Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage
- Thread starter MetaBettaOmega
- Start date
- Location
- England
OK, this is true(ish)*. However, a lot of terminal cases of cancer are terminal because anything done to remove the cancer would not be survivable for the patient. That means that doctor + magic healing = cancer cure. Like, theoretically you could give someone chemo/radio therapy that would kill the cancer in a day, but kill the patient in two days. Same with inoperable tumours (only the timeline is much, much quicker). Whip out that brain tumour, slam the two halves of the brain tissue cut apart back together, zap with heavy duty healing spell.
Not exactly risk free, but it's an option to explore.
* Some/many cancers are triggered or spread by viruses and carcinogens. Killing the viruses / removing the carcinogens probably wouldn't be very effective as a treatment in most cases after the cancer has been diagnosed but it couldn't hurt.
Should be 'salute'.
Last edited:
- Location
- Lost to the Depths of the Deep Web
Truth be told I'm not really sold on the whole Magic Inspired Inventer thing yet.
Still the premise of the story is interesting even with my gripes with the MII thing going on.
Still if you are taking Ideas for things might I suggest a curse over the E88.
Still the premise of the story is interesting even with my gripes with the MII thing going on.
Still if you are taking Ideas for things might I suggest a curse over the E88.
Interesting enough start. Bit hard to get a handle on how much magic he has currently. Honestly seems like his total pool is pretty small, but refills quickly. Though only comments so far on usage have been related to healing, so it's possible healing is just really expensive magically. Hard to say.
The magic growth system seems kind of interesting, though it's vague enough that it's hard to really get invested. Especially since it's an original magic system, so we basically have no idea what is possible or not. Not saying it's a problem, but it's not going to be a story draw like Inspired Inventor is where the reader can get invested due to knowing the sources. That does avoid issues relating to expectations or problems where people disagree on how some system from another source should or should not work. So I guess plusses and minuses.
Is he a full Blank, IE immune to precogs and thinkers completely, or is it some limited thing. It's pretty much required in worm really, so good to include it, just not sure if it's going to be an ongoing plot point, or if it's just there to keep Contessa or Simurgh from swooping down to ruin everything.
Thanks for sharing your writing, I will be watching this, it's a pretty good start.
The magic growth system seems kind of interesting, though it's vague enough that it's hard to really get invested. Especially since it's an original magic system, so we basically have no idea what is possible or not. Not saying it's a problem, but it's not going to be a story draw like Inspired Inventor is where the reader can get invested due to knowing the sources. That does avoid issues relating to expectations or problems where people disagree on how some system from another source should or should not work. So I guess plusses and minuses.
Is he a full Blank, IE immune to precogs and thinkers completely, or is it some limited thing. It's pretty much required in worm really, so good to include it, just not sure if it's going to be an ongoing plot point, or if it's just there to keep Contessa or Simurgh from swooping down to ruin everything.
Thanks for sharing your writing, I will be watching this, it's a pretty good start.
Chapter Eight
Hello everyone! So, I just want to announce that I will be taking the first week of July, the 1st to the 5th, off for vacation. The normal posting schedule will resume the following week. Thank you!
After turning to John and asking who was next, several people around the camp started shouting, asking to be next. For a moment, I was worried the whole camp would rush us, and I would need to demonstrate my other magic, but John was on top of it. He quickly stood on a small stack of pallets and shouted for everyone to be quiet, and surprisingly, they listened.
"Hey! Everyone calm down!" He said, lit up by the various fires and lights that illuminated the otherwise dark camp. "I know everyone is anxious, but we need to do this one by one. Arcanum has already agreed to help everyone, so take it easy, and we will get to you, even if it takes all night."
People seemed to settle at his words, and he climbed down off his stage, nodding for Tony and I to follow. He led us through the crowd to a much older tent, one layered with ratty, hole-filled tarps. He climbed inside and, a minute or so later, came back out helping an older woman. She was struggling to stand up straight, and as John helped her sit back in a weathered old rocking chair, I could see the joints of her fingers swollen with arthritis. I wince when she whimpered in the process of shifting in her seat.
John gave us a brief introduction, and I quickly got to work. A half a dozen bone and general healing spells latter, she was doing much better. Usually, I wouldn't use such general healing spells, as they tended to decrease the effectiveness of other healing while also doing a poor job of actually fixing significant problems. However, in this case, I was using it to ease the signs of old age, which they did rather well. I was not de-aging her, simply healing a lot of the issues that crop up as people get older. Since it was so widespread, general healing spells were quite effective in soothing them.
When I was done, the older woman stood up straight, tears pouring down her face. She thanked me profusely, switching between praying for me and asking if there was anything she could do. I told her to live well and that I was happy to help. As John guided me to the next person, Tony stayed behind to talk to her, apparently familiar with the older woman.
For the next few hours, we traveled around the camp, taking care of dozens of different injuries, ranging from a simple case of the flu all the way to a serious issue with an older man's leg, which was infected from a dog bite. Of course, there were some things I couldn't fix, but even the genetic issues I found could be mitigated with some healing to wash away the symptoms. They would return, but some of them would take years. Several people tried to pay me, trying to hand me meager amounts of savings, but I, of course, refused, assuring them that I was happy to help.
I was about halfway through this when Alya whispered to me.
"The woman from earlier, Mary, is watching from the roof," she said softly, directing me to look up and back with a gust of wind.
Sure enough, Mary was looking over the camp from the roof of the abandoned car dealership. She was sitting with her legs hanging over the side of the roof, watching us as we worked. She clearly spotted me looking at her, but I simply waved before returning to healing. I had had time to think about what John had said, and I realized that he had mostly been right. Had she wanted my help, she would have stuck around, and I wasn't about to try and force healing on anyone.
When I finally finished healing everyone from the camp, I happily shook hands with John before saying goodbye to the few people who had been following me around, watching my work. I also passed John my cell phone number so he could call me if there was an emergency. After that, I picked up Tony, who had hung back to talk to a few of the people I had healed, before leaving the encampment behind. Quite a few people wished us both well as we left, stepping out of tents to shake our hands or simply say goodbye. As we left, both of us were quiet until we reached his car.
"You did amazing work today," He said with a smile. "The people you helped didn't have many options, and many of them would have been dead in the next few weeks, or been forced to do some unkind things to get the help they needed."
"Just happy to help, Tony," I said with a smile. "Any news on where I can go next?"
"The other people I knew were hesitant to agree to a meet-up," He admitted with a frown. "The only reason John did was because he recognized that a few of the people at his camp were really starting to struggle. I'm hoping that will change once the word of what you did today gets around. Give it a few days, and I'll know more."
"Sounds good. Thanks for setting this up."
"I was happy to Ma- Arcanum," He said, correcting himself and pointing at me with a cheeky grin. "I'll be in touch in a few days."
I watched him climb into his car and pull away, waving as he did. Once he was around the corner, I looked around to make sure no one was listening in.
"That went pretty well," I said, feeling the weight of Alya's presence as she pulled in close to focus on me. "Any thoughts? Notice anything weird?"
"Nothing worth noting," She responded, the wind tugging at my arm, pulling me towards home. "I did not notice anyone around the camp who didn't belong."
"That's good," I responded as I crossed the street.
I made my way through the city, stopping where I had changed the first time to stuff my costume back into my bag. When I finally arrived back at my temporary home, I climbed in through the usual window, sealing it back up after I did. By that time, I was starting to really feel the late hour despite having taken a nap earlier. It was almost two AM, and when I finished putting my bed together, I was out like a light.
The next morning, I woke up late, my mind foggy from the lack of sleep. I used a general healing spell, which washed away some of the fatigue and fog, but it wasn't a complete fix. I found myself finishing my morning routine slowly before making my way to buy some breakfast.
"I need better magic to mitigate sleep," I mumbled to myself, taking a long sip of a large coffee. "I have to imagine it's possible to do it with magic, and being able to cut down on sleep would give me a lot of free time."
A cold wind whipped around my legs, and I rolled my eyes, feeling pretty clearly that Alya was telling me to stop complaining.
With breakfast in hand, I made my way to the city library, which was my primary source of information for the last week. I quickly sat down at one of the computers in the corner, tucked away from prying eyes. I was pretty sure I would get yelled at for having a drink near the computer, but I would be careful.
It took me a few minutes to log in, but soon, I was scrolling through PHO. It took some time to scroll through the unfamiliar message board, but eventually, I did find the Brockton Bay string, immediately finding what I was looking for.
"Didn't take them very long," I mumbled, clicking through the post labeled "New cape sighting at BBCH."
I read through the thread, chuckling to myself at just how similar it was to some of the boards at home despite the crude structuring. I was half expecting a "and my ax!" joke to pop up at any second.
Details were, unsurprisingly, scarce about who I was, but people did notice that when I was leaving, I was moving quite a bit faster, almost stalking out of the building. The general consensus was that I was there to get healing from Panacea, and either she couldn't help because she couldn't do brains, or she refused to help, potentially because she was known to refuse people who made demands or ambushed her.
A few people commented that they were surprised that Glory Girl herself hadn't responded to the thread, as she had been tagged, and she apparently liked to pop in when she was, even just to confirm that she couldn't talk about anything.
I stopped after about ten minutes of reading, making sure that no wild theories had developed. I half expected to open it up and find the website filled with insane ideas, but everything seemed to be tame, at least for now. None of it was close to the truth, mind you, but I wasn't worried about that. I quickly shut down the computer, but stayed sitting for a moment, staring at the screen.
"What's wrong?" Ayla whispered into my ear.
