The trip back to the shop was thankfully uneventful. Alya kept an eye open for any crimes or accidents as I made my way to the random alley that I used to swap clothes, but once I changed, I was "off the clock." Honestly, it made little difference to me, as I spent most of the time in increasingly deep thought. By the time I was climbing through the shop window, finally back at my temporary home, I was more or less just working through the motions. Thank God for Alya, who had to blow me back on course a handful of times, having to resort to harsher and harsher gusts of wind to get my attention.

My mind was working overtime, just a complete cyclical mess of anxiety about my incoming charges.

"Alya, I need to make a decision," I said, immediately starting to pace around the shop interior after sealing up the window. "I need to make up my mind about what I'm going to use my charges for."

"Why don't you talk it out?" She said, reforming into her physical form before sitting down softly on the couch. "What are your options?"

"Right, yeah… Good idea," I agreed, nodding as I paced. "Well… I'm going to have six points to spend. The plan was to spend a chunk of them on some sort of base-building topic. Magical strongholds or maybe wizard towers… Something like that."

It showed how frazzled I was by my incoming choices that my brain immediately started chasing after the proper name to call what I had planned on unlocking. I wanted something that would provide options for both protection and comfort. Obviously, protection was more important, but I still wanted a nice place to live, with running water and lights, and preferably a real bed. I had been slumming it for so long, and call me selfish but-

"William? I can feel you starting to spiral," Alya said, standing up and taking my hand, gently pulling me to the couch. "Take a deep breath and relax. Even if you can't figure out exactly what to spend your charges on now, they will keep until you can."

I took a deep breath and released it, nodding along with her words. She was right, of course. The worst thing I could do was panic and assign my charges while I was freaking out because I felt like I had to. I took a few more deep, slow breaths before I could finally feel myself calm down.

"Right. You're right," I agreed. "I need to relax."

"Good. Now, you have a plan, so why are you second-guessing yourself?" Alya asked, her cobalt blue hair flowing back as she looked at me.

"Well, I've been holding back from fighting capes because I'm worried I don't have enough power," I explained. "The Empire could easily overwhelm me, and I couldn't go toe to toe with Lung. Pretty sure he can melt real steel, never mind the resilience I get from geomancy."

"What sort of magic would you get in order to make yourself stronger?" Alya asked.

"Well… My first instinct is to double down on lightning," I responded, chewing my lip. "I have a feeling that the spells will start to get more flexible and more interesting at the third level."

"What about geomancy or healing?"

"I'm happy with where Geomancy is right now," I explained. "I'm never going to be a brute force, slug it out kind of fighter. Being able to make myself more durable is great, but I'm not spending three more points to unlock more of that. As for healing… I will probably end up getting more healing spells eventually. But what I have has served me well so far."

"So lightning spells do seem like a solid option," Alya agreed. "So why not put three points into whatever base-building subject you decide on? Then, you can hold on to the three remaining points while you work on your new home. Then, if the first two levels of base building prove to not be enough, you can consider your options, but if it is, then you can put them into lightning spells."

"I… yeah, okay, that's a solid plan…"

"But?" Alya asked, picking up on my indecision.

"But… I'm still worried about investing points into base-building," I admitted, standing up from the couch. I was no longer panicking like I was earlier, but I still liked to pace when I was thinking. "It seems frivolous to spend points on something I might only use a few times, especially when I'm so concerned about fighting the gang capes."

"Think of it this way. Having a safe home will make it easier for you to survive, meaning that you can help more people," The air elemental pointed out, floating up from the couch to stand beside me. "If you get killed in your sleep because someone ambushes you at night, you can't help anyone."

"I thought I had you to keep that from happening?"

"I do, but if today has proven anything," She said, pausing to reach out and touching my back, right where Shadow Stalker had managed to stab me. "It's that we can't trust Parahuman's powers to behave like we assume. Someone might be able to get by me."

I let out a long breath. In all honesty, Shadow Stalker making it through my absorbed resilience was freaking me out more than I was letting on. It was at least partially responsible for my previous rising panic. I knew very well that I was not invincible, especially not from some of the heavy hitters hanging around Brockton Bay. Still, being bullet and stab proof, as well as super strong, had given me some confidence to take on challenges I would have been nervous to approach before. Now, that confidence had been shattered by some stupid kid who could turn into smoke and was weak to electricity.

