Olivia wasn't exactly happy to learn that I didn't know the precise capabilities of her cloak, but eventually, she accepted that I wasn't just openly experimenting on her. My current "tinkering" process was just not very specific and left a lot to be explored.
We continued to play around with her cloak for a while, before she finally found what she was sure was the cloak's last ability. Apparently, she could sort of "feel" it before she fully realized what it was, and she couldn't feel anything else.
"It's like… a tension, nestled in a notch inside the cloak," She explained, the cloak still around her body. "Not literally, but… It's hard to explain, like trying to describe my seventh sense to someone who only has five."
As she talked, she stretched and flexed, getting a feel for her range of motion, which, as far as we could tell, was essentially perfect. By now, she had settled on a mix of the starry night sky and the cloth-looking cloak for her general look. It was an intimidating, but not quite terrifying, look and was probably the best she was going to be able to do in that department.
"Well, focus on it, maybe give it a tug or something?" I suggested while taking a step back. When she gave me a look, I shrugged. "I'm pretty sure the cloak won't hurt you, I have no such conclusions about it hurting me, which means taking a step back."
She shook her head before lowering it in what I now knew was in concentration. After a long silence, she raised her hand and sort of flexed her arm, and a black streak whipped through the air and slammed into that brick wall behind me. I cursed and ducked, though she really hadn't even gotten close.
"What the hell was that?" We both asked at the same time, both of us stepping closer to examine the projectile.
"Is that... A…feather?" She asked.
Sure enough, it was a pitch-black raven feather, more shadow than physical, solid black with wisps of shadow trailing off of it. I tried to reach out and pull it out of the wall, but it didn't even budge. Then, after about half a minute, maybe more, the feather vanished in a puff of fluttering darkness. A quick examination of the impact site showed no damage to the bricks despite having clearly had a feather in it just a few seconds ago.
It took us twenty minutes to figure out that the feathers interacted with shadows, namely, nailing them in place and immobilizing whatever was casting it. She first did it to me by accident, locking me in place until the feather vanished and I was free. We tried it with Troy and succeeded, then random objects, giving her a good feel for what she could do. The lock only lasted for thirty-four seconds, and it could be disabled by blasting a bright light, which would disrupt the shadow and release whatever was locked up. Destroying the object released whatever was left, and she could also pull the feather manually, but only with her own hands. She could only throw out six feathers at a time, which to her was just an arbitrary number, but I knew that I had only included six raven feathers in the ritual.
Perhaps our most interesting discovery was that the shadow must be touching the object that is casting it. We tried to suspend an object by dropping a brick and nailing the shadow as it fell, but there was no effect.
Even with all those limitations, though, it was still an incredible ability. It added a ranged option to her repertoire, something that she sorely needed, even if it didn't do any damage. Olivia's powers made her a natural at stealth and infiltration, and now she had a way to escape if she somehow got spotted.
After she got a firm handle on the raven feathers, she added a few to her shoulders as decoration, like a feather pauldron. Once she was done, she thanked me again, this time giving me a hug, before leaving. She had her own things to do, but she assured me that she would keep an eye on the community as best she could. She was done hiding, and with the cloak wrapped around her, she felt much better about fighting to protect the community.
She waved as she walked away, her new cloak sliding back into her shadow as she left the alley, making her way back to her home. Once she was out of earshot for a few moments, I nearly collapsed back onto the stairs.
"What the fuck?" I asked the ether, shaking my head and resisting the urge to pull off my hat so I could run my hand through my hair. "That was…So much more than I was expecting."
Alya sat down beside me, mostly corporeal, as she patted my shoulder.
"It appears your rituals are even more potent than you thought," She said. "Do you think it was Kali's aid that increased its strength?"
"Maybe? Probably not… She might be why the feather ability is so concise and clear-cut," I admitted with a frown as I mentally walked through the ritual. "But that much power and flexibility? I think I really just underestimated how powerful I could make something… I really need to make some of my own gear."
I sat there for a few minutes, considering just what I wanted to make for myself when Alya finally got my attention.
"Perhaps a trip to the second-hand store will show you your options?" Alya suggested. "Then a few places around to look for good materials."
"That's… not a bad idea," I agreed, standing from the stairs and stretching a bit. "Gathering materials sounds like a plan. Maybe I'll get some inspiration."
