Southside Coven: Path To Power (Pt. 6)

--- Jon ---

“Alright, so… I’m going to use Script Craft to try and cut this into pieces.” He decided after a moment, figuring that while he could use his knife given the supposed density of the Demon Arm it was fully possible he’d end up shattering it into lopsided pieces rather than splitting it into equal ones.

“If you’re sure…” Artemis grimaced. “I mean, I’d probably end up using magic too but I’m pretty sure you have more muscle than me to cut it up.”

“Probably,” he admitted, knowing that if he used his axe as a last resort he absolutely could hack through the arm, having done similar before, “but they wouldn’t be clean cuts and I think the fewer pieces we break this into the better.”

Artemis seemed to take a moment to consider that. “Well, there probably would be a release of Anima regardless of how cleanly we cut it -given just how volatile this is- but you’re probably right specifically because of that.”

“Hence Script Craft, the most controlled Spellcraft.” He nodded, not pointing out how it was also technically the only Spellcraft he actually knew, with the rest being more magical arts.

“A reasonable conclusion.” Artemis agreed. “In fact thinking of it like that, Script Craft is probably a better option than what I was actually thinking.”

He frowned. “And what were you thinking?”

“I’m best with Sign Craft when it comes to active Spellwork since it allows me to change out pieces of my Spell mid-cast, while still being structured enough to minimize and backlash.” Artemis explained as she made a flame appear in hand with a few gestures before dismissing it with a wave of her hand. “But as you said with something so volatile, control is more important and Miss Edme made sure I was passable in all Arts and Crafts.”

“Fair enough.” He accepted, before pulling out the spellscript ring Miss Edna had given him and putting it on.

“You got your own Light Sketching Ring?” Artemis noted as he started drawing a Script in the air. “You didn’t have that on Halloween.”

“My… mentor gave it to me.” He shrugged, as he drew the outer circle that all Spell Circuits had to contain their power. “She said she’d held off on the ring to keep me from developing bad habits when I asked, before saying I probably knew enough now to have one so long as I don’t become too dependent on it.”

“Makes sense, though I always believed it had more to do with age and maturity given how long it took Miss Edme to give me my ring..” Artemis admitted, before shaking her head. “Regardless, I’ll leave you to figure this out. In all seriousness I’ve been working on other projects most of the morning and if my parents don’t see me they’ll come and check on me. Something I’d rather not happen.”

“Yeah, this’ll just take me a minute to figure out.” He assured her, as he tried to figure out how a cutting spell would actually work. (I mean, if I concentrate the Anima into a line and drop it like a guillotine that should work, right?)

“Try not to blow my workshop up.” Artemis sighed as she left.

A few minutes later when he triggered the Script he’d drawn and it began shooting a stream of magic downward, he learned several things.

First, Anima does not naturally take on a ‘sharp’ edge, instead apparently having a rounded that gave any unfocused stream of it a bluntness that generated more of a ‘crushing’ sensation than a ‘cutting’ one.

Second, hitting something with this blunted stream of Anima was the equivalent of trying to crack something on the corner of another object. Useful if you just need to break something in a general shape without any necessary precision, such as when one cracked an egg on the edge of a pan. Significantly less so when you wanted that precise line however.

Third, hitting a hyper dense crystal of Anima on a metaphorical table edge, caused the arm to explode.

And lastly, he discovered that the walls of this little workshop were durable enough to have a teenager thrown at them with enough force to launch him off his feets. (Well… this is some decent construction at least…)

Further attempts taught him a few other things, the one that he felt most important to share being, “If you’re using magic to alter the arm you’ll want to drag it out, so you can vent pressure whenever it starts to destabilize. Doing it faster than you can vent it, will cause it to explode.” (And it only took three tries to figure that out…)

“Uh, are you… going to be… okay?” Artemis awkwardly asked, grimacing as she looked him over.

“Nothing worse than I’ve had before.” He shrugged before looking the arm pieces over and grimacing himself as he saw the jagged edges. (Yeah… probably could’ve made cleaner cuts with my knife or my axe…) “You going to be able to use these?”

“If you’re sure…” Artemis considered his question for a minute despite still looking uncomfortable, “Yes. I’ve dealt with ‘Anima Pressure’ before when helping Miss Edme, so I think I know how to handle it. This just means it’ll just take longer than I’d like to forge these into a decent enough shape.”

“So we won’t be able to just finish knocking this out today?” He frowned.

“No.” The other teen sighed. “Given how I’ll be reshaping a fair portion of the arm’s mass here… Even with the smaller pieces it’ll likely take me a few days to get this into the shape I want if we don’t want what will absolutely be a lethal explosion.”

“Yeah, no need to meet the Pale Lady today.” (Especially since I haven’t found that Demon she wanted me to find… and I really need to get on that…) He very much doubted it was the Horror, given how that was a little too straightforward for anything involving the Cheshire. (The list just gets longer and longer…)

Artemis blinked, giving him an odd look before shaking her head again. “Right… well, I suppose you’ve done your part at this point.”

“You don’t want me to help with the sculpting bit?” He asked.

“No. Like I said this isn’t going to be a simple or a short task, and given how complicated Alchemy can get on a good day it’s probably better to limit the number of variables in the actual process.” Artemis explained, before giving him a once over. “Also it’s probably best if you go, given the state of your clothes I really don’t want you here if my parents show up.”

He glanced down at himself and realized that the numerous explosions had torn his clothes up a fair bit, (though I think they’re still in Pix’s mending range.) The only thing she couldn’t fix were any bloodstains the clothes would have once reassembled. (Luckily I know how to clean those out myself.)

“Don’t worry I’ll call you before I get to the actual Enchanting and such.” Artemis assured him. “I’m pretty sure your understanding of Demonology is better than mine so you’ll have a better idea on interactions there, even if I know what we’re going for. Like I said though, it’ll probably be a few days before I’m ready for that step.”

“Fair enough.” He nodded, before moving to grab his bag. “I’ll try and see if I can put anything together that might help us with the actual Enchanting part. Anything you think I should look into specifically?”

Artemis thought about it for a moment. “See if you can figure out a way for your Concepts to help us. They’re the core of magic for a reason and you’ll have an easier time molding them than anything else.”

(Hunter, Defender, and Moon… And then derived from that I have Guard, Fortify, Stalk, Pack, Track, Moonlight, and New Moon.) He remembered, thinking over the concepts he’d figured out were linked to his own. “Alright, I’ll see if I can’t figure something out.”

Scene Consequences

-Jon failed the skill check, so we’re using Lv. 2 potential which means no new spell and 2D6 for our potential roll, which is:

--Base Project Potential Per Piece: 2D6 + Occultism (8) = 18 + 1 Crit D6 = 23.

-Artemis uses her Script Craft and other skills to add a flat 25 Potential.

-End Result: We have 48 potential to spend for each Piece used on a Project. (Based on my math this is middle of the road for possible potentials, which is pretty good given that flopped skill check should’ve given us the lowest roll.)

-Reminder: Next step is binding the arm’s magic into a desired Spell Engine.

--Important skills: Enchanting, Occult, and Demonology

-Gained 1XP to Script Craft, Occultism, and Demonology

--Currently: Script Craft Lv. 5 (4/12), Occultism Lv. 8 (7/18), Demonology Lv. 5 (4/12)