"Yeah… Having a safe place will make me feel… well, a lot safer," I admitted. "I'm just worried that I'm investing too many points into it and that I won't get enough in return. Three points is not a small investment at this stage, not to mention if I have to spend all six because the first three aren't enough."

"Well… perhaps you are approaching the problem from the wrong angle?" She suggested, not entirely confident in it. "We know being specific about what you want can help make things cheaper. Is there a way you can do that?"

I opened my mouth, for what I don't know, as I immediately realized she was right. Being specific and cutting down a concept to something specific had been the key to getting my lightning and healing spells powerful enough to be useful with only two levels. I had thought that restricting it to the subject of base building would be enough, but with Alya's suggestion, I realized I had more options than that.

"Rituals," I said, looking at Alya with wide-eyed excitement. "I need to learn rituals!"

Technically, I already knew a branch of ritual magic pretty well in the form of geomancy. But the concept of rituals as a whole was massive, beyond anything I had unlocked by a ludicrous degree. Buying rituals as a subject to get access to advanced magic, would be like trying to learn advanced lightning spells by buying repeat charges of the "spells" subject.

That said, it was still exactly what I needed. Rituals were, by definition, complicated and time-consuming, but they were capable of incredibly powerful and detailed results. Where a spell might have one or two actions, a ritual could do dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of tiny little things, all working together to make massive, potent changes. They could do anything from instilling magic into an object to changing the weather.

But again, it was a massive subject. Buying the ritual subject in its entirety would be like trying to fill a five-gallon bucket with a teaspoon.

But I had an idea.

"If I invest points into something like magical strongholds, I'm going to get a whole lot of information about how to make magic buildings, right?" I asked, once again pacing. "But it's going to be from all sorts of different subjects. I might get an alchemical process to transform granite into a nearly indestructible magic rock or an enchantment that tells me who is at the door no matter where I am in the building. But I don't need all of that."

"You need rituals?" She asked, still not understanding what I meant.

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"Exactly! But rituals are a massive subject, too big to try and level up in mass," I explained. "So I'm going to cut out a massive portion of the subject, and then invest all six points into it."

"Wait, what happened to lightning spells?" She asked, now thoroughly confused.

"I was holding back those three points because I need to be stronger, but rituals can absolutely do that for me, as long as I can get deep enough into the knowledge," I explained. "The key is cutting out everything that I don't need. When I bought lightning spells, I got a good chunk of knowledge, but it was very lopsided. I have no idea how those spells work other than an understanding of what they do. I couldn't tell you one arcane symbol from another. But what if I flipped it around? Instead of buying a whole list of rituals and only scratching the surface, I invest points into ritual design and crafting?"

"You… you would get all of the building blocks of rituals…" Alya said, her eyes widening as she realized what I was saying. "But because you're not actually getting any of the specific rituals, each point of investment would go much further."

"Exactly! With three levels invested in ritual crafting and design, I should get the knowledge of how to make ritual several degrees more complicated and powerful than I would have if I bought the ritual subject wholesale."

"But, you would have to design everything yourself," She pointed out.

"Maybe, but with the way Marvelous Mage works, that should be much more simple than if I was a mage learning new things," I pointed out, my anxious pacing now turning into excited pacing. "Rather than having a list of symbols that I would have to work out to define, I should just get a download of the information about each aspect, with all the blanks filled. I mean, I don't think I'm going to unlock the entire subject with three charges, but I think I will make enough progress to be useful. And best of all, it's going to be useful in everything, not just for base building. We already know what they are capable of from geomancy, but who knows what else I'll be able to design?"

"If that is what you think is the best path, then very well," Alya said with a smile. "I agree, having the ability to design your own rituals does sound like an incredible boon. Should you consider doing the same for spells?"

"It's certainly an option," I admitted, nodding in agreement. "But I'm wary of having two subjects that require work and training. I guess we will see how this works first."

She nodded, and we continued to discuss the idea, making some tentative plans about what sort of rituals I would be able to design. Despite my excitement, though, there wasn't much we could do until I unlocked the points.

