The Wondrous Weaving of Wizardry

[Witherbrine26]

I sat at the kitchen table, finger tapping on the keyboard, blank google docs with the cursor blinking back at me. I was grumbling over the tongue lashing I had received and struggling to think of something to write. I closed the computer lid with a huff and walked up the stairs deciding that a small nap would be what he needed to get the creative juices flowing.

My foot bumped into a thick object as I slipped beneath the covers. Throwing the bedsheet off, I observed the moderately sized tome. It was bound in leather, and as I cracked the book open, the first page held an ornate script that described a relatively simple way to gain access to all the functions of an electronic device as well as a way to overclock a mechanical device both only requiring a touch and force of will.

Tucking the book under my arm, I padded softly downstairs and, setting the Grimoire on the table, flipped my computer lid open. Holding my breath, I focused my mind and twisted, seeing the computer scanning through half a dozen web pages, opening, and closing videos, and typing as fast as I could think.

I let go of the machine and let out a long breath as I gingerly, hands trembling, picked up the excellent book that allowed me to do magic or psychic abilities as my new knowledge insisted.

I bounded up the stairs and closed my bedroom door behind me with a nudge of my hips. I curled up under the covers and flipped through the Grimoire with a wide grin that showed my two front teeth as if looking at blank pages would conjure up new miracles.

Soon, however, I looked over at the small digital clock that read 10:30 and reluctantly set the book on my nightstand and shimmed into my pajama pants while tossing my shirt in my hamper. As I put my glasses on top of the tome, I curled under the covers and knew that sleep would come hard that night.

I woke up shivering, and as I stretched pulled back my hand with a hiss as they brushed the wall covered with a small layer of ice. Sliding out of bed and instinctively jerked my bare feet away from the frost-covered floor. I put on my glasses only to take them off as the lenses were coated with a thick layer of frost. I walked into the bathroom and flicked the light switch; after the lights failed to turn on,

I turned to leave the room, and I saw a flicker of something significant and covered in furry scales in the bathroom mirror. Stumbling back as the creature leered at me from the mirror, I ran back to my room as I could now see my breath fogging the air. Picking up the tome peered at its clean pages with bare eyes as I could pick up a shuffling noise slowly wandering to my bedroom.

However, as the door creaked open, there was a faint air displacement as frost started to creep up my pajama bottoms. I hurled myself under the bed, clutching the Grimoire tight to my chest as sounds of battle erupted from the hallway outside of my room.

A thin trickle of pee traveled down my right leg as the battling grew quieter before pressure built in the air then all noise stopped. Several agonizing minutes later, I crept out of my room and peeked around the house. Seeing my family's utter lack of presence, I held back the lump in my throat as I opened the door outside and froze as a winter wonderland surrounded me.

I saw dozens of corpses, and the snow was kicked up as whatever had brought me here was still fighting. I slowly closed the door and then, in between shuddering breaths, put on some clothes fit for winter. Before I left, I grabbed a few packs of ham and a water bottle. Trekking in the opposite direction of the fight.

I didn't know what was going on; however, I knew I did not want to be anywhere close to something that could fight a Warband and the person who would bring a Warband to kill a single being.

I walked long enough to be free of the snow and emerged into a small clearing. I stopped as I beheld the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was singing softly under her breath as she sat on a stump; however, her eyes snapped over to form when I stepped into the clearing. Letting out a melodic giggle, she gestured for me to sit next to her.

Dumbfounded, I staggered over and sat down next to her. As she started to run her fingers through my hair, I untensed and relaxed.
"So what brings you to my neck of the woods" her voice rang out like wood chimes from behind me.
"I was uh walking and found you miss," my nervous voice croaked out
"Please don't call me miss; that makes me feel old."
Letting out a small chuckle, I said, "Fair, fair, so do this with everyone you meet."
"No, just the most interesting ones; you are far from home, aren't you." Caught off guard from the sudden question, I slowly nodded
"Is it safe to presume I'm not on earth anymore?"


She answered with another tinkling laugh, "That is safe to assume. I could get you closer, back in the mortal realm and away from here." Gently detangling her perfectly sculpted hands from my hair, I turned to look her in the eyes and took in her elvish features for the first time.
"What would that cost me?" I enquired
"Nothing much. I would request you to use this and a single favor." She said, holding up my Grimoire before handing it back to me.
"What would the favor entail."
"Nothing much. I would not give you a task beyond your abilities."
"What are my chances of escaping from this plane unaided."
"Slim, and I doubt the next deal will be so generous."
I turned the bargain over in my head for a few minutes, keen of my dwindling supply of food and lack of information.
"Fine." I ground out, "It's a deal."


Her face brightened, and my shoulders relaxed as she held her hand. "It's a deal" as we shook on it, the world blurred around me as I found myself flat on my ass, fingers white-knuckled around the tome in a filthy alleyway.

Rising to my feet, I held the book under my arm and walked out into the streets. I knew that I would need to find a place to live before even starting to find a way back to my city. As I walked through the crisp spring air, I could see the shops, most of which were closed, and the sea of which an oil rig was covered with a shimmering blue bubble. That fact niggled at my mind as I kept an eye out for an ATM.

I found it around half an hour later and checked to see that only a few people walked about in scant morning hours. I placed my hand on the ATM and twisted, sending my mind into it and directing it to send out 5,000 dollars of assorted bills. I took a deep breath and started walking away and across towards the abandoned section of the city.

Picking up a newspaper, the date read Feburay 28th and the front page held the headline. Simurgh drove off by heroes Eidolon and Legend, Canberra, to be domed. At this, I froze because only one world I knew held a winged angel and costumed men named Eidolon and Legend. Taking a deep breath, I handed back the newspaper and speedwalking what I knew to be the Docks now. A brief 15-minute walk later, I found a building empty except for a few dirty needles and refuse.

Slumping down and holding my knees to my chest, I let out shaky and ugly sobs as I realized where I was and what happened washed over me. Making bargains with Fae, finding strange Artifacts, and finding myself on the hell world known as Earth Bet, where horrible monsters roamed, there is a conspiracy holding control over the world, and life is cheap. I shot to my feet as I remembered something possibly lethal, but I had to try anyway.


"Contessa," My raspy, choked voice forced out, I waited for a few minutes, and I sighed in relief when nothing happened. I knew that simply sitting around feeling sorry would do nothing for me, so I scooped up the Grimoire and opened it. As I started searching through empty pages, I saw nothing new however I felt something bubbling up under the book's pages, a feeling of potential.

Setting the book aside, I knew that the first thing I needed was to get set up, and while robbing ATMs would work, for now, a place to live would be a necessity, and while the warehouse could serve, for now, I doubted that it would remain safe for long.

As if on cue, my stomach rumbled, reminding me that I had not eaten for at least six hours, so some food would not go unappreciated. I pulled out the ham and water and made myself a ham sandwich by placing a ham slice between two other ham slices.

"Step one is to find a place to live and a stable source of income," I said in between sips of water and bites of ham. "Step two is to figure out what the hell this book is and how it can help me. Lastly, I suppose it would be to find a way home and don't die"

I let out a mirthless chuckle before standing up and sticking the water bottle in my pocket. I walked out and saw the streets start to fill with various people. Keeping my head down and my book tucked under my sweatshirt left me untouched as I headed into the better part of town. Jacking another ATM net me another few grand as I scouted for a cheap apartment.

Finding one with an old flaking sign that proclaimed that rooms were available and no questions would be asked—knocking on a ground floor office designated as the landlords' office. Rapping my knuckles on the door, I clasped my hand and waited as mumbled swearing erupted from the room. The door was cracked open to reveal an aging white man with a receding hairline and breath that stank of alcohol. I did my best to hold in my disgusted face.

"What do you want" he slurred out.
"An apartment, sir," I said with a slight bow of my head
"One grand a month you pay on the first of the month." He said, holding a hand out expectantly. I promptly placed the requested amount in his hand, after which he closed the door, and soon the sounds of keys ringing filled the hall. After a few minutes, the door was opened again, and a small grubby key was shoved roughly into my hand.
"Rooms 324, don't be too loud."


The door was then slammed into my face. Letting out an annoyed sigh, I started the climb to my new room. The apartment building had seen better days and looked only a sneeze away from collapsing. However, the upside was I now had a place with clean water and heat, which was the most important.

The lock took a few sharp turns to open before I could attempt opening the door, which to a firm shove from my shoulder before it would let me into my new room. Barebones and tiny, it still had a kitchenette, a bathroom I had to duck to access, and a lumpy bed with no pillow; however, it was still mine and a relatively safe place to lay my head.

As I sat on the bed, touching the book, I felt a burning in my thought as my vocal cords burned and my voice rasped before smoothing out into a melodious sound, not too unlike the Fae I met early. Letting out a slight hum. A small bucktoothed smile crept onto my face as I realized I could sing and do well at it. Checking the small clock in the hallway, I realized I had hours to burn before I could utilize my newest power.

Flipping through my book, I saw that my new ability enhanced my voice to truly potent portions enabling me to sing to cause people to forget their fear and fight to the death for my cause. As I let out a Do Mi So in perfect tune that resonated slightly, I remembered a new issue, Canary, the superpowered singer sent to hell on earth for many reasons; however, the main one was her suggestive singing voice.

I should be safe as long I didn't sing on the battlefield. As if that would ever happen. With newfound confidence, I started to wander the city to get a sense of the city. A quick stop at the library turned into a several-hour-long Wikipedia dive as I went down the rabbit hole to find the differences between my earth and Earth Bet. The U.S used dollar coins instead of bills, did not use pennies anymore, the cold war ended earlier, nuclear weapons were nonexistent, and a partly built moon base.

While finding all of this out was fascinating, it did not help me out all that much, and I was shown out of the library as they closed up behind me. Walking back to my apartment in the dark, I heard an aborted scream, then a gasp as I passed an alleyway. A woman was on the ground clutching her stomach while a tall rat-faced Asian man stood above her and gasping.

I grit my teeth as I knew I should back away. However, I slipped the heavy tome into my hands as I stepped into the alley and belted out the first song lyric I could remember.

"Hey, Kid!"
My voice came out deep and self-assured as my hands trembled. The woman pushed herself up as the first lyrics swept over her with an almost physical force.
"Do I have your attention?"
The man turned and hefted his crowbar while dropping the wallet he had rifled through. The woman unknown to him mainly was to her feet, know.
"The fuck you want?" The man said in a nasal voice. Ignoring him and taking another step forward, the following lyric came out even better and made him twist his face into confusion.

As I walked towards him, music came out smooth and filled myself and the woman with confidence. The mugger just swung the crowbar towards me to scare me off.

However, in that moment of vulnerability, the woman grabbed his head and slammed it into the brick wall. A splatter of blood sprayed out as the man dropped his crowbar. I darted forward, the song still emerging from me as I picked up the crowbar and slammed it down twice and three times on the man's head, splitting it open like a watermelon.

At the visceral display, I dropped the crowbar and hurled it all over what remained of the man's head. As the mystical property of my song faded, the woman shrieked, face twisted into anger and fear, and ran past me, almost bowling me over as I gagged at the corpse and the copper taste of blood that had splattered all over my hands and a bit in my month.

