Stretching out my hand, I reintroduced myself, my illusion's mouth, curving up in a small smile.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you; I'm Aidan."
Slowly she reached out to shake my hand, and as she did so, I focused the hypnotism on altering her perception so that she felt and heard that I had a woopie cushion in my hand. She then froze for a moment before stifled giggles snuck out as she clamped a hand over her mouth. Shotting her a sardonic grin, I opened my mouth.
"Ah, the ol' woopie cushion in the hand trick. Gets em' every time."
Giving me an incredulous look, she spoke, confusion filling her voice.
"Did you really stick a woopie cushion in your hand for a stupid joke?"
"Yup, honestly, I'm not the best at small talk, so I thought a stupid joke to break the ice would work well enough."
A small smile snuck onto her face as she relaxed back into her seat and took a sip of tea. As I sunk back in my seat, I felt the Grimoire's energy grow again; this time, it simply faded to the back of my mind, larger but with no benefit. Setting the tea down again, she spoke slowly and hesitatingly.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you invited me here, but why?"
"To be honest, it's because I'm an independent and need allies, and since you were patrolling on your lonesome, I assumed the same. Correct me if I am wrong."
"No, you are not wrong."'
"In that case, I thought that we get to know each other a bit, you know. Worst-case scenario, we simply part ways. On the other hand, if we want to work together well, that would be good."
We were interrupted by a slight clink as the person running the counter placed down my tea and gave a small nod before leaving. I brought the tea to my illusory lips and took a long gulp before setting the cup down to a gobsmacked face and sputtering from Taylor before she finally spat out and hushed.
"How?"
Doing small jazz hands, I replied in an equally hushed voice
"Magic, no, but seriously, I have no clue how I eat or drink like this."
Sighing, Talyor just put her face in the palms of her hands for a long moment before speaking again.
"So, how do you want to do this?"
"Well, I suppose we could cut straight to the chase. My power is vast; however, the main thing I can do is what I call Enchanting. To put it simply, I can imbue objects with minor powers."
"I can control bugs within a few blocks."
We engaged in causal conversation and eventually hammered out some details. She would pass by my warehouse, and we would talk about her patrol pattern, and I would give her some stuff to help her in her heroism.
In exchange, she would points out dangers that she couldn't take out and could be dangerous to me. With another dose of hypnotism to ease any remaining suspicions, I left after paying for the drinks along with a hefty tip.
Giving a wave as we parted ways, I stopped by an ATM to refill my funds and then continued to my lab. When I had the door closed, my giggles finally escaped my chest; I had gotten Taylor Hebert, a person who could do amazing things in the future, to start to trust me.
Even if what I had read did not come to pass, she was still a powerful parahuman who could accomplish great things if steered the right way. I now needed to plan my way forward.
I first needed something to stop Taylor from finding out about my mana sources. While hypnotism would work in the short term, I did not know enough to make it seem natural to outsiders and at some point, I would have outsiders in my lab.
Grabbing my Grimoire and looking through the pages, it seemed that I would need to fall back to enchanted items.
Something like a ring or an item that would be worn daily and provide another function besides the hypnotism would be ideal. Pacing back and forth in my lab, I ran enchantments through my mind.
Teleportation wouldn't work; it was too powerful and required a better reaction time to be used defensively. Straight invincibility wouldn't work either; I didn't know enough to make an item that could grant it.
The person was also vulnerable to other things, such as being poisoned or drowning. The last option was a form of regeneration; it would have to be low tier if I wanted to accommodate the hypnotism.
While it wouldn't provide active combat benefits, it would prevent somebody from bleeding out and heal them faster than it would otherwise take.
In fact, it would be better to make it not proper regeneration and something more like Rin's magic crest, ensuring a person lived past where they should have succumbed to injury.
While it wouldn't be a true phylactery, it could still keep a person alive so long as their brain remained primarily intact. It would also ensure that Taylor still needed me for healing and other magic items. Rubbing my hands together in silent glee, I got to work.
Leaving my lab, I decided to head to a jewelry shop to purchase a hairclip or something similar so that even if Taylor were decapitated, she would still live as the item would be attached to her head.
Passing by several people on my way to the Boardwalk, I saw that the Protectorate was out in force today; I saw a few new faces, most likely from the nearby towns, to shore up the PRT while they transferred the members who were outed.
Walking into a small jewelry shop with the bell tingling merrily, I looked at the person operating the counter. He was elderly with a hair full of balding wispy grey hair and dull green eyes peering through a pair of half-moon spectacles. Sweeping in, I raised a hand in a wave and spoke.
"Hello, I'm looking for a hairclip or something similar."
With a small smile, the man responded.
"Ah, looking at something for a lady friend, are you?"
Letting out a small guilty chuckle, I rubbed the back of my neck before replying.
"Yes, I am. Do you have something of the sort?"
Looking at me with a discerning eye, he nodded and rummaged in a few drawers before coming out with a simple silver hairpin gleaming in the shop's light. Letting my illusion perk up, I responded.
"That looks wonderful! How much?"
"For you, young man, let's say twenty-five dollars."
Setting the money down on the counter, I gently took it from his hand before shaking it while thanking him vigorously. Gently pealing my hand off his, he replied.
"No, thank you, and have a nice day."
Leaving the shop, I pocketed the hairpin as I felt a swell of power tumble out of my bones. Walking back to my lab, I saw a faint glowing, swirling storm surround my feet. The storm started to climb my legs and bemused.
