Disclaimer: English is not my first language. I'm using Grammarly to check the Grammar and using Word to write it.
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Mia and I quickly enter the workshop, change into our costumes, and rush towards the fight.
We appear in the area in a burst of shunpo.
This is one fine mess.
Aegis is doing his best to keep Hookwolf's attention on him while the police evacuate civilians from the surrounding area. Kid Win's backs him up with sharp blasts from a laser pistol, but they barely slow Hookwolf down.
Vista twists space with her power, stretching the cars around her into a warped barricade that shields everyone around her.
Thankfully, no one seems to have died yet, but Hookwolf is moving all over the place.
It's only a matter of time before he eviscerates someone.
"Give Kid Win and Vista a hand. I'm going to say hello to Hookwolf," I summon the magical balls.
In a burst of shunpo, I appear in front of Hookwolf just as he was about attempt to pounce on Aegis.
"What the!?" Hookwolf exclaims in shock.
He quickly changes his focus and charges at me.
Yeah, I don't think so.
"Hado # 39: Toppu Geki (Gale Repulsion Strike)," I said.
Air screams as it condenses around my right hand, crushing itself into a pulsing sphere. I hurl it at Hookwolf.
The impact is instantaneous. The sphere slams into his chest and detonates in a concussive blast.
The sound of metal shattering echoes all over the street as Hookwolf is ripped off his feet and hurled backwards, tumbling through the air, and pieces of his body scatter all over the place.
He bounces on the ground twice before hitting a car.
Now that I have a second.
"Hey there," I said, turning enough to look at Aegis while keeping Hookwolf in my line of sight.
Aegis is looking at me with wary eyes.
"You're Red, right?" Aegis asked.
"The one and only. Quick question: why are the Wards fighting Hookwolf?" I asked.
"I was doing a patrol with Vista and Kid Win when Hookwolf appeared out of nowhere and started attacking us. We tried to run away, but he didn't let us," Aegis explained.
Ah, that makes sense.
"Is he alone?" I asked, looking around.
"Yeah, he doesn't seem to have brought anyone with him," Aegis said.
That's good, but better keep an eye out.
"Did you call for backup?" I asked.
"I did. Miss Militia is five minutes out," Aegis said.
"Only her?" I asked, surprised.
"She's the closest one to our location. Battery and Assault are also on the way, but they are going to take longer to get here," Aegis explained.
Our attention snaps back to Hookwolf as he rolls off the crumpled hood and slams into the asphalt, creating spider-cracks around him. He fixes me with a murderous glare, teeth bared, snarl ripping from his throat.
"Go to the others. I got this," I said, meeting Hookwolf's feral glare without a flicker of concern.
Aegis gives me one last look before flying off to join Kid Win and Vista.
Hookwolf lets out a savage roar and lunges at me full speed, claws out, ready to tear me apart.
In a burst of shunpo, I dodge Hookwolf's attack. His claws shred the asphalt, sending small pieces flying.
I appear above him.
"Hado # 25: Kaminari," I said coldly.
Bolts of lightning slam into Hookwolf, tearing a scream of pain from his throat.
The bolts nail him to the ground, metal shrieking under the strain as Hookwolf tries to break free.
I channel more reiryoku into the spell, and the lightning intensifies, roaring louder as its power swells.
He isn't going to last much longer at th-
"Look out!" Mia screams.
A massive force slams into my back, shattering my concentratrion forcing me to stop the kido spell. I'm hurled forward like a ragdoll, rocketing straight into a building. Walls shatter around me as I crash through concrete and steel, one wall, then another, then another, until the fourth finally brings me to a brutal halt inside a ruined apartment.
And as if that weren't enough, one of the broken walls collapses, falling on top of me.
Thank god I can choose not to feel pain.
I reinforce my body and, with great difficulty, push the rubble aside.
I drag myself to the wall and sit against it.
Let's see...both of my legs are broken, my left arm is not supposed to bend like that, my right arm barely moves, I most certainly have some broken ribs, and I am suffering from internal bleeding.
It's getting hard to breathe.
The hell hit me?
BOOM!
I can't stay here too long.
Okay, I can't use kaido(healing kido) in this state and can't grab the bottles filled with healing water.
Going to need some help.
I quickly created a terminal.
"You look awful," The terminal said.
"Tell me something I don't know," I grunted.
"Sorry," The terminal said.
He moves to my side, reaches into the bag of holding, and pulls out a water bottle. He opens the mouthpiece of my mask and presses the bottle to my bloodied lips.
I greedily drink the entire bottle in seconds.
