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Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage

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you know the best kind wood for things like this golem might be Ipe tree wood. insect and fungi resistance, a Class A fire rating (because someones gonna try and burn the golem, and extreme durability. they are known as the ironwood tree to some.

the real issue is getting one but you could just buy the wood from a hardware store it's gonna cost a lot though and already be treated.

man really might just get renamed the lorax pfft.
 
I wonder if it'd help to do a little bit of misdirection with wood golems. I mean, the powers he has shown off have a very 'natural forces' look to them. If he can make it look like they are existing living things that he is merely asking to help? Give them names, 'introduce' them to people like their own beings? That's good PR, and at worst would throw suspicions at the feet of someone else (it'd be pretty funny to watch the PRT trying to figure out what unknown cape made the golems, or even funnier they get pinned on Blasto).
 
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Just caught up today great premise looking forward to the future and his army of woodland creatures.
 
Clearly the answer is to set curses on the Empire so their fields go barren, their livestock birth only two-headed calves, their wells dry out and a plague of locusts devours the contents of their granaries.

...do you think Skitter is willing to go to Hookwolf's house and make sure that anything not in cans or jars gets bugs in it? Asking for a friend.
 
If he creates 4 legged golems he can use them as pack animals or to pull carts.
With the right type of flexible and tough wood he can even create leaf springs for the carts.
 
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Chapter Twenty Nine
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    • A common misconception is that precious stones, things like rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, were all super expensive gemstones, and that finding a pile of them in nature would somehow make you extremely rich. The truth was that the vast majority of precious stones that are found aren't actually gem quality. Most are cloudy, poorly shaped, filled with cracks, riddled with other flaws, or otherwise just poor quality.

    These stones would never be professionally cut into actual gemstones, as they were hardly ever worth the time it took to do. Some of them were used as practice stones for trainees, but that was only a tiny portion. These lesser stones were cheap, especially compared to their rarer and better quality siblings, and jewelry stores tended to carry them to sell in bulk.

    Which was good because I was going to need a lot of them. Thankfully, the "lesser" quality stones worked just fine for rituals, as what made these stones critical to rituals was less the fact that they were expensive and more of their internal structure and their inherited properties, at least in terms of how magic affected them. Sure, the ones with huge cracks or fault lines were useless to me as well, but in the grand scheme of things, the rest were perfectly fine.

    Which was why I made my way to one of Brockton Bay's few remaining jewelry stores. I had already bought several double fist-sized spheres of granite. They were common enough decorations, both indoors and out, that I only needed to visit two different stores to find exactly what I was looking for. Now, I just hoped that Bayside Brilliance, the largest jewelry store in the Bay, sold loose gems like I was looking for.

    I walked into the store, passing three very large and very armed security guards as I did, stepping into the well-lit space beyond. It didn't take very long for one of the staff to find me as I looked around, asking with a salesman's smile if I needed any help. The process was pretty simple, and since I was paying in cash, they didn't even need to see an ID. Instead, they checked to make sure my money was real, handed me several bags of low-quality gems, and I walked out with a smile on my face.

    A large part of me had been almost sure that one of the Bay's many villains would choose that exact moment to attempt to rob the jewelry store. Luckily, I kept my cool while I was inside, unmasked and unable to run off or really defend myself. Even still, my vaguely nonsensical anxiety didn't truly pass until I was a fair distance away from the shop.

    I arrived back at the forest not too long after my shopping was complete. I followed along the hiking trail for a few minutes before sneaking off and heading directly for my base. By now, I was starting to get a good solid feel for the forest I was claiming as my home, so I started gently casting spells on various bushes, clumps of grass, and small trees as I walked, lightly encouraging them to grow. I wanted the area around me to be as dense and cluttered as possible, both to block off any noise or light I might make once I had settled in properly and to deter people even more from just stumbling on my home.

    The moment I got back, I set right to work. I was on a deadline, after all, with the Docks community left defenseless while I worked. I quickly set up what I had just bought, all neatly and easily grabbable since I would be using a lot of them. When that was set, I gathered my chalk, notebook, and various measurement tools in preparation. I then knelt down in the center of the large ritual platform and got to work, starting with the center focus circle and working my way out.

