It certainly seemed like some of what Sarah Pelham had said to Director Piggot had gotten through to the retired soldier, because while the PRT agents asked way too many questions, they were surprisingly happy to accept non-answers. They asked things like how I knew Miss Militia was in danger and seemed to accept, or at least tolerate, my response of "I dunno, I just felt it."

Before starting anything, they moved me to a conference room for my statement, or maybe it was a debriefing. Either way, I reluctantly agreed to go inside the headquarters despite my easy teleport charges having already been spent. The only reason I agreed was because they had no way of knowing that.

I wasn't sure that letting them think that I had some sort of powerful precog ability was the best idea, but it wasn't like I could hide it. I had teleported in from nowhere, ridden Troy full tilt through the city, and arrived just in time to save Miss Militia. I could lie and say someone told me, but that was flimsy at best. At least this way, they were partially prepared for me to just know I was needed somewhere.

Besides, after how I "stumbled" on Taylor Hebert needing help, there was a chance they already had me labeled as a potential Thinker anyway.

Miss Militia stuck with me during the debriefing process, which might have also been the reason the PRT agents were a bit more polite to me. She also kept me in the loop about how the team that was initially sent to rescue her had switched to engage the E88 directly, forcing the Hookwolf and the others to retreat back to their territory, something I was very grateful for. I would not have put it past a monster like Hookwolf to take out his frustrations on the civilians around him, or at least any he could catch at least. Eventually, once the PRT had run out of questions, I got a chance to ask my own.

"So, what the hell happened?" I asked, settling into the office chair and sipping a cup of coffee they graciously provided.

"I was returning from a patrol when I spotted a few Empire goons pushing into the edge of ABB territory," She explained, leaning forward slightly to rub her brow. "So I pulled over to investigate, maybe scare them off. I realized they were beating up the man you healed earlier, so I pressed more. Turns out Hookwolf and Cricket were in the area, so I attempted to clear out with the victim. You saw how well that turned out."

"Just glad I got there in time," I said, shaking my head. "The fact they pushed that far into ABB territory is a bad sign. I think our grace period might be running out."

"I think you might be right," She agreed, the frown evident in her voice. "We are going to have to discuss this internally, but if we reach out, will you answer to discuss potentially working together? Your ability to teleport is clearly game-changing and could make a serious difference."

"Yes, I will answer," I assured her. "I'm not about to leave someone to suffer just because of your boss… No, sorry, it's better if we just drop it. I'm happy to help with rapid deployment, we just need to keep our own patrols as well."

"We appreciate the help, Arcanum," She said. "You are free to leave whenever you would like, though we ask that you use the front door."

"I think I could manage that," I said, unable to keep from smirking as I stood, reaching out to shake the heroine's hand.

An agent escorted me out to the public area, and from there I left the building, teleporting to the docks community only a minute later. I needed to pick up my golems, and they were "programmed" to make their way there since it was the closest location designated a home. I could have sent them off all the way back to the forest, but if I was in the city and needed them, having to go back to the compound to get them would be counterproductive. Sure enough, after jumping down from the rooftop I frequently sat on, I found the golems, along with Troy, tucked up in a small alley, with Charles keeping the more curious members of the community away from them.

"Arc! Good to see you," He said, sharing a handshake. "These guys just showed up a bit ago, no idea why. Everything alright?"

"Everything is fine, we just got separated when I needed to teleport some people out of a fight," I explained loosely. "I sent them here so I could pick them up. How are the other two metal ones I left here working out?"

"We keep them in storage with the stone golems," he responded. "No reason to broadcast where they are, keeps people guessing."

I nodded in understanding, stepping closer to Troy so I could examine him. He was missing a good fifteen percent of his body mass, at least, with massive slashing marks and bullet holes. I quickly fixed him up using druidcraft, regrowing his leg and body. When I was done, I went about checking up on the community, fixing their orchard up, and healing anyone who needed it. When that was done, the sun had started to set, so I finally teleported home.

The first thing I did when I arrived was refill the teleport spells in my staff's storage crystals. When I was done with that, Alya finally pulled in around me, becoming solid as I once again took off my costume.

