡± Swiss Arms said. Kendrux¡¯s curse was an acknowledgement as well as an expression of physical pain.


    ¡°... Did you try to tell them you were leaving?¡± I asked. ¡°And had a good reason.¡±


    ¡°They immediately started screaming at each other,¡± Swiss Arms shook her head.


    Well, considering that the infiltration probably shouldn¡¯t have worked given most of us weren¡¯t experts in that field, I didn¡¯t think the results were that bad. Here we were, totally escaped and not at all dead. No wonder they got Spot out if that was the level of expected security.

 Chapter 265

    While there were many things we had to consider in our cramped burrow, the most urgent one was what to do with the rust mole. On account of it merely being knocked out and all.


    ¡°I assume it¡¯s going to wake up angry,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe we should just kill it? Since we can¡¯t talk to it.¡±


    ¡°Noooo~!¡± Zeb protested, finally showing up as a black and white canine once more as Disguise faded away. ¡°It¡¯s so big and cuddly!¡±


    Swiss Arms nodded. ¡°We don¡¯t exactly have a good way to restrain it.¡±


    ¡°It did try to eat us,¡± Kendrux pointed out. ¡°But¡­ there¡¯s a problem if we take it out. We can¡¯t exactly go outside right now, with ships flying all over looking for us. And if we shove the body out, it¡¯s going to be pretty obvious. I¡¯m not sure how quickly a rust mole starts smelling bad but it¡¯s gonna be pretty quick.¡±


    Midnight sniffed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t smell great right now, but I agree with your assessment.¡±


    Khithae shrugged. ¡°I can¡¯t really help solve this situation with abilities or advice.¡± She glanced over at Swiss Arms. ¡°Though I should be able to help you out with Repair.¡±


    Swiss Arms frowned. ¡°Everything is proprietary tech, I¡¯m not sure¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s magic,¡± Khithae reminded her, gathering mana and reaching out towards the woman. Her Power Brigade outfit was quite battered and her skin seemed to have acted as another layer of defense, but she still looked pretty banged up. I saw her ¡®skin¡¯ grow back, and before it was covered up I saw a few dents and dings in her metal bones smooth out.


    I hadn¡¯t really considered it too much of a problem since she wasn¡¯t bleeding, but she was injured. Well, it¡¯s not like I would have had anything to do about any sorts of wounds.


    Swiss Arms looked at her body, twisting and turning. ¡°Impressive, though I think I¡¯ll need more.¡±


    ¡°I have little more effective to spend mana on at the moment.¡±


    Kendrux interrupted. ¡°So about the rust mole. Zeb, if you want to save it¡­ try getting its scent on you. Then you and these fellows can hold it back, should it try anything,¡± she gestured to Olim and Evans.


    ¡°I bet it¡¯s hungry!¡± Zeb said. ¡°Do we have anything besides us for it to eat?¡±


    ¡°What do moles even eat?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Roots? Because I only have tuna.¡±


    ¡°Tuna is good,¡± Zeb said.


    ¡°Alright, well, you guys figure that out,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°If you can keep it peaceful, great. Otherwise we¡¯ll improvise. Now then, Mage, how long will it take to Gate us out of here?¡±


    I stroked my chin. ¡°We¡¯re basically out of mana. Natural recovery would take like a hundred minutes. We could-¡± something sent shivers down my spine. ¡°Midnight, you feel that?¡± he nodded. ¡°Khithae?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean. I don¡¯t have that much experience with magic other than my own.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Not magic, I think. It¡¯s like a fog or mist?¡±


    ¡°My sensors are picking up something,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°Purpose unknown. Some sort of wide area field. It¡¯s permeating through the ground, too. So¡­ they¡¯ve either found us and we¡¯re probably screwed, or it doesn¡¯t do that and we need to keep working on our plans.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I agreed. ¡°So, uh. We can speed up the mana regeneration process significantly by absorbing mana crystals. If we have a few minutes to absorb them properly, I think we can recover enough to cast a Gate between Midnight and I.¡±


    ¡°That fast?¡± Kendrux asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not unlimited,¡± I explained. However, I figured that even though we were currently allies I probably wasn¡¯t supposed to provide details of my powers to technically-criminals. So I left out the exact limits and the part where I¡¯d be vomiting black blood if I used too much.


    ¡°Then I think that¡¯s the plan, right?¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°We already got what we can get, and we just need to leave.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°Midnight, leave that trio to handle the rust mole.¡±


    ¡°One second! It¡¯s waking up!¡± he replied. ¡°You two said they eat lasers?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not quite like that,¡± one of the martians said.


    ¡°But it¡¯s not exactly unlike that,¡± the other added.


    Looking at the situation, Zeb had completely disappeared. Since there wasn¡¯t anywhere to go, I realized she was buried under the mole, wiggling around. I saw her tail poking out sometimes.


    ¡°I smell like the mole now so it won¡¯t bite me!¡± she said.


    ¡°Pretty sure it¡¯s just confused about how to scratch or bite you where you are,¡± I replied.


    A sparkling light made the room glow as Midnight shot a laser at the mole¡¯s forearm. Not a full powered energy blast, but something more akin to a laser pointer. Which I had been told weren¡¯t necessarily lasers, depending on definitions. How odd.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Either way, when the beam struck the rust mole¡¯s fur, it didn¡¯t burn into it but instead scattered in all directions¡­ while leaving a weird glowing residue on the paw. The mole started licking at its paw.


    ¡°Interesting,¡± I said. ¡°Can someone else keep that up while I borrow Midnight?¡±


    Kendrux shook her head. ¡°Our guns don¡¯t adjust to a safe level. They won¡¯t be super effective on a rust mole, but they would still cause damage.¡±


    ¡°I can,¡± Swiss Arms said.


    ¡°Great.¡± I cast Storage to pull out a handful of my biggest crystals- yes, it took some mana but I couldn¡¯t just carry a bunch of crystals in my jacket all the time. They wouldn¡¯t be subtle even if they fit well, radiating a feeling of power for those with the right senses.


    I pulled out five crystals total. Each would contain about six mana, which would put both Midnight and I close to our limits if I took three and he took two. Close, but comfortably under our limits, I hoped. Usually the negative consequences came after consecutive days of use, but it could still happen with too much all at once.


    ¡°We¡¯ll absorb one each then wait a few minutes,¡± I said to Midnight. ¡°Just to make sure we¡¯re not pushing too hard.¡±


    Midnight nodded. He didn¡¯t use mana crystals very often, but he shared my technique so he could absorb them when necessary. I used them to boost my maximum mana still, but he was using a safer technique now that we had some.


    The crystal cracked in my hand and I carefully absorbed it. I tried to concentrate on getting the mana from it and from the surroundings. Mars¡¯ mana levels sucked, but they weren¡¯t nonexistent. In fact, they seemed to be ¡®normal¡¯, as I¡¯d been raised to think of it. Even if that wasn¡¯t necessarily correct with what I knew now. After all, this could be considered a planet without magic. At least New Bay had some other sorts of supernatural people that used mana, though not many.


    The mole didn¡¯t seem to be happy with how things were, but it was easily distracted so Midnight and I managed to recover our mana levels. Each of us had used two crystals, leaving me with one larger one to spare. With 12 mana each, that was more than enough to share a Gate.


    ¡°Alright, everyone get ready. We¡¯ll have something like a minute, but we¡¯ll need to disentangle people from the mole.¡±


    ¡°No problem!¡± Zeb commented from under the mole¡¯s belly where its fuzz covered her, just her nose and tail sticking out to the sides.


    I was pretty sure that nothing made sense about that scenario, but what did I know. I wasn¡¯t a Martian.


    ¡°Midnight. Even split. Ten mana each for Gate.¡± He obviously knew what we were doing, but habits were good for consistency.


    We gathered ten mana each to boost Gate to as strong as it could be. With four upgrades now and an equal amount in Assistive Familiar Casting, even if going from planet to planet was less effective than normal planar travel we should still get a decent duration.


    I aimed to place the Gate just at the mouth of the chamber we were in, since that was the largest place. Lights swirled and shimmered. Then they swirled back¡­ without ever opening a portal.


    ¡°So,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s bad. They seem to have, uh, done something to restrict portal travel.¡±


    ¡°Probably that field you felt,¡± Kendrux grumbled. ¡°Some sort of anti teleportation tech. I didn¡¯t know Extra had a mobile disbursement form of that.¡±


    ¡°Well now we know,¡± I said. ¡°Which leaves us in an awkward situation. Though¡­ I did get an odd feeling.¡±


    ¡°Which would be?¡± Swiss Arms asked, taking a break from beaming a laser at a big mole.


    ¡°Like¡­ it was really difficult to get to Earth?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Because of the field,¡± she said. ¡°...and?¡±


    ¡°I feel like we might be able to go somewhere else. Though it might still be effective.¡± I looked at Midnight. ¡°I think Celmoth is out, yeah?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably more difficult than Earth to begin with,¡± he agreed.


    ¡°So, the bad news is we wasted all of that mana,¡± I said. ¡°And we can¡¯t risk failure again. So we need more mana. Because it started making the portal, so Midnight could use Alter Portal. And I have enough mana threshold to cast Gate alone.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Unfortunately we didn¡¯t get shot at enough for me to level up. I¡¯m not that far, but it would take a battle that¡¯s outside of my current capacity. So no extra points.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°How long does this take?¡±


    ¡°If I absorb this final crystal and concentrate on regaining mana¡­ well, just short of two hours I think.¡± Around that time, I heard scuffling and growling in the back of the burrow. Zeb was tussling with the mole. It was clawing and biting at her. ¡°Zeb! I¡¯ll help stop it!¡±


    ¡°No wait! We¡¯re just playing!¡±


    ¡°... Pretty sure I see blood,¡± I said. The mole was still glowing slightly, so other people could see slightly better as well.


    ¡°He¡¯s still learning to be gentle!¡±


    ¡°You literally just met and that¡¯s a wild animal,¡± I pointed out. ¡°... And Translation is going to wear off soon isn¡¯t it.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound great,¡± Kendrux said.


    ¡°Midnight will be able to refresh it, and everyone here can at least understand English except Zeb. And only Midnight can¡¯t speak it.¡± Khithae¡¯s vocal chords weren¡¯t meant for human languages, but she was still decent at it now. Enough to be understood, which was all that mattered.


    It sure looked like the mole was trying to kill Zeb. But the Bunvorixian got to make her own choices. At least the mole was distracted for the moment?


    I absorbed the last crystal, and slowly began to meditate. Burrows were not a great place for mages to regain mana, but it would have to do. Hopefully there weren¡¯t any Martians coming to murder us, but we couldn¡¯t do anything about it if they were so I didn¡¯t let that distract me.


    -----


    ¡°Alright, everyone understand the plan? Good. I have no idea how long the portal will stay open if we can get it open, so we need everyone to rush through asap. We might have a full minute, or ten seconds. When I give the word everyone goes. We¡¯re going to come out in a building you don¡¯t recognize but it should be secure.¡±


    My current fatigue point was theoretically twenty-one mana. That was more than enough for any spell I knew existed- though I wasn¡¯t willing to bet that higher than twentieth level spells existed somewhere or somehow. Multicasting did have costs that surpassed twenty, so there was some functionality to a greater fatigue point anyway.


    Regardless, it was still near the limit so I couldn¡¯t be careless. ¡°Ready Midnight?¡± I said. ¡°Alter Portal when it begins forming. We¡¯re going to try to push through any resistance.¡±


    Sometimes, when I focused things seemed to take forever. I could feel every ounce of mana forming in distinct patterns. And sometimes, it all came in a rush. Mana surged, the air shimmered and tore open. I saw a dark room.


    Everyone scrambled through, and seconds later there were nine figures in a pile inside the Order of the Lion¡¯s designated room for me popping up in secret. The Gate was indeed easier than it had felt going to Earth, though I wasn¡¯t sure how much of that was choice of location and how much was the addition of Alter Portal. I was fairly sure both contributed.


    I let the Gate close naturally after making sure everyone was around. There was myself, obviously. Kendrux, Olim, and Evans were all there. Midnight and Zeb. Swiss Arms had been the first through. I wouldn''t forget Khithae. Nine people? I counted on my fingers. Wait, that was eight. Had I forgotten to count myself? Oh, no wait. The ninth thing in the pile was a very confused mole.


    Well, that problem would solve itself probably.

 Chapter 266

    One by one, people began picking themselves up off the ground. Half of us had to crawl out of the portal, and the rest still ended up in the general pile. But now, we should be safe. Moments ago ships from Extra were trying to hunt us down for just doing some simple information gathering. We¡¯d been hunkering down in a rust mole den for a while, and something they¡¯d done had prevented Gate from reaching Earth¡­ but everything was good now.


    We had made it to the Order of the Lion, and we should be safe. Sir Kalman would likely be surprised to have so much company all at once, but once he knew the reason he would understand.


    ¡°Everyone alright?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re good here,¡± Kendrux said for her three.


    ¡°No further injuries,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°However, rust mole is a problem,¡± she gestured. It currently seemed to be trying to fit Zeb¡¯s head in its mouth. ¡°Now that we¡¯re somewhere secure, I suggest we put it down.¡± As she said so, she held up her arm. She was probably about to transform it into some sort of gun. Presumably a projectile one, since we knew that rust moles were mostly immune to lasers.


    ¡°Noooo!¡± Zeb said. ¡°You can¡¯t hurt Fluffy!¡±


    The canine stared down Swiss Arms, blood dripping down her forehead.


    ¡°... Whatever, it¡¯s your funeral.¡±


    Zeb¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°I¡­ get to have a funeral?¡± She began to wag her whole body. ¡°Does this mean we¡¯re friends now?¡±


    ¡°We did fight on the same side, so yeah,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Yay!¡± She turned slightly, her head still held by the giant mole. ¡°Stop that, Fluffy!¡±


    I briefly felt a tingle of something.


    Then the door burst open, revealing a small horde of paladins. ¡°Oh, Harold,¡± I waved. ¡°Hello. Emergency situation forced us to come here. Sorry for the disturbance.¡±


    The paladins continued to stand tensely, their weapons at the ready. Harold¡¯s eyes looked over me, and I felt some mana stirring.


    ¡°It seems to be him,¡± Sir Harold lowered his weapon. ¡°Nobody else would show up with such an odd group. At ease,¡± he said, and the rest of the paladins sheathed their weapons, though they still stood at the ready. ¡°So, who is this with you? I know Midnight.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded. ¡°Well, aside from him,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s Swiss Arms,¡± I didn¡¯t know her actual name. ¡°Uh, some codename,¡± I gestured to Khithae.


    ¡°Cling,¡± she offered.


    ¡°Yeah, that,¡± I nodded. ¡°Zeb. Fluffy. Kendrux, Olim, and Evans.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± the Martians looked at me in confusion.


    ¡°I¡¯m Evans,¡± said the wrong one.


    ¡°Sorry. Evans and Olim,¡± I said.


    ¡°... I¡¯m Warkon,¡± the other one said.


    ¡°Olim is a human,¡± ¡®Evans¡¯ said.


    I squinted at them. ¡°Are you¡­ sure?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± the self-proclaimed Evans said.


    ¡°So those two are Evans and Warkon,¡± I explained to Harold. ¡°And that¡¯s all of us.¡±


    For some reason Harold sighed. ¡°Very well. Should we be concerned that Zeb¡¯s companion is biting her? I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s a good sign for a druid or beastmaster or whatever.¡±


    ¡°... Beastmaster sounds like a way better title than systems engineer!¡± Zeb commented. ¡°Can I be one of those now?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Did you hear that Fluffy? I officially order you to sit!¡±


    I felt that weird tingle again. Then Fluffy unclenched his jaw from Zeb¡¯s head and pulled back.


    ¡°You¡¯ve caught us at an inconvenient time,¡± Harold said. ¡°Though perhaps you may be of some help to us.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well, we were kind of intending to just go back to Earth the long way,¡± I said. ¡°But we¡¯ll have to hang around here for a bit to recover mana anyway. What do you need?¡±


    ¡°What we need most is to get into contact with Sir Kalman,¡± Harold explained. ¡°At least, in the immediate future.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s going to take a bit,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re kinda low on mana and need to regenerate.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no problem,¡± Harold said. ¡°An hour or two against waiting days for a response is quite preferable. Until then, you and your companions should at least sit down. We can provide some food. Assuming they can eat standard sustenance?¡±


    ¡°Yeah we all eat basically the same things,¡± I said. ¡°Except maybe the mole.¡±


    ¡°Rust moles can eat regular fare as well,¡± Kendrux commented. ¡°They eat primarily roots, but also small insects, meat, and the like. Energy consumption is a less consistent source for them.¡±


    ¡°We can certainly provide meat,¡± Harold commented.


    Soon enough we were all sitting down at a table. The shorter folk among us were well accommodated for, as there were seats for halflings and other small people available. Midnight and Zeb ended up with their front feet on the table, but it wasn¡¯t a big issue.


    ¡°Look at this, Fluffy!¡± Zeb said. ¡°We get to eat tasty meat!¡±


    Fluffy, as the rust mole was now apparently called, was eating out of a trough on the floor. I noticed he was behaving quite well all of a sudden.


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    I had no idea what to call our meal because while it was daytime here, we¡¯d left Earth in the middle of the night for New Bay and the Extra facility on Mars had been somewhere around dawn. It could have been breakfast, lunch, or dinner.


    Khithae came to me after the meal. ¡°Can we talk privately for a moment?¡± she asked. ¡°Specifically, members of the Brigade?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± I said. Some sort of secret thing. Though obviously the fact that everyone was talking wouldn¡¯t be secret, as we were half of the group. Or¡­ slightly less than half, now. The two of us along with Midnight and Swiss Arms huddled together over in a corner. ¡°So what¡¯s the private thing?¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Khithae said. ¡°We¡¯re here now. In your old world.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I agreed.


    ¡°So¡­ I was thinking about what we¡¯ve talked about. And how the powers work. Or rather classes,¡± she said. ¡°So I thought about this status window and I have a level and points now.¡±


    ¡°Well, you might have had those anyway,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Definitely the level. You just couldn¡¯t see it before.¡±


    ¡°... I thought you would have a bigger reaction,¡± Khithae admitted.


    ¡°Why?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Oh! Congratulations on unlocking your full potential.¡±


    ¡°This is normal for him,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°So he¡¯s not going to react more than that.¡±


    ¡°Should I?¡±


    Swiss Arms crossed her namesake appendages. ¡°Right. We hadn¡¯t intended for this. Considering the circumstances it won¡¯t cause any direct problems but, the issue is the others. Don¡¯t just look over at them!¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the others?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll also get class powers, right?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I nodded. ¡°And¡­?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Swiss Arms took a deep breath. ¡°You do realize they¡¯re criminals, right? And now they can be supervillains. Kendrux is likely aware of portal powers but if she isn¡¯t reminded they might never activate things¡­ right?¡±


    ¡°More like they¡¯d choose classes subconsciously,¡± I said. ¡°Like Zeb did.¡±


    ¡°... What?¡± Everyone asked together.


    ¡°Well, you know how all the other portal powers were discovered. People just did stuff,¡± I said. ¡°So like that.¡±


    Swiss Arms sighed. ¡°Not what we were talking about. What was that about Zeb?¡±


    ¡°Oh, she picked some sort of class and bonded with Fluffy, I think,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Nothing that crazy.¡±


    ¡°That seems like a pretty big deal to me,¡± Swiss Arms pointed out. ¡°An alien invader gaining superpowers isn¡¯t something to just ignore.¡±


    ¡°Well, sure. But this isn¡¯t Spot. It¡¯s Zeb. Zeb is a good girl.¡±


    A shocked gasp came from across the room, momentarily halting the conversation. ¡°Did you hear that Fluffy? They said I¡¯m a good girl!¡±


    Swiss arms pressed her face into her hands. ¡°As the sole executive present, this is my fault. I allowed us to use an inadequately private location.¡±


    ¡°Well, she already activated a class before that. So why not just invite her over?¡±


    ¡°... Fine,¡± Swiss Arms said.


    ¡°Yaay!¡± Zeb called from across the room. ¡°I get to join the secret meeting!¡± She scurried about halfway over, then paused. The mole bounding after her ended up tripping over her and rolling a few times. ¡°Can Fluffy come? He¡¯ll keep the secrets, promise!¡±


    ¡°Ahem,¡± Kendrux cleared her throat from across the room. ¡°If this isn¡¯t a Power Brigade specific secret, which it appears it is not, then I already have a pretty clear idea of what it is.¡±


    ¡°Then say it,¡± Swiss Arms half shouted.


    ¡°Remember that our cooperation continues until we all return to safety,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°On Earth.¡±


    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t betray us,¡± Swiss Arms agreed.


    ¡°We knew about the Status window,¡± Kendrux said, walking over flanked by the others. ¡°Well, the exact details aren¡¯t on the black market but it was one of the theorized possibilities. And knowing portal powers came from here¡­¡±


    ¡°You do realize that if you commit any crimes with your powers,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°The response will be¡­ much more significant.¡±


    Kendrux tilted her head. She didn¡¯t exactly have an eyebrow to raise. ¡°Why would we commit any crimes? We¡¯re law abiding citizens. Aren¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Evans commented.


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± said not-Olim. Warble?


    ¡°Right,¡± Swiss Arms agreed. ¡°But you have an obligation to use your powers responsibly. So do take care.¡±


    ¡°We can be more responsible if we don¡¯t have to randomly test how our powers work,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°And you can help,¡± she said, looking at me. Not that it was easy to tell for Martians, as the all black eyes weren¡¯t clearly focused on individuals- but at least this group didn¡¯t have sunglasses making things worse at the moment.


    ¡°You¡¯d have to tell me what classes you are,¡± I pointed out.


    Kendrux looked over at Swiss Arms.


    The cyborg nodded. ¡°An exchange of information¡­ might be acceptable. However, as we might only be here for a few hours it seems a bit rushed.¡±


    ¡°Unless you need help with whatever all these knights are dealing with,¡± Kendrux pointed out.


    ¡°Well, I suppose helping citizens understand their powers is a worthy endeavor,¡± Swiss Arms concluded. ¡°Go ahead and talk¡­ though try to avoid divulging information harmful to anyone we know.¡± She said that to me for some reason, like I¡¯d intentionally hurt a friend.


    ¡°So,¡± I said. ¡°Classes?¡±


    ¡°Marshal,¡± Kendrux said.


    ¡°Gunslinger,¡± Evans said.


    ¡°Rogue,¡± Warble or whatever he was called said.


    Gunslinger. Gunslinger¡­ should I tell him the class didn¡¯t exist? He sounded so confident. Then again, maybe it did, if guns existed. ¡°I assume you chose those for a reason?¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°We had some idea beforehand.¡±


    ¡°When did you guys even choose?¡±


    ¡°Well, I did it as soon as it worked after we came through. Sometime during lunch,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°When I first tried to pull up the window my head just hurt. Then these two chose during your secret discussion.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± I nodded. ¡°So you were having your own secret discussion.¡±


    ¡°They were!¡± Zeb nodded from the floor next to us. ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t tell anyone around it without good reason, because we¡¯re friends! But you¡¯re also my friends, and you know, so I can say they were talking about classes and stuff! I already got a degree but I don¡¯t mind taking more classes!¡±


    ¡°A class is a kind of power,¡± I said.


    ¡°Like electricity?¡± Zeb asked.


    ¡°Like superpowers. The kind Spot has,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Oh, is that why everyone wanted to rescue him? We never met.¡±


    And thus, I went over the very basics of classes for people. Zeb apparently became a Beastmaster. Gunslinger I could only assume was like an archer with a gun. Marshal did leadership stuff, making allies better. And rogues did sneaky stabby stuff. A whole lot of things, really, but that was one of the big ones.


    ¡°None of you will have much mana,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about using too much there are no proven side effects unless you fall and hurt yourself when you pass out.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a pretty important one,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°Passing out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m very close to the ground!¡± Zeb said. ¡°So I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

 Chatper 267

    Since circumstances were slightly odd, I took more time formulating the message for Sir Kalman than I normally would. Usually, it was just a message asking if he needed to say anything.


    Ultimately, I found there was sufficient space to clearly convey my message, and more.


    ¡°At the Order due to circumstances. Harold asked for an update on your current status to save time.¡±


    While the spell could reach pretty much anywhere, it took time to get a reply- and that wasn¡¯t particularly affected by distance.


    ¡°Good timing. Could use reinforcements. Prefer you and companions with small escort of elites from Order, if possible.¡±


    I delivered the message to Harold, as well as consulting with the rest of our group. ¡°I¡¯d like to go help, if we can.¡±


    Midnight agreed, obviously. ¡°It¡¯s good for us to keep in good favor with one of our few allies in this world.¡±


    Kendrux was next. ¡°I¡¯d prefer to go straight back¡­ but I also understand the need to support your allies.¡± Obviously she also spoke for Olim and Evans. Err¡­ that was, Evans and Warble or whatever. If this were a diplomatic process- which it was not- that would have put the nay¡¯s ahead 3-2.


    ¡°The Brigade can¡¯t afford to lose this connection either,¡± Swiss Arms commented. ¡°We need to aid him.¡±


    ¡°Your friend needs help?¡± Zeb asked. ¡°Then Fluffy and I will help!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll support you,¡± Khithae said finally, ¡°But I¡¯m going to be pretty ineffective in this world without there being any sort of technology¡­¡±


    ¡°You can learn something new,¡± I said. ¡°With points! Defensive stuff is good, like Energy Ward. That should be an option for pretty much everyone. I¡¯m sure Artificers have some other things that don¡¯t require getting deep into combat.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look into it,¡± she nodded.


    ¡°Alright let¡¯s gooooo~!¡± Zeb began running around in circles.


    ¡°We still have to let Harold prepare an escort,¡± I pointed out. ¡°And we should probably inform the Brigade we won¡¯t be coming back immediately.¡±


    Kendrux sighed. ¡°Well, I guess we¡¯ll be coming along with you then. Can¡¯t let you end up getting killed and losing our way home.¡±


    ¡°Glad to have you aboard,¡± I said.


    -----


    The Order of the Lion very kindly provided wagons since the vast majority of us had never ridden a horse before. Zeb hadn¡¯t seen a horse before, and was very excited to meet a new animal, to the point she nearly got stomped on as she startled one. Even though she was a Beastmaster, still being level 0 kind of hindered her there.


    ¡°Oooh, what¡¯s that?¡± Zeb spotted another kind of bird as the carriage was moving along.


    ¡°A bird,¡± I replied.


    ¡°What kind of bird?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zeb asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s a bush.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I thought it moved.¡± Zeb¡¯s head was constantly swiveling. ¡°What about-¡± she stopped frozen in place with her paws perched on the side of the wagon. ¡°Everyone calm down!¡± she shouted, making us all less calm. ¡°Don¡¯t scare away- aww, it¡¯s gone.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t scare away what?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I thought I saw¡­ a squirrel,¡± Zeb commented conspiratorially.


    ¡°Okay?¡± Midnight said, clearly confused. I could tell he was at least trying to get along with the Bunvorixian, but didn¡¯t understand her thoughts.


    ¡°A squirrel! They¡¯re so rare!¡±


    One of the paladins with us- I think she was called Sarpedon- commented on that. ¡°I didn¡¯t see it, but if you mean squirrels in general¡­ there are a great many of them. I suppose there are some rarer kinds, though.¡±


    ¡°Zeb,¡± I realized what was missing. ¡°Other places just have squirrels.¡±


    She was stunned by that revelation. Then she nudged Fluffy, who was next to her. ¡°Did you hear that Fluffy? It was a squirrel! I¡¯ve never seen one before. Have you seen one before?¡±


    ¡°Mars doesn¡¯t have squirrels,¡± Kendrux commented.


    ¡°... I¡¯m sorry for your loss,¡± Zeb said, inclining her head.


    ¡°We just¡­ never had squirrels,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°It¡¯s not like they got wiped out. Maybe some things did, but we didn¡¯t share a biosphere with Earth. Or any sort of¡­ how would you say it¡­ world parallels?¡±


    ¡°I thought that was a thing with type-F worlds,¡± I commented.


    Swiss Arms showed why she was a big shot in the Brigade. She knew things. ¡°Cross-dimensional inspiration is a well known feature with type-F worlds, but parallel convergence with far flung planets isn¡¯t unheard of either. Though I imagine if you looked at their genetics the ¡®squirrels¡¯ of Bunvorix would be very different from the squirrels here or on Earth as cats and dogs are from Celmothians and Bunvorixians. They might not even be the same genetic system.¡±


    I knew most of that, and could have put it together myself given time. Probably. I was going to chalk it up to only having a year and some experience with alternative worlds. All of that seemed normal based on my first experiences, but I supposed it was weirder to have cat and dog shaped aliens than for them to be something like Jim. Or at least as different as Martians or whatever.


    ¡°Do we know what we¡¯re going into?¡± Midnight asked.


    Sarpedon had an answer for that. ¡°Sir Kalman was investigating some incidents the nearby hill dwarves had reported.¡±


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    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say it was a day and a half?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s nearby,¡± I pointed out. ¡°In fact, everywhere else you¡¯ve been that would be like half an hour away at most.¡±


    It also meant we would get to recover all of our mana and sleep. That would be nice.


    -----


    We spent the night in the cozy confines of the Shelter spell, since that let us travel however we wanted instead of having to stop in a town along the way.


    Shelter was good, but pretty cramped with that many people. It made me consider getting the Extradimensional Mansion spell, next time I had a lot of spare points. Or maybe I could figure out how to cast it myself? It would be kind of like Storage and Gate, and kind of like Shelter. It seemed like a worthy investment of time¡­ later. And it would probably take a lot of mana for me to get it right.


    Or I could just get better at the Shelter spell and try to make it bigger. It was difficult focusing on different aspects I wanted, however.


    As we were nearing the last stretch, Zeb spotted something. ¡°Look! A weird lump in the ground!¡± She turned to Fluffy. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s a burrowing friend? Let¡¯s go find out!¡±


    The two of them jumped off the wagon instantly, and by the time I got somewhere I could see they were nearly at the ¡®lump¡¯. It was moving, creating clear ripples in the earth above it without actually displacing anything. That certainly wasn¡¯t any sort of natural burrowing. ¡°Be careful!¡± I said.


    Zeb, of course, was not the careful sort. The very earth itself came up and punched her in the snout, sending her tumbling as she tried to sniff it. Fluffy responded aggressively, but he got a mouthful of dirt and rocks, which I wasn¡¯t sure was effective. Certainly not enough to stop the thing from also slamming into Fluffy, knocking him back not nearly so far as Zeb.


    ¡°Ow!¡± Zeb said. ¡°Guys it doesn¡¯t smell like anything and I don¡¯t think it¡¯s friendly!¡±


    Sarpedon and the other paladins were moving into position, a couple riding into position while Sarpedon herself stopped our wagon and hopped down.


    Midnight and I had very similar thoughts to most of the others, and our bursts of mana came just behind a flurry of laser beams from the Martians and Swiss Arms. Midnight had more conservative thoughts- using our new Water Blast spell- while I cast Sonic Lance.


    All told, it was blasted to bits almost immediately. Fortunately, it didn¡¯t have the audacity to try to pull itself back together.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Swiss Arms asked. ¡°A bunch of living rocks?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯re a sort of earth elemental. I think that was a small one? Pretty weak, too, since it was probably half dirt.¡±


    ¡°... Not its fist though,¡± Zeb said. ¡°Oww¡­¡±


    ¡°Here,¡± Sarpedon said, bending down towards her. ¡°I can heal you.¡±


    A few cracking and popping sounds indicated that Zeb had actually been quite conservative with her complaints. Then again, she didn¡¯t have class levels nor was she traditionally in any sort of combat roles. Well, she might be level 1 now? It was really easy to get early levels, if you actually did anything. And being punched probably counted. If not, Fluffy biting the thing probably did.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Zeb said. ¡°Umm, can you also heal Fluffy? His belly hurts!¡±


    Sarpedon nodded, the light reflecting off of her helmet. ¡°Of course. We don¡¯t have unlimited mana, but we can manage that.¡± She turned towards the others, ¡°Anyone spot anything else?¡±


    ¡°Seems to have been a lone one, captain!¡±


    ¡°Alright. We need to remain on the lookout.¡±


    I saw Evans fiddling with his gun as everything settled down. He seemed to be thinking.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, I thought powers would be¡­ more. I kind of did something but I didn¡¯t seem that different?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what happens when you¡¯re level 0,¡± I said. ¡°You need to grow and develop abilities. Even active stuff will be weak at that level. You¡¯re working with level 1 or 2 abilities at most. You need upgrades and stuff.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I get it,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s one of those powers.¡±


    ¡°Growth type,¡± Kendrux nodded seriously. ¡°I mean, take a look at this guy. In a year he went from knocking down small time crooks to dimensional travel.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s an exception,¡± Sarpedon commented. ¡°Normally it takes several times as long, even with dedicated effort. Unless you get into battles quite frequently.¡±


    ¡°Which he does,¡± Kendrux said. ¡°Well¡­ I don¡¯t have to push things too much. Same with you two. Remember that you were already plenty good members of my operation.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, boss,¡± Evans said.


    ¡°So,¡± Kendrux said once we were moving again. ¡°Did we overreact to that?¡±


    ¡°It was new,¡± I said. ¡°So we didn¡¯t know how strong it might be. But it was probably a bit excessive.¡±


    ¡°I guess we can¡¯t exactly charge our weapons here,¡± Kendrux frowned.


    Khithae and Swiss Arms both reacted behind her, but she didn¡¯t seem to notice. Well, I suppose Swiss Arms had to be somewhat self powered, and recharging other things seemed like legitimate utility. It wouldn¡¯t be weird if Artificers could power various sorts of magic or tech, either.


    ¡°From what I remember,¡± I said. ¡°Nobody mentioned any specific weaknesses of earth elementals. Just that they tended to be durable against physical attacks. Still, we can try out a few things if we run into more. I think Midnight and I should test some of our spells. And Zeb¡­ I think you should avoid them.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re just a bunch of rocks,¡± she said sadly. ¡°Not a friend.¡±


    ¡°Captain Sarpedon,¡± Swiss Arms addressed the woman. ¡°Are these the threats the hill dwarves spoke of?¡±


    ¡°All we heard was that they had spotted monsters in their tunnels,¡± she said. ¡°Not much else.¡±


    ¡°We could contact Sir Kalman again,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s not that expensive¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll find out soon enough, I think,¡± Swiss Arms replied. ¡°It won¡¯t change our tactics much at the moment.¡±


    -----


    We had either the fortune or misfortune to come across another relatively small earth elemental. Midnight ended up being bait to draw it out of the ground, as he was the most agile of us. Zeb was fast but had minimal combat experience, and Fluffy was a mole. We certainly didn¡¯t want the horses to be targeted, so Midnight ended up as the best choice.


    When the pile of rocks and stuff rose up, I shot it with Water Blast. It was actually rather effective, staggering it with the force of the attack and tearing away small rocks and clumps of dirt. I tried a Firebolt next, and I felt that wasn¡¯t particularly effective. Maybe if I concentrated on just fire.


    The earth elemental was still chasing Midnight around, but he daringly darted in to use Shocking Grasp, swiping with his paw. The effect was¡­ extremely disappointing. I guess that happened when you attacked something made of the ground that didn¡¯t have a nervous system. For the sake of testing, a few more Water Blasts took the thing down. Five total, to be precise. Maybe I could have targeted critical areas, but I wasn¡¯t quite sure what those would be. Blasting out its torso worked, but would it cease to function if I just ripped off an arm?


    Which meant that if Sonic Lance could take down one of that size, it would be far more efficient. At the moment, it was about the same cost as three Water Blasts. Given the power increase for stronger spells, I thought that would likely be the case- but as it had only been used along with a bundle of other attacks, it wasn¡¯t clear how effective Sonic Lance actually was. I¡¯d try one on the next undamaged one we found.


    Either way, whether this was the problem that Sir Kalman was called for or not, it clearly was a problem and not just an isolated incident. They were a bit weak, but we would probably run into a larger one that should be worth decent experience. Whatever Sir Kalman was dealing with should be good, either way.

 Chapter 268

    Our odd group made our way into the hills, and then into the hills. We passed through an external gate into carved halls, much more durable looking than Fluffy¡¯s little tunnels. We had to walk our horses, and my head was pretty close to brushing the support beams of the tunnels, but overall it was much more comfortable as well. By dwarvish standards, they had pretty high ceilings.


    It didn¡¯t take too long to reach our destination, where Sir Kalman was waiting with some other paladins and a dwarven militia. ¡°Good, you¡¯re here,¡± he said as we arrived. He held up a hand. ¡°We¡¯ll have time for a proper greeting later. I was hoping you could help deal with a rogue portal that¡¯s popped up.¡±


    ¡°I know a few things about portals,¡± I nodded. ¡°Where¡¯s it go?¡±


    ¡°To a bunch of rocks,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Angry ones.¡±


    ¡°The plane of earth, probably,¡± I said. ¡°I assume that means you knew about the earth elemental situation, then. We encountered a few small ones on the road.¡±


    ¡°We tried to stop them all,¡± he said. ¡°But there¡¯s only so much we can do against things that move through the earth itself.¡±


    Sarpedon nodded. ¡°They were small enough town militias should be able to take care of them, if there were more.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Now how about we introduce people? I¡¯m Kalman.¡±


    I guess everyone but Midnight was new. ¡°This is Swiss Arms.¡±


    ¡°One of the higher ups in the Power Brigade,¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°Khithae,¡± I continued. ¡°She specializes in technology. Zeb was working with us and we ended up with Fluffy. Then these three are Kendrux, Evans, and Warble.¡±


    ¡°Warton.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re Martians,¡± I concluded. All eight of us had Translation active because it was impractical to do otherwise with our mixed company. Well, technically I didn¡¯t need it, but it was still two uses of Multicasting either way so leaving people out would have been inefficient. And obviously Fluffy didn¡¯t speak, so he wasn¡¯t counted.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Sir Kalman nodded. ¡°We¡¯d like everyone who can fight to come with me. This group is going to remain here to keep things as secure as we can. There¡¯s another bunch watching the portal and swapping out.¡±


    I felt like the hill dwarves here should have had someone who could deal with portals¡­ but it wasn¡¯t their fault if they couldn¡¯t. It would be the fault of whoever was trying to keep people from visiting.


    Khithae, Zeb, and Fluffy were left behind as they had little to contribute to fighting earth elementals. They should be safer with the other group.


    We arrived at the portal- a solid fifteen feet across, just hanging out in the middle of a wider cavern that hadn¡¯t been smoothed out yet. Fortunately it wasn¡¯t in the middle of a city, but if I read the signs right we also weren¡¯t far from the nearest.


    We were lucky, as it was under assault when we got there. Some bigger earth elementals, clashing with dwarves carrying tower shields and warhammers. Ten foot tall behemoths of earth and stone. I was reminded of the first time I saw Great Girl, throwing a truck at something quite similar. Well, she threw the truck back at one of them, but it was pretty similar.


    It would have been nice to have her around to help with them, but then again I would get a bigger slice of the action this way. I aimed for the upper torso of the biggest one I saw, readying a Sonic Lance. The spell exploded hunks out of it and sent it stumbling back, and the dwarves didn¡¯t fail to capitalize. They stomped forward, cracking apart its limbs.


    Test successful. Not quite capable of taking out a big one in a single shot, but close enough. The others also found their own targets, though it was more difficult to shoot the smaller ones past our allies. That seemed especially true for the Martians, who were even shorter than the dwarves. Their wide bodies and large shields made them quite difficult to circumvent. That said, the smaller elementals went down to the blunt and spiky parts of the dwarves'' warhammers fairly quickly.


    As it turned out, having Khithae around would have been handy, as many of the tower shields were cracked from the force of incoming blows. She could have cast Repair¡­ but sometimes, that was how choices went.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re going to press our way up to the portal,¡± Sir Kalman declared.


    ¡°Should we step through?¡± asked some of the dwarven militia.


    Sir Kalman looked at me, and I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯ll need to start closing the portal right away. We don¡¯t want to risk anyone getting caught.¡± It wouldn¡¯t be long enough for anyone to get the benefits from extradimensional travel anyway.


    As the dwarves stomped forward, more elementals came to stop them, including a truly large fellow who had to duck to get through the portal, his shoulders barely fitting. Well, at least it had a lot of body to target. Taking stock of my mana reserves, I should be able to blast a few more Sonic Lances out while still having enough in reserve to take care of any portal.


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    It would have been different if I needed to cast defensive buffs on people, but with so many well armored individuals in front of us it wasn¡¯t a huge concern. Until the big guy sunk into the ground. A bunch of people chopped at it as it did so, since it had to move quite a distance to be fully submerged, but it was clearly quite durable.


    ¡°It¡¯s moving this way!¡± Swiss Arms warned, her hand held up to her face- maybe to activate special sensors? That was useful information, because strangely enough the big guy wasn¡¯t leaving obvious ripples. Instead it was much better at keeping things steady. ¡°Scatter!¡± she ordered.


    Well, I had no reason to not listen to someone who knew things. I steadied Midnight on my shoulder and ran off to one side. An instant later, the earth elemental sprang out of the floor pretty much beneath our back line.


    However, our back line included several members of the Martian mob and Swiss Arms herself so they weren¡¯t particularly concerned. Their guns and laser beams worked just as well up close, and they continued to lay into the thing.


    Midnight and I peppered it with a lot of Water Blasts- trying to soften it up, especially its legs and lower torso. Sir Kalman had made his way back through the lines of dwarves, and a long hammer he held glowing with light and magic. I had no idea if holy smiting power worked on rocks, but hammers certainly did. The huge earth elemental toppled over with one leg cracked, then was set upon by a dozen dwarves holding it in place.


    ¡°Time to close the portal,¡± I said to Midnight. There were still dwarves watching the opening, and Midnight and I stood off to the side of the portal instead of where it opened to. I suddenly had thoughts about portals as a thing, but I focused on what was necessary in the short term.


    Together, Midnight and I channeled mana into Alter Portal. Immediately, the fifteen foot tall opening began to shrink. But even as we did so, I felt something resisting. Well, not like a person necessarily. It was just¡­ heavier? Something like that.


    When it got down to about ten feet across, a few more little guys came through. Everyone else could handle that, because as much as I would have liked to fight them I felt I needed all of my mana for closing the portal. One burst wasn¡¯t enough from Midnight and I, which was ten mana each. We took a few moments to compose ourselves for the next push.


    A huge pillar of rock reached through the portal- bigger than the arms of the largest before. Great time to test portal safety. As it turned out, since the portal wanted to stay open it was also fairly safe. Which is to say it resisted for a few moments before snapping closed, leaving a ton or so of rock crashing to the ground below. The dwarves smashed it to make certain it wasn¡¯t going to get up and move.


    ¡°So do you want the good news or the bad news?¡± I asked Sir Kalman.


    ¡°Just say it in the most useful order,¡± he grunted.


    ¡°The portal will stay closed for a while¡­¡± I said. ¡°But it¡¯s already trying to exist again. Also I got another level.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°How long?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I tried to sense it. It was a point too small to be visible now. ¡°If it¡¯s like this¡­ a week or a month before you have to worry about anything sizable coming through?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t permanently close it?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe with practice?¡± I shook my head. ¡°This sort of thing would be a ¡®natural portal¡¯,¡± I explained. ¡°Which means it might fade away on its own, or might last forever. But it wants to be here. I might suggest befriending someone who can talk to earth elementals and ask them to remain on their plane.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they¡¯re angry at us for something?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± I admitted. ¡°I didn¡¯t get the feeling they were saying anything. They¡¯re supposed to have a language, though.¡± I furrowed my brow. ¡°Other good news, I don¡¯t currently sense any other portals nearby.¡±


    Sir Kalman sighed again. ¡°What do you think we should do about this?¡±


    ¡°I imagine everyone wants this to be closed. Talk to an archmage. Surely Granbold will do something about this. Or seek out local help. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t stay here forever. I have other duties and it won¡¯t be active often enough to be worth staying around.¡±


    ¡°Do you know any way to make it not ¡®want¡¯ to be here?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You¡¯d have to find the cause. Which might require traveling through. Which would affect who you can ask for help, and I couldn¡¯t guarantee people would easily get back.¡± My Portal Theory book said a lot, but every natural portal was just a bit different. ¡°Could be something on this side too. Find any overly large diamonds or anything?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look into it,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°But I believe these tunnels have been around for a while and were stable.¡±


    We left behind a group to watch the area, to monitor how quickly the portal might reform. I was only extrapolating, after all. The locals would need to make sure.


    Along the way, I wondered about a lot of things. Old planes cutting themselves off from the material plane. The Gate here had been pretty difficult to make- was that because of Mars, here, or both? But if there were permanent portals somewhere between here and Earth- which seemed to still be the case even if I didn¡¯t know where they were- then it was odd. Portals were both easy and hard to make.


    Someone needed to go to Adrela or Ethus or something. Scrying hadn¡¯t told me that much useful information. Maybe the Order or someone could train up some good mages. Between Earth, here, and Celmoth I was already quite busy with my travels. Hopefully Mars wouldn¡¯t be on that in the near future.


    ¡°We need to get back to Earth,¡± Swiss Arms commented.


    I nodded. ¡°Midnight and I will need a bit of rest first, and we should pick somewhere out of the way. Going all the way back to the Order is unnecessary, but we should be prepared for the Gate to be extra difficult. Or we could try it right now and potentially add two hours to our departure.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go for whatever¡¯s more stable,¡± she said. ¡°... Ugh, we¡¯re going to have to figure out what to do with the mole now.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we just get rid of it?¡± Kendrux asked.


    ¡°Nooooo~¡± Zeb called out from in the distance.


    ¡°It¡¯s part of her power now,¡± Swiss Arms said. ¡°The issue being it¡¯s evidence of us being on Mars.¡±


    ¡°... Maybe Fluffy could stay here?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Zeb too.¡±


    Swiss Arms frowned. ¡°Would it be easier to explain Zeb¡¯s disappearance? Ugh, this is Extra¡¯s headache to deal with. We should just bring everything back.¡±


    ¡°We can at least Disguise Fluffy though,¡± Midnight pointed out.


    ¡°As what, a bear?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sure, why not?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a bear?¡± Zeb asked, having scurried over during the conversation. ¡°I wanna know! Is it adorable?¡±


    ¡°Some of them,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯ll see when we do the thing. Since we¡¯d just waste mana if we did it now.¡±


    Our half-day trip to Mars was turning into more of half a week, but in a way it was less suspicious than being out of the public eye only during the incident on Mars. Whether that would stand up to scrutiny was a question for people whose jobs it was to be actually subtle.

 Chapter 269

    Natural portals were opening up in Graotan. Was that a coincidence, or a sign of some bigger issue? I literally had no idea. I felt like I would need a whole other me to keep up with all the different places I had to keep track of.


    And no, I couldn¡¯t make one with magic. Or at least not one that solved my problem. Time was one issue, but mana was a bigger one. I¡¯d have to imbue anything that acted like me with as much mana as I wanted it to be able to use which was little better in practice than just doing it myself. I guess the material costs for a Simulacrum weren¡¯t that bad, if people also made artificial rubies, but they weren¡¯t generally as good as the fictional versions I¡¯d read about.


    A familiar like Midnight was way better, since he could just do stuff. And he was the reason I cared about one planet we were entangled with, so he could handle all the Celmoth stuff. We both lived on Earth, so we could split that and I could continue to coordinate with Sir Kalman. And try to figure out if there were permanent portals intentionally set up by natives and maybe if anyone was working with Doctor Doomsday besides those he¡¯d brought through.


    Normal things.


    But to continue with all of that, it was best for us to get back to Earth. I might need to hop back to help control the natural portal to the Plane of Earth sometime, but hopefully local mages would have a reason to care about that. Though the hill dwarves might also want to let a few elementals through? Sometimes they had gems in them. Well, none of that was my problem.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°We have our bear-¡±


    ¡°So cute!¡± Zeb said, looking at Fluffy¡¯s Disguised form.


    ¡°And all the rest of us. Midnight, be prepared to supplement my Gate.¡±


    He nodded. We gathered mana, myself a full 20 mana for Gate and him 10 for Alter Portal. The Martians had screwed around with portals, and Graotan was feeling weird too. It was just better to be certain instead of having to recover again.


    I returned us to a previous base of Handface. He was dead, so he wouldn¡¯t miss it. His associates were either in prison or¡­ not annoying enough to bother. Like Sirene. She¡¯d helped save a kid in a lake and she was friendly with Kendrux so she couldn¡¯t be all bad. That second thing was probably a reason we should want to bring her in, but I hadn¡¯t seen any of them doing anything illegal I wasn¡¯t also involved in, so it was easy to just sweep under the rug.


    I was glad we had an executive with us, because I didn¡¯t really want to have to risk my station on Earth and flee to Celmoth. Sure, Midnight and I probably wouldn¡¯t be extradited but it would hold back the burgeoning relations with Earth and the rooms were too short. Plus they didn¡¯t have any supervillains there yet.


    The Gate opened, and Zeb dashed through. ¡°Come on, Fluffy!¡± she called. The bear-disguised rust mole plodded through. People would be quite surprised if they shot lasers at that bear, but if they did that they¡¯d probably have worse problems than it eating the lasers. Like their ankles being bitten by Zeb and maybe some Martian gangsters with lasers of their own. Or laser-adjacent blasters.


    The Gate was stable, but we still didn¡¯t want anyone to hesitate. The Martians went through next, then Khithae and Swiss Arms, then finally Midnight and me.


    ¡°... The building inspectors are gonna be mad about these bricks,¡± I commented as we walked out. ¡°I don¡¯t think this place is up to code anymore.¡±


    Kendrux spun in a circle, panicked. ¡°Did you see someone from the Building and Safety Division? You gotta tell me if you did.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure they mostly work over in Yew-Kay?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Someone must do that here, though.¡±


    Kendrux relaxed. ¡°I was worried they went multinational. The restrictions here are currently¡­ tolerable. Well,¡± she waved. ¡°We ought to be off.¡±


    After the three of them walked away, Swiss Arms looked at me pointedly. ¡°If super powered Martian gangsters suddenly become an issue, guess who¡¯s going to have to deal with them?¡±


    ¡°Is it us?¡± I asked. ¡°Because I¡¯ll do it.¡± I just hoped Kendrux would have used the bullets I¡­ traded with her before we fought. ¡°They¡¯ve gotta be worth more experience to fight now, right?¡± I pondered aloud.


    ¡°... So what class did you pick?¡± Khithae asked. ¡°Or have you not done that yet? Or is it secret?¡±


    Swiss Arms shook her head. ¡°Can¡¯t get one. Power exclusivity.¡±


    Khithae made a face, as much as she could with her lizard-like features. ¡°You have a power?¡±


    Swiss Arms looked at her and held up one of her arms, which split apart into a saw, two mirrors, a laser beam, a fold out shield¡­ and several other weapons. ¡°What do you think this is?¡±


    ¡°Technology?¡± Khithae tilted her head. ¡°Is it¡­ not?¡±


    ¡°If we could shove this much super tech into people on a whim we¡¯d run SSI out of business in a day. And no, it¡¯s not about expense because if it¡¯s worth it once I don¡¯t see why it wouldn¡¯t be worth it again.¡±


    I hadn¡¯t really thought about how that worked. ¡°So being a cyborg is a super power?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Swiss Arms nodded.


    ¡°... did you try to open the class window?¡± I prompted.


    Swiss Arms sighed. ¡°I did. Just in case. But I got the expected results.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ the Mod Squad all actually has super powers?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°They have a feasible amount of legitimate tech inside them. Except for Iron Shell, their leader, they all fall into a similar category of enhanced humans. They¡¯re not supers, but super mercs get called to beat them down. It¡¯s a rough deal, but they didn¡¯t have to be criminals. Quite literally, they could have bought the same mods and gotten licensed.¡±


    Midnight flicked his tail. ¡°So your power is having more tech inside of you than should fit?¡± he asked.


    ¡°And making Super Tech from different vendors play nice,¡± Swiss Arms explained. ¡°None of this is really secret. I would expect Khithae to not have looked at the personnel files but¡­¡±


    ¡°It said you were a cyborg and some of the stuff you could do,¡± I confirmed. ¡°But it didn¡¯t say that it was a power. How do you discover something like that?¡±


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    Swiss Arms shook her head. ¡°You take an interest in mods and push too far. And if you survive? Bam, you have powers.¡±


    ¡°I have a lot of questions about that actually,¡± I said. ¡°Also, should we just be standing around here?¡±


    ¡°A vehicle is on the way to pick us up. And the ¡®bear¡¯,¡± she explained.


    ¡°Okay. So did you always have that power?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good question, isn¡¯t it?¡± Swiss Arms shrugged. ¡°Nobody¡¯s quite sure. Some people think you can ¡®pick it up¡¯, but my experience says that¡¯s¡­ probably not true. Or at least not very likely.¡± She shook her head. ¡°There¡¯s a reason the Mod Squad is mostly below a certain tier, and it isn¡¯t because they lack the enthusiasm to keep adding. Mostly we heard that people died. When you¡¯re young, you think it won¡¯t happen to you. And if you¡¯re very lucky¡­ you¡¯re right.¡±


    I frowned. I remembered hearing something relevant about the Mod Squad and the Brigade before. ¡°What about¡­ Kicks?¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with¡­? Oh, Kick.¡± Swiss Arms nodded. ¡°We¡¯re being careful with his enhancements. It¡¯s not really easy to test for that kind of power.¡±


    ¡°Sure it is,¡± I said.


    She raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh yeah? You have a foolproof way?¡±


    ¡°Sure. You just saw it today.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Well, that wasn¡¯t previously an option, might get Extra mad at us, and while it might confirm a power it would also cut off that route if they didn¡¯t already have it.¡± She shrugged, ¡°Methodical upgrades let people test their natural or supernatural augmentation limits.¡±


    ¡°... Should I get cyborg parts?¡± I asked Midnight.


    ¡°Why?¡± he asked.


    ¡°So I can shoot lasers from my eyes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ uh¡­¡± Midnight frowned.


    ¡°Oh, come on. You have lasers.¡±


    The discussion ended with our ride arriving. But I kind of wanted to see if Vilhelmiina would do something. Then again, I kind of liked having arms and she had a bot made entirely out of cannons. She might not be willing to limit her creative freedom.


    -----


    The six of us ended up in a room with Zorphax, Malaliel, and Calculator.


    Zorphax had his head in his hands. ¡°That was a disaster. They recognized Kendrux.¡±


    ¡°So?¡± Calculator raised an eyebrow. ¡°Seems like a positive to me.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡± Zorphax asked.


    ¡°Known criminal Martian shows up in a secure facility¡­ on Mars. And they got the data.¡±


    ¡°They got some kind of data,¡± Zorphax agreed. ¡°We haven¡¯t looked at it yet.¡±


    Calculator flicked his finger on his tablet, then held it up for Zorphax. ¡°Suspicions confirmed.¡±


    ¡°What kind of suspicions?¡± Zeb asked, bouncing up and down. ¡°Were they working with bad guys?!¡±


    Zorphax looked at her. ¡°You do realize you are one of the ¡®bad guys¡¯?¡±


    ¡°But¡­ but¡­ Mage said I¡¯m a good girl!¡±


    ¡°He may have,¡± Zorphax frowned. ¡°But he¡¯s not an authority of any sort.¡±


    Malaliel cleared her throat. ¡°Technically, she completed the mission. So she has a clean slate.¡±


    ¡°... Right,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°Let¡¯s deal with that first. Do you, Zeb, swear to follow all of the laws of Earth and New Bay specifically?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Zeb said. ¡°I don¡¯t know the laws but I¡¯ll definitely do it!¡±


    Zorphax flicked his eyes over to Malaliel, but she would have likely reported if Zeb was lying already. ¡°Very well. We¡¯ll still have to determine your status¡­¡±


    Calculator began muttering something.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Zeb perked up. ¡°That guy sa- sorry. Someone I definitely know who they are said I should ask for political asylum due to class discrimination.¡± Her tail stopped thumping- usually it was a constant motion. ¡°Maybe Bunvorixians don¡¯t like Beastmasters¡­? I didn¡¯t even know classes existed until recently.¡±


    ¡°... What?¡± Zorphax asked. He looked around the room, then at me for some reason. ¡°... what did I miss?¡± Calculator helpfully held up another part of the mission report- Swiss Arms had put most of that together really fast. ¡°I-¡± he stopped. ¡°I¡¯m just going to blame all of that on the Mars branch. Or whatever portion of it we figure out is responsible.¡±


    ¡°There are only a few names tied to the reduced security schedule,¡± Calculator commented. ¡°During a period that turned out very critical¡­ and after which they were still slow to ramp up security. We¡¯re going to have people blaming each other for everything. Which is an excellent excuse to get them all in a room, here. On Earth.¡± He looked pointedly at Malaliel.


    ¡°This is going to be so much stress,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°And I haven¡¯t even asked about the bear.¡±


    ¡°Fluffy is my friend!¡± Zeb said. ¡°And even though he looks like a bear now, apparently, he¡¯s actually a rust mole!¡±


    Zorphax looked over at Malaliel. ¡°Tell me she¡¯s lying.¡±


    ¡°I would love to,¡± Malaliel replied. The two of them looked at each other for a few moments, but she said nothing else.


    ¡°Why is there a rust mole here?¡±


    Zeb answered eagerly. ¡°We¡¯re friends!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s part of her power now,¡± Calculator said.


    ¡°... The Brigade is responsible for keeping that hidden for the foreseeable future. And no, Extra will not be paying if it eats your wires.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Fluffy is a good boy! He only attacked us for a while!¡±


    Calculator looked at me. I raised an eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to actually ask.¡±


    ¡°How much control does she have?¡±


    ¡°Enough that feeding him properly should be fine. As long as they¡¯re together,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not like I know how they work, but I assume he¡¯d only chew through stuff when bored with too much energy. And with Zeb around¡­ that can¡¯t happen.¡±


    ¡°... Maybe we can have them in a training room.¡±


    ¡°Ooh!¡± Zeb bounced up and down. ¡°Are we doing bomb threat simulations? Flight training? Circuit board rewiring?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a combat training room,¡± I said.


    ¡°That sounds fun!¡± Zeb said. ¡°But I¡¯m not allowed to fire the lasers because I¡¯m too small!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not actually going to be fighting there,¡± Calculator said.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Zeb hung her head.


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked. ¡°She could train with the other class people. They¡¯re all low level still.¡±


    The gears in Calculator¡¯s head turned. I knew he was working on that, even as he tried to cheer up Zorphax.


    I didn¡¯t have to do anything except answer occasional questions. I pondered about everything we had done. Reduced security, huh? That would explain why things were so easy. We were not expert infiltrators.


    Mars-Extra was gonna be so mad. Then again, if they really were in on Spot¡¯s escape, maybe they hadn¡¯t thought there were going to be further intrusions within the next couple of weeks.


    I decided I should practice Fly. Stoneskin wouldn¡¯t stop me from being a puddle on the ground if I fell off a skyscraper. Then again, there was also a spell for that specifically. Were those the same kind of magic or different? Combining spells was way more efficient for points and stuff.

 Chapter 270

    Now that everyone from the Portal Squad had proper monikers, I had to memorize them. For the sake of team spirit. Everyone had grown through the early levels quite quickly, though with the slight issue that we had to test what level people were instead of knowing. Since they only had the ¡®growing¡¯ side of things and not the status window and points side. Personally, that was the one I would prefer to have first since that meant all this training was extra effective. They could get and spend points later. When we found a good excuse to get them to my former world.


    We absolutely would do that eventually. This recent job for Extra- the New Bay branch- was probably meant to give us some leeway. And Calculator seemed to have lots of ideas for how it would make sense. Though he didn¡¯t share them so I couldn¡¯t ¡®give them away¡¯. Which was probably reasonable.


    Boom was unfortunately named. Sure, his first spell was a loud one, but the pretty boy had a lot of other sound based things he could do. Some of the noises he made were quite pleasant. He was a bard, after all.


    Honey Badger was small and angry. That only changed when his sister- now called Bolster- made him big. Which she could do, making him not-small and angry. Though being ten feet tall after Enlarge wasn¡¯t exactly big. His natural height was¡­ actually pretty close to Great Girl¡¯s. Not that she would let anyone know that if she could help it.


    Twirl did exactly as his name implied, lots of spinning movements with various weapons. His favorite weapons were a pair of curved blades- though usually with sheaths on for training or nonlethal missions. Second came various chains with things on the end. It was really difficult to tell when he was using mana, since it was a continuous flow instead of injecting it into any sort of burst- though maybe that would change.


    I still thought Punk Monk was better than Iron Hawk, and she didn¡¯t seem to care which I called her. She had actually grown quite comfortable fighting with a ¡®stick¡¯ after a number of training sessions, though she preferred to make use of metal knuckles and combat boots. Having a flexible style would be good for her, in case she came up against a wood or metal controller. Though it was even better if she could resist control, nobody had enough mana to do anything like that for long.


    Finally there was Bandage. She was not particularly pleased about the name, and indeed it was more effective for her to use defensive spells rather than try to fix people. Then again, she said healing people was cool if it wasn¡¯t the only thing she ever had to do.


    The lack of mana was an issue for everyone. All of them had risen pretty rapidly through the early levels. Level 5 would give them double starting mana, and all of them had reached at least that far. Reaching level 8 from level 0 would take about the same amount of experience as one more level for me. Since they were low level, they would actually get more experience for the same intensity but on the other hand, they couldn¡¯t contribute as much to a real battle so it would probably balance back the other way.


    Relevantly, they could get experience from things other than fighting. Just training alone would work. Using any of their abilities or doing something related helped. The Barbarian was the odd one out in that regard where it was mostly still just fighting related.


    We weren¡¯t quite sure, but we thought Boom might get experience just for talking. Singing definitely counted, even if he was doing it non-magically.


    Studying magic would definitely work for Bolster, my fellow mage, so I gave her access to the few books I had. Maybe I should try to pick up more from my old world at some point. That said, I was pretty sure Bolster could study anything and gain similar benefits so it wasn¡¯t a rush.


    We also had two more participants in our training group. Discounting Midnight, of course, who wasn¡¯t new. It was, of course, Zeb and Fluffy.


    ¡°This is so fun!¡± she said, as Fluffy wrestled with Barbro and she tried to bite at Flexy Guy¡¯s ankles. She¡¯d been a bit hesitant at first since she didn¡¯t like pain, but we had all sorts of ways to accelerate recovery of bruises and the like. Protecting people against punctures like her teeth was fairly easy, and she wasn¡¯t particularly super herself. Though that might change.


    Beastmasters were¡­ like druids without magic. So basically only tenuously connected by their ability to get combat functional animal buddies. Some people- by which I meant Calculator mostly- were really interested in whether or not she could become a Familiar while having an animal companion. Unfortunately, we were missing a piece of the puzzle. Bunvorixians weren¡¯t quite like Celmothians, and they didn¡¯t create the same sort of bonds. Without that, Zeb didn¡¯t really fit as an animal. It didn¡¯t seem to be an issue of Zeb not liking Bolster or anything.


    Then again, Zeb liked everyone who was at least a little bit nice to her. In turn, I was pretty sure everyone liked Zeb. The adorable black and white canine just ran everywhere excitedly and made people feel good about existing.


    But back to her class, she might eventually take on aspects of her bound companion. Or maybe she would focus entirely on Fluffy. That was something she could figure out herself with Calculator¡¯s help, because she had a full list of abilities. Names, at least, were a good place to start.


    After finishing a round of training, everyone settled down and began mana improvement training. When doing it with a group, even I joined in despite it doing nothing for me. I already had more than the standard amount of mana from crystal overcharging, but everyone else including Midnight only trained Mana Starvation. It was¡­ fine. If I¡¯d known about it first I might have settled for it, but other things were already so far ahead that there was no point in swapping.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The point of the training was to get as close to no mana as possible without passing out, and remain there. That meant expending very small amounts of mana repeatedly. For that, we needed to know how much mana people would naturally regenerate. It was creeping up ever so slowly towards double ¡®standard¡¯. It didn¡¯t seem like it would pass it, or at least not by much. Not without some larger change, which could always happen.


    There was only so much Mana Starvation training people could handle, for multiple reasons. First, it was strenuous. If they passed out, even if they woke up a moment later they were much more susceptible to failure in continued attempts. The main downside, of course, was that however long you did it you would have no mana and would have effectively negated your recovery. I wouldn¡¯t have practiced at all, but with Midnight sharing the skill it was good for him. Besides, solidarity with the team was good.


    ¡°Uuuuu,¡± Zeb burrowed her face into Fluffy. ¡°It¡¯s so hard! I always just fall asleep!¡±


    Fortunately, her speaking shouldn¡¯t interrupt people too much. Unless they were expending more mana, people were fairly stable. People tended to chat quietly about nothing much. Deeper thoughts were more difficult, so that was all that happened.


    Midnight was the one who actually had advice for Zeb. ¡°Think of yourself like a battery,¡± he said. She looked over at him with interest. ¡°When recharged improperly, sometimes capacity is lost. But careful work can slowly recover lost capacity. On in this case, capacity you never had access to.¡±


    ¡°Am I a battery?¡± Zeb pondered. ¡°Or should I be a battery repair supercharger?¡±


    ¡°I suppose you¡¯re both?¡± Midnight shrugged. He¡¯d gotten pretty used to having a Bunvorixian around. It probably helped to have grown used to actual dogs. Then when faced with a Bunvorixian who was reasonable he managed to get used to the idea. He still freaked out if she ran at him too enthusiastically, but that wasn¡¯t crazy for facing something larger than himself.


    I wondered if we could introduce Ceira and Zeb soon. That would be fun. Zeb would also probably like to go outside, which she wasn¡¯t allowed to do right now given her status. She had more freedom than being locked in a standard prison cell, but she couldn¡¯t just do whatever she felt like. Hopefully resolving things with the operation would help.


    ¡°Hey! Hey Turlough!¡± she bounced over to me.


    ¡°You should call him Mage when he has the mask on,¡± Midnight corrected her.


    ¡°Hey Mage!¡± she said excitedly. ¡°Did you know this room can transform?¡±


    ¡°I did,¡± I nodded to her.


    ¡°Apparently it works without using any freeflow modulators! How cool is that? It just runs on magic!¡±


    I had no idea what a freeflow modulator was, but Translation decided that was the best way to say it. ¡°It¡¯s actually super tech,¡± I emphasized. ¡°Can you feel it working?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like ------ energy flow but more tingly!¡± That time a word didn¡¯t Translate. I¡¯d spoken with Zeb enough that it was probably a pure jargon term, but I wasn¡¯t a tech guy so I didn¡¯t need to learn it.


    ¡°I bet our techs would like to talk to you.¡±


    ¡°Oh can I? I want to look at the mechanisms!¡±


    That¡­ probably wasn¡¯t allowed given her status. But that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t going to happen. Tech supers got real passionate about stuff sometimes. That wasn¡¯t my problem either way.


    -----


    The next day I was ¡®supervising¡¯ Zeb as she spoke with Francois and Old Shock, as two of the most accessible tech supers. Rather than worrying about protecting them from Zeb, I was more there as a babysitter, just in case.


    Francois was reviewing videos of a few Bunvorixians in action. They didn¡¯t have super advanced suits like the Celmothians- but unfortunately for him Midnight wasn¡¯t allowed to exchange that information freely. He probably wasn¡¯t supposed to learn advanced tech from Zeb either, but it was a zone where they could sort of get away with it. Especially since she didn¡¯t know everything.


    ¡°I see that they adjust slightly. How does it work?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Nanites!¡± Zeb declared.


    ¡°I see, what kind?¡±


    ¡°The, uh, armor kind?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I never got to wear armor and I wasn¡¯t involved in repairing it. I did ship stuff!¡± she turned to Old Shock and wagged her tail. ¡°Did you bring any ship stuff?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately I did not,¡± said the white haired tech. ¡°I would like to get my hand on one of those guns, though.¡±


    ¡°I know how those work! You squeeze them with your mouth and they go bzzzap!¡±


    ¡°Can you talk about these battle videos?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, sure!¡± Zeb said, watching some things. ¡°Ooh, how did the ship freeze? That like, really bad!¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Old Shock smiled. ¡°And why is that?¡±


    ¡°Because the shielding is supposed to protect against thermal shock! If temperature is applied directly to the vessel all sorts of things break down. The hull first, obviously, but the emplacement weapons aren¡¯t tuned to handle that stuff either. Usually if the shields go down we¡¯re about to explode and should be flying away, but if stuff skips it¡­¡±


    When they actually got to talking about things, she got so far into details I couldn¡¯t understand that I almost wondered if Translation was broken. Fortunately, it seemed the tech supers understood to some extent. Francois was quite interested in various materials that they made seats, blankets, and beds out of- not that Bunvorixian furniture was at all similar to humanoid ones.


    I hadn¡¯t realized Francois did furniture, but rather than a clothing super him being a ¡®cloth¡¯ guy kind of made sense. Or maybe he was trying to expand.


    Old Shock wrote down a lot. ¡°Too bad we can¡¯t get our hands on any of this stuff. Extra¡¯s a bit oversensitive about tech shock, in my opinion. It¡¯s not like villains aren¡¯t going to get their hand on some of this stuff anyway.¡±


    My comms beeped. Ooh, mission time. Something about the Mod Squad again. It wasn¡¯t an emergency, but rather we¡¯d be reviewing some tapes. Interesting.

 Chapter 271

    Though Calculator didn¡¯t strictly need to be present, I was glad for his presence because he was good at conveying information quickly. There were only five others present counting Midnight and myself. The other three were Kick- the cyborg- Shockfire, and a woman whose name I didn¡¯t know. I should be able to access her in the records if I knew it, but I couldn¡¯t feel a specific power to search for aside from it all being part of her. Was she a bruiser of some sort?


    A casual search of our super database hadn¡¯t brought anything up, and I wasn¡¯t willing to just snap a picture of her and use a reverse image search. It would be easier to ask, but before I could Calculator began his explanation.


    ¡°As you all know,¡± he said, ¡°You¡¯re here because of the Mod Squad. Something concerning has occurred with their recent activities. Let¡¯s see if any of you can spot it.¡±


    I watched a few videos he showed, mostly security cameras. As usual, they used lasers and stuff as they stole components to theoretically shove into themselves later. Were the lasers slightly stronger? I couldn¡¯t tell without experiencing them. And I felt like they might have been different in other ways that I couldn¡¯t quite place.


    Kick was the most experienced with the Mod Squad. ¡°They have new upgrades,¡± he said. ¡°New materials and stronger beams, I think. That¡¯s¡­ not great.¡±


    Surprisingly enough, Midnight had more than I did. ¡°I think those are¡­ Bunvorixian beams.¡±


    Calculator nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what it looked like to me as well. It seems they have gotten their hands on some of the debris from the battle. Unsurprising, considering what happened. There were quite a few smaller ships that might have been imperfectly salvaged. And of course the whole thing with the mothership,¡± Calculator added. ¡°But we haven¡¯t seen anything from that yet. Currently, we have no reason to suspect the Mod Squad is working with Doctor Doomsday, or they would be better equipped in many ways.¡±


    ¡°So what are we going to do about it?¡± Kick asked. ¡°No offense, but I don¡¯t think this group can take out the whole Mod Squad.¡±


    ¡°Probably not at current, no,¡± Calculator admitted. ¡°You¡¯re being set up as a temporary squad. Most of you have worked together before, and your task will be to patrol the areas the Mod Squad frequents most. If possible you are to capture any member of the Mod Squad you can, prioritizing those with these new augments. Unless they have more advanced fabrication abilities than they should, Bunvorixian technology should be non-replicable in their hands. Oh, and if you can confirm the presence of said technology you don¡¯t need to catch them in another crime.¡±


    Normally, the Mod Squad was able to walk around unimpeded¡­ because being a cyborg was not illegal. So unless there was something tying them specifically to the super gang, it really was pointless to try to stop anyone. I was sure people were trying to piece together evidence about individual members, but all my experience had been them actively causing trouble.


    I wondered at what threshold they counted as having a power, if cyborg was an exclusive or semi-exclusive thing in that regard. I didn¡¯t think Swiss Arms had lied to us, but she was extremely augmented. Iron Shell, based on what I had seen, clearly was at such a level as well- she literally scooped up random parts and incorporated them immediately. Kick¡­? I looked over at him, and wasn¡¯t sure. He was only partial replacement, and not super high tier. Not weak, though, so he might have surpassed whatever threshold. Would Bunvorixian tech change that threshold at all?


    ¡°If we¡¯re going to be fighting together,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I¡¯d like to inquire at the powerset of our final member. I¡¯m not certain if the rest of you have met her but I know Mage and I have not.¡±


    The woman nodded. ¡°I¡¯m a Splitter,¡± she said simply. ¡°Depending on the circumstances, I can display super strength and endurance.¡±


    Interesting. ¡°Is that something you activate?¡± I asked. ¡°Can we increase the probability of those circumstances somehow?¡±


    Calculator answered that. ¡°They are sufficiently experienced for a deeper explanation to be worthwhile, Sorority.¡±


    She groaned. Perhaps not at having to explain, but her moniker. I knew most of ours were bad, but I didn¡¯t really get what was terrible about hers. As a splitter, she was effectively a group of women. It wasn¡¯t too far off, right? Not a great name, but functional.


    Before anyone could say anything, she continued. ¡°It¡¯s pretty simple. I¡¯ll keep the exact details secret, but I always have physical enhancements. They¡¯re just split between my copies. So I have full power if it¡¯s just me.¡±


    Even more interesting. ¡°We need to test what happens to magical enhancements.¡± In fact, I¡¯d barely used any of my magic on other friendly splitters. Maybe a couple minor things on Squad Ten? ¡°If they also split it will be less¡­ functional,¡± I said.


    ¡°Better to find out before we go on patrol,¡± Sorority agreed. ¡°I hear you have quite a variety of enhancements.¡±


    ¡°And they work best on a group this size,¡± I said. Counting me and Midnight as one, of course. Though I had the feeling Multicasting could get more efficient, aside from simply allowing improvements. With nobody to guide me on that, it was just an unproven gut feeling. I was getting better at those, but I was still wrong often enough.


    -----


    ¡°The easiest way to test this is for you to get hit,¡± I said.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Sorority declared just like that.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Huh. ¡°Usually people are more resistant to that.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°As long as you aren¡¯t doing anything extreme, I can¡¯t see an issue.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna hit you with my staff,¡± I said.


    ¡°Magic?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Well, yes. But not in any way that should be relevant here. There¡¯s no point in testing if I can dispel my own abilities.¡±


    Speaking of that, I should learn the actual spell. It was inefficient, but having something that countered any ability with sufficient mana was useful. Then again, if I was inefficient most supers would last longer than I would before being drained. Anyone worth bothering with, at least. Maybe I should just increase how much mana it could store? That was¡­ not actually something I could do myself, but way more efficient. Surely ¡®yggdrasil wood¡¯ could hold more than a few slivers of magic metal stuff inside of it. Though it was that very stuff that did the dispelling, not the wood at all.


    ¡°So how do we do this?¡± she asked. ¡°Do I split and then¡­?¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± I pondered. ¡°We should really test all of the options, I suppose. It¡¯s highly likely you¡¯ll count differently from other splitters, not that I have significant experience with any of them. Stay like this, first,¡± I said.


    Casting Force Armor was easy. Even if I spent the full mana cost, it was exactly 2. As low as anything that wasn¡¯t a cantrip could get. Somehow, it felt more stable to use only a tenth of my potential mana control. Which looking at it from another angle was really that I¡¯d been doing things that were too hard up until now.


    ¡°Okay, you can split now,¡± I said. She did, but I was quite surprised how it happened. Swarm definitely just pulled apart. Squad Ten was quite similar. Sorority¡­ was just suddenly standing next to herself, her original position empty. Technically both were overlapping with where she had been, but the exact middle of where she had been was empty. Interesting. Did she have to do that or was it just convenient? Probably unnecessary to know. I held up my staff. ¡°I¡¯m just gonna hit you in the gut. I¡¯ll try not to go too much beyond the threshold¡­¡±


    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t use powers, it would be fine to hit me unarmored like this,¡± she said.


    ¡°Noted.¡± I wouldn¡¯t hold back, then. I took a good swing, one impractical for in combat since the windup was too obvious, and cracked apart Force Armor. It was actually rather difficult to do in a single blow. Relatedly, that probably meant I could crush someone¡¯s ribcage or something similarly deadly. But again, people usually didn¡¯t stand still and that someone would have to not be a super.


    I looked at Sorority carefully to confirm, but my senses hadn¡¯t been wrong. The ward had broken on both at the same time. I¡¯d felt it split between the two of them, but now there was nothing left. Had it been weaker? No, I barely got through.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°In theory, both were fully protected. We might want you to split further for testing purposes, however far you feel comfortable.¡±


    We did several more tests at three, four, and five copies. No matter which one I hit, Force Armor broke for all of them- and it wasn¡¯t any weaker. I could also apply it to any of them and unless I specifically tried to limit it, it just worked for all of them.


    ¡°That¡¯s handy,¡± she said. ¡°An extra layer of protection. Though it¡¯s a bit¡­ non-optimal for how I function. A good emergency feature, but I try not to get hit.¡±


    ¡°Good choice,¡± I nodded. ¡°Now, I¡¯m going to try Energy Ward for a similar test. This one will be a bit¡­ more.¡± I did some mental math. Well that lined up nicely. ¡°Are you particularly weak to sound waves?¡± I asked.


    She shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t think so. How strong?¡±


    ¡°The portion that hits you shouldn¡¯t be any stronger than the full force of that swing. The actual force should be several times more, and there¡¯s some chance you have to receive that.¡±


    She nodded, and returned to being three- again, without moving. ¡°Like this should be fine.¡± I barely even felt her power activate, it just happened. Quick and efficient. She clearly had experience.


    I maximized the output of my Energy Ward, so that it would line up with the natural progression of Sonic Lance. Firebolt would take far too many castings and thus too much mana to wear through it, and I didn¡¯t believe that Water Blast would actually be affected.


    Sorority stood firmly in place. Three Sonic Lances without boosting their output was almost exactly perfect. And conveniently, I was able to hit each of the clones once just in case something weird happened. Though I wasn¡¯t sure if it was weirder for it to affect multiple copies naturally or not. Either way, it worked just like we¡¯d tested before, absorbing a set amount as if she was all just one target. Which maybe she was. We could experiment with Multicasting some other time.


    ¡°Great,¡± I said. ¡°Now let¡¯s move on from defensive spells. Those are boring anyway. Next is¡­ Haste.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about that,¡± she said. ¡°Should be interesting.¡±


    I cast it. She moved around hesitantly for a few moments- by which I mean she almost immediately started running from my perspective. And as she moved, she split into more while keeping stride, then unsplit. She continued testing things for the whole duration of the spell- about two minutes, now. More from her perspective. From what I could tell it seemed fully functional. That was¡­ very good.


    ¡°Fascinating,¡± she said as she returned. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it worked that well. I could feel the difference in how gravity pulled me down, and watch your reactions.¡±


    I nodded. Now we knew Haste was good. Very efficient on her. ¡°Alright. Next we might need to go to the gym. Unless you want to keep your lifting numbers secret, in which case we can find something sufficiently heavy to bring here I suppose.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no problem,¡± she said. ¡°Is this, uh¡­ Enlarge? I¡¯m kind of excited.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t think that would work well with the equipment, but we could do that too. I was just thinking Enhance Body, which will directly make you stronger. I feel like it might be inconvenient to have a giant splitter?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ probably true,¡± she admitted. ¡°I¡¯d like to try it, still.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Coming right up.¡±


    I was looking forward to her fighting things with my boosts. Should be worth a good chunk of experience, right? So long as she didn¡¯t get zapped by a thousand lasers, but that was something that could already happen so I¡¯m sure she knew how to handle that kind of stuff. I couldn¡¯t make out any details, but I had the feeling she was somewhat older. Not anywhere close to Hammerfist¡¯s age, but not totally young and spry either.

 Chapter 272

    ¡°You¡¯re going to fight laser-people?¡± Zeb hopped up and down excitedly when we ended up in ¡®her¡¯ training room. ¡°I want to come too! Fluffy can eat their lasers!¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± I nodded. ¡°But can he protect you from all angles?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. Fluffy is big but he can only be in one place at a time.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So, you don¡¯t have any way to protect yourself against them, then.¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯ll stand real far away?¡±


    Midnight shook his head. ¡°It would be better for you to not come personally in that case. Maybe you could ask for Extra to release your defensive gear to you? That should function fine since we¡¯ll be up against Bunvorixian weaponry.¡±


    ¡°Defensive gear?¡± she shook her head. ¡°Oh no, engineers never get assigned anything like that.¡±


    I could feel Midnight¡¯s emotions twist. I had the feeling he wanted to say something like ¡®Bunvorixians suck¡¯, but he couldn¡¯t really do that in front of Zeb. Even if he whispered, if I could hear it she probably could as well. ¡°... But the soldiers and commanders do?¡±


    ¡°The soldiers need it the most!¡± Zeb explained. ¡°And the commanders are important!¡±


    I wondered if Doctor Patenaude had any openings. Someone really needed to have a good think about her people. Or former people.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you can go anywhere without defensive stuff,¡± I said. ¡°And Fluffy would need you around to control him.¡± Based on my understanding he¡¯d probably be friendly towards us or at least docile without Zeb around, but he was still very new to¡­ everything. New people, new planet, and all of that. Actuall, being around people at all was probably new since he¡¯d been wild.


    ¡°But laaaasers~!¡± Zeb complained. ¡°All Fluffy has had to eat lately is normal food. He started chewing on some wires and- I mean, those wires chewed on themselves and he cleaned up the damaged bits. He needs more variety in his diet. Probably.¡±


    ¡°Khithae¡¯s gonna have to fix those wires, you know,¡± I pointed out.


    Zeb gasped. ¡°But she¡¯s the nice lizard engineer!¡± She swiveled her head. ¡°Fluffy, don¡¯t eat wires!¡±


    Kick, who hadn¡¯t said anything, looked down at his legs. ¡°That guy eats¡­ wires?¡±


    ¡°Baseless rumors,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve only seen him eat lasers. Now then, we were going to test whether my defenses interrupted outgoing attacks from your abilities.¡± That shouldn¡¯t happen, but most magic created the effects beyond the caster. The lasers would originate inside a cyborg and pass through the defensive barrier layer. I didn¡¯t have that much experience with that, so it was something we had to test before patrols. I¡¯d never protected Shockfire from the elements he could use, so it could use more testing there as well.


    It was difficult to have a neutral perspective on casting a spell that I was specifically testing for a certain interaction, but I tried my best. In the end, I cast Energy Ward on Kick three times. I had learned how to more directly target nontraditional elements, as I¡¯d come across lasers and laser like things often enough. For example, I could protect specifically against Darkstargirl¡¯s energy. That didn¡¯t make the spell more effective, but instead brought it up to the normal effectiveness since it was always supposed to be narrowly tailored.


    Though since the base category of ¡®fire¡¯ was so broad, focusing on just ¡®weird black fire¡¯ made it less effective against other fires, similar to how it worked if I protected just against fire for her. In short, it wasn¡¯t exact in what it protected against but it wasn¡¯t universally effective like Force Armor. Stoneskin also protected against most attacks, unlike what local logic said, but it was certainly much less effective against ¡®elemental¡¯ stuff compared to ¡®physical¡¯.


    The first and second tests were effectively the same result with Kick. First I tried to just cast the spell to resist lasers. His abilities worked just fine. I noted that his laser augmentations probably fit inside of his legs, which meant he might not be a cyborg powered person. Someone must have studied that threshold. Would getting other powers make cyborg parts stop working, or just mean he was limited on upgrades? It was probably the latter, but might depend on the power.


    Anyway, versions of energy ward where I didn¡¯t care about whether his lasers in particular got through and where they were intentionally let through acted the same. But that could have been bias from me already thinking about it.


    The fun part was when I tried to intentionally stop his lasers. I saw him kick up his leg, pointing his knee at the target. Then I saw a sparkly light as the laser was absorbed into the spell or otherwise diffused.


    Kick frowned and tried again, and again. Eventually the spell gave out, but it lasted long enough that he was effectively doing nothing for a fatal amount of in-combat time. ¡°I don¡¯t like that at all,¡± he commented.


    ¡°Interesting,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So we can use Energy Ward¡­ offensively?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like it hurt him,¡± I pointed out. ¡°But if we want to shut down one person, it¡¯s more effective than casting it on everyone, I guess. The downside being some people will probably bypass it, they¡¯ll probably be maximally effective against something up close and eat through it faster, and getting it on them in the first place. It requires getting pretty close.¡±


    Then again¡­ if someone was theoretically going to punch me with black fire, wouldn¡¯t they be close enough? How would this affect non-offensive abilities? Did Darkstargirl¡¯s flight have anything to do with her other star powers? I messaged Calculator about that.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Does Darkstargirl¡¯s flight use her not-fire stuff?


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Why?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    His response was short, but I doubted it was meant to deter me.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Because I can stop it if that¡¯s the case


    Not for long, but she might crash into the ground


    She¡¯s just typical-super levels of durable without her powers, right?


    That aspect of her flight power hasn¡¯t been thoroughly analyzed


    At least not in our database


    I¡¯ll look into it, and we¡¯ll speak more about this when I¡¯m not busy


    Hah. Good one.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Calculator was always busy.


    I wondered if we had any mental supers who I could test things on. Could I put Mental Freedom around them to prevent their stuff from going through? Probably not, but that might depend on how the particular power worked.


    What else could I use offensively? Physical Freedom pretty much shut off Shockwave¡¯s¡­ shockwaves. Though that left them a super speedster, and it would be easier to just cast Slow- except for how fast speedsters tended to rip that spell apart. Most people didn¡¯t have powers that would interact with it so they were stuck for the full duration.


    I started from the top. Storage¡­ I¡¯d already used it, before. Snatch something and yank it away to another dimension. I couldn¡¯t see how Force Armor could hurt an enemy in almost any situation, except maybe if I was paired up with someone who had no control over and was worried about killing someone. Low priority.


    Translation¡­? If they were very mentally busy, it might add some more junk into their heads if people yelled at them in different languages.


    I got back to Alter Time Flow and almost went past it, since it had an obvious offensive version. Using Haste offensively was a terrible idea, except in extremely specific circumstances. It came with faster reactions, so only the novelty of speed and interactions with friction at exactly the right moment could be relevant. And if I screwed up, I¡¯d have a Hasted enemy mad at me. Better to not.


    Would I ever want to use Slow on an ally? Not in combat, I thought, but maybe if they were bleeding to death and we needed somewhere around thirty seconds desperately. Or if they were poisoned?


    I noticed Midnight was speaking to someone, but I didn¡¯t let that distract me. Especially since his feelings were currently trying not to distract me.


    Disguise could mess up enemy teamwork, if they suddenly looked or sounded like someone wrong.


    Familiar Bond¡­ was literally only usable for myself and Midnight. Though attacking someone else¡¯s familiar was a valid course of action, if it came up.


    Size Shift was fairly obvious. Someone who wasn¡¯t strong or good at physical combat might do very poorly when big, and being small was often a disadvantage. But like many spells, it required being quite close where I could just¡­ attack someone.


    Energy Ward I¡¯d already considered. Divination was too slow. Shield intentionally couldn¡¯t block anyone¡¯s vision or movement. But maybe I could make it worse? I shook my head. Maybe later.


    Stoneskin didn¡¯t make anyone heavy or inflexible, so it was kind of a bust. Though maybe if it absorbed their punches like I was doing with Energy Ward?


    Water Breathing¡­ didn¡¯t make people not breathe air. It just worked. So it wasn¡¯t going to cause anyone more confusion than being dunked in water and not being able to breathe.


    Variable Freedom¡­ maybe I could do weird stuff with that. I¡¯d need to find the right people to help test.


    I needed to throw Light on people¡¯s eyes more. It was cheap, and I could make it sticky.


    Gate¡­ was probably too slow and too expensive to hurt people with, unless they were chasing me through one and I closed it on them.


    Sending might distract someone, but it would be expensive and imprecise in its timing.


    Clean would be good against people with garbage powers. By which I meant ones using actual trash. Or dirt, maybe.


    Shelter couldn¡¯t drop on people, and it was pretty flimsy. Good for visual cover, maybe. Or if people really wanted a nap.


    Enhance would just make people better, so unless I could reverse that it was kind of out.


    Nondetection could hide them from their allies. Good for all sorts of nefarious purposes, I supposed.


    Fly¡­ would only be relevant if they were clumsy or if I could cancel it on purpose. I was pretty sure if someone had some sort of falling power it would at most distract them once. People just had control of their movement naturally with the spell, it didn¡¯t force them to actually fly.


    That was the end of the list. Though I could consider other options from spells I didn¡¯t have.


    ¡°And he¡¯s back,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Did you think of anything useful?¡±


    ¡°I have a whole list of potential tactics,¡± I said. ¡°Most of them are probably worse than zapping people with lightning.¡±


    ¡°Turloooough!¡± Zeb ran circles around me. ¡°I mean, Mage Mage Mage! You can talk to Khithae right? Ask her if she can make an immersive conveyance rig!¡±


    ¡°A what now?¡± I asked, giving up on keeping the black and white blur in my vision. I would just get a neckache.


    ¡°Can you call her here? I can explain it real good!¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure she¡¯s working,¡± I said. ¡°But I can ask.¡±


    Five minutes later, Khithae was in the training room. Midnight was going over other spells with Kick to show how we could support him and the team- it was better for people to see it than just read it from a list.


    I gave Khithae Translate, since it was better for her to speak in her native tongue if she was doing technical stuff. Then she was speaking with Zeb using almost entirely untranslatable words. Or at least, some of them were. Some I just didn¡¯t seem to know. Technical jargon. They seemed to be getting something, though.


    A moment later, Calculator came into the room, shuffling over towards me quickly. ¡°Tell me how you can shut down Dark Star¡¯s power.¡±


    ¡°Well, only briefly,¡± I clarified. ¡°But I would just cast Energy Ward on her and stop any of it from going anywhere. Would that stop her from flying?¡±


    Calculator just held up a hand for a moment. He said he didn¡¯t have any actual gears in his head, but I could still feel them turning. ¡°You¡¯re saying you learned a new way to use your magic?¡±


    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s just the same. But I just stop all energy of a certain type instead of only enemy stuff?¡±


    ¡°Can you show me?¡±


    ¡°Look up the recordings in here ten minutes ago,¡± I said. ¡°But it just looks like lasers not lasering.¡±


    ¡°... How did this come up?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°Well, I was going to stop Kick from getting lasered and I wondered if it would stop his lasers. And the answer is no, unless I make it.¡±


    ¡°So you can make it stop certain forms of energy in both directions?¡± he asked. ¡°What about just¡­ outward?¡±


    ¡°Would that matter?¡± I pondered.


    ¡°You can get hit with lightning,¡± he pointed out. ¡°Or other mages who can cast such spells.¡±


    ¡°Most of my stuff isn¡¯t that type of energy until it¡¯s outside,¡± I said. ¡°Though Shocking Grasp would be an exception, I think.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll test it,¡± he said. ¡°And see if we can get some vaguely equivalent supers to stand in for Dark Star.¡±


    ¡°And mentalists,¡± I said. ¡°To see if I can block that stuff in.¡± Now that I had seen a spell do something weird, I wondered if there was more magic could do while still doing the same thing.

 Chapter 273

    Rather than an ¡®immersive conveyance rig¡¯, what Zeb got was basically a camera strapped to Fluffy¡¯s forehead. It was a compromise based on time and practicality.


    ¡°This way I can be there with you without actually¡­ being out there,¡± Zeb explained. ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to get lasered and I don¡¯t know how to eat lasers yet!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s a thing people can learn?¡± I tilted my head. We probably needed to go over her options for class abilities at some point.


    Zeb didn¡¯t seem to care about what I thought. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be great! But Fluffy still needs to be careful. And I need you to protect him. Just a little, though! Not from lasers.¡±


    ¡°... Do rust moles only resist lasers, or are they resistant to other energy things?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Probably!¡± Zeb replied enthusiastically. Even though that didn¡¯t answer my question.


    ¡°Which one?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost certainly one of those two things you said.¡±


    We needed to talk to some Martians, apparently.


    -----


    Calculator wasn¡¯t fond of ¡®late stage roster changes¡¯ but he still allowed Zeb to send Fluffy with us, as he¡¯d be useful against one of the primary abilities the Mod Squad had. With the caveat that Fluffy was disguised as a bear again. Though apparently that wasn¡¯t going to remain necessary forever, whatever thing was happening with Extra was still ongoing so we couldn¡¯t let them know we took one of Mars¡¯ moles.


    Thus the six of us set off. Midnight and myself, Kick, Shockfire, Sorority, and Fluffy. Our setup was a little bit awkward because of the numbers, since now any Multicasting was going to be one short. However, neither Shockfire nor Fluffy needed Energy Ward, and Sorority didn¡¯t need Stoneskin. Unfortunately, we wouldn¡¯t be able to keep those up for long. A few hours at most, which wouldn¡¯t last the whole patrol. Thus, we would have to take a few moments to buff everyone when battle began.


    Multicasting limited the ranks I could use for spells, making them weaker but saving me mana compared to casting on four people. Which meant that since Energy Ward was going on three people, it was more efficient to cast it individually. And when I said three people I was obviously counting myself and Midnight as one.


    Then again, it would take the time of two castings, if I did one and Midnight did two. It wasn¡¯t actually twice the time since mana took time to gather, but immediately flowing from one spell to the next wasn¡¯t so easy so there was a relevant delay. For this purpose, Multicasting would have to do. Besides, using it more would improve its own upgrades making this sort of situation less likely to occur.


    I pondered as we set out to patrol the streets. We might have to face trouble other than the Mod Squad as well, though they seemed to be pretty dominant in their area at the moment so everyone else was keeping their heads down. I kept thinking about what spells I could use, and how. If only I had more mana. Though realistically, it didn¡¯t make sense I could prepare for everything that might happen. Most of my peers only had a limited powerset and they just tried to get good with it.


    But any time I considered focusing on a narrow aspect of things, I felt sick. I loved offensive spells, but I also liked to be alive to use them. And I was also really liking this idea of using defensive spells as offense. Would I get experience for it? Surely an enemy struggling against a spell counted as fighting, right? In case it made any difference, I did my best to believe that was the case.


    We didn¡¯t really expect our first patrol to find anything. It wasn¡¯t as if the Mod Squad was out every night smashing places up and robbing electronics stores. If they were, they would have been caught by any number of heroes or whatever. Any villains doing blatant crime like that had to be as strong as Doctor Doomsday to stay in business.


    Shockfire was trying to sense for any anomalous electrical signals. That was a way we¡¯d noticed the Mod Squad before, and he was probably better at it now. I didn¡¯t know if Kick had any way to sense people, and if he did it would probably be offset by their ability to sense him. Sorority was just another pair of eyes- or several. Though currently she was an individual as far as I could tell. She seemed to be as much as she could be, instead of¡­ less. Though she always felt like at least a whole person.


    Everything was calm until Fluffy took off running. Which was extremely cute and also probably concerning if people saw a bear running through the streets alone. A collared bear, but still.


    ¡°Where are you going, Fluffy?¡± Zeb¡¯s voice came from his collar. ¡°I think he smells something!¡± she said as her voice faded around the corner.


    We weren¡¯t far behind. Either we had to catch a dangerous animal, or assist him fighting villains. And Fluffy was dangerous, even if he was adorable in two forms.


    Fluffy dashed into an alley, though as we followed he slowed down. He crept to a corner and peeked his head around. I loomed over him, looking just in time to see someone yank a window AC unit out of a second story window, tossing it down to some goons waiting below.


    Midnight was on my shoulder. ¡°Seven and a half,¡± I whispered, gathering my mana. We multicast Energy Ward about the time Fluffy ran forward. That was not the plan.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    One of the waiting people flicked his eyes towards Fluffy, then away, then back. He began to frantically tap on the shoulder of the larger man next to him. ¡°Uhh¡­ dude.¡±


    ¡°If I drop this thing and break the components, it¡¯s coming out of your share,¡± the big man said.


    ¡°Dude. Bear.¡±


    The big man turned.


    The smaller one remembered that he had an arm laser. It was too weak to be Bunvorixian which meant Energy Ward would be slightly mistuned, but Fluffy wasn¡¯t one of those who got that spell anyway.


    The laser hit him right in the forehead, and he stopped. His forehead began to glow brightly. Then the guy lowered his arm, shaking it. ¡°Dammit, why isn¡¯t it down yet?¡±


    Fluffy pawed his forehead, looking quite like a bear spreading honey into his mouth. He didn¡¯t actually have the same length muzzle or limb configuration, so the Disguise distorted slightly. But I think they were more distracted by his tongue licking up the remains of the laser blast.


    ¡°Midnight. Thirteen and a half.¡± Time for Stoneskin. We had all moved around the corner, but Fluffy was drawing most of the attention.


    Of course, Fluffy didn¡¯t wait for me to be done. He charged forward. The big guy tossed aside his armful of stuff and aimed two armfuls of laser at Fluffy. That seemed¡­ bad. His whole torso began to glow overly bright, and I could smell the slightest amount of burning.


    ¡°It¡¯s immune to lasers!¡± the smaller guy yelled. His right wrist transformed into a short blade, and he slashed at Fluffy. His blade came away with a shimmer of blood. Then Fluffy bit his wrist.


    It was still a cyborg part, of course, and I imagined quite durable. It wouldn¡¯t do much more than slow the man down, and the rest of the gang members were clearly ready to act. Some saw us about the time we finished casting Stoneskin on people. Fluffy¡¯s bear fur turned gray, as the illusion didn¡¯t seem to hide that. I wondered if it could.


    The small man pulled his arm back. Well, most of his arm. It still went past the elbow, but¡­ the rest was still held in Fluffy¡¯s teeth. He crunched it once, then tossed it to the side.


    The big man kicked him, with regular human legs. Rude. Fluffy tumbled, but I knew he could take that hit.


    ¡°Power Brigade!¡± Sorority shouted. Twice. ¡°You¡¯re under arrest for supervillainy!¡±


    Was stealing a window unit supervillainy? Maybe maybe not. Laser blasting Fluffy, however, definitely was. How could anyone do that to such an adorable fluffball, even if he was charging at them?


    Well, I was pretty sure the fact that they had powers and were kind of using them for crimes- as the guy hanging on the side of the building demonstrated- was good enough.


    The good news was we got to test Energy Ward tuned to Bunvorixian beam weapons almost immediately, as the double handful of gang members had two with the tech. The big guy, and the guy on the wall.


    I did not appreciate being shot in the top of the head by a laser, but it was nice that it was resisted. I cast Mage¡¯s Reach to notify Wall Guy of my displeasure by catching one of his ankles and yanking.


    Then I remembered something I wanted to try. The way Sorority had the big guy in a grapple, one of her yanking each arm behind his back, I didn¡¯t think the enemy was gonna last long here. Kick was sparring with two more. Fluffy was chewing on someone¡¯s ankle.


    But there were still lasers flying, and some of them were causing collateral damage in the alley. Fifteen mana to Multicast Energy Ward all on my own put a good dent in my remaining reserves, but it was worth it. Four people all of a sudden stopped shooting lasers. At least, the lasers didn¡¯t go anywhere.


    I had the feeling the Mod Squad hadn¡¯t been expecting to be found in this particular back alley while performing petty crime. Extremely rude petty crime, because now a few people would have to get replacement air conditioning, but they weren¡¯t smashing open an electronics store.


    Actually, I changed my mind. Stealing from regular people was worse than a store, though the thugs and the law might not agree.


    A few of the guys in the back were smart enough to run away. I didn¡¯t have the time to Haste three people, so I just Hasted Sorority. She was quite busy holding the big man¡¯s arms, but then she popped them out of their sockets and the guy slumped forward. Before he hit the ground, she was four people, three of which chased the runners around each branch of the alley.


    I noticed Fluffy paw at his chest, wiping away some of the collected laser remnants. He licked up some, but let the rest fall away. The rest of the glow was dull and fading.


    A few minutes later, we sat with a pile of incapacitated thugs, waiting for pickup. Sorority could safely hold several of them, though most were smart enough to have stopped struggling. And a couple were missing pieces of them. Like an ankle. One missing legs, however, was in Kick¡¯s hands as he used a little power drill to unscrew some things from it and himself.


    I wondered why he was doing that. It didn¡¯t feel particularly special. Then I realized that Bunvorixian tech was not super tech. I wouldn¡¯t necessarily feel it. And while he probably wasn¡¯t supposed to incorporate it, I could see a loophole for ¡®random parts¡¯ taken from villains. Heroes probably couldn¡¯t get away with that, and if someone had a good lawyer they might make him give the parts back. But I wasn¡¯t going to mention it. It wasn¡¯t like he was hiding it from us.


    Seeing the first guy¡¯s disconnected arm, I wondered how Fluffy had ripped it off. Sure, he was kinda big and maybe had strong teeth, but it didn¡¯t quite fit. Then I realized. The metal was corroded through. He wasn¡¯t a laser-eating mole, he was a rust mole. He was fond of chewing on wires, too. Rust and laser eating were only the tip of his anti-tech capabilities. Man, the Martians must hate those guys.


    But as long as he stayed away from a few gadgets I had, I was pretty content to have him around. And he seemed quite good at distinguishing friend and foe- assuming he hadn¡¯t attacked the cyborgs because they smelled tasty. That would be a problem.


    We needed to ask Fluffy. But while I got the feeling Zeb could sort of communicate with him, she couldn¡¯t actually talk. Though I could be wrong about that, and she could definitely learn it.


    Well, my report would mostly say that Fluffy was cute and effective, and Calculator could figure out if there were any problems that needed to be addressed.

 Chapter 274

    ¡°Did you hear the news?¡± Midnight asked.


    I chuckled. ¡°Midnight, you know me better than that.¡±


    ¡°... Yeah. So, the parts that are publicly available weren¡¯t widely reported. Just that a couple executives from Extra are ¡®being investigated for corruption¡¯. By which I mean they¡¯ve already been taken in already.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, does this mean we can walk around with our new laser pal out in the open?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m sure Calculator will let Zeb and us know when that¡¯s okay.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised it took days,¡± I said. ¡°We had that info a while ago. Surely it doesn¡¯t take that long to just arrest some people?¡±


    ¡°Well, the political ramifications make it more complicated. And I¡¯m sure Extra wanted to minimize bad publicity.¡± I frowned at him. ¡°... And they needed to dig deeper to verify co-conspirators that were less obvious.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense,¡± I said. ¡°Though Malaliel could have interrogated them.¡±


    ¡°Despite how useful it is, her word doesn¡¯t mean anything in court,¡± Midnight replied. ¡°Stuff with powers gets tricky, especially if she can only tell when people are lying, but not exactly how.¡±


    ¡°I kind of figured she got more than that,¡± I said. ¡°But I never really tested it.¡±


    ¡°Because you don¡¯t lie.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve lied plenty of times,¡± I said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think illusions and trying to distract enemies in combat count,¡± Midnight said.


    I shrugged. ¡°I do lie sometimes. I just don¡¯t see how it would benefit me most of the time. Especially with angels and stuff who would know.¡±


    Ultimately, I expected everyone to figure out lies eventually. And while I liked fighting, I wasn¡¯t interested in turning people against me. There were plenty of people to fight without ruining friendships or other potential valuable relationships.


    -----


    It may have taken me entirely too long to figure it out, but just because spells did one thing didn¡¯t mean that I had to stick to the narrowest interpretation of that thing. Energy Ward blocking outgoing energy was one thing, but even combat spells had different applications. Though I couldn¡¯t usually use most of them because toppling structures on my foes was not a Power Brigade approved method of combat.


    Still, I¡¯d gotten motivated to improve my spells in more ways. I still thought that the number that came from upgrades, both point based and through training, was important. Direct power and mana efficiency were something that couldn¡¯t be discounted. But I could be more efficient with my spells in other ways.


    Obviously I¡¯d learned to hit people in the right spot. I knew a Firebolt launched at someone¡¯s arm and at someone¡¯s chest would have quite different effects, depending on how strongly it hit. But I could do better than that. Probably.


    Midnight and I were training together, and the spell I felt had the most potential was Chain Lightning. Perhaps that was because I had some sort of affinity, either inborn or simply due to focusing on Shocking Grasp during my early days, snapping up partial points of experience without causing true harm to the villagers. Regardless, I felt we could do a lot more with Chain Lightning.


    ¡°Alright, so, here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking,¡± I explained to Midnight. ¡°I can already bend the arcs slightly as I move from one person to another. Enough to go around shallow corners. But there are many situations where cover gets in the way. Not only that, but sometimes the timing works out so that you¡¯re in a good spot but don¡¯t have the mana or whatever. I think there¡¯s something pretty cool we might be able to do.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I think I can bounce the lightning off of you to another target without losing potency.¡±


    ¡°You think?¡± Midnight said, clearly alarmed. I was getting better at reading Celmothian expressions, but mostly it was the bond.


    ¡°Well, obviously we¡¯d use Energy Ward just in case it didn¡¯t work like that,¡± I said.


    ¡°Energy Ward?¡± Midnight shook his head. ¡°Why don¡¯t I shoot lightning at you and see how that feels?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. We looked at each other in silence for a few moments.


    ¡°You know, sometimes I forget you¡¯re like that,¡± Midnight sighed.


    ¡°What, did you think I¡¯d refuse? Obviously once we determine it can work I¡¯m still going to need to target you, since we both need practice. But I don¡¯t mind being the target for testing.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt you,¡± Midnight said slowly.


    ¡°Good. That¡¯s probably an important detail to make this work,¡± I explained.


    ¡°I- well, yeah,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°So we¡¯re just¡­ going to do it?¡±


    ¡°Well, we need to set up some targets. And some walls,¡± I said. ¡°Otherwise we won¡¯t have anything to chain from or to. It might not let us bounce off a primary target at all.¡±


    ¡°Why do you even think it¡¯s possible?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Because I thought about it and it made sense to me,¡± I replied. ¡°And yes, sometimes those thoughts are wrong. And sometimes we end up with Assistive Familiar Casting or Multicasting.¡±


    ¡°Okay but Comhghall definitely helped us with the first one, so he already knew it would work,¡± Midnight pointed out.


    ¡°And nobody¡¯s told us this doesn¡¯t work, so it might,¡± I replied.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the available willpower to refute your logic right now,¡± Midnight said.


    -----


    Lightning blasted towards me, piercing through Energy Ward and trickling through my Power Brigade suit. What was left was still an unpleasant amount of electricity that then weakly bounced towards another target as it slipped out my side.


    I was glad we hadn¡¯t targeted Midnight first, though with the Celmothian technology in his gear he might have fully absorbed the remaining power it had. Either way, I didn¡¯t mind it so much. Sure, it was painful and all that but¡­ I could take a handful of zaps before I had to go see a healer.


    ¡°What are you picturing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to sort of have it¡­ slide off your skin? For lack of a better description.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That makes sense. Though obviously, it¡¯s not doing that.¡± It definitely went through me. ¡°Maybe we should try bouncing it off targets without harming some of them.¡±


    ¡°Is that an option?¡± Midnight said. ¡°Because we should have probably tried that before I blasted you three times!¡±


    ¡°Nah, the bond between mage and familiar should make that one easier,¡± I said. I wondered if we had to actively resist somehow? That would negate about half of the point, though. Well, I was the one who usually- but not always- figured things out first. From there, our technique somewhat spread to the other- though personal practice still seemed vital.


    Let¡¯s see, what made sense? I stared at the handful of targets, arrayed in a vague cluster. Something simple like not damaging every second target made sense. They were stationary humanoid shaped things, made from the moldable stuff the training rooms had. There was some limit to how much we were supposed to damage things, though even more serious stuff could be repaired with magic. Khithae was probably busy- though I did notice that even the ceilings were in good repair.


    I tried not to blast the first target, as lightning coursed through it. So far, Midnight and I hadn¡¯t noticed much difference between the options. Power was always reduced on later targets as it was eaten up to some extent.


    All I really got out of my first attempt was more experience directing the zaps between targets, which all seemed pretty smokey. My second and third attempts weren¡¯t much better, and though I was tempted to try more complicated patterns that seemed problematic when I was already going for something specific.


    Midnight was right. It did make sense for it to go around things, climbing across the skin or whatever. But Chain Lightning really seemed to want to go through. What iff¡­


    My fourth attempt pierced through dummies one after another. I felt something was different, but we¡¯d have to get official measurements to know for sure. Ugh, I really wish spells didn¡¯t cost so much so I could use the big ones more. But I probably wasn¡¯t even supposed to be using level 13 spells for a while, even if it was technically possible.


    I stopped to think for a few moments. Back at level 0- which I¡¯d been stuck at for a frustratingly long time, and again at level 1- the basic fatigue point was 2.5. Half of the starting 5 mana pool, and it continued to be half of the basic mana pool. So at level 1, where you could have exactly a single 1st level spell with points, the fatigue point was 3. At level 2, if you hadn¡¯t spent any points you could have a level 2 spell, costing 2 of 3.5 as the limit. In short, it really seemed like you weren¡¯t supposed to approach the limit. Indeed, it seemed like somewhere around two thirds was probably preferable, though probably closer to half.


    And if the books I studied had been useful, they might have mentioned some of that. Well, they were useful. I learned how much power spells had at what level, depending on other factors. Area spells were worse, things with restrictions were better. Level 4 Energy Ward could just about counter level 13 Chain Lightning. Or a couple Sonic Lances.


    I definitely needed to write this stuff down for the various people who also had classes. There was the Portal Party, of course, but there were also the Celmothians who were just starting out. Zeb didn¡¯t use magic, but it might still be useful.


    Of course, I didn¡¯t care how much mana I was ¡®supposed¡¯ to use. Yes, I would leave myself vulnerable if I cast a couple big spells and then ran out of mana. But that was what friends and training were for.


    -----


    Further patrols hadn¡¯t resulted in running into more members of the Mod Squad, though it was reasonable that they kept their heads down in the days following an encounter where we nicked a whole double handful of them.


    ¡°So far, you have been successful,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Keeping them down for a few days is good on its own, but I would expect them to act again regardless. Hopefully we can predict their location. It would be nice to track down their leader, of course, but Iron Shell is hard to track.¡±


    ¡°... Does she not smell like anything?¡± Zeb asked.


    ¡°Actually, yes,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Or at least, she had certain upgrades that minimize various otherwise obvious signs that might linger. Few leaders last without something like that. Actually, it seems the smell thing specifically most likely was bolstered recently.¡±


    Zeb pondered for a moment, then she suggested something. ¡°Did they implement --------?¡±


    ¡°That word didn¡¯t translate,¡± Calculator explained. ¡°Could you try something else¡­?¡±


    ¡°Uh, let¡¯s see. I could call it a scent negator. Anti¡­ smell¡­ otron?¡± Zeb tilted her head.


    ¡°Scent negator is better,¡± Calculator confirmed. ¡°So is that an actual piece of Bunvorixian tech?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Zeb said. ¡°Obviously. Even if Celmothians are bad at smelling stuff it¡¯s still useful.¡±


    Midnight flicked his tail. ¡°You¡¯re just better at smelling stuff far away. We¡¯re more discerning.¡±


    ¡°Fluffy might be able to pick out scent negators,¡± Zeb pondered. ¡°Or he could at least eat them.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but if we actually know where they are¡­¡± Calculator shook his head.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Zeb said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to make a jammer.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Though if you could list any known weaknesses¡­?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zeb pondered.