    The order of operations for the golem core was first ritualizing the primary heart, one of the granite spheres. This was by far the most complicated ritual in the entire process. When that was done, it was time to complete the dozen or so smaller rituals for the various gemstones that would be fused to the primary heart. When all of the individual parts were complete, it was time for the final fusing process, also known as the second most complex ritual.

    At this point, the golem core was complete, and all that was left to do was complete the smallest ritual of the process to prepare the golem frame. This was more or less just a magical shock to the golem materials, infusing it with energy to better allow the magic of the golem core to spread once implanted.

    Ordinarily, the process of getting the materials and inserting the golem core was one of the more challenging aspects. This was because the materials needed to be pre-formed into the golem's shape, and an opening must be made to insert the core. Not only did this mean that you had to pre-carve a golem out of stone or clay or build one from metal, but it also meant there was almost always a weak point where you inserted the core.

    Thankfully, with druidcraft letting me freely manipulate trees on a large scale, I could easily bypass that issue and grow the golem into shape, open up a hole for the core, and close it back up perfectly, leaving no gap in the defenses. I wasn't sure how the golems would react to a parahuman with the ability to manipulate plant life, so I made a mental note to admit that to Charles and John when I dropped the golems off.

    I started the first core at around noon, and by seven PM, I had four complete bipedal golems, each casting long shadows from the lights I set up. The golems were just under seven feet tall, made up of thick corded wood and smooth, almost metallic bark. Rather than worry about things like the uncanny valley, they had no heads at all, making them seem more than a bit hunched over. Their cores were deep in their chest, encircled with heavy, dense wood, coiled up with springy growth to cushion serious blows.

    Even better, all four golems were grown from a single enhanced acorn, making their wood particularly dense and tough. Each one of them was significantly stronger than me with a steel absorption, and while being made of wood made them considerably slower than I had made them of a more speed-related material, they were still fast for their size, just above my normal moving speed.

    Even just standing, unnervingly still, they looked impressive and definitely intimidating. Watching them run around as I ordered them back and forth through the forest was even worse. They moved shockingly well, with no signs of the clumsy, over-the-top movements you might expect from them. Watching them spin and jump made me glad I had splurged on good materials, while watching them punch chunks out of normal trees made me glad I had made sure they wouldn't be too rough with ordinary people.

    With the four golems done, I had one more thing to build, though I did intend to make more of them later. On my hunt to find the granite spheres to serve as the heart of the golem core, I eventually made my way into a garden store. Not only did it contain precisely what I was looking for, it also gave me an idea. As I was patiently waiting in line at the cashiers, I happened to spot an image advertising a hedge trimmer, where a man looked proudly over a series of artistically carved hedges, all of them cut into various shapes and animals.

    It took a few seconds for the clerk to get my attention, my mind going wild as I mentally began designing the ritual required to bring my idea into reality. It was hard to keep my excitement down to a smile as I went on to finish my shopping at the jewelry store before calmly rushing back to the forest to work. While I was excited by the ideas flashing through my head, I knew I needed to get the golems done first. Then, I can go about modifying the original design for something more robust.

    Thankfully, most of what I wanted to do could use the framework I had already designed for the normal golems. With some tweaks and additions, I completed a series of extra rituals on a dozen more gems, before finishing with an even more complicated combining ritual. The final step was to grow and charge a significantly larger golem frame.

    The final result, after four more hours of additional designing and rituals, was a large, four-legged golem horse. The top of its head was easily seven, maybe eight feet off the ground, its body made from coils and plates of enhanced wood, meaning it was at least as tough as the combat golems, who I suspected were at the very least bulletproof to pistol calibers. Its eyes were a pair of blue sapphires, while its hooves were bent cuts of steel rebar, ritualized to give the large golem the grip it needed to run at full tilt no matter what it was running on. A pair of thick vine reins grew out of its face, completed with a thick green mane made from flexible green vines and leaves.