I made my way to Tory, patting his back before starting to change out of my uniform, pulling my civilian clothes out of his back, and pushing my costume back in. When I was fully changed, I gave him a gentle shove and told him to head back to the community. He could stick around the outskirts, which would hopefully keep him out of trouble.
I spent the next four hours wandering around the various shops of Brockton Bay, buying interesting and useful things, anything that might be useful, with a specific hope of creating equipment for myself through my rituals. Seeing what Olivia's cloak could do had really thrown me for a loop. I knew that rituals were powerful. I had used one to call forth what was essentially a god of her domain, after all. But watching the level of utility the ritualized cloak had managed had been shocking. Who knew if I would be able to replicate that level of potency, but I certainly needed to try.
I essentially spent the rest of the morning and into the afternoon walking around, buying trinkets, clothes, and other stuff, spending a good chunk of what I had earned that day on materials. Some of what I bought was chosen for a reason, with a particular idea in mind. Other stuff was purchased because it was interesting and could come in handy one day. I made a mental note that taking a shopping trip to Boston might be a good idea at some point.
While the neighboring city was not what I would call safer, it had its own gangs and problems after all, it was much more economically stable. I was hoping that it would have more esoteric and interesting shops tucked away in the much older city streets. I would also do incredibly embarrassing things for a wiccan or witchy shop. I was making do with what I could find around town, but I desperately needed a good source of esoteric, out-there items.
And that isn't to say that Wiccan or other magic stuff was or wasn't real. A month or so ago, I would have laughed at the idea, but considering I unironically bought a chunk of clear crystal quartz for use in a purifying ritual so I could make a source of pure drinking water... I couldn't exactly throw stones in my glass house.
When I was done shopping, as decided by my duffel bag and backpack being completely full, I made my way back to Troy. I quickly changed into my costume and fed Troy my bags, making him significantly bigger in the process, before heading back home to the forest.
The first thing I did when I arrived back at the compound was make a huge batch of candle vials. This time, rather than just sticking with sunlight and a candle, I added a tiny little strip of magnesium in each mass ritual. Just an inch of the strip I bought from a metal shop was enough massively crank up the light in each candle vial, meaning that in two batches I had more than enough to light up the ritual platforms, the storage trees, the boardwalk path, the shower and the living space.
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Even better, a quick test with Kali showed she could easily turn them on and off again, which meant I could officially retire the generator and the string of lights I was using to see at night. I happily grew them a spot in the storage tree, sliding them away and growing around them to keep them protected from the elements.
I also added a foam layer to my woven branch bed, creating a layered mattress that, once I covered it with a layer of canvas, followed by a sheet, was resilient and comfortable. I used the leftover foam and canvas to make a cushion for the chair as well. I then sat there in my comfortable new chair, looking down at my notebook, with a pile of clothes, simple jewelry, and other items on my bed for inspiration.
"So clearly, protection is something I desperately need," I pointed out, tapping my notebook with my pen. "I haven't felt nearly as safe with my steel absorption up ever since Shadow Stalker punched through it like wet tissue paper."
"The obvious place for such a ritual is on your overcoat," Ayla pointed out. "It is even something designed for protection."
"That's what I was thinking as well. I could also… I'm also considering trying to make the absorption process permanent," I explained. "That way, I can splurge on some really good materials and get the most out of every piece. I bet I could trade some free healing with the PRT for some titanium, mercury, tungsten, and a few others."
"I thought you were concerned about affecting yourself with permanent absorption?" Alya asked, sitting on the edge of my bed. "And now you want to go above and beyond what you normally do?"
"With Kali helping out with my rituals, I'm a lot less worried about accidentally missing something," I explained with a shrug. "She will help prevent anything extra from affecting me. Right, Kali?"
A reassuring pat on my shoulder was the answer, as well as an impression of happiness that told me she was eager to help. With at least a primary plan in place, I began designing the ritual for my overcoat. I had a few things I could sacrifice to enhance the ritual, not the least of which was my blood, but I had been shopping with the protection concept in mind, which meant I was pretty sure I had enough.
About halfway through the design process, I took a break to make the golems I promised to Kali. These were the least complex golems I had made so far, primarily because they didn't need much intelligence, as Kali would be in control of them nearly the entire time.
First, I used some iron oak acorns to build six wooden wolves, turning them into golem frames. In the process of doing that, I also added a containment vial of my shadow, one from the full moon, two from the forest in general, and another that was filled with Kali's essence, voluntarily given, of course.