    ¡°I promise that we will do our best to protect the worker caste of the Bunvorixians.¡±


    ¡°Any ships that go down still have good engineers,¡± Zeb said. ¡°And not all the soldiers are bad.¡±


    ¡°What about the leaders?¡± I wondered aloud.


    ¡°I met some of the leader caste that were nice,¡± Zeb confirmed. ¡°They never seemed to get assigned to anything, though.¡±


    ¡°Regardless,¡± Calculator said, ¡°We need to find a way to reliably track down Iron Shell.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay what?¡± Calculator replied.


    ¡°I mean, I can probably Scry her. At least, we don¡¯t know anything about her having advanced scrying blockers or anything, right?¡±


    ¡°... I grew too used to that not working on most of our enemies,¡± Calculator admitted.


    ¡°Mostly the big ones. But we¡¯re pretty sure they¡¯re not working with the hardest guy, right?¡± Darkstargirl and Gloom had some of Doomsday¡¯s annoying blockers I was fairly sure, but most people wouldn¡¯t.


    ¡°That will be your new priority,¡± Calculator said.


    Pfft. Not nearly as fun as zapping things with lightning. If only I could find some way to not spend that mana. Except that wasn¡¯t how spells worked. Mana made them do stuff and was used up to do that. It would be nice if I could borrow mana from other people, but aside from Midnight I hadn¡¯t seen a reasonable way to do that.

 Chapter 275

    As it turned out, Scrying Iron Shell was literally the easiest the spell had ever been. It snapped right to her with literally no effort. She wasn¡¯t even resisting as far as I could tell, even though people had a natural inclination to resist magic cast upon them. Iron Shell was even moving around without reservation, instead of trying to go somewhere nondescript.


    ¡°Strange,¡± I commented aloud. ¡°I feel Scrying anchors but¡­¡± It went so smoothly I thought for a moment that I had latched onto a decoy.


    It took a few moments to realize what was really happening. I rotated the image of Iron Shell, trying to find something useful. Calculator could pick up myriad hints from even a slight glance at the surroundings, and¡­ we saw none of that. It was literally just Iron Shell.


    ¡°Well this is different,¡± Calculator commented. He voiced the same concern I¡¯d had. ¡°Is this a decoy?¡±


    ¡°I am fairly certain this is the real Iron Shell, with a Scrying anchor built into her for some reason. Maybe multiple? They¡¯re not individually strong, pretty much like Doomsday¡¯s first iteration.¡±


    There was a very clear image of Iron Shell striding in front of us. Nothing was hidden. Except¡­ I couldn¡¯t see anything else.


    Calculator walked around the cube, observing the form of the woman that was more robot than person from various angles. ¡°It appears the connection to Iron Shell is so strong that we cannot see anything beyond her.¡± He crouched down. ¡°A small trace of concrete beneath her feet, perhaps.¡±


    We decided to continue the spell for the full duration, during which we spotted a door handle as she grasped it, heard part of a sentence from someone else and her reply, and otherwise simply watched her move in what felt like a void.


    Or at least, that¡¯s what I thought we got. Calculator had backed away early on, perhaps to avoid interfering with the cameras, but I didn¡¯t really hear much more commentary from him.


    ¡°Too bad,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll get much from that.¡±


    ¡°On the contrary,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Your spell was not rotationally locked.¡±


    ¡°Uh, should it have been?¡± I asked. ¡°I could have changed it while we were observing.¡±


    ¡°No, that was exactly what we wanted,¡± he nodded. ¡°We were able to see her turning this way, you understand?¡±


    I pondered. ¡°I guess, but all we know was that she was walking around an area mostly unrestricted.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s much to learn. The size of the area, among other things. We have the location of a door, and can discern a relative position where minions spoke to her. Besides, Iron Shell keeps herself in extremely good shape.¡±


    I knew he wasn¡¯t commenting on her muscles or anything, especially because literally none of what made her human was visible. ¡°Does it matter that her lasers and stuff are highly functional? That sounds worse for us.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s incredibly shiny,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Her ploy to minimize information collected may have worked directly against her, if we can recreate the images. Come look at this,¡± he said. I looked over his shoulder at his tablet, where he was displaying the video feed from the various cameras stationed around the Scrying ¡®orb¡¯. He focused on one, enlarging it to fill the whole screen. Then he zoomed in, and in, focusing on a still frame of Iron Shell¡¯s thigh.


    I saw reflected there¡­ a bunch of gibberish. ¡°Is that a rug? Or someone¡¯s face? A hand, perhaps?¡± I squinted and tilted my head. ¡°A couch?¡±


    ¡°That is something our reconstruction algorithms will determine. With multiple angles shot in sufficient quality, and a deep understanding of the topography of Iron Shell¡¯s frame, we will be able to recreate much more than she wished to let on. We will give it some time, then I¡¯ll ask Midnight to assist with another recording. You two can alternate until we have built up sufficient data.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you see if any of it is useful first?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I know it will be,¡± he said. ¡°And our technicians can begin processing this first set of data right away. We might try to get some sense of her schedule later, but for now additional samples will be sufficient.¡±


    -----


    I hadn¡¯t heard anything about our Scrying just yet, and given that we were still patrolling that meant it was still inconclusive. It sure sounded difficult to get anything useful.


    Our current patrol was during the evening, which meant the streets had a decent number of people walking along. As long as we weren¡¯t actively engaged in an incident civilians weren¡¯t required to give us priority along our path, but they tended to anyway. First because they weren¡¯t always certain about whether we were on a mission, and second because they just didn¡¯t want to get in our way.


    I guess that made sense. We had an orc, a cyborg, and a ¡®bear¡¯. Zeb was still directing Fluffy remotely, though she didn¡¯t need to give him many orders. I found his target acquisition skills quite sufficient. It was likely he got some subconscious understanding from her as well, even at a distance. This was her class, so if she were unable to control her companion in a reasonable manner she wouldn¡¯t be much of a Beastmaster. More of a Beastassociate.


    Technically our patrols were a success already, as people seeing us made them feel more safe. The city was primarily interested in that result, and would be quite happy if no villains did anything at all since they would only have to pay the Brigade the minimum rate. And less crime was always preferred.


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    I wasn¡¯t going to say I wanted there to be crime. I really didn¡¯t. But¡­ if there was, it was convenient for me if I got to fight. That was the only way I got experience, after all.


    Something tingled as I walked along. A feeling I had felt before, pressing up against my defenses. Specifically, a spell I had added to my preparations in the morning and now did only via habit. Nondetection, which meant someone was trying to look at me. I would say they were trying to Scry me, but it really worked against any sort of divination spell. Probably even a lot of powers that might learn things about me.


    I didn¡¯t sense anything happening nearby, so I figured it was something long range. That didn¡¯t resolve anything, but it was at least a useful point of information.


    Midnight looked towards me, likely noticing my emotional change. His tail swished evenly as he rode on my shoulder. I just nodded, acknowledging there was something, but trying to communicate it wasn¡¯t an issue. At least at current. I felt my spell still had more power, so they shouldn¡¯t have gotten anything useful.


    I thought I spotted a familiar individual ahead. A good sort of familiar, not the kind where I recognized a villain strolling around. That happened sometimes too, but this time it was one of my friends. Or at least a person I was fond of, because I wasn¡¯t quite sure ¡®apprentice¡¯ fit into the same category. We didn¡¯t hang out a lot or anything, most of our time was spent training. With Jerome taking college classes remotely, it was only a few times per week for a couple hours.


    That said, I could tell he practiced a lot on his own time. He was getting pretty good at light magic and his various utility spells. He did practice Force Armor too. He¡¯d even learned the more difficult techniques like Multicasting and Assistive Familiar Casting. The latter was pretty much required for the first, except for the cheapest spells.


    I watched the storefront he¡¯d gone in. It was a Laser Den, the kind of place that carried all sorts of useful parts. I was pretty sure they didn¡¯t have any actual lasers, though, unless one counted laser pointers. I did not.


    As we walked past, I considered saying hello. However, I decided against it. While it wasn¡¯t a problem to do so on duty, it might trouble him. There was already only a thin separation between my public identity and my identity as part of the Power Brigade, and Jerome really didn¡¯t need to be drawn into danger due to my enemies. I¡¯d just mention seeing him later.


    ¡°Fluffy, no.¡± Zeb¡¯s firm words came from the little band around the rust mole¡¯s head. I turned to see him poking his head into the Laster Den. ¡°None of that is for eating. Follow the others.¡±


    Fluffy reluctantly turned towards us and continued walking. It was about that time I heard a loud bang. No, three of them evenly spaced apart. The sound came from inside the store and was tinged with¡­ mana?


    I instantly swiveled, and the others rapidly followed. Fluffy seemed confused but somewhat happy about going into the building. Just as I managed to look through the windows, I saw Jerome looking into the back, then a laser shot past his head. He ducked around the corner, though at that point it had already missed anyway.


    His first reaction was to cast Energy Ward, so at least he¡¯d been listening to what I said. I don¡¯t think he precisely matched a proper sort of laser protection, but it was closer than generic fire or heat protection.


    There was yelling and screaming as I made my way down one of the aisles. Various sorts of alarms went off. ¡°Everyone, please make your way out the front!¡± I called loudly. I saw Jerome look at me, but instead of following my instructions he gestured to the wall behind him. My determined stride got me to him before any of the others, though I heard their footfalls behind me. ¡°Sir, please make your way out of the facility.¡±


    ¡°Rob¡¯s in there!¡± Jerome protested. ¡°I¡¯m not just gonna leave him!¡±


    A flash of synchronized emotion flowed through myself and Midnight. While Jerome¡¯s familiar was a construct, there was still a very real connection between them. ¡°Get to safety, we¡¯ll retrieve him,¡± I said.


    Midnight cast Energy Ward on our usual targets, the only reason we didn¡¯t already have it active being its relatively low duration. About ten minutes, nowhere near enough to recover the relevant mana. Especially not with the other things we were keeping active.


    I used Haste, getting everyone but Shockfire from our group. Was it better for him to be fast? Yes. But it didn¡¯t change the amount of energy he could absorb or return, and he didn¡¯t need to get into melee.


    I wasn¡¯t certain if Fluffy noticed he was going faster. He simply kept running, intending to go around the corner. Hmm, Zeb might have trouble relaying commands to him like this. But that would only be an issue once there weren¡¯t lasers.


    I ducked my head into the back. There were a handful of goons, with several blasting lasers towards our entrance. Especially the ¡®bear¡¯. Fluffy didn¡¯t seem to mind too much. One of them had a round and flat robot clutched in her hands, lights flashing and beeping madly. On that note, Jerome hadn¡¯t left and was peeking behind me. Slowly.


    He shouted towards Rob, slowly. ¡°Protocol 3!¡±


    I felt Jerome gather mana. With how little it was, I assume it was a minor spell. But I was wrong in two directions. First, the spell was more insignificant than I imagined, with Rob gathering just a single point of mana on his own. Jerome was faster, so he was only slightly behind his robot familiar.


    Light rose out of the top of the little guy, sticking to the face of the woman holding him. I let Jerome finish his own version, casting Light at four more of the Mod Squad. Two avoided his efforts, but two more got direct facefuls of Light. Then I yanked him back as a laser clipped him. Good thing he thought about defenses first.


    I was pretty sure the Mod Squad was not supposed to be in this storage room. Rob certainly seemed to think that it was an issue. I wasn¡¯t sure how he¡¯d made the sound he did, but I was quite pleased with his efforts. He was making quite a lot of noise, his brush and wheels spinning full force as he seemed to be trying to wrestle himself out of his captor¡¯s hands.


    Sorority was already deep inside the room, and reached the woman a moment later. She didn¡¯t seem to recognize Rob¡¯s significance, however, as she completely ignored him when she tackled the woman. One of her, I mean. She split up into several parts, each of which were moving to engage in grapples. Fluffy swapped his target to the next closest Mod Squad member and was soon chewing on an arm.


    We had a decent advantage already, with the Mod Squad clearly not having expected mercenaries to show up in under thirty seconds. They had probably been intending to get in and out silently, I¡¯d imagine. Even so, I locked my eyes on the ones currently carrying boxes out a rear door and cast another spell. Several of them stopped moving entirely. No, that wasn¡¯t quite true, but the difference in speed between Haste and Slow was enough that they might as well have not been moving at all.


    My tactic was further justified compared to simply blasting one of them when some of their number tried to repeat. ¡°Move, idiots!¡± I heard the shout, slurred from my point of view. No doubt the Slowed individuals were confused by how fast the others were talking.


    As the pile up began at the door, I cast Grease across the threshold.


    A moment later, someone punched open the wall nearby, bricks scattering. A quick reaction, and a metallic arm reached through as kicks scattered the wall further. Iron Shell? No, somewhat smaller. But clearly on a higher tier than the random Mod Squad members.

 Chapter 276

    With Haste cast on most of us and the majority of the Mod Squad goons stumbling around on Grease or Slowed, I had expected us to clean them up swiftly. Even with one of them crashing through the wall, it shouldn¡¯t have been particularly troublesome.


    Sorority was the closest, being the one most inclined for melee besides Fluffy. Since she had multiple locations, it seemed sensible that she would randomly be closest as well. One of her rushed towards the large cyborg man who had smashed the wall, and I saw another moving in as backup out of caution. That should have been enough, but the first was struck directly by a laser beam coming from the man¡¯s outstretched arm, and despite skilled maneuvering Sorority wasn¡¯t able to break away from the targeting.


    Her instantaneous back and forth movements would have thrown me off and I was processing things at the same level of Haste. The only good thing was that Haste meant that the duration the beam had been focused on Sorority was relatively less, so it took a longer amount of our relative time for Energy Ward to be drained.


    Long enough that Sorority reached her target and ducked into a leg sweep. However, I was even more surprised at what happened next. The man¡¯s leg kicked forward at a speed I found difficult to follow even with Haste active. The instant before his metal foot collided with Sorority¡¯s head, she disappeared.


    And the cyborg man didn¡¯t seem even slightly surprised. With the slightest shift, he locked his laser onto the next closest target- Sorority again, but with the shared Energy Ward her defenses would likely run out soon.


    All of that had happened quickly, even for those of us using Haste. Most of us were focused elsewhere, but I¡¯d been preparing mana. I just hadn¡¯t wanted to hit Sorority, and while my practice with Chain Lightning was going well the Mod Squad wasn¡¯t particularly weak to Lightning. Sonic Lance was a nicely powerful spell that was also not problematic in its scope. As soon as I released the mana¡­ I saw the shimmer of a barrier.


    Ugh, did this guy have everything?


    One of the guy¡¯s eyes focused on me- the other still pointed at Sorority. He didn¡¯t even lift his other arm, and I had a laser beam targeted right at the center of my chest. Fortunately, I¡¯d stayed back near cover and ducked down before it ate through too much of my Energy Ward.


    From my new angle I mostly saw Kick and Fluffy taking out more of the weaker guys. Shockfire was unfortunately not Hasted, so he was a bit slower- until Midnight got to him, bringing him up to speed.


    I was only behind cover for a moment before I slipped out the other side. I was preparing a much larger amount of mana for the barrier. Even if Chain Lightning wasn¡¯t particularly good against these cyborgs, I didn¡¯t think it was really much worse than on normal people. And if it hit the barrier, I could test the total power at stake.


    When my head peeked out the other side, I saw the final member of the battle I had forgotten about. Jerome had been sensible enough to stay in cover, but Rob had been knocked flying out of his captor¡¯s hands into the middle of the room. And that very same circular robot was now charging towards the cyborg lieutenant or whatever rank the Mod Squad guy had. I didn¡¯t recognize him from any dossier, as Iron Shell was supposed to be the only exceptional figure by our knowledge.


    A ball of light fired out from Rob¡¯s core¡­ landing on the barrier. It would be slightly annoying for the cyborg, but not really blinding. Sorority¡¯s second body had disappeared, and I saw a black spot on one of the others. Maybe multiple. Did each body share damage? I guess sharing buffs probably came with that sort of weakness.


    The cyborg guy changed his target to Rob, and fortunately for our little plastic friend Jerome¡¯s energy ward did something for him. It protected him long enough for him to gather one more point of mana, launching another Light spell. I didn¡¯t see that it would act any different, but apparently Jerome¡¯s little robot buddy was quite clever. Because while I felt the spell going towards his foe, I didn¡¯t see anything. Not until the light appeared, inside the barrier on his eyes.


    Ohh! It wasn¡¯t light until it arrived so the barrier that could block lasers wouldn¡¯t stop it! I needed to remember that. Obviously I would be throwing light at people¡¯s eyes, too. And if it was invisible until arrival, I didn¡¯t have to worry about people dodging it so much.


    The cyborg guy unexpectedly being actually blinded was a good opportunity for me to throw a ton of lightning at him. Unfortunately, the barrier was slightly better than the AEGIS that Doctor Doomsday handed out to every minion and withstood the full force of the spell. Which was¡­ fair enough, actually. Most of the rest of the Mod Squad was lacking in that regard, so one guy having such defenses was just annoying, not unexpected.


    I was preparing to charge in and try to use my staff to finish of the barrier- it couldn¡¯t have unlimited durability, and a good Dispel should help. However, I was once again stunned by the processing speed of the guy. And this time, I was surprised by his tactics. He threw himself forward, and for a single instant I thought he was trying to dodge my Chain Lightning after the fact- but I¡¯d only launched it after he was blind to begin with.


    Instead, he landed on Rob. He had good spatial awareness, because his fingers snapped down on the little guy even though he should be blind- or at least looking through a high intensity light which should pretty much ruin even adaptive eye replacements. Then he yanked Rob off the ground- an action the little cleaning robot had literally no way to resist. He seemed to crush Rob against his chest, and then Rob was gone in a twinkle of light.


    Some profanity from out front indicated Jerome had felt something wrong, but it wasn¡¯t quite so bad as I would have anticipated for a familiar being disintegrated. Not that I¡¯d experienced it, but¡­ I had at least a solid idea.


    Then the cyborg guy shoved his hands on the ground, sending himself flying backwards out of the opening he came in. I couldn¡¯t see most of the rest of what happened. All I determined was that Shockfire filled up the back alley with fire, and then a few moments later everything was over.


    I rushed out, making sure to take a glance at the rest of the Mod Squad members. They seemed adequately restrained or unconscious, at least for a bit. I looked outside to see¡­ nothing but an empty alleyway and Shockfire.


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    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Shockfire said. ¡°He just disappeared! With a whole van!¡±


    I furrowed my brow. ¡°Not invisibility, right?¡±


    Shockfire shook his head. ¡°I would have melted it. And I don¡¯t feel any of the electronics in him now.¡±


    ¡°Well, teleportation then,¡± I suggested.


    ¡°What, so the Mod Squad can just teleport now?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Bunvorixians can probably do it. I don¡¯t know about personal teleportation, but Celmothians have an extremely reliable planetary network of teleporters. I think the military might have more.¡±


    ¡°... That¡¯s a huge step up from lasers and hidden blades,¡± Shockfire grumbled.


    ¡°I would posit the big guy had something in his chest,¡± I said. ¡°If you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to go talk to Jerome about his familiar.¡±


    It didn¡¯t take long for Haste to wear off so I could more easily speak to Jerome, but I started as soon as possible to begin with. ¡°Jerome. Don¡¯t panic. Does Rob suddenly feel¡­ further away?¡±


    He looked up at me, panicked. ¡°He¡¯s just¡­ gone!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I assured him. ¡°You might feel empty or numb where your link normally is, but that just represents a great distance. If¡­ something worse had happened, it would not feel that way.¡±


    ¡°... You¡¯re kinda terrible at reassuring people.¡±


    ¡°I would expect so,¡± I agreed. ¡°Even so, you will find him and we will get him back.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Come with us.¡±


    -----


    Jerome had to be blindfolded as we brought him with us to a secure area, because he didn¡¯t have the clearance. However, with my word and his mother¡¯s position in the Brigade it was easy enough to convince the relevant people to allow him access to a particular room. Especially since the only thing of value in the room was technically mine. Probably.


    ¡°This is¡­ your Scrying Orb, yeah?¡± Jerome asked. ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re going to Scry Rob for me?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that wouldn¡¯t work.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ what?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been training, right? And studying and stuff.¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± he said. ¡°Every day.¡±


    ¡°And you just engaged in battle. What level are you now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Uh¡­ 17.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very good, actually.¡± He¡¯d been 15 during the last progress report, and I was fairly certain we could have finagled this to work at that level. But this was much better. ¡°The first thing you¡¯re going to do is purchase Scrying.¡±


    ¡°Can I even cast that?¡± Jerome asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s exactly at your fatigue limit,¡± I said. ¡°It should also be easier with your previous experience with Scrying related things, and your connection to Rob.¡± Calculator would want to be here for this, but the recording would have to do. It was better than waiting. In the worst case scenario, making an attempt now would start the process of Jerome improving his technique and recovering mana. ¡°You have the points, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Jerome nodded. ¡°I kept a lot in reserve to be honest. It¡¯s just nice to learn stuff without, you know?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s more normal from your perspective,¡± I agreed. ¡°But we don¡¯t want to wait, here.¡±


    He bit his lip. ¡°Yeah. I purchased it. What do I do now?¡±


    ¡°Gather mana. Steady your concentration, because this is at your fatigue limit. This thing here,¡± I gestured to the huge cube of artificial diamond. ¡°Will help channel the ability.¡±


    Power swirled within the object as Jerome¡¯s mana flowed into it. ¡°Something is¡­ fighting me.¡±


    ¡°Just focus on Rob,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t let it pull you away.¡±


    A moment later, our little cleaning friend appeared. He was on a shelf among various other bits and pieces being stored, upside down. When he finished coming into view, he suddenly began beeping, his wheels spinning and turning back and forth.


    ¡°Rob!¡± Jerome stepped forward- and the image faded as he collapsed to his knees. I caught his shoulder, stopping him from falling forward.


    Mixing emotional responses with fatigue limits wasn¡¯t exactly a recipe for success, but I couldn¡¯t blame him. He was still a kid.


    A few moments later, he shook his head as his consciousness returned. ¡°... I lost it, huh.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. But you should be able to do one more, right?¡± I asked. ¡°Before you do, take a short break. And try to remember any extra information you got. Was there¡­ a direction?¡± Scrying didn¡¯t normally give that sort of information, but Familiars made things different.


    ¡°Umm¡­ that way?¡± He gestured vaguely. ¡°Sorry, I¡­¡±


    I pat him on the shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s alright. Just sit down for a few moments. We¡¯ll do it again, and you¡¯ll get some information our super smart guy can use to pin them down. Then we¡¯ll storm their base with a bunch of tough guys and rescue Rob.¡±


    Jerome did as I suggested, and a few minutes later- I had to force him to be methodical and wait longer than he wished- the images were appearing again.


    ¡°This thing is being annoying,¡± said an unfamiliar woman. Just a random member of the Mod Squad, as far as I could tell. She and a man were fumbling around with Rob, their eyes currently covered in blinding light. ¡°Boss told us not to break it because it¡¯s weird, but we can at least take out its battery.¡±


    The little robot¡¯s wheels were spinning and his vacuum was whirring. The two toppled over as Grease suddenly appeared beneath their feet. Then the screwdriver they were trying to use began banging them on the head, a tiny little ghostly hand holding it.


    ¡°I know you¡¯re very invested in watching a cleaning robot take down full adults,¡± I said to Jerome. ¡°But if you could try to point to Rob¡¯s location? Include the vertical component, if possible.¡±


    ¡°Uh, right.¡± That snapped Jerome out of his daze, though I suspected he wasn¡¯t enjoying the comedy of the moment as much as he might in the future. ¡°There, I think?¡± he said, holding out his arm, slowly repositioning it. ¡°I just¡­ don¡¯t know where we are or anything so I don¡¯t know if that will help.¡±


    ¡°Trust me,¡± I said. ¡°It will.¡±


    Unfortunately, the battle of Rob ended in his loss. That was what happened when a little cleaning robot went up against two humans with arms and legs- and cyborg enhancements. Though given all those advantages, I doubted they would be spreading word about their victory. They managed to open Rob up and pop out his battery, but the image didn¡¯t fade. Jerome kept watching even after they walked away, until the spell ended with his little buddy in several pieces on the floor. But those were all pieces that could be put back¡­ or cheaply replaced.


    Not that Jerome probably felt better because of that. I was going to punch several people in the face for making my apprentice cry.

 Chapter 277

    My eyes flashed open as I felt a flicker of mana in the middle of the night. It was a familiar sensation, growing more common recently. I staggered my way to the bathroom, avoiding turning on any lights. Most likely whoever it was could already see in the dark, either naturally or with an infusion of magic. However, I felt there was no point in making things easier for anyone.


    As for my location, it was revealed already. It was problematic that someone could Scry me even there, as the apartment complex was supposed to be power resistant. No, I knew it was as I¡¯d tested it myself. But of course, resistant wasn¡¯t immune.


    I could have blamed my current actions on being woken up suddenly, but in truth I would have made the same choices when fully cognizant of my surroundings. That was just the kind of person I was.


    Mana gathered inside of me, released into the bathroom mirror. I bet if I were a normal mage, I would have gotten experience for learning something. Two things, really. First, that it was possible to follow the signature of a Scrying spell back to its source. Not that I saw who it was, because of the other thing. Specifically, the aggressive defenses said individual had.


    I was lying on the bathroom floor bleeding from my nose when Midnight got my attention. ¡°Turlough! What happened?¡±


    ¡°... I need to learn that spell,¡± I said as my mind cleared. ¡°Could you, uh¡­¡± My head was still fuzzy, and I wasn¡¯t sure if it was a good idea to cast magic at the moment. I managed to come up with the right word. ¡°Nondetection?¡±


    That went on both of us, of course. There was literally no reason for either of us to cast a spell on ourselves individually instead of sharing. Even if we wanted to practice a language, it was actually helpful to have Translation active. Sure, it wouldn¡¯t result in natural learning but as long as it persisted without magic it hardly mattered what people might call it.


    But I had drifted. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± I assured Midnight. ¡°This¡­¡± I gestured to myself and my head in general. ¡°Was not the result of a direct assault.¡± I could feel the individual watching slip away as Nondetection took its form. Yet somehow¡­ I felt that whoever it was let it fade, instead of being prevented by the spell and the building¡¯s restrictions. Maybe that was just my imagination though.


    Midnight just looked at me, his tail swishing. He had on his Celmothian battle suit. He could literally jump into it if he needed to, though it was also possible he slept in it. It was quite adaptable, after all. ¡°You know that doesn¡¯t make me worry less, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure this was a¡­ friendly warning. Not the blood and stuff. That was an automatic retaliation. But waking me up. It¡¯s a reminder to keep Nondetection active at all hours instead of just when out on patrol or the like.¡±


    ¡°A reminder from who?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°I can think of maybe four people I¡¯ve had contact with who might fit. First is Master Uvithar. Second, there was some sort of diviner lady that helped Izzy find me. Third might be Zenfer Cloudfound. That gnome mage from the capital. Lastly it could be Comhghall. I¡¯d say we might be able to find it out by Scrying them individually, but I doubt we¡¯d want to provoke the same reaction again.¡± I straightened up. ¡°Plus, without the link we might not even get that far. Also, there¡¯s some chance it¡¯s someone else I¡¯ve never met. Pretty sure it¡¯s someone using magic, though. It felt more like that than a power.¡±


    ¡°So what do we do about it?¡±


    ¡°Keep Nondetection active all the time,¡± I said. ¡°I think that¡¯s the point. Maybe try to figure out what caused that backlash, but I don¡¯t know what spell that could be. And I don¡¯t think that was the point.¡±


    ¡°It could just be someone Scrying on you,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°Maybe a member of Dark Star¡¯s goons.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Nope, there¡¯s no way they¡¯re this good yet. Even if they focused entirely on Scrying¡­ it would have come up earlier. I guess theoretically it¡¯s possible that someone would have dumped a huge amount of points into Scrying but they would have had to get to Jerome¡¯s level or so for it to make sense. My bet¡¯s on my old world.¡±


    With that, I got up and went to HQ. Because it was easier to just go when someone would complain about not getting myself checked out later, even if I was sure I¡¯d be fine. As long as I didn¡¯t do the same thing again in the near future. If I couldn¡¯t figure out how to do that myself¡­ could I at least protect against it? Was it some form of mental damage? Mental Freedom might help. Too bad it was risky to test. I didn¡¯t want to actually annoy whoever it was.


    -----


    Jerome was in my Scrying room, but Midnight and I were out in the city. Calculator had picked out a highly probably location of the Mod Squad¡¯s base given various factors from my Scrying of Iron Shell and Jerome Scrying on Rob. Relatedly, when I tried to Scry that other guy, I got pulled over to Iron Shell. That was the whole purpose of her having built in Scrying anchors, I imagined. All we got was her body and nothing beyond it¡­ but that told us more than she¡¯d likely realized possible. Just because I couldn¡¯t make anything from the reflections off her body didn¡¯t mean others couldn¡¯t. Rob was an exception because of the Familiar Bond, so the pull to him would be stronger.


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    Midnight and I remained with the same squad, since our cohesion was decent enough and there were risks to changing things up right before an assault. Because that was the plan, after all. We couldn¡¯t guarantee capturing all of the Mod Squad- even with additional assistance from the Power Brigade- but this raid needed to happen. Because Rob was there.


    Also, they had a new teleporty guy who was a problem. So I learned something to fix that, potentially. Speaking of which, our cool information people had managed to get the lieutenant guy¡¯s moniker. Flasher¡­ or something. Because he could teleport in a flash? Yeah, that all sounded right.


    Zeb was still remotely commanding Fluffy, though apparently that wouldn¡¯t be necessary forever. He¡¯d been doing a good job of gathering experience for her and she rocketed through the low levels. That wasn¡¯t a huge surprise, given how easy it was. It didn¡¯t take much experience and experience was easier to get. Since Fluffy had fought against people with something like powers, she was already level 10 or something. Which wasn¡¯t massive, but it seemed there were some things to unlock to give her similar abilities to her bonded beast?


    Too bad we only had names and not a proper Beastmaster to talk to. Or, say, an encyclopedia of class abilities. Even though everyone of a class had access to the same abilities, it would have been really easy to write it. They wouldn¡¯t even have had to mention the secret stuff like the ability to train abilities instead of just using points after going extradimensional!


    I wasn¡¯t going to accept dumb answers like it being for the safety of the public or whatever. All the bad guys probably had extradimensional hideouts anyway, and would have stumbled into it on their own easily enough. Plus I was fed propaganda about the biggest threats being neutralized, and that sure didn¡¯t make me safer. Once I figured out who was responsible, they¡¯d be getting a knuckle sandwich. Like the idiots who kidnapped Rob.


    A recognizable voice came through our comms as we approached. ¡°Thanks for the shrinking spell, Mage. It will help with the infiltration.¡±


    ¡°No problem,¡± I replied. I hadn¡¯t actually met up with her for this mission yet, but even I understood a few things. Like her not wanting her new shrinking abilities to be publicly known. I didn¡¯t say anything more, because unnecessary chatter on the comms was disruptive to the flow of a mission.


    ¡°You have a shrinking spell?¡± Zeb¡¯s voice came excitedly from Fluffy¡¯s headset/collar contraption. ¡°Can you make Fluffy tiny?¡± Fluffy perked up first at Zeb¡¯s voice, then his name. ¡°Tur- Mage, can you do that, huh?¡± Fluffy, go see if he can do that!¡±


    Fluffy waddled over to me. This might be his last mission as a bear. I heard good things were happening on the Martian issue. He looked kind of excited, but he didn¡¯t quite know what to be excited for. I rubbed his head. ¡°That¡¯s not a good idea for this mission, Zeb,¡± I spoke aloud. At least this wasn¡¯t flooding the comms. ¡°Him being a different size might be a weakness. It¡¯s also temporary, of course, but I can possibly show you after the mission.¡±


    Fluffy leaned into my hand. I didn¡¯t really know what I had expected mole fur to feel like, but I could say for sure my initial thought wasn¡¯t this soft. Then again, Zeb had used basically an entire shampoo bottle once she¡¯d gotten the chance, cleaning out dirt and grime. He was a wild animal, after all. Or had been.


    ¡°Alright, so let¡¯s go over the plan,¡± Sorority said. ¡°We¡¯re tasked with taking out Flash Circuit, if possible. He has too much Bunvorixian tech integrated into his system.¡±


    ¡°He shouldn¡¯t be able to teleport that much stuff!¡± Zeb explained. ¡°Especially not without proper infrastructure. So we should also look for something like that.¡±


    ¡°Right. His extreme reaction speed is also problematic,¡± Sorority continued. ¡°The plan is to boost our own team with Haste and Slow him, if possible. Alternatively, Fluffy might just be able to tear him apart?¡±


    ¡°Probably only if he holds still,¡± Zeb clarified. ¡°It would take him a few seconds to chew through any sort of armor plating.¡±


    That didn¡¯t sound like long, but a few seconds was kind of a lot in battle. I knew that I wouldn¡¯t let anything chew on my leg for multiple seconds without kicking it away or something. In theory, Fluffy was vulnerable to just¡­ being smashed or stabbed or whatever.


    ¡°Our other objective is to reach the parts storage facility,¡± Sorority added. ¡°We want to retrieve any Bunvorixian tech and¡­ Rob.¡±


    Nobody said anything stupid like ¡®it¡¯s just a cleaning robot¡¯. Maybe they¡¯d thought it briefly when it first came up, but Kick had cut off any possibility. I remembered clearly what he¡¯d said. ¡°That kid must be mad. If someone stole my leg? I¡¯d kick the hell out of them with the other to get it back. And my legs don¡¯t do any of their own thinking.¡±


    Zeb had some similar thoughts on bonding with technology, and it seemed she quite missed her personal computer. Human tech just couldn¡¯t replace it.


    Rob was cuter than both things, though. And he was way closer to a pet than an actual robot. Even if he wasn¡¯t going to be on the same level of intelligence like Midnight, he was smarter than a normal pet. And obviously more than a normal cleaning robot because they were¡­ extremely foolish. I¡¯d seen Rob get trapped in simple places many times before he became Jerome¡¯s familiar.


    We came to our entrance point. A manhole, obviously. Most of the best secret bases were hidden under the city, as people were quite particular about the architecture above ground. Some people had scouted ahead to confirm secret entrances in the area, we were just going to do one final confirmation to ensure it would be the Mod Squad. Better not to run into trouble with some other group instead, though it was unlikely as villains were fairly territorial.

 Chapter 278

    As we had approached the area, Midnight had cast Energy Ward on everyone and I cast Stoneskin. Neither Shockfire nor Fluffy got Energy Ward, while Sorority had indicated she would perform fine without Stoneskin. We obviously had to protect Fluffy from physical assaults. Just because he could probably eat a metal bat given time didn¡¯t mean it couldn¡¯t hurt him when moving at high speed at his poor little head. I used little here as a relative term, compared to¡­ actual bears, perhaps. He was probably the largest mole on Earth. Or at least, the largest actual mole. Molemen didn¡¯t count, and I honestly didn¡¯t know how big they were.


    I began absorbing mana crystals. I was still confident that it was fine as long as I didn¡¯t overuse them, which meant staying below a certain threshold in a given day and trying not to use any more for a week or so. It had been more than a couple since Mars, so I should be good to regain somewhere around twenty mana. Either slower with small, efficiently created crystals or faster with the larger ones. The total quantity appeared to be the issue when overdone.


    As we entered the manhole, Fluffy sniffed his way right towards a hidden door, and Shockfire confirmed it through the electrical signals in the walls before we actually rounded the corner, and we used a small mirror to visually confirm the door. Fortunately Zeb had been able to stop Fluffy from trying to go forward and chew on wires immediately.


    ¡°We¡¯re in position,¡± Sorority reported. ¡°Shockfire ready to flood the system when other teams are ready.¡±


    Kick grimaced. ¡°I wish I could be confident that one of their hookups wouldn¡¯t screw me up. I could open it properly with the right gear¡­¡±


    ¡°I could probably do it if I was there,¡± Fluffy said. Or rather, Zeb said from his collar. ¡°Not that I¡¯ve done any breaking and entering!¡± she said in a somewhat unconvincing manner. ¡°It¡¯s just mandatory training in the engineering corps. This stuff has to be less sophisticated than Celmothian tech.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Unfortunately, it is that very difference that would prevent me from doing anything. I¡¯m not really trained for that, and my suit would take too long or risk setting off alarms.¡±


    ¡°I could maybe tell you how to do it?¡± Zeb said uncertainly.


    ¡°How long would that take?¡± Sorority asked.


    ¡°Fifteen minutes? Maybe.¡±


    ¡°Risk of exposure?¡±


    ¡°Pretty high¡­¡± Zeb admitted. ¡°Especially if it has cameras.¡±


    Shockfire nodded. ¡°I assume so. I haven¡¯t detected any equipment at our location, but no doubt the entrance is covered with that stuff.¡±


    We didn¡¯t have any proper infiltrators with this team, but that was why we were one team of several. Revealing our location might actually be an advantage to others if the timing was right. Of course, Great Girl would draw a lot of attention once she was actually active as well.


    I reviewed my plans for fighting Flasher. That was one of our objectives, if we happened to come across him. If we ran into Iron Shell, we were supposed to flee. None of us wanted to die.


    First, limit damage. Energy Ward to block his lasers would only last so long, though he might not know that so he might delay and try to figure out what was happening. If those were his only danger I could probably repeatedly cast it and achieve pretty good efficiency. Slow would also be optimal, because throwing off his reflexes and processing would be advantageous. Then I wanted to get Dimensional Anchor in there, though if he teleported away before I got to that point it might actually be better for us.


    I took a moment to discuss with Midnight. ¡°I think you should focus on Slow. Familiar Bond is high enough that you can still cast that at maximum power.¡± Actually, that was true for everything we had- 10 total improvements was the maximum we were at. I¡¯d probably spent too many upgrades on Haste at Shockwave¡¯s insistence, but now that it was combined into Alter Time Flow it was pretty good.


    ¡°What about other enemies? Should I try to catch them as well?¡±


    ¡°Only if they¡¯re immediately available,¡± I said. ¡°Flasher is most important. We¡¯ll have to hope that some of these spells work through Bunvorixian barriers as well.¡±


    ¡°We can always Blizzard him,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Collateral damage here is fine, right?¡±


    ¡°... As long as we don¡¯t hit anything structural,¡± I agreed. Blizzard probably wouldn¡¯t damage walls to any significant extent, though it would make them brittle enough that anything else might be able to. And rapid freezing might still be a problem, even if it was just once. I wondered what Ice Guy would think of the spell.


    It didn¡¯t take too much longer to get the confirmation everyone was in place. Then we moved in. If what I had heard was correct, a tiny Great Girl was probably crawling through their air ducts right now- and they had to have some of those, because otherwise even the best cyborgs would suffocate in an underground base. Even if it was a self contained air purification system, it would still need ducts of some kind.


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    Obviously any good villain would try to make them too small for a person to crawl through, but there were capacity requirements. Thus, tiny mercenaries would be valuable. I snickered. Even better if said tiny mercenaries also had the power to shrink. I¡¯d never say any of that to Great Girl¡¯s face, obviously. I liked being three dimensional.


    Shockfire crackled with lightning before stepping around the corner. He blasted what looked like a wall, and Fluffy charged forward, scrabbling at it. Sorority quite helpfully found an edge and began to pry it open, with just one of her.


    Unlike what I expected of cyborgs, the door itself was completely tech free. Then again, automatic doors on the outside of your base were a liability for several reasons. They could lock up and be almost totally unusable for entrance or escape.


    Obviously the Mod Squad knew where we were, now. Shockfire probably couldn¡¯t hold enough juice to fry the entire system, and we didn¡¯t know for sure if they were tapped into the local grid or not.


    When the door was ripped open, Fluffy was the first through¡­ and thus the first to get hit. The sound was atrocious, and reminded me that the Mod Squad wasn¡¯t solely reliant on lasers. Automatic gunfire slammed into Fluffy repeatedly, causing him to angrily leap forward and try to snatch the barrel of a gatling gun in his mouth. Fortunately he didn¡¯t try to bite it directly on, as I didn¡¯t think Stoneskin worked on the inside. Though maybe¡­?


    There was a horrendous sound as his teeth ground on the rapidly spinning barrel. I was surprised his teeth didn¡¯t break, but maybe Stoneskin helped there. Or maybe it was the rust part of his name finally coming into effect. I¡¯d seen him chew on the bits of Mod Squad members, but this was the first time I saw something actually change in real time. The spinning multi-barrel crumpled in its midsection, causing the bullets to ricochet around inside the device.


    I saw what looked like a hundred years of rust all concentrated directly on the middle of the barrel. I also peeked at Fluffy¡¯s teeth and saw they were gray. Good to know. I¡¯d have to remind Zeb to train him to make better decisions, though. Being a Beastmaster¡¯s pet might toughen him up, but he was still quite low level.


    I had to imagine that the Fluffy took would have hurt, but he seemed pretty content as he crunched on the gatling gun for a few moments, tearing out some wires before sniffing down the hall- there were two directions we could go.


    ¡°Fluffy smells something!¡± Zeb said helpfully as he began to scamper off in one direction. Well, it shouldn¡¯t hurt to go towards the greatest concentration of tasty tech, right?


    ¡°I¡¯ll watch our back,¡± Sorority said, even as she immediately also moved to the front to chase after Fluffy.


    This wasn¡¯t the sort of ¡®infiltration¡¯ where we were going to be walking down the corridors to begin with. Moving at the best pace we could maintain would help us avoid getting swarmed.


    Lasers blasted into the walls, reassuring me that the Mod Squad still preferred futuristic weapons. Our group was much better suited to dealing with those. The lasers immediately stopped after hitting Fluffy, and it was likely that the Mod Squad recognized him now. Unfortunately for them, it would have actually been better to keep shooting so he was busy licking laser residue off his fur. Instead, he was going to occupy himself with chewing on their delicate mechanical joints.


    Kick ran up to the corner but didn¡¯t go around, and I had to assume he had some way to target things with his leg being held up around the corner. Or maybe he assumed anything he hit would be fine, but the targeting thing was more sensible.


    It was just a small group of flunkies, and they were taken out quickly. However, hearing alarms and the stomps of more feet I figured now was a good time to Haste the team. Sadly we didn¡¯t have enough targets for Multicasting, but Midnight picked up Sorority for me. It was best for her to have the full power version anyway.


    We rushed forward until we could identify part of the surroundings based off the reconstructed map- the seemingly useless Scrying on Iron Shell had paid dividends. Enough that we had some idea of where to go, and we¡¯d actually seen the storage room with Rob.


    I was second into the room, and the first to clock the two jerks who¡¯d dismantled Rob. By which I of course meant punching them in the jaw. I also saw them first, but that was unrelated.


    Whether it was the funny nerves in the jaw or a concussion, the two of them went out like lights. They didn¡¯t have any fancy cyborg upgrades to help with that, it seemed.


    Sorority began securing them- though ultimately it was faster for Fluffy to bite important parts of their cyborg bits to render them nonfunctional. If these guys weren¡¯t in a supervillain lair it might have been considered excessive, but they should just be happy we were going for nonlethal. Mercenaries only had to do that when it was reasonable, and leaving healthy foes who might come after you from behind while you were in the middle of a raid was not reasonable.


    ¡°I found Rob!¡± Midnight called.


    ¡°Start scooping!¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s hope he counts!¡±


    The most important piece of Rob was his chassis. All the other bits could be replaced, but his computer parts were still in there. Midnight placed his paw on the round body and¡­ it disappeared. Good, Storage worked. With that secure, things were easier.


    ¡°Now we start yoinking any sort of alien tech,¡± I said.


    Zeb was directing people. ¡°That little square thing is bad! And that- okay, good job Fluffy. Can you turn your head? Those are standard laser cores but they probably shouldn¡¯t have them. Oh! In the back corner! That¡¯s a teleport crystal! Artificial, of course.¡±


    I snatched it up. The moment after I threw it into Storage I wondered if it might be a bad idea to put a teleporty thing into extradimensional space, but it was totally fine. Well, it shouldn¡¯t have been active or anything.


    ¡°He¡¯s here!¡± Sorority called, spinning towards the door. ¡°It¡¯s Flash Circuit!¡±


    Oh good. I was really wanting to deal with Flasher. It wasn¡¯t that I hated losing, but he just left instead of actually defeating us.


    The instant he was through the door, a laser drilled into Shockfire who was front and center. Ooh, bad choice buddy. Sure, Shockfire wasn¡¯t that efficient at absorbing actual lasers, but¡­ he would still come out unharmed. At least if he was prepared.


    Midnight and I gathered mana together. This guy wasn¡¯t going to know what hit him. Hopefully literally. Slowed reactions could really screw with you. And lasers suddenly stopping would probably be a bit of a surprise too. Assuming his barrier didn¡¯t stop those things.

 Chapter 279

    Flasher very rudely shot a laser at my face before I even finished casting my spell. Fortunately I had my personal Energy Ward, and Francois made sure the Power Brigade had some nice head protection even if it didn¡¯t look like it.


    The good news was that Bunvorixian style barriers didn¡¯t have any inkling that magic existed and thus was not set up to stop temporal manipulation or¡­ other wards. Which meant that suddenly, his lasers weren¡¯t going anywhere. In theory Slow would lower the power of the laser as the mechanisms that produced it should have a specific output over time, and less time.


    With the advantage of Haste, we should drastically outspeed Flasher. If he was alone, we¡¯d probably crush him. Instead, there were a good half dozen other members of the Mod Squad behind him. ¡°Kick and I can handle the mooks!¡± Shockfire called. ¡°The rest of you focus on the big guy!¡±


    I had seen how long it took Flasher to break through Sorority¡¯s Energy Ward before. I was interested to confirm it would take twice as long for the personal Energy Ward around him. Then again, it could be diminished by personal magic resistance. That wasn¡¯t a special thing, just something that stopped magic doing nearly unlimited things to unwilling targets. Otherwise, fairly simple magic could just kill people.


    Of course, Slow worked under the assumption that the individual affected by it would be resisting so I didn¡¯t expect anything weird with that. I watched as Shockfire raced to a convenient angle and released a blast of lightning he¡¯d saved up. Even if the Mod Squad insulated their tech in such a way they weren¡¯t extra weak to lightning that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t still deadly.


    Flasher tried to move in front of the blast, but at a relative speed of way slower he didn¡¯t quite make it. Which was still impressive because that implied he almost did. His reflexes were way too fast. Or processing speed, I imagined, since he wasn¡¯t just making pre-practiced motions.


    Several of the goons lit up as I prepared the next spell for Flasher. It might incidentally make Shockfire¡¯s blast irrelevant, but that remained to be seen. Thirteen mana, a relatively inefficient spell for attacking a single target- but powerful enough to balance out and more importantly the element I needed.


    Swirling cold sprayed from my outstretched staff, alighting upon its target¡­ which was Flasher and everything behind him. Except it didn¡¯t quite reach beyond him. Unlike with the Bunvorixian ships, his barrier seemed to somewhat mitigate the spell. It seems they¡¯d observed the battle carefully and spotted the weakness. Of course, it wasn¡¯t so easy to make up for a fundamental weakness so the barrier only partially worked. Enough that the distance and Flasher¡¯s body blocked the mooks behind him, but not enough that he didn¡¯t get covered in a sheet of thick ice.


    Midnight had decided to test Water Blast. It was something we had discussed, not on the assumption that cyborgs would be inherently clumsy against such an assault but because it was an odd form of attack. Zeb had theorized it would count as a high velocity projectile and thus be negated by the barrier, but we hadn¡¯t been able to test on intact barriers. Too many people had gotten their hands on the remains of the battle and said resources were spread thin- both legitimate parties and villains.


    Unsurprisingly, Zeb was right. The barrier didn¡¯t completely negate the Water Blast, but what made it through was basically just a splash. A few droplets of water hit the frozen layer of ice and froze in turn. Technically, that was bad since they would be adding heat to the system- but not a lot.


    The lasers probably did more. Fortunately, that was holding long enough for Sorority to test how the barrier reacted to physical threats. Pretty well, actually. Probably to stop things like dropping commandos onto their ships. Hasted Sorority was fast but not high-velocity-impact fast. She punched, kicked, and grabbed at the barrier. It didn¡¯t seem to transfer the impact to Flasher, though he was a big dude so it was difficult to tell. One thing we did know was that the barrier couldn¡¯t be infinite.


    Rather than trying to brute force her way through, Sorority split into a half dozen individuals and began to attack with an extendable baton. She could have been equipped with a more lethal weapon, but she could only carry so much before it got problematic. Most of the time, she could grapple her opponents and take them down efficiently.


    Midnight continued testing things, including Firebolt- fully resisted by the barrier- and Shocking Grasp. That meant running forward, but unsurprisingly the barrier rejected Celmothians. Not that it was surprising because it was keeping Sorority out as well.


    Rather than trying another large attack into what was now a crowd, I had Energy Ward prepared. In the worst case, even if I could somehow miss it wouldn¡¯t harm any of my allies. The purpose was to place it on Flasher again, once his laser broke through the other.


    It was at that point the bestest important member of our team revealed his true power¡­ and pressed his nose into the barrier. We had been uncertain how a rust mole would interact with energy constructs, and the results were¡­ much like lasers. The barrier kind of turned into a goo where he rubbed against it, and Fluffy pawed some of it into his mouth. He didn¡¯t seem to like the taste, though, as he instead just pushed his head through, lunging for the ankle of a very surprised Flasher.


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    Probably. Maybe he wasn¡¯t surprised, as his leg kicked backwards at the utmost speed someone under time distortion could manage. Sadly, just like Haste didn¡¯t have as much of an effect on increasing impact as one might assume, Slow didn¡¯t reduce it that much either. There was a loud cracking sound and the horrible scream of metal. But fortunately Fluffy had Stoneskin active. I think he still broke a tooth though. There was blood around his mouth, and I was pretty sure Flasher didn¡¯t have any organic parts in that ankle.


    The cyborg managed to yank his leg away, but not before the damage was done. His ankle was just a mess of exposed innards with a clear matte of rust. I also noted he never turned his head during the whole exchange. Rear facing cameras, maybe? Not a huge surprised. Then again, maybe his head couldn¡¯t turn. I¡¯d been aiming for his torso with Blizzard, so it was mainly his head and upper body that were frozen, down to his waist.


    I had the feeling Flasher didn¡¯t like me, based on the way his laser suddenly grew brighter the instant Energy Ward failed. I saw it rapidly eat through the ice on his arm. I threw my arm in front of my eyes and cast my Energy Ward at the big mass of super tech energy that was him.


    I felt Midnight doing something at that moment, and then I heard a very loud sound. It wasn¡¯t difficult to put together the amount of mana he used and Sonic Lance, though we were fairly certain that shouldn¡¯t have gotten through the barrier.


    Not feeling any horrible lasers coming at my eyes, I lowered my arm and was able to see why it worked. Midnight was inside the barrier, having crawled under Fluffy. The fur of the ¡®bear¡¯ was completely saturated by a weird goop as he continued to chomp at Flasher. I saw a bunch of exposed junk on the side of his torso where the frozen components had shattered to the Sonic Lance. A commendation worthy tactic.


    Then, I felt a surge of energy. I was still gathering mana to retaliate when Flasher disappeared. I still didn¡¯t expect people like him to teleport, and more specifically so easily. I hadn¡¯t cast Dimensional Anchor in time. However, rather than being a fatal mistake it was a valuable learning opportunity.


    ¡°He¡¯s still in the base!¡± I called. ¡°This way!¡±


    Shockfire dropped a limp mook, the cyborg man¡¯s face a look of surprise as his mechanical parts refused to do anything. Or perhaps it was better to say they didn¡¯t have any way to do anything, since the batteries were drained. Not every cyborg used electricity to transfer power, but it was still one of the most common methods even for super tech. As long as Shockfire could handle any blades or other physical weapons from the Mod Squad, there wasn¡¯t much else they could do.


    Kick showed that his training with the Brigade had paid off, neatly taking down the rest of the Mod Squad goons.


    This was about the time our Haste wore off. ¡°This way!¡± I said. ¡°There was some sort of surge of power from the base itself when he teleported!¡±


    Casting Haste again nearly drained me dry, but we needed to make use of every second we had. The ground trembled, and without other distractions I could feel the fluctuations of power coming from Great Girl and Iron Shell. I really hoped that the structural integrity of this place was up to snuff. Iron Shell had already proven she could have a building dropped on her and survive, and I had no doubt the same was true for Great Girl- but there were the rest of us here to think about.


    ¡°Command,¡± Sorority called in with her comms as we ran through the halls. ¡°We¡¯re looking to continue pursuit of Flash Circuit. Local teleportation. Are we needed elsewhere?¡±


    It took an excruciating amount of time to get a response, because of Haste. ¡°Negative, Sorority. Continue with your previous objectives.¡±


    That meant Great Girl was winning the fight, probably. Or at least not losing. I imagined it would be pretty hard to take down Iron Shell for good, but Great Girl wasn¡¯t just sitting on her position but continuing to train and grow stronger. Or weaker, when it was convenient, but we didn¡¯t talk about her ability to shrink. I didn¡¯t think I would survive any of the things that were causing the base to shake.


    ¡°It should be through this door!¡± I said to the team. ¡°I can¡¯t feel Flasher in there but that was his destination!¡±


    The door in question was big, metal, and automatically resealing. And yes, we did try the handle. That resulted in another gatling turret popping out, which Shockfire melted with a huge gout of flame. Not great for our air quality, but it was brief enough.


    Sorority tested the wall. The Mod Squad was probably smarter than to put an impenetrable door next to a plaster wall, but we had to know. Her swing put a slight scratch on it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we can get this open in any reasonable amount of time,¡± Sorority grimaced.


    ¡°I¡¯ll work on it,¡± Midnight said. ¡°This looks like an electronic lock so my suit might be able to do something. Especially if they ¡®upgraded¡¯ it with Bunvorixian tech.¡±


    I nodded. Hopefully it wouldn¡¯t take long. Wasn¡¯t there a spell for this? I think Jerome said he took it. I technically had enough mana for that, and this wasn¡¯t the first time I¡¯d run into the issue of locked doors or the like. So it was worth purchasing a lowish level spell. But as it would take the last dregs of my mana, I wanted to see how Midnight was doing.


    ¡°Progress?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Uh, partial success,¡± Midnight said. ¡°This might take a while though.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m pretty much out of juice. So don¡¯t expect me to contribute more than thwacking or shooting people,¡± I said to the team. ¡°But I can try one thing. Worst case scenario, it just makes a loud noise.¡±


    I didn¡¯t actually wait for a response. We had just been shot at by a gatling gun, so it wasn¡¯t like our presence had gone unnoticed.


    I stepped forward and rapped my knuckles on the door. ¡°Power Brigade, open up!¡±


    Of course, the Knock spell did its own knocking, which was much louder. A loud thud. Then another. Finally, a third.


    ¡°Nice!¡± Midnight said. ¡°That bypassed a lot of the troublesome stuff! I think-¡± the door clicked open. ¡°We got it.¡±


    The door slid sideways, revealing a room- but no Flasher, for now.

 Chapter 280

    The first one to scurry into the room was our resident rodent. Fluffy charged over some sort of raised metal circle full of fancy gizmos I would have said was inadvisable to run across. Fortunately, there were no adverse consequences I saw. Fluffy chomped on a stray bolt lying on the floor, one that I believed was likely not a coincidence.


    ¡°Looks like Flasher took off that way,¡± I commented. ¡°Should be bits of his leg.¡±


    The room was strangely open, and I chose to walk around the circle, along with everyone else. Midnight stopped to look for a moment, though. ¡°Looks like a crude teleporter. Most likely, he had a bunch of tech shoved inside him to make him work like a freestanding node.¡±


    It seemed like we had both been lucky and unlucky Fluffy wasn¡¯t holding onto him at the time. It was unclear if Fluffy could have finished him off alone or not. Flasher should have been pretty damaged, but if he only had to fight the poor rust mole he could have stomped on him, or maybe stabbed him. His stoneskin had pretty much been used up already.


    We followed Fluffy down a short corridor, as he was the best at sniffing out our quarry- and he only rarely left bits and pieces. Maybe some oil, but the floor was already pretty grungy. Soon enough we came to an exit door of some sort- it opened from our side easily, leading out into what looked more like sewer tunnels.


    Sorority hung behind and propped open the door. She also moved ahead and followed just behind Fluffy. It was a short chase, during which there was one serious ground tremor. And then¡­


    ¡°He¡¯s gone up to the streets,¡± Sorority commented, rapidly climbing a ladder ahead of Fluffy and poking her head out. She held her hand up to her head. ¡°Command, Flash Circuit has broken the perimeter at my pinged location. He should be injured.¡±


    Our guidance came rapidly. ¡°With your other objectives completed, move to support Great Girl against Iron Shell. Defeat her by any means necessary.¡±


    Fluffy was still trying to figure out how to climb up the ladder. We had just let him drop down the other one, and while we could lift him up Zeb was explaining we didn¡¯t need to chase that guy.


    We did a quick team assessment. ¡°I¡¯m practically out of mana,¡± I said. ¡°Midnight?¡±


    ¡°Pretty low. I could perform one decent spell, but my suit will still provide practical support.¡±


    ¡°Right. I don¡¯t think my gun will do anything to Iron Shell, but I might be able to disrupt any super tech she¡¯s got shoved into her with my staff.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d probably be a liability,¡± Kick admitted. ¡°I¡¯ll remain on the perimeter and look for any interference.¡±


    I was pretty close to being a liability myself. But I was pretty close to level 39, and other than myself only Midnight could properly activate the staff. I obviously wouldn¡¯t try to brawl with Iron Shell alone, though. I had some self-preservation instinct.


    ¡°I¡¯m still functional without extra enhancements,¡± Sorority added.


    Shockfire nodded. ¡°I have plenty of stored power. And if I¡¯m allowed to just use all the best fire I have, I should be able to cause serious damage.¡±


    ¡°Fluffy needs to rest,¡± Zeb said. ¡°But he should probably follow after people so he¡¯s not alone. Maybe grab some turret bits to keep him busy before you get near Iron Shell?¡±


    That was a task I could accomplish, so I would scoop stuff up under my arm. We had updated maps, now, due to various assault teams. Great Girl¡¯s location had been sent out to us.


    We ended up saving a lot of distance when Iron Shell crashed through the wall on our way towards them. These weren¡¯t plaster walls, either.


    At the moment we just had one Sorority, to maximize her innate boosts. She reached out for Iron Shell¡¯s arm to hold her down, but the cyborg woman tossed her away as she rapidly stood to her feet. She rapidly shifted into a fighting stance, and an explosion behind her elbow propelled her arm forward towards Great Girl who was springing through the gap after her. The fist went right towards Great Girl¡¯s head¡­ and then over it.


    It looked like Great Girl had gotten faster at shrinking. A moment later, I saw that also extended to expanding again. How she didn¡¯t tumble over¡­ well, it had to be training. Lots of it.


    Great Girl¡¯s suit was tattered, with burn marks and bloody gashes all over her. Iron Shell wasn¡¯t looking so hot herself, with all sorts of dents and some missing armor panels. Great Girl lunged forward in a low tackle, and though Iron Shell elbowed her in the shoulder she still slammed into the cyborg¡¯s waist.


    There wasn¡¯t much room for too many people to get involved. Shockfire, Kick, Midnight, and I hung back. Sorority was already in the brawl, though her strength and durability were inferior compared to either of the two others. Zeb was yelling at Fluffy to stay back, but all he saw was a tasty cyborg that he¡¯d determined was our enemy.


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    The good news was that Iron Shell was clearly slower than Flasher. The bad news was she was highly durable, and I¡¯d seen an entire building fall on her before. I ducked as a random laser came from her arm. Kick moved further down the corridor, but the rest of us were ready when Great Girl managed to force Iron Shell back into the larger room they¡¯d come from.


    We poured inside, spreading out to come at her from all sides. Fluffy was clinging on Iron Shell¡¯s leg. Either he had a limit to his metal weakening abilities or she was a lot more durable than Flasher. Probably both.


    Great Girl and Sorority moved together, managing to snag an arm each. That would have been it for me, if I ended up in such a situation. Iron Shell released a burst of lightning around her that forced back everyone on her, except for Fluffy who was stubbornly clinging on.


    A moment later, she kicked him away- and I saw his teeth still embedded in her leg. Uh, mole teeth grew back right? Probably. Were they rodents? Were rust moles actually moles? I actually had a lot of questions about that.


    After the lightning, a barrier surrounded her. I recognized the feel of a Bunvorixian one. Most likely, Great Girl had battered her way through it earlier.


    Well, this was what I was here for. I lunged forward, Iron Shell responding with a shoulder mounted laser. I poured all of the dispelling magic from my staff into disrupting that barrier, which seemed to be generically good at disrupting anything but not as efficient as a single use ability. The laser still blasted into me, and I was going to need a good medical checkup after this. But the barrier went right back down, and then Iron Shell was dealing with a wall of flame covering her.


    Midnight still had Celmothian lasers, and without the barrier in play he just blasted the general area where Iron Shell was inside things. The instant the surge of flame stopped, he used most of the rest of his mana for an Energy Ward, restricting Iron Shell¡¯s lasers if only for a moment.


    Great Girl and Sorority were moving a bit slower after the shock, but they still rushed in with determination. Iron Shell didn¡¯t seem much the worse for wear from all the fire, though, and she knocked both of them away. Realizing her lasers didn¡¯t work for the moment, her body transformed and revealed more conventional weaponry.


    At that moment, ¡°Iron shell!¡± someone yelled from the other side of the room. ¡°Prepare to meet your ferrous doom! It is I, Magnet Man!¡±


    Iron Shell turned one arm towards him, and one towards Sorority, presumably to take her down swiftly. She opened fire. ¡°I¡¯m not magnetic,¡± I vaguely heard through the gunfire. Chunks of ceiling rained down near me.


    ¡°Hey, me neither!¡± Magnet Man called back to her. Iron Shell was moving oddly as her arms pointed up towards the ceiling, her body swaying as she almost dangled from them.


    Oh yeah, we did have a guy like that in the Brigade, didn¡¯t we? Wow, it sure would suck to be made pretty much entirely out of metal and fight a metal controller.


    Iron Shell didn¡¯t give up easily, though. Her lasers had been constantly active, and soon burned through the Energy Ward. And unlike the conventional guns, they didn¡¯t need to be aimed directly. Small adjustments allowed lasers to shoot out of her at many different angles. Until Magnet Man began ripping out tiny pieces of Iron Shell, I thought we were in for a pickle. Instead, all of her lasers rapidly stopped working.


    By that point, Great Girl got behind her and put her in a headlock. I wasn¡¯t sure what good that was going to do, because I wasn¡¯t sure if she could be choked out. Her neck was all metal and stuff and-


    Great Girl¡¯s head was scraping the fifteen foot ceiling in the room. The sound of twisting metal indicated she wasn¡¯t doing quite what I¡¯d thought. Iron Shell tried to stab her with about a hundred different things, but she was finding her body didn¡¯t open up its various compartments smoothly. It didn¡¯t seem like Magnet Man could completely lock her down himself, but he had the strength to hold her arms and affect small scale bits. A few bolts and wires were torn out and landed near Fluffy, who began licking them even as he lay on his side.


    The sound of wrenching metal- and in fact pretty much all sound- stopped. Great Girl stepped back from Iron Shell, holding her head. That gave us a pretty good view of how much of Iron Shell had been replaced. Because there was no flesh in the neck. A synthesized voice from the head still called Great Girl some rude things, until Shockfire stepped up and drained her remaining power.


    I wondered if she could survive that. I think the official Power Brigade status was that we didn¡¯t care. Maybe she had some non-powered components keeping her brain functional just in case.


    Magnet Man didn¡¯t immediately let Iron Shell¡¯s body flop to the ground, instead making sure we confirmed that the head was actually important. Once that was over, Great Girl breathed a sigh of relief. All of her size and amplified muscle proportions flowed out of her and she collapsed into what I hoped was an exhausted pile.


    Several of us rushed forward, but her pulse was steady. We still needed to get her to a medic, though. I was going to pick her up, but Sorority tossed Great Girl over her shoulder. Yeah, she was probably better at that than me, huh? Aside from being pretty big, I didn¡¯t have any supernatural strength.


    We took the various pieces of Iron Shell away, the main body dragged along by Magnet Man. I carried Fluffy. We met up with a large number of other Power Brigade members, with captured Mod Squad members being carted off in special containment vehicles.


    We hadn¡¯t caught Flasher, but I supposed a good second place was taking down Iron Shell. No wait, she was the leader so this was actually way better. Cool.


    And I had gotten a level.


    Fluffy needed new teeth though. He couldn¡¯t exactly recover them naturally without being able to eat his normal diet though. Maybe he could eat lasers?


    Eh, it would be easier to just have them regrown. I happened to be friends with an animal loving individual who I could probably convince to push him to the head of the line. She might even do it for free- though I¡¯d try to convince the Brigade to pay since Zeb and Fluffy were working with us. She was still short of being an official member, but maybe after this. The whole Bunvorixian and Martian incident had calmed down anyway.

 Chapter 281

    The conclusion of the Power Brigade assault on the Mod Squad was ultimately a success, but I had some concerns about my own performance. Obviously Flasher was not a great matchup for me personally, as my abilities were barely able to damage him. Even so, I had failed to make use of Dimensional Anchor which I learned with points specifically to use against him. The reason was, as usual, concerns about lacking mana.


    That was something that would theoretically fix itself as I advanced in levels even further, but I realized there was a missing component to that. As I gained a larger mana pool, I felt more comfortable using more powerful spells and more mana at once¡­ which ultimately left me back in a similar position, unless I had an advantage against a particular opponent and took them down quickly.


    Midnight had something to mitigate that with his Celmothian additions to his super suit. Lasers and the like running off a different power source, but still able to keep up with superhuman battles. Unlike my gun, which was mainly effective against weaker enemies, and briefly those with powers when I¡¯d had a stock of antimagic ammunition. Beyond that, I had my staff which while highly durable was only really usable in melee- and once again struggled against super villains.


    My staff also had a good chunk of dispelling magic in it, but that was basically only effective on things I could hit with it. Not that I was disappointed with it, as it had been a great boon. No, I had found it quite useful and it was my appreciation for it that led me to my next thought. I needed it to be more.


    Back in my own world, I had never had any sort of wealth with which I could even consider purchasing a magical staff or the like. Because of that, my studies had left me only limited knowledge on how such things worked. But aside from the wood material, my staff was made with materials from my old world. The fact that what I had was only good for dispelling- which wasn¡¯t actually a terrible restriction- had limited my thoughts about what magical equipment in general could do.


    The purpose of all this? The Power Brigade couldn¡¯t give me super tech guns or the like. Even Vilhelmiina¡¯s ammunition was made with things from my world. New Bay was fairly relaxed about what the Power Brigade could make in terms of defenses, but we didn¡¯t have a super tech making weapons, and would have been somewhat limited in our uses even if we did. But if I got things from my own world, they¡¯d have to let me use it aside from complying with sensible laws.


    I¡¯d have to talk with Sir Kalman on the topic. He could hopefully tell me how viable securing magical equipment was. His own armor was magical and possibly his weapons, but that didn¡¯t mean he had access to something useful for me.


    -----


    ¡°You have the parts?¡± I asked as I carefully pulled Rob out of Storage into my hands, carefully setting him on the table in front of us in Jerome¡¯s garage. I would have returned the chassis to my apprentice immediately, but I had decided that seeing him non-functional for a few days would have been worse for his mental state. I could have been wrong, of course, but the Brigade also needed to scan things to make sure there weren¡¯t any Mod Squad bugs or something like that.


    Jerome nodded, ¡°I just got a whole new robot instead of trying for individual parts, in case anything was missing.¡± He gestured to a shiny new box. ¡°Same model, of course. I wouldn¡¯t want to be worrying about compatibility.¡±


    Tylissa and Midnight were with us, the former having taken a few days off of work to help her son in this time of stress. Most teenagers didn¡¯t have a magically bonded ¡®pet¡¯ stolen from them by super villains right in front of their eyes. He¡¯d be fine though, because Rob would be fine. Also, the Power Brigade had good coverage for family so he could see a therapist if there were any problems.


    ¡°A lot of nicks and scrapes there,¡± Tylissa said, ¡°But he looks solid still.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I can¡­ feel him again, now. It¡¯s dull, but that should be because he¡¯s off. Far away and in Storage, I couldn¡¯t sense him at all.¡±


    It was clear that the two thugs hadn¡¯t been gentle when dismantling the disobedient robot, but neither were they entirely incompetent with technology. As one might expect from a group of cyborgs, they preferred their stolen tech to be generally intact. Rob did still have some problems even with a new battery hooked up, with his inner compartment half hanging open.


    Yet before Jerome could even press his power button, Rob was whirring and beeping at us again. My apprentice¡¯s eyes lit up immediately. ¡°Rob! You¡¯re okay!¡± Jerome flipped him onto his top, and Rob tracked forward right to the edge before stopping. ¡°You need to be more careful though. Villains are dangerous.¡± Rob beeped. ¡°Yeah, I know you¡¯re still kind of banged up. We have someone coming to help with that.¡±


    ¡°You did an amazing job with the Light spell,¡± I added. ¡°I need to do things like that more.¡± Rob beeped in response, but I didn¡¯t understand anything but the general sentiment of appreciation.


    ¡°I do like that you have the option,¡± Tylissa said. ¡°And while I understand your general choices, I do believe it is time for you to learn proper combat spells.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Jerome looked surprised. ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s a good idea?¡±


    ¡°It seems you got wrapped up in danger anyway,¡± Tylissa pointed out. ¡°And I do believe there are some appropriate spells that are not excessive.¡±


    ¡°Shocking Grasp is great,¡± I said. ¡°Good for preventing things like Rob being carried off, too. You probably don¡¯t need to learn something like Sonic Lance, but Water Blast would be good too.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Jerome said. ¡°That¡­ sounds like a good idea.¡±


    ¡°Just for self defense, of course,¡± Tylissa explained. ¡°Since trouble found you more or less independently¡­ it just seems prudent.¡± She sniffed, ¡°Ah, she¡¯s here.¡± She walked back towards the house, but just pressed the button to open the garage. As it was rolling up, she called out. ¡°Khithae! We¡¯re in here!¡±


    The gecko-like woman poked her head around the corner. ¡°Hello,¡± she said. ¡°Here I am for robot. To help fix him.¡± The words were clearly uncomfortable, and I soon cast Translate- she got plenty of practice speaking to people the rest of the time. ¡°Thank you.¡± She walked over to the table, which still carried Rob. ¡°And hello to you, little guy. Is it okay if we shut you down while I take a look at you? It is better for my magic.¡±


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    Rob shuffled back and forward in a vague approximation of a nod, beeping several times. Then his lights went out. Khithae frowned.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oh,¡± she shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that should be possible without pressing a switch. Though it depends on the construction, I suppose. Is he just in sleep mode?¡±


    ¡°He turned himself on earlier,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°I don¡¯t think the normal rules apply to him anymore.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± she nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s take a look.¡± She looked over his top. ¡°A bit banged up.¡± Then she flipped him over. ¡°Ah, yeah. There¡¯s the damage.¡± She traced her wide fingers over the damaged hatch. ¡°We¡¯ll get this fixed right up.¡±


    With a flicker of mana, she began to repair Rob. I had the feeling she spent more than strictly necessary, as I had seen her repair larger scale damage rather quickly. Rob didn¡¯t even have a ton of delicate parts or anything, and a repair spell shouldn¡¯t damage a construct¡¯s mind. But it was nice that she was careful anyway.


    Metal and plastic bent back into shape, small missing pieces seeming to reappear. I hadn¡¯t studied Khithae¡¯s magic enough to know what the limits were on that, though I was willing to bet the Power Brigade had some good details.


    ¡°And now he¡¯s done,¡± she said, patting Rob¡¯s belly and turning him over.


    Rob flickered awake and began beeping. ¡°Really?¡± Jerome asked. ¡°He said to thank you. Apparently he could feel that? Weren¡¯t you unconscious thought?¡± Rob beeped and whirred. ¡°Like a dream, maybe?¡± Rob responded with confusion. ¡°Well, I suppose you wouldn¡¯t normally have those.¡± He turned to us. ¡°He apparently felt stuff¡­ distantly.¡±


    ¡°Very interesting,¡± Khithae said. ¡°I wonder if I can have a familiar of my own¡­¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°You can try. Though you have a list now.¡± She had been with us on Mars, and thus our trip back through my old world.


    Her eyes went distant for a moment. ¡°No mention of Familiar.¡±


    ¡°Can you really read everything that fast?¡± I asked. ¡°You don¡¯t have such a limited list, right?¡±


    ¡°I just filtered out options for the word,¡± she said.


    ¡°I-¡± I looked at my options for spending points. It did indeed seem I could look for a specific name. I was aware I could filter by level, but that wasn¡¯t something I had experienced. Unfortunately, nothing else I tried seemed to work like looking for attack spells, though maybe with practice. ¡°Interesting.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t know it could do that?¡± Jerome asked. ¡°Seems pretty basic to me.¡±


    ¡°I usually just looked through for whatever I needed,¡± I said. Interesting. It was quite like a computer for that purpose. ¡°Anyway, it might not be called Familiar Bond. Maybe you have some sort of Companion option? They¡¯d be more of a combatant than a conduit for magic, in general.¡±


    ¡°Not with those words,¡± Khithae said. ¡°But I might look through the whole list.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably within the first handful of levels,¡± I said. ¡°I haven¡¯t really heard of something more costly than that.¡±


    ¡°Can you teach me Repair?¡± Jerome asked. ¡°It would be¡­ very useful.¡±


    Khithae looked at me.


    ¡°It¡¯s not my job to figure that out. If it¡¯s on our list, he can learn it if you¡¯re willing to teach it.¡± I had no intention of learning Repair even if it was on the list. I had no intention to relegate myself to the role of utility when I could be hitting things and gaining experience. I already had far too many things for that.


    With Rob once again in good form and returned to his proper owner, at least that issue was dealt with. It was a good thing none of the damage was to whatever made Rob¡­ him. I was guessing the computer bits and some magic, but maybe it could do without the first part. I hadn¡¯t ever made a construct so I didn¡¯t know what made them think and function as Familiars either.


    -----


    I hadn¡¯t picked my friends because they could use magic. In fact, none of them could use magic at all until after I met them, though all of those with other powers had them before. That said, pretty much all of my friends had some sort of power now, and that was useful. I wasn¡¯t going to hesitate to ask them to use their abilities to help me or my other friends, just like I would do the same for them in turn.


    Plus, I was fairly sure Ceira would have wanted to do what I requested of her anyway. It was just that doing this technically cost her a lot of money. Or prevented her from earning said significant sum of money.


    ¡°I hope there wasn¡¯t anyone important on your regeneration list,¡± I said to Ceira.


    ¡°Nah, I have some flex in my schedule. There are a few rich people who aren¡¯t getting called in today, but they didn¡¯t know they could have been accepted anyway. I took your advice, by the way. In like a year I¡¯ll probably have enough money to pay for the entire healthcare system in Africa.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not really, but I seriously might be able to open a hospital somewhere. Though my financial adviser said that it¡¯s probably better to seek to join up with other projects that are already underway. Do you know how much some people are willing to pay to have their bad back and a crick in their neck fixed?¡±


    I pondered. ¡°Ten thousand?¡±


    Ceira snorted. ¡°You don¡¯t know the right people, then. Not that I really know them. But one guy paid more to fix his worn out knees than I get paid to regrow an arm for the heroes. And yes, I charge non-heroes based on wealth.¡± She shook her head, ¡°I can¡¯t tell you who it is, but some people have too much money. There are a couple¡­ my assistant learned some pretty terrible things about them though. More than normal super rich people, I mean. So they¡¯re never getting anything healed unless they¡¯re willing to give up a billion.¡± She frowned. ¡°And maybe not even then.¡±


    ¡°You have an assistant?¡± I asked as we approached our destination inside the Power Brigade. The route was cleared to preserve Ceira¡¯s identity, because Regenerate was a pretty big deal. Maybe we could find some other druids who would want to move here. I didn¡¯t want to take Ceira¡¯s business but she sounded like she was pretty well set, even if she hadn¡¯t quoted actual numbers.


    ¡°Oh, yeah. A sweet old lady named Angelica,¡± Ceira said. ¡°I got her to help me vet the potential customers that come from outside the hero and mercenary arena. Because there was no way for me to do all of that on my own. Apparently she has some connections to the intelligence community, so she¡¯s able to find a lot. But mostly I care if people are telling the truth about their financial circumstances and that they aren¡¯t terrible.¡±


    The door opened, revealing our current target. Fluffy sat there in his natural form, with Zeb napping on top of him. When the door opened her head jerked up, then she tumbled to the side. She barked at us. Yeah¡­ Bunvorixians weren¡¯t meant to speak Earth languages. Then she tapped her head on the floor, pressing against a ring and barked again. A few seconds later, we got a translation spoken by her headband.


    ¡°Greetings. You are the one who brings the healing?¡± The calm words contrasted with Zeb bouncing around and running in circles, yapping at Fluffy.


    ¡°Adorable,¡± Ceira said.


    ¡°Yeah. The Bunvorixian translator needs work though.¡±

 Chapter 282

    Once we had Zeb¡¯s words properly translating, she sounded a lot more like normal.


    ¡°So you can heal Fluffy¡¯s teeth, right? He¡¯s barely been able to chew on anything!¡±


    Ceira nodded, approaching Fluffy, who sniffed at her with interest. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re pretty big, huh?¡± He nuzzled her hand as it got close. ¡°I¡¯m gonna heal you, okay? Just show me your teeth.¡± Fluffy didn¡¯t seem to get that he was supposed to open his mouth, so Zeb relayed the message.


    I still didn¡¯t know how healing magic worked, and Regenerate was a different sort of thing. But I saw the little nubs in Fluffy¡¯s mouth turn into sharp incisors. I hadn¡¯t actually looked that closely, but I realized that his teeth were more plentiful than I had initially imagined. I was thinking of teeth like a rodent, after all, but while he had something like their incisors- maybe a bit smaller- there were also more small and pointy teeth throughout his mouth. I was fairly certain that wasn¡¯t the normal arrangement, but maybe the needs of chewing through metal and also chomping their more normal food resulted in the odd combination.


    ¡°That¡¯s so cool! When can I do that?¡± Zeb asked, nearly sticking her face into Fluffy¡¯s mouth in her efforts to look at his teeth.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you can¡¯t,¡± I answered. ¡°I could be wrong though. I don¡¯t know all of the abilities beastmaster has.¡±


    ¡°But I thought we were the same thing?¡± Zeb asked. ¡°You said she has companions too!¡±


    Ceira shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not a beastmaster though, but a druid. It¡¯s the more magicy version, I think.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that makes sense,¡± Zeb nodded. ¡°So where is your companion?¡±


    ¡°Well, they are¡­ not here right now,¡± Ceira said. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to worry about them meeting an unknown kind of animal.¡±


    ¡°Plus she thought it would be awkward,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Since they¡¯re a cat and dog.¡± Ceira made a face at that.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Zeb looked excited. ¡°Dogs look like Bunvorixians, right? I haven¡¯t met any! I only got to see pictures. But maybe when I¡¯m allowed to go out I¡¯ll meet some!¡±


    ¡°... You can¡¯t go out?¡± Ceira asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m technically an alien invader!¡± Zeb explained enthusiastically. ¡°The Martians were like, super angry about some things we were ordered to do. But most of us didn¡¯t know that everyone here is super nice and there are squirrels. I think everyone would change their mind if they knew.¡± She lowered her head to rest on a paw thoughtfully. ¡°Except maybe the leaders did know that? They hid a lot of things. I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re bad. And Spot isn¡¯t nice. But us working caste and most of the warrior caste are good, I promise!¡± Zeb paused for just a moment. ¡°Wait you have two companions? Maybe that¡¯s why my ability selection is weird.¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± Ceira said. ¡°But they¡¯re kind of splitting the boost, I think? It¡¯s not entirely clear,¡± she admitted. ¡°What do you mean by weird?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t actually know what it¡¯s supposed to look like, but I know chosen abilities are supposed to go away!¡± Zeb explained with her standard enthusiasm. ¡°Tur- Mage said that. But I have Companion Bond. But its still sitting there in the things I can select! Maybe I can have more.¡± Zeb let out a whining noise. ¡°Do you think I could get a squirrel? I want a squirrel!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to get one,¡± I said. ¡°Nor are they dangerous, so you could probably get one as a pet regardless of class abilities. But you have the option to select it?¡±


    ¡°Yep! I don¡¯t have enough points, though. Fluffy got me a lot of experience but it¡¯s suuuuper expensive! I¡¯m level 5 but it costs a whole 19 points! That¡¯s crazy because the first one was free.¡±


    ¡°You might have learned it naturally,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Also¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°It seems like it would be difficult to gain levels. Though I suppose your class would have simple methods. Like¡­ interacting with animals?¡±


    ¡°Maybe!¡± Zeb said. ¡°My experience goes up sometimes. And a lot when Fluffy was fighting. Not that I was looking while he was fighting but it was real big after! 80 is a lot of experience, right?¡±


    ¡°... It¡¯s a good thing that you chose an exceptional companion,¡± I said. ¡°Perhaps that is what would make a further Companion Bond expensive? We still need to tell if you can actually have multiple.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d need like, a whole other level,¡± Zeb said. ¡°I think. Points go up by level every time, right?¡±


    ¡°Right. But you can learn things naturally.¡±


    ¡°So points are like cheating!¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ they¡¯re kind of the normal way,¡± I said. ¡°The learning thing isn¡¯t part of the default? Or at least not without traveling to other planes.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I traveled to other planes! I went to your world.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s the normal one,¡± I pointed out. ¡°It doesn¡¯t count as an other.¡±


    ¡°Then how do I have Companion Bond without putting points in it? Did I start with extra?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been to both Earth and Mars,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Both of those are different planes. Or on the same different plane, I guess. Your stuff was still a bit weird, though. You almost had a bond with Fluffy before you got your class and it just seemed to work from there.¡± I tilted my head. ¡°I guess it¡¯s not crazy to assume that training from before someone has a class might count. It¡¯s just nobody here has class abilities, nobody from my world could improve with training nor would they ever not have a class except as a little kid.¡±


    ¡°How come I don¡¯t have a bunch of levels in cool scientist stuff?¡± Zeb asked. ¡°Am I not any good at that?¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°It¡¯s not part of Beastmaster,¡± I pointed out. ¡°And maybe it only counted because of the proximity of the events. We literally went from you wrestling Fluffy into annoyed submission to my world.¡±


    ¡°Okay. So about that squirrel thing¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll go look for some as soon as you¡¯re officially allowed to roam about,¡± I said.


    Zeb nodded enthusiastically. ¡°Good. Also, I want to meet your buddies!¡± she said to Ceira.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Ceira said. ¡°We¡¯ll do that sometime.¡±


    -----


    I had all sorts of plans for the future. All of those were tossed aside all at once after I messaged Sir Kalman for one of our regular check-ins, but another opportunity opened up.


    Instead of a message indicating everything was going well, I got a proper response- limited by what he was allowed to reply in a Sending.


    ¡°Linduel under assault by strange weapons. Suspect influence from Earth. Requesting information and other aid if possible, Scry my location for potential destination.¡±


    Most of the time my messages were just a formality. But this sounded like something we had to actually pay attention to. Linduel was one of the primarily elven nations near Graotan.


    I brought it directly to the attention of Calculator, and his response was swift, immediately initiating a video call. ¡°Ask them how much they can pay.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t this be Extra¡¯s thing?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he replied. ¡°I¡¯ll ask them how much they can pay. You¡¯re still at your apartment?¡±


    ¡°I mean, I did just wake up,¡± I pointed out. ¡°I was just doing my regular contact and I got that reply.¡±


    ¡°See if you can get more information on the strange weapons, and whatever else he thinks ties this to Earth. Extra will be eager to know. Obviously, you and Midnight will likely be coordinating with agents from Extra.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to need to Scry Sir Kalman,¡± I said. ¡°So we¡¯ll be going into HQ.¡±


    Midnight stepped into the apartment. He had his own key, and only the hallway separated us. ¡°Something going on?¡± he asked. ¡°You¡¯re a bit different. Agitated?¡±


    ¡°A little,¡± I agreed. ¡°Something weird¡¯s going on in my old world. Maybe lasers.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ lasers would be bad, right?¡± Midnight prompted.


    ¡°I¡¯m just guessing. They would be bad, but there are ways to protect against them with magic. It¡¯ll take at least twenty minutes to confirm a response,¡± I said. I had to think about how to word the message as well. Finally, I settled for this: ¡°Please describe strange weapons and reasons for other suspicions. Projectile guns, like you saw before? Or more like magic, but not? Coordinating response will take time.¡±


    Ultimately, we went back and forth a few times. Sir Kalman indicated they weren¡¯t in a true rush, except perhaps for the information. He confirmed projectile guns, and indeed something like lasers. I mostly told him what he already knew- only magic armor would protect against modern guns, and spells could resist the lasers. I specifically mentioned Energy Ward, and how they were light that caused damage with heat.


    By that point, I was at HQ, prepared to Scry him. I was lucky I could get a persistent image of his location, because otherwise picturing it well enough to Gate there would be difficult. Especially since what I saw was basically the inside of a tent on top of bare dirt. It did have a symbol of the Order of the Lion, though, so that would help. I was lucky Sir Kalman was waiting for me to Scry him, because he almost subconsciously broke the spell, only stopping himself at the last instant. I gathered what information I could, but it wasn¡¯t that much.


    Needless to say, Extra was more than concerned about potential influence from Earth on this parallel realm. That was in part because of how they might respond in turn, though keeping people from invading other planets or dimensions in both directions was part of their general mission statement.


    From Scrying at HQ, Midnight and I were directly carted off to Extra. There, they had prepared a few squads- humans, and those who would generally seem fitting in my old world. They were equipped with their usual gear, however. Just no Martians or people like Jim. They still needed to be effective, after all.


    Malaliel was at the head of the thirty or so people. ¡°You can bring this many through, correct?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely, as long as people don¡¯t dawdle. It isn¡¯t a matter of numbers, but time.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± she nodded. ¡°And how would people react to an angel?¡±


    ¡°Well, I hadn¡¯t actually seen one when I was there. But we knew they existed. So uh, surprised. Respectful. Maybe a bit afraid.¡±


    ¡°That is within normal expectations,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°Just to be clear, our goal will be the removal of inappropriate weaponry from the realm, and of course any foreign actors. We will seek the most efficient method to do so, but we¡¯re not planning to fight a war. The squads are just for safety. We¡¯ll begin with information gathering.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± I said. ¡°Ready when you are.¡±


    ¡°Stand ready!¡± she gave the order. Not that the squads were particularly disorganized before that, but they were now anticipating. ¡°I will go through first. I can recognize Sir Kalman, and I might be less surprising than the rest of you.¡±


    ¡°Midnight,¡± I said. ¡°Even split.¡± I could technically cast a whole Gate myself, but I¡¯d been using a lot of spells and it was better to share regeneration. Assistive Familiar Casting was high enough rank to maximize Gate¡¯s output anyway, so it was just better to do it that way.


    Everything was going great until the second person tried to get through and¡­ smacked into a solid wall. Rather, the whole front rank. They staggered back, and fortunately everyone else stopped their movement immediately instead of causing a horrible mess.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Malaliel demanded.


    I peeked around. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. The Gate is clearly still open.¡± I walked forward, where one agent was pressing his hands against nothing. I stuck my arm through without trouble.


    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s rejecting technological gear?¡± she asked.


    I pointed to the gun hanging from her waist. ¡°Sure doesn¡¯t seem to be it.¡±


    Midnight ran through seamlessly. ¡°What about¡­ mana?¡±


    ¡°Could it be rejecting those without mana?¡± Malaliel asked. ¡°How? Why?¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Some of the other planes were sealing their borders. Maybe the material plane did something similar. Also, if these guys can¡¯t go through, you need to come back.¡±


    Midnight scurried over.


    ¡°You will be able to retrieve me, correct?¡± Malaliel asked, stepping back through the Gate just in case. I gestured for her to make sure her wings were through. Sir Kalman was beyond, watching with interest.


    ¡°It still feels stable. I don¡¯t know why more wouldn¡¯t work but¡­ it¡¯s all weird,¡± I said.


    Malaliel nodded, then hurried back through. ¡°Coordinate with Zorphax,¡± she said. ¡°I will begin to do what I can here. Make sure to send me those messages regularly.¡±


    ¡°We can do something like every hour,¡± I agreed. ¡°Probably through Midnight sometimes.¡± Not that it would make a serious difference to her. ¡°Gate¡¯s got about ten seconds left.¡±


    ¡°I will be fine here,¡± she said. ¡°I suggest testing with others who have mana before committing to anything else.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a lot of people like that at Extra?¡±


    ¡°They are usually very busy. But I do believe the Brigade has more than a few.¡±


    With that, the edges of the Gate began to pull in, and the tent beyond disappeared from vision, leaving behind only the typical background for the portal hall of Extra¡¯s New Bay branch.


    Zorphax was probably going to be annoyed. Calculator would probably be ecstatic.

 Chapter 283

    All this messing around with planar boundaries people were doing was really starting to become an annoyance. First the outer planes began closing off access so I couldn¡¯t ferry paladins around to unlock their abilities, and now the material plane was rejecting certain people.


    I didn¡¯t know how to deal with that, either. It didn¡¯t stop my Gate from forming, so I couldn¡¯t just¡­ push harder. I might be able to learn to circumvent it, but for the moment we were going to test who it would properly let through.


    Actually, if it had worked would Extra have had a bunch of agents with class abilities? As long as they were working under people like Zorphax and Malaliel it was probably fine. I¡¯d never had issues with our local branch, and the restrictions they had were sensible.


    Malaliel was an interesting question. The plane didn¡¯t reject her, even though she would normally be considered an extradimensional being. Neither did she have any class abilities as far as I knew, as her world¡¯s angels seemed to be different.


    Well, not that I was going to complain if she unlocked such abilities. Personally, everyone having ¡®powers¡¯ would be fine with me. It was only annoying when people like the Darkstargirl fanatics got powers and thought they could do whatever they wanted because everyone else didn¡¯t have them. And if they only attacked me then I would only be upset if they interrupted me during something important. Experience was good, after all.


    Though we were only working on a single point of evidence and a particular theory, the Power Brigade wasn¡¯t going to let a chance pass them by. Because if the Portal Squad newbies got access to the full suite including points, they¡¯d be much more effective.


    Thus it was that an hour later, which was just about enough time for Midnight and me to recover half a Gate¡¯s worth of mana, all of them were suited up and waiting for transportation. Their outfits were a little less filled with primary colors and spandex than the typical super, but despite some theming related to their classes they were still clearly from modern times. Especially with Punk Monk¡¯s hairstyle.


    If she wanted me to call her Iron Hawk she would have made that known, so I didn¡¯t bother. Anielka didn¡¯t particularly like being called Bandage, but I didn¡¯t have a great name for her so she¡¯d have to go by her official name. The rest were fine, though Boom seemed like his name should have already been taken by someone. Honey Badger, Bolster, and Twirl accepted their monikers as part of the whole Power Brigade package.


    Midnight and I prepared to open a Gate. If it didn¡¯t work, we¡¯d have to reassess- perhaps only the two of us could go through after Malaliel. But for now all we had to do was-


    ¡°Wait wait wait!¡± came a familiar series of barks. I knew a tiny portion of Bunvorixian now, so I knew that wasn¡¯t the only thing such hurried barks could mean. Either way, I almost constantly had Translation active, since Midnight needed it and would share if I was near whenever he refreshed. Zeb came running up with Fluffy as the van began to pull up. ¡°I heard something about lasers! Fluffy wants to come too! Also me!¡±


    ¡°Well I don¡¯t know if-¡± I paused my statement, because I realized she looked different. Her suit blended in so well with her fur I hadn¡¯t noticed it. ¡°Where did you get that suit?¡±


    ¡°The clothes guy got it for me!¡± She couldn¡¯t possibly say Francois without Translation on, but I knew who she meant pretty easily. ¡°He said he wanted to work on more non-humanoid forms! It might keep me from dying, which is pretty cool because I never got anything like this back home. I can¡¯t just send Fluffy, obviously, since you¡¯ll be in a different dimension and stuff.¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to be the person to tell her she couldn¡¯t come. Both because I didn¡¯t want to see her disappointed and I didn¡¯t want to stop her if she felt like it. She was responsible for her own risk. ¡°I think you have to ask for permission from Calculator or¡­ Extra or something.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Zeb said. ¡°But Calculator said I could go out soon and soon is now!¡±


    ¡°I think the driver will need to be told,¡± I pointed out.


    Zeb shook her head, not disregarding my words but to swing around something around her neck. ¡°Hello? Calculator?¡± She used the Bunvorixian word for calculator, obviously. The bark, growl, and whine variations in the language were something I¡¯d have a hard time discerning non-magically.


    I was very pleased to hear similar sounds in return. ¡°You do realize this is an emergency contact device, not just something to chat whenever you want?¡±


    ¡°I need to go to the place with the laser people,¡± Zeb explained.


    ¡°Why?¡± Calculator asked, his confusion defaulting to English then being repeated in Bunvorixian. That guy learned fast. Also I was pretty sure human vocal chords weren¡¯t supposed to make sounds like that. Did fancy mental processing abilities let you do weird things like that? Then again, he was speaking through a computer so it could be something else.


    ¡°... Because Fluffy likes lasers?¡± Zeb tilted her head. ¡°And I need to¡­ test this suit.¡±


    ¡°Not good enough,¡± Calculator replied.


    Midnight interjected, as one of the few who could understand. ¡°Tell him it¡¯s to get in Extra¡¯s good graces.¡±


    ¡°Midnight said to tell you that I¡¯ll be extra good.¡± When she saw Midnight paw his face, she stopped herself. ¡°I mean, wouldn¡¯t it be better to show Extra I can help, since this is their thing that they can¡¯t do?¡±


    Silence. Then after precisely five seconds, Calculator replied. ¡°I¡¯ve authorized you to go. Don¡¯t screw up. Listen to Mage, Familiar, and Malaliel.¡±


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°Alright everybody,¡± said the lady driving our van. ¡°Finish up this¡­ discussion and start packing it in.¡± She paused, pulling out a device that had beeped. ¡°I guess that includes the Bunvorixian and her companion.¡±


    Zeb hopped into the back of the van as the doors opened despite likely only understanding half of that. Though I cast Translation on her a couple moments later, so she could converse with the others.


    ¡°I need someone with hands to strap me in,¡± Zeb said. ¡°I don¡¯t have cool magic ones or any Flexipaws.¡±


    ¡°And what are Flexipaws?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They¡¯re like Midnight¡¯s stuff, but¡­ Bunvorixian. Well, not a whole suit though.¡±


    Boom, who had not been privy to the conversation until the point of the van, commented, ¡°Should Fluffy be strapped in or¡­? Also, welcome along.¡±


    ¡°Fluffy is fluffy so he will be okay if we stop real fast. Also yes, hi everyone! I got permission to come with you guys to stop the laser people!¡±


    Everyone smiled slightly. The Portal Squad had been training with- or at least around- Zeb since she¡¯d first arrived. Until recently most of her access to the Brigade had been a particular training room, though she was slowly being integrated into the group as a whole. I don¡¯t know if anyone actually asked if that¡¯s what she wanted, but I was certain she would have said yes and not just because she was agreeable.


    There were now more reasons than before to not just Gate from inside the Brigade. Aside from the general desire of Extra to limit extraplanar shenanigans, the building was now warded against more magical versions of things, whereas before it had mainly been proof against the sorts that came with super powers. Not that they couldn¡¯t have prevented magical teleportation or intrusion, but narrow tailored defenses were more effective. HQ had a lot of layers of stuff.


    Ultimately, an hour and a half after we were supposed to all join Sir Kalman in my old world, Midnight and I finally got our chance along with a very different arrangement of people than Extra had originally planned. Midnight and I split the cost for Gate, and this time I noticed some tension in its creation that I hadn¡¯t before. It had probably been there, but the formation was still easy enough.


    Zorphax did insist that one Extra agent attempt to pass through, just in case it had been a temporary block for some reason. But the guy couldn¡¯t pass through, and the rest of our squad began to move into the tent. ¡°Ah good,¡± we heard Malaliel from a different angle. ¡°I¡¯m glad that worked, at least.¡±


    Midnight and I went through last, as was tradition. Though once Midnight got some more levels- enough to cast Gate alone- we could split up between front and back. That would be something like four more levels or three and a rank up for the spell. Though that wouldn¡¯t work well for dimensions that were harder to travel to, like ones with tenuous connections. In general, we liked to use the full power to maximize time and portal stability.


    A gauntleted fist immediately came for my gut after the portal closed, but I was ready. I caught Sir Kalman¡¯s arm and managed to throw him, though he didn¡¯t go as far or hit the ground as hard as I might have hoped. Our impromptu wrestling match was encouraging, because that meant there wasn¡¯t anything urgent that had to draw away our attention.


    Even with Power Brigade training and a decent advantage in height, Sir Kalman was going to beat me nine times out of ten. His class boosted martial prowess, after all. Even if he didn¡¯t use any active things, he was just better suited for such a match. But losing wasn¡¯t a bad thing. The point was to gain experience, much like orcish tradition, so even the inferior should come out ahead of where they were.


    Fortunately Sir Kalman had his own healing for my bruises, because Bandage didn¡¯t seem particularly enthusiastic about the thought.


    ¡°Now that that¡¯s over,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°Sir Kalman was able to explain the situation to me in detail. There is almost certainly extradimensional influence, and the most likely candidate is our world given what we¡¯ve seen. Without seeing things in person, I am unable to assess whether it is connected to Doctor Doomsday or some other group, though he is the only one we know to have undue influence on extradimensional incursions especially as it relates to this world.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. I pointed to Fluffy. ¡°This guy eats lasers.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯ve heard,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°It is my understanding that Martians generally consider their kind pests.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s so adorable!¡± Zeb said. ¡°How could they think that?¡±


    ¡°He did try to bite you,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°That was before we were friends! But now that we are friends he¡¯d never hurt me on purpose!¡±


    Well, she was right about that. For multiple reasons, really. I was fairly certain he couldn¡¯t have become her companion by force, but once it was in place such a bond tended to increase fondness between anyone involved. It was good for both parties, so it made sense.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± I redirected the conversation. ¡°He is quite resistant to lasers and theoretically valuable against most sorts of technology. And Zeb is here to control him.¡±


    ¡°If I get a bunch of levels I can eat lasers too!¡±


    I looked over at her. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Maybe!¡± Zeb bounced around. ¡°I can get Aspect Sharing which probably does that.¡±


    ¡°I would suggest testing with something other than being shot by lasers until you know for sure,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°I could eat wires!¡± she said. ¡°I kinda wanted to try it before. They¡¯re like pasta!¡±


    ¡°No sauce though.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Good point.¡±


    ¡°So speaking of classes,¡± I looked at Malaliel. ¡°Did you get one?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I would. I already have my own magic.¡±


    ¡°From being an angel?¡±


    ¡°More or less,¡± she said. ¡°It should be quite similar to the abilities of these paladins here. Healing, battlefield auras, and even augmenting my attacks.¡±


    ¡°What about laser resistance?¡±


    ¡°That is what my equipment is for,¡± Malaliel pointed out. She wasn¡¯t in her normal office worker garb. Instead, she was outfitted with military gear, though lacking in bulk. Most likely with super tech involved, so it should still be quite effective. ¡°Though in general, I am more resistant to damage.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I should have been born an angel,¡± I said.


    ¡°Somehow, I have no doubt you would have still ended up quite similarly placed,¡± Malaliel said.


    I just decided to assume that was a good thing. She liked me, right?

 Chapter 284

    Though they had their own weapons, Sir Kalman saw fit to provide Honey Badger and Twirl more practical ones.


    ¡°If there¡¯s a battle here,¡± he said. ¡°It will be on a real battlefield. No time to consider sparing people. If they properly surrender, we¡¯ll take them in.¡±


    Our barbarian got a warhammer- and a shield. While I believed the shield was entirely non-magical, it was still a solid chunk of steel and should protect him from most things, including laser weaponry. At least for a period of time. I probably wouldn¡¯t recommend he let them keep continuous fire on him.


    Twirl got a rapier. ¡°After you get in position,¡± Sir Kalman explained. ¡°You thrust. Use all the muscle you have. The cutting edge isn¡¯t for chopping, but can be used to slice someone open if it¡¯s positioned right,¡± he demonstrated a draw cut with the blade placed over a dummy¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°What about me?¡± Iron Hawk demanded.


    ¡°What about you? Have you used a weapon?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve knocked people out with a lead pipe. Used a knife. And I have firearms training,¡± she said, patting her leg.


    All of us had a holster with a personal gun, even if that wasn¡¯t our primary or even secondary option in everyday work. Sometimes, mercenaries just needed a reliable ranged option. It was also good incentive for people to not shoot at us, really. Though depending on our powers some didn¡¯t care that much. Francois¡¯ outfits were quite bullet resistant, but nothing was truly bulletproof. Someone could always have a bigger or faster bullet.


    ¡°Right,¡± Sir Kalman replied. ¡°How many of those have you used since becoming a monk?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I used the pipe. But they told me to replace it with a staff,¡± she gestured to the weapon she was holding.


    ¡°Sounds like you¡¯ve got one. What were you expecting?¡±


    ¡°... Wouldn¡¯t a halberd be better? It¡¯s basically the same.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Can you use your abilities with a halberd?¡±


    ¡°I should be able to, right?¡±


    He pointed to a boulder. ¡°Try to break that. With your fist or your staff or whatever.¡±


    She used her staff like a spear, thrusting at the rock. It didn¡¯t explode into pieces of anything, but it did crack where she hit it. ¡°That¡¯s about it. Wouldn¡¯t it be better with a proper spear?¡±


    ¡°Guess we¡¯ll find out,¡± Sir Kalman said in a way that told me he already knew something. Why didn¡¯t I know it? Oh right, I had never really interacted with any monks. He had someone bring over a partisan. It was basically a spear with a really long point and some wings out to the sides. ¡°Now try it again.¡±


    I felt her mana try to form- everything from our world used mana, not ki or whatever- and she stabbed forward. There was a horrible sound as the tip of the weapon snapped off upon striking the boulder.


    ¡°Why?¡± Iron Hawk grumbled. ¡°This again, huh?¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯ve run into this before,¡± I said.


    ¡°The Brigade had me try different sorts of weapons. I just assumed that the problem was they weren¡¯t authentic.¡±


    ¡°I must have missed some of those training records,¡± I admitted.


    Sir Kalman picked up the tip of the partisan, taking the weapon from Iron Hawk¡¯s hand and giving both to one of his subordinates. ¡°Bring that to the smiths for repair.¡±


    I assumed said smiths would actually have some magic to repair it. Because even though I wasn¡¯t a smith, I knew that a broken blade like that required basically a full reforging. You couldn¡¯t just melt the bits together and assume it would be good.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Sir Kalman continued. ¡°The simple answer to your question is this. Monks focus their mana through their own bodies. They can also do so with simple weapons- a perfect cylinder like a staff is a good example. The more complicated the weapon, the more difficult it is. So you need some more training. I can get you a proper trainer.¡±


    ¡°... Aren¡¯t you all paladins?¡± she asked.


    Sir Kalman chuckled. ¡°If the Order of the Lion were exclusively paladins, we¡¯d probably crumble apart the first time we came into contact with any proper foes. Paladins like myself might be our backbone, but we¡¯re not much good without clerics and mages. We even accept warriors and those of other martial disciplines if they¡¯re willing to stand alongside us. The discipline of a good monk is appreciated, if rare.¡±


    I was just wondering if Repair was a paladin spell. That made a lot more sense. It was like me assuming the public facing mercenaries of the Brigade were everything there, just people who could fight in one way or another. Well, not quite since powers tended to be quite diverse and weren¡¯t chosen, unlike classes. But ignoring the people behind the scenes required to make a functioning group was silly. If Francois didn¡¯t exist, every member of the Power Brigade would be full of holes. And generally dead.


    ¡°So you have someone who can teach me?¡± Iron Hawk said. ¡°Cool.¡±


    ¡°Is it?¡± Sir Kalman shook his head. Slang didn¡¯t always Translate well.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Speaking of which, Midnight and I were going to have to measure how much we could use it. Even with Multicasting, hitting everyone would be troublesome. In this case, we¡¯d cast it on Sir Kalman but in the future we¡¯d need to do more. Midnight and Zeb couldn¡¯t speak humanoid languages without it, which left us with only two more for an efficient Multicasting. It would probably be Sir Kalman- who would be interacting with us the most- and Malaliel- who would be interacting with the other locals the most.


    Too bad Malaliel wasn¡¯t one of those angels that spoke all mortal tongues. Actually, maybe that only worked on a per-world basis. They could probably just learn them, with their presumably unlimited lifespans. I hadn¡¯t asked Malaliel about that one, though. The rules could be different with her.


    In terms of weapons, our bard Boom shouldn¡¯t be involved in melee combat at all. Bolster was a mage like me, or maybe not like me in that she also should not be involved in melee.


    Bandage could brawl, but she already had a proper truncheon. While designed to be non-lethal, that didn¡¯t make it any less incapacitating in a proper battle. Either way, she refused when offered a mace with some intimidating spikes on it. She really wasn¡¯t supposed to be on the frontlines if we could help it.


    With all of that sorted out¡­ we had some traveling to do. Apparently, the Order of the Lion hadn¡¯t quite made it to Linduel just yet. It was further east than I¡¯d ever been, though that didn¡¯t mean much since I wasn¡¯t exactly widely traveled. Izzy had probably been there, though. If she had been interested in a mercenary career, she probably would have been with us right now.


    -----


    ¡°... I preferred being in a van,¡± Twirl said, as we rode along. The Order had spare horses for various reasons, so we were using some of those.


    I agreed, mostly. ¡°Celmothian vehicles would be nice.¡±


    Midnight shrugged. He wasn¡¯t the one who had to deal with a saddle all day, though. He was instead plopped down on a nearby supply cart, with Fluffy.


    Speaking of Fluffy¡­


    ¡°Whoa, is that a squirrel?¡± Zeb darted off into a field. ¡°I think I saw a squirrel!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a rabbit!¡± I called after her.


    ¡°Oh, I want a rabbit!¡± She sniffed around. ¡°I think she went in here! Hello, miss rabbit! Please come out and say hello!¡±


    ¡°You do realize that if they don¡¯t speak a language, it still just sounds like you¡¯re barking at them?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re friendly barks!¡±


    ¡°Wild animals won¡¯t know that,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Fluffy understood!¡±


    ¡°Fluffy attacked us for invading his home and then gave up because there were too many of us and he was confused.¡±


    ¡°... Maybe it wants some food. What do rabbits eat? Do they eat jerky?¡±


    ¡°They eat vegetables,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh cool! There¡¯s grass right here,¡± Zeb said, tearing some up and letting whatever didn¡¯t fall out from between her teeth drop in front of the burrow.


    ¡°That¡¯s not-¡± I shook my head and looked over at Midnight. ¡°Surely Bunvorixians have vegetables.¡±


    ¡°Even we do,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And we¡¯re almost purely carnivores.¡±


    ¡°I only ate nutrient paste.¡± Zeb commented. ¡°It was kind of slimy and gross. But all the food on Earth has been really good!¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure what she¡¯d been eating. Hopefully not dog food, since that wasn¡¯t made to particularly great standards most of the time. Then again, I had seen her at the cafeteria and all of that stuff was good. Maybe not quite balanced for canines though.


    Zeb went about ten times as far as the rest of us, with all of her darting around. She did eventually get tired and collapse into a cart, and I kind of wanted to do the same. I still wasn¡¯t made for riding, despite a bit of prior experience. I imagined it would have been a lot worse in different clothing, though. Leave it to Francoic to make a suit that was so comfortable and practical.


    Along the way, Sir Kalman occasionally received updates, which he discussed with Malaliel. Our purpose was not to fight a war, but to verify the presence of particular weapons and come up with some sort of plan to neutralize them.


    I imagined they would probably be shielded against EMPs. Also, it wasn¡¯t like I could just make an electromagnetic pulse whenever I wanted. That wasn¡¯t a spell.


    One of the current plans was to organize raids on enemy camps- depending on how big they were, among other things. We were still only a small number of people, and powers weren¡¯t exceptional here. If it were so easy to completely disarm people then it would be done in every war, however. We might be able to find and destroy backup energy cells or the like.


    The more likely plan was that after we confirmed the presence of disruptive technology to trace it back to the source. It may not be glorious to leave Linduel to their own devices- plus the support of the Order of the Lion and whoever else- but if we could go cut off the flow of such weapons it would accomplish our purposes.


    ¡°So who do you think is responsible?¡± I asked Malaliel casually. ¡°Doomsday? Mod Squad? Some faction outside of New Bay? Bunvorixians?¡±


    ¡°To my understanding, the Grey Gunners you had trouble with in Yew-Kay are now inoperative. However, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if others tried to replicate some of their efforts but more¡­ intelligently. Gold is worth more in our world than as currency here, I believe. So any number of groups could have arranged for an exchange of that sort if they had extradimensional access.¡±


    ¡°So mostly Doomsday. Though the weird planar stuff¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°Nah, he probably already has countermeasures for whatever they set up to keep out manaless people or however it works. If we¡¯re lucky, it snapped closed his portals and cost him a lot of time and effort, though.¡±


    We- by which I meant myself and any others with portal manipulation abilities including the ability to smash devices that made them- had dealt with all the active portals we could find, obviously, but Doomsday probably had a million secret bases we didn¡¯t know about. And if he wasn¡¯t personally involved in this particular business, he might have sold some tech to other villains.


    Or the natives of this world could have gone to Earth themselves. Or another dimension, since if they were connected somehow we could probably access those with Gate too. It wasn¡¯t like I was the only person in this world with the spell.


    ¡°I would like to make continued attempts to bring through more agents of Extra,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°If you can conserve some mana for attempts when we stop to camp.¡±


    ¡°If Midnight and I split the cost for Translate, we can manage it.¡± There were a lot of things we wanted to keep active, but as we weren¡¯t near the battlefield Stoneskin was too expensive in multiple ways. The replacement material components would actually be costly here, instead of using powder from industrially made diamonds. We only had so many baggies. Force Armor lasted a long time and was cheap, so that meant ultimately we could keep ahead.


    I couldn¡¯t help but be reminded that the ambient mana was lower than in New Bay, though. The amounts were what I had considered ¡®normal¡¯ for a long time, but now that I had to go back to them after experiencing better I was a bit disillusioned. I wasn¡¯t expecting anything like the ancient plane which was thick with mana, but at least double would be more comfortable.

 Chapter 285

    ¡°... We need to learn to teleport,¡± I said to Midnight.


    ¡°Okay,¡± he said. ¡°Sounds good to me.¡±


    Right. Teleportation was a pretty normal, everyday thing for him. I thought about that and my aching lower body as I rode my horse. ¡°Which one should it be?¡±


    ¡°There are options?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Obviously. There¡¯s short range stuff like Dimension Door. Then long range stuff like the Teleport spell, and also Teleportation Circle. Obviously I mean a longer range one so we don¡¯t have to do this,¡± I gestured at the horse and the group around us.