    When I finally pushed the golem core into its chest, curling inches of enhanced wood around it to protect it, the large wooden animal raised its hoof and scraped along the platform before looking around, shaking its head as if agitated. I had pulled heavily from one of the branches of ritual magic I was missing, pushing what I did have as far as it could go, basically touching into the very concept of equine to imbue the golem with a higher level of lifelike behavior. It wasn't really alive, but if I kept feeding magic, the golem core should continue to evolve and shift until it was kind of sort of alive, or at least indistinguishable from an actual horse.

    What I had done was on the very edge of my knowledge, even pushing off into a subject I didn't know anything about. It was encouraging since it meant I could still make progress in my subjects without spending points. I just needed to know enough about them to do my own work.

    "Aren't you a monster of a mount?" I said, patting the golem's back. "You are going to scare the absolute shit out of people. What should I call you? I was thinking of Bolt, but I'm not sure that fits… Any ideas, Alya?"

    "Gust?" She suggested, standing behind me in her solid form. "Perhaps Northern Winds?"

    "I don't know... maybe that last one..."

    I walked around and examined my new mount, using my druidcraft to shift and shape it, covering any gaps and rounding out any imperfections. I also grabbed a chunk of moss, laid it out on its back, and used druidcraft to grow it into a saddle. I then grew hundreds of thin root-like vines over it to keep it from falling apart as I sat on it.

    By the time I was truly done with my mount, it was pushing midnight. Part of me wanted to just wait until the following day to deliver the four golems, but I knew I would never sleep knowing the community was undefended. I quickly changed into my costume before jumping up and mounting my wooden steed.

    "Okay, buddy, it's time to go. Nice and slow until we get to the forest edge," I said, unable to stop smiling as I rubbed the side of his face.

    At nothing more than a slow walk, the yet-to-be-named horse crossed the ritual platform, stepping down off of it without hesitating, making his way through the brush and undergrowth of the forest. As we moved through the yet-to-filled clearing, I whistled to the motionless golems, who immediately started to follow, quickly setting into a single file line. We looked more than a bit strange, weaving through the trees and fallen logs, four wooden golems following after me silently, like a creepy bipedal line of ducklings.

    Once we were free of the forest clutter, following along the hiking trail, I nudged my mount with my heels, the golem picking up speed until it was moving at a nice trot. The golem stallion was plenty smart enough to follow the trail on his own if I left him to it, so I focused on enjoying the view and keeping an eye on the combat golem. As we went, Alya and I discussed name ideas, but nothing we could come up with really felt like it fit.

    It was about fifteen minutes of casual riding before we made it to the city proper, past some of the less densely populated spaces that surrounded it. Once we were close, I guided my questionable parade through the streets, moving with a particular target in mind. A nice long street that ran a good way down from the western side of the city, across and into the Docks. It was far from the most optimal route, but it did make the perfect place to test my mount's top speed.

    When I arrived, I instructed the bipedal golems to walk down to the other end of the long street, which was thankfully lined with mostly businesses and offices. Once they started to move on their own, walking down the sidewalk at a leisurely pace, I guided my golem mount to the center of the street. At this point, it was nearing one in the morning, and with the city's reputation, the street was clear until the end.

    "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Alya asked.

    "What are they going to do, pull me over for speeding? Besides, I do actually need to know how fast he can go,"" I said with a smirk, reaching down to pat his neck. "You ready, big guy? C'mon, let's see just how fast you are."

    I finally leaned down a bit, holding onto one of the many partially hidden handholds built into my mount's wooden body.

    "Ya!"

    My mount took off in a split second, its lack of actual muscles showing as its acceleration was almost instant. The buildings and lamps along the street were a blur as the echoing sound of clopping hooves filled the street. I could feel myself bouncing on the saddle, with only my handholds, meager horse-riding skills, and enhanced strength keeping me from being thrown off. The wind whipped by my head, tugging and pulling at my mask and hat.

    "Faster!" I called out, starting to pour magic into the golem through the handholds.

    With a wild neigh, the artificial construct sped up again, sparks flying off from each impact of his metal horseshoe on the asphalt. I could see that its blue eyes were glowing, and I could feel a crackling energy trail behind us. The world was a blur as we went faster and faster. Finally, I could see the end of the road in the distance, so I pulled back on one of the handholds. The golem immediately started to slow down, and its galloping decreased until we were slow enough to stop.

