Thursday, June 14, 2018, 8:30 PM Norfolk

I woke up at sunrise to see that there had been no notifications and no calls. I quickly got ready, let Rex out for his morning constitutional, and headed down to the restaurant. When I got down there, after packing everything up and all of the other issues, it was nearly seven in the morning. Getting my food, a very pleasant experience, I noticed a pair of sketchy people coming into the restaurant, who didn’t seem to be getting food or anything. They sat down at a table and just watched the people around them not exactly inconspicuously. The breakfast eaters, on the other hand, seemed to be ignoring them to the best of their ability.

The staff who kept the buffet pans full noticed the two sitting there, not eating, or drinking anything, and eventually, while cleaning some of the tables, one of them came up to me to ask if I was done with the plate. I thanked them and told them that I was, and the attendant took my plate and left a note on the table as they wiped it down. I stealthily pocketed the note, and got up from the table, getting my bike and heading out of the restaurant. As soon as I left the Hotel, I opened up the note which told me that the two were two of the people who had shaken down the bartender the night before last. I noted this and waited outside of the hotel for the two of the gang members to come outside of the building.

Waiting for about half an hour, I saw the two leave the hotel lobby and head towards an alley. I invoked my spell of Oath of Anonymity before I decided that I would rush in behind them. While under the cover of Vanish, and sneaking up behind the two of them, started my attack, firing off my Ultrasonic Ray, which was further enhanced by both my focus and my stance, and a boost to ensure that the gang member is dropped. With the invisibility dropping from the attack, the other criminal noticed me and quickly drew and fired his pistol, striking me square in the chest and severely wounding me. Focusing up, I used my most powerful attack to fire off my Ultrasonic Ray again, dropping this thug. I knew that I could have opened up with that attack on the other thug and gotten a free hit off on the second one, but I wasn’t thinking quickly enough. Quickly using magic to search their bodies, I took their money and jewelry before ensuring that they would both survive, before even healing myself.

I knew that it would not be long before the police showed up, so I quickly used Prestidigitation to clean up any possible sign or evidence of my blood or that I was even here. I also used it to fire off a round from the other criminal’s pistol, to get them a charge as well. I quickly left with my reward for dealing with another two criminals, vanishing before leaving the alleyway, and getting my bike from a different area, and rushed away as carefully as possible. I made my way to work and got into my workshop, where Doug was waiting for me. I nodded to him, cleared off my gear from any blood or foreign material, and got the work area ready for another day.

I started out with the disassembly, cleaning, mending, oiling, and then reassembly for the first rifle. I removed any sign of fingerprints from the rifle with Prestidigitation, before taking it over to the rack by the ritual table. I set out the required salt into the various patterns and runes that were needed for the ritual to occur. Before starting the ritual, I asked if Doug had any questions. Doug shook his head, and I started my casting of Masterwork Transformation, while he sat there enraptured by the blatant displays of magic that I had already performed. I started the focusing and the meditation that was required to enhance the rifle. After an hour, it was done, and the salt glowed before dissipating into the rifle. Doing a final Prestidigitation to clean off any of the remaining salt, I handed the rifle to Doug who inspected it.

Doug took the rifle and inspected it to the best of his ability, while I started the process with the next rifle. By the time that I was done with the preparations and setup, Doug had finished his inspection and asked if this was what I intended on doing for my time here for the rest of my time with this job. I shook my head and said that I was a lot more comfortable with just doing my standard preparation work, but what I preferred and what the company needed for me to do were two different things. Doug smiled when I said that, and muttered something about that being the way that the world works everywhere. I smiled and then nodded to him, saying that he was more than welcome to stay with me while I do the next three, but that I would be going as fast as I could without slowing down, to get the remaining rifles done by lunch.

Doug thanked me for the opportunity, but noted that he had a few rebuilds to do, and excused himself. With my observer gone, I worked on the rest of the rifles. I quickly busted through the rest of the rifles and emptied out the rack of rifles to be treated. At lunch time, I brought the four last rifles over to Bob in an effort to stop and talk to him. Bob was receptive, and I noted that I had had a run in with one of the gang members that had been scoping out the shop but ended up getting shot.

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Bob looked concerned for a bit, before I shook my head, saying that I got better. Bob stifled a laugh at that but asked me if I thought that it would solve the problem. I told him that I severely doubted that it would, as even if we get rid of this specific gang, that we would likely end up with more gangs in the area, doing power plays. I offered up that I would start my search for a suitable item to make starting tomorrow, and that I would tell him what I figured out before I started making anything. Bob seemed reasonable, and asked if I could make sure that there was a way for Bob to be able to transfer the possession. I told him that I would make sure that it was a property.

