Grinding, mixing, enchanting and extracting. Jack had to do these steps to all sorts of different materials. From the arduous work he was soon covered in a sheen of sweat as he hyper focused on each individual task. There couldn’t be a single mistake, not with treating the method of processing, or with the ratios for each needed compound. Most of the materials that needed to be used in this manner were extremely dangerous if not handled with the utmost care. While those that weren’t could easily become so if mixed with the wrong thing or in the wrong amounts.
The hours went by as Jack word without pause not letting his attention drift in the slightest. Even as the maid who was assigned to be his assistant for the day appeared other than a brief hello, the only words he spoke to her were instructions on what he needed for the next set of materials.
Finally, after the hours of backbreaking labor and headache inducing concentration Jack finished mixing together the final compound that he would need. Letting out a deep sigh, Jack sat back against the closest wall and stared at the fruit of his labor. After about a minute of sitting there he turned his head toward Molly and asked “Hey, do you know what time it is?”
“No sir. Give me just a minute and I will go check.” Her response showing that she too was exhausted from all they had done.
“Thanks.” Jack responded as the maid left the room to find the nearest clock. He groaned to himself as got up from where he was slumped against the wall. “Ugh. Agier fuck it if that wasn’t a ton of work. Still more to go however. No rest at all for the wicked it seems.”
Rubbing at his temples to try to relieve some of the tension and pain, he stumbled his way over to the corner of the antechamber where Molly had set down all of the shaving supplies. He hadn’t really noticed when she had arrived but it seemed that Molly had brought an entire full-length mirror. Jack shrugged; it wasn’t like that was a bad thing. In fact, it would be of great help for when he needed to make sure that he had removed any and all hair that would interfere with the ritual preparation. He just found it odd that she would choose to bring such a heavy object instead of a smaller one like he would have expected.
Putting his tired musings to the side Jack stared at the somewhat haggard appearance before him. It was strange to him still to see his face looking so healthy, used to as he was the thin pale face that always looked half starved. He forced himself to look away before his contemplations could go any further. With his face looking healthier it was in fact even closer to that… Jack shut the thought down before he could complete it. He didn’t have time to waste and that meant he needed to be more careful then ever to not let himself slip into one of the spirals. If he did, he could very possibly waste all of the work he had done thus far.
Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Even if he hated to do so he needed to control himself and look at his reflection. Opening his eyes, he looked at the other objects and pulled out the razor and the can of shaving cream. Looking at them both for a minute Jack set the cream back down and checked in the razor kit to see if there were any instructions. While he was digging through the box Molly silently walked back into the room and spoke startling Jack. “It is just after seven in the evening sir. Would you like me to fetch us a late supper considering the time?”
Jack paused for a moment to think about taking a break even if just for dinner before he agreed, “Sure. That sounds great.”
“Very well Mr. Bertrand.” Molly confirmed and then turned to head out of the room once more.
Looking down at the items in his head Jack swiftly called out to the maid before she was fully out the door. “Oh hey! Before you go, do you know how to work this thing? I’ve not used one for hair before, and for shaving my face I always just used a razor.”
Looking back over her shoulder to see just what he was talking about Molly acquiesced to Jack’s request before offering her own services in trimming his hair. “Of course. In fact, if you would like to simply wait until after I return with food, I could simply give you whatever trim you desire. Personal grooming was part of my training to become a maid in this estate.”
Jack struggled for a moment with his paranoia and worries before he shook his head and agreed. “That would be fantastic. Thank you. Oh, right… how are you at painting?”
“Well, it’s never been too much of an interest of mine so I don’t really know. I’ve not really tried it before. Did you someone to paint you a portrait of the ritual or something?”
“That’s a pity.” Jack said quietly before picking up his volume, “No, no. I need someone to assist me in applying a couple of the compounds that have been created in rather intricate patterns upon my back. Do you know if any of the other staff would be good at that?”
“I’m not sure, but I think I heard one of the other maids talking about Yorik doing something with painting. I can’t remember if it was that he painted a piece that she enjoyed or what but I can ask him about while I am fetching our meal if you would like.”
Jack scowled slightly at the name but then sighed. Needs must after all. With that thought he told Molly, “Please do. If he is even somewhat decent, ask him to come down here and join us.”
While Molly was out fetching food and finding Yorik, Jack took the time to nab the shaving kit and headed to the nearest bath room to cleanse himself and shave off his body hair. Not wishing to waste time he hurriedly scrubbed himself off before fumbling a bit with the device as he was figuring out the best way to use it. Soon enough he was back in the ritual room feeling strangely embarrassed and uncomfortable. He had never thought that just the simple change of shaving off the hair on his body would have such a profound effect on his emotional state.
As Jack was waiting for Molly to return, he stepped into the main ritual room and began to unpack the various items he had set there earlier. Taking them out Jack took the time to double check each one carefully to make sure that there were no problems with any of the ingredients and that everything was there.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
After reassuring himself that all of his materials were in order Jack went back into the antechamber and collected the first chalk mix that he would be needing, an almost spicy scented neon purple mixture, along with the ritual schematics. Taking them into the main room he began to place the initial circles and the connecting symbols that used the strange smelling purple mix. As he was drawing the second to last symbol Jack heard form the other room. “Sir, are you here?”
“I’m in here!” Jack called back, “I’m just finishing up the first section of setting this up and I’ll be out. What did you bring for our dinner?”