    With a pull in the reins, I turned back to spot the still walking golems in the distance. I couldn't help but laugh at just how far we had come in only a few seconds of running.

    "Damn… Wonder if they would let me compete in the Kentucky Derby…"



    Hey everyone, just a reminder that I have a Patreon! Being a supporter has a lot of benefits, like early chapters and access to my original content. If you are interested in those benefits or just want to support my attempt to become a full-time writer, stop by and show your support. Every dollar helps!
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Interesting way of making friends! :p

    May I suggest the name Chestnut, because he's a "Horse Chestnut"? Hey, was either that or "Sawhorse"!
     
    MetaBettaOmega said:
    A common misconception is that precious stones, things like rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, were all super expensive gemstones,
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    Sapphires are used as substrate wafers in semiconductors, so they're grown in chemically perfect boules of like a hundred kilos in industrial crucibles. Those aren't available in like, retail shops, but like the off-stock wafers, 4" disks or whatever, those go for like $150 at universitywafer.com for example
     
    MetaBettaOmega said:
    What are they going to do, pull me over for speeding?
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    Yes, actually. Much like bicycles, if you're in the road they count as a vehicle, and must obey speed limit laws.

    There's some more complexity to it than that, but it's basically the same as bicycles: Best rule of thumb to operate under is that if you're riding one and are in the road, they count as a vehicle, and you're required to follow traffic laws.
     
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    Just binged the entire thing and must say I like it quite a lot. I especially like the way he's trying to use logic to figure out a crazy world. His interactions with parahumans are always fun because of that.

    The power system is neat because it doesn't make him OP immediately and gives him time to develop and think about his powers. Although, the decision to make a house in the woods instead of getting one of the abandoned ones and enchanting it does seem quite strange with how he wanted to have water, power, and internet in his new home. Then again, magic and all that.

    He really should get a van or a pickup truck for all the things he's buying and hauling all over the place instead of wasting a bunch of time just running around. Sure, the horse is nice, but he can't giddy-up in his civilian persona.

    The only thing that annoys me a bit is the portrayal of the homeless. I don't mind having a few down-on-their-luck people who only need a helping hand to get back on their feet, but most homeless aren't like that and are in that situation for a reason. If you look around IRL you'll find that there are a bunch of halfway houses that do help the people who want to help themselves get their lives back in order, but most homeless don't use those services because they forbid the use of drugs, violence, and theft. And, you'll find, that's the major problem in the community. A bunch of people who are either strung out, have mental issues, or just don't care about getting a better life.

    I know that realismTM is a bit much to demand from fanfiction, but it's something that sticks in my head whenever we get to those parts and it isn't addressed when everything else that's wrong with the world is.

    All in all, I can't wait to read more. Thanks, m8!
     
    Kulha said:
    Just binged the entire thing and must say I like it quite a lot. I especially like the way he's trying to use logic to figure out a crazy world. His interactions with parahumans are always fun because of that.

    The power system is neat because it doesn't make him OP immediately and gives him time to develop and think about his powers. Although, the decision to make a house in the woods instead of getting one of the abandoned ones and enchanting it does seem quite strange with how he wanted to have water, power, and internet in his new home. Then again, magic and all that.

    He really should get a van or a pickup truck for all the things he's buying and hauling all over the place instead of wasting a bunch of time just running around. Sure, the horse is nice, but he can't giddy-up in his civilian persona.

    The only thing that annoys me a bit is the portrayal of the homeless. I don't mind having a few down-on-their-luck people who only need a helping hand to get back on their feet, but most homeless aren't like that and are in that situation for a reason. If you look around IRL you'll find that there are a bunch of halfway houses that do help the people who want to help themselves get their lives back in order, but most homeless don't use those services because they forbid the use of drugs, violence, and theft. And, you'll find, that's the major problem in the community. A bunch of people who are either strung out, have mental issues, or just don't care about getting a better life.

    I know that realismTM is a bit much to demand from fanfiction, but it's something that sticks in my head whenever we get to those parts and it isn't addressed when everything else that's wrong with the world is.