I stumbled back home after picking up the tome. I slammed my door shut and washed my hands and mouth. Dropping the book on the floor next to my bed, I fell into it, dead tired after the adrenaline faded, and tried to sleep, knowing it would come difficult that night.

Powers Gained
Psychic Abilities - Cyberkinesis:The cyberkinetic will never need to remember another password again, as this level of power can override the need for one, and any other code besides. The psychic can force a computer to do anything it normally could, from granting them admin access, to erasing data, or forging emails with an account on the system. The more secure a given computer is, the harder it is to manipulate thus
The psychic can now force a computer or other machine to outperform itself, making it more effective at its function than should be possible for it, at the cost of damaging the electronic

Song-Maiden:You were born with a beautiful voice and an amazing talent for song. Other people picked up on this, and all your life you've received formal training to enhance your singing even further, and turn it to more nefarious purposes. When used on the field of battle, your songs can fill soldiers with vast amounts of courage, hope and a will to fight, clearing them of any concerns like surrender, retreat, or hesitation and ensuring they'll fight to the death for your cause or the cause of your superiors as long as you continue to sing. Your voice alone can turn the very tide of battle. Restrained and judicious use can mitigate the downsides to this and be used heroically, but abuse will see you reviled as a witch or a monster for all the senseless death you cause.

 

[highs2lows]

This seems like a solid start. His base powers etc is respectable without being broken. Hopefully we will get to see more of what makes this guy tick before the real overpowered stiff comes in. Are you running standard grimoire rules?

 

[NavnUkjent]

Quite nice start on this fic.

One small quibble. The pricing of the apartment seems a bit off. 3000 USD/month for a small apartment in a crumbling building in a dump of a city in 2011?

 

[Witherbrine26]

This seems like a solid start. His base powers etc is respectable without being broken. Hopefully we will get to see more of what makes this guy tick before the real overpowered stiff comes in. Are you running standard grimoire rules?

Click to shrink...

Thank you, I'm using this The Celestial Grimoire: A Complete Compendium Second Edition and every 1000 words I get 100cp. I will most likely increase the word count needed to gain points as I grow more comfortable with writing

Quite nice start on this fic.

One small quibble. The pricing of the apartment seems a bit off. 3000 USD/month for a small apartment in a crumbling building in a dump of a city in 2011?

Click to shrink...

Fair I did a bit of research but forgot to account for the year change, thanks for pointing that out. I'll probably change that to 1000/month

 

[Mastersgtjames]

So... for an "average teenager" from our earth, why did he expect the fighting was from a Warband...

Trekking in the opposite direction of the fight, I didn't know what was going on; however, I knew I did not want to be anywhere close to something that could fight a Warband and the person who would bring a Warband to kill a single being.

Click to shrink...

Also, Why/how did he end up in some Fae Realm where someone conveniently is around and willing to "help" him, for a favour.

Lastly, HOW is an apartment in Brockton Bay $1000 a month? The city is like, worse than Detroit in how it is described, and this is in an economy that is falling apart with Capes and Endbringers destroying trade and infrastructure...

 

[Witherbrine26]

I shot up from my spring-filled mattress in a cold sweat, blinking rapidly as the splattering of viscera filled my vision for a moment, along with the dull thunk of a crowbar slamming into a man's head.

Pushing off the ratty covers, I stumbled to the small bathroom. Forgetting to duck, I bumped my head on the doorframe before looking into the mirror and seeing my regular rosy-cheeked face with curly brown hair naturally springing back out of my face.

Letting out a slight hum that filled the apartment and bolstered my spirits, I headed into the kitchenette and fished out a cup before filling it with the spluttering sink and taking a few long gulps of water, then rising out the last sip by gargling the water and spitting it out for a brief moment tasting that awful coppery taste and feeling the slick warm lifeblood and grey matter coating my hands.

Trudging back to my small bed, I pillowed my hoodie under my head and did my best to fall back asleep. Several long minutes later, I grumbled and went to flick the light switch on, deciding on reading through the Grimoire for a bit to see why that woman had run away, terror filling her features after she helped me stop that man.

After the small yellow lightbulb that was flickering had been turned on, I started to turn through the book's pages. The first page was titled Psychic Abilities - Cyberkinesis, and under that, it held the abilities Password and Run Hot; however, after taking a closer look, my glee-filled speed-read not allowing me to before.

I saw that I could apply both at a distance, the difficulty increasing with how far away the device was. While nice, it was not what I was looking for, so I flipped to the next page, which was emblazoned with the words Song-Maiden.

Slightly frowning at the wording, I nonetheless read on. I realized that this power was worse than I thought with increasing horror. It didn't simply improve my confidence and my voice to incredible heights. What it did was whenever I sang during a fight, no matter how large and small, it removed concerns such as their wellbeing or that they should not be involved with this fight.

If what I thought with no small amount of horror what this let me do was turn the slightest twinge of "I should help that man" into a storming assault that would not stop until my signing ended or one side of the fight was dead. The pages bubbled as I set the book down, and I felt a slight heat as the book grew a page thicker. Flipping to this new page, I saw the page held the flowing script that wrote out Healing Potions.

Under that, I saw six small vials containing a red liquid that looked as if the book had painted them on the page. Reaching my hand down, I touched the first potion and pulled, and from one instant to the next, my hand held the vial. Setting it aside, I read the words under the vials, which proclaimed that these potions would deal with one mortal wound apiece and replenish daily.

However, they would stockpile, and the max was six potions. That would be incredible and give me a get out of jail free card if I was hurt, and considering that this was Brockton Bay, the chance of me getting shot or otherwise maimed was high. Slipping the first potion into my pocket and closing the Grimoire, I knew I would need to stock up on other essentials like toothbrushes, soap, food, and other clothing.

New information also meant busking, or any other singing option was out as the mastering portion of Song-Maiden would have me birdcaged faster than I could say Canary. That meant robbing ATMs was back on the table as I doubted any place would hire a 17-year-old with minimal experience, and those references were several worlds away.

The people who would hire me were most likely people I did not want to be hired by anyway. The Protectorate was out as well because I doubted I could walk up and inform them that I was from a different dimension, had a growing list of powers, and could I please join. Add in the fact that the top people were part of a multi-dimensional conspiracy theory with the plan to kill Earth Bet's closest thing to a god.

Shucking on my dirty clothes and shoes, I locked my apartment door behind me. While fairly run down, I had never lived in a big city before, and it was nice to see what went down on the day to day.

What went down appeared to be pretty typical. You had people walking quickly on the sidewalks, old beat-up cars trundling down the road, and stores with signs advertising everything from gas to T-shirts. The main differences I could spot were the beat-down attire and faces of everybody. They walked quickly, shoulders hunched with hands crammed in pockets.

The stores also had metal shutters that shop owners could pull down with a simple tug of a lever. Stepping into one of these shops, I fingered the money in my pocket and looked around for the items I needed. Walking down the lanes rife with empty shelves, I could see how hard parahumans and the Endbringers had hit certain parts of this world.

Taking a few minutes, I filled a shopping cart with a week's worth of clothes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, an electric razor, and enough non-perishables for a few weeks. Doubling back, I also tossed in a few pairs of black sweat pants and a hoodie and accompanying black bandanna.

The woman at the counter looked up lazily from the magazine she had been reading and tucked her short black hair behind one ear as she got to work scanning my items.

A few minutes later, I carried back my items and regretted my choice not to buy a bag. Nobody paid me any mind as I stumbled into my apartment building and opened the door with a few firm shoves after setting my goods on the ground.

I then started to sort my newfound items folding the clothes and putting them in the tiny closet, placing the food in the little cupboard, and setting up a small area where I could brush my teeth and engage in other morning activities. After putting all the items away, I sat down on my bed and pulled out a mechanical pencil and small notepad I had bought earlier. I started to write down everything I knew about Worm before I forgot it.

I knew canon started around April 10th-11th when Talyor went out on her first patrol after a few weeks of preparing. That night Lung, the dragon-like leader of the ABB or Azn Bad Boyz, went hunting the Undersiders, a group of teenage criminals.

That meant Taylor most likely had triggered a few days ago and was currently in a psych ward. The Undersiders would also be robbing the Ruby Dreams Casino, which may or may not be a front for the ABB; I didn't remember if that was fanon.

Shortly after that, Taylor would join up with the Undersiders and rob a bank to cover up the kidnapping of Dinah Alcott, an 11-year-old precog. Chewing on the end of the mechanical pencil, I needed to figure out a way to stop that. However, the main issue was that I did not have a method of fighting myself.

Mind-controlling people would end in disaster, and healing potions would be a backup if I got shot by Coil's goons which were laser guns if I remember correctly. The ability to access his computer, while nice, would need me to be within 30ish feet of it and would not help with the abduction, and improving his mercenaries' gear would not help either.

As I stood up to stretch, I felt a faint warmth emanating from the Grimoire, and it grew slightly more extensive as another page grew in between its covers. Darting over, I picked up the book and settled down for another read. At the top in the now customary lettering are the words Magus Education and under that slightly smaller Formalcraft.

After reading the first few lines that detailed my time in the Clocktower and letting my brain tingle as I absorbed information, I set the book down as my mouth opened. My customary cackly-giggly laughter emerged unbidden from my mouth as images flashed by.

The Gate of Babylon opened and spilled out countless treasures, an invisible sword raised and let loose, and me home after many years away. My laughter died down as I cracked open the book again. Hours passed as I absorbed the years of knowledge on this single page.

To my disappointment, I could not use the vast majority of magecraft that was taught to me. With my lack of magic circuits or another method of accessing an inner pool of magic, even simple tricks such as Reinforcement, Gradation Air, and Hypnotism were beyond my reach. However, Formalcraft, which the majority of this page took up, I could use, all it would take was some chanting, a bit of blood, and perhaps a sacrifice or two, and I would be able to use my other tricks.

Setting the open book on the counter, I pulled out one of my health potions and an old steak knife. Carefully cutting the palm of my hand per the instruction held in the Grimoire and now my head. Careful squeezes, and soon I had a reasonably straight circle where the steak knife lay. Then taking my finger, I traced a few sigils with the blood, after which I started chanting in german.
"Better and better, I call upon my spirits, the ones that watch, to improve and improve."

After letting my words fade into the air, I saw the blood light up slightly and the knife quiver slightly. After conferring with my Grimoire, I determined that after 10 minutes held inside the circle, the knife would be able to cut through most mundane materials with ease. It would keep this property for a minute after being taken out.

There were other methods to improve this time; the best would be either sacrifice as a soul human or otherwise hold tremendous power. The much more ethically sourced would be gems, which I could buy. Making sure to lock my door behind me, book under arm, I headed to the Boardwalk. The locale soon improved as I walked into the more affluent portions of Brockton Bay, and I was quickly in the wealthiest city blocks.

I took a brief moment to observe the Rig and saw for the first time the forcefield bridge as it shimmered into view. Tempering my new instincts to analyze it, I soon headed into a nearby pawn shop, aware of my limited funds. As the small bell gave off its customary ring, a priority balding man set down the book he had been reading and pulled on a pair of half-moon spectacles.


