Trail 54: Enchanting Air And Hunters’ Dealings

--- Jon ---

He tapped his fingers against the arm of his chair, the beat in time with that of his Ma’s heart monitor, assuring him that regardless of how many devices were attached to her or how terribly still she was, (she’s still alive.)

As much as he hated it, it was an assurance that he knew he needed, her silent stillness slowly eating away at him with worry.

(She’s going to be okay.) He told himself once more. (I just… I just need to wait a little longer and she’ll wake up… any day now…)

He stayed in his seat until the nurses told him he had to leave.

He only left because Miss Edna came to pick him up before he could pick the lock to the roof.

Scene Consequences

-Ma Whitaker is still in a coma.

---

(‘Demon Hunters as a whole are a rare but valuable profession, a step beyond the typical Hunters and Gatherers hired by most Arcane to acquire their magical regents or deal with magical creatures running amuck in their homelands.

Admittedly thanks to the frequent worshiping of Demons or some of their more insidious methods of remaining hidden from prying eyes, very few people are willing to hire these Demon Hunters to kill Demons proper. Even the local lords of old -cowards that they were- would typically avoid such an action in fear of enraging a Demon and having it set upon them with an immortal vengeance.

So how is it then that these admittedly dark and dangerous individuals fund their profession with a seeming lack of patrons? Quite simply, it is not the killing of the Demon itself that they profit off of but rather the selling of its corpse.

Due to their unique metaphysical nature as what can be considered [Conceptual Constructs] the bodies of Demons possess both great magical power and knowledge sealed within them.

Power that can be put to a wide range of uses from enhancing one’s potion craft, enchanting powerful artifacts and foci, or even in the summoning of rare and obscure creatures far beyond one’s normal abilities in regards to the Arcane Nexus.

Knowledge that can unlock new and powerful affinities, greatly expand upon one’s own magical craft and abilities, or delve into the secrets of creation and existence far beyond our typical means.

All things that any experienced magic user would pay a fortune to acquire. A fortune that makes the Hunting of Demons a lucrative business for those few capable of the perilous task that few can accomplish once let alone as a regular plied trade.

But those few who can ascend to this dangerous rank of Demon Hunter without dying or being devoured by the prey they seek to hunt, will find their influence growing exponentially as they gain money, power, and favor with each kill.’)

He closed the Demonology book as he noticed Pix beginning to move, finding that the last pages of the night had little actual value to them given how he had no desire for anything being a Demon Hunter would offer him. (After all, once the Horror is dead I won’t need to hunt any other Demons.)

The Beast in his head remained silent at that.

Scene Consequences

-Gained 2XP to Demonology.

--Currently: Lv. 4 (3/10)

---

“Hey, Miss Edna, I was wondering if you could help me and Pix with something?”

Miss Edna looked up from the tablet she was reading on. “Sure kiddo, what do you need?”

“Well, since we’re no longer in Blackwell, Pix has been having some issues regenerating her magic. I’ve tried a few things to help her out like this Magic Regen Potion that ups her recovery rate, a spell script that stores a sudden boost, and taking her out to the park but none of that seems to quite do the trick.” He tried to explain.

“Right… Yeah, I can see that.” Miss Edna nodded in thought. “Fairies are typically [Nature] in, well, nature, so being within a [City] is sort of anathema. Honestly, if you didn’t have the grove of magic plants in your bedroom she probably wouldn’t be able to regenerate anything without daily trips to the park. There’s a few ways we could work around it if we use a [Nature] vs [Urban] conceptual gradient, which is how a number of house fae can live in the middle of human homes via a sort of self domestication.”

“Uh, pretty much.” He agreed, having understood most of that. “I don’t suppose you know how to help?”

“Eh, the problem is less that I don’t know a way and more I know a few ways to fix the problem…” Miss Edna admitted, before snapping her fingers and pointing at him. “Quick, five seconds on the clock, pick a magic art.”

“Um, uh, Enchanting?” He spat out as fast as he could.

“Alright, then Enchanting I shall teach.” Miss Edna promised as she stretched her fingers out.

---

Sparks danced around the spell circuit he’d drawn as he felt it drawing upon the cool warmth of magic flowing from the talisman around his neck, through his body, down his arms, and into the circuit.

Bit by bit he felt the circuit shifting through his magic as he poured it on, absorbing some pieces and disregarding others as it accepted only the parts of his natural affinity for the concept of [Moon]. A concept Miss Edna had suggested due to having a more physical presence than [Hunter] or [Defender] which were more designations than actual things.

There were ways of learning how to use concepts for the crystallization process other than his affinities, but they’d require not only a physical sample of the concept but also required that he know this foundational technique.

Bit by bit his magic began to gather in front of him in the shape of a small sphere of light, a sphere that slowly began to condense itself into another shape as the circuit began accepting all of his magic having gathered a large enough sample for the [Moon] concept to take shape.

As the sphere shrunk its shape began to shift, taking on a more crescent shape as the energy took on a physical form before the sparks finally stopped and a crystal in the shape of a crescent moon dropped into the center of the circle.

“Was… expecting it to be more… full.” He admitted after catching his breath.