    All in all, I can't wait to read more. Thanks, m8!
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    While you're not wrong, I do actually feel it's easily justified in this story. Between Brockton Bays docks and associated businesses going belly up due to Leviathan, the rampant crime and corruption in the city destroying infrastructure and livelihoods. I don't find it unbelievable that the city has a disproportionate homeless community of people down on their luck with no way to get back on their feet.
     
    Chapter Thirty
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    While the bipedal golems slowly strolled down the long, empty sidewalk, I rode my steed up and down the street, getting a solid feel for how it moved and responded to my directions. I did have some experience in horseback riding, though that only helped me stay on its back. Unaided, my mount was going probably around sixty miles per hour, though I honestly had no way of knowing for sure without a speed gun of some sort. All I could tell was that I could make it from one end of the long street all the way to the other in just under thirty seconds. My best guess was that the street was just under a half mile long, which was how I calculated my speed.

    When I pushed my magic into the quadruped golem, that speed increased dramatically. It was even harder to tell at that speed just how long it took, but I was pretty sure it was around twenty-three seconds.

    Of course, speed wasn't the only important point, as the mount's maneuverability was just as, if not more important. The golem was small enough that I could weave in between traffic, but I didn't quite trust it to run. However, I could use my druidcraft control to tighten up all the gaps and empty space inside the equine construct. It reduced its top speed by a noticeable amount, maybe to around fifty miles per hour with my magic, but it made a visually notable difference in its size as well, meaning I had much more faith that it could easily fit through traffic.

    He could also easily clear cars with a jump, which I tested by having the bipedal golems stand in the road. I might have clipped them a couple times as I was getting used to everything, but soon, we were easily jumping them. The controls for the steed were tuned pretty well, using a combination of movements, sound, and the reins. The golem interpreted my commands and movements precisely, and I knew as I got better, so would the stallion.

    To say I was absolutely ecstatic with my creation was an understatement, especially considering that this was just the beginning. The best part about golems was that they were massively customizable. Not only could I remove the golem core and upgrade it any time that I wanted, but I could also affix various magical items to the golem as well, letting them do basically anything I could think of. I was still limited to ritualized items at this point, but that was hardly a shallow limit. I already had plans to add stun wands to their arms when I got around to making those.

    On top of all that, I could also physically modify the golem as well. Typically, that would involve removing the golem core and physically modifying or repairing the golem frame, but I had my druidcraft, so shifting the shape of my living golems was easy. I already added a vine and bark side holster for my staff alongside my steed, the chunk of blue crystal poking out the top.

    While I was testing my top speed, it didn't take long for me to lose track of time, galloping up and down the road, laughing and cackling at my successful creation. Unfortunately, while the street was mostly shops, businesses, and office space, there must have been someone around to report me.

    About an hour into my totally necessary and definitely not just for fun experiment, I could hear the sounds of a distant motor. It got louder as it got closer until it came around the corner to reveal a motorcycle. It was the standard cop cycle design, with emergency lights along its front and back, cargo on the back half, and a chunky front end. It was painted mostly black, with gray highlights and the PRT logo along both sides. Riding it was Miss Militia, who parked the vehicle and climbed off, stopping as I approached her, still on my mount

    "Arcanum…wanna explain what's going on here?" She asked as I approached. "We got a complaint of some sort of horse riding cape running up and down the street. You're lucky they got a good enough look at your face to describe your mask; otherwise, I would have shown up with the cavalry."

    "Sorry about that, Miss Militia," I said, chuckling at her joke as I dropped down off of my golem, patting his side as I got closer. "I didn't think anyone lived on this road, guess I was wrong. I'm just doing some testing of my new ride."

    "About that… what exactly is... it?" She asked, gesturing to my golem.

    "First off, let me just say that it's not actually alive," I explained, holding up my hands. "Well… technically, it's a tree, so it kind of is, but it's not like a new life form or anything."

    The female hero gave me a very not-impressed look, and I couldn't help but chuckle and nod.

    "Yeah, okay, fair enough. So I've mentioned that internal power source I have? It lets me do everything I can, and I recently discovered it has some plant manipulation abilities. Like a plant control Striker ability, to put it into PRT terms."