My body begins to heal with a sickening crunch as bones and flesh throughout my body knit themselves back together.
As soon as I could use my arms again, I grabbed another bottle and drank it all, just to be sure that I'm fully healed.
"Let me see your back," the terminal said.
I turn around for him.
"Be quick. I have to return to the fight," I put the empty bottles inside the bag of holding.
"All right, all right," The terminal said, looking at my back. "The armor has some scratches, but it's holding strong. Whatever hit you scroched your back and-" the terminal touches my back and quickly pulls his hand away, "-still hot. Hold still, I'm going to cool it off. Bakudo # 2: Mizu Shoka," he said.
He sprays a thin jet of water across the back, instantly cooling it.
"You're good to go," the terminal said before dispelling itself.
A warm sensation spreads throughout my body. 'Mage's Workshop' gives me a building the size of a manor house that is filled with all the equipment that I need to practice magecraft. Any experiments conducted there are less likely to end up in disaster. And there's also an empty plot of land surrounding the building.
Now we don't have to worry about espace anymore, but that is for later.
I quickly get to my feet and use shunpo to leave the building.
I reappear outside and scan my surroundings.
There's something kind of metal construct in the street. It's a pile of iron parts stacked on top of one another until they vaguely take the shape of a dome.
I bet that Mia did that.
I turn towards her direction and see iron walls surrounding the area where Mia, the wards, and the police are. Several of those walls are damaged.
In a burst of shunpo, I appear in the middle of them.
Before I could say a single word, a green barrel of a rifle was thrust in front of my face.
Oh, look, Miss Militia is here now.
"Waitwaitwait! He's with me!" Mia shouts quickly.
Miss Militia gives me a once-over, then lowers her rifle.
"Sorry. You appeared out of nowhere," Miss Militia apologized.
"It's fine. It's better to be safe than sorry," I said.
Miss Militia nods.
"Do you need medical attention, Red? I was told you were hit by a laser and hurled into a building," Miss Militia said.
So that's what hit me.
"That's unnecessary, I'm unharmed, this armor is stronger than it looks," I said, tapping my chestplate to emphasize the point.
"If you say so. Nevertheless, let me know if you start to feel any pain," Miss Militia said.
Miss Militia's weapon cycles through multiple forms before locking into a shotgun.
That's cool.
I wonder how it works?
She heads towards Vista, Kid Win, and Aegis to check how they are holding up.
Mia gestures to a corner away from everyone else.
"How bad was it?" Mia whispered.
"That laser messed me up. I had so many broken bones and internal bleeding. It's a good thing I can turn off my pain receptors," I whispered. "I drank two bottles just to make sure I was back to top shape."
It's a good thing no one saw me in that state; there would've been lots of questions about how I healed so quickly.
"Yeah, that is go-wait, since when can you do that?" Mia whispered, puzzled.
"I will explain that later," I whispered. "What did I miss?"
"After you were launched into that building, Hookwolf tried to make a break for it, but he was in pretty bad shape and struggling to move. I bombarded him with fireballs until he went down. Then I transmutated arms from the asphalt to pin him and turned them into iron. I added a few more layers to make sure he couldn't escape, but I had to be quick. Victor was trying to hit me with a laser," Mia explained. "Speaking of which, he was the one who shot you."
I will remember that.
"Anyway, Victor couldn't hit me, so he switched targets and started shooting at the police and the Wards. I created those iron walls to protect everyone. He fired a few times but stopped once Miss Milita arrived. I think that's when he decided to cut his losses or something like that," Mia shrugs.
I look at the iron walls and notice something.
"That laser hit me like a freight train, and yet those walls don't look that damaged," I pointed out.
"I noticed that too. Victor must have overcharged whatever weapon he was using when he shot you," Mia guesses.
How nice of him give me special treatment.
I will make sure to do the same to him.
"Think this was a trap for us?" I whispered.
"That passed my mind, but I'm not sure. Any other hero could have shown up. It was by chance that we got here first. Hell, we could have chosen not to come," Mia glances at Miss Militia and the Wards. "Let's see what they know."
Mia and I approach Miss Militia and the Wards.
"Hey there," I said.
"Wow, you really are okay," Kid Win said with some disbelief.
"Yep. It pays off to have good armor," I said.
Kid Win focuses on my suit.
"What material did yo-" Vista stops Kid Win mid-question with a quick elbow nudge.
"Not now," Vista said calmly. "Thanks for the save. Things could have gone a lot worse," she said with a frown.
"Don't worry about it," I said.
"Miss Militia, there's something we'd like to discuss with you about this attack," Mia said.