"Kinda felt like snooping on Facebook, wondering if anyone was talking about me," I responded, grabbing my coffee and standing from the seat. "It's not a nice feeling, and it reminded me of why I deleted social media back home."
I tried to pull on the connection we shared, more closely showing her the emotional bundle that the whole FOMO, missing out, gossip rag bundle of issues that social media caused. It was a very particular combination of emotions, and I could feel her reaction as she studied the glimpse I was giving her.
"I can understand why you don't engage," She responded once I had pulled the familiar feeling back, letting it fade. "Will you not use PHO officially, then?"
"Needs must when the devil drives, unfortunately," I mumbled back as I left the library. "Apparently, a lot of cape business is done there. I'll probably have to set one up eventually."
Shaking off the funk, I focused on what I would be doing for the rest of the day. I could go out and find some more high-quality steel. I had enough for now, but since I was using between 16 and twenty pounds of it a day. It didn't sound like much, but considering I was basically stealing it in rebar form from abandoned construction sites and lugging it around the city, it was a pain and tended to go down quickly.
"Do you think it might be time to make a statement?" Alya asked, voicing a thought spinning in the back of my mind. "You have a few days before Tony gets back to you. Why not patrol the city?"
"... It's not a bad idea," I admitted, though I said it with a frown. "But I'm not prepared to start pushing back the gangs, not yet. I could take down some thugs, sure, but I'm not hedging bets on the capes. Also… The whole patrol thing feels so useless. What are the chances of actually stumbling into a crime happening while walking around the city?"
"Considering I would be guiding you?" She asked, holding back a chuckle. "Very high."
I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, her words surprising me.
"Dammit," I said, shaking my head as I started walking again. "I can't believe I didn't think of that. Alya, please poke me when you think I'm forgetting about stuff you can do."
"I already do, when I notice things, at least," She assured me. "However, the gift of free thought I gained from binding to you does mean that I am just as capable of missing things as you are."
I nodded in understanding before heading down a street that would eventually lead us back to the shop. I had left my costume at home, so I would need to retrieve it before we could go out on patrol. The more I walked, though, the more I realized I had a problem.
"I'm too slow," I said, finally climbing through the window of the shop, sealing it back up with a practiced hand. "You might be able to find people who need help, but past a short distance, I won't be able to get there in time to actually help. "
"And there's nothing you could do to increase your speed?" Alya asked, reforming into her solid shape, following me as I walked further into the temporary home.
"Hypothetically, I could run until I was exhausted and then heal away some of the fatigue, but that only works so much, and it's still just running speed," I added. "Not fast enough. Technically, if I got my hands on some mercury, I could use that to increase my speed and buff my stamina, but it would only be double at max."
"Forty miles per hour is not bad in a city," Alya pointed out.
"Forty? You think I can run twenty miles an hour?" I asked with a snort. "Yeah, mercury would get me to twenty, maybe twenty-two, tops. No, I need something else. Besides, where the hell would I get that much mercury?"
"What else could you do?"
"Well… long term, we could start selling stuff again until we have enough for a ride," I suggested. "A motorcycle could work since a car would just get stuck in traffic. But even that would take a while and… I think I have a better idea anyway."
"The spare charge?"
"Yeah. It's only one, so I would have to be extremely specific and pick something relatively low-end in terms of power and complexity," I said, now standing and pacing around the room. "Maybe if I focus on a singular spell?"
"Do you know a spell you could focus on?" Alya asked.
"...no, at least not specifically enough to count," I admitted.
We spent a few minutes brainstorming ideas before eventually settling on some things to try. First, I tried to think of a lighting-themed teleportation spell, something that would ping off my two levels of lighting spells. Unfortunately, Marvelous Mage considered that to be too similar to the existing topic, so it wouldn't work.
Next, rather than trying a pure teleport spell like blink, which we assumed would be too powerful and complicated, we settled on trying to increase my speed and stamina. While I doubt it would get very far with one charge, being able to run a bit faster without stopping would drastically increase my range.
With the decision made, I dove back and reached for the charge. I pushed towards the concept, focusing as much as possible on physical movement enhancement spells, hoping to keep the category separate from any teleportation concepts.
The charge took to the concept easily, forming into a chunk of knowledge that flowed into my mind. Once it settled into among my other charges, I smiled and looked at Alya.
"I take it that it worked?" She asked.
"Yeah, and pretty well, to….come on, let's go out and I'll show you."
After turning to John and asking who was next, several people around the camp started shouting, asking to be next. For a moment, I was worried the whole camp would rush us, and I would need to demonstrate my other magic, but John was on top of it. He quickly stood on a small stack of pallets and shouted for everyone to be quiet, and surprisingly, they listened.
"Hey! Everyone calm down!" He said, lit up by the various fires and lights that illuminated the otherwise dark camp. "I know everyone is anxious, but we need to do this one by one. Arcanum has already agreed to help everyone, so take it easy, and we will get to you, even if it takes all night."
People seemed to settle at his words, and he climbed down off his stage, nodding for Tony and I to follow. He led us through the crowd to a much older tent, one layered with ratty, hole-filled tarps. He climbed inside and, a minute or so later, came back out helping an older woman. She was struggling to stand up straight, and as John helped her sit back in a weathered old rocking chair, I could see the joints of her fingers swollen with arthritis. I wince when she whimpered in the process of shifting in her seat.
John gave us a brief introduction, and I quickly got to work. A half a dozen bone and general healing spells latter, she was doing much better. Usually, I wouldn't use such general healing spells, as they tended to decrease the effectiveness of other healing while also doing a poor job of actually fixing significant problems. However, in this case, I was using it to ease the signs of old age, which they did rather well. I was not de-aging her, simply healing a lot of the issues that crop up as people get older. Since it was so widespread, general healing spells were quite effective in soothing them.
When I was done, the older woman stood up straight, tears pouring down her face. She thanked me profusely, switching between praying for me and asking if there was anything she could do. I told her to live well and that I was happy to help. As John guided me to the next person, Tony stayed behind to talk to her, apparently familiar with the older woman.
For the next few hours, we traveled around the camp, taking care of dozens of different injuries, ranging from a simple case of the flu all the way to a serious issue with an older man's leg, which was infected from a dog bite. Of course, there were some things I couldn't fix, but even the genetic issues I found could be mitigated with some healing to wash away the symptoms. They would return, but some of them would take years. Several people tried to pay me, trying to hand me meager amounts of savings, but I, of course, refused, assuring them that I was happy to help.
I was about halfway through this when Alya whispered to me.
"The woman from earlier, Mary, is watching from the roof," she said softly, directing me to look up and back with a gust of wind.
Sure enough, Mary was looking over the camp from the roof of the abandoned car dealership. She was sitting with her legs hanging over the side of the roof, watching us as we worked. She clearly spotted me looking at her, but I simply waved before returning to healing. I had had time to think about what John had said, and I realized that he had mostly been right. Had she wanted my help, she would have stuck around, and I wasn't about to try and force healing on anyone.
When I finally finished healing everyone from the camp, I happily shook hands with John before saying goodbye to the few people who had been following me around, watching my work. I also passed John my cell phone number so he could call me if there was an emergency. After that, I picked up Tony, who had hung back to talk to a few of the people I had healed, before leaving the encampment behind. Quite a few people wished us both well as we left, stepping out of tents to shake our hands or simply say goodbye. As we left, both of us were quiet until we reached his car.
"You did amazing work today," He said with a smile. "The people you helped didn't have many options, and many of them would have been dead in the next few weeks, or been forced to do some unkind things to get the help they needed."
"Just happy to help, Tony," I said with a smile. "Any news on where I can go next?"
"The other people I knew were hesitant to agree to a meet-up," He admitted with a frown. "The only reason John did was because he recognized that a few of the people at his camp were really starting to struggle. I'm hoping that will change once the word of what you did today gets around. Give it a few days, and I'll know more."
"Sounds good. Thanks for setting this up."
"I was happy to Ma- Arcanum," He said, correcting himself and pointing at me with a cheeky grin. "I'll be in touch in a few days."
I watched him climb into his car and pull away, waving as he did. Once he was around the corner, I looked around to make sure no one was listening in.
"That went pretty well," I said, feeling the weight of Alya's presence as she pulled in close to focus on me. "Any thoughts? Notice anything weird?"
"Nothing worth noting," She responded, the wind tugging at my arm, pulling me towards home. "I did not notice anyone around the camp who didn't belong."
"That's good," I responded as I crossed the street.
I made my way through the city, stopping where I had changed the first time to stuff my costume back into my bag. When I finally arrived back at my temporary home, I climbed in through the usual window, sealing it back up after I did. By that time, I was starting to really feel the late hour despite having taken a nap earlier. It was almost two AM, and when I finished putting my bed together, I was out like a light.
The next morning, I woke up late, my mind foggy from the lack of sleep. I used a general healing spell, which washed away some of the fatigue and fog, but it wasn't a complete fix. I found myself finishing my morning routine slowly before making my way to buy some breakfast.
"I need better magic to mitigate sleep," I mumbled to myself, taking a long sip of a large coffee. "I have to imagine it's possible to do it with magic, and being able to cut down on sleep would give me a lot of free time."
A cold wind whipped around my legs, and I rolled my eyes, feeling pretty clearly that Alya was telling me to stop complaining.
With breakfast in hand, I made my way to the city library, which was my primary source of information for the last week. I quickly sat down at one of the computers in the corner, tucked away from prying eyes. I was pretty sure I would get yelled at for having a drink near the computer, but I would be careful.