    "... the rapid production trees at the old camp," She said, her eyes going wide. "Those were you! We thought you had inspired another cape to try and give back!"

    "Yeah, that was me, but to be clear, I am not a bio-tinker," I explained, wincing at the visible flinch that Miss Militia had at the mention of "bio-tinker." "I'm not creating new life, just enhancing and manipulating what already exists. Striker, not bio-tinker."

    She nodded before suddenly tensing up. Her hand went to her hip, where her power was already shifting into a standard-issue police pistol. As she drew her weapon, she stepped closer, but also around me, keeping her weapon aimed downward as she put her hand on my shoulder, trying to push me to the side. I turned to see the four bipedal golems had finally caught up, stepping through the light of a lamp a bit further down the road.

    "Oh, I made those too," I explained, whistling for the golems to stop. "Same concept, different shape. They are defensive… well I've been calling them golems cause it fits. Think of them like tinker constructs."

    She stared at the constructs, then back at me. Slowly, she holstered her weapon, which, rather than simply sitting in her holster, flickered into a switchblade, then back into a Colt revolver. It made me wonder if she was doing it on purpose or if flipping its shape around was more like a nervous tik.

    "What are they for?" She asked, watching as the hunched-over constructs of wood, bark, and vine settled to the ground on my order.

    "To protect the homeless community that hangs out not far from here," I said vaguely, trying to give the woman deniable plausibility when it came to their location. "They should heavily discourage any further bullshit from the E88."

    "So… you're not going out hunting for them?" She asked, sounding surprised.

    "What? No!" I responded with wide eyes. "Not yet, anyway, I don't have the kind of experience I want, nor do I have a proper grip on my power. Eventually, I plan on… well doing something about them, but that's in the future. Right now, just making sure that the community is left alone is my priority. If they attack me there... well, there's not much I can do about that."

    "That's good to hear," She said, seeming genuinely glad. "Rogue or vigilant capes rarely survive long on their own, especially when they push back against established gangs. Your powers may be extensive, but that can only get you so far."

    "I'm aware," I said with a smile, though she couldn't see it through my mask.

    For a long moment, she was silent, and while I assumed someone was talking in her ear, we were too close for Alya to whisper to me. After a few seconds of silence on her part, she nodded.

    "Arcanum, influencing living material like this, even if it's only a striker ability, it sets off a lot of red flags," She explained. "We already have samples of the fruit and trees-"

    "The trees should be dead by… well, honestly, you should have already started to see some minor signs of degradation," I pointed out. "Unless you already cut and burned them down?"

    "We monitored the area, but since they didn't seem to be putting out any pollen or other contaminants, there was no need to cut them down," She explained. "Are you telling me they die on their own?"

    "When I have them producing so much food, yeah," I responded with a nod. "And they weren't making pollen because they were sterilized, as were all the fruits. Nothing will grow from them. They won't even accept grafts, and if you tried to take one, it would wither in just under an hour. Even if you managed to connect a graft to a new tree in a few minutes, it would kill the tree by the end of the day. Producing that much fruit that fast is hell on the tree."

    "So they have no way to reproduce, and they would die quickly without consistent attention," She confirmed, to which I nodded. "That is good. Those sorts of limitations make people feel much better. And their fruit is safe?"

    "Yeah, of course, I wouldn't have bothered if it wasn't. I've eaten some myself," I explained with a shrug. "It's just normal fruit stuff, just grown really fast. I have no intention of selling any of the produce. Hell, it's not even that high quality."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I could make a tree produce the best apple you have ever tasted," I explained. "But it would take time. Not as much as a normal tree, mind you, but still a few weeks, at least. But the goal wasn't to taste amazing, it was to feed as many people as possible. All the fruit that the accelerated trees grow tastes vaguely off-season. Not bad, not great, just a solid meh."

    Miss Militia, trying as she might to keep up, seemed a bit stunned by the deluge of information I was giving her. Honestly, I didn't mind explaining what my druidcraft was capable of because, at this point, it had very little bearing in combat. If it ever went up in level, that might change, but for now, it was a helpful tool that took time and effort to use and was, therefore, primarily useless in the heat of battle. Not only that but if it did level up, then plenty of what I was telling her would change, meaning any info I was feeding them would no longer be accurate.