"So, did you finish the quest?" She asked, sounding curious.

"Yeah, I could feel the extra pip fill up when I was finished healing the injured man, after teleporting us out of danger," I explained, recalling the sensation of the quest completing and getting my extra charge. "Just the single charge, too."

"Only one?" She asked, her confusion evident. "That is... surprising."

"Yeah… I can only imagine the quest that wanted me to stay behind and fight?" I guessed with a frown, hanging up my coat. "Or maybe there was more behind the guy getting beat up? It doesn't really matter, I wasn't about to risk the victim's life so I could earn an extra charge or two. I showed up and saved Miss Militia and an innocent person. Not much else I could have done. It's possible that I only had the chance to earn one or two charges this time, but either way, it doesn't matter."

I could feel the charge sitting in my mind, ready to use. Even if it wasn't much, I was still happy to have it, as it represented a chance to mess up in my next cycle. I was still trying to figure out the best way to invest my next six charges, still trying to think of a subject that would let me create more autonomous help. Now, with this extra point, I could invest in a subject and then explore the first level to see if it was what I needed. If it was, I could then invest five more points to bring it up to level three, or I could try another subject, praying that the second was what I needed.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

There was always a chance that the second choice wasn't what I wanted as well, but honestly, I wasn't too worried about that. So far, the subject purchasing had been pretty intuitive, and the Marvelous Mage system had informed me clearly when what I was thinking of really wasn't something it could provide. Between that and the extra chance, I was happy with my odds.

With night quickly settled, I spent some time working on my magic. I was still filling out my basic utility list of spells, spells ranging from short to long that performed specific functions that I thought might be useful. I tried to write ideas down when I could, but I was also hesitant to overfill my spell book. I knew eventually, I would probably have to reorganize the book, even with my ability to mentally turn its pages to whatever I needed with my mind. It didn't matter how easily I could turn the pages to what I needed if there were still six hundred pages between those spells.

Eventually, I decided to head to bed early. I had the following day off, but I already knew what I was going to be spending most of the day doing. Once I developed my teleportation spell, I wanted to take some time to explore some of the surrounding towns, maybe even making my way all the way to Boston. This would not only spread out my range, but it would give me access to more resources, and make some of my more strange purchases hard to pick up. Not only that, but I needed more things for my rituals.

In truth, I had taken a break from rituals primarily so that I could focus on filling my spellbook. However, I was also beginning to run low on some of the more unique supplies I needed. Don't get me wrong, there were still shops I could scour through around here, small pawn shops and the like that still had the sort of things that would make key foundations for powerful ritualized objects. But I still had yet to find the perfect shop. I could picture it in my head, having visited places like it in my previous life. Shops filled with old, eclectic collections, a mix between antique and curios shops, with a dash of witchy flare. I was already holding off on making a door opener until I could find a barrel of old, lost keys, the classic weird shop selling point.

I woke up the next morning and quickly got ready for the day before visiting the hospital. I cleared my patient list in record time before teleporting back to the compound, putting on my civilian clothes, and teleporting to an abandoned alleyway near a bus stop that led out of the city. I tucked my spellbook into the bottom of my large backpack, which also contained my lunch and a single duffel bag. I was tempted to take more, but this was an exploratory journey, there would be plenty of time to buy stuff later.

I hopped the first bus of many, settling in for a long day of traveling. In total, I stopped at six towns, snapping some pictures with my phone of locations that might come in handy as teleport spots. I visited several shops, finding a few close to what I was looking for. Eventually, as the sun started to set, I finally arrived in Boston. There, I got in a taxi that took me to several more shops, racking up a pretty large bill that I could thankfully pay for in cash. I filled my backpack, and half filled my duffel bag with random trinkets, items, and materials.

After completing a circuit of Boston and finding several spots suitable to use as teleport locations, I grabbed some dinner near the ocean, stopping by a seafood place for a pair of lobster rolls. They were absurdly expensive but worth every dollar. My family in my old world had a tradition surrounding lobster rolls, and having one here, alone, had been a bittersweet moment.