It took me a few minutes to log in, but soon, I was scrolling through PHO. It took some time to scroll through the unfamiliar message board, but eventually, I did find the Brockton Bay string, immediately finding what I was looking for.
"Didn't take them very long," I mumbled, clicking through the post labeled "New cape sighting at BBCH."
I read through the thread, chuckling to myself at just how similar it was to some of the boards at home despite the crude structuring. I was half expecting a "and my ax!" joke to pop up at any second.
Details were, unsurprisingly, scarce about who I was, but people did notice that when I was leaving, I was moving quite a bit faster, almost stalking out of the building. The general consensus was that I was there to get healing from Panacea, and either she couldn't help because she couldn't do brains, or she refused to help, potentially because she was known to refuse people who made demands or ambushed her.
A few people commented that they were surprised that Glory Girl herself hadn't responded to the thread, as she had been tagged, and she apparently liked to pop in when she was, even just to confirm that she couldn't talk about anything.
I stopped after about ten minutes of reading, making sure that no wild theories had developed. I half expected to open it up and find the website filled with insane ideas, but everything seemed to be tame, at least for now. None of it was close to the truth, mind you, but I wasn't worried about that. I quickly shut down the computer, but stayed sitting for a moment, staring at the screen.
"What's wrong?" Ayla whispered into my ear.
"Kinda felt like snooping on Facebook, wondering if anyone was talking about me," I responded, grabbing my coffee and standing from the seat. "It's not a nice feeling, and it reminded me of why I deleted social media back home."
I tried to pull on the connection we shared, more closely showing her the emotional bundle that the whole FOMO, missing out, gossip rag bundle of issues that social media caused. It was a very particular combination of emotions, and I could feel her reaction as she studied the glimpse I was giving her.
"I can understand why you don't engage," She responded once I had pulled the familiar feeling back, letting it fade. "Will you not use PHO officially, then?"
"Needs must when the devil drives, unfortunately," I mumbled back as I left the library. "Apparently, a lot of cape business is done there. I'll probably have to set one up eventually."
Shaking off the funk, I focused on what I would be doing for the rest of the day. I could go out and find some more high-quality steel. I had enough for now, but since I was using between 16 and twenty pounds of it a day. It didn't sound like much, but considering I was basically stealing it in rebar form from abandoned construction sites and lugging it around the city, it was a pain and tended to go down quickly.
"Do you think it might be time to make a statement?" Alya asked, voicing a thought spinning in the back of my mind. "You have a few days before Tony gets back to you. Why not patrol the city?"
"... It's not a bad idea," I admitted, though I said it with a frown. "But I'm not prepared to start pushing back the gangs, not yet. I could take down some thugs, sure, but I'm not hedging bets on the capes. Also… The whole patrol thing feels so useless. What are the chances of actually stumbling into a crime happening while walking around the city?"
"Considering I would be guiding you?" She asked, holding back a chuckle. "Very high."
I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, her words surprising me.
"Dammit," I said, shaking my head as I started walking again. "I can't believe I didn't think of that. Alya, please poke me when you think I'm forgetting about stuff you can do."
"I already do, when I notice things, at least," She assured me. "However, the gift of free thought I gained from binding to you does mean that I am just as capable of missing things as you are."
I nodded in understanding before heading down a street that would eventually lead us back to the shop. I had left my costume at home, so I would need to retrieve it before we could go out on patrol. The more I walked, though, the more I realized I had a problem.
"I'm too slow," I said, finally climbing through the window of the shop, sealing it back up with a practiced hand. "You might be able to find people who need help, but past a short distance, I won't be able to get there in time to actually help. "
"And there's nothing you could do to increase your speed?" Alya asked, reforming into her solid shape, following me as I walked further into the temporary home.
"Hypothetically, I could run until I was exhausted and then heal away some of the fatigue, but that only works so much, and it's still just running speed," I added. "Not fast enough. Technically, if I got my hands on some mercury, I could use that to increase my speed and buff my stamina, but it would only be double at max."
"Forty miles per hour is not bad in a city," Alya pointed out.
"Forty? You think I can run twenty miles an hour?" I asked with a snort. "Yeah, mercury would get me to twenty, maybe twenty-two, tops. No, I need something else. Besides, where the hell would I get that much mercury?"
"What else could you do?"
"Well… long term, we could start selling stuff again until we have enough for a ride," I suggested. "A motorcycle could work since a car would just get stuck in traffic. But even that would take a while and… I think I have a better idea anyway."
"The spare charge?"
"Yeah. It's only one, so I would have to be extremely specific and pick something relatively low-end in terms of power and complexity," I said, now standing and pacing around the room. "Maybe if I focus on a singular spell?"
"Do you know a spell you could focus on?" Alya asked.
"...no, at least not specifically enough to count," I admitted.
We spent a few minutes brainstorming ideas before eventually settling on some things to try. First, I tried to think of a lighting-themed teleportation spell, something that would ping off my two levels of lighting spells. Unfortunately, Marvelous Mage considered that to be too similar to the existing topic, so it wouldn't work.
Next, rather than trying a pure teleport spell like blink, which we assumed would be too powerful and complicated, we settled on trying to increase my speed and stamina. While I doubt it would get very far with one charge, being able to run a bit faster without stopping would drastically increase my range.
With the decision made, I dove back and reached for the charge. I pushed towards the concept, focusing as much as possible on physical movement enhancement spells, hoping to keep the category separate from any teleportation concepts.
The charge took to the concept easily, forming into a chunk of knowledge that flowed into my mind. Once it settled into among my other charges, I smiled and looked at Alya.
"I take it that it worked?" She asked.
"Yeah, and pretty well, to….come on, let's go out and I'll show you."
- Location
- England
You can straight up buy it in the US (unlike the UK where regulations are quite strict). If for some reason that isn't the case in Worm then you can still buy antique thermometers, bathymeters, barometers, etc.
i wanted to say its too dangerous and it will alert the gangs and PRT about possible tinker, then i remembered he already came out as a healer it cant get anymore dangerous for him so good idea
I was curious if he'd go for some sort of "magical training regimen" option, like healing spells to help with training up to 'anime bullshit' levels of "I ran until my legs broke, healed myself and ran some more" sort of training. You might not get as high as 'lightning based teleportation' or something but so long as it's something you can do during downtime and the benefits roll over (like "swallow an iron ingot per day and metabolize it to get Abs Of Iron" workout stuff) then that's gradual improvement vaguely akin to Dauntless.
...I don't suppose there's some sort of 'heart of gold' spell he could work to help keep him pure as the driven snow or something, is there?
...I don't suppose there's some sort of 'heart of gold' spell he could work to help keep him pure as the driven snow or something, is there?
I super enjoy the slow "street level" progression of this. Like any other person, the MC sometimes holds the idiot ball but quickly adapts when it is poited out. Like real life. Can't wait what sort of munchkining of spells he will come up with.
The pacing of this story is pretty solid. I enjoy the slow power creep, and the need to decide how to spend the powers. I also really like the choice of broadly applicable but weak power vs focused/situational but strong-ish powers.
I think seeing any detailed street level scenes that expand upon the main character are awesome. Getting a feel for the people of the area, their suffering, needs, and their interactions with each other and the city, while they are trying to avoid the cape scene. It is a rare story that gives thought and character to those who are just barely background noise when the story has been derailed by the main cast, and drug through the overpowered parahuman mess that is the plot of Worm.
It was a reasonable choice, but I can't help but feel that he should have focused on Stranger rituals/spells/enchantments first. He can't help anyone if he's dead or captured, and he's definitely a major target for every power in the city now. I wouldn't be surprised if Cricket was at that camp specifically to evaluate him for E88, but even if she wasn't, everyone is going to be hunting him soon if they aren't already.
Chapter Nine
Once we were far enough away from the shop that I didn't feel worried about leading people to the area, I quickly donned my uniform. As I did, Alya and I discussed what my singular charge had unlocked.
"Almost all of it is low-level, very short buffs," I explained, securing my mask tightly. "Most of them are… well, they are kind of useless. A few of them might end up coming in handy eventually, but the time to cast is too long for them to be useful in a fight."
With my mask on, I pulled out my overcoat, pulling it on and tugging it straight. I then sat down on a crate to pull off my shoes and pull on my combat boots.
"There is a jump spell that increases my jump height and a spell to slow my descent from tall places, but they take a good six or eight seconds to cast," I explained, tying my boots before standing. "Handy if I see the issue coming and have time to pause, but like I said, I probably won't be using them in a fight."
"I thought you said you got what you wanted?"
"Oh, I did," I assured her. "It's a bit on the low end, but we expected that, having only used one charge. It's like a double buff, increasing my speed and burning mana to wash away the stamina drain."
"That seems... more advanced than I would have assumed a level one purchase would surrender."
"Well, it's a low-level buff, tied directly to how much mana I'm burning," I explained. "Higher levels might offer more efficient ratios, but I won't know for sure until I buy it. Plus, I have to hold the spell while I use it."
So far, almost all of my spells were functionally one-and-done. I would focus and chant the words, and the spell would form, and then it would cast. There were a few spells in the healing spells topic that I could cast and hold, the most useful of which would pump a trickle of healing energy into a person to just barely stabilize them, keeping them alive while using the barest amount of mana. There were also a couple of lightning spells, but those were even less like the new spell.
Basically, I would cast the spell and hold it, letting my mana trickle in to keep it active. While I was holding it, I would be unable to cast any other magic without first dropping the old spell. This didn't come without a benefit, though, as I could adjust how much mana the spell was burning to give myself a quick burst of speed, or to lower the buff down to the point that my mana regeneration would mean I could hold it forever.
