Delivering lunch to Amaya, I was already on my way out again. This time wearing a formal suit and trousers as well as a nice pair of shoes. Why did I have it? Just in case I was invited to any formal events during University. Too bad 'I' didn't get much use out of it before I dropped out. Amaya gave me a little thumbs-up when I showed it off, so I guess I looked nice in it.
Taking a bus to the Union building, I could tell that it had seen better days. The paint was peeling, revealing the brickwork underneath. The lights looked two decades out of date, and rust pretty much coated every piece exposed of metal. The occasional waves crashing against the beach punctuated the silence that surrounded me.
Glancing around, I checked the location to confirm that I was indeed in the right spot before making my way in.
The building's interior certainly looked better than the outside. At the very least it felt like an office building and not like a dump or something. The paint wasn't peeling, there was the smell of an air freshener in the room and it generally looked pretty clean. A Dockworker sitting at the receptionist counter caught sight of me and choked back a laugh.
"You're here for the interview?" He asked as he sat up. Nodding, I furrowed my brow in confusion. Yea, the DWU wasn't exactly a multi-national company but… come on, dressing up for an interview was still standard, no?
"Just down the corridor. Second door to the left." He gestured in the air as well. "And loosen up. We've heard great things from Johnny." He grinned as he patted me on the back. Just my luck, I was the subject of gossip in the Union as well. Here's to hoping that my achievements weren't embellished too much.
Giving a brief thanks, I followed his directions and knocked on the door twice. "Come in." Danny's voice came from behind. Opening the door, I walked into his office, my heart pounding away. Look at me, I could go hand-to-hand with a supervillain and I was getting nervous in an interview. Taking a deep breath, I called upon my Solar memories to calm myself down.
"Good morning, Mister Hebert." I greeted as I took a brief glance around the room. The room was fairly compact, with a few filing cabinets lining the walls as well as drawers. The table was set in front of the window, with a computer on my right side and the name plaque right in front of me.
"Please, call me Danny. Mister Hebert was my father." I let out an amused breath as I sat down. Exchanging smiles, I reached into my bag and pulled out my resumé before handing it to him. Letting out a breath, I waited for Danny to start the interview.
"Well… this is mostly just a formality." He set the paper down. "As a Dockworker, you don't need a specialised skill set like engineering or calculus. I'm mostly looking at your attitude and personality when you're coming in for an interview. And given that Johnny gave you glowing praise after the mall attack, I think you'll do just fine."
Oh. Huh. I… guess that made sense? "So… what should we do now?"
Danny shuffled some papers around and handed my resumé back. "Well, now we will discuss your hours and salary. I heard from Johnny that you're planning to go back to university?"
"Ah yes." I nodded. I did say that, didn't I? Well, this was mostly to get closer to Taylor so I didn't particularly care about the money. I could earn a lot more for a lot less work by just selling shit on Toybox. "Just to tide over while I get my life back together."
Danny nodded in understanding. "I won't pry." He assured me. "I'll put you as a part-time worker?" I nodded. "Okay. I'll put you in at a 20 hour work week and at base $25 per hour…" He typed into the computer. "Are you fine starting this week?" I nodded again. "Great. I'll put you in for a four hour shift tomorrow… It'll just be like an orientation, help you get to know about the things we do here, the schedules we have and all that."
I took a glance at the picture on his desk. A group of three that I assume was Danny, Annette, and Taylor at some sort of amusement park. A large rollercoaster was behind them and they were all holding cotton candy in their hands. Catching my look, he glanced over and smiled. "Cute, isn't she?"
I nodded. "Your daughter?" I prompted. If I wanted to get closer to Taylor, I needed some believable reason to meet with her regularly. Similar to Crystal and Lisa to be honest. Lisa will find me, given that her entire power was pulling information out of her ass. If she wanted to meet me, she would find a way to do so.