    Midnight thought for a few moments. ¡°What¡¯s the difference between the latter two?¡±


    ¡°The second one makes an area that can move a lot of people over a period of time, but it takes material components. Teleport brings a small group all at once, for just mana.¡±


    ¡°That sounds good,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Though it wouldn¡¯t help us here.¡±


    Sir Kalman commented on that, as he was riding nearby. ¡°I don¡¯t think Linduin would much appreciate you teleporting into their borders. The other option might be nice, though. For a group like this, we could have made quick time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still expensive,¡± I said. ¡°And would have required the material ahead of time, proper knowledge of the destination, that destination not being warded¡­¡± I began to list things off.


    Sir Kalman nodded. ¡°I think the Order could have covered the costs. Or perhaps Linduel, indirectly. But I imagine we¡¯d need to send a message ahead.¡±


    ¡°Which I could do if I knew the right person. And all of that other stuff,¡± I concluded.


    ¡°Sounds pretty simple then,¡± Midnight answered. ¡°The one that works for us and a group of¡­ how many?¡±


    ¡°Like six or eight or something,¡± I shrugged. It wasn¡¯t like the spell had a description, unfortunately. ¡°It might care about potency somehow¡­?¡±


    ¡°And I suppose I should ask,¡± Midnight said. ¡°How far can it go?¡±


    ¡°At full cost, anywhere on a planet. Theoretically,¡± I said. ¡°It scales up to the same price as Gate for that, so you wouldn¡¯t be able to do it alone just yet. And the precision might leave something to be desired below that.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t know where you want to go well or don¡¯t have the mana, you can arrive off target. Somewhere safe, though.¡±


    ¡°Define ¡®safe¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Uh, it would usually have footing. Though I think you can end up at the surface of an ocean or lake- but not underwater unless you were trying to?¡± I shrugged. ¡°I was so far from being able to teleport that I don¡¯t remember all the details. My basic book doesn¡¯t cover it and neither does Portal Theory. That does cover Teleportation Circle though.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the cost for that, anyway?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Amber dust?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Like, a lot of it. I feel like it would be more expensive than industrial diamond powder but I could be wrong. Way more quantity, at least.¡±


    ¡°It does sound like a useful option still,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Well, here it would be. In New Bay, we¡¯d probably be better off driving so that we don¡¯t have to recover the mana. Though we might be able to infiltrate some buildings with it,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°Our points have to go to something, I suppose,¡± he said. ¡°And that¡¯s a good candidate.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I think so too. I think I¡¯ll spend it.¡±


    Since the journey was still ongoing, it was a good time to review my full ability list.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 39


    Experience: 3933/4100


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +9 (6|3)


    Firebolt +7 (5|2)


    Shocking Grasp +7 (4|3)


    Grease +4 (2|2)


    Force Armor +10 (7|3)


    Mage''s Reach +6 (3|3)


    Translation +5 (1|4)


    Alter Time Flow +10 (6|4)


    Disguise +1 (0|1)


    Familiar Bond +10 (5|5)


    Size Shift +5 (2|3)


    Energy Ward +9 (5|4)


    Sonic Lance +5 (3|2)


    Advanced Divination Magic +7 (3|4)


    Shield +3 (1|2)


    Stoneskin +7 (4|3)


    Mana Crystal Deposition +7 (2|5)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +4 (2|2)


    Basic Light Magic +3 (1|2)


    Alter Portal +3 (0|3)


    Gate +5 (2|3)


    Sending +2 (0|2)


    Chain Lightning +5 (3|2)


    Clean +1 (0|1)


    Shelter +1 (0|1)


    Assistive Familiar Casting +4 (0|4)


    Multicasting +4 (0|4)


    Enhance +1


    Nondetection +3 (0|3)


    Water Blast +1 (5|1)


    Blizzard +1 (0|1)


    Mana Starvation +3 (0|3)


    Fly +1 (0|1)


    Dimensional Anchor


    Knock


    Teleport


    Remaining Points: 34


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I had spent more points on Firebolt and Force Armor since they could be used consistently. Firebolt wasn¡¯t one of my main spells, but I figured it should have the same treatment as Water Blast at least.


    Points sort of naturally made their way into Alter Time Flow, because it was very useful and making it more powerful or cheaper were both appealing options. This time, it wasn¡¯t Shockwave who had influenced me. Though they would be quite thrilled by how things were.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Familiar Bond was increased to 10 so that Midnight could cast anything with full upgrades. It improved naturally fast enough to keep up for the most part, but not when I simply bought upgrades for other things.


    Having discovered more versatility for Energy Ward, I had been inclined to improve it- and it had naturally grown as well.


    I was tempted to improve Mana Crystal Deposition to try to boost my maximum mana stores, but it would only be a relatively small amount based on my calculations. Less than one mana per upgrade.


    Water Breathing was still neglected but also perfectly functional whenever I needed it next. I¡¯d been practicing my light magic since seeing Rob¡¯s technique, and had made minor gains there.


    Alter Portal had improved from some of the messing around that had happened, unsurprisingly.


    Assistive Familiar Casting was improving regularly, allowing Midnight and I to improve our efficiency when trying to split costs. We were still limited in the ranks we could apply that way, which meant power and costs. Thus, it was better to individually perform most spells, as long as we both ended up with some mana spent so we were both regenerating.


    Multicasting was also on the rise, and I had the feeling that something would be special about the fifth upgrade. Unfortunately, just like Assistive Familiar Casting I couldn¡¯t upgrade it with points- despite what it looked like. That was just my mental way of keeping track, I think.


    Since someone had been Scrying me, I had been reminded to keep Nondetection active even at night. It naturally improved some like that.


    Sadly I hadn¡¯t used Dimensional Anchor at my first opportunity on Flasher, but trying to properly defeat him had felt like the correct use at the time. I hadn¡¯t thought he¡¯d flee so swiftly within his own base, but that was a miscalculation.


    And then of course there was Teleport which I just bought and Knock which had been used exactly once. I¡¯d had a lot of spare points floating around before spending 29 on Teleport.


    ¡°So how much can I actually do?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Probably only like a thousand miles if you want to stay on target,¡± I said. ¡°Though you could just take two hops, with a short correction one at the end. You still need to know where you¡¯re going though.¡±


    ¡°Does a map help?¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°I¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°It might? Probably pictures too. The books I was reading didn¡¯t really assume access to that sort of familiarity. We¡¯ll have to test it. Unless the elves are willing to give us some books?¡±


    Sir Kalman shrugged. ¡°They¡¯d be in elvish.¡±


    ¡°I could read that. Or learn to,¡± I said. ¡°Magic and all that.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you¡¯re going to negotiate for that as payment it¡¯s none of my business,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if they would be traditionally inclined towards that end, though.¡±


    I thought about his words. ¡°Because I¡¯m an orc?¡±


    ¡°Ethus isn¡¯t that far away,¡± Sir Kalman confirmed my thoughts. ¡°You¡¯ll be afforded proper respect due to your association with the Order of the Lion, but I wouldn¡¯t bet on anything extending beyond that.¡±


    I understood that. Even I hadn¡¯t had a very charitable view of the orcs. I looked at the road ahead of us. ¡°Are we going uphill?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be going through a mountain pass,¡± Sir Kalman explained. ¡°That will bring us into Linduel proper.¡±


    ¡°That would explain the mountains I¡¯m picking out.¡± The only reason I didn¡¯t see them before was the trees and other terrain. ¡°Are they not in a forest?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t see a lot of trees there.¡±


    Sir Kalman chuckled. ¡°We¡¯ll see some. But they¡¯re not wood elves.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°My single prior experience with elven cities probably isn¡¯t useful, then.¡± Not that I¡¯d really been allowed into the city on the ancient plane. Instead, Ailen had pretty much been there to keep us out. And that was with two groups that hadn¡¯t fought in¡­ forever. Hopefully I didn¡¯t look so much like an orc at first glance that the elves would overreact.


    Well, I was among the Order so they should know better. And Francois wouldn¡¯t fail to make my jacket puncture resistant.


    -----


    I didn¡¯t spot any of the elves waiting for us, but I sure did feel the border. ¡°Take a good look ahead,¡± I commented to Bolster in particular, and the rest of the squad in general. They weren¡¯t as practiced at sensing mana yet. ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone can feel that, yeah?¡±


    ¡°... Sort of,¡± Honey Badger commented. As a Barbarian, he would probably be naturally the least sensitive to mana. Or at least, I thought so. Actually, I wasn¡¯t sure if there was a correlation with class.


    Zeb sniffed, and because she did so did Fluffy. ¡°Fluffy doesn¡¯t smell it. But I can!¡± Zeb said proudly.


    ¡°You smell it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s like a warp engine!¡±


    Was it weirder to smell it, or to just feel it like I did? I couldn¡¯t actually see anything, since the barrier wasn¡¯t intended to be visible. I wasn¡¯t sure about that. And soon I was occupied by other thoughts.


    ¡°Halt!¡± came a voice from somewhere in the rocky slopes on either side of us. ¡°Declare yourselves!¡±


    Sir Kalman was prepared for that. ¡°The Order of the Lion,¡± he said. ¡°Come to the aid of Linduel, at their request. We also bring with us other allies who may possess special insights into the particular issues at hand.¡±


    ¡°That would be these strangely dressed individuals? Or¡­ the angel?¡±


    ¡°Both,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°They come together.¡±


    Technically, Malaliel should have fit in that ¡®strangely dressed¡¯ category. But her clothing wasn¡¯t so different as the members of the Mod Squad, even with the change in weaponry for some. And my suit was certainly something that would stand out to the locals.


    ¡°Head directly along the road to Entheas,¡± the voice said, reminding me that they were speaking common when Translation tried to figure out what the city name meant. ¡°The duke will receive you there.¡± The word duke was translated for me. Though I would have gotten the impression from how it was used regardless. ¡°The spires of Entheas should be visible in but a short march.¡±


    ¡°We will head there directly,¡± Sir Kalman confirmed.


    I still couldn¡¯t spot any of the elves. And they hadn¡¯t revealed their location by shooting at us or anything convenient like that.


    ¡°Goodbye, miss elf!¡± Zeb said, facing off to one side. I heard a clattering of rock in the direction she was looking as a pebble bounced down the slope. Zeb didn¡¯t get a response, and looked slightly disappointed.


    When we were some distance away, rounding a bend, Iron Hawk commented, ¡°I spotted a couple of them. But just barely.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Are you an actual hawk?¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°I just know what to look for. They had to be peeking out to spot us. It was just rocks they were behind instead of dumpsters.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s fine either way as long as they didn¡¯t want to attack us,¡± I said.


    Soon enough, we could see what was presumably the city of Entheas. It had a lot of tall buildings. Skyscrapers, almost, but with smaller footprints. There were a lot of bridges between adjacent buildings, and nothing looked to be less than a few stories tall. ¡°Kind of looks like Celmoth,¡± I remarked.


    Midnight tilted his head. ¡°Vaguely, I guess. I bet they don¡¯t have any gravity nets, though.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I¡¯d hope they would. Can¡¯t tell if the city is magicked up from here, though,¡± I commented.


    When we got closer, I felt something, but mostly the walls and individual buildings seemed magical. It was still more magical than the largest cities I¡¯d been to, or at least to my memory. Maybe I hadn¡¯t been as magically tuned, though I also hadn¡¯t been to that many big cities in this world.


    Unlike at the border, someone actually showed up in front of us at the city gates. ¡°The duke is waiting,¡± the elf bowed, still speaking common. ¡°I shall take you to him directly¡±


    The city didn¡¯t have a main road that went to wherever the duke was directly, which I thought was odd. I thought that was a common feature, but maybe it was a human thing. It did seem like a security flaw, however, so maybe I¡¯d just thought it would look nice.


    The buildings of the city were quite beautiful, made of polished stones of many colors. Few buildings had but a single color all throughout, usually decorated in pleasant patterns by the placement of different colored stones. That must have been a lot of work, unless they could make the stones with magic. Which perhaps they could.


    The citizens of the city watched us curiously, some pointing and commenting- mostly on Malaliel or Fluffy, I thought. Perhaps myself as well, but I couldn¡¯t quite be certain. Their words didn¡¯t reach my ears.


    The ¡®direct¡¯ route actually took us through quite a lot of the city, but we were on wide roads the whole time- good enough for all of us to move through without issue even with wagons.


    We didn¡¯t actually end up in a central building, but one that was somewhat offset. It wasn¡¯t even the tallest one around. That was quite interesting, as I had expected it to be the biggest. Unless the duke wasn¡¯t the ruler of the city, but in that case Translation was being weird.


    We entered a wide courtyard, where we left all our wagons and the like. We then continued into a wide open courtyard, where there was standing¡­ the duke, probably. Or at least a fancy elf.


    Sir Kalman seemed to know more than I did. ¡°Turlough, Malaliel, come with me,¡± he said. ¡°The rest of you stay at the edge here.¡±


    ¡°What about me?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°As a familiar¡­¡± Kalman frowned. ¡°It would be better to stay back here, I think.¡±


    Midnight nodded.


    I didn¡¯t quite realize that meant I was going forward without him even after he hopped down from my shoulder. Sure, I wasn¡¯t alone but¡­ it was something I would have been hesitant about.


    ¡°Greetings, son of the mountain!¡± the Duke brought a fist to his chest. ¡°I am Duke Ruvyn Eilgwyn, and I am pleased to accept your company into my city.¡± He turned next to Malaliel. He waved his hands in a fashion I assumed meant something, but it kind of looked like he was flailing. ¡°To a servant of the heavens, we gladly accept you within our walls.¡±


    Then he looked to me. His expression wasn¡¯t hostile, but I couldn¡¯t quite read it. Though to be fair, excluding the worst possibility was already progress. His arm came forward and his fist gently pressed into my chest.


    He looked at me expectantly. After a few moments, he looked slightly confused or embarrassed.


    Was I supposed to do something in return? This is why I wasn¡¯t supposed to be in charge for social situations. Was it a problem to ask?

 Chapter 286

    There I was, the local duke with his fist pressed up against my chest. Was that some sort of greeting I was supposed to return? That was the safest option, but I didn¡¯t understand why. The other two had received completely different greetings.


    After another few moments, when neither Malaliel nor Sir Kalman stepped in to say anything, I just had to do something. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m familiar with that greeting.¡± That seemed to be the politest way to do that.


    The duke guy looked disappointed. What was his name¡­ Ruvyn? I think I might have actually gotten that right. ¡°Oh. I believed that to be a traditional orcish greeting. Not that I have had as much peaceful experience with orcs as I might have liked.¡±


    I looked at the guy. He appeared as skinny as a twig, and just as breakable. But I didn¡¯t want to assume anything. ¡°I do actually know a similar tradition,¡± I said. ¡°But something might have been lost in translation. The attack is meant to be serious.¡±


    Various emotions flickered across his face, and I had the feeling I made a mistake. Ultimately, Duke Ruvyn¡¯s face settled on the most troublesome option, looking like a kicked puppy. ¡°... but I was serious.¡±


    Well there went the whole introduction. Things had been going so well until they got to me. Fortunately, I was rescued by Sir Kalman as he cleared his throat.


    ¡°Perhaps I could help demonstrate the tradition, as the two of us are more familiar.¡±


    The elf perked up quickly. ¡°Yes, that would be grand!¡± He took half a step back¡­ and I moved a bit further, turning towards Sir Kalman.


    ¡°Before we start,¡± Sir Kalman said, preventing me from springing into action. ¡°Would you like to explain the purpose?¡±


    Oh yeah. It would probably look weird to the elves if we just started beating the snot out of each other.


    ¡°It¡¯s fairly simple,¡± I said. ¡°The purpose is to impart experience upon one or both participants. To that end, all blows must be serious, even if one party happens to be significantly advantaged.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Sir Kalman said, adjusting his stance. ¡°The actual motions are freeform, but we can demonstrate just one way things might happen.¡±


    A moment later, his gauntleted fist came for my face. I turned my head with the blow as he struck one of my tusks. It hurt, but it would have been far worse if the tusk wasn¡¯t there. I could have easily lost a tooth. I did have head protection, courtesy of invisible materials from Francois, but the face was more flexible than the rest of the head covering so as to not hinder breathing or speech.


    Obviously I didn¡¯t just let Sir Kalman keep hitting me. I immediately swept out my leg to try to topple him. His low center of gravity made that difficult, but he had to plant his feet instead of continuing his assault to keep his position.


    The match devolved into a grapple, as it usually did given I had no desire to punch solid steel. Sir Kalman needed no enhancements to overpower me, as even though I had over a foot of height on him our weight was relatively even. His class also bolstered physical training, while mine did not. I might be able to catch up to him, still, but he was also older and more experienced so for now I pretty much accepted being on the losing end.


    My head cracked against the ground as he tossed me away. And that was the end. It was pretty easy to figure out when an appropriate time to stop came up, and anyone taking more than a second to stagger to their feet was one of those.


    ¡°Do be careful,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°If any of you lose a tooth or something, we don¡¯t have access to anyone who can fix that¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Ruvyn interjected. ¡°We do, though.¡± Our eyes turned towards him. ¡°It¡¯s quite traditional for any druid to take Regenerate upon reaching the twenty-fifth level. It¡¯s just about the right amount of points and there¡¯s nothing more practical.¡±


    ¡°Good choice,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t think other places do enough practical stuff.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± he asked. ¡°What do- what have you seen others do?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see anyone in my hometown take it. Perhaps because none of them were druids. Few healers in general, though.¡±


    ¡°How odd,¡± the duke said. ¡°I would assume the angels would do fine with their innate abilities. What about you, Sir Kalman?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s one of the reasons for the Order of the Lion to exist,¡± he said. ¡°Though paladins cannot necessarily heal all wounds, it is a functional and practical class for covering a wide variety of necessities. Including battle.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Ruvyn nodded. ¡°A shame, the world had been so peaceful for a while.¡±


    ¡°Was it really?¡± I asked. That¡¯s what I was told, but I didn¡¯t really see that being the truth now.


    ¡°Oh yes. Not a single world ending threat in over a decade!¡± Ruvyn gestured grandly. ¡°Second longest span in my lifetime. Obviously there were smaller wars. Conflicts with beasts and the like. But that¡¯s still practically peace.¡±


    ¡°Graotan certainly stressed that during my lifetime,¡± I said. ¡°Perhaps a bit more than was proper.¡± I had no reason to bring up Aspect of the Barbarian here. I doubted it would bring me popularity among the elves. Some of those watching were still a bit hesitant after just a little spar.


    ¡°Regardless,¡± the duke shrugged. ¡°It appears we have reached the end of peace, at least for Linduel in the near future.¡±


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    ¡°... Can Regenerate fix laser burns?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what a lay-zer is,¡± the duke said. ¡°But while burns take a bit longer, Regenerate can wholly heal anyone living given time and effort. Much faster with points spent on upgrades.¡±


    I wondered if he knew about training. Was he part of the conspiracy? He might be.


    ¡°Lasers are¡­ most likely the weapons your enemies have brought against you,¡± I said. ¡°Though we will have to be able to see them to confirm completely.¡±


    ¡°Ah, the spears of light,¡± Ruvyn nodded. ¡°I suppose that is what we are here to discuss. But oh! I should let everyone rest their feet.¡± He bowed towards the rest of those waiting at the back. ¡°Entheas welcomes the Order of the Lion and their associates. We have made preparations for you to stay. I would invite your leaders to discuss more at the evening meal.¡±


    -----


    I would have preferred to talk right away, but that wasn¡¯t my call to make. Besides, I did like the arrangements they had made. A comfy room in a tower- and to my understanding the entire company had similar arrangements. At the very least, the rest of the Brigade did. Even Zeb. Though she wasn¡¯t spending much time inside.


    ¡°I got talked to by another druid!¡± Zeb said. ¡°Not Ceira, I mean. Because I¡¯m not. But they said they would introduce me to a squirrel! Also a beastmaster.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ great,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Maybe they can teach you how squirrels will react.¡±


    ¡°Yeah all the ones on the road ran away and I don¡¯t know why,¡± Zeb complained.


    I was fairly sure we had explained that as well as we could already. They thought she was an animal barking at them. She should be able to learn to speak with animals but she didn¡¯t really have points yet and it hadn¡¯t just¡­ worked out. Her own companion was an exception, of course.


    I had volunteered for Zeb watching duty. While it could generally be said that she was a good person, she was still the one most likely to accidentally cause trouble. Next on the list was probably Punk Monk. Brigade members as a whole were on a buddy system- not because we didn¡¯t trust the elves, but because it was just better to not cause any sort of disruption if we could manage.


    But since some people wanted to meet Zeb and Fluffy, it was better to do that. And she might learn something.


    The beastmaster in question was not the sort I expected to have a squirrel. He looked more like the sort who should have a bear. Or maybe not, given that he was wearing a bear pelt.


    He was old and wrinkled, but he still carried himself with the strength of youth. I had the feeling his punch would be much more impressive than the duke¡¯s. His eyes barely lingered on me as he searched over our group. He did pause slightly longer on Midnight.


    ¡°I hear your group is under the effects of Translation?¡± Fortunately, I¡¯d encountered elven before so it worked more or less immediately. Plus I had upgrades so that certainly helped.


    ¡°I can¡¯t even speak these languages at all normally!¡± Zeb agreed, bouncing over. ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Zeb. This is Fluffy.¡±


    ¡°Zeb and Fluffy. I am Lyklor. This is¡­ Fang.¡± That name was translated from elvish. I thought I saw a smirk on his face as he said the name. A squirrel peeked out from the inside of the bear fur as his name was spoken. The little guy- or gal? chittered briefly. ¡°She says she is pleased to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Hi! Pleased to meet you as well, I¡¯m Zeb! All of our squirrels are gone and it¡¯s very sad!¡± Zeb was very enthusiastic, and though I was fairly certain that to an animal it would have seemed just like frantic barking¡­ the squirrel stood her ground. ¡°This is Fluffy! He¡¯s a rust mole!¡±


    ¡°Fascinating,¡± Lyklor said. ¡°May I touch him?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s up to Fluffy! But you¡¯re not made of metal and wires so he shouldn¡¯t bite.¡±


    The old elf gestured gently, and Fluffy trotted over like he had known the guy forever. ¡°I must say, I¡¯ve never seen anything like you. Giant moles, yes, but you radiate such a strange magic.¡±


    Fluffy didn¡¯t seem to care what Lyklor was actually saying. He just accepted pets. He was friendly and I¡¯d seen him do that with others, but usually it took prompting by Zeb or a lot more time.


    ¡°Can I pet you?¡± Zeb asked Fang. ¡°I promise I don¡¯t bit or claw or anything bad!¡± She wagged her tail, but the squirrel remained dangling from Lyklor¡¯s side. ¡°I don¡¯t think she understands.¡±


    ¡°Not fully,¡± Lyklor said. ¡°She might understand your words to some extent, but until you learn Speak With Animals she won¡¯t know your intent. It¡¯s alright, Fang. She is a friend.¡±


    At that, Fang hopped forward, landing on top of Zeb¡¯s head. Many things made Zeb happy, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever seen her more excited. And even though she was bouncing around like crazy, Fang managed to stay balanced on top of her, her tail swishing in front of Zeb¡¯s nose.


    ¡°A squirrel! And one that isn¡¯t running away! This is the best! Hey, can you teach me the Speak With Animals thing?¡±


    ¡°It is a low level ability. But a few points.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m like super low level. And it should be easy to just learn right?¡±


    ¡°Even if it is but a small thing, that does not mean I could- ah,¡± the man¡¯s face changed slightly. ¡°Of course. It would be possible for you.¡±


    ¡°You know?¡± I asked seriously, looking into his eyes.


    ¡°Few people live as long as myself without picking up a few secrets. And the same is true for those who don¡¯t know how to keep them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like it,¡± I said, crossing my arms. ¡°Nobody has a good reason to hide any of that.¡±


    He laughed. ¡°Some do. Or did. Others, not so much. But I have no intention of meddling in that area. However¡­ Zeb, to speak with animals you must focus.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m focused!¡± Zeb said, seemingly trying to look at the squirrel on her head.


    ¡°Not as you need to be. You must display to your intended target sincerity on one thing. That, and a small amount of mana, will allow you to communicate with animals. I am surprised you managed to get your first companion without. Though there are alternate methods of understanding.¡±


    ¡°I wrestled Fluffy into submission!¡± Zeb said.


    Lyklor raised an eyebrow. Not so much at the idea of wrestling an animal, but most likely on the idea that Zeb won. ¡°Is that so?¡±


    ¡°It was a reverse pin,¡± Zeb explained. ¡°He thought he had me, but he was the one entrapped!¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± the old elf grinned. ¡°Fantastic. Now, focus on one emotion and try to convey it, along with words, to Fang here. Otherwise, you¡¯ll never make a squirrel friend.¡±


    ¡°Oh noooo! Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll focus!¡±


    I felt mana flowing through Zeb¡­ but I didn¡¯t know if it was doing anything useful. Well, they¡¯d figure it out.

 Chapter 287

    Though it would have been convenient to remain in Entheas and have Zeb train with a beastmaster forever- we could likely even find people of other classes- we ultimately had things to do.


    Like finding the laser people. Our simplest contributions were informing people about how Energy Ward would probably be effective. We¡¯d given that information as soon as possible, but I was called upon to demonstrate to local mages.


    ¡°It¡¯s extremely concentrated light,¡± I said. ¡°And that can cause burns, like high level light combat spells.¡± I paused to think through the options. They hadn¡¯t really been relevant to me. ¡°Like Sunbeam. Though they don¡¯t have a connection to sunlight.¡±


    ¡°Is there a relevant difference?¡± Bolster asked.


    ¡°Lasers hurt vampires just the same as people of similar biology,¡± I said. ¡°Instead of turning them to ash.¡±


    ¡°How is sunlight special?¡± Bolster frowned. ¡°Is it UV?¡±


    ¡°It can also be a conceptual function,¡± Malaliel interjected. She was around because the elves would feel more comfortable with an angel compared to an orc. Though Duke Ruvyn was quite reasonable towards me, not all elves would be as decent. I wouldn¡¯t mind if people just wanted to brawl, but that wasn¡¯t really a solution elves used. Of course, people would be on their best behavior as we were guests, at least publicly.


    I couldn¡¯t really blame anyone who thought orcs were terrible. I¡¯d felt that way for most of my life until I learned better. Now I knew that it was just some orcs who were terrible. So being wrong wasn¡¯t an issue. It was remaining incorrect that would bug me. But hopefully the word of one of the reasons for violence spread and made sense. Seriously, who didn¡¯t like experience?


    Though I do believe elves were slightly inclined towards Aspect of the Sage, so combat wouldn¡¯t do some of them any good. Just like study wouldn¡¯t do anything for people with Aspect of the Barbarian, no matter how much they might want it.


    ¡°Other weaknesses of lasers¡­ enchanted mirror shields would be useful,¡± I explained.


    ¡°You could make them like retroreflectors!¡± Zeb added with excitement. ¡°They might not be very good normal shields though.¡±


    The elves were then quite amused to hear a doglike individual explain how corner cube reflectors worked. No doubt there were high enough quality mirrors in elven hands to do the job, but whether or not it was practical to form a corner cube and carry them around would be another matter entirely.


    After that we explained other weaknesses¡­ like limited ammunition and the like. Even if they had some way to recharge the laser weapons, it would take time and some form of energy. The elves no doubt suspected that already- but knowing was useful.


    -----


    When we were informed about the actual enemies in question, nobody was surprised. Well, not most of us. Zeb was.


    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s other elves? Are there bad elves? There aren¡¯t any bad Bunvorixians except- oh.¡± Zeb frowned. ¡°Are there¡­ tiny elves making people fight?¡±


    Ruvyn blinked several times. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know anything in particular about the height of those leading them. But yes, there are bad elves. In this case, there are dark elves under our lands who have been attacking our towns and cities.¡±


    Boom scrunched his eyebrow, keeping his voice low to only be heard by Power Brigade members. ¡°Dark elves¡­ That sounds¡­ kinda racist.¡±


    ¡°It might be,¡± I said. ¡°But if so, probably blame Doctor Doomsday. I think he sought them out first. I believe you have been informed on their history in the city. Along with orcs.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I haven¡¯t had the option to really talk to any of them so they might call themselves underground elves or cave elves or¡­ whatever. But they both are dark and live in the dark.¡±


    It seemed like Ruvyn might have heard some of that. At the very least, he noticed us talking. But he moved on without mentioning anything.


    ¡°We have called upon the Order of the Lion because we don¡¯t have sufficient soldiers trained in tunnel fighting tactics, and those who have been trained are currently scouting out tunnels to catch any entrances we don¡¯t know about. We¡¯ve had enemies popping up all throughout Linduel, and have mostly been in a stalemate defending our people. We have been at peace with those living below for a significant time, so the number of those trained for proper counter offensives is lower than perhaps it should have been.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s where we come in,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°We will seek out enemy encampments, and your people will confirm the source of the weaponry.¡±


    ¡°There were a few issues with that from our side,¡± Ruvyn explained. ¡°We haven¡¯t been able to capture many of the weapons, and those few we did¡­ seem to have exploded.¡±


    ¡°Oooh, tech safety!¡± Zeb said. ¡°Though it would be more appropriate for them to melt. Unless you don¡¯t care about your enemies I suppose.¡± Zeb seemed to ponder on that for a moment. ¡°I guess explosions make sense.¡±


    ¡°How are explosions¡­ safety?¡± Ruvyn asked.


    ¡°People are safer if their enemies don¡¯t get their hands on good technology,¡± Zeb explained. ¡°Obviously.¡±


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    ¡°Do you know how to stop the destruction of such devices?¡± I asked Zeb.


    ¡°Absolutely! I just¡­ don¡¯t have any of the stuff I¡¯d need to actually do that.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Do you think it uses super tech? I might be able to dispel it.¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­¡± Zeb tilted her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know if anything Bunvorixian is ¡®super tech¡¯. It all just works. There are some important principles we discovered that rapidly pushed forward the effectiveness of our devices. Though I guess it might make them sensitive to unknown energy types. Like mana, maybe?¡±


    ¡°Actually,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Whether it¡¯s possible to dispel them or not would provide us useful information. If the origin of the weapons is extraterrestrial, it¡¯s unlikely to do as much. I suppose Earth-tech does have laser weapons to some extent but I don¡¯t believe they¡¯re currently more practical than projectile weapons. But if a tech villain is the origin of the weaponry, dispel might disable some of them.¡±


    ¡°... We need to officially learn that,¡± I said, looking down at my staff. ¡°Both so you can use it and so that it is usable at greater range.¡± I was also hoping to find some way to expand the capacity of mana stored in my staff, in general. Though I wasn¡¯t certain if Vilhelmiina¡¯s work would mesh well with anything from this world.


    A generic Dispel was useful. In general, it was always the second or third best tool for negating something. If it was generic and the best, everyone would use it to prevent everything. Ultimately, the issue was mana efficiency. If you had an appropriate spell, you could negate certain effects. Like Haste and Slow, for example. Or if you could block a fire spell with an ice wall.


    In general trying to stop offensive spells being flung at you with something that could fail to intersect was a terrible idea, though for my staff it didn¡¯t expend the mana unless I actually hit something. So it was limited in range, but more accurate and efficient in that regard.


    There were also certain thresholds of power that a Dispel simply couldn¡¯t overcome, not even by repeatedly using it. Once the strength of magic reached a certain threshold, it couldn¡¯t unravel it at all. That was relative to the power of the Dispel, of course, and in theory if someone focused entirely on that one thing¡­ well, they¡¯d be able to remove all sorts of magical defenses and maybe block incoming spells. And then someone could throw a spear into their chest.


    Once you got to the point of adding good defensive spells and offensive options, you were just going into actually trying to make a balanced setup once again. It certainly wasn¡¯t a cure-all, though maybe against superpowers with effects you couldn¡¯t predict it would be more useful. Or less, since many supers didn¡¯t get tired the way I would expect. It really depended on the individual.


    -----


    If the elves of Linduel knew precisely which tunnels enemies were coming from, they might have tried to seal them all. However, they had quite a large area to cover¡­ and what they could seal the enemy could unseal with similar magic. Thus, they generally kept track of the main networks of tunnels they knew were connected near the surface, and left open any that weren¡¯t in terribly inconvenient locations like in their cities.


    More in depth tunnel closure could be enacted for problematic locations, making it so that anyone wanting to come in would have to spend quite a lot of time and magic tunneling out.


    With the relatively peaceful recent past- though not completely peaceful like I had been informed- the monitoring had grown lax. But we still had a few locations to check out.


    ¡°Alright Fluffy,¡± Zeb said. ¡°We¡¯re looking to sniff down some lasers. So let us know if you smell any and I¡¯ll let you eat¡­ the second or third one we find. That¡¯s fine right?¡± she said turning towards me.


    Oh weird. I might actually be in charge of that. Well, probably Malaliel. ¡°If we get sufficient evidence from the first ones, absolutely. And if they happen to explode into chunks¡­ he could chew on the bits.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll still need to inspect any remains,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°So we¡¯ll want to collect any pieces of the first few regardless of what happens.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that,¡± I said. ¡°But we can definitely promise Fluffy some stuff.¡±


    We were moving through various tunnels, with the Order of the Lion being in charge of generally guarding the exits. Sir Kalman was coming with the Brigade and Malaliel to try to find any enemy encampments that we would then wish to gather forces to assault.


    Our Power Brigade group certainly wouldn¡¯t be able to beat an army- if we ran into too many enemies, we¡¯d simply flee. Though the Brigade¡¯s training had imparted some skill unto the Portal Squad, they also hadn¡¯t been able to get levels and points until they came to this world. So people were no more than level 5 or 6. That was the sort of experience I got in one good battle, though that was skewed by lots of factors for me. Strong opponents, Aspect of the Barbarian, and a share of experience from Midnight.


    That said, they were equipped in nice defensive outfits from Francois. Though it looked like clothing- or medieval cosplay, in some cases- it was effectively magical. I doubted it could actually be made magical on top of that, and I didn¡¯t really know any enchanters. Maybe I should make friends with more high ranking people here.


    Our squad was all outfitted with night vision goggles- except for Sir Kalman, Midnight, and me who didn¡¯t need them to begin with. Well, Sir Kalman also wouldn¡¯t have had them because it wouldn¡¯t fit with his helmet. Oh right, and then there was Zeb. She hadn¡¯t really been anticipated to come along, so we hadn¡¯t prepared anything for her in the equipment. Not that we had much that fit canines.


    Fluffy was fine, though. As expected, a mole navigated in the darkness just fine. That didn¡¯t necessarily mean he could see, but he moved around without hesitation. And Zeb followed him, sniffing after the rust mole and potentially following their magical connection.


    There were too many of us for Midnight and I to keep up magical defenses on the group ourselves, but Bolster and Bandage could both use Energy Ward as well, however, so that was sufficient. Boom could learn it, but he hadn¡¯t had much success. We might have to make him take it with points, as it was very relevant for battles against supers. And it even protected against his preferred sonic energy.


    Unsurprisingly Fluffy was the first to notice something with his bestial senses- plus he¡¯d been promised the opportunity to eat the things we were looking for. Out of the darkness came narrow beams of light, focused enough to not completely destroy my dark adapted vision.


    But the retaliatory orbs of light I threw would be far less kind to anyone they got close to. Rob had used light magic on people whose eyes were already ready for light and still blinded them- people crawling around in darkness would find things much worse. And even though I didn¡¯t have precise locations to aim at, a general location was easy- back along the line of a laser.


    Most likely our enemies had thought we would fall quickly, but even our weakest Energy Wards held up for the first part of the assault, the damage not even reaching the durable outfits below. With their surprise assault not causing the necessary damage, I saw some turning to flee. Dealing with skirmishers would be annoying. It was time to make some people fast.

 Chapter 288

    Unlike my previous encounters with dark elves back in New Bay, this group wasn¡¯t acting like assassins, though perhaps they had expected their laser attacks to be more devastating and take us out instantly. Either way, their reactions as soon as they noticed their ambush didn¡¯t take any of us down were to reposition. Perhaps they were retreating, but as they all moved in different directions taking shelter behind various stalagmites that didn¡¯t seem to be the end goal.


    After throwing Light at a few people- some of which now effectively had a beacon sticking to them- my first reaction was to use Haste on our various melee combatants. That meant Honey Badger, Twirl, Iron Hawk, and of course Fluffy. Technically that meant also snagging Zeb who did the sensible thing and ran for cover herself. Maybe if she had her own laser she would fight back, but she was mostly around to manage the rust mole. And because she thought it would be fun.


    Midnight took advantage of his low profile, as he had his suit adapt to the dull gray colors of the stone around us- harder to pick out for those who could see in the dark than his natural black fur. He fought with a combination of Shocking Grasp, the Light spell, and of course his own lasers.


    Boom¡¯s first spell worked best up close, but fortunately he had been able to learn Shatter, a useful sonic spell that exploded out from a point. The results were fairly predictable- everyone¡¯s ears hurt, and the people near where he targeted sustained some damage. Oh, and one of the stalagmites exploded. Fortunately it didn¡¯t seem to be necessary for the structure of the cave to hold up, but he might want to be careful.


    Bolster first cast Enlarge on Honey Badger. While it made him a bigger target, the increase in reach was quite valuable- and it made his borrowed shield proportionately larger as well. Whenever Energy Ward was worn through he should still be safe enough. He also moved fast enough to catch even the agile opponents we were facing, striking one with his hammer. It just grazed their shoulder, but that sent them tumbling- and they would have quite a difficult time raising a laser rifle after that.


    Twirl didn¡¯t have a big shield, but he had been trained to fight against firearms just like anyone in New Bay. He made good use of the terrain, circling around behind one of the enemies and scoring a graze along his ribcage. Not immediately debilitating, but he followed up by grabbing for the man¡¯s gun as he turned to retreat.


    Iron Hawk brought her staff down on someone¡¯s head with a loud crack. The man tumbled to the floor¡­ and then she stopped. She was just frozen in place. I hadn¡¯t sensed any magic, but she just stood there as one of the enemies took a shot. Fortunately Sir Kalman was close enough to position himself in front of her. We¡¯d have to figure out what happened there, but the battle was still ongoing.


    Fluffy moved with great speed, charging towards a woman. I could see the fear in her eyes as her lasers did nothing except cause his fur to faintly glow. His mouth opened wide and she screamed as he chomped down on her gun. Because what else would he bite? Certainly not her face. The woman took off running as Fluffy munched on the weapon and licked the laser goop off his face. I still didn¡¯t know how that part worked but I was glad it did. And also that Fluffy¡¯s meal was faster because of Haste so he could move on quickly.


    Bandage focused on refreshing protections, as mitigating damage was more effective than healing people. She wasn¡¯t shy about running up behind Iron Hawk and dragging her back behind proper cover. The other Hasted individuals were generally beyond where she could catch up to them.


    Our enemies weren¡¯t actually weak, and indeed they should have been higher level than most of our own group- except for myself and Sir Kalman. Oh, and then there was Malaliel who seemed to have disappeared. I doubted she was afraid of a few lasers, though.


    That was the determining factor, really. If these enemies had fought like locals, our squad might have actually been worse off. The Portal Squad had received months of training which pushed them past the very early levels, but they wouldn¡¯t directly be a match for people like this. However, the lasers were new weapons for the enemy but not a surprise for us- and most of our own gear was unfamiliar to them. We would look strange to them, even if most of us had familiar powers.


    I blinded a few more people when I got the opportunity, very much appreciating the efficiency of Basic Light Magic in such a situation. Even if the light didn¡¯t last long as people resisted it clinging to them- it didn¡¯t have the power of other light spells- it was enough of a surprise since it was a deviation from normal practice- and it was doubly effective in the dark against those already sensitive to light.


    Ultimately, we caught a half dozen dark elves and the same number of laser guns. Not all of the weapons matched up with a captured individual, but that didn¡¯t really matter. I spotted  Malaliel herself dragging back two of them¡­ she might have been able to get more, but was limited by her anatomy.


    There was also one casualty- the one Iron Hawk slammed over the head. That was why she had frozen up. Because despite her training and general demeanor, she had never killed anyone before. Which was¡­ quite normal, really. Even super mercenaries were supposed to favor non-lethal options in most circumstances. No doubt she had treated her opponent like an enemy super- which was technically correct- but despite levels providing some security a direct hit to the head wasn¡¯t something these skirmisher types would survive. Normally they might have rolled with the blow or the like, but Haste had probably thrown off their reaction as well.


    A proper helmet might have helped the man, but it might not have as the impact of her blow still would have traveled into his spine. Iron Hawk had likely also felt the seriousness of the situation, instinctively striking harder. And now we were here.


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    ¡°It¡¯s totally reasonable,¡± Sir Kalman assured her. ¡°They¡¯re enemy soldiers who were trying to kill you. But it¡¯s also normal to feel shock the first time it happens.¡±


    Was I supposed to have been more shocked? I had killed a number of monsters before I killed any humans, and the only one I¡¯d specifically sought to kill was Handface. Thinking of his death¡­ still didn¡¯t bother me. There had probably been a few others, but I didn¡¯t remember them.


    But I did care about people dying. The thought of Midnight or Izzy or Khithae or any of my other friends dying was highly unpleasant, and I¡¯d probably feel bad for a random civilian. So I wasn¡¯t an unfeeling monster. That was good enough for me.


    Iron Hawk was breathing heavily. Finally, she spoke. ¡°Usually when I¡¯ve cracked skulls it¡¯s been a little¡­ less. I¡¯ve been that serious in training, though more careful about where I target I guess.¡±


    We always used Force Armor on top of our gear, though. Which was an entire extra normal person¡¯s life- like a level 0 person, but a healthy adult. Vaguely. We didn¡¯t have anything so well defined for health as mana. Some classes made people tougher, but even though I had numbers that indicated the power of a spell I couldn¡¯t ever guarantee that it would or would not kill any particular individual. Well, I had a few things that I could guarantee would kill any non-super but I never really interacted with any of those.


    Midnight ended up on my shoulder again. I turned to whisper to him. ¡°Nothing I would say would help here, would it?¡±


    ¡°I doubt it,¡± Midnight replied. ¡°It would be something like ¡®you¡¯ll get used to it¡¯ or ¡®don¡¯t worry it was just a villain¡¯?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not that different from what Sir Kalman said,¡± I pointed out. ¡°But yeah.¡±


    ¡°Better to not,¡± Midnight said. ¡°She seems like the type to get over it well enough. She¡¯s already calming down.¡±


    As usual, Zeb¡¯s antics helpfully brought us away from such thoughts. ¡°Noo, Fluffy, don¡¯t eat the Mark III Rapid Fire Light Emitters! We need them for science!¡±


    ¡°So you recognize these particular weapons?¡± Malaliel asked.


    ¡°Nope!¡± Zeb said. ¡°Just some of these bits inside.¡± She paused. ¡°That¡¯s weird, isn¡¯t it? Bunvorixian guns are made to be used with our anatomy but these are clearly humanoid rifles.¡±


    ¡°So what does that imply?¡± Malaliel asked. Surely she already had her own thoughts on the matter, but didn¡¯t want to bias others.


    ¡°There¡¯s the easy answer, of course,¡± I said. ¡°Since one person is responsible for most of the portal shenanigans and recently came into what I assume is a whole shipful of Bunvorixian weapons. And is also known for modifying things.¡±


    ¡°Are any of these other components super tech?¡± Malaliel asked.


    I felt over them. ¡°Nope. Not even the uh¡­ emitters. Because Bunvorixian tech actually works without breaking any fundamental laws. Or at least, what I¡¯ve seen of it.¡± In short, it didn¡¯t feel like a power. They all felt different, but in that vein they all felt like something. And these just looked like guns. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that means it couldn¡¯t be Doctor Doomsday.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately,¡± Malaliel said, ¡°A tech super can just put together functional components into a new form without it being super tech. Or at least, ones with sufficient skill. Most of them would have the urge to boost things, though.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be cheaper not to, right?¡± I said.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Malaliel said.


    Midnight was looking over the weapons as well. ¡°My suit indicates it¡¯s about 60% Bunvorixian components. All of the important stuff, really.¡±


    ¡°At least that confirms the need for our continued presence,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°Though I think it might be best for us to retreat for now. What do you think, Sir Kalman?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got prisoners and weapons. If we continue on, most likely we run into a larger or more functional ambush. These folk weren¡¯t looking for us. Just someone.¡±


    ¡°Whoa!¡± Iron Hawk suddenly interrupted. ¡°I leveled up!¡±


    Yeah, she¡¯d probably be fine.


    ¡°Real battles are good experience,¡± I commented. ¡°Make sure to spend your points wisely. I¡¯d recommend saving them for later when you need to unlock new things, since training can increase ranks and you have a local teacher for you to learn some new abilities without points while we¡¯re here.¡±


    I noticed Honey Badger talking to his sister- not uncommon, but they were being rather secretive. Maybe it was about the same sort of thing as Iron Hawk. Hmm, was I learning insight into people? Well, maybe only as it related to combat. Either way, I took note that neither he nor Twirl had struck lethal blows, despite being Hasted and able to line up proper strikes. They didn¡¯t have to be lethal, but most relevantly they also hadn¡¯t been fully incapacitating. Probably the borrowed weapons, though whether it was lack of familiarity or timidity wasn¡¯t clear.


    I supposed we needed to talk to them about it. Or maybe I could have someone else talk about it. I wasn¡¯t going to tell them they should ignore whether or not people would die, but properly incapacitating their enemy was important. For example, if our barbarian had hit his target in the wrist or elbow and shattered it, that would have been a step more effective than the damage to the shoulder. Best would be following up on the other side.


    And they could fix mangled arms here! Not that they necessarily would, especially for prisoners of war, but this world could produce as many healers as they wanted. Which made me feel like there were further issues because there should have been more people who knew Regenerate. Then again, Mossley hadn¡¯t had much need for things like that¡­ and there had been a few magical healers.


    These were questions for people who actually knew everything they wanted to about the world, but sadly much of that had been hidden from me. I¡¯d have to work to learn more as the opportunities presented themselves.

 Chapter 289

    Confirmation of actual laser weapons in the hands of extradimensional locals ultimately didn¡¯t change our method of operation. Normally the protocol would have been to bring more Extra operatives to help remove problematic tech. At least for weapons of war, removing them from places they weren¡¯t supposed to be was a high priority.


    The problem was, we didn¡¯t seem to be able to get any Extra agents to the plane. Though it was time to try again, and hopefully figure out more about what was going on. For that, we returned to Entheas with our captured weapons.


    I was under no illusions that I could overcome a natural change in the makeup or some sort of modifications crafted by the greatest spellcasters in the world under my own power- I didn¡¯t have enough information to know which- but as this was a recent event, I expected that the results weren¡¯t quite as fixed as it might seem.


    It was also possible that being on the other side of the equation would be useful somehow. The plane wasn¡¯t completely cut off, after all.


    I had some experience with that, actually. Though the ancient plane where Comhghall lived wasn¡¯t entirely sealed off from travel, at least at the time. Given that Doctor Doomsday¡¯s bots came to that plane and what happened between the material plane and Elysium, most likely that had changed. Comhghall had mentioned something to that effect.


    We were still able to contact New Bay via Sending. I would have been rather worried about our prospects of getting home, otherwise, but I didn¡¯t expect the situation to have shifted that much in the few days we were here.


    ¡°Alright Midnight, first we¡¯re going to split the cost. If we still can¡¯t bring people through, we¡¯ll reassess the situation.¡±


    Normally the setup of Extra¡¯s teleportation hall was that people would end up in arbitrary alcoves, but this time I was expected and people needed to be in place. Gate didn¡¯t last all that long, and spending half of its duration running towards it from the other end of the hall wouldn¡¯t be a good use of that time.


    Mana began to flow. I felt a connection to New Bay, allowing me to smoothly create the necessary link.  I¡¯d merely lived here, but Earth was home.


    The portal opened up to a number of well equipped individuals. ¡°Good to see you guys again.¡±


    The woman at the front nodded, then pressed her hand against the surface of the portal. Which was¡­ still weird. It was supposed to just be open so rejecting entry like that was unusual. If a portal didn¡¯t open it was one thing, but once open I expected everything to go through. Portal Theory didn¡¯t speak on such a phenomenon. Time to seek out more comprehensive books.


    ¡°Testing material transferral,¡± the woman said. She tossed a stuffed bag through. ¡°It appears to have been successful.¡±


    Malaliel picked it up. ¡°Thank you. Mage, are you able to determine what¡¯s keeping them?¡± She started sliding captured lasers towards them, so that their origin could be assessed properly. ¡°Make sure you check for bugs,¡± she warned.


    I frowned. ¡°Well, it shouldn¡¯t exactly be a planar barrier. But uh¡­ have any of you spontaneously developed portal powers?¡± I asked. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m going to have to step through.¡±


    As usual, the process was literally as simple as walking. From the other side¡­ I had better context for what was going on.


    ¡°Nobody has, actually,¡± Zorphax commented from nearby.


    ¡°I¡¯d expect as much. No mana is coming through this portal,¡± I said. Even though mana was already on Earth, it only seemed to do anything when directly after a portal. Was there some other feature? Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have much time to discuss, and walked back through the portal. ¡°I¡¯m going to try one more thing in a few minutes,¡± I said. ¡°You have about ten seconds if you want to say or toss anything. Keep your hands and feet safely positioned.¡±


    There was one experiment they attempted which was trying to push a length of pipe through the portal. It wouldn¡¯t budge¡­ but when they let go part of it tumbled through. And then was cleanly bisected when the portal closed as both halves ended up in different dimensions.


    ¡°Remind me to be extremely careful with my wings,¡± Malaliel commented.


    I nodded. ¡°Portal safety is extremely important.¡±


    ¡°That was so cool!¡± Zeb said, running over and looking at the length of pipe. ¡°What a clean cut. No wait, it just stopped being connected so¡­ Hmm, I wonder what happened to the molecular bonds? Fluffy, stop! I¡¯m looking at that and it¡¯s probably not tasty.¡±


    Fluffy had clearly been sizing up the metal pipe as potential food, and continued to sniff it, but he didn¡¯t try anything more.


    ¡°So what else are we trying?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°So, it seemed that mana wasn¡¯t flowing out the other side. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s the intention of these changes or a side effect, but clearly it was done on purpose.¡±


    Midnight flicked his tail. ¡°I don¡¯t think the ambient mana in New Bay has gone down noticeably.¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± I agreed. ¡°What do you think that means?¡±


    ¡°Well, it seems to be quite recent. We can already assume it¡¯s less than a few months old because of our prior trips. So perhaps we haven¡¯t noticed the change in mana levels because of that. Alternatively¡­ this isn¡¯t actually cutting off the mana flow at all.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°An interesting theory. And why would you say that?¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Because the mana flow is through permanent portals. At least however many Doctor Doomsday has set up and we haven¡¯t found to close them, potentially others. I don¡¯t think he would easily let his portals all be sealed without at least fighting back.¡±


    Sir Kalman was nearby. ¡°This doctor fellow¡­ I can tell he¡¯s a villain by the way you speak and his name. But can he really stand up against the world alone? You make him out to be limitless.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s been a thorn in the side of New Bay for over a decade,¡± I said. ¡°Nobody¡¯s been able to capture or kill him, and any defeats he suffered were only temporary setbacks from which he seems to have come back better equipped. I¡¯m not going to say he could overpower the whole world working together here¡­ but both of us know that people aren¡¯t fully coordinated. Also, if he¡¯s working with these dark elves and the orcs he pulled through¡­ they would be working with him to keep the connections open.¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Sounds a bit like a dark lord.¡±


    ¡°I mean, top tier supervillains are effectively the same, yeah,¡± I nodded.


    Official histories said there hadn¡¯t been any dark lords in centuries- though really, the title just went to anyone that required people to unite to take them down. They were probably all bad, but who would know since history was written by those who remained.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± I said. ¡°The plan for Gate is to try to seek out the connection through any remaining permanent portals to New Bay,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m going to supply the full casting of Gate, and Midnight can attempt to strengthen it with Alter Portal. We¡¯ll both be feeling around for any connections.¡±


    The three spellcasters- Boom, Bolster and Bandage- all watched carefully. Some day, they would be able to use Gate as well. It was unlikely they could learn at their current level because the gap in required mana was far too great, and a quarter of a Gate didn¡¯t give you a small Gate, but one that never opened. Still, it wouldn¡¯t hurt for them to observe.


    This time as I formed the connection, I thought about other portals. Unknown in location, but almost certainly around somewhere. Hooking through those portals, a connection should break through whatever limitations were currently being imposed¡­ in a completely untested theory I¡¯d just come up with. The result was¡­ I certainly felt something. But even with Midnight¡¯s contributions there was no clear difference from before.


    People with mana could walk through in both directions, unattended objects moved through just fine, but anything with people was unable to pass. Zorphax had actually run off and grabbed a potted plant, which also wasn¡¯t able to move through. Which raised up a lot of questions in my mind. What about bacteria? Were they riding on me or had they been left behind? I hadn¡¯t suddenly gotten sick so they probably counted as part of me, but I wondered about the cutoff.


    I hadn¡¯t even known about bacteria a year and half ago. What a drastic change in perspective, huh?


    ¡°Well, that didn¡¯t work,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°You could say that,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Or you could say that we moved one step closer. Did you feel any connection to other portals?¡±


    ¡°Vaguely,¡± Midnight admitted. We¡¯d worked together on portals for a long time. ¡°I was kind of hoping we could force through this barrier, though.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s an issue with the Gate spell directly,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Otherwise it wouldn¡¯t form. So even maximum power and Alter Portal might not do it. But if we can find one of the dark elves¡¯ connections- or ensure they are no longer functional- that would be helpful. Except¡­ I guess they could still throw guns through, and anyone from this world like the problem group here could go both ways. How annoying.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Midnight agreed.


    ¡°So yeah,¡± I said. ¡°We need to ask Duke Ruvyn to get us access to a good Scrying mirror.¡±


    ¡°Or we could use your phone.¡±


    ¡°The screen¡¯s so small!¡± I complained. ¡°But I guess it is reflective. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s a good channeling medium?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°The thing Vilhelmiina made certainly made Scrying more effective.¡±


    Either way, it didn¡¯t take long to go find the Duke. He was quite glad to bring us to their best Scrying vessel. The problem was¡­


    ¡°This is a lake,¡± I said.


    ¡°Clear Moon Lake is the greatest focus a diviner could ask for.¡±


    ¡°... What sort of diviner?¡± I asked. ¡°Because I¡¯m not a druid,¡± I pointed out.


    He frowned. ¡°Though some efficacy may be lost, I do believe it should still be suitable for your purposes.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°Do you suppose the dark elves have protections against Scrying them?¡±


    ¡°It would be inconceivable for them to be lacking in such an area. Otherwise, we would have outmaneuvered them long before. If you can wait for a blue moon reflected on the waters, the power should increase several fold.¡±


    ¡°How long would that take?¡± I asked.


    ¡°There is one coming in merely one hundred and seventy  days,¡± the man said. ¡°Quite soon.¡±


    ¡°... That¡¯s like five months,¡± I pointed out. ¡°We¡¯re not planning to be here that long. Also, you¡¯ll continue to take losses during that time.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°I understand, but that is when it will be most effective. You are of course encouraged to try your hand at your convenience. The full moon begins in two nights, and would be nearly as potent.¡±


    Wasn¡¯t moonlight just reflected sunlight? Why wasn¡¯t that any good? Except perhaps how brightly it reflected off the water. Well, we might as well give it a go regardless.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try and find any portals,¡± I said to Midnight. Technically, we¡¯d never been successful with that before. Previously we¡¯d been drawn only to large concentrations of power, capital cities¡­ which may or may not have had portals. But here we were metaphysically closer. Besides, a magic lake had to be better than Vilhelmiina¡¯s creation, right?


    It was not better. At least not during the day. I could feel that immediately as I focused on rejecting the notion that the moon meant anything. Though maybe it wasn¡¯t the light that mattered? No, I had to stop thinking about that. Portals.


    Slowly, an image formed in the lake. Reflected in it was the image of¡­ Entheas itself. How useless.


    Sure, it was a nice view looking down from the sky¡­ but not useful.


    ¡°Hey, do you happen to have a bunch of open portals around the city?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not that I am aware of,¡± Ruvyn said.


    ¡°Ugh. Of course. What a waste of time.¡±


    I could feel Midnight didn¡¯t feel the same, however. He climbed back onto my shoulder, leaning close to speak privately. ¡°... What if there are portals here? It would be quite a problem in the future.¡±


    ¡­ Great. Now we had another thing to deal with. Maybe Malaliel had a portal scanner or something.

 Chapter 290

    While she didn¡¯t happen to have an exact specific thing I wanted, that didn¡¯t mean Malaliel was of no help at all.


    ¡°Creating a generic ¡®portal scanner¡¯ would be the domain of super tech,¡± she explained. ¡°With different portal origins, what constitutes a portal can vary significantly. It is also an unfortunate fact that we¡¯ve had trouble finding Doctor Doomsday¡¯s portals, which if we are correct is the source of our current conundrum.¡±


    ¡°I can sense them if I get close,¡± I said. Then I frowned. ¡°Or maybe not. Because normally I¡¯m sensing the mana coming through. I can also sense generic power usage but without both components it might be more difficult.¡±


    ¡°You do seem particularly talented in that area,¡± Malaliel nodded.


    ¡°... Which area?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sensing powers,¡± she explained.


    Was I? ¡°Can¡¯t everyone do it?¡± I said. ¡°Well, everyone with powers at least.¡± That of course included a class, which was literally everyone in this world. Except for Malaliel, I supposed. And potentially a couple other weird exceptions. I looked over at Midnight. ¡°It¡¯s pretty normal, right?¡±


    Midnight shook his head. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say so. I think I picked up some of it from you, and through our connection I can clearly sense how much mana you¡¯re using, but others don¡¯t seem to be the same. Or other people would have been tracking down portals.¡±


    ¡°... Jerome¡¯s pretty good at it, isn¡¯t he?¡± I asked.


    ¡°He should be fairly close,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°But I think there¡¯s a fairly easy way to test this. We can just gather the Portal Squad and put them through a few tests. Also you.¡±


    Was that necessary right now? We had things to do. Like sense portals. Which maybe other people wouldn¡¯t be as good at. ¡°We can¡¯t really test non-mana based powers,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°True, but it still tells us something about people¡¯s sensitivity.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve also been a mage my whole life,¡± I pointed out. ¡°The rest of you have been magic for like a year or two tops.¡± Malaliel cleared her throat. ¡°Except you, but that¡¯s a different kind.¡±


    ¡°We also have access to Sir Kalman and the Order of the Lion and a whole city full of elves.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if they would be interested in this,¡± I said. Was it even that important?


    -----


    Regardless of whether it mattered, an hour later we had the whole squad together, plus Sir Kalman, a couple lieutenants of the Cleric class, and one mage and one druid from Entheas. Plus Lyklor, the old beastmaster who had been teaching Zeb. Also Malaliel who wasn¡¯t actually part of the Portal Squad. Zeb might not count either, but probably after this it could be more official.


    ¡°Alright, since we¡¯re doing this it might as well be done right without being too wasteful,¡± I said. I held out my hand, gathering the maximum mana available for a Sonic Lance. ¡°This is 5 mana. I¡¯m sure everyone knows that.¡±


    Malaliel was the only one who looked iffy on that. Then again, her magic didn¡¯t use enumerated points of mana.


    I released the mana slowly, reabsorbing as much as I could. It wasn¡¯t perfect recovery, since the mana had already been trying to be the spell I had in mind, but outside of a combat situation I could afford the effort and concentration required.


    ¡°Next I¡¯ll do two more in a row.¡± Obviously I knew how much mana I was doing so it wasn¡¯t a great test for me, but I also thought it was fairly easy. ¡°How was that?¡± I asked.


    Boom nodded. ¡°I got it. It was 10 and 15. I¡¯ve also felt 20, since that¡¯s Gate, right?¡±


    A couple other people agreed. Midnight¡¯s tail swished next to me.


    ¡°The second one was less, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Lyklor asked.


    Sir Kalman nodded. ¡°That should have been 9, right?¡±


    The cleric agreed. ¡°I believe that was¡­ the Mental Freedom spell?¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± I said. ¡°Technically it was Variable Freedom. I hadn¡¯t really chosen mental or physical.¡±


    The druid tilted her head. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    I thought for a moment about whether I wanted to taint the elves with knowledge. Lyklor seemed to already know, but I couldn¡¯t tell if he cared. ¡°The spells can fuse together into one progression if you¡¯re able to advance naturally.¡± Did these elves really not know? How could they not, with¡­ however old they were. Okay, I didn¡¯t actually know if they were older than me or not. Except for Lyklor who actually showed his age.


    The mage and druid exchanged looks. Maybe they thought I was lying or crazy. Or that I needed to be taken down for the sake of a grand conspiracy. But I didn¡¯t care that much either way. If someone sent assassins after me, I¡¯d beat them up and get experience. Though I had to admit that there were probably some very high level people who could kill me easily, even with Francois¡¯ defenses. Maybe I could get some cool magic stuff here to help me out.


    Nobody asked more questions about fusing spells together. All of the Portal Squad already knew how that worked- at least as much as I did- and the others didn¡¯t seem willing to ask. Which meant no answers for them, but that was their choice.


    We went around casting spells, and while Calculator would have probably had a conniption at the lack of structure we still got a pretty good idea how accurate people were.


    ¡°13 mana,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s Regenerate.¡±


    The druid nodded. ¡°Yes. With upgrades, of course.¡±


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Obviously,¡± I agreed. ¡°It¡¯s 15 naturally.¡±


    Midnight got that one, but Malaliel and various members of the Portal Squad weren¡¯t that accurate. Twirl was actually pretty close, but Bandage wasn¡¯t always accurate down to the point. Sir Kalman and Lyklor also maintained a perfect record.


    Speaking of the beastmaster, we came to him. Everyone had time to determine their answer. ¡°4 mana,¡± Sir Kalman declared. Everyone echoed the same answer, while I had out my phone.


    ¡°Turlough?¡± Midnight prompted me when I was the last to answer.


    ¡°Hold on, I¡¯m doing math. Oh, and it¡¯s like¡­ 4.15 mana,¡± I commented. That wasn¡¯t what the math was for, though. I just knew that was how much mana the spell used¡­ approximately. After I got the answer I realized I should just have tables pre-prepared in case I needed to look this stuff up. Just like the ones in all the books. ¡°The spell has upgrades, obviously.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Lyklor agreed. ¡°Do you know what spell?¡±


    ¡°No idea,¡± I admitted. ¡°But it should be sixth rank with nine upgrades.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the only option for the same amount of mana,¡± he pointed out.


    ¡°Well, sure,¡± I admitted. ¡°A fifth rank with four upgrades is 4.16 with the 6 repeating. But this is stronger than that so it¡¯s a sixth rank spell with nine upgrades. Which I guess is technically 4.138 mana,¡± I said looking at my calculation. ¡°So I was kinda off.¡±


    The beastmaster shrugged. ¡°Not to any significant degree. Now then, what about this?¡± he asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s .95 mana,¡± I said.


    ¡°Close enough. What rank of spell is it?¡±


    ¡°Rank 2,¡± I said. ¡°But that¡¯s not hard, I already saw you cast Speak With Animals,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Also I have to say? 22 upgrades is excessive.¡±


    ¡°That depends on how much you care about a particular thing,¡± he countered. ¡°But a first rank spell with one upgrade would be the exact same mana cost, you know.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but that one was easier than the last one because I¡¯ve already seen you use that spell. A lot.¡±


    ¡°Oh, me too!¡± Zeb said. ¡°I don¡¯t have that many upgrades though.¡±


    ¡°Regardless,¡± Malaliel commented, ¡°You¡¯re the only one accurate to anything more precise than a tenth of a point.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I guess so,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t think that changes all that much because we¡¯re all going to be looking for portals anyway. Though if we split up Sir Kalman would be the best option to go with a different group. That might bring us under a proper fighting force, unless Lyklor wants to come along?¡±


    The old man stroked his chin. ¡°I actually might. I have various companions that would be good for tracking down dark elves as well.¡±


    ¡°Are you gonna bring Fang?¡± Zeb asked, excited.


    ¡°Oh no, she¡¯s a tree squirrel,¡± the man said. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be comfortable for her at all. Either way, I should come along. With the majority of the Order helping hold things here, I can afford to be active elsewhere and I think your efforts are most likely to bear fruit.¡±


    ¡°I suppose we should have suggested it earlier,¡± Malaliel admitted. ¡°We would be glad to coordinate with you in that manner.¡±


    -----


    Though we learned I was a little bit better at sensing specific amounts of mana than others, I didn¡¯t find that there was any terribly useful things done during that period. But we did have to rest and plan out our next moves, and ultimately since Lyklor would be assisting us we could be a lot more efficient.


    I had kind of expected him to bring along a cave bear or something, but instead he brought a bat. A regular bat, not like a dire bat or anything. Though that certainly made her take up less space.


    ¡°This is Flower,¡± Lyklor introduced her. Technically, he used elven words but the name translated just like that. ¡°She¡¯ll be good at detecting anyone trying to sneak up on us.¡±


    That was good. I would very much prefer not to be ambushed. Straight up fights were good, but I didn¡¯t like the idea of being brought down without a fight. And almost getting killed without a proper battle didn¡¯t give nearly as much experience.


    We were of course properly prepared with Energy Ward on everyone- though our foes might now be aware of that, the only way they could do anything about it was to change tactics. Which might not actually be to our advantage, now that I thought about it. It would be best if they kept using lasers.


    There were a couple small skirmishes over the next few days, but our quarries seemed to be maintaining caution. Perhaps they were waiting for us to go deeper into the caves, where they would have an advantage.


    Meanwhile, the same number of attacks on the surface continued, so a single incident hadn¡¯t necessarily made them more timid as a whole. Just more cautious about our forays into the cave systems.


    ¡°Fluffy smells some more lasers this way,¡± Zeb commented. She sniffed. ¡°I can¡¯t do that yet.¡±


    Apparently that was actually something she could pick up, in theory. Aspect Sharing was a beastmaster abilities that let them take on properties of their companions. Lyklor had it, though I doubted there was much he didn¡¯t have if he could afford to spend something like 70 points on speak with animals. That was more than I had spent on Haste! And slightly more than Chain Lightning. And a good bit less than I¡¯d spent on Gate. But it sure was a lot for a very low level ability.


    Ultimately, I didn¡¯t sense anything. No portals or unusual magic or powers of any sort. It was becoming pretty clear that we would have to go deeper. That meant making preparations for such an incursion.


    If we had too many people, we would be obvious. But not bringing enough would be a risk if we got into a fight. Our movements weren¡¯t exactly subtle already, so our plan was to have a few larger groups from the Order as distractions while we tried to reach deeper.


    With the elves having their hands full protecting the surface, that was the conclusion we came to. And as long as we remained together, if things got really bad we could retreat through a Gate. Lyklor was the only one who hadn¡¯t been to Earth, and we could return him home easily enough.


    I made a note to pay special attention to my mana reserves. Given a few minutes I could also make use of the best mana crystals I had to recover enough- but that assumed we had a few minutes and meant I couldn¡¯t use them for anything else, otherwise I would risk overuse. Which was very much not fun.


    ¡°Look, look!¡± Zeb suddenly called out. I almost thought we were being ambushed. ¡°Another bat!¡±


    Oh, was that all? We¡¯d seen tons of bats- none of which Zeb had yet convinced to be her friend. Probably due to her overexcitement overcoming the utility of her new Speak with Animals ability. Lyklor was constantly amused.


    Then the bat swooped down. Even though I could see in the dark, I hadn¡¯t noticed it before it got close. It was¡­ big. Its wingspan was probably ten feet wide, at least, though it maneuvered through the stalactites and stalagmites easily.


    It knocked over Honey Badger before he could even take a swing. As it shrieked, I considered that it might be a problem if its massive mouth tried to bite anyone¡­ but before I could blast it with lightning Zeb was already bouncing up and down.


    ¡°Oooh, let me talk to it! I bet we can be friends!¡±


    Well, as long as nobody got hurt too bad. Besides, nobody could deny her enthusiasm.

 Chapter 291

    Unlike the time with Fluffy, Zeb actually had abilities now and some amount of combat experience. Which mostly ended up being her dangling from one leg from the dire bat while Fluffy faced its wrath from the front, his thick fur preventing its bites from being terribly serious.


    It sure caused quite a ruckus, screeching and flailing as it hadn¡¯t expected the coordinated ¡®counterattack¡¯. Zeb was constantly trying to say something, but I couldn¡¯t really understand her with her mouth full of the creature¡¯s leg. Then she seemed to have some sort of revelation as it battered her away with its wings.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡± she yelled as she charged back in.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if offering to help would ruin the whole beastmaster bonding ritual. Then again, Lyklor was watching with a grin on his face, so things were probably going fine. Or maybe we were looking at the fun sort of disaster.


    Zeb and Fluffy had grounded the large bat, and Zeb climbed up onto its back behind its head. ¡°You-¡± its wing slapped into her as she tried to wrestle with it, ¡°-need. To. Become. My. Friend!¡±


    At that dramatic moment, Fluffy let go and¡­ the bat sent Zeb tumbling off its back. Zeb and Fluffy faced off against the bat as it drew to its full height, taller than a human. It screeched at them.


    ¡°Nice to meet you too!¡± Zeb said. ¡°I¡¯m Zeb. This is Fluffy. And you¡¯re¡­ Miss Flutter!¡±


    The bat staggered forward a step.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about your leg. I didn¡¯t mean to bite it that hard!¡±


    I tried to determine if Zeb¡¯s Force Armor was still in play. I really didn¡¯t want her face to get bitten.


    The bat staggered forward once more¡­ and wrapped its wings around the other two. I could only see Zeb¡¯s tail wagging.


    ¡°Seems that worked, then,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Zeb called from within the cocoon. ¡°Umm, Anielka, can you heal Miss Flutter?¡±


    The cleric stepped forward. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to call me Bandage.¡±


    Zeb extracted herself from the bat zone. ¡°Do you like being called that?¡±


    Bandage sighed. ¡°Just make sure to do it once we¡¯re back in New Bay. I¡¯d rather minimize how much my identity is public.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Zeb said.


    The damage to Miss Flutter was actually quite minor, relatively speaking. Zeb hadn¡¯t been trying to cause damage as much as she¡¯d been trying to hold on. It merely happened that she had to bite hard enough to draw blood, given how much the dire bat was struggling against her.


    Zeb seemed like she might do well with Aspect of the Barbarian. Then again, being able to get experience from normal activities was probably better overall. She¡¯d certainly wrestled with Fluffy a lot, but just generally taking care of a beast was apparently sufficient to gain experience.


    Now she had two companions. That was something we knew could happen, but it seemed strong. From what I understood, most of the beastmaster¡¯s strength was focused on their companions instead of things like magic. Thus, each companion should be full strength, unlike Bun and Cel who were theoretically sharing Ceira¡¯s ability.


    Food expenses might become an issue though. A mole the size of a small bear and a bat with an enormous wingspan had to eat a lot. I also had to wonder how well Miss Flutter would function outside of caves, or during the day.


    ¡°I still need a squirrel,¡± Zeb said. ¡°Next one I see, for sure!¡±


    ¡°... Maybe they don¡¯t like wrestling?¡± I commented.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Zeb tilted her head. ¡°Nah, that sounds crazy. Everyone likes wrestling!¡±


    I shrugged. I was pretty sure some people didn¡¯t.


    -----


    As it turned out, having a bat companion was extremely useful. As dire bats were native to these tunnels, Miss Flutter wasn¡¯t out of place. She was able to scout ahead and report back, and she¡¯d just found a group of enemies.


    ¡°How many?¡± Zeb asked. ¡°Mhm, I see. Two wings full.¡± She turned to the rest of us. ¡°That¡¯s probably like¡­ 2. Or 5 or something.¡±


    Lyklor had greater experience, and the old elf suggested his own interpretation. ¡°It could go up to ten.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯d have to be pretty small to fit in her wings,¡± Zeb said. ¡°We¡¯re not looking for small people, are we?¡±


    Lyklor shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll explain later. The point is, I would expect more than a handful.¡±


    Right. Now it was my job to give orders and stuff. ¡°Was she able to tell anything more about them?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Zeb made some soft barking noises and then some batlike screeches, to which the dire bat responded with some sounds but also body movements. ¡°They seemed strong.¡±


    ¡°Compared to what?¡± I asked. ¡°Animals in the caves or other people?¡±


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    Zeb took some time interpreting. ¡°Maybe compared to most of us?¡± Zeb commented.


    I pondered. ¡°Can she determine levels somehow?¡± I looked at Lyklor. ¡°Is that a thing animals can do?¡±


    The old elf stroked his chin. ¡°Various beasts will have different ways to assess their potential prey. It is likely less clear than a specific level¡­ but being able to determine the approximate quantity of mana they possess would give something similar. Are you able to do the same?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s harder when it¡¯s not active,¡± I said. ¡°I could probably get within a handful of points of mana which could be like¡­ ten levels off. Going with the assumption people are on full mana.¡± I took a close look at Lyklor. ¡°Or maybe not. You¡¯re really difficult to get a read on.¡±


    ¡°It could be the level difference,¡± he commented.


    It was sometimes considered rude to ask people what level they were. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t have to care about social niceties all the time. ¡°So what level are you? I¡¯m getting at least¡­ 60.¡±


    He grinned. ¡°A bit higher. I¡¯m quite old, after all.¡±


    I wondered how powerful he would be with training. He said he¡¯d avoided exposure to other planes but I wasn¡¯t sure I believed him. Not that I thought he would be lying to me in particular, but probably the world in general. Or maybe he just got more levels. You could do that, if you lived hundreds of years.


    It was tempting to ask him to do all the work for us, but then we wouldn¡¯t get any experience so it was a stupid idea. And even if Flower was a really strong bat, I felt like maybe she wouldn¡¯t be good enough alone.


    ¡°Well,¡± I finally said. ¡°We found some people, and we¡¯re here to try to eliminate them. But with their numbers and potential strength, we want to get the jump on them. Could we sneak around behind them?¡±


    Zeb asked¡­ and quickly responded. ¡°There were maybe some other entrances to where they were, but they were moving this way!¡±


    ¡°Ah. They could be patrolling¡­ or seeking us out in particular,¡± I nodded. ¡°If we can, we should set up Miss Flutter and Flower to end up behind the enemy. Fluffy will have to hide behind the widest stalagmite we can find. Those focused on melee should try to be further forward.¡± I looked around at what we had to work with nearby. ¡°I think this place should be good. Plenty of cover but a relatively clear view of the tunnel they should be coming from. I don¡¯t suppose she could tell what weapons they had?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ ¡®human weapons¡¯, Miss Flutter says.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Alright, so if they have lasers we¡¯ll have the advantage with our own weapons due to Energy Ward,¡± I tapped my gun at my side. ¡°And if they have traditional weapons, the range will still be useful.¡±


    Boom gave a slight frown. ¡°Uh, captain. Shouldn¡¯t we be cautious because they¡¯re stronger than us?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re setting an ambush. Also, everyone in this world is ¡®stronger¡¯ than you, but we¡¯ve won the first few skirmishes just fine.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Just what I said. What level are you now¡­ 11, 12?¡±


    ¡°11,¡± he confirmed. ¡°It went up after the last battle.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°So about that. Any random adult should end up at 20 or more. Trained warriors are likely higher.¡±


    ¡°A serious disadvantage,¡± Lyklor replied. ¡°But you have the confidence to be assured of your victory. Interesting.¡±


    ¡°I could always be wrong,¡± I admitted. ¡°But we¡¯re well equipped. And we know more about our enemy than they do about us. If battles were just about comparing levels, why would anyone have wars?¡±


    Lyklor nodded. ¡°Your previous victories are a testament. Still, be cautious.¡±


    ¡°If I sense the enemy is too strong, I¡¯ll call off the ambush,¡± I said. Our current comms were meant to work without infrastructure support. They were short range, but it should be totally fine. ¡°I think we should open with gunfire, rather than magic. In case they have anyone who can sense magic. Though try to start using what you have immediately as we begin. We can¡¯t afford to conserve too much.¡±


    That also applied to me. Though I did have to think about what the best spells would be. Was a powerful spell like Chain Lightning better, or would they be anticipating something like that?


    Well, they couldn¡¯t maintain every sort of Energy Ward on a full group- I don¡¯t think anyone could- so we¡¯d always have options. I wasn¡¯t sure how much we could rely on Lyklor in combat, but the rest of us together should just about match the incoming group.


    -----


    We prepared as many lasting buffs as we could before the enemy approached. Mostly defensive things like Energy Ward, tuned for lasers. We hoped they would rely on their new weaponry instead of making optimal use of their class abilities, though we were prepared to adapt in case this group was different.


    As we had hoped, they ignored the two random bats up high on the ceiling. Flower and Miss Flutter were quite separated, and while it was probably a bit odd to have a single regular bat, Flower was also much less obvious.


    The group actually happened to be just seven people. Hopefully, Zeb¡¯s companions would learn to count- but what were we going to say about Miss Flutter? She was literally new today. She did a fine enough job scouting¡­ and at least we hadn¡¯t interpreted things more favorably.


    I had a particular point in mind for the ambush, but Iron Hawk jumped the gun slightly. She also didn¡¯t make use of her sidearm, instead swinging her staff for center of mass. I had thought her recent experience might make her hesitate, but instead she overcompensated. Her chosen target didn¡¯t even think to dodge as she slammed her staff into the man¡¯s chest, sweeping out from behind a stalagmite.


    The man went flying back, and there was a single moment as everyone sprang into action. Our side was slightly faster even though we were thrown off.


    My regular old projectile gun was out- I could use it at the same time as magic, which was quite convenient. My target was some sort of mage, who happened to have proper magical defenses. I didn¡¯t see anything like Stoneskin, but she had a proper Force Armor to absorb attacks. And it did. At least, the first couple.


    While a good bow and a simple pistol were pretty similar in the impact on Force Armor- and yes, we¡¯d tested- I could simply pull the trigger again and again. It was like a high level Rapid Shot skill, but¡­ just normal.


    The mage still threw herself behind cover before I could bring her down, but while I was taking those shots I also gathered mana. This wasn¡¯t a time to be conserving mana, so I blasted the whole area with Blizzard. It wasn¡¯t as quick as I would have liked, but I still managed to hit about half of our foes, the magic partially spreading around cover. If our timing had been better I might have been able to completely disable a good portion of the group, but I could only gather mana so fast.


    I followed up with much less costly magic, shooting four balls of light at various enemies, just trying to make the light stick to anyone or anything- enemies or the stone next to them. Then I shot four more. Which was weird, because it looked like five.


    After that, the true battle began, with dark elves having either focused on picking a target or running for cover- though the former were not doing so great. Some of these guys were fast, but fortunately they focused on their lasers for the first volley. They no doubt realized their weapons weren¡¯t as effective as they wanted, but by that point they had wasted precious moments while they were being peppered by bullets- and then there were the shrieks of bats. Unsurprisingly, Miss Flutter was louder given her approximately one hundred times difference in size between her and Flower.

 Chapter 292

    Though Energy Ward was great for protecting against lasers, it wasn¡¯t limitless. All of us also made use of the various cover while trying to keep our enemies pinned down. Fortunately, we¡¯d taken down a few of the enemy which gave us a decent numerical advantage. That allowed some of us to flank them while they focused on the rest of us.


    Of course, Fluffy charged forward with little regard for the lasers. Even if they could have predicted how Energy Ward would work, his particular abilities were a surprise for them. And Fluffy was not shy about taking down his surprised target, leaping at their chest and forcing them to block their face with their arms as his teeth snapped at them. It hardly mattered if said teeth weren¡¯t meant for biting humanoids in particular, he still tore into their thin armor. It was good for mobility and provided reasonable protection, but he still drew blood.


    Our various melee inclined combatants moved in with the animals to try to take out more enemies, though most were less successful than Fluffy. Honey Badger made good use of his shield as he charged the mage I¡¯d first targeted, a horrifying bolt of blackness being absorbed by the material. Maybe the magical sensing tests had helped, because he reacted slightly before the visual effects appeared. Or maybe it was some sort of barbarian instinctive fighting thing.


    He made use of Rage to improve the strength of his blows. It was his most fundamental skill, so it would have been strange if he didn¡¯t. However, it seemed the woman was relatively familiar with melee weapons, and used her rifle to parry the blow. She didn¡¯t block the hit directly, or she would have easily been overpowered, but instead slipped the blow.


    Twirl got into a back and forth exchange with a dagger wielding foe. Our opponents weren¡¯t expecting guns, even if they had lasers of their own, but melee combat was familiar to them. It was a good thing Twirl was fast, as even as he was he barely managed to avoid any serious damage as two blades worked together to harry him while also keeping his own rapier away.


    Lyklor¡¯s bat Flower was harassing one of the enemy casters, screeching in their face and otherwise being a tremendous nuisance. Fortunately the little bat was also quite adept at avoiding their attempts to take her out, either by swiping at her or blasting magic around almost randomly. Flower was also quite good at not drawing any incidental damage towards allies.


    Miss Flutter was basically just a standard dire bat who had come into Zeb¡¯s service literally earlier in the day. But that didn¡¯t make her not a huge bat, and her wings knocked her opponent over before she chomped at them with her teeth.


    But our side wasn¡¯t completely dominating, even with our numerical advantage. A few people seemed to have chosen me as their primary target for some reason. Maybe they didn¡¯t like orcs or it could have been the Blizzard I had blasted into their group.


    I took cover from most of them as their lasers blasted at me, but one of them managed to circle around at alarming speed. It only took a short blast to cut through my remaining Energy Ward, and it even began to burn through my jacket into my chest. I should have had plenty of defenses remaining- and my suit was more durable than that too. Did they have some kind of skill to enhance lasers?


    No, something that specific would be odd. Just generic weapon improvement, most likely. Given the way they moved, a scout? Midnight had opened the battle with Haste on the two of us so I was at least able to cross my arm over my chest to keep them from hitting my now-vulnerable side, and tried to predict a path of movement.


    Since they¡¯d gone behind a stalagmite, they kind of had to appear either to the left or the right. And I could expect them to actually move out instead of leaning around cover, if I was right about them being a scout.


    I would have liked to refresh my Energy Ward, but instead I cast Grease- predicting they would continue moving to come out beyond the opposite side of their cover. At the same time, I felt Midnight attacking the others shooting at my cover. Shocking Grasp was limited by requiring physical touch, but it was relatively strong for its cost and bypassed most non-magical protection. As Midnight usually rushed between enemy legs as he did so, even if enemies merely experienced muscle spasms or weren¡¯t hit at all but had to dodge him, he was quite effective.


    I inched slightly further around my cover to try to influence the way the scout moved, and I saw the man slip on my Grease- but keep his footing. Oh right, Scouts were also good at that kind of stuff. He was also hard to hit, but I still shot him in the side as he got a short burst with the laser again. Francois was going to be so upset about the necessary repairs. Though maybe magic could do that here?


    My Grease wasn¡¯t entirely useless as it caused my enemy to stagger, and along with a couple bullets grazing his side I also threw out a spray of Light. One of the balls of light caught him in the shoulder, making him easy to spot as he moved around and hopefully at least partially blinding him. I realized that there were indeed five instead of four, but put that thought aside for later.


    The fight didn¡¯t last much longer, with Lyklor catching the scout from behind- I had literally no idea when or how he got there, but he had their arms behind their back and an arm around their throat from behind. Teamwork also took down the remaining enemies.


    Looking at the results¡­ we¡¯d taken down ten opponents, but most of us had injuries on some level. Sir Kalman¡¯s were particularly minor, but even Malaliel had some signs of laser damage. Then again, I didn¡¯t believe most of her job was battle. She just happened to be competent in that field, and some supernatural abilities helped her. Lyklor was the only one I could say was completely unscathed, the old elf having been lurking on the edges of the battle- but clearly participating effectively. Oh, and Zeb. But she hadn¡¯t really been participating in the combat, instead sheltering away from everything.


    I realized without both a numerical advantage and the element of surprise, we might have been in a fairly dire situation. It was a good thing we had an oversized squad- and some more experienced people like Sir Kalman and Lyklor.


    People looked pretty haggard, even after healing began. They also didn¡¯t look happy. ¡°Did anyone level up?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Honey Badger confirmed. In fact, most of them confirmed a level up. But they still weren¡¯t happy.


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    Maybe I shouldn¡¯t be a leader at all. I sidled over to Sir Kalman, whispering. ¡°What am I supposed to say here?¡±


    ¡°Tell people they did a good job against tough opponents.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°Everyone fought well. Don¡¯t be discouraged, those were tough opponents.¡± It was a good thing the Power Brigade provided everyone good defensive gear. Which was also the thing that made Zeb most vulnerable, as she barely had anything. The Brigade was still working on fully integrating her and her unusual shape and size made Francois¡¯ job more difficult. Plus, she hadn¡¯t been part of the initial plans for this excursion. ¡°We¡¯re going to return to base with our new knowledge and our prisoners.¡±


    -----


    All of my instincts had told us to fight, but I also realized that I should have paid more attention to Miss Flutter¡¯s warning. While I had enough levels to fight most opponents, that didn¡¯t mean the Portal Squad did. Even with training providing ranks and skills without points, they weren¡¯t as much as they should have been. Not yet. The Power Brigade had good training regimens, but these enemies were also trained for battle.


    A war- even though we were acting as scouts and not frontline soldiers- was a very different environment from anything in New Bay. And people here expected class powers. Yes, things could have gone very wrong.


    But they hadn¡¯t. So that was good at least. Unlike what the games said, my world didn¡¯t have convenient resurrection magic.


    At Sir Kalman¡¯s advice, I gave everyone a few days off back in Entheas. That meant no training, either. Well, no mandatory training. I was still going to train, and Zeb was happy to take advantage of Lyklor¡¯s teachings. Everyone else trained at least some, but they certainly took things lighter. Even with magic healing injuries, people still got fatigued after serious battles.


    I did too. It just so happened I was also invigorated, and anything that didn¡¯t nearly kill me was as big of a deal in my opinion. But I also realized that not everyone was this way.


    ¡°Do you think I screwed up, Midnight?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°It was a reasonable enough choice at the time. Levels aren¡¯t everything, and experience and numbers matter too. But these guys are still new recruits, even with months of training. Though at least everyone had some practical experience back in New Bay.¡±


    ¡°Except with a lower probability of death,¡± I pointed out. Both the nature of many superpowers and the way that everything was handled tended towards a less lethal atmosphere in New Bay. Though any sort of battle was dangerous. ¡°Honestly, I think the biggest issue is mana, not skill. And though everyone has been training to improve mana capacity properly, level is the biggest factor.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s entirely bad,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Our early experience with that made us more conscious of how we use our mana, and improved our drive for efficiency. Them experiencing the same thing isn¡¯t bad¡­ though it¡¯s certainly hard.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t think I should be a leader, though.¡±


    ¡°Maybe a tactical officer,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°If we¡¯re in battle, you make good decisions.¡±


    ¡°But we shouldn¡¯t always be in battle,¡± I nodded. ¡°I think that¡¯s about enough of that for now, though. I noticed something. What do you think of this?¡± I said. I cast Light, specifically using Multicasting. Five orbs appeared, not particularly bright in the sun but still visible enough.


    ¡°Well, that looks like light magic.¡±


    ¡°Notice anything odd?¡± I asked.


    ¡°... Not really,¡± Midnight admitted.


    ¡°Count them.¡±


    ¡°There are five,¡± Midnight said. ¡°What about that- oh.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. You know that feeling I¡¯d been telling you about? I think we hit it. And I checked. We¡¯re at Multicasting rank 5.¡±


    Midnight thought for a few moments. ¡°It used to be four targets for the cost of three. Now¡­?¡±


    ¡°Five, for the same cost. Though I guess I should test with targeted things. Though this is already weird. Like, can it even do this?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Well, I thought it was just for support magic. I don¡¯t know if I can literally ever use Multicasting on something like Chain Lightning but¡­ if this works for Sonic Lance or other things it seems extremely strong.¡±


    ¡°So does it?¡± Midnight asked.


    A good point. So I used the least destructive option, Water Blast. I just sprayed it into the sky, so the worst option would be accidentally splashing some people. I didn¡¯t exactly want to set stuff on fire.


    And spray it did. I had kind of imagined it like a shotgun, but it was not nearly so compact. The five shots spread like the fingers on a hand stretched wide. The same was sort of true when I had been spraying Light before, but my intention had been to hit different targets. ¡°Let me try again,¡± I said. Each Multicast cost a bit more than 5 mana- about what a full power Sonic Lance would be. And while I slightly narrowed the width of the spells, when I tried to have them all target the same point I just cast a single normal spell. ¡°It seems pretty strict about having ¡®different targets¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Good against crowds,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Or large enemies. Is each limb and a torso a different target?¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯m going to need Sir Kalman for that,¡± I commented. Even a handful of Water Blasts to his unarmored body probably wouldn¡¯t cause him much trouble.


    He was quite accommodating, and we were able to learn. One hit him directly in the chest¡­ and the others sort of brushed past him. Unless I was standing literally right in front of him- closer than fifteen feet- they spread out too broadly to do anything more. Though at somewhere around thirty to fifty, I could vaguely hit one shoulder, a foot, and a shield sticking out to the opposite side. Which was all well and good, if people stood stock still and let me hit them.


    ¡°Targeting is hard,¡± I complained.


    Buff spells were good. They didn¡¯t have projectiles, and just sort of attached themselves to people. Targeting a wide area was easy enough. But targeting multiple specific points was difficult. And while I might eventually be able to narrow in the scope, I wasn¡¯t sure if it was worth it. A Sonic Lance to the torso would be better than what I was trying.


    Speaking of Sonic Lance, a particular empty field had a bunch of dirt fly everywhere. Multicasting Sonic Lance was slightly more expensive as Chain Lightning and Blizzard. Similar in total power.


    I¡¯d learned a lot. But I didn¡¯t really need ways to spend more mana on offense. Targeting 5 people with Haste was great, though. Or more, if I included people with any sort of linked companions.

 Chapter 293

    Though there were others before me from type-F worlds, we weren¡¯t as common as other types of supernatural origins that ended up in New Bay. I¡¯d been the first magic user in the Power Brigade, and there weren¡¯t a ton even in Extra. Thus, our occasional attempts to bring through more allies were less than fruitful.


    The remaining people I knew with classes that we should be able to bring through weren¡¯t great choices. That included the Martian gangsters, Tylissa and Jerome, or even Izzy. Asking her to come help rescue my friend in an emergency was one thing, but Izzy wasn¡¯t looking for a life of battle. That other friend was of course Ceira, and she didn¡¯t have anything we couldn¡¯t get among the elves.


    Mostly, we wanted more people who were experienced with guns and the like. Plus, each person we got was another than the elves didn¡¯t have to take away from defending their territory.


    We tried to bring through a number of magic adjacent individuals, but I hadn¡¯t really possessed much hope. Jim made the attempt, but he wasn¡¯t really magic. Just an extradimensional monstrosity- biologically speaking, of course. As a person, he was a great fellow. Lady Light would have probably been very useful, but she was just powered, not magic.


    Communication was difficult across planes, so we were pretty much getting by with a single Sending and Gate each day.


    ¡°I would have expected Extra to have a greater number of¡­ magically inclined individuals,¡± I commented to Malaliel as another batch of people were entirely rejected.


    Malaliel shook her head. ¡°Magic isn¡¯t that common. And don¡¯t forget that we aren¡¯t primarily a military organization, but an administrative one. We do have people who can help enforce certain restrictions, but mostly we rely on locals. So the majority of magic users within our ranks are noncombatants.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense,¡± I said. Apparently most people who ended up in another world, when given the choice between a peaceful job and battle, would choose the former. I thought it was weird, but based on the numbers I was probably the weird one. But that was fine, because I was happy. ¡°What about on Mars?¡±


    ¡°Oh, not at all,¡± Malaliel shook her head. ¡°Far fewer. They¡¯re focused more on disturbances originating within the same dimension as the Sol system.¡±


    ¡°How about Yew-Kay?¡± I asked. ¡°Aren¡¯t they supposed to have a bunch of magic and stuff?¡±


    ¡°Do you not know?¡± Malaliel tilted her head.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve been busy catching up on all the threats in New Bay. And fighting half of them,¡± I pointed out. ¡°I haven¡¯t really had time to look into other places that much.¡±


    Midnight chuckled. ¡°I looked up some of that when we went. It seems that in the past they had quite high rates of extradimensional, magic based incursion- leading to the legends they pass down today. As another hotbed of activity, they currently have more super powers than other things. I¡¯m not sure why, though.¡±


    Malaliel shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s unclear, but it¡¯s a worldwide phenomenon. At some point, supernatural incidents became more frequent- or perhaps returned to a greater rate of frequency. Even though there might have been magic in the past, if it did exist it did not remain and faded into legend.¡±


    How odd. Could you just lose magic? I suppose if you had no mana, but it was pretty much a constant even on Earth. There were just places with more or less.


    -----


    A few days passed, and we didn¡¯t manage to bolster our ranks. Whatever was going on with the barrier between worlds was fairly restrictive. If we were in a state of actual emergency it might have been possible to immediately prioritize our mission, but while Malaliel certainly believed this to be important, it wasn¡¯t going to immediately cause chaos in the next week or two. Meanwhile, there were various issues on Earth that might.


    Thus, we had to continue on with our same group. There was nothing wrong with it, except that people weren¡¯t as high of level as we might have liked. Then again, the Portal Squad was constantly growing. A few days of intensive training wasn¡¯t enough to gain levels, but anyone who hadn¡¯t leveled from actual battle was close. Levels granted more maximum mana¡­ and points, which people were quite happy to spend.


    Having taken down several enemy patrols, our contributions had been noticed by Duke Ruvyn. He supplied us with a small number of healing potions, though sadly they had nothing to help with mana. So we¡¯d just have to try to avoid running into battles in quick succession.


    With new information we had gained from our captures, we had a slightly better idea where we might want to go- and where we wouldn¡¯t want to go. Because approaching an enemy city sounded like a bad time. It didn¡¯t matter whether it was dark elves or anyone else, they wouldn¡¯t be fond of the presence of enemies. Hopefully if there were any portals they were not in the middle of anywhere populated. Though if they got to choose the exact locations said portals opened, we might not have any luck.


    I looked at the vial dangling in front of me, a reddish-brown liquid in thick glass. It was a small vial, just a couple ounces.


    ¡°How good are potions?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know,¡± I said. ¡°I haven¡¯t really had an opportunity to use any. They¡¯re kind of expensive for daily use.¡± After I got into scuffles when I was younger I would have bandages or occasionally the local cleric would provide a small bit of healing, but since I never had any heavy injuries magic was kind of a waste. And I wouldn¡¯t have been able to pay for proper treatment. I looked over at Sir Kalman. ¡°How strong are potions?¡±


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    ¡°About the same as you¡¯d expect for the level of mana in them,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Though they focus on quick acting. Things like stopping bleeding and the like. If you¡¯ve got the good ones, at least, which the Duke certainly provided. It¡¯s not going to close up a gash, but it¡¯ll give you an opportunity to get properly stitched up.¡±


    ¡°Aww. I was hoping for something cooler,¡± I commented.


    ¡°If you want higher quality, you¡¯ll have to find an elusive grandmaster somewhere,¡± Sir Kalman shrugged.


    ¡°... Why doesn¡¯t Entheas have any?¡±


    ¡°Why would they?¡± Sir Kalman asked.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t they?¡± I asked. ¡°Whoever made this has to be like, a few hundred years old right? Seems like anyone could be super high level easily enough. Like Lyklor.¡±


    The old elf could probably hear me talking, but he made no comment.


    ¡°Not everyone grows that fast.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but with that long to grow, I¡¯d expect them to all have Aspect of the Sloth or something,¡± I grumbled. ¡°Do they? Are all elves cursed to not grow quickly?¡±


    Lyklor did provide an answer for that one. ¡°We do tend to gain levels more slowly,¡± he commented. ¡°Though our limitations are not so severe as to completely hamper us. However, many people lose passion for their chosen class over time. Others choose their class later in life once they¡¯ve found their passion. And the cause and effect are tied together. We have so long¡­ why would we rush to grow?¡±


    I grimaced. ¡°I¡¯d still expect people to eventually get very good at things. Like you.¡±


    ¡°Some do. Many don¡¯t,¡± Lyklor concluded.


    The overall answer was unsatisfying. What irked me most was that he implied some people didn¡¯t care about improving their level. And here I was, trying so hard for the majority of my life for practically no gain.


    ¡°... How do people survive so long without choosing a class?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Simple. They don¡¯t fight,¡± Sir Kalman responded. ¡°Most people don¡¯t fight.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Lyklor nodded. ¡°Most of us avoid battle. And a slower pace lends itself to fewer accidents. For the most part, that also means staying out of conflicts. Our underground relatives, even if traditionally our enemies, also operate on a longer time frame. No doubt they are quite surprised about how aggressive our explorations are.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you needed the Order, even though you¡¯re an entire nation,¡± I commented.


    ¡°Yes. Plus¡­ unfamiliarity with these ¡®lasers¡¯. They have no feel of magic, and even those who tried to counter them thusly found it difficult. Most had assumed that because of the results of the weapons, they were weapons of fire.¡±


    Sir Kalman nodded. ¡°And¡­ not everyone is so adaptable with their usage of Energy Ward as you,¡± he commented. ¡°They¡¯re good at the basic elements, but against light¡­ well, it works, but not as well as yours.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Are you certain?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely. The effectiveness I¡¯ve observed with you and the reports from my men are quite different.¡±


    I grumbled. There magic went again, not working just because people expected it to be a certain way. Like, I don¡¯t know, only growing from points. Though that wasn¡¯t completely psychological because it seemed to require physical exposure to other places for some reason. That might have been the weirdest part. Though with how many weird things I¡¯d discovered, it was difficult to rank them.


    -----


    With Flower and Miss Flutter scouting for us, we were able to avoid several enemy patrols that would have been a pain to encounter. Experience was nice, but being mobbed by locals would make that worse. Well, if people died. And I supposed some people would be upset if they lost limbs or organs, even though those could be grown back.


    It would be easy to get lost in deep tunnels if we weren¡¯t careful, but we had various individuals who could help us retrace our steps at the bare minimum. We also had primitive maps, but sadly they were only approximates.


    I was constantly keeping on the lookout for concentrations of mana that would indicate people. Or cities. Or portals. I actually noticed a few outposts in the distance, though we were already avoiding them. The good thing about tunnels was that there weren¡¯t long sightlines, so watchtowers and the like weren¡¯t able to spot us skulking in enemy territory. They needed patrols for that.


    Flower and Miss Flutter came back with a report. They screeched at Zeb and Lyklor. Zeb did her best to translate first.


    ¡°There¡¯s a weird thing?¡± the black and white canine tilted her head. ¡°With small spears?¡± The smaller bat attempted to clarify. ¡°I don¡¯t know what one of those is,¡± Zeb admitted. ¡°A¡­ spear-rat?¡±


    ¡°A porcupine,¡± Lyklor explained.


    ¡°Oh. I still don¡¯t know what that is.¡±


    ¡°If Bunvorix had them,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°You probably eliminated them.¡±


    ¡°Oh nooo!!¡± Zeb cried out. ¡°Another cute and cuddly thing gone?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯re spiky, which is quite the opposite of cuddly.¡±


    Zeb thought for a few moments. ¡°You didn¡¯t say they weren¡¯t cute, though. So if you¡¯re careful¡­?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try it,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯re extremely good at sticking their quills in snouts of things that are investigating them.¡±


    ¡°Okaaaaay,¡± Zeb said begrudgingly. ¡°But we¡¯re still going to go see it, right?¡± Flower continued to chatter. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not a cave animal? So it doesn¡¯t belong here. That means it needs rescue! Then we can be companions!¡±


    ¡°Or it¡¯s a companion of someone else already,¡± I said. ¡°In which case, it might belong to the enemy.¡±


    ¡°... then it needs two rescues!¡±


    ¡°Sure. But we need to be cautious.¡±


    Our group was led along by the bats, and I soon noticed something magical. Something that tried to hide when we approached the cave it was in. Though that didn¡¯t do much good against the bats, and because it couldn¡¯t help but poke its head around the top of a stalagmite to get a look at us.


    Zeb was sniffing around. We¡¯d had a chance to resupply, which included a modified pair of night vision goggles that kind of fit her. But she clearly found her nose more effective. ¡°There you are, miss porcupine! Hi, we¡¯re gonna be friends!¡±


    To my surprise, the porcupine crawled more into view over the top of the stalagmite. And then spoke. ¡°Well, as long as you don¡¯t intend to shoot any lasers at me like those others, I suppose we might.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure what was more confusing. The fact that the porcupine knew what lasers were, or that I knew what it was saying but not what language it was speaking. The fact that it could speak at all didn¡¯t particularly register as something abnormal.

 Chapter 294

    A good hard look passed between the porcupine we had come across and myself. It was looking curiously at all of our party from its perch on a stalagmite, in fact.


    ¡°Porcupines aren¡¯t native to caves, are they?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They most certainly are not,¡± it replied. ¡°But I am not a porcupine.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Ah, gotcha. You must be an alien, then.¡±


    The porcupine slid off of its stalagmite in surprise, tumbling to the ground.


    ¡°Miss porcupine!¡± Zeb hurried forward, much more accurate in her movements even with only partially fitting night vision goggles. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am alright,¡± the porcupine said as it stumbled to its feet. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect anyone to pierce so directly to the truth. Then again, your varied styles of clothing indicate that the majority of you are not from this place, are you?¡±


    ¡°Plus we have two aliens that look like animals,¡± I pointed out.


    I still found myself somewhat confused that we could understand each other. Translation wouldn¡¯t have immediately resulted in perfect communication, and this porcupine-like individual certainly wasn¡¯t speaking any language I had heard before. The weirdest part was how I couldn¡¯t really pick out any individual words.


    Then again, it was a magic porcupine, so there was that. Which in turn made me suspicious. ¡°Are you really an alien?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You were the one who suggested it,¡± the porcupine replied. ¡°Why are you now uncertain? Of course I am. Not from this world here, of course.¡±


    ¡°Why does an alien have mana?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it natural?¡± a head swiveled back and forth. ¡°All of you do.¡±


    I crossed my arms. ¡°This is an exception.¡±


    Malaliel shook her head, cutting off further progress along that line of thought. ¡°I believe this is enough suspicion for now. We should at least introduce ourselves. I am Malaliel. We are seeking to stop those individuals who shot lasers at you. And you?¡±


    The porcupine bowed, though the stubby legs made it a somewhat uncertain gesture. ¡°I am Lady Eglantine of the planet Humurun. I ended up here through quite convoluted events that caused me to be separated from my companion.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Zeb!¡± our energetic canine replied. ¡°I was an engineer for the Bunvorixians but it turned out the leaders were really bad and now I have animal friends! It¡¯s okay that you¡¯re not an animal because we can still be friends just fine. Humurun wasn¡¯t in our databases.¡±


    Midnight decided that he should be next. ¡°My name is Midnight Deathstalker, of the Celmothians. We are also not aware of the planet Humurun to my knowledge.¡±


    We went through our whole group fairly quickly, ending with me. ¡°I am Turlough. I¡¯d use a code name but it¡¯s dumb especially in this world. Like Sir Kalman I was a native of this world. Now I¡¯m a citizen of Earth, though.¡±


    Eglantine perked up at that. ¡°You¡¯re from Earth? Then perhaps you have heard of milady Strife?¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°Strife? Is she from New Bay? I don¡¯t recognize the name. I don¡¯t think I heard of her in Yew-Kay either.¡±


    ¡°New Bay?¡± the porcupine looked confused. ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure where that is. Milady Strife is from Japan.¡±


    ¡°... Is Strife a Japanese name?¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Eglantine replied. ¡°It would be, like most of yourselves, merely a moniker used to conceal her private identity.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a villain name,¡± I commented.


    She deflated in front of me, creating almost a puddle of quills as she flattened out. ¡°I told milady that she would receive such comments frequently, but she found it appropriate given her powerset. But she is far from villainous. She is a mighty heroine and a defender of Earth. She has pushed back the Scouring more times than I can count.¡± I looked over at Malaliel for help. Or literally anyone, but they all seemed as confused as I was. ¡°But I have been wasteful with our time. I would prefer not to be so crass, but I must ask you for a favor even upon our first meeting.¡±


    ¡°You want us to help you track down your friend and save her from¡­ probably the dark elves?¡± I surmised.


    Actual sparkles filled Eglantine¡¯s eyes, revealing some odd coloration on the rest of her body with the benefit of actual light. ¡°Your insight is astounding, sir Turlough. I am aware it would place your team in peril but-¡±


    ¡°Which way? We¡¯ll totally fight them,¡± I declared.


    Translation was helping interpret the surprised facial expressions of our new acquaintance. ¡°... Just like that?¡±


    ¡°Do you think we¡¯re wandering in these tunnels for no reason at all?¡± I countered. ¡°If she¡¯s currently in battle¡­¡±


    Eglantine thought for a moment. ¡°I can¡¯t be quite certain. Just that she is alive and is low on remaining magic.¡±


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    ¡°But you know where she is? Let¡¯s go,¡± I said.


    -----


    Flower, being small and agile, scouted ahead alone. While Miss Flutter was native to the caves and not particularly poor in her stealth capabilities, it was still determined that it would be best if she remained back with us in our particular circumstances.


    There weren¡¯t many branching paths, though Flower did have to wait for us a few times. Our porcupine friend was able to lead us down the right path with ease.


    We didn¡¯t have to go terribly far, which wasn¡¯t that surprising given the speed at which Eglantine was able to move. When given options for travel, she ultimately chose to allow Sir Kalman to carry her, as she would not have to worry about injuring him with her quills. Though I was pretty sure it wasn¡¯t a huge danger if she functioned similarly to an actual porcupine, as long as nobody held her the wrong way and she didn¡¯t try to puncture anyone.


    Soon enough we approached a large chamber with numerous burn scars everywhere on the stone throughout. There were also several visible bodies with blood pooling around them. And someone hidden behind a stalagmite.


    ¡°Strife!¡± Eglantine called out. ¡°It¡¯s safe to come out. I have met some¡­ friendly individuals.¡± When it didn¡¯t seem that her companion was going to show herself, Eglantine moved to the front, circling around the stalagmite in question. I hung further back but moved far enough to make out the individual in question, appearing like a dark bundle of cloth crumpled against the stone. ¡°What happened?¡±


    A head of dark hair turned to reveal distinctly asian features¡­ and a patch over one eye. Strife- that was who she had to be- held one hand up to cover said eyepatch. ¡°I had to use it. And¡­¡± she gestured towards the rest of the scene. Translation actually had to do something there. It was a good thing her words were simple.


    ¡°I understand,¡± Eglantine said. ¡°I saw the results. You look like you need to be patched up.¡±


    ¡°We can help with that,¡± I commented. ¡°And by that I mean¡­ three people who aren¡¯t me in particular.¡±


    Strife¡¯s eye locked on me. It seemed she could function well enough in the dark as well. She slowly stood, turning her formless shape into one that was more clear. And far more confusing. She was wearing an extremely elaborate black dress, and her hair was impractically long for battle.


    Her other hand was held to her stomach, with clear signs of blood trickling through her fingers. ¡°I don¡¯t need help.¡±


    Bandage was already approaching. ¡°Say what you want, goth girl, but you can barely stand.¡± It was unclear if her words properly translated to Strife, but the woman didn¡¯t seem to be able to move before Bandage reached out her arm and blasted her with healing magic. ¡°That should at least stop most of the bleeding. I can do better if you let me take a proper look at you.¡±


    Strife took a few hasty steps back, and then she was suddenly surrounded by about a hundred needles sticking out in all directions. Needles that looked much like Eglantine¡¯s, but glowing. And both extremely colorful and sparkly. It was like the hue shifting paint that cars sometimes had.


    The light also revealed more patches of red on Strife¡¯s outfit- but brighter. Her whole outfit was red and black. She stood there unsteadily, surrounded by spikes. She was also saying more than a few things seemingly directed at Eglantine, about a third of which translated. ¡°... who are¡­ how¡­ strange people¡­¡±


    ¡°Just keep talking and Translation will begin to do its work,¡± I said, intentionally trying to speak so she would understand. ¡°Though I suppose Eglantine can translate as well, because apparently she just works.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s speaking a universal language,¡± Malaliel explained.


    ¡°I see. So that¡¯s also magic,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s not wrong,¡± Malaliel admitted.


    Eventually the situation had been properly explained, and we could somewhat directly communicate with Strife. I had many important questions, starting with¡­ ¡°So why are you wearing a dress? Seems hugely impractical for combat. Did you get pulled through a portal during a party or something?¡±


    Instead of Strife responding, it was actually Punk Monk. She just sighed. ¡°Dude. Clearly she¡¯s a magical girl.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure all of us can sense the magic, yes,¡± I agreed. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t really explain the rest.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if I would call her a ¡®girl¡¯ either. As I watched, I noticed that the bloodstains and burn scars in her dress were fading away, emphasizing that it was her actual gear. Unless she was rich enough to afford self-repairing material for formal use.


    ¡°She is right,¡± Strife spoke concisely, perhaps not quite trusting in the effects of Translation. ¡°I am a magical girl, infused with Lady Eglantine¡¯s powers and sworn to fight the Scouring and their minions.¡±


    Again, that explained nothing. But everyone but Sir Kalman and Lyklor seemed to accept it, besides me. Fortunately, Malaliel took charge of the conversation from there. ¡°I see. In that case, how did you end up here?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± she seemed hesitant. ¡°We spotted some agents of the Scouring retreating through a portal. We gave chase, not realizing that it would nearly immediately close behind us.¡±


    I nodded seriously. ¡°Portals can be tricky like that.¡± Though the one I came through had actually stayed open for quite a while.


    Malaliel brushed past my interruption. ¡°I understand. In our world, I work for a group responsible for balancing extradimensional and extraterrestrial interactions. Your situation is not unique. If you remain with us, we will do our best to return you to your proper world.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to interrupt,¡± Lyklor commented. ¡°But Flower has detected additional incoming foes. Most likely they were tipped off by fleeing comrades, as there are a few injured members among them.¡±


    Strife clicked her tongue, swiveling her head. ¡°They¡¯re after us. You should flee and let me handle it.¡±


    ¡°How many?¡± I asked Lyklor.


    ¡°Fourteen,¡± he replied clearly. Apparently, Flower was better at counting than Miss Flutter.


    ¡°I see. Can you fight, Strife? I don¡¯t mean in general, but are you currently able?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to manage,¡± she grunted. She reached up to her eye patch again. That was an odd habit. Had she just lost her eye? Why would she have a convenient eyepatch then? ¡°Though there were only eight before¡­¡±


    Whatever. Being able to fight was good enough. ¡°Great. You start on the left side and we¡¯ll meet in the middle. Midnight, could you prepare a barrage of Light? Everyone else, buff up.¡± I looked at Strife. ¡°So is it useful for you to be faster?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Whatever, you get to be faster regardless.¡± I gathered mana for a Multicasting of Haste, focusing on the various bonded individuals for the greatest amount of total individuals. Maybe that was a risk, since I hadn¡¯t tested the extreme limits to sharing with bonded individuals. But I was content to just believe each group counted as one. Myself and Midnight were one, Zeb, Fluffy, and Miss Flutter were two, Lyklor and Flower were three, which put Strife and Eglantine as four. Oh, maybe I had one more now? Malaliel was the last individual I considered. And everyone seemed to get the boost. Neat. I made a mental note that I should hang out with Zeb more.

