Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter 101

The second we returned to the forest, Alya dropped to her knees, her form shifting and flashing before it exploded in a blast of damp wind. For a moment, I thought she had disincorporated completely, like she did when she ran out of energy entirely. After a second, however, I realized I could still feel her through our bond, the elemental jumping into her uncondensed form, seemingly out of shock. It took a few seconds for me to figure it out, but eventually I realized she had come pretty close to being overwhelmed by exhaustion, only barely managing to hold on and tough it out. After nearly a minute of recovery, she finally re-incorporated beside me, her form significantly less solid than it had been just before we teleported back. 

"What was that?" I asked, stepping closer and looking her over. "Is something wrong? What happened? I can feel your exhaustion. Where did that come from?"

"It's nothing serious, I'm just more drained than I expected," she explained, her eyes sparking. "I overdid it with the lightning." 

"But you seemed fine?" I said, tilting my head in confusion. "Why did it take this long to notice something?"

"Because William, I was a storm elemental, under a storm," she explained. "I was using energy, and it was filling me right back up like I was trying to empty a cup underwater. But using so much energy still leaves a toll, especially when we suddenly leave somewhere that was helping me cope. I didn't feel it coming because I wasn't paying attention, it nearly overwhelmed me when it washed over me all at once."

"Jesus... well, at least we know that now," I pointed out with a frown. "What's your limit without a storm like that?" 

"A few lightning bolts as long as I don't rapid fire them," She explained, her fingers crackling with electric energy. "And a near-endless amount of the kind of lightning you have from your two levels in lightning magic. Well, endless as long as I let myself recharge occasionally. I could probably conjure a localized storm to boost my power slightly, but that would take days and potentially cause some serious side effects." 

"What about banishing a storm?" I asked, thinking of Leviathan's MO. 

"... I could maybe kill a small one with enough time, but it would be complicated and I would have to focus solely on that," She explained with a frown on her face. "It would go against my nature pretty hard, but it's possible." 

"If you're limited to something small, that pretty much kills the idea of knocking out the Leviathan's storm," I said, explaining my thoughts. "I wonder how much one of his storms would boost your power?" 

"Depends on how much of it is real," She responded, wearing her own expression of curiosity. "If he is simply forcing condensed air to float in the sky via his control of water, probably very little. If he is somehow affecting the weather on a large scale, then most likely by a considerable amount."

We continued to talk as I returned to my previous task, creating and filling a wide variety of crystal spell containers. That took another hour and a half to complete, a pile of crystals separated by what magical spell they contained. Luckily, I could tell pretty easily what was inside with my own magical senses, the spell type almost leaking out of each crystal. Otherwise, I would have been in trouble trying to identify what crystal did what, especially mid-fight.

When I was done building and filling all of the crystal spell containers, I took a much-needed break. After that, I carefully slid each crystal into the bullet slots of the bandolier, making sure they were securely held in each loop, shaking the leather belt roughly to make sure I wouldn't lose anything during a fight. After whipping the leader strap around for a bit and confirming none of the crystals fell out, I finally put it around my waist, hooking it up to my belt. 

"Well, what do you think?" I asked, standing in front of Kali and Alya, the former inhabiting her golem so she could tend to her garden. 

I turned and showed off the belt, before reaching down and back, grabbing one of the mass healing spells, holding it out and pretending to use it, before sliding it back into its slot. 

"It should let me whip out some heavy hitters mid battle," I explained, looking down at the row of crystals around my waist. "I really shouldn't have put something like this off for so long, but I thought the spells stored in my staff would be enough after I got quick casting."

My staff could hold six spells, which had been restricting but ultimately manageable to work with. I had already traded out those filled with teleport spells with combat spells. They would be much easier to direct when cast through my staff, not to mention significantly more powerful, especially for the lightning ones. 

