My daily schedule was pretty consistent. Get up, have some breakfast, maybe take a shower, and then on work days I set off towards HQ. Frequently, there were a pile of fans waiting outside, and I would have to beat them back with a stick.

The same was true today. They weren’t my fans, of course. I wasn’t sure if I had any, but if I did they either didn’t know where I lived or were respectful.

An angry roar came from a woman nearly my size. I felt the power of magic behind it as she swung a metal bat, which I sidestepped. My staff came up into her midsection with a single point of mana added, and suddenly she wasn’t angry anymore. Or at least not supernaturally angry.

My staff spun to deflect a knife, then continued into the man’s chin. A few came unarmed, which was possibly less illegal but also more foolish given their lack of power. Midnight jumped into the back of one of their knees, sending the individual sprawling- even a cat-sized individual could be effective if they fought intelligently. He could have also jumped on someone and clawed their face, which was rather effective against people who were bad at fighting, but that was good enough.

“This is getting old,” I said.

Stargirl’s fans must have been extremely numerous in the past, because I was aware that many had fallen away from her fanbase due to current events. However, she still had more rabid fanatics- such as these individuals. And though a surprising number of her fans had gained portal powers due to one of the incidents, there weren’t many that were not already arrested for pretty much this exact same thing.

I looked around to see Oswin looking through the gate. The apartment manager looked rather displeased. “Sorry about this. They’re dealt with now.”

“Certainly…” he said. “But this is a pretty frequent thing and they’re bothering the other residents.”

I thought I understood the implications there. “Yeah, unfortunate. I liked living here.” I had come to know and appreciate the presence of a handful of other apartment residents, and of course Jim. But this was starting to be a real issue. I didn’t mind fighting, but people knowing where I lived was a pain. Especially if they told anyone competent who might have had a score to settle with me. I wouldn’t exactly be incognito elsewhere, but it seemed there were a few other orcs not working for Doctor Doomsday. With my tusk basically healed up, I wouldn’t be picked out quite so casually.

I’d have to look for a new place later. I could afford anything reasonable even with all of the diamond dust I was going through, since I was no longer on a rookie salary and even had some savings.

-----

Entering the Power Brigade HQ didn’t have to be done through the lobby- there were side entrances for employees with sufficient clearance- but it was the quickest route for me so I tended to go that way. Usually there was little of interest. It wasn’t like people flooded the front desks with requests- for those with the actual money they rarely had reasons to show up in person. Nor was there an unlimited supply of supers trying to join up. Don’t get me wrong, New Bay had one of the highest densities of supers in the world, they just weren’t all trying to join the Power Brigade. Most would prefer to be heroes first, among other things.

I hadn’t expected to run into a familiar face. It was Tylissa, checking in a knife at the guard post. The Brigade didn’t expect people to not show up with weapons, but they didn’t allow them inside the building without authorization. That included most visiting heroes, even.

“Well hello,” I approached. “Didn’t expect to see you here. I hope you haven’t run into any trouble?” If she had, I didn’t expect she could pay the Brigade. I could help privately, of course.

“Oh, T- Mage,” Tylissa nodded towards me. “No, no trouble. I was just… looking into jobs here.”

“You should have told me. I can put in a recommendation for you.”

She shook her head. “The whole point was to get something on my own merits.”

“Pfft. Don’t be crazy. Everyone else is going to leverage their connections, you should too. I think being a decent person that others would vouch for is a perfectly valid qualification. And the Power Brigade is still going to require competence.”

She nodded, “Well, I suppose that makes sense. But I’d still prefer not to rely on you.”

“So,” I asked. “What sort of job?” The desk jobs seemed alright, but they weren’t exactly looking for more people all the time.

“Tracking,” Tylissa said.

Midnight added his thoughts from my shoulder, “I’m sure you know this, but that can still be dangerous. If not as much as field work.”

“It pays better than my current work,” she said, “And the difference in danger might not be as much as you imagine.”

I didn’t know exactly how dangerous tracking was… but what I did know was she fought werewolves to save Jerome and was now much stronger with Izzy’s training. She was also a werewolf, but those were mostly unrelated. Sure, she hadn’t been of much actual value to the battle against the werewolves, but she had the courage to fight and some ability even then. And trackers weren’t supposed to end up in combat.

“Well, just take care. I don’t want Jerome to worry.” Then again, he could definitely prefer his mother getting the chance to change jobs as well.

-----

Scrying Gloom was gaining little headway. After the initial attempt, Gloom was on guard- even at random times of the day. As a person who was supposed to be dead, there were no records- though having a face was still useful.

Most of the time, we got short snippets of visuals, mostly places of little interest- and despite the wonderful scrying orb, it was still limited to the same radius. Ten… eleven feet, now. Calculator was piecing together information from the various recordings, but usually I was thrown out after a few seconds. Gloom couldn’t completely prevent the connection from forming, but we didn’t get much.

All that, and it was nearly twice as expensive as normal Scrying. I had to cast Mental Freedom, which was a ninth level spell compared to Scrying at eleven, each with matching mana costs. That used up half of my maximum, and somewhere around three hours of regeneration.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Still, I was motivated to continue for the sake of both Great Girl and myself. Gloom was another reason I should be moving. While it wasn’t exactly public that I was getting attacked outside my own apartment complex, if Gloom found out she would be able to find that information from those fanatics. Willingly or not.

Today was slightly different. Not only were Doctors Martinez and Mishra present, but also Reset. He had been available for my training with Hammerfist- Shockwave’s grandma and a former bruiser of some previous renown. Potentially needing him had me worried. Though I already knew what I was up against.

Which was why I was in the room alone. We’d already tested that I could not activate Scrying unless I was physically close to my focus, a problem of little relevance in my world. I would have no reason to Scry something and then not see it- except for cameras existing allowing that to be preserved.