Crystal though… Hm. Something I'll need to correct. Maybe if I could get her phone number as well? I'll have to find her though without looking like some sort of stalker.
"Yep. Her name's Taylor." Danny smiled sadly as he looked over the picture. "This was taken over a decade ago. We went to the state fair up in Boston for a family vacation. She was practically vibrating in the car, full of excitement." He let out a soft sigh before setting it back. "I'll start rambling if I continue," he said with a laugh. "Don't mind me."
"Over a decade? Then she's what? 16... 17 years old now?" I curled my lip slightly.
"She's fifteen this year actually." Danny corrected me. "Still in high school."
"Ah, I see. Doing well hopefully?" I asked as I sat a little forward in my chair.
Danny tilted his head and bit his lip. "I… uh…" He trailed off awkwardly. "I think so. She doesn't bring up any problems with school. Though I do get the occasional call that she was truant." He smiled. "But that's teenagers, am I right? I remember when I was her age, I would sneak out of school to head to the arcade to play some rounds on the machines. And then sneak back in during lunch." He laughed. Loremaster picked up some level of denial between his words, an unwillingness to face reality.
But I wasn't about to call him out on it. "Have you talked to her about it?"
"I've tried but… well, it didn't really go very well." He shook his head. "Nevermind. I think that'll be all. Thanks for coming." He turned to face me fully.
"Um actually." I started. "Since I'm here. Why not show me around?" I vaguely gestured to the building around me.
Danny cocked his head. "I… don't think that's a good idea. Those are some nice clothes and the Docks aren't exactly the cleanest of places. We'll prepare a uniform for you to wear onsite tomorrow." I nodded in understanding. Unfortunate. I was hoping to strike up a conversation with him as we walked around. But I guess that wasn't in the cards anymore.
Standing up, I thanked Danny for his time before making my way out. I didn't have anything else to do here so I started making my way back home. As I made my way to the bus stop, I checked my phone. It was a Monday.
School was probably starting…
Oh. School was probably starting.
I pivoted and took the bus to Winslow instead. I didn't even need to walk into the building. Just call the police from a phone booth nearby. I just hoped that no butterflies occurred that didn't absolutely screw over Taylor.
As I sat in the bus, I realised something incredibly important. That I was a fucking asshole.
Despite the fact that I knew, for a fact, the Taylor was going to get shoved into a locker full of biohazardous waste. I pretty much waited until she triggered in order to 'save her'. I could have done this at any point in the last two days. It was literally a phone call to spare her the pain of suffocating in blood and shit. And yet I waited until she got her powers because that was the 'Taylor' I wanted.
And the worst part was that I didn't really care that I did it.
I didn't know if it was my Solar memories acting as a sort of buffer between me and my actions. The Solar me killed quite a number of people and had centuries of experiences. Or if it was the Celestial Forge itself or something else entirely. However, whatever the case was, I simply didn't care that I had practically sentenced a girl to one of the worst types of experiences ever.
And I felt worse about that than my actual inaction in the first place.
The Celestial Forge awakened once more. This time it's tendril stretched towards the Clothing Skills Constellation and missed.
Letting out a sigh, I tapped my foot impatiently. I kinda wanted to make the call now using my Toybox phone. It was capable of preventing tracing and ensured privacy… but I decided against it. It had to be believable that someone called instead of a mysterious stranger. The former meant that the police would think it was a concerned individual. The latter felt like a cape taking an interest in the girl.
Checking Winslow's schedule (thank god for publicly accessible records), I found that school wasn't starting today. But tomorrow since New Year's landed on a weekend, the actual 'holiday' for students was moved to the first Monday.
Oh hey, Iron Fist's meeting was scheduled… Wait later.
So great, Taylor wasn't stuck in the locker. But… that still left me with the decision of whether I should call her and prevent the trigger event from happening. It sounded scummy, given that there was one very obvious 'right' choice and one obvious 'wrong' choice, but I wanted to weigh the pros and cons of both decisions.
