Day 8

--- Jon ---

Despite spending the majority of the previous day sleeping, his ma still had something of a lag to her as they went on their morning run.

“So, uh, out of curiosity, how bad was this festival thing?” He eventually worked up the nerve to ask.

“Could’ve been worse than it was.” His ma told him in that way he knew meant she was downplaying it, after all like she always told him, (‘so long as you’re alive and kicking, it can always be worse.’)

“Alright, well that doesn’t exactly tell me what happened.” He felt the need to point out.

His ma looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “If you want to know what happened so bad, why not look up the news report? They’re bound to have said something about what happened.”

“A large number of Bleeds opened up across the end of summer festival, releasing a number of Malice Creeps across the fairgrounds. Dimensional distortion led to a power outage that could’ve been avoided if the district grid wasn’t so underdeveloped. No reported fatalities, but twenty-six reported casualties, eighteen of whom were injured in the panicked fleeing rather than by the creeps themselves.” He reported, noting everything relevant he’d discovered, before tacking on that, “There was also a fair bit about Sanctuary saving the day, but you admitted they arrived after the fact. Meaning this ‘fact’ can be deemed largely propaganda to cover up a mishap on their part or to secure continued support for the operations they do maintain.”

His ma gave him a nod of approval. “Smart kid.”

She didn’t answer his original question, but he also knew she had a tendency to try and soften anything dangerous she was apart of. -(A trait I inherited from her.)- Meaning, she’d probably tell him once she was sure of which parts wouldn’t make him mother hen her.

(There’s a certain irony in that thought.)

“The Bleeds spat out a bunch of Husks. They’re relatively weak by Mal-Creep standards, and honestly a civilian could probably take a couple with a baseball bat.” His ma started, describing the threat first. “On their own, a decent shot with a handgun could probably take out a good dozen or so with a decent handgun.”

“So, I’d be in trouble then?” He joked, knowing most guns hated him for some reason. Even with his ma trying to teach him the basics for years, he still wasn’t even half as good with them as he was with all of the other skills she’d taught him.

His ma gave a snort of amusement. “Even without a handgun you could probably match a dozen or so with your knife alone.”

(If they’re about as dangerous as the corrupted were, I doubt it…) Still it felt good knowing his ma believed in him. (Even if it is a violent belief…)

“So, yeah. Not too dangerous, and honestly given how there wasn’t even a hundred of the things across the grounds, those of us working security probably could’ve handled the whole thing without Sanctuary getting involved. Like you said, most of the people who got hurt were more from the panicking crowds than the bloodthirsty monsters.” His ma assured him.

“Makes sense, but I think you said something about Deviants trying to play hero yesterday, what’s that about?

“Oh that.” His ma sighed with a bitter expression. “Yeah, a bunch of Deviants tried to play hero with their powers. Normally that wouldn’t be a bad thing given how weak Husks are, but when you take their numbers into account, each group of ‘protected’ civilians we found was surrounded by a small horde they’d attracted.”

He couldn’t help but wince at that. “From the way you’re talking, I’m guessing if they’d just defended themselves without their powers they probably could’ve handled the situation themselves.”

“The majority of it yeah.” His ma scoffed. “Just because they have powers doesn’t mean they have to use them at every opportunity.”

He decided it was best to keep quiet on that one, since he didn’t really disagree with his ma. Even after Miss Edna and De Sade had taken him on as their respective apprentices -as much as the position could be applied with the two anyway- he still had a tendency to default on what he could do himself, with his magic just being a tool to stack things in his favor.

If it came down to it -and it had several times- he was just as comfortable fighting without magic as he was with. More so even.

“And how did Sanctuary make the whole thing worse?” He eventually asked, pushing through the topic to something else she’d brought up.

“They showed up.”

“Uh… huh?” He blinked, not really getting that one.

“Every time I share a case with Sanctuary it, gives me twice as much paperwork.” His ma explained with a scowl. “Ergo any time they show up, is the worst time for them to show up.”

“That’s…” (not worth the effort…)

Scene Consequences

-For running with Ma gained 2XP to Mobility.

--Currently: Lv. 5 (10/12)

-For discussing a fight with Ma gained 1XP to Combat.

--Currently: Lv. 5 (4/12)

-Skill revealed: Firearms: Lv. 2 (0/6)

-Grown a bit closer to Ma.

---

With his ma out of the house, and Pix once more tending to their garden, he was left free to take a look through some of the books Miss Edna had gifted him at the end of summer. Particularly the ones related to potion making, (which really is her specialty, huh?)

He’d known that since he’d first seen her shop in Blackwell, though it still surprised him just how many potions she had in the books she’d written. Even the few he’d picked up from her general introduction to Blackwell’s magical side had next to nothing on the ones he found in the books actually dedicated to potions.

While this meant there was a vast number of potions he had the recipes to, it also meant that he had to skim through a good three books before he found anything related to what he was looking for. And even then given his skill level, most of what he found was too advanced, or required ingredients he didn’t have.

He still had a number of potions ingredients he’d gathered over his time in Blackwell, all contained in a preservation jar Miss Edna enchanted herself back when he first started gathering them. The problem was that the more powerful recipes not only required a higher skill level, but also ingredients that were significantly rarer than the ones he had or was growing.

“Maybe I need to come at this from a different angle…” He mumbled, before switching to the potions that required specific magics to use.

These ones were typically off the table for him, due to the fact that he usually restricted his magic use to his Enchanting, giving him a tendency to only make potions that had magic in their ingredients rather than requiring magic in the cooking process.

Finding what he was looking for in these books was significantly easier, though the one potion he could find at his skill level would require Pix’s help, and a bit of finagling with her Nature and Mend concepts, (but it should still help…)

The potion in question would enhance a person’s natural magic generation by an amount derived from the quality of the potion itself. Which while worthless to him, thanks to his reliance on his amulet, would still allow Pix and Ying to regenerate their magic faster if necessary.