"Okay, Alya," I said, settling into my uniform. "Go ahead and start-"
"There's a mugging going one block to the east," Alya immediately responded, not even waiting for me to finish. "Three men attacking a pair of women."
"Dammit," I cursed, already running out of the alley. "Lead me there!"
I ran out into the street, scaring the crap out of a few pedestrians before running along the sidewalk. As I did, I focused on the spell, casting it on myself as I ran.
"Marathona potestas cursus!" I called out as I focused my mana around my hands.
Several pale blue bands formed around my wrist, sliding down over my body, linking around each of my limbs and torso. Immediately, what little stamina I had used returned, and my speed increased. I adjusted the spell as I ran, quickly toning it down until I could hold it for a long while without running out of mana. I was still significantly faster than I was before, my boots pounding on the ground as I moved. If I had to guess, my speed was just around half again what I was usually capable of, so most likely twelve or thirteen miles per hour.
I wasn't exactly breaking any records, but the fact that I could essentially do it forever meant I could still get around the city pretty well, especially with Alya guiding me along the most direct route.
"Next alleyway," Alya whispered into my ear as I wove between people, skidding to a stop at the entrance of the alley.
Sure enough, fifteen or twenty feet into the trash strews gap between buildings was a small group of people. Three men stood leaning over a pair of women, all three of the men wearing ski masks. As I watched, one of the men was going through a purse, one already lying half torn on the ground. Both of the other muggers were armed with knives, and I could see a pistol tucked into the waistband of the one going through the purse.
"Hey!" I called out, somehow managing to keep the stutter out of my voice. "Put down the purse and put your hands on your head."
"Wh- CAPE!" One of the knife-wielding criminals said, pointing me out to his friends.
Funnily enough, the gun-toting guy did drop the purse, but instead of putting his hands on his head, he immediately reached for his gun. I jabbed out with two fingers, sending a small bolt of electricity out to slam into his arm, burning him and rocking him back. With his attempt to shoot me sufficiently delayed, I held out my palms.
"Attonitus imbre fulgur!" I shouted, three arcane symbols appearing around my hands before popping, lighting firing out, and washing over the three muggers.
The electricity made them jump and convulse, falling over and collapsing to the ground. As they were still recovering, I quickly walked over them, pausing over each man.
"Somnum scintilla," I said, mana dancing between my pinky and thumb, drawing out three sparking arcane symbols, which flared, pulled together and dropped from my hand.
The sparking charge dropped down and landed on the first man's chest, instantly sinking into his body. He clenched and arched his back as the spell overwhelmed his nervous system and knocked him unconscious. He would wake up four or five hours from now with a headache, feeling like he had been tased.
I quickly cast the same spell over each of the other muggers before finally standing up and turning to the two victims. They were both standing half a dozen feet away, one of them in front of the other, as if to protect her slightly younger friend. The one in the back was quickly developing a black eye, while the one in front had a busted lip.
"It's okay, you're safe now," I said, trying to sound confident. "They won't wake up for a few hours. Are both of you okay? Any serious injuries?"
It took a moment for them to respond, the one with the busted lip speaking first.
"N-no, I think we are okay…" She said, looking back at her friend to confirm, getting a small nod in confirmation. "I… Thank you."
"It's not a problem, Ma'am. I was on patrol and spotted these chumps," I said, shoving the closest man with the tip of my boot. "Giving you a hard time. Why don't we get you guys out of this alley and call the police?"
They both nodded, the protective woman leading the other out. I pointedly ignored the fact that the older one chose to step on the criminals in her path, rather than over. As I followed after them, I quickly rolled all three of the muggers into the recovery position before exiting the alleyway.
Both of the women had sat down on the curb. It didn't take long for the shock and adrenaline to fade, as within seconds of sitting down, the younger woman burst into tears. I gave them space, standing nearby as I called the police. They promised to send a squad car down after confirming that the victims were healthy and the aggressors were incapacitated.
"Arcanum, huh?" The older woman asked, having overheard me talking to the police. "I don't recognize you, so you must be new."
"Very, still trying to figure all of this out," I admitted, rubbing the back of my head. "Doing okay so far, I think."
"Yeah, I would say so, too," She said, giving me a weak smile. "I… I don't think that would have ended well."
"Yeah… Oh! Would you like me to fix that?" I asked, tapping my lip to point out her injury.
"...Fix it?" She asked, gently touching the cut along her lip, wincing as she did.
"Yeah, I can heal people," I explained.
"I…think I'm okay," She said with a frown. "No offense, but… You just admitted you're new…"
"No problem, I completely understand," I said, holding up my hands in acceptance. "I would be a little iffy about it as well, in your shoes."
We waited for a few more minutes in general silence, broken up by the occasional sniffle from the younger victim. There were quite a few people hanging around, watching and even recording, but I ignored them. I knew this was coming, and I just needed to push through it.
Eventually, a police cruiser pulled up and parked beside the sidewalk. Two cops, one older, slightly graying woman and a younger man, stepped out of the cruiser, both of them approaching slowly. The older woman said something to the man I couldn't quite hear before stepping closer to me. Her partner turned and focused on the victims, talking in soft, hushed tones.
"Arcanum, I assume?" She asked, giving me a look that told me she had seen it all and wasn't impressed.
"Yes, Ma'am," I said with a nod. "I was patrolling the neighborhood when I spotted those men making themselves a nuisance."
I nodded back down the alleyway to where the three muggers still were, lying on the ground in the mud, grime, and trash. Unsurprisingly, they hadn't moved, still lying in the positions I had put them in.
"They dead?" She asked, suddenly a lot more tense, her hand sliding down her side.
"No, Ma'am, just unconscious," I explained. "I have the ability to knock people out for a few hours."
"Your power is to knock people unconscious?" She asked with a snort, giving me another look. "I guess that makes me a cape as well."
"That's just one of them," I explained with a chuckle. "They will wake up in a while with a headache and some muscle aches like they were tased."
"Huh… well, let me take your statement, and then you can be on your way," She said, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen.
I spent a few minutes describing what I had seen, and what happened afterward. When I was done, I helped them load the three unconscious men into the back of their cruiser, their arms locked up in handcuffs. The older cop expressed her thanks for the help before climbing back into the cruiser and pulling away. By that point, both of the women were long gone, having called for a cab.
"Alright, Alya, I guess you can start looking for another one," I said quietly, giving some of the pedestrians around me a wave and a nod.
With the police and victims gone, the crowds' pressing curiosity quickly got the better of them, and they began getting closer, many of them still holding up phones. Rather than have to deal with anything, I gave one final salute before running off, picking a direction and reapplying the running buff as I went.
I move through the city, ignoring pedestrians as I did, stopping a few times to get my bearings and adjust my course. For about an hour, nothing new happened, and I basically just crisscrossed the city a few times. I was tempted to push further into rougher neighborhoods, but a healthy dose of caution held me back. I was looking to help and start building a reputation for myself, but I wasn't confident enough in my powers to fight other capes.
Of course, I was running through what was normally considered Empire territory, but… well, I might have been deluding myself a bit about how risky what I was doing was.
After just about an hour went by, Alya once again whispered into my ear, warning me that there was a car accident just a few blocks down the street I was about to pass. I immediately cut and ran towards the accident, Alya once again proving how invaluable she was by guiding me there.
I arrived at what seemed like a pretty rough accident, with a crossover and a normal car both looking pretty mangled. Both cars were in the center of a four-way intersection, and at a glance, it appeared someone hadn't spotted what color the lights were. As my marathon spell faded, I jogged into the street, looking into the broken window of the nearest vehicle, the car.
Sitting there, partially hidden by the airbag, was a woman, probably around my age. She was dazed and had cuts along her face and burns along her arms. Her left wrist also seemed a bit rough, maybe broken from the airbag, which was probably where the burns were from as well.
"Ma'am, can you hear me?" I asked, looking past her to make sure there weren't any other passengers. "Ma'am?"
"I…. yes… Head…"
"Ma'am, you were in a car accident," I asked, reaching in and tearing the airbag cloth free from the deployment device. "I need you to focus on me. I am a parahuman, and I can assist you. Would you like me to help?"
She seemed to focus on me long enough to realize I was wearing a mask, and after a moment, she nodded. Not wanting to waste any time, I double-checked that the crumpled door was stuck shut before getting to work.
"Scalpere metallum," I intoned, focusing my mana on my hand.
My energy spun up and around my pointer and middle fingers, spiraling around it until it reached their tip. An arcane symbol flashed, and the small, glowing, three-inch white blade extended from my finger. It was just about the most basic metal-cutting spell out there, but it came free with Geomancy as a way to prepare metal for the partional, so I wasn't about to complain.
I quickly cut along the door lock and hinge before pulling the door away from its frame and tossing it to the side. The woman was starting to wake up fully, the daze passing. When I stepped back to her side in the frame of the door, I gave her a once-over to make sure she wasn't impaled or bleeding anywhere.
"Ma'am, I want to help you out of the vehicle, but I'm worried about your neck and head trauma," I explained, the woman wincing as she shifted in her seat. "The good news is, I am a healer. If you allow me to treat you, we can avoid all the worry."
"Healer?" She asked, focusing on me, her eyes locking on mine. "Are you… are there any side effects?"
"You might notice some fading in older scars, as well as any old injuries, but that's it."
She chewed her lip for a moment before eventually nodding, wincing a bit as she did. I reached in and quickly cast four different healing spells, fixing her wrist, which was definitely broken, her concussion, and the burns along her arm. She watched me with wide eyes the whole time, but when I was done, she smiled.