"How can I help you today, sir," He said as his trimmed beard curled up as his grandfatherly face grinned.
"I'm looking to buy a ruby," I stated, impulsive to hesitate, crushed under my new smooth voice.
"I see an aspiring collector?" He inquired hands smoothly and with great familiarity pulling out several small boxes.
"We have several options from the among." He gestured to one that was pulled from a ring.

"To the most expensive." The other hand opened a box showing a cleanly cut and beautiful ruby that glimmered softly in the store light.
"How much would the cheapest be?"
"25 Dollars"
"The most expensive?"
"One grand"
"I'll bye the cheapest," I said, placing down the requested 25 dollars.

The man slid the cash under the counter with a wide grin and passed me the gem. Sliding the gem into a pocket, I started the trek back to my place. On the way back, I spotted an ATM that wasn't being watched and withdrew a few thousand dollars before continuing on my way. With the now usual shoulder slam that opened my door.

I observed the knife now glowing with faint cerulean lines that signified that it was charged and any additional time in the circle was wasted. Cleaning up the now dried blood and setting up a circle to power the gem took much longer than I would have liked.

However, around a few hours and two potions later, I had my new rock glowing as mana lines were carved into its surface. The more elaborate linked glyphs served two purposes. The first was to fill the gem with power that could easily be pulled out, while it would be pretty lethal to pass through my body, still leaving me unable to use other magecraft.

It could be used to power other items, such as my knife. The second circle was used to apply Reinforcement to the gem improving it ever so slightly with only the minimal risk it would explode. Given a few years, it might reach the level of gems that would be useful in Gemcraft; however, my current standards were much lower.

My reading was interrupted by a harsh knock on the door. Swiftly tossing my blanket over my Formalcraft ritual, careful not to smudge the lines, I cracked the door open. I saw my landlord looking annoyed and two officers, one of which stepped to my door and flashed a badge retracting it too fast for me to catch more than PRT.
"What can I do for you, officers?" I inquired

"We just wish to ask a few questions about last night," The man on the right asked. He was clothed in the typical PRT uniform, chain-mail, and kevlar, a firearm hanging on his belt. His face was set in severe lines with a five o'clock shadow, brown hair cut short.

While his partner was wearing the same gear, his face was clean-shaven, and sporting a slight grin as if he was happy to be on the job. My fingers tingled as the Grimore tucked under my arm burbled; however, it stayed the same, and I was relieved.
Of course, officers, what do you want to know?" The slightly more grungy one replied
"We had a report a robbery occurred a block south from here. Did you hear anything?"

"I did not, sir," I replied, knees shaking slightly as I remembered that I was maskless when I interfered, and only the lack of lighting saved me from a nice cozy cell. The clean-shaven man pushed a small card into my hand containing the PRT's logo and a number underneath.
"Well, if you remember anything or find anything new, just call that number."

"I will, and have a good night, officers," I replied with a slight nod, gently shutting the door. After waiting a few minutes to make sure they had left, I staggered over to my bed and slumped into it bonelessly, breathing harder.

"Ok, no more heroing unless I have a proper method of hiding my identity," I muttered into my tiny room before pulling the bedsheet off my imbuing ritual. Locking my door and getting dressed in my new pajamas, I settled into my bed and fell asleep after a long few minutes.

Powers Gained
Magus Education(Formalcraft):An official education! The proper way for a magus to learn his arts, to travel to the famed Clocktower institution and learn from the greatest, and most egotistical, minds of the Mages' Association. Even if you're some country bumpkin from the Far East, you've had the chance to get a formalized education and degree at the Clocktower over the course of four to eight years. It taught you all the basics of being a Magus, such as decent capability with Formalcraft, Reinforcement, Gradation Air, and Hypnotism. The core arts of any magus, as well as a general familiarity with the supernatural world. You also took on something of a specialty, possibly even a family legacy you inherited, in magecraft. In a field of modern magecraft, you've made a name as having decent potential. An amateur to any professional but in your chosen field, from a rookie Alchemist to a burgeoning Elementalist to a spirit user or something more specific, you've got a few years training on the other students with no ability at all. Your time there also lets you gain a few friends and contacts at the Association, mostly classmates and perhaps a faculty member or two.

 

[Plik]

Better and better, I call upon my spirits, the ones that watch, to improve and improve.

Click to shrink...

I will provide you a translation as german is my first language and it's always more interesting in my opinion to read the thing's in it's intended language.

Besser und besser, ich rufe meine geister, die welche zuschauen, um zu verbessern und verbessern.

 

[Witherbrine26]

I will provide you a translation as german is my first language and it's always more interesting in my opinion to read the thing's in it's intended language.

Besser und besser, ich rufe meine geister, die welche zuschauen, um zu verbessern und verbessern.

Click to shrink...

I speak german as well. Personally however I find it annoying to not know what is being said however I think I'll toy with it going forward. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Witherbrine26]

I awoke slowly and rolled over, not wanting to get up. Several groggy-filled minutes later, I stumbled out of bed bleared-eyed to the bathroom. Taking a long pull of water and splashing my face a few times, I got to work on getting ready for the day. Cooking breakfast while brushing my teeth was a novel experience; however, several minutes later, I sat down and ate oatmeal while taking sips of water. L

ooking over my Grimoire, I saw that I had six healing potions again and tucked one in my pant pocket. Setting my bowl and cup in the sink and looking around at the mess of my apartment, ritual circles made out of dried glowing faintly, clothes on the floor, and a sink with dirty dishes.

Stretching, I got to work, setting my dirty clothes in a pile to be washed, pulling out the often used sponge. I cleaned up the blood and tucked the now mana-filled ruby away. Finishing up by tidying my bathroom and having a quick shave.

My attempt at a mustache needed to be cleaned up. Looking over my apartment with satisfaction, I picked up my clothes and headed to the washer and dryer that the condo had on site.

Dropping my clothes in the washer and set it to run on fast. Humming a little to pass the time, a woman clad in loose-fitting clothes, long blonde hair, and circles under her eyes came up with a bin full of clothes.
"You're new here," She said, giving me a tired but broad smile
"That I am," I replied, extending a hand for a shake. Balancing the bin on her hip, she gave me an enthusiastic handshake before counting.
"Well, it's nice to have you here. My name is Jessica. I live a few doors down from you. If you need anything, don't be afraid to holler." Flashing a bucktoothed smile back, I replied.
"Thanks for the offer. I'll let you know if I need help. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask either."
"Course, we help each other out around here, 'sept Ronald but he's an old drunk, so don't bother to listen to his gloom and doom."

The washer gave a small ding; pulling the sopping wet clothing, I placed it in the dryer and started it on fast. The waiting soon turned awkward as the conversation topics had dried up.

Picking up my now dry clothes, I gave Jessica a slight nod on my way back to my apartment. Closing the door with a harsh bump from my hips, I lay the clothes on my bed and, after a few minutes, hung them up in my now much more cramped closet.

Flipping through the Grimoire, I knew I would need a power source for my magecraft. I had the language portion down as I spoke german and the knowledge portion due to the eight years of information held within my mind and the book. My current issue was of power, and while I could bootleg it with gems and Formalcraft, that wouldn't be sufficient in any situation that required quick action.

I had a few options. I could continue using my blood to kickstart my rituals and use the city's mana for the rest; however, that would throw up a huge red sign that a magus was here. While I didn't know if that would be detectible by people in the city, I wouldn't put it past Armsmaster or Dragon to have some sort of sensor that could find out where I was doing my rituals.

The other option would be sacrifice, using the life force of a person or animal to conjure a boost of mana that would power most rituals almost instantly. The downside is that I would need to murder something for that power, and while animals were easy to acquire, living people were not.

I froze as a thought crossed my mind. Shards are massive living supercomputers that could power reality-defying powers for hundreds of years. Eidolon lasted decades with a jury-rigged shard and was considered the most powerful man in the world.

What power would somebody like Lung's hold? The new plan was to find a parahuman and figure out what I could do with the energy from a shard. As I was pacing around, I could feel the book burbling with more energy that soon faded away, the potential having grown slightly more significant.

Wrenching my thoughts back on track and riffling through my apartment for my mechanical pencil and notepad, I started to list who would be the easiest to find. Top of the list was Kaiser, aka Max Anders, and he would be in the Medhall building most of the day; the wards were at either Winslow or Arcadia High.

I knew that Vista was at some other middle school; however, kidnapping a Ward was right out. The Fallen could do that because they had Mama Matthers who would stop any attempt to rescue the kids. Taylor Hebert would most likely be at home in the docks or Winslow. Amy would be at the hospital, Arcadia, or home, and Victoria would be with her.

I didn't know where members of the Protectorate lived, and attacking the Rig was suicide right now. Lung and Oni Lee would be around the Asian community, which was massive and take too long to search.

Pissing the Empire off while a noble endeavor would likely have me end in a body bag before the end of the week, so they were out. The Merchants weren't big yet and were still hiding underfoot, and getting on Coil's radar would earn me a job with a 9mm retirement policy. Chewing the end of my mechanical pencil, I looked over my notepad while mulling over a plan.

It looked like my best bet was to find one of the Merchants; however, that would be difficult without a method to track them. Flipping back through my notepad to the list of civilian identities.

I had written down under Merchants was Sherrel Baily for Squealer and Adam Mustain for Skidmark. A ritual would be able to lead me to them as long as they were within a few blocks; the lack of materials from either of them would reduce the scope and efficiency of the ritual.

Pulling out the barebone supplies, I needed two things. The first is a method to take the parahumans out without killing them. While my knife plus a healing potion could do the trick, it was too risky as the potions healed one mortal wound, which would set us back to square one if they weren't tied up before the potion was applied. I also didn't know enough about medicine or using a knife to disable somebody without killing them.

The second option was to figure out how to get Hypnotism to work and then hypnotize them. The issue with that plan was that I needed to get Hypnotism to work, which was hard because my only method of Magecraft right now was Formalcraft which was either instant effects or long-term effects over an area.

The knife worked because it was a simple reinforcement, and I knew a smidgen of Jewelcraft to kludge together a ritual to store power in a gem even if the ratio was awful.

Grabbing my Grimoire and flipping to the Magus Education page, I settled down for a read on how to attempt my goal. Around 45 minutes later and 2 two pages from my notepad, I had a solution.

I would need to carve a small ritual circle into an object to hold a gem filled with mana near it and say a code phrase. This solution brought up its share of issues: where could I get something that. would hold up to the rigors of mana passing through it, but I could also carve into.

Although technically, writing was carving a minor groove into paper, and while it would be single-use, if I were fast enough, I could get both of the parahumans before they could react. Step one would be to acquire all the ritual ingredients which I had in my flat.

The next step was to set up both rituals because once I finished them, I would be one a ticking clock, which according to my newfound knowledge, would last around two to three hours for the pages and about twice that for the locater. Lastly, walk around the docks to find where exactly Skidmark and Squaler were located.

Laying out a sheet of crisp paper inside a circle of my blood, I wrote Tiefschlaf, which meant deep sleep, in my blood and placed my ruby on the first paper.

"Come old ghosts soak this paper with sleep come and soak come and soak!" I chanted in german, my voice resonating and bouncing off the small walls of my flat. The symbol on the paper started to glow as the ruby dimmed slightly. Quickly I set aside the first paper and repeated the process on the second paper causing my gem to dim to around fifty percent brightness.