When the frames were done, they looked genuinely alive, their wood vibrant and healthy, their eyes glowing black with swirling stars, and their shadows flickering with power. Once the frames were ready, I whipped up some basic golem cores, only three rituals deep and significantly easier than golems that were protecting the community.
When everything was done, I fused each wolf with a golem core, the frames glowing for a moment before sitting back and sniffing the air. It was shocking, watching them go from mostly inert frames to the most alive, realistic golems I had made so far, despite barely spending any time on the cores. They acted like real wolves, and when the sound of a faint whistle echoed through the forest, they took off as one, fading into the shadows of the forest.
"How do you like them, Kali?" I asked, still kneeling on the ritual platform, having watched my latest creations vanish into the shadows. "I'll make you a few humanoid ones for more utility later. How does that sound?"
She immediately pulled me up to my feet with a tight hug, ruffling my hair a bit, her extreme happiness was hard to ignore. I also caught flashes of running through the forest at incredible speeds, feeling the thrill of life coursing through her. It was gone in a flash, but I couldn't help but chuckle. I was surprised she could do that already, considering how "young" she was.
"Those aren't going to be normal golems for long, are they?" I asked, getting an innocent whistle in return, and I couldn't help but shake my head and laugh. "Just don't scare anyone with them, okay?"
I went back to working on the overcoat ritual, finishing it at about five o'clock. The ritual was sound, but as I started to double-check it, Alya spoke up again.
"The wolves are returning," She warned, while Kali seemed excited, tugging at my hand.
"Feels like Kali has something to show us," I said, standing up and heading back outside. I was just in time to see the newly formed pack return.
They already looked different. Instead of just being bare wood, they were now covered in grass "fur" growing from their bodies like a real wolf would have. It made them look less sleek, but it also somehow made them feel more alive, as the grass would move and shake as they did, giving them a lot more personality.
"Kali… it's been like an hour… how did you do that?"
I caught an image of running through a field of grass, seeds getting pulled into their bodies. I had to assume she had somehow woven them into the existing growth spell that fed the rest of the wolves' bodies. I could have done that, but with no way for me to understand what she wanted, I would have likely not gotten it nearly this good.
"Damn… it looks good, Kali, I like it. Was that-"
Before I could finish my sentence, one of the wolves stepped forward, dropping something by my feet. It was pretty large, and after bending down to pick it up, I realized it was a turtle shell, its owner long dead. I was pretty sure it was a snapping turtle of some kind, nearly a foot wide and a foot and a half long. It would have been a big bastard while he was alive.
It was also the perfect ingredient for my overcoat ritual.
"Kali, thank you. This is exactly what I was missing," I admitted, turning the large shell over in my hand, looking at the interior bones, and nodding. "I'm going to have to redesign a bit of the ritual, but it will definitely be worth it."
I could feel her happiness and pride. The wolves pawed the ground for a moment before returning to the woods, one after the other, disappearing into the shadow. Meanwhile, I headed back into the living area to finish my ritual design, completing the adjustment and the final edit in only forty minutes.
After spending a half hour copying the ritual down on the ritual platform, I finally started setting up the materials. My overcoat went to the center, while a vial of my blood went to the first material sacrifice circle. After that was a cleaned and dried coconut, the turtle shell, and a crab shell that I bought from a grocery store and cleaned out myself.
Opposite of those was a branch of iron oak for strength and a willow branch for resilience, the latter gathered by Kali and her wolves. I also had Kali use her inherent, instinctual connection to magic to conjure a simple, weak barrier. It was not something she could do easily, as she was notably tired when I was done, but I needed something to steer the ritual in the right direction. I stored the almost proto spell in a containment vial so I could use it in the ritual.
Generally speaking, using spells as ritual ingredients was a double-edged sword. It was often a great way to steer a ritual in a proper direction, but spells were inherently temporary, meaning using one in a ritual could weaken the overall effect. Still, I felt it was necessary to tie the concepts of protection to a magic shielding effect.
The last material sacrifice was a large ostrich egg. It was empty, obviously, and painted as a centerpiece of some kind, but it would work all the same as an ingredient.
I quickly got everything into place before making sure that all the lines and arcane symbols were set. When I was confident everything was perfect, I knelt down and put my hands on the outer lines of the ritual.
"Alright. Let's give this a shot."