 Chapter 295

    The eyepatched face of our new buddy Strife looked back at me, perhaps confused at how a great number of individuals seemed to be slower. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± I said. ¡°Just make use of your speed.¡±


    Once more Strife reached up towards her eyepatch, but just barely touched it before her arm dropped back down. She dropped into a stance, her arms extended. Sparkles of light swirled together, forming large prismatic needles. No, quills- like Eglantine, her porcupine companion. Those seemed like pretty vicious melee weapons.


    As I had directed, she charged towards the left flank of our incoming enemies. Two of those there raised lasers¡­ which she blocked with her needles. Having the extra reaction speed from Haste likely helped, but she had pretty good dynamic vision for someone without depth perception.


    Her weapons began to glow brightly as she held against the sustained beams even as the enemies tried to wave their attacks around her guard. She was clearly doing more than just following their movements or reacting. Aside from the fact that I could feel her mana being activated, it was pretty much impossible to block a sustained beam that was waving back and forth- though perhaps the enemy could have been more aggressive in that regard.


    We had a large number of Hasted companions rushing the other end of the pack. Flower rushed right over the heads of the dark elves, screeching and causing several of them to recoil. The dire bat wasn¡¯t as fast, but with Haste and Energy Ward Miss Flutter bowled over several of the enemy as she flew into them. Fluffy chomped on a couple lasers as he rushed in.


    I took note that the enemy didn¡¯t all have laser weapons. Maybe a handful in the group that Flower had estimated to be fourteen. I wasn¡¯t going to attempt to verify that precise count in combat. Instead, I focused on the magic they were using. One of the spells was extremely familiar given that I had cast it literally one moment before. Haste was cast on a man wielding daggers¡­ and I didn¡¯t like that.


    So I countered it with Slow, focusing on disrupting the enemy¡¯s magic. In my opinion it worked quite well, as the man ran forward at nearly normal speed from my perspective for only a moment before suddenly staggering and moving slower than before. It was like the enemy caster didn¡¯t even have ten upgrades in Haste. Which¡­ they probably didn¡¯t. I¡¯d been bribed into getting additional levels and I had several points from training.


    With Haste and Slow combined together into Alter Time, it was fairly efficient to just make that better. Clearly these people had some access to extradimensional shenanigans and thus maybe improvements beyond what they got from points, but it might not be as long as mine. And my actual level wasn¡¯t too bad either, now that I¡¯d spent over a year constantly getting into battles. It really helped me catch up and even surpass the expected level for my age- though these dark elves might have been older. None felt like they had crazy high levels, though.


    I noticed the caster using Haste was doing it one at a time, so clearly she hadn¡¯t learned Multicasting. Haste didn¡¯t let me cast spells faster as my mana gathering rate remained the same¡­ but I was able to gather the mana and target whoever they did the instant afterwards, not wasting a beat. Some of them never even looked like they sped up at all, instead getting just slightly slower.


    Around that time, Midnight blasted some of the people in the face with Light. It seemed he had been holding out for a good opportunity, and that opportunity was several moments before our melee combatants reached the enemy.


    I watched as Strife stabbed her two targets in the gut with the quill. Instead of pulling them out, she let go and formed two more in her hands. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was more brutal to leave them impaled or to try to pull out the quills. Either way, I wasn¡¯t really getting the vibes of a magical girl. Weren¡¯t they supposed to do stuff with hearts and rainbows?


    No wait, the quills lit up with rainbow light and sparkles as she stabbed people. So maybe that was normal. Plus she was wearing a dress in battle, so that might have covered it?


    When several more enemies tried to engage her in melee combat, she didn¡¯t follow their pace and instead tossed the massive quills she was carrying- which split with sparkles into a shower of smaller ones that rained down on them. Even with some amount of defensive magic and armor, enough of her attacks found purchase that they were looking like reverse porcupines a moment later.


    They tried to chase after her, but one of them had a punctured thigh¡­ and with her being Hasted, they couldn¡¯t have kept up even if they could run properly.


    Somewhere out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone at the back of the enemy group get dragged away. There was Lyklor again. He wasn¡¯t flashy, but he was a spry old man and clearly adept at taking down enemies.


    The battle didn¡¯t go completely perfectly in our favor- indeed, several people had new holes in their gear, burns, and cuts- but we still came out with a clear victory. I wasn¡¯t sure what I would have done if anyone on our side died¡­ but it was certainly a possibility. That was why we always made sure to protect everyone with Energy Ward and Force Armor between battles.


    We were alive, and Bandage was going around patching people up. But we clearly weren¡¯t so dominant that we could win more than a couple such battles in a row. We needed to clear out again. Strife¡¯s presence had already caused a significant complication.


    ¡°Will you be able to lead us to where you came through if we leave and come back?¡± I asked Strife- and of course Lady Eglantine.


    Strife turned around, standing tall. The quills turned into sparkles in her hands, fading away into nothing. ¡°I-¡± Her stern features softened. Then her eyes rolled back as she fell to her knees. Sparkles of light surrounded her as her black and red dress reformed into a traditional kimono¡­ which was even more impractical than the dress she had been fighting in.


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    Her hair shortened to shoulder length, though it maintained its deep blackness. More importantly, her eyepatch faded away, leaving two perfectly normal looking eyes. All in all, she looked very un-Strife-like.


    ¡°My apologies,¡± she said. ¡°I require time to rest. Whether I can remember the way when we return I am uncertain.¡±


    ¡°Want me to carry you?¡± I asked.


    She looked horrified at the very thought. ¡°I¡­ can walk¡­¡± she said.


    I was waiting for her to even stand up, but she seemed quite incapable. When I went to help her up, she reluctantly took my hand. She kept her face turned away as I pulled her to her feet. ¡°You alright, Strife?¡±


    She pursed her lips. ¡°I¡­ am not Strife like this.¡±


    ¡°Sure. But that¡¯s the only name I know.¡± She took only faltering steps. ¡°If you¡¯re worried about your identity, don¡¯t be. You already know my real name. And the rest of us are trained to handle such protocols.¡± Except for the people from this world, but they weren¡¯t going to cause her any trouble either. ¡°Where¡¯s Eglantine?¡±


    ¡°She has taken an insubstantial form to aid in my recovery.¡±


    ¡°Ah, gotcha,¡± I nodded. A much less confident individual walked along with us. We weren¡¯t able to capture many people this time, but we took everything we could easily carry so that it couldn¡¯t be used against us again- especially the guns. Hopefully, they had a limited supply. ¡°Want a mana crystal?¡± I asked, pulling one out of my pocket.


    She took it and looked at it curiously. ¡°Concentrated mana in physical form? How odd.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°You might be able to absorb it. Or maybe not. Too many is unhealthy, though.¡±


    She seemed to have some sort of instinctive understanding, as it fell apart in her hands, turning into sparkles that flooded into her. She looked a bit less haggard, but not particularly more comfortable.


    We headed straight for the nearest exit to the surface we were aware of, moving as quickly as we could manage. Midnight gave not-Strife some food as well, though she was quite timid about actually consuming it. Nor was she particularly speedy with her movements afterwards.


    Still, we eventually made it to the surface, where a squad of elves was guarding the area. After that, we were able to relax slightly. And once we were out of sight of the underground entrance, Eglantine appeared in a shower of sparkles, sitting on not-Strife¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°We very much appreciate your assistance, even if Momo here is unable to show her appreciation.¡±


    ¡°Lady Eglantine!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The porcupine held her head high. ¡°Do you think people from another world are going to reveal your name to those they shouldn¡¯t?¡± With the outside light, it was much easier to tell she was not a standard porcupine- unless there was a variety I was unaware of that happened to have shimmering rainbow quills instead of brown or black.


    I decided not to bring up potential weird magical stuff involving names. That wasn¡¯t really relevant in this world anyway.


    Not-Strife gave a long but quiet sigh. ¡°Very well.¡± She turned towards the rest of us. ¡°I suppose I should properly introduce myself. I am Momo.¡±


    ¡°Turlough,¡± I said. ¡°The Power Brigade named me Mage which is extremely unhelpful in this world.¡± Most people ended up re-introducing themselves as we walked. ¡°So, are you and Strife different people or something¡­?¡±


    Before Momo could answer, Eglantine spoke up. ¡°Oh no. It¡¯s just a very minor personality tweak.¡±


    ¡°Th- that¡¯s not true!¡± Momo protested. ¡°Strife is¡­ very different. Violent and barbaric. A grim caricature of myself.¡± Translation was helpfully working in full swing for her words now.


    Eglantine hopped over to my shoulder, almost running on the air. ¡°Truly the tiniest mental barriers changed,¡± she stage whispered into my ear.


    Momo went red, trembling with frustration. Oh good, she was easy to read. ¡°That¡¯s not¡­ you¡¯re wrong! ¡°


    ¡°So is the eyepatch some sort of super secret magical thing?¡± I asked. ¡°Because your eye is clearly fine in this form.¡±


    Momo frowned. ¡°It is¡­ a dark curse that has afflicted Strife. Such a thing should never be revealed to the world.¡±


    I nodded. So it was a super-special power of some sort. ¡°Yeah, I know how it is with curses and stuff. I can¡¯t level up at all without combat. And some of my friends are werewolves.¡±


    ¡°I see. You understand the dangers, then.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Though once the werewolves got good at controlling themselves it ended up mostly good.¡± Like Curse of the Barbarian allowing me to level up quickly¡­ once I had the opportunity. ¡°So how did you end up in this world¡­? And what¡¯s this about a ¡®Scouring¡¯?¡±


    Eglantine grew quite serious at that. ¡°We followed some new troublemakers, presuming they had merely run through a gate to one of their secret lairs. We did not expect to find ourselves in another reality. As for the Scouring¡­ it is an alien invasion, of sorts. They are twisted monsters that seek to eradicate the inhabitants of Earth.¡±


    Iron Hawk nodded. ¡°And you¡¯re other aliens who came to give power to chosen individuals like Momo to fight them off.¡±


    ¡°... Yes. How did you know?¡± Eglantine tilted her head.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pretty typical magical girl story,¡± Iron Hawk shrugged. ¡°At least, from what I¡¯ve heard.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Eglantine said. ¡°Sir Turlough, you mentioned something about the Earth you are from? And¡­ coming here to fight these elves?¡±


    ¡°First,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not a knight or anything. I¡¯m just here to help Sir Kalman, and because we heard about these lasers.¡± I turned to Malaliel.


    ¡°I am from an organization responsible for protecting our reality from external threats¡­ and protecting them from us. Such as advanced weaponry getting through to a world like this. Unfortunately, this world appears to be sealed from entry by non-magical individuals¡­ so our effect has been unfortunately limited.¡±


    ¡°So I suppose you came through one of these portals as well?¡± Momo asked.


    ¡°Nah,¡± I said. ¡°I just made a temporary one.¡±

 Chapter 296

    The situation was now a bit different than we had understood previously, but it didn¡¯t really change our role. We still needed to continue our investigations into the source of the lasers, but now maybe there were people from a third world involved. Though with the core emitter of the weapons being recognizable as Bunvorixian in origin, it seemed unlikely that our recently met magical girl¡¯s world was responsible for them.


    ¡°Are there any Bunvorixians on your Earth?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not that I am aware of,¡± Eglantine replied. ¡°Just the Scouring and ourselves, I believe.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°So do you not have a lot of magic and powers and stuff?¡±


    Eglantine shook her head. ¡°That would depend on what you mean. There are thousands of magical girls just in Japan. A relatively small portion of the population, but not all that rare either.¡±


    I pondered for a few moments. ¡°Having only one sort of powers in a world sounds boring.¡±


    Strife- or in her non-magical form, Momo, tilted her head. ¡°Do you have more than one¡­?¡±


    ¡°This world has one sort of overarching style that people get. My Earth has¡­ a great number of them,¡± I said. ¡°But they can¡¯t get here right now because the borders of planes are weird. Speaking of which, what are our plans for these portals?¡±


    Momo nodded. ¡°Once I finish resting, I will try to lead you back towards the one I came through.¡±


    ¡°Cool. We might be able to close it up if it¡¯s still hanging around,¡± I said. ¡°It will be more difficult if there¡¯s some sort of lasting physical component though. Were there any weird machines on your side of things?¡±


    Momo shook her head. ¡°It was simply in an alleyway. I do hope that nobody else has wandered through.¡± She turned to Eglantine. ¡°The others were informed about our passage weren¡¯t they, Lady Eglantine?¡±


    ¡°That is correct,¡± the porcupine confirmed. ¡°Our citizens should at least remain safe from anyone passing through.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Momo sounded quite relieved at that. ¡°Then¡­ we just have to make it back through and¡­ get it closed? You can do that?¡±


    I grinned widely. ¡°I¡¯ve learned to alter portals. Which¡­ has mostly been for closing them. Again, as long as there isn¡¯t anything inputting additional power to hold it open it should be fine.¡±


    ¡°What if¡­¡± Momo frowned. ¡°Nevermind.¡±


    If I knew her slightly better, I might have pushed for an answer there. But I didn¡¯t. Such were the perils of learning social niceties.


    -----


    Aside from reaching that one portal, our plans were generally flexible. Try to spot any enemy encampments, avoiding conflicts if possible. Because we¡¯d be going deeper into enemy territory, and it was better not to risk being overrun. We were already pushing things by fighting people who outleveled many of us. Strife¡¯s addition would only help so much in that regard.


    We used different tunnel entrances to save ourselves some time, and soon several of us were sniffing out our previous path. There were no immediate signs of others crossing our trail, though apparently there were older scents. We moved further in under Strife¡¯s guidance- she was transformed because we expected combat. Apparently, it wasn¡¯t that draining to maintain if she wasn¡¯t actually fighting, and shifting back and forth was riskier. In normal circumstances, she would usually be in safe territory which meant spending most of her time untransformed.


    Ultimately, she brought us to a chamber with a large pool of water. Then she stopped.


    After a few moments, when she didn¡¯t seem to be doing anything, I looked over at Eglantine. The porcupine shook her head. I¡­ wasn¡¯t sure what that meant in context. ¡°... Did we get lost?¡±


    Strife twitched, her extremely long hair shaking. ¡°No. This is¡­ this is it. Where the portal was. But it¡¯s gone.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± I said. ¡°We don¡¯t have to close it, and your home should be safe.¡±


    For some reason, she didn¡¯t look happy. ¡°Yes. But¡­ now I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t return.¡±


    ¡°Oooooh. You don¡¯t have those sorts of powers. I get it. It¡¯s kind of expensive, but I should be able to send you back from here.¡±


    Her head whipped around. ¡°You can?¡±


    ¡°I told you I can make portals. It¡¯s way easier to temporarily recreate one that previously existed. And you¡¯re connected to the dimension so it should be¡­ about as manageable as it gets,¡± I said. I almost said easy, but I was reminded the dimensional borders were weird here. It might be a bit tougher. ¡°You¡¯re not from that Earth but instead some other planet in that dimension, right Eglantine?¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± the porcupine confirmed.


    ¡°I won¡¯t focus on you then. Strife¡¯s connection should be good enough. If the rest of you could watch the entrance?¡±


    The Portal Squad nodded, heading out with the rest.


    ¡°How long will this take?¡± Strife asked nervously.


    ¡°Not too long,¡± I said. ¡°Midnight, if you¡¯d split the cost with me?¡± I didn¡¯t have enough mana that I felt comfortable casting Gate alone, especially not if we might run into other trouble soon.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Even?¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± I confirmed. I reached out for the faint traces of a portal, finding them like faded chalk lines on the road. As I gathered mana, I focused on Strife and her connection to that world. I had said it wouldn¡¯t take long, but it only took a few seconds- I simply hadn¡¯t wanted to worry her if something went wrong.


    Space rippled open, revealing a perfectly normal alleyway. Well, a normal Earth alleyway. I¡¯d battled people in plenty of them, and they were quite familiar. Was it the right Earth? It had better be.


    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± Strife said excitedly. She seemed to have momentarily broken her gloomy demeanor. ¡°Thank you so much.¡± She scooped up Eglantine. She looked at the portal ahead.


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    ¡°You just walk through,¡± I said. ¡°You only have about a minute, so¡­ don¡¯t hesitate too much.¡±


    We¡¯d just met, so I wasn¡¯t expecting long rounds of goodbyes or anything. And it was just dimensional travel, so it was best to get it over with.


    ¡°I-¡± Strife stepped back. ¡°If we proceed, we will never be able to repay you for your assistance. Nor can I be fully resolved to know my dimension is safe from this one, without knowing more.¡± She turned, bowing. ¡°I apologize for your wasted effort, but I cannot go through right now. I will pay you back for that, too.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s like¡­ an hour or two of effort for Midnight and myself.¡±


    ¡°... An hour?¡± Strife looked confused.


    ¡°A little more than three hours total. That¡¯s just how mana regeneration works,¡± I said.


    ¡°But you¡­ opened a rift between realms.¡±


    ¡°And I can only do that a few times per day,¡± I confirmed. ¡°Is this¡­ difficult to understand?¡±


    ¡°Are you some sort of archmage?¡± Eglantine asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m like¡­ mid level,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty good at Gate, though. Lots of practice. You would not believe how many portals this one guy throws around. And how many people have to be rescued from the other side. Or by going through and leaving behind a secret base.¡±


    ¡°... Sounds like fiction,¡± Strife commented.


    ¡°Same with magical girls!¡± Iron Hawk shouted from outside the chamber.


    ¡°Yeah, what she said,¡± I agreed. ¡°Though there isn¡¯t a lot that¡¯s easy to confirm as fiction in this world here. Anyway, you have like ten seconds. Either go through or help us track down other portals.¡±


    ¡°I must remain to assist you,¡± Strife said.


    ¡°Cool. We can always use more stabbing. Anything else you can help us with?¡±


    She held her hand up to her eyepatch. ¡°In the most dire of situations¡­ I can, yes. Should we find ourselves vastly outnumbered.¡±


    Was it rude to ask her to not be mysterious about that? Or maybe she was physically incapable of not being mysterious. Eh, whatever. I¡¯m sure she knew how to use her stuff.


    I wonder if I could get a cursed eye somewhere. I bet they were useful.


    -----


    Apparently, Flower had picked up the trail of more dark elves. It turned out Flower was an excellent scout¡­ which wasn¡¯t that surprising. That was why Lyklor brought her, after all. I looked between him and Flower. Then Zeb, Miss Flutter, and Fluffy. I had just one question for him.


    ¡°Why do all beastmaster companion names begin with F?¡± Okay, I had two. ¡°And is there some reason you couldn¡¯t bring Fang along?¡±


    Lyklor looked at me. ¡°My alphabet doesn¡¯t even really have an f,¡± he pointed out. ¡°And I don¡¯t know if hers does either,¡± he said, looking at Zeb.


    ¡°We sure don¡¯t! I can¡¯t even go fffff,¡± she said. ¡°You need lips and stuff. Or magic.¡±


    ¡°Regardless, there¡¯s no limitation on me bringing Fang here specifically. But it¡¯s not her kind of place, so I didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Too bad you don¡¯t have a cave bear,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Though it¡¯s not like you can just have a million different companions. Probably.¡±


    We kept conversation to a minimum as we found ourselves approaching what we thought was probably enemy territory. Then I sensed some sort of ward. I motioned for everyone to stop. ¡°There¡¯s something magical up ahead. Flower must have already flown through it.¡±


    ¡°How unfortunate,¡± Lyklor said. ¡°But if it were a hazard, she would most likely have avoided it. It could be a detection ward of some sort.¡±


    ¡°So they¡¯ll know we¡¯re here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They will know a bat came here,¡± Lylklor pointed out. ¡°Whether or not that alerts them is a different matter. Can it be avoided?¡±


    ¡°We can try that turn back there. But it kind of covers the whole area ahead.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°We should pause here. She will return soon enough, and we can redirect ourselves.¡±


    Flower indeed came back, and reported spotting enemies. And some sort of buildings, even. Meanwhile, Miss Flutter looked disappointed that she was not part of the scouting efforts.


    We continued to make our way, with my ability to sense magical things being our primary guiding factor. We found several other tunnels heading the same way all with wards.


    ¡°Oh,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t actually have to guess what those wards do. There¡¯s a reason I learned Arcane Sight.¡±


    There usually wasn¡¯t enough magic or magic adjacent things for me to need it, so I¡¯d sort of forgotten. But when I was wondering if I could figure out what the consequences would be¡­ I realized I had the solution.


    It wasn¡¯t cheap enough to have on constantly, as it only lasted ten minutes or so, but that was sufficient to pick out one or two.


    Once I took a proper look, I realized things were quite simple. ¡°These are life wards,¡± I explained.  ¡°They¡¯ll detect any living thing passing through.¡±


    ¡°Including Flower?¡± Lyklor asked. ¡°Because they might take note of a bat passing back and forth multiple times.¡±


    I nodded slowly. ¡°There¡¯s something you need to understand about mages. We really don¡¯t like being interrupted.¡± I took a second and third look just to confirm. ¡°Yep, there it is. An exception for small animals. Including insects, of course. Can you imagine if alarms were constantly going off?¡±


    Sir Kalman stepped forward slightly. ¡°So they don¡¯t know we¡¯re here yet.¡±


    ¡°But we also can¡¯t get to them without setting off alarms. I don¡¯t know if rushing would help, since they seem to have fortifications in that cavern ahead.¡±


    There was a screech behind us. A quite loud one.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Zeb bounced excitedly. Which meant¡­ very little. ¡°Miss Flutter found something!¡±


    There was no reason to not go check it out, so we followed her down a little side path we thought was a dead end. And it was¡­ except for a small opening in the ceiling. Miss Flutter was about person sized, but she was used to wiggling through gaps like that. The dire bat screeched again. Hopefully, it sounded like natural cave sounds. Well, I¡¯d heard a few bats of different sizes so probably.


    ¡°She says she can see them! It opens up to that cavern!¡±


    ¡°Can she explain more clearly?¡± I asked.


    ¡°She cannot!¡± Zeb said without even consulting the dire bat. But she said it enthusiastically, as expected.


    Ultimately, Flower flew up to verify her information¡­ and we learned that there was a quite large opening. I couldn¡¯t sense any magical wards, either. Seems they missed a spot.


    The first person we hoisted up was Malaliel. She didn¡¯t look like she was having great fun squeezing through the opening with her wings and all, but she was probably one of the better people to scout out what we could see.


    Next was me, not because I was more likely to fit and certainly not because I was light, but because I could sense magic. And Midnight didn¡¯t want to go that high if it could be helped.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Midnight,¡± I reached down. ¡°It¡¯s like a balcony here.¡±


    He leaped from Sir Kalman¡¯s head onto my outstretched arm. Fortunately for him, he was very familiar with how his claws held onto my outfit.


    There was no magic ahead, and I double checked with Arcane Sight. But¡­ there were signs of magic behind some areas I couldn¡¯t quite see. Not actual glowing light, but instead magical traces slipping around the fortifications they had.


    Well, good. We found something. Now we had to figure out what to do with it.

 Chapter 297

    In front of us was an outpost, within which I could see at least one strong source of magic. I hadn¡¯t taken that much time to consider what a portal felt like when I was in front of them, except those made by Gate. And without a direct line, Arcane Sight was only giving my vague ideas. Even so, it was reasonable to assume that there was a portal or something else important we didn¡¯t want these people to have.


    The problem was the outpost. It wasn¡¯t small, and I could already make out ten plus people on the walls. Unless everyone was assigned to guard duty all the time, I¡¯d expect thirty to fifty people. Others confirmed my vague estimate.


    I looked at my remaining points. 13. ¡°Well, I¡¯m out of ideas.¡±


    Midnight knew me too well, turning and squinting. ¡°You just had a stupid thought, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Not at all. It was perfectly normal and reasonable. I just don¡¯t have the points for it.¡±


    ¡°Not enough for some sort of Invisibility?¡± Midnight asked.


    I paused for a moment. ¡°Huh. Not a good one, no.¡±


    ¡°What was your actual plan?¡±


    ¡°I told you, it was a stupid one. A huge waste of points for something I¡¯d only ever use here.¡±


    Midnight tilted his head. ¡°It¡¯s that situational?¡±


    ¡°Well we couldn¡¯t use it literally anywhere in New Bay. Also¡­ I¡¯m under informed about some of the workings of the spell so even if I could get it I¡¯m not sure it would do what I want.¡±


    ¡°Well now I¡¯m curious,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Me too,¡± Bolster commented. ¡°I have a good number of spare points. Do you think I could cast it?¡±


    ¡°Definitely not,¡± I replied. ¡°You¡¯d need to be practically my level.¡±


    ¡°Now you¡¯ve got to tell us,¡± Bolster pressed.


    ¡°Yeah hold on. Psst! Sir Kalman!¡± All of us were in a relatively tight space, an odd hollow in the cavern walls. He turned towards me to acknowledge my words. ¡°You¡¯ve seen some high level spells right? Does Meteor Swarm need open skies?¡±


    Kalman blinked a few times. ¡°I¡¯ve only seen the spell once. Came down on an empty field. There¡¯s a large pond there now.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re not sure, then.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Well, again, don¡¯t have the points so it doesn¡¯t matter. What we need is to scout the place out. Can Flower help with that?¡±


    ¡°Already on it,¡± Lyklor said. ¡°She should be back in a minute.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± I nodded. It was a good thing we had him. Without that, our next best option was Miss Flutter, and she was both new to working with people and a hundred times bigger than the other bat. Even if she was ¡®natural¡¯ to these tunnels, she would draw more attention.


    The old beastmaster¡¯s pet was way better at giving pertinent information than Zeb¡¯s new friend. Though she¡¯d learn eventually, I imagined.


    Flower came back and reported forty visible individuals within the outpost, with sufficient room to house perhaps sixty people. She also reported there was a ¡®big magic thing¡¯ inside one building, though she hadn¡¯t gotten close enough to figure out what.


    ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡± Malaliel asked.


    I wanted to ask her that, but most of these people were Power Brigade. Then Strife and Eglantine who we knew very little about. And the last two were from this world so I understood them best. I wasn¡¯t meant to be in charge of things, though.


    ¡°Unless someone has a way to level the whole place¡­ I don¡¯t think we can safely do this. Which means¡­ the correct choice is to head back and return with elven soldiers.¡±


    Flower squeaked as quietly as a bat could in Lyklor¡¯s ear. ¡°One slight problem with that,¡± he commented. ¡°They have a big pile of these¡­ lasers¡­ loaded up on a cart.¡±


    Midnight felt nervous. ¡°I could¡­ I could go. My suit has stealth capabilities. Then I could¡­ steal a bunch of them?¡±


    ¡°What, with Storage?¡± I asked. ¡°At max that would be like, ten weapons. Not a cartful. And using offensive magic to try to melt them would absolutely reveal your location.¡± I looked at Malaliel. ¡°You¡¯re not hiding some sort of apocalypse spell, right?¡± Then Lyklor, ¡°Or a dozen cave bears?¡±


    The old elf shook his head. ¡°I left them all at home.¡±


    That left only the single individual who I was less familiar with. ¡°Got any giant explosive magic, Strife?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not really within my domain,¡± Strife said matter of factly.


    ¡°Then we head back and hope they don¡¯t ship those out to their people immediately,¡± I commented. ¡°The sooner we get back, the better.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Strife said. ¡°I can¡­ maybe still do something.¡±


    Eglantine- who was packed in with us and still managed not to poke anyone- spoke from next to her. ¡°Are you certain? It¡¯s risky.¡±


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    ¡°Even if these people aren¡¯t the Scouring, I can¡¯t just let them be when they might hurt innocents. I just have to¡­ somehow¡­¡± She grimaced.


    I cleared my throat. ¡°If you are willing to share you plans, I do have many supportive options.¡±


    Strife nodded slowly. ¡°I need to get as many of them as possible watching me at once. But the walls aren¡¯t set up for that. Maybe if I could fly¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can do that,¡± I nodded. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°... You can fly?¡±


    ¡°I can make you fly,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s easy. Obviously you¡¯d want Energy Ward in case they shoot lasers at you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget about arrows,¡± Lyklor commented. ¡°They do just have bows. Even if they aren¡¯t meant for shooting nearly vertically¡­ Strife doesn¡¯t appear particularly armored.¡±


    ¡°My transformation makes me more durable,¡± Strife commented. ¡°But¡­ I¡¯m not sure about being shot by arrows.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°Arrows we can handle. Other magic might be a problem though. We won¡¯t be able to assist you up there unless¡­¡± I looked over at Midnight.


    He nodded. ¡°If Lady Eglantine remains with us, we can refresh spells on you to absorb additional damage.¡±


    At that point, I was pretty much decided on the plan. Though as I began doing calculations, I realized we did need to know what Strife was actually going to do. ¡°So what¡¯s your actual plan?¡±


    ¡°I will unleash the curse within my eye upon our foes,¡± Strife said. ¡°Any who look upon my eye will know Strife.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that sounds great probably,¡± I said. ¡°But like, do they actually have to be looking into your eye? Because realistically most of them will be targeting your torso in general.¡±


    ¡°Uh.¡± Strife appeared to be thrown off. ¡°Well, just looking in my direction is enough. Though that also means you guys. So¡­ don¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°I will not be affected,¡± Eglantine commented. ¡°But beyond that, any of you are at risk. I will let you know when you absolutely must not look.¡±


    Now I wanted to look. I wondered if I could protect myself?


    ¡°So what¡¯s actually going to happen?¡± I asked. ¡°Does everyone just get quills in their eyes?¡±


    ¡°What? No, that¡¯s ridiculous.¡± Strife said. ¡°Why would you think that?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°The only thing I¡¯ve seen you do is transform and stab people with quills.¡±


    ¡°... I suppose so,¡± she admitted. ¡°Just¡­ be ready to take advantage of things when I unleash my curse. It¡¯s difficult to explain the actual effects.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°So, here¡¯s what we¡¯ll need.¡±


    I returned to calculations. Here were our plans.


    Fly x5- Multicasting would allow that to cover Strife, Iron Hawk, Twirl, Honey Badger, and myself and Midnight. Plus Lady Eglantine, but she didn¡¯t intend to actually get into the thick of things. Midnight might get close, but my plans were just to fly to get a better angle. Malaliel could just fly. With Multicasting costing triple the base, that was 21 mana. But hey, it was suddenly better having gone from four to five targets.


    Stoneskin on all the same people, another 27. We all had Energy Ward specifically tuned for lasers already. Strife specifically was given Energy Ward for all the basic elements between the efforts of Bolster and Bandage. At least we didn¡¯t have to worry about that, which was good because just those other two were half of the mana Midnight and I had.


    Our main goal was to get the gates open for those of us who couldn¡¯t fly. Or alternatively, to throw a grenade into the pile of weapons. If things didn¡¯t go as planned, we intended to retreat before we got that far- Eglantine would let us know if Strife¡¯s ability worked as planned. I was still hoping it was actually just a bunch of quills in people¡¯s eyes. That would make our job way easier.


    Bandage would be providing additional protection to Strife with Shield of Faith, which was actually the first spell she¡¯d used mostly by accident. Sir Kalman knew Shield Other, which would apparently allow him to split the damage Strife took¡­ just in case. I had to know how that spell worked¡­ later.


    Then it was time. The whole plan hinged on Strife¡¯s thing actually doing what she thought it would. Since she¡¯d denied the quills in eyes thing¡­ what could it be? Maybe she¡¯d summon porcupines that attacked everyone who was looking? Though that seems like she could have just said that if the effect were so simple.


    ¡°I¡¯m going now,¡± Strife said. She looked fearless as she stood. Then she looked kind of nervous as she started to fly. ¡°This¡­?¡±


    ¡°It just works,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. You¡¯ve got like ten minutes.¡±


    The ceiling of the cavern was high enough to allow her to get decent distance while being directly over the outpost. That was important for getting the most eyes on her. But perhaps unsurprisingly, with so many guards on the walls she was spotted almost immediately.


    Shouts rang out from the encampment, but that was probably what she wanted. Lasers blasted at her, but these guys didn¡¯t really seem to know about leading their targets. Or those who did overcompensated, adjusting for their presumed travel time. She still got swept with some, and the archers were actually much more accurate even as Strife tried to fly in less direct patterns.


    As she flew, she threw a hail of conjured quills- complete with sparkles and light- down at the people below.


    Midnight and I were ready to refresh Stoneskin if she seemed to be getting hit too much. But before it got to that point, she was in position. She began shouting something down at them- perhaps to get them to pay attention? Either way, I couldn¡¯t make it out.


    ¡°Now¡¯s the time!¡± Eglantine hissed. ¡°Look away!¡±


    I conceded, reluctantly, as I saw Strife reach up for her eyepatch. I closed my eyes and lowered my head, and there was a bright flash as well as a huge surge of energy spreading out from her.


    ¡°Okay, you can look,¡± Eglantine commented.


    I did, just in time to see one of the elves turn and stab the guy next to him. The same happened elsewhere, and it seemed most of them had forgotten about Strife herself.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a confusion effect,¡± I commented. Sure, it was a really big one, but she could have just said that. It was still cheaper to look away than to try to protect everyone with Mental Freedom, but we could have been better prepared.


    Those of us who weren¡¯t flying scrambled down from our perch on the edge of the cavern. With the majority of people being quite occupied, they weren¡¯t as exposed as I¡¯d worried we might be.


    As one of the fliers, I was able to get a good picture of the layout of things. I saw a couple people who looked like they might be spellcasters. Actually, one of them was still in his right mind and was doing something to help the woman immediately next to him.


    Well we didn¡¯t need that. Lightning crackled in my hand, arcing towards him. As focused as the spellcaster was on trying to deal with the confusion on his immediate neighbor, he wasn¡¯t ready for lightning. And neither was she. Nor the next two people it zapped its way through. And I managed to spot that cart. The remains of the spell would happily bounce their way around in a pile of metal guns. They probably weren¡¯t completely ruined, but it was a start.

 Chapter 298

    As it turns out, it¡¯s way easier to fight a disorganized mob that¡¯s already fighting itself. It almost made me want to get a confusion spell, but I knew that it wouldn¡¯t be nearly this powerful starting out¡­ and there was the slight issue that people weren¡¯t really controlled. That left a lot of room for collateral damage or unnecessary casualties. It wouldn¡¯t be super popular in New Bay.


    But there was a war here, so it was pretty good.


    While I had focused on the few rational people who could potentially remove confusion, others had charged the gates from above and dealt with the few disorganized individuals there. That let those without the Fly spell into the outpost, though frankly most of the work had been done by people fighting each other.


    A few arrows struck me, launched either by some of the few rational individuals or as a random noticeable target. That was the problem of flying, of course. I could completely avoid obstructions¡­ which worked in both directions.


    Strife had already dropped down into the outpost, and I figured that was a good idea for myself as well. My defenses weren¡¯t unlimited, after all. My suit was puncture resistant, but that didn¡¯t mean it was immune to arrows by people with magical abilities. Though as it turned out, shooting bows didn¡¯t make people archers- just like shooting laser weapons didn¡¯t make them gunners.


    I dropped onto the wall right in front of a woman who immediately dropped her bow and reached for her spear, leaning right against the wall next to her. I reached out as well, not to grab the spear but instead her arm. Shocking Grasp was about twice as powerful as another spell of its level for needing to be used in melee range, but even if that hadn¡¯t incapacitated her I was certain that I could make a spear non-functional in a grapple.


    But the elf woman spasmed as her muscles were flooded with electricity, and that gave me the leverage to toss her off the wall walk. It was a fairly simple outpost so it didn¡¯t have anything preventing people from just being flung towards the inside. It wasn¡¯t a huge drop, but the woman landed hard, the wind knocked out of her.


    I spotted Fluffy running further into the outpost, chased by Zeb. While the remaining number of foes was still concerning, the fact that they were partially locked in combat with each other reminded me there were other things to focus on. Like whatever the big magic thing was.further into the area. I was kind of hoping it was a portal, but I wasn¡¯t sure.


    Either way, some of my furry friends were running towards it so I thought I should back them up. Along the way I took some shots at enemies I passed by, conserving mana by using my gun. While most weren¡¯t really prepared for such a weapon, they had some understanding of firearms and would try to avoid my aim if they saw me. But a majority were still engaged in battle with their own allies- or already fallen for the same reason.


    Along the way I picked up Twirl. ¡°Help me fight past anyone along the central path!¡± I ordered. Not that there was anyone immediately in our way. Indeed, there was just one individual already incapacitated by Miss Flutter, the giant bat standing proudly atop their crumpled form.


    I rushed past a flimsy and busted door and indeed found a portal. ¡°Zeb!¡± I called out. I couldn¡¯t see her, but she¡¯d definitely gone this way.


    A snout poked around the corner of the portal. ¡°Hi Turlough! I found something!¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t run through portals alone,¡± I said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t! Fluffy is here!¡±


    ¡°... And what are you doing in there with Fluffy?¡± I said. Beyond the portal was a vaguely familiar industrial sort of environment. Certainly not a type-F world. Instead, if I had to place a bet I would say it was the inside of a secret lair.


    ¡°Breaking stuff,¡± Zeb said.


    ¡°Portal related stuff?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s got a big power source,¡± she said. ¡°I was just going to bust that.¡±


    ¡°And then¡­ the portal would close.¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡±


    ¡°With you on that side.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡±


    ¡°Inside an enemy base.¡±


    ¡°Well if you say it like that it doesn¡¯t sound as genius. But it totally is!¡± Zeb said. ¡°We¡¯ll just uh¡­ make sure it breaks after we run through.¡±


    ¡°Can you do that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sure. All that we have to do is- Fluffy, no! Left wire!¡±


    I turned to Twirl. ¡°Do you have a Power Brigade signal alarm on you?¡± I asked.


    He pulled a small device out of his utility belt. ¡°Of course. Don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Mine got an arrow through it,¡± I held up some broken pieces. ¡°I¡¯d toss that through real quick. Also¡­ Zeb! There¡¯s some super tech things approaching!¡±


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    ¡°Oooh! Can Fluffy eat them?¡±


    ¡°Zeb come back through the portal right now!¡±


    ¡°Okaaay. Just¡­ one more thing.¡±


    There was a loud sound and a spray of sparks filled my view. Then the portal began to wobble- but I was already expecting that. ¡°Zeb! Now!¡±


    I made use of Alter Portal to the best of my capabilities to hold things open. Twirl had already tossed the signaling device through- it might be blocked by the facility if it was Doctor Doomsday¡¯s, but we had to at least try. And if it was some other world, maybe someone would pick up the signal regardless. It wasn¡¯t made to be subtle.


    A rocket streaked across in front of the portal, and bullets began to impact the floor. Zeb slid into view and dashed through the portal.


    ¡°Fluffy! Hurry up!¡± she called.


    Whether it was simply from the encouragement or some actual ability that used a trivial amount of mana, either way I heard the pittering of feet increase in volume as various attacks filled the room. I stepped away with Twirl as some of Doctor Doomsday¡¯s death robots came into view beyond the portal.


    Fluffy barreled through, though I could see patches of red on his fur- he was fairly tough, but conventional weaponry was his weakness. Just like most people with bodies. The instant he was through, I let my control over the wobbly portal drop. It began to shrink rapidly, but one of the chasing robots got its front half through before it completely closed. But half of a death bot was still functional. Bullets were spraying. Zeb ran out of the small structure, but Fluffy lunged for exposed wires.


    Twirl thrust his rapier towards the bot- not aiming for the head where there wasn¡¯t anything super functional, but some of the torso. He could only aim so well while also dodging the gatling arm, but he punctured into some likely important stuff. When I found a moment with nothing in my line of fire, I used Sonic Lance, sending the thing flying. The wires Fluffy was chewing on were torn out, and enough of the remaining torso was crushed that the bot finally stopped shooting.


    My torso hurt, indicating I¡¯d taken some hits. Unlike Force Armor which caused impacts to not reach my body, my suit just distributed damage like a flak jacket. It was way better than having holes in me, but I¡¯d probably have some broken ribs. I was glad I also had some head protection.


    Outside, the battle was dying down- I saw some dark elves fleeing, and most of the others were already taken out. However, I doubted we would be able to hold the outpost if they went to get reinforcements.


    Once we took stock of the situation, pretty much everyone was injured to some extent. The main exception was Eglantine, but her main purpose was to channel power to Strife to begin with. Bandage was patching up the worst wounds as well as she could, but she only had so much mana to make use of.


    Large battles were exhausting. But was it worth it?


    My favorite metric said yes. I was level 40¡­ and I imagined most of the others should have leveled up at least once. Even if they didn¡¯t get extra experience from combat, it was a big one.


    Too bad for Strife and Malaliel, though. They just had to grow strong whatever their normal way was.


    ¡°We managed to confirm the presence of a portal,¡± I said. ¡°Looked like Doomsday, based on the half¡­ quarter bot we have. It¡¯s unclear if this is the only one, but we¡¯ll have to make our way out of here to rest and recuperate regardless.¡±


    Malaliel and Sir Kalman were providing supplemental healing, after Bandage diagnosed the worst damage.


    ¡°How are you doing?¡± Sir Kalman asked me.


    ¡°Cracked ribs and stuff. Nothing that bad.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take your word on that until we get somewhere we can properly check,¡± he said.


    We didn¡¯t have nearly enough room to carry all the lasers and we didn¡¯t want to be burdened down by half functional devices, so we instead dismantled most of them and set all their explosive bits in a pile. Then we blasted that from afar on our way out of the chamber.


    -----


    It wasn¡¯t fun moving at a hustle with cracked ribs, but that was preferable to winding up in another battle before we had a proper chance to rest. Besides, I didn¡¯t mind the pains of battle too much.


    ¡°Good job with that confusion effect,¡± I commented to Strife. ¡°You could have just said that¡¯s what it was, though.¡±


    ¡°The- the essence of Strife is not so simply condensed into a simple explanation,¡± she crossed her arms.


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± I nodded. ¡°Anyway, I can see why you¡¯d be hesitant to use it. It¡¯s quite effective, but if you caught allies it would be quite annoying. Plus, it looks pretty draining.¡±


    ¡°An expenditure of mana such as that will not bring me down,¡± Strife commented.


    ¡°I guess you don¡¯t need a mana crystal then?¡± I asked.


    She slowly reached out her hand. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be too bad to be topped off if we ran into trouble.¡±


    Feeling no need to cause her more grief than that, I handed over the crystal. Just one big one that contained about five mana, because I didn¡¯t know what her proper limits might be on absorption over time. Maybe her threshold was much lower, or much higher.


    I¡¯d already taken up to my limit, which was just about twenty mana. That was going to be troublesome if we had more large conflicts in the near future, but I wasn¡¯t certain this was something we could solve in the near future. If there were more portals, they¡¯d be better defended. And if there weren¡¯t any immediately, then we would be done.


    At least I¡¯d refreshed what they felt like in my mind. I had much more experience with the temporary ones. But now¡­ maybe I could actually Scry them. If that was even possible, because for all my effort I hadn¡¯t been successful yet.


    Since we pretty much had to follow one of a few set routes back to the surface, Miss Flutter the dire bat was tasked with scouting in front, while Lyklor¡¯s little bat watched behind us. Some pursuers got close to us near the end, but we threw them off our trail. By which I mean mostly Lyklor, because the rest of us were pretty useless at that.


    Tracking people on stone floors wasn¡¯t easy¡­ but if they had some proper animals that could smell we would have found things more difficult. I wondered if that wasn¡¯t a thing that dark elves did, or if anyone with pets were just smarter than to get involved with this stuff. Or maybe we¡¯d been lucky to avoid them.


    When we made it back, everyone pretty much collapsed into their beds, except people who had serious injuries that needed more attention. And me, because Midnight said he wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep if I was hurting this much. He had a pretty good point there, so I got to see a druid with Regenerate. That was good for fixing small but otherwise lasting damage¡­ but it sure made me even more tired.


    In the morning we¡¯d figure out our next plans. Probably.

 Chapter 299

    Countries were too big. That was my official opinion. New Bay was nice because it was densely packed with people, so villains were never more than an hour away¡­ assuming you could avoid traffic. Here in Linduel they could be anywhere, and the place was way larger. Much of the trouble was focused around Entheas and the dukedom that Ruvyn represented- or at least that was what we were exposed to- but the place was bigger than New Bay. And we didn¡¯t have any cars. Or buses. Or subways, though if you didn¡¯t count flooded ones then not all of New Bay did either.


    It didn¡¯t help that all the underground tunnels we¡¯d been going through were natural instead of constructed, as that made them much less efficient at getting people places. We¡¯d spent so long walking back and forth¡­ and while a little walking wasn¡¯t that bad, some of our trips had taken over a day. I wasn¡¯t really fond of trying to camp in tunnels patrolled by enemies. I liked fighting, but I didn¡¯t want to be woken up in the middle of the night.


    Having found one portal, we arranged to receive additional signaling devices and also to drop off weapons that should not remain. The ones we weren¡¯t using, of course. There was no reason to hamper our own options, after all. Lasers were still good, especially if the enemy wasn¡¯t expecting them.


    We sent a message through Sending and received a confirmation that they would be ready later in the day. People had watches synced to New Bay time still, so nobody should have to stand around waiting. But we were sent a generous estimate just so they could be sure to be ready.


    Gate was a pretty expensive spell, after all. Missing an opportunity would require another Sending to coordinate and along with the Gate itself that was 30 mana, which was about three hours of regeneration. I would have thought elven lands would have better than standard mana regeneration, but that didn¡¯t seem to be true to any significant extent. Split between Midnight and myself it wasn¡¯t so bad, but even so it was inconvenient and prevented us from doing other things with that mana. Like Scrying for enemy locations.


    The drop off ended up going just fine, and given the limitations on Scrying we probably could have afforded to wait¡­ but it would have at the very least limited other training throughout the day. I had a lot of testing to do with Multicasting.


    -----


    Midnight and I were back at Clear Moon Lake to try to do some Scrying. Even if it was a pretty good Scrying lake, it still didn¡¯t have the carefully controlled conditions I would like.


    It seemed to be better at night, at least. The images had been a bit dull during the day.


    We had to wait for some elves to finish their turns, looking for¡­ something. Enemies, probably. We weren¡¯t supposed to look, but it was a huge lake so it was difficult not to. Mostly we were standing at a terrible angle and thus couldn¡¯t make anything out.


    These elves should get them a good old Scrying orb. You could just put those inside and use them whenever you wanted! But I understood that people did a lot of dumb things because of tradition. The full moon had somehow been slightly better, but I hadn¡¯t refamiliarized myself with the specific portal signatures I was looking for so I ended up stuck on random things again.


    I was worried the same thing would happen again, but fortunately the image resolved into something. That something happened to be a distorted image of a portal with rocky surroundings and nothing more of note. It reminded me that sometimes I¡¯d gotten much more zoomed out images of the surroundings, instead of just ten or fifteen feet in around a point. Specifically when I got locked in on cities. I tried to adjust what I was looking at and¡­


    A wave suddenly crossed the lake, scattering the image and breaking the spell. Wow, what a horrible coincidence. No, wait, perhaps the wave was a side effect of it breaking to begin with. Seriously, if we had an artificial construct I wouldn¡¯t have to be dealing with these issues. We couldn¡¯t even get a good recording of the lake!


    So annoying. But I was ready to try again. ¡°I tried to zoom out to city scale,¡± I explained to Midnight, as he would be interweaving attempts of his own. ¡°That broke the spell, but I know it¡¯s possible to see in general.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s due to wards?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t feel the same sort of resistance. But I¡¯d assume there are some around.¡±


    In theory, Clear Moon Lake was valuable for pushing through Scrying blockers, but I didn¡¯t really have data to back it up. So we were going off of trust, which was fine I supposed.


    I gave it another attempt, getting a few moments of a vague city shimmering into view. Midnight swapped with me, and after going back and forth a few times we got some decent footage of an underground city. I wanted to turn up the brightness on the Scrying because darkvision didn¡¯t necessarily work with recordings, but sadly the lake didn¡¯t do well with adjustments.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to do some post-processing,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But maybe someone here can recognize it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°Though I don¡¯t think we¡¯re up for any sort of city-sized expeditions at the moment. And we don¡¯t know for sure that city is connected to the portal we saw, or the relative position within if it is.¡±


    Scrying did give us a vague sense of direction where our target was, so that might be enough to find the city. But again, we shouldn¡¯t be trying to attack a city with a dozen people- and it was highly unlikely that an army could just walk up to it even if the elves had been prepared.


    ¡°See if you can try to tune out that particular portal,¡± I commented. We had enough mana left for one try each. Then our turns would be up, though we also had a time limit. We just happened to be under it because our spells kept falling apart.


    I followed Midnight¡¯s flow of magic as well as I could, just in case he managed something extraordinary. What we saw when the shimmering mists of Scrying spit apart was¡­ Entheas. Again.


    Midnight just gave me a look. We¡¯d seen the elven city come up several times, and while so far we hadn¡¯t conclusively proven that we were latching onto cities because they actually had portals- it could have just been large amounts of magic interfering- it was notable.


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    ¡°Your turn,¡± he said. ¡°What are you thinking to try?¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± I paused for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m thinking that I¡¯d rather not make the duke angry or expose us to some sort of secret society who¡¯d be mad if we found a portal,¡± I said.


    ¡°... So you¡¯re just going to give up?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Of course not,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m just going to try something else. Malaliel!¡± I called down the angel. She was helping us record the lake. She could get a much better angle, though it wasn¡¯t perfectly steady. Perils of winged flight and all that.


    ¡°Are you finished now?¡± Malaliel asked.


    I shook my head. ¡°Just one more thing. But I need you to record this instead,¡± I said, pulling out my phone. ¡°I¡¯m going to try a trick.¡±


    She gave me a look, but shrugged. Sometimes, trying things resulted in finding out something simply didn¡¯t work. That was fine. Other times, it ended in complete disaster- but what was the worst that could happen here, my phone broke?


    Okay, maybe the lake could be damaged somehow, but I doubted that would be easy.


    I concentrated on the lake, but I didn¡¯t want it to show anything. If it was a good focus for Scrying magic, I¡¯d gladly make use of it. But I also didn¡¯t want to advertise what I was doing to everyone hanging around.


    The waves rippled on the lake in front of me. Fog swirled, but revealed nothing. In my hand, however, they parted to reveal something as I pushed through stiff resistance. I knew where I was trying to reach, but it was difficult. I only slowly pushed back the edges to reveal a circular portal- not freestanding, but in a constructed archway.


    ¡°Well, doesn¡¯t look like it leads to Earth,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s certainly not a Doomsday-style portal.¡±


    Through the portal I could see twisting caverns, trembling for some reason. Maybe that was my magic trying to pierce through the wards. Though it might be the tunnel I saw ahead, as there was a river on the wall. And on the other wall. Where was that again? I¡¯d have to review.


    The image didn¡¯t last long, however, as my mana was quickly used up wrestling with whatever was trying to stop me from seeing that portal. I sighed. ¡°I should have also focused on the right portal signature.¡± I would have said more, but people were watching. They might have seen us huddling around oddly, but at least the lake hadn¡¯t displayed any big secrets.


    -----


    ¡°So where was that?¡± Malaliel asked.


    ¡°Unfortunately, since that was an image of a portal instead of the portal itself,¡± I shrugged. ¡°We were missing a lot of context. Can I look at the recording?¡± My phone had been displaying it- but only as a reflective surface. A screen recording couldn¡¯t pick that up because it didn¡¯t go through the electronics.


    Malaliel showed me the display on the camera she had been using. ¡°Here it is.¡±


    Aside from the edges of the portal, the screen was just black.


    ¡°Can you turn up the brightness?¡± I asked.


    ¡°This is it,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°As bright as it gets.¡± She slightly adjusted things until the edge of the portal washed out the image, but that was all we could really get.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t see anything but the portal,¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°So no natural light, then. I was quite focused on the magic so I wasn¡¯t looking as well as I might,¡± I said. ¡°But it did look like I needed my darkvision. Malaliel?¡±


    ¡°I was able to see dark tunnels and rivers flowing opposite each other on the sides,¡± she commented. ¡°My vision is also supernatural. Whereas Midnight, you see in the dark through reflecting what little light there is, correct?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. So when there¡¯s actually no light, it doesn¡¯t work,¡± he said. ¡°The portal made some light on the edges, but it didn¡¯t extend through.¡±


    ¡°Too bad there wasn¡¯t any sound,¡± I said. ¡°All I can confirm is it had to be an outer plane. They do weird stuff with gravity.¡±


    ¡°The outer planes being¡­?¡± Malaliel prompted.


    ¡°Oh you know. Heavens and hells, mostly,¡± I said.


    ¡°What are the chances that that was one of the heavens?¡± Malaliel asked.


    ¡°Uh¡­ they could have a spooky tunnel based heaven I¡¯m not familiar with. Underground, I mean. They all have pretty much perpetual light aboveground. And some probably don¡¯t have an underground, but I¡¯m not aware of every aspect they have.¡± I paused for a moment. ¡°Oh, they totally sealed off Elysium though. So it¡¯s not that, unless it¡¯s a portal to a different Elysium.¡±


    ¡°I get what you¡¯re saying,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So¡­ which hell is it?¡±


    ¡°It might not be a hell,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s also the abyss and some other weird stuff.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s not one of the good planes,¡± Malaliel confirmed.


    ¡°It is not,¡± I said with confidence.


    ¡°So what do we do about it?¡± she asked.


    ¡°... Why would we do anything about it?¡± I asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t see any lasers there. That¡¯s local business to deal with.¡±


    Malaliel gave me a look.


    ¡°Obviously we¡¯ll inform Sir Kalman,¡± I said. ¡°He can figure out if that¡¯s the surface elves causing trouble for themselves or some sort of invasion thing.¡±


    ¡°I would have assumed you would have insisted on dealing with it,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Why? It¡¯s not like monsters were pouring through. If it was any of the really bad places everything would have already fallen apart, but there¡¯s a stable portal and Entheas still exists. It could just be a place to dip people into other planes,¡± I said. ¡°You know, as part of the elite conspiracy of people with fully unlocked classes.¡±


    Midnight¡¯s tail swished. ¡°Still thought you¡¯d be eager to deal with that speculative group.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯d have to at least know Meteor Swarm first.¡±


    Midnight frowned. ¡°You just checked to see if you have enough points to learn that, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I might have. But I didn¡¯t spend them.¡± I would want to be able to test it and I didn¡¯t think there was anywhere that would let me do that.


    ¡°Should I ask?¡± Malaliel said.


    ¡°They¡¯re not actual meteors, obviously,¡± I replied. ¡°... Though I wonder if that would be possible.¡± Maybe I could open a Gate? That seemed like a terrible time for everyone involved. There was no way I could be far enough away.

 Chapter 300

    Duke Ruvyn was a decent enough fellow, but I didn¡¯t care too much about his assessment on whether or not we should remain. Instead, the opinions of Sir Kalman and Malaliel were more important.


    I also had to consider Lyklor, our aged elven beastmaster companion. He was quite helpful, providing training for Zeb and helping us scout out the location of the enemy. Without him and Flower, we might have ended up in some truly perilous situations.


    ¡°Is there anything else we can do to aid the Order of the Lion?¡± I asked.


    Sir Kalman shook his head. ¡°Unless you can get some of those powered people here, we have more than enough people with classes. I don¡¯t expect you to try to assault a main city to close off another portal, either.¡± Presumably, he was also referencing a different portal I had mentioned. It might be fine that Entheas had a permanent portal to one of the outer planes, but it was suspicious at the very least.


    Malaliel added her part next. ¡°Extra cannot expect more from you than we have already received. One issue has been resolved, at least, and the rest is out of bounds of what can be achieved with a single large squad.¡±


    ¡°We do appreciate your assistance,¡± Sir Kalman said. ¡°Your knowledge of proper tactics to deal with these laser weapons has made them much more tolerable. Now the attackers are on the back foot. But you should get your people back to where they belong.¡±


    I nodded. Having ended up as squad leader, the risks the Portal Squad had been placed in were greater than I would have liked. On Earth, their powers were rare. Here, there were so many people who had been using the same powers for longer. Even with incomplete classes that only used points and leveling, that was a difficult thing to overcome. Only the fact that we had access to excellent healers had kept them from permanent harm- that and Francois¡¯ excellent defenses that allowed them to be mobile but well protected.


    Truth be told, if all our battles had relied only on local powers we likely would have struggled greatly. The dark elves relying on their shiny new lasers helped give us the necessary edge.


    ¡°I enjoyed working with you,¡± Lyklor said. ¡°It is interesting to see what people can do with training.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°It really feels like I was dealing with something incomplete for the first twenty-five years of my life. I¡¯m still surprised that you haven¡¯t come across¡­ the necessary circumstances.¡±


    ¡°One does not so easily become an old elf if they poke their nose where it does not belong.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow. ¡°You seem exactly like the type who could make good use of their nose. But I¡¯ll take your word for it. Oh, I might want to contact you later. Would you be willing to respond to Sending?¡±


    ¡°I doubt I have any answers to your questions,¡± the old elf said. ¡°Unless you¡¯re asking about raising squirrels.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I want to know about that!¡± Zeb bounced into view. ¡°Tell me about raising squirrels! And how to get one. They keep running away.¡±


    ¡°You need to be patient,¡± Lyklor said. ¡°And I would suggest trying to get a local squirrel. You¡¯re already bringing one denizen from this world that isn¡¯t a native of your realm.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Yeah, we don¡¯t have dire bats at all. Plenty of squirrels, though.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t allowed to go around outside until just recently,¡± Zeb said. ¡°But I can now! I even got to go on a mission. So you can take me to find squirrels, right?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± I said. ¡°Though we¡¯ll have to look into local laws and stuff.¡± I was pretty sure bonded companions bypassed a lot of rules, and it wasn¡¯t like Zeb was going to have more difficulty getting a squirrel approved than a rust mole. Or a dire bat. One of those wasn¡¯t even native to the solar system. Funnily enough though, it was just the big bat.


    -----


    ¡°Will this be where we depart, great mage Turlough?¡± Momo asked.


    ¡°Uh, pretty much yeah,¡± I said. ¡°Also I¡¯m just Turlough. Mage is a code name and great isn¡¯t part of any of that.¡±


    ¡°You deserve a title of honor for your accomplishments,¡± Momo said.


    ¡°Eh. Titles are kinda¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°Not for me. Anyway, you should focus on calling me just one thing. I don¡¯t care about my secret identity for myself, but keeping up some level of anonymity for those around me is important.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Momo agreed. ¡°The fact that you do not transform simply threw me off.¡±


    ¡°Well, I usually have different clothes. But we¡¯re alway near conflict here,¡± I said, gesturing around me. You ready Midnight?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Indeed. We will be focusing on their energy signatures to form the Gate, correct?¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll do a two-thirds split. Maximum power just in case the dimension is stubborn.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± he said.


    We were preparing to make the portals in a nice open courtyard- with some local elves watching, just in case something went wrong. People were so picky about interdimensional portals. I thought it was especially silly since they had a way more risky one all the time. Though probably most of them didn¡¯t know about it.


    ¡°Oh. Are you going back like that?¡± I asked Momo. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be Strife if you¡¯re going to come through a magic portal?¡±


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    ¡°I was hoping you could place it in an alleyway?¡± she tilted her head.


    ¡°I mean, I can certainly try. But we¡¯re not at the same place where your original portal was, so I have to make a new one. What about Eglantine? Is it okay to have her just wandering around?¡±


    ¡°Nobody can see me if they don¡¯t have a connection to magic,¡± Eglantine commented. ¡°Unless I wish it.¡± She looked around. ¡°It is odd to be in a world where everyone has some access to magic.¡±


    ¡°Alright, seems like we¡¯re set. One Gate coming up. It will probably last about a minute, but wait until I give you the go ahead before trying to go through.¡±


    I concentrated on the pair, drawing on their natural connection to home. They had a distinctive energy signature that very much helped. I could feel the sparkles. A swirling portal expanded outward, revealing an alleyway in a shining city. Running around in said city were sparkling motes without form.


    ¡°... Is this it?¡± I asked. ¡°The portal is stable.¡±


    Momo seemed uncertain, but Eglantine spoke up. ¡°This is actually my homeworld, Humurun.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose it¡¯s possible to go in there and just¡­ magic yourselves back to Japan?¡±


    ¡°It would be¡­ quite difficult,¡± Eglantine said.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°Stand back, I¡¯m going to let it close.¡±


    That part was easy, as I just had to stop concentrating. I could have tried to regain mana as I closed it, but the net expenditure might not be in my favor. It had been marginal when I¡¯d first learned Alter Portal, but maybe it would be better here for my own. But I wasn¡¯t interested in experimenting at this exact moment.


    ¡°Next attempt,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll focus more on Momo.¡±


    It was too bad that her connection was less powerful, but I supposed ending up on the right planet was important. An alleyway in a big city in Japan. Ah, I forgot to ask if she lived in Tokyo or somewhere else. Would there even be one in that dimension, or would they have other cities?


    A city came into view as the portal expanded, complete with cars and taxis.


    ¡°Behold!¡± I waved my arm. ¡°Hmm. Is this Manhattan?¡±


    ¡°... It¡¯s certainly not my Japan,¡± Momo said cautiously. ¡°It¡­ might be in my world. But I didn¡¯t exactly bring a passport. I know this is a significant expenditure, great mage, but could you make a further attempt?¡±


    ¡°No problem,¡± I said. I declined to inform her at the time that I could do this multiple times per day. Well, actually barely more than once here. The regeneration was kinda awful in Entheas. And by awful I meant the rate I had been told was standard. New Bay was like twice as much. Oh, I should be looking for a place with more magic. Eglantine said their Japan had over a thousand magical girls.


    The third Gate.


    ¡°... San Francisco is closer,¡± Momo admitted. ¡°But still, um¡­¡±


    ¡°Wrong?¡± I asked. ¡°I get it.¡± I stepped closer to the portal, not to go through but to feel it. Ambient mana¡­ funnily enough, higher than this world. Again. But not at the current levels of New Bay, indicating I was probably at least getting the right world.


    I let that final Gate fade away.


    ¡°Now we have a bit of a problem,¡± I said.


    ¡°Is it¡­ impossible?¡± Momo asked, worriedly.


    ¡°No way,¡± I shook my head. ¡°But I¡¯d be more effective with a picture. You¡­ don¡¯t happen to have a phone on you, do you?¡±


    Momo blinked. ¡°I do but¡­ my battery is dead.¡±


    ¡°We can probably deal with that at the same time as the real problem. I was planning to return the rest of us home today. And I can only cast one more Gate. So it would actually be more efficient if you stop by our world with us, where we can find a way to recharge your device and I can recover mana more quickly.¡± Also, that way I could be more certain I wasn¡¯t making a Gate to our Japan, when I finally got it right.


    ¡°We will gladly accept your request,¡± Eglantine said. ¡°I understand how difficult dimensional travel is, and we would not wish to keep you from your home.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t really that difficult. I got to the right dimension every time, probably. But they didn¡¯t seem to have anyone like Extra that would bring my portal to a convenient place.


    We said our official goodbyes to the Duke. There were some flowery words and stuff, but I wasn¡¯t really listening. Mostly, it sounded like he was glad that the enemy had fewer lasers. And maybe a bit disappointed to find out that they ran out of energy so his people couldn¡¯t just use what they caught forever.


    I didn¡¯t have anything against the guy unless he was part of the big conspiracy, but I didn¡¯t know so I kept him in the ¡®seems decent¡¯ category.


    Then I took us all back to New Bay- all of those who belonged, of course. Only the Portal Squad was native to the planet, but that didn¡¯t mean the rest of us didn¡¯t call it home. Oh, aside from the magical girl and her alien companion who belonged on a different Earth.


    We were greeted by the portal halls of Extra¡¯s New Bay Branch. It was nice to be somewhere familiar again. And somewhere with better mana regeneration, because frankly those elf lands sucked. The ancient plane was like five times better. They should have all stayed there with the big jungle monsters.


    As we stepped through, Momo locked her eyes on something. ¡°Oh no! It¡¯s one of them!¡±


    She began to shine with light, her hair growing longer and her clothes transforming. But frankly, the actual magic had to be making it so that people didn¡¯t just figure out her mundane identity. Though she probably wasn¡¯t supposed to transform in front of people normally.


    ¡°The taint of the Scouring will not make a foothold in this world!¡± Strife stood imperiously. Around her, quills began to form in the air, sparkling with rainbow colors.


    I grabbed the back of her uniform and yanked her backwards. ¡°No. Bad Strife.¡±


    She tumbled to the ground, her magic falling apart. ¡°But-¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Kyle. He¡¯s supposed to be here.¡± I waved. ¡°Hey (-----), how¡¯s (--------) doing?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anything changed since you would have last seen him,¡± Kyle shrugged, his whole body flowing upward. ¡°She¡¯s new, I take it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s from some other dimension with some sort of alien monsters called the Scouring. Probably just a mistaken identity.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you can speak with it?¡± Strife asked from where she was, half sitting on the floor.


    ¡°I can speak with anything that speaks,¡± I replied. ¡°Anyway, no transforming and attacking people here unless Malaliel, Midnight, or myself say they¡¯re bad.¡±


    Eglantine peeked around Strife. ¡°This¡­ Kyle¡­ has none of the taint the Scouring carry with them,¡± she said. ¡°And while the form is as alien as any of the Scouring¡­ I don¡¯t recognize that particular configuration.¡±


    ¡°See? Told you. He¡¯s fine. Now turn back into your nice form.¡±


    Strife complied, and then we had Momo again. I wondered if they might actually be from her dimension, though. All I knew is they were refugees. Maybe they were being oppressed by magical girls? It was hard to tell, as Kyle only looked the standard level of surprised when someone magically transforms in front of them.

 Chapter 301

    The person I reported to was pretty much always Calculator these days. Since things were going to end up passing through him at some point, it seemed to make sense.


    ¡°So your mission report¡­¡± he said, eyeing it suspiciously.


    ¡°Is there anything missing?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It says here¡­ Zeb got a big bat.¡±


    ¡°Dire bats are massive,¡± I confirmed.


    ¡°You closed one of three portals you discovered and destroyed a ton of lasers..¡±


    I nodded. ¡°One of Doomsday¡¯s portals. Did anyone pick up the beacon we tossed through?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately not. Though it is expected that his lairs are well sealed.¡± Calculator looked back at the device in his hands. ¡°The final thing¡­ ¡®brought back a magical girl¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Temporarily,¡± I clarified. ¡°She¡¯s from an alternate dimension and all that, and I was having trouble targeting her Japan.¡±


    ¡°Is this the end of the report?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°I did note that Zeb is still writing up some technical specifications of some things. Anyway, we couldn¡¯t really do anything about the other portals with the squad we had. We did manage to accomplish our allies¡¯ objectives of tipping the scales, though.¡±


    Calculator nodded, thinking for a few moments- which was far longer than usual. ¡°You weren¡¯t able to determine why only mana-using individuals were able to pass through?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± I said. ¡°I assume some sort of dimensional barrier shenanigans. Obviously it has to differentiate between living creatures and objects.¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Calculator agreed. ¡°Now then, about your other assessments¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m a good leader. I¡¯d really rather not be in charge of a squad if we can help it.¡±


    ¡°You were successful, though. And you brought back your whole squad unharmed.¡±


    ¡°Healed,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s quite different. The elves provided high level healing services to help people recover from various wounds. Frankly, we probably got lucky by virtue of having an unexpected style. The Portal Squad still needs to spend a lot of time training to get levels¡­ though now they can get trained ranks in abilities too.¡±


    ¡°Do you think our training methods were inadequate?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°We just need to remember that most people choose their class when they¡¯re young, and even if it only grows inefficiently in the first decade it would be expected for people to reach level 20 or 30 as they grow into their adult life. Our trainees were far short of that. The Brigade¡¯s training did give them other practical battle skills which allowed them to survive, but since I grew up somewhere peaceful I let myself forget that everyone having a class means it¡¯s easy to select competent individuals for military matters.¡±


    ¡°I could say that¡¯s a failure on our part as well,¡± Calculator admitted. ¡°We¡¯re so used to dealing with gangs at best, not military.¡±


    ¡°We were lucky that the strongest people would have been tied up on the front lines,¡± I concluded. ¡°I don¡¯t think a straightforward approach is viable for entering the city we Scryed.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Calculator said. ¡°We¡¯ll coordinate with Extra to see if there is a viable option in the future. For now, your job is to rest and recover. Oh, and I suppose to return this magical girl to her home dimension.¡±


    -----


    ¡°So you will see, sir Turlough, that the visual aesthetic of the two Japans, while similar, has diverged slightly.¡±


    I nodded. Zeb and Khithae had rigged up a way for Momo to charge her phone- just because both worlds had a portable computer/communications device didn¡¯t mean that they would use compatible charging technology. They had to convert to the right voltage and put together some sort of connector.


    A tech super probably could have whipped something up in a few seconds, but it took them a week to get something that they thought was safe to test, made from printed parts.


    ¡°I do see some differences,¡± I admitted, ¡°But they¡¯re not as obvious as what I might expect between different sections of a city. Fortunately, I should be able to focus on the right world easily enough, and now that we¡¯re here we shouldn¡¯t have any worries about ending up on this Earth.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Eglantine asked.


    ¡°Well, Gate makes interplanar and interdimensional portals. Interplanetary works too, but it¡¯s better if they¡¯re out of system.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Momo asked.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s specialized for long distance travel,¡± I shrugged. ¡°There¡¯s other stuff for short range.¡± Speaking of ¡®short range¡¯, I hadn¡¯t really gotten to use Teleport. I¡¯d picked it up a while before as a safety measure, but that had all been after we were in my old world. Having no clear knowledge of where we were going nor the ability to transport such a large group, it had been sitting stagnant for the few weeks I¡¯d had it.


    But it was too much mana to test it right before trying to send Momo back home. We might need all of our mana. So today was focused on that.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Before just trying to toss her back home, however, we had an extradimensional resonance specialist to see.


    -----


    Given our return to Extra hadn¡¯t been specifically planned ahead of time, we¡¯d managed to miss Zakaria. He had been out of the office, and since we hadn¡¯t been in any particular hurry and Momo had been happy enough to hang out in a hotel with Eglantine, it had been a couple days.


    Technically, we didn¡¯t have to do any of this. But Malaliel was interested in potentially establishing contact with Momo¡¯s dimension, and the two didn¡¯t object to the idea. Whether it was practical to stay in contact was something that would be worked out in the future.


    ¡°It¡¯s strange,¡± Eglantine commented, ¡°To have an entire organization devoted to extradimensional affairs. Though perhaps if our worlds did not have to deal with the Scouring, we would have established such.¡±


    ¡°It depends on how much you interact with such things,¡± Midnight said. ¡°My people dealt with one particular neighbor and we¡¯ve not been at peace as far as I remember. So we didn¡¯t have anything either.¡±


    ¡°Same with my old world,¡± I agreed. ¡°Earth here is pretty unique in that regard, I suppose. Ah, there he is. Zakaria!¡± I waved across the lobby. The man was dressed in the standard uniform for Extra¡¯s non-combatants.


    ¡°Good day, Mage,¡± he commented as he approached. ¡°And¡­¡±


    ¡°Momo is best here,¡± she explained. We had cast Translation on the pair of them to make things smoother. ¡°I would only stand out more in my other form.¡±


    ¡°Very well. And¡­¡± Zakaria¡¯s eyes scanned the area, landing vaguely where Eglantine was. ¡°This should be¡­ Lady Eglantine?¡± His eyes suddenly changed focus, presumably as she revealed herself. ¡°I don¡¯t think people mentioned the colors.¡±


    Eglantine made a face I felt was some sort of pleasant smile. ¡°It¡¯s not as if there are many other talking porcupines here to get confused with, I think. You could not see me, but you could sense me?¡±


    ¡°You have an extradimensional signature about you,¡± Zakaria confirmed. ¡°My abilities are good for little else but confirming that and its resonant dimension. I can confirm we have not registered any of your people.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Eglantine nodded. ¡°Do you personally verify everyone who comes to Earth, then?¡±


    ¡°Oh no,¡± Zakaria shook his head. ¡°That would be far from feasible. Even New Bay alone is more than I can handle. Among other things, people like me can often replicate the signature of different dimensions. Fortunately we tend to get numerous repeats, either because certain connections were formed or by intention. So there are far fewer dimensions to remember than individuals. That¡¯s why new dimensions are important to pay attention to. Though you may be an isolated incident since you came indirectly.¡±


    ¡°Since we have him,¡± I said. ¡°We can easily verify if I get the right place. So we can get you guys home in just a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Momo said, bowing gracefully. ¡°In that case, I must say I was pleased to make your acquaintance.¡± She turned to Midnight. ¡°You as well. I hope your people can come to know peace.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Midnight inclined his head. ¡°In fact, we have made some progress on that lately. Even if it is but a few individuals.¡± Even if Zeb had been somewhat frightening in her approach early on, I knew Midnight had come to like her- like everyone else, really.


    We moved to the travel hall, since it really was Extra¡¯s job to make sure everyone got to where they belonged safe and sound. Or if they couldn¡¯t, finding them a new place.


    Momo showed me the pictures she had again, and I focused specifically on her connection to things. I couldn¡¯t guarantee we would show up in the alley she left from, but I was confident in getting her to her world.


    Together Midnight and I gathered mana, and slowly a Gate began to form. It was a bit tough, clearly not a strong connection. But it didn¡¯t seem to be trying to stop our connection, either.


    ¡°I can confirm this has the correct dimensional resonance,¡± Zakaria commented.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Eglantine said. ¡°This is definitely our Japan. Come then, Momo.¡±


    The colorful porcupine wandered through the portal. Momo stood behind her, hesitating.


    Eventually the portal closed with her back in her home world.


    ¡°I could not even turn around to provide my thanks one more time,¡± Momo said, looking down at Eglantine. ¡°Sir Turlough provided great kindness for us as strangers, and now we will never speak again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I would say never,¡± I commented, prompting her to turn around. ¡°You were kinda standing half in the portal,¡± I pointed out. ¡°So we kind of nudged you through. I wanted to make sure you didn¡¯t stumble back or anything.¡±


    Momo looked horrified. Perhaps at being overheard? Personally, I understood how difficult it was to say things sometimes¡­ until you finally just did it. She fully turned and bowed. ¡°My deepest apologies. I have caused you great risk and now you are trapped here away from your own home.¡± She seemed to notice Midnight, sitting on my shoulder. ¡°The both of you, even.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not really trapped,¡± Midnight said, his tail swishing. He turned slightly towards me, but I knew what he was going to say before he did.


    ¡°Pretty much that,¡± I added. ¡°So¡­ I imagine this ¡®Scouring¡¯ thing you¡¯re dealing with has some powerful negative vibes to the whole thing, yeah?¡± I said. I gestured vaguely down the street from where we appeared. It looked mostly like any big city to me, though a higher percentage of signs weren¡¯t in English but Japanese. And a few in other scattered languages, as normal. ¡°We should probably go deal with whatever that is.¡±


    ¡°Indeed!¡± Eglantine said, climbing up and around Momo. ¡°There is no time to waste! Take on your empowered form!¡±


    ¡°Midnight,¡± I said. ¡°Haste them, please.¡±


    Since there were only two bonded pairs here, it was more efficient to have two individual castings. Multicasting was triple the price for four- now five- castings- so we didn¡¯t need it yet. And it wasn¡¯t high enough level to get full use out of Haste.


    Sparkles of course flowed around Momo, transforming her traditional garb into a much darker dress contrasted with red highlights. Her hair also grew from around shoulder length to waist length, spreading and widening. It was probably a good enough shift, if nobody was watching. Fortunately, the streets were fairly empty- which should have been our first clue that something was wrong.


    ¡°Come on!¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s go fight these things!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the one responsible for-¡± Strife began, but Midnight cut her off.


    ¡°Give it up. He likes to fight, so let him fight,¡± Midnight said.


    At first I was surprised when Strife managed to swiftly outpace us, but then I remembered that her transformation probably also made her body stronger. I was just a very fit individual, nothing more. My stride length helped me keep up a bit, but with both of our speeds equally magically enhanced of course the one with a bit of magic of her own would pull ahead. I saw Strife gathering quills around her and wondered if the Scouring needed to be stabbed to death.


    Nah, probably any magic would do. And if that didn¡¯t work, I could still help support Strife or the others up ahead.

 Chapter 302

    A battle was ahead, and we rushed towards it. I was able to take in first the brightly colored magical girls. One in pink was shooting golden light from a wand of some sort, another was really short and had a fire bow, and the third had a shield with all sorts of gizmos and gadgets.


    Shield was standing in front of the others, unsurprisingly, and I saw something that looked like a dire wolf with an extra pair of bear limbs slapped on crash into her. Clearly she was cheating physics, because the larger beast bounced back instead of her being the one sent flying.


    Frankly I didn¡¯t see what made these Scouring creatures look like Jim and Kyle except for the extreme abundance of extra appendages. Okay, and there was something like a weasel with long flailing bits but things like that were pretty standard aberrations.


    Midnight picked a target first, focusing on one with too many eyes. That just meant there were more targets for Light, and it was large enough he actually managed to spray it with several orbs from Multicasting. Light was so cheap that it was kind of a waste of time to do just one.


    I reached into my pocket to make sure I had my baggies. I tried not to leave home without them, but sometimes they were in Storage. Having just been paid, the relatively small expenditure didn¡¯t bother me as much as the mana. I gathered nearly as much mana as I could- more than I was aware could be spent on any single spell. Stoneskin covered not only myself and Midnight, but also all four magical girls and hopefully their companions. I knew Eglantine preferred to stay out of battles, but it was better to be safe. And as a magical porcupine, perhaps she could afford to take some hits this way- the enemy would find out how unpleasant retribution could be.


    ¡°You go girl!¡± shouted the pink one with the wand. Probably she was talking about Shrimp blowing a smoking hole through the suddenly blind ball of eyes.


    From what I could tell, most of the enemies were physical threats- thus prioritizing Stoneskin. Some had spines of their own and even shot them in like Strife, but she was currently Hasted so her maneuverability was far beyond what they could handle.


    I found my theory slightly thrown off by some sort of dragon the size of a car crawling out of the mass of monsters and breathing fire all over Shield. But she seemed prepared enough for that eventuality, something spinning around the edge of her shield and creating some sort of¡­ air fan? Eh, it was magic acting like super tech so I guess I didn¡¯t have to understand entirely why it worked, but the point was all of the flames were stopped. Except for what hit the streets. The cleanup was going to be a mess.


    ¡°Where are all these things coming from?¡± I yelled in annoyance. Then I gathered another big chunk of mana and lobbed it in the general direction of the monsters. I might have given these aberrations the benefit of the doubt if not for Strife¡¯s explanations, but the most important thing for me to make peace with monstrous looking individuals was them not attacking.


    The spell I launched was my best area one since I hadn¡¯t bought Meteor Swarm and also had to avoid hitting these people in front of me. Chain Lightning was quite happy to start at the front and work its way back until it ran out of juice. There was still a pretty constant horde of monsters, though that was counterbalanced by flaming arrows, beams of sparkling light, and quills. Oh, and spinning blades on the edge of Shield¡¯s shield.


    I was pleased to discover that the majority of aberration blood wasn¡¯t red. Goopy greens and yellows were the stars of the show, and that meant I could rest easy that my magical companions were mostly unharmed.


    ¡°Turlough!¡± I heard Midnight¡¯s shout from afar. ¡°Portal!¡±


    Ah, that would explain it. I probably had only a handful of seconds left on Haste, but that was enough to let me rush over towards a park just off the side of the road, batting away a few smaller things rushing at me as I did so.


    The first thing I saw was a paw about five feet across with claws tearing foot deep gouges into the concrete, then a bit of snout through the ten foot wide or so portal behind it. Midnight was dancing around near the portal, letting the paw slap at him. I wasn¡¯t sure if the thing could squeeze through, especially not with the other things crawling over it, but this wasn¡¯t a situation where I wanted to wait and find out.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try to squeeze that portal shut!¡± I called to Midnight. He would have been aware of me coming up behind him, of course. I smashed some sort of leech with spider legs that had teeth all the way around the inside of its mouth. Then I began gathering mana, focusing on the portal. The good news was I felt an instant response. This wasn¡¯t one of those difficult portals.


    Midnight leapt back and began to add his own efforts, and in a few moments the portal was no bigger than the radius of the giant paw slipping through- which meant we had stemmed the tide of other monsters. The paw wiggled around angrily and then began to pull back- but Midnight and I weren¡¯t done yet. We continued to close the portal. When it reached the edge of the paw, it didn¡¯t just stop. It also didn¡¯t cut through it, technically. It was just that suddenly, certain parts were no longer physically adjacent to each other.


    This one¡¯s blood was orange- and highly acidic, from what I could see happening to the concrete.


    ¡°That¡¯s a neat trick,¡± someone said behind me. In Japanese, of course. I turned to see Wand looking over the nearby fence. ¡°You¡¯ve got a unique aesthetic miss¡­¡± her eyes finally reached past my torso. ¡°Huh. A dude.¡±


    Before we could really converse, I heard shouting behind her. Fortunately not the panicked and dying sort. Instead it was the kind that came with a surge of mana.


    ¡°Phoenix Rain!~¡±


    The foliage at the edge of the park made it difficult to see everything that was going on, but I saw enough of the flaming arrows falling into the remaining aberrations, sending burning bits flying everywhere.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Wow,¡± I said. ¡°It must be expensive to clean up after Shrimp.¡±


    ¡°... Who?¡± Wand turned to look, then snorted. ¡°Ah, don¡¯t let Burning Cupid hear you call her that.¡±


    ¡°... Fried Shrimp?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s even worse!¡± Wand said, rolling her eyes. Now that we weren¡¯t in combat, I saw she didn¡¯t look¡­ traditionally Japanese. Which wasn¡¯t to say she looked foreign either¡­ and it was difficult to quite tell with Stoneskin throwing things off. The pink hair was probably a magical trait and not worth mentioning, and that showed through easily. ¡°So I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but you are a man, right?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± I said. ¡°I was just here to bring Strife home.¡± I looked at the burning treetops just above my conversation companion. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you put those out? I¡¯d imagine the extra damage comes out of your pay.¡±


    ¡°Pay?¡± Wand tilted her head. But she did look upwards, waving her wand to create a stream of water. Which then somehow turned the charred and black leaves back into fresh green ones. ¡°Can you help clean up?¡± she asked. As she began waving her wand, mana began to flow over the surroundings- both from her and the others. The burned and pitted streets began to reform, while the bodies and other remains of the aberrations melted and then vaporized into some sort of black smoke, which then broke down until it seemed to be nothing at all.


    ¡°I literally can¡¯t, I don¡¯t think,¡± I said. Unless there was something about this world that inherently allowed for repair magic. Just in case, I tried to replicate the effect, but my mana kind of just didn¡¯t know what to do.


    Fifteen minutes later, the area was cleaned up and civilians were flooding back in. And then they were taking pictures of (and with) the magical girls.


    ¡°Excuse me, are you new?¡± asked a feminine voice. I turned my head, and got a similar look as what Wand had given me- surprised and confusion, mixed with curiosity. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re a¡­ man?¡± Probably not a lot of magical girls had beards. Or green skin and tusks, I¡¯d bet.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a bystander,¡± I lied.


    ¡°... But you have a companion,¡± the woman said, gesturing to Midnight sitting on my shoulder.


    ¡°Meow,¡± Midnight said poorly. Then he remembered that if he just wanted to speak Celmothian he could, and it was much more convincing. ¡°Go away lady we don¡¯t need any more attention.¡± As long as he didn¡¯t want it to be interpreted to Japanese, Translation wouldn¡¯t give him away.


    I considered casting Disguise but¡­ it was already pretty late for that, wasn¡¯t it?


    The woman looked unconvinced. I considered trying to pretend to be a fan, but given the number of odd looks that were already being passed around they probably didn¡¯t need me to cause more trouble.


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough!¡± Strife was the one who gave in first. ¡°Us magical girls need to have a strategy meeting. And we¡¯ll be bringing our new butler.¡± Eglantine whispered in her ear. ¡°I mean our chauffeur. Or whatever.¡±


    -----


    Another ten minutes later we were in a safehouse. I knew what they were like, since the mercs in New Bay needed them occasionally. Plus villains liked them too.


    ¡°Whoa, you¡¯re totally trending already,¡± Wand commented. ¡°A new Magical Man!? Details you won¡¯t even believe~!¡± she made a funny voice as she read what I presumed was a headline from some sort of internet article from her phone. ¡°As if anyone got anything. You stonewalled them pretty good. Speaking of stone,¡± she looked down at her arm which had a fading granite color. ¡°What kind of ability is this, huh?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s magic,¡± I said, shrugging.


    ¡°Strife~¡± Wand turned to the other magical girl. ¡°Explain your new boyfriend.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not my-¡± Strife twitched. ¡°We¡¯re just new friends. You remember those elf ninjas causing those break ins?¡±


    ¡°Oh, totally,¡± Wand agreed.


    Shrimp looked up at me. ¡°He doesn¡¯t look like an elf.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an orc,¡± I clarified.


    ¡°Not an oni?¡± Shrimp tilted her head.


    ¡°... Do those even come in green?¡± I asked.


    ¡°... Every color,¡± Shield said, her words minimal.


    ¡°Okay. Well, I¡¯m an orc.¡±


    Wand nodded. ¡°Great. So where ya from?¡±


    I looked at Strife.


    ¡°What?¡± she asked. ¡°I was already confused when you said everything before, why would I be better at explaining?¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m originally from a type-F world, I moved to New Bay when I found a portal, and now I work as a mercenary usually fighting supervillains.¡±


    Shrimp sighed. ¡°You could have just said you didn¡¯t want to tell us. I haven¡¯t heard of a man with magic before but I¡¯d recognize a Humurun native anywhere. Even as a black cat, the talking kind of gives it away.¡±


    A red-orange bird manifested next to her. Where had it come from? I should have been able to see companions, like Eglantine. Well, this one didn¡¯t seem to be made of physical stuff, but instead flames. ¡°That one is not one of us.¡±


    Midnight nodded. ¡°Indeed. I¡¯m almost the opposite. I got powers from this guy, not the other way around,¡± Midnight said, patting my head with his paw.


    Shield seemed to be hiding behind her trademark defensive item. ¡°... opposite world?¡±


    Strife actually explained that one. ¡°No. They don''t even have any magical girls at all, though they have lots of people like Mage. I think. Except for in the other world and¡­¡± Strife covered her other eye. ¡°It¡¯s actually a big headache. It¡¯ll take a while to explain.¡±


    ¡°We do have time though,¡± I said. ¡°The mana levels are pretty good here, but it will still be a few hours before I can go back.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± said the short one. ¡°Strife finally found a friend and you¡¯re just going to abandon her?¡±


    ¡°I would never abandon my friends, Shrimp.¡±


    Before I could react, a fist was coming for my jaw. Enhanced by the power of a magical girl¡­ I was glad that I had invisible head projection. It also helped that she had to extend her arm to its maximum length and then rise to her tip-toes. It still hurt, though.


    ¡°Not bad, Fried Shrimp,¡± I nodded. ¡°Maybe you don¡¯t even need a bow.¡±

 Chapter 303

    Fried Shrimp was still glaring at us while Wand was patching us up. Healing magic was something I was always glad to have.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t help at all, Caroline!¡± she complained to the mini phoenix on her shoulder.


    ¡°It was not a situation that required magical assistance,¡± the bird said. ¡°Nor did his own companion intervene. Also, you really shouldn¡¯t be attacking civilians.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not a civilian! He¡¯s got magic and stuff!¡±


    ¡°Attacking a fellow guardian is not any better,¡± Caroline pointed out.


    ¡°You know,¡± Midnight interjected. ¡°It¡¯s possible he might actually call you what you want if you were actually introduced.¡±


    That was true. It was possible that I might. Certainly, I couldn¡¯t do it if I didn¡¯t have a proper name.


    ¡°I¡¯m not giving him my name!¡± she protested.


    Eglantine was doing her best to smooth things over. ¡°I believe he means your moniker. You know, none of the rest of you really got introduced.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Fried Shrimp folded her arms in front of her. ¡°Well, introduce us,¡± she said to her companion.


    ¡°As you may have heard,¡± Mini Phoenix said, ¡°My name is Caroline. And this is Burning Cupid.¡±


    What an odd name. Were these people named by the same people from the Power Brigade?


    Next was Wand, who had just finished closing up a cut on Fried Shrimp¡¯s fist where she¡¯d actually managed to hit my tusk in our brawl. ¡°I¡¯m Pink Angel,¡± she declared.


    Shield hid behind her device, just her eyes poking above. ¡°... Gizmo Girl.¡±


    Good, now that that was done with, we could continue. ¡°So you fight a lot of weird monsters here?¡± I asked. ¡°Are they from space, or another dimension? I saw the portal but that didn¡¯t really make things clear.¡±


    Wand¡¯s companion- a pink cat with two tails- began her explanation. Well, she probably wasn¡¯t a cat, but that wasn¡¯t the important part. ¡°We don¡¯t really have a clear understanding, but it should be another dimension. What we have seen through the portals is a realm of only monsters and little else. Though perhaps they come from a planet overrun by their kind and they wish to expand here next. In the past they tried to attack our homeworld, Humurun, but we sealed them away.¡±


    ¡°Cool,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe do that again? If you want to stop the attacks, I mean.¡±


    ¡°There are not enough of us here to manage such a monumental task,¡± Eglantine explained. ¡°Especially not with the constant intrusions.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ bring more people over,¡± I said.


    ¡°Perhaps you underestimate the difficulty of travel between planets,¡± Eglantine said. ¡°It takes many of our number to send one of us here, and our own powers are weakened. Thus why we focus on empowering local magical girls.¡±


    ¡°I have tons of questions about that. Why girls?¡±


    Eglantine paused for a moment. ¡°Girls- or women- tend to have higher magical potential and receptiveness to random animal-like individuals suddenly appearing.¡±


    ¡°I suppose,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Is there really such a big difference in potential, though?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Eglantine said. ¡°It is about a factor of a thousand times more likely that a woman will have sufficient magical potential for us to awaken.¡±


    ¡°Weird. In my world everyone has exactly the same potential. Probably.¡±


    The porcupine tilted her head, her quills shimmering different colors as the light hit at different angles. ¡°... What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Well, everyone gets classes and levels apply to people in the same way. Sometimes people choose a class not really suited to them and they¡¯re not motivated but I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s really potential or not. At best, we have the Aspects?¡±


    ¡°Aspects?¡± asked Mini Phoenix.


    ¡°Yeah. Things like Aspect of the Sage improve growth from study. And my Aspect of the Barbarian¡­ means I don¡¯t get experience from anything but combat. But I get like, double.¡±


    The short one glared at me, using some magic to remove blood from the collar of her shirt. ¡°That explains why you¡¯re so violent.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you say, Grilled Shrimp.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not even the same-¡± her head turned to Midnight. ¡°You said he¡¯d remember my name!¡±


    Midnight shook his head back and forth. ¡°I said he can¡¯t call you by it if you¡¯re never introduced. Not that he would actually do it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay Burning Shrimp,¡± I said. ¡°Names aren¡¯t important, it¡¯s whether or not you can set monsters on fire.¡±


    ¡°Graaaah!¡± Fried Shrimp leapt forward, but Shield was holding onto the back of her collar. Were all magical girls full of untamed rage? At least Strife seemed to get that. ¡°Lemme at him!¡±


    ¡°Bad.¡± Shield said. ¡°Ally.¡±


    ¡°Anyway,¡± I said. ¡°If your actual issue is not having enough of your people here to juice people with magic powers, I can just open a portal to your planet.¡±


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Shield¡¯s titular device suddenly wiggled and deformed into something like a metallic face. ¡°Impossible.¡±


    ¡°Not a permanent one,¡± I pointed out. ¡°But I already opened a portal there a couple days ago.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Eglantine said. ¡°We saw it.¡±


    ¡°It only lasts like a minute though,¡± I clarified. ¡°So you¡¯d need to have people ready and all that. It would take a while to set up, I bet.¡±


    The pink cat was clearly quite interested. ¡°How large of a portal?¡±


    ¡°Well, something like 15 feet across.¡± I saw only a confused expression. ¡°Like four and a half meters. I forgot this is Japan.¡±


    The cat¡¯s two tails twisted together. If she was anything like Midnight, that meant she was thinking deeply. Or bored. Or¡­ well, there were probably a lot of things it could mean. ¡°What is the price for the use of such a tremendous ability?¡±


    ¡°20 mana,¡± I said. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve spent like 81 points on it too. So like a tenth of my total so far.¡±


    ¡°There is a¡­ numerical value?¡± the pink cat tilted her head.


    ¡°How else do you measure things?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Is 1 mana the same as those crystals?¡± Strife asked. ¡°That would be quite a hefty price indeed.¡±


    ¡°Oh no,¡± I said. ¡°Those aren¡¯t even close to 1 mana.¡±


    Strife nodded. ¡°Of course, it must be much greater.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, those are like 6.6 now,¡± I said. ¡°They cost a lot more to make, but they¡¯re good when you need a little boost. But 20 is¡­ well, 20 hours of recovery something like¡­ maybe eight here?¡± I looked around. ¡°You¡¯ve got pretty decent mana density around here.¡± For some reason, she looked surprised. ¡°What? I already explained this to you previously. This is why we stopped by Earth for a bit. My Earth, I mean.¡±


    ¡°... I assumed you had some sort of way to amplify your abilities from there.¡±


    ¡°And the other portals I opened¡­?¡± I asked.


    This time Eglantine joined in. ¡°Wasn¡¯t part of the cost people going through¡­?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked. ¡°With a Gate open, whatever goes through just goes through. It doesn¡¯t somehow get more expensive. So it¡¯s just based on how many people are around at the right time to cram ¡®em through. Though I¡¯d suggest not cutting things too close to the edge. You saw what happened to that big thing.¡± I squeezed my fingers together. ¡°But if the rest of your people are about the same size you could probably get a few hundred through.¡±


    The metal face that seemed to be Shield¡¯s gizmo and also her companion spoke in what I could only describe as a ¡®blorp¡¯. ¡°Midnight¡­ grants such power?¡±


    ¡°I need to remind everyone,¡± Midnight said. ¡°That unlike all of you, I get my powers from this guy. Not the other way around. So he knows literally everything I know, and more.¡±


    ¡°Not that much more,¡± I said to Midnight. ¡°You¡¯ve learned tons! And you¡¯ve been around for most of the experiments.¡±


    ¡°Anyway,¡± Midnight shrugged. ¡°I can confirm he¡¯s as accurate as possible about what our powers can do.¡±


    ¡°... Hundreds?¡± Eglantine still seemed to be stuck on that point. ¡°We¡¯ve had difficulty finding that many with the potential but¡­ if it was that easy to bring everyone through¡­¡±


    While she wondered about that, Midnight whispered in my ear. ¡°So is this a good idea?¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be?¡± I replied.


    ¡°... Hundreds of people gaining powers?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re literally being invaded. Besides, do they even have villains here?¡± That was a good question, actually. I raised my voice. ¡°So like¡­ do you ever get magical girls who turn into villains?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Eglantine laughed awkwardly. ¡°Of course not. That would be¡­ crazy.¡±


    ¡°And if there were any,¡± the pink cat said. ¡°They would be dealt with swiftly.¡±


    ¡°Their guardian could take away their powers,¡± Mini Phoenix said. ¡°So obviously it¡¯s never a problem.¡±


    ¡°Unless there¡¯s a corrupt Humurun,¡± I said. ¡°Anyway, probably think about what proportion of your new people will become villains if you want to make a bunch at once. If it¡¯s less than a quarter it¡¯s probably fine though.¡±


    ¡°A quarter?!¡± Pink almost hit herself in the head with her own tails flailing. ¡°What kind of- obviously if there were villains it wouldn¡¯t be nearly that high!¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked. ¡°New Bay Statistics sometimes get that high.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Is that counting Portal Powers? Because Dark Star¡¯s fanatics probably throw off those numbers.¡±


    ¡°Nah, they¡¯re an outlier and the statistics are still being compiled for the last year. And lots of others got Portal Powers and just didn¡¯t really join the super community.¡±


    ¡°Wait one moment,¡± Strife said. ¡°So you¡¯re telling me in your world¡­ a quarter of the people with powers become villains?¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± I said. ¡°So after you take out another half to balance out the chaos they cause, you have a good chunk of people remaining to deal with extradimensional intrusions. So more supers appearing is generally to the benefit of the community.¡±


    For some reason, Strife seemed to think that was weird.¡°How many villains does your world have?!¡±


    ¡°I mean, they obviously lie on the census,¡± I said. ¡°So the numbers aren¡¯t gonna be exact. But like I said, about a quarter. Rarely more than thirty percent of all supers.¡± I paused. ¡°We¡¯re not counting mooks, right? Only powered individuals?¡±


    ¡°How does your world function?¡± Strife said, exasperated.


    ¡°Surprisingly well, actually,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I know, I was shocked too. But you kind of get used to it.¡±


    ¡°Wait a second,¡± Strife narrowed her eyes. ¡°Weren¡¯t you originally not even from that world? How long did it take you to get used to that?¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯ve been living on Earth for a bit over a year,¡± I said. ¡°The time it took me to get used to the whole super dynamic¡­ maybe a month?¡±


    People looked to Midnight for answers he didn¡¯t have.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± I said. ¡°Is there somewhere in one of the safehouses you wouldn¡¯t mind me making portals? Because I should probably get back to New Bay and I¡¯ll be way more accurate if I memorize a specific place to come back. Portals on the streets aren¡¯t great. Oh, and I¡¯d need a specific spot on Humurun, if you want a Gate there. I figure it¡¯ll take a few days at least to set that up, so I should probably get home.¡±


    ¡°... How will we contact you?¡± Eglantine asked.


    ¡°Well, assuming you don¡¯t have magic of your own, I¡¯ll use Sending to contact one of you. Probably you, Eglantine,¡± I said to the porcupine. ¡°It¡¯s just a few sentences, but you¡¯ll be able to reply with the same amount. Actually, we might as well demonstrate¡­ if we¡¯re able to stay a bit longer. We¡¯d probably need to get lunch or dinner or whatever. But I doubt our money works in this world. Or country.¡±


    Shield¡¯s companion had fully embraced the natural? form of a metal slime and was moving around the room. She was using one of the couches as cover. ¡°... Will pay,¡± she said.


    How nice. I wasn¡¯t really feeling like canned tuna. And Power Brigade energy bars got old very quickly. Maybe they could make some with infused mana. Would that cause mana poisoning like absorbing the crystals? Eh, whatever. That was for another time.

 Chapter 304

    It seemed like I was going to need to get better at Sending if I was going to be frequently contacting people extradimensionally. At least, if I wanted to have mana to spend on things. Sure, it didn¡¯t seem like much to spend 10 mana a couple times per week, but that meant each cast was somewhere around 5 hours of recovery. A bit less if I was active about it. And that meant I was spending a quarter of a normal workweek recovering from Sending alone.


    It wasn¡¯t quite right because it wasn¡¯t like I only recovered mana 40 hours per week, but essentially I would be increasing my expenditure from 3% of my total mana recovery to 6%. I could ask Midnight to do part of that, but he had his own expenditures to handle, like contacting Celmoth. Though I heard that Extra was approaching a technological solution that would be feasible for non-diplomatic use. I.e. not expensive.


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose any magical girls have the ability to contact people in other dimensions?¡± I asked Eglantine- because the guardians seemed to be the most reliable source of knowledge about their powers and I was most familiar with the porcupine.


    ¡°No. We haven¡¯t even had anyone to contact,¡± Eglantine pointed out.


    ¡°Could they?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It might be possible, but effort to develop such an ability isn¡¯t being spent on fighting the Scouring. We can¡¯t really afford that.¡±


    ¡°Unless I bring through a few hundred Humuruns,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Well¡­ yes,¡± Eglantine admitted. ¡°If that is actually possible, it would be worthwhile for us to be able to initiate contact ourselves.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°It is. So assuming the transportation is your limiting factor, I can help a lot.¡±


    Eglantine wiggled her quilled body slightly. ¡°At that point the bottleneck would be identifying those with proper potential. We could accept those with less potential- though they might be bitter about the gap between them and others.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d focus on their character,¡± I said. ¡°But you could also be upfront about their power potential. That should help.¡±


    ¡°Merely having to worry about those factors would still be a great boon,¡± Eglantine concluded.


    With plans made for the future, Midnight and I would be returning to our own Earth. We just had to stay until late in the local evening, after which we returned to¡­ a fairly similar time of day. Weird, wasn¡¯t the Pacific time zone supposed to be about eight hours off? Then again, it wasn¡¯t that odd for a different dimension¡¯s planet to be offset.


    -----


    ¡°You should have asked for payment for your services,¡± Calculator commented.


    ¡°You already said that,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°I most certainly did not,¡± Calculator replied. ¡°At least, not connected to this incident.¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°Well, sure, but I heard your voice in my head saying that exact thing.¡±


    ¡°Am I really so predictable?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°When you¡¯re not trying to be unpredictable? Absolutely. Anyway, I ignored you. I have enough money.¡±


    Calculator shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not about money. Payment could be in the form of supernatural favors, for example. From the perspective of the Power Brigade, it would be quite useful to be able to call upon extradimensional aid in an emergency. Extra could not fault you, if it was a true crisis. Even if you intend to interact with this world on your personal time not associated with the Brigade¡­ you have much potential to make powerful enemies.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which,¡± I asked. ¡°What happened with Flasher?¡±


    ¡°Flash Circuit is still at large,¡± Calculator shook his head. ¡°However, Iron Shell is¡­ incapacitated.¡±


    ¡°Seems dangerous, to keep a cyborg in a prison. She could cause a lot of damage if she got free.¡±


    ¡°It is against New Bay¡¯s policy to execute anyone who has been properly captured without a trial¡­ and said trials usually end up veering away from capital punishment. Regardless, Iron Shell would be unable to break out on her own and would not be functional should she be freed. You saw how little of her was left.¡±


    ¡°So is she just a brain in a jar or something?¡±


    ¡°The justice system here is not so cruel as to do something so cruel except for those who it is entirely necessary. And usually the city prefers that such people don¡¯t have to be placed in the system.¡±


    Right. Those were the people we killed. Like Doctor Doomsday, if anyone got the chance. Handface had been one as well, though the city likely could have handled him. The Brigade was quite done with him, though.


    Midnight had something to say after that. ¡°Would it be possible for Flash Circuit to retrieve Iron Shell¡¯s parts and then free her?¡±


    ¡°Possible,¡± Calculator admitted. ¡°But there are contingencies in place. Such as not all of the key components being kept in the same locations. And others that I will not speak aloud.¡±


    Ooh, secrets. Maybe they put bombs or trackers or tracking bombs. That¡¯s what I would do.


    No wait, I¡¯d probably just disintegrate it all.


    I wondered who had the parts. Did the Brigade get to keep them since we took her down? Was Iron Shell super tech or something that could be replicated? If the Brigade had her parts, I doubted Calculator would tell us. We didn¡¯t need to know that, and he¡¯d basically said he wouldn¡¯t admit to anything there.


    -----


    I recalled that sometime in the past Midnight and I promised Izzy a tour of Celmoth. It had only been a few months, but it felt like forever. At some point in time, that offer had spread to more of our friend group. Khithae wanted to go, because she was from a dimension with real advanced technology and could have a better exchange of knowledge in person. Jerome wanted to come and even if the planet was technically at war it should be his safest excursion away from Earth.


    Zeb wanted to go because she wanted to go everywhere but¡­ we had to deny that.


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    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be politically appropriate yet,¡± Midnight explained.


    ¡°Oh yeah! The war.¡± Zeb nodded. ¡°But I could tell people to stop it!¡±


    ¡°Do you think the Bunvorixian commanders would listen to you?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t they? They-¡± she caught herself. ¡°Aren¡¯t really all they made themselves out to be. And they don¡¯t have our interests at heart. Or give us treats! And they killed the squirrels!¡±


    ¡°Your passion will be valuable later,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But for now, the citizens of Celmoth would be¡­ scared.¡±


    Ceira kind of wanted to come along, but she couldn¡¯t bring Bun and Cel for somewhat obvious reasons. It would be awkward, if nothing else. Plus, she was busy with healing people. This was also the first opportunity Zeb would have to move around New Bay while not on probation, and Ceira was probably her next best friend on Earth. Not that it was hard for Zeb to make friends, but we wanted to avoid her ending up with bad ones.


    But if we were going to be on our way to another planet, Extra wanted us to bring some people through. And so we got a few of them. Oh, and Great Girl. She was part of the friends list.


    -----


    For some reason, people thought it was weird when I suggested we be more efficient by going through Strife¡¯s world. It made perfect sense to me. We were going to head back there at about the same time- if we went there to help them get some more people to Earth and then back to our Earth, even splitting things between Midnight and I we¡¯d be fully drained. But it would save us 20 mana to not have to go back and it should be easier to go from an alternate dimension to Celmoth. Though interplanetary Gates were functional, that wasn¡¯t its main thing.


    ¡°It¡¯s not really any weirder,¡± Midnight said in support of my plan. ¡°It¡¯s like¡­ a layover in Japan. Just a couple hours at most.¡±


    ¡°See? He gets it!¡± I said.


    Great Girl rolled her eyes. ¡°He gets you,¡± she pointed out. ¡°And he seemed to have learned that it¡¯s easier to just go along with your dumb ideas.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not dumb if they work,¡± I countered. ¡°Until some other mage is level 35 or spends a whole lot of points on Gate or messes with recently closed portals, I¡¯m the main option though.¡±


    There were other people who could travel to their own dimensions or worlds- usually alone but sometimes with others- but they couldn¡¯t generically go wherever they pleased. But obviously Extra wouldn¡¯t have a whole place for it if the entire potential was exclusive. There were just reasons why I wasn¡¯t being called on to bring people everywhere. There were a lot of dimensions.


    ¡°Just give me¡­ ten years maybe,¡± Jerome said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you can do it earlier, if you work at it. Maybe a couple years, if you continue to avoid combat.¡± Combat wouldn¡¯t be as fast for him, so it wasn¡¯t as good of a plan. Though a little combat sprinkled in was valuable extra growth if he was willing.


    ¡°Eh,¡± Jerome shrugged. ¡°They probably wouldn¡¯t let me do anything for four more years anyway.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be eighteen.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes. The age when you are old enough to vote and engage in mortal combat.¡± I stroked my chin. ¡°But you can drive at sixteen.¡±


    One of the members of Extra coughed. ¡°We¡¯d prefer to authorize extradimensional travel on an individual basis. As a native of Earth, he wouldn¡¯t have any particular need so¡­ we¡¯d prefer to keep it to a minimum.¡±


    ¡°And they¡¯d prefer we didn¡¯t just go wherever we want,¡± Midnight whispered in my ear. ¡°But I think we sort of shoved out way past their normal process.¡±


    That was totally fine with me. ¡°Anyway,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ve already cleared it with the other end. And I¡¯m sure most of you are curious to see Magical Girls.¡± Maybe not the people from Extra? Great Girl seemed interested, though I think we had a few local to New Bay she¡¯d met. Or maybe those were just people with the same aesthetic. None were a high threat rating so I didn¡¯t really pay close attention.


    I didn¡¯t really get any further complaints when I pointed out we¡¯d have to delay by at least half a day if we didn¡¯t follow the plan¡­ and thus we made our way back to the private base from earlier.


    -----


    Having properly memorized the location and the required frequencies, returning to Strife and Eglantine¡¯s world was straightforward. We stepped out from the end of a hallway that probably led to some sort of secret exit for the civilian identities of the magical girls, and we had a few people waiting for us. Though they did look a bit startled, not knowing the exact moment of our arrival.


    ¡°Hello!¡± I said. ¡°Nothing changed in the last couple hours, right?¡±


    ¡°The darkness has not pushed beyond its boundaries,¡± Strife confirmed.


    Great Girl suddenly coughed, stumbling over to the side.


    ¡°Hey, you alright?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah, sorry. Just uh¡­ something caught in my throat.¡± She was hiding her face from the people down the hall. ¡°... probably that edge,¡± she whispered.


    One of the members of Extra, an older woman, was already introducing herself. ¡°I¡¯m Angelica,¡± she said.


    Strife and Eglantine introduced themselves, of course.


    ¡°I¡¯m Pink Angel,¡± Wand commented. ¡°And this is Pink.¡±


    Oh neat. I did get the name right. I wondered which of the pair had their name first. I would assume the Humurran, but maybe they changed their names after bonding with a magical girl?


    ¡°A pleasure to meet you,¡± said Angelica. ¡°We love to have neighbors who are pleasant. If you don¡¯t mind, we will have some questions about the Scouring. It would be concerning if it could spread to our Earth. But of course, you aren¡¯t required to answer us.¡±


    While they went over that, I was busy looking up a picture on my phone, comparing it to Angelica. ¡°Oh! I thought I recognized you!¡± I said.


    She turned to me with a smile. ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re Ceira¡¯s manager. Is you being on Celmoth going to be an issue for that? I hadn¡¯t heard about any sort of return trips within the next few weeks¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Angelica bowed her head. ¡°Her schedule is in good hands.¡±


    I probably should have called Ceira ¡®Regrowth¡¯¡­ but the only people present already knew Ceira, were part of Extra, or were magical girls from a different dimension. That makeup of individuals potentially made it a bigger breach of etiquette but also not something risky.


    ¡°Mage, if you would,¡± Eglantine called me over. She brought me to a table where they had laid out some pictures. ¡°This is the location where we would like you to open a portal to Humurun. Given the time of your arrival, they will not necessarily be ready for another half an hour.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± I said. ¡°We don¡¯t mind waiting a bit.¡± Midnight was having a good time talking with some of our friends. Normally people we met once would be acquaintances, but fighting alongside someone sped up that process greatly, as long as it came with cordial or better interactions at other times..


    ¡°You are Mage¡¯s apprentice, yes?¡± Strife asked Jerome. ¡°What is it that you are carrying with you?¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Jerome unslung his backpack. ¡°This is my familiar.¡± He unzipped the bag, revealing Rob.


    ¡°... That looks remarkably similar to a cleaning robot,¡± Strife said.


    ¡°Oh, he is a cleaning robot.¡± Jerome looked around. ¡°It looks pretty good here already, but I bet he¡¯d enjoy looking for hidden dirt in the back corners, if you don¡¯t mind him roaming around.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ won¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    Rob wiggled his wheels and beeped, quite happy to search out and eliminate dirt. Though instead of making a loud vacuuming sound, he was using a small but steady flow of mana. I was pretty sure he still could clean normally, but he seemed conscious of the conversations going on. Plus, if I had the choice between putting dirt inside of me and completely eliminating it with magic, I¡¯d choose the latter. Though I wasn¡¯t a cleaning robot so maybe he didn¡¯t mind that.

 Chapter 305

    Having observed cleaning robots on occasion, Rob was quite unlike the rest. Sure, he had the same systems of locomotion but even discounting the fact that he was using magic more than his bristles and bin he was obviously different. His navigation was much more intentional, and though he occasionally bumped into things it all seemed more intentional than a failure of navigation. Sometimes, he simply needed to be that tiny bit closer to his target.