Stowing the papers in my hoodie pocket, I got to today's second and more difficult portion. I pulled out an old compass that I had found in an old cabinet. I then flipped it over and started to write two names on the back, this time in pen, as using my blood would link the ritual to me.

I chanted again, setting the compass on the counter inside the original blood circle and my much-diminished ruby to empower the papers.
"Reveal these two find them where they have hidden reveal the living bring me to them"

Breathing slightly harder, I reached out and picked up the compass. The needle was pointing towards the docks into the city instead of north. Walking around in my apartment failed to change that, and my mouth curved into a slight tight-lipped grin.

Sliding on my shoes, hoodie, and side bag, I walked outside, closing and locking the door behind me. Compass in hand, I started to walk the streets of Brockton Bay until the compass could get a full lock onto the location of the two capes.

While walking down a primarily abandoned street mirrored by empty warehouses and empty alleys, I felt the book start to grow a new page and, at the same time, felt a burning in my chest.

Stumbling into a nearby alleyway, I pawed for my Grimore as my gaze grew hazy. My chest felt like something deep inside me had been lit aflame. Flipping to the new page, I felt the burning start to course through my body as strange weightlessness came over me. The new page was labeled Bullet Patterns, and as the burning petered off, I started to read intensely.

My Grimore describes how Monsters could use magic and I being a Monster, had an innate understanding of White Magic, which is using one SOUL to conjure attacks to strike at an opponent's SOUL directly.

Sliding down the wall as my breathing grew heavy. I cupped a hand over where my heart would be (dust and magic). I felt a faint pulse as if a heart was beating; however, holding my fingers, my wrist didn't elicit a response, and after holding my breath for a few minutes, my fears were realized several times over.

I was a monster in body and SOUL. A single well place strike with the proper killing intent, and I would fade away like the dust I was made of now. However, as I held out my hand and thought of my trigger (a flick, click, and flame), my hand held a small knife; it was light, and after letting go, it vanished into the air.

That meant I could use that eight-year Magecraft education that was crammed into my head. While most of it focused on Formalcraft, I still was proficient at the other basics. Running through a few other tricks, I determined that while I could feel a small tug at where my heart used to be, I could use a decent bit of Magecraft before becoming tired.

Continuing down my path, I followed the compass until it reached a warehouse filled with lights and sound. Creeping closer, I put an ear to the wall I listened in.
"Alright, listen up, you shitcrumbs!" A voice shouted out

"We all know the difficulties of dealing with the other cumstains that prevent us from selling." At that, there were muted sounds of affirmative.
"So here's the plan; Squealer here will take us to the Empires Storehouse. Once they grab everything and toss it in the tank, it's time to sell and party!" At that, the sounds grew louder as people started to move around inside the warehouse before the voice cut back in
"Don't forget if anybody asks who did this, let them know it was the Merchants!"

It seemed I had interrupted the merchants heading out to steal drugs. Taking a peek inside the room, I knew I was outclassed, holding upwards of fifteen people, not counting the two capes. While I could fight well with my new magic, a single hit could put me down, and I didn't possess the skills to use my Magecraft in active combat.

However, taking another peek, this room seemed to be well kitted out for a simple hideout, and it was likely that the merchants would come back here to divide up the spoils of war. Hearing footsteps approach my entrance, I ducked into a nearby alley as I heard a massive vehicle starting up.

With a noise not unlike the roar of a loin noise, a behemoth of a tank almost flew out of the entrance, and belching smoke started to barrel into the inner city with a laughing Skidmark on top.

I knew that I would have to act quickly to plant a trap that would catch all of the Merchants when they came back. I knew from Papyrus that attacks could stick around after he conjured them, and I hoped that was the same here.

I took a brief moment and soon, floating next to me were several german words, all paper-thin and laying themself on the ground around the warehouse. Laying the schlafen words down took an hour after filling in the in-between with blood. Tossing aside my third healing potion, I applied one of the imbued paper at my feet inside a smaller circle linked up with the larger circle. I then settled in for a long wait.


Powers Gained
Bullet Patterns:Magic is part of being a monster- It's literally a part of you! As such, all monsters have at least a rudimentary understanding of White Magic- That is to say, they can use magic to attack. Like almost all magic, this magic directly attacks the SOUL of an opponent and does not actually physically harm them- They might show bruises, cuts, or other superficial signs of damage, but otherwise the pain is all felt on a spiritual level. Since magic is so tied to their being, a monster's innate magic is invariably representative of their personality or appearance- A frog-like monster might use flies to attack, a skeleton might use bones, or a dog might use... dog-shaped attacks. This innate magic is typically rudimentary and easy to avoid, but many monsters prefer to use their bullet patterns as a way of expressing themselves rather than use them as actual attacks.

 

[Knived]

Man he would fit right in with slaughterhouse, free sacrifices for his.

 

[Trainerzygarde]

Oof. Being a monster has both it's advantages and disadvantages;

Pro, Ya got magic! Con, it runs out? Depending on which kind of monster you are, and how much HoPe you have, you either get tired, pass out, get Dusted or Fall Down. Although, I'm pretty sure he would be more of the melty kind, seeing as I think he SHOULD be able to hold human Determination like Undine, just fine. Not enough for Frisk level shenanigans, but enough to not instantly get ganked if someone from the Slaughterhouse Nine REALLY wants to kill him and then grazes him.

Pro, ya got HoPe; from what I've seen from both the game and a bunch of AU fandoms, having even a little actual HoPe can somewhat keep you alive, like making sure you can still bend over and get out of danger with a gut wound, even if you're probably dying. Con? If you lose all actual hope? Like get so depressed that you feel like dying? Newsflash bud, your brand new monster bod might just help you out there.

Another pro is that I don't think he strictly needs to eat for nutrient's sake, but I'm basing that off the food of the Underground which was cooked in a saturated magic environment by Monsters, which was probably why it could heal HP and have a little kid able to scarf down 15 slices of pie without getting bloated as all hell.

If you haven't noticed by now, I'm a bit of an Undertale nut 😅

 

[Witherbrine26]

I was never the most patient person, so I started to pace and check the ritual circle when the Merchants failed to return after the first half-hour. The ritual was stable and required a simple mana infusion to power it, which I had stored in the gem I held. Slipping out of the alley to peek around, I saw empty streets.

While that was confusing, it wasn't that big of a deal until I saw why. Squealer's tank limped down the road, smoking and covered in dents and areas. It looked like somebody had taken a buzz saw to most of the tank, and Skidmark was still standing on top of it right behind the barrel with a proud but tired smile that revealed his disgusting teeth.

Ducking back into the alley, I hurried to the paper I had laid on the ground earlier and set the half-full ruby on top of it. Slipping my hood over my head and a bandana over my nose. The noise of the tank soon ground to a stop, followed by shuffles and grunts of people carrying heavy items. Soon Skidmark's voice piped up.

"Alright, that was a great haul; take a bit for yourself; you earned it!" Followed by tired cheers and faster movement. A few minutes later, casual conversation filtered out along with the sounds of a blowtorch and other assorted mechanical tools.

I touched the gem lightly with one hand and started to chant in german "You shall sleep quickly and sleep and sleep without ceasing" I waited for a long moment until the sounds faded and several thuds as people fell over dead asleep. Walking inside, head on a swivel, I took in sight.

The capes were facedown, fast asleep, as was everybody else. Ignoring the normals, I summoned more words and slid them under Skidmark and Squealer's unconscious forms.

I slid out of the warehouse and crept along until I reached the warehouse I had first stayed in when I arrived in this world. Setting them down, I knew they would be out for another hour, so I needed to work fast. Summoning the words authorize, rain control, and silence in german I set them up in a similar circle as I did at the Merchant's hideout. Stepping back after linking them with the strange dust that I had instead of blood.

"Let them sleep to drain them to make them frozen while they sleep" After intoning those words in german watched with no small amount of satisfaction as the circles lit up almost immediately as opposed to the minutes or even hours it took before. As I picked the empty ruby in my pocket, I felt another tingling as the Grimoire grew another page.

I set the ruby down in its location, watching with another surge of pride as the ruby started to fill rapidly. I then flipped the Grimoire to its newest page, Sorcery - Enchantment; under that were the words One Dot with information on how to make small specific enchanted items. Further down was Two Dots which expanded on the principles of One Dot and Three Dot, which told me how to create powerful magical artifacts.

I knew I needed to test this almost immediately; fortunately, I had two excellent sources of energy that should speed up the process vastly. First, however, I needed to make sure nobody stumbled in on my new lab.

Summoning the words ignorieren, vergessen, verlassen, and Verknüpfung, I linked the parahumans prison with a circle outside the building. After a few moments of chanting, the words vanished from sight. Giving a small sigh of satisfaction, I took off my hoodie and bandana before walking to the Boardwalk.

Around 30 minutes later, I arrived at the Boardwalk and quickly gathered the needed items to make magical items. It took over three hours; however, I got a wide selection of cheap, easily hidden items such as rings, necklaces, shoes, and clothes. While hauling all of the goods back to my lab was a pain, the giddiness I felt was able to suppress my tiredness.

Dropping all of my items on the ground next to my new power sources, I settled in to start enchanting. I had a few things on the docket; the first was a group of defense items, and the second was methods that would hide my civilian identity.

For defensive items, I had a few options. My new form ran on HoPe which meant that I could survive as long as I did not fall into a depression and was willing to push on. That meant I could enchant an item to make me cheerful. However, that would most likely be a bad idea, so I had to table that idea for now.

It seemed that in the absence of a method to check my HoPe, I needed to dodge attacks instead of blocking them. I darted to the healing potions and sighed slightly. I knew I needed to check if they still worked; fishing one out of my book, I sliced a small gash on my finger, dust falling to the ground from the open wound. Then, in a single gulp, I downed the potion.

Exultation filled my mind; I could do this. I grew more potent over time, and my new form made me immortal(just a single hit). All I had to do was simply wait, and I would be able to achieve anything I desired; all I needed was time.

Several minutes later, I had cooled down from my hope-filled thoughts and ranting. Opening cracked lips "Ok, health potion makes me feel extremely hopeful." I resolved then and there to only take them in the direst of circumstances; otherwise, I could likely get myself killed.

Settling down again, I flipped through my Grimoire to continue my brainstorming session. While the access to a practically unlimited power source in the form of two shards and a body that was nighty percent magic would speed up the process of enchanting by a considerable amount, It would still take me days to put together a proper defensive package.

I decided to enchant my bandana to make it impossible to observe my facial features, simply showing a black void while being worn. As it was only an illusion, touch would allow people to tell it was not my natural face; however, the goal was not to be touched, so I should be fine.

Looking over my notes on enchanting, I saw it would most likely take around a whole day to make, which meant I could table it for now. The second option was to enchant my boxers to allow short-range teleportation. My boxers were the best choice because I doubted if I got captured or disabled people would steal my underclothes.

However, that would take much longer at three days, and I couldn't simply sit here for that amount of time. While I physically could, as Monsters didn't need to eat or sleep and did them to recover mental focus or pleasure, it was not strictly required. I still lived in a condo and had talked with a person there who would probably be suspicious if a neighbor vanished out of the blue.