The pros of leaving her to trigger. I would have access to the main character. A girl who was incredibly dangerous despite only being able to control bugs and survived in situations that she should have died in. With more tech and some proper guidance, she would easily be the most terrifying non-human master on the East Coast.
The cons was that I had to actually recruit the girl. I already had an in with my job at the DWU but Taylor was naturally shy, insecure, and highly suspicious after Emma's betrayal. The best way would be doing something like what Lisa did. Instead of me approaching her, I had to make her approach me. I also had to deal with her tendency to escalate situations and make her get a handle on her emotions rather than just shunting it into her swarm.
Therapy. Obviously. But I wasn't sure about her escalation drive (rather than a conflict drive). Was it part of her personality? A bit of emotion manipulation via Queenie? Or both in tandem?
As for the pros and cons of leaving her to not trigger. It was that I didn't have to deal with any of that. The locker would be cleaned out but that might also intensify the bullying on Taylor. Without the 'pillar' of having powers and wanting to be a hero, she may just keep spiraling until she hits rock bottom. And at that point, she might just trigger anyway with a much worse power depending on the circumstance.
At the very least, Insect Master Taylor was in a comatose state for a few weeks and woke up in the hospital. A relatively safe place with her father. If she triggered in the middle of school, while being bullied… At best it would have some sort of simple Mover power, having the desire to 'escape' from her current situation in the immediate. Though from what I knew of Queen Adminstrator, that possibility was close to zero. At worst she became Khepri straight off the bat which meant an immediate kill order.
A fairer idea between the two extremes may be a similar Master/Thinker combo like in canon but with a Mover component. I wasn't sure how that Mover aspect would manifest. Perhaps the ability to literally shift her mind between people in the immediate area? Stupid idea. What the hell was that?
Anyway, there was no way I could protect her from any future attempts of bullying. The Locker only worked since it was there fermenting across winter break. The best idea would be somehow acting as her Pillar similarly like how her powers did in canon. But again that meant recruitment. Except this time, she didn't have that 'heroic' inclination that would make her walk into my arms for free.
Likely I would have to reveal my identity for one reason or another. But that came with its own host of problems that I didn't want to think about for now.
Okay. Pros.
No Insect Master Taylor.
Cons.
I might get something much much worse if I didn't intervene anyway to stop her from triggering due to bullying.
I let out a sigh. And again there wasn't any guarantee that she would trigger. There was also a chance that Taylor might decide to off herself. A possibility that I didn't particularly like to think about.
What was the saying? 'One in the hand is worth two in the bush'? By intervening, Taylor would also have still suffered through 2 to 3 weeks of intensified bullying as the Trio made up for their failed prank. At the very least, the Locker would be over soon if I reported it a little later and there was also the 2 to 3 weeks where Taylor remained comatose as her brain parsed the massive amount of information from her bugs.
Then again, 2 to 3 weeks was a long time. Even in the three days I had been here, I already had 2.5 times the perks than when I had started. Assuming I got about 3 perks per day, discounting all the failed connections, two weeks would mean about 42 new perks of varying amounts of heights.
Including missed attempts, I had a current average of about 9 attempts per day which meant a massive 126 attempts, with the Celestial Forge being able to reach higher and higher Stars every time until it got a hit.
Looking at it from this way, I could probably have enough strength to recruit Taylor the moment she got out of her coma. However, protecting and supporting Taylor would take a while especially with my current capabilities outstripping my resources.
Then so be it. Taylor was going to get shoved into that locker. I felt terrible about it but weighing the options, it was the best decision I could make. Letting out a sigh, it felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest and I could breathe a little easier now. Looking at the bus announcement, it was a few more stations until we hit Winslow.
Well, there wasn't anything to do there I suppose. I quickly tried to think about what to do next. The bus route also went a little further to Brockton Bay University which was an option and I could meet up with Crystal. Would that be weird?