    And then there was the part where one time a chair leg was blocking his chosen path and he created a floating hand to push it out of the way. Mage¡¯s Reach was a spell I was quite familiar with, though Rob¡¯s version was odd. Specifically, it had two thumbs- one on either side- creating a symmetrical shape instead of being either a right or left hand. I thought that would be odd to control but¡­ he didn¡¯t have normal hands to compare to. Maybe it just made sense to him.


    But the time for us to be entertained by a cleaning robot was coming to a close. Now it was time to bring through the various waiting Humuruns. There didn¡¯t seem to be any instantaneous communication between planets, so we could only trust that they stuck to the schedule. Using Sending would have been a waste of both mana and time as it could easily take twenty minutes to receive a response.


    Instead, Midnight and I prepared to open up the Gate¡­ while everyone else stayed out of the way to make room. We were going to get a decent crowd, after all. Not anything close to the maximum potential of Gate, but we didn¡¯t have the space anyway. The plan was to bring through a smaller number of Humuruns first to make sure things actually worked properly. Even if we brought through a few hundred, they wouldn¡¯t want to suddenly flood the region with Magical Girls. That might disrupt the non-magical population.


    Making use of the images provided, Midnight and I channeled our mana to open a Gate, while relying on the connection the other Humuruns had to the planet. Soon enough, space began to open up. Curious animal faces appeared as it spread wider, until it filled the hallway. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could make it bigger, but I was sure I shouldn¡¯t try to have it extend through physical barriers on this side. So we had something like a hallway.


    Seeing the menagerie standing there awkwardly for a few moments, I announced my completion. ¡°Portal stable, it¡¯s safe to come through. Make sure to proceed in an orderly fashion.¡±


    The various animal-shaped individuals seemed surprised to actually see this portal, and maybe to hear their language come from an orc, but they followed directions well enough upon seeing their compatriots further into the area. So they spilled out into the hallway and stretched beyond into the rest of the little base we had here. There were a few birds, a lizard, a llama, an extra fluffy llama, a couple canines and felines, and a floating ice crystal. Alright, so they weren¡¯t all animals.


    With only twenty or thirty of them, the llamas being the most bulky, it didn¡¯t take long for them to get through even at a walking pace. ¡°That¡¯s the end, right?¡± I said. There were a few people watching on the other side of the portal. ¡°Ten seconds!¡± I warned. Technically, the Gate could stay open for at least another twenty seconds, but I wanted to impart proper urgency. Since nobody approached, I continued counting down. ¡°Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Now closing the portal, please keep away from the edges.¡±


    Nobody was close, unless they were invisible. And while they could theoretically hide from people without mana, I should be able to see Humuruns. I let the portal close slowly in case anyone was invisible and being foolish, though I could have snapped it closed if I wanted to.


    ¡°Turlough!¡± I heard Izzy call, not with urgency but just enough volume to get my attention. ¡°You¡¯re the one with translation magic and I have no idea what this fluffy horse is saying.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a llama,¡± I explained to Izzy. Actually, it was really fluffy. ¡°Or an alpaca, maybe?¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°That doesn¡¯t change whether or not I can talk to her.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± We¡¯d done a big multicasting of Translation earlier, but that was still only five people. Not counting familiars. Izzy and Khithae weren¡¯t part of the official stuff here so we¡¯d mostly gotten people from Extra. ¡°Didn¡¯t mean to leave you out. Wait, can¡¯t Humuruns speak to anyone they want?¡± That last part was directed towards the alpaca.


    ¡°You are a translator?¡± the alpaca turned to me. ¡°You should tell this miniature human she has great potential.¡±


    ¡°She already has a class,¡± I replied. ¡°Anyway, can¡¯t you magicall translate yourself?¡±


    ¡°That is part of the exhausting transferral process we normally use,¡± the alpaca explained. ¡°We are being cautious about engaging in Humurun magic at the moment while we adapt to the local climate.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. I cast Translation, which was just 2.3 mana on its own now. Casting on five people cost just shy of 7, but as long as the rest of us had it we didn¡¯t need to cover everyone.


    And of course, that meant the only remaining person also needed it. Specifically Khithae. She had been approached by a silver fox- one with fur literally reflective like metal. In contrast, the alpaca- I had to assume that since my phone didn¡¯t connect to this world and country¡¯s internet- looked extremely normal and hardly magical at all.


    ¡°She should be able to understand now,¡± I said to the fox.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± the fox declared. ¡°Miss alien, you have excellent potential to use a Humurun¡¯s power.¡±


    ¡°Technically I¡¯m from Earth,¡± Khithae replied. ¡°Just a different dimension that¡¯s not very¡­ closely tied.¡±


    ¡°My apologies,¡± the fox said. ¡°Then perhaps I am the only alien here.¡± The fox¡¯s eyes briefly passed over me.


    ¡°I mean, if you mean someone not from this planet¡­ yeah I¡¯m not from any Earth originally,¡± I explained.


    ¡°Your potential is filled,¡± the fox said. ¡°But I am not surprised as you are the wizard who allowed us to come here to begin with.¡±


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    I tilted my head. ¡°I have potential according to your methods? I mean, I am magic but anyone could be me.¡±


    ¡°I am not quite sure what you mean by that,¡± the fox admitted. ¡°But I should speak to this woman here. Her potential is yet untapped.¡±


    ¡°I have a class though,¡± Khithae said. ¡°So I¡¯m already magical as well. Maybe you¡¯re just feeling that?¡±


    ¡°It is different from this one,¡± the fox insisted.


    ¡°I have a bond,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Maybe you feel the potential for a bond still, but due to power exclusion uh¡­ you probably can¡¯t form one. Though I guess we haven¡¯t tested this particular order of things.¡±


    Strife and Eglantine didn¡¯t pick up classes from my world, but maybe if that happened before the bond?


    ¡°Regardless,¡± Khithae said. ¡°If you are concerned for this Earth, I will not be remaining here. I am merely passing through.¡±


    ¡°How disappointing,¡± the fox said.


    The other conversation didn¡¯t come to quite the same conclusion. I saw a number of Humuruns crowding around Izzy.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to destroy the forces of evil!¡± Izzy explained. ¡°I just want to live a life where I only have to stab things occasionally. No offense, but humanity can take care of itself.¡±


    ¡°Did you explain power exclusivity?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It would be prudent to test whether that is the case,¡± the alpaca said.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± confirmed a rainbow colored parrot resting upon the alpaca¡¯s head. Ironically, one of the few Humuruns that I should have expected to talk. ¡°It would be prudent to test the possibility.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. What about her?¡± I gestured towards Great Girl.


    ¡°The large human?¡± the parrot tilted their head. ¡°Her potential appears to be full.¡±


    Was it because she had a superpower? Or because she was a werewolf? Or¡­ because of both. Was a Humurun bond like lycanthropy? That didn¡¯t make any sense, were there even any similarities? Sure, both involved animal traits and¡­ transformation. And if that was the case, did that mean my bond with Midnight made me immune to lycanthropy?


    I was pretty sure we didn¡¯t have enough information to answer that question. Maybe it was a bond and transformation potential put together, and since I had one- probably the most important part- I seemed ¡®full¡¯.


    I looked for Eglantine, finding her in the sitting room with some of the others. ¡°Did the various other people you met in my old world or on Earth seem like they had potential?¡±


    The porcupine tilted her head, causing colors to dance around. ¡°Sorry, what?¡±


    Right. I hadn¡¯t introduced the topic. So I explained that some of her companions felt potential in some of my companions, and some of my thoughts.


    ¡°I see. Well, unfortunately I can¡¯t say much about that. Having already created a bond, I do not have the same capacity to sense potential, and I didn¡¯t even try.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°Can you go save my friend?¡± I gestured towards Izzy. ¡°That alpaca seems very persistent.¡±


    ¡°... What¡¯s an alpaca?¡± Eglantine muttered to herself- but she did make her way over and get them to stop bugging Izzy. Only for them to get replaced by another taller individual. Well¡­ taller at her current levels.


    ¡°Seriously, you passed on the chance to be a magical girl?¡± Great Girl said as Izzy was making her way out of the hall.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not the sort of person who just goes to another world and set up there spontaneously,¡± Izzy grumbled. ¡°Also, I don¡¯t need different powers, or more powers, or any of that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah but- magical girl,¡± Great Girl gestured broadly. ¡°You¡¯d be so adorable.¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m small?¡±


    ¡°Because they¡¯re adorable!¡± she insisted. ¡°I mean, look at Strife!¡±


    Now I had something to contribute. ¡°I¡¯m not sure she¡¯d agree,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Her own opinion doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°But seriously, just look at them. You¡¯d give up the chance to be Pink Angel, Burning Cupid, or Gizmo Girl?¡±


    Izzy shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m fine with my abilities. And would probably be fine without them.¡±


    ¡°Whoa now,¡± I held up my hands. ¡°Let¡¯s not get crazy here. You gotta have powers.¡±


    Izzy looked up at me- I kept the same distance as Great Girl so the angle wasn¡¯t too uncomfortable. ¡°I should remind you that most people on Earth¡­ most Earths- do not have powers.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s unfortunate,¡± I said. ¡°Because powers are great.¡±


    -----


    We could have stayed forever talking with Humuruns about the benefits of powers and magic of various sorts, but we had a schedule to keep. And that schedule involved heading onwards to Celmoth. We made some promises to keep in contact with the locals so they could inform us on how the Humurun transportation process was doing. Would there be weird side effects from just taking a portal? I didn¡¯t see any reason there should be, but they were just having a rough time believing it was that easy.


    Even if it wasn¡¯t technically easy. I worked hard to get this good at casting Gate. Partially because we were trapped on a plane that wasn¡¯t easy to make portals from. But I¡¯d been working on it for a while because it always seemed to come up. Who knew that interdimensional stuff was solved so often by swapping dimensions?


    The Humuruns were quite thankful for the aid, whether or not it produced the results they wanted. The various magical girls thanked me for fighting alongside them previously. Strife said something like she wouldn¡¯t hate to do it again, which I was pretty sure was an invitation to return for more Scouring combat. I wonder if we could predict when they would come so I could fight efficiently.


    With everyone gathered properly, Midnight and I opened a Gate to Celmoth. First through were the people from Extra, who were greeted by their Celmothian counterparts. Then there was pretty much everyone else, followed by Midnight and myself last. Jet was there waiting of course.


    ¡°Welcome back,¡± said Midnight¡¯s mother. ¡°When was it that you should be able to do this alone?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ probably something like 9 more levels,¡± Midnight explained. ¡°That¡¯s just to meet the fatigue threshold, so a couple more than that would be more comfortable. And I¡¯m currently 26.¡±


    Technically, his math was right. And also technically, he could cast Gate alone with exactly one more level- as long as he took into account its reduced cost for upgrades. Sure, it wouldn¡¯t be as potent but for individual transportation it should suffice.


    But I wasn¡¯t going to call out my buddy for that. It really would be more difficult that way, and maybe before then Extra would figure out some way to connect to Celmoth and let Jet come to Earth instead.

 Chapter 306

    Eventually I would end up somewhere besides a broken teleportation capsule that was no longer connected to anything when arriving in Celmoth. But for the moment, that was the one I knew and also the one that was in the least awkward place. Then again, Midnight could probably lead the way and bring us to many more locations he was familiar with, but either way they¡¯d have to pick a place.


    It was always awkward to meet with important people, but Jet was just Midnight¡¯s mother so she hardly counted. There was nothing official about our interactions.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯d appreciate being contacted more than weekly,¡± Jet commented.


    ¡°It takes like a workday of effort to cast that spell,¡± Midnight protested. I slightly disagreed. It took about five hours of mana regeneration. Though if he was going at the base rate, it worked. Either way, recovering mana wasn¡¯t effort- or if it was, it was faster than that. But again, it wasn¡¯t my job to undermine my cat buddy¡¯s position.


    ¡°It¡¯s about half the cost of Gate,¡± I added. ¡°And you know his fatigue point isn¡¯t high enough for Gate yet.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± she nodded. ¡°It¡¯s quite a time consuming process to gain these¡­ levels. But our people have developed some valuable abilities.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty fast if you fight,¡± I said.


    ¡°Only for you,¡± Midnight pointed out.


    I frowned. ¡°I mean, technically it¡¯s still fast for anybody.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Jet confirmed. ¡°They do develop better when challenged, as you already explained.¡± She turned her head. ¡°It seems I should return to official duties. Midnight can guide you wherever you need to go.¡±


    ¡°And we can Teleport now!¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, yes, we have that technology,¡± Jet agreed.


    I mean via spell. Which we¡­ still hadn¡¯t had any real chance to use, except testing it between our apartments. I¡¯d kind of bought it on a whim, but then I¡¯d been going between dimensions so much that it fell by the wayside. Maybe we could have gotten Strife from her San Francisco to her Japan? Though that was outside the easy bounds of Teleport. Probably best to practice first.


    Ultimately, Jet and the people from Extra- including the old lady Angelica who was using some sort of power all the time- headed off to do official business. And the rest of us got to do touristy things.


    ¡°I feel weird,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°As the only one in an outfit.¡±


    ¡°Besides me,¡± Midnight pointed out.


    ¡°Mine¡¯s just camouflaged,¡± I added.


    ¡°... Right,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I have gone with them for official business?¡±


    Midnight shook his head. ¡°Seems like a waste. They¡¯ll grab you later for that stuff. Until then¡­¡±


    I followed his gaze to where Izzy was wandering out one of the ground-to-ceiling windows. Onto the official climbing structures outside, of course, but most people wouldn¡¯t go so easily.


    ¡°Be careful!¡± Midnight cautioned.


    Izzy tilted her head, looking back over her shoulder. ¡°Why? You guys have safety stuff, right? So even if I fall-¡± She stepped back, flailing dramatically at the edge. Khithae lunged forward, but she wasn¡¯t anywhere closer to the window. Izzy cartwheeled through the open window back inside. ¡°Relax, my powers are literally perfect for this even if there weren¡¯t local protections.¡±


    Khithae sighed. ¡°I would still not suggest fooling around. Technology like that isn¡¯t perfect.¡±


    ¡°... Right,¡± Midnight muttered in agreement.


    Spot beeped and booped. Jerome shook his head in reply to his familiar. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s really made for robots, buddy. You¡¯d probably want arms and legs. Or some ability to climb.¡± More beeps. ¡°Yes I¡¯m sure they have some sort of cleaning robots here. But they won¡¯t be the same as you.¡±


    Great Girl looked on curiously. ¡°So you can actually understand him?¡± Then she answered her own question. ¡°Of course, he¡¯s your familiar. That¡¯s to be expected. I-¡± Her eyes flicked over to me. ¡°Heard it from Turlough.¡±


    Had she? I feel like I wouldn¡¯t have brought that up because Midnight could always speak. Speaking of which, Midnight and I used Translation before creating the bond and never really stopped so we hadn¡¯t tested if that just¡­ worked. Along the way I¡¯d learned to understand Celmothian naturally for those brief moments when the magic wasn¡¯t up. But we really should just be able to understand each other after the bond. It probably happened more often than we thought between castings.


    ¡°Anyway¡­¡± Midnight said. ¡°That¡¯s not the best way to our next destinations. I suspect people want to put down their bags.¡±


    Great Girl shrugged. She was carrying most of them, having more or less snatched them from people. ¡°It¡¯s really not a big deal, but I guess I don¡¯t want to bump into things.¡±


    We made our way through the hallways- once again admiring the wide windows with views of the city- before going up to the roof and a Celmothian flying disc. Midnight was just as nervous as before, even though it was probably impossible to fall off. But heights weren¡¯t his favorite thing.


    Soon enough, we arrived where we would be staying. We were met by some attendants on the roof, but immediately upon entering we found the ceilings were too low for most of us.


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    ¡°Great Girl,¡± I said to grab her attention. I was pretty sure all of us knew her real identity at this point but it would be awkward if something passed between the Celmothians and Earth by accident. Extra wouldn¡¯t snitch, obviously, but the plan was to have wider communication eventually and that meant being cautious. She actually cared about her identity remaining secret, as much as she could. ¡°I¡¯m going to cast Reduce so we fit more easily.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah,¡± she nodded. ¡°I¡¯m ready. I¡­ won¡¯t fight it.¡±


    I was worried she hadn¡¯t actually understood me until I cast the spell, making myself, Jerome, and Khithae smaller¡­ but she shrunk as well. Good.


    Jerome needed it the least of us, but the ceiling was still only around four feet high. Plenty roomy for felines, but still too low even for a high schooler. Well, Jerome wasn¡¯t actually in high school but I understood that was the correct age bracket.


    ¡°Our apologies for the hallway,¡± said one of the Celmothian attendants with us. ¡°We only have one structure meant for humanoid heights. Aside from the low ceilings, however, the rooms here have been modified to fit your needs.¡±


    What that meant was they made large mattresses and put them directly on the floor. Which was totally fine with me. And everything was quite comfy. The biggest change in my opinion, even if it didn¡¯t look like it, was our doors. Us humanoids were given something like security cards, and the doors opened automatically. Midnight of course could do the same by registering his suit thing. Even normal Celmothians had non-military versions for manipulation.


    ¡°Will you need one for your¡­ familiar?¡± the attendant asked, looking at Rob.


    The cleaning robot beeped and booped excitedly. ¡°... he says he would like one.¡± Jerome leaned in and whispered something, and the Celmothian nodded. I¡¯m pretty sure the security card Rob got was blank, but he was happy to have it, putting it in Storage. Relatedly, I noticed that those without hands really liked Storage. I probably would too.


    -----


    We didn¡¯t come to Celmoth just to laze around in a hotel all day, even if the mattresses were probably replicated versions of the best Earth had. We came to be fancy tourists hanging out with a not-prince.


    And some day, we¡¯d get to the tourism stuff. Once Khithae was done asking about the fall dampening fields and the flying platforms ¡°So do you use ----- quantum ------- stabilization --- for these devices?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to admit right now that I don¡¯t know,¡± Midnight said. ¡°At least, not really. I¡¯m more or less just college educated and I wasn¡¯t going into this field.¡±


    ¡°What is your area of study?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°Magic,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But it was political science. I swear it¡¯s more functional here. We¡¯re quite unified.¡±


    ¡°Because you have a constant enemy,¡± Great Girl pointed out.


    ¡°Well, we do, but¡­¡± Midnight petered off. ¡°It¡¯s not like we annihilated squirrels and blamed it on the other guy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not saying your people are responsible for the continued war,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°But I bet a few people would prefer to keep things this way. You¡¯d better be prepared for that.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. I don¡¯t want to have to think about that,¡± Midnight said.


    I had a solution. ¡°You can always just throw meteors at them.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ thought you said you didn¡¯t buy that.¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± I confirmed. ¡°But I have the points.¡±


    ¡°Meteors?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°Like, Meteor Swarm? I want to see it! Or is it like the Meteor spell?¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Is there a difference?¡±


    ¡°One is just a single big one with a long cutscene,¡± Great Girl explained. ¡°But that¡¯s a different genre so¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you as soon as you secure somewhere I can cast it without being arrested or going into severe debt,¡± I said. ¡°Assuming I don¡¯t need the points for something else first.¡±


    -----


    There were probably a billion destinations on Celmoth, but many were historically related and most of us didn¡¯t have the context for any of them. We did get to see some cool skyscrapers and a military base but even with our special connections we couldn¡¯t actually see all of the latter. Not that I expected otherwise.


    Wherever we went, those around us paid more attention to us than whatever we were there to see. I couldn¡¯t fault them, given that Celmoth wasn¡¯t used to having anything but their own people around- or worse, Bunvorixians. Our group stood out with the gecko-like Khithae, what seemed like humans of three different sizes, an orc, and of course a local not-prince. Oh, and a cleaning robot who liked to move around on his own whenever we were on flat ground.


    Rob was good about not bumping into anyone, but sometimes they bumped into him and got surprised. Celmothians weren¡¯t actual cats so of course they were able to comprehend he was some sort of robot, but human designs were far different from Celmothians. They had some mobile robots, but they focused more of their tech on interactive devices.


    They did have some land vehicles, though it was clear they preferred a more open aesthetic. Things like trolleys that people could hop on and off instead of buses with closed sides that only stopped at particular points.


    We saw some of that at the most relatable location Celmoth had, a zoo. Unlike Bunvorix which apparently had not done a good job with conservation, Celmoth did their best to keep their planet¡¯s biosphere functional. A zoo was a way to get people interested in such things without having tourists crowding their planet¡¯s jungles.


    All of the sorts of things were familiar, but Celmothians were the most recognizable and they were not housecats. They did have squirrels, though. I wondered if they were the same sort that used to be on Bunvorix? From what I knew of the history the two groups had been fighting since they encountered each other after developing spaceflight, but they seemed to share some other species.


    Zeb would have loved the zoo. Maybe she could see some on Earth, now that she was done shedding the shackles of war criminal.


    It was a nice day at the zoo and it involved exactly zero attacks by aliens or extradimensional creatures. Nor had any of the previous excursions. I was almost beginning to get worried.


    Well, at least tomorrow we¡¯d get to see the Celmothians who ended up with classes. It was an awesome side effect from having returned to Celmoth the long way, via my old world. That was back when we¡¯d had a harder time going directly among other things.


    Hopefully they¡¯d be up for sparring. Fighting new people should be good, and the Celmothians were interested in super powered individuals like Great Girl as well. Though the rest of us who came along all had classes, which was normal for me but not for anywhere else I ended up.

 Chapter 307

    The Celmothians who had been abducted to Yew-Kay and had taken a trip back through my world now had classes. Most of them ended up as artificers, which put them in Khithae¡¯s area of expertise. Regardless of class, however, I now had some better experience training others. My experience with the Portal Squad had empowered me with tips and tricks beneficial to people of all classes.


    And of course fighting gave pretty much everyone experience, and experience led to levels which was always good. So I convinced as many people as possible to spar with as many others as possible. Preferably at least with me.


    Celmothian weaponry was fine, but they focused too much on energy weapons. Then again, I couldn¡¯t imagine a small feline carrying around the ammunition for a proper kinetic weapon. They did have some tricks up their sleeves involving randomizing the wavelengths of their lasers, but the more I got used to fighting against such weapons the better I was at efficiently covering a wider range.


    They did have an easier time targeting me when I was normal sized, but when I was Reduced they were still pretty accurate. That said, it seemed they didn¡¯t engage in much person-to-person combat. And why would they, when they had ships?


    I had to admit I wasn¡¯t confident I could take any significant amount of fire from any sort of ship, regardless of familiarity with their particular flavor of lasers. Maybe that was something classes couldn¡¯t keep up with¡­ or maybe I just wasn¡¯t strong enough. The old beastmaster Lyklor had a frankly ridiculous number of advancements in some of his abilities. If I got to something like twenty total advancements I could more or less absorb a meteor swarm, if my calculations were correct. However, that was something like 60 more points without natural upgrades. In short, I¡¯d have to triple my investment.


    Then again, that wouldn¡¯t be so bad. At that point it would be just slightly more than my investment in Gate. Each level gave me a number of points equivalent to that level, though it also took more experience. Those increased more or less linearly so with increased experience gain at higher levels¡­ the number of points I got per time should also increase. That information wasn¡¯t exactly new, I just hadn¡¯t looked at things from quite that angle.


    Of course, that assumed I was always challenging myself at least a little bit. Experience could actually drop off to nothing if my battles were all trivial. But considering what I had seen, I wasn¡¯t worried about running out of danger anytime soon.


    People who didn¡¯t have to fight for experience might find it easier in some ways, though the possibility of their daily tasks becoming trivial was certainly higher. I would say there was only so much one could wrestle with books, but there didn¡¯t really seem to be a limit on knowledge. Earth¡¯s sciences went far more in depth on some topics, though presumably my old world had quite a bit of information from a magical perspective. I just hadn¡¯t gotten access to as much as I would have liked.


    Ultimately, everything came down to how much a person could do- and except for Aspect of the Sage people were probably most limited by mana since it required doing things. And maybe mana was still important for them since they could Enhance their mind. If they were a mage, at least.


    -----


    ¡°I feel like there should have been an attack by now,¡± I commented. ¡°Usually some sort of chaos or danger pops up.¡±


    ¡°Dude!¡± Great Girl glared at me. ¡°Don¡¯t say things like that. It¡¯s like you¡¯re asking for trouble.¡±


    I just looked at her. Then over at Midnight. He rolled his eyes. ¡°You say that like he isn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Right.¡± She frowned, ¡°I guess in that case, it might not invite trouble?¡±


    I suddenly had a brilliant thought. ¡°Do you think there¡¯s a spell for that?¡±


    Great Girl tilted her head. ¡°For like, what? Inviting trouble?¡±


    ¡°Obviously.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not really a thing people tend to want,¡± she pointed out. ¡°All the spells are for like, avoiding it. Like Augury. Do you guys have that one or is it Cleric only?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, knowing the future in such a way relies on the gods,¡± I said.


    ¡°You sure?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°Because Spot is here and he¡¯s a cleric.¡±


    I looked around. ¡°He is?¡±


    ¡°I mean, this dimension. Not like, here here. Probably. But like- no offense- if your world¡¯s gods do exist, do they even exist in this universe?¡±


    ¡°... A good question,¡± I admitted. ¡°Though I believe Spot has likely gone down the route of following an idea.¡±


    ¡°That works?¡± Great Girl shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s so laaame. If you have divine magic, it should come from gods! End of story. I could imagine a setting where it makes sense, but both together¡­¡± she shook her head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know if my old world actually has deities to begin with,¡± I pointed out. ¡°They might just be sets of ideals.¡±


    Izzy had a comment there. ¡°I would say I believed in them, until coming to¡­ this world?¡± She tilted her head. ¡°Universe. Dimension. Whatever. If they do exist, I have no idea what they¡¯re doing. I feel like they should probably stop random instructions from different dimensions.¡±


    ¡°... why?¡± I frowned.


    ¡°Because that¡¯s¡­ bad?¡± she sighed. ¡°Or maybe they¡¯re all just in a deadlock because people have conflicting opinions on what should be done.¡±


    ¡°It would be fine if all of us who want random portals just went to a different dimension,¡± I said. ¡°Couldn¡¯t they arrange for that? Though maybe they want to stop the demons from popping into other worlds because they¡¯d kinda be among that set.¡±


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    Great Girl grimaced. ¡°Does your version of things have infinite layers of the abyss?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like anyone¡¯s counted,¡± I said. ¡°We know there¡¯s a lot of abyss.¡±


    ¡°I have relevant questions,¡± Khithae said. She didn¡¯t tend to include herself in these sorts of conversations much, but this one apparently caught her attention. ¡°These¡­ demons. They are able to leave the abyss?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes. But it¡¯s difficult.¡±


    ¡°Certainly,¡± Khithae said. ¡°But say there is some probability of one successfully reaching your¡­ material plane. If there are an infinite number of them, then no matter how low the probability of success, and no matter how small the proportion of them specifically interested in reaching the material plane,  there should be an infinite number of them arriving at any moment. But that isn¡¯t the case, so clearly it can¡¯t be infinite.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, that¡¯s an excellent proof of bounded planar theory,¡± I said. ¡°I certainly don¡¯t see any immediate holes. Then again, I don¡¯t have access to the libraries that would have discussed that possibility. We might have missed something.¡±


    -----


    The day continued on and we did not get attacked by aliens or demons. However, there was a disaster the following day. And it wasn¡¯t my fault, because we were talking about a whole planet. No matter how good their building regulations and city management, somewhere across the planet some sort of weather phenomenon or earthquake had to cause some sort of damage at some point.


    In this case, it was an earthquake that also caused fires. It wasn¡¯t even in our city, but Celmoth was a unified planet so the news picked up all jurisdictions more or less equally. We just happened to see the news displayed on a screen we were passing. Great Girl stopped. ¡°Where is that?¡± she asked Midnight.


    ¡°That¡¯s uh¡­¡± it took Midnight a moment- clearly he didn¡¯t know the name of the prefecture off the top of his head. ¡°Halfway around the world. Or all the way? It¡¯s almost exactly the far side.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Great Girl sighed. ¡°I was thinking we could go help, but¡­¡±


    Here was my chance to use Teleport. Just as I was about to suggest that, Midnight spoke. ¡°We have teleportation stations.¡± Dammit. ¡°But I think teleporting into a disaster zone is restricted.¡± Yes! ¡°Though we can probably get an exception.¡±


    How could my friend do this to me? How cruel.


    ¡°How long would it take to get permission?¡± I asked.


    ¡°... A few minutes?¡± he conjectured.


    ¡°Then we should-¡± I caught myself. ¡°Then we should hurry. Try to begin that process.¡± I turned to Khithae, Izzy, and Jerome. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you guys are equipped to handle a disaster situation, I would suggest most of you stay here.¡±


    ¡°I can magically repair things,¡± Khithae said. ¡°Or strengthen them to prevent a collapse.¡±


    ¡°I can cast Energy Ward for the fire?¡± Jerome said.


    Izzy paused for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m sure I could help somehow. I don¡¯t have to run into a burning building or anything.¡±


    As for why I didn¡¯t try to suggest magical teleportation as we ran towards the nearest station, it was because we¡¯d still not tested how far we could go. Half a planet was probably too far.


    A couple minutes later we were gathered in a teleportation chamber, waiting for our permission to come through. ¡°If we were a traditional rescue team,¡± Midnight said. ¡°We¡¯d be pre-cleared. Speaking of which, we need to listen to the people already there who know what they¡¯re doing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trained for search and rescue,¡± Great Girl pointed out. ¡°I know how to listen to instructions for what to pick up.¡±


    ¡°Great, so-¡± Midnight started. ¡°We¡¯re cleared!¡±


    Even as he said that, as the teleportation chamber was already sealed, there was a brief moment of weirdness¡­ and then we were somewhere else. I didn¡¯t even feel any power, but then again Celmothians didn¡¯t use magic or super tech. Their stuff just worked.


    A few minutes later, Great Girl was maxing out her size- with a boost from Enlarge- and helping the surrounding telekinetic rigs pick up and stabilize large chunks of building. Those rigs then piled the rubble away from the disaster zone.


    I knew that Celmothians didn¡¯t have one particular thing, so I talked to someone in charge. ¡°Would it be bad to have some areas suddenly be colder?¡±


    ¡°Terrible!¡± the tabby patterned coordinator declared. ¡°Heat stress would cause more damage.¡±


    ¡°So no Blizzard.¡± Obviously I was planning to lower the power. Didn¡¯t need to freeze anyone in there. ¡°I can make people way faster for a minute. Or like Jerome offered, fire resistant. Oh, or I can make them fly.¡±


    ¡°How does that-¡±


    ¡°It all just works,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Smoke resistant?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Afraid not. Oh, if I can get to anyone stuck I can¡­ unstick them.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Mag-¡±


    ¡°Right I got it.¡±


    Rob had been helping briefly, but he¡¯d gone through his 20 or so mana pretty quickly and now just had a red ring indicating low power. Though I was pretty sure his actual energy was still pretty much full?


    Ultimately most of my mana went to helping Great Girl. Both Enlarge and Enhance lasted for a while, and even by the time we arrived we were mostly past the ¡®pull people out of a burning building¡¯ stage of things.


    Frankly, Celmoth didn¡¯t even need us. The main thing we provided was a somewhat more flexible form of rubble clearance. There weren¡¯t so many people helping that we got in the way, though. Well, if we¡¯d physically been dealing with anything we might have since most of us were way bigger than Celmothians. That included Izzy, though having human hands was quite useful and she had more strength than common Celmothian grasping suits so she did manage to carry a few locals out of precarious positions.


    Helping people was good. Though frankly, I wasn¡¯t made for disaster relief. I¡¯d rather be more of a disaster¡­ preventer. A disaster puncher?


    I¡¯d prefer to be fighting villains. Because none of this gave experience. Well, even if I didn¡¯t get a level using my spells was still valuable training¡­ but if I was helping people I¡¯d prefer maximum efficiency.


    Eventually our mana was exhausted and Great Girl seemed about exhausted enough to transform into five-foot-tall Sophia, so we took a rest. It seemed that we¡¯d already freed any trapped civilians- the Celmothians had cool scanning things that could find people under rubble- and once there were no people in the area they could suck the oxygen out of the area and stop the fires. So the rest was just going to be boring old cleanup and rebuilding, which was far less urgent.


    I figured we should get some of the stuff they had here on Earth. Though I could already see how some of this technology would be dangerous in the wrong hands, so Extra might not go for it. That was for them to work out with the Celmothians long term, though.

 Chapter 308

    Once we finished with all that disaster business, we could return to a sort of vacation mode. Which meant doing whatever we wanted. And what I wanted was to finally use Teleport.


    ¡°Even if we end up in the wrong city, we won¡¯t be far from a teleportation station, right?¡± I asked Midnight. ¡°It¡¯s not like ending up in a random country on Earth without a passport or something.¡±


    ¡°Well, actually, we probably shouldn¡¯t be able to teleport at all,¡± Midnight replied. ¡°Aside from our planetary teleportation network, there isn¡¯t supposed to be any teleportation. Otherwise the Bunvorixians could probably just drop in wherever they pleased.¡±


    ¡°Oh. So we can¡¯t?¡± I frowned.


    ¡°More like we should make this an official thing. Since it¡¯s probably important to know how our security works.¡±


    I stroked my chin. ¡°Where does it dump unauthorized users? A volcano?¡± Volcano was a good bet. Or some sort of spike pit? Or a giant garbage disposal.


    ¡°What?¡± Midnight shook his head. ¡°We don¡¯t dump people anywhere. It just doesn¡¯t work if it fails.¡±


    ¡°But you could get rid of so many problems if everyone who tried to teleport in was taken into a deathtrap!¡± I protested.


    ¡°Or accidentally kill our own citizens if we missed something,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°Also, remember Zeb?¡±


    ¡°What about- oh. Yeah. They¡¯d probably send all the nice Bunvorixians through to test things.¡±


    ¡°Or the potentially nice ones, anyway,¡± Midnight agreed.


    ¡°How about holding cells?¡±


    ¡°Kind of risky, depending on what tech they came in with.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ separate objects into an isolated location in case they immediately explode.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not even-¡± Midnight began to protest. ¡°That¡¯s so much more difficult.¡±


    ¡°More difficult than making a planet-wide teleportation network?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, maybe not. But it might be an unnecessarily large additional expense. But either way, we need to get people on board for these tests.¡±


    I crossed my arms and sighed. ¡°This is going to be less fun than just doing it.¡±


    ¡°You like experiments,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Since when has being restricted made you not enjoy them?¡±


    ¡°I mean, I still enjoy them,¡± I admitted. ¡°But it would be more fun if I could try whatever I wanted.¡±


    Midnight rolled his eyes. ¡°We¡¯d probably be dead.¡±


    ¡°Eh. We might not be.¡±


    -----


    For some reason, none of our friends wanted to come with us. And Midnight wasn¡¯t going to be going with me, at least not for the first tests. Considering he had some bad experiences with teleportation previously, I was surprised he had become so willing. Maybe going through like a hundred portals had helped with that. I wasn¡¯t sure if it had actually been that many, but we¡¯d sure gone back and forth a lot.


    So here I was, alone in a room, lamenting the restrictions placed upon me. They wanted me to land atop a big x. Seriously, why? Teleporting within a room? Within visual range? How¡­ boring. I could just walk.


    Though I kind of got why they wanted to begin with this.


    Once everything was ready, I began to gather mana from within myself. Teleport was the second most expensive spell I had, behind Gate. At 15 mana, it was still in the upper tier of costs for an individual spell.


    After I had the mana, I attempted to cast the spell¡­ but felt resistance. I was used to things like that with the Scrying anchors, but when I tried to push past it just didn¡¯t work. And by that I meant¡­ literally anything.


    ¡°Ugh. Your protections seem to work for that, at least.¡±


    Not Gate yet, but the Bunvorixians didn¡¯t have tech for that and we could hope that Spot wasn¡¯t high enough level to do it.


    That said, I had the feeling that I could learn to bypass their restrictions. It was just different than Scrying. Obviously. Teleportation was an entirely different field, so I had to learn how to bypass the sorts of restrictions on it separately.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if I should mention bypassing it in front of random scientists and stuff, so I decided to just tell Midnight later. Though he probably already assumed it was possible.


    -----


    The next test was the ¡®easy¡¯ mode- though it seemed to me that many of those watching thought it to be equally impossible. Jet watched with clear interest, however.


    The test? I would be going from one teleportation chamber to another. In short, attempting to make unauthorized use of the network. Or at least, that was how they described it. Personally, I was thinking of it more like traveling through some pre-built tunnels. Though it seemed these chambers were excellent at rejecting outside traffic.


    15 mana. I wanted to go from here to there¡­ by the easiest route. Honestly, if I had to calculate a route for Teleport I don¡¯t think I could. That was the point of the magic, it just figured things out.


    There was a bit of resistance, but it was like a sheet of paper. Maybe because I wasn¡¯t going far, or because I was in an authorized location, or¡­ whatever. It wasn¡¯t my job to figure out why. It was easier. Then a moment of disorientation as my sight adjusted to seeing an area from a suddenly different perspective.


    ¡°There was a little resistance,¡± I said. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Of course, I was pestered with a million questions, but I didn¡¯t have answers for most of them. Ultimately, they asked for me to test again- this time at a further distance and beyond line of sight.


    With a visual reference, it was easy enough. ¡°Maybe slightly more difficult?¡± I tilted my head. I wasn¡¯t really sure about that.


    Then they finally gave me an interesting task. Starting in a teleportation chamber, I was to try to teleport to a certain area- without knowing where the destination chambers was- or even if one existed.


    That sounded fine. What could even happen if I messed it up? I¡¯d probably just go nowhere.


    I still wanted to succeed, of course, so I took it seriously. My starting position was here, my destination was¡­ over there. Mana coursed through me. I didn¡¯t have to create any sort of enduring portal for Teleportation, so everything was over instantly. Well, apparently there was actually a slight delay but it was the sort of thing that needed sensitive instruments to determine.


    The image in front of my eyes flickered, going from nothing to static- that was new- to nothing. Because I passed out.


    -----


    ¡°Uuuuugh.¡± I recognized mana fatigue easily. I¡¯d overdone spells many times in the past, going beyond my limits in general and in single spells. Good thing I had head padding, so I probably avoided a concussion from my fall. And it also helped when I hit my head when I sat up.


    Who the heck made ceilings so low?


    Oh right. Celmothians. But this was extra low, even for them. I was splayed out, my upper body previously mostly within a tiny teleport capsule. Still plenty big for a Celmothian, but I couldn¡¯t even pretend to stand up in this one.


    It was dark. Which wasn¡¯t a problem for me, but it was weird. The room I was in¡­ was empty except for the teleport chamber built into the wall. It was eerie. And like, three feet high. Which was probably still plenty tall for Celmothians, but not roomy even for them.


    So, headache. Mana fatigue. General body pain. Worried Midnight.


    I tried to project my general feeling of continued existence and current consciousness to Midnight, but he wasn¡¯t really much calmer. It was fine, I just ended up in some sort of¡­ deprecated teleportation chamber. Probably underground, since my communicator wasn¡¯t working. But that wasn¡¯t a big deal.


    Continuing with my assessment. Huge mana fatigue. The time was¡­ I hadn¡¯t actually checked what time I was going to teleport. Couldn¡¯t have been passed out for more than a handful of minutes, but mana fatigue was usually transitory- in the seconds.


    Like this, though, I wasn¡¯t sure. I think I hit the limits of my full mana pool and what I could use in a single spell, somehow. Since we¡¯d taken time to travel between locations, I¡¯d had more than the spare 15 mana necessary to cast the spell. I should have had more than 20, in fact. I¡­ was pretty sure it was impossible to spend that much mana on a single spell. Somehow, I¡¯d spend one and a half times as much, or more.


    Had I cast the spell twice somehow? That could be.


    Crawling around the area- I wasn¡¯t Reduced, so I couldn¡¯t do much else- I determined that the previous exits seemed to have been sealed up. How inconvenient. But there was mana here so I should be out in¡­ minimum an hour and a half, potentially two or three depending on how well meditation worked. Or way longer than that because I was not feeling great in that department. Then again, I wasn¡¯t coughing up black blood so it wasn¡¯t the same as that issue.


    I meditated for a few minutes, just to test the rate I was taking in mana. Yeah, that was just fine. I might even be able to hit higher than 2 mana per 10 minutes I was aiming for. But¡­ I¡¯d probably want some extra mana to be safe.


    But hey, I probably didn¡¯t even need to worry. Midnight was¡­ almost directly above me now. That had changed from him being quite far away, so clearly they¡¯d found a proper place to Teleport.


    I assumed they had a plan, so I just waited while meditating. When I started hearing rumbling above that distracted me, my headache was a bit better. The general pain throughout the rest of my body was still there, but it was pretty minor.


    What else could I do here. Reading was out, as that would require two uses of mana- one to pull out a book, another to cast Light. Or I could re-read the texts stored in my phone, but I didn¡¯t want to use up the rest of the battery.


    Oh right! Skill review! It had been a bit. Fortunately, the skill window was readable in literally any condition- even with my eyes closed, if I wanted to. And I was¡­ pretty sure it didn¡¯t take mana. And I was right- or at least not enough to stop me or make me feel worse.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Turlough (No surname)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 40


    Experience: 4158/4305


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Storage +9 (6|3)


    Firebolt +7 (5|2)


    Shocking Grasp +7 (4|3)


    Grease +4 (2|2)


    Force Armor +11 (7|4)


    Mage''s Reach +6 (3|3)


    Translation +6 (1|5)


    Alter Time Flow +10 (6|4)


    Disguise +1 (0|1)


    Familiar Bond +11 (5|6)


    Size Shift +6 (2|4)


    Energy Ward +9 (5|4)


    Sonic Lance +5 (3|2)


    Advanced Divination Magic +7 (3|4)


    Shield +3 (1|2)


    Stoneskin +7 (4|3)


    Mana Manipulation +9 (2|7)


    Water Breathing


    Variable Freedom +4 (2|2)


    Basic Light Magic +4 (1|3)


    Alter Portal +4 (0|4)


    Gate +5 (2|3)


    Sending +3 (0|3)


    Chain Lightning +5 (3|2)


    Clean +1 (0|1)


    Shelter +1 (0|1)


    Assistive Familiar Casting +5 (0|5)


    Multicasting +5 (0|5)


    Enhance +2 (1|1)


    Nondetection +3 (0|3)


    Water Blast +6 (5|1)


    Blizzard +1 (0|1)


    Fly +1 (0|1)


    Dimensional Anchor


    Knock


    Teleport


    Dispel


    Remaining Points: 53


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Oh, nice. Force Armor finally got a natural improvement. A couple other things as well, including Familiar Bond. And Size Shift, since we¡¯d been using that a lot on this trip. Both Assistive Familiar Casting and Multicasting had reached 5 natural upgrades- though the Multicasting one had been more interesting.


    Ugh, seriously? All that and no upgrade to Teleport? Maybe because I screwed up.


    I¡¯d also independently learned Dispel. I wondered if training with it would improve my staff¡¯s effectiveness¡­ or if the staff would count. Though in the second case, wouldn¡¯t I have learned it naturally?


    Wait, something was missing. Where did Mana Starvation go? I mentally scrolled back up the list and stumbled upon something I hadn¡¯t quite clocked. Mana Manipulation¡­ that was where Mana Crystal Deposition used to be, right? Had those abilities fused? Midnight was making use of Mana Starvation to improve his own mana stores, would that help him? I presumed so. And our bond was high enough to get all of the upgrades too.


    I felt the ground trembling. The drilling and shaking sounds above me slowed. Hmm¡­ I should probably move. Midnight was getting really close. I wiggled away from all that sound for a bit, and soon something tore through the ceiling- though nothing fell. Instead, all the bits were pulled away. Cool, more telekinetic tools.


    Light spilled into the area in a cone. Great Girl stuck her head down first.


    ¡°Hello!¡± I called out. ¡°Good to see you.¡±


    ¡°... Yeah that seems like you,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°Can you¡­ get over here?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± I crawled forward. ¡°I kind of assumed Midnight would poke his head down first.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t die if it all collapsed on me,¡± Great Girl explained. ¡°But he¡¯s right up here.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± I said. ¡°Hey buddy,¡± I said, standing wiping off some dust. ¡°Well that was an adventure, huh?"

 Chapter 309

    For some reason, Midnight was more concerned about myself than I was. That was the norm for us, but still. ¡°It¡¯s not like I knew I would¡­ end up off target,¡± I pointed out.


    Midnight¡¯s tail flicked. ¡°Something about the way you said that makes me suspicious. Even though I know you aren¡¯t lying.¡±


    Lying was silly. Especially to my own friend and Familiar. ¡°I don¡¯t have a detailed manual for Teleportation like Portal Theory.¡±


    ¡°Huh,¡± Midnight settled into his position on the flying transport- we were being brought away from the ¡®incident location¡¯ that way instead of using more portals because they wanted to make sure nothing was wrong with me. But my body only hurt a little bit. ¡°You know, I didn¡¯t really think about that. I would have thought Teleportation would be included, but it wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re different things,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Portals and Teleportation aren¡¯t the same.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re both space manipulation, though,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Well, maybe.¡±


    ¡°They have to be, right?¡± Midnight tilted his head.


    I looked at my lengthening status window. Well, actually, it was technically one entry shorter than before but there were still a lot of things. ¡°Can¡¯t tell,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It hasn¡¯t ranked up yet.¡±


    ¡°Why would that matter?¡± Midnight asked as our ride began to slow.


    ¡°Because then it might fuse with Gate. And we¡¯ll know.¡±


    -----


    As it turned out, Celmothian hospitals were not made for orcs. However, after some conversation with the doctors it was decided that my vital signs should probably be the same when Reduced. That meant I could fit in some of their scanners, though only barely. They would probably be quite roomy for Celmothians normally.


    I did make use of the most powerful version of Shift Size I could. That made me a little more than two feet tall which Izzy found hilarious. Even though Jerome was still shorter than me with a normal-power cast of Size Shift.


    Great Girl was still pretending to be getting Size Shift from Midnight regularly, but Jerome seemed to be getting suspicious about that. Well, he was getting used to sensing mana usage and since her power was more of a constant output than a burst, it really was suspicious. But he was smarter than to say anything about it. Izzy¡­ might already know. She knew Great Girl as Sophia, after all. I wasn¡¯t her only friend on Earth. In fact, she more or less had all of my friends. Except obscure ones like Rositsa.


    I thought a lot about Shift Size while I was being scanned. I couldn¡¯t focus on the scanner because it wasn¡¯t magic at all. Or super. It probably used x-rays or gamma rays or something. Nobody told me and I didn¡¯t ask. Khithae did, but to understand what she was saying with Translate I had to know what the words that were translated meant to begin with.


    There probably weren¡¯t supposed to be so many people hanging around for medical tests, but our circumstances were unique and people stayed out of the way.


    Celmothian doctors apparently had utility suits. So while they probably didn¡¯t transform into laser guns and stuff, they did look quite similar to Midnight¡¯s battle suit before Francois got his fingers on it. Now, Midnight was shinier. And probably more durable or whatever.


    A three dimensional chart of what I assumed was my body given the tusks appeared out of nowhere. Well, as a function of the doctor¡¯s suit thing. She had introduced herself at some point but¡­ Doctor was good enough. ¡°As you can see, there are no surface level injuries.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Do you still feel pain from the incident?¡± the doctor asked.


    ¡°He does,¡± Midnight answered for me. Rude. I mean, it was true but¡­ it wasn¡¯t serious pain.


    ¡°Just a little.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like a broken limb spread out over the whole body,¡± Midnight emphasized.


    The doctor nodded. ¡°That would be consistent with our results, then. It won¡¯t be obvious on the scans, but there is minor inflammation throughout your whole body.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably fine, right?¡± I said.


    She gave me a serious look. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say anything like this is fine. We never encounter anything like this. You blacked out, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°That was from mana fatigue,¡± I explained. ¡°It had nothing to do with any injuries,¡± I said.


    ¡°It might have. You have symptoms of a minor concussion. The damage occurred throughout all of your body.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s minor, right?¡±


    She hissed slightly. ¡°How often do you get concussions?¡±


    ¡°Not very. Francois is very good about that.¡± I had changed into a sheet of some sort since they didn¡¯t exactly have medical gowns for humans. My normal clothing would have interfered with any scans. I flicked the head covering- which was still invisible. ¡°I have magic head protection.¡±


    Great Girl supported me. ¡°We¡¯re very careful about concussions at the Power Brigade. We have ways to confirm that they are fully healed before letting people return to action, to avoid compounding issues.¡±


    I was also pretty sure that Regenerate would be able to fix some of that stuff. But not having to bug Ceira or run off to another world was probably better. Though our in-house healers were quite helpful with speeding such injuries along. Even Meztli, who wasn¡¯t really a healer, helped with stuff like that.


    -----


    I wasn¡¯t allowed to do anything interesting or Teleport for the next few days, so plans were to explore the local city. It wasn¡¯t any more geared towards humanoids than anywhere else, but every city had interesting locations.


    Before that, however, Jet and some of those working with the Teleportation tests had a bunch of questions.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°So you ended up inside the teleportation chamber?¡± one asked.


    ¡°Directly inside,¡± I confirmed.


    Jet looked quite concerned. ¡°But it was deprecated. Unpowered. It¡¯s no longer part of the network.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but that didn¡¯t make it a less valid Teleportation chamber, right?¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°The spell was supposed to fail,¡± Jet said. ¡°Since there was nothing attached to the network in the area.¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°But you know I¡¯m not actually using the network, right?¡±


    ¡°Our teleportation restrictions applied to you though,¡± she pointed out. ¡°If it¡¯s not part of the network, there should have been nothing. The fact that you could end up there¡­ implies holes in our security.¡±


    I stroked my chin. ¡°Maybe you didn¡¯t take it off the list?¡±


    ¡°The network doesn¡¯t work like that. There are authorized departure and arrival locations. If they¡¯re inactive, they¡¯re just¡­ not.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s made of special materials though, right? In a particular way?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I do believe that¡¯s part of that,¡± Jet said, confirming with the specialists. ¡°This means we might need to fully dismantle deprecated teleportation markers or risk security holes.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°It might just be because it¡¯s magic.¡±


    ¡°Spot has magic,¡± Jet pointed out.


    ¡°Oh, sure. But he shouldn¡¯t be able to Teleport. Just Gate eventually.¡± Their defenses hadn¡¯t really been preventing Gates. But they¡¯d made some adjustments and now their teleportation network rejected extradimensional access as well. ¡°I suppose if it¡¯s using the same network, those might be holes.¡±


    ¡°We certainly can¡¯t risk it,¡± Jet said.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t an issue for me if they wanted to try to fix that. I wasn¡¯t the one who had to do all the work.


    -----


    There was one final thing we had not tested with Teleport, at least of the ideas I¡¯d immediately had. For some reason, Midnight was being stingy about letting me try.


    ¡°The doctor said all the swelling has gone down over the last few days,¡± I said. ¡°Come on, I just want to see if we can sneak into the network or go further than we¡¯re supposed to!¡±


    Okay, so it was two things. I had just thought of that second thing.


    ¡°You might still have microscopic damage,¡± Midnight disagreed. ¡°We¡¯ve given them plenty of work for the moment, we can make those attempts on a later trip. At least we can be certain a Gate is working or not before going through.¡±


    ¡°But if they have to make modifications anyway, wouldn¡¯t it be worse to learn of new vulnerabilities later?¡± I asked. ¡°Even if they might be strictly magical.¡±


    ¡°Well, yes, but I still don¡¯t think you should do it.¡± He paused for a moment, clearly gearing up his bravery. ¡°I will.¡±


    I took a serious look at him. ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± The whole reason he got stuck on Earth was a teleportation accident. Though they hadn¡¯t found any cause, so it was most likely due to interference outside of their technological range. Aside from him, their modern teleporters were completely safe. Same with the few Celmothians who had ended up on Earth with their ships, despite clearly not having traveled towards Earth. Earth was just a hot destination like that.


    ¡°I am certain,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I have enough mana. I am fine with using the teleporters normally. And you are right that we need the information.¡±


    ¡°Alright. You know I was tapping into the network. You can kind of feel it when the spell is going, so don¡¯t worry about that. Though, if you¡¯re trying to hop in from the outside, you might have to push through. I doubt the defenses are inviolable. Like the Scrying Anchors.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I see,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Should I try a localized point-to-point?¡±


    ¡°Without upgrades?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I don¡¯t think we have the oomph.¡± That was a good English onomatopoeia. Oomph. A grunt like you were pushing something, vaguely. ¡°Also, I think you¡¯d want a bigger mana fatigue limit before trying weird stuff. I went past my limit when the accident happened.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ you can¡¯t use more mana in a single spell than its level. And your fatigue limit is like one and a half times that.¡±


    ¡°Both correct,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe I ended up inside something and I had to correct?¡±


    ¡°... What?¡±


    ¡°I mean obviously you never actually stay inside something. Teleport is a safe spell. If anyone stayed inside things we¡¯d have lost so many high level Mages. But magic is safe so people get pushed out.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an option?!¡± Midnight was suddenly far less calm.


    ¡°Well, obviously it¡¯s preferable to overlapping with an object.¡±


    ¡°I mean the part where you can even end up inside things to begin with!¡±


    ¡°... There¡¯s a lot of planet,¡± I said. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, spells are safe.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you mention that possibility to begin with? We wouldn¡¯t have done the same tests!¡± Midnight sighed. ¡°Please tell me it wasn¡¯t so you could be sure.¡±


    ¡°Nah. I just forgot it was an option. Remember how Mage¡¯s Reach was the biggest spell I had when I came to Earth? I read everything I could, but the spell encyclopedias weren¡¯t perfect in detail for every spell, and I assumed I¡¯d have years to brush up as I got closer to the higher tier spells.¡±


    ¡°... I don¡¯t know how you survived youth.¡±


    ¡°Master Uvithar was very helpful. And I couldn¡¯t cast any big spells because my mana pool was nearly nonexistent.¡±


    ¡°... Maybe you should take finding that guy more seriously.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m not going to be the cause of him being found by whoever he¡¯s hiding from by leading them to him.¡±


    ¡°... maybe find some other mages you can trust.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m still not sure about that gnome,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe we can do more spying later. For now¡­ teleportation. Or not, if you don¡¯t want to.¡±


    Midnight thought about it for a few minutes. ¡°No, I still should. Our defenses shouldn¡¯t have a weakness to technological teleportation. And I can be located more easily than you.¡±


    ¡°You found me just fine.¡±


    ¡°But I could have rescue personnel active immediately,¡± Midnight noted. ¡°Instead of waiting for me to Teleport after you and stand above you. Also, why were you so calm?¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I have been calm? I wasn¡¯t hurt, I was recovering mana so I could probably Teleport out, I can see in the dark and I¡¯m not claustrophobic. Besides, I knew you would help. And if you get stuck, I¡¯ll obviously come for you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Related to that, I have something I want to try eventually. But it involves us being in different dimensions or whatever.¡±


    Midnight frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I just want to know if I can create a Gate to wherever you are. Even if I don¡¯t know where that is.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ suppose that¡¯s useful knowledge.¡±


    ¡°Right? But teleporting first!¡±


    Midnight managed to slip into the network and arrive in one of the normal teleportation destinations. Which was actually a fail state the Celmothians intended- if someone broke through, they¡¯d rather have people end up somewhere predictable. As for teleporting ¡®too far¡¯, for reasons of safety Midnight took some precautions that ended up with him not going anywhere particularly exciting. Just a bit out of bounds of what we expected, but it was hard to say if that was incorrect or not because Teleport got an upgrade.


    It hadn¡¯t combined with Gate though. How disappointing. I wanted¡­ Advanced Spatial Magic? No, ¡®Advanced¡¯ was mid tier. Maybe it would be called something else.

 Chapter 310

    Having tested all of the safe options I could think of for Teleportation and apparently at least one that wasn¡¯t safe, it had gotten an upgrade. And I was still annoyed that it hadn¡¯t fused with Gate.


    Was it because Midnight was the one who got the upgrade? Familiar Bond actually gave us a fairly good transfer of understanding between us- though our individual practice could be different. The difference was fairly easy to demonstrate. As long as Familiar Bond was good enough, Midnight could use any spell I knew at its maximum efficiency. But he wouldn¡¯t have the muscle memory and practice to necessarily do anything beyond manipulating the quantity of mana involved.


    So maybe together we had enough understanding to get an upgrade, but neither of us had enough to fuse the skills? Or maybe I needed to reach that level of understanding myself, as the one who actually had the class. It wouldn¡¯t even be weird if Midnight had a better grasp on Teleportation than myself because he¡¯d used it for his whole life. Just not a magical version. Surely, he could pick things up through feeling them.


    But we agreed that I shouldn¡¯t use Teleport myself until we got me checked out by Doctor Martinez, who was used to my magical strangeness and might pick up something the Celmothian¡¯s didn¡¯t. After a few days nothing hurt, but there were worse things than pain. Like mana crystal saturation, which also happened to hurt. Nobody should cough up black gunk for any reason. Unless maybe it was a power.


    Having accomplished our goals on Celmoth, it was time to move on. The transfer part counted as work, and some time was required to make sure people settled in, but not the remaining days we spent as tourists. So all of us had to get back to work. Jerome also had to get back to school, because he¡¯d only worked a week or so ahead of his schedule. It was a shame a smart kid like him didn¡¯t have a chance to make use of those brains until recently. But hey, he was magic now and his quality of life had visibly improved. His mother would still be worried until we got back though, because that was how they were. Apparently.


    Apparently, Angelica wasn¡¯t coming back with us. She would be functional here because the Celmothians had translation tech- magic was just more convenient for our group because not all of them carried it all the time. But she¡¯d be assigned someone to help her do¡­ whatever it was she did. Schedule people for things? That¡¯s what she did for Ceira. Except it was really more negotiating terms and vetting clients.


    -----


    The Power Brigade liked to know that their employees were mentally stable, and apparently killing people in a war was the sort of thing that required extra attention.


    ¡°Am I supposed to feel bad about it?¡± I asked Doctor Patenaude.


    Obviously, he didn¡¯t answer that the way I wanted. ¡°I am not here to tell you how you are supposed to feel.¡± He took notes, of course. He always did, and he liked the scratch of pencil on paper. ¡°How would you feel about killing civilians here?¡±


    ¡°I killed Handface,¡± I said. ¡°Does he count? He needed to die.¡± I paused for a second. ¡°Do I feel something I don¡¯t recognize?¡± Patenaude was an empath. He could probably sense that. ¡°Midnight doesn¡¯t like the thought of killing people. He tried to avoid using any of the big spells. Though that¡¯s his normal style. Should I feel that?¡±


    ¡°What do you think you feel? That¡¯s the important thing, awareness of the self,¡± Doctor Patenaude explained. Again. And I was better at feeling things, but the only thing I felt about this was worry that I was a bad person. No, that other people would think I was a bad person. Which maybe made me a worse person but they wouldn¡¯t know about that. ¡°You mentioned Uvithar again. What do you think of him?¡±


    What did I think of him? ¡°I wish he would have told me more things. I feel like he could have. Him disappearing without warning feels like I was abandoned¡­ even though I was the one who went to another world.¡± Oh. Had that bothered him? He should have known I would run away through a portal given an opportunity. He hadn¡¯t sent anything but practical advice with my book, though. I liked practical advice.


    ¡°I see,¡± Doctor Patenaude said.


    Oh great. Did that mean I was missing something? He was silent which meant he was either coming up with the next question or waiting for me to figure something out. How long would I wait? Maybe I could figure this out. Maybe I could-


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t recommend using magic to help with any of this. Especially without prior knowledge of how it will work.¡±


    I squinted at him. ¡°I didn¡¯t even start gathering mana, did I?¡±


    ¡°I know your feelings about magic. You very much enjoy it. That is good. But you shouldn¡¯t use it to solve emotional issues, or you may become reliant on it.¡±


    I tensed my jaw. I didn¡¯t even know what the problem was. ¡°What if I was being affected by outside influence?¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t. But I certainly suggest you use your mental protections in such a case,¡± Doctor Patenaude said. ¡°Functioning at the baseline of your emotional awareness is necessary. Are there any other features of your trip you want to speak about?¡±


    I took a few moments to think. ¡°I don¡¯t want to make Midnight worry. But sometimes I do things that cause that to happen anyway, because I don¡¯t think it matters.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°And why is that?¡±


    ¡°Because pain doesn¡¯t matter,¡± I said. ¡°Physical pain goes away. It doesn¡¯t bother me. Do you think that¡¯s an orc thing?¡±


    ¡°Does it matter? It¡¯s a Turlough thing. At least your interpretation of your response appears accurate. You aren¡¯t bothered as long as you don¡¯t perceive there will be lasting consequences. Why do you think that is?¡±


    ¡°... Because it doesn¡¯t matter? Exercise hurts and Midnight doesn¡¯t get worried about that. It¡¯s not like I choose to get injured beyond what I expect to heal. Plus, we have people who can help. Even if I lose an arm then Ce- my friend can grow it back.¡±


    ¡°Is this friend from before you came here?¡± Doctor Patenaude asked.


    ¡°No. From Earth,¡± I said. ¡°Relatively recently. I already felt like this before, and I don¡¯t want to bother her often so I still try to keep myself safe. Just to less tolerance than other people think is fine.¡±


    ¡°That does sound correct. However, you should consider the emotional pain of others around you before you act more often.¡±


    ¡°... I didn¡¯t know the Teleport would end up off track.¡±


    ¡°But you did know it could. And that there was some danger.¡±


    ¡°Not that much.¡±


    ¡°Mmm. That, I will have to trust you on.¡±


    ¡°And Doctor Martinez. He said I was healing just fine and there were no lingering issues, physical or magical.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t comment on the dangers of magic I don¡¯t understand. Anything else?¡±


    He thought there was something I had missed. But I sure didn¡¯t know what it was. Something with Uvithar? Was my answer not good enough? ¡°I can¡¯t think of anything, really.¡±


    -----


    There was never enough mana for everything I wanted to do. I couldn¡¯t contact Sir Kalman and Lady Eglantine every day and practice expensive spells and try to Scry mysteries in my old world. Though I was a little bit closer to achieving all of that since I now recovered mana a bit faster. At least when I was doing it actively.


    It probably had something to do with things fusing into Mana Manipulation. I¡¯d been getting better at mediation and active recovery, but none of that was part of any skill. Those had all been about training my maximums. Relatedly, Midnight seemed to have fairly quickly grown into the new mana he was supposed to have, through his Mana Starvation training. I still continued to use my own method, though there wasn¡¯t really much growth to be had at this point. I¡¯d need more levels for a higher natural base and improvements before it was valuable to shove more mana into myself. There were only fractional improvements to be had otherwise.


    I tried Mana Starvation just to be better able to help Jerome and such. I was certainly better than I had been before, and without practice, but it didn¡¯t really change anything. But if I was going to be low on mana anyway, I might as well get right to the edge. Improving a combined skill from the different things combined into it might be more efficient. Though that was pure speculation.


    For the first time, I used Teleport on Earth. It was so boring, because I only went to Extra¡¯s HQ. I couldn¡¯t teleport into the Brigade, because they had general protections against that. Though I was approved to teleport out of it.


    The skills didn¡¯t fuse. Then again, it was easy. I probably hadn¡¯t learned anything. I had asked Calculator if I could try Teleporting into the Brigade.


    ¡°No. Absolutely not.¡±


    ¡°But what if there are holes in the defenses?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°Now that we¡¯re warded to include magic, it¡¯s quite secure. And it would be dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Why? Does it knock people away?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better for you to not have the details. Never try it.¡±


    ¡°... Can I Teleport out front?¡±


    He sighed. ¡°Do you want the public to be aware of that ability?¡±


    ¡°Not really. And I doubt that would make me better.¡±


    I wanted to get good enough that it was reasonable to teleport to and from the apartment with Midnight. However, the cost was quite high. Of course, we couldn¡¯t go directly to either. The Lower Hills Suites weren¡¯t special on their own, but special care was taken for Midnight and I since we¡¯d had problems with Darkstargirl¡¯s fanatics at the other apartment. And since we might be targeted by Doctor Doomsday if he decided we were worth his notice again, and because Flasher was still around somewhere, teleportation was one thing our apartments were protected against. And that included the hallway, though not knowing who might be there it wouldn¡¯t exactly be subtle to randomly pop in.


    -----


    Sir Kalman said the war had died down, at least for the moment. Obviously it was too soon to determine if it was just a lull or if the underground elves were done causing problems for the next couple decades. Destroying one portal and a significant part of their tech weapon supply had certainly helped. Though since they probably had another portal that presumably went to Earth, it wasn¡¯t really ever going to be done. Unless someone took out Doctor Doomsday, but even if they crashed a new secret lab every week it would probably never be enough.


    He was always able to escape, if he couldn¡¯t force the attackers to retreat first. And every time people actually tried to take down one of his bases- at least a notable one- they had to be prepared for significant trouble. It seemed the place he¡¯d dragged Ceira hadn¡¯t been that important, though I still had to consider he might continue to hold a grudge. I didn¡¯t try to Scry him anymore, though.


    It wasn¡¯t that I was afraid. I just understood he could probably kill me and I didn¡¯t want people to be sad about it. Even the levels I might get from surviving weren¡¯t temptation enough at the moment.


    And there wasn¡¯t anyone like Handface trying to kill me. I didn¡¯t like that at all.


    I needed to get a new rival. How did people do that, anyway? Spot didn¡¯t like me, but he was probably Midnight¡¯s rival at best. Or Great Girl¡¯s, since he came with Darkstargirl. Gloom was hers too.


    Maybe Rodentia? She was nice. But she was just a general chaos-causer without a personal connection. We were more like enemy-acquaintances than proper rivals.


    Flasher was a pain. Iron Shell and the Mod Squad caused too much destruction.


    Doctor Doomsday was probably still bringing in a lot of orcs, but while I¡¯d fight them if they showed up I didn¡¯t really want to poke my nose into that at the moment.


    Maybe I could find one on Halloween. At the very least, it should be a decent night to gain some experience. Sparring with the same people just wasn¡¯t keeping up the pace I wanted.

 Chapter 311

    Normally, I took any situation that Calculator explained to me in stride. They all made enough sense, at least for villain plots. However, he said something odd this time. ¡°... Run that by me again?¡±


    Calculator nodded, as if having predicted his words wouldn¡¯t make sense. ¡°Rodentia is attempting to steal Halloween.¡±


    ¡°How and why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No idea how,¡± he admitted. ¡°Except that it is her declared intent. As for why, most likely because nobody ever successfully steals Christmas.¡±


    What was the overlap between things Rodentia liked and Halloween. ¡°... Milk candy?¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Could be. But more likely she¡¯s going after the concept. And no, that¡¯s never worked.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ I¡¯m supposed to go stop her?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Absolutely not,¡± Calculator looked perfectly offended. ¡°Just because Halloween is a high business day doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s best to keep it. If Rodentia can somehow steal the concept of Halloween, spooks won¡¯t come out and cause harm. The world will be a safer place, and we do care about that. Right now she doesn¡¯t appear to be causing any damage, so it¡¯s better to direct you elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Like where?¡± I asked. Before he could respond, I sensed something. ¡°Hold on.¡± Something big. ¡°There¡¯s some sort of magical thing¡­ that way,¡± I pointed.


    ¡°How precise?¡± Calculator asked. He knew I wasn¡¯t the sort to gesture vaguely when I could do better.


    ¡°Exactly along that line. I¡¯m not sure about the exact distance. More than a few kilometers.¡±


    Calculator frowned, his fingers moving rapidly on his tablet. ¡°What sort of event?¡±


    ¡°Magical? Not like mana, but not powers. It¡¯s familiar somehow¡­¡± Where had I felt it? It seemed extremely appropriate for some reason. ¡°It¡¯s halloween!¡± I said.


    ¡°Like a spirit of Halloween or¡­?¡±


    ¡°No, sorry. It¡¯s blood magic, I think. It¡¯s probably easier to do whatever that is today.¡±


    ¡°I see. Can you look here and give me your impression?¡± he held up a section of map with a line drawn on it. It was just part of the city. ¡°Would you say it¡¯s closer or further than the salt ponds?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I wish I could, but I don¡¯t have any powers like that. And the distance and size of the event could throw me off if it was more powerful than expected. Probably not beyond, though. Wouldn¡¯t that just be in the bay?¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s powerful blood magic happening in the bay, we need to know,¡± Calculator pointed out.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s almost done. I¡¯d need to get Midnight¡¯s opinion but I think¡­ portal?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°He¡¯ll be in here in a second.¡±


    It was actually more like ten, but Midnight rushed through the doors. ¡°Have we been assigned a destination yet?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Your flexibility makes it better to focus on teams that have a clear advantage. Like Ice Guy and the flaming jack o¡¯ lanterns. We very much do not want fires during an event like this.¡±


    ¡°Midnight,¡± I said. ¡°Second opinion. Did you feel that magic?¡± I gestured.


    ¡°Vaguely,¡± he admitted.


    ¡°What do you think it was?¡± I asked. It had faded away, so whatever it was shouldn¡¯t be enduring.


    ¡°Well, I was thinking¡­¡± he was obviously distracted by the same thing that I felt. If the first thing was blood, this was¡­ a desert sun? ¡°A portal.¡±


    ¡°So you agree with Mage?¡± Calculator asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what the first thing was,¡± Midnight shook his head. ¡°But that has to be a portal.¡±


    ¡°Totally,¡± I agreed. ¡°Probably pretty close to the other place. Could be a coincidence.¡±


    ¡°Give me one minute to get eyes on the situation,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Unless you want to Scry it?¡±


    ¡°That depends on what we want my mana for.¡±


    Calculator sighed. ¡°We need to get that thing to store some of its own mana, like your staff.¡±


    ¡°Oh, good idea,¡± I agreed. ¡°I¡¯ll suggest it to Vilhelmiina.¡±


    Calculator frowned. ¡°We can¡¯t afford to requisition things from her all that frequently.¡±


    ¡°I was just hoping she¡¯d make it herself,¡± I pointed out. ¡°It¡¯s not like we paid for the diamond ¡®orb¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Huh. I never took you for much of a manipulator.¡±


    I crossed my arms. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with getting people to do something both parties want.¡±


    He grinned. ¡°I didn¡¯t say there was.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s quite good, actually,¡± Midnight said. ¡°When he actually wants something.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Calculator suddenly spun around his tablet. He seemed able to watch it upside down just fine. ¡°We¡¯ve got visuals.¡±


    There it was. A giant blood circle. Familiar. And some kind of hell portal with angels pouring through. Why would angels come through a hell portal?


    They seemed to be looking for something. Then they seemed to find it. Or at least, they found a target. The image quality was not great, and it whited out as they launched some sort of light based attacks from their flaming swords, but a few moments later after the camera adjusted a figure of darkness was flying among them, blasting them out of the sky one at a time.


    ¡°Huh,¡± I said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t look like blood magic. In fact, it looks more like-¡±


    ¡°Dark Star,¡± Calculator confirmed.


    ¡°So. Is Great Girl still here?¡± I asked. ¡°Or do we want to just let that keep happening and assume it will work out?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re contractually obligated to warn her of nemesis activity,¡± Calculator admitted. His fingers tapped on another device while still holding the tablet steady with one hand. ¡°She¡¯ll be here soon.¡±


    ¡°Here?¡± I asked. ¡°We¡¯re not going to head to the garage?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too far,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Dark Star could fly off at any moment. I want you to Teleport her team.¡±


    ¡°Into¡­ that?¡± I gestured.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to get into contact with the person filming. Hopefully, we can get them to swap to a lower angle. Mono and Map need to stay back. The situation has to be approached delicately.¡±


    I looked at Midnight. He shared my thoughts. ¡°Great Girl is absolutely throwing herself into that immediately.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Delicacy isn¡¯t her job. That¡¯s why she has a squad.¡±


    A few moments later, I heard the sounds of claws scraping on the floor as Great Girl dragged herself to a stop. She mostly returned to human as she shuffled in the door. ¡°Where is she? I¡¯m gonna destroy Kourtney!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re supposed to call her Darkstargirl,¡± I corrected her.


    ¡°She¡¯s a villain. Her real name isn¡¯t restricted. That¡¯s not her proper moniker. And I don¡¯t care. I¡¯m gonna punch her!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you and like a hundred angels,¡± I shrugged. ¡°How do they even have so many angels? They need to close that portal. This is excessive.¡±


    Great Girl waited impatiently for the rest of her team. Grasp would be ready to go in with her. Map would be more functional on-site, providing greater battlefield awareness. Mono was a sniper, but our plan was to remain at a distance anyway. Even Great Girl accepted to not run in immediately.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Gloom,¡± I said. ¡°The angels look unimpressed.¡±


    ¡°I swear if those feathery f- if those angels take down both my nemeses without my involvement I¡¯m going to be so mad,¡± Great Girl said.


    ¡°Maybe avoid wolf stuff,¡± I said. ¡°They might not like werewolves.¡±


    -----


    CalamityChaser7083 was so lucky. Everyone always said that the big stories happened in the dense city, which meant pretty much anywhere but where he lived. He was planning to go across the bridge to the peninsula, but then out of nowhere some sort of blood thing appeared right on the road.


    Yeah, he¡¯d rolled his car into a ditch but like, who cared about that? A stream titled blood portal would have been enough. But then, the angels appeared. Now he could tag #Angels and #Demons along with #NewBayHalloween. The viewer numbers weren¡¯t as big as they would like, but they¡¯d have to go up. Even if this was hard to watch.


    Then Dark Star and Gloom appeared. The second made Calamity Chaser literally wanted to run away, but where would he go on foot? So he planted his feet. He couldn¡¯t update the hashtags on his stream fast enough.


    A donation sound came in $100. That already made the whole evening worth it. And it would encourage more people to donate and subscribe. ¡°Thanks so much, ChairMan13. His donation says¡­ zoom in on the nearby hill and I promise you¡¯ll see something cool?¡± That was weird, but¡­ ¡°Well, alright. Camera needs a second to relax anyway.¡± The hill was pretty boring. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like much, is this the right hill? Did you see something I missed?¡±


    With a flash, five figures appeared. It wasn¡¯t as great of a contrast as the whole battle happening between light and darkness, but it was clear enough against the night sky. Light suddenly clung to two of them, revealing Great Girl and Grasp. And a much smaller sixth figure.


    ¡°It¡¯s Great Girl! And her team.¡± Calamity Chaser rapidly added new hashtags. Just #GreatGirl and #PowerBrigade. There were already too many. But Great Girl, Gloom, and Dark Star was huge. The view count was going wild. He just needed everyone to get in the same frame. That was going to be difficult. It wasn¡¯t like Great Girl could- ¡°Wait, since when can she fly?!¡±


    -----


    ¡°If we¡¯re going to cast it on three people, we might as well cast it on everyone,¡± I explained. ¡°Mono might not want to fly right now, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt. Same with Map.¡± Technically 21 points of mana was within my fatigue threshold now, but I split it with Midnight anyway.


    Relatedly, Midnight never wanted to fly. But if he had to, he would. He actually enjoyed it near the ground, though.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to get involved in¡­ that,¡± I gestured broadly. ¡°Unless you need me to. But I¡¯d probably just hit angels with whatever I threw in there. I¡¯m going to go check out this portal until I hear otherwise. Just one more spell before we go. Midnight, one-third split for Mental Freedom.¡± We¡¯d already loaded up on Energy Ward, but it hadn¡¯t been clear if Gloom was going to hang around for more than a few moments.


    Map nodded. ¡°I¡¯m going to go somewhere less exposed. And try to find where those two were hiding out. If there¡¯s a base near here¡­ we need to log it. Oh, and figure out what they did with that whole¡­ blood circle.¡±


    ¡°Probably nothing,¡± I commented. ¡°It¡¯s probably just some vampires. If you see any, ask if they can lie.¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯d rather deal with the angels.¡±


    I shrugged. Mono was setting up nearby.


    ¡°They do seem pretty weak,¡± I admitted. Angels were getting punched out of the sky one after another. They probably thought that Darkstargirl would be weak to their light stuff, but as far as anyone could tell she still had light powers so she was probably resistant. Gloom didn¡¯t seem super happy though. The angels weren¡¯t easily afraid, it seemed.


    While I could go directly underneath the battle, I circled around with Midnight, looking down at the big blood circle. ¡°That looks like Rositsa¡¯s, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°In that it is a large circular blood thing? Yes,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Except for the scale. Hers was but a few meters across.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Darkstargirl sacrificed some of her fans?¡±


    ¡°Unlikely,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I¡¯m not saying that she wouldn¡¯t. Just that it¡¯s not really her modus operandi.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. So why haven¡¯t we seen any vampires or anything?¡±


    We continued to drift along, keeping proper distance from the battle above. It seemed that the angels had pretty quickly figured out that the incoming pair were against the same enemies, and that would really tip things away from the evil pair. Though Great Girl wasn¡¯t particularly proficient at combat while flying.


    Should I be trying to throw spells at the two balls of darkness in there? Actually, Dispel would probably be better if I did. Stopping their powers for a moment could be useful.


    But I had other things to pay attention to. Like the guys hanging out in the brine whispering. ¡°Hey!¡± I called down towards them. ¡°Can you lie?¡±

 Chapter 312

    The brine dwelling fellows below didn¡¯t seem super interested in responding to me in a useful way. Maybe I hadn¡¯t yelled at them in the right language? I was pretty sure that I hit Rositsa¡¯s language. So maybe they weren¡¯t from the same world.


    What to do? I couldn¡¯t just leave them and go to the portal. I mean, I could but Extra might have some complaints about me just letting extradimensional people wander around. Especially if they had the capacity to be dangerous. Rositsa was great, but she was dangerous. And these guys clearly did a bunch of blood magic. I couldn¡¯t tell who the blood would be from, but it would be difficult to say this all came from volunteers.


    I flew a little bit closer. ¡°Hey, can you understand me?¡± They had the same sort of features as Rositsa, including stark white hair. Though I couldn¡¯t see the color of their eyes in darkness. ¡°You need to-¡±


    One of them reached out and tried to grab my blood. If you¡¯ve never had anyone grab your blood, which I assume is most people, you might think that I couldn¡¯t know that was what happened. But I did, because it¡¯s pretty obvious. I felt like a bottle someone shook, sloshing forward. And I felt the effort of power trying to control me. My body wasn¡¯t listening to me as I was drawn closer, but I didn¡¯t technically need it to do anything.


    It was a good thing I didn¡¯t need any of those ¡®somatic components¡¯ Great Girl sometimes went on about. Or to speak. I might have been able to force my body to obey me to some extent, but my first reaction was to cast a spell.


    They were lucky I didn¡¯t have Meteor Swarm. I was probably lucky too, because I wasn¡¯t really all that far away. I did have the next best thing, however, which was¡­ light magic. Alright, so maybe that was about four hundred times worse, but it should be particularly appropriate. I wanted to cast a high level light spell but I¡¯d never learned any and didn¡¯t have a ton of spare mana, so I instinctively maxed out my Basic Light Magic with Multicasting.


    There were seven vampires, five of which got a ball of light in the face or otherwise stuck to them. They shrieked and cursed and spewed obscenities which got half translated and confirmed to me that they were Rositsa-brand vampires but rude. Unsurprisingly, the one vampire stopped pulling on my blood as he wailed about accursed light. What a wimp, it wasn¡¯t even sunlight. I probably needed to learn how to make that at some point.


    Once my blood wasn¡¯t being pulled against my body, I flew up and away. Then I spoke to the team to let them know that the vampires were not well behaved. ¡°Vampires spotted. They¡¯re aggressive. Unable to determine if truly hostile or simply panicked. Engage with caution.¡±


    I didn¡¯t think anyone was free to engage the vampires, but I still gave the warning. Upon determining they were Rositsa-brand vampires, however, I had further concerns about the angels. Because that meant these were at minimum overzealous enforcers.


    Flying in front of the portal, I was relieved to see only a single angel hanging out on the other side in front of some sunlit clouds. Maybe it was just that it was night in New Bay, but it seemed way too bright on the other side. ¡°Hey,¡± I said. I only knew one language from their world, so that was what they got. ¡°You can¡¯t just arbitrarily go sending people into other dimensions. We¡¯ve got rules about that.¡±


    I was supposed to follow up with asking them to state their intentions and the like. But I didn¡¯t get to that point. ¡°Foul demon speaking an accursed tongue!¡± He brandished a sword that shone with brilliant light, charging towards me.


    My staff whipped forward, catching the blade on one end- I immediately used Dispel to suppress its magic- then using the added angular momentum to clock the angel in the face with the other end. He went reeling backwards.


    ¡°What a racist,¡± I commented. Was it the tusks? Didn¡¯t Rositsa speak the same language as humans from her world?


    I glanced over my shoulder to see how the sky battle was going. The big sky battle, since technically I was part of this local sky battle. It seemed while the angels were numerous they were individually weak, so even if Gloom had trouble fighting them Darkstargirl had been quite effective. There were several currently on fire, and I was pretty sure that more weren¡¯t in the sky anymore. I would have felt bad for them if they weren¡¯t jerks.


    Great Girl wasn¡¯t the best at aerial combat which was why those two hadn¡¯t been smacked into a crater in the salt ponds. It also seemed difficult for her to coordinate with the angels, as they kept getting in her way. She had to be smaller so that she wouldn¡¯t accidentally hit them with her moves. Mono was also having issues targeting the villains, though the more angels that dropped out the better.


    ¡°Command,¡± I commented. ¡°Portal guardian was aggressive. It may be difficult to convince the remaining-¡±


    I was going to say something about the angels going back through their portal and stuff, but I suddenly felt power on the other side. Power distributed through a number of individuals. Maybe a squad? Twenty or so tops, however they called that. They were flying towards the portal, and probably wouldn¡¯t be super enthusiastic about the concussed angel in front of it.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    I made an executive decision to cut the portal. I could send the rest back home when we got around to it, but this was just an invasion now. It didn¡¯t matter if they were vampires or angels.


    Most of my remaining mana was put into my efforts to close the portal. I couldn¡¯t afford to take too long, and it was somewhere around ten or fifteen feet wide. A whole squad could squeeze through fairly quickly, and considering my position¡­ I wasn¡¯t a fan of that idea.


    The portal twisted into a figure eight and then folded over itself like one of those twisty sun guards people used in their car windows. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was something I did or a consequence of the way they made their portal. Either way, when the two round parts of the figure eight met, the portal quite definitively shut. A burst of mana surged out. Well that was nice at least, I hadn¡¯t been able to experience that in a while.


    It would probably take them a bit to open the portal again, but I didn¡¯t hang around to find out. I didn¡¯t want to be there when they rushed through. I took stock of the angels- a good portion of which were now focused on me- and then the vampires- who were mostly still clawing at their faces but some of which were now giant bats. Did they not have any antimagic capabilities? Even normal people could probably rub a light spell onto a convenient surface. Probably. I wasn¡¯t sure if I actually knew any of those.


    ¡°Update to command,¡± I said as pushed Fly as hard as I could. ¡°Additional intrusion forces threatened to come through the portal. I¡¯ve sealed it, and now the angels are mad at me.¡±


    A voice appeared in my ear. ¡°You know, I heard you were good at getting in trouble.¡± That was Mono. ¡°I guess I never saw the full scope of your abilities before.¡±


    I didn¡¯t have to look over my shoulder to know a lot of angels were rushing at me. Should I have just left the portal alone? I tried to communicate. It wasn¡¯t my fault. Given the choice between this, and the portal being open and being chased by another twenty angels, I had to choose this. Though maybe closing the portal was what made the rest so mad at me, since they probably didn¡¯t notice I gave the portal guardian a little tap.


    Portal surges were something I¡¯d only experienced infrequently. The good news was that the mana came in far faster than ambient. The bad news was that it would still take me a minute to recover to a more functional quantity of mana, especially if I had to deal with¡­ all of that.


    Midnight had his standard level of worried acceptance. It was glad to know he believed in me. Now then, what was the best option here? I believed it was to rely on my allies.


    Angels were pretty fast fliers. Or maybe Fly was just slow. Would more upgrades make it faster? Probably a bit late to think about that. Haste should work though. That was cheap enough that I didn¡¯t have to wait for regen, and it should last just about long enough for me to absorb ambient mana.


    The angels were clearly better at maneuvering than me, even though they had to use wings and I only used magic. But I was suddenly far faster than them as I circled around the area. I didn¡¯t want to draw things too far from my allies, so I had to do that. I had to do a very wide arc.


    ¡°What language do you even speak?¡± I shouted towards the angels. I decided not to use the language they dubbed as evil. ¡°Can¡¯t you act like civilized people and resolve our differences in a series of one-on-one battles?¡±


    One of them yelled something that partially translated. There were enough of them who understood the language for the first words to translate. Something about ¡®usurper of light¡¯ or ¡®thief of righteousness¡¯ or whatever.


    ¡°My friend is going to shoot you if you don¡¯t stop!¡± I yelled to the one getting closest.


    She didn¡¯t listen. Then she fell out of the sky with a hole in her wing.


    Normally, I would have heard a shot. But Mono¡¯s power negated sound and generally allowed his bullets to fly quietly and swiftly towards his targets. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said through the radio.


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    I was only going to say it once. It would just get weird to say it every time, and there were dozens of these guys. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be attacking the villains?¡± I called back towards them. It was hard to speak slowly enough for people to understand with Haste going.


    I¡¯d gotten a good enough speed going to curve around towards the side of the fight where Great Girl was. She tried to come to my aid, but angels blocked her way. She was not happy about that. ¡°Get out of my waaaaay!¡± The last words were a lupine howl.


    Normally, Great Girl had excellent control of her shapeshifting abilities. That included her lycanthropy. Of course, normally, it also wasn¡¯t Halloween. So when she got big to force her way through, she also grew teeth and claws and fur. One sweep of what was supposed to be an open palm swipe thankfully still mostly slapped the angels upside the head with only a few gashes. But the angel¡¯s reaction was instant, turning their weapons on her.


    Weren¡¯t we forgetting something? Ah, right. I vaguely comprehended Gloom and Darkstargirl skittering off into the night as only a third or so of the angels was still focused on them- and such numbers were insufficient to hold them back. I¡¯d apologize to Great Girl for not doing a better job of focusing on her nemeses later, but to be fair I still believed the portal was the biggest issue.


    Then the question came into my head. Were these the sorts of angels that resisted cold? Coming from a land where they enforced perpetual sunlight¡­ I was going to take a bet on no. I could have tried Chain Lightning, but there were too many of them for me to expect hitting them all. And with a whole flight of them bunched up behind me, wasn¡¯t it only appropriate to use Blizzard?


    Haste was about to fall off and I had the mana. So I went with that. I probably didn¡¯t even need to turn around. I should be able to orient a spell backwards, and their magical signatures were clear enough. But just in case, I wanted to aim visually.


    I gathered mana as I slowed down. They were getting closer. I waited until they were ten feet away- not so close such that one person would block for everyone else. They were coated in ice¡­ and twenty or of thirty of them immediately began to fall.

 Chapter 313

    It wasn¡¯t my fault if frozen angels hit the ground and shattered. They were chasing after me with swords. Also, they were only frozen on the outside so most likely they¡¯d just have some broken bones. As long as they didn¡¯t land head first, which would also be their fault if you really thought about it.


    Even less responsibility could be assigned to us when a pack of them chased me towards Midnight after they already saw what we could do¡­ and he iced them again. Blizzard covered a nice large area and was probably less deadly than Chain Lightning.


    After Midnight there were a handful of angels left, but they were systematically shot out of the sky by Mono. They didn¡¯t fly so good with holes in their wings even though they had to be using magic to begin with.


    Everything was wrapping up when I had to land, with Fly wearing off. At which point we had a huge pile of angels to deal with. The vampires had mostly run- though Map had been watching their trajectories. As for Darkstargirl and Gloom, when the angels rudely began to attack me they took advantage of the reduced pressure to fly off.


    ¡°None of the burned ones are our responsibility,¡± I said.


    Great Girl rolled her eyes. ¡°We still have to do something with them though.¡±


    ¡°Scoop ¡®em into a pile and tie them up,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯re basically an invading army.¡±


    Midnight sighed. ¡°Extra is not going to be happy. Halloween is already a busy time for them.¡±


    ¡°Is it useful to know that these are pre-vetted jerks?¡± I postulated. ¡°Because these guys cursed their world with eternal sunlight.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound¡­ so bad,¡± Mono said. ¡°Or is it?¡±


    I looked at him. ¡°I¡¯m sure you can think of reasons it would be bad aside from what it¡¯s doing to the vampires.¡±


    ¡°Are the vampires bad?¡± Mono asked. ¡°Like, apocalyptically bad?¡± He gestured. ¡°That was a pretty big blood circle.¡±


    ¡°Which wouldn¡¯t have been necessary if they didn¡¯t have to flee the world,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not saying all the vampires get a pass either. Some of the ones in this batch were jerks. But I have a friend from this world and she¡¯s very nice. Works night shifts, can¡¯t lie. Had humans voluntarily donate blood for her escape.¡±


    Mono nodded. ¡°Is the planet going to overheat? What happens to crops? Seasons?¡±


    ¡°All good questions,¡± I said. ¡°All I saw was ultra bright clouds so I have no idea. But I did get attacked for speaking a language.¡± And then closing the portal, but they were just going to send more people who would probably eventually attack me through. I had no regrets.


    ¡°Stay down.¡± I turned to see Great Girl reach out to grab an angel who thought she would just fly off. ¡°Turlough, translate!¡±


    ¡°She said stay down,¡± I commented as I prepared some of my limited stores of mana so that Great Girl had Translation herself.


    ¡°I won¡¯t listen to a demon!¡± the angel shouted.


    The only basis they had for that besides maybe being racist against orcs was me speaking a particular language. I frowned, trying to absorb this new language. I¡¯d heard enough angels shouting at me to try to replicate it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a demon. Stop struggling.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t surrender to a moon-cursed werewolf!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s being racist,¡± I said to Great Girl. ¡°Against both of us.¡± I finished casting Translation on her.


    ¡°Wonderful,¡± Great Girl said, picking through the pile and tossing away swords while she held the angel in one large hand. ¡°Can you understand me now, angel?¡± Seeing the woman respond, Great Girl continued. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you know about this world, but I want to make it clear we¡¯re not limited by the rules of the hero association. We¡¯re mercenaries of the Power Brigade and you¡¯re effectively an interdimensional invading army.¡± I doubted every word of that translated, but it would get across the general idea. ¡°So stop struggling or I¡¯ll dunk you waist deep in mud. Head first.¡±


    ¡°I will never surrender you giant beast!¡±


    Great Girl didn¡¯t hesitate to follow through on her promise, taking advantage of the supernatural durability of the angel to slam her into a salt pond. When Great Girl pulled her out, the woman¡¯s wings were dripping with mud. Great Girl had actually been rather gentle and only shoved her in a bit past her shoulders, probably concerned about breaking the wings. She wasn¡¯t interested in crippling anyone.


    The next hour was spent with Great Girl very grumpily handling our pile of a hundred or so ornery angels. If anyone got beyond her reach Mono took over, and while his attacks came with less total kinetic force, bullets were of course focused more on specific areas. It was difficult for anyone to run or fly away from him.


    Midnight and I escorted Map as she took in the structure of the blood portal. ¡°Could more come through?¡± she asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not actively magical, if that¡¯s your concern,¡± I said. ¡°I think it might be slightly easier with this here, but it would still require a new connection from their side. Hold on, I can confirm.¡± Rositsa should be up. She probably needed to know about this incident anyway. ¡°Yeah, pretty much that. Rositsa says she can try to figure out their intentions if she gets a full picture of this thing.¡± I looked towards the civilian in the distance. ¡°We can talk to Trouble1234 or whatever and see if he¡¯s got any drone shots. We probably need a copy of anything he¡¯s shot anyway.¡±


    -----


    A haggard looking Malaliel arrived at our destination about an hour later. Great Girl looked exhausted from wrangling with the angels for so long. She¡¯d started planting them in the mud more permanently- head up, since we couldn¡¯t confirm whether or not they needed to breathe.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    They actually began to converse once they had an angel to speak to. I felt like we were really getting somewhere.


    ¡°Will you comply with our restraints until we work out how to handle you?¡± Malaliel asked one of them- a stronger woman I thought might have been one of their leaders.


    ¡°Yes, I will,¡± the woman said.


    Malaliel nodded. She gestured to Great Girl. ¡°Hand me one of their swords.¡±


    Great Girl frowned. ¡°Are you sure?¡± she still picked it up and reluctantly held it out to Malaliel.


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± Malaliel said. Then she drove the sword through the chest of the angel. The other woman¡¯s eyes widened, but she wasn¡¯t able to get out more than a few gasping coughs. ¡°Lies are unbecoming from the lips of angels. And I have no patience for crap like this on Halloween.¡± Malaliel glanced over at me. ¡°Do you have enough mana to open a Gate to send these fools back?¡±


    She asked me that after impaling one of them? I was glad I wasn¡¯t much of a liar. Nor an angel, I supposed. ¡°With Midnight¡­ barely one, I think.¡± I¡¯d already used a lot of mana closing their portal, and I¡¯d spent most of the burst of recovery on Blizzard spells and other defensive measures. If I¡¯d been meditating the whole hour, it would probably have been enough for me to do it alone, though.


    ¡°Alright,¡± she nodded. ¡°You,¡± she pointed with the sword. ¡°Step forward. Speak the truth like an angel, or receive the penalties of being one of the unhallowed. ¡°Do you swear to comply with our restrictions? If you do, I can guarantee the greatest penalty will be deportation back to your world with a compulsion not to return.¡±


    The man seemed to take her words seriously as he steeled himself. ¡°Yes. I will comply.¡±


    ¡°I sense truth,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°Return to your brethren.¡± She might have sensed truth, but I sensed magic. I was prepared to say something when the man turned and stepped away. Then blood sprayed and his head was rolling on the ground. ¡°I am not pleased. Know this, unhallowed fiends in the form of angels. The mere fact that you possess magic meant for untruth will significantly alter your fate.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure I¡¯d seen Malaliel angry before. Sure, I¡¯d seen her fight, but that was mostly in my old world. I¡¯d done a ton of things to annoy her but she¡¯d never been angry at me. If I wasn¡¯t her ally, I was pretty sure I would be running. Like some of these angels.


    Fortunately, a whole lot of them had broken legs from mysterious falls that happened while they had been covered in ice. So the split between those that turned to flee and those that tried to swarm her had a lot of people stumbling regardless.


    Great Girl suddenly sized up and wolfed as they charged, swiping out with her claws in a wide arc while Malaliel simply held her ground. That toppled a couple dozen of them- most of which were already injured. ¡°... I¡¯m not contagious unless I bite, right?¡± she asked. Even if she wasn¡¯t as much in control this evening as normal, she was still herself at least.


    ¡°Right,¡± I agreed. ¡°So don¡¯t do that.¡± I was pretty sure angels couldn¡¯t catch lycanthropy, but angels with untruth magic weren¡¯t a thing I thought I¡¯d see either. How did that even work? I¡¯d magically felt the man¡¯s words were true, which was a perfect reason to believe they were untrue. But the angels clearly had a certain amount of pride. Would lying really be acceptable? Was it just a way to emphasize the truth and Malaliel overreacted?


    No, there was another option. The magic could make them believe something was true themselves. Thus, it should register as truth. Though that was speculation on my part.


    I didn¡¯t hear any more gunshots ringing out, as normal for Mono¡¯s shooting. So I just assumed the people stumbling and falling were his doing. He sure had a lot of ammo, huh? I guess it was pretty much mundane rounds, so it wasn¡¯t that expensive as far as such things went.


    There was now a pile of wounded angels out front of their mass, a vague scattering of others who had been running away at the back, and something like thirty or forty of them left standing in place.


    Great Girl looked nervously at the fallen angels in front of her. Malaliel stepped forward, keeping eye contact with the crowd as she stabbed the downed angels with a blade of their own people.


    ¡°On any other day, we would have the resources to make you comply,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°But today, I have no spare capacity for mercy. And I will not allow extradimensional incursions to go unchecked. Did you really think you can go wherever you want without consequences?¡±


    ¡°... Yes,¡± one of the remaining angels said sheepishly.


    ¡°Hah! That¡¯s the truth, at least,¡± Malaliel said as she stabbed yet another angel who had been clawed by Great Girl. Her rage was so calm, but even with it not being directed at me and the remnants of Mental Freedom I was sweating. Great Girl winced with each thrust of the sword, but she also looked relieved. ¡°Since you spoke truth once, you have the chance to speak it again. Will you comply with our restraints?¡±


    The timid angel didn¡¯t step forward, but still spoke again. ¡°Yes. If it will save my life.¡± I had the feeling there was more left unsaid. Probably about demon spawn or something. But they probably couldn¡¯t keep up their self-righteous fury in front of Malaliel¡¯s wrath. She had a truly oppressive aura.


    ¡°I despise your motives, but that is sufficient and truthful,¡± Malaliel said. She gestured with her sword. ¡°Go stand over there.¡± Then she pointed to the next individual. ¡°You. Speak truth. Or remain silent until you have committed to a truth you are willing to live or die with.¡±


    One by one we went through people. I was amazed that several more attempted to magically lie. Did they not get it? Was truth such a weak part of their culture? Then again, their world¡¯s vampires couldn¡¯t lie, so perhaps truth wasn¡¯t important to them in that way.


    I paid close attention, trying to determine what the magic was doing aside from telling me it was true. Interestingly, it didn¡¯t seem to butt up against Mental Freedom. Were they attempting to make something true? Maybe it didn¡¯t work right here. Either way, whatever they did clashed with Malaliel.


    She stopped talking. She merely gestured with her sword, pointing people who spoke the truth- and agreed to be restrained- to join the rest. The others had a predictable outcome every time. It almost seemed unfair, but I knew Malaliel well enough that I trusted her judgment over magically proffered ¡®truth¡¯.


    Halloween was serious business. And I hadn¡¯t even fought a giant kraken in a park this time.


    ¡°You have enough mana now,¡± Malaliel said.


    ¡°We¡¯re sending them back through?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°We¡¯ll be disposing of unnecessary garbage.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we should be using portal magic to dump trash,¡± I said. ¡°Though I suppose there are some infinite planes that wouldn¡¯t notice.¡± Malaliel looked me in the eyes, then down at the ground. ¡°Oh. That. This might take more than one portal to clear out.¡±


    ¡°We have sufficient manpower,¡± she gestured.


    True. Maybe Malaliel should have been born an orc. Nah, she didn¡¯t even like fighting. She was apparently just way too good at it.


    But before we had to complete such a grim task, the bodies began to combust, starting with the oldest ones that came at the hands of Darkstargirl. However, it wasn¡¯t her dark flames but strange blue ones that transformed the angels¡¯ remains into sparkling light with no ash remaining.


    ¡°Weird,¡± I said. ¡°They weren¡¯t summoned, so they should actually be here.¡± Were these just spiritual bodies despite having come through a portal? Eh, whatever. It made Great Girl and Midnight look much more relieved, even though I was pretty sure the angels were still just as dead. ¡°So, we don¡¯t need that Gate right now.¡±


    ¡°I suppose not. Maybe in the morning,¡± Malaliel said. ¡°To return people alive as promised.¡±

 Chapter 314

    In the morning, the number of angels was fewer than there had been previously. I just looked at Malaliel. She returned my gaze without shame. ¡°Some of them aren¡¯t coming back. And no, it¡¯s not because they were stupid enough to give up on life. We seem to have filtered out most of those already.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I suppose it doesn¡¯t matter too much anyway. That makes this easier, since we don¡¯t have to fit so many people through.¡±


    I looked at the angels lined up in ranks. They were good at that, at least. They didn¡¯t have magic swords to menace people with anymore, but they also weren¡¯t currently restrained. At least not physically. There were extra agents lined up all throughout the portal room, weapons at the ready. And most of said weapons were guns with either a supernatural bent to them or made with advanced tech. Extra tried to minimize how much they used equipment disallowed to others, but there were times when it was appropriate.


    For some reason, the angels didn¡¯t look happy to see me. That was probably because they were sore losers who couldn¡¯t make their own portals. I thought that should be a reason to be pleased by my presence, but they weren¡¯t.


    To minimize what they learned, Midnight was with me. If they thought Gate needed two of us, it would probably be better. It was unlikely we would be done with this particular dimension soon given their reappearance, so thinking about what future trouble they might get up to was best.


    ¡°Whenever you¡¯re ready,¡± Malaliel said.


    I nodded. I didn¡¯t usually create a Gate terribly far from where I was standing, but I could place them a reasonable distance away. In short, Midnight and I were standing behind the defensive line. Though really, if the angels rushed us unarmed they would lose both their way home and probably their lives. Midnight preferred to not risk getting punched, though.


    We evenly split the spell mostly for purposes of regeneration. The gate opened up to a dry wasteland I¡¯d never seen before. But it was most certainly the correct plane, as I had the resonance of dozens of angels. The location was presumably nearish to the other portal. I didn¡¯t want to make it to the exact same place because people might be waiting, but somewhere on the ground was good enough. I could probably make Gates in the air, but they certainly didn¡¯t default to anywhere except above a solid surface.


    ¡°This is the correct place,¡± I confirmed.


    ¡°Start moving!¡± Malaliel gave the order. The angels started shuffling through. ¡°If you¡¯re not fully through at the end of a minute, some of you might be bisected by the portal closing! So you¡¯d better hurry!¡±


    That made them more eager. I didn¡¯t bother to correct her that it could actually last a minute and a half- the connection was relatively easy and stable so I expected we would have the maximum time based on my upgrades. Either she didn¡¯t know or she was engaging in information warfare. She didn¡¯t need me to say anything in front of these angels.


    Once the last one was through, I called out. ¡°Portal closing!¡± Even if they didn¡¯t like whatever language I spoke, it didn¡¯t matter. They understood, and that was enough. If anyone tried to slip through they would find that closing portals were plenty happy to leave part of you on one side of things and part in another dimension.


    ¡°Good thing it¡¯s short duration, huh?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s inconvenient, but it also means we can¡¯t accidentally let a lot of enemies through.¡±


    Malaliel raised an eyebrow. ¡°I thought you liked ¡®enemies¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Sure, but I wouldn¡¯t want them to show up by accident,¡± I explained. ¡°Are there any other Halloween people you need sent back to their home plane?¡±


    Malaliel squinted her eyes suspiciously. ¡°You¡¯re offering to expend more mana on non-combat stuff?¡±


    ¡°I did do a lot of fighting yesterday. Say, do you think their swords are a good material to store mana?¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see,¡± Malaliel grinned.


    ¡°Subtle,¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°I¡¯m just thinking it would be nice to have some greater flexibility.¡±


    My staff only worked for Dispel, which was fine, but it also had limited storage capacity. Then again, considering it was salvaged from a bunch of assassin¡¯s daggers by a tech super who didn¡¯t actually understand magic I thought it was quite exceptional.


    I wondered if Vilhelmiina would think it rude to ask for a new staff? She did spend a lot of effort making the wood. Probably. Though maybe she would have done that project anyway, since tech supers tended to get weird obsessions with certain ideas.


    Instead of a new staff, maybe I could ask for¡­ upgrades? The question was whether or not I could get her to do anything for free. Or at least, get her interested enough that providing materials covered most of it. Because I was pretty sure I couldn¡¯t afford to pay for her actual work, since I didn¡¯t have the budget of a city.


    -----


    The best part about Gate was I could send any number of people through in a limited time. The worst part about Gate is how the time was limited and it cost the same no matter how many people went through. Thus it was that sending Halloween visitors back home when they were alone was¡­ inefficient.


    But not everything that came through on Halloween was a monster. It was certainly monster-heavy, but sometimes there were just lost travelers who stumbled through the edges of their world when they were particularly thin in one direction.


    I found myself looking at a massive stone griffon. Not a statue, just one whose feathers were made out of rock. Not great for flying, I imagined. Probably magic. The flying, of course. The griffon himself was obviously magical even aside from the stone thing.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°He just showed up at the park,¡± Ceira commented. ¡°The poor guy was lost and confused.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯re friends now!¡± Zeb commented. ¡°He still wants to go home, though.¡±


    Technically, this business still fell under the category of helping Extra. This guy was still an extradimensional problem, after all. Just because my friends happened to also want to help him didn¡¯t mean that it wasn¡¯t their business.


    ¡°Do you know where he came through?¡± I asked. ¡°Does he?¡±


    ¡°Not precisely,¡± Ceira admitted. ¡°Is that a problem? Can¡¯t you track down the remnants of the portal around here?¡±


    ¡°Normally, yes,¡± I said. ¡°But it was Halloween. So there was a portal there,¡± I pointed towards a pond. ¡°Some sort of weird magic there,¡± I gestured towards a bench that seemed to have separated itself into a neat pile of boards and metal components, with the screws placed all together in rows. ¡°And definitely some more portals near the park.¡±


    ¡°Does his resonance help?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll have to look around. And we might need to fly.¡± Because he very well could have come through a sky portal. Which might increase the radius of where we needed to look significantly.


    ¡°Oh! I want to fly!¡± Zeb bounced up and down.


    ¡°... I was going to just do Midnight and myself,¡± I said. ¡°Unless you can feel portal resonance?¡±


    Zeb lowered her head, placing a paw against it and thinking seriously. ¡°I can sniff for him? Air tracks are hard but I can do it!¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± I agreed. I looked at Ceira who I thought might be trying to not look interested. ¡°You can learn to cast this, you know. And share with your companions.¡±


    She frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s a good idea to let Bun and Cel fly. They can already cause a lot of chaos.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be worse than Zeb,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ceira admitted.


    ¡°Either way, it¡¯s worth the effort to try to learn it even if you don¡¯t want to spend points.¡±


    A minute later, everyone was waiting around to get magic cast on them. Zeb was bouncing, obviously. ¡°I can share with my companions, right?¡±


    ¡°Yep. Fluffy will be able to fly.¡±


    ¡°And Miss Flutter!¡± Zeb declared.


    ¡°She¡­ can already fly,¡± I reminded Zeb.


    ¡°But with magic she can double fly!¡±


    ¡°... It will probably just confuse her.¡±


    Related to Miss Flutter, the giant bat was now wearing a pink scarf. Fluffy had a hat and a collar. Both had Power Brigade markings on them, and while most people might not immediately know exactly what that meant, animals wearing clothes were far different from simply seeing something wild. Which was good because they were big and Miss Flutter looked dangerous. Though Fluffy was actually the one who was probably more dangerous, especially if you happened to have electronics you cared about. Even then, it was only if Zeb let him.


    ¡°Please let her double fly!¡± Zeb begged.


    I sighed. ¡°You have to ask her first. Make sure she understands it will be different.¡±


    So we took some time for that, and then I Multicast Fly on myself, Ceira, and Zeb. And then all of our companions, which was a much greater total number than it would otherwise work on. It was almost unfair. Companions were good and everyone should have them- though most people didn¡¯t have magic that could take advantage of the bond.


    Miss Flutter seemed to find flying the hardest of all of us despite being the only one who did it naturally. I spared Rocky from the magic, even though I could have technically included him. Who was Rocky? Obviously the griffon.


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to stay, Rocky?¡± Zeb asked as she pretty much sprinted through the air, circling around as Rocky tried to fly vaguely towards where he thought he came from. Rocky screeched in a way that sounded intimidating but I assumed was something like ¡®thanks but I¡¯m going home¡¯.


    I opened up my portal senses, by which I meant I was just feeling around for lingering magic or other powers. Fortunately some of the spooks on Halloween just existed the rest of the year and others were transformed from something else, so there were fewer portals to worry about than when Doctor Doomsday really got going.


    When considering only those in the air, I was actually able to narrow it down quite considerably. When backed up with what recollection Rocky had and Zeb¡¯s nose, we didn¡¯t actually do a whole lot of searching. Which was good, because Fly didn¡¯t last all that long.


    ¡°Alright Rocky. I¡¯m going to open a portal as big as I can. Uh, can one of you two explain to him that he might want to tuck his wings?¡± Maybe I could make the portal¡­ wider? The dude had a big wingspan. Fortunately I was pretty sure the edges of the portal would just force him to pull in if he hit them instead of being sliced open, but it still wouldn¡¯t be fun.


    Our two animal friends explained what we needed to do, then we all left room as Rocky gained some distance so he could maneuver into the portal properly. Then Midnight and I split the cost for Gate.


    Maybe it was because I was trying to adjust the shape to be wide instead of perfectly round, but it was difficult. I almost thought it wouldn¡¯t form at all, but we managed to push through. That wouldn¡¯t have been possible without upgrades, I was fairly certain. Must be one of those difficult to reach planes. If we hadn¡¯t had the lingering remnants of the old portal it might not have worked. Good thing we didn¡¯t wait.


    Rocky shrieked as he flew through the twenty plus foot wide portal.


    ¡°He says that it¡¯s home,¡± Zeb said. ¡°And that he appreciates our help.¡±


    Oh good. I didn¡¯t think it would go to the wrong place, but it was nice to confirm.


    I let the Gate close behind him.


    All of us descended, except for Miss Flutter who was now enjoying flying without the use of her wings- she would be able to catch herself when the magic wore off in a couple more minutes.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised Zeb didn¡¯t attempt to form a companion bond with Rocky,¡± I mentioned to Ceira.


    ¡°Well, he did want to go home,¡± Ceira shrugged. ¡°Also, from what I heard she wants her next companion to be a squirrel.¡±


    ¡°What kind?¡± I asked.


    I thought Zeb was out of hearing. I was wrong. ¡°There are kinds of squirrels?!¡± she shouted in surprise.


    Well, this would be fine. She probably wanted a tree squirrel anyway.

 Chapter 315

    ¡°Squirrels can fly?!¡± Zeb voiced her astonishment. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that!¡±


    ¡°No, they can¡¯t,¡± I corrected her. ¡°It¡¯s a language error. Flying squirrels just glide.¡±


    The border collie shaped person was bouncing in excitement. In other words, it was a day that ended in y. ¡°They¡¯re really cute, though.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Most squirrels are. You¡¯ll have to pick one though.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Zeb sounded truly shocked. More than when she¡¯d heard of the way the tiny Bunvorixians were betraying the others.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like you can bond with every kind of squirrel,¡± I pointed out.


    Zeb jumped up with her paws pushing against my belly. ¡°What do you know that I don¡¯t?! What secrets hide in your orcish brain that would make a universe so cruel?¡±


    I blinked. ¡°Are you okay, Zeb?¡±


    ¡°How could you tell me there¡¯s more than one kind of squirrel and then say I can only make friends with one because magic itself hates me? I thought we were friends!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I mean, it¡¯s pretty expected isn¡¯t it? You can¡¯t bond with everything. Just like I can¡¯t learn every spell.¡±


    Zeb once more had four paws on the ground, contemplating. ¡°You can¡¯t? Why?¡±


    ¡°Not enough points. Or¡­ time.¡± Assuming we were talking about mage spells, of course. Obviously there were just some things I¡¯d never be able to learn to begin with.


    ¡°How many spells are there?¡± Zeb asked.


    ¡°Hundreds?¡± Less than a thousand¡­ probably.


    ¡°How long does it take to learn one?¡±


    ¡°It varies. Maybe a few days?¡± It could be a lot faster than that but it could also be much slower if I had no demonstrations at all to go off of. Though I hadn¡¯t spent that long trying to learn new things without points because¡­ that wasn¡¯t how it was done.


    ¡°So¡­ less than ten years? Even if we say there¡¯s a thousand spells.¡± Zeb said.