So that meant I had to head back to sleep at least and eat there, which, while not a significant issue, still set back the crafting to take closer to a week. I also doubted I would get more powers over that time, as time alone did not factor in how long it took me to gain abilities.

As I thought that, I felt the tingle again; however, there was no growth, and the Grimoire stayed as it was. It was getting late, and I needed to be at my flat to keep up appearances, so I hurried back to my apartment. I saw a blue motorcycle on which a man with blue and silver armor blurred past on my way back.

However, besides the brief brush with Armsmaster, nothing else happened on the way back to my apartment, and I got inside with no further incident. Cooking a microwave burrito, I ate it; however, as the first bite slid down my throat, it simply settled in my stomach like a brick. Groaning as I knew that this would be a problem come morning.

I had forgotten that Monsters ate food that simply dissolved into magic energy when eaten, which was how a child could cram dozens of slices of pie without getting sick. Focusing on the remainder of the burrito, I infused it with magic energy and continued to eat. The food dissolved in my mouth with a pleasant tingle as the non-magical lump weighed me down literally and metaphorically. I soon turned off the lights and settled in for sleep.

Over the next week, I settled into a schedule. I would make myself some magically infused food, get dressed, and tidy up around my flat in the morning. I would then leave and head to my warehouse, careful not to be seen.

When I got to it, the first thing I would do would be to check up on the sigils that kept my captives subdued and unable to use their powers. Next, I would check the circle that made people ignore my building, and then lastly would sit down and start enchanting for the day.

After hours of enchanting, aided by the two parahumans and my Monster physiology, I would head back to my flat, make myself dinner, and then sleep. While it was a tedious week, it was necessary if I didn't want to die the first time somebody punched me.

Holding my breath as I slipped on the boxers, I focused on the other end of the warehouse and felt a fleeting slipping as I appeared, stumbling at the other end of my lab. As I walked over to gather the materials for my next item, a smile crept onto my face. I picked up my bandana as my next project.

While I had been lucky that nobody had caught me yet. My first heroic action taught me that I needed to be careful, as a single slip up would result in my being sent to jail or press-ganged to the Protectorate.

The next few days were much the same as when I enchanted my boxers. I woke up, ate breakfast, walked to my workshop, and worked for around six hours. Then head home, make myself dinner, then sleep.

However, at the end of the three days, I had a barebones costume to obscure my identity and prevent me from being killed by the first ganger with a gun. However, while I was not at imminent risk of dying of my civilian identity being exposed, I had to look to the future. That meant dealing with Bakuda before she became a threat.

I wrote down what I knew about the mad bomber with my trusty notepad and mechanical pencil. I knew that she was half Asian and from Boston and blew up Cornell when she received a bad grade on a test. Then around the 20th of March was recruited by Lung, who beat the shit out of her in order to force her to listen to him.

After a brief bombing campaign that had everybody unite against her, she was sent to the Birdcage along with Canary and Lung. She went against Lung, and he killed her while the Fairy Queen collected her shard. She was phycological weak, and dismissing her achievements would throw her off balance; letting her monologue would allow you to do something.

However, despite all that information, she was not to be underestimated. She was able to make bombs that did anything from Grey Boy loops to transmuting people to glass. However, we only saw her results after a month of preparation, if I remember the timeline correctly. Taylor went out on the 11th of April, and Lung was arrested that night.

Bakuda used the bombing as a way to free Lung. Unforntly it seemed I would have to wait until Bakuda triggered to attack her. Settling on my bed, I decided to continue my morning planning as nothing good came from a quickly made plan.

Powers Gained
Sorcery - Enchantment (One-Three Dots): The sorcery of creating items with magical abilities and properties. The creation of such items generally takes three days per dot required to make it. [1] The Enchanter creates a minor item with limited use only and a tight area of influence. Such as a jacket that works as abnormally good camouflage in a crowd, or glasses that never fog. The Enchanter creates a more powerful talisman that is noticeable as magic. A flask that blocks three bullets and no more, objects that increase a mundane skill by a noticeable amount when used. The Enchanter creates a talisman whose function is obviously magical. Shoes that double running speed, a charm that can protect its wearer from magic three times a day.

 

[Trainerzygarde]

Hurrah! We got two batteries! Seeing as some Shards have enough power for at least a decade of intense power use, we have our power sources, alright!

I wonder which SOUL colour he is? It might make some kinds of magic easier...

 

[Witherbrine26]

Stretching as I woke up, I slowly slid myself out of bed. A benefit of my new Monster physiology was that I was wide-eyed and ready to start the day when I woke up. I started my morning as I always did with a small bowl of oatmeal with heated milk instead of water and a small pinch of brown sugar and cinnamon.

Gently sipping the runny oatmeal, I leaned back into my chair as it brought me back to better years, years where I wasn't stuck in a crapsack world, years where my mother would make oatmeal every morning, and my father would grill bacon over the stove.

Shaking myself out of the nostalgia, I decided that since I had some time to kill for the first time since I arrived here, I flicked on the TV and started to see if I couldn't find cartoons of some sort. However, my channel surfing was broken by a breaking news alert; I froze and sat up in my seat as I saw a large campus made of glass, complete with glass statues.

"Fuck!" I swore, tossing my bowl in the sink and quickly shrugging on my clothes. As I stumbled through getting my pants on, I felt the warmth on the tips of my fingers as the Grimoire's energy built up; however, this time, the book did not expand, and the energy settled larger in my chest.

Darting out of my apartment, I shrugged on my hoodie, and with a brief focus from my boxers, I vanished and appeared within my lab near the ceiling. Swearing, I slammed into the ground and, coughing up a handful of dust, performed my routine checkup. Seeing everything was normal, I knew I had no more time to dither.

If everything went the same, Lung would recruit Bakuda, which could not happen. She had just bombed Cornell University, which meant she would be in Brockton in a week or two. I did not have a method to track her, and teleporting to New York held a strong chance of me appearing miles in the sky or halfway through a building. The chance to go off target increased with the distance I was trying to teleport.

Formalcraft could do almost anything with the proper rituals and power behind it. While the name Bakuda would work as it would work with Skidmark and Squealer, it was not as effective as using her name.

I could also try to make an item. However, Sorcery-Enchantment, while it could be potent at its current moment the, teleportation was at the edge of what it could make. However, a possible combination of Formalcraft and Enchantment could work.

I flipped open my Grimore and started looking through its pages for a method to locate Bakuda. After several minutes I had a bold idea cooked up with a combination of ideas. I would use Formalcraft to construct a Bounded Field powered by Skidmark's Shard, which would enhance the field by using the concept of Skidmark's layering his fields to infinity.

The second step would be to enchant my compass and link it to Squealers Shard, which in theory, would allow me to find tinkers based on the resonating of the Shards. This would, however, take upwards of a week to a week and a half, which leaves only a few days to find Bakuda and take her out.

I did not see any other options that left this as the best choice. I settled down after pulling out my knife, compass, and Grimoire. The next week and a half were tiring.

I pulled around 8 hours of careful drawing, dust-letting, and researching all to make an item that would connect through a tiny portal into a massive crystalline entity to track down something similar to it only in the eyes of the blind masses. However, belief had power, and I believed this would work; I had enough energy to sunder nations and the belief of millions backed by 30 years of mystical might.

A blast of energy rocked my warehouse, sending me flat on my ass, coughing as I waved my hand in front of me to clear the dust from the air. As the dust cleared, I saw sitting gently in the middle of the room glowing softly was a compass, the needle flicking wildly across its surface. The sigils containing the two parahumans were flickering; however, after a few long moments, they settled down to their almost constant white glow.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I walked over and picked up the compass.
-Vehicle, Efficiency, Modular, Queen_Objective, S&r@#e-
I dropped it as my head pounded like somebody had slammed into it with a jackhammer. Breathing hard despite the lack of need, I ran the names over in my mind. Vehicle was Squealer, Efficiency Armsmaster, Modular Kid Win, and Queen Objective was most likely Leet, and that last one, I had no clue who could bear that butchered mess of a Shard.

Slowly and carefully, I picked up the compass, focusing my mind on one power, bombs big and small ones that would tear and Endbringer to bit's transmutation, ones that would spread a man across a wall and leave him alive.

A slight pounding filled my head as the compass' needle darted around before settling north away from Brockton and slowly moving towards it. Swearing softly, I knew that Lung had Bakuda and was en route to the bay.

This brought back another issue: while I could take on a single tinker and wear her down, so she used all her single-use ammunition, Lung was beyond me. While most people did not know that Lung had fought Levithan to a standstill, I did, and it terrified me.

While logically, I knew it was only after hours of fighting, and even at the end, Lung gave up, so his Shard stopped supporting him. The fact that he still fought the testament to a single man's ego was still frightening.

Taking a few deep breaths, I let what I knew tumble through my head; while he was powerful, that was only if he had time to power up. Hitting him hard and fast would still put him down; his regeneration was slowed by venom, poison, and other similar things. That summed up most of my information about his powers.

I believed that my White Magic could hit his SOUL; however, that brought up another issue. I was a Monster, and he was human; a Determined child could slay the entire underground, and I was not a powerful monster. On the same note, if there was one thing Lung was Determined, while not powerful enough to travel back in time, he could most likely ignore the vast majority of his attacks while he ramped up.

A strategy I could use would be to use Hypnotism to knock Lung and Bakuda out. Prior to becoming a Monster, I would have had no method to do that before they holed themself up in the city. Now I was made up of magic and dust, which meant a single hit could kill me; it would also put much more mana than even the best Magus.

As I was musing, I felt the customary burning of my Grimoire; however, as an additional page grew in, I felt something bubble within my chest, and as I breathed out, I felt something my mind could as encapsulate as blue as it washed over the world around me out to a few yards surrounding me.

As I looked around, I felt like I was walking through the water as my mana drained rapidly. It seemed like it would take another hour to drain enough that the spell would run out of mana and end as I plucked my notepad out of my pocket and tossed it in the air.

I flew up a little bit before freezing in place. I tapped it, and it moved until I let go. A laugh bubbled within me as I saw the blue world I had formed. Time had stopped within my domain, reaching out fifteen feet. Time was mine, mine to freeze as I wished, and while reversal was beyond me, I could feel the potential growing slowly.

Dropping the time freeze, I watched as the notepad dropped to the floor. I slid on my bandana as my new mental clock hit 9:51:43:21:49:59, and I vanished from my lab compass clutched in hand.

I appeared on the outskirts of Brockton Bay; this time, I was lucky and only fell a few inches onto a rooftop. Looking down at the compass, I saw the needle start to turn towards me. Following the needle, I saw a small truck with a small Asian driver sweating heavily and would toss a glance towards the back.

Breathing in a breath, I appeared on top of the truck and, with a quick look around, saw that the street was empty of other cars save a motorcycle that sped up upon seeing my form. Breathing out blue, I froze the truck, its inhabitants in place. As my heart started to speed up I felt the blue start to slip away from me and realized that I had only around half a minute.

Humming under my breath, I fired a salvo of words at the top of the truck blowing the top in each word was a staccato on the blue, hammering it further from my grip.