It felt like tiny motes of dust were clinging to my leg bones as if they were lichen. Walking quickly, I soon ducked into an alleyway and teleported back to my laboratory. Grabbing the Grimoire in no small panic, I let my eye sockets dart over the new page.
It was labeled Dust Attunement and described how I now drew Dust, the capital letter included, to me in a storm. Recalling the similarities between this Dust and the Dust of the Endless series, I reattacked the book with a vengeance, trying to see if my theory was confirmed.
A few minutes later, with Dust trailing up my legs in vein-shaped patterns, I had my theory confirmed.
This Dust I drew to myself was the same as the Dust of the Endless. It was also known as a self-computing cloud of nanomachines that got smarter the more of them were connected and could be used to alter the base state of the universe to build things in an instant or cast spells.
I, however, had no clue on how to use the Dust, so for now, it could simply act as storage and enhancement for my spells. If I stayed within roughly a mile, I could amass a tremendous amount of Dust in a single day.
However, if I focused and wandered, I could gain enough Dust to bankrupt the Borken Lords themself.
This did come with the downside in that I would need to shed myself of Dust regularly; otherwise, the massive storms of it would become noticeable. Now with access to Dust, I could theoretically enhance Talyor's hairpin in a manner reflecting a true phylactery.
The issue came down to the fact that I did not know how to use the Dust and when trying to store a person's mind, you could not afford to make a single mistake.
Settling down for the night, I finished crafting Taylor's hairpin. It took a few hours, and the rest were spent sleeping as while my new form waived the biological and a majority of the mental needs, I still enjoyed sleep.
Stretching as I got out of the makeshift corner I had slept in, I remembered that I needed to set my lab correctly. I didn't want to waste time or possibly forget about essential things on the way back to my apartment. That would also help to obfuscate me from the PRT as I would have no legal address, and I doubted they could pick up my lab.
Leaving my lab, I decided to start today by buying some essentials such as a bed, an electric stove, and other small items that would be useful to have. All in all, the shopping trip took several thousand dollars and a few hours.
However, by the end of it, I had a small portion of the warehouse I had claimed cleaned out and set up as a possible living space.
My inner wizard chuckled glee as I finally fulfilled my favorite wizard stereotype—the one who lives in his lab, working day and night on his work. Now that I was a proper Magus, I could understand the appeal.
It was Magecraft and Magic. After all, who would not want to spend as much time as possible working on plumbing its depths for secrets and power.
All the walking around had, however, accumulated a far bit of Dust. It was weaved in tight interlocking patterns all the way to my shins, and even without putting any mana in it, I could feel its raw might.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, I placed my hands on the thin layer of reality-shaping material and let it tumble through my skeletal fingers; I focused on it and my SOUL.
I resonated as I poured magic into the tiny nanomachines, and looking at it so closely, I could see why the people of Agria thought it magic. After all, sufficiently advanced science was indistinguishable from magic, and the Endless got pretty damm close to magic as they could get in their universe. Sitting on the ground, my mind and SOUL were interwoven with Dust.
I almost missed the silent ping in the back of my head that let me know it was mine and Taylor's agreed-upon time to meet.
Standing up and letting the Dust reacclimate around my legs, I double-checked to make sure that my mana sources were hidden from sight and passway. Striding over to the door, I then opened it to the mildly terrifying face of Skitter and flinched back.
The image was ruined, however, as Taylor started stammering apologies. Chuckling, I gestured for her to come inside. She then took off her maks and set it down.
"How was your day?"
Mumbling under her breath, Taylor responded.
"It was fine"
While I knew of the bullying, I had no reason that I could explain to be aware of it, so I simply nodded and pulled out the hairpin.
"This, my dear, is an item in the Toshaka lineup of items."
"What is the Toshaka lineup?"
"It is a lineup of items that cover things from gems to healing items."
"Why those that is such a broad range."
Shrugging in response, I replied
"Dunoh, it just felt right. Anywho you want an explanation before you go galavanting off?"
Jerking her head in a rapid nod, she singled her affirmation
"This item is fairly simple; as long as your brain is mostly intact, you will not die. Not from blunt force trauma, bleeding out, poison. Nothing can slay you while this is worn."
Eyes wide, she looked stunned, and I interrupted her before she had a chance to speak.
"Now, that does not mean you are immortal, far from it. Your body still will obey basic biology; if you don't have enough blood, you will not be able to move, blunt trauma will still break bones, and poison will still make you feel miserable."
I then handed it to her; she, with great care, accepted the item before with shaky hands clipping it in her hair. With an internal smirk, I nodded. I had her snared. Over time the hairpin would change her thoughts until listening to me became second nature. With a small grin on her face, Taylor spoke.
"Is there anything else?"
"Nah, that's everything. Have a good night. Don't forget to come back here in the morning."
Giving a nod, she slipped her mask back on and left a small cloud of insects following her wake.
Powers Gained
Dust Attunement
Dust is naturally drawn to you. Wherever you go, Dust will come to you. Swirling in plumes and clouds, the brilliant golden Dust is pulled to you, gathering around and on you. While it may sound messy, are you really going to complain about being powdered in the most precious substance on the planet? Every mile you travel, you find roughly one Dust coin. Staying in one place gives you about 10 a day. This requires Dust to be present of course. It prefers dry, hot places, although it goes congeal around anomalies and buried in stone fields.