After cleaning up from all of the spare materials and other messes I had made while working on the belt, I put a few quick enchantments on it, which I got from my arcane focus creation subject. They were nothing massive, mostly because I didn't have any hugely significant enchantments to put on, but I knew that just giving me the ability to call the belt to myself and preventing other people from using it would be extremely useful. It cost me a good chunk of my remaining silver, but keeping someone from snagging a crystal as we fought was worth it. 

With a bit more time left in the day, I took a crack at starting some more equipment for Olivia. I had already made up my mind to run her through a permanent version of geomancy ritual, the same one I had done for myself. I wasn't sure how it would interact with her powers, since she was already stronger than a normal person in the dark, or while wearing her cloak. If they only brought her up to a certain level, then she would likely be just about as strong as I was. However, if her power was augmenting her existing strength levels, it might interpret her new developments as her new normal, and then add onto them while she was in the dark. If that were the case, she would most likely end up being stronger than me in the process.

Since the geomantic ritual would make her tougher, faster, more flexible, bulletproof, and resistant to heat and shock, I knew I didn't need to worry about buffing her abilities. Instead, I worked on a pair of boots, using many of the same ingredients as her cloak. Their goal was to silence or muffle her footsteps, letting her clomp around to her heart's content and still remain hidden. 

By the time the prep was finished, it was late enough for me to get some sleep, which I happily did. It had been a while since I had gotten a full night's rest, and I eagerly crawled into my bed. I could feel Alya walking around the camp, occasionally pulling away to spread out, but her previous difficulty staying corporeal was clearly no longer an issue. I could also feel Kali, the genus loci deep in the ground around the forest, her influence feeling strong. I could feel her poking and prodding at the trees around our home, helping them grow and infusing them with magic, slowly but surely creating an honest to god magical forest. 

I was pretty sure it wouldn't be long before she could talk. 

It took me a while to fall asleep, but when I did, I slept all the way through to the following morning, waking up feeling rested and recharged. I didn't even need to use the anti-sleep spell to wash away the residual fatigue or drowsiness.

After spending some time getting ready, I went to the hospital to get my healing done before going on a long shopping trip. It had been a while, and I had been working on a lot of stuff, so my stocks were running low. Not only that, but I also needed some specific metals if I was going to do the permanent improvement ritual for Oliva. I was glad to have more places to go shopping, as I had even found a place to buy mercury. Apparently, you could find it at hobbyist shops that catered to people mining or refining gold, which would appear frequently around places where gold mining was popular. When I was done shopping, I dropped everything off at the base before picking up Olivia. We planned to meet with some members of New Wave, but that wasn't until noon, so we had time. 

"So, what is it you wanted to do?" Olivia asked, stepping to the side of the ritual platform. "You sounded serious about it." 

"That's cause it's pretty serious," I said, using druidcraft to sink the center of the ritual platform down. "How would you like to be as strong and tough as me on a permanent basis?" 

"W-wait… that's just something you can do?" She asked, her eyes wide. "You're like… just under Glory Girl, and you can just hand that out!?"

"Have I never mentioned that?" I asked, trying to recall if I had brought it up before. "Yeah, it's a ritual I can perform as many times as I want, as long as I have the materials." 

"... What exactly does this ritual do?" 

I explained how it worked and what it did as I carried out the slate panels that were required for the center of the ritual, placing them down and fusing them together. 

"Any idea how this is going to work with my powers?" She asked finally, chewing the inside of her cheek as she watched me work. 

"Honestly? No," I admitted with a frown. "For all I know, being in darkness could nullify the effects, and you would get weaker, your strength returning once you left. But even that would just mean you would be safer in your civilian life. Not exactly ideal, I know, but it would be better than nothing. Not that I think that's what's going to end up happening."

She winced at the possibility, which admittedly did not seem like fun, as I finished drawing out the ritual. Her version was slightly different from mine, as I was standing outside the circle rather than inside it, but other than that, it was the same. I had considered giving her a less version, but at this point, I trusted her plenty to give her the full one. Besides, I wanted her to have access to the best power-up I could give her, therefore making her safer. And even if she went rogue, I had plenty of support to track her down and remove the ritual. 