I saw a massive bald Asian man with tattoos crawling up his arms; next to him was a comparatively small half-Asian woman with a scowl etched on her face. Focusing on the bigger threat at the moment, I fire half a dozen words at Lung.

As the last words spun into reality, my blue worlds shattered, and I reached out with my metaphorical hands, trying to grasp onto it. What I found, however, froze me, everything from the truck to Lung and Bukadu and their own blue line.

As the words slammed Lung out through the truck wall and he shot up a foot as fire exploded out from him, I grabbed his line and spread it out; as the line (timeline) expanded and grew thin, he slowed down.

Bakuda, however, had no such issue and tossed a small sphere in my direction; with a dismissive glance, I spread out the bomb's line and looked into the bomber's eyes, spoke a single word in german.
"Sleep"
The girl fell over as the truck driver slammed on the breaks. Flying forward, I teleported to the ground to the side of the truck. Grimacing as I realized what would happen if I hadn't thought to account for speed changes. Lung ran towards me, fire spilling from his body as he roared out
"I'll fucking kill you!"

His mouth barely distorted the words; however, my brief moment of inaction cost me as he was on me in a flash. His massive claw-like hand swiped through where I had been an instant before. I gazed upon him from the nearby rooftop. Looking down at myself, I grabbed my own line and compressed it as the world sped up.

Spinning dozens of words into reality, I sent them flying at Lung's flaming, nude form. Lung stumbled back as the words hit him; while there was no physical mark, he was hurt nonetheless. A grin found my face as I teleported away from a fireball he had spewed.

I danced around him, teleporting away before he could hit as the docks caught fire music left my throat as I sang my words, reinforcing my own high and pushing down at Lung like a physical force.

As he grew ever taller, my grin only grew bigger because while he could heal the physical damage dealt by White magic, the wounds to his SOUL would last longer. Hearing a siren pulled me out of the rapture of combat, of two people baring their souls to each other.

My eyes darted to the green-white emergency lights as my eyes spotted a man riding a blue and silver motorbike. My eyes bore into Lung's as, and with a musical cry in german, Lung stumbled before he started to shrink, power failing him as he slipped into unconscious.

I now had a hard choice in front of me. I could grab both and use their Shards for power, or I could grab one and let the other go; the last option was to let both go. As I heard Armsaster's(Efficiency) bike turn the corner, I breathed out a breath of blue and, as time slowed to a crawl, hefted Bakuda over my shoulder and crept away from the crime scene.

While my blue world would only last around thirty minutes, it would be enough time to sneak back to my warehouse. Forty-five minutes and another blue world later, I had Bakuda locking in a sealing circle. After triple checking the sigils, I took off my costume and started to head home. While today was tiring I had also prevented hundreds of deaths and gotten another battery for my Magecraft.


Powers Gained
Sorcery - Chronomancy (One Dot-Five Dots):
The magical power to manipulate time. However, it cannot divine information about the past or future, instead altering the flow of time within the present.
[1] The chronomancer gains the ability to keep track of time perfectly, detecting its passage
more precisely than any watch, and also sensing distortions in time as well as being significantly
harder to surprise.
[2] The chronomancer knows how to orient themselves in time to better perform any action that requires precise timing. This spell must be cast before performing the action.
[3] The chronomancer may now accelerate their own personal timeline, allowing them to perform actions and movements in what others perceive as a fraction of the time.
[4] Just as the sorcerer altered their own personal timeline, they may now affect the timelines of others, accelerating them or slowing them down, severely hampering their battle prowess in the process.
[5] This level of chronomancy allows its user to pause time in a small area, up to a square yard, for a short period. Under stressful situations, this spell can last up to fifteen seconds, while in calmer straights it can last up to five minutes. Anything that enters the paused area will also become frozen, though objects only partially within the area of paused time can be manipulated from the outside.

 

[Witherbrine26]

The following day I awoke to the burning feeling in my fingers as the Grimoire's energy peaked and then settled without growing another page. Groaning, I stumbled into the kitchen and started on my traditional breakfast. I infused the meal with mana as I sat down and began to go over my plan for the day.

With Lung captured and Bakuda out of commission, the ABB was most likely down for good. While Oni Lee was a tremendous force projector, Lung allowed them to hold fight back incursions. With Lung's arrest, the Empire would push into ABB territory and start terrorizing the locals.

So that meant I had two options, the first was to hunt down Oni Lee, which would remove the ABB permanently, or I could fight some Nazis. While the second option was very appealing, the Empire had a massive pool of resources to call upon, not in the least was the largest pool of capes in Brockton Bay. That meant I needed to get more powerful before taking them own.

Besides the Empire, I had Coil, who I needed to deal with as soon as possible. With Coil's death, which would need to be death with him, the Undersiders would fall apart, and the PRT would not have a mole in the running for the director. Unfortunately for him, I knew his name; Thomas Calvert, all I had to do was rig up a tracking ritual, and I would be able to take him out.

That, however, necessitated the purchase of another compass, so I shrugged on my black sweatpants, green T-shirt, and black hoodie and headed down to the Boardwalk. On my walk to a store, I stopped by a Newspaper stand and picked up the local paper.

The headline read Armsmaster Caputres Azn Bad Boyz leader Lung, along with an accompanying grainy picture. Giving the newspaper back to the proprietor, I smirked a bit as I knew the idea of some no-name new hero taking out Lung and simply leaving him for the PRT.

The rest of the walk was calm as I headed into a small store that sold knickknacks, the tarnished bell ringing merrily. Looking around the store, I picked up a few items I knew would be helpful, a compass, chalk, and a few cheap gems. After paying, I left and started my walk back home.

Breathing in the sea air, a sense of satisfaction washed over me; while I still had a lot to do, I had over a month dismantled the Merchants and the ABB. Oni Lee was still out there; however, crushing his personality under the mass suicide teleport that was his power.

I just had to wait for him to pop his head out, then I would take him out. However, for now, I had a snake to catch, I soon arrived at my lab, and after locking the door behind me, I checked on the sigils, which were satisfactory. I then set my new compass on the ground and started to write out a circle with chalk and my dust and started to chant in german
"Ghosts, ghosts, come and find a serpent that squirms, come, find and find"
Lowering my hands, I beamed a proud smile as the compass started to glow slightly, and the needle spun around widely for a few moments before settling on downtown.

I picked up the compass and shrugged on my costume, a black void with two white pinpricks for eyes and a long crack in the black for a smile. Focusing on an alleyway I passed on my first day on Bet, I appeared a few dozen feet off the ground; with a quick Chronmancy spell, I could teleport upright on the floor instead of falling flat on my face. Brushing off the non-existent lint off my hoodie, I looked down at my compass and followed the needle to a large building labeled Fortress-Construction.

I raised an eyebrow as I had thought that was a fanon construction; however, with a shrug, I teleported inside the building and started following the compass needle. While repeated teleportation made following the needle more manageable, it was still nerve-racking. Around the two-hour point, I found a small secret door in the parking garage that several men had traveled through.

With a teleport, I was in; however, as I crept forward, I saw a man picking up what appeared to be an assault rifle as he geared up. I bumped into the man, and as he outweighed me by a couple of hundred pounds, I was knocked flat on my ass.

His eyes widened as he pulled his radio up and shouted into it as his other hand brought his gun to bear.
"Fuck!" I shouted as I vanished and appeared behind him as a smattering of bullets tore through where I was a moment prior. He grunted as he turned to face me and got a face full of words for his trouble.


"Hold still!" He bellowed as I was forced to teleport out of the way of another hail of bullets. Breathing out blue, I froze time and then, after glaring into his eyes for a moment, intoned, "sleep" in german. He then fell bonelessly to the ground; I heard boots storming toward me a few moments later.

I appeared on the other side of a group of mercenaries who were quickly walking toward the location of the man I had taken down. As my sneakers hit the ground, the four men turned toward me, guns raised.

Bullets flew through the air as I teleported behind the men and breathed blue, freezing them in place. Feeling my world slip through my hands, I sent out a salvo of words before the blue slipped away, followed by stretching out the men's timelines.

Slowed down to a crawl, they could not dodge my White Magic which swiftly rendered them unmoving on the floor.

Darting down the hallway compass clutched in hand, alarms started ringing in the base. A tingling started to fill my body as the energy began to overflow. I fell to my knees as Grimore's power started to burn as it coursed through my body.

Staring down at my hands, I saw the flesh dripping off as if it was molten wax; there was a plop sound as a small white half-melted orb hit the ground and splattered everywhere. I felt my stomach drop literally as I teleported forward a few feet.

I could feel that my body was much lighter as I saw a small pile of discarded flesh and organs looking back. My now metaphysical stomach attempted to jump up my throat. However, I did not have anything physical to throw up.

Looking at the polished ground, I could see a simple skull with green flames burning in the eye sockets. Looking at my hands, I saw the same result, bone with naught flesh or muscle. Pushing back the horror, I stumbled to my feet and started back down the hallway. I still had to deal with Coil. Horror over the raw, visceral fact that I wasn't human anymore could wait.

Creeping around the underground bond villain base, I could avoid most of the mercenaries, and the ones I couldn't sneak by were swiftly dispatched by White magic and chronomancy. While it took over thirty minutes to find the top office, I eventually did.

As I stepped into the office, my vision blurred, and I saw an empty office devoid of life and a timer on the desk counting down from 5 in one world; in the other, I saw Coil sans counter.

Freezing for a moment as I attempted to reconcile the two sights, Coil's smooth sauve voice slithered out.
"I don't suppose you have a reason to invade my base and slaughter my mercenaries."
As he finished his sentence, the bomb in the first timeline went off, forcing me to teleport back to my lab, luckily not falling far, and I cringed, taking a step back. Coil then paused before speaking further.

"What can I do to assist you?"
"I need all your backup plans in case of your death," I said while sending a burst of mana to my eyes.
"I don't see why I can-" Immediately my vision blurred, and I was only in my lab and not in Coil's base.


"Fuck! Godammit!" I swore as I sent a smattering of words and the far wall. I got cocky and didn't plan for his timeline bullshit. I then pulled out my compass and started to teleport in the direction that the needle was pointing.

Appearing nearby while seeing a small sedan with blacked-out windows and the compass pointing towards the back seat. Appearing on top of the van, I sped up my timeline and the breathed-out blue freezing time for the truck.

Using the same method I did to take out Lung and Bakuda, I spun words into reality and sent them soaring at the top of the van. As my blue fell from my grip, I stretched out the truck's timeline to slow it down.

The other cars on the road swerved out of the way as the van slowed down and its top blew off. Jumping off with short teleportation, I could see the figures inside slamming into the van's insides.

Checking my mana amount, I could see I was under half and would need to finish the fight soon before the PRT showed up.

Raising a skeletal hand, I sent a cascade of words into the van's right side, which blew it open. I could see the four figures open fire, which I could avoid by teleporting to the side of the bullets.

Letting a grin grow on my face that wouldn't be seen, I called out.
"Coil, be a dear, would you, and step out. I promise it will be painless!"

As I spoke, I felt a searing heat as something burned through one of my rib bones, and the cold rage caused three other ribs to burst into dust. My head turned to the driver, who held a rifle with a small attachment on the barrel.