“Eh, the moon has two iconic shapes the [Full Moon] and the [Crescent Moon] that it is otherwise depicted as.” Miss Edna explained as she picked the crystal up and gave it a once over. “From there it’s easier to change something into something that itself is mid change which is an aspect the Crescent Moon takes on as it cycles from new to full and back. Which is why I had you tweak that one variable at the last minute.”

“Right, okay… I can get that.” He nodded after thinking about it for a moment.

“Now we can test this out on the AAA I whipped up.” Miss Edna told him as she moved the circuit he’d drawn to the side of the coffee table and placed a small ceramic bowl with a complex spell circuit carved into it in its place. “Now we just set the crystal in the bowl and place the lid on top.”

After dropping the crystal in the bowl Miss Edna sat a small ceramic plate on top of it, completely covering the top and causing a series of sparks around the edge as the pair sealed shut.

“And there we go, one Atmospheric Anima Alter using only five bucks at a dollar store and a bit of alchemy.” Miss Edna clapped. “Ha, you could sell this thing for a couple hundred bucks and no one would know the difference.”

“Um, you know I’ve got the money to pay for better parts…” He started only to trail off as Miss Edna made a face.

“Bleh, I know I’ve taught you better than that, kiddo.” His second parent frowned. “More expensive shit does not equal better shit. That’s the marketing placebo effect rich shits use to convince everyone to give them more money for worse quality. In both cases shit is shit. Only their shit is usually more shit because that shit costs more financial shit. Which in these shitty economic times is a shit thing for them to be doing. Hence why they’re shits!”

He blinked. “Um…” (What?)

Miss Edna coughed into her hand. “Anyway the point is if you want to get ahead in life you need to get the most bang for your buck. Meaning you have to strangle Washington until he calls himself Benjamin, kid. It doesn’t matter how cheap something is so long as it gets the job done.”

“But, uh, don’t you make your money overpricing things for people who don’t know better?” He couldn’t help but point out given how many of her products he knew were built to break.

“Exactly my point!” Miss Edna pointed at him. “I build the cheap stuff to last longer meaning the more you pay for something the less you get, it’s basically a ‘stupid rich people’ tax.”

“Okay, um… So how exactly does this thing work?” He asked, hoping to get things away from this rant.

Miss Edna blinked now. “Oh, right, uh… So the spell engine carved onto these things sucks in ambient Anima around the bowl before filtering it in a cooking pot with the concept crystal that then spits it all out through the plate on top.”

“And this will help Pix by infusing the room’s Anima with a concept she can more easily process.” He nodded following along.

“Right, though since we’re in an apartment I kept it kind of small because messing with the atmospheric Anima too much can lead to some weird shit going down.” Miss Edna warned him. “I mean if you use Spell Sight on this thing you’ll see it looks like a constantly running firework fountain… kind of pretty if you use the right crystals.”

“You, uh, never taught me Spell Sight.” He reminded her.

“Since you don’t have a natural Spell System, learning the spell can melt your eyes out of your skull.” Miss Edna admitted, staring at the AAA. “Figured you get enough of that from all the Madness you’ve messed with.”

“That’s fair.”

“Well that and I figured if I gave you one of the work arounds while we were in Blackwell you’d stumble upon a sleeping Eldritch Horror somewhere.” His second mother confessed, which-

“Again, fair.”

Scene Consequences

-Thanks to Miss Edna Jon has gained an [(Cheap) Atmospheric Anima Alter] and created a[Conceptual Crystals] for [Moon].

--The [Atmospheric Anima Alter] infuses the nearby atmosphere -the apartment- with a specific affinity reducing the cost of all magic of the corresponding crystal by 1, and increases the MP gains of anyone with an affinity -not a learned concept- for said crystal by 1. While also granting a passive effect to the area based on the concept.

---Current Concept: Moon: Mental Health healing doubled while near alter.

Alter Tutorial:

-Alter must be active for at least 1 Turn to take effect. (I.E. The Turn after you change crystals it takes.)

-Changing the crystal is a free action. (Costs no AP.)

-Jon can now create Conceptual crystals at a cost of 1 AP and (5 -Enchanting Rank= 3) MP and an Assist from someone with the affinity naturally. (Or the same with no Assist for his own affinities.)

-For learning how to use and maintain the [Atmospheric Anima Alter] and how to create Conceptual Crystals gained 2XP to Enchanting and 1XP to Occult.

--Currently: Enchanting Lv. 5 (4/12) and Occult Lv. 8 (3/18)

---

“There you are.” A voice called before someone grabbed his arm and began tugging.

He slipped a knife into his hand and turned only to pause upon recognizing Audrey.

Standing his ground, he shifted his footing a bit so that Audrey couldn’t move him. “Can I help you?” He asked dryly.

Audrey blinked at him for a moment before shaking her head and looking around with narrowed eyes. “I was going to ask you about that thing from Halloween.”

“Going to need you to specify.” He frowned, because a lot of (unpleasant) things happened on Halloween.

“The thing you grabbed after our fight?” Audrey elaborated poorly in an attempt to answer him without anyone else realizing what she was talking about.