Once I was done drawing and placing everything out, I guided her to the center of the ritual before moving out to the outer rim. I warned her that it would likely take twenty minutes for the ritual to complete, before kneeling down and beginning to feed my magic into the outer circle, feeling it spread through the ritual. 

While I was focusing, Alya and Olivia talked, keeping quiet so as to not disturb my focus. That is until I finally finished, and the ritual kicked in, the metal disintegrating, and the magic swirled around and into Olivia. I could feel Kali guiding and streamlining the magic as usual, focusing the ritual to keep it all flowing nicely. Finally, when everything was finished, the ritual was completed with a pulse of magic, and Olivia stumbled slightly before she could catch herself. 

"Alright, I know it's tempting to run-" 

Before I could finish, Olivia half leaped and half skipped off the platform, aiming to run down the opposite wooden path, probably looking to head into the woods. Instead, she missed her first step completely, jumping far past where she intended. She slipped on the damp leaves that made up most of the unpathed and unfloored area of my home, before tumbling and slamming into a tree. 

"-but you should learn to walk first," I finished, shaking my head and making my way to the tangle of limbs she had managed to put herself into. "If I help you up, are you gonna take it easy? Because if you ruin any of Kali's flowers, she will make you regret it, and I won't stop her." 

She groaned and nodded, so I helped her to her feet, the bandaged and scarred woman brushing herself off as she stood, clearly a little annoyed. 

"I was betting on my experience with my darkness buff helping me control myself," she admitted. "I guess it was too much for that experience to matter."

Together, we slowly walked to the edge of our wooded area, where I helped her get used to the enhancement. Jumping around, running, throwing things, and even a little sparring, just to get her muscle memory to include her new levels. When she had a solid feel for her new ceiling, she donned her cloak, activating her powers' natural darkness-born enhancement.

She then punched a rock, shattering it completely in a shower of sparks and shards of stone. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her display, despite being quite familiar with the thrill of suddenly being handed that level of strength.

"Holy fuck!" she shouted, her cloak nothing more than a basic covering, enough to activate her powers and nothing more. "Whoa! That is a rush! Oh yeah, I can feel the enhancement and my powers working together."

"Does it feel strange? Anything feel off?" I asked, watching her closely for any signs of something going wrong, not that I expected anything. 

"No, I can just feel my power working to boost my abilities," She explained as she stretched, moved, and once again got used to her enhancement. "This is a big deal, a huge change… I could just fight as a brute now…" 

"Well, your powers still will want you to sneak around," I pointed out. "So let's not abandon your stealth completely, especially since I have something else for you."

"Jesus, Arc. You're gonna spoil me…"

With a sample of her blood, one of the feathers from her cloak, and a sample of its cloth, I was able to complete the boots I had started the night before, allowing her costume to seamlessly integrate with them. I couldn't make them part of the costume, that was something too specific and finicky for ritual magic, but she could turn the muffling power on or off. That way, she could leave the boots on and just cover them with her costume when she was wearing it. 

As she was trying the boots out, I slowly began to realize that I had honestly likely just created a monster. I had drastically underestimated how making a cloak-wearing Crow silent would take a dark-themed costume and make it menacing as hell. Thankfully, at this point, she was well-versed in changing her costume to keep from coming off as horrifying, and she could turn the muffling off when she was on patrol in public. But watching her float around silently, the cloak wispy, dark, and dripping illusory darkness was... pretty intense, and I knew she was in there.

I fully expected her to try to use her new level of sneakiness to scare the hell out of me, something I told Alya to keep an eye out for.

When we were finally done messing around with her new enhancement and her new boots, I put on the rest of my own costume before teleporting us and our golems into the city, not far from where we would be meeting whoever had been patrolling from New Wave. It was time for us to go on patrol. With any luck, we might get the oppurtunity to hunt some super powered Nazi's.