These were probably unnecessary precautions, but given Gloom’s interaction with magic we couldn’t be certain. It was better for myself and the Brigade to take things seriously until proven otherwise, including magical precautions.

Just like for Gloom, I prepared Mental Freedom. Then I began focusing on the individual in question. Having a clear image was quite helpful, though we were missing a name or physical token.

Heartstopper was the target, a villainess of great power I’d taken note of some time before as I looked through our database. Her powers theoretically only worked with direct visual contact, there was just a question of if Scrying counted.

She was attractive enough, but still nowhere near the heart-stopping level. That was all her power. I focused on the image, swirling mists forming in the scrying orb as I cast the spell. I had to watch the process to maximize my focus, and to determine if I was actually succeeding.

The mists parted to reveal a woman striding along the city streets. She passed people by, and since none of them fell over dead we could assume I got the wrong person or she was fully capable of turning her power off- though that wasn’t actually in question. Otherwise we could have tracked her through a trail of bodies.

I felt something pushing against my mind, but it was dull and distant. I mostly just felt like I was watching someone dressed up in a business suit walking around the city. And walking, and walking. A full ten minutes of that, without even a hint of resisting Scrying. It was like she didn’t even notice. But that was crazy, because even Handface noticed without his device. Heartstopper was like a thousand tiers higher than him.

Then again, everyone had their own weaknesses. “Uh,” I turned towards the door. “I guess I could do another ten minutes?”

“Please do,” Calculator’s voice came through the speakers. “As long as you aren’t feeling any ill effects.”

“Not really.”

Ten more minutes, during which she walked into some building. I was focusing more on keeping the magic going than the little details, though I knew to be a proper diviner I would have to manage both. But that wasn’t my job. I had others to deal with that part, and I was glad for it. Teamwork and all that.

After everything was over, the various doctors checked up on me. “I’m fine. She’s not… particularly troublesome to scry on.”

“Or she was letting us see her,” Calculator frowned. “Perhaps obscuring her activities.”

“Sure,” I said. “If she was aware of the attempt coming. But I didn’t see any reaction. I think she’s just… not.”

“It’s unfortunate that you can’t keep this up for longer,” Calculator sighed. “We have other methods of looking for villains, but they’ve generally taken precautions.”

“Doctor Doomsday also protected himself against Scrying,” I pointed out.

“He isn’t one of the most wanted in all of New Bay because he’s good at making super tech. He has plans and layers and protections.” Calculator sighed, “Too bad you can’t scry him.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, “I imagine trying more would just make him angry.” Like Gloom. But Gloom might not know to come after me, and if that happened it was worth it for the sake of a friend.

-----

I didn’t just agree to scry Heartstopper for fun- or money. I was under some obligation to provide my services to the Brigade, but the more I did the more they owed me in some manner. That particular risk got me some time with Captain Punch.

“I wish I could say this was a spar,” I sighed, “But I’m fairly certain you could take me out in an instant.”

“Dunno,” he shrugged. “You ever let Great Girl kick you at her max size?”

I shook my head. “We only sparred with her at more reasonable proportions.” Stoneskin was also slightly less effective against certain types of physical force. I could still be thrown flying backwards or stomped into the floor, though it would keep me from being crushed easily.

“I don’t know if it’s still true,” Captain Punch admitted, “But at one point that more or less matched my fists.”

“At one point?” I asked. “Are you stronger now?”

“Of course. But so is she. We can’t exactly all-out brawl on the regular, but she’s young so I’d imagine she grew more. Even before the werewolf thing.”

“Anyway… I don’t think I would learn much. If you go easy on me I could just be sparring with someone weaker. So I kind of need you as-”

“A fancy training dummy,” he finished for me.

“That wasn’t going to be what I said.”

“But it’s the right idea, isn’t it?” he grinned. “Go ahead. I doubt you can seriously hurt me. Mind the face though.”

“Weakpoint?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Hah. I just don’t want to have to wear makeup.”

I wasn’t sure I one hundred percent believed him. If nothing else, even with super durability his head probably was weaker. But I also wasn’t interested in actually harming him. “I’m going to try to touch you with a spell,” I said. “Please dodge and move about so I actually have to try.”

First I cast Mage’s Reach, for my standard combo with Shocking Grasp. If I actually got into melee with a guy like this I’d be pretty much screwed, my recent growth spurt and fancy stick or not. This was an efficient method. I was just so used to holding back that I rarely got to use it properly, and in a real combat I wasn’t exactly focused on the particulars.

My hand charged towards Captain Punch. I was fairly certain he could have just run away, but he played into the training by keeping his movements minimal, like I was in melee with him and he was looking for an opening to strike. He stepped around behind it, sometimes blocking my vision and forcing me to move. That was something I had to be aware of- both my line of sight and the fact that the rest of my body was still present. I’d usually done this from cover, but that wouldn’t always be the case.

Despite his agility, Captain Punch was a bruiser. He danced and dodged, but eventually he slipped up and allowed me to touch him. Or he let me. Either way, I got a partial zap on his wrist, then fully managed to grab his ankle at a later time. By the time our training session was over, he still looked fresh while I was sweating and low on mana, and had at least used up a dozen castings of Shocking Grasp and a couple durations of Mage’s Reach. Normally the former would take less time, but with how infrequent my connections were… the magic lasted longer.

Taking a look, I saw I had finally improved Shocking Grasp, a strange outlier for being a spell I used regularly. Mage’s Reach too.

“So… can I try Sonic Lance?” I asked. I wouldn’t get more than a couple shots, but it was nice to have someone I was fully unconcerned about hitting. Maybe I could ask if Hammerfist would be willing to work with me some more, though she was enjoying her retired life.