With a new plan set, one I was actually confident in, I started setting up the bed and pulling out the cushions on the sofa. I had six hours before my charges returned, and I wanted to get as much sleep as possible before then since there was absolutely zero chance I would go back to sleep after. Somehow, by some miracle, I managed to fall asleep pretty quickly once I laid down.

When I woke up, I could feel the charges starting to build in my mind. Rather than jump up and panic, I simply rolled over onto my back, letting the slow, trickling energy fill up, slowly counting upward. One, two, three, four, five, and finally, six mental little pips of energy, representing the potential increase of my powers. I could feel that they wanted to be used, wanted me to pick what they would unlock. Rather than give in to the temptation, I ignored them, pushing them down and waiting semi-patiently.

It took a few minutes, just long enough for me to start worrying that it wasn't coming, but the extra subject finally arrived. It started with the same feeling of the points recharging, but rather than the points feeling like potential, they felt like they had already been focused. Once the first charge settled, a deluge of information flooded my mind, all about the lower levels of… Druidcraft?

I barely had enough time to be confused by the name before the second level started to fill, eventually releasing the knowledge when it was complete. The sensation of trickling power faded, leaving me with six unused charges and two new levels.

Slowly, I sifted through the levels of druidcraft, expecting to find information on summoning animals, shapeshifting, or even communicating with nature. Instead, I got magic pertaining to the care and growing of plant life, from daisies and roses to mighty sequoias and just about everything in between. At the lowest level, this magic was used to affect and heal plants, encourage growth, and increase seeding, all on a small scale. Mid-range had more large-scale magic of the same variety, including spells and rituals that would let a whole field grow with minimum water or in weather it normally never could. At the highest level, that I had access to, at least, I could grow and direct the growth of plants and trees on a large scale.

The strangest thing about it was how it was presented. From the name, I expected a touchy, feely, earthy-crunchy type of magic, but instead, it came across as more… industrial. This was magic meant to be applied to harvests and gardens, things meant to produce food for large amounts of people and manipulate tree and plant life in ways that were useful for people, not exactly conducive to mother nature. Some of the spells, if pushed too far, would absolutely kill the plants in exchange for one more bountiful harvest. It was as if someone had taken the name druidcraft and slapped it onto a farmer's grimoire.

After a few minutes of "exploring" my new knowledge, I stumbled on something that I couldn't help but laugh at.

"Well… I guess I know what kind of wizard home I'm going to build." I said after calming down a bit.

"How so?" Alya asked.

"My bonus levels are all about something called druidcraft," I explained. "Basically, a bunch of magic that would make any farmer jealous. But at the very high end, I can do some pretty interesting stuff with trees, like controlling their growth and shaping them into just about anything I want.

"And that means…?"

"It means that we are going to build a treehouse," I explained with another chuckle. "I'm going to make the coolest fucking treehouse anyone has ever seen."

"I... That certainly sounds like an interesting home," She admitted with a smile. "Have you invested your other points yet?"

"No, I wanted to see what the bonus subject was," I explained. "I still don't know how it works."

I closed my eyes and focused on my idea. Rituals, one of several basic forms of magic, was truly a massive subject, one that held untold potential. But I didn't want rituals themselves. I just wanted to know how to make them.

As I focused, I slowly introduced the first charge into the idea. Immediately, it latched on, almost eagerly accepting the concept. The knowledge arrived, like it did every time, in a flood, filling my mind before slowly pulling back to a more stable presence. As I explored my purchase, I couldn't help but laugh again, nearly jumping out of bed to celebrate.

The knowledge I had gained wasn't flashy, that was, until I focused on an idea for a ritual. But, when I imagined the need for a healing ritual, my mind was suddenly filled with options. It was not a wholesale ritual waiting to be copied down on the floor, but instead, everything I needed to know to design a ritual of my own. Several of them, in fact.

I would need to do some work, but I had, at my fingertips, all the parts and knowledge that I needed to get it done. Even more impressive was how the options shifted when I wondered how to make one that was even more powerful. There was a surprising amount of depth to my knowledge, especially considering there was only one charge in it.

It had worked.

All that was left was to invest more charges and see what I got.