I glanced down at my clothes. Yea, it would be. People might misconstrue it as a date or something. PHO would absolutely blow the fuck up from it. A regular guy caught up in a villain attack and rose up to be a leader and a hot superheroine? The shippers would be eating well and I don't think I needed that right now.
Maybe another day then. I hummed. The next option would be to scout out my secret base. I knew where it was since it subsumed an abandoned Endbringer shelter close to Captain's Hill though I would have to change buses…
Sure. Let's do it. Switching buses, I took a bus to the shelter. Plus, Toybox seemed to like meeting me there, given the many abandoned structures and sparseness of anyone around. It would definitely cut down on the travel time required to meet them. Perhaps if we got a little bit closer, I could set up a direct Toybox portal within my base.
Thoughts for another day, I suppose.
Staring out the window, I let out a sigh as I considered the sheer number of things I needed to do. Build my Erstein costume and equipment, handle Taylor and Lisa, get closer to Crystal to get in with New Wave to scan their powers, do Toybox things until I was established enough to leave…
What a headache…
Getting off at Captain's Hill, I took a rather roundabout route to my base. Due to the incomplete infrastructure, there weren't many of the city's CCTVs to see me outside of those on the main road. It would look like I walked out of the area of the CCTVs surveillance range and that was that.
Slipping down the sewer grate, I reached the subdoor of the Endbringer shelter. A maintenance door that would usually lead to some machinery that was supposed to keep everyone inside alive while the entire place was sealed air tight. A prudent decision given that the most likely Endbringer to strike Brockton was Leviathan.
Shutting the door behind me, I walked through the maintenance tunnels to the life support systems. Or where they should be anyway. Once again after funding to Captain's Hill, not even any life support was provided. Though the air circulation and lights worked I noted absently. I wondered if they were due to the shelter itself or if it was from my power.
Exiting the life support room, I walked out to a rather nice living room. Despite the fact that it was a 'base', it apparently didn't stop my power from tricking it out. Smooth polished wood floors, a lovely U-shaped couch connected to a TV displaying the entirety of the city, a full-sized kitchen with all the appliances you would expect inside one. And a large rectangular dining table capable of seating six people.
The bedrooms were a little on the cozy side, but had enough space if you were creative with it. There were white beds, sheets tucked tightly as well as tables, chairs, closets and nightstands. Pretty much the important furniture that one might expect in a bedroom. There was also a larger master bedroom with a king-sized bed and more decadent furniture though it was similarly plain.
The bathrooms were also stocked with all the toiletries one would expect. Toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, blah blah blah. I even found tampons tucked under the sink. All of it was still in their plastic packaging though, which raised a certain question in my head. Where the hell was the Forge pulling all of this from?
Created as part of the base? Or did a few stalls suddenly 'misplace' a few of their stock?
Anyway, there was also a shower and a tub in both bathrooms. Both of which were big enough to fit at least four people comfortably and possibly a bit more with some squeezing. I didn't need to guess what Amaya's immediate proposition was when she saw this.
Outside of that there was also a washing machine and dryer. So I didn't have to spend my quarters on those washing machine stores. I furrowed my brow in confusion as a thought appeared in my head.
Where was all the water and electricity powering this place coming from? The main power grid? That was definitely not right. If it was, the government would be able to tax me on this and that would jeopardize the point of a secret base. I didn't see any generators or water purification plants when I came in so… I guess the Forge was just pulling it from somewhere?
Hm.
There was also a Wi-Fi connection here. A brief check saw that there was a decent firewall and inbuilt VPN that altered IP addresses every 24 hours. Not particularly secure but better than nothing. At the very least it should dissuade the usual script-kiddies and black-hat from trying and moving onto easier targets. However, it wasn't about to be beating off dedicated assaults on the base.
Maybe I should make a proper modem to connect to the internet. I took a breath. Maybe I should start keeping a to-do list as well to keep track of all the things I have to do.