Breathing out more blue, I sent a small hail of words at the driver, which caused him to slump over, eyes unseeing. Another shower of bullets narrowly avoided me as I teleported a few feet to the side.

Retaliating by slowing them down via timeline expanding and following that up with another storm of White Magic ended the threat they posed. Striding towards the stopped van, I heard scrabbling as a tall, rail-thin black man pulled open the doors and started to flee.

I appeared in front of him, which caused him to raise a small pistol and squeeze a shot before I knocked the gun out of his hand. Reality blurred as time was split in twain. In the first timeline, Coil attempted to kick me in the chest; however, a blast of words stopped him to the head, and in the other, he froze.
"Stop with the timeline bullshit, or I will kill you."

Forcing words out of his mouth, he stuttered.
"W-What are you talking about? I don't know what timeline stuff you are going on about." Another timeline opened and was ended by the creator's death. I heard sirens singling out as law enforcement approached our location. Locking eyes with him, I sent mana into them and chanted sleep in german with a sing song tone

He then slumped into my arms, pushing out blue. I started to creep away from the crime scene.

Arriving back at my warehouse around an hour later, after taking many looping pathways, I was almost out of mana and needed to seal Coil. Setting him down in part of the empty room, I quickly drew out the ritual circle and locked him inside before sliding down the wall, non-existent sweat beading my forehead.

I knew that I had a few options now; I could kill Coil as that would be the easiest option; however, his power was useful, which meant the other option was to hit him with as many methods as I had to control him, which was not many at the moment.

As I sat pondering, I felt a tingling in my fingers, which grew to encompass my chest. Tearing off my shirt, I saw an upside-down white heart within my ribcage, and I knew this to be my SOUL. However, as I clutched my ribcage sans four ribs, I saw a tiny hole in the middle of my SOUL.

Leaking out of it was a new white, a white that reminded me of the terrifying in-humanity of the full moon. Scrambling over to my Grimiore, I pulled it open and saw a new page grow into place. It was labeled Brunestud

Powers Gained
Undead-Traits
You are undead. Between life and death. Your flesh and organs have long since rotted from your body, leaving you as naught but bones, animated by your own soul. Your soul remains within your body as a result of countless rituals and spells performed over your form prior to and during your burial. As an undead, you do not age. You have no requirements or ability to do bodily functions such as eating, drinking, sleeping or breathing. You have no organs to damage or blood to bleed. The only way to kill you would be to smash up your bones till nothing the size of a skull or larger remains.

You are enchanted so that, even despite lacking muscles or skin, you can move with superhuman strength and speed, as well as move and think at all. Whilst many lesser Nehekharan undead require the presence of a Liche Priest to maintain awareness and only have the most basic of personalities, you have no requirement for support from a Liche Priest and you maintain your full cognitive functions in this form. However, as you are just old bones, you are quite vulnerable to fire, despite the relative sturdiness of your form.

Brunestud
Crimson Moon Brunestud. The Ultimate One of the Moon, who made a pact with Gaia in order to create a race - the True Ancestors - to corral humanity. But this luminous being had its own agenda, wanting to make a suitable vessel able to exist within Gaia's laws and possessed enough purity for it to take over and then enact his own will upon the world. There are three suitable vessels on the planet - Arcueid Brunestud, Altrouge Brunestud… and you. Whether your body had enough 'purity' for Crimson Moon to consider as a candidate for being their vessel or you were some misbegotten attempt at replicating the True Ancestors, a 'fragment' of Crimson Moon exists within your soul. This fragment is a mix of of your own and Crimson Moon, so imagine yourself except more vampiric and with a persistent desire to wipe out humanity in any form. While you may use their power as per the perk Brunestud normally and regardless of their approval, being able to reconcile or come to an understanding with this personality will enable that fragment to grow stronger at a faster rate, becoming more and more of what the Ultimate One once was

First, you are able to manifest a copy of Millennium Castle Brunestud, a piece of Type-Moon's Reality Marble where his influence is the strongest, at will (curiously, even if you lack MarblePhantasm) and dwell within it. You may change the interior of the castle to your will, making anything from a luxurious manor to an eldritch hell only a monster could find comfortable. Your connection also causes your power, even those not tied to your nature as a True Ancestor, to wax and wane with the phases of the moon - during the night of a new moon, there is no change, but during a full moon, your strength and powers are magnified several times over. And when you dwell within the Castle itself, your power is always at its peak from this boost, functioning the same as the night of a full moon. An ordinary human (as miraculous as it maybe) with this could lift a tank one-handed on the night of a full moon. The might of a True Ancestor is likewise increased even further than before in the light of the moon, letting you outmatch others of your kind save for your two 'siblings'. Perhaps in a few centuries, this fragment' could grow into something matching the original...though that night is far, far away.

 

[MaimakteriAnn]

I could feel that my body was much lighter as I saw a small pile of discarded flesh and organs looking back. My now metaphysical stomach attempted to jump up my throat. However, I did not have anything physical to throw up. Looking at the polished ground, I could see a simple skull with green flames burning in the eye sockets. Looking at my hands, I saw the same result, bone with naught flesh or muscle. Pushing back the horror, I stumbled to my feet and started back down the hallway. I still had to deal with Coil. Horror over the raw, visceral fact that I wasn't human anymore could wait.

Click to shrink...

Isnt this completely redundant with the monster trait?

 

[Inbetweenaction]

Snip

Click to shrink...

Well, that clocktower education certainly shows, ger power and immediately starts to plan "How and where can I get a sapient to sacrifice for maximum gain... well, these heroes would be easy to get, but not worth the risk"...

Yes, you went after villains in the end, but not to put them down, or be a heroes, but because they where convenient for ritualistic sacrifice. Jack would be proud you magus.

his would, however, take upwards of a week to a week and a half, which leaves only a few days to find Bakuda and take her out.

I did not see any other options that left this as the best choice

Click to shrink...

Except for putting out the word of a thinker to the prt...

I now had a hard choice in front of me. I could grab both and use their Shards for power, or I could grab one and let the other go; the last option was to let both go. As I heard Armsaster's(Efficiency) bike turn the corner, I breathed out a breath of blue and, as time slowed to a crawl, hefted Bakuda over my shoulder and crept away from the crime scene. While my blue world would only last around thirty minutes, it would be enough time to sneak back to my warehouse. Forty-five minutes and another blue world later, I had Bakuda locking in a sealing circle. After triple checking the sigils, I took off my costume and started to head home. While today was tiring I had also prevented hundreds of deaths and gotten another battery for my Magecraft

Click to shrink...

You are clearly picking the magus route, not the hero route...

Almost like the Grimoire is fucking with your head you magus monster. After all, both those things are so well known for their ethics...

, I smirked a bit as I knew the idea of some no-name new hero taking out Lung and simply leaving him for the PRT

Click to shrink...

Yes... *Looks at the people he has illegaly contained and strung up in lifedraining rituals*

Looking at the polished ground, I could see a simple skull with green flames burning in the eye sockets.

Click to shrink...

Sorry, i didn't meant to assume, I am sure the Undead lich monster with all he learned from clocktowers etiquette classes and a will to eradicate humanity must have a good lawful reason for drain the life out of his illegal captives.

Clearly a hero.

Why else would he kidnapp a prt consultant in broad daylight who wasn't suspected of any crime

 

[deadlyham]

Yes... *Looks at the people he has illegaly contained and strung up in lifedraining rituals*

Click to shrink...

Lol. To be fair, a hero would throw them in jail. Think of this as a work program to pay back their debt to society. Also that debt accrues interest faster than they can pay it back.

 

[Inbetweenaction]

Lol. To be fair, a hero would throw them in jail. Think of this as a work program to pay back their debt to society. Also that debt accrues interest faster than they can pay it back.

Click to shrink...

I would assume vigilante heroes operate on some kind of civil arrest law.

Thing is, not even police can hold people for long without trial. In my country it's 48 hours until charges have to be filed and the process of getting them processed by the judicial system has to be started...

Here he is essentially kidnapping people, admittedly aledeged villains, and decided to process them himself, keeping them captive indefinitely and decided that they would work of their sins to society by being his personal... tinker resources...

Sure, they are guilty as sin, but it's hardly heroic. It's as if a bio tinker strung up minions and villains to harvest their blood and "brutes power enhanced bio tissue" for tinkering... without telling law enforcement about it. Doesn't matter that he also drugged them with tinker sedatives and Regen mixtures so he could harvest more flesh painlessly...

So no, forcing your defeted foes to be harvested for tinkering supplies without any legal procedure doesn't pay of their dept to society. It just makes you a kidnapper who is disturbingly close to nilbog in SOP

But meh, I enjoy that he is affected by his monster transitions, and 8 years of training bt psychopaths. He isn't thinking clearly about what it looks like to anyone else (and to a magus, this shit is downright kind and humane. Clearly hero behavior)... and it fits well with the powers he has been given. And it can soon easily be a future plotpoint.

 

[Trainerzygarde]

Oof. The Grimoire just bitchslapped poor MC with a straight up body change.

Well on the bright side, he can reliably cosplay as sans now🤣

But, jokes aside, if he can't find a way to get some false flesh on, his civilian 'life' is pretty much done; he'd be better off being observed to be a shut-in/germaphobe that doesn't go outside at all without several layers of clothing.

Powers wise, he's now even stronger physically, has lost a lot of mortal weaknesses/crutches that even being a monster probably had
-He may not need to eat magic food/drink at all, except to 'regen', because his Undead half has already been made to be self sufficient.
-His monster body was still probably emulating a humanoid shape, so it would've been affected by a few things like intense light or temperature (although now he's weak to high temperatures)
-He may have a very deadened if not completely dead sense of pain, because as of now, he's literally just magic bones held together by more magic and being piloted by a SOUL.

Does anyone know what the blue words he was speaking are? I thought they were his Bullets, but I'm not sure anymore. Is it a Fate thing? Or is it a Point thing?

 

[Witherbrine26]

Looking down at my SOUL floating peacefully in my chest, I focused. I could feel the slight taint of moonlight in the center, so I pulled on it and saw the warehouse around me turn to grass; peering up, I had to choke back a sob.

I saw my house as it was before I found the Grimoire; it stood empty and cold under the watchful eye of the full moon. Slowly walking towards it, I observed the starless night. The only thing I could feel was the rays of the moon beaming down.

Opening the door with a little push instead of the shove it needed reminded me how different I am now; as I stepped in, I heard the clacking of keys on a keyboard. Looking at the kitchen table, I saw myself in my skeletal horror.

The doppelganger turned and focused the orbs ever so reminiscent of the full moon on me. His jaw opened, and I could see the long fangs where my canines had been.
"So, how are you doing?" He asked, concern evident in his voice
"Like shit, how about you?" He barked out a laugh that echoed with something deeper before responding.

"Considering I was born about twenty minutes ago, I'm doing great." Sitting across from him as he closed the laptop he had been using, I looked him in the eyes.
"Arent you supposed to be tempting me to kill people?"
"While yes, technically, I don't need to, you will do it all on your own" Glaring at him; I forced out.
"What do you mean by that."