    Maybe it would take longer to learn them¡­ or maybe not. ¡°I guess that¡¯s possible. But it wouldn¡¯t be great for me,¡± I pointed out. ¡°I was thinking devoted study which is worth no experience for me. I wouldn¡¯t get much practice with other things either since my mana would be tied up in experimentation.¡±


    ¡°Find a friend to throw magic at,¡± Zeb said. ¡°Do you know any squirrels immune to injury from magic?¡±


    ¡°... no? I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a thing.¡± At least not that was well known in my world. And obviously not on Earth because everything here was mundane.


    ¡°Too bad,¡± Zeb commented. ¡°But there¡¯s nothing stopping me either, right? Aside from points or time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± I admitted. ¡°Most classes have a limit of a single companion. Beastmaster might be higher but it¡¯s probably not limitless.¡±


    It couldn¡¯t be, right? Then again, if each one was its own skill, couldn¡¯t it just work? My spells could empower multiple bonded companions, but there might be a limit. And maybe beastmaster stuff cost mana per companion¡­ Zeb hadn¡¯t really gone into much beyond simple having and communicating with her companions.


    Ceira wasn¡¯t much help. She was a weird case that split her power between two companions even though she was only supposed to have one. But splitting power made sense, at least. If she had more, they¡¯d be proportionately less magic and more just¡­ animals. Then again, did Zeb care if her companions were magical?


    Zeb nodded her head seriously as she focused on an idea. ¡°Making friends with squirrels might be hard since they run away. Maybe it would take ten days? So I could be done in a month or two. I just need a tree squirrel, a ground squirrel, and a flying squirrel, right? Surely there can¡¯t be more than that.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a couple more broad categories,¡± I said. I¡¯d only really learned that information because Zeb had been so interested in squirrels.


    ¡°Okay, so five. Two months, maybe half a year. I totally have this,¡± Zeb nodded. ¡°Wait- what do you mean by categories?¡±


    ¡°... Subfamilies, I think?¡± As a non-biologist from not-Earth, their taxonomic structure wasn¡¯t my strong suit.


    ¡°Are there more dividing lines between them?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. Obviously.¡± At that point, I had to look things up again. ¡°There are more genera and species.¡±


    ¡°How many species?¡± Zeb said insistently.


    ¡°The internet says¡­ two hundred and eighty-five?¡±


    Zeb¡¯s eyes glossed over, then filled with determination. ¡°I need to get started. We have tasks of equal magnitude. I¡¯ll race you to completion.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t actually planning to learn every spell. That would make my list a mess, among other things. Plus, I wanted to be good at things. It felt nice to be adept in certain areas. Like Gate.


    -----


    After returning the griffon Rocky to his home dimension- and the whole squirrel excitement with Zeb- we hung out in the park for a while. Ceira, myself, Midnight, Zeb, and the actual animals. I had some other things to get to later, but Midnight and I were recovering mana so rushing to the next thing wasn¡¯t really relevant.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°So how are things for you?¡± I asked Ceira. ¡°Work keeping you busy?¡±


    ¡°I could lie and say it is, but most of my time is downtime since I use large bursts of mana healing,¡± Ceira shrugged. We were sitting on a bench with Midnight. Fluffy was snoozing across the way. The other four were playing around, the large bat being quite out of place. ¡°And everyone has to come to me- or to one of a few designated locations, at least. Angelica is good at scheduling so I¡¯m not just going to and from places all day.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Good to hear. It must be hard to do that from Celmoth, though.¡±


    ¡°What? Oh. Well, it¡¯s mostly e-mail¡­ I assume.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want that job,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°Sounds stressful.¡±


    ¡°That''s why I¡¯m so glad to have her,¡± Ceira agreed. ¡°I¡¯m getting lots of practice. Do you think it¡¯s unfair to not tell anyone I¡¯m getting more efficient?¡±


    ¡°Not at all,¡± I said. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to do it more, you shouldn¡¯t have to. Out of curiosity, how much do you do?¡±


    ¡°Five to ten per day, six days a week,¡± Ceira said. ¡°If it¡¯s just a small injury I can do ten, but if it¡¯s worse¡­ I have to use more mana and even then it takes multiple sessions. Like if I have to actually grow back a limb or an organ. Is your friend doing well, by the way?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the cloned organ is fully compatible so he doesn¡¯t even need to take medication,¡± I said. ¡°Who are your favorite people to heal?¡±


    ¡°Kids,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Or really, anyone young. Because I¡¯m making their lives better for a long time, you know?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± she agreed. ¡°But there are only so many that come along. Angelica¡¯s having me balance individual healing and ultra rich people. Because the money goes to my foundation and it will eventually help more than a handful of people per day. You know some of those rich people who¡¯ve been mysteriously looking healthier nowadays?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± I said.


    ¡°Of course you don¡¯t,¡± Ceira laughed. ¡°Well, without violating privacy agreements some of them are jerks. And the others at least know how to be polite to people who are going to provide unique opportunities.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I actually refused to treat someone last week. I feel dumb because it was an absurd amount of money. I could have done so much with that. The contract lets me cancel like that but just a few words set me off and then I thought I was going to teach them a lesson, you know?¡±


    Midnight placed a paw on her knee. ¡°Sometimes, you have to take a stand. People who think they can act however they want don¡¯t deserve your help.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but the money¡­ could do so much.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how they keep people down,¡± Midnight said. ¡°How much was it anyway? A million dollars?¡±


    ¡°... I don¡¯t actually want to say,¡± Ceira admitted. ¡°But you¡¯re dreaming too small.¡±


    I pondered for a few moments. ¡°Was it a life threatening issue?¡±


    ¡°Not quite. Debilitating, yes, but they aren¡¯t going to just die.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I was going to say you should just charge them more for being a jerk.¡±


    ¡°I was already doing that for them being absurdly rich!¡± Ceira protested. ¡°And I kind of yelled at them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one with the power,¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°They think they are, but they aren¡¯t. Have Angelica call them, force them to apologize, and pay ten times as much. If it really mattered to begin with they¡¯ll do it. Or some other number.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to interact with them at all,¡± Ceira grumbled. ¡°But¡­ the money¡­¡±


    ¡°Then contract that they can¡¯t say anything,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Definitely charge them more for whatever they said to insult you though.¡±


    Ceira sighed. ¡°I just feel dumb for messing things up due to a few seconds of social interaction.¡±


    I could beat her on that. ¡°I might have caused an interdimensional war with angels because I spoke the wrong language.¡±


    ¡°... Sounds like they¡¯re jerks,¡± Ceira replied.


    ¡°Oh for sure,¡± I said. ¡°But I could have tried to switch languages instead of whacking the guy in the face.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll admit I¡¯ve wanted to smack people to disrupt awkward social encounters, but that¡¯s a bit extreme.¡±


    Midnight spoke up, ¡°Turlough left out the part where the guy tried to cut him in half.¡±


    ¡°It was all part of the same exchange,¡± I explained.


    ¡°Yeah, totally jerks,¡± Ceira said. ¡°I¡¯ll tell Angela to prioritize money over the apology¡­ but maybe make it not seem that way. So that arrogance will cost them even more money. I shouldn¡¯t let my pride be worth so much. Though it¡¯s not like we can even spend all the money we have just yet. The foundation is still ramping up its various aspects, and Angelica can¡¯t just force things to go faster.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s running that as well?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°You should be careful with such large amounts of money.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Ceira said. ¡°She¡¯s Mad- she¡¯s trustworthy.¡±


    Usually people who were called ¡®Mad something¡¯ weren¡¯t trustworthy, in my opinion. I threw Mental Freedom at Ceira.


    ¡°What was that for, huh?¡±


    ¡°Just checking,¡± I said. No changes, so probably not mentally manipulated. Maybe regular manipulated but I wasn¡¯t the best judge of social situations. And Angelica had seemed nice. Regular nice, despite whatever she was doing with her power.


    -----


    Cleanup after Halloween ended up being mostly not my problem. There were some more people I had to send back to their home dimensions, but most things had to be dealt with more directly. Some simply disappeared when the night was over if they hadn¡¯t been taken out. Others were just frightening and didn¡¯t have to be fought, though civilians weren¡¯t always able to discern which were which so people had been busy all night.


    Calculator sighed when I told him my plans for training.


    ¡°What? Is that not a good training regimen?¡± I wanted to keep up sparring, of course, but I also wanted to train utility spells with another portion of my mana. And then finally I planned to spend the last portion trying to learn new spells without points. Beyond that I would be spending time on Mana Manipulation to accelerate my recovery, which might be most of my time.


    ¡°The training schedule seems fine for now,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I was thinking about the aftermath of Halloween.¡±


    ¡°What about it? There wasn¡¯t a ton of collateral damage we¡¯re responsible for was there?¡±


    ¡°Aside from the image concerns involving Great Girl beating up angels¡­¡±


    ¡°Bad angels,¡± I interjected.


    ¡°Tossing about visibly angelic beings,¡± Calculator continued, ¡°Rodentia failed to steal Halloween.¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± I said. ¡°Isn¡¯t that good, though? Or at least expected. We left her alone because it wasn¡¯t going to work.¡±


    ¡°Well, some do-gooders still stopped her on principle.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Isn¡¯t Halloween good for business?¡±


    ¡°One day a year where the whole Brigade is risking their lives with everyone else?¡± Calculator shook his head. ¡°Not worth it. If we could schedule lesser events throughout the year it would be preferable. I¡¯d rather not have two of the biggest events in two months.¡±


    ¡°At least Christmas isn¡¯t inherently dangerous,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Just a lot of people trying to steal it.¡±

 Chapter 316

    Something was still bugging me about Gate and Teleport not fusing. It meant I didn¡¯t understand something, and the worst part was not knowing what I didn¡¯t understand. Were they not both spatial manipulation? Going by my currently fused abilities, I couldn¡¯t see what was so terribly different about them. I had Basic Light Magic and Advanced Divination magic which covered broad categories, while Alter Time Flowm Variable Freedom, and Enhance each fused two related spells. Then there was Mana Manipulation which was a combination of several non-spells.


    So the possibilities were first that the spells were not actually both spatially related. Second could be that they were beyond Advanced and there simply wasn¡¯t a fusion category for that. There was some chance I needed more upgrades in Teleport, but that hadn¡¯t necessarily come up before. So ultimately, I felt like I simply didn¡¯t understand space magic as much as I thought I did, because I thought those spells were both spatial magic and they thought at least one of them wasn¡¯t. Or something.


    What other spatial magic did I have? Starting at the top of my list¡­ Storage definitely had to be spatial manipulation. That was the entire thing it did, taking something and putting it somewhere else that maybe didn¡¯t exist previously.


    I almost skipped past Mage¡¯s Reach because it created something, but it allowed me to touch things at a distance so was it space magic? Not entirely, given that people couldn¡¯t cut my actual hands through it. So I would put that in the ¡®maybe¡¯ pile. I needed to get access to a magic library. Maybe Sir Kalman could do something about that. Or Zenfer, but I wasn¡¯t sure if we were actually friends or anything.


    Next I hit Alter Time Flow. I supposed it would foolish to ignore the potential spacetime mastery instead of space, but that didn¡¯t fit my understanding of how things worked. Then again, maybe what my previous world knew wasn¡¯t actually the limits.


    I was able to make it about halfway down the list to Alter Portal after that, which was obviously spatial magic just as much as portals were. Creating a connection and severing it had to be related. Gate, obviously, immediately after that. Sending was¡­ a thing that sent magic over a long distance. That could be spatial manipulation, though it certainly wasn¡¯t only that. It might even have elements of divination so that it could find people.


    Of the remaining spells, Dimensional Anchor which was strictly anti-spatial and Teleport were the last ones. Which was actually a surprisingly strong theme, given that the most I had of anything else was like, two lightning spells. I was surprised my hair hadn¡¯t become space colored. Then again, I wasn¡¯t sure if my hair was supposed to change color to begin with. That wasn¡¯t something I¡¯d seen a lot in my old world. On Earth¡­ it was difficult to tell if someone had naturally different colored hair or not.


    Asking for advice, I got various different recommendations.


    ¡°Of course spacetime is the proper way to see things,¡± Khithae said.


    She didn¡¯t count. She wasn¡¯t looking at things from a magical perspective.


    Midnight sort of agreed with her though. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if that happens, though I would imagine having individual mastery would be more effective. And your time magic isn¡¯t quite like that yet, since it¡¯s just a fusion.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I would expect Basic Time Magic or, um¡­ slightly less basic. I can¡¯t imagine it¡¯s advanced since Advanced Divination Magic is rank 11.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we should try to get other combinations at various levels?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Though that might be a waste of points or time if we don¡¯t really need any of them.¡±


    That was the limiting factor. And while I wasn¡¯t currently in a rush, I could see how spreading too widely could lead to no growth at all.


    At least Great Girl was on my side on the spacetime thing. ¡°Obviously they¡¯re different magics,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s just tradition.¡±


    ¡°Right?¡± I nodded. ¡°Clearly.¡±


    ¡°Right. So you should learn Dimension Door.¡±


    ¡°... I guess that makes sense,¡± I said. ¡°Though I¡¯d need to improve other spells of a similar rank.¡±


    ¡°And then you can be a space wizard!¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± I shrugged. ¡°The one issue is¡­ it seems extremely inefficient.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I feel like I should be able to go 500 miles for that cost instead of 500 feet. It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±


    Great Girl frowned. ¡°Hmm. Maybe Dimension Door is safer? Like¡­ you probably wouldn¡¯t end up inside anything and then being shunted into the nearest relevant space. But that pretty much happened on Celmoth, right?¡±


    ¡°Allegedly.¡± Not actually knowing what went wrong was annoying. ¡°I¡¯ll add that to the list of things I need to test. But I feel like downcasting Teleport should work just fine. At the same distances, ending up 5 feet off target really doesn¡¯t matter does it? And it should cost like¡­ one five thousandth as much if it scales directly.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way you can Teleport for a fraction of a point of mana. I¡¯d be really careful with that.¡±


    ¡°I was going to cast Fly on myself and teleport over empty fields.¡±


    ¡°Good plan. Sounds like you¡¯re in for some away training. Again.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Hey, I worked Halloween and pretty much everything else has been job related.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good point. Do you take any actual vacation time?¡±


    ¡°And what, stop practicing magic?¡± I made a face. ¡°No thanks. Sounds terrible.¡± I did take days away from combat training. Calculator said that was probably enough.


    -----


    Surprisingly, the first source of training I got to try out was the one I thought would be hardest to arrange, since it involved one of the Executives. They were pretty busy- it was just that I bugged Calculator all the time because that was the business he was dealing with.


    Movebrain was a distinguished gentleman with a terrible moniker. I wasn¡¯t sure who in the Power Brigade was responsible for naming people so it was potentially his own fault. Either way, he was usually quite busy teleporting about and whatever other stuff he did. Telekinesis, I think. He had this whole vague psychic suite of powers going on, though I was pretty sure mind reading wasn¡¯t in the list even though people generally tended to lump that in with everything else that started with ¡®tele¡¯.


    Actually, teleportation and telekinesis together was one of the weird combos. They were unrelated, right?


    ¡°Does your telekinesis manipulate space?¡± I asked.


    ¡°An interesting question,¡± Movebrain said. ¡°Does it?¡±


    ¡°... Shouldn¡¯t you know?¡±


    ¡°Should I?¡± he raised an eyebrow at me.


    There was no way he didn¡¯t understand how his own powers worked. Not if he was one of the Power Brigade executives. They weren¡¯t just people in fancy suits, they were also very good at what they did. Even if that thing happened to be brute force.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to need you to demonstrate your powers,¡± I said. ¡°All of them, if possible. Unless I don¡¯t have clearance or whatever.¡±


    He¡¯d already agreed to help out, so I couldn¡¯t imagine he¡¯d be too reluctant. ¡°That¡¯s fine. It¡¯s probably better you see yourself if you¡¯re trying to learn¡­ though the methods through which we manipulate space might be quite different.¡±


    HQ had all sorts of protections against teleportation, but moving strictly within the confines of specific training rooms was possible. We didn¡¯t have a ton of people who could teleport, and even fewer who could do so effortlessly, but it would be a shame if Movebrain had to go out into random parks to train.


    Midnight and I watched with rapt attention- we could see recordings later, but we could only feel his power in person. Even if it wasn¡¯t a spell, we might learn something.


    In the simplest terms, he went from place to place without moving or being anywhere in between. There were no complicated motions or sounds or much of anything. Just a blip of power usage and then he was in a different place, leaving behind only a lingering idea of spatial distortion which faded away within a few moments.


    He also kindly demonstrated telekinesis which felt the same, though that could be just because it was his powers and not because it was using the same mechanisms. Sometimes, people got grab bags of powers from unclear sources.


    Movebrain waved his arms around as he tossed things about- including me, with permission. It was weird to be lifted up and not feel anything touching me. Relatedly, I was ninety percent certain he didn¡¯t need to move at all for it to work, but he probably wouldn¡¯t confirm or deny anything so I just kept that in mind.


    ¡°Can you teleport us with you?¡± I asked. ¡°Just so we can know if it feels different.¡±


    ¡°I can,¡± Movebrain agreed. ¡°But first, my final power.¡±


    He looked at me, and I looked at him. Then I looked down at Midnight, who had a look that was equally as confused as myself. Of his various powers, this one was the least well known. It filled his body and did¡­ something. Exactly what had been hotly debated, but one time someone had shot him in the head and he didn¡¯t even pass out. It was theorized he had shapeshifted his brain to a different location. Feeling it in person I wasn¡¯t quite convinced that was what was happening and I couldn¡¯t really test it as I didn¡¯t have anything that really interacted with brains. Except things that would boost his.


    ¡°Can I try Enhance?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sure,¡± he shrugged.


    I cast the spell and¡­ I felt a flicker of distortion. I was pretty sure the spell should have worked. Maybe it did work, but I had no sense of it anymore. Which either meant that it didn¡¯t work or it was working¡­ somewhere else. I compared it to pulling something out of Storage. Unsurprisingly, it felt different. One was magic, one was a super power. But everything he did felt like spatial manipulation, though I could be projecting what I wanted it to be. I hadn¡¯t dealt with many other spatial powers, though there was at least one other executive with them. I needed to get time with Telescope too.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said. ¡°Now¡¯s the part where I try to stop you from doing extradimensional stuff. You might want to make sure your brain is in your body, if it¡¯s not.¡± He did something with his powers, though whether it was to put things back or to throw me off I couldn¡¯t be certain. ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°Any time,¡± he nodded.


    I hadn¡¯t actually used Dimensional Anchor. The point was to use it on Flasher, the teleporting cyborg, but I hadn¡¯t expected him to immediately pop away when we found him again. That was my fault, really. Though I couldn¡¯t have been certain it would have worked, since nothing was guaranteed.


    It took a moment for magic to form into an invisible shape that latched onto Movebrain. If he¡¯d been quick on the draw, he probably could have avoided it- if he was sensitive to such things. Which maybe he wasn¡¯t, since he was just watching me. ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± I said. ¡°Try to do stuff, I guess.¡±


    And he did. He built up his power then teleported right behind me- but I could tell that not only because of the magic attached to him but also the way he fell on his face. ¡°Huh,¡± he said. ¡°I haven¡¯t gotten a bad angle in forever.¡±


    I was slightly disappointed that he straight up bypassed my restrictions, but I guess I shouldn¡¯t have expected it to completely negate his abilities. And it had taken him a bit longer to go, I thought. A fraction of a second could be huge if you were expecting to teleport out of the trajectory of an attack.


    It seemed like a risk for him to show me what this spell could do to him¡­ but it was also a risk for him to not have experience with anti-teleportation measures. Also, we were allies so I wasn¡¯t going to use it on him unless he turned supervillain.


    Once he got used to it Movebrain was still clearly able to move around, but notably slower and less accurately. Then we tested his telekinesis, and I was glad there were things to throw about other than me because they more tumbled than floated. I had no idea if Movebrain tried to use his final ability, and I would have recommended against it anyway. The potential to have less access to your brain seemed dangerous.


    Now, how could I make this better? The point was to get good at the spell, and just flinging it at people wasn¡¯t going to result in any improvements in a short time. Did I need to coat him with restrictions from head to toe? Should the magic be¡­ heavier? I also needed to test how it worked with Gate, which was going to take an afternoon¡¯s worth of regeneration. Maybe Flasher would show up somewhere and ¡®help¡¯ me test it. Or I could research other teleporty villains.

 Chapter 317

    Heavy breaths came from Movebrain once he allowed it. He could show exhaustion directly in training, but as an executive he couldn¡¯t just wander around HQ looking like he was going to collapse. But now that he was somewhere appropriate he didn¡¯t have to put on airs. ¡°You were watching?¡± he said as he stumbled onto a couch.


    Calculator looked over from his work setup, a collection of monitors filling a corner. ¡°Obviously.¡±


    Movebrain sighed. ¡°I¡¯m trying to imagine if we didn¡¯t hire him. That kid is sure something.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s twenty-six, I believe,¡± Calculator said. ¡°Not exactly a kid.¡±


    The other man shook his head. ¡°Of course he is. Even if he¡¯s one of the unlucky supers that doesn¡¯t get an extended life naturally, he¡¯s got so much ahead of him.¡±


    ¡°You talk like an old man yourself, but you¡¯re far from it,¡± Calculator pointed out.


    ¡°Still older than I look. But that¡¯s not the point. We could have totally missed Mage if he hadn¡¯t come to us first. Any idea why he chose us first? I can¡¯t imagine anyone turned him down.¡±


    Calculator shook his head. ¡°He wasn¡¯t that impressive when he first showed up. Meztli commented that he had a grab bag of minor abilities, useful but not exceptional. But as for why he picked us¡­ I believe he randomly ended up near Great Girl during an incident.¡±


    ¡°... That¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°I think he liked that she threw a car,¡± Calculator said. ¡°And she was famous enough that even he was able to look her up with no technical expertise. But enough about that. How was it?¡±


    Movebrain made a face. ¡°It¡¯s one thing to be able to pick up an ability to restrict movement techniques. It¡¯s quite another to get significantly better within the course of a single training session.¡±


    ¡°He works well with resistance,¡± Calculator nodded. ¡°How much better would you say?¡±


    ¡°How should I know? It just got harder.¡±


    Calculator looked over his glasses. ¡°Closer to fifteen percent or thirty percent?¡±


    Movebrain sighed. ¡°I have no way to quantify that. Why those numbers?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just to determine if he gained one or two ¡®upgrades¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Why not ask him?¡± Movebrain pointed out. ¡°He¡¯d tell you.¡±


    ¡°Probably.  That¡¯s how I know what the numbers would be. It¡¯s very¡­ formulaic.¡±


    Movebrain nodded slowly. He was glad Francois made suits that could breathe. He didn¡¯t end up a sweating, stinking mess. ¡°It didn¡¯t happen all at once. He was experimenting, and sometimes it was less effective. But ultimately it ended up more.¡±


    ¡°Are you certain?¡±


    ¡°It was definitely harder, and not just because I was getting tired.¡±


    Calculator shook his head. ¡°I meant everything else. Unless he reduced the mana he used, it shouldn¡¯t be able to get ¡®worse¡¯. At least not according to what we know.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t everything we know from him? What if he lied?¡±


    ¡°You already said that¡¯s unlikely. Unfortunately, he might just be¡­ wrong. He¡¯ll admit to being under informed in certain areas. We may need to find an opportunity to gather some extradimensional info if we want him to be more effective.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s growing fast enough, I think,¡± Movebrain said.


    ¡°Both us and he would prefer that the process be more efficient,¡± Calculator said. ¡°But you¡¯re right. He clearly has talent. We didn¡¯t have anything to compare to without prying into the life of his apprentice until we got Bolster. Given her rate of growth- even after the Portal Squad was fortuitously able to unlock their full potential- she¡¯s not likely to be able to catch up. Not that her or the others have a disappointing rate of advancement.¡±


    ¡°You think that has something to do with the Celmothian?¡±


    ¡°If it does,¡± Calculator pondered. ¡°There¡¯s not much of a good way to test. We can¡¯t just ask someone to form a supernatural bond with Bolster for the sake of an experiment. Well, we could, but so many things could go wrong. We might still encourage her to invest in a familiar, however.¡±


    -----


    Midnight and I spotted an angel in Extra¡¯s lobby, and it wasn¡¯t Malaliel. His eyes lingered on the two of us for a moment before flicking away. ¡°Do you know him?¡± I asked Midnight.


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°The angel.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Midnight shook his head. ¡°He¡¯s probably one of the ones from Halloween. Though I didn¡¯t expect any to be walking around in public yet. She mentioned something about a long process.¡±


    ¡°Could just be another one,¡± I shrugged. ¡°He just stood out because of recent events.¡±


    ¡°And the wingspan,¡± Midnight said.


    Our goal was, as always, to pass through to the travel area. Today, Midnight was going home. For a test, not long term. Though he was very close to being able to Gate alone, at least to ¡®easier¡¯ locations. In fact, with a level gained from the whole angel incident his fatigue point should line up exactly with Gate at our current 5 total upgrades- but considering what that meant, it wasn¡¯t exactly an encouraging way to travel. We wanted something more reliable than ¡®might not faint while halfway between planets¡¯ if we were going to be sending people alone. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    As for why we were testing with Celmoth, that was because they were one of the easiest places to get permission to visit that was also the safest. There was that whole war thing, but most of the time it didn¡¯t reach the planet itself and most importantly it was his homeworld where his family was.


    Midnight and I split the cost for Gate for regeneration purposes- and practicing our teamwork was always a good idea. It was best to make sure Assistive Familiar Casting kept up with the upgrades of our high cost spells so that we could retain maximum efficiency.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be hearing from you in a couple hours, yeah?¡± I asked Midnight.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°Expect a time lag up to half an hour,¡± I said. ¡°After that point, I should be using Sending in return if the experiment fails.¡±


    The portal closed behind him. I made my way back into the lobby, since standing around in the transportation room for an hour was weird but it also wasn¡¯t enough time to go and do anything else. I certainly couldn¡¯t be using up mana.


    I couldn¡¯t get proper meditation going in the lobby, so I just hung out there for a while. I was surprised to hear someone call out to me.


    ¡°Turlough?¡±


    I looked up. It wasn¡¯t some random person from another world¡­ unless Basant was from a parallel Earth and I didn¡¯t know it. ¡°Hello, Basant. Are you from this Earth?¡±


    He grinned. ¡°I am. I¡¯m a second generation immigrant from India.¡± He easily took my words in stride even though I realized afterwards they were probably a bit unusual. ¡°Why are you waiting here in the lobby? Are you waiting for someone?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any business with Extra directly. Midnight and I are experimenting with some travel stuff, but I need to wait for a bit.¡± I looked him over. ¡°You look a bit less harried. Even though it was recently Halloween.¡±


    Basant had helped me when I first arrived, mostly dealing with paperwork and other necessities. ¡°I was on vacation. So I haven¡¯t had time to get overworked again yet.¡±


    I pondered. ¡°Maybe Extra should hire more people.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°There isn¡¯t a lot of money in extradimensional or extraterrestrial border protection.¡±


    ¡°There could be,¡± I said. ¡°But maybe there shouldn¡¯t be. You¡¯d think New Bay at least would hire enough people for this branch, considering the number of incidents.¡±


    ¡°The city wants heroes. Or mercenaries. Even though calling us is ten times cheaper, if it¡¯s something we can handle.¡±


    ¡°If you were willing to bend your rules I could get everyone powers,¡± I said.


    Basant blinked. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I guess that does kind of defeat the point,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°Well, I suppose so? How would you even do that?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. It might be secret?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°But it involves extradimensional travel and one side hasn¡¯t provided general permission.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Basant nodded. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like powers would help with paperwork.¡±


    Should I tell him? I decided not to tell him. Even though messing with complex paperwork all day was probably an optimal way for a mage to do stuff. If they could get experience from it, obviously. And if they only ever wanted to use Enhance Mind, they could probably get really good at it.


    At my level, someone could have it active all day if they poured enough points into it. Though that might have weird side effects. I didn¡¯t actually know about side effects from my sort of magic aside from overusing mana and especially mana crystals, but everyone was convinced that there had to be some. The one actual flaw I could think of would be growing reliant on mental enhancement, but reliance on an ability you actually could use constantly should be fine. Then again, guaranteed powers without side effects probably sounded pretty sketchy to people of this world instead of just¡­ normal.


    ¡°Good luck with your experiments,¡± Basant said.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Well, that was three minutes. Time to wait more. I was getting into a decent mental flow when something tried to look at me. I didn¡¯t want that¡­ but it apparently didn¡¯t matter what I wanted. Someone was watching me.


    It was a weird thing to say in a lobby full of people, but I was sure of it- and also that it wasn¡¯t any of them. I had to check that Nondetection was active, but it was and I was still fairly certain a Scrying spell was active. Because of that, I did¡­ nothing. I might have reacted when I first noticed, but there wasn¡¯t much I could do about that. I couldn¡¯t tell who or what it was, though.


    When it faded away, I texted Jerome and confirmed it wasn¡¯t him. If he wanted to try to Scry me at random times that wouldn¡¯t actually be bad for the sake of practice- for both of us- but that wasn¡¯t how it went this time. Which meant it was someone in my old world. Or someone with a portal power. Or someone from my old world but currently here. If it was Doctor Doomsday- or rather some imported crony of his- I very much needed to get even better at Nondetection. Anyone else¡­ I¡¯d still probably prefer that. So I might ask Jerome to help me out. Potentially Bolster too, though her fatigue point wasn¡¯t quite good enough for spells of that level last I checked.


    Twenty minutes later, Midnight¡¯s Sending still reached me properly. Because of Master Uvithar I knew that it was possible for certain forms of concealment to prevent that from working, but it didn¡¯t stop Midnight and me from doing it through the bond. Which was kind of what the experiment today was about.


    I almost replied to the Sending with something like ¡®by the time you get this message you may have already seen me face-to-face¡¯, but I had one more thing to test. I left the reply magic lingering, and made my way into the transportation room. It was large enough and there were few enough people who could use it that there were almost never lines of any sort, and indeed the only people I saw were familiar faces.


    I got my designated departure zone at the door, taking half a minute to walk over. Then I gathered the mana to cast Gate. Even maximizing it for stability I had two and a half points of leeway in my fatigue point, which was plenty. It was still real effort, but I wasn¡¯t straining to briefly reopen a previous portal or anything.


    My target with the Gate was not a place, but rather a feeling. I wanted a receptive place near Midnight. We were ninety-nine percent certain that targeting Midnight directly couldn¡¯t end up with a portal opening in him, but focusing on near Midnight was still the right call. I reached through the connection and attempted to form a modest portal.


    Turns out it worked just fine. ¡°Hey,¡± I said. Then I sent the Sending return message mentally. ¡°This return message might reach you faster if I¡¯m looking at you.¡±


    To be honest, I only ever used Sending for interplanetary or interdimensional purposes- because it was strictly worse than texting otherwise. Or at least worse than voicemail.


    ¡°Hmm. That was fast,¡± Midnight confirmed. ¡°Portal looks stable, yeah?¡±


    ¡°It is. Wanna come on through?¡±


    This was a success. Being able to Gate to an unknown location with Midnight there opened up a lot of options. Now we might try something like Teleport¡­ on Earth, away from anything that might interfere. I wasn¡¯t looking forward to ending up in a forbidden underground again. Better to avoid teleportation network issues entirely.

 Chapter 318

    At base, Teleport cost me 15 mana and Dimension Door cost 9. But one of them went a distance measured in miles, and one went a distance measured in feet. I was trying to figure out how that made sense. I understood that higher level spells tended to be more efficient, but rarely to such an extreme. Thus, Midnight and I were out in an empty field testing things. Finding an empty field within the borders of New Bay was pretty much impossible, except for parks. And we weren¡¯t planning to test these abilities in public view, given our enemies. Specifically, Doctor Doomsday didn¡¯t like me but he also wasn¡¯t much good for a proper fight.


    I wasn¡¯t sure about the whole thing with Gloom and Darkstargirl since they were someone else¡¯s rivals, but I didn¡¯t want them learning info about me regardless. Thus, empty field. It was still pretty difficult to find one, though.


    The Power Brigade¡¯s training rooms weren¡¯t good enough. They had versatility or distance, but not both. Plus there were various teleport restrictions I didn¡¯t want to deal with at the moment.


    Between Midnight and I, we had about 100 mana. Unless we were interested in waiting around for hours, that was about the best we could hope for. Relatedly, this far out of the city mana levels should be closer to the norm so recovery would be slower than we were used to.


    Ultimately, that meant we could do something like four casts of each spell if we wanted to split evenly. Or eleven uses of Dimension Door if we wanted to maximize uses, but that was not the plan for the moment.


    Though we ended up in an empty field, it wasn¡¯t a flat one. Just a bit of that, and then some hillside which was somewhat less empty with a few scraggly trees. Good enough for our purposes, though.


    First, I took us across the field with Dimension Door just to feel it. I¡¯d picked it up with points at Great Girl¡¯s suggestion. Among other things, I was trying to get some sort of low level space magic mastery to see if that even was one. Though Dimension Door was more mid level anyway. How inconvenient.


    We were one place, then there was a brief moment where my vision blurred. I saw a tree I had aimed for in front of me up close, then it came solidly into focus. ¡°Whoa. Not like teleport at all,¡± I said. ¡°Or¡­ is that why there are similar departure and arrival locations?¡±


    Midnight shook his head. ¡°Not quite. It¡¯s for consistency first, comfort second. People seem to do fine suddenly seeing something else around them, like when you open your eyes. Or at least, I think so?¡±


    ¡°How about you test it?¡± I asked. ¡°Bring us to in front of that rock.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Midnight said. Teleport was comfortably within his capabilities, leaving one mana free beyond his fatigue point. And since the effect was instantaneous, even if he did pass out it probably shouldn¡¯t cause any issues.


    The first thing I noticed was that it took longer. I also lost my balance at the other end, reaching out to steady myself on the rock that suddenly was closer.  Midnight dug his claws into my shoulder to hold his position. ¡°Hmm. That¡¯s closer than I meant, but that¡¯s alright.¡±


    Midnight tensed slightly. ¡°I also meant to be another step back. How close to where you targeted can we get with Dimension Door?¡±


    ¡°Pretty close, I think.¡± I paused for a moment. ¡°Do you think we can change our facing? I don¡¯t want to teleport behind a guy and then have to spin around.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine it¡¯s much harder than bending space to begin with, right?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see.¡± I aimed for the back of the tree, about arm¡¯s length from it. The first thing was that Dimension Door was faster- obviously. It used less mana¡­ but from what I¡¯d felt Midnight had taken longer to solidify what happened than just the extent required by gathering mana. I¡¯d have to test if that was true for myself as well, or if his hesitation was caused by previous teleportation related trauma.


    Midnight was nervous, but resolute. We ended up facing what I had to assume was the back of the tree. I almost reached out to touch it before we were there. I kept my balance. But we didn¡¯t have enough data points.


    ¡°Seems to work,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°Though I wonder¡­ what happens to the grass?¡±


    I looked down, looking at the long brown grass. I lifted my feet, and some of the stubborn grass straightened. ¡°Looks like I stepped on it. Do you think the same thing happens with Teleport?¡±


    ¡°I guess we have to try.¡±


    The two of us took turns swapping who used which spells and then splitting the final Teleport between us for the last bit of our mana. Along the way, Midnight suggested dismounting from my shoulder and trying to swap facings. For Teleport, it didn¡¯t work, but Dimension Door we could turn to face wherever we wanted, at least to the limits of our understanding. If we had more mana, I would have tried seeing if we could change our relative distance from each other.


    I almost twisted my ankle on the last Teleport up the hill. It did a much better job of making sure that I didn¡¯t end up inside something than it did of a comfortable landing. It also didn¡¯t seem to care if my feet ended up on the ground- just that some part of my foot was touching.


    Teleport was also inaccurate. Not like we ever went far from where we targeted, but we never ended up precisely positioned. So there was a reason for the cost. ¡°Well, that¡¯s all of our mana,¡± I said. ¡°I have lots of ideas, but there is one we could try with less. We¡¯d have to wait a bit.¡±


    ¡°How long?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Half an hour,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe less, since we¡¯ve been here for a bit.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°We could schedule a ride,¡± Midnight said. ¡°That will take a bit anyway. What¡¯s the plan?¡±


    ¡°Well, we were being cautious with Teleport and using the full cost. I figured we could try downcasting, since we¡¯re going a much shorter distance. Somewhere along flat ground, so we don¡¯t have to worry about the weirdness.¡±


    Midnight sighed. ¡°I guess we have to try that eventually for the sake of mastery.¡±


    We shared the cost of that as well- since my timeline was based on our combined mana regeneration. I gathered mana, formed it into something like the Teleport spell, and got¡­ nothing.


    ¡°Huh,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯d think that a less precise and versatile teleport could operate at the same cost¡­ but it really just doesn¡¯t work. Though it was close, I think. We probably needed a full 10 points or some more upgrades.¡±


    Speaking of which, Dimension Door had gotten its first natural upgrade with just that bit of practice. That was always the easiest. As for Teleport, despite me feeling like we learned a lot¡­ it was also still at a single upgrade.


    Midnight¡¯s thoughts were going. I could feel it. I waited for him to come up with his insight, since they were always useful. ¡°It¡¯s like Gate,¡± he said.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°It tears open space in a way meant for long distance travel. That¡¯s more complicated, but Gate can¡¯t even open a portal on the same planet. Or plane, or whatever. I think it¡¯s specialized for the potential of distance in a similar way, so it just doesn¡¯t work for cheap.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Sounds solid. We¡¯ll go with that for the moment.¡± But did that mean we could come up with a spell that was short distance and lacking versatility that was cheap? Or if not a spell, a proficiency or mastery or whatever we should call them, since spells might be set things.


    -----


    ¡°Zorphax, do you have powers?¡±


    ¡°Hello to you too, Turlough,¡± he said. He thought for a moment. ¡°Why is that question relevant?¡±


    ¡°I know some Humuruns who are in an experimental mood. They kind of want to see if they actually could bond to someone from Earth. And you¡¯re like the only person I know who doesn¡¯t have powers.¡± I paused to think of a better pitch. ¡°And you know how that might happen responsibly.¡±


    With their eyes, Martians couldn¡¯t really see if someone was rolling their eyes so they had an equivalent which involved throwing back their head- though I wasn¡¯t sure if that was native or just a thing that the ones on Earth learned. ¡°It would be extremely irresponsible of me to accept an extradimensional contract of some sort given my position.¡±


    ¡°What about Basant?¡± I asked. He might actually be the last non-powered person I knew.


    ¡°Stop trying to give people from Extra powers!¡± Zorphax said in exasperation. ¡°We¡¯re supposed to be responsible about these things.¡±


    ¡°Testing if it¡¯s safe sounds responsible to me.¡± Oh, what about the news guy? I don¡¯t think he had powers. ¡°You think Frank could get powers?¡±


    ¡°... Who?¡± Zorphax asked, furrowing his brow.


    ¡°Vilhelmiina¡¯s turret bot.¡±


    ¡°I sure hope not,¡± Zorphax said. ¡°And while I can¡¯t stop you from going to alternate dimension with an invitation, I can say you shouldn¡¯t arbitrarily bring people from our Earth for experimentation. If they really want to¡­ we can work something out.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s difficult to communicate, though,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s kind of up to me and Sending. Do you have any cross-dimensional radios?¡±


    The way he looked at me said I had stumbled onto something, or close to it. ¡°We are responsible for responsible use of advanced technology and extradimensional influence,¡± he repeated.


    I had to know someone else. What was her name? Doctor Rose? She probably didn¡¯t want to be a magical girl and it might require moving dimensions. I guess we¡¯d really have to test it, but still. That alpaca had been so excited about the potential Izzy had- even if it was filled.


    -----


    The first batch of Humuruns had been a test. So far, they had been successful with their efforts so they had asked for a proper transport of more people. That was what Midnight and I were going to go do now, obviously. Even if Zorphax was a downer.


    Strife was waiting, with her eyepatch, when we showed up in the little safe house. ¡°We¡¯ll be changing locations,¡± she said. ¡°It is inconvenient to filter through such a confined space. To that end, we¡¯ll need you to make use of the disguise capabilities you mentioned.¡±


    It was one thing for me to go around fighting The Scouring alongside magical girls, it was quite another for me to be walking around in public with an unknown persona. They didn¡¯t exactly have a lot of orcs here. And thus, I completed my genius disguise of a tall human wearing janitorial clothing.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± I asked.


    ¡°A collegiate gymnasium,¡± Lady Eglantine said helpfully as she hopped up onto Strife¡¯s shoulder as the person in question transformed back into her ¡®normal¡¯ form. Her eyepatch faded away, and she was left wearing¡­ a t-shirt and jeans.


    ¡°... Are you also in disguise?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It is highly impractical to wear formal clothing to school,¡± Momo commented. ¡°And quite liable to stand out. As I shall be directing you, I also need to not draw too much attention. I have reserved the gymnasium, but we don¡¯t want people getting too curious.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t they notice hundreds of Humuruns?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Only if they already have a connection to magic, remember?¡± the rainbow porcupine commented. ¡°Otherwise they would see me and everything would be given away.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right,¡± I nodded.


    I thought Momo might drive, but even though she was a native to a world with cars, driving wasn¡¯t as common as in New Bay. We took public transportation. A few people looked at me oddly, since I had a cat on my shoulders, but Midnight looked normal. He shouldn¡¯t be connected to Humuruns unless he spoke.


    Nobody asked me to put my ¡®pet¡¯ in a carrier, though I did get a lot of judgemental looks on the train. Unfortunately for them, I was highly resistant to peer pressure and also didn¡¯t have either a real pet or a proper carrier.


    I got off at the same stop as Momo, though we weren¡¯t exactly walking together. We ended up on a college campus soon after, and I wondered if people might wonder about the giant janitor. But I just did my best to look like I belonged and everyone played along- not that the halls were brimming with people during this after class period.


    Soon enough we reached our destination. Then we just had to wait for precisely the right time when Humuruns should be ready and lined up. Momo would have a proper picture for me to focus on. I steadied myself, anticipating soon being overwhelmed with sparkles.

 Chapter 319

    The picture Momo had of Humurun showed that their architecture was just as whimsical as the people and their colors. I couldn¡¯t tell much more because it was effectively just a big courtyard I was looking at, but there were a lot more ¡®inefficiencies¡¯ like curved buildings and narrow sections jutting out. Humanoids liked to pack in as much as possible, but maybe such things made more sense with diverse body types.


    Or maybe they didn¡¯t even need buildings. Did Humuruns need shelter? Did they eat? They were sort of just magical beings. I really didn¡¯t know much about their biology.


    Well, it didn¡¯t matter. I split the cost of a full powered Gate with Midnight, as was our habit. It was nice to have maximum stability and time, and with the split between us we could optimize our mana regeneration.


    This Earth was pretty nice. It had similar mana levels to New Bay after the increases- maybe even more. Thus, at ten mana each we would need less than an hour of recovery.


    The Gate opened exactly where intended- obviously. People that looked like animals began to pour through. They were rarely entirely like their base animal, with mixed features and more importantly a wide variety of bright colors. Or occasionally, blacks darker than midnight. There was one squirrel that looked like a view of a starry sky, seemingly revealing a patch through them as they moved around instead of maintaining a pattern on them.


    I wasn¡¯t going to tell Zeb about that one. For one thing, her powers were ¡®full¡¯. It would probably be a wasted effort on both sides.


    Last to wander through the portal was a bison, or at least a bison-adjacent individual. Hanging from the red-furred creature was a sloth. I couldn¡¯t say if said sloth was special in any way except by association with the rest of the Humuruns¡­ and a magical signature that they all had.


    ¡°Is that everyone?¡± I asked when I saw no more people coming through.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Eglantine confirmed. ¡°I see no others.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Closing portal in 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­¡±


    I let the Gate collapse, shrinking from the outside into nothing. At least, that was what it was supposed to do. No, it definitely happened because the vision of Humurun behind it faded with the Gate. But the portal was still there. Or a portal. Long whips of something black and oily wrapped around the bison.


    ¡°Oh no,¡± the red-furred individual said without emotion. ¡°I believe I am in peril.¡± As they said that, a gargantuan blob began pulling itself out of the portal that was definitely not to Humurun, while others began to open throughout the gymnasium. The blob might have been trying to pull the bison back into it, but it was the one moving. ¡°Save yourself, my friend.¡±


    The sloth may have been trying to respond, but the bison shook, flipping them off of the bison¡¯s belly over onto the sloth¡¯s front. Hooves scraped along the gymnasium floor as the oily blackness pulled.


    I looked around. Shouldn¡¯t there be a lot of fighting happening? Oh, right.


    Strife had transformed and was impaling something that seemed to be more eyes than anything else as it rolled towards the crowd, but there was a reason the Humuruns empowered others to fight.


    I gathered mana for Sonic Lance, blasting the black ooze that was yanking on the bison. I apparently chose wrong, because the choices were either it being blasted into chunks, or absorbing the impact without issue.


    The sloth stretched a claw forward. ¡°Save¡­ yourself¡­ too,¡± they called to their bison friend.


    Before I could do anything more about that situation, more of The Scouring began to fill the area rapidly. Midnight was already running among them zapping things with Shocking Grasp and scorching them with the lasers from his suit, but his safety appeared a bit tenuous to me. I gathered another burst of mana for a multicast Haste. First was myself and Midnight. Second was Eglantine and through her the transformed Strife. Targets three and four were the bison and sloth I could just manage to reach. The final target was a bull that actually seemed to be successfully goring some a tumbling ball of hands.


    The sloth stretched another claw forward, clacking on the floor as it stretched again.


    I hadn¡¯t heard anything about bison being slow, but the one nearly being devoured certainly was. One step at a time they pulled away, but Haste didn¡¯t grant new strength so it was only capable because of how the limbs stretched.


    I had a few options I could go for. While I considered them, I began whacking things out of the way with my staff. It had a nice solidity to it and was quite durable, so I wasn¡¯t worried about the multicolored blood getting on it as long as it stayed away from my hands and arms- but they should be well covered regardless.


    From what I could see, The Scouring appeared quite breakable- but that was only against those that could fight at all. And there were a lot here who couldn¡¯t. I would have liked to close the portals, but I¡¯d only get one or two before running out of mana, at least temporarily. So I pushed to the best angle I could find, aiming at the largest mass of enemies as Strife and Eglantine set up a sort barricade of quills in the middle of the gym. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Blizzard created a great storm of cold and ice that covered a large area. Even if the monsters didn¡¯t freeze to death, they would be incapacitated for at least a few moments. Enough to give some room to breathe. With some space between me and the enemy, I tried pulling out my gun.


    I immediately understood why this world was not able to handle The Scouring without magical girls. I shot straight into the gaping maw of some sort of worm, and the bullets just bounced around inside it until they ran out of energy. My staff had worked just fine but that was magical to some extent. Midnight¡¯s lasers seemed to work, but even if they were made with ¡®real¡¯ tech they were beyond mundane levels. Most likely normal fire would work anyway.


    I had managed to get a half clip of magic- or antimagic- bullets, but I didn¡¯t think that would do much good. I swept my gaze across the area to figure out how best to contribute.


    A teacher burst into the gym. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    The bull I¡¯d Hasted- a lime green one- turned his head towards the door and charged over. That seemed a bit unnecessary, but I realized quickly that he wasn¡¯t trying to hide the situation or anything. Instead, monster viscera dripping from his horns, he stood in front of the shocked teacher. She looked panicked already, but she suddenly screamed as the bull spoke.


    ¡°Apologies, but this is an emergency. I would prefer if you use your power to fight but if not, at least use it to run away.¡±


    The woman¡¯s eyes took a moment to focus, and I realized she could probably only see the monsters- plus Strife, Midnight, and myself. The Humuruns would naturally be invisible. However, the bull speaking to her should now be visible. ¡°... What?¡± the woman asked.


    I felt a bond forming, and I had a unique opportunity to try something. I took the already active Haste spell and tried to push it through to her without expending more mana. I had no idea if my active efforts did anything, but after she finished her transformation into a set of embroidered pants with an overly fanciful and tasseled jacket she certainly seemed to have the speed.


    In her hands was a two pronged spear- a bident?- that looked a bit like bull horns. In her other hand she had a red cloak of some sort. All timidity was gone from her stance and instead she was immediately charging towards the nearest monster. I had the feeling that throwing the cloak wasn¡¯t its intended purpose, but it did an excellent job of tangling up the metal wings carrying some sort of metal eyeball creature. A moment later, the spear or whatever drove straight into it.


    That lady sure got into it quickly. But two magical girls wasn¡¯t going to be a sufficient force here. ¡°Eglantine! We¡¯re going to need some help!¡±


    ¡°Strife has already signaled for backup,¡± she said. ¡°For the moment, we¡¯re going to try to get the Humuruns out of the gym while keeping The Scouring contained.¡±


    ¡°I feel like Strife has a good thing for masses of enemies.¡±


    ¡°That may be, ut-¡±


    ¡°Once we get the Humuruns out, we have to have a couple people look away. It¡¯s not a big deal. Unless it has some other sort of drawback?¡±


    I cracked the jaw of a wolf with my staff. Then I did it again from below. Unlike a sensible wolf, the teeth were on the outside pointing out. The thing could still be a threat, but only incidentally. Though the reverse-ribs certainly looked more dangerous than the mouth.


    The sloth had made it almost five feet from their starting location. A claw dug into the formerly spotless gymnasium floor and pulled slightly.


    The bison had lost the struggle of distance and was now nearly subsumed into the oily black mass, but that wasn¡¯t the worst that had happened. Still, I felt a connection to the random Humurun, and tried to think of a way to help. Firebolt¡­ could potentially work too well. Same with many other things. So Water Blast it was. It had a bunch of upgrades, so it should pack a decent punch as I aimed for one side of the bison.


    I managed to blast away some of the grip, and a couple more shots made the bison free enough to actually pull itself away. They sure looked like they were merely walking away, but at least Haste meant that was three times as fast.


    The sloth had gotten another foot, almost, by the time the bison used their teeth to pick up the crawling fellow by the back of the neck, large teeth holding onto whatever skin and fur it could. The bison continued to trot onward.


    The rest of the gymnasium was covered in slowly disappearing carnage. Fortunately most of it was the monsters of The Scouring, but I saw a bit of rainbow blood. Strife was still entangled with the mass of monsters while the Humuruns finished rushing out of the gym, but the new magical girl had suffered a few wounds. Not deep individually, but she clearly lacked combat experience that no amount of Haste or magic could make up for.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to create an opening!¡± I called out. ¡°Take the chance to get out of there!¡± Midnight should understand that meant him too.


    I tried to pick out what the ¡®frontlines¡¯ were as I thwacked at a small portion of the horde. It was a good thing I could swing a staff while gathering mana, because these guys seemed as eager to eat me as they were the helpless magical snacks.


    I didn¡¯t have a ton of mana left, and though we needed to hold off the enemy, conserving mana was actually counter to that end. We needed to get to a better position before we could hold the line, so Chain Lighting came from the tip of my staff when it was finished.


    It burst apart monster after monster on the ¡®front¡¯ end of the mass, creating space for everyone. The lightning snaked in and out of people, and I had to say it was truly impressive how weak they were to magical assault despite potentially wanting to eat magic. Normally Chain Lightning lost its oomph after a handful of targets, gradually weakening to useless levels, but I got through at least thirty or forty monstrosities before it ran out.


    The bull managed to catch his bonded ally¡¯s attention, calling her to retreat. She stabbed something with her double spear along the way, but at least didn¡¯t try to bravely sacrifice herself or something dumb like that.


    As Midnight dashed past my feet, I turned around at the doorway and left my back to the room at about the right time for Strife to do her thing. There was a flash of power, and then I turned to see monsters tearing into each other.


    Strife was probably a really good option for solo battles, once all the monsters were spawned. Though surviving to that point was probably tough.

 Chapter 320

    Inside the gymnasium many of The Scouring were battling each other under the effects of Strife¡¯s ¡®cursed¡¯ confusion eye, but some were still focused on those of us fighting as well as chasing the Humuruns remaining in the room.


    The sounds of combat had not gone unheard even after normal school hours. There were a few people in the halls in the distance, and one man much closer. He had absolutely perfect hair and skin, and I imagined the sort of people into that would be all over him. Though part of that observation was due to the squad of girls behind him, as I wasn¡¯t normally attuned to such insights.


    He looked straight at me. ¡°... Magical Man?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°I categorically refuse to go by that name.¡± I looked at the various Humuruns who had not yet gotten far. ¡°Someone take care of these civilians, please.¡±


    A single silvery fish form Humurun swam up to the man, presumably revealing itself to him. ¡°Hmm. You¡¯ll do. Do you desire to fight the forces of evil?¡±


    ¡°... Yes?¡± the man said hesitantly.


    ¡°Good enough.¡±


    The fish dove directly into the man¡¯s chest, disappearing in silver ripples that propagated across the man¡¯s chest and then down his extremities. When the transformation was complete, he stood fully garbed in silver with a tailed jacket and tophat in the same color. Everything he wore was very¡­ glittery. That included what I assumed was supposed to be a wand in his hand.


    ¡°Uh¡­ what do I¡­?¡± he looked around.


    ¡°I¡¯ll handle this,¡± the fish commented, suddenly appearing. Multiple times.


    One of them dove into me, pulling out of me what was presumably supposed to be a decoy copy, except it shared the same silver sequin-and-glitter aesthetic as the guy.


    ¡°You¡¯re Magical Man now,¡± I said, pointing to him. ¡°I¡¯m Turlough.¡± This was an entirely different world and it was easier to just not use my moniker.


    Magical Man seemed to accept the name for the moment, watching additional fish fly into the spear-lady as well as Strife and then random Humuruns. Each of them got their own very unconvincing copy- or so I would say, except The Scouring seemed to take them for real. The true Strife quickly disengaged as she found a moment to spare, while the other one seemed to be throwing quills and just missing the enemy. Meanwhile, the second me was throwing out magic that I absolutely couldn¡¯t do, like fireballs.


    ¡°For the moment,¡± our fishy friend explained, ¡°These will not be combat capable clones. But eventually you will be able to be more effective.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Magical Man nodded. He glanced towards the crowd. ¡°Should I be concerned about them or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Only in the manner that you should help escort them away,¡± the Humurun said. ¡°Those who are watching will likely undergo mysterious amnesia about your involvement this incident.¡±


    How convenient. And potentially not random.


    ¡°Oh. That¡¯s¡­ good?¡± Magical Man frowned. ¡°Umm, everyone! Please come with me! It¡¯s dangerous to stay!¡±


    As he began to speak, he turned into multiple copies of him, leading various groups towards different exits. I could see him curiously looking down at the various versions of him, and I wondered how much conscious control he had over things. How fun.


    Now then, how best to hold back the rest of this swarm?


    ¡°Hey, you-¡± I gestured to the teacher turned magical girl. ¡°Uh¡­ Matador.¡± She got her powers from a bull, right? And she kind of looked like one. Everything checked out. ¡°Come help us hold this door!¡±


    A few Humuruns were still scrambling for the exit. Midnight- the real one, not the copy one- used Chain Lightning to clear out the mess of enemies around a particular bison and sloth. They trotted out the door just in time to avoid a new wave of enemies coming from a portal just inside the room- up in the air where it was dropping monstrosities.


    I was glad that my staff was made out of Yggdrasil wood- artificial or not, it was quite sturdy. It packed a punch, but was still light enough to not tire me out too quickly.


    Haste had faded a few moments before, which meant little more than a minute had passed in all the chaos. I wasn¡¯t sure how long it would take for backup to arrive, but holding the line would be difficult for however long that took, especially with more enemies pouring through.


    I stood to the side, reaching out for the newest portal that appeared. I began to twist and squash it with Alter Portal, heedless of how much mana it took me. I really didn¡¯t know how much mana it took me, but by the time it shrunk to a single point and expired I was unsteady on my feet. The rush of mana I expected was filling me, but I likely wouldn¡¯t have enough for another portal for a few minutes.


    Still, if I could try another portal from a distance, if I collapsed it would be outside where I should be relatively safe. Though I was going to do my best to not hit that limit.


    I might end up simply shrinking a portal, but if that could stem the flow of enemies it would be worthwhile. I saw one particular candidate that had a massive horned head in front of it, ready to push through.


    Since I was already screwing around, I might as well try something interesting. It should be cheaper to distort less of the portal, shouldn¡¯t it? So if I squeezed from the top and bottom¡­


    I focused everything on my control of mana and remaining conscious. Even if I could be rescued if I passed out, I really didn¡¯t want to burden the few fighters we had with something like that. Or Midnight. The real one, who was only slightly less silver than the other with his battle suit active and visible. He was low on mana and focused on using his built-in weaponry.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    My mana was¡­ not important at the moment. As long as I remained conscious. The previously round portal I was focused on had now become something like an oval. I continued to pull together parts of it, not quite collapsing it. If the two sides touched, I might have to bear the burden of splitting it into two portals or otherwise completely closing it.


    I staggered backwards, using my staff as a crutch to hold myself up. I was so dizzy. What was this, less than a point of mana remaining? That had been close.


    Huge pools of monster blood were filling the doorway as Strife and Matador stabbed the enemy with quills and a bident. Some of it was fading away into magical substance as the creatures perished, but it left a pretty unpleasant area at the doorway.


    I whacked a few more things as I stumbled back. When was help going to arrive? I needed to stem the tide even further. What could I do with part of a point of mana? I gave myself a few seconds to steady my head. Maybe I could turn a portal into a ring? If there was a non-portal part in the very middle, it would make larger things get stuck while manipulating the minimum total surface area.


    That made sense to me in my current state, even if later I would realize that it was probably a much more difficult task. I stopped further down the hallway, at an angle where I could just make out one of the portals. It was a bit far, but what could I do about that? I certainly wasn¡¯t going to use the last of my mana inside that hellscape.


    Could I even gather mana without passing out? I was going to have to toss it at my goal in a single burst. I envisioned strongly what I wanted, then I threw mana at the problem. My vision blurred as I saw a tiny bit of the back of the gym instead of a terrible portal. But the flow of mana continued as I pushed it wider, until the central ring was nearly half the radius of the larger portal.


    Some part of me understood that wasn¡¯t what could be accomplished with just a point or two of mana. Most of me was focused on stumbling into the wall and sliding down it so I wouldn¡¯t hit my head when I passed out. Which should happen¡­ well, probably ten seconds earlier.


    I saw someone run past me. By the time she transformed, the figure was almost the same height as I was- sitting. Okay, that wasn¡¯t even true with the power of exaggeration, but I did vaguely comprehend Flaming Shrimp coming to the rescue.


    I sat against the wall in a daze, wondering why I was still conscious. It had to be connected to why I felt sick and why my head hurt. My head hurt the most, and my everything else just ached.


    Midnight¡¯s head pushed into my hand. ¡°Hey, buddy,¡± I said.


    He didn¡¯t ask me if I was alright, because it was pointless. ¡°What happened? I only felt some of that.¡±


    ¡°Dunno. Hard to think,¡± I said. I watched the pretty colors of fire and wondered if Flaming Shrimp was burning down the gym. Actually, part of the hallway was on fire- but the flames leapt off of the walls into the gymnasium. ¡°Hey, are the portals almost done?¡±


    ¡°Looks like it,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Otherwise I would be forcing you to try to stand.¡±


    ¡°I could crawl,¡± I said. ¡°Like that sloth.¡±


    -----


    I was conscious the whole time the magical girls- and one dazed magical guy- were cleaning up the damage to the gymnasium. I had nearly forgotten that all of them came with reality distorting repair powers, but it helped explain why this world and especially this version of Japan still functioned.


    A vague pink figure eventually appeared in front of me. ¡°Where are you hurt?¡±


    Ah, it was Pink Wand. ¡°My soul, probably. I think my body is fine.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s got a gash on his back,¡± Midnight said.


    Hmm. I hadn¡¯t even felt that until he mentioned it. I turned away from the wall. ¡°Yeah, just that. It¡¯s probably fine.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s bleeding a lot,¡± Pink Wand said as she began using her particular form of magic to stitch me up. It was probably the fastest healing magic I¡¯d ever felt, if not necessarily the most powerful.


    ¡°Is it a lot?¡± I asked Midnight. My consciousness was more stable, now- but my mana was pretty empty. After half an hour, I would have expected to be¡­ less wobbly.


    ¡°Not by your standards,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°Francois¡¯ work held together.¡±


    ¡°Good. Force Armor seems a bit¡­ lacking these days.¡±


    ¡°Especially against so many enemies,¡± Midnight agreed.


    After my flesh was stitched back together, my clothes were as well. ¡°Hmm. Does that fix supernatural gear properly?¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Pink Wand said. ¡°How else would we repair our transformation outfits?¡±


    Weren¡¯t their clothes magical constructs? Two of them had been spontaneously recruited, and they had full outfits. Did that mean the Humuruns spontaneously created permanent, real equipment?


    The powers here sounded pretty unfair.


    A familiar eye appeared in front of me as Strife crouched down. ¡°Are you able to stand?¡±


    ¡°I can now, yeah,¡± I said. ¡°No injuries and¡­¡± my consciousness wasn¡¯t great, but part of that was because I had a million thoughts trying to find their way to the surface. Hopefully, they would be valuable insights into magic itself and not too many memories of Humuruns getting eaten. I was pretty sure that The Scouring got a few of them. Which probably meant they had been waiting. And taken advantage of me weakening planar boundaries, maybe.


    Hopefully it was just the first thing, but them being ready to spring into the world at an unplanned moment was still discomforting.


    With Midnight on my shoulder, my balance felt more steady. It might not actually have been, but we walked out of the school to head to a safehouse. Along the way people discussed possibilities, and I mentioned my own theories.


    ¡°Clearly, they were able to sense the gathering of Humuruns¡­ or the open Gate. They might have taken advantage of it.¡±


    Lady Eglantine pondered from atop Strife¡¯s head. It looked like it would have been uncomfortable, but Strife showed no sign of carrying any particular weight. Unmanifested Humuruns might just be like that, or something. ¡°They are indeed able to sense us. We should have anticipated this danger. Our previous test case was inside a warded safehouse and we may have miscalculated. They¡¯re not meant primarily as a shelter from the people of Earth, you know. Our eagerness to bring more of our fellows here backfired.¡±


    I could see some of the others talking to the new members off to the side. They were clearly a bit shocked at being so abruptly recruited into the magical community. From what I understood, normally Humuruns went through a much longer process for their choosing.


    Once inside the safehouse proper, which must have had wards that extended far beyond it so that people didn¡¯t notice odd individuals such as ourselves coming and going, there were various discussions to be had. It was generally agreed that some combination of factors had been at fault, but no blame was laid at any particular feet. Any future attempts would be much more well defended, however- though the Humuruns had brought through more of their people than they expected to arrive on Earth in a year.


    It was nice to not have people angry- just concerned. But even if people had been yelling at me, I would have barely noticed.

 Chapter 321

    I felt a strange dizziness as I finally regained my first point of mana from the negatives, sitting on a nice couch in a magical girl safehouse. That had to be what the feeling was, because I had certainly used far more mana than I had access to. What was I even thinking, that shrinking a portal from the middle seemed cheap and easy? But at that point, I must have already pushed beyond the normal boundaries. I had surpassed all the limitations- including the ones that were meant to keep me safe.


    Because while I had some mana, I recognized the same sort of lingering effects that I got from absorbing too many mana crystals. I hadn¡¯t coughed up any black blood, but that just meant I wasn¡¯t putting anything into my body. Instead, I¡¯d likely taken out more than it could bear. It was a good thing that closing portals usually resulted in a flow of mana into me, or I could have been incapacitated for the rest of the day easily.


    I tried to explain what I had experienced to Midnight. ¡°It was strange,¡± I said. ¡°Beyond that point, it actually became easier to retain my consciousness. But it wasn¡¯t exactly in a good way. It was more like¡­ my body gave up on me?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°Using Alter Portal felt very natural but also problematically difficult.¡±


    I looked at my information- though even pulling up the screen made my head flash with pain. Noted. I read what I wanted and closed it- which also hurt. I would be avoiding that for¡­ a while.


    ¡°Hey, good news,¡± I said to Midnight. ¡°I leveled up. I¡¯m 41 now.¡± There weren¡¯t really any cool thresholds I was aiming for, but levels were always good. Points and an improved mana pool and all that. I could just about use Multicasting to duplicate¡­ Shelter. Or Dimensional Anchor, which might be either more or less useful. Though it still wasn¡¯t quite enough for that, as my fatigue threshold was 23 and those cost 8 base. At triple cost for Multicasting, it would be short unless I relied on discounts. Maybe I was supposed to, but I didn¡¯t like doing anything at reduced power without good reason.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad for you,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But are you alright?¡±


    ¡°We might have to take advantage of local hospitality for a while,¡± I said. ¡°Though, your level¡­ I think you can cast Gate alone now?¡± That would be fine if we weren¡¯t going to or from anywhere difficult.


    ¡°At minimum specifications,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°Allegedly. Is it that bad?¡±


    ¡°The status window hurts. I spent more mana than I should have been able to. Than I should have had.¡±


    Midnight pondered for a moment. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s something about this dimension.¡±


    ¡°No. Maybe?¡± I tilted my head. Then I un-tilted it because movement hurt. ¡°Still no. I haven¡¯t really seen anything work differently except for when breaking away from my original world. But I suppose I can test this on our Earth.¡±


    Midnight grimaced. ¡°Based on your current state, that sounds like an awful idea.¡±


    I stopped myself from nodding. ¡°Probably, but we need to know. I refuse to let magical secrets rest.¡±


    ¡°... Maybe you can just ask someone?¡±


    ¡°The only mage I trust is in hiding. Even if it¡¯s not strictly a mage issue, Sir Kalman doesn¡¯t seem to have the answers, so that limits the numbers of those I trust in general. And Lyklor seemed content to live with the system as it was.¡±


    Midnight roamed around on the back of the couch. That was about the highest he would normally go aside from my shoulder. ¡°It probably makes sense for elves. Assuming they live longer?¡±


    ¡°Sure, but they also gain experience more slowly, I think.¡±


    ¡°Does that matter?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Lemme do some math here. If they gain a single point of experience each day for, say, two hundred years, assuming nothing changes from the numbers you told me¡­¡± A little screen flipped down in front of his eye from his reshaping tech-suit. ¡°They¡¯d hit something like level 170.¡±


    ¡°Okay. So like¡­ 4 times my current level. That¡¯s a lot but¡­¡±


    ¡°And they¡¯d have about 16 times your points.¡±


    ¡°That would explain why Lyklor could have so many upgrades for something kind of trivial,¡± I admitted. ¡°They might not be able to continue gaining experience like that?¡±


    ¡°Maybe not. But even at half that rate they¡¯d still easily end up with something like ten times your current points.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± I had been feeling pretty strong, but I supposed even if I was growing quickly it wasn¡¯t weird that there would be people who far outclassed me just given the time they¡¯d spent. I just hadn¡¯t thought about it that far because I¡¯d surpassed the expected level for once. ¡°What do you even do with that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°Something has to change, though, or people could end up with¡­ concerning levels of power.¡±


    ¡°In what way?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Looking at Firebolt, for example. Our smallest offensive spell. Using that as the base, according to your numbers, at 200 points worth of upgrades- which would be 65 of them- it would do damage similar to Chain Lightning, at a cost of 2 mana.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ but Chain Lightning can hit at least 6 or 7 people. And you could upgrade that.¡±


    ¡°You could, but it would only be about a third as mana efficient. Which would certainly still be worthwhile, but the point is¡­ if you put an excessive amount of points into a single ability it can be concerningly strong.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying I should try that,¡± I said.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°I- no? Please don¡¯t start putting points into something low tier.¡±


    ¡°Status hurts,¡± I said. ¡°So I¡¯d do it later. After looking at the math.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Midnight rolled his eyes. ¡°But I assume something must change at some point. Or your world has some extremely terrifying individuals.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that,¡± I said. ¡°I hadn¡¯t heard about anything like that. But even if they can make a Firebolt match a base Chain Lightning at 200 points¡­ so what?¡±


    ¡°At 1000 points-¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even have that many total yet,¡± I interrupted.


    ¡°But some people do. And at that point, Firebolt is as strong as Chain Lightning at its base mana cost of basically nothing. Or something like 15-20 times as strong if you spend just 2 mana. The numbers just get more concerning if you keep going.¡±


    ¡°... Yeaaah that has to stop eventually, right?¡± I asked. ¡°Lyklor only had like, 20 upgrades. Maybe that¡¯s the limit.¡±


    ¡°Do you believe that?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Not without testing it,¡± I admitted. ¡°Which I can do. Once we¡¯re back in the right world and all that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a huge fan of that idea,¡± Midnight said. ¡°What if you break something?¡±


    ¡°How could I break anything? Either it works or it doesn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Or you go past an unspoken limit and cripple yourself,¡± Midnight pointed out.


    ¡°... maybe I¡¯ll add the ranks one at a time over the course of a few days. But I do need to see if I can find a limit.¡±


    ¡°What if the limit is your actual level?¡± Midnight suggested. ¡°That would be¡­ just as unreasonable, actually.¡±


    ¡°I could test that next level.¡±


    ¡°At the price of it using the majority of your points,¡± Midnight pointed out.


    ¡°... only a little more than the total we¡¯ve spent on Gate.¡±


    ¡°Well, as long as you actually think about it, I think it might be worth testing. We could come out of it with a very powerful small scale spell, if nothing goes wrong.¡±


    -----


    Later that afternoon, after having put together a number of charts with Midnight and seeing how theoretical mana efficiency matched up with theoretical damage, some patterns became clear. Somewhere around 100 points invested, mana efficiency per damage began to climb down from the top rank spells. At 150, it was pretty much fully in the hands of the lowest ranked spells. Of course, that came with various assumptions about the type of spell being similar.


    For example, Shocking Grasp would be about twice as effective because its requirements for touching were more efficient at imparting magical force upon targets, while Chain Lightning ended up at about half because of it being a wide area spell. That also meant that the total potential ¡®damage¡¯ that wide area spells could cause would still be more mana efficient after a certain number of targets¡­ but it resolved some issues and brought up others.


    Ultimately, we didn¡¯t know if it actually worked that way. We¡¯d only been able to test spells with relatively low amounts of upgrades- Force Armor at 11 being hard to test since it was defensive, and Firebolt at 8 being a total point cost of 27 which was far short of the breakpoints we were looking at.


    ¡°Maybe we were thinking about this wrong,¡± I said. ¡°I thought people were hiding natural upgrades, but maybe they were really trying to stop people from thinking too much about the upgrade system in general? Focused training could save me some points here and there, but specialized point spending might be even more of a concern. Or training to get a few extra ranks and then spending a whole bucket of points might be the actual strategy.¡±


    I looked up as the door opened, revealing Momo walking in with a tray. ¡°What strategy?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Breaking magic.¡±


    ¡°Why would you wish to break magic?¡± she asked as she approached. ¡°I thought you enjoyed your abilities.¡±


    ¡°I meant more like¡­ breaking the limits? The rules? Something like that.¡±


    ¡°... You seem a bit young to transcend the limitations of reality,¡± Momo commented. ¡°But I suppose I¡¯ve seen some pretty amazing things from you. Like those portals.¡±


    The tray in her hand was full of¡­ rice? Covered in some green stuff.


    ¡°The portals are still well within expected limits,¡± I said. Though, it was true that I was about halfway to one theoretical breakpoint. Or perhaps fully there if one considered the natural upgrades I had for Gate. 5 total upgrades for a rank 20 spell should be about 150 points, counting the base cost. ¡°What are those?¡± I asked, looking at the rice things.


    ¡°A rice ball. Since I thought you must be hungry by now,¡± Momo said. ¡°Are you certain you are alright? Normally you would have absconded back to your version of Earth in mere moments.¡±


    ¡°I learned a lot,¡± I said, reaching for the tray she had set down. I picked the food up with my hand without thinking about whether or not I should. Momo didn¡¯t seem to react, though. ¡°It just happens to be that sometimes the best learning happens among difficulties.¡±


    I bit into the rice ball thing- which wasn¡¯t a ball but a sort of triangle. Maybe the translation didn¡¯t quite fit Common. What had the actual word been¡­ onigiri? The green stuff was papery and salty but still tasty, and there was meat in the center.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Momo commented. ¡°Mister Familiar,¡± her words were spoken carefully to use Midnight¡¯s code name, though it probably didn¡¯t matter in this world and especially not in the safehouse. ¡°You are able to eat non meat products, correct?¡±


    ¡°Some,¡± Midnight agreed.


    ¡°Then I would be honored if you would eat these onigiri. Some have tuna.¡±


    The word stopped translating once I decided I knew what it meant and liked the other word better. English words almost never translated for me anymore, though I still had it active all the time because Midnight couldn¡¯t form humanoid words without it, and it was just as efficient to cast it on both of us.


    Midnight eagerly sought out the tuna, sniffing the onigiri. He used his suit to properly grab one, halfheartedly chewing through the rice until he got to the center. We were both hungry, so we finished off the whole tray fairly quickly. Momo looked uncertain that she had brought enough.


    ¡°You have¡­ quite the appetite.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m big,¡± I pointed out. And maybe going into negative mana made me more hungry. I honestly didn¡¯t know because I was eating different food, and I had to support my size and muscle.


    Just to test, I opened my status window. It didn¡¯t hurt anymore. Midnight and I could probably go home around sundown, unless he wanted to try it alone first. But for that we¡¯d need to do a test portal to make sure he could properly maintain consciousness at exactly his fatigue threshold, and we weren¡¯t certain that wouldn¡¯t attract unwanted attention.


    So later it would be, when I could summon up a few points of mana without feeling like I was being stabbed. Especially since Midnight would feel the secondhand pain.

 Chapter 322

    After sitting at full mana for a while, I was feeling pretty alright. During that time, Midnight had used Sending so that nobody would worry about our delay. Even with that and his expenditures during battle, he still recovered to full before me. That would have been the case even if I hadn¡¯t apparently gone into negative mana, since we had about 15 total points of difference in our mana capacity. Levels would do that, and I was pretty much guaranteed to stay ahead of Midnight unless we ended up in extremely odd circumstances.


    I cast a test spell, utilizing Haste to expend a similar amount of mana. The good news was that the lingering effects didn¡¯t seem that bad- unlike absorbing mana crystals, the negative side effects of which lasted more than a day once I hit that point. It was only slightly painful, like moving too quickly and being reminded you have a headache.


    Magical girls were gathered around as we made our preparations to leave. It wasn¡¯t just because we were friends and they wanted to say goodbye- Fried Shrimp didn¡¯t seem to appreciate me at all- but also because we didn¡¯t know if my Gates could make it easier for The Scouring to reach this world or if it was just coincidental timing. The safehouse should be more secure, but there were a handful of transformed individuals around as we cast Gate.


    Midnight was preparing to perform the bulk of the magic, three quarters of it just so that he wouldn¡¯t be at precisely his fatigue threshold. We weren¡¯t up for any sort of excitement with people passing out or whatever.


    ¡°Bye! Thanks for inviting us over,¡± I waved.


    Strife shook her head. ¡°We are the ones who should be thankful. You have helped bolster our allies once more¡­ even if there were some inconveniences.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll stay in touch with you all,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°Let us know if there are any¡­ continued issues.¡±


    Then we used the spell, the portal opening in front of us back to Extra. I didn¡¯t sense anything else weird happening around our portal, and Midnight and I made sure to do our best to properly shut it behind us. I wasn¡¯t sure if there was an actual difference with letting one close at the end of its life, but we might not figure that out without trying.


    -----


    I needed to get into touch with an experienced spellcaster. I already had plans for that, but I reiterated the point with Sir Kalman. Relatedly, the Order of the Lion had some of their magely associates meet us during the whole elf debacle- was that war still happening? I supposed in broad strokes that was still happening, but much more slowly. But about the mages, he didn¡¯t have to wait for me to contact him first. So that should allow any discoveries to be reported a few days earlier. And save Midnight and I the mana unless we actually needed to initiate contact.


    It had to be possible to infuse that mana in something like my staff. I didn¡¯t want it to actually be part of my staff because dispelling magic was much more practical, but having more magical gear would be nice. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t know how to make things do magic. Vilhelmiina was able to reshape the daggers from the elf ninjas, but it was still fundamentally the same magic it had already.


    I hadn¡¯t fought any Doomsday minions in a while. It wasn¡¯t that he¡¯d given up crime, I just hadn¡¯t been involved with those particular situations. His minions weren¡¯t just from my world, though. There were plenty of humans mixed in, always doing stuff around New Bay.


    Maybe I could seek some out and take their magic stuff. Though I had the feeling Doomsday would have come up with some magical self-destruct methods too, if he could. Though I wasn¡¯t sure if people from my world would go for that normally, he could probably trade them things of great value. Most likely stolen, but other criminals wouldn¡¯t care.


    -----


    I hadn¡¯t gone over the full details of the magical phenomena I experienced with Calculator. It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t trust him, I just didn¡¯t have much to say about it. Anything he could tell me would also be speculation, so I just said another weird magic thing happened and I would keep him posted.


    But I did talk about it with Doctor Patenaude.


    ¡°I¡¯m just worried,¡± I said. ¡°What if I don¡¯t break magic?¡±


    It took him a bit to answer. ¡°I imagine nothing will happen if you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± I waved my arms about. ¡°And then what?¡±


    His sensory stalks undulated slowly. ¡°My understanding is that you are content with your life of magical mercenary work. Would continuing like that be a problem?¡±


    I hadn¡¯t thought it would be. Things were pretty exciting. But now I had a mystery to solve. ¡°I can¡¯t help but wonder if this is what everyone was hiding. Is hiding.¡±


    ¡°A long time mystery, perhaps?¡± Doctor Patenaude asked. ¡°It is certainly worth such consideration for a lifetime goal.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t really suspect any of this until I ended up here. A little more than a year ago, now. But they were hiding it from me my whole life, I just didn¡¯t know. Which is the point.¡±


    ¡°Recency does not make it less important to you,¡± Doctor Patenaude commented. ¡°But I believe you have some other reasons not to ¡®break¡¯ things.¡±


    That was true.


    ¡°It might not work and I could just hurt myself for no reason.¡±


    After all, I was just making assumptions about there being something to learn on the other side of this. Maybe I just got lucky for things to have worked at all.


    -----Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    From what I heard, nobody tried to steal Thanksgiving, but I did hear about something after the fact. I received a call from a rather distressed sounding Rositsa. ¡°Turn on the news!¡± she demanded.


    ¡°... It says that this year¡¯s pardoned turkey got hit by a drone. How unfortunate.¡±


    ¡°Not that!¡± she grumbled. ¡°The other news!¡±


    ¡°Cat saves cats caught in trees?¡± I wonder if Midnight knew he got on the news. It seemed he had made good use of Mage¡¯s Reach.


    ¡°No! Ugh, I¡¯ll just send you the link.¡±


    Ah. I could see how this might be relevant to Rositsa now. Vampire murders. I read the whole article just to be certain it was the vampires that had done the murders and not the other way around. It could have happened. ¡°This doesn¡¯t look great.¡±


    ¡°I know!¡± she said. ¡°They violated the rules of hospitality!¡±


    ¡°And killed people.¡±


    ¡°Well, yes. Obviously.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ should I be watching my back for vampires, or do you want me to do something about this?¡±


    ¡°You can find people, right?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Sometimes. If the circumstances are right. Do you think this is connected to the group from your world?¡±


    ¡°What else could it be?¡± Rositsa asked. ¡°The locals have learned to be more¡­ circumspect. At least when dealing with standard humans. Either way, we can¡¯t just allow them to ruin what little reputation my kind has in this world!¡±


    I took some time to think about it. Was there a way I could help out and get paid? I checked the articles to see if there was a reward listed. Nope, nothing there. Though there should be standard mercenary rewards for bringing in wanted criminals. Tying whoever we found to the actual problems might be the difficult part.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with helping,¡± I began. ¡°But while I can find people, they won¡¯t necessarily be connected.¡±


    ¡°... You can¡¯t draw upon the resonant power of spilled and consumed blood? The taint of broken hospitality?¡±


    I thought for a few moments. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure my magic doesn¡¯t work like that. But it sounds like yours does.¡±


    ¡°I am unable to perform much magic here,¡± Rositsa said.


    ¡°Why? Is it the sun?¡±


    ¡°Daylight does certainly weaken the efficacy of my abilities, but mainly I lack sufficient power. Since the only blood I have to call upon is my own.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Does only human blood work?¡±


    -----


    I wasn¡¯t going to volunteer my own blood for Rositsa¡¯s magic. That would be silly, because I needed to be clear headed for if and when we actually found people. That was why I had ordered a truck full of blood.


    Obviously it wasn¡¯t actually full. It just had a few five-gallon drums. According to Rositsa, the less fresh blood was, the less potency it had. So with some fresher pig¡¯s blood and some nearly expired human blood, she should have enough to function.


    The driver looked a bit confused to be showing up in a random residential neighborhood, but relaxed upon seeing several people in outfits. Rositsa was bundled up in cold weather gear so she wouldn¡¯t easily be recognized, but beyond her there were three others. We had Twirl, Punk Monk, and Bandage. Boom didn¡¯t even answer and the siblings didn¡¯t sound happy to go on a mission late at night. People should always be up for spontaneous missions. Frankly, I thought there was a lacking work ethic in the youth these days. The fact that some of them might be older than me wasn¡¯t important.


    Bandage picked up one of the barrels. She might have been a cleric, but she was quite sturdy. She yawned. ¡°What¡¯s even in these?¡±


    ¡°Blood,¡± I explained.


    ¡°Yeah, alright,¡± she shrugged.


    Punk Monk looked at the one she was carrying. ¡°What kind of blood?¡±


    ¡°Read the label.¡±


    She held it out. ¡°Mixed human blood. Hmm, it¡¯s expiring soon.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we can get it,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Otherwise it would be used for blood transfusions, or for responsible vampires.¡±


    Twirl was the smallest of the humanoids present, but he was still able to carry the nearly fifty pound container with ease. It would have been a bit embarrassing for the Brigade if he couldn¡¯t.


    Rositsa had one as well as we approached the house. ¡°Mixed? Do not people know how much that dilutes the potency?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I pointed out. ¡°None of this was put together for blood magic. Also, did you think we got this from a giant or something?¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± she shook her head. ¡°I would have at least expected it to be stored by blood type and resonant qualities.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been here long enough to know better.¡±


    I shifted my barrel to one arm, trying the handle. ¡°The door¡¯s locked.¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± Midnight said. ¡°This place was a crime scene. Did we-¡±


    Knock was a relatively low level spell. Three distinct sounds rang out, echoing down the street. ¡°Don¡¯t need the key,¡± I commented, turning the handle and stepping inside.


    Rositsa hesitated at the door, but ultimately stepped through. ¡°It is a shame to see a residence of this sort become this way.¡±


    Though she was slightly behind me upon entering, she ultimately led the way towards the dining room with confidence. There, we could see some chalk outlines and a whole bunch of yellow tape.


    ¡°I can feel it,¡± she said. ¡°We shall bring these into the adjoining kitchen.¡± When we did, she had everyone set down the barrels in a sort of star pattern. Then we popped open the tops. ¡°Mage. I am uncertain if your mana based abilities will be helpful, but I will gladly accept any assistance you can provide.¡±


    ¡°We should be able to do something,¡± I said. ¡°Enhance Mind should be a decent start. And what¡¯s the point of having Advanced Divination Magic if I can only do normal things?¡±


    Midnight had no comment on that. Neither did the others.


    They did comment on the blood beginning to flow out of the barrels onto the floor. It began to draw out complex symbols as Rositsa sat at the center. I could feel the power involved, but it was quite foreign to my own abilities. However, I still tried to give it a little push. My mana did something after the blood began to layer over itself- though strangely it wasn¡¯t coating the whole floor nor piling up, even though more than enough blood should have come from the barrels to coat the entire room.


    Not that there was an inconsequential amount of blood though. And I felt it begin to call out to the blood in the other room, bringing with it resentment. Personally, I thought it was more about the fact that the people were killed than some vampires breaking rules of hospitality, but this wasn¡¯t really my area of expertise.


    Blood began to swirl around Rositsa in a storm, almost as if it were trying to attack her. I just had to assume that everything was still going to plan.

 Chapter 323

    Swirling blood began to coalesce around Rositsa, combining with the magic I put into the whole situation to turn into towers rising from the landscape. Which was to say, a representation of New Bay as a whole. Dips in the skyline revealed some of the smaller buildings, including residential areas much like the one we were in now. With a differing perspective and without any color save that of blood, it was difficult to say for certain what area was represented, but deductive reasoning soon provided answers as the towers rose¡­ and disappeared.


    The blood continued to rise, revealing subterranean systems beneath the suburbs. Cramped sewer systems that expanded into layers of secret lairs, built up by generations of supervillains and never completely filled in by the city¡¯s infrastructure.


    The blood spilled outward, drawing us inward to a particular location before suddenly exploding outward all at once, coating the room- and all of us inside.


    Twirl seemed the most upset about that occurrence, followed by Midnight. Bandage just said ¡®gross¡¯, and Punk Monk barely even wiped her face.


    ¡°So¡­¡± I looked around. ¡°Was anyone recording that? Because I have no idea what we were looking at there.¡±


    ¡°I was able to divine a general direction,¡± Rositsa said as she stood, the blood on her body seemingly disappearing into her skin and clothes. Convenient. Midnight and I had to subtly use clean. Sadly, we couldn¡¯t duplicate the effects efficiently because we weren¡¯t being enhanced by the magic, it was just targeting areas. Thus, our Familiar Bond didn¡¯t allow us to share the effects.


    ¡°You have to clean us up too!¡± Twirl demanded when he spotted what was happening.


    I looked at Rositsa. ¡°Can you do something?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°Blood without remaining potency is not under my control. At best, I can handle what is around myself.¡±


    I thought she just didn¡¯t want to clean up other people, but I didn¡¯t actually know. So Midnight and I had to attempt some Multicasting, cleaning up most of people¡¯s faces and bare skin. Aiming five areas at once instead of just targeting people was rather difficult. At least Francois made great outfits that were water resistant and didn¡¯t easily stain with blood, so most of the blood rapidly dripped off of the other parts of us.


    ¡°So can you actually guide us?¡± I asked Rositsa.


    ¡°Yes. We merely need to find a sewer entrance.¡±


    ¡°Ugh,¡± Twirl said. ¡°I should have guessed that vampires-¡± he glanced at Rositsa. ¡°Villainous vampires would hide in the sewers. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have come.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense,¡± I said. ¡°None of the rest of us have silver rapiers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just renting this,¡± Twirl pointed out. ¡°You can just carry it.¡±


    ¡°Oh no,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re the one who knows how to use it properly. We need you.¡±


    Rositsa interrupted. ¡°Traces lead me this way,¡± she said, gesturing to a manhole cover.


    The vast majority of such covers didn¡¯t lead anywhere interesting. Usually, there was a small chamber where some portion of the sewer lines could be accessed, meant to be cleaned out by high pressure hoses. Unlike ancient cities where many sewers had to be accessible by people directly. But this one led to a wider sewer infrastructure, with the pipes carrying actual sewage running along the walls. The tunnel existed for accessibility for repairs.


    The downside of larger areas was that more monsters could fit. The upside was that it was easier to catch the various monsters that moved into the underground.


    Twirl was quite relieved that it was clean, until it was not. We found a number of small leaks that made certain sections quite unpleasant to traverse. As appropriate for any sewer traversal, these issues were reported to the city as we passed by. It was important to maintain a good relationship with the work crews, and while it meant more work for them, it also meant they would be able to head off the problems from such leaks persisting.


    Midnight wasn¡¯t happy. His nose was probably the best of us, though I wasn¡¯t certain about Rositsa. Either way, I could feel his discomfort as even with things mostly sealed there was still a noticeable stench. Beyond actual sewage, dirt and grime built up throughout the tunnels.


    Obviously the tunnels weren¡¯t made for someone as tall as I was, with most of us having to keep our backs bent or occasionally crouching to avoid hitting our heads on passing infrastructure. Midnight was gripping tightly to my shoulder so he wouldn¡¯t fall.


    ¡°Are we getting close?¡± Bandage asked Rositsa. ¡°Also, are the handful of us a good match for¡­ eight vampires?¡± she turned towards me.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know that they all live together,¡± I said.


    ¡°The size of the slain group was sufficient for all of those who were recorded passing through to have fed,¡± Rositsa commented. ¡°However, given the remnants it appears they were quite wasteful. The traces I can feel also indicate merely four or five individuals. We are merely here to scout out potential locations to begin with.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to take them out?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We may have to,¡± Rositsa said. ¡°But I am primarily interested in this case being resolved in the most efficient manner, and that means dealing with the whole group and not losing any friends in the process.¡±


    We walked in silence for a while. Eventually, Punk Monk spoke up. ¡°Is it weird for you that Twirl is carrying a weapon designed to kill vampires?¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Huh. So his moniker really was Twirl. Perhaps the simplicity helped me remember it.


    ¡°Not particularly,¡± Rositsa answered Punk Monk. ¡°Tell me, does it bother you to see other weapons?¡±


    ¡°Should it?¡± Punk Monk asked. ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯re specifically made to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they?¡± Rositsa asked. ¡°Because to my understanding, the majority of human weaponry including guns have been specifically designed to kill other humans. Except for a small portion of hunting implements which merely kill humans by happenstance.¡±


    ¡°I never thought about that,¡± Punk Monk admitted.


    ¡°Lingering traces of blood lead this way,¡± Rositsa said as we came to a corner. We continued onward¡­ but soon she stopped. ¡°And they end here.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Look at the walls,¡± Rositsa gestured. ¡°Someone has sanitized the area.¡± Indeed. They were almost sparkly clean. ¡°It even removed most of the scent. Perhaps they expected us to follow.¡±


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s that?¡± Bandage asked, pointing ahead of us. ¡°Some sort of floating wires?¡± she stepped forward, reaching her arm out.


    Indeed. Wires and other metal parts¡­ floating. I grabbed the collar of our cleric¡¯s outfit just about the time she stuck her hand into the thing in front of us, then yanked her backwards. Some people didn¡¯t have strong collars, but of course with Francois¡¯ work cloth wouldn¡¯t tear away so easily.


    Bandage screamed in pain and confusion, flailing her arm and breaking off a chunk of jelly-like substance, almost perfectly clear except for how the distorted edges now caught the light. The same was true of the thing in front of us that now had a small chunk missing. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± she yelled, staring at her arm. It wasn¡¯t really that bad, with only a little of the skin having been melted past the holes that had appeared in her gloves and sleeve.


    Twirl sprang into action, lowering his weapon and¡­ ¡°Where is it?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Right in front of us,¡± I said. ¡°Let¡¯s just slowly step away and strategize. I¡¯d suggest healing your arm right away,¡± I said to Bandage.


    She did so, using a basic recovery spell. It was nothing nearly as impressive as Regenerate, but her visible skin went from looking quite awful to merely raw and red. I walked calmly along as people scurried down the hallway. I kept glancing back to try to keep track of the thing, then realized I had a decent way.


    I cast Light, focusing on having it stick to the first thing. Fortunately, it wouldn¡¯t dissolve light magic as easily as clothing and flesh. Thus, the magic nebulously hung in the air as it ran into the creature.


    ¡°This explains why the walls were too clean,¡± I said.


    ¡°Is that¡­¡± Midnight paused for a moment. ¡°A gelatinous cube?¡±


    He¡¯d asked me to annotate some of the world-inspired material in this world, indicating which things were real or not- at least in my world. ¡°That¡¯s right. Though the name is a slight misnomer as they¡¯re not strictly cubes. They¡¯re more of a shape-filling amorphous mass.¡±


    ¡°Uh, but what is it?¡± Punk Monk asked, a good thirty feet away. The others also seemed quite questioning.


    ¡°Basically just a living glob of cohesive acid,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s not fast, but it will keep following us.¡±


    ¡°How do we kill it?¡± Bandage asked. ¡°Is it weak to holy magic?¡±


    ¡°Not at all,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s a bit expensive, but this seems like a perfect time for Blizzard. Once I freeze it, I want Punk Monk to shatter its outer layer.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± she agreed. I was pretty sure she had some other name, but she¡¯d agreed mine was good so I hadn¡¯t tried to stick to the other one. I did respect the group enough to try if they cared, though. ¡°As long as it won¡¯t melt my arm off.¡±


    ¡°Not when solid,¡± I confirmed. ¡°But for the sake of it, you should use my staff.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, isn¡¯t this made from some BS super tech wood? Seems awesome,¡± she nodded.


    ¡°Midnight,¡± I said. ¡°Split the cost with me for Blizzard.¡±


    Together we gathered a total of 13 mana, maximizing the power of the spell and generally flinging it down the corridor. The layers of ice on the surface made it even more clear where the thing began. The chunk that Bandage had accidentally ripped out- or rather that stuck to her arm- had already mostly filled in, but there was a slight divot.


    Punk Monk stepped forward and put her all into a Power Strike. Her natural physicality was amplified by magic imbued into her attack, and about six inches of ice and the surface of the ooze shattered. To hold its form, some level of magic was required to supplement the physical membrane. Without that, it simply glooped outward onto the floor. When flowing, the inner material was more obvious, and we moved about fifteen feet down the hallway before it fully stopped.


    ¡°... So how are we getting past that?¡± Bandage asked.


    ¡°We can fly,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But it might fade away?¡±


    ¡°In a few hours, it will just be a sticky mess,¡± I confirmed. ¡°But it would be faster to clean it up somehow. Unfortunately, we¡¯d need to use a good chunk of mana or have some sacrificial material. Anyone up for hauling some dirt or something?¡±


    ¡°Hey, Mage,¡± Midnight prompted my attention. ¡°You remember those metal bits in there?¡± Midnight had used Mage¡¯s Reach to grab some of them. ¡°Any of this look familiar?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°It could go to any sort of machine, couldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°The wires, sure, but this round central bit¡­ looks kind of familiar.¡±


    It suddenly melted into a pile of yellow goop as Midnight attempted to fiddle with it.


    ¡°Careful!¡± I called out.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Midnight said, flicking his paw. ¡°I believe that was a miniature fusion reactor. It simply melted into¡­ cheese.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± I said. Miniature fusion reactors. Cheese. ¡°One of Rodentia¡¯s rats?¡±


    ¡°I imagine so,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Rositsa said. ¡°I believe I hear something coming.¡± I looked down the dark hall. ¡°And see it.¡± My vision was a bit less clear in the full darkness, but a moment later I saw movement. ¡°The good news is we may have found sufficient material to clear out the remaining acidic residue.¡±


    ¡°And then some,¡± I agreed as the sound of clattering robotic rats began to reach my ears. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s retreat! At least far enough to let the residue melt the first wave.¡±


    Everyone knew that Rodentia probably had a base in the sewers. We might have accidentally stumbled onto it. Or a secondary or tertiary base, since any self-respecting supervillain wouldn¡¯t have just one. Either that, or they had to get good at establishing new ones without resources.

 Chapter 324

    Robo-rats chased after us, but they dove headfirst into the corrosive goop that was the remains of a gelatinous cube. The first wave was completely subsumed by the remains of the ooze, but the following waves climbed over the ones in front of them. We didn¡¯t stay to watch, but I assumed they¡¯d get past the whole thing in two or three bunches. Probably would have been better to try to focus them into a narrow line, though.


    ¡°You recognized that creature,¡± Rositsa commented as we rounded the bend in the sewers. ¡°Was it from your world?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, sure. Or one like it.¡±


    ¡°... Is that not worrisome?¡± Rositsa asked.


    I shook my head. ¡°Not really. Doctor Doomsday opened tons of portals, many of which were to my old world. We see things like that all the time. It¡¯s not like you and the others who came here through your own sacrifices. A thing could have easily slipped into the sewers and survived from one of the previous incidents.¡±


    Just in case, I paid attention to my magical senses. I wasn¡¯t really picking up anything but us, so there probably wasn¡¯t any sort of portal extremely nearby. Though I could vaguely sense the mass of rats because of the super tech that made them function.


    ¡°They¡¯re still coming,¡± I said. ¡°We can probably outrun them but they might just chase us out onto the streets. Let me try something. Everyone get ready to fight just in case it doesn¡¯t work.¡±


    Punk Monk readied herself- holding my staff at the ready. It was a mage¡¯s staff in only the broadest sense, having one magical ability. Other than that, it was mostly good for hitting things. Twirl looked at his rapier, doubtless thinking it inadequate for fighting against a swarm. Bandage wouldn¡¯t do much better either.


    It would have been good if I could set people on fire. In the good, defensive way of course. I could already do that the other way. But a Fire Shield would be quite useful right now.


    I kind of wanted to save these points for some experimentation after a level or two, but they kind of were for spending, and would still have enough to pick up any other things. Having encountered swarms more than a few times, it seemed worthwhile enough.


    ¡°Midnight. Fire Shield is a 10th rank spell. Prepare to split the cost for Multicasting if things go wrong. Targets will be all of us.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± he nodded from my shoulder. I normally wouldn¡¯t have to specify the targets, but if he presumed it placed a wall¡­ under my control it shouldn¡¯t have been an issue, but it was better to be clear.


    I very quickly purchased the spell as rats between a few inches and two feet in length began to round the corner en mass. ¡°Rodentia! We¡¯re not down here looking for you, so you can call off your rat army!¡±


    The rat army continued to charge towards us.


    ¡°Well, I tried,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Midnight, Fire Shield!¡±


    Saving points for situations like this was great. I gathered 15 mana- since it was a 10th rank spell, triple that would have been 30. Far more than I could gather alone. Fortunately, with Multicasting now having 5 upgrades it had gained an additional target. So first I would get Midnight and myself, then Rositsa, Punk Monk, Bandage, and finally Twirl. A total of five targets, with Midnight and myself still counting as one.


    Maybe it was because I used weird alterations to the spell the first time I used it, but it didn¡¯t feel good. Instead of casting the spell, I felt more like it was just sort of coming out of me. Given the circumstances I wasn¡¯t able to review that immediately.


    It worked, at least. Spheres of fire appeared around us- and I didn¡¯t get burnt by Midnight nor he by me. Perhaps I had been a bit too hasty with a heretofore unused spell, but it had all made sense at the time. Either way, Midnight¡¯s little sphere simply faded into me- like the rest of ours did with the ground and walls.


    Punk Monk leapt to the front and swept her borrowed staff. She managed to batter away a whole pack of robo-rats, but the fire did not extend along with the staff. It passed through harmlessly, but the fire only came into play when the robot rats got right up to her. The first ones leapt towards her from the swarm, passing into the fire as she twisted her body. It wasn¡¯t so strong that it immediately disintegrated them, but the smaller ones were fully collapsed and the others were staggering around.


    The damage was greater for those that charged along the ground and were inside the sphere for longer. Speaking of the spell, while it added an orangish hue over my vision and I could see where it ended, it didn¡¯t particularly interrupt my vision. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be used very often. Not that I was actually current on what spells people used commonly. I was at least a year out of date, and I¡¯d never really been aware of more than what my study materials said.


    Punk Monk¡¯s fast feet kept her from being chewed up by robo-rats that didn¡¯t care about silly things like self preservation, and Twirl was inspired by her efforts, taking a position that covered most of the rest of the hallway with the fire around him. He aimed the thrusts of his rapier at the larger specimens, stepping in and out of groups of rats to catch them on fire while keeping his feet safe.


    Given the sheer quantity of attackers, some slipped through the frontlines. Rositsa didn¡¯t seem particularly pleased with the fire around her, which I might have thought about, and she didn¡¯t seem to have any particularly useful methods for fighting robots. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Bandage had just finished applying Shield of Faith to most of us individually- the vampire excepted- and fearlessly waded into the flow slipping past our frontline. She didn¡¯t have any offensive spells that would be particularly good in this situation, but she did have a large truncheon. There hadn¡¯t been anything like a silver mace sitting around in storage, and such materials really worked if the weapon got inside someone through stabbing or cutting. Or sustained contact. So a truncheon it was. When we got to actual vampires she could add some holy magic to it.


    Maybe we should have gotten Punk Monk a silver spear or something, because I was having to kick the larger rats coming towards me. Midnight was making use of his Celmothian battle suit to zap the mass of rats, conserving mana.


    I didn¡¯t want to spend that much more on this battle either. If the tide of rats didn¡¯t let up, we might really have to run. I did cast Grease at the middle of the pack, hoping to slow them down. And when they got to the people with fire around them, they should be extra flammable. Good for stopping them before they actually bit anyone too much.


    We were all doing our best to stand around the most rats without actually letting them get close enough to chew on us. The fire magic could only work so quickly, and against opponents with no fear they would risk everything for a single scratch. Fortunately we had a couple layers of magic to help mitigate such damage before it actually got to us. Rositsa was far less worried about the rats than she was about the fire, so she was able to also try to move among them despite her misgivings.


    Our defenses were certainly being worn down a bit. The tide of rats did seem to be slowing down, though. Then I realized it was because they were building up into a sort of wall.


    A woman wearing a rat mask- Rodentia herself- stepped out behind them. ¡°Foolish heroes! You¡¯ll never find my lair! It might not even be near here!¡± Before I could respond, the woman¡¯s head turned as she scanned our setup. ¡°Your flaming defenses won¡¯t avail you now that I am here!¡±


    She turned a dial on her weapon- the cheese ray? Midnight shot a few bursts of lasers at her, but her adaptive rat shielding blocked them. It was impressive at how the swarms managed to sort of rise up to cover her.


    I ducked to the side as Rodentia aimed at me, but the beam of her weapon curved and struck me directly. So she wasn¡¯t just quick with her aim now but actively cheating. Was that what the dial did?


    My fire shield melted in front of me. A layer of goopy, whitish yellow cheese formed in its place as part of the magic just¡­ disappeared. The rest of the spell sort of filled in the empty space, but it felt¡­ thinner?


    ¡°How do you even have a counter for something you¡¯ve never seen before?¡± I complained.


    ¡°Foolish young man. Don¡¯t you know that a scientist must be prepared for any situation? They told me that a brie setting was impossible, but I¡¯ve proven them wrong!¡±


    Oh, it was brie. That made sense. As she began to shoot at the front lines, some of her rats rushed forward to eat the remains of our fire shield. It was seemingly about time to think about potential retreat options.


    She hadn¡¯t actually answered my questions, and I now had more. ¡°Who are you even talking to that they¡¯re telling you these things make no sense? Are you part of a villain league now?¡±


    It was unfortunate that she could talk and shoot at the same time, but I supposed that was an important skill for a villain to have. ¡°I¡¯m still independent. I was talking about my advisors.¡±


    ¡°Villain advisors?¡±


    ¡°Rat advisors, obviously!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nice. Did you make them?¡±


    Twirl had just discovered a movement pattern that caused the twisting beams to curve how he wanted to strike the wall. The wall just got a coating of some sort of chalky looking substance. It was less impressive than the normal cheese ray effects from this angle.


    ¡°I did make them. Who else could I trust but my own creations?¡± Rodentia shot at my head, negating about half of my remaining Fire Shield. ¡°Your defenses weaken! Prepare for your defeat! Take the vampire with you and stop hogging my sewers! Or someone¡¯s sewers, since my base isn¡¯t here. Also take the other ones!¡±


    ¡°Oh, you know where they are?¡± I asked. ¡°We¡¯re actually here to get rid of them. Rositsa¡¯s not the sewer dwelling variety.¡±


    ¡°Preposterous! She registers the same to my rat eyes.¡±


    ¡°Are those¡­ special?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Obviously they detect what sort of cheeses people have interacted with. By the way, you are quite lacking young man. I should expect better of someone with access to mercenary funds.¡±


    Rositsa took the opportunity to speak for herself. ¡°Just because I¡¯m from the same world doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re friends. Those guys are¡­¡± she frowned. ¡°The sort to kill dairy cows to get their milk. But I¡¯m for¡­ responsible ranching.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m for irresponsible fanching,¡± the villain turned up her nose. ¡°We should cover every square inch of the planet in dairy cows, and then take the opportunity to colonize other planets so we can have more. But I understand your point.¡± The swarm suddenly pulled back in an unnervingly synchronous way. The verbal command came a moment later, which confirmed some things. ¡°Rat swarm, pull back!¡± Rodentia pointed her cheese ray upward. Midnight got the picture, and stopped attempting to wear her down. ¡°Hmm. You may have sent your ooze to consume my minions and then melted thousands of them, but if you can help get rid of the vampires we can call that milk under the bridge. They¡¯ve been drawing far too much attention here.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t send the ooze either. It attacked us before your rat swarm did.¡±


    ¡°A likely story. Next you¡¯ll say my minions swarmed you first,¡± Rodentia chittered slightly.


    I shrugged. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you have recordings or something?¡± Maybe they had to be locally uploaded.


    She tilted her head. ¡°One moment,¡± the woman said. ¡°There¡¯s a message for me.¡±  In a truly disturbing display, some of her robotic rats shifted into a vague approximation of me, repeating the message I had yelled at them. ¡°Oh, you were here for the vampires. You should have just said so.¡±


    We did. Twice now at minimum.


    ¡°Listen, I have to go make sure my base is secure. A base that definitely isn¡¯t here. But I¡¯ll give you a map to find where those vampires are hanging out. I thought they would be fine since they only seem to drink blood, but they come and go at all hours of the night and they¡¯re constantly setting off my alarms. Which¡­ extend all throughout the sewers. And not just here. Because my base is elsewhere.¡±


    Rodentia was either a very bad liar, or an excellent one. I¡¯d let someone else figure that out later. ¡°Great. Where are those guys?¡± I asked. ¡°We¡¯ll stop disturbing your wide ranging sensors and be on our way.¡±

 Chapter 325

    I don¡¯t know why I expected Rodentia¡¯s map to not be formed out of a rat display screen. The good thing was that we could take a picture, and the way the rats formed it made it a very good three dimensional map. But it was kind of lacking a certain aesthetic. Like, anything that made sense. And the smaller details were blurred by whiskers and tails.


    But we did know where the vampires had been spotted, and we also knew where there was a conspicuous empty spot on the map. I said nothing about it. We didn¡¯t know the full extent of what the sensors might pick up. I only made a report that we were approaching the projected location of some villainous vampires when we were on our approach.


    ¡°Should we expect traps?¡± I asked Rositsa. ¡°Like blood magic circles or something?¡±


    ¡°If there are any I will be able to sense them,¡± she said.


    ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll have advance warning of our approach?¡± I asked. Maybe I should have asked to study her form of magic. Just to understand it, obviously. I doubted I would be able to use it even if I wanted to.


    Rositsa pondered my question for a few moments. ¡°They will likely be able to sense us coming, but not much further out than visual or hearing range.¡±


    ¡°Would it be more difficult for them to sense someone small?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Small and non-humanoid, even,¡± Midnight expanded my question.


    ¡°Certainly,¡± Rositsa agreed. ¡°Though your scent might still give you away.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Midnight said. I couldn¡¯t really sense anything happening, though I tended to associate the particular way he did nothing visibly with manipulating his suit. It wasn¡¯t even super tech but just actual advanced technology, so my supernatural senses couldn¡¯t pick anything out.  ¡°What about now?¡±


    Rositsa sniffed. ¡°I certainly could not pick you out among others. Your presence might still be noted individually, but at a lesser distance.¡±


    ¡°Good enough,¡± Midnight said, hopping down from my shoulder to my outstretched forearm, then to the ground. ¡°I will go ahead.¡±


    Midnight didn¡¯t have to ask me to monitor his condition. We wouldn¡¯t be far anyway, according to our rudimentary super-tech map. Maybe a few hundred feet of tunnels after all the bending and twisting.


    ¡°Before anything else,¡± I spoke to the team, including Midnight through our comms. ¡°We need to confirm we ended up with the correct vampires. I trust Rositsa¡¯s magic, but the city would prefer we capture them all if possible.¡± I looked to Rositsa. ¡°They won¡¯t be turning into mist, will they?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. It is a cowardly feature for those unfit to call themselves vampires.¡± She frowned. ¡°Is it rude to insult people from your world in such a manner?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d just like confirmation that they can¡¯t have such abilities.¡±


    ¡°Not if they are from my world, and that part is a certainty with the resonant magic at the scene of the incident.¡±


    ¡°Good. That ability is annoying.¡±


    Rositsa nodded, having experienced battle with some vampires like that a while back.


    Midnight didn¡¯t show any signs of concern as he moved further away from me, taking advantage of his catlike stealth¡­ and of course amplifying technology with scent concealment and camouflage features.


    We stopped our approach a bit closer, and a few minutes later Midnight returned to us with a report.


    ¡°I spotted four of them,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°They appeared to be heading towards an exit¡­¡±


    ¡°So no waiting for midday with a prepared team to pick them up, then,¡± I commented. ¡°We¡¯ll have to catch them.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t seem to be in a hurry,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But I suggest a quick pace.¡±


    Our feet echoed on the concrete of the sewer access tunnels.


    ¡°I can smell them ahead,¡± Rositsa said. ¡°Their sins linger strongly around them.¡±


    ¡°We still need to capture them alive,¡± I reminded her. The last time she fought another vampire, she ripped out his blood. So I was hoping she could do that a bit less.


    I pulled out a couple pairs of handcuffs from Storage so they would be ready. ¡°Midnight, we¡¯re splitting Multi-Haste.¡± I instructed.


    We¡¯d already briefed the group on most of the known abilities. Blood control, bat transformations, that sort of thing. I wasn¡¯t a fan of the whole blood control thing, but Rositsa assured me that it would take a powerful individual or a group to manage what I experienced, unable to move.


    All of us were instantly faster as we followed Rositsa¡¯s lead. It only took us a few moments to round a final corner, finding the group approaching a ladder. They turned as we approached, no doubt hearing or smelling us. We didn¡¯t have any light to give us away as people had been prepared with night vision if they didn¡¯t naturally have it, but as a group we weren¡¯t particularly stealthy beyond that.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    The first thing I did was fling Light at them all. I shot five orbs of light, two of which hit one of their members and one which stuck to another. The remaining two landed on the tunnel around them.


    Even startled in that manner, most of them stood ready to fight- but one turned to run. They were fast, which would have been a serious problem without Haste, but as things were we remained ahead.


    Twirl slashed at two of them as he slipped past, chasing the fleeing target. Blood flowed freely from their arms where he¡¯d cut them, but hopefully the silvered weapon would be useful in convincing them to surrender instead of fighting.


    One of those in front reached out towards Punk Monk who was charging forward, and she stopped- for a single moment. Then she activated the dispelling abilities of my staff. I might have been jealous she could do that if I hadn¡¯t learned to do the same independently. Having mana stored in an item was nice, though.


    The grip on her blood broken, Punk Monk lunged forward and cracked the guy¡¯s ribs, before proceeding to sweep the legs beneath all three of them. Bandage and I arrived just about that point, and I grabbed one about the time she was trying to turn into a giant bat.


    I heard a screech from Rositsa that registered as words. ¡°Surrender your lives to face justice for blood wrongly taken!¡±


    Personally, that made it sound like we were killing them either way. She wasn¡¯t particularly familiar with Haste, however, so her words were likely blurred.


    Jaws clamped around my forearm, cracking my Force Armor. That was all that she could do transformed? I wasn¡¯t impressed by this lady I was wrestling. I managed to put one cuff around the end of a wing. Interestingly she did not begin to transform back, but I supposed natural shapeshifting wouldn¡¯t work that way. It was only magical during the process. The power suppression on the cuffs wasn¡¯t instant anyway.