    "And what about these?" She finally asked, gesturing to my horse and the frozen-in-place golems, as well as my horse. "How exactly do these work?"

    "Oh, they are something different," I said simply. "Like I said, think of them like tinker tech. They don't reproduce, so no worries there."

    There was a pause as she waited for me to elaborate, a few seconds passing before she finally realized that I had no intention to.

    "Very well, I suppose we should be glad that you didn't try and do this during the day," She admitted, giving me a harsh look. "Still, you're making a lot of noise…"

    "Really? I didn't know they sent heroes out to investigate noise complaints," I fired back, chuckling at the idea. "Speaking of which, did they wake you up for this? Cause I feel bad enough now that I know I've been keeping people up around here."

    "No, I take the night shift since I don't sleep," she explained, continuing when I tilted my head in the universal for confusion. "I'm a Noctis Cape, I don't sleep. I haven't since I got my powers."

    "I… didn't know that was a thing," I admitted, though I regretted it the moment I did, as she looked at me strangely.

    Now it was her turn to tilt her head in confusion, not understanding how I didn't know something that was apparently common knowledge. At least it was here. Mentally, I cursed my lack of knowledge. I did all sorts of research when I first arrived here, doing my best to catch up, but it still occasionally slipped my mind that I needed to be careful. I did my best to stay calm, though, using the same excuse I usually did for not knowing cape stuff.

    "But that's what I get for not paying attention to the cape scene when I was younger and in school," I continued with a shrug. "They told me it was important, but… it never seemed like it to me, but now look at me, scrambling to do my research and still missing some stuff."

    That seemed to satisfy her, and she nodded understandingly. After a moment, she broached a new topic.

    "Arcanum, how against joining the Protectorate are you?" She asked, holding up her hand to hold off my immediate response. "I know you don't exactly trust this branch after what happened, but what about a different branch? You could do a lot of good in another city, but with the support system to keep you alive. Friends, allies, people to fight with you and keep you from being overwhelmed."

    For a long moment, I stared at the patriotic heroine, shocked by her words. For all intents and purposes, running off to another branch didn't benefit this one at all. She wanted me to run to another city purely because she wanted me to have proper protection and support.

    "I... honestly, if you had asked me that a few weeks ago, I might have actually taken you up on that offer," I admitted with a shake of my head. But now I have responsibilities here, people who are depending on me. I can't just abandon them now."

    She nodded in understanding, as if expecting that response. She held out her hand, and we shook silently. She quickly climbed back onto her motorcycle before finally looking back at me.

    "Well, Arcanum, I'm glad you're not running off to do anything stupid. Don't be afraid to call us if you need help." She said with a nod, her eyes crinkling with a smile. "And try to keep it down. People are trying to sleep."

    "What? Not gonna say you have a perfect horse speed measuring device, we just need to go get some power testing done?" I asked, the military-inspired cape snorting as she hopped onto her motorcycle.

    "I don't think we have a treadmill quite that big," She admitted, her eyes crinkling slightly in a way that showed she was smiling. "Have a good night, Arcanum."

    "You too Miss Militia."

    She started her cycle back up, and I easily remounted my four-legged golem. I watched as she drove away, turning onto one of the many intersecting roads and disappearing out of sight. I gave a soft whistle to the golems, all four of which left the sidewalk to follow behind me. We trotted away, eventually leaving the long road behind, making my way through back alleys and abandoned roads and entering the Docks proper.

    From there, it was a short ride to eventually arrive at the outskirts of the Docks community. Rather than disturb anyone, I picked a random alleyway and got the golems to all fold themselves up and huddle into a corner beside a dumpster, which I then covered with a tarp. I then had my new steed lay down on the ground before curling up against him and using him as rest.

    Between the magic inherent to a golem and the magic I was pouring into him as we ran up and down the long street, the stallion golem was noticeably warm. Between that and pulling off my overcoat to use as a blanket, I slept pretty well. I was sure I would have plenty to explain the following morning, but with me there, hopefully no-one would panic.
     
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