"T-Thank you," She said, starting to get out of her seat. I helped her out until she was standing steadily.
"No problem, Ma'am," I said with a smile. "Now sit tight. I need to go take a look at the people in the other car."
She nodded, pulling out her cell phone, while I turned to head to the crossover. In the distance, I heard approaching sirens, so I put a little pep in my step. I respected the hell out of any emergency service workers who kept up in a city like Brockton Bay, but I also knew this would be easier to do without them getting involved.
I hurried to the next vehicle and got to work.
Charges So Far -
Geomancy: [x][x]
Healing Spells: [x][x]
Lightning Spells: [x][x]
Physical Movement Enhancement Spells: [x]
"Almost all of it is low-level, very short buffs," I explained, securing my mask tightly. "Most of them are… well, they are kind of useless. A few of them might end up coming in handy eventually, but the time to cast is too long for them to be useful in a fight."
With my mask on, I pulled out my overcoat, pulling it on and tugging it straight. I then sat down on a crate to pull off my shoes and pull on my combat boots.
"There is a jump spell that increases my jump height and a spell to slow my descent from tall places, but they take a good six or eight seconds to cast," I explained, tying my boots before standing. "Handy if I see the issue coming and have time to pause, but like I said, I probably won't be using them in a fight."
"I thought you said you got what you wanted?"
"Oh, I did," I assured her. "It's a bit on the low end, but we expected that, having only used one charge. It's like a double buff, increasing my speed and burning mana to wash away the stamina drain."
"That seems... more advanced than I would have assumed a level one purchase would surrender."
"Well, it's a low-level buff, tied directly to how much mana I'm burning," I explained. "Higher levels might offer more efficient ratios, but I won't know for sure until I buy it. Plus, I have to hold the spell while I use it."
So far, almost all of my spells were functionally one-and-done. I would focus and chant the words, and the spell would form, and then it would cast. There were a few spells in the healing spells topic that I could cast and hold, the most useful of which would pump a trickle of healing energy into a person to just barely stabilize them, keeping them alive while using the barest amount of mana. There were also a couple of lightning spells, but those were even less like the new spell.
Basically, I would cast the spell and hold it, letting my mana trickle in to keep it active. While I was holding it, I would be unable to cast any other magic without first dropping the old spell. This didn't come without a benefit, though, as I could adjust how much mana the spell was burning to give myself a quick burst of speed, or to lower the buff down to the point that my mana regeneration would mean I could hold it forever.
"Okay, Alya," I said, settling into my uniform. "Go ahead and start-"
"There's a mugging going one block to the east," Alya immediately responded, not even waiting for me to finish. "Three men attacking a pair of women."
"Dammit," I cursed, already running out of the alley. "Lead me there!"
I ran out into the street, scaring the crap out of a few pedestrians before running along the sidewalk. As I did, I focused on the spell, casting it on myself as I ran.
"Marathona potestas cursus!" I called out as I focused my mana around my hands.
Several pale blue bands formed around my wrist, sliding down over my body, linking around each of my limbs and torso. Immediately, what little stamina I had used returned, and my speed increased. I adjusted the spell as I ran, quickly toning it down until I could hold it for a long while without running out of mana. I was still significantly faster than I was before, my boots pounding on the ground as I moved. If I had to guess, my speed was just around half again what I was usually capable of, so most likely twelve or thirteen miles per hour.
I wasn't exactly breaking any records, but the fact that I could essentially do it forever meant I could still get around the city pretty well, especially with Alya guiding me along the most direct route.
"Next alleyway," Alya whispered into my ear as I wove between people, skidding to a stop at the entrance of the alley.
Sure enough, fifteen or twenty feet into the trash strews gap between buildings was a small group of people. Three men stood leaning over a pair of women, all three of the men wearing ski masks. As I watched, one of the men was going through a purse, one already lying half torn on the ground. Both of the other muggers were armed with knives, and I could see a pistol tucked into the waistband of the one going through the purse.
"Hey!" I called out, somehow managing to keep the stutter out of my voice. "Put down the purse and put your hands on your head."
"Wh- CAPE!" One of the knife-wielding criminals said, pointing me out to his friends.
Funnily enough, the gun-toting guy did drop the purse, but instead of putting his hands on his head, he immediately reached for his gun. I jabbed out with two fingers, sending a small bolt of electricity out to slam into his arm, burning him and rocking him back. With his attempt to shoot me sufficiently delayed, I held out my palms.
"Attonitus imbre fulgur!" I shouted, three arcane symbols appearing around my hands before popping, lighting firing out, and washing over the three muggers.
The electricity made them jump and convulse, falling over and collapsing to the ground. As they were still recovering, I quickly walked over them, pausing over each man.
"Somnum scintilla," I said, mana dancing between my pinky and thumb, drawing out three sparking arcane symbols, which flared, pulled together and dropped from my hand.
The sparking charge dropped down and landed on the first man's chest, instantly sinking into his body. He clenched and arched his back as the spell overwhelmed his nervous system and knocked him unconscious. He would wake up four or five hours from now with a headache, feeling like he had been tased.
I quickly cast the same spell over each of the other muggers before finally standing up and turning to the two victims. They were both standing half a dozen feet away, one of them in front of the other, as if to protect her slightly younger friend. The one in the back was quickly developing a black eye, while the one in front had a busted lip.
"It's okay, you're safe now," I said, trying to sound confident. "They won't wake up for a few hours. Are both of you okay? Any serious injuries?"
It took a moment for them to respond, the one with the busted lip speaking first.
"N-no, I think we are okay…" She said, looking back at her friend to confirm, getting a small nod in confirmation. "I… Thank you."
"It's not a problem, Ma'am. I was on patrol and spotted these chumps," I said, shoving the closest man with the tip of my boot. "Giving you a hard time. Why don't we get you guys out of this alley and call the police?"
They both nodded, the protective woman leading the other out. I pointedly ignored the fact that the older one chose to step on the criminals in her path, rather than over. As I followed after them, I quickly rolled all three of the muggers into the recovery position before exiting the alleyway.
Both of the women had sat down on the curb. It didn't take long for the shock and adrenaline to fade, as within seconds of sitting down, the younger woman burst into tears. I gave them space, standing nearby as I called the police. They promised to send a squad car down after confirming that the victims were healthy and the aggressors were incapacitated.
"Arcanum, huh?" The older woman asked, having overheard me talking to the police. "I don't recognize you, so you must be new."
"Very, still trying to figure all of this out," I admitted, rubbing the back of my head. "Doing okay so far, I think."
"Yeah, I would say so, too," She said, giving me a weak smile. "I… I don't think that would have ended well."
"Yeah… Oh! Would you like me to fix that?" I asked, tapping my lip to point out her injury.
"...Fix it?" She asked, gently touching the cut along her lip, wincing as she did.
"Yeah, I can heal people," I explained.
"I…think I'm okay," She said with a frown. "No offense, but… You just admitted you're new…"
"No problem, I completely understand," I said, holding up my hands in acceptance. "I would be a little iffy about it as well, in your shoes."
We waited for a few more minutes in general silence, broken up by the occasional sniffle from the younger victim. There were quite a few people hanging around, watching and even recording, but I ignored them. I knew this was coming, and I just needed to push through it.
Eventually, a police cruiser pulled up and parked beside the sidewalk. Two cops, one older, slightly graying woman and a younger man, stepped out of the cruiser, both of them approaching slowly. The older woman said something to the man I couldn't quite hear before stepping closer to me. Her partner turned and focused on the victims, talking in soft, hushed tones.
"Arcanum, I assume?" She asked, giving me a look that told me she had seen it all and wasn't impressed.
"Yes, Ma'am," I said with a nod. "I was patrolling the neighborhood when I spotted those men making themselves a nuisance."
I nodded back down the alleyway to where the three muggers still were, lying on the ground in the mud, grime, and trash. Unsurprisingly, they hadn't moved, still lying in the positions I had put them in.
"They dead?" She asked, suddenly a lot more tense, her hand sliding down her side.
"No, Ma'am, just unconscious," I explained. "I have the ability to knock people out for a few hours."
"Your power is to knock people unconscious?" She asked with a snort, giving me another look. "I guess that makes me a cape as well."
"That's just one of them," I explained with a chuckle. "They will wake up in a while with a headache and some muscle aches like they were tased."
"Huh… well, let me take your statement, and then you can be on your way," She said, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen.
I spent a few minutes describing what I had seen, and what happened afterward. When I was done, I helped them load the three unconscious men into the back of their cruiser, their arms locked up in handcuffs. The older cop expressed her thanks for the help before climbing back into the cruiser and pulling away. By that point, both of the women were long gone, having called for a cab.
"Alright, Alya, I guess you can start looking for another one," I said quietly, giving some of the pedestrians around me a wave and a nod.
With the police and victims gone, the crowds' pressing curiosity quickly got the better of them, and they began getting closer, many of them still holding up phones. Rather than have to deal with anything, I gave one final salute before running off, picking a direction and reapplying the running buff as I went.
I move through the city, ignoring pedestrians as I did, stopping a few times to get my bearings and adjust my course. For about an hour, nothing new happened, and I basically just crisscrossed the city a few times. I was tempted to push further into rougher neighborhoods, but a healthy dose of caution held me back. I was looking to help and start building a reputation for myself, but I wasn't confident enough in my powers to fight other capes.
Of course, I was running through what was normally considered Empire territory, but… well, I might have been deluding myself a bit about how risky what I was doing was.
After just about an hour went by, Alya once again whispered into my ear, warning me that there was a car accident just a few blocks down the street I was about to pass. I immediately cut and ran towards the accident, Alya once again proving how invaluable she was by guiding me there.