(I think this is the best I’m going to get with what I’ve got…)

Scene Consequences

-Unlocked Basic MP Potion in crafting. (Requires: 2 Anima-Enhanced Herbs, 1 Mystic Healing Herb, Pix Assist, and (5-Skill Rank=) 3 MP)

--When consumed increase Magic Regen by (1+Skill Rank=) 3 for 3 days. (This boost does not apply to equipment regen bonuses.)

-Unlocked Herbs leftover from Blackwell.

--Gained 10 Anima-Enhanced Herbs of Blackwell.

--Gained 5 Mystic Healing Herbs of Blackwell.

--Gained 3 Poisonous Plants of Blackwell.

-Unlocked Potion Recipes

-Gained 1XP to Potions.

--Currently: Lv. 6 (8/14)

---

Having grown bored of tending to the garden, Pix decided to spend the rest of her free time pestering him. (Which isn’t exactly new if I’m being honest with myself…)

“Alright, so what is it you wanted Pix?” He asked, scratching at Brutus’s head as the old dog looked up from his spot on the couch.

Pix flew in front of him and began pointing at his chest, before using her magic to cause a slight puff of magic around her and another one a few feet away.

“You want to mess with this Contract teleporting thing?” He clarified, before getting a nod in return. “Alright, well how do you want to do this?”

The little fairy flew to the other side of the room, before making several gestures at him involving pulling at the space in front of her chest and throwing it forward dramatically.

“Okay.” He pulled some of the magic stored in his amulet, and pushed it into the mark on his chest, before pulling on the familiar thread of magic within and-

Pix appeared in front of him in a flash of light, looking around curiously.

“Alright now, wha-”

Before he could finish speaking the little fairy flew to the side of the room opposite of where she’d been previous before repeating her previous gestures.

“Uh, I’m not sure I can summon you, after summoning you.” He admitted.

Pix frowned at him before once more repeating her, ‘summon me’ gestures.

“Um…” Frowning himself, he tried repeating the process he’d gone through the few times he’d summoned her prior, and surprisingly he still felt the little thread of magic connecting him to her, even if that thread was -(not weaker, but maybe tenser?)

Regardless, this time when he pulled on the magic, he felt a much stronger drain on his reserves than either of his previous summons as Pix appeared in front of him.

“Okay, just… give me a second. I actually felt that one…” He rubbed at the space between his eyes, feeling a headache begin to set in the same way it did whenever he tried to channel more magic than he could actually handle in a moment.

Pix gave him a concerned look.

“Yeah, sorry… I don’t think we’ll be doing the double summoning thing all too often.” He told her once his head had cleared up.

The little fairy nodded in understanding, before pulling at her chest and swiping through the air.

“Sure.” He reached out to the bond between them and did an odd sort of thing where he pushed the magic away, while pulling the bond back into him.

Pix vanished from the space in front of him, and reappeared where she’d been the first time he’d summoned her.

“Okay, so when I cancel the summoning you end up wherever you were when I summoned you.” He noted. “That has some potential.”

Pix nodded excitedly, before gesturing for him to wait for one moment, until eventually he felt an odd sort of tugging from the other end of their contract bond.

“Huh, so you can call me when you want to be summoned.” He realized, before pulling the bond once more as he cupped his hands together teleporting the little fairy into them. “At the very least that means I can bail you out if you get into any trouble.”

Pix gave him a look that was somewhere between a pout and a glare.

He easily matched the fairy’s look and raised a brow. “One of your core concepts is ‘mischief,’ if you aren’t in trouble, you’re causing it.”

Pix shrugged, in a ‘well, you’re not wrong’ kind of manner.

“Still, being able to teleport you would’ve been useful back in Blackwell.” He admitted, letting what little sense of magic he had brush over their bond. “At the very least I wouldn’t have had to keep you curled up in my jacket whenever I had to fight those corrupted.”

A slight blush came to the fairy’s face as she tilted her head to one side and the other.

“Spent half of those fights worried I was going to crush you.” He chuckled wryly as his hand rubbed at his shoulder remembering the time he-

(His shoulder popped as he forced himself to hit the ground at an angle, trying to protect the fragile body trembling against his chest, as the Mad Wolf tackled him its claws digging into one side as agony tore through the other.

The maw of the beast widened as a hundred teeth rushed forward, his hand gripping the shaft of his axe as he threw a wild blow at the wolf’s body, staggering the mad beast just enough for a second to throw it off with a wet and meaty tear.

Gasping in a mix of agony and adrenaline he managed to sit up just enough to spot the Corrupted Corpse aiming a rifle at his head from behind the Mad Wolf as the beast in question snarled, staggering to its feet..

Seeing the enemy in front of him he set his jaw and grit his teeth, as he forced himself past the pain in his arm and onto his feet. The grip on his axe tightening as he shifted it in his hand, knowing himself unable to run in his current condition.

Instead he met the Corrupted’s bleeding black eyes as the monster in human flesh pulled the trigger and) a sting to his face forced his eyes away from the corrupted and to a small fairy floating a few feet away with a worried expression as he plotted how to best (rip it’s wings-)

He felt like vomiting as his pulse pounded in his ears, and he realized just where he was.

“I, uh…” He blinked, collapsing onto the couch as all fight left him. “Sorry…”

Brutus laid his head on Jon’s lap with a whine as Pix gave him another concerned look, before landing on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him and laying her head against his cheek with a soft trill.

Scene Consequences

-Contracting gained 1XP.

--Currently: Lv. 3 (1/8)

-Grown a bit closer to Pix and Brutus.