    Ultimately that made things harder for her as I twisted her wings behind her back so that I could get the other side of the handcuff in place. Fortunately they were meant for adjusting to pretty much any shape, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about anything else. She continued to writhe around as the power suppression fully took hold, turning the vampire into at most a pretty strong and pretty big bat.


    We ended up with a numerical advantage since there weren¡¯t all eight of the theoretical individuals present, which allowed Midnight and Twirl to take down the fleeing individual. Bandage didn¡¯t even have to use any magic as she helped Punk Monk take down another. Rositsa was holding the last one against the wall, and it seemed like he even had most of his blood still inside him.


    Soon enough we had cuffs on everyone, and I couldn¡¯t help but think it seemed strangely easy. Why did they even send so many angels after a group like this? Even if the angels were kind of individually lacking, they probably weren¡¯t any weaker than these guys.


    -----


    Interrogations weren¡¯t my job, so after the vampires were taken away by the Brigade the matter was out of my hands for the moment.


    ¡°Thank you for your assistance,¡± Rositsa said. ¡°It is my hope that we will soon capture the rest of them and allow my honor to be restored.¡±


    ¡°Did this really harm your honor?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I am known to Extradimensional Affairs as a representative of my people. I hope that they will recognize that we are not all like this.¡±


    ¡°They already get that,¡± I pointed out. ¡°The angels from your world are jerks. Anyway, will the interrogation be easy? Since you guys can¡¯t lie. Or can you just say nothing?¡±


    ¡°They might be stubborn,¡± Rositsa said. ¡°But if Malaliel is present, I think they will be more concerned for their own lives than silence.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯d just kill captives,¡± I shook my head. People giving false surrender was one thing, but Extra probably wouldn¡¯t appreciate it.


    Rositsa shook her head. ¡°They don¡¯t know that, though. They will assume certain things based on the information they have about angels.¡±


    ¡°Good point. Anyway, I should probably head to bed. I try to keep a vaguely normal sleep schedule. If we learn more things about the situation, I¡¯ll help you clean up this whole thing.¡±


    ¡°Thank you once more,¡± Rositsa said. ¡°I appreciate your friendship.¡±


    -----


    In the morning, I had a message from Calculator. It contained a picture and a series of messages.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    What does this look like to you?


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Following was a picture of a familiar place. The inside of a kitchen.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Some might say ¡®a crime scene¡¯. All the blood would certainly indicate that. But it happens to be next to an actual crime scene.


    Municipal police will be far less pleased to work with us if we leave things this way in the future.


    Got it


    I¡¯ll have Rositsa clean up next time


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Calculator might not appreciate that response, but he hadn¡¯t tagged anything as urgent so he probably wasn¡¯t actually mad. Just the standard level of annoyed supervisor he usually displayed.


    Overall the assessment of the vampire hunting expedition was at a neutral rating. Our objectives were successfully accomplished without excessive cost or harm to personnel, but there were a few things that weren¡¯t optimal.


    For example, we had come prepared with restraints for capture but not another set of nonlethal weaponry suited for the situation. Combat coordination was fine, but it might not have been if Rositsa wasn¡¯t able to partially counter the enemies control of blood. I wasn¡¯t sure that there was something in particular I could have done about that. Would Physical Freedom work? That would be useful to consult with Rositsa on. And her version of blood magic in general. It didn¡¯t seem that we had caught the most powerful of the bunch who came through, so being prepared for that could be useful.


    I did know I could use magic even when my blood was being controlled, though. Dispel should probably do something about that, or attacking whoever was doing it. But that might not be the most dangerous ability they had, even if it was of direct concern.


    But Rositsa had a nocturnal schedule and was trying to hold down a normal job. Thus, she couldn¡¯t randomly take too many days off to speak to me. She might be willing to give recorded lessons, but it was more difficult to take in information when I couldn¡¯t ask questions. I would also miss out on what things felt like, which would be helpful in case I needed to react to them later.


    As for actually learning blood magic, even if I wanted to I suspected I couldn¡¯t. It would probably be like trying to learn druid or cleric spells. Or to replicate any other power that fit vaguely into the category of ¡®magic¡¯. I simply couldn¡¯t see that working.


    Blood also seemed like a pretty inefficient power source compared to mana, unless I happened to have a bunch of spare blood around from enemies or something. I didn¡¯t have so much of the stuff myself that I was willing to just give it up.

 Chapter 326

    There were about a million things I was waiting for some sort of update on. Anything important from Sir Kalman in my old world, or hopefully some contact with trusted mages. The situation with the batch of vampires we¡¯d just begun to deal with. The world with magical girls I was just going to have to call Earth II. All of the stuff involving Bunvorixians and both Earth and Celmoth. Maybe something with Rodentia considering we might have sort of found one of her lairs- though I wouldn¡¯t necessarily be involved if something came up.


    And I also had a lot of tests I had to do with magic. I was still less than halfway from level 41 to 42. I could feel my progress vaguely slowing, as I needed to face more powerful villains to maintain even the same level of daily experience. Such opportunities didn¡¯t simply show up every day.


    Technically I could begin investing in a single spell now if I wanted to test what large quantities of points accomplished. But there were other things I¡¯d not yet tried since Rositsa¡¯s call had slightly interrupted my schedule.


    I wasn¡¯t planning to try to push myself into what I had determined to be negative mana again. Long term side effects weren¡¯t certain yet. However, following that some spells had felt weird- like my use of Fire Shield. I didn¡¯t know how else to describe it. So I was going to test it. Casting every spell I knew even once was just about two hundred points of mana, and that was ignoring the different forms of the combined spells.


    Given my base mana capacity, I needed twelve hours of regeneration. It would be more than a full day¡¯s work, though I could shorten that with active mana recovery. That would also help train Mana Manipulation, hopefully.


    With no better idea for how to start, I began at the top. Storage, which I used frequently and Midnight used all the time, was immediately off putting when I used it. It could have been my imagination, but I didn¡¯t really feel like I was in full control of what I was doing. But maybe that was normal, since spells usually just worked.


    Firebolt was worse, maybe. Shocking Grasp, which I had used quite frequently, felt a bit better. Maybe it was just a matter of practice? I never really tried to be good at Storage. Was there a difference between storing five or more pounds of stuff and storing that same amount of stuff well? Was there good Storage aside from how it became more efficient and powerful with upgrades?


    The next spell confused me. Grease had the least number of upgrades of everything I had used so far, but it felt the most like I was in control. I used it frequently, but not every day multiple times per day like Force Armor. Which also didn¡¯t feel quite right.


    Nothing exactly felt bad. I wasn¡¯t straining to cast the spells. I just didn¡¯t always feel like I was controlling them as well as I would like. But nothing had any fewer than five upgrades, which indicated a certain level of mastery. After Force Armor came Mage¡¯s Reach, which was pretty fine.


    Translation was¡­ definitely firmly under my control. I could doubtless tell it not to translate my speech or incoming words, or alternatively I could actively boost translation of something new. But was that actually more flexible than anything else on the list before it? I didn¡¯t think so. The difference was there, but it was just beyond the edge of my understanding.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it,¡± I told Midnight. He was casting along with me, though his total pool was lower so either I would get ahead of him or we¡¯d just be relying on regeneration at some point.


    ¡°I don¡¯t either,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I can feel your emotions about it, but I don¡¯t feel whatever you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Is it a problem with me?¡±


    Midnight shook his head. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t jump straight to saying it¡¯s a problem. You¡¯re just more magically sensitive. And the actual one with the class.¡±


    ¡°We need a third party,¡± I said. I texted Jerome, to have him try out some things. Haralamb, too. With Bolster, we had four mages to experiment with.


    Our portal power trainee was the only one I could interact with in person, so we got her feedback first. ¡°Everything seems fine? I¡¯m definitely in control. I¡¯m more in control of the things I¡¯ve trained with more, obviously. Like Enhance. Haste is up there, but I¡¯ve been trying not to rely too heavily on that one. I¡¯m not really feeling whatever it is you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    Unfortunately, I was the mage with the most experience so this didn¡¯t really prove anything. As I envied Bolster¡¯s ability to get experience just from using her magic, I continued my tests. She agreed that going through all of her spells was a valuable thing to do every once in a while, so Bolster continued to do the same.


    Haste- or Alter Time Flow- was one of my most upgraded spells and didn¡¯t feel like it was as controlled as I wanted. It was my first combined spell on the list, and I thought whatever sort of mastery that demonstrated should have meant something more, but apparently not. The weird part was that I could easily control the amount of mana I used and the boost, so whatever my brain was telling me was a lack of control simply didn¡¯t make sense.


    Having spent some extra mana messing around with that particular spell, I was closer to matched with Midnight¡¯s mana capacity. Since casting a spell took several orders of magnitude less time than recovering the mana necessary, we weren¡¯t in any rush. Thus, I carefully observed Midnight¡¯s uses of magic as well. From the outside, I couldn¡¯t get any feelings and just as he noted about me, our connection didn¡¯t really transmit the feeling.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    I barely even used Disguise, but it felt a bit more natural than everything else. Familiar Bond wasn¡¯t something I could use actively, so that was difficult to test aside from merely having Midnight present. Size Shift was surprisingly ¡®good¡¯.


    I continued down the list until I hit Water Breathing. I had to think the most about that spell, but casting it placed another strong weight on a theory that was developing. I didn¡¯t want to jump the gun, however, and carefully took notes.


    When I got to Water Blast, I was pretty much certain. There were a couple things that I didn¡¯t test because it was impractical- including Alter Portal, since we didn¡¯t have a ton just sitting around. Multicasting and Assistive Familiar Casting were used with cheap spells for the sake of science! Or magic or whatever.


    I took in everyone¡¯s assessments before asking the final questions.


    ¡°Everything feels like I¡¯m completely in control,¡± Bolster said. ¡°That¡¯s what all this training is for, right?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± I agreed. I merely wondered if we had the same internal definition of control.


    Setting aside Midnight whose answers were by definition my own answers, I asked for one final set of data. It wouldn¡¯t cost anyone any mana, so it was pretty easy.


    Jerome had reported similar things to Bolster, and when I looked at the upgrades everyone had I got my answer. Maybe not a completely useful or correct answer, but something I had suspected was relatively confirmed.


    The sample size might be too small to say for sure, but at least personally I could say I felt more in control of spells with greater natural upgrades. Or perhaps control wasn¡¯t even the correct word. After all, spells didn¡¯t tend to do things I didn¡¯t want them to, and that was even more true with overall level up upgrades.


    ¡°What¡¯s the word¡­¡± I muttered to myself. ¡°Automatic.¡±


    That was my ultimate feeling about things. When I had more upgrades from points, things felt more automatic. I had the control, but it was more like I picked the settings and it happened. Using a spell that leaned more towards natural upgrades was more interactive and thus in a way more difficult. But that difficulty brought something with it. Whether it was something good or if it just existed was unclear.


    I shared my speculations with the others. Bolster just shrugged. ¡°Do you think I shouldn¡¯t spend my points?¡±


    ¡°Automatic isn¡¯t bad,¡± I said. ¡°Probably. It¡¯s good to have reliability.¡±


    Alter Portal wasn¡¯t a spell I had purchased with points, just a thing I learned to do. Because of that, it only had natural upgrades. Was that why I was able to push it beyond all reasonable levels? Beyond safe levels? I certainly couldn¡¯t help but think it was connected.


    It was dangerous, but also not. Bolster and the others were training and would pick up a bunch of natural upgrades, but they would also get used to only pushing to a specific limit. I might need to emphasize that now with the potential dangers, but other than that it didn¡¯t really matter. Jerome certainly practiced, but he wasn¡¯t terribly likely to end up in a perilous situation where he had to cast anything in a rush.


    This phenomenon wasn¡¯t necessarily limited to mages, so aside from Jerome and the portal power trainees I needed to contact Sir Kalman and of course Ceira and Izzy.


    Why didn¡¯t anyone say anything about this? I had some ideas. I didn¡¯t like them at all. Considering the potential danger, I could for example come up with excuses to not let people unlock their full abilities because of potential danger. If people only used magic automatically, they would be safe.


    Except that was garbage. People still needed to be trained to understand the spells they had. Teaching them to not go beyond certain limits set in place wouldn¡¯t be that unreasonable of an addition. They could add ¡®don¡¯t try to use more mana than a spell is supposed to support or than your pool is supposed to have¡¯ to the list of things like ¡®don¡¯t use Firebolt in a library ever¡¯. The latter was so obvious I didn¡¯t know why anyone even needed to hear it, but apparently some people did.


    If secrets were kept to protect people, then what about those who stumbled through a portal and the risks we bore? Alright, so it took a significant amount of time to get to a level where anything had actually happened, and a particularly overbalanced ability. Before that, my fatigue limit had always worked. And running out of mana. The worst thing I could have reasonably expected would be hitting my head when I passed out. Technically, that was a serious concern, but I knew how to deal with such things.


    Midnight remained by my side as I pondered. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty big revelation, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I agreed. ¡°I liked it more when magic was safe.¡±


    We sat in silence for a few moments.


    Midnight flicked me with his tail. ¡°There¡¯s no way that¡¯s actually true, is it?¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I liked it when other people were safe,¡± I corrected myself. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what to do with this. I mean, aside from nothing. If it wasn¡¯t for you I might screw around with this stuff, but I could really mess things up for you.¡±


    Midnight rolled his eyes. ¡°I like it when you are safe. So if you¡¯re only being that way for me¡­ I guess it¡¯s acceptable. Don¡¯t forget about your other friends though.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s totally normal to want to improve yourself,¡± I said. ¡°Nobody gets upset with athletes when they get hurt.¡±


    ¡°... Do you know anything about sports?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Because lots of people get upset. Friends, family, fans¡­ financials?¡±


    ¡°You can just say coaches and team owners. It didn¡¯t have to be alliterative.¡±


    ¡°It was going so well, though,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Anyway, being careful with magic is just as important as taking care of your own body. So I¡¯d like an official agreement that you¡¯ll not screw around with this stuff. Even if you get really curious.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± I agreed. ¡°I won¡¯t push myself beyond the accepted limits of magic.¡± I paused. ¡°These accepted limits of magic.¡±


    ¡°Or anything else that hurts you,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡±


    What a good friend. Everyone should get their own Cat Buddy, even if said buddy wasn¡¯t actually a cat.

 Chapter 327

    If I wanted to get good at space magic- a goal I had specifically because things I felt should have fused together didn¡¯t- then I had to really practice it starting with the basics.


    I could transfer things into or out of Storage a hundred times in an intense training session, but I don¡¯t think that meant anything. It wasn¡¯t difficult. Could I even get better at it? I already had a total of 10 upgrades, which wasn¡¯t necessarily the limit but training wasn¡¯t good without difficulty.


    ¡°Is it more difficult to transfer heavier objects?¡± I pondered, looking to Midnight for advice. He certainly used Storage more frequently than I did.


    ¡°Everything is about the same,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Is that so? What¡¯s actually the largest thing you¡¯ve tried to store?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Midnight took a moment to think. ¡°A pile of energy drinks for that speedster, Sprint? Actually, that took me a couple uses to put in since I couldn¡¯t really touch it all, but pulling it all out was easy.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that kind of just works up to the limit,¡± I nodded. ¡°We should try single large weights.¡±


    For that, I took a short trip down a level to the gym. There, I found Meztli supervising as usual.


    ¡°Hey, can I borrow a bench press bar?¡± That wasn¡¯t quite the limit of Storage, but it was close enough.


    She frowned. ¡°What for? They¡¯re not very durable, and it¡¯s better for any exercise to be supervised.¡±


    ¡°Power testing. And not the destructive kind.¡± Unless something went very wrong, anyway.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll mark it down,¡± Meztli said. ¡°Make sure to return it at some point. Or at least let me know it won¡¯t be coming back.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to leave it taking up space forever,¡± I said. ¡°Should be back later today.¡±


    Power usage was restricted in the gym, though obviously not completely. Some people needed to exercise with their powers. There were different sections scaling from light to heavy, which was generally also how much power usage should be involved. Though there was a telekinetic training in the light section¡­ just with a whole lot of individual weights.


    ¡°Oh, Grasp,¡± I greeted her once I saw she looked over at me. I hadn¡¯t wanted to interrupt her concentration. ¡°Good to see you.¡±


    ¡°And you as well mage,¡± she said. There was a few meter area marked off around her, and she was slowly moving different weights in different directions without looking at any of it. It was a combination of things from five to ten pounds, maybe twenty or so dumbbells in total. ¡°Here for conditioning?¡±


    ¡°Not this afternoon. It¡¯s time for power training.¡±


    ¡°Oh, using those floating hands?¡±


    ¡°Actually, those pretty much replicate my own strength.¡±


    ¡°... How odd.¡±


    It was a bit odd, now that I thought about it. Normally my magic was entirely separate from my body- ignoring the spells that enhanced my body. I added that to the list. That deserved some investigation.


    I grabbed a barbell from one end, then realized it wouldn¡¯t quite fit in storage. Ah, whatever. It was only 2 points to expand the capacity and that was way simpler than carrying around magic tomes or my ammunition or just carrying the barbell through the halls and then dumping the stuff out in the training room. 2 points for 5 more pounds of storage capacity. That seemed like a significant quantity.


    The barbell was stubborn about going into storage, forcing me to use a whole point of mana just to be certain. That was already a valuable piece of information. The weight should have been fine, but I hadn¡¯t tested the limits on wide objects. Maybe it was some combination of both. My staff was just about the same size, but far lighter.


    I found Midnight sitting among a large pile of stuff. There were tuna cans, but also bottles of water and other emergency supplies. It seemed that he had branched out. I explained what I¡¯d just determined earlier.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never really tried to store any single thing with so much mass,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°So that might be it.¡±


    The two of us began to experiment, repeatedly using the magic. Storage had already been overbalanced towards point upgrades, and having spent one more I didn¡¯t have that feeling of control. But I did have control, and I¡¯d been able to manipulate spells plenty already. That feeling still didn¡¯t seem to be precisely accurate. Maybe there was another word that would fit better than ¡®control¡¯, but I still didn¡¯t know it.


    Midnight and I discovered something when it was his turn- which really meant he discovered it, I suppose. I had taken out the barbell and left it on the ground, and Midnight placed a paw on it. However, he couldn¡¯t store it. ¡°I¡¯m using a full point of mana,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It just won¡¯t go through.¡±


    ¡°... Is it stuck to the floor somehow?¡±


    Midnight pushed on it, and the barbell rolled very slightly. His other paw came down on top of the barbell a moment before it disappeared. ¡°Well that¡¯s a suspicious circumstance.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s taking it out feel?¡± I asked.


    The barbell clanged to the floor beside him a moment later. ¡°Pretty easy,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°... Why beside you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t want to risk dropping it on my toes,¡± Midnight explained. That made a lot of sense.


    ¡°My turn.¡± I picked up the barbell, holding it in front of me with two hands. I began to gather mana, and before I reached a full point the spell slipped away from me and it disappeared. ¡°Weird. It was just more difficult than that.¡± We hadn¡¯t randomly gotten a natural upgrade in that time- I checked. ¡°What do you think, buddy?¡±


    As usual, he was quite insightful. ¡°It¡¯s about holding it, right? Whether you actually have it?¡±


    ¡°Good call,¡± I said. The first time, I¡¯d sort of been dangling the barbell. Having it steady in two hands certainly felt better. Feeling cautious about my toes as well, I released the barbell onto the ground next to me. Or at least, I tried to. It took that last bit to make it out. ¡°Weird. That was a bit harder. Taking it out.¡± I paused for a second. ¡°Was that because it was in my hands before?¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s find out,¡± Midnight said, flopping forward onto the bar, his head and neck just sort of dangling over it. The barbell pretty easily disappeared into Storage. I could tell Midnight hadn¡¯t gathered a full point. ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t exactly call that particularly more in my possession.¡±


    ¡°But you also don¡¯t really hold things with your paws,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Can you crouch down?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°I don¡¯t want to squish my paws, but if I do I want you to lift the bar, okay?¡±


    I nodded, moving closer to help him just in case whatever he tried went wrong.


    I felt him gathering mana, but he stopped before going beyond the natural limit. He didn¡¯t continue to gather, but sort of waited around like that for a few seconds before the bar appeared just below him- between his legs the long way. It clanged to the ground loudly.


    What had he been trying to do? I couldn¡¯t tell that. ¡°Does waiting save effort?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no,¡± Midnight shook his head. ¡°It only appeared that way. I was actually adjusting where it would come out, you see. Once it hit a point that fit the amount of mana spent, it did. I wanted it to be all the way on the floor, you see, but it only worked when it was right beneath me.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just do that though?¡±


    ¡°It was right next to me,¡± Midnight explained. ¡°This was supposed to be between my paws with a bit of a gap there.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I said.


    Since I was already crouched down, I tested a weird way of picking up the bar. Or rather, I didn¡¯t pick it up but just placed my forearm along it. It happily went into storage. ¡°Right, so. Greater physical contact works quite well.¡±


    That was useful to know. Releasing the barbell in front of my feet, basically touching my shoes, was easier than beside my foot. Because of the multiple points of contact, or because it was actually touching instead of just nearby and next to me?


    Having a cheap spell was great for testing, and the best part was that Storage wasn¡¯t exactly weak. It just wasn¡¯t any good offensively. ¡°Ooh, I have so many ideas.¡±


    ¡°What kind?¡±


    ¡°The kind that needs a target dummy,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, so not about Storage,¡± Midnight said. ¡°You should save that for later.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t get it. The kind that needs Storage and a target dummy.¡±


    ¡°... Are you going to try to drop the barbell on the dummy?¡± He got it. ¡°Inside an extradimensional space?¡± Midnight was ten steps ahead of me.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ probably not useful. But we absolutely have to test that. Let me go grab one, and we can do both of our tests.¡±


    We pretty quickly went through a few things after I got back. I ultimately had to dump out everything in storage so that the target dummy- a fairly light one- and the barbell could fit. Unsurprisingly, nothing ¡®dropped¡¯ inside storage, even trying to make that the case.


    ¡°Probably for the best,¡± I admitted. ¡°Otherwise I would have accidentally squashed my books by now. Or set off my gun.¡±


    ¡°Better to not,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°Now what?¡±


    ¡°Mage¡¯s Reach,¡± I said.


    Storing the barbell was about the same- as long as we weren¡¯t outside the soft distance limitation. More contact was better, which was often just a firm grip- though pressing the hand around it along the length just kind of worked the same. Additional points of contact didn¡¯t seem as important as total area or security.


    But picking things up with Mage¡¯s Reach wasn¡¯t as exciting as dropping them. But dropping them wasn¡¯t as precise. I probably shouldn¡¯t have started as high as I did. Midnight and I were well outside of the drop zone, but the dummy was perfectly unharmed as the barbell crashed into the ground.


    They were totally sturdy enough to suffer no harm from that¡­ at any height a person could normally drop them.


    ¡°... It¡¯s a bit bent, isn¡¯t it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. It happens,¡± Midnight said.


    That was true. But I had promised Meztli no destructive training. Well, sort of. She had mentioned at least bringing up if it needed to be replaced, so she wouldn¡¯t be entirely surprised.


    Midnight and I had used only a small portion of our mana so far. Storage was great. And a really heavy thing plus Mage¡¯s Reach plus dropping it? That had serious potential to¡­ break things we didn¡¯t want to. But maybe I could get something better at dropping precisely.


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯d get experience for it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°... I doubt we¡¯d be able to get anyone willing to let you drop that on their head,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Not that you haven¡¯t already trained with.¡±


    ¡°Durable people are the best.¡±


    Unfortunately, that meant that minor things likely wouldn''t grant experience, so it would be more difficult to test.


    ¡°Oh,¡± I said. ¡°I do have one other idea how to use it in battle. It might even give experience.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Taking things other people are holding.¡±


    ¡°... I thought you said that was impossible?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve said a lot of things,¡± I admitted. ¡°Sometimes, I¡¯m wrong.¡±


    We had Midnight lay down on the barbell, and I managed to store it. Even with two hands on it, however, it cost about as much mana as it reasonably could.


    ¡°It might be because I wasn¡¯t actually in possession of it,¡± Midnight suggested.


    So I held the barbell firmly, while Midnight jumped on it. Yeah, he could have used Mage¡¯s Reach, but dangling over it was funnier. And when he fell to the ground after storing it, it was still funny. He landed on his feet, obviously. On both his feet and my feet, in fact.


    He stepped back. ¡°That was pretty difficult. But there¡¯s one issue.¡±


    ¡°Our bond?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get someone,¡± I said.


    -----


    ¡°So you want me to¡­ hold a barbell,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°Usually I expect something more exciting from your training. You didn¡¯t really need to seek me out.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t going to tell her she was the first person I ran into. ¡°I know it¡¯s not glamorous, but it should be helpful. You have a strong grip.¡± Actually, I could think of some things she¡¯d be particularly good at already. ¡°Just hold that firmly. Try not to bend it more.¡±


    ¡°Aw, crap. Did I do that?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it was already like that,¡± I said.


    ¡°Did you do that? I know you¡¯re pretty strong, but¡­¡±


    ¡°I dropped it from thirty feet up,¡± I explained. ¡°Now keep that grip,¡± I said, reaching out.


    It didn¡¯t work, perhaps because she had strong powers or because she was actively trying to stop me from taking it. Even at a full point of mana, it just didn¡¯t work. So I gave it a tug.


    Obviously I couldn¡¯t actually yank it out of Great Girl¡¯s grasp. She was probably stronger than me at her natural size, and she was never her natural size. But I could slightly loosen her grip. Or her resolve. Maybe if that was shaken¡­


    I tried to pry a couple of her fingers off. Then my mana finally had enough of sitting around trying to be used and fizzled out. ¡°Too bad. That didn¡¯t work.¡±


    ¡°What were you trying to do anyway?¡±


    ¡°Use Storage to take it.¡±


    ¡°That only works on unattended objects.¡±


    ¡°Well, Midnight took it from me,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°That¡¯s a cantrip, right?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°It would be pretty unbalanced if it could just do that.¡±


    ¡°The lowest tier of spells, yes,¡± I agreed. ¡°With 11 upgrades, though.¡±


    I was about ready to give up on that, when Midnight suggested something pretty obvious. ¡°Now try with something smaller. And lighter.¡±


    So we did. We tried so many things, fortunately at minimal costs per attempt.

 Chapter 328

    When I mentioned to Midnight it would be a lot easier to use Storage on random objects, Midnight looked at me oddly. ¡°Didn¡¯t Vilhelmiina make you something for just that?¡±


    I looked at him. He looked back. My brain processed things. ¡°Oh yeah. It¡¯s just that we bumped up the limits on Storage shortly after that so it didn¡¯t matter. And I wasn¡¯t thinking about using it offensively in the same way.¡± The goggles should be in the apartment somewhere.


    What we¡¯d learned from our practice session was that taking things in and out required a certain level of physical contact- which wasn¡¯t surprising- though it only really mattered when using something near to the maximum limits. Objects with significantly different dimensions in one direction seemed to be a bit more difficult to work with than something compact like a sphere or cube, but that could have been due to the same reasons.


    ¡°Is there anything else we should try?¡± I asked.


    Great Girl was still present. She liked working with magic, it had been a relatively short training session, and it wouldn¡¯t tire her out. Thus her usually busy schedule wasn¡¯t too impacted by our efforts. ¡°You should store some water.¡±


    ¡°We usually have a few water bottles and other emergency supplies,¡± I commented. That habit was mainly started by Midnight, but with the extra space we ended up with I kept a few things like that myself.


    ¡°Not water bottles,¡± Great Girl shook her head. ¡°Water.¡±


    ¡°Like in cups? I guess it¡¯s not going to spill or go bad and it would be easier to get out in an emergency.¡±


    ¡°Midnight,¡± she said. ¡°You have to know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°... liquid water? By itself?¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡±


    Huh. Interesting. ¡°But how would we¡­ at best, we could probably only grab a small amount.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Great Girl asked.


    ¡°Because that¡¯s what we¡¯d be touching.¡±


    ¡°Do you touch all of the other things you use Storage on, or just the outside?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ but those are one object.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°Maybe you shouldn¡¯t have learned that you have to touch enough of something. It doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯s helping.¡±


    ¡°Knowing the limits of what I can do is important.¡±


    ¡°You know what you think the limits are,¡± she said. ¡°Who was it that taught me that I can shrink?¡±


    Wasn¡¯t that different? Obviously shrinking and growing went together. And she kind of kept it going accidentally and I just noticed. But¡­ ¡°I guess there¡¯s no reason we can¡¯t try.¡±


    We did have bottles of water to work with. Opening the top of one I dipped a finger into it. I used a small portion of my last remaining handful of mana points to try to store it. The whole bottle went into storage.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go get a bucket,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°A big one.¡±


    Midnight gave the same thing one try while Great Girl was gone, with similar results. ¡°I¡¯ve never tried not to grab solid stuff before,¡± he said.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I agreed.


    I felt like Great Girl¡¯s definition of a bucket was different than mine. She might have actually needed to use her powers to carry the big trough she had. She was strong without her powers since her base strength was important, but I felt like she couldn¡¯t have carried that thing at five feet. How heavy was that anyway?


    Yeah, I needed to keep those goggles around to not guess.


    ¡°We definitely can¡¯t store all that,¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s the point,¡± Great Girl explained. ¡°Just take as much as you can. Since you can¡¯t take the whole thing, unless you do something really weird you won¡¯t grab the solid parts.¡±


    ¡°It could do nothing,¡± I considered. But she had already set it down, and I was preparing to use my magic. I guess I should go for the full point? I wanted as much water as possible so it was easy to see what was happening.


    My arm sort of sat in the water for a few moments, and I wondered why nothing happened. Maybe because I was trying to get too much water? Yes, it was the same feeling as anything else over mass. I gradually tuned down my efforts while keeping the mana steady until it suddenly took a large chunk of water out of the trough, causing it to splash about as the sides dropped in.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°Do you store air and swap it with the things you Store?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ not intentionally, at least,¡± I said. ¡°But I suppose it must do something like that. Otherwise we¡¯d end up with thunder every time.¡±


    It wouldn¡¯t be difficult for it to have the same volume of air as everything I could store. The only way that would be weird is if I stored a lot of things lighter than air. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was a worthy line of testing, and more importantly I was still working on liquids so intentional gas storage was a bit much. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Though now that I considered it, I could see reasons I would want to. Having some spare air to pull out might not really be better than Water Breathing in most circumstances, but I might want to replace some sort of toxic gasses around me- which would effectively be the normal use of things.


    Trying to release the water I had stored was easy enough, but it sort of splashed everywhere even though I tried to drop it back in the large trough Great Girl had somehow picked up.


    ¡°I think that covers everything I can think of aside from gasses,¡± I shrugged. ¡°We¡¯re pretty low on mana, and that would require some special testing circumstances.¡± I checked¡­ and we hadn¡¯t gotten a natural increase in Storage. I supposed a hundred or so mana -and more uses than that- simply wasn¡¯t sufficient for a spell that already had eleven upgrades total.


    I hadn¡¯t hit anyone by dropping things on them or successfully stolen anything either, so no experience. Midnight got a couple points, since he could get them from study. I shared some of his combat experience, but I couldn¡¯t get the other sorts. A couple points for that much mana certainly wasn¡¯t the most efficient, but it also wasn¡¯t bad when one considered daily and incremental gains. At 2 experience per day, he¡¯d grow from level 27 to 32 in a year. That was quite significant. Obviously, re-treading the same ideas over and over wouldn¡¯t be as useful, so we¡¯d have to keep expanding our learning, but a mage able to dedicate their time to study should grow quickly.


    Oddly enough, I didn¡¯t think my apprentice mages grew that much. They were only a bit ahead of the expected level. If they had gained multiple points of experience every day, then after ten years they should have hit level 50. Then again, mana regeneration was quicker here which allowed for more training, and there could be any number of other factors influencing things.


    -----


    After we finished the last of our training, I took the bent and battered barbell with me to find Khithae. It was her job to repair things, and I would prefer to have it restored before bringing it back.


    My gecko-adjacent friend gave me a look as I approached. ¡°It doesn¡¯t appear that your metal staff replacement is working out for you.¡±


    ¡°This?¡± I held it up. ¡°It¡¯s just a barbell.¡± I wondered if Vilhelmiina could make a staff entirely out of the same thing as the daggers. Surely it would be able to hold more mana, right? Though that would mean fighting more elf-ninjas. Now that I thought about it, they were kind of weird. I hadn¡¯t interacted with any assassins in my previous life, so maybe they were just all like that. ¡°I was hoping you could repair it before I returned it.¡±


    ¡°Of course you bring me more work.¡±


    ¡°I can just bring it back,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it looks pretty fixable. How did you even do this?¡±


    ¡°I dropped it from really high up.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because I wanted to see if I could. Turns out, I can drop things from Storage through Mage¡¯s Reach.¡±


    ¡°... Huh. I guess if it extends your effective presence around it, it¡¯s not that weird,¡± she said. ¡°Just somewhat weird.¡±


    ¡°You have magic too,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°And magic is weird. I was a normal engineer where I came from.¡±


    ¡°... I asked you about going back to your world, right? I didn¡¯t just pass you over?¡±


    ¡°Yes yes,¡± she waved her hand. ¡°Perhaps some day I will wish to see it again for a different perspective. But I like this world now. Even if there are few people exactly like me.¡±


    ¡°Good. Because you were my first friend here. And it¡¯s easy enough to bring people back¡­ when I¡¯m not out of mana, I mean.¡±


    -----


    It was Christmas time again, and that meant two things. Fake snow, and people trying to steal Christmas. Well, occasionally some weather powered individuals made real snow, but New Bay didn¡¯t naturally get any. It was the wrong climate and the wrong elevation.


    ¡°I think you should focus on support this time,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°You get experience for that, right? I promise to punch like, ten people per second.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately,¡± I said. ¡°Christmas stuff lasts all evening.¡± I knew they wanted me to Haste them, obviously. ¡°Having like twenty minutes of one extremely effective individual just isn¡¯t enough.¡±


    ¡°Bleh,¡± Shockwave hung their head in disappointment. ¡°... Can you save me one, at least?¡±


    ¡°If we work in adjacent areas, I¡¯ll keep one for emergencies,¡± I said. ¡°Aren¡¯t you getting faster yourself, anyway?¡±


    ¡°Marginal improvements on speed year over year isn¡¯t the same as suddenly going double or quadruple speed,¡± Shockwave pointed out.


    I nodded. ¡°How do you feel about teleportation?¡±


    ¡°Boring. If you don¡¯t feel everything the whole way, are you really even moving? I certainly wouldn¡¯t call it fast. Good for deliveries, I guess. The only thing I deliver is punches.¡±


    ¡°I distinctly remember you having a knife.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t knife people,¡± Shockwave said.


    They of course also did a lot of grappling and tying people up. Because if you twisted someone¡¯s arm really fast it rarely mattered how strong they were. So if Shockwave had access to restraints that could hold someone, making a quick pretzel out of them was great.


    Midnight and I did end up in a support role, but as an addition to Great Girl¡¯s team. Great Girl herself did well with any of our bolstering spells, and we could also provide additional firepower. Specifically, the less-physical kind. There weren¡¯t many things that a combination of Great Girl, Mono, and Grasp couldn¡¯t handle, but if it existed it would need to be a different sort of attack entirely. Midnight and I could freeze, burn, or shock- and Sonic Lance might be useful too.


    My goggles didn¡¯t like looking at Great Girl or at Santa. Any of the Santas, because they all had their own bag that held far too much stuff. Great Girl was a problem because she kept changing, so the readout was usually cycling to something new and throwing errors.


    But if I just focused on other things, like the villains who were trying to steal from our local Santa, it was fine. I couldn¡¯t yet make use of it the way I wanted to by stealing stuff into Storage, but having information available was fine as long as I didn¡¯t let it distract me.


    The first part of the night didn¡¯t have many villains I had fought before, which was great because new people provided opportunities for experience. There was one guy who had a giant magnet which was supposed to draw in Santa¡¯s sleigh¡­ somehow¡­ but it mostly ripped HVAC units from the roof around him. The guy got knocked out by one good Shocking Grasp- delivered via Mage¡¯s Reach- indicating he didn¡¯t have very competent defenses.


    I was pretty sure the fact that a giant horseshoe shaped magnet didn¡¯t have an on/off switch normally meant he was a tech super. Probably the worst I¡¯d ever seen. There were a few other early fools who seemed unconcerned about ending up on the naughty list, but the real hard hitters would come later.

 Chapter 329

    Everything was going well protecting our local Santas from two-bit villains when some annoying people showed up. I¡¯d just finished zapping a lady who could morph her arms to be super long- which she was obviously using to try to snatch one Santa¡¯s bag- when new trouble showed up suddenly.


    Personally, I thought they picked the wrong target. A giant bat came screeching out of the sky towards Great Girl, only to be smacked onto a nearby rooftop- and that was because she was being merciful. But they didn¡¯t let up, as several more were charging towards her.


    That focused the attention of our group on them, and I couldn¡¯t help but think that it was a bit silly. They weren¡¯t even going after Santa. Obviously they couldn¡¯t do much if they couldn¡¯t take down Great Girl, but what were vampires even doing here?


    I sensed a flicker of magic behind me. Blood magic, like Rositsa used. I spun, gathering mana as I turned. A Sonic Lance blasted right into the upper torso of yet another vampire, causing it to let out a horrifying screech as it spiraled to the ground.


    ¡°I think the vampires found out that I locked up their buddies!¡± I commented on the comms. That was just about in time for four more to rush me, two from the skies and two in humanoid form climbing over the edge of the rooftop.


    I didn¡¯t hear any gunshot as one head snapped backwards. Fortunately, that meant I¡¯d drawn some of the right sort of attention. That was good, because three more were rushing towards me and I couldn¡¯t move. My blood was wrestling with me.


    Physical Freedom seemed like a good idea, but as I gathered mana I estimated that Stoneskin would be more important. Hopefully it could take the material components from my pockets, because I couldn¡¯t exactly pull them out.


    I thought about trying to activate the dispelling ability of my staff at the same time, but I might remove my defenses accidentally- either previous ones or the just-activating Stoneskin.


    Teeth chomped into my neck as I locked eyes with the one flying giant bat who was somehow avoiding Mono¡¯s shots. I was fairly certain there was nothing supernatural about his aim, but there also shouldn¡¯t be a ton to give away his trajectory.


    The one gnawing on my neck- fruitlessly- got blasted in the back with a bolt of fire, and the other one never reached me, instead being tossed through the air towards the flying one. Great Girl was still being harassed by several other vampires.


    I didn¡¯t like the way that the vampire seemed to be trying to rip my blood directly out of me, and I continued to gather mana frantically for another spell. Choosing a good spell in the spur of the moment was important training, but sometimes I just went with my instincts. I wasn¡¯t confident Physical Freedom would resist that ability, or that any of my spells could cause significant harm by themselves. This guy was clearly stronger than the others.


    I knew that vampires didn¡¯t like fire, so I looked the guy directly in the eyes and used my biggest fire spell. I only had two, since I didn¡¯t know Meteor Swarm yet. Firebolt was one, and the other was¡­ Fire Shield.


    Was it weird to use a defensive spell on an enemy? Absolutely. But I wasn¡¯t thinking about that. I was thinking that Energy Ward was a pretty good offensive spell. I didn¡¯t think about the fact that Fire Shield didn¡¯t hurt the target.


    The instant the orb of fire surrounded the vampire in giant bat form, I heard a shrill screech. It wasn¡¯t just noise though. It was a lot of cussing. I only caught some of it because it was frankly too loud, but there were things like ¡®sun-damned¡¯, ¡®angel lover¡¯ and other weird things thrown in there. As if the guy hadn¡¯t seen me freezing angels. But hey, people weren¡¯t always rational.


    He dropped out of sight right away, and while I¡¯d tried to make the Fire Shield hurt him, I don¡¯t actually think it did. There was only a small smell of burning from right next to me, and no trailing smoke cloud.


    What an expensive distraction. I cracked a few more minions upside the head with my staff now that I could move. How were there so many vampires? The blood circle had been pretty huge, but why did they all care about this guy and their murderous brethren? What a pain.


    And these guys didn¡¯t even know they were supposed to be going after Santa. Speaking of which, he¡¯d ended up on this roof and was taking shelter from the ongoing combat. I thought he was already done with this apartment complex.


    I scurried over to Santa, checking him over with my magical senses to make sure he wasn¡¯t some sort of decoy. Yeah, he felt like the collective consciousness of a supernaturally active area given physical form, so he was legit. ¡°Where do you need to get to?¡± I asked.


    He reached into his pack. ¡°For you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. Does it have to be now?¡±


    ¡°Your apartment complex is annoying to enter,¡± Santa commented.


    Was it the defensive wards or the lack of chimneys? Well, the latter didn¡¯t seem to stop him pretty much anywhere else. Santa¡¯s hands were covered in extremely impractical mittens, but he still scooped out something and dropped it into my own hands.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    It was a lump of coal.


    ¡°... Am I on the naughty list this year? What did I do?¡±


    Even Swarm had gotten socks, and he was a proper villain. Was it because I killed someone? But Handface kept coming after me, and I hadn¡¯t heard something like that.


    But Santa just smiled and turned away. It wasn¡¯t a great way to get me to not do whatever I did again. I shoved the coal into my pocket to deal with later. There were vampires to fight.


    I ran over to the edge where Midnight was shooting lasers. ¡°Isn¡¯t that dangerous?¡± I asked. Pretty much any angle would hit a building- and the rest would hit the street.


    ¡°Limited range,¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°But lasers-¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not all actually lasers,¡± he said.


    I needed to get cool alien upgrades. The Celmothians would probably make something for me if their stuff was at all meant to function for humanoids. But it wasn¡¯t, so¡­


    The primary vampire guy had finally stopped screaming. Relatedly, his Fire Shield had faded and I could tell he wasn¡¯t scorched at all. What a pansy, Rositsa had dealt with it just fine. At least it had taken him some time to disentangle himself from the spell. Probably through active rejection. ¡®Friendly¡¯ spells could be resisted just like others, there just usually wasn¡¯t a reason to do so. The same was true here¡­ at least it had been a good distraction.


    ¡°Can you take care of the guys climbing up that side?¡± I gestured for Midnight. I summoned a couple copies of Mage¡¯s Reach, sending the semi-visible hands towards the head vampire guy. ¡°I¡¯ll hold off this guy.¡±


    Mono was helping with anything at roof level or above, but he¡¯d have to move from his perch to fight this guy. Grasp was still flinging some of these guys into each other. Even if they weren¡¯t trying to steal Christmas, they were still a problem.


    The vampire guy definitely tried to rip the blood out of Mage¡¯s Reach or otherwise control them, but they were just magic. He did manage to twist himself to avoid both of them in a very concerning way. How fast was he? He was looking at me in a way that made me feel like he wanted to manually rip out my blood, with either his teeth or claws.


    I cast Haste. This guy was an expensive opponent.


    Mage¡¯s Reach came up from behind, and I managed to grab one wing- only one, even though I was Hasted. I couldn¡¯t twist them both in front of him like I wanted, and he managed to continue forward and upward with just one wing while tearing the other from my grip.


    I needed to learn an anti-Fly spell. I needed to learn a million things, probably. But I had what I had, and since he didn¡¯t like fire one of the floating hands shot him in the back with a Firebolt. At his upwards angle, if I had missed I should have hit sky. As it was, I only grazed the top of his shoulder¡­ but as he twisted his head my other hand connected again with Shocking Grasp.


    With Haste I could vaguely match his speed, and it was becoming clear he had fast reflexes and excellent vision. Probably enhanced hearing. But he wasn¡¯t good at sensing magical constructs.


    I couldn¡¯t really conserve mana against this guy, so I tried something I knew would be expensive. Perhaps in multiple ways, depending how I missed. Two hands and my staff aimed. Unfortunately, even though I could cast from pretty much anywhere I was less good at aiming from arbitrary points. I didn¡¯t have to release magic from my hands or staff, but the angles were weird otherwise.


    Fifteen points of mana for Multicast Sonic Lance. Two from behind, one from me in front. Once again, something I had never done but was certain would work. One out of three clipped him, but it was enough for him to shriek and change his trajectory- flying off between two far buildings. I did understand that the shriek meant ¡®retreat¡¯. Convenient, that Translation was always on.


    I tried to chase him with Mage¡¯s Reach, but the range wasn¡¯t enough and I would definitely damage the buildings if I tried any sort of attack from them. With his call for retreat, I could see that other vampires were jumping down into the streets, catching themselves upon wings and gliding away rapidly. There would be more than a few left behind, but we¡¯d have to call for additional restraints. We¡¯d already gone through our expected allotment.


    I felt something. Someone appeared on the other side of the roof. Teleportation, and a recognized form of it. It wasn¡¯t an ally, though, but instead a large cyborg reaching for Midnight.


    ¡°Flasher!¡± I called out. Midnight spun behind him as I gathered most of my remaining mana for Dimensional Anchor. Midnight leapt back, still under the effects of Haste with me.


    Flasher looked me dead in the eye, arms still reaching for Midnight, before he disappeared from view moments before my spell took form. That guy was too fast. Shouldn¡¯t it take time to charge up teleportation stuff? Maybe he¡¯d been instantly charging it but then¡­ why would he want to snatch Midnight?


    I didn¡¯t like that at all. I also didn¡¯t like being out of mana, but there I was, my last bit of mana flung uselessly at nothing. If Flasher had instead gone invisible, Dimensional Anchor should have at least connected with him.


    ¡°We need to get out of here,¡± I said to Midnight, scooping him up onto my shoulder. I kept my senses out for anyone popping in or out of teleportation nearby, but it seemed Flasher had gone beyond easy sensory range. Which probably wasn¡¯t that hard, given everything else happening. ¡°Grasp, can you bring us over to the next building over?¡±


    I looked down into the alley that still had a number of hopefully-unconscious vampires.


    Grasp picked me up, a comfy telekinetic grip that carried me to the next roof, near Great Girl. Once I was pretty sure nobody was close enough to overhear, I continued.


    ¡°I¡¯m out of mana. Midnight¡­¡±


    ¡°Pretty low,¡± he said. ¡°And my suit needs to charge.¡±


    A voice came over the comms. ¡°Local Santas appear to have finished their deliveries. It¡¯s a fine time for everyone to withdraw. Anyone who still has some more in them can help mop up the remaining areas of issue.¡±


    At least we¡¯d lasted for most of the evening. Before the end I¡¯d been able to be conservative with my mana but still effective. That simply wouldn¡¯t have been possible at lower level, because even conservative uses were quite expensive.

 Chapter 330

    Nobody actually tried to steal Christmas on Christmas day. It was already too late by that point. Santa had already delivered all of his presents, and all that remained was a series of mundane gift exchanges.


    I never knew what to get people for things like that, but I was still willing to show up and be around friends. I had several different friend categories for that purpose.


    First there were my old squad mates. Most of them had families and friends and other long term connections to the people of Earth and more specifically New Bay. Not all of them kept their work secret, so there was opportunity there.


    I also had others from the Power Brigade. The Portal Squad and I weren¡¯t necessarily close enough for me to get invited to their homes, but Shockwave invited me to come visit them and their grandma if I had nobody else. Their grandma being a retired super I¡¯d trained with previously- Hammerfist.


    Midnight¡¯s family wouldn¡¯t be celebrating Christmas because¡­ why would they? They weren¡¯t even from Earth. I had an open invitation to go visit them, and we had some plans to do so, but not during this holiday season.


    Perhaps unsurprisingly, I ended up with my apprentice and some of the earlier class-based individuals. Jerome and his mother seemed eager to invite people to their place now that it could fit more than a couple people at a time. Khithae also ended up with an invitation. Izzy had been instructing Tylissa on various aspects of the scout class, so she was invited as well. Ceira was busy at some sort of charity thing where hopefully a large amount of money would be going from the hands of the rich into something useful.


    So it was ultimately a small group of people without extended family on planet, and we all happened to have the same sort of magic. It was easy to get, after all.


    ¡°I thought my suit was out of power,¡± Midnight commented as we approached. ¡°But it was over half charge so I think it just glitched out. I¡¯m going to get it checked whenever we next go back h- to Celmoth.¡±


    He almost said home. He¡¯d made the choice to stay on Earth even after the option to return was available, but he might still get homesick occasionally. I heard that was a thing that happened. My home was a pile of rubble with nobody present, so I didn¡¯t really get any similar urges. It wouldn¡¯t be long before he could use Gate alone- and thus be able to return home by treating it as a long commute. Obviously it didn¡¯t take long, but a couple hours of mana regeneration each way wasn¡¯t trivial. Though comparatively, it was easier than most people would have expected.


    ¡°Good idea,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s no telling if something might have gotten banged up in everything we¡¯ve been doing.¡±


    ¡°It really shouldn¡¯t work like that,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Since, you know. Nanobots.¡±


    I was aware of nanobots and things like that. But I wasn¡¯t really familiar with them. I just accepted they were another form of super tech, even if they weren¡¯t always actually super. Sometimes, things just worked.


    I rang the doorbell, and felt Jerome approaching the door. As a bundle of power, I was at least aware of peoples¡¯ presence when there weren¡¯t other distractions. I imagined others should be as well, but our previous tests had shown that to be not entirely accurate. I was pretty good at sensing powers.


    ¡°Turlough! Midnight!¡± Jerome grinned as the door swung open. ¡°Good to see the two of you.¡±


    A cleaning robot whistled and beeped further inside.


    ¡°Hello to you as well,¡± I said.


    The tree with mundane presents reminded me of what I had received from Santa. Last year I got a magic book that shouldn¡¯t have had a method to be delivered across dimensions. This year I got¡­ coal. I didn¡¯t even have a fireplace or a wood burning stove.


    It had ended up back in my apartment, since I didn¡¯t have any reason to keep it in Storage or in my pocket.


    Though he had said hello, Rob¡¯s attention seemed mainly focused on Izzy, who was standing perplexed as Rob continued to repeatedly bump into her ankles.


    ¡°What are you doing? I¡¯m not dirty.¡± Rob bumped into her again. ¡°Even if I was, you should use the Clean spell. You can¡¯t roll over my shoes.¡± She gave an exasperated sigh as he didn¡¯t stop gently pushing on her. ¡°Jerome, I think your familiar is confused.¡±


    He walked over, watching curiously. ¡°You do know how to go around people.¡± I couldn¡¯t interpret Rob¡¯s beeps, but Jerome was pretty good at it. ¡°You want her to-¡± Jerome cut himself off. ¡°I don¡¯t know if she¡¯d be interested in you carrying her around.¡±


    Rob turned around slowly, beeping and booping in response.


    ¡°No, she¡¯s not¡­¡± Jerome bent down, whispering. I couldn¡¯t make it out, but I was almost certain Izzy could.


    She rolled her eyes, then chuckled. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m neither shrunken down, a kid, or a cat,¡± Izzy commented. ¡°But if you want to carry me I guess I don¡¯t mind.¡±


    Rob whistled, not even turning around but simply reversing to bump into her shoes. ¡°He does enjoy it,¡± Jerome said. ¡°So if you¡¯re willing to accommodate him¡­¡±


    ¡°Do I just step directly on him? Can he support that?¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Jerome hesitated for a second, then looked at me.


    ¡°What?¡± I said. He frowned, seemingly unable to come up with the question. Or unwilling to ask it. ¡°I¡¯m not a diviner, so I can¡¯t answer questions you don¡¯t ask.¡±


    ¡°You totally have Advanced Divination Magic,¡± Izzy pointed out. She probably meant me, but Jerome had actually picked up the same things.


    I felt him beginning to gather mana before Tylissa came into the room. ¡°Rob can support up to fifty pounds easily enough,¡± she said. ¡°And he won¡¯t break with a bit more than that. He just won¡¯t be able to move.¡±


    Izzy stepped onto a very excited robot. ¡°Oh, is this the ¡®don¡¯t ask women their weight¡¯ thing?¡± She kept her body still as Rob rocketed up to his full speed of moderate walking pace, occasionally stopping to spin in place. ¡°I don¡¯t think halflings care about that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you care about that,¡± I commented. ¡°Some do.¡±


    Jerome frowned. ¡°It¡¯s still hard to ask questions that are¡­ good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more muscular than a child,¡± Izzy said. ¡°But I¡¯m still vaguely in that range.¡±


    ¡°I thought halflings should be one-eighth weight,¡± I said. ¡°But it¡¯s actually more than that. It helps them function around larger individuals.¡±


    Izzy wasn¡¯t making it obvious, but I was pretty sure she was having fun riding around on Rob. It would be novel, at least. Maybe I could shrink the rest of us down so we weren¡¯t too big. Midnight excepted, of course.


    Khithae was last to arrive, a few minutes later. The humans were outnumbered by the various others present, though it was pretty much a tie if you counted Izzy with them. I didn¡¯t, but people could have if only going by visuals. But then Midnight would be a cat.


    At some point we opened presents and also talked about Santa presents. Jerome got a hammer, for some reason. Midnight got some new games for his handheld Celmothian game system. Khithae also got a tool but it was some sort of extradimensional gecko tech thing she was very excited about. Izzy got shoes and Tylissa got a hat.


    Then it came to me.


    ¡°Coal?¡± Jerome laughed. ¡°What did you do?¡±


    ¡°Nothing worse than last year,¡± I crossed my arms.


    ¡°Perhaps Santa did not have a full year to review your villainy before,¡± Khithae commented. ¡°Like asking people to do more work while they¡¯re already working.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the only person I know who can repair stuff like that.¡±


    I think she would have rolled her eyes if she could do that easily.


    ¡°Is it magic coal?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°Uh¡­ good question,¡± I said. ¡°I didn¡¯t bring it with me.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Izzy said. ¡°You carry all sorts of weird things in Storage.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s leaving room for heavy things to drop on people¡¯s heads,¡± Midnight explained.


    Jerome frowned. ¡°Is that even possible? Wouldn¡¯t it take more power to gain potential energy like that?¡±


    ¡°Maybe magic breaks the rules. Or mana is just that strong and usually doesn¡¯t get to show it,¡± I shrugged.


    -----


    It was a good day, taking time off from work and only having to think about the fun parts of magic. Like learning new things and fighting and robot familiars.


    But eventually I had to think about the less fun things, like being too slow to cast Dimensional Anchor, running out of mana, and Midnight almost being catnapped. There was no way Flasher teleported into a random spot and swiped at Midnight just for fun. He¡¯d been after him for some reason.


    Obviously I could imagine he¡¯d be bitter about the whole thing with Iron Shell, but I kind of expected him to just try to laser me or Great Girl or whatever. Catnapping was something different, unless that had just been a clumsy punch.


    Should I tell Midnight? Was he already worrying about it? How could I be faster with Dimensional Anchor so that Flasher couldn¡¯t get away? There was a certain limit to how fast I could draw upon mana, so maybe I just needed to get it some more upgrades and accept the cheaper price. That would be faster.


    I didn¡¯t have a ton of people I could cast it on, but Midnight and I could do that on our own. It would be kind of expensive, since even Dimension Door wasn¡¯t cheap.


    I wondered if it would be easier to break through the restrictions with a higher ranking spell, or if that didn¡¯t matter. Most of the mana probably went to dealing with the issues it already had, not fighting resistance.


    The coal wasn¡¯t magical. I thought it might be a good distraction, but it really was just coal. Or at least a lump of black rock. I supposed I could get it tested in a lab? Maybe Santa had given me some really good coal that would solve some sort of power problem by being super efficient or something.


    Though I couldn¡¯t think of a reason it would come to me instead of someone who cared. New Bay didn¡¯t even use coal plants. It was all powered by super tech or just¡­ tech. The Martians had some good stuff, and stable power generation was one of the things that was most easily approved. The Celmothians probably also had some really good stuff.


    I was feeling particularly festive, so I sent a cross-dimensional Christmas message to the only people I thought would be able to appreciate it. Sir Kalman would likely be confused, and pretty much everyone else I knew was living in New Bay. But I did know Momo and Lady Eglantine, so I sent them a message. And because I was myself, I couldn¡¯t help but test something. The Sending was meant for both of them, because they were bonded together. Other spells should work on them as a pair, so why not that?


    I just hadn¡¯t previously known anyone with a bonded companion that could speak. About half an hour later- a normal turnaround time for a cross-dimensional message like that- I got back overlapping responses from the two of them. Alright, so it definitely worked but it was weird.


    Their responses sounded pleasant so presumably nothing particularly crazy had happened since the last time I interacted with them.


    As I calmed my mind, I felt Midnight drift off to sleep across the hall. Sometimes, it was nice to have a day off. Though I did usually look forward to fighting people. Life was good. I just needed to make sure the people who made it that way stayed safe. Maybe by dropping coal on the heads of my enemies.

 Chapter 331

    Most people had to plan their trips ahead of time to some extent, whether they were going on a roadtrip or to a foreign country. Midnight and I could go to different dimensions or planets rather easily. Different parts of Earth were actually a bit harder, given the inaccuracy of Teleport over long distances. We might not even end up in the right city after a single jump.


    The Power Brigade was used to people taking time off for personal business, and having just finished Christmas there wasn¡¯t anything holding us back from taking care of necessary errands caused by that very same night. Midnight had a glitch with his Celmothian suit, so performing super merc work seemed like it would be silly anyway. I had a lump of coal to investigate.


    The only thing I could say about the lump of coal was that it was not magical or powered in any way, which did hint strongly that it was a useless lump of coal. I considered giving it to some poor Australian family that needed to heat up their grill for the summer, but first I sent it to the Power Brigade tech department for analysis. Maybe it was some sort of special coal that could give me a hint to something important. Or maybe it was boring and Santa was just being mean for no reason.


    As for Midnight¡¯s suit, there was really only one place it could be looked at. The Celmothians hadn¡¯t exactly set up proper labs on Earth. It took longer to build proper infrastructure that could travel between distant planets instead of just using magic. Though magic infrastructure also existed, which helped allow cheaper forms of accurate teleportation- just not in this universe.


    We could theoretically just go to Celmoth, but spending a bit of time to use Sending to warn people ahead of time seemed polite.


    When we stepped out of Extra and onto the surface of Celmoth, Jet was waiting. Midnight greeted his mother with a touch of their faces.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to come see us right away,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I told you we¡¯d probably stay around for a couple days.¡±


    ¡°True,¡± Jet said. ¡°But this is a teleportation hub. I was actually already passing through. You mentioned a glitch in your suit?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It stopped firing even though it wasn¡¯t out of power. I was wondering if the lack of maintenance was a problem.¡±


    ¡°Most issues should be self-resolving,¡± Jet commented. ¡°What did the readout say?¡±


    ¡°Nothing useful. I¡¯m not sure if it was an operation failure on my part, but I figured I should get things checked out.¡±


    ¡°Good. I hope you can stay for a few days, at least?¡±


    Midnight nodded. ¡°We¡¯re taking a bit of time off after a big event.¡±


    -----


    If I wasn¡¯t doing much else with my magic, I could keep Size Shift active for a very long time on Earth. On Celmoth where they had closer to one mana per ten minutes it was about half offset. Adding on Translation, and I had about six hours of active time. I didn¡¯t always need Size Shift to be active, but it was much more convenient. Some of the medium-tall rooms were too short for me, so I only really did well in the truly tall areas. It could have been worse, since if the Celmothians had been comfortable with minimally sized areas I would never fit. While they did occasionally like to squeeze themselves into smaller areas, they didn¡¯t do so for transportation and general living spaces.


    Since people didn¡¯t tend to make labs outdoors, Midnight and I didn¡¯t spend long outside. He was also more willing to pass through various teleporters, so we only had to go a few blocks from the teleportation center to the military lab.


    I had to wonder if we actually had the security clearance to enter the building, but that resolved in a straightforward manner. We did need temporary security passes to even get to the room where someone came to meet us.


    Midnight¡¯s pass was some sort of thing that covered his forehead. I got a piece of paper with a dangly loop on top. Presumably good for Celmothians to pick up. I had hands and fingers, so I could hold anything even if it was kind of weird.


    ¡°Why am I not getting a forehead thing?¡± I asked Midnight.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how it would interact with your skin,¡± Midnight shrugged. ¡°So you get the alternative. With a little picture.¡±


    ¡°Oh, look at that,¡± I said, flipping it around. My face was sort of offset from the center of the frame. It might be a good angle to take a picture of the head and body of a Celmothian, but it was weird for a humanoid.


    I was pretty sure that Celmothians didn¡¯t naturally come in blue. That was the main thing I noticed as someone entered the room. He also wore some version of the nanotech suit that I associated with the military.


    ¡°Welcome,¡± he said. ¡°My name is-¡± Some sort of fish, maybe? Translation didn¡¯t have a precise word, even though it was magic and Midnight understood English. And some Common. I just went with Marlin. That sounded like a name. ¡°The report mentioned a glitch in your suit?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It was a bit over a day ago, during a battle.¡±


    ¡°If you would deposit it here,¡± Marlin pressed his paw on what seemed like a random part of the wall, popping out a cylinder.


    Midnight walked up, and his suit sort of rolled off of him, starting from his hindquarters. When it peeled off his head and neck it finally dropped into the cylinder, rippling kind of like liquid, though it certainly still retained some amount of solidity. Neat.


    ¡°How long will it take to process?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Could be a while,¡± Marlin said. ¡°A standard checkup scan already takes a few hours, and if there was a glitch I¡¯ll have to be thorough with the logs.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to pick up your temporary utility equipment,¡± Marlin commented. ¡°Since you don¡¯t seem to be carrying other tech around.¡±


    ¡°... Right,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Of course.¡±


    Marlin didn¡¯t seem to have more to say, so we made our way through boring hallways- apparently military installations were exempt from the Celmothian¡¯s desire for fantastic views- until we came to another room.


    In the middle was another cylinder- this time horizontal to the floor, with a flat bottom that probably made it technically not a cylinder. Midnight scanned the temporary badge stamped on his forehead and an aperture unfurled. He stepped inside, placing his paws on a designated slope in front of him. A bunch of little grabby arms reached out, holding a sort of vest that wrapped around his neck and upper torso. Midnight stepped back out of the outfitting tube.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°How did you guys even invent technology without hands?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Slowly and with great difficulty,¡± Midnight commented. ¡°Reading human histories really showed how fast some of the parts were leading up to industrialization. I assume it was similar for your old world?¡±


    ¡°No idea,¡± I said. ¡°We haven¡¯t really industrialized. And we don¡¯t have all that much magic infrastructure.¡± Not anywhere I¡¯d been or seen.


    -----


    When we stepped outside, Angelica was waiting for us. It was weird to see a human on Celmoth.


    ¡°Hello,¡± I said. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see you here.¡±


    ¡°I heard of your arrival and thought I would stop by to greet you,¡± the older woman said.


    That was fine, but didn¡¯t she have important things to be doing?


    ¡°Interested in news from Earth?¡± I asked.


    ¡°That is not necessary,¡± she shook her head. ¡°I stay current. I did wish to consult you on a matter in which you have expertise.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to bring people to get portal powers, and I¡¯m pretty sure you couldn¡¯t get one anyway. Aren¡¯t you using a power?¡±


    She raised her eyebrows. ¡°You can sense that? Usually people can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Turlough is particularly good at it,¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°I see. Can I treat you to lunch?¡± Angelica asked. ¡°The matter I have might take some time to go over. I know a few places that provide food more suited for humanoid palates.¡±


    Celmothian food was fairly compatible nutritionally, and they had broader tastes than just tuna, but I usually found myself underwhelmed with the options. ¡°Sure, I¡¯d be glad to. Though I can¡¯t guarantee I can help with whatever your issue is.¡±


    The restaurant Angelica brought us to had large outdoor seating- which was more modest sized for humans, but made me comfortable enough to let Reduce wear off. Food was carried out by the service staff with more primitive vests than the military version, but they still had grasping appendages to help them carry. A bowl was still the vessel of choice, with different dishes separated into individual containers.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t wish to scoop with your hands, you can pick up the bowls,¡± Angelica said. ¡°Not that people have much expectations for how we eat.¡±


    ¡°I brought a spoon,¡± I said, pulling out the mentioned utensil. ¡°I have a full set if you want a fork.¡±


    ¡°Unless you will be offended if I eat with my hands, I¡¯ll just do that.¡±


    I shrugged. It took Angelica a while to get to the topic at hand. Was this a politeness thing, or an old person thing?


    Eventually, she got to it. ¡°The matter I wished to speak with you about concerns Ceira.¡±


    ¡°Is she in danger?¡± I asked. ¡°Because we¡¯ll totally beat up anyone causing her trouble.¡±


    Angelica shook her head. ¡°Not at all. If I believed her to be in danger, I would recommend she expand her current guards. Not that I think you would be inadequate, but friends aren¡¯t meant to be twenty-four hour security. No, she had expressed concerns about her magic.¡±


    ¡°She could just talk to me,¡± I pointed out. ¡°She has my phone number.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps she didn¡¯t want to bother you with her concerns,¡± Angelica shrugged. ¡°Since she seems to believe no answer exists.¡±


    ¡°Well then,¡± Midnight said. ¡°She should have definitely come directly to us. We spend about half our time solving magical matters that seemed to have no proper solution.¡±


    Angelica nodded. ¡°I am aware she has spoken to you about her concerns regarding healing priority. She has generally come to terms with her ability to maximize good in the world by charging based on wealth and using that wealth to provide less sophisticated healing for others. She still offers some amount of her services to those who can afford nothing.¡±


    I waited, as there wasn¡¯t anything I could really respond to yet.


    ¡°Her main worry seems to be finding herself in an emergency, having used up her mana. She has mentioned she had a significant number of¡­ points¡­ and that she could spend them on Regenerate to improve it. But that might make training it more difficult.¡±


    ¡°That all sounds correct,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I mentioned mana crystals, but I don¡¯t know if she can make them. There are certain issues with them anyway. Small ones are slow to absorb, large ones are inefficient. You¡¯re limited in quantity you can absorb without risk. What do you think the actual issue is?¡±


    ¡°If someone was injured in front of her and she had no ability to heal them, I am worried Ceira might break,¡± Angelica said. ¡°She has a good heart, but her swift rise to power hasn¡¯t taught her that she can¡¯t do everything.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re just worried about people dying in front of her?¡± I asked to clarify.


    ¡°Leaving them behind or seeing them get taken away would be equally difficult for her, I think,¡± Angelica said.


    ¡°Hmm. I don¡¯t really see the issue,¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°Turlough¡­¡± Midnight began.


    ¡°What? I don¡¯t like seeing random people get hurt either.¡± I probably didn¡¯t hate it as much, but I didn¡¯t like it. ¡°And she can do something about it.¡±


    ¡°But the worry is that she won¡¯t be able to,¡± Midnight reminded me.


    ¡°Do you know how many points she has?¡± I asked Angelica.


    ¡°She did not say in particular, though I gathered she was looking at high level spells to try to find some sort of miracle solution.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± I nodded. ¡°She¡¯s looking at the wrong end. She should get Stabilize and put a ton of upgrades in it.¡±


    ¡°Stabilize¡­¡± Angelica said, nodding. ¡°How many is¡­ a ton?¡±


    ¡°If she¡¯s looking at buying a new high level spell, she should at least be able to put ten or fifteen upgrades in. If she has more points than that, though¡­ tell her to put a hundred and fifty points worth of upgrades.¡±


    ¡°Turlough! We shouldn¡¯t use our friend to do experiments.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Then tell her to do the other thing¡­ unless she wants to talk to me about doing an experiment,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m just saying, if she doesn¡¯t want anyone to die, that spell will do it. They won¡¯t be healed, but they¡¯ll stop getting worse. And Regenerate should just work later.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll find an opportunity to talk with her about it.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± I asked. ¡°Can you even call her from here? I could talk to her in person. It¡¯s not even weird for me to bring up magic.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Angelica said. ¡°She never told you? I mentioned it was fine.¡±


    ¡°Told me what?¡±


    ¡°That I¡¯m Madame Multitude.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± That sounded like a superhero? The name took a moment to remember. ¡°Ceira mentioned she healed you, or someone she thought was you.¡± She hadn¡¯t appeared on any sort of threat list, so I didn¡¯t remember what she could do. I looked at Midnight.


    He rolled his eyes. ¡°I think I know exactly what you¡¯re thinking. And you¡¯re right, I guess. She¡¯s a splitter.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± I nodded. ¡°That makes sense with the name.¡±


    ¡°I can make a significant number of copies,¡± Angelica explained. ¡°But I am not, nor have I ever been, physically imposing. Or open to violence. I was helping as many people as I could. I pushed too hard and got my real body tangled up in an unfortunate incident. Now I can¡¯t even get a cat out of a tree, but I¡¯m doing far more good than I ever was before.¡± She paused. ¡°Ceira will likely determine that any magical advice came from you. But she will likely be more annoyed at me for prying.¡±


    ¡°You can just tell her to talk to me,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But I¡¯d probably stick with my recommendation. If people can¡¯t die and she can recover pretty much any injuries later, then it¡¯s a great option.¡± I should probably recommend Stabilize to Bandage as well. In combat healing sounded cool, but it was often impractical.


    Not that I could judge it by more than the mana costs and what I¡¯d seen from the healers. Magical recovery was often tiring, and returning people to nearly fighting fit might be worse than them dropping out of battle to begin with.

 Chapter 332

    The analysis on Midnight¡¯s suit was not available until the next day. ¡°That seems pretty long, doesn¡¯t it?¡± I asked. ¡°They didn¡¯t make it seem like it could take that long. Maybe something serious happened.¡±


    ¡°Or they found nothing,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And decided to repeat the process just to be safe. Because I¡¯m related to someone important.¡±


    They should just try to get things right the first time. But I supposed it wouldn¡¯t hurt to double check their work for something important.


    When we were called back to the facility, Jet was waiting. That didn¡¯t really mean anything, because she liked to show up for everything Midnight was involved in. Being brought into a fancy briefing room made it significantly less likely that things were just normal.


    The same Celmothian who took Midnight¡¯s suit for analysis- Marlin- was leading things. There were a few others aside from Midnight, myself, and Jet. That finalized the idea that things weren¡¯t normal.


    Marlin didn¡¯t engage in preambles. ¡°The suit was affected by a Bunvorixian damping field.¡± Bunvorixian was bad in this context. I could only make assumptions about what a damping field did based on the translation. Presumably, it made stuff work less. ¡°Considering that this technology seemed to be in the hands of a human villain, it is a significant concern.¡±


    ¡°Flasher teleports too,¡± I added. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s tech the Mod Squad should have had access to.¡± It certainly didn¡¯t seem like a power, but it was difficult to tell with cyborgs since there was a little bit of supernatural stuff going on for their bodies not to fall apart. At least once they got to the extremes like Iron Shell and Flasher.


    ¡°Now that you mention it,¡± Midnight commented, ¡°Flash Circuit appeared on the scene after the big Bunvorixian incident.¡±


    Jet growled slightly. ¡°Concerning. Fortunately our efforts to empower Extra against the Bunvorixians should bear fruit soon.¡±


    Marlin once more took control of the meeting. ¡°The extra time was require to make certain that no permanent damage was done. Fortunately, perhaps, the damper makes us of the suit¡¯s overload resistance protocols. The damper would have kept the suit disabled almost indefinitely while active,¡± Marlin explained. ¡°But that¡¯s better than the alternative of a short burst rendering it inoperable. They generally fell out of favor because of the close range required, but they have seen use in special operations¡­ and abduction attempts.¡±


    I grimaced, the action emphasizing my tusks. ¡°He certainly tried to grab Midnight. If he¡¯s working together with the Bunvorixians¡­¡±


    ¡°We will scour their world of all life!¡± Jet declared.


    Midnight sighed. ¡°Please don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°... It¡¯s not like we actually could,¡± Jet admitted. ¡°Or we¡¯d have done it a while ago.¡±


    I nodded. Certainly someone would have wanted to go that far in a multi-generational war. ¡°You should just assassinate their leaders.¡± For some reason, people gave me a weird look. ¡°What? I know it¡¯s not that easy, but it¡¯s way more efficient and less bloody. And their people don¡¯t necessarily want to fight.¡±


    ¡°That could work,¡± Jet admitted. ¡°Or it could drive them into a zealous fury.¡±


    People were cowards. They just refused to be efficient. Not that I knew any good assassins. Except maybe Shockwave. Or Movebrain. Mono, maybe. Possibly Izzy, if she was motivated and properly equipped. At most a couple others, so really not that many.


    ¡°You need to come up with a method to screw up their propaganda,¡± I commented. ¡°Because if Zeb is any indication, they might be close to the edge.¡±


    Or maybe Zeb was an exception in that she¡¯d been willing to listen. Could I magically override propaganda? Probably not without screwing with people¡¯s heads in problematic ways. Unless they happened to be using some sort of active mind control instead of just regular propaganda.


    ¡°Believe me, we¡¯ve tried,¡± Jet explained. ¡°So, the suit doesn¡¯t have any lingering issues¡­?¡±


    Marlin shook his head. ¡°I merely took extra precautions. It should work fine. Even if reintroduced to a damping field, it should be temporary. Those of you here to observe merely needed to be informed that the tech is in use again to some extent, since training fell out of favor when they stopped using it on their side.¡±


    At that point, people had questions. I did too, though they were different and not the sort Marlin could answer. Like, why would anyone want to kidnap Midnight? Aside from him being cool. And important to the Celmothians to some extent.


    Okay, there were reasons. But why would Flasher want to abduct Midnight? The question had already come up previously. Maybe he¡¯d been trying to kill Midnight, but I feel like a good laser while Midnight was lacking suit abilities would have been a good start instead of trying to grab him.


    Midnight and I were part of the Brigade, and we¡¯d helped take down Iron Shell. So it could simply be that. Maybe he stumbled across Bunvorixian tech. Or they were working together. Flasher might be working for them, since a villain wouldn¡¯t care how he got paid. I doubted that Bunvorixians had much Earth currency, but they did have access to a lot of tech cyborgs would like to get their hands on, even if it needed some¡­ translation.


    Unfortunately, none of the options were much more solid than my previous speculation. We¡¯d gotten a question of how, but not why. Nor did we know if it might happen again.


    It wasn¡¯t great for my worry. Or for Midnight¡¯s worry. Which meant we were in a very uncomfortable worry cycle. Fortunately our emotions didn¡¯t amplify back and forth to infinity¡­ but that was only a small comfort. I needed to punch someone, and Midnight might need an actual vacation.


    -----


    When I suggested that as we were preparing for our return to Earth, Midnight was not fully on board.


    ¡°If I¡¯m trying to not worry, I also don¡¯t want to worry about you being attacked all alone.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    I shook my head. ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll be alone. I¡¯ll be part of a squad, and they usually have me set up as some sort of support. With some other continge-¡± I stopped.


    ¡°What?¡± Midnight asked, looking over his shoulder. ¡°Did you forget something? It¡¯s not cheap to come back here, you know.¡±


    ¡°Contingency.¡±


    ¡°Do we need to make some sort of plan or-¡±


    ¡°The spell I was going to learn forever ago. And didn¡¯t, because we didn¡¯t have ivory or gemstones.¡±


    ¡°Is that important?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Depends. Do you want to always be carrying around a spell that can protect you against someone that can turn off your suit?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ yes?¡± Midnight tilted his head. ¡°I¡¯m not really sure with the way you said it, but I¡¯d like to not worry about that happening again.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not perfect,¡± I admitted. ¡°You¡¯d have to pick what you wanted to happen ahead of time. It might make you paranoid about one particular thing or you might feel overly safe.¡±


    Midnight thought for a moment. ¡°It has to affect just me, right? I can¡¯t zap someone?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you can. Though Shocking Grasp kind of targets you. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d bother with something relatively weak like that, though.¡± I thought for a moment. ¡°Do you have elephants here?¡±


    ¡°... we have large tusked animals?¡±


    Presumably the large applied to both the tusks and the animals themselves. ¡°We¡¯ll just get some ivory on Earth.¡±


    Why did we need ivory? I had no idea. Though I did understand why it would be tiny statues of us.


    -----


    Back on Earth, we now had a quest that involved taking a few days off, minimum. It would probably be pretty easy to get ivory and gemstones. Getting them fast would just cost more money.


    ¡°Should we get diamonds?¡± I asked. ¡°Ivory is already white. Diamond doesn¡¯t sound right. What about rubies? How many?¡±


    ¡°Do you not know?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I feel like it was¡­ nonspecific?¡± I waved vaguely. ¡°And now I don¡¯t have the book.¡± Good thing I remembered most of the requirements, at least.


    ¡°How did people figure out the requirements to begin with? Did that spell not exist until someone killed an elephant?¡±


    I really wanted to delve deeply into that subject. ¡°I doubt anyone remembers,¡± I admitted. ¡°I haven¡¯t tried to use any spells without material components they require.¡± Or in this case, a focus. The difference being that it would not be consumed upon use. Otherwise Contingency would be far more expensive than Stoneskin.


    -----


    Ivory was not easy to get. It wasn¡¯t a matter of money, either. Or maybe the problem was money in the wrong way.


    ¡°I hate that terrible people from previous generations are making it hard for me to do magic again,¡± I grumbled.


    I could probably get it because I needed it for magic stuff, but it would take permits and official power-business related effort. That meant time.


    ¡°Do you think Ceira would raise elephants for me? Would tusks regenerate?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not really sure that¡¯s a good idea,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Fine. I can make a new druid. And buy an elephant. That still might be faster than the permitting process.¡±


    I could probably import some through¡­ various means. Some countries were less strict, after all. Not everyone cared about people killing off animals for a tiny percentage of them. The real problem was that it had never gotten to the point it was worth it for people to raise their own elephants, but still expensive. Thus it was only ¡®worthwhile¡¯ to poach.


    Now I was pretty sure there were some superheroes that were prepared to instantly obliterate anyone trying to poach endangered animals. The population of elephants on Earth was still currently recovering.


    My money wouldn¡¯t efficiently become gold, and if I walked around my old world and tried to exchange non-standard gold bars I¡¯d get way too many questions. So now it was time to ask the real questions.


    ¡°How much of this do you think we can fake?¡± I said to Midnight. ¡°Can people make artificial ivory?¡±


    As I asked the question, I was looking up the answer. It was yes. The problem was I didn¡¯t know if I was looking for a white carvable substance or ivory. While I had no doubt that someone could replicate the material properties, I couldn¡¯t tell if any of the substitutes available were made from the same things. People just cared about what it looked and felt like, if they would even accept substitutes. Not a word on whether it functioned with magic.


    ¡°We could try a few things,¡± Midnight said. ¡°If we make sure the gemstones are reusable, we can get people to work with various materials and try them out. We can also ask other people for suggestions.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± I said.


    I began to go down the list.


    Malaliel said she was not aware of any ¡®elephant dimension¡¯.


    Vilhelmiina expressed that she would absolutely make me synthetic ivory that was as good as the real thing¡­ once her backlog of more important things was done. So never, unless she suddenly became fixated on the idea for some reason.


    Great Girl asked me about the other material components.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, my friends-¡±


    ¡°Nobody is listening to this conversation,¡± I pointed out. I¡¯d gotten her time because I was helping her try out a new form of weightlifting. She¡¯d been complaining about how hard it was to get heavier stuff, so I was¡­ making her smaller. That was the excuse for my presence, anyway. She did that part on her own, and she simply didn¡¯t want to advertise the ability to random people in the Brigade.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it also take like, mercury and magic eyelashes?¡± Great Girl said between sets.


    ¡°... It might?¡± Mercury I could get. What were magic eyelashes? How would I know? ¡°Does shrinking make you weaker?¡±


    ¡°Obviously.¡±


    ¡°Proportionately weaker?¡± I asked. ¡°Like with your growth?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked.


    ¡°If you become, say, two and a half feet tall, do you have noodle arms?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s sure harder to lift these,¡± Great Girl pointed out. ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t think it quite works that way. Or I wouldn¡¯t remain functional. I¡¯m just trying to get more strain so this is good enough.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Would your eyelashes work?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± she almost dropped the barbell. It was light enough that I could act as her spotter though, so if she had it wouldn¡¯t be an issue. That couldn¡¯t be said of her in pretty much any form larger than her true size, though. Certainly not when we matched heights.


    ¡°Because they need to be magic.¡±


    ¡°I think yours would be better.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡± It was possible this wasn¡¯t a real requirement. It sounded familiar, but I couldn¡¯t tell if Great Girl knew of it because of proper cross-dimensional inspiration or because I¡¯d read the versions of things from this Earth. ¡°I¡¯ll need the other things first. Any ideas for ivory replacement?¡±


    ¡°Dragon bone?¡±


    ¡°Probably harder to carve. And I didn¡¯t get to keep any.¡± It had to be good for magic though, right?


    Next on my list was Jerome. He was my apprentice, so I should at least involve him in magical conversation.

 Chapter 333

    ¡°Do you have files?¡± Jerome asked when the topic of ivory replacement materials for Contingency came up.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what paper or abrasive rods have to do with anything,¡± I admitted.


    Jerome shook his head. ¡°Scans of you. Three dimensional files. Finding someone with carving skills could be a pain in the neck, but finding someone with a 3d printer isn¡¯t that hard. I don¡¯t have one, obviously,¡± he said. ¡°But you have the money to try to get some custom prints.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not sure plastic is a sufficient substitute for ivory. It¡¯s kind of¡­ cheap. In all meanings of the word.¡± I didn¡¯t have to actually spend a lot of money, but good materials were usually expensive. Even if there was less competition for magely materials in this world, they could be used for other things.


    ¡°Your suit is made of plastic,¡± Jerome said. ¡°Probably. At least in part. Lots of plastic is cheap junk, but not all of it. There are some pretty high quality resins out there. And it would solve two tasks at once, the material and the shape.¡±


    Midnight sighed. ¡°I should have thought of that. We could have gotten replicas back on Celmoth! We could get ourselves scanned there too.¡±


    ¡°And then we spend a week or two getting the paperwork done for bringing materials from Celmoth.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I suppose we can do it if nothing else works, but asking Extra for a special exemption might be too much. It might be good for you to use materials from your homeworld though.¡±


    ¡°... Do you think that matters?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I sure hope not,¡± I said. ¡°But Sir Kalman could probably get me the materials, so carving them here might be all we need. But I like his idea,¡± I gestured to Jerome. ¡°Do you think smaller would be cheaper?¡±


    ¡°Depends on how detailed you want it to be.¡±


    ¡°I also want it to be sturdy.¡±


    ¡°Better materials will mostly help with that. What size are you thinking?¡±


    I pondered for a few moments. ¡°It needs to fit in a coat pocket without being too obvious. I don¡¯t think carrying it around in Storage would be functional, and suddenly carrying around a bag would be suspicious.¡±


    Ultimately, I would be carrying the little statue, a couple mana crystals, and my baggies of mixed diamond dust and granite. My pockets would already be getting pretty full. But those were all things I needed immediate access to. The majority of the extra materials for Stoneskin would stay in storage, but I might need a few casts at a time.


    -----


    With plans in place to make Contingency work, drawing upon Brigade resources for the necessary components seemed reasonable. I didn¡¯t happen to know anyone who printed stuff, so at the very least I expected the Power Brigade to be able to recommend someone who could be discreet. There weren¡¯t a whole ton of orcs on Earth aside from those working for Doomsday, but there were a few from other worlds and some other similar enough aliens. Maintaining some anonymity for the sake of those I interacted with was the intention. But I didn¡¯t always want to be using Disguise magic, so there were limits.


    While there, I got my lab results from Old Shock. His poofy hair resembled what people thought a mad scientist should look like, but he was a lot more sedate than Vilhelmiina. He also worked exclusively for the Power Brigade so it was easier to get some of his time.


    ¡°It¡¯s carbonaceous,¡± he said.


    I sighed. ¡°So it is just coal.¡±


    ¡°Not even close. This guy is the remains of a meteorite. Just a little guy that fell from the heavens.¡±


    ¡°Expensive?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nah. Except, maybe to collectors. None of the materials are valuable, but it¡¯s not the proportions we would see on Earth.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Wanna buy it?¡±


    He chuckled. ¡°I already have all the info I¡¯d want.¡± He pulled it out of his pocket- contained in a little baggy- and handed it to me. ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s not coal so Santa¡¯s not too mad at you for messing with dimensions.¡±


    ¡°... Who determines that anyway? Is it public perception?¡±


    Old Shock shrugged. ¡°Some mix of public and self perception, maybe. Even some more popular villains sometimes get coal, but that might be because everyone knows they¡¯re a villain? If that makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t. And I doubt anyone else does either.¡±


    I took the baggy. ¡°Is it bad to touch?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just better for us not to contaminate things. Besides, last time you brought something it was a cursed tome.¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure it was just warded.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡±


    ¡°How nice people are being or how much on purpose it is.¡±


    -----


    Midnight was speaking with the fabrication division while I dealt with Old Shock. ¡°They said it should be fairly easy to make something. It can be done by the end of the day if we get scanned quickly, though the materials might not be great.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°You think it will work without high quality materials?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t cost much to try, does it?¡± Midnight pointed out. ¡°So how did your thing go?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s coalish. Meteorite from¡­ somewhere.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Do you need that for the Meteor Swarm spell?¡±


    ¡°Uh, no. Why would I?¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you? I don¡¯t even know how you can tell what stuff needs these things.¡±


    ¡°I just remember. Maybe I can get a copy of stuff from Sir Kalman.¡±


    Midnight thought for a few moments. ¡°That might be useful. But seriously, how do you learn that stuff? Divination magic?¡±


    ¡°... Trial and error?¡±


    ¡°So people just realized they couldn¡¯t use certain spells? Then they had very specific things and they worked.¡±


    Now that he mentioned it¡­ ¡°That does sound wildly implausible, doesn¡¯t it? But people have had a long time to figure things out.¡±


    ¡°How long?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Many elven generations. I don¡¯t know how many thousands of years.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s say that¡¯s how it works,¡± Midnight suggested. ¡°Why do people know how to use every spell? Why would you know? Certainly some of the people who found spells that needed material components wouldn¡¯t share.¡±


    ¡°Other people would find out eventually, right?¡± I said, mainly to convince myself.


    ¡°Not necessarily everything,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Unless mages tend to lie in huge piles of obscure ingredients, trying to cast spells and then picking through for what disappeared when it finally works.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s probably general families of things. Sometimes generic gemstones work.¡±


    ¡°Or?¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I already have too many facets of magic to explore.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you need to include other people, then. What are your apprentices for otherwise? But we can already test some of this. Like Stoneskin.¡±


    ¡°I guess we have to now.¡±


    -----


    We moved to a training room, because it was irresponsible to cast unknown magic out in the halls. Fortunately, the Power Brigade had plenty of them available as long as you didn¡¯t need special considerations. We just needed a durable enough room just in case something went weird.


    What was I expecting to happen when I cast Stoneskin without material components? That was a good question that I was going to have to answer after taking all of the bits out of my pockets. ¡°Empty yours as well, Midnight.¡±


    He didn¡¯t carry much, but what he did have was basically fused into his suit. It kept it well protected, and when he needed it a slit would open up to allow him to pull things out. Moldable supermaterials were neat.


    Leaving the materials on the far side of the chamber should be good enough. After that, I began to gather mana for Stoneskin.


    Exactly what I thought was going to happen did happen. Which was to say, nothing. It simply refused to form into a spell. I had enough control to reabsorb the mana instead of letting it disperse into the environment, but the results were disappointing. ¡°Well, that didn¡¯t work.¡±


    ¡°What were you trying to get out of it?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°The usual effects of Stoneskin. If this is going to go anywhere¡­ do you think the material components make things cheaper?¡±


    ¡°Cheaper or stronger,¡± Midnight shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not sure which.¡±


    Mana was fundamental to the level of the spell, so unless some spells were naturally more expensive than they should be it would be weird to be able to learn it for the normal amount of points if this was ¡®cheaper¡¯. So without material components it would have to be weaker.


    I had come to understand that some portion of magic was actually shaped by the image one had. There were still fundamental limits to the spells, but they weren¡¯t always exactly the same like I had been taught, even with the same upgrades and mana input. If I pictured something too weak, would I break things? Probably not.


    Normally spells came most easily when I didn¡¯t think about them too much, but I tried that the second time and it just wasted mana. Maybe my subconscious was fighting me. Finally, the third attempt I focused on creating some form of Stoneskin no matter what. Surprisingly, it worked.


    I took off my glove to look at my hand. I could feel the spell had taken effect on my body, as the feeling of my clothes was kind of numb. I could see my skin had taken on the color and texture of granite as expected for the spell. It might have been less though? I could see some more green poking through. ¡°Can you scratch me here?¡± I asked, holding my hand down so Midnight could see one of the patches.


    He extended his claws without protest, scraping his nails across my skin. It made a particularly scratchy sound, but it didn¡¯t feel any different on the greener parts. ¡°Interesting,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s lacking some cosmetic completeness, but it clearly still works. It¡¯d bet it¡¯s weaker.¡±


    ¡°We need to check to see if I used something from across the room,¡± I said. ¡°I intended not to, but¡­ you know.¡±


    They looked right, but that was where my mass sensing goggles came in. I honestly didn¡¯t use them enough for a gift from a tech super. Maybe if my abilities had gone in another direction I would need them to help me figure out how far I would fling people with Telekinesis. It was actually somewhat tempting to get that anyway, if I could get a mastery combined with Mage¡¯s Reach or something.


    Anyway, the baggies were all the same weight as they should have been- to within tolerances- so it didn¡¯t seem any had been used from them. Unless it had taken a very tiny bit from all of them.


    ¡°So now what?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Now I need someone to punch me.¡±


    -----


    Stoneskin was considerably weaker without the material components. How much? I had literally no idea. Without a machine that hit accurately and repeatedly with specific levels of power- which might be a thing that Power Brigade needed- I couldn¡¯t quite tell. Worse. Enough worse that the material component was definitely worth it when using industrial diamonds. Especially since mana was my most regular issue.


    Not that I expected to be able to infinitely bend the laws of reality. People could only do so much magic at once, after all. Maybe I had just reached too high too early, and if I¡¯d taken my time and slowly grown to a higher level I would feel better about it.


    But also, even if I was level 100 I could probably only drop like 5 Meteor Swarms, which simply wasn¡¯t enough.


    Well, not me. A normal person. As I was now, I might be able to sneak in one more as I was somewhere around twenty to thirty percent mana higher than ¡®natural¡¯. As if I even knew what was natural anymore. I also didn¡¯t know what it meant that I could do stuff without material components. Was that normal, or was it actually mastery of some form to be able to do that?


    And seriously, how did people know what material components to use? Maybe I should try Divination Magic.

 Chapter 334

    Making my own spell weaker by not using a material component I already had would be pretty silly. So it at first seemed like learning I could go without didn¡¯t mean much. However, if I were to try to apply the same logic to other things, I might come out with some significant advantages. For example, if I were to attempt to cast Contingency, I could take the 12 mana that cost plus 4 mana for Energy Ward, set up a trigger like encountering fire, and then-


    Completely fail to cast the spell. Well, that made sense. I hadn¡¯t actually determined if I could go without a focus. Actually, it felt like something lingered for just a few moments. I wasn¡¯t going to try again immediately as it was a costly experiment, but it was interesting to consider. There had to have been some way to cast Contingency before people knew the required focus. Or were spells not an intrinsic thing like I had been taught, instead created by people over time like much of this world¡¯s literature would imply?


    It was an unfamiliar idea, but one that made more sense than spells just¡­ existing. Especially when some of them seemed to have pretty narrow purposes.


    -----


    The next day, Old Shock had printed up some prototype statuettes for Midnight and I. The materials were cheap- comparatively- and there were no extra gemstones or anything¡­ but they certainly looked like us. Just without color. Well, Midnight looked almost correct because his material was black to begin with.


    We had several things we wanted to test, aside from whether or not it would work at all. First, we repeated the same simple test. We had a lighter ready to produce fire so that we could trigger Contingency easily. There could be more obscure conditions than touching fire, but we weren¡¯t ready to delve into something like that so early.


    I did my attempt first. It might not work at all, so drawing from the highest mana pool for testing first was best. I set the trigger conditions, focusing my mana on our statuettes. That was one of the things we were testing- how extending spells to a familiar worked with Contingency. We had certain assumptions, and acting first on what we believed to work was best. From my understanding, believing something would work and it not working meant it was more likely to really just be impossible, but if I didn¡¯t believe something would work- even if it really should- it was unlikely to be as effective.


    If I could fully believe everything I tried, that would make me able to produce the best results all the time- but that just wasn¡¯t possible. Unless I learned to trick myself on purpose.


    16 points of mana drained out of me. It was a good proportion of my most expensive spells. This time, however, I felt something lingering. Not active, but not gone.


    ¡°You feel that?¡± I asked Midnight.


    He nodded. ¡°It seems to be working. And for both of our statuettes.¡±


    ¡°So now we try it?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Or we wait. We have to wait at some point, to test the duration.¡±


    My mind was on the spell, just lingering there and doing nothing. There was a good chunk of magic, but was the future active part significant? It was difficult to tell. It might be weaker.


    ¡°I suppose we wait,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Until we can at least estimate the duration.¡±


    Waiting was boring¡­ but at least I could quickly estimate that something was indeed happening. I could feel the Contingency weakening after just ten minutes. That made it more clear to me that the contained spell was a bit less than intended. After half an hour, I had a good estimate of the total duration. We waited another fifteen minutes to be more certain, and I was confident that it would last about an hour.


    At that point, we triggered the spell. The lighter sparked, and the moment the flames wooshed towards my gloved hand the Contingency triggered. It was good to know that I didn¡¯t have to be burned or even really comprehend the heat, though I knew the source was happening so maybe that was good enough. ¡°We¡¯ll have to test triggers more later,¡± I said. ¡°Looks like it took hold on you as well. Without the Contingency in the way, it definitely feels weaker.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that normal?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°It should be the base strength, though if you can prepare it long enough in advance it would be worthwhile even at these extra costs. It should only work with one at a time. I suppose we¡¯ll test that later.¡±


    ¡°The next test is¡­ me using it?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°We can kind of assume that works,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But it would be at your fatigue limit for these spells so¡­¡±


    ¡°What are my options?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Just Energy Ward?¡±


    ¡°Force Armor, technically, but I can¡¯t see a scenario where you wouldn¡¯t just cast it. Haste is¡­ only within the range if you had upgrades. My fatigue point is 7 higher so I can cover anything up to Stoneskin, Variable Freedom, Fire Shield, or¡­ Dispel?¡±


    Midnight tilted his head. ¡°How would you even use Dispel in that scenario?¡±


    ¡°If I knew some specific thing that was going to have a lingering effect on me, I suppose. But Mental or Physical Freedom might be better in that case. I might manage a generic ¡®powers linger on me¡¯, but that might be triggered by an ally accidentally?¡± I shook my head. ¡°I just thought of it because it¡¯s at the limit of the range.¡±


    ¡°I need to get more levels,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I feel like spontaneous Haste would be extremely useful. Like, if I get attacked?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how that trigger would work, but yeah.¡± Another thing to practice. No wonder the good wizards were all old.


    -----


    In the end, we learned a few things. First, we could either enchant both our statuettes or just have the intent to share the spell when it triggered. Either way, we¡¯d both get the effects. With the latter, we could have different Contingencies going for each of us. That meant two separate triggers.


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    ¡°I should probably have Stoneskin,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s the most expensive one to use in the moment that I can frequently see a need for. But for any of these to matter we need to figure out what¡¯s making things weaker, and have a longer duration. At this point, it¡¯s just cheaper to cast Stoneskin ahead of time since the duration is basically the same.¡±


    ¡°We have gemstones on order,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It might take a couple weeks to get a high quality print, and longer to get actual carved ivory. What else?¡±


    ¡°Magic eyelashes,¡± I said. ¡°Also mercury. Which if I¡¯m honest, I¡¯m a bit concerned about carrying around. Though for Contingency, I think we can keep that in Storage since we won¡¯t have to use it in the moment?¡±


    ¡°Which do you think is more important?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°The eyelashes,¡± I said. ¡°I feel like those as a material component should be tied to the strength of the spell. Contingency might naturally make a weak spell without that. This is just a guess, but since the statuette is holding onto the spell that should determine the duration of Contingency. We should grab some mercury and test with just that.¡±


    -----


    I kept learning new and surprising things about magic. I¡¯d considered myself something of an expert on the topic, but that was foolish. The bad thing was that I¡¯d probably been teaching the Portal Squad wrong. The good news was that I could correct my mistakes. And with natural upgrades available, they were still growing at a more than acceptable rate even if I had been under informed about the truth of magic.


    As for training the Portal Squad, I wasn¡¯t ready to share most of my new discoveries, but I could still answer some questions they had- and send communications to Sir Kalman for those things I didn¡¯t know personally.


    Not every day was spent training. We had rest days, of course- though generally that just meant no experimentation and near-fatigue casting instead of no spellcasting, since it would be a waste to not use the mana we recovered. Natural improvements to spells should always be worked towards.


    Then there were missions. We were called out to deal with nearby villains or to help with certain emergencies where our powers fit. There were also patrols a few times per week, since deterring crime with our presence was even better than stopping it.


    -----


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said to Midnight. ¡°Mercury about half does it, but neither my eyelashes, yours, or any other portal power person seems to matter.¡±


    Midnight nodded seriously. ¡°Rositsa¡¯s work a little. Malaliel¡¯s are better, but don¡¯t seem to completely restore power. Do we know anyone more magical? Do we need better mercury?¡±


    ¡°If we need to mix something else into mercury we¡¯ll never guess it. I doubt we¡¯ll ever get any mercury more pure than what we have.¡±


    We¡¯d gotten eyelashes from at least a dozen members of the Brigade that seemed vaguely inherently magical, but super powers seemed to not really work. At best, they were less potent than we wanted. Jim might be inherently magical enough, but he didn¡¯t have eyelashes. Relatedly, the one with the most eyelash to spare- Saveliy who watched over the physical library in the Brigade- didn¡¯t count as magic. Well, he was just human. According to him.


    ¡°Do we have to go back to my old world?¡± I asked. ¡°Malaliel might be willing to keep plucking eyelashes, but at some point we owe her too many favors for that. Other than that, do we just ask Extra to introduce us to magical extradimensional people? I can¡¯t think of anything else except¡­¡± as soon as the thought came into my head, I knew it was stupid.


    ¡°Except what?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°What I want to know is why yours didn¡¯t count at all, with your natural bond ability.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not magic,¡± Midnight said. ¡°That¡¯s all I¡¯ve got for you. It¡¯s also normally really weak. But you avoided answering the question. What else were you thinking of?¡±


    ¡°Magical girls,¡± I admitted. ¡°I know it¡¯s stupid but¡­¡±


    ¡°Their abilities are magic, right?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Some sort of magic based around mana.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I admitted. ¡°We¡¯ve confirmed that. But if not them, maybe Humuruns?¡± I pondered for a few moments. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it would make sense, but at least we could annoy a large number of people just a little bit if that works.¡±


    ¡°It would be kind of inconvenient to go to another world,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But at least there we¡¯d be safe instead of trying to pluck eyelashes from a¡­ rakshasa?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯d be buying those if we had money,¡± I said. ¡°Because there¡¯s no way we¡¯re hunting down something that¡¯s extremely magic resistant.¡± Though maybe with guns¡­? No, better to not go down that particular rabbit hole.


    ¡°Guys!¡± Midnight and I both turned to see Zeb running towards the table where we were eating lunch. ¡°Squirrel quest!¡±


    ¡°... What?¡± I asked.


    She jumped up and down excitedly. ¡°Squirrel quest! Squirrel quest!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to say more than squirrel quest for us to know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Midnight explained.


    ¡°I got approved to go on a squirrel quest! With you guys, because my speech translator isn¡¯t enough for most people to be comfortable with me running around alone.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± I said. ¡°Right.¡± We had agreed to do some sort of mission with Zeb. ¡°So what¡¯s a squirrel quest?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna make friends with all the squirrels,¡± Zeb declared. ¡°Well, one or two of each species. Not literally all of them. I can¡¯t bring Fluffy and Miss Flutter though, so Ceira will be taking care of them.¡± She put her front paws up on the table to get closer to us. ¡°Since they¡¯ll scare away the squirrels.¡±


    Zeb was usually the one responsible for that. But maybe she knew something that we didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll put the squirrel quest into our schedule.¡±


    ¡°Yesss! Can we leave today? I wanna go now!¡±


    ¡°We have to at least plan exactly where we¡¯re going,¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy. I know where every type of squirrel in the world lives!¡±


    ¡°We have to actually be able to get to those places,¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re gonna teleport us!¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s not that accurate. We¡¯d probably end up in the middle of the forest with no idea where we were.¡±


    ¡°Perfect! Lots of squirrels live in forests!¡± Zeb declared.


    I thought about it for a bit. Midnight and I could bring a lot of food. And in the worst case, we could take a roundabout trip through another plane to get back to where we wanted.


    ¡°We still need to make plans,¡± I said. ¡°And we¡¯re not just supposed to teleport past borders.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what the approval was for!¡± Zeb said. ¡°You should have gotten the email!¡±


    ¡°Was that what that was?¡± Midnight commented, clearly checking his own.


    I didn¡¯t have notifications on. If anything was urgent, the Brigade wouldn¡¯t be contacting me through email.

 Chapter 335

    Our first destination for the squirrel quest brought us to the far off lands of right outside New Bay. I might have thought that Zeb could have already been there, but it didn¡¯t seem she had successfully befriended a squirrel.


    ¡°I don¡¯t actually know why the two of us are here with you,¡± I admitted to Zeb. ¡°You have to have been able to get here before, right?¡±


    ¡°It is more difficult than you think. Few people want me riding in their car alone.¡± Instead of her usual enthusiasm, Zeb had a determined look. ¡°I have come here previously with Ceira, but she rarely has free time. Even with her guidance, I have never been successful befriending a squirrel.¡±


    I nodded slowly. ¡°That makes it far less likely that we actually have any point being here.¡±


    ¡°I will be successful today! I know it!¡± Zeb said with grit. ¡°I might need help from your magic, though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think we have any magic that will help. We¡¯ve got like, combat magic. And teleportation magic.¡±


    ¡°And divination magic,¡± Midnight said helpfully.


    ¡°Right. But I¡¯m pretty sure Zeb can find a squirrel.¡±


    ¡°I have already done so,¡± Zeb said, pointing with her nose and one paw aligned- both like and unlike how actual dogs were trained. ¡°I merely need aid from your illusions. And your enhancements. With an enhanced mind, I should be able to finally be able to figure out their tricks!¡±


    Well¡­ that did make sense at least. ¡°I only have one illusion. You mean Disguise?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Turn me into a squirrel. They will never know.¡±


    ¡°Midnight, you cast Disguise. I¡¯ll do Enhance Mind.¡±


    Neither spell was particularly expensive. A few moments later, Zeb was completely transformed in look.


    ¡°Perfect. I will certainly be successful this time.¡±


    Then Zeb sprinted towards the nearest squirrel, barking.


    Midnight sighed. ¡°She¡¯s still dog sized.¡±


    ¡°The barking doesn¡¯t help. Why is she barking? Is she trying to speak squirrel?¡± I was pretty sure that wasn¡¯t how she managed to snag either of her current companions. Actually, she¡¯d pretty much defeated them in combat- or nearly the opposite, with Fluffy.


    The squirrel obviously dashed up a tree. And Zeb couldn¡¯t follow after her, because she was in fact still a canine. Her eager barking soon grew tired. It wasn¡¯t long before she stopped, then trod back towards us, defeated.


    ¡°I thought for certain¡­¡± Zeb mumbled as she got close. ¡°This was supposed to be the time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a squirrel,¡± I said. ¡°But I feel like maybe you aren¡¯t going about this right. Like the whole barking thing.¡±


    ¡°I was telling him I wanted to be friends! But magic like.¡±


    ¡°No you weren¡¯t,¡± I said flatly. ¡°You didn¡¯t use any mana there. And even if you did, it probably wasn¡¯t going to work. So here¡¯s what we¡¯re going to do. Midnight, cast Fly. I¡¯ll cast Size Shift so you¡¯re less intimidating. Then you¡¯re going to carefully approach and use your actual skills. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Uh, right,¡± Zeb nodded.


    I finished Size Shift before Midnight finished Fly. Then I gathered more mana. ¡°You can go now,¡± I said. When Zeb turned around, I cast Slow.


    Midnight turned towards me, mouth partially open in a grin as Zeb ran off on the air¡­ slowly. ¡°Good plan.¡±


    ¡°Zeb appears completely unable to constrain her enthusiasm. So I figured it would help.¡±


    It was quite funny seeing a slow motion squirrel sort of flying. The other squirrel wasn¡¯t nearly as threatened by it. Until Zeb got close, of course. She did actually use some sort of magic, but the ability to speak with and potentially befriend animals wasn¡¯t any sort of guarantee.


    The squirrel eventually ended up zipping around the tree when Zeb got too close, and she slowly chased for a bit until she realized it was time to give up and come back down.


    Slow ended about the time Zeb got back to us. ¡°It thinks I¡¯m a dog even though I look like this!¡±


    ¡°Well, it did see you before,¡± I pointed out. ¡°And it heard you barking. And you probably smell the same.¡± I looked to Midnight for that one. I was fairly certain Disguise didn¡¯t have any effect on smell.


    ¡°What he¡¯s saying is that we should find a different one,¡± Midnight explained.


    ¡°But that¡¯s my favorite one!¡±


    ¡°Is it because we saw it first?¡± I asked. ¡°Because it looks just like a squirrel. Unless you¡¯ve met that one before.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ no. But its tail is so fluffy!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just how squirrels work,¡± I reminded Zeb. ¡°The next squirrel will be like that too. Also, I have concerns about your plan.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? I promise I¡¯ll take good care of him!¡±


    ¡°I believe you,¡± I said. ¡°But your ultimate goal is to create a Companion Bond, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡±


    ¡°Friendships don¡¯t really work in just one direction. I doubt it would work well if you tricked a squirrel into befriending you.¡±


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    ¡°But they¡¯re afraid of dogs! And dog shaped things.¡±


    ¡°That means it¡¯s your job to make them not afraid.¡± I did notice that previously Zeb¡¯s two companions were larger than her. Perhaps her style worked better that way. ¡°And most squirrels aren¡¯t going to be interested in a job as a super mercenary, even if they might like other parts of your plan.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying¡­¡± Zeb collapsed to the ground, ¡°That I have to give up forever?¡± She whined pitifully.


    ¡°Did I say that?¡± I looked at Midnight. ¡°Did it sound like I was saying that?¡±


    Midnight shook his head. ¡°What Turlough meant was that there are probably a million squirrels in this forest. You just have to find one of the ones that would want to leave and go fight bad guys with you.¡±


    ¡°... Will there be a lot of those?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way to find out unless you meet a bunch of squirrels,¡± Midnight said encouragingly.


    That¡¯s why it was his fault that we were out in the forest until sundown. He was too encouraging.


    At least it wasn¡¯t a waste of our time. Zeb should have been getting better at her skills¡­ probably. Midnight and I didn¡¯t throw so many spells at her, but we agreed that keeping her small was less intimidating. Sometimes she needed to fly to get within proper conversation distance, and she even learned to not try to get within sniffing range no matter how much she wanted to.


    I felt like Ceira should have been able to explain all that, but they might not have actually been out here for all that long. Or maybe Zeb forgot. Or Ceira was too busy watching her chase stuff around, because it was quite entertaining.


    ¡°I thought that just one more and I would finally find the right squirrel,¡± Zeb commented. ¡°Now it is very dark.¡±


    ¡°We have light,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Only one and a half of us really needed it anyway. ¡°It might be a bit difficult to get a car out here, though.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to wait longer,¡± Midnight agreed.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just teleport back?¡± Zeb said. ¡°Or would that leave me here alone? I don¡¯t want to be alone with the squirrels, they don¡¯t even like me.¡±


    Spending the night out in the woods might actually be a good way to get the squirrels used to her presence, but Zeb was not a wild canine. She was a city based Bunvorixian. She might do alright in the wilderness with her companions, mostly because few things would be willing to take on a rust mole and a dire bat. But we could Teleport her with us.


    ¡°Dimension Door isn¡¯t far enough,¡± I explained. ¡°And Teleport is imprecise. If we end up in the middle of the street or inside a building, it will be awkward.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Doesn¡¯t Extra have Teleport nodes? Couldn¡¯t you end up there?¡±


    Now that she mentioned it¡­ their facilities weren¡¯t just for interdimensional travel. They were set up to be generally usable. It should be easier to end up there, but there was no guarantee. Gate was already quite precise in most circumstances, so that wasn¡¯t a useful metric.


    ¡°I guess we can try,¡± I said. ¡°I haven¡¯t done it from outside the city. But just in case we end up in the middle of the street, we should have Haste. And if we end up inside someone¡¯s house¡­ we¡¯ll just Dimension Door out a window.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the officially approved response,¡± Midnight said.


    Too bad. I didn¡¯t want to explain it to people. And we needed to keep training our abilities.


    Plus I was tired and didn¡¯t want to wait for a car to come all the way out here.


    Not that there was anything to worry about anyway. We made out preparations, cast Teleport- making sure to include all of us, obviously- and then we were inside Extra. They had plenty of stalls for unscheduled arrivals, so it was simple to walk out. It was good to know that even with some inaccuracy in the spell, it worked just fine. They did a good job making a place that worked for all sorts of teleportation methods. Maybe there was some sort of fundamental connection?


    I could probably benefit from learning about Celmothian teleportation, but I didn¡¯t have the spare decades at the moment. So I had to go with surface level knowledge.


    ¡°Well, here we are. I suppose we¡¯ll be meeting up in the morning again?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be staying with Ceira!¡± Zeb said excitedly. ¡°Because transporting Fluffy and Miss Flutter is difficult.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I bet,¡± I nodded. Though we could easily take them here. It only cost 15 mana.


    -----


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t get a bigger apartment,¡± I commented, seeing various figures packed into the limited space.


    ¡°When would I have the time?¡± she said. ¡°And usually I don¡¯t have a giant bat in here. She¡¯s lucky that I have a big window.¡±


    ¡°Do your neighbors ever get annoyed? You have both a cat and a dog, after all.¡±


    ¡°Bun and Cel are great,¡± Ceira said. ¡°... I also leave the window open so they can jump in and out. They¡¯re responsible enough. I¡¯d leave the door open, but that invites other trouble.¡±


    ¡°I feel like a villain wouldn¡¯t care whether it was a door or window,¡± I said.


    ¡°Not villains,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Neighbors. Ms. Abel won¡¯t stop talking, even when I tell her I have to get to someone who had their arm cut off.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Midnight prompted. ¡°Maybe she doesn¡¯t believe you? You don¡¯t dress like a doctor.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know if she hears me,¡± Ceira said. ¡°Anyway, someone got their arm cut off so¡­¡±


    ¡°How do you take care of these guys when you have to go heal people?¡±


    ¡°Obviously they come with me,¡± Ceira shrugged. ¡°The van is big enough for all of us. Though Miss Flutter¡­ hopefully they got that bar installed today.¡±


    ¡°They just let you bring animals with you?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Nobody lets me do anything. I do what I want. I¡¯m important, you know. Also, they¡¯re qualified guards which make it easier for the other guys.¡±


    I looked around. ¡°Speaking of which, I haven¡¯t seen any.¡±


    ¡°Good. That means it¡¯s working.¡±


    ¡°Should I know what or how¡­?¡±


    Ceira tilted her head. ¡°Not if you don¡¯t have a need.¡±


    ¡°Then ignorant I shall remain.¡± I paused for a moment. ¡°You really are important, huh?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t mind that I might make you less important.¡±


    She grabbed the front of my jacket. ¡°Please do. I have no free time.¡±


    ¡°If you talk to Extra, I can do it really fast,¡± I pointed out. ¡°But mostly it¡¯s a search for people who randomly ended up as druids instead of more modern classes.¡±


    Ceira nodded slowly. ¡°You have a very good point there.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be nobody,¡± I said. ¡°But it¡¯s difficult for people to confirm what class they are, without the full system. Some people might not even know they have portal powers, since they¡¯d have to randomly try to do something magic and learn it naturally. Though that seems more common immediately after the incidents in question.¡±


    Maybe we could get Doctor Doomsday to cause another portal incident. Would that be good? Probably not. But if very few people died and we got some druids, they could be trained to the point they could cast Regenerate and then fix everything.