I had a quick lunch of pizza that Bob had ordered, and Steve stopped to talk to me. Steve wanted to thank me heartily and I told him that it wasn’t needed. I added that I would have done it for anyone, and that I had already worked to make the first aid kit better so that it would have been more likely to save someone in such an instance. I mentioned that I would be looking at further enhancements when I had the time. Steve thanked me again and asked if I ever needed anything from him to just ask.

I thanked him for the offer and said that I would keep it in mind, while immediately filing it away to be forgotten as quickly as possible. Jessica happened to come into the break room while I was eating, and quickly turned around and headed back out. I decided that I would be best served by going back to my workshop and finishing up the tent. Getting set up with the Salt and everything that would be left, I had the tent back onto the table to get today’s portion of the tent enchantment done. The runes were all done out, the patterns of the fabric were stitched together, and the canopy frame was ready.

I started the meditation for the purpose of enchantment, and suddenly the energy that I was pushing towards it started to go wild. My essence was going way too strong from the efforts I had performed earlier, and I sent an empathic urge to Rex that I needed guarding. The wrestling with the energies then took the full extent of my focus and threatened to fail a few times throughout the four hours I was working away at this enhancement. I was going through the salt so much faster than I had expected and the salt was flowing into the canopy frame and canvas so much quicker than I was prepared to have it happen. I even felt it tearing at the foundations of my body, threatening to break me apart and suck me in if I failed to control this.

Luckily, I managed to hold the energy overload stable after this and found that the tent was almost fully enchanted. It would be done with tomorrow’s work and sealing of the ritual. I dried some sweat from my brow and realized that this was a bit more intense than I had been planning. I was going to have to apologize to Steve, that it was going to take me a bit more to be ready for the next tent that I made. I got up and went to the door to the workshop, before opening it in, and seeing Rex standing guard outside of it.

I told Rex in Draconic that the work for the day was over and Rex proudly told me in Draconic that Jessica had given him a fish. Not knowing what really to say to that, I thanked him for guarding me, and Bob came out of his office to see me giving Rex a good scratch underneath his long chin. Bob asked if everything was okay, and I sighed, saying that the exertion I might have had earlier might have given me a bit of trouble, but I got through it okay. I added that I might need to reconsider the timeframe to get some of the further enhancements done, but that I would still work on getting the shop more secure first. Bob asked me if there was anything that I could make that might make the task easier for me.

I thought about it briefly and noted that there were definitely items that would improve the chances of success, some of them cheaper to make than others. Bob said that it might be a good idea for me to get those done first, to make sure that it is easier to get other things done. I agreed that it might be wiser but then offered up that I really needed to reference what could be made for both circumstances. I asked Bob to please apologize to Steve, that it might take me a bit more than three weeks to get everything done for his version of the tent. Bob said that he would clear things up with Steve and the others, and that I should probably head directly home.

I agreed with Bob’s assessment and apologized again for making a mess of things. Bob told me that I didn’t have to worry about it, that since I had been injured dealing with some of the thugs that were scoping out his place, the lease that he can do is give me an easy day tomorrow, especially since I had done all of the rifles that were on the docket this week. I sighed and smiled, knowing that at least the job was done. I thanked him, got Rex ready to escape again, and hit him with a Vanish before letting him out again. I got on my bike and headed back to the hotel to get a bite to eat, and some rest for the night.

When I got back to the hotel, Amber was back as the bartender, and thanked me for dealing with the thugs when she had time in between serving other guests. I told her it was no problem, but that the bar staff should keep my number handy in case something like that happens again. Amber said that she would pass it onto the other bartenders, and that I didn’t need to worry about food or drink for the rest of my time here. I shrugged and said that it was all being added to the room bill, and that was covered, so keep charging it out as normal. I finished my meal and headed up to my room.

Rex was already waiting on the balcony, and I let him in. I thought about what I would need to get done to make me more successful in my endeavors and realized that I had encountered some items that would be beneficial to me in the past, and that it wouldn’t be all that difficult to recreate here, as long as the fabrication wasn’t that terrible. I put it on my list of things to do before I headed to bed. The day seemed long than it really needed to, and I wasn’t expecting tomorrow to be any better. Rex curled up on the bed at the foot, and I got everything mended and ready for tomorrow.