I arrived at what seemed like a pretty rough accident, with a crossover and a normal car both looking pretty mangled. Both cars were in the center of a four-way intersection, and at a glance, it appeared someone hadn't spotted what color the lights were. As my marathon spell faded, I jogged into the street, looking into the broken window of the nearest vehicle, the car.
Sitting there, partially hidden by the airbag, was a woman, probably around my age. She was dazed and had cuts along her face and burns along her arms. Her left wrist also seemed a bit rough, maybe broken from the airbag, which was probably where the burns were from as well.
"Ma'am, can you hear me?" I asked, looking past her to make sure there weren't any other passengers. "Ma'am?"
"I…. yes… Head…"
"Ma'am, you were in a car accident," I asked, reaching in and tearing the airbag cloth free from the deployment device. "I need you to focus on me. I am a parahuman, and I can assist you. Would you like me to help?"
She seemed to focus on me long enough to realize I was wearing a mask, and after a moment, she nodded. Not wanting to waste any time, I double-checked that the crumpled door was stuck shut before getting to work.
"Scalpere metallum," I intoned, focusing my mana on my hand.
My energy spun up and around my pointer and middle fingers, spiraling around it until it reached their tip. An arcane symbol flashed, and the small, glowing, three-inch white blade extended from my finger. It was just about the most basic metal-cutting spell out there, but it came free with Geomancy as a way to prepare metal for the partional, so I wasn't about to complain.
I quickly cut along the door lock and hinge before pulling the door away from its frame and tossing it to the side. The woman was starting to wake up fully, the daze passing. When I stepped back to her side in the frame of the door, I gave her a once-over to make sure she wasn't impaled or bleeding anywhere.
"Ma'am, I want to help you out of the vehicle, but I'm worried about your neck and head trauma," I explained, the woman wincing as she shifted in her seat. "The good news is, I am a healer. If you allow me to treat you, we can avoid all the worry."
"Healer?" She asked, focusing on me, her eyes locking on mine. "Are you… are there any side effects?"
"You might notice some fading in older scars, as well as any old injuries, but that's it."
She chewed her lip for a moment before eventually nodding, wincing a bit as she did. I reached in and quickly cast four different healing spells, fixing her wrist, which was definitely broken, her concussion, and the burns along her arm. She watched me with wide eyes the whole time, but when I was done, she smiled.
"T-Thank you," She said, starting to get out of her seat. I helped her out until she was standing steadily.
"No problem, Ma'am," I said with a smile. "Now sit tight. I need to go take a look at the people in the other car."
She nodded, pulling out her cell phone, while I turned to head to the crossover. In the distance, I heard approaching sirens, so I put a little pep in my step. I respected the hell out of any emergency service workers who kept up in a city like Brockton Bay, but I also knew this would be easier to do without them getting involved.
I hurried to the next vehicle and got to work.
Charges So Far -
Geomancy: [x][x]
Healing Spells: [x][x]
Lightning Spells: [x][x]
Physical Movement Enhancement Spells: [x]
It is late January 2011. His next charge cycle will very quickly carry us into February. I thought I mentioned this, but a quick search makes me think I confused the original version with the Re-write.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It feels heavily suggested that this woman is Annette Hebert, but if it's January 2011 it's definitely several years too late for that to be the case. Not sure if I'm just reading too much into this scene or what.
- Location
- Auckland, NZ
That didn't occur to me but I do get the feeling that she's not just some bystander. She's either with one of the gangs or the PRT and she's definitely going to be causing problems.
I did not anticipate that connection, but my patrons did the same thing! This is not Annette, she has been dead for a while by this time. It is very late January, enough so that his next charge cycle will mostly reside in February. There is a rather large chance I haven't mentioned that because I did in the original version, but forgot to in the re-writes...
I didn't get the impression it was Annette at all. Looking at the story, I fail to see anything pointing that way except the fact she was a woman in a car accident. I mean Annette died, so the described injuries seem very lacking to be her. Happy to see another chapter. Good chapter overall.
Chapter Ten
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The next vehicle was in slightly better shape than the first, probably due to its larger size. All three of its occupants were thankfully better off as well. Two children were sitting in the back, with an older man in the driver's seat. Other than a little whiplash, bruises, and some minor burns from the airbags, all of them seemed to be in good shape. The children were terrified, but the father was actively helping calm them down.
I helped the dad get out first since there was no immediate danger, and he could help corral the scared kids. As I did so, I explained my ability to heal. The father considered my offer, eventually accepting the healing for himself first, then letting me heal his children when that went well.
Unfortunately, with everyone recovered, the father soon became distracted, spotting the woman from the other car. He immediately stormed off, his face set in an angry scowl.
"Where did you earn your license!?" He screamed, approaching the woman. "The light was clearly red!"
"I-I didn't see you!" She tried to explain, still clearly shaken. "I was pulling right, and I-"
"Then you should have opened your fucking eyes!" He shouted, arms up as he gestured, making the woman flinch. "I bet you were on your cell phone, not even paying attention! My kids-"
He took another aggressive step forward, looking like he was seriously going to lose it. While I understood the anger, he had just been in a car accident with his children in the car, and it certainly looked like the woman was in the wrong. I needed to stop this before it got out of control.
"Woah woah woah," I said, stepping in between the two, confident I could take anything the man had easily. "I know emotions are running high right now, but this is not the time or place for that."
"But she could have killed-"
"I know, sir, but screaming in the street while your children watch is not the best way to handle this," I pointed out, putting my hands on his shoulders and forcing him to step back. "I'm sure whatever happened here will come out in time, potentially with the aid of lawyers. But for now, why don't you go comfort your children. They just had a rather traumatic experience."
At first, I thought he was going to shout in my face, but mentioning what his children had just been through seemed to knock something loose in his head. He turned back to see his young children standing listless, looking lost and shocked. He nodded weakly before moving quickly back to them, wrapping them both in a tight hug.
When I was sure he was done yelling, I turned back to the woman.
"Are you okay?" I asked, getting a nod back. "Good, why don't-"
Before I could finish, an ambulance pulled up at the scene, as did a fire truck and a pair of police cars. The latter seemed to be a bit overkill, but considering all four of the police officers who climbed out of the cruisers made a beeline for me, they must have been specifically sent to handle me.
The following conversation was a bit tense, but overall, it went better than I had hoped, especially considering how poorly Tony had talked about the BBPD previously. They were mostly concerned that I had injured people trying to help, but when the EMT's couldn't find anything wrong with any of them, and all of them confirmed my healing, they backed off a little. During that time, Alya warned me that we had a pair of capes approaching, though they didn't appear to be hostile. I wanted to ask her for more info, but I couldn't exactly whisper a question when I was so close to other people.
"Listen, I get it, but spinal issues weren't anything I needed to worry about," I assured the officer, focusing on him for a moment. "Unless they were missing an entire limb, I could have fixed any injury they had. I was mostly concerned with them getting out of their cars."
The police officer seemed to at least let it go, though they didn't seem happy about it. I got the feeling that the BBPD wasn't exactly the biggest fan of the many capes that populated the city, a sentiment I could honestly understand. Hard to be happy about something when a good chunk of them were villains.
One of the officers took my statement and, begrudgingly, thanked me for my help. I shook his hand and wished them good luck before turning around…
And almost walking headfirst into one of the costumed heroes that Alya mentioned.
He was a taller man, dressed in a primarily red, lightly armored costume, with plates along his chest and arms. The top half of his face was covered in a red visor, which I had to assume was only opaque in one direction. As I turned, he took a step back while raising his hands. I recognized him from a few pictures I had seen online as the Protectorate hero, Assault.
"Woah, sorry, their buddy, didn't mean to sneak up on you," He said with a smile. "I'm Assault, and this here is Battery."
He gestured to the woman behind him, who I had completely overlooked as my attention was focused on Assault. The female hero was dressed in a dark gray, almost deep blue suit, skin-tight, of course, decorated with light blue, almost teal lines that mimicked internal circuitry. Her helmet covered most of her head, save the bottom third of her face. She simply nodded, leaving the talking to her partner.
"It's alright, no harm, no foul," I said, slowly extending my hand, making sure not to spook either of them with sudden movement. "Names Arcanum. It's nice to meet two of the Protectorates finest."
"Here, that Battery? We are the Protectorates finest!" Assault said, shaking my hand and shaking it, his smile somehow seeming even more friendly. "It's nice to meet you as well, Arcanum."
"So, what can I do for you two?" I asked, slowly walking around them and off the street. "I haven't done anything wrong as far as I know."
"No, nothing like that," He assured me. "The PRT gets contacted for anything cape-related that goes through the BBPD, so we decided to come out and say hello. We missed you at your first call, the mugging you stopped."
I nodded in understanding. By some unspoken agreement, we began to walk and talk, making our way down the sidewalk. People stepped out of our way, and Assault would wave and smile at people as we walked past.
"I see. I can imagine it's difficult to get a hold of us sometimes," I said, the older hero nodding.
"It can be, and it can be important since lone heroes… well, there's a reason there aren't many of them," He admitted with an unhappy frown.
"Other cities seem to have more," I pointed out. "They seem to struggle here. Unsurprising considering just who they are up against."
We stopped at a corner, where Assault and Battery both signed a few autographs. Despite no one knowing who I was, I was asked to sign a few as well. We all brushed off any questions, which I was happy to do. I was still thrown off by the autographs.
"You're not wrong. There is a lot to be wary of, especially for a new guy just starting out," He warned. "But enough about that, why don't you tell me a little about what you can do."