    Except we couldn¡¯t even necessarily know what level they were without bringing them back to my old world. And the travel restrictions were getting annoying. Portal powers should probably always work, though, since that was just ¡®normal¡¯.


    ¡°Healing people is good,¡± Zeb said. ¡°So you go do that while I befriend squirrels.¡±


    How optimistic of her, to make that plural.

 Chapter 336

    It was a good thing that we were getting magical practice trying to help Zeb seem approachable to squirrels, because not much else was getting done. She was still far too enthusiastic to befriend the creatures.


    I was becoming rather bored. People were not meant to spend so much time outside, or if we were we should be hunting or gathering or something. I had no need to obtain food or supplies from the wilderness, which was good because I would be terrible at it.


    I wanted to get back to experimentation. There were still many things to learn. I did not resent Zeb¡¯s need for any ally to help her out, but I hoped she would accept the impossibility of her task sooner rather than later. Whatever modifications she made to her methods were insufficient.


    My eyes roamed. There were a surprising number of animals that could be found hanging out in a forest, and with sufficient time I managed to find a decent number of them. Birds were the easiest as they tended to announce themselves. I saw a couple deer, some snakes, and of course insects. There were often other squirrels within sight of whichever one Zeb was after at the moment.


    ¡°We¡¯re being spied on,¡± I commented to Midnight.


    ¡°I just noticed that too,¡± he said. ¡°They¡¯re off in the distance, pretending to be birdwatchers. However, their eyes are focused right on us.¡±


    ¡°... who?¡± I tilted my head, turning towards Midnight as he turned towards me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look now,¡± he said, making his way from the log where he had been sitting onto my shoulder. ¡°We¡¯ll find a moment to naturally look at them.¡±


    ¡°... Alright. Until then, look at that squirrel. It¡¯s totally watching us, right?¡± Or more specifically, it was watching Zeb, and we also happened to be an occasional target of attention.


    ¡°I would too,¡± Midnight said. ¡°If there was someone going around and harassing people in my neighborhood for days. I just thought of a better option. Take out your tablet and take a picture of that squirrel.¡±


    I¡¯d just have to trust Midnight that it made sense. So I pulled it out of Storage. It was relatively cheap, given the relative mass. It was also extremely convenient to not have to carry around a large bag or something. I¡¯d be constantly worried about it getting damaged, even if I didn¡¯t get attacked every day.


    The squirrel had a tan belly and dark gray fur over the rest of it, with lighter gray interspersed in the tail. The fluff of the tail was moderate. I didn¡¯t know what kind of squirrel it was, but Zeb probably did.


    ¡°Good. Now look at the pictures I¡¯m sending you,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°... How did you get these pictures?¡± I asked. In them, a few birdwatchers stood around, with hiking equipment and binoculars.


    ¡°My suit. Obviously. Do you think Celmothians pull out cameras when we want to record something? Humanoids aren¡¯t the only ones interested in preserving images for art or practicality.¡± Right. And he¡¯d gotten special modifications to interface with human technology. ¡°They¡¯re definitely watching us, right? Who do you think they work for?¡±


    I frowned. ¡°That is a pretty direct line,¡± I agreed. ¡°But I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re working for someone. Tell me, if you were birdwatchers and you saw a flying dog¡­ wouldn¡¯t you temporarily change your focus?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a really good point.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s entirely possible they recognized us,¡± I commented. ¡°I know we are not famous in the super mercenary scene, but we are distinct. And we¡¯ve been involved with a number of public incidents. There could be so many reasons they might be watching us.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°I feel much better.¡±


    ¡°Do continue monitoring them, though.¡±


    -----


    Zeb had no luck that day¡­ and we cut off a bit early to make sure we could get back to the city at a reasonable time. It wasn¡¯t a short drive to a proper forest. Teleporting back would be fine, but with us being watched I didn¡¯t want to. That power wasn¡¯t public yet, so far as we knew. Even if someone was aware of my full potential, they wouldn¡¯t necessarily know what spells I actually had, so I might be able to surprise potential foes.


    Which did mean taking a ride to an unrelated destination along the way, in case someone was expecting to ambush us somewhere along the way back into the city. It would be silly to try to plan for future issues without thinking about the current one.


    We reported the incident- it was agreed that any of the interpretations were possible. If we saw the same group again it would be a sign of trouble. Either way, if we encountered some villain after vengeance or whatever the plan should be to run. We couldn¡¯t expect backup far outside the city, not even from speedsters or teleporters.


    Maybe Shockwave could make it, but only if we were there to empower them to move at maximum speed with Haste and Physical Freedom, which kind of defeated the whole point. Bolster would be able to do that eventually, but she was still working on early improvements to Haste. It was a massive difference between that and the 11 upgrades Midnight and I had, both in terms of duration and power. Plus the whole Physical Freedom part was necessary for Shockwave to not annihilate every glass surface in the city when they ran at that kind of speed. Probably a lot more than glass, actually.


    -----


    ¡°We¡¯ve been followed since the parking lot,¡± I commented to Midnight.


    ¡°Wait, really? How did I not notice?¡± Midnight put his paws on top of my head to look past me. ¡°Were they on the blind side?¡±


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    ¡°You were looking in the wrong place,¡± I said, gesturing upward. ¡°Behold, our pursuer.¡±


    ¡°... That¡¯s the same squirrel as yesterday,¡± Midnight commented.


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s obviously the same kind of squirrel but I don¡¯t see anything distinctive enough¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m better at recognizing small fur patterns. Like humans are good with faces. Obviously I¡¯m best with felines, but I can tell. See how the light fur loops just above the nose?¡±


    I pulled out the picture from the day before. ¡°Look at that,¡± I said. I took another picture- the camera was high enough quality that the zoom would be better than my eyes. I believe Midnight that he recognized it, but it was nice to confirm for myself. I couldn¡¯t be fully certain until we saw another of the same type, which was sufficiently different.


    ¡°So¡­ do you think we should tell Zeb?¡± I asked eventually.


    ¡°We might need to eventually,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°But if one is interested in us, she might just scare it off¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an interesting situation,¡± I agreed. Zeb would have been able to hear us, but she was so focused on her current target. Her barking was still kind of frantic, even if it wasn¡¯t as loud as before. ¡°Good news, it¡¯s not Beastro.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not what now?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Some guy who hates Shockwave. Beastro doesn¡¯t actually transform to any relevant extent. It could be some other shifter though.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying, I don¡¯t know why a squirrel would leave their territory to follow people around otherwise. Or¡­ one humanoid, a canine, and a feline.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we should have Zeb check it out?¡±


    ¡°Can you smell shapeshifters?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever encountered one? I¡¯d probably scare a real squirrel off just as much as Zeb, though. Even with the suit hidden.¡±


    ¡°Can you c-¡± I stopped myself before I suggested Midnight climb a tree. ¡°Maybe keep watch to see if it runs along the ground somewhere and you can pick out its trail.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± Midnight said.


    The rest of the day was continuing uneventfully, until we got far enough off the trail that we actually ended up on another trail. Zeb was ranging far and wide to try to find new squirrels, without much luck. Or rather, it seemed that luck wouldn¡¯t be the main factor in her success or she would have managed it by now.


    A few hikers passed us by with simple greetings. Some stopped to look in curiosity at the sometimes-flying dog, but we were still close enough to New Bay that such things were, if not common, at least not unknown.


    Something about the second group put me off. ¡°Weird,¡± I said.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I guess I just kind of thought cyborgs would all be city folk? But realistically lots of mods aren¡¯t relevant in the city and would be way better for hiking.¡±


    ¡°Cyborgs? Do you think they might be from the Mod Squad?¡±


    ¡°No profiling!¡± I said. ¡°Most cyborgs aren¡¯t with them.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°I should have gotten a picture,¡± I said. At some points in time, supers were made to walk around with cameras active at all times. Privacy concerns had shut that down- not privacy for the supers in question, but for the general public. Now it was a wrestling match between two competing public needs. I had no interest in it, I just followed Brigade regulations, which in our current circumstances meant not having constant cameras.


    The squirrel followed us back to the parking lot. There weren¡¯t any other cars waiting. If they were a shifter, would they transform into a bird and fly back to the city for the night?


    If they were a shifter, would they be eating pine seeds? Watching Zeb had been entertaining the first couple of days, but I¡¯d found it more interesting to stare at the one curious squirrel. Or whatever. I had no idea how squirrels were supposed to behave, except for the not following people around thing.


    -----


    Zeb wasn¡¯t incompetent at interacting with animals. She got along fine with Cel and Bun, and she¡¯d tamed Fluffy and Miss Flutter in astounding time. Especially since one of those wasn¡¯t even intentional. No, she wasn¡¯t bad at it in general. It was a squirrel particular problem. Perhaps being a canine didn¡¯t help, but I couldn¡¯t imagine that most squirrels actually had experience with dogs in the forest. Maybe wolves or foxes?


    Regardless, failure after failure built up until during one lunch break Zeb just collapsed onto the ground with her face in her paws. ¡°I¡¯m a terrible beastmaster! I might as well be a beast¡­ loser.¡±


    That¡­ didn¡¯t really work.


    Was this a situation where I was supposed to give advice, or sympathize? I was only competent at one of those, but I went with something like a mixture. ¡°You¡¯re not terrible. You¡¯ve already tamed two magical beasts,¡± I pointed out. Well, technically rust moles weren¡¯t magical at all. Dire bats were just an exceptionally big version of another animal. But the point stuck. ¡°Maybe you just need to figure out what worked there, and how that might not work on something like squirrels.¡±


    Zeb seemed unable to maintain a depressed state. ¡°That¡¯s right! Of course this is difficult. I¡¯ve only ever tamed magical creatures. Never anything with the mythical status of a squirrel!¡± That was the complete opposite of what I meant. But it made her tail wag, so it was probably good. ¡°I¡¯ve just got to treat this task with a deserving respect and devotion. I must work harder!¡±


    This wasn¡¯t right at all. But Zeb began looking around eagerly.


    ¡°Maybe eat lunch first?¡± I suggested. Zeb¡¯s lunch was like the filling of a burrito- with minimum spicing. Much better than dog food, I imagined, but a similar amorphous mass.


    Zeb scarfed down what she had in the tupperware- helpfully opened by my hands so that she didn¡¯t risk spilling it as she wrangled it open- and then began sniffing around. ¡°I¡¯ll find one, I¡¯m sure of it!¡±


    I watched her go directly towards the wide tree where our resident watcher had been hanging out. I didn¡¯t see it right then, until Zeb made her way around the backside of the tree. The squirrel was keeping pace on the ground, poking its head around to see Zeb¡¯s tail as the two of them moved around the tree.


    ¡°I¡¯ve found one! No, two! Maybe three?¡± Zeb said excitedly. ¡°I just have to catch it¡­ but not scare it off. Hmm, this is hard. I¡¯ll walk carefully.¡±


    Midnight and I shared a look. We could just tell her to turn around¡­ but that could wait at least another minute, right? ¡°You¡¯re recording, right?¡± I asked Midnight.


    ¡°Obviously.¡±

 Chapter 337

    Zeb took several cautious steps forward, disappearing behind the tree from our perspective. The following squirrel wasn¡¯t far behind- nearly close enough to touch her tail by the time Zeb came into our eyeline again, sniffing the ground.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting closer,¡± she declared vigorously. ¡°It can¡¯t outrun me!¡±


    Zeb proceeded to sprint forward, rounding the large trunk several times. During that time, she proved herself wrong completely as the squirrel continued to keep up with her, and seemed as if it could do more.


    Midnight and I were willing to record the incident forever, but it simply wasn¡¯t possible. Zeb rounded the tree again and suddenly stopped.


    ¡°Watch your tail!¡± she said urgently.


    Fortunately that idiom translated well enough. I turned around to see a figure slightly before he was close enough for me to sense the power usage. There was no subtlety to be had in the form of a big metal man standing out in the forest. ¡°It¡¯s Flasher! Midnight, form up! Zeb, get over here. We need to touch.¡±


    I wanted to fight him, but the circumstances were all wrong. He could have brought any number of subordinates from the Mod Squad, and we only had Midnight and I present. Zeb didn¡¯t count because she had no beastmaster companion, so she effectively had no powers.


    I felt Midnight hop up on my right shoulder and heard Zeb¡¯s rushing paws. I was already gathering mana for Teleport when Flasher suddenly closed half the distance with a short range teleport of his own. Later, we might find that useful¡­ but in the circumstances it meant he was one hop away from us. ¡°Midnight! Anchor!¡±


    He finished the spell just before Flasher teleported again, the ray of energy streaking through the air and hitting¡­ nothing. Not because he missed, exactly. It was just unfortunate timing.


    Flasher was two steps in front of us, reaching out. I felt Zeb¡¯s head touch my hand. I bent down to wrap my arm around her to make certain we got her, then I felt Midnight land on my left shoulder.


    Grease appeared under Flasher¡¯s feet, surprisingly effective on the twigs and leaves. He wobbled, providing the last instant of delay as he reached out towards us. Though maybe I should have let him touch us and come along to Extra. I also wondered if I could learn to cast small spells in parallel with large ones. Would that disrupt the larger spell? Could I funnel a couple points of mana?


    Too many questions as we were staring at the plain walls of Extra. I had under my arm an individual that was not a border collie but certainly looked like one, and Midnight on my shoulder. No Flasher.


    ¡°Everyone alright?¡± I asked, turning my head towards Midnight on my right.


    He hopped down from my shoulder and flopped on the floor. ¡°I don¡¯t like that guy. Flash Circuit has too many powers. Shielding, mental processing, teleportation, and laser redirection too! He might even have more.¡±


    ¡°Is Flash Circuit a friend of Flasher¡¯s?¡± Zeb asked.


    ¡°They¡¯re the same person,¡± Midnight explained. ¡°One¡¯s just a Turlough name.¡±


    Zeb nodded seriously. ¡°I see.¡± She likewise threw herself on the floor, head on her paws. ¡°He¡¯s so mean. I was about to catch a squirrel.¡±


    She most certainly was not. Still, I was prepared to flop on the floor in solidarity once Midnight got off my left shoulder. But he was already on the ground¡­?


    I turned my head just in time to get a fluffy tail in the face. I followed the movement to see the squirrel landing easily and approaching Zeb. It pat her behind the head, gently.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Zeb said. ¡°Did your paws get smaller, Midnight?¡± Zeb sniffed. ¡°Ugh, how frustrating! I got so close that I can still smell the squirrel!¡±


    ¡°Should we tell her?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°She¡¯ll figure it out,¡± I said.


    ¡°What are you gonna tell me?¡± Zeb asked. ¡°If it¡¯s about buying a squirrel, I don¡¯t wanna! You¡¯re supposed to catch them in the wild!¡±


    I don¡¯t know where she got any information about what one was ¡®supposed¡¯ to do. Maybe Lyklor? But the old elf didn¡¯t seem like the type that would have rejected a previously tame or domesticated animal, if it was what he was looking for. Then again, I wasn¡¯t a druid or a beastmaster or anything. I just had a familiar, and he wasn¡¯t even an animal.


    ¡°What if they follow you inside?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Then they¡¯re probably already your friend,¡± Zeb said. ¡°But I¡¯m terrible and awful and will never ever be friends with a squirrel.¡± The squirrel started chittering at Zeb. ¡°I can still hear one of them. Taunting me.¡±


    ¡°You really had a hard time, huh?¡± I asked. ¡°But don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll be alright.¡±


    Zeb shifted her head towards me. ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. Now I¡¯m visually hallucinating too.¡± She sniffed slightly.


    I wondered if telling her would somehow make her scare it away. Zeb could fill up with energy instantly.


    The squirrel booped her on the nose.


    ¡°Hello, hallucinatory squirrel. Do you want to be my friend?¡± Zeb asked. The squirrel chittered at her. ¡°That¡¯s great to hear. Next time I¡¯ll find a real squirrel, maybe. But until then, I have you, illusory squirrel. I¡¯m going to call you¡­ Douglas.¡±


    ¡°Is that a squirrel name?¡± I asked. ¡°Will he like that?¡±


    The second question was easily enough answered by what I perceived to be positive chittering. Though maybe I was just reading into things.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°She is a Douglas squirrel,¡± Zeb said. ¡°Doug-lass squirrel? Douglas¡¯s squirrel?¡± I was pretty sure most of those sounds weren¡¯t something she could naturally make. ¡°It¡¯s a kind of squirrel with a sort of that has a tan belly like this illusory squirrel.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Well, we should probably take you two and the illusory squirrel out of here. Since we¡¯re just sitting in the teleportation hall.¡± I had to report Flasher¡¯s appearance to the Brigade. ¡°Oh, Midnight, you were still recording, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Great. On camera power usage is good, even if it¡¯s probably not perfectly stable.¡±


    ¡°Douglas. You can ride on my head.¡± Douglas complied, managing to maintain her balance as Zeb stood up. ¡°The weight of illusory squirrels is greater than I could have ever imagined. I was so close to the greatest destiny of my people, and yet so far.¡±


    Zeb was sure serious about squirrels. She¡¯d probably be super excited when she realized what actually happened.


    ¡°Do you think your squirrel will get along with the others?¡± I asked Zeb.


    ¡°All my friends get along,¡± Zeb said. ¡°They¡¯ll know. They might not hallucinate the same squirrel as me, though.¡±


    -----


    ¡°You have to come get Zeb,¡± Ceira said over the phone. ¡°She hasn¡¯t stopped shouting about her squirrel quest for hours.¡±


    ¡°I assume she finally figured it out when she woke up?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Something like that,¡± Ceira replied.


    ¡°There¡¯s a bit of a problem with the squirrel quest.¡±


    ¡°She was actually successful. I feel like she¡¯ll be more effective now, won¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I said. It might take special squirrels, though. ¡°But we can¡¯t go on the squirrel quest because Flasher was still trying to snatch Midnight. Probably.¡±


    ¡°That jerk. Just wait till Fluffy gets his teeth on him.¡±


    ¡°He did, previously,¡± I said. ¡°Flasher got repairs.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it still cost him. Cyborg parts don¡¯t grow on trees. At least not any trees I¡¯ve seen.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t give Vilhelmiina ideas.¡±


    ¡°Right. So¡­ you can¡¯t leave the city?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re supposed to remain with a full squad as much as possible. We can bring Zeb on some city patrols, if you want. We can also just wrangle her back to her own place, since she¡¯ll be with her companions and you won¡¯t have to take care of them during the day.¡±


    ¡°Probably for the best. They¡¯re well behaved, but I really don¡¯t have enough room for them. Well, maybe Fluffy but Miss Flutter needs special accommodations.¡±


    -----


    Calculator was given the unenviable task of explaining to Zeb why we could not continue her squirrel quest at the moment. However, as soon as he explained that Midnight and I would be in potential danger, she calmed significantly.


    ¡°What if I bring Fluffy and Miss Flutter? Fluffy can fight Flash Circuit just fine.¡±


    Calculator shook his head. ¡°Not on his own. Or in a small team. And we can¡¯t spare a whole team for your¡­ squirrel quest¡­ at the moment. Mage and Familiar are already a significant value that we can¡¯t afford to deduct from our day-to-day operations long term.¡±


    ¡°Also¡­¡± Midnight added. ¡°Douglas might be worried that you would want to replace her if you tried to get more squirrels right away.¡±


    ¡°Nooo! I would never do that to my favorite squirrel!¡± Zeb whined.


    ¡°So when you have two¡­¡±


    ¡°They would both be my favorite.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to convince me of that,¡± Midnight explained. ¡°Think of the squirrels.¡±


    Eventually, we got everything sorted out. Some of that involved more patrols for Midnight and I, but it kind of was the part of our job that kept the Power Brigade in business.


    -----


    The next couple of months went smoothly, with various forms of training slipped in among our patrols. The Contingency based stuff just took time for materials and production, during which we tested various materials for our statuettes. There were various sorts of cheaper and more obtainable ivory substitutes. We settled on a number of gemstones that between us seemed to be optimal- artificial ones were far cheaper and just as good.


    That was for the best. I didn¡¯t want to have to start cutting corners off of the scrying cube. But if we needed some gemstone, there sure was a whole lot of it there. Probably best to leave it, though, because it cost some significant amount of blackout- which was not the same price as the electricity people would have been using during that same time. Lots more headaches and paperwork, and if I made Vilhelmiina do it again it would be my headaches and paperwork.


    The part we had more trouble with was the consumed components. Ultimately, it seemed that the duration of the Contingency relied mainly on a good statuette and the potency relied on proper materials. As far as we knew, that was magical eyelashes and mercury. Just mercury wasn¡¯t enough, and we hadn¡¯t found any eyelashes that we felt worked.


    And thus, we were on a hunt for magical eyelashes. Which was to say, we planned to go to Earth #2 to see if we could get some. We didn¡¯t want to visit too often because there had been some trouble last time. Fortunately, we¡¯d brought sufficient Humuruns through that they could build up their magical girl forces to fight The Scouring for at least a few years without falling behind their previous metrics.


    Relatedly, from their perspective we were probably Earth #2. And Extra probably knew about some other parallel ones that already had numbers. But that didn¡¯t mean anything to me.


    Khithae was also from a parallel Earth, I supposed. One where gecko people existed and had advanced tech. Maybe that would have to be Earth#-1 or something. It was more divergent, in my opinion.


    Midnight and I set up some dimension hopping for one of our weekends, scheduling with Strife and Lady Eglantine to make certain they would be available.


    ¡°... so you have a job?¡± I asked Momo when we appeared in one of the safehouses.


    ¡°How else would we cover the expenses of this building?¡± Momo asked.


    ¡°Uh¡­ government subsidies?¡± I tilted my head. ¡°I feel like you should definitely be paid for stopping extraterrestrial invaders.¡± I looked at Lady Eglantine. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right? The Humurun thing is sponsored by your planet, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but our money is no good here.¡±


    ¡°... Don¡¯t you have amazing technology or something? You could sell it.¡±


    ¡°Turlough,¡± Midnight commented, ¡°There are reasons things like Extra exist.¡±


    ¡°I feel like it would help with the whole invasion thing,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Especially if their guardians were more available to do stuff. Or if someone could create an anti-Scouring gun.¡±


    ¡°I believe that might be us,¡± Momo commented.


    ¡°Right. So anyway, I need your eyelashes.¡± Or maybe Eglantine¡¯s? We should test both. The Humuruns seemed more naturally magical, but they imbued that into the others. Or maybe neither would work, which would mean I had to go look for magic monsters. Or figure out how to make a substitution of some sort.

 Chapter 338

    The best thing we had at the moment to combine with contingency was still Stoneskin. It wasn¡¯t something cheap that could be trivially cast in the heat of battle, it didn¡¯t last all day on its own, and it was generically useful. It didn¡¯t need any choices of element, nor could it accidentally hurt someone like Fire Shield. Perhaps I should pick up other options, but if it allowed us to more efficiently use our mana in the thick of things a small number of options would be all we needed.


    On that note, Strife was fairly easily convinced to give up some eyelashes. She would be suffering for the greater good and all that. We¡¯d also try to get some eyelashes from Momo to see if magical girls still counted in their normal form. Relatedly, it did work. I could immediately tell the potency of the spell was much higher. As for Lady Eglantine¡¯s lashes, what exactly counted was up for debate for a porcupine. However, we found some hairs right up close to her eye that had to count.


    Eglantine¡¯s lashes worked about half as well as Strife¡¯s. So there was something to the whole thing. Both were far superior to our previous efforts. Because of the order of our experimentation we would be left with a shorter duration of the Contingency on Midnight¡¯s statue, which really didn¡¯t matter. Especially since we were still in the experimentation phase, and not expecting to need any of it.


    So of course something came up.


    I heard some portion of the chatter coming through the in-ear comms of Strife and Eglantine. ¡°... swarms of¡­ downtown!¡±


    The two of them were immediately tense. ¡°Is there trouble?¡± I asked. ¡°Was that Fried Shrimp?¡±


    Before they could answer, I heard more yelling, though again only part of it. ¡°Mage? Tell that¡­ kick his ass!¡± The message was clear enough.


    Lady Eglantine cleared her throat. ¡°Burning Cupid and other magical girls request backup. We will return to assist you with your experimentation later.¡±


    As they began moving, Midnight hopped onto my shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re coming too. Obviously.¡±


    ¡°It is not your responsibility,¡± Strife said.


    ¡°We have to help people when we know they¡¯re in trouble,¡± Midnight said. ¡°And Turlough wants to fight.¡±


    ¡°I rarely get to hit things as hard as I want!¡± I explained. At least, not anything that would actually be hurt much. I was going to be using magic here more than my staff, but it was the same thing.


    These magical girls absolutely needed a better way to get places besides running and public transportation. Even if driving wasn¡¯t that common here, people still did it. Fortunately, I was more than capable of keeping up. The Power Brigade wouldn¡¯t likely have kept me on if I avoided basic fitness. That said, I probably wouldn¡¯t have survived if they had, since I often ended up in situations that I needed it.


    ¡°Hmm. She sure did mean swarms,¡± I commented as we came around a corner to find some familiar- and some unfamiliar- magical girls corralling large numbers of The Scouring. Angled walls of flame presumably formed by Fried Shrimp along the sides of the street funneled most of the ground based members into a narrow point where Shield blocked the way with a few other melee oriented individuals.


    Some monsters climbed or flew over the flames, but they were generally being handled. For the moment. The press of misshapen forms was beginning to overwhelm the walls of flame, with some being shoved through quite forcefully.


    Strife immediately set about impaling those past the barrier with quills. I¡¯d had in mind to use Chain Lightning, but the area was set up far better for something else. I just had to get close enough to use Blizzard without catching any allies in the area. Or, say, certain walls of fire. Fried Shrimp didn¡¯t need her day to be any more difficult.


    I made my way to the front of the pack, just close enough that something swiped at me. That was intentional, because Contingency was supposed to be triggered there. It didn¡¯t seem to be quite close enough the first time, but when a barbed tail scraped against Force Armor it finally worked. It seemed we had some fine tuning to do with triggers. Maybe the code phrase idea was best, since I could consciously trigger that.


    These particular circumstances made Contingency inefficient since we hadn¡¯t had much time to recover our mana, but normally it was supposed to be waiting for most of the day before it was used.


    I had been worried it might interrupt the flow of mana I was gathering, but it worked just fine. Then again, if it could interrupt a caster they really wouldn¡¯t want any reactive triggers. It would be pretty awful to screw yourself over like that.


    Swirling ice blasted forwards from me, covering literally as far as I could get it past the flames. What remained was a sort of gallery of horrific ice sculptures¡­ being crawled over by the beasts behind them. Or through, as some weren¡¯t exactly gentle with their frozen brethren. My spell seemed surprisingly effective¡­ but there was a reason magic was used to counter them, after all. It would also be horrifying if anything that came in such large quantities was individually powerful.


    ¡°Great job!¡± the silver Shield said. ¡°But if we can¡¯t find and hold the portals they¡¯re coming through, this incident might escalate. Normally I would have expected them to stop coming by now¡­ If they decided to ignore us and go after civilians, it will be a disaster.¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± I said. ¡°Anyone have a mirror?¡±


    The left side flames roared grew more robust as Fried Shrimp approached. ¡°Planning to put on your makeup in the middle of battle?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Of course not,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s only for media appearances, and only in my world. And I¡¯m on media probation, so¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°I was serious about the mirror thing, though.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t have one,¡± Fried Shrimp replied.


    ¡°Uh, I have a compact,¡± Wand said as she waved her pink magic at people, fixing up cuts and bruises. The momentary lull in battle was a good time for such things, though there were still many enemies approaching. More backup had arrived, though, so there were about a dozen magical girls present. No Magical Man, but I wasn¡¯t even sure if he was active in this district. ¡°Is that good enough?¡±


    I could probably fit a full height mirror in Storage now. It would probably be too much of my capacity though. ¡°That¡¯s a¡­ small one, right?¡± I held up my hand for reference. ¡°Larger is¡­ better? A bathroom would be fine but¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if any of the surrounding establishments would have one. Most places should, right? They were kind of required anywhere people would work.


    But right now most of the buildings were sealed up with barriers I hadn¡¯t noticed on previous visits. They were some sort of metal drop down thing. I doubted they could withstand a direct hit from a proper monster, but they were good for collateral damage.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the compact,¡± I said, holding out my hand.


    ¡°Pink!¡± she called. A pink cat flew down from the sky, holding a purse. I wondered if that looked like a free floating purse to most people since the cat would be invisible? Either way, Wand quickly dug through the contents and pulled out the mirror.


    I took it, then backed up to a safer position. As I did so, I wondered if I needed the mirror at all. Scrying the location would be useful, but I just wanted to find it. Getting a sense of direction and distance was more important.


    But it wasn¡¯t a good time for experimentation. I set about doing what I planned, flipping the mirror open. I hadn¡¯t used a double mirror before, though it kind of brought to mind the multiple sided ¡®scrying orb¡¯ Vilhelmiina created. I wondered if different images would naturally settle into it or if I had to do something?


    Silvery mists swirled over it as I sought out portals nearby. I knew what they looked like, and they should be powerful and easy to sense, even if they weren¡¯t proper magic. As I was feeling around for things, I bumped into¡­ something. I felt myself get shoved away from a particular area- without actually getting a read on where that was. Before I had time to consider that, images started to form. It wasn¡¯t my intention, but I got a top-down view of the location which just looked like some dirt path in shade and a horizontal view of the portal in question, next to a slope or some sort. How useful! Was it that way because I was going to think it was useful, or because it was some sort of default?


    I couldn¡¯t think about that. ¡°Someone tell me where this is!¡± I waved over the nearest magical girl. Civilians had all run away long before¡­ except a few fools lingering in the distance.


    ¡°That¡¯s under the bridge!¡± she commented. ¡°That way!¡± She pointed at about a forty-five degree angle to the street things were swarming down.


    Magical girls were fighting, wielding magical powers and kind of scary looking weapons. One of them had a scythe- the kind that was actually used for fields- sweeping into and through numerous foes. It was sharp. Good thing most of The Scouring faded quickly into unreality after being slain, or things would be pretty gruesome.


    ¡°Midnight, over here!¡± I called. ¡°Strife! We can bring a squad of a few others along with us. And companions.¡± Most of the Humuruns didn¡¯t fight directly, but they were generally helpful to have around, improving the magical girl¡¯s abilities. I didn¡¯t know the whole details, as I was still trying to figure out all the rules that applied to me, and didn¡¯t need to learn how a parallel Earth worked that closely.


    ¡°Are we flying?¡± Lady Eglantine asked as Strife began to gather a squad.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s actually more expensive,¡± I admitted. Obviously flight was more enduring, but we¡¯d have to multicast it which would be over twenty mana. Dimension Door would be far too short of a distance- or at the very least I assumed so. Teleport would be just about right, and we couldn¡¯t end up far off target. Maybe ten to fifty feet at most. I saw a familiar squad gathering- Strife, Wand, Fried Shrimp, and Shield. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go! Midnight, we¡¯re splitting Teleport half and half.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± he said.


    We each gathered 7.5 mana, and I focused on the image lingering in the mirror. I didn¡¯t try anything fancy with the angle, I just wanted to get us there.


    ¡°... Teleport?¡± Shield asked.


    A single moment lacking sight, then we appeared in the daylight once more. We ended up on top of the bridge, which was actually good as some of The Scouring were beginning to run across it. Some cars were having issues turning around, though they seemed to have gotten the message about the dangers.


    The squad looked around, bemused, but rapidly sprang into action.


    ¡°Gizmo Girl and I will hold them here!¡± Fried Shrimp said. ¡°The rest of you fight your way over to¡­ wherever it is!¡±


    ¡°Directly beneath us,¡± I commented. ¡°I think.¡± I handed the compact mirror to the pink cat. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Heart Barrier!¡± A semi-translucent pink dome formed around me as Wand started making her way through all of us. It was formed of patterns of alternating hearts to form vague rings, with a pink mist sort of covering everything else.


    Strife seemed to think it was fairly normal, and was already stabbing her way through things before Wand was even done. She seemed quite fond of going for the eyes, perhaps because some of the creatures had far too many of them. I wondered if Stoneskin protected my eyes.


    Midnight and I followed after as flame barriers were set up across the bridge. There actually weren¡¯t too many swarming guys so I was able to bat back the stray reaching limbs and push past some misshapen wings to get to the end of the bridge pretty quickly. I did recognize the river edge after we got it in sight, though it wasn¡¯t likely that we had somehow ended up on the wrong bridge with monsters.


    The portal was pretty big- perhaps ten feet across. I saw three overly large heads poking through on twisted necks. I didn¡¯t want to find out what the rest of the beasts were like. Or maybe it was just one beast. Like a mutant duck, wolf, bat chimaera.

 Chapter 339

    Some people might have said that of the three heads on the inappropriately sized necks, the wolf or bat heads were the dangerous ones. I wasn¡¯t so sure about that. I¡¯d seen angry ducks before, and I did not want to make the mistake of underestimating it. That neck was also longer than the others.


    A good Chain Lightning might have been my response, but that would use up most of my remaining mana. ¡°Midnight, split a Chain Lightning with me.¡± With the spells we had both used, he should have enough mana left for Alter Portal at full power, same as me.


    ¡°Got it,¡± Midnight said, gathering his six-and-a-half mana as I did the same. I continued down the slope, angling away from the bridge and the portal under it as Strife flung quills at the various heads poking out of the portal. Fortunately, the full thing couldn¡¯t fit through just yet¡­ but the portal seemed to be expanding slightly as it pushed against it.


    The first target was the duck head. Among other things, it was the least damaged, having avoided most of the quills from Strife- or deflected them with its bill. It was also the closest to us physically, with the three heads being arranged perpendicular to the path beneath the bridge as they came out of the portal. Lightning arced through the air, changing its course as I directed it to reach my target. It struck the head pretty much dead on one side, and I pushed it through towards the bat head, and then finally the wolf.


    There were horrible sounds that came from the mouths of the creature(s). I still couldn¡¯t tell if the heads were connected or not, and I wasn¡¯t going to get to such an angle. Regardless, none of the sounds fit natural creatures- not that I expected something with a duck head and random scales on its neck to be natural. And the tentacles in the bat¡¯s ears were probably not normal either.


    ¡°Get behind the portal!¡± I called.


    Midnight didn¡¯t need to acknowledge that, he just needed to hold on as I did that. The duck head tried to bite at us, but it was only capable of bending a bit further than ninety degrees to the side as it pressed against the edge of the portal. Which was¡­ too far, really. I¡¯d kind of been counting on them following some rules of anatomy. Soon we were placed between the slope of the bridge and the portal, with about five feet of standing room.


    Strife had joined us, but she bore a look of concern. ¡°I will not be able to assault the monsters from here.¡±


    ¡°Same for them, right?¡± I asked. Fortunately the portal did have a back side that was not spewing out more Scouring. ¡°Also, you can totally toss some spines around that,¡± I gestured to the vaguely visible flailing heads. ¡°Or stab the little guys crawling around towards us.¡± Too bad the three large heads didn¡¯t fully block the gap. ¡°We¡¯re going to close this portal.¡±


    It had worked pretty well last time something I didn¡¯t want to fight was coming through one of these portals. I just hoped they hadn¡¯t learned from the experience. I had no idea how intelligent and cooperative The Scouring were.


    They did seem to have the ability to physically bully the portal wider, though hopefully that had something to do with their supernatural presence. With Midnight and myself, we should be able to handle it. I began to crack skulls, some of which weren¡¯t in the correct place at all, as beasts continued to crawl around the edge of the portal.


    With two people using Alter Portal, we should have been pretty effective¡­ but I could feel we were wrestling against the three heads. We did manage to visibly stop the growth and shave off a few inches almost right away.


    Long necks turned at unnatural angles, eyes from the heads looking towards us as they continued to howl in pain and anger. They actually managed to get parts of them over the line of the portal, past the ninety degree angle, and I actually had to smack away the wolf head with my staff and take a half step back to stay out of its reach. The good news about that was that Strife was able to better target them, and they were getting a whole lot of magical rainbow quills in them.


    She continued her habit of targeting the eyes. A bit odd for someone with an eyepatch. An eyepatch that she didn¡¯t need, so that probably changed the circumstances significantly. Her depth perception seemed fine enough regardless. Eyes were weak, and there were somewhere around ten of them between the three heads.


    I kicked away some sort of snake as I twisted the edges of the portal, trying to force it to close even as I struggled against the three heads. Only two of them could effectively push against the edges of the portal at once, but the third was caught in the middle and provided a sort of stabilizing force as the portal shrunk to around eight feet.


    I remembered some fancy tricks from before. I¡¯d closed off portals from the center, and that had worked fairly well. The problem was that there was a whole bat head with a horrifyingly long neck there.


    ¡­ Was that a problem? I didn¡¯t care what happened to it. And even if I needed an ¡®empty¡¯ location to begin my work, there should at least be the inside of its throat. ¡°Hold the outside steady!¡± I warned Midnight.


    Then I mentally yanked from the middle. I was careful not to go beyond my limits¡­ though exactly which limits I was uncertain. I brushed against the edge of consciousness as my mana drained to near empty. I felt something hit the outside of the middle section of the portal, but it was far less durable than the rest of the bat. It hung for a moment and then¡­ the portal snapped outward.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    The two outer necks were caught on the edges of the remaining ring for a moment before their efforts were hindered by a rapid flurry of impalements by Strife. Probably not enough to kill them even with The Scouring¡¯s seeming magic weakness, but sufficient.


    The necks lost a bit of supernatural tension, and the two sides of the portal decided that they were finally willing to move closer together, with the obvious results of that. I wondered if the magical girls here in Earth #2 needed blood cleaning services¡­ since their enemies rapidly dissolved into horrifying smoke it would only be for their own blood, though.


    I continued to whack the remaining beasts that were biting and clawing at me. Stoneskin was good, but they¡¯d be through it quickly if I just let them. I didn¡¯t have much magic left, but Strife rather efficiently impaled most of those that remained, including those that I had wounded but not managed to kill.


    ¡°Well,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m fully out of mana. I can help bash anything left on the bridge if Fried Shrimp hasn¡¯t annihilated the rest of them, but I can¡¯t really get you guys back to that other battle.¡±


    I wanted more mana. Was going into the negatives even that bad? I felt the presence of Midnight on my shoulder, and restrained myself from further considering that path. If I was going to break magic, it wasn¡¯t going to be today. Especially not when we were¡­ mostly victorious.


    After we climbed back up the slope, I helped take out easy targets near the back, and Midnight sniped some with his suit¡¯s lasers. As predicted, most of the enemies had been turned to ash. Well, or at least burned to death before the rest of the Scouring thing happened, whatever that was.


    ¡°Excellent job, Mage,¡± said Shield. ¡°Finding this portal and getting us here quickly likely saved many lives. However, some fiends have probably gone into the surrounding area. Could you help us track them down?¡±


    ¡°Only in mundane fashions,¡± I said. ¡°I have a pretty decent supernatural sense, but no mana left.¡± I focused on what was going on around us. The strongest magic was in the magical girls, then my staff, then the lingering effects of defensive magic on myself and Midnight. More distantly I sensed what I was certain was the other magical girls finishing their battle. ¡°I think there might be a few that way?¡± I pointed down the street. ¡°But I can¡¯t guarantee that, or that it¡¯s all of them.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll split up,¡± Fried Shrimp said. ¡°Guide Strife there, we¡¯ll check for any others.¡±


    Wand nodded. ¡°Any injuries?¡±


    I looked at myself. ¡°A few punctures.¡± A wave of her wand and the skin was sealed up with pink magic. I wouldn¡¯t say I was fully healed, but not bleeding was good. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome. I¡¯ll also split off and listen for any trouble. I can take a handful of the weaklings,¡± she explained.


    That shouldn¡¯t be an issue. There at least wasn¡¯t anything particularly powerful or in large concentrations.


    We ran off with Strife towards what I had sensed, and there were indeed a few monsters terrorizing civilians. One woman tripped as she was running. Strife tossed a quill like a javelin, accurately striking her target from afar. Her subsequent attacks were slightly less accurate, but the primary target had been taken out and Midnight helped blast some of the others while the woman scrambled to her feet.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± she yelled as she continued to run away. Not a useless civilian, just an unfortunate one.


    We were faster, and we caught the last few beasts, one of which was just a lump of slimy which left a weird gray trail on the ground. Maybe we could have followed that, but I hadn¡¯t noticed it from afar.


    -----


    Everything quickly calmed down, and we met up at the nearest safehouse with the other magical girls. Since I was fully out of mana, I was actively absorbing more. It was worth the effort, though it wasn¡¯t a perfect meditation environment. After ten minutes or so I noticed something interesting. ¡°Hey, Midnight. The mana here feels a bit¡­¡±


    He waited for me to say what I was going to, but it would be leading him to an answer, and I wanted to know if he thought the same or if it was just in my head. Just indicating something was weird might be too much, but he came to the same conclusion. ¡°Stronger, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Right?¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s still lower than the current New Bay, but it was pretty close to standard, wasn¡¯t it? Maybe a bit above?¡±


    ¡°Certainly,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°I¡¯ll add it to the log.¡±


    ¡°... That¡¯s a great idea.¡± I had a number of data points that had made it into writing of some form that I had referenced a few times, but if we intentionally kept observations we could be more accurate in the long run. ¡°Oh, there was something else.¡±


    ¡°Those beasts were¡­ physically tearing open the portal.¡±


    ¡°Metaphysically, maybe?¡± I shrugged. Normally, that meant something different. Superphysically? Whatever. ¡°But that wasn¡¯t what I meant. When I was looking for the portal¡­ something pushed away my Scrying. Or someone. Not from the portal but from¡­ them, presumably.¡±


    ¡°That is odd,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°Right? I guess I could have accidentally locked onto a magical girl. It¡¯s somewhat instinctive to resist Scrying, though it¡¯s usually not that effective. That¡¯s why we have Nondetection active all the time.¡± It lasted pretty much all day, so it didn¡¯t need Contingency or anything. It kept most of its potency until the very end when it rapidly unraveled. Which was why it was odd that it was at less than half strength now. ¡°Midnight, how¡¯s your Nondetection?¡±


    I had a pretty accurate judgement of the strength of effects on others, but Midnight should be better at judging his personally. Or at least similarly effective.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s all normal?¡± he tilted his head. ¡°Do you think there¡¯s something wrong with it?¡±


    ¡°Mine¡¯s half depleted.¡±


    ¡°Do you think one of those beasts ate magical effects?¡±


    That was¡­ actually a pretty good possibility. However¡­ ¡°I still have some flecks of Stoneskin active. They were clawing pretty aggressively, so if it was being directly weakened I think I would have gotten more than a few punctures.¡± Or at least my suit would have. ¡°I think¡­ it¡¯s something else.¡±


    ¡°But what?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s the big question, isn¡¯t it?¡± I just had to figure out how to answer it. I¡¯d probably need mana no matter what.

 Chapter 340

    It would be nice if I had perfect recall of every moment of my life so I could review my memories with clarity at a convenient time. But I didn¡¯t, so I couldn¡¯t think of the past and determine if there was something that I simply didn¡¯t notice, or if it just didn¡¯t happen. Though perhaps some forms of ¡®perfect¡¯ recall would only allow me to witness things I noticed in the moment.


    I wondered if there was a good spell for recalling memories. From what I knew, they were far better at removing them. Those were the sorts of spells that got people in big trouble if anyone knew about them. Not that I was interested anyway.


    When had my Nondetection spell become half depleted? That was the important question. If it was before we came to Earth #2 then I didn¡¯t have much to worry about¡­ here. Maybe somewhere else though. If it was here, I really wanted to find out how and why.


    ¡°Excuse me.¡± I turned my head to see Momo- in normal human form. ¡°I understand you are in contemplation, but you should eat something.¡±


    She held a tray of rice balls, which were still mostly not balls but triangles. I could probably survive indefinitely on Power Brigade energy bars, but that didn¡¯t mean I wanted to. Nor did I actually carry enough for that. ¡°Thank you,¡± I said. Food was good.


    Why didn¡¯t food give me mana? Or maybe it did. I¡¯d never been hungry for long enough to test either way. But if that was the case, then did typical mana regeneration indicate an area with practically no ambient mana?


    That shouldn¡¯t be quite right. There was certainly some anywhere, and though I¡¯d felt mana increase severalfold, regeneration increased similarly. Unless the amount of mana I felt wasn¡¯t actually directly proportional. Sounded like the sort of thing that would need weird super tech to test.


    I think one of the rice balls had tuna. Better than the canned stuff Midnight carried, but that was to be expected. That was just emergency rations.


    ¡°Does anyone here study magic?¡± I asked Momo.


    ¡°In what way? Magical girls had a fairly instinctive understanding of their abilities. Practice still helps, of course, but there isn¡¯t much to study.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°I¡¯d think Humuruns would, at least. Do you know of any magical girls with divination abilities? Scrying, far-seeing, or something similar?¡± I couldn¡¯t know if magical terms would directly translate if I hadn¡¯t used them before. We were working off shared understandings, but that was imperfect even as Translation continued to improve.


    ¡°Generally, we all have powers for directly fighting against The Scouring, or for dealing with the consequences of their arrival.¡± I remembered that all of them seemed to be able to repair the surroundings- which was why they didn¡¯t have to shut down whole streets or malls literally every day. It might be good for the construction economy, but it would be a bit tough on the local budgets. ¡°I don¡¯t know of anything like Scrying, but the country is broad. Though I suppose support types that specialize in tracking The Scouring might count.¡±


    ¡°Can they track anything else?¡± I asked. ¡°Like¡­ those ninjas?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe so,¡± Momo shook her head. ¡°Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t have had such trouble with them.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of trouble,¡± I commented. ¡°Have you had any more issues with them?¡± There could still be portals around Earth #2¡¯s Japan, theoretically. We hadn¡¯t even necessarily gotten rid of the last portal to Earth #1. Though that was something for my old world to deal with.


    ¡°I can¡¯t think of any incidents,¡± Momo admitted. ¡°I could ask Lady Eglantine. Our companions are the ones who know most about nonlocal affairs.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which¡­ is The Scouring only an issue in Japan here?¡±


    ¡°There are a few other locations with incidents,¡± Momo said. ¡°Do not worry, the Humuruns who came through were able to distribute themselves to select a companion.¡±


    ¡°How did they get there?¡± I asked. ¡°Can they teleport? Fly?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± said Lady Eglantine, as the multicolored porcupine entered the room. ¡°If by ¡®fly¡¯ you mean ¡®stow away on airplanes¡¯.¡±


    ¡°That sounds¡­ a lot less mystical than I expected,¡± I admitted.


    She shook her head, which sort of continued down the rest of her body through her tail. ¡°Even if all of us had the ability, it wouldn¡¯t be magically efficient. Unlike your powers which seem practically boundless.¡±


    I made a face. ¡°Are you kidding? I can only teleport four times.¡±


    ¡°How many times in a day?¡± Lady Eglantine asked.


    ¡°That would depend on mana regeneration rate, and if I woke up in the middle of the night.¡±


    ¡°Approximate. Something achievable under normal circumstances.¡±


    ¡°Like ten?¡± If I assumed the base of six mana per hour, and a reasonable period of sleep but also beginning in the morning with full mana.


    ¡°A limited pool and a high rate of recovery, then.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that fast.¡±


    ¡°How much energy do you think it takes to go around the planet?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really do that though. Teleportation takes some shortcuts.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still not trivial.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Probably not. How do people not notice you sneaking about?¡±


    ¡°You forget that we appear only to those we choose¡­ or with magical affinity. Here, those are effectively the same thing.¡± She turned to Momo. ¡°You had a question?¡±


    ¡°Well, Turlough did,¡± Momo explained. ¡°About farsight and tracking abilities.¡±


    How did she know to show up for that question? Momo hadn¡¯t texted or anything. Not that Humuruns appeared to have phones. If I¡¯d know, that would have been my first question. Clearly there was a different degree of empathy or mental communication than what I had with Midnight. We never got anything so clear as ¡®come answer a question¡¯.


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    ¡°What I needed to know,¡± I explained. ¡°Was if there are any abilities people here might have that would interact with¡­ people like me. Because one of my anti-detection abilities was tested.¡±


    Lady Eglantine thought for some time, after moving to sit on one of the pillows arrayed on the couch. ¡°It is possible. Would it trigger against friendly uses?¡±


    ¡°How would you define friendly?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, normally others with powers from Humuruns,¡± Lady Eglantine admitted. ¡°Do you see us as allies?¡±


    ¡°Of course. But that doesn¡¯t mean my spell wouldn¡¯t stop people from looking. After all, by the time I know you¡¯re an ally, you have to have made contact and exchanged information which could in turn detect me somehow, right?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Anyway, it works against everyone that doesn¡¯t have an intrinsic connection to me. By which I mean specifically Midnight.¡±


    ¡°Then it is certainly possible someone looking for civilians in danger might have passed over you. Or that an ability meant to find The Scouring would wrestle with your abilities to some extent, finding foreign magic.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. But they¡¯re not magical, right? Not really.¡±


    ¡°True. Bue we didn¡¯t design our abilities to exclude most supernatural interference. Just what we expected to exist. In short, other Humuruns¡­ and not exclusively.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Because of the bad ones.¡±


    ¡°... It¡¯s really very rare,¡± Lady Eglantine said.


    ¡°Literally everyone in my first world has access to powers and thus has the potential to abuse them. Making mistakes with selection occasionally is fine compared to that.¡±


    ¡°I see. Hopefully that information assuages your concerns, at least.¡±


    It didn¡¯t, really. There was some chance that someone accidentally brushed past me, but it seemed a bit more drained than that. Unless their divination abilities were particularly strong.


    -----


    Midnight and I were going to stay awhile, so I had him send a message back to the Brigade. We needed to take some more time to gather lashes from different magical girls for testing purposes anyway, and for some reason not everyone was willing to give them up for the cause. Even though eyelashes totally grew back. I wasn¡¯t asking for all of them. Just four or five¡­ per lid. What if upper or lower were better? I doubted left or right eye would matter, but I had a bunch of different baggies getting labeled. We didn¡¯t want to have to come back here every day or something just to try to use Contingency.


    Of course, rather than sending the message we could have just gone back if I didn¡¯t have other things to do. One of those things was finding a time when the safehouse restroom was available. That was where the biggest mirror would be.


    ¡°What are you looking for?¡± Burning Shrimp asked. ¡°You think there are more monsters out there?¡±


    I was quite certain that those would have been noticed, with the screams of people being attacked and all that. ¡°Someone might have been looking for me,¡± I explained. ¡°Why are you here anyway?¡±


    ¡°I need to make sure you don¡¯t do anything weird.¡±


    What weird thing would I even do? Whatever, it wasn¡¯t like my magic was secret.


    This wasn¡¯t the best Scrying mirror I¡¯d ever had, but the best one wasn¡¯t a mirror and was in another dimension, so this was the option.


    Truthfully, I¡¯d never had much luck with finding random magical things. I tended to focus on the strongest stuff. But in this case, that might be what I wanted. Especially if I looked for something that shared my sort of magic. I didn¡¯t have any reason to expect that except instinct. Maybe some extraplanar intruders came here.


    I gathered mana. Mists swirled on the mirror. Then¡­ nothing. Midnight¡¯s tail flicked. ¡°What does that mean, you think?¡±


    I had a pretty good idea, having felt the results firsthand. ¡°Earlier, I sensed something. Someone shoved me away. Now¡­ there¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡°So they left?¡± Burning Shrimp asked.


    ¡°Hardly. They just properly warded themselves. Getting a null result kind of means I actually found them. Or I would have probably locked onto something around here. Most likely, someone with a powerful Nondetection spell.¡±


    ¡°Weird,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I would have expected something like those Scrying anchors.¡±


    ¡°I think those are better for people who can¡¯t use magic,¡± I explained. ¡°A workaround that Doctor Doomsday came up with.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Burning Cupid frowned- I could see her in the reflection. ¡°Is this Doctor Doomsday guy¡­ a villain?¡±


    ¡°Obviously. He even chose his own name.¡±


    She shivered slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t like the sound of that at all.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, neither does anyone else. But he¡¯s very hard to take down. He creates the best super tech New Bay has ever seen. Apparently.¡±


    Midnight had more to add. ¡°Most of it outdoes the actual advanced technology that the Martians and Celmothians have.¡±


    Burning Cupid looked up at the sky. ¡°Do you think¡­ there are Martians here?¡±


    ¡°Here on Earth #2 or on here on Mars?¡±


    ¡°This is totally Earth #1. Yours is the weird one,¡± Burning Cupid said. ¡°Anyway, in this dimension.¡±


    ¡°Humuruns are from much further, right?¡± I confirmed. ¡°Not this system. So¡­ hard to say. Gimme an hour and we¡¯ll figure it out.¡±


    -----


    There weren¡¯t any Martians. Either that, or they were really good at cloaking technology. However, Midnight didn¡¯t think so.


    ¡°My suit¡¯s sensors don¡¯t detect any graphical artifacts,¡± he explained.


    The bathroom was fairly roomy to begin with, but upon learning that we were going to look at Mars, we kind of got all the people- and Humuruns- staying at the safehouse. Or those who were nearby, since most of them had better things to do than hang around all day. Usually, they just had one or two keeping the place safe- and potentially keeping eyes on the weird extradimensional orc. I didn¡¯t think that was unreasonable, since even if we were friends I did tend to find trouble. Though I didn¡¯t think it was my fault here, since they had so much on their own.


    ¡°Wobble, stop getting in the way,¡± Shield complained as her morphic metal companion pressed up against the mirror.


    ¡°I wish to see that mountain over there. Surely there will be aliens.¡±


    I shifted the view. Moving Scrying about was something I was used to by now. Without a proper target except ¡®Mars¡¯ I¡¯d ended up with a nonspecific location, but it was clearly Mars. It looked just like the old pictures from Earth #1. Not that I recognized anything specific, which might have been more suspicious.


    Lots of people were recording. Even magical girls were interested in Mars, I guess. I kind of wanted to keep looking for whoever had Nondetection, but bugging them more seemed unsafe.


    ¡°Alright, you should probably stop recording soon,¡± I commented. ¡°This is going to become a normal mirror again in a few seconds.¡±


    There were a number of disappointed looks. Why were people so excited about Mars, anyway? It was just another planet. It didn¡¯t even have people.


    Though if I thought about it¡­ most of them had only seen Earth. Were there any rules about taking people from one foreign dimension to another? Would Extra even have to know?


    I wouldn¡¯t be good at lying, though. And it was probably better to not draw attention to them by going to the one world that had already crossed over with them.


    As for whoever was hiding here¡­ I might stand a better chance finding them from Earth. At the very least, I¡¯d be better shielded from potential retaliation.

 Chapter 341

    Midnight and I had to eventually return to Earth #1. We still had jobs there, after all. Our reasons for visiting Earth #2¡¯s Japan had been resolved- successfully, even. We could now properly use Contingency, as we had magic eyelashes. And some that were less magical, and others that were potentially non-magical.


    There was still a lot to think about with material components. Maybe when they added another day into the week I could get all that testing done. Wait, wasn¡¯t there a spell for that? No, all the time manipulation magic was too¡­ transient. Even Time Stop itself gave less than a minute of relative time, and that was as expensive as Gate. Not a particularly efficient use of mana, unless you really needed to do something with it.


    There were other things to deal with before diving down any of those rabbit holes. After we took a break.


    -----


    Mists appeared in the ¡®orb¡¯ in front of me. It was a cube, of course, but it worked for Scrying surprisingly well. The intuition of tech supers was kind of scary in some ways. I certainly wouldn¡¯t have gone from a surface to display information into multiple surfaces so rapidly. And decisively. I was pretty sure Vilhelmiina was still on probation for how much power she used making it. Though given the rate at which she charged for her services, maybe not. It was a good thing all my association with her had been voluntary study and not a commission.


    I kind of wanted some more magic bullets, though. Specifically the dispelling sort, as I could make some regular bullets magical, probably. Was that mana efficient enough to make it worthwhile? Another route to consider, when I obtained infinite time.


    The Scrying cube was being really stubborn about forming anything today. Probably because I didn¡¯t know what I was looking for. Someone that might have my sort of magic hiding in Earth #2, maybe in their Japan but maybe not, was a pretty vague guiding post.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± I sighed. ¡°Your turn, Midnight.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the actual goal?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Finding whoever it was that shoved away my Scrying.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    Sometimes, Midnight went about Scrying in a way different enough from myself to provide some results where I failed. This time¡­ at least we split up the mana costs. He didn¡¯t form anything either.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about this path,¡± he said.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s not being pulled into a Scrying anchor that we can brute force past or anything. But¡­¡± I pondered. ¡°I have a guess. How about we both cast at the same time?¡±


    ¡°Splitting the mana?¡± Midnight asked. ¡°Won¡¯t that drop our upgrades a couple points?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Not splitting the mana. Just doing it simultaneously.¡±


    ¡°... What happens with the Scrying orb here, if it works?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Overlapping images, maybe? It would be better than nothing.¡±


    ¡°Or we cancel out from the beginning.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Or that. I doubt I¡¯d try if we weren¡¯t bonded. We should hopefully minimize interference. I don¡¯t know if you can tune to what I¡¯m looking for exactly but¡­ try?¡±


    Midnight gave a sort of shrug- the best a feline could do, anyway. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    The two of us gathered mana at the same time, a total of 22 points between us. That would be a spell beyond normal limits¡­ if it was just one thing. But it was probably far less powerful in actuality, since it was just separate things.


    I focused hard on what I had felt. I had an intuition which might lead to nothing, but it was the best angle I had. Someone with magic like me, hiding and even counter-Scrying after they pushed me away. That would explain the drain on Nondetection, right?


    There could have been a million other explanations. Maybe it was my lucky day, for once. Or maybe it was the fact that we were trying things that most people would never have the chance to. A wizard and a normal familiar could only go so far compared to one that was sapient to begin with.


    The mists swirled, parting just long enough to reveal a scene. I caught a glimpse just before I was thrown back. Midnight also collapsed to the ground as some sort of mental backlash moved us away. This time, the spell fell flat instead of continuing. Perhaps because we were looking for a certain primary target, instead of accidentally stumbling across them.


    I thought I recognized something. But of course, such a short glimpse wasn¡¯t sufficient to know anything for certain. ¡°Hmm,¡± I furrowed my brow.


    ¡°I thought I saw something for a moment. Should we play back the recording?¡± Midnight suggested.


    I knew about the recording, of course. That wasn¡¯t the issue. ¡°Let¡¯s wait,¡± I told Midnight. Would it be better for us to stand apart, or together? ¡°Can you go wait in the B2 rec room?¡± I suggested to Midnight. ¡°I¡¯ll explain later.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing,¡± he said immediately. That showed a lot of trust, after asking him to do something for no explained reason. It wasn¡¯t that weird, but it was still inconvenient to just go somewhere for no reason.


    As for myself, I would be going to floor 6. Francois would be happy to see me, and perhaps happier to know I wasn¡¯t coming with a complaint about some sort of flaw in my outfitting.


    -----


    It happened part way through Francois ranting about magical clothing. ¡°If I could just get my hands on some,¡± he commented, ¡°I would be able to determine if I could infuse such things in our gear here. Wouldn¡¯t that be great?¡±


    It really would. I wasn¡¯t sure how long I¡¯d have to remain in my old world to secure magical clothing, though. At least, in a way that wouldn¡¯t make people angry with me. I¡¯d have to have money or have people owe me something. Sir Kalman might do a favor for me, but we tended to keep things square enough between us between actually getting paid and helping each other with quests and stuff.


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    Maybe I could just keep some of the money in gold coins. It was relatively more valuable to convert, except for purchasing exclusive magical things.


    But that wasn¡¯t important right now. What was important was that my Nondetection spell was draining, even though I was placed central to a few of our local Scrying anchors. I didn¡¯t know exactly where they were, but I had some approximations given that they had to cover all the floors. Worst case scenario there were actually more Scrying anchors than I suspected. That should draw any focus away from me. Would Nondetection still drain even with Scrying anchors helping?


    It was certainly happening, though I didn¡¯t know what that said about my target. We hadn¡¯t gotten to review the footage yet- precisely because of this. If they saw that we actually knew something, they might¡­ I don¡¯t know what they¡¯d do. They were in Earth #2, after all. Actually, the fact that they could target me here was kind of disturbing.


    I tried to act natural, which ultimately mean halfheartedly responding to Francois. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll try. It¡¯s been harder to travel certain places recently.¡± That was true.


    Was there something familiar about this presence? Was it really just that we¡¯d been Scrying them earlier? Funnily enough, the presence became more clear when my Nondetection finally ran out. This person was good enough to wrestle against who knew how many Scrying anchors and overcome that. Across dimensions. I wondered if they had their own block of diamond to use as a Scrying orb.


    She might have something better. If I was recognizing the presence I thought I was. I didn¡¯t actually know that many good diviners, though.


    My conversational ability suffered as I continued to try to look normal. Magical clothing was suddenly an awkward topic. But I probably didn¡¯t react too obviously to the Scrying, right? Should I have tried to shove it away instead? I wondered if they¡¯d found Midnight, or if I was first. Couldn¡¯t text him yet, though.


    The sensation faded. I had an official guess, now. But how would Zenthra Qitris even get to Earth #2? Aside from one of the portals from my old world. Or making her own. In other words, in exactly the same manner as I had. Yeah, that wasn¡¯t actually a hard question to answer even if it was some other mage. Though I wasn¡¯t certain the diviner was a mage and not some specialist class. We hadn¡¯t interacted that much.


    -----


    I waited another half hour to contact Midnight. I wasn¡¯t Scryed again, or they hid it better. ¡°Did you feel anyone Scrying you?¡± I asked Midnight. ¡°I would have suggested checking your Nondetection, but I couldn¡¯t be certain they weren¡¯t already looking.¡±


    Perhaps something I should have anticipated before we made our attempt, but I wasn¡¯t even a couple years experienced with advanced magic. Before that, it was all theory and Shocking Grasp.


    ¡°I did, I think,¡± he said. ¡°Nondetection certainly faded. Why was I hanging out in the rec room?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Scrying anchors.¡±


    ¡°Was there one there?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Should be some around there. If you were right next to one, it might actually have been less effective.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Midnight said. ¡°This all makes sense, I guess. So¡­?¡±


    ¡°My guess is Zentha Qitris.¡±


    ¡°That diviner that sent Izzy your way?¡±


    ¡°Ultimately, yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°Allies of some sort with Master Uvithar, too. We might be able to use our combo to find him as well.¡±


    ¡°Is it okay to speak now?¡±


    ¡°If she can constantly monitor us for this long without me noticing,¡± I shrugged. ¡°There¡¯s literally no point in being secret. And if it¡¯s someone else¡­ I guess that will depend on the recording.¡± I doubted it would be more than a few frames, based on how quickly it had come and gone.


    We looked up the video, and pretty quickly found the right part. We zoomed in on the image of a woman.


    ¡°Is that her?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°You know¡­ I have no idea,¡± I admitted.


    ¡°... What?¡± Midnight tilted his head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what Zentha Qitris looks like.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t she famous in your world?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like people were posting portraits of people all around town. We didn¡¯t have pictures. Or the internet. Or social media.¡±


    ¡°... Right,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I¡¯d just assumed you would have magic versions of some of those things.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± I said. ¡°But not in random villages. And Master Uvithar was more focused on the books than on other ¡®extraneous¡¯ magical things.¡±


    ¡°So what do we do?¡±


    ¡°We text Izzy the image.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ isn¡¯t that risky?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Not really. If it¡¯s Zentha Qitris, they¡¯re acquainted. And she¡¯d probably not be an enemy of us, either. If it¡¯s not her, then she doesn¡¯t know anything and they¡¯d have no reason to bother her.¡±


    ¡°We should probably show her in person anyway. Isn¡¯t it a Brigade thing to not copy images?¡±


    These were my images. But it still might be better. My phone should be secure from snooping, but Izzy¡¯s might not. If this woman was some sort of villain, we didn¡¯t want some other villain to try to join up with her. Though that would be a pretty specific worry.


    -----


    ¡°Yeah, I recognize her,¡± Izzy said. ¡°That¡¯s Madame Qitris.¡± Izzy squinted. ¡°Why is she sitting in front of a television?¡±


    This is why scouts were important. They noticed details like that. ¡°She¡¯s on Earth #2.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ what¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°The one with the magical girls. And at least one guy,¡± I explained. She hadn¡¯t ended up in that particular series of shenanigans with us, but we¡¯d talked about the mission somewhat. It was nothing that directly affected the security of this Earth, after all.


    ¡°And the ninjas,¡± Izzy said. ¡°Some of which also came here before that.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I agreed. ¡°Though they might have been unassociated. Probably connected to some extent, though.¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s she doing there?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°Presumably not being somewhere else,¡± I said. ¡°Like our old world. To stay away from some shenanigans. I haven¡¯t asked her.¡±


    Was it risky to use Sending to contact her? What if I was in the same dimension? Was Uvithar with her there somewhere?


    I was going to find out. For the first time in forever, I was closer to answers.


    I just needed an excuse to go back to that world before she ran. Though if she was going to run¡­ she might have already done it. And if she couldn¡¯t create her own Gates, then she might not be able to.


    The Brigade would give me time for personal missions. Maybe I could even bring backup, though the locals might also suffice.

 Chapter 342

    Instead of running off to another world planning to search an entire country for a single individual, we stayed on Earth #1. I didn¡¯t even know what I would say to Zentha Qitris if I found her anyway. A few frames of video weren¡¯t enough to determine where she was staying inside a building. At least, not in a parallel world. If we had full access to everything in Earth #2, maybe Calculator could figure something out- though most of his work had a lot to do with familiarity with New Bay in particular. All we really had was an image of someone in a traditional building.


    Master Uvithar had told me not to contact him with Sending. Nobody had said the same about Zentha Qitris¡­ maybe because we¡¯d never met. She wasn¡¯t even in the same world as the people I expected to be a problem, and furthermore there was one important detail. I was tired of not learning anything so I had to at least try.


    It was time to cast Sending. ¡°This is Turlough, former student of Master Uvithar. I can guarantee I¡¯m not working with whoever you¡¯re hiding from. I want some answers.¡±


    For the sake of making it more probable that she actually received a cross-dimensional Sending, Midnight sent one too. If we were going to get a response, it should come within thirty minutes. The time came and went without anything, during which we recovered slightly more than half the mana spent.


    ¡°We can keep spending mana on this,¡± I said. ¡°But if she¡¯s blocking them, it might take a lot. Or maybe we have to put together a more powerful message somehow, like we did with Scrying. However, if she¡¯s trying that hard to not be contacted, she¡¯d probably just not respond. We need something more that demands a response, but I have no idea what to say.¡±


    ¡°Me neither,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°Izzy¡¯s met her, though.¡±


    ¡°Briefly,¡± I clarified. ¡°For business. They weren¡¯t close friends or anything.¡± I pondered for a few moments. ¡°Maybe in future messages we should tell her she would be safe here on Earth #1.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if she¡¯d understand which was #1.¡±


    ¡°Just here, then,¡± I emphasized. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to spend all our effort on that just yet. Before we try next, I want to have some plan to enhance things. And this is just one of the mysteries on our plate.¡±


    ¡°Are there many others?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. ¡°Like, what is Flasher up to? What¡¯s up with material components anyway? How did Zeb actually manage to attract squirrel #1?¡±


    ¡°You mean Douglas?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Her.¡±


    ¡°Dumb luck and persistence, I think,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Though it kind of is her entire class.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°She was so good with the big things and so bad with squirrels.¡±


    ¡°Totally. So about material components and stuff¡­ do we even have any spells with unresolved ones? We¡¯re pretty sure Contingency is near optimal now, right? And we¡¯ve had Stoneskin covered since early on.¡±


    ¡°What those components were was never in question,¡± I said. ¡°Just whether we could get some of them. The real question I have is why. Why components¡­ at all? Why those spells? How did people figure that out? It¡¯s written down in the textbooks, but they haven¡¯t just always existed. They were written down by someone at some point, edited, and copied.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ the spells just don¡¯t work without them, right? So people picked some spells and had to experiment.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± I said. ¡°Oh, and there is another one. Scrying. Though we tend to call things that aren¡¯t consumed a ¡®focus¡¯. Contingency has both.¡±


    ¡°What makes that one so special?¡±


    ¡°Long term temporal extension of short term effects seems to be the biggest part,¡± I commented. ¡°Even inactive, it¡¯s essentially extending some spells ten or a hundred times, sometimes more than that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fair. Then hear me out. What makes Stoneskin so different from Energy Ward, that it needs them to be functional?¡±


    ¡°... Diversity?¡± I asked. ¡°It kind of works against all forms of kinetic impact, which is less specific.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s also higher level,¡± Midnight pointed out.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s further removed from magical context so it¡¯s more difficult,¡± I suggested.


    After we discussed for a while, we came to a conclusion we¡¯d touched on previously. Maybe there could be other things that could use material components. Certainly, it was worth ruling out.


    ¡°So it comes back to figuring out what they are,¡± I said. ¡°I have some spare mana and Advanced Divination Magic, so¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll try it.¡±


    ¡°Do you need a mirror?¡± he asked. ¡°To see things in.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary for¡­ many things,¡± I said. Though I hadn¡¯t used many other forms of Divination, had I? Mostly Arcane Sight and Locate Object, before it all became one specialization or whatever I should call it. ¡°But I kind of want to get¡­ a picture? I should get one of those compact mirrors for convenience.¡±


    The surface of my phone when the display was off would kinda work, but that didn¡¯t sound super reliable. But I didn¡¯t have a compact mirror, so it was off to the Scrying orb. Literally nobody else could use it anyway, so it wasn¡¯t like I would be interrupting anything.


    Except I was wrong. Bolster was there. She looked over as the door opened, just nodding before turning back to whatever villain she was trying to track. The image didn¡¯t last that long before fading out.


    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± I said. ¡°Also, congratulations. You¡¯ve learned a very useful new spell.¡± She¡¯d been having some trouble with that, previously. Mostly because it was near the edge of her fatigue limit. Then again, all of the Portal Squad was surpassing in level where I was when I first came to this world. I¡¯d been pretty behind, but that was still good for a few months.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°It was about done anyway,¡± she said. ¡°Do you need this?¡±


    ¡°We can wait until you¡¯re done.¡±


    Bolster shrugged. ¡°I think you¡¯re overestimating my mana capacity. I¡¯ve barely got two castings in me. Speaking of which, now I get to go push myself to the very edge of mana exhaustion for training. Thanks for recommending that one, by the way. I love feeling like I¡¯m about to pass out.¡±


    I had a feeling she was being sarcastic. ¡°Do you want to learn the method where crystals build up inside your blood vessels?¡±


    She made a face. ¡°That sounds terrifying. I¡¯ll pass.¡±


    Thus, we were left with the ¡®Scrying orb¡¯. Which hopefully also worked for other divinations.


    ¡°Well,¡± I said. ¡°Any reason not to start at the top?¡±


    Midnight pondered for a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll do that.¡± I made certain the recording swapped over to the next file so that I didn¡¯t get piles of newt eyes mixed in with a villain survey. I made note that we needed something to let people know if the room was in use to not mess up the recordings as well. ¡°Come on magic cube, show me some material components for Storage.¡±


    How much mana should I use? I literally had no idea. I gathered a double handful- about what I would use for Scrying- and just let it flow out of me into the idea I had. If I stuffed too much it might turn into a different spell or just fail.


    My instincts settled on 8 as the last points of mana reabsorbed slowly back into me. There were barely any swirling mists of uncertainty before I saw an image of myself using Storage. It didn¡¯t look like much- there was something roundish in my hand, and then there was not. Then an apple appeared in my hand. That repeated several times before everything faded.


    ¡°Oh great,¡± I said. ¡°I guess having a demonstration of a spell isn¡¯t that bad but¡­ that¡¯s pretty expensive. And without the mana flow, it¡¯s kind of useless. I could just cast the spell myself.¡±


    ¡°What were you focused on?¡± Midnight asked.


    ¡°I was focused on the Storage spell and material components,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe I was thinking about the things that go into Storage and not¡­ the other way things could go into it?¡± My words even confused myself. ¡°I¡¯ll try something else. Material components for Firebolt, I guess.¡±


    That was the second one. I concentrated, gathering a bit more mana just in case I needed it to get something like what I wanted. However, I instinctually hit the limit at 8 again. So there was some actual spell here that I was tapping into, probably. If I were to name the spell it would be¡­ Display Magic.


    Which wasn¡¯t getting me any idea about material components at all. I literally just saw fire gathering in my hand and forming into a Firebolt and setting some target dummy on fire. It was just me using the spell. ¡°Well, this isn¡¯t particularly productive,¡± I admitted to Midnight. ¡°You wanna try?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± he said. At least he could get experience from trying things out that didn¡¯t have to do with combat.


    The next spell was Shocking Grasp, and it showed him using the spell¡­ around his tail. Little zaps of electricity were the distinguishing factor there before he tapped the leg of a target dummy with it.


    ¡°... Huh.¡±


    That was all the response I had.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t thinking about using it with my tail,¡± Midnight said, confused. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever considered it. Doesn¡¯t it have to be used through your hand?¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It can be a whole body thing. It¡¯s just touch, right? And I use it on my staff sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I forgot about that. Do you think my tail is¡­ better?¡±


    ¡°For you?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Keeps your paws on the ground. Depends on if you can hit people with it. Do you think this spell is showing us a better way to cast other spells?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if that makes sense,¡± Midnight admitted. ¡°But it could. I guess next is¡­ Grease. I¡¯ll give it one more try to see if we can learn something.¡±


    Midnight once again appeared in the image, though his body didn¡¯t particularly do much until he cast the Grease spell. Then some generic figure walked onto the grease on the undefined floor, slipping and falling.


    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s the Grease spell alright,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I think we¡¯re done here, unless we want to spend another 8 or 16 mana.¡±


    A shame. I wanted some answers, but I didn¡¯t even get useful questions.


    -----


    Normally, questions went to Calculator. However, Calculator was a busy man and he didn¡¯t need to do more thinking about something that was so obviously useless. Midnight and I did know someone who might appreciate a break to think about stuff, though. Also, she was surprisingly helpful with magic.


    We caught Great Girl coming back from a patrol. She went straight to one of the break rooms, just shrinking down into a chair- quite literally. She wasn¡¯t as concerned about looking tall when she was buried in cushions.


    ¡°Hey,¡± I said. ¡°Wanna watch some videos of magic.¡±


    ¡°Anything new?¡± she asked as she accepted my outstretched phone. ¡°... Were you filming in a void or something? This isn¡¯t one of the training rooms.¡±


    ¡°This is one of the angles on the Scrying orb,¡± I commented. It didn¡¯t show anything revelatory from a different direction, so I¡¯d just picked one of the video files.


    ¡°So you have a thing that shows you¡­ performing magic.¡± She looked up. ¡°Is that it?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°It was supposed to help me figure out material components. But this was all it did. I was wondering if you could discover its purpose.¡±


    ¡°Is it cheaper than just casting the spells? Could be for teaching.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Master Uvithar just cast the spells. So we could feel the flow of mana.¡± Not that I had the points to learn most things, and spells usually just worked anyway. ¡°Also, it¡¯s not cheaper than most things. It¡¯s 8 mana.¡±


    ¡°Oof. I was thinking it should be a cantrip. Certainly not much more. Uh¡­¡± She continued to look at the video as she lazed about in the cushions. ¡°This Firebolt is flashier.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It goes ¡®whoosh¡¯ before the real spell begins,¡± she said, backing up the video. ¡°See?¡±


    ¡°Does it not normally do that?¡± I couldn¡¯t exactly cast Firebolt in a break room.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°Though I haven¡¯t been in squads with you using that frequently enough to be sure. Usually you don¡¯t have a lot of extra effects, though. Oooh, tail magic. Cool.¡± So she¡¯d gotten to Shocking Grasp. ¡°Is that better?¡±


    We repeated our earlier discussion. Maybe it would be, but that didn¡¯t seem like the point, if there was one. Assuming a semi-spell I pulled out of Advanced Divination Magic actually had meaning might be the issue here.


    ¡°It¡¯s like a cartoon,¡± Great Girl said as the non-figure slipped on the Grease spell. ¡°It¡¯s so exaggerated.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if a spell that shows an exaggerated version of something else is¡­ practical,¡± I said cautiously.


    ¡°Did you try actually displaying a spell?¡± Great Girl asked.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Well, your intent was to get something related to material components. None of these spells have any, do they? But more importantly, you didn¡¯t try to do the thing that got these results. So if you tried to display a spell with your Divination magic, do you get this?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Got a mirror?¡±

 Chapter 343

    I took a good look at the mirror in front of me as the majority of the mana I had gathered was reabsorbed back into my¡­ me. Wherever mana went. That seemed like something I should know, but I didn¡¯t.


    It was showing a spell. The thing I¡¯d been doing for a while. Except, it cost less. ¡°You got the wrong powers,¡± I said to Great Girl.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked.


    ¡°You should have been a mage.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t even an option,¡± she pointed out. ¡°And¡­ I like my powers. I wouldn¡¯t have wanted my hobby to become my career.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re good at this, though,¡± I said. ¡°Though I guess you¡¯re also good with your actual powers.¡±


    ¡°Am I?¡± she asked. ¡°Do you know how long it took me to figure out I could¡­ invert my power?¡±


    Nobody who didn¡¯t already know was in range to overhear, but she mostly just didn¡¯t like being small. It was pretty useful, though.


    I shrugged. ¡°Do you know how many years it took me to learn anything real about magic? I only knew the surface level before I came here. And that was like twenty years of being a mage.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you didn¡¯t have access to natural upgrades, right?¡± Great Girl commented. ¡°Wait, aren¡¯t you twenty-five? Or twenty-six or something. Did you get your powers when you were five?¡±


    ¡°Anyone can pick a class as soon as they can operate the system windows,¡± I commented.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty risky,¡± she said.


    ¡°I knew what I was doing. Mostly.¡± If it hadn¡¯t been for Aspect of the Barbarian, I would have been fine. ¡°But back to the topic at hand. This is a different spell,¡± I said, showing her the replication of the Mage¡¯s Reach spell in the mirror. It repeated the casting process over and over. It also didn¡¯t come with any sort of magical sensation, but it was cheaper than the first spell and seemed like it would repeat for a while. ¡°So that means the other one was doing¡­ something else.¡±


    Midnight leaned forward slightly to see the mirror better. ¡°Presumably, it did what you were trying?¡±


    ¡°I sure didn¡¯t see any material components in the previous ones,¡± I grumbled. ¡°What was different between that one and this one?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to repeat with a known point of comparison,¡± Midnight said. ¡°How about¡­ Firebolt?¡±


    At least this spell was cheaper. I sought out a vision of the spell Firebolt, and I got pretty much the same thing as before. This spell was just cheaper. Except¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s not as flashy,¡± Great Girl commented from the next seat over. ¡°The recording of the expensive one had that flash.¡±


    ¡°... Does that mean I should shove the mana into an initial burst to get more power?¡± I pondered.


    ¡°Was that what you were looking for?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°Did you want more power, or did you want material components?¡±


    ¡°Material components, I guess. But I don¡¯t believe I can put a flash into my pocket.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ignition,¡± Midnight declared. ¡°I mean, I think that¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Great Girl nodded. ¡°Bat guano.¡±


    I was extremely confused. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Like for Fireball? Oh that¡¯s right, you don¡¯t know Fireball. Why don¡¯t you know Fireball?¡±


    ¡°How many twenty foot radius areas of non-flammable material do you think exist in this city?¡± I countered.


    ¡°Probably at least¡­ a cooouple?¡± she said uncertainly, drawing out the word. ¡°You could go out to the bay.¡±


    ¡°Throwing a Fireball into the bay isn¡¯t useful. Even if there was a villain there. What¡¯s this about bat guano?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the traditional material component. A costless one,¡± she explained. ¡°Usually wizards carry around a pouch full of random crap like that. Some of them are kind of jokes. Guano is flammable so¡­ fire.¡±


    ¡°... There have to be better options,¡± I said. ¡°Why does it have to be that?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t, really. But if we assume Midnight is correct¡­ the spark might actually be a clue as to what sort of material components you would need? Maybe tinder. You know, the kind for lighting fires.¡±


    ¡°I know what tinder is,¡± I said. ¡°I suppose it wouldn¡¯t hurt to try that. But Storage didn¡¯t look like much. And Shocking Grasp was¡­ even more just the same.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you already know that one,¡± Midnight said. ¡°Maybe the material component for Shocking Grasp is¡­ us?¡±


    ¡°Why would that¡­ but you have to-¡± I stopped myself. There were tons of things that I thought had to work a certain way that experimentation had shown very much did not. I summoned just the tiniest bit of mana, focusing a Shocking Grasp spell on¡­ nothing. Just the air in front of me. A tiny little more of electricity floated in the air there, and I reached out to grab it.


    It would have already been pretty weak given the small amount of mana- thus why I felt comfortable using it outside of a proper training area. But it barely even felt like a static shock. We¡¯d have to try that in the actual training area, but I was pretty certain how it would work. Though if we were giving up a material component, then it was bound to be weaker for distance. So just worse than taking a small portion of Chain Lightning, which was a spell with a better base for such things.


    ¡°Technically we¡¯d be a focus,¡± I decided. ¡°Since we¡¯re not consumed, fortunately.¡±


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    ¡°Right,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°So what now?¡±


    ¡°I guess we go buy stuff,¡± I tilted my head.


    ¡°Shopping?¡± Great Girl said, seemingly invigorated. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    -----


    Shopping with Great Girl was exhausting. She dragged us along to a million places, sweeping things off the shelves. Even with her carrying all the heavy stuff, we still had to throw a lot of things in Storage. After we paid for it, obviously. The biggest thing was all the hurrying from place to place.


    ¡°And here¡¯s a bar of soap. Cooking oil. A moustache.¡±


    Great Girl sure was taking a lot of random crap. ¡°Are you sure we need all this?¡±


    ¡°It can be paid for by the Brigade. This is work!¡± she shrugged. ¡°Or I¡¯ll pay for it. Whatever. Ugh, paparazzi.¡±


    ¡°Is that some kind of pizza topping?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It might be, if they¡¯re not careful,¡± she said. ¡°Excuse us, we¡¯re trying to get by.¡±


    I noticed she grew a few inches taller as she said that. I supposed it was supposed to be intimidating, but she¡¯d stopped trying to match my height and settled on something closer to her ¡®actual¡¯ height of six feet, so she didn¡¯t end up any bigger than me.


    ¡°Your mother is a hamster,¡± Midnight said- rather aggressively- to one of the people with cameras- and phones.


    ¡°... Can you just say things like that to people?¡± I asked Midnight as we moved along.


    ¡°To them, it would sound like a hiss.¡±


    Oh right. Celmothian.


    ¡°This is probably enough stuff,¡± I commented.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Great Girl nodded. ¡°We¡¯d better get back to the Brigade.¡±


    It took a few minutes to get a proper vehicle, but that was better than walking the rest of the way back. We had to go to quite a few places to get all this junk. Hopefully, some of it did something. It would kind of be a waste since we hadn¡¯t actually tested any of it.


    -----


    ¡°Here¡¯s an easy one,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°A proper focus for Storage.¡±


    ¡°... This is a bag,¡± I commented. It was one of the kind that had one strap that went over a shoulder. A messenger bag, I guess?


    ¡°Obviously,¡± she said.


    ¡°For Storage? I don¡¯t put things into something,¡± I pointed out. ¡°It¡¯s magic.¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°I know it¡¯s magic. Now hurry up, my break is almost over.¡± I was pretty sure it was over like an hour ago. ¡°Storage is putting something away or taking it out. So it should be better if you have something like this to represent the action. Also good for making it so people don¡¯t know you¡¯re magically pulling stuff out.¡±


    ¡°... I occasionally pull stuff out of pockets,¡± I said.


    ¡°Is that more effective?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Never thought about it,¡± I admitted.


    Storage was cheap anyway. Its efficiency grew quickly with upgrades, so there was little mana to be saved. I put a few things into the bag, using Storage once they were out of sight. It might have been a little bit different.


    ¡°Maybe you need to keep experimenting with that one,¡± she said. ¡°It has to be better. Okay, how about this one? Your phone sends texts, right? It could make Sending better.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how we would know it¡¯s better,¡± I said. ¡°Certainly not in a short time.¡± Maybe I could message Comhghall? He was in a really hard to reach plane. ¡°It¡¯s expensive and usually just works.¡±


    ¡°Gate!¡± she said, holding up an actual gate she¡¯d bought at the hardware store.


    I put my face in my hands. ¡°Is that why you¡¯ve been lugging that around this whole time? There¡¯s no way. Also, can¡¯t do that here.¡±


    She sighed. ¡°Fine. Uh¡­¡± she pulled out a dollhouse she¡¯d bought. ¡°Use Shelter. Make it like this.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t these all foci? Not everything uses a focus,¡± I complained.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know that. Try it.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I guess,¡± I shrugged. I¡¯d rather have done something with the combat spells, though. I held in my hands the awkwardly sized structure as I gathered mana. The training rooms were more than big enough to fit Shelter, so it wasn¡¯t crazy. ¡°Huh.¡± There it was. ¡°I might have already been able to do this.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this bigger than normal?¡± Great Girl asked. ¡°Besides, do you usually get such detail?¡±


    Midnight took the opportunity to stab me in the back. ¡°He usually makes a military bunkhouse.¡±


    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s practical! And I made the beds more comfortable.¡±


    It might be useful to have a predefined layout I could call upon without just using my memory. And if it was bigger, it might be interesting.


    ¡°Slight problem,¡± I said as we came to the entrance. ¡°It¡¯s uh¡­ not enough bigger.¡±


    ¡°Normal people would fit,¡± Great Girl said as she allowed herself to shrink to her normal height. I had to duck to not bump my head on the doorframe. ¡°It is a bit cramped still. But the total volume is definitely more. This has a whole layout.¡±


    ¡°I have to agree,¡± Midnight said. ¡°It¡¯s bigger.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I just wasn¡¯t getting to the limits?¡± I suggested.


    ¡°I¡¯ll test it,¡± Midnight said, jumping down to the back of a couch then scurrying out. A few moments later, he created a proper Shelter next to the building. He scurried back inside. ¡°Nah, see, this is at least fifty percent bigger in two directions.¡±


    ¡°Shorter, though,¡± I commented.


    ¡°That¡¯s just the doorway. The ceiling is high enough.¡±


    Just barely. It certainly wasn¡¯t that much lower than the other. And with the roof on this thing, the total volume had to be nearly double or triple.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°Now time to test durability. Everyone out.¡±


    By everyone, it appeared she meant everyone that wasn¡¯t her. Once Midnight and I were safely outside, she burst through the ceiling, arms over her head. Shards of wood flew everywhere.


    ¡°Pretty fragile,¡± she said. ¡°How tough is it normally?¡±


    ¡°Smash Midnight¡¯s,¡± I suggested. As she shoved her way through the rest of the Shelter spell, it hit its limits and dissolved into nothing, the splinters of wood fading away. Great Girl kicked through the wall like it was made of balsa. Maybe it was, effectively. Though she could probably do that with solid brick, especially at house-crushing size. Nearly her limit, somewhere around twelve or thirteen feet tall.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say either of them are especially durable,¡± Great Girl said. ¡°The structure is too different to know for certain. But I¡¯d say they¡¯re close. And one is bigger. So next time you go camping¡­¡±


    ¡°You have to carry the house.¡±


    ¡°Put it in your bag!¡± she said.


    ¡°Way too big for that. And it¡¯ll take up too much of Storage¡¯s capacity.¡±


    ¡°Hmph. Maybe a small but detailed model?¡± She suggested.


    ¡°Sounds expensive. Practical is fine. It was big enough like that.¡± Still¡­ it did something. That meant this wasn¡¯t all some sort of weird sidetrack. ¡°Did you grab any actual consumables?¡±


    ¡°Candles?¡± Great Girl suggested. ¡°If there¡¯s already fire, then Firebolt might get a boost.¡±


    But we¡¯d have to light them first. I wasn¡¯t going to carry around lit candles.

 Chapter 344

    ¡°I have a problem,¡± I admitted to Midnight. ¡°All this material component stuff we¡¯re doing¡­ I¡¯m not certain it¡¯s actually doing anything.¡±


    Midnight was clearly confused at that. ¡°What are you talking about? We have extremely clear results.¡±


    ¡°Do we?¡± I asked. ¡°Sure, spells are better. But that doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s because of the focuses.¡± That was mostly what we had- components that weren¡¯t consumed. ¡°It could just be because I believe it helps. The placebo effect.¡±


    ¡°Does that matter?¡± Midnight replied. ¡°It works, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ but I wish there was some way to know for certain. If it¡¯s just my mind, it probably won¡¯t be as strong as using the right things.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll go do that,¡± Midnight said, beginning to move towards the door of the training chamber.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°We have people here who can help us figure those things out. If I was giving you something my feelings might influence your results, but if someone you¡¯re not connected to chooses something, it will be pretty obvious. All you have to do is not look. Just holding something and intending to use it should work, right?¡±


    I pondered for a few moments. ¡°I might be able to tell what it is by holding it.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to touch things directly though. It works with gloves, at the very least. What if we put things in a box?¡±


    ¡°I honestly haven¡¯t tried that,¡± I admitted. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    -----


    Old Shock was a busy man, but all of that business was for the sake of the Power Brigade. Actually, though, we didn¡¯t need him specifically. It was just that the tech guys had the most random stuff available.


    Since we needed someone, I just grabbed the closet guy. ¡°Intern #1, you¡¯re coming with us.¡±


    He was dressed in a white lab coat. His skin was weird- it had both the color and patterning of burlap. That and other physical differences indicated he was probably an alien. ¡°My name is-¡±


    ¡°Your task is very important, Intern #1,¡± I explained. ¡°You need to hand me the things I tell you. But also sometimes, you need to hand me different things.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure what-¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll try to bring a variety of extra bits and bobs along so that you have some options,¡± I concluded.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t really¡­¡±


    ¡°He wants to do a randomized trial,¡± Midnight explained. ¡°So we need things that are relatively light for the most part.¡±


    That would be fine, but it could have been anything. We had some heavier focuses and stuff.


    ¡°I see,¡± Intern #1 said. ¡°If you give me some further parameters, I can absolutely gather some materials to test with.¡±


    ¡°Certainly,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I believe Mage should be out of the room for this part, just in case. I can help you choose as long as I¡¯m not watching the experiment. It shouldn¡¯t take long to verify one way or another, so we shouldn¡¯t need to include my mana pool. Mage, why don¡¯t you wait with the targets? We can limit it to a few spells that would be effective there.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you on B5.¡±


    It took them maybe twenty minutes to come, arriving with a covered cart. ¡°I brought blinders,¡± Intern #1 commented, holding them up. ¡°You¡¯ll still need to be able to see to target, but your peripheral vision could give something away. A color or size, perhaps.¡±


    This guy was smart. We¡¯d picked the right intern. ¡°I¡¯ll get in position then.¡±


    ¡°I talked with Midnight,¡± Intern #1 explained. ¡°And we¡¯ll be testing Firebolt, Water Blast, and Sonic Lance. I understand the first two of those take only a fraction of the energy, correct?¡±


    ¡°A little more than a third,¡± I confirmed. ¡°Or¡­ exactly forty percent if I maximize them all.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. Now then, I¡¯m going to be handing you small receptacles. Don¡¯t look at them, obviously. Try not to shake them, either. I¡¯m going to tell you which spell to cast. After you do so, I would prefer if you don¡¯t try to observe what I have given you. I will take notes on the results. First, though, I would like you to perform a baseline version of each.¡±


    ¡°Should I do the cheapest?¡±


    ¡°Whatever you can do consistently.¡±


    Maximum or minimum, then. ¡°Cheap is better.¡± I didn¡¯t know how many tests we might need to do.


    We activated the cameras- people needed to be able to watch their form, after all. The training rooms were for when you needed more space than a shooting range. I had enough different spells to test whether the new material components actually helped without going there. I could probably even include Chain Lightning or Blizzard¡­ but they were several times again more expensive than Sonic Lance. Three different things should be good enough.


    At the natural minimum mana levels I cast Firebolt, Water Blast, then Sonic Lance in that order. The targets were quite resistant, and even if mine had been destroyed they were also meant to be easily repaired or replaced.


    ¡°Good,¡± Intern #1 said. ¡°Are you ready? If you could hold out your right hand. First, confirm that you can¡¯t see it.¡±


    ¡°I can barely even see the barrier here,¡± I tapped it with my left hand. ¡°So anything behind here is just¡­ nothing.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Very well. I¡¯m bringing you the first material component. It will be for the Firebolt spell.¡±


    He kept his voice extremely neutral. Most likely, we could have had one further step where someone else who didn¡¯t know said the spell, but I didn¡¯t know Intern #1 well enough to determine his lying tics. I could barely do that with Midnight without drawing on our bond, and I spent way more time with him.


    I felt a small box be pressed into my hand. Presumably with something inside. ¡°Ready?¡±


    ¡°Whenever you are,¡± Intern #1 confirmed. ¡°As long as it is firmly in your grip, do not hesitate.¡±


    I drew upon about 1.43 points of mana. I had to keep track of that part myself, since we didn¡¯t have mana measuring instruments just lying around. It was possible the components might change the cost somehow¡­ though unlikely. Either way, it was habit to keep track of my quantities.


    The Firebolt was¡­ excessively normal. ¡°Hmm. Maybe I need to take it out?¡±


    ¡°Please refrain from speculation,¡± Intern #1 said. ¡°Head forward, please.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t look,¡± I protested.


    ¡°And it will be best to keep it that way. I¡¯m going to swap to the next one. This is for Water Blast.¡±


    My hand briefly became lighter. I wasn¡¯t sure if this component was heavier or not. It kind of felt differently balanced, though.


    I gathered mana for Water Blast. No change there. I drew upon the material component in my hand. Magic flowed out of me, forming into a burst of water that tore through the target and scoured the wall behind it. I blinked.


    ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯m going to log that one as ¡®improved¡¯,¡± Intern #1 commented. ¡°Unless you have some other comment to explain that?¡±


    ¡°No, that was pretty clear.¡±


    There was no point in being obtuse when there was something so different. Though it was kind of more than I expected a material component to bring things.


    Intern #1 grabbed the box. ¡°Is this lighter?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. The material component was consumed,¡± I said.


    ¡°But that-¡± he coughed. ¡°It uh, certainly consumed more than I anticipated.¡±


    It was certainly high. I wondered if Khithae was gonna have to fix that wall. It might have gone deeper than the standard regeneration allowed. At least there shouldn¡¯t be anything important beyond there.


    Another thing placed in my hand. ¡°... What spell is this for?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oh yes. Sorry. Sonic Lance.¡±


    I gathered 4 mana. A new target had dropped down to replace the other one, and an invisible force blasted it to smithereens. I staggered backwards as chunks of rubble flew from the other end of the target range, carried by a shockwave traveling down the contained target lane.


    Wow, that was loud. My ears hurt. Not so badly that they stopped working, however. I could still make out Intern #1 yelling. ¡°Stop! Stop! No more testing!¡±


    Well obviously I wasn¡¯t going to repeat that. It was a bit excessive. ¡°Can I turn around now?¡±


    ¡°Uh, let me cover the cart back up! And take what you¡¯re holding.¡±


    Intern #1 did that. Then he let me look. ¡°Okay, so,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m going to go consult with Familiar. Don¡¯t touch any of that, please.¡±


    Did he think I was going to ruin the experiment with curiosity? How rude, Intern #1.


    ¡°Nice one, dude.¡± I turned to see Bombino, who had been several lanes down. ¡°But you''re not supposed to break things that much. If you can trash the targets you¡¯re supposed to put in a special materials request.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Normally that doesn¡¯t happen.¡±


    -----


    ¡°What did you do?¡±


    I was surprised to hear from Calculator first. In person, even. ¡°Testing,¡± I said. ¡°Obviously. It worked¡­ surprisingly well.¡±


    The back wall was crumbled. It was pretty thick though. The deepest part went maybe a couple feet back into the concrete, but there was plenty more.


    ¡°Explain.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m still in the blind part of the experiment,¡± I said. ¡°Who contacted you?¡±


    ¡°The alarms,¡± Calculator said. ¡°I saw someone else here with you.¡±


    ¡°Ah yes. That was Intern #1.¡±


    ¡°... who?¡±


    ¡°One of Old Shock¡¯s interns? Probably an alien. Burlap skin.¡±


    ¡°Billiop,¡± Calculator replied.


    What was that? Oh, probably a name. ¡°I suppose you would know,¡± I agreed. ¡°Anyway, you can ask him. And Midnight. He rushed off to go talk to him.¡± Midnight was slightly concerned, now. I looked at the back wall again. ¡°I think that was more power than Rocker can usually get.¡±


    ¡°Significantly,¡± Calculator confirmed. ¡°We did update things for sonic durability once he was recruited. What do you think happened there?¡±


    ¡°Material components worked,¡± I suggested. ¡°Obviously. Like, I wasn¡¯t supposed to know that, but the difference was quite extreme. Plus, the boxes got lighter so the components had to have been consumed.¡±


    Calculator wasn¡¯t just talking to me, of course. His fingers were flying across the keyboard of his tablet. Probably talking to Intern #1 and like, 3 other people who were in crises. ¡°I¡¯ve received a response from Billiop. He will be more¡­ precise¡­ in his choosing of material components. But you may complete the experiment. In a different lane.¡±


    Calculator ran over and grabbed a ¡®lane closed¡¯ sign. He also pressed some buttons that retracted what was left of the target thing. Not that people wouldn¡¯t be able to tell things were wrong in that lane anyway. ¡°Actually, before you try again¡­ get yourself checked out.¡±


    I tapped my forehead. ¡°Helmet was on.¡±


    ¡°You could still have damage to your ears.¡±


    -----


    So Sonic Lance was off the table for a couple reasons. I still couldn¡¯t think of what would cause it to be boosted by so much, but Midnight had calmed down his worries and Intern #1 had new instructions.


    ¡°Firebolt again,¡± he said.


    I cast Firebolt. This time, it was¡­ pretty decent. Visually boosted. Maybe it was just lingering confidence, though, because it wasn¡¯t nearly as far. Though it was closer to what I might expect, though my expectations for material components for spells that didn¡¯t need them were sort of up in the air.


    ¡°Firebolt.¡±


    It was the same.


    ¡°Firebolt.¡±


    Worse. Normal, maybe. Intern #1 tried not to let me know how he felt about that.


    Three good Water Blasts- though they were still rather conservative in comparison. The target was actually withstanding all of these in a row. The wall was of course untouched. The fourth Water Blast was¡­ normal.


    ¡°Normally I¡¯d go review the results with a team,¡± Intern #1 said. ¡°But the results are¡­ pretty definitive. You¡¯re going to have to have a talk with Midnight about focuses.¡±


    ¡°Okay. But why now? We were working on material components.¡±


    ¡°That is¡­ why this is relevant,¡± he hedged. ¡°He can explain what he thinks, and since I¡¯m not a magical practitioner¡­¡± Intern #1 shrugged.


    Why focuses, though? I made a face and felt my tusks rub against my skin.

 Chapter 345

    As it turned out, people who were with you nearly constantly and knew you well were good at explaining things to you. I honestly don¡¯t know why Intern #1 didn¡¯t explain anything because it only took a couple sentences. We met in a private room where he sat on the table and explained things.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Midnight said. ¡°So here¡¯s the deal. It looks like you can consume focuses.¡±


    ¡°But they¡¯re-¡±


    ¡°Designed to remain around, obviously,¡± Midnight agreed. ¡°But when you were thinking of them as material components, they worked like that. Only more. Also, some people are very concerned about what happens to the components.¡±


    ¡°They go into the spell. Obviously,¡± I said.


    Midnight shook his head. ¡°Normally spells are extremely efficient with their usage- or mana is extremely powerful. If the matter was converted to energy, you¡¯re actually kind of losing out on a lot of efficiency there. Also I think Billiop might have been freaked out over you potentially destroying bits of the universe a little at a time.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Intern #1.¡±


    ¡°I think there¡¯s some thing that says I¡¯m fine,¡± I commented. ¡°What was it¡­ energy cannot be created or destroyed? I think matter was included in ¡®energy¡¯ there. So it probably all becomes something.¡±


    Midnight gave his equivalent of a half-hearted grin. ¡°I think the ¡®probably¡¯ is what people are afraid of.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I could consume more than a few pounds of matter per day,¡± I pointed out. ¡°There¡¯s so much universe that it wouldn¡¯t mean anything.¡±


    ¡°You do realize that there¡¯s a whole lot of other people who could do that too, if they knew.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I guess,¡± I admitted. ¡°But they don¡¯t. Unless they start experimenting with material components. Probably some people did that already.¡± I thought for a few moments. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing Jerome has kept his focus away from offensive combat spells. We should probably warn him about this stuff, though.¡±


    ¡°And he¡¯ll have to share with Haralamb, and we need to tell the Portal Squad. Which leaves seven people we know about. That¡¯s a lot more than one.¡±


    I did some counting. Midnight and I. Jerome and his friend. Bolster, Bandage, and Boom. ¡°Oh, and Khithae.¡±


    ¡°Right. We need to do a safety briefing.¡±


    ¡°Or you can do that. And I can determine if I can consume just part of something.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the official training lead.¡±


    ¡°... dammit.¡±


    -----


    ¡°... and that¡¯s why you shouldn¡¯t try to consume big piles of diamonds. Any questions?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Bolster said. ¡°What was it that happened again?¡±


    I pulled up a couple pictures. ¡°The target area got busted. Apparently this happens if you consume a small instrument. So, emergencies only.¡± I looked over the group. I wasn¡¯t certain if Khithae even had any ¡®offensive¡¯ spells. She was hard into the utility, and had a weird class anyway. ¡°Most of you can take this particular spell, but I think the important point is to generally recognize not to try to consume a lot of anything for any spell where you don¡¯t know the exact consequences of overpowering it.¡±


    I got a message from Midnight. Then another one from Angelica a few moments later, but I held off on looking at that one since it shouldn¡¯t be relevant to the meeting.


    ¡°Good news. You can use just part of what you have. So you don¡¯t have to worry about your pockets being full of stuff.¡± I might still want individual baggies for Stoneskin, but maybe I could use a few at a time to get a greater effect? They were cheap, but not that cheap, so I had to think about it carefully. Probably, there was some upper limit that we hadn¡¯t yet determined. ¡°Anyway, since most of you had probably heard about our experiments beginning regarding material components, we thought it important to update you on the risks, in case you had plans to experiment on your own.¡±


    Bandage started to hold up her hand then just spoke. ¡°Yeah, uh, what happens with beneficial spells? Is it dangerous?¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be¡­ but we¡¯ll test it before going beyond the limits we already have in mind.¡± Maybe the explosions would be part of everything. We might need a volunteer or maybe figure out if we could target a dummy. I guess I¡¯d Slowed a van, so I could probably Haste inanimate objects too. We¡¯d at least notice extra explosions- which is to say any explosions- even if the other effects were unclear.


    -----


    I was the last one out of the meeting room, and I stumbled into Great Girl outside. Well, she was kind of standing around waiting there, and she made a dramatic call as I walked by. ¡°Uuuugh. Can you believe people?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°But I presume that ¡®people¡¯ have done something stupid and annoying?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you read your texts?¡±


    ¡°I was in a meeting advising people on how not to blow stuff up on accident.¡± I checked my phone. ¡°I don''t have any texts from you.¡±


    She waved her arm vaguely. ¡°Check Angelica¡¯s.¡±


    I did. It contained a headline from some tabloid. ¡®Great Girl and Mage- Dating?¡¯


    Shown were a series of pictures taken during our shopping excursion. It literally just looked like two people shopping. In super clothing, to be clear. ¡°People are stupid. Can¡¯t they tell we were on duty? Also, I¡¯m not that well versed on the superhero dating scene, but do people normally have three people on dates?¡±


    Midnight was prominently displayed on my shoulder. Nobody could miss that.


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    ¡°They think he¡¯s a pet.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s dumb. And racist, I think?¡±


    ¡°Tabloids are dumb,¡± Great Girl agreed.


    They sure had a lot of speculation about things nobody had seen or could have known about. It was all phrased in a technically speculative manner that very strongly implied that they ¡®knew¡¯ we were dating and had been for months and maybe were even getting very serious? Or something to that effect. It was hard to read. Not because it actually bothered me, but just because it was very poorly written slop. ¡°Is this going to harm your reputation?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve sent it to my publicist to deal with,¡± Great Girl explained. ¡°How about yours?¡±


    I blinked. ¡°Do I have a reputation?¡±


    ¡°Do you-¡± she blinked. ¡°You don¡¯t have any social media accounts.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°... Probably best to stay that way.¡±


    ¡°I sure thought so. Why would I want to interact with random strangers?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Anyway, why would it hurt my reputation? You¡¯re the popular one so it would probably drag my image higher, right?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t always work like that.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, I don¡¯t think this will be a problem. I don¡¯t currently have any nemeses that don¡¯t already hate you more. If anyone was stupid enough to come after you to bother me¡­¡± I shrugged. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine they¡¯d have much success.¡± I took a good look at her face. ¡°Does this bother you?¡±


    Even with a mask, her face was honest enough. ¡°I don¡¯t like people messing with me and my friends just for clicks.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t they get paid?¡± I asked.


    She chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s what I meant. Anyway, I¡¯d just prefer that they not mess around with people like that. So that you don¡¯t have to explain to any future girlfriend.¡±


    I frowned slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t think I would date anyone that would be fooled by such obvious nonsense. And they¡¯d know Midnight.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s true,¡± Great Girl admitted. ¡°Though if you were trying to date outside the cowl¡­¡±


    I raised an eyebrow. ¡°I don¡¯t think I know a single person who doesn¡¯t know my ¡®secret¡¯ identity. I doubt my social circles will change anytime soon. Though I guess there are a few more orcs around now.¡±


    Those orcs were ones that either weren¡¯t working for Doctor Doomsday or at least hadn¡¯t been caught. There were also some small populations that had been around before me. Other type-F worlds existed and all that- they just weren¡¯t that common. There being a few dozen orcs out of a vast city of more than ten million greatly limited the anonymity of green people with tusks. And I didn¡¯t want to use Disguise all the time. That was for missions.


    ¡°Anyway,¡± I concluded. ¡°I don¡¯t think this has much impact on my activities. Though maybe we shouldn¡¯t hang out in uniform without a more obvious squad with us?¡±


    ¡°That sounds about right,¡± Great Girl acknowledged.


    -----


    More conservative material component testing revealed that it was a real pain to use them. I only had so many pockets, so unless things came in very small quantities or I started lugging around a big, obvious bag then I couldn¡¯t really cover many different spells.


    I could have a lot of stuff in storage, of course, so if I had some time to plan out my uses I could pull out things for about half my spells. The others we just hadn¡¯t figured out any material components that were appropriate just yet. Focuses- which was anything not consumed- were even bulkier. Contingency worked great because none of the shuffling stuff around was supposed to happen within hours of actual trouble.


    But if I wanted to enhance Firebolt, Grease, and then Fly I would need a fistful of tinder, a few ounces of oil, and then a big feather. Any properly sized feathers wouldn¡¯t fit in my pockets, though I might be able to stuff a handful of down in one of my pockets. Packets of oil weren¡¯t convenient, and for something like Firebolt I would usually want to use it several times. That meant being conservative with my tinder, which made it less effective.


    For offensive spells, a focus might be better. I only had a few of such spells, and I could vaguely categorize them into single target or area. Carrying around ice for Blizzard was impractical, but I had a sapphire on order. It might be a good enough focus to do something without taking up much area. Though having to be conscious of the existence of everything might be the biggest limitation.


    Carrying material components in my hand wasn¡¯t required, but if I didn¡¯t know where they were they didn¡¯t work. We tested by putting things in different pockets. Lower intensity spells, of course. That meant I¡¯d have to keep things in consistent pockets, which wasn¡¯t that big of an issue but further limited my options.


    War wizards probably had two or three things for their big blasty spells, if they knew about extra components like this at all. We didn¡¯t have a way to test if this worked with only the system and no ability to gain natural upgrades, so I couldn¡¯t even be certain how hidden this was.


    Midnight got the shortest end of the stick with his near-complete lack of pockets. His transforming suit could hold a few things in awkward lumps, and that was it. Oh, and we figured out what was up with the representation of Shocking Grasp.


    The ¡®focus¡¯ it needed was a surface to hang out on. It appeared that necessary ¡®focus¡¯ made it more powerful, instead of just because it was limited in range. In short, I learned to zap people less effectively at a distance¡­ which was just worse than creating a low power Chain Lightning for the most part. When I could get it to work, anyway. Some spells just didn¡¯t exist below a certain threshold.


    I was keeping notes on different actual and potential focuses and material components. One more thing to think about, but like everything else I would pick out the good ones¡­ eventually.


    -----


    ¡°Psst. Mage.¡± I turned to see Shockwave standing in a dark hallway- which was odd, because the Brigade usually didn¡¯t let so many lights burn out. ¡°I heard a certain rumor¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not dating Great Girl.¡±


    The blue speedster stood up straight. ¡°What? No, I don¡¯t care about that tabloid crap. Someone told me you could make spells better.¡±


    I thought for a moment. ¡°Was it me? I¡¯ve mentioned that before. But that¡¯s not new.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ more better,¡± Shockwave said. ¡°Like you could, theoretically, overcharge a Haste spell to-¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to Haste you arbitrarily. We can schedule a training session, though.¡±


    They sighed. ¡°Nobody will let me. They say it¡¯s ¡®not necessary¡¯ and that I ¡®only want to run faster than before¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s obvious.¡±


    They put a hand over their heart. ¡°You wound me! I just want to make sure your new abilities won¡¯t hurt anyone. I heard there was an explosion! Here I am, bravely volunteering my body and nobody will even hear me out.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not going against Brigade rules. If you need it for a mission, I can Haste you. I¡¯ll carry a clock in Storage, I guess. Though maybe an hourglass would be better¡­¡± I pondered.


    ¡°How about a grandfather clock?¡± they suggested. ¡°Bigger is better!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t carry one of those.¡± Yet. Well, not for a long time probably. And one wouldn¡¯t fit in a bag, so I couldn¡¯t enhance my capacity with a focus. ¡°But if we happen to need to Haste you and there¡¯s one nearby¡­¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll look into missions involving old mansions right away.¡± Shockwave saluted, then scurried off.


    I hadn¡¯t really agreed, but I wasn¡¯t against going on missions in general, and Shockwave was a very effective teammate. During the course of a Haste spell, if they couldn¡¯t solve all of our issues¡­ we were probably way over our heads to begin with.