A knock came from the main door before it opened and the green-haired scientist sautered in, wearing some casual clothes along with her lab coat and usual clothes. My bag was slung across her back as she skipped into the room and tossed it aside.
"Hm. I thought I would arrive here first." Amaya remarked as she shut the door behind her.
The Celestial Forge awakened. However, instead of striking out to only the Lewd Constellations, the 19 were excluded from this awakening. This time the tendril extended towards the Enchanting Skills Constellation, the same one that I got Loremaster from.
This time I got one, right next to the Star that gave me Loremaster actually. Magic Style: Enchantment. The ability to enchant things, molding magic and infusing it into living or inanimate objects to grant them strong traits.
There were also a few Motes that compounded with this effect. The first was Magic. Literally just granting me a mana pool for me to draw on as well as being fueled by emotions. Stronger emotions generate stronger effects… And of course the power of love and friendship being the strongest emotion.
The other two were Magic Power and Magic Skill. Magic Power was the amount of magic I had in my system to use. Which… wasn't a lot right now. It says that I'll be able to hold up a few minutes in a fight. Though I expected if I paced myself, I was pretty certain that I could stretch it out a bit longer. And Magic Skill was simply how skilled I was at using my magic.
Right now it was about as good as a highschool student. I knew the basics and intermediate stuff and was decent enough to use them competently and reliably but any advanced applications were out of my reach for now.
I would definitely have to test this out soon. Enchanting was pretty much a free upgrade to all of my equipment. And the only thing it would cost was my time.
I pulled my attention away from the Forge. "What. So you can masturbate naked in front of me when I arrive again?" I deadpanned as the scientist skipped over to the dining table. Looking inside, she had brought some of my dirty clothes as well as some fresh clothes for the two of us. Well, for me anyway since it was my clothes.
"Why? Did you enjoy it?" Amaya hooked her arms around my neck and purred. Pulling her off me, she pouted slightly before hauling the clothes to the laundry room and chucked them in.
"Immensely." I drawled with no small amount of sarcasm. "Just don't expect it to be a regular thing." Amaya took a step back as the washing machine spun up. Her clothes were gone, again, being thrown in with the rest of it, including her underwear. Biting my lip, I glanced away as the only thing that covered Amaya was her lab coat.
"You were saying?" She smiled as she stood right in front of me.
Blinking, I shook my head and tore my eyes away. "How many sets of clothes do you have?"
Amaya blinked and frowned. "Mmm… Just the one. Why?"
"Get some better underwear." I shot back with a grin. Pouting slightly, she stared at me as if she was trying to decide on something. Breaking into a mischievous smile, she nodded and spun on her heel.
She walked back and called out to me. "So you don't like my underwear?"
Immediately, I felt a disturbance in the Force. "Why do you ask…?"
"No reason." Whirling around, Amaya was now sporting nothing but her lab coat. Smiling a Cheshire grin, I buried my face into my hands and let out a long groan. "I'll be in my room if you need me." Grabbing a stack of papers from my bag that I recognized were our notes, she walked into one of the bedrooms in the base. "Oh and I'll be sure to get some 'better underwear' as you put it." Amaya made it a point to flash me again before shutting the door behind her.
I took a breath to calm myself down. Honestly, was she an Evil Genius or a Horny Genius? Anyway, A. I still had things to do, and B. My reaction was probably what she wanted anyway. Let's not get too carried away now. I shot a glance at the door and waited for her to burst back out or something.
With that small reminder out of the way, I turned my attention to my phone. Leaning by the couch, I briefly skimmed through the messages I received. Well, just the one really that I had ignored earlier. Iron Fist had finalized the meeting time and place. Apparently it was done a little past midnight for me, so I was fast asleep when the notification arrived.