“Right… that.” He sighed, vaguely remembering that while he was still processing his frustration at the Horror surviving their fight Audrey had shoved something in his arms when he’d tried to leave the scene. “I’m guessing you want… it back?”

He didn’t actually know what it was, just that it was wrapped in a bundle of enchanted cloth and was apparently something the other teen didn’t want Sanctuary finding in her hands.

(Aww… I’m holding drugs in my pack aren’t I?) He realized with a barely contained grimace.

“Yes, so if you can go collect it from wherever you’ve got it stashed and bring it to the club room I’d appreciate it.” Audrey told him.

“Fine…” He sighed starting towards the clubroom. “Let’s get going then.”

“Um, don’t you need to pick it up from… your house or whatever?” Audrey asked.

“No… I’ve got it in my pack now.” He’d honestly forgotten about the thing what with him having what he was pretty sure was a concussion until Pix had healed him after getting some of her magic back.

“Wait, you’re carrying… that around-” Audrey shook her head before nodding. “Right, yeah, I told Artemis you weren’t planning on screwing us over.”

He couldn’t really argue that, since he had no idea how he’d be screwing them over if he didn’t hand over what he was now more than sure was something illegal in his pack.

If his steps were a little quicker now, that was nobody’s business but his own. (Let’s just get this over with.)

When they arrived in the empty classroom that the Southside Coven had more or less taken over for their own purposes they found both Artemis and Valentina waiting on them.

“So does he have it?” Artemis asked the moment Audrey closed the door behind them.

“Yeah, I have it.” He nodded, still not sure what it was as he reached into his pack and pulled out a bundle of cloth vaguely the size of a baseball bat before setting it on the table.

“Alright, Artemis you did the enchantments you unwrap it.” Audrey said after a moment.

“Right.” Audrey nodded before making several hand signs and waving her hands over the bundle of cloth.

“So are you guys going to tell me what’s the big secret now?” Val asked from her seat as she watched the proceedings.

“Give me a second.” Artemis told her before a series of magenta sparks rushed across the cloth and she began unwrapping its contents. “Had to put a bunch of concealment charms on this thing to keep Sanctuary from picking up on it. Can’t believe you talked me into hiding this thing.”

“Yeah, well if we tried to sell it to them I’ve no doubt they would’ve tried to rip us off.” Audrey scoffed as the bundle's contents were revealed.

“Mierda… Is that what I think it is?” Val blinked, leaning in closer.

(Okay, not drugs but possibly worse…)

“Yep, one of the Horror’s arms.” Audrey nodded with a smug grin. “Even if it ended up shrinking once cut off from the Demon, I know it’s valuable enough that I’m not letting this baby go for anything less than a hundred grand.”

“A hundred grand?” Artemis repeated, looking unhappy. “Are you kidding? Do you know how valuable this thing is from a research perspective?”

“I don’t care about research, I care about money and making sure our little team stays afloat.” Audrey frowned, no longer looking quite as smug.

“But this is a Demon’s arm!” Audrey exclaimed. “This thing is basically pure condensed Anima. There are people who would trade their own arm to get their hands on this thing!”

“Wouldn’t they only have one hand in that case?” Val commented from next to him.

“You… don’t look as worked up about this as they are.” He noticed as the other two started to argue over the arm’s financial and scholastic values. “You don’t care about the money or the magic?”

“I mean the money is nice, and I’m sure Artemis can figure out something cool with it but… Well, espanta already ate one of the Horror’s arms…” Val shrugged before shaking her head. “I don’t really want to know how much that cost me or what it could’ve been worth.”

“Ah.” He nodded in understanding before a thought occurred to him. “Your pet Demon want to eat this one too?”

“I mean he wouldn’t say no.” Said Demon’s keeper admitted. “Hell, given how it healed all the damage from his fight with the Horror I’m sure a second one will make him stronger and put him in a decent mood, but it’s not like he isn’t already one of the strongest things in the city when he cuts loose, so I don’t really care.”

While he wasn’t sure about the Scarecrow being ‘one of the strongest things in the city’ he could see her point on the matter.

“Alright, so let’s say you manage to sell the arm for your hundred K or more, that’s a one time payment and an instant payout.” Artemis told Audrey. “If I can go through some of Ms. Delacroix’s books on Demonology I’m sure I can do something with this, something that can take all of us to the next level!”

“But that’s if you can find something in books that you don’t own, and even then you don’t know what you could do with it.” Audrey pointed out. “While we could use the money to buy anything we could think of needing.”

“And when the money runs out we’d be back where we started with a few new toys.” Artemis argued.

“Would your plan be any different?” Audrey asked, making a legitimate point herself.

Artemis opened her mouth before closing it, inhaling deeply through her nose and then exhaling it, visibly calming herself down. “Right. Okay, we’re both too stubborn to change our stances on this. We need a tie breaker.”

Both girls turned to the third member of their club.

“Nope.” Val told them, raising both her hands and backing away. “Not stupid enough to get in the middle of this.”

“Fine,” Audrey rolled her eyes before turning to him. “Then Jon you decide.”

“Um…” He blinked realizing he had three sets of eyes on him all waiting for a decision.