"Be careful," Alya whispered into my ear. "He has an earpiece in, and someone is pushing him to find out more."
I frowned behind my mask but realized that I shouldn't really be surprised. Of course, professional heroes would have people backing them up, and of course, they would be rather interested in what I could do.
"Well, I'm a bit of a grab bag," I admitted. "But not technically."
I gave them a general explanation of my powers, in that I fed them the same half-lie, half-underselling explanation I gave Panacea and Glory Girl. As I got to the end, I noted that Assault was being very quiet. When I finally finished, it took him a minute to respond.
"Jeez, when you said you were a grab bag, you weren't kidding!" Assault said, shaking his head. "Healing, lightning, and physical enhancement? A pretty impressive combination."
"Yeah, well… Just good luck, guess," I said, rubbing the back of my head. "I-"
"It might not be as good luck as you imagine," Battery said, speaking up for the first time since we started talking. "Having that many abilities puts a serious target on your back."
"Yeah… but they aren't that potent," I said. "It's not like I can heal like Panacea, right?"
And that was true, no underselling required. While my healing spells were very impressive, they were only two levels strong. Serious injuries required multiple casts of each spell, which reduced the potency of each repeat cast on a single person. Even then, I really couldn't bring people back from the brink of death. Dinah's aunt, which felt like weeks ago, not just a few days, had been on the far end of my ability and had required some of my most potent spells. Even then, I hadn't healed her completely. Yes, she wouldn't die, but her muscles would need a lot of time to heal back to full.
"My friend, comparing yourself to Panacea when it comes to healing is like comparing yourself to Hero if you're a tinker or Legend if you're a blaster," Assault said, shaking his head. "Just what you did today for the accidents was impressive, especially since there were no side effects or a ridiculous process. Well, other than speaking in a dead language."
"You're at risk for being forced into a gang," Battery said, folding her arms and earning a look from Assault. "You would be much safer working with the Protectorate, where you can get proper support on protection."
"I… understand the sentiment, but I am confident I can handle the danger," I assured them both. "It's not that I have anything against the Protectorate. I just think I can do more good on my own."
"How? If you work with us, we can help keep you safe, and you can use your powers in a way that benefits the most people," She said, directly challenging my statement.
For a long moment, I was silent, giving Assault a look, only to find he was equally surprised by Battery's aggressiveness. While I didn't doubt that both of these individuals had more experience than I did, her "we know better" tone grated heavily on my nerves. Still, making a good impression trumped any temporary need to fire back.
"Be that as it may, I want to work alone for now," I repeated, being a bit more blunt the second time. "Though, Panacea did mention that you guys can verify my healing as safe?"
"That's right, we can," Assault said, recovering from his partner's rather rough sell. "We can-"
He paused just long enough for me to notice, before continuing right where he left off.
"We can do that as part of our power testing."
"Power testing?"
"Yeah, we have facilities set up to test a variety of powers, from strength and durability to the potency and danger of blaster powers, even your electricity," He explained with a smile, though it seemed... less open than before. "Come in, let us do our magic, and we can make sure your healing is safe and symptom-free. Even if it's not, we might be able to come up with ways to mitigate any side effects."
The pause he made was highly suspicious, and I could see it in his posture that he knew I noticed it. Still, being a PRT, or Protectorate verified healer would mean that I could help more people, which was worth a little paperwork and a couple hours of showing off my magic. I would be more concerned about showing off what I could do, if that wouldn't change radically over the next week.
"Alright, I can agree to that," I said with a smile. "Should I set up an appointment or…?"
"That would be best. Our secretaries tend to get a bit jumpy when unknown parahumans show up out of the blue," He said with a smirk, prompting me to rub my face, only to feel the warm metal of my mask.
"Yeah, in hindsight, not my best plan to show up to the hospital like that," I admitted, shaking my head. "But in my defense, Panacea doesn't have a way to set up appointments."
"Pretty sure that's on purpose," He explained, before adding. "But you could have contacted New Wave through their website and set up a meeting with them."
I was quiet for a long, drawn-out silence before letting out a long sigh and shaking my head.
"Right, of course I could. Well, at the risk of tempting Murphy, I'm going to go. I will set up an appointment as soon as I can."
"Sounds like a plan, Arcanum," Assault said with a smile, reaching out and offering me his hand. I shook it confidently before turning and walking away.
Eventually, I cut into an alleyway, putting on speed while using the marathon spell to cut away my need to stop running through the city. At this point, it was starting to get later in the afternoon, so Alya subtly guided me back to where I had left my civilian clothes.
"You noticed that too, right?" I asked, finally stopping in the secluded spot not too far from the shop. "The pause Assault made?"
"I did. I couldn't quite make out what the person on the other side of their radio was saying, as the sound was pretty muted, but I could tell that they got louder just before he stumbled."
"Something to do with the power testing," I said with a frown, shaking my head. "I'll have to keep my eye open."
"You intend to go through with it?" She asked, slightly surprised. "I would have thought the pause would be enough to dissuade you."
"Normally, it would have, but I really want that PRT approval for healing," I said with a frown. "Maybe I won't have to spend so much time convincing people to let me help them if I was properly accredited. Let's just hope Battery isn't part of the process."
"She was certainly rude," Alya agreed. "I can't imagine her method of recruitment works very well."
"Which makes you wonder why they sent her," I wondered out loud. "Maybe a good cop bad cop routine? Trying to enamor me with Assault so I'm more casual around him in the future?"
I considered the idea for a moment, as I folded up my overcoat and slid it back into my messenger bag. After mulling it around in my mind for a minute, I shook my head.
"I can't just assume they were trying such an underhanded tactic on someone they were hoping to recruit," I guessed. "I mean, they should no better than to piss off random parahumans, right?"
"Perhaps you shouldn't assume competence?" Alya suggested, getting a snort out of me.
"Maybe, but assuming incompetence is way worse, right?" I responded before putting my messenger bag strap around my shoulder.
"I'm a little worried about how they reacted to me being a grab bag," I said with a frown. "They seemed shocked."
I did some research on grab bags before claiming to be one, but it's possible I misunderstood their level of potency. This meant I had been casually admitting to and showing off that I had multiple powerful abilities, attracting a lot of attention to myself because I assumed I was coming off as a mid-tier power at best. I had been naive despite trying not to be. Worse, this was going to get more difficult as I developed more and more magic.
I let out a long sigh, trying to shake off the admittedly disappointing attempt at subterfuge. I needed to focus on the fact that I was doing good, that I had helped plenty of people at the camp, and that I would continue doing that as long as Tony could find more groups for me to help. I may be bumbling through this a bit, but I was still doing good.
"Alright, I need to get something to eat, and then we can head home," I finally said out loud. "Mind finding me a pizza place, Alya?"
Rather than answer, a warm breeze blew past me, and I followed it out of the alleyway.
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The next vehicle was in slightly better shape than the first, probably due to its larger size. All three of its occupants were thankfully better off as well. Two children were sitting in the back, with an older man in the driver's seat. Other than a little whiplash, bruises, and some minor burns from the airbags, all of them seemed to be in good shape. The children were terrified, but the father was actively helping calm them down.
I helped the dad get out first since there was no immediate danger, and he could help corral the scared kids. As I did so, I explained my ability to heal. The father considered my offer, eventually accepting the healing for himself first, then letting me heal his children when that went well.
Unfortunately, with everyone recovered, the father soon became distracted, spotting the woman from the other car. He immediately stormed off, his face set in an angry scowl.
"Where did you earn your license!?" He screamed, approaching the woman. "The light was clearly red!"
"I-I didn't see you!" She tried to explain, still clearly shaken. "I was pulling right, and I-"
"Then you should have opened your fucking eyes!" He shouted, arms up as he gestured, making the woman flinch. "I bet you were on your cell phone, not even paying attention! My kids-"
He took another aggressive step forward, looking like he was seriously going to lose it. While I understood the anger, he had just been in a car accident with his children in the car, and it certainly looked like the woman was in the wrong. I needed to stop this before it got out of control.
"Woah woah woah," I said, stepping in between the two, confident I could take anything the man had easily. "I know emotions are running high right now, but this is not the time or place for that."
"But she could have killed-"
"I know, sir, but screaming in the street while your children watch is not the best way to handle this," I pointed out, putting my hands on his shoulders and forcing him to step back. "I'm sure whatever happened here will come out in time, potentially with the aid of lawyers. But for now, why don't you go comfort your children. They just had a rather traumatic experience."
At first, I thought he was going to shout in my face, but mentioning what his children had just been through seemed to knock something loose in his head. He turned back to see his young children standing listless, looking lost and shocked. He nodded weakly before moving quickly back to them, wrapping them both in a tight hug.
When I was sure he was done yelling, I turned back to the woman.
"Are you okay?" I asked, getting a nod back. "Good, why don't-"
Before I could finish, an ambulance pulled up at the scene, as did a fire truck and a pair of police cars. The latter seemed to be a bit overkill, but considering all four of the police officers who climbed out of the cruisers made a beeline for me, they must have been specifically sent to handle me.
The following conversation was a bit tense, but overall, it went better than I had hoped, especially considering how poorly Tony had talked about the BBPD previously. They were mostly concerned that I had injured people trying to help, but when the EMT's couldn't find anything wrong with any of them, and all of them confirmed my healing, they backed off a little. During that time, Alya warned me that we had a pair of capes approaching, though they didn't appear to be hostile. I wanted to ask her for more info, but I couldn't exactly whisper a question when I was so close to other people.