I didn't care too much about the location given that we would be sent over via one of Dodge's portals. It was some isolated forest area near the outskirts of Charleston a little past sunset. I would be expected to participate for obvious reasons, but I was also assigned two of Toybox's hit squad members during the exchange. Specifically Toy Soldier and Bauble.
Purely out of safety concerns. Most of the time, Toybox wouldn't do such a thing because they would have equipment that would protect them, or at the very least stall the attackers until they could retreat. But since I got a contract so early without any equipment while also having no access to the Toybox dimension currently, I needed some back up.
Assuming nothing terrible happens, like Behemoth suddenly bursting through the ground, I should be fine.
I also sent Amaya's list of components into the Toybox system. An estimated amount of money was returned and after approval, Toybox would start sourcing all the components I needed. Most of it should be in stock, given that Amaya made sure that she didn't name a horribly specific component.
I tucked my phone away. Anyway, I had a new power, and it was a lot safer to test than Cult of the Gun.
Going to the kitchen, I grabbed a knife. Taking a deep breath, I 'felt around' for my mana. Gun magic already helped me quite a bit with finding 'where' my mana was so it didn't take long for me to find it. Drawing it out, it definitely felt different to gun magic where it felt like it was only begrudgingly following my orders. This mana was… dumber? I guess? It didn't have any desires compared to gun magic which only wanted to turn things into guns.
Well then, let's try my first enchantment. A simple durability enchantment would be useful for a knife right? Pushing my magic into the blade, Loremaster helped with seeing how the enchant seeped into the metal, the structure the magic took in order for the enchantment to hold, and more. It was enlightening to say the least.
Filing it away, I lifted the knife up and inspected it. It didn't look too different to a normal knife, except maybe that it glowed a little? Though it was far too bright to tell. Looking around, I walked outside for a bit and grabbed a small rock. Bringing it back inside, I took the knife to it and started blunting the knife as best as I could with it.
Pulling back, I saw that a good amount of rock dust was ground off. But upon checking the blade, it was still sharp. Surprisingly so. Unfortunately I didn't check how sharp it was beforehand, but judging by how it glided through paper… I guessed it didn't particularly matter.
And this was a proper enchanting power unlike Cult of the Gun so… I guess I was training with it.
Grabbing a bunch of tools from the garage, I started enchanting them one by one with an enchantment that I thought would make it most effective. Which mostly meant slapping a durability and maybe one extra enchantment on it. However, despite its simplicity, this single enchantment training was pulling triple duty.
Firstly, it was training Loremaster. It was firing on all cylinders since this was what this perk was meant to do in the first place and therefore, with the help of Savant, I was rapidly figuring out the inner workings of enchantment with this magic.
Secondly, it was improving my magic. Just straight up, improving magic all across the board. From my control, to the size of my Magic Power, everything. Why? True Hero Potential. The more I trained with something, the better and stronger it became, and since True Hero Potential also gave a small boost to growth, so I was improving my magic at a fairly noticeable rate. Not a lot. But noticeable.
Thirdly, I was improving my Magic Skill though this was more of a side effect of the above two. With Loremaster improving, I could see deeper and unravel the method of which Enchantment was… enchanting an object. And with Savant and Loremaster together, I could spot small or slight inefficiencies with the enchantment and tweak it to be better. This doesn't usually work, requiring several disenchantments and re-enchantments before I got it right. But that allowed Loremaster to view what had gone wrong.
Which then improved Loremaster a little bit more. Which allowed my Magic Skill to be better. And it became a self-reinforcing cycle as all my perks worked in tandem to improve all the other perks. And with my slowly growing Magic Power, I could even start infusing stronger enchantments by burning a little more Magic Power into it. Small steps that compounded with each other to become stupidly effective.
God I felt like a Gamer, grinding out stupidly tedious work for EXP and stat points. If I had a System, maybe I would be able to see Loremaster reaching level 3 or something.