With my mission complete, I found myself a nice little hidden spot, pulled out my spellbook, and teleported home, appearing on my ritual platform in a flash. As far as I could tell, there was no discernible difference between teleporting from the Bay and from Boston, which coincided with what I understood about the spell I designed.

I spent a few minutes putting away everything I had bought, tucking them into the storage trees that framed the ritual platform. I slid my spellbook back into its holster before grabbing one of the few books I bought during my trip. In an attempt to better jog my imagination and hopefully come up with the perfect subject to invest in, I bought several books on occultism and magic. They weren't anything special, just a few relatively modern books on magic and supernatural beliefs from several cultures. Technically, had no idea how closely what the Marvelous Mage system had access to would line up with this world's magical beliefs. After all, druidcraft had been a rather weird subject, considering its name. Still, I was hoping having an outside source of ideas would give me something to work with.

I sat down by the fire pit, the lights around the compound turning on, compensating for the rapidly dwindling sunlight. As I read, I felt Kali and Alya swirl around me, partially reading over my shoulder, but mostly just pulling in close around my presence. We mainly talked about the subjects from the first book, which was ultimately a bust. There were a few concepts that kind of touched on what I needed, but in the end, there was nothing that filled the role like I wanted.

As it got later, and I was beginning to consider heading to bed, Kali suddenly stirred. In a moment, her soft, kind demeanor shifted to one of protectiveness and violence, ready to attack whatever she had sensed. It was like feeling a wolf step in front of its cubs, preparing to defend them with their life

"What is it," I asked, instinctually looking around. "Alya, you got anything?"

"Whatever it is, it's out of my range," The elemental admitted, her presence spreading out rapidly. "I don't see or hear anything."

Suddenly, Kali reached out and metaphorically took my hand. In a wave of colors, she dragged my mind alongside her senses, pulling us along the many magical protections I had placed over our chunk of the forest. We were far past her area of influence, along the edges of what she could still feel and see through the rituals. Once we "arrived," she guided my vision again, showing what she had spotted.

There, creeping around in the dark, were nearly two dozen people, all of them dressed up in E88 attire. They slowly walked through the woods, sweeping their flashlights across the trees, clearly looking for someone, most likely me.

In a rush of colors, I was suddenly back in my body, rocking back slightly in my seat as if Kali had thrown me back into my body. I immediately stood, turning to face the dark woods surrounding the compound.

"What is it?" Alya asked, still spread out but unable to see the incoming gang member.

"She showed me some E88 gangers, just on the outside of the protective bubble around us," I explained. "They are armed, searching the forest with flashlights. I can only imagine they are looking for us."

I could feel Alya's alarm ratchet up slightly. I whistled softly, all four of my golems slowly making their way to me from their waiting spot by the ritual platform.

"Should I head out and take care of them?" I asked with a frown, unsure of my choices. "They are all armed, but… between the golems and myself... they don't stand a chance. On the other hand, it's not like that can get to me…"

"Are they headed in this direction?"

I frowned and turned around twice in place, trying to orient myself in the right direction. Thankfully, Kali chimed in with a quick series of images that showed that if they spread out, they would enter the protected area soon. Thankfully, they appeared to all be base humans, which meant none of them came even close to being powerful enough to break through my rituals.

"Vaguely, but they won't get through," I assured her. "If we turn off the lights, there is no way they could even know we are here. Hell, even with the lights on, their chances are pretty low."

"You don't want to take them down?" Alya asked, Kali's curiosity poking up behind her.

"I do, but that would all but confirm that I live in the forest," I pointed out.

"You haven't been trying to hide that," Alya pointed out. "You've flat-out mentioned it a few times now."

"That's true..." I admitted. "Plus... the forest is the best place to fight the E88, isn't it? No civilians and plenty of opportunities for traps... It's gonna suck having to constantly deal with them wandering around, but unless one of them is a super genius, capable of mental partitioning and several other techniques, they aren't getting through my deterrents."

"So you're going after them?" She asked. "Trick them into sending their fights directly to you?"

After a few seconds more consideration, I nodded, making my way to where my costume was hanging. I quickly put it on before whistling for my golems to follow me into the forest, ready to steamroll some E88 goons.