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After a simple breakfast of fruit and hot coffee, I buckled down and put together the ritual for my mind protection circlet. In the end, it was not nearly the grand, perfect anti-mind control creation that I was envisioning, but until I found something that worked, it would have to do.
Part of me considered,
really considered, dumping my three points into some sort of anti-mind control magic subject, but I honestly didn't think the answer would change. Not even locking my brain in some kind of protective stasis would prevent things like puppeteering my body or in-depth illusions. In order to protect myself from all forms of mind control, at least without covering myself with a few dozen ritualized creations, I would need to invoke the
concept of mind protection or something in that vein.
The problem was, from what I could gather and from what I knew, something like that was incredibly powerful magic. Invoking direct concepts or even close to that was only a step or three below directly affecting the soul, which was so far above what I could do that it would likely take dozens of levels into a very limited and specific knowledge tree in order to do it.
Even then, I might not have the actual power to do so anyway.
When I finished the ritual, the result was a simple circlet, just a band of silver that fit perfectly and comfortably on my head, unsurprising since I had used my blood as an ingredient. Most of it was hidden under my hair, but it was visible around my forehead. As much as I was worried it would make me look too much like someone cosplaying an elf, it actually didn't look half bad. Okay, it looked pretentious as all hell, but that doesn't mean it looked bad.
Besides, it's not like I had much of a choice. Unless I wanted to start wearing a crown around, there weren't many more pieces of jewelry you wore around your head, which really helped in its effectiveness.
Thankfully, for my current costume, I could pull my hat down over it to hide it, but even if I couldn't, I would still wear it. I could feel it weaving a bit of protection over my mind, giving me subtle resistance that I was hoping would be enough to break myself free of any mental manipulation. I idly made a note to see if it helped me break out of Glory Girl's influence without Alya's help.
When I was done getting ready for the morning and with my ritual, I finally left the compound behind, making my way through the forest and back to Brockton Bay. Kali escorted me to the forest's edge with her wolves, her actual presence being kept back as her influence had not spread that far.
My first stop was, of course, the hospital, followed by PRT headquarters. I healed just over two dozen people between both stops. Before I could make it out of the PRT headquarters, however, Assault managed to catch up to me. He dismissed the agent escorting me and took the job himself, guiding me to a side entrance. In the process, he explained that the Director wanted a sample of my standard golems so that they could examine it.
"Standard does not clear up what kind she wants," I explained with a frown. "But at this point, I can
guess that she wants a living wood golem. It's not what I would call standard, but I find them easier to work with since I can already manipulate wood."
"Yeah… fair, that's right."
"I can make something small and easy tonight," I explained. "I can drop it off in the morning. To be clear. It is going to be very simple, with no frills or extras. It will follow orders simply, and it's not going to be much stronger than a person. That said… I'm open to doing business if the PRT would like to purchase more advanced versions."
"You would sell them? What about maintenance?" He asked, tilting his head. "You seemed too protective of your secrets to just sell them to people."
"I would require some… assurances, as I would with anything I make," I explained, keeping just what kind of assurances I would need to myself. "But the golems could heal themselves, and most of my stuff doesn't require maintenance very often."
"I mean… could you make armor for us like you overcoat?" He asked, suddenly sounding very interested.
"Well… Kinda? To really get the most out of what I make… I require blood samples from the people they are intended for," I explained, waving off his words before he could say them. "Yes, I realize how insane and suspicious that is, which is why I don't go around offering people custom creations to everyone. I could make lesser items that work for everyone, but to really get the most out of them…"
"... Your power is a weird one, man," Assault said, shaking his head. "Like Dauntless and Edilon had a strange child."
"You're not the first person to tell me that," I responded with a shrug. "Not much I can do about it. If my power wants to pretend it's magic, all I can do is roll with the punches."
Assault guided me out of the building and waved goodbye as I jumped up onto Troy with ease. I made my way further into town, doing a lazy, concentric patrol, mostly thinking about what I was going to do next. My overall, short-term goal was to invest my points into something that could tip the scale of power in my favor, allowing me to really start shaking things up in this city. Considering just how many points I would have access to at the start of this cycle, that goal was not nearly as far-fetched as it might have been not too long ago.
Honestly, the options were a bit overwhelming. I could bring three subjects up to the same level as ritual crafting. Alternatively, I could bring up a new subject to that same level while bringing one subject up as well. I could even get started on three new subjects, getting each of them to level two. They wouldn't be massively powerful, but as long as I was careful like I was with lighting and healing spells, I would likely get quite a bit of flexibility out of it.
Of course, I could always dump everything into ritual crafting, bringing it up to level five. Considering what sort of information and power I got from levels one through three, adding four and five could potentially be incredibly potent.
Unfortunately, I wasn't sure if it would be that simple. Assuming that ritual creation went up to level five in the first place, the fundamental weaknesses of ritual crafting, that being time, ease of application, and accuracy of creation, would still be present, reducing the usefulness in actual combat. If I were still home, if there wasn't the constant threat of endbringers in the distance, if the world I found myself in wasn't one where direct combat was the norm, then rituals would no doubt be incredibly potent on a grand scale. But here, I needed to be able to fight. I needed to be able to take down people who were actively harming others.
I let out a long breath, letting the building anxiety drift away as I put my mind to other things. I had time to work out what I wanted, and even if that wasn't true, with no idea what sort of extra little bit I would be getting, there was no reason to set up concrete plans.
By the time I had pulled myself out of my impromptu planning session, I was working my way down the general line between Downtown and the Docks. Things were relatively quiet, but that didn't mean much in Brockton Bay.
Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, as I made my final cross of the city, I heard the distant sound of sirens, enough of them that there must have been something going on.
"Alya…?" I asked, looking around.
"Smoke to the north," She said, prompting me to turn.
Sure enough, to the south was a rising pillar of smoke. Judging by how dark it was, it was most likely a building. For a moment, a sliver of fear raced through me, and I wondered if the Empire had finally retaliated for the death of Alabaster.
"It's not the community. That's a bit more west," Alya said, relief flooding me before I cursed under my breath. "I'll guide you there."
I nodded and leaned down over Troy, pushing my magic into his body, feeling it begin to glow as we took off down the street. My golem steeds horseshoes sparked and clanged against the ground as my partner kept me on the right track, crossing the city in record time.
As we came around the corner, I could see the fire, which was now tearing through the first and second stories of a multi-story building. The first floor was a convenience store of some sort, though you could hardly tell through the flames. The rest of the building appeared to be an apartment complex, if the people leaning out of the windows were any indication.
I cursed again, louder this time, kicking Troy to go faster, jumping off of him as we got to the street in front of the building. There, firefighters were wrestling with a hose, spraying into the fire on the first floor. I made a beeline for the one controlling the flow from the firetruck.
"What's the situation?" I asked, the man whirling around to face me. "I'm here to help. What can I do?"
"Oni Lee firebombed the first floor," He explained, turning back to the side of the fire truck, tapping a gauge. "The fire spread too quickly, and the building doesn't have an external fire escape. We need the ladder truck, but it's at least another two minutes out, getting held up by who knows what! By the time it gets here, we are going to start losing people!"
I turned back to the fire, then to the road and sidewalk in front of it. Reaching inside my pocket, I pulled out a single acorn.
"If I can build you a ladder now, could you start evacuating?" I asked, the firefighter looking at me oddly. "Well?"
"Yeah, as long as it's safe!"
I nodded and walked closer to the fire, just alongside the three-man crew working the fire hose. I kneeled down and, with all my strength, punched downward into the asphalt. My fist punched a good way through the relatively soft material, and two more punches drove my fist completely through. A fourth and final punch let me place the acorn into the gravely dirt below, promptly buried by the collapsing hole. I quickly chanted out the spell for rapid growth, and in a moment, a tree pushed out of the ground, growing faster than any other tree I had grown, yet since I didn't care in the slightest if it survived, as long as it stayed in place.
The asphalt bulged and cracked as it grew, roots expanding and digging into the ground to stabilize the still-growing tree. I didn't bother growing leaves since they wouldn't serve a purpose and would only get in the way. Instead, I dumped every erg of mana I had into the tree, watching it grow up and up until it reached the third floor, the first without fire. Even as it grew taller, I shifted the branches and growths to form a ladder downward and away from the building. I turned to look at the nearby firefighter team, still controlling the hose, though they were looking at the massive altered tree growing up alongside the building.
"Hey!" I shouted, catching their attention. "Spray the tree to keep it from burning!"
It took a moment for them to nod and follow my suggestion, but by then, I was already vaulting upwards, throwing myself up the rungs of the thick, sturdy tree ladder. I was inside the smoke-filled building seconds later, Alya working hard to keep me surrounded by cleaner, breathable air. I had entered, luckily, into a hallway with doors along either side.
"Everyone! Come to the sound of my voice!" I called out loudly, even as people were already opening their doors. Plenty of people had seen me grow the ladder tree and were now rushing to use it. "Hey! Don't rush! Take it slow and steady, and we can all get out of here alive!"
That got through to most people, even with the thick billowing smoke starting to fill the hallway. One older man ignored my words and tried to shove past a woman crouching low with her daughter. I slammed my hand out across the hall right in front of him, putting a fist-sized hole in the drywall. He let out a yelp as I stared him down.
"Slow. And. Steady," I repeated, the man nodding his head rapidly, continuing on at a much slower, more respectful pace.
I watched and helped people climb out of the building, Alya warning me as the temperature began to rise. People were climbing down on both sides of the tree ladder, both from the floor I was in and the floor above.
Even as the smoke became thicker and thicker, I stayed behind, relying on my partner to keep fresh air coming from outside, as well as keeping an eye on the rest of the building. I ended up walking further into the building, slowly leading an older lady to the window. As a firefighter climbed up to help her down, Alya shouted at me.
"Oni Lee! He is across the street!" She shouted in my ear, causing me to look up. Sure enough, there he was.
Dressed in an all-black ninja costume, he was adorned with two bandoleers filled with grenades. At his hips were multiple knives strapped tightly to his body. His face was covered by a Japanese-style mask, red with horns and a demon's grin on its mouth. After a moment of watching him, his body fluttered away into ash. I almost let out a breath of relief when Alya shouted again.
"Behind you!" she shouted as the old woman and firefighter descended the tree ladder.
I whirled around, turning to find that Oni Lee had teleported inside the building, only a few feet behind me. I barely had time to react before he dropped a grenade at my feet. Even as his body ruined to dust, the grenade detonated, blowing me backward through the window. I fell past the tree all the way to the asphalt below, slamming into it hard enough to leave a small but noticeable dent where my head smacked off of it.
Luckily, I was only a little rattled. My ablative armor was gone but had absorbed a good bit of the explosion before it did, with my own increased durability absorbing the remaining damage. Before I could even start to stand, the ABB demon appeared again, this time standing above me, one hand holding a rather dangerous-looking tanto, the other reaching for a grenade on his belt.