There was also Machine Madness sitting in the back of my mind, looking at all of these enchantments and figuring out exactly how to create devices to replicate them. Not sure when I could ever need specific devices for boosting durability or sharpness but... I guess I have the option if I ever needed it now. Though I could always just use Enchantment for the same effect...
Of course, I couldn't keep enchanting indefinitely. Although my Magic Power was increasing with True Hero, I still needed time for it to recharge. In which case, I sat down, closed my eyes and tried to absorb more Magic faster.
Absorbing mana, or in this case 'Ethernano', was a bit harder than I had expected. Gun magic didn't exactly require mana. It only took a sliver to have the enchantment take effect and I doubted I could run out given that it was directly from the Forge rather than my body. So unlike pulling mana from my body, I had zero frame of reference as to absorbing Ethernano in the first place.
Well, I started with trying to draw mana from my body. Feeling out within myself to find the Ethernano 'storage' within myself. It was extremely empty, given that I had spent the last few minutes enchanting knives, whisks, and spoons. However, I could feel Ethernano and how tiny bits of it were being absorbed through my body and into the 'storage'.
So it wasn't generated from within the body. Or at least not entirely. Turning my awareness out, my 'vision' of my body was blocked as I pushed my magic sense outwards. And was surprised at the Ethernano that was simply floating around in the atmosphere and running through the earth. Some Ethernano lingered around me and were absorbed on occasion but it didn't look like it was going any faster.
Okay. So… how do I accelerate the absorption of Ethernano?
Maybe something from cultivation novels? If I could create a vortex that pulled Ethernano towards me, wouldn't that increase the rate of absorption? It also might overload my body with such particles…
It was worth a shot I suppose. The first would be trying to figure out what affected the movement of Ethernano. I did, obviously, with how I could pull out the particles to enchant objects. However, could that also be applied to particles outside my body?
Testing it gave me… mixed results. Yes, I could pull mana nearby to increase absorption rate but it was a short range and it wasn't like Ethernano was rapidly being sucked in to fill that void. There was no movement from particles farther away plus the concentration required to do so gave me a slight headache.
Moving slightly, I could 'see' that Ethernano did try its best to refill my empty spot. After watching for a few minutes, the concentration of particles was about the same as the rest of the environment. So at the very least, it tried to fill in the vacuum if there was one.
I tried multiple ideas for trying to increase my absorption of Ethernano. Circulating my magic within me? No. Circulating magic outside of me? No. Ran around the area sucking as much Ethernano as I could? Did work. But it also gave me a splitting headache and I slammed my toe on a sofa leg so… No.
In the end, I decided the best, and probably safest way until further notice was just sitting and absorbing Ethernano passively. Until I had a better idea of how it worked or got inspired, there wasn't much else I could do.
After my magic reserves were restored to a usable state, I started my enchanting grind again on the rest of the utensils and tools we had stocked in the secret base.
The Celestial Forge awakened. Again. This time I got a perk from the Time Constellation called 'Slacking Off'. Didn't do much but whenever I was doing work, I could take a little bit of time for myself. This applied to jobs but also personal projects, so although it would take the same amount of time to do something, I could slack off a little bit while still completing it on time.
As a treat.
Not… terribly good I suppose. But it was better than nothing.
Hm. If it worked like that… couldn't I also work on two projects within the same timing? Like if it normally took 4 hours for a project, now I could work for 3.5 hours and spend the extra 30 minutes saved on another right? It wasn't a lot, but spread over all the things I do… like designing blueprints while working at the Dockworkers' Union, during the construction of devices and gadgets…
Although small, it would add up over the course of days or weeks. Assuming I don't get any other perk that accelerates my work.
Hm.
Ah well. I was going to spend the rest of my time working on my enchanting training until it was time to leave. Not much else I could do right now anyway…
Wait, wouldn't Slacking Off also work on this as well?