"I mean, in the month you have been here, you have abducted four people and killed at least ten people. Before picking up that Grimoire, the act of harming somebody never crossed your mind except for a few scuffles with your brother." Slamming my hands on the table, I shouted.

"That was necessary! I didn't have any other options; the PRT is incompetent and controlled by Cauldron, and I am sure as hell not joining some fucking gang!" He rolled his wrist and spoke, humor dripping from his mouth.
"Sure you did; at the end of the day, it works back to two things." Rasing two figures, he moved the first one down as he spoke.

"You don't want to be trapped, all your life you felt trapped whether by social obligations, by people asking, hey why don't you join baseball, hey why don't you join theater, hey Aidan how about you join sound, hey Aidan how about you write or by school something you're forced to do eight hours a day five days a week. So now that you're here, you're free!" He then ticked down the other fingure"And second, that Grimore is screwing with your head."

Standing up, I shouted
"Bullshit! You simply don't want me to get any more powers, so you can tempt me into killing a fuckton of people."
"Ah, but once again, did you think it was all information you got? Bullet Patterns made you a literal Monster influenced by emotions such as HoPe and LOVE. What did Magus Education do?

It gave you an eight-year course on how to be a psychopath willing to do anything to become more powerful, and what are you doing now? Your talking to a vampiric version of yourself in your old house under the light of your new father."
Glaring at him silently, I slammed Castle Brunestud shut, reappearing back in my lab. I slammed shut my Grimoire, trying to force the words of the spirit out of my mind.

I then stood up and decided to fix my newest problem. In the last fight, I had started to run low on mana; running out of mana would knock me out, which was unacceptable. I grabbed the ruby I had made to store energy and decided to make it an energy collecter and receiver, able to hold mana across a vast distance and give it to me passively.

That would take a few days, and I needed to figure out a disguise that would allow me to pass in society without being arrested or killed.

I needed an item that I could wear all the time and that was made of semi-precious things that would let it hold a charge much longer. I decided on a necklace. However, I didn't have one, so I needed to buy or steal one.

While I would prefer to purchase one that was impossible in my current state, so that meant that stealing was my only option. Consulting my mental clock, it was 1:43 pm which meant that I would need to teleport to a store and then hypnotize the owner before leaving.

Holding the location of the pawnshop I bought the ruby from, I teleported to the place. Appearing in the store and looking around quickly, I saw that there was only one other person who was looking at an old beat-up poster of Legend. The owner stumbled back, hand grasping under his desk as I strode up.

"I need a necklace, and stop fumbling under the table" He froze and carefully handed me a simple silver necklace with an amber pendant. I then looked him in the eye and spoke firmly in german.
"You will forget the last thirty seconds and never talk about it to anybody"
His eyes glazed over, and he drooled a little before I took a step back and vanished.

Appearing back in my lab, I felt a tingling in thrum through my bones; however, strangely, while the book grew, my energy did not go down. Picking up my Grimoire and flipping through the pages, I saw a new page labeled The Way This Works, and under that was Adventurer Card which had a small picture of what appeared to be a blank business card. Pulling out the card led to it filling with words and numbers.

The card said that my Class was Wizard and quickly looking through it seemed to be quantifying my stats as if I was in an RPG. I cast a look over the stats, and my highest was Intelligence, with the lowest being Health, and the rest were in between; however, most were on the higher end. I didn't have any skills.

I id however have a few skill points, and it seemed I could spend them on either increasing my skills or stats. I pressed my thumb on the Health stat and saw it go up as my skill points went down.

Grinning slightly as the earlier day's negatives faded, I lifted the necklace in my hand and decided to sit down and get started on enchanting the necklace to disguise me. The next few hours passed as I focused my mana on the amber pendant, which would, through an illusion over my skeletal form, conceal and prevent people from trying to kill me. A

s the time approached midnight, I had finished the pendant and slipped it over my head; feeling a little buzz settle over me, I looked in a nearby shard of glass and saw my old self, skin and all. With an unneeded twist on my heel, I appeared back in my flat, falling on my bed. I decided that while I doubly didn't need sleep, I would still get some after the long hectic mess of today.

Waking up, I stretched and soon shuffled out of bed; one of the benefits of being a Monster was that I didn't feel grungy after waking up and could simply go about my day. Making myself the customary bowl of oatmeal, I sat down and thoroughly enjoyed the morning. Standing back up after placing the dishes in the sink, I stepped through space and appeared back in my lab, ready to get to work.

While the principle behind the ranged store/receive mana theoretically worked, putting it into practice would be a whole different thing. I then set myself down and started turning through my Grimoire to connect the various works of Enchanting and Formalcraft.

While it took a few hours to actually assemble a ritual circle that would work on paper, it was a breeze compared to the tinker-seeking compass I had built earlier. All that remained was to set up the process to link the seals holding the parahumans and send mana over to the ruby.

Stretching despite not needing to, I set to work. Bleeding out a bit of dust and connecting various german words, I soon had chains of dust and magic that linked all of the seals and led to a small circle where I would put the first chunk of ruby.

The next part, while easy would be disorienting, I picked my head off my shoulders and stumbled a bit while I got used to the new view. I then picked up the second chunk of ruby and stuck it where my brain would be if I had a physical one.

It took several tries as I had to believe that the ruby was a part of me which was helped by the feeling of mana flowing from it. After sticking it inside my skull I was forced to sit down as I was almost blinded by the sea of mana lurking behind my eyes.

The gem and rituals I used were as if I was pulling ocean water through a straw, and while I knew that Shards held a tremendous amount of energy, seeing it so vividly humbled me for a moment. As I sat soaking in my accomplishments, I heard a thunderous crash.

I darted outside my lab and saw a building tumbling to the ground, a luminous figure hovering above the fallen tower. I ran back and midstep teleported to my apartment and flipped on the new. The headline read Empire 88 and Protectorate Identities Revealed Caos in the Streets.

I slumped back as I remembered who I had captured yesterday and his obsession with payback and control. As I appeared back in my lab, I swore I could hear faint unrestrained cackling coming from the depths of my moon-white SOUL.

Powers Gained
The Way This Works
This world follows the same rules that it seems every new world does these days. On entering this world, you were given an Adventurer's Card which we'll describe later and the ability to gain and use skill points to level up. Skill Points are gained by killing monsters or other living beings and are automatically collected from them when the deed is done. Gather enough and you will be able to level up on your adventurer's card, increasing your base stats and learning or upgrading your existing Skills with your new points. You can't learn something you don't have the ability to learn, haven't been taught or that isn't part of your class. Ah, and Class? Another thing you'll automatically receive. This'll dictate your general stat growth through levelling up here and the sort of skills you can automatically learn and unlock via just skill points. Any fantasy RPG class can be taken, though your origin will limit you to specific types.

Adventurer Card
The sign of your adventuring nature. This is your Status Sheet, effectively. It denotes your level, statistics and any special abilities that you have. It's also proof that you're an adventurer and will give a good idea of how strong you are and how good an adventurer you are. If you ever lose it, it'll appear right back in your hand the next time you need it. You use the card to level up with skill points in this world, so don't let anyone else get a hold of it if you've got unspent points.

 

[deadlyham]

Can't this town go one day without a riot? /Quimby Voice

The monsters in Undertale were way nicer than this guy. He's being sidetracked by the mana but ignoring the power of hope! Although I guess he's getting a lot of LOVE (Level Of ViolEnce) and XP(Execution Points).

 

[Eibon_Alain]

Oh!
I think this is the first time I've felt the need to complain about the rushed pacing on one of the compilations.

In the fight against Lung I did not understand anything; I thought he started with stopping time and bombing the truck but then...
Yeah, I got lost.

Maybe an interlude to get a break from the MC and see the consequences of everything he's been doing?

 

[Witherbrine26]

Nursing a headache, I took a sip from a glass of water as I sat in one of the meeting rooms, the dialysis machine in the corner slowly churning away. Dryly I gestured for Armsmaster to start on his debriefing. Stepping forward, he began.

"I was on my 4 pm patrol through downtown. I then received a call claiming Lung was involved in a fight with another parahuman. However, by the time I arrived, Lung was on the ground unconscious, and I saw another figure sneaking away. I determined at the time that making sure Lung was subdued took higher precedent over making contact with a new parahuman. Lung has yet to wake up from whatever knocked him unconscious; I do know, however, that it is not a toxin or a physical effect keeping Lung under."

While it was good that Lung was off the streets, it also meant that the ABB would lash out while the Empire would strike into ABB territory and raise terror.

It was never a good time; however, especially now, it was an issue with the Cornell Bomber loose and traveling south towards Brockton Bay. What she wouldn't give for a Thinker on-site, it would solve plenty of her problems.

"Ok, I want everybody on high alert and patrolling in groups of two no matter what. The Wards will also need to be accompanied by at least one senior Protectorerte member" Nods and sounds of agreement followed Piggot's statement as the parahumans filed out, Armsmater staying behind.

"Armsmaster, you claimed that after going over the footage surrounding the parahuman, he gave off an energy that has been seen at other conflicts."
"Yes, working with Dragon, I could trace the parahuman's involvement to two primary locations with a third that will be investigated later."
"I see, and where do these trails lead?"

"The first led to an apartment; however, it is a cash apartment. The residence is owned by a young caucasian man with brown hair and blue who had accorded to the agents that asked around the apartment complex after the woman who was mind-controlled into killing a man, that he had quote-unquote the best dam voice I have ever heard."

At that statement, Piggot frowned and started to tap her fingers on the desk before rolling her wrist at Armsmaster for her to continue.
"The second location has much less energy; however, it is where over twenty members of the new gang calling themself the Mercehnts were arrested. The men had just been on a raid on an Empire storehouse and appeared to have passed out where they stood.

When questioned, they all claimed that they had been partying before they suddenly and rapidly fell asleep. The bigger issue is that all of them claimed to be working for two capes calling themself Skidmark and Squealer and while there was a tank that fits with what a tinker could build, both Skidmark and Squealer seemed to disappear after the Merchants fell asleep."

Piggot's frown deepened at that, and she sourly spoke
"Are you saying that we have some sort of parahuman kidnapper?"
With a short nod, Armsmaster responded.

"That is indeed what I am claiming; the last piece of evidence is that the Think Tank responded yes to whether or not Lung was going to attempt to recruit the Cornell Bomber, and the figure escaping had a figure that matches the rough height of the figure of the Bomber."

"That means if this cape is a Master, as what would be evidenced by what happened to Lung, he could be trying to recruit a parahuman army. Rate him Master 4 and see if you can't track him down; bring an entire squad and ask that he come in for questioning.

Hearing a ping on her phone, she pulled the notification and froze as the article title jumped out at her. Empire 88 and Protectorate Identities Revealed. Quickly scrolling through the article proved it was true. Snapping out to Armsmaster and pressing on the button that would link her to the rest of the building.

"I need all hands on deck! The Empire will be rampaging. I repeat, I need all hands on deck!" Armsmaster nodded and quickly walked out as Piggot started up her computer to run damage control.

 

[Inbetweenaction]

Well, yes human master kidnapping people would look like that, until they learn it's also sort of a biotinkerer and that they where kidnapped to build stuff from.

Then it looks worse.