"That this whole thing was a trap, right?" Miss Militia asked.
Mia nods.
"Yeah, you would be right about that. It's a tactic the Empire has used before. Many times, in fact. They attack the Wards or the Protectorate, and when reinforcements arrive, the Empire's capes who've been lying low make their move," Miss Militia explained.
"Hm, simple but effective," Mia crossed her arms.
"Unfortunately," Miss Militia said with a bitter undertone.
"Hey, look on the bright side. The Empire lost one of its strongest members," I said.
"That's true," Miss Militia perked up a little.
"It's always a good day to give the Empire a black eye," Vista said with a smirk.
"Victor still managed to get away," Kid Win points out.
"Seriously? Come on, Kid," Vista said with a huff, hands on her hips.
"Well, I mean-it's just-he still-" Kid Win stammered, until Aegis put a hand on his shoulder.
"We get it," Aegis said with a light chuckle.
Not long ago, they were in danger, and now they are joking with each other.
These are some strong kids.
"I must say, the Empire was awfully bold in attacking the Wards. Ins't there something about not attacking children in the unwritten rules?" Mia asked.
A warm sensation spreads throughout my body. 'Strong Insides' makes every aspect of my body as durable as my strongest point. My eyes, skin, organs, and everything else will share that same durability.
...there is some irony in getting this perk now that I don't even want to think about it.
I'm going to focus on this later.
It does give me an idea, though.
"You'd think there would be, but there isn't, Blue. The truth is, when it comes to parahumans, age doesn't mean much. A ten-year-old can have powers that let them juggle cars like they are nothing," Miss Milita said. "Their age doesn't make the power any less fatal. In some cases, it even makes it more dangerous as children are prone to rash decisions."
A name does come to mind about capes like that.
Bonesaw.
She's twelve years old and is one of the most terrifying capes in the world.
"I will keep that in mind," Mia hums.
"It also doesn't help that some of the rules are ignored when it's convenient to the villains," Vista complains.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"There's one about trying not to use lethal force, yet, Hookwolf was going to maul Aegis," Vista said with a frown.
"That wouldn't have killed me," Aegis said.
"That doesn't make it better!" Vista said.
"All right, all right. Calm down, Vista," Aegis said.
Vista takes a few steady breaths, calming herself little by little.
"Sorry," Vista said once she'd regained her composure.
Aegis waved off her apologies.
"I see. I take it that the PRT/Protectorate tries their best to enforce the unwritten rules, yes?" Mia asked.
"We do what we can, but it's harder to enforce them when you're the one at disvantage," Miss Militia said with a tired sigh.
That's rough.
Okay, let's talk about something else.
"How bad is the gang war at this point?" I asked.
"There have been light skirmishes all over the city, but they are slowly escalating. The Empire has been on the offensive ever since you two defeated Lung," Miss Militia said.
The Empire smelled blood on the water.
"Is Lung still out of commission?" I asked.
"I'm not sure. There hasn't been any sighting of him, but can't say if because he's still healing or if it's another reason," Miss Militia shrugs.
"And what about Oni Lee?" I asked.
"He's doing his best to keep the Empire out of ABB territory," Kid Win said.
"How is that going?" I asked.
Kid Win tilts his hand back and forth in a so-so motion.
Good.
Screw that guy.
"Anything else we should know about?" Mia asked.
Miss Militia furrowed her brow thoughtfully.
"Well, there's also the Undersiders causing some trouble," Aegis said.
"Course they are," Vista snorts. "The PRT/Protectorare and New Wave are busy with the gang war. There's no better time to go on a stealing spree."
There's always someone who takes advantage of a situation like this.
"We will keep an eye out for them," I said.
"Is there any idea when the transport for Hookwolf gets here?" Mia asked.
"Give me a moment. Console, what's the ETA on Hookwolf's transport?" Miss Militia said into her comm.
She remains silent for a few seconds, nodding.
"Understood. We will be waiting," Miss Militia said. "It will take them twenty-five minutes to get here, Blue."
"All right," Mia said.
Well, it won't be long before we can go home.
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The transport arrived sooner than anticipated.
Considering it was Hookwolf, it was not surprising that the PRT/Protectorate wanted him contained as soon as possible.
We offered to accompany the transport to ensure the Empire wouldn't try anything, but they declined.
Oh well.
After Hookwolf was secured, Mia and I said our goodbyes to Miss Militia, Vista, Kid Win, and Aegis as they headed out with the transport.
Time to go home.
We got a workshop to explore.
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"This place is huge!" Mia said in astonishment as she looked around.
I chuckle softly in amazement.