A/N: Unfortunately that bit with the ABB subplot isn't that well received but it also doesn't matter for the near future. So don't worry about it. For now at least. Got that job with DWU, Taylor's trigger is going to happen (Whoops, who could have ever known?), exploring the Secret Base, and also that sweet sweet Perk Comboing. That's what I write this for babyyyy.
New Perks:
-Magic Style: Enchantment (Fairy Tail) (200CP)
It's time to choose the Magical Styles that you have already learned upon entering this world. Whilst most magical styles can be learned with time and effort and the right teacher or source of knowledge, buying them here will allow them to benefit from the skill that Magic Skill ranks grant as well as allow access to extremely rare or lost magics or magics that require certain traits to use. A list of the magics that can be bought as well as their costs can be found at the end of the jump document. It should be noted that some Magic Styles will not be purchasable through this option. Most of these are Holder Type magics, which all deal with magical items that are offered for purchase in the item section, and some are simply Caster Type magics that are too unique and either offered as part of a separate perk or not at all. This may change in the future as the series progresses or not.
-Magic (Fairy Tail) (FREE)**
Ethernano is the source of energy that runs through our world of Earthland and from the bodies of those native to this place. It's what allows us all to accomplish the act known as Magic, casting spells and the like. Not everyone has the ability to use magic but you're one of those lucky ones, like about a tenth of Earthland's population. How powerful and talented you are, along with what magic you know already, will be decided below.
Before we go on, the most important thing to know about magic in this world is that it is more than just a source of energy like what you get from food and more than just a power that you study and practice with to use in battle like a gun or martial arts. It is part of you, ebbing and flowing as you do. When your heart soars and your soul burns hot, your magic will answer with a leap and a bound in might. Intense emotions can colour and enhance magical power, sometimes to massive extents, and no emotion is greater at this than love. Both friendship and romance, the magic of this world responds in purest form to these emotions and what makes you feel them. Some say that this might even be the true source of all magic in the world, the love that let us come so far.
-Magic Power: Rank 1 (Fairy Tail) (FREE)**
You have the innate potential to be a Mage and to use Magic, that's for certain. But not all Wizards are equal to each other. The amount of Magical Power you have and can use is different for every person. It can be trained and improved over time but that'll take effort and time. The ranks below are made on the assumption that you are human, being a race with more innate magic will increase the benefits of various ranks as well. It is important to note that, in general, magical power generally translates into physical power, though it is unclear whether this is a natural
boost or the effect of basic and easy to learn enhancement magic that most mages make use of. You begin with Rank 1 for free.
Rank 1
The average for any combat capable Wizard. You're certainly able to fight and no normal humans are likely to stand up to you at first but you'll be tired after a few minutes and don't expect to be blowing up houses. Levy McGarden and Lucy Heartfilia at the start of the Fairy Tail series are examples of this level.
-Magic Skill: Rank 1 (Fairy Tail) (FREE)**
Magical Power is not the only thing that governs your overall might. Any fool can fling about his energy like a brute but only with skill and knowledge will a sorceress be able to use her magic to its utmost limit. This option describes the talent for magic in general you have as well as the specific training in any Styles you have bought from the start. Magic Skill applies to all Magic Styles you have bought with the option following this one, not to ones you learn in the future, though higher ranks of this option will grant greater skill with magic as a whole as well. You can choose how exactly your Skill manifests for your Styles, such as if you want to focus in a certain area. You might want to be an Ice Mage that focuses on Make Magic to create tools or creatures from Ice, rather than manipulate Ice directly.
Rank 1
You know your magics and how to use them but many of the advanced moves and tricks are still hidden from you. You're an effective combatant using your magic and so long as they're not stronger than you in Magical Power, you'll have a good chance of winning against your peers. Grey Fullbuster at the start of the series is an example of this.
-Slacking Off (Generic Factory) (200CP)
You will always find some time where you can slack off while working without harming your performance. This doesn't actually reduce the amount of time you need to be at work, just the amount of time you need to be doing work.