"Listen, I get it, but spinal issues weren't anything I needed to worry about," I assured the officer, focusing on him for a moment. "Unless they were missing an entire limb, I could have fixed any injury they had. I was mostly concerned with them getting out of their cars."
The police officer seemed to at least let it go, though they didn't seem happy about it. I got the feeling that the BBPD wasn't exactly the biggest fan of the many capes that populated the city, a sentiment I could honestly understand. Hard to be happy about something when a good chunk of them were villains.
One of the officers took my statement and, begrudgingly, thanked me for my help. I shook his hand and wished them good luck before turning around…
And almost walking headfirst into one of the costumed heroes that Alya mentioned.
He was a taller man, dressed in a primarily red, lightly armored costume, with plates along his chest and arms. The top half of his face was covered in a red visor, which I had to assume was only opaque in one direction. As I turned, he took a step back while raising his hands. I recognized him from a few pictures I had seen online as the Protectorate hero, Assault.
"Woah, sorry, their buddy, didn't mean to sneak up on you," He said with a smile. "I'm Assault, and this here is Battery."
He gestured to the woman behind him, who I had completely overlooked as my attention was focused on Assault. The female hero was dressed in a dark gray, almost deep blue suit, skin-tight, of course, decorated with light blue, almost teal lines that mimicked internal circuitry. Her helmet covered most of her head, save the bottom third of her face. She simply nodded, leaving the talking to her partner.
"It's alright, no harm, no foul," I said, slowly extending my hand, making sure not to spook either of them with sudden movement. "Names Arcanum. It's nice to meet two of the Protectorates finest."
"Here, that Battery? We are the Protectorates finest!" Assault said, shaking my hand and shaking it, his smile somehow seeming even more friendly. "It's nice to meet you as well, Arcanum."
"So, what can I do for you two?" I asked, slowly walking around them and off the street. "I haven't done anything wrong as far as I know."
"No, nothing like that," He assured me. "The PRT gets contacted for anything cape-related that goes through the BBPD, so we decided to come out and say hello. We missed you at your first call, the mugging you stopped."
I nodded in understanding. By some unspoken agreement, we began to walk and talk, making our way down the sidewalk. People stepped out of our way, and Assault would wave and smile at people as we walked past.
"I see. I can imagine it's difficult to get a hold of us sometimes," I said, the older hero nodding.
"It can be, and it can be important since lone heroes… well, there's a reason there aren't many of them," He admitted with an unhappy frown.
"Other cities seem to have more," I pointed out. "They seem to struggle here. Unsurprising considering just who they are up against."
We stopped at a corner, where Assault and Battery both signed a few autographs. Despite no one knowing who I was, I was asked to sign a few as well. We all brushed off any questions, which I was happy to do. I was still thrown off by the autographs.
"You're not wrong. There is a lot to be wary of, especially for a new guy just starting out," He warned. "But enough about that, why don't you tell me a little about what you can do."
"Be careful," Alya whispered into my ear. "He has an earpiece in, and someone is pushing him to find out more."
I frowned behind my mask but realized that I shouldn't really be surprised. Of course, professional heroes would have people backing them up, and of course, they would be rather interested in what I could do.
"Well, I'm a bit of a grab bag," I admitted. "But not technically."
I gave them a general explanation of my powers, in that I fed them the same half-lie, half-underselling explanation I gave Panacea and Glory Girl. As I got to the end, I noted that Assault was being very quiet. When I finally finished, it took him a minute to respond.
"Jeez, when you said you were a grab bag, you weren't kidding!" Assault said, shaking his head. "Healing, lightning, and physical enhancement? A pretty impressive combination."
"Yeah, well… Just good luck, guess," I said, rubbing the back of my head. "I-"
"It might not be as good luck as you imagine," Battery said, speaking up for the first time since we started talking. "Having that many abilities puts a serious target on your back."
"Yeah… but they aren't that potent," I said. "It's not like I can heal like Panacea, right?"
And that was true, no underselling required. While my healing spells were very impressive, they were only two levels strong. Serious injuries required multiple casts of each spell, which reduced the potency of each repeat cast on a single person. Even then, I really couldn't bring people back from the brink of death. Dinah's aunt, which felt like weeks ago, not just a few days, had been on the far end of my ability and had required some of my most potent spells. Even then, I hadn't healed her completely. Yes, she wouldn't die, but her muscles would need a lot of time to heal back to full.
"My friend, comparing yourself to Panacea when it comes to healing is like comparing yourself to Hero if you're a tinker or Legend if you're a blaster," Assault said, shaking his head. "Just what you did today for the accidents was impressive, especially since there were no side effects or a ridiculous process. Well, other than speaking in a dead language."
"You're at risk for being forced into a gang," Battery said, folding her arms and earning a look from Assault. "You would be much safer working with the Protectorate, where you can get proper support on protection."
"I… understand the sentiment, but I am confident I can handle the danger," I assured them both. "It's not that I have anything against the Protectorate. I just think I can do more good on my own."
"How? If you work with us, we can help keep you safe, and you can use your powers in a way that benefits the most people," She said, directly challenging my statement.
For a long moment, I was silent, giving Assault a look, only to find he was equally surprised by Battery's aggressiveness. While I didn't doubt that both of these individuals had more experience than I did, her "we know better" tone grated heavily on my nerves. Still, making a good impression trumped any temporary need to fire back.
"Be that as it may, I want to work alone for now," I repeated, being a bit more blunt the second time. "Though, Panacea did mention that you guys can verify my healing as safe?"
"That's right, we can," Assault said, recovering from his partner's rather rough sell. "We can-"
He paused just long enough for me to notice, before continuing right where he left off.
"We can do that as part of our power testing."
"Power testing?"
"Yeah, we have facilities set up to test a variety of powers, from strength and durability to the potency and danger of blaster powers, even your electricity," He explained with a smile, though it seemed... less open than before. "Come in, let us do our magic, and we can make sure your healing is safe and symptom-free. Even if it's not, we might be able to come up with ways to mitigate any side effects."
The pause he made was highly suspicious, and I could see it in his posture that he knew I noticed it. Still, being a PRT, or Protectorate verified healer would mean that I could help more people, which was worth a little paperwork and a couple hours of showing off my magic. I would be more concerned about showing off what I could do, if that wouldn't change radically over the next week.
"Alright, I can agree to that," I said with a smile. "Should I set up an appointment or…?"
"That would be best. Our secretaries tend to get a bit jumpy when unknown parahumans show up out of the blue," He said with a smirk, prompting me to rub my face, only to feel the warm metal of my mask.
"Yeah, in hindsight, not my best plan to show up to the hospital like that," I admitted, shaking my head. "But in my defense, Panacea doesn't have a way to set up appointments."
"Pretty sure that's on purpose," He explained, before adding. "But you could have contacted New Wave through their website and set up a meeting with them."
I was quiet for a long, drawn-out silence before letting out a long sigh and shaking my head.
"Right, of course I could. Well, at the risk of tempting Murphy, I'm going to go. I will set up an appointment as soon as I can."
"Sounds like a plan, Arcanum," Assault said with a smile, reaching out and offering me his hand. I shook it confidently before turning and walking away.
Eventually, I cut into an alleyway, putting on speed while using the marathon spell to cut away my need to stop running through the city. At this point, it was starting to get later in the afternoon, so Alya subtly guided me back to where I had left my civilian clothes.
"You noticed that too, right?" I asked, finally stopping in the secluded spot not too far from the shop. "The pause Assault made?"
"I did. I couldn't quite make out what the person on the other side of their radio was saying, as the sound was pretty muted, but I could tell that they got louder just before he stumbled."
"Something to do with the power testing," I said with a frown, shaking my head. "I'll have to keep my eye open."
"You intend to go through with it?" She asked, slightly surprised. "I would have thought the pause would be enough to dissuade you."
"Normally, it would have, but I really want that PRT approval for healing," I said with a frown. "Maybe I won't have to spend so much time convincing people to let me help them if I was properly accredited. Let's just hope Battery isn't part of the process."
"She was certainly rude," Alya agreed. "I can't imagine her method of recruitment works very well."
"Which makes you wonder why they sent her," I wondered out loud. "Maybe a good cop bad cop routine? Trying to enamor me with Assault so I'm more casual around him in the future?"
I considered the idea for a moment, as I folded up my overcoat and slid it back into my messenger bag. After mulling it around in my mind for a minute, I shook my head.
"I can't just assume they were trying such an underhanded tactic on someone they were hoping to recruit," I guessed. "I mean, they should no better than to piss off random parahumans, right?"
"Perhaps you shouldn't assume competence?" Alya suggested, getting a snort out of me.
"Maybe, but assuming incompetence is way worse, right?" I responded before putting my messenger bag strap around my shoulder.
"I'm a little worried about how they reacted to me being a grab bag," I said with a frown. "They seemed shocked."
I did some research on grab bags before claiming to be one, but it's possible I misunderstood their level of potency. This meant I had been casually admitting to and showing off that I had multiple powerful abilities, attracting a lot of attention to myself because I assumed I was coming off as a mid-tier power at best. I had been naive despite trying not to be. Worse, this was going to get more difficult as I developed more and more magic.
I let out a long sigh, trying to shake off the admittedly disappointing attempt at subterfuge. I needed to focus on the fact that I was doing good, that I had helped plenty of people at the camp, and that I would continue doing that as long as Tony could find more groups for me to help. I may be bumbling through this a bit, but I was still doing good.
"Alright, I need to get something to eat, and then we can head home," I finally said out loud. "Mind finding me a pizza place, Alya?"
Rather than answer, a warm breeze blew past me, and I followed it out of the alleyway.