We walk side by side along a cobblestone path, our footsteps softly echoing between the damp, moss-covered stones. Tall trees surround us, their branches swaying gently in the afternoon breeze, scattering leaves across the ground.
Looking up, I see a clear sky with a few clouds drifting lazily by.
"Think there is nighttime here?" I asked.
"Probably. Magecraft experiments can last for years, so it makes sense that this place would simulate a day and night cycle to keep whoever's using it from losing their sanity," Mia said.
I let out a hum.
"Unless they shut themselves in their workshop and refuse to leave, which kind of makes the day and night cycle pointless," Mia tilts her head.
"Well, it's a good thing I don't plan on doing that," I said dryly.
After about twenty minutes of walking, we arrive at a clearing with the manor house at its center.
A two-story grey manor house, with plants creeping up its walls, and a fountain out front encircled by a garden of flowers.
"British architecture. Good choice," Mia nods in approval.
"Hey, check it out. It's T1," I said.
T1 is sitting on the steps, eating food.
When we stepped into the workshop, the terminals were nowhere to be seen, and all the computers were gone.
We approach him.
"Sup," T1 takes a bit of chicken parmesan.
"So, how big is the place?" I asked.
"I counted fifty rooms in total. There are two suites, one fully equipped workshop for practicing alchemy, and one set up with medical equipment for the 'wet' work. The rest are empty rooms packed with boxes of miscellanious equipments. There's also a basement that we're converting into a server room, a fully stocked kitchen, and a pool we're using right now," T1 said.
I raised an eyebrow.
"What? We've been working nonstop. We could use a break," T1 finish the chicken parmesan.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry," I said.
"How was the fight?" T1 asked.
"Well, it was going fine until I was hit by a laser that almost killed me," I said dryly.
"...shit," T1 said grimly.
"We'll need to upgrade our suits. And having more magical reagents on hand would definitely help," I said with a glance at Mia.
"I'll get on the website and buy everything we need," Mia said.
"Hold on, you can buy magical reagents online?" T1 asked, surprised.
"I will tell you later," I said with a sigh.
A warm sensation spreads throughout my body. 'Mystic Code Maker' makes me a master in the craft to the point that I can make a masterpiece like Volumen Hydrargyrum.
"Well, that's convenient," T1 said.
"Tell me about it," I blinked rapidly.
"Did you get a perk, Ben?" Mia asked.
"Yeah, and this reminds me that there are still two perks that I haven't told you about," I said. "Anyway, it's called 'Mystic Code Maker' and turned me into a master in the craft."
"Does that mean you can finally make divine constructs?" Mia asked seriously.
"I've gotten closer, but there is still something missing," I said, scratching my beard thoughtfully before shaking my head. "I can focus on this later. T1, I need you to grab a piece of Ebony about the size of a human nail and meet us at the workshop with the medical equipment."
"Ah, I see where you are going with this. Let's hope it works," T1 said as he got up.
"Wait, where is that workshop?" Mia asked quickly.
"It's in the first-floor hallway, go right, seventh door," T1 said before using shunpo.
Mia and I enter the manor house and follow T1 instructions.
"The grimoire certainly didn't cut corners. This equipment is all top-of-the-line," Mia said, looking around.
"It's good to have a proper workshop," I said, inspecting the drugs that came with the place.
There's enough to stock a pharmacy.
"So, what is that you are planning on doing, Ben?" Mia asked.
"It involves a perk that I got earlier today. 'Strong Insides' makes every aspect of my body as durable as my strongest point," I said.
"That...would have been useful earlier," Mia blinks slowly.
"I know," I rub my temples.
"That's why you want T1 to bring Ebony. You're going to fuse it with your skeleton," Mia said.
"That's the plan," I nod.
"Would that even work?" Mia raised an eyebrow.
"The perk never said that my strongest point couldn't be something that I put inside my body, but we will find out soon enough if this works," I said with a sigh.
"Okay, huh, what about the other perk?" Mia said.
"It's a form of domination magecraft called 'Self-Domination' that grants me absolute control over my own body. My physical needs are nearly nonexistent, have tighter control over my emotions, and I can mute my pain receptors at will. No outside force, whether mind control or curses, can influence me unless I permit it," I said.
"Wow, that's a good one, especially the part about curses. They are a nightmare to deal with. Sure, Masters like Heartbreaker are dangerous, but you can count on one hand how many Masters can control people. Magi who specialize in curses, on the other hand? There are definitely more of them," Mia said with a frown.
"How bad are we talking about?" I asked.
Mia stays silent for a moment.
"I will give you books to read later. It will take a while to explain that," Mia said with a sigh.