Molly looked down at the cart that she had wheeled into the room and replied, “Let’s see… they made us a grass lamb salad alongside some shadow salmon fillets. I’ve also got a nice white wine to go with everything. Oh, and Yorik said that he will be able to join us down here in about two hours after he finishes his duties for the day.”
“Excellent. That should hopefully be enough time for me to finish setting this up, eat dinner, and get my hair shaved off properly. Give me just a moment and I’ll be out. I just have the one circle left to do with my current chalk mix and then I can take a break.” Jack’s stomach rumbled slightly from the scent of the food even as he did his best to keep concentration on what he was doing.
Only a few minutes later Jack came back out into the antechamber hands covered in purple chalk. Smiling at Molly he said, “That smells fantastic. Thank you again for going and picking it up. Sadly, I will have to say no to the wine. I cannot afford to make any mistakes with what I am working on here. Feel free to enjoy some yourself after you have taken care of my hair however.”
Molly nodded in agreement, “Indeed. Jordan was very proud of this dish. He said that he got everything locally. Apparently right now is the prefect season for fishing up the shadow salmon.”
“Hmm.” Jack hummed noncommittally in agreement as he washed his hands.
Taking one of the plates Jack sat down in the middle of the room, taking care to make sure that he was not too close to any of the mixtures that he had created earlier. Biting down into the flesh of the salmon jack couldn’t help but let out a moan of enjoyment. The food was delicious and extremely mana rich. The shadow or darkness mana giving it a flavor that Jack had never experienced before but absolutely loved. Sighing internally, he couldn’t help but wonder just how he would deal with going back to the bland flavorless meals that he ate in the past. After all, he found it highly unlikely that his blood relatives would want someone with his talents around for longer than necessary. In fact, Jack was fairly certain that the materials and help he was receiving for this ritual were likely the compensation that the family was giving him so that he would not talk about or press any claims to being related to them going forward.
Soon the scrumptious food was all gone. Looking over at Molly jack spoke, “Thanks for getting that, it was delicious. Please let Jordan know his cooking is as amazing as ever. Once you are done, I’ll need my head fully shaved.”
The maid looked confused as she confirmed, “Fully shaved? You didn’t want just a nice trim?”
Jack let out a harsh laugh as he explained, “Oh believe me, I would love it simply being just a nice trim. However, needs must. Part of what I am doing requires me not having any hair whatsoever.”
“Okay, very well sir. Give me a minute here to get everything and myself cleaned up and I’ll get it taken care of right away.” Molly agreed before speeding up her eating speed. Attempting to finish as quickly as she could.
“Don’t rush yourself. You can take the time you need to enjoy your food. I have plenty more work to do in the meantime.” Jack waved a hand dismissing her attempt to speed up her pace before gesturing to the pile of prepared materials that he still needed to put to use. “As long as we have it taken care of before Yorik gets down here it will be sufficient.”
Molly struggled to swallow the large mouthful she had stuffed into her mouth so she could answer. Eventually she managed to get out. “No, no. If he or any of the other staff hear that I was disregarding my duties in any way it would spell a great deal of trouble for me. Give me just one second sir and I’ll be ready.”
Jack shook his head slightly in exasperation even as he agreed. “Very well, I’ll get everything out.” With that said Jack moved over to where he had set the shaving kit down earlier after he had returned from the bath and got it out and set up next to the small basin and mirror that Molly had brought earlier. Tapping one side of the basin Jack grimaced in pain as he channeled a small amount of power through his body to activate the run cluster there that would fill it with heated water. Making sure to keep an eye on all of the materials as he did so. After that he went over to the small workroom and pulled out the stool that was in there.
It was about two minutes later when Molly had finished gulping down the remainder of her meal and cleared all of the dishes. As soon as she had everything on the cart, she let out a breath of relief at having finished quickly before turning to Jack and asking once more, “Alright sir, let me just push this into the hall and we will get you all sorted. Completely shaved you said?”
“Yep. That’s what I need.” Jack confirmed yet again.
Once Jack was situated and Molly set up, it did not take long at all for her to remove almost all of his hair. As she was working, she couldn’t help but to ask. “Why did you want the shaving cream by the way? This type of razor doesn’t need it to do a good job. In fact, it can make it harder for a magical tool like this to operate well when shaving.”
“I wasn’t really thinking of a kit like this at all when I was asking for something to shave with. I have been using a straight razor for shaving for almost all of my life. And those do work better with the cream.” Jack chuckled slightly.
Molly joined him with a short laugh of her own as she attempted to engage him in conversation as she worked, “Fair enough. Out of curiosity sir, just what is all of this that you are setting up? I only ever did my basic education myself and I’ve never seen any kind of ritual that is anywhere near this complicated.”
Jack forced himself to sit still even as he wanted to shrug as he answered, “The short of it is that it’s a ritual I designed to fix my brain. I was attacked by a creature about half a year ago that permanently damaged my mind. I’ve been working hard to keep myself stable while trying to get this set up to hopefully fully fix the issue. I would have loved to do this back in spring as much of the mana that is prevalent in nature during that time of year is prefect for renewal and healing. But I only got the last ingredient needed here today.”
“Oh, I see.” The maid said simply, not quite sure how to respond to what he revealed. With that the only sound left in the room was the buzzing of the trimmer.
It didn’t take long for all of jack’s hair to be cleanly shorn from his scalp. As he looked at his reflection to make sure that there weren’t any remnants he paused for a moment as he struggled to really see the reflection as himself, so drastic was the difference.
As he sat staring at himself the door to the room opened and Yorik walked in. “Hello Mr. Bertrand. I am given to understand you needed my talents for something?”