Yikes.
T1 enters the room.
"Hey, I got the Ebony," T1 said.
"Let's do this," I said.
I sit down and rest my right forearm over the alchemic circle etched into the table.
T1 grabs a tray with the necessary tools and places it on the table.
"Mia, I need you to hold the Ebony," T1 said.
"Of course," Mia grabs the piece of Ebony with a clamp.
T1 grabs a scapel and makes a long incision on my forearm.
He quickly wipes away the blood and continues.
Okay, I don't need to see this.
It took about half an hour for the procedure to be done.
"How do you feel?" T1 asked, wiping the blood off his hands.
I give myself a once-over.
"The same as always," I shrug.
Am I even supposed to feel different?
"Give me your hand, Ben," Mia grabs a scapel. "You're going to have to turn on your pain receptor."
I offer Mia my right hand.
She presses the scapel to my hand, careful at first, attempting to draw blood, but the blade doesn't pierce my skin. She increases the pressure, with no result.
Mia hums; then, without warning, she reinforces the scapel, raises her hand high, and strikes my hand with force.
The blade snaps, clattering onto the ground.
"Looks like it worked," Mia nods, pleased.
She notices T1 and me looking at her with wide eyes.
"What? I'm just making sure it works. It's better that something wrong happens here than out there," Mia said, defending herself.
She isn't wrong about that.
"Thanks for the help, T1," I said.
"Don't worry about it. Now, if you excuse me, I have a pool to go to," T1 said as he left the room.
"We've got to visit the pool later. It would be a good idea to relax a little," Mia said.
"You know, we could move into the manor house. There are two rooms ready for us," I pointed out.
Mia crosses her arms with a hum.
"I'm not against that idea, but it wouldn't hurt to also find better apartments. We have money now," Mia said.
"We can do that later. First, we're going to use the Hordweardens Guild website to buy the magical reagents and see what else they have for sale," I said.
Now that I have 'Mystic Code Maker', there's so much I want to build.
A warm sensation spreads throughout my body, and nothing happens.
"Don't forget the forums, Ben," Mia said.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, can't forget about those," I said.
Mia stomach let's out a growl.
"...wanna grab some food?" I asked.
I'm also starting to feel hungry.
"Yeah," Mia said.
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Two more chapter then I got back to Throne of Bet.
Thought it was about time I made images of Ben and Mia.
I used google gemini to make them.
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Please leave a review. It helps me to stay motivated.
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If you like my stories and wish to support me, you can find me over at pa-tre-on (slash) Regulareader.
Or at Ko-fi.com/regulareader
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CP: 100
Mage's Workshop (Lord El-Melloi II Case Files) 200:
This is a warehouse attachment, though it can be imported into future jumps instead. Either way it is perfect for any aspiring thaumaturgic researcher, a structure of your design the size of a manor house that's all set up for magical experimentation, with an empty surrounding area, and all necessary equipment provided. It's self-maintaining and has all the relevant utilities. As a bonus, something about it reduces the severity of any and all laboratory disasters by an order of magnitude, though resources, samples, and test subjects will have to be procured elsewhere...
Strong Insides (Grand Foreigner) 100:
While some heroes are famous for invulnerable skin they often have weaker insides. A clear demonstration of this was when Ainz fought Rama, Scathath, and Cu Chulainn Alter. His acid mist spell didn't do much damage to their bodies, but as soon as they inhaled it all of them collapsed in agony. This perk is designed to protect against similar issues. It works by making every aspect of your body as durable as your strongest point. This means that your organs, skin, eyes, and everything else will share the same durability. It will be far more difficult for anyone to hurt you with this perk
Mystic Code Maker (Fate/Revalation Online) 200:
Mystic Codes are one of the basic tools that Magi rely on. Rather than performing a spell, the Magus creates an item that performs the desired spell when fed Prana. This allows the Magus to focus on an act beyond casting the spell as well as allowing them to use spells that would normally be too complex to cast in a fast paced battle. It also allows you to refine the efficiency of the spell formula, and get more constant casts of that spell than you would be able to do normally due to its formulaic nature. The weakness of a Mystic Code is the same as any other item based ability, which is that it can be stolen, lost, broken, or otherwise misplaced. Regardless, you've become a master in making Mystic Codes. You have grown beyond the simple "perform spell when given Prana" type of Mystic Code and are able to make masterpieces like Volumen Hydrargyrum, although that would take months even for spells you are intimately familiar with. Unfortunately, Mystic Codes won't become available in SAO for some time now, so you'll have to rely on your own skills until you can start working on these.