The first order of business was to quickly scramble away from the nuclear power plant, as Abby was clearly determined to rid the world of alien energy as soon as possible by turning the area into an impenetrable jungle.
I even had to remember the druid school to break out of the encirclement. The dryad at that moment (or maybe it was at the beginning of the assault) was hooked to Green and was completely unresponsive to external stimuli, and my gut told me that trying to force my way through a tangle of strange bushes with blood-red buds would do no good. Well, maybe Harley and I due to the natural coloring of mana had at least some chance of avoiding the attention of the angry avatar after the destruction of her "children", but the Amazons could not boast of such immunity and would get the first number. So I had to play the role of Moses and create a corridor in the "sea" of intertwined plants. Of course, no one canceled the presence of our flying transport, but it was busy transporting the wounded and taking the spoils before they were swallowed up by the merciless elements.
The march was a good one, and soon we were camped at the foot of a familiar hill not far from the city, where I could cast privacy charms and begin the normal treatment of the injured, of whom there were many. We needed the cloak so that our company would not be disturbed by fighters with air-to-ground missiles flying in the sky. Still, the appearance and then disappearance of the huge energy dome over the abandoned nuclear power plant attracted too much attention, despite Victor's best efforts, connected to the satellite system.
In the course of treatment, it suddenly became clear that I had overestimated the capabilities of the charming allies. No, the warriors were incredibly strong, especially under the buffs, but the durability of their bodies left much to be desired. Their skin didn't hold splinters, and strong blows with blunt objects left bruises. Diana, though she was much stronger than her sisters, did not escape the same fate, so she preferred to take machine-gun bullets on indestructible bracelets. As a result, Harley and I had to deal with the wounded for quite a long time to make sure that they reached the healers. By the way, despite the relative vulnerability of Themyscira's inhabitants, there weren't many dead: only twelve girls, but the fact that the best of the best, the old guard, who opposed Darkseid himself, really went to the battle, and the elemental, which drew most of the alien army to itself, should not be written off.
Well, as I suspected, there were certain difficulties in getting the Amazons back to their homeland.
The sorceress had certainly recovered a bit in the past four hours, but that didn't mean she was ready for large-scale spells again. Her strength after a short rest was only enough to move to Shadow Peak to rest and prepare for the upcoming concert, and I was not yet cool enough to be able to create a real stationary portal. Even using a direct connection to the Dragon Vein, such a feat was unlikely to be possible for me in the near future. I simply don't have enough knowledge and control to redirect the flow of energy. And the load on the seventh beginning would be so heavy that I might not be able to cast spells at all.
I have long ago noticed that complex weaves, in addition to large amounts of magical energy, imagination, will, and high concentration, are very demanding to control and, let's say, to get used to, somewhat reminiscent of skill training from computer role-playing games. Mana, of course, is not a muscle that can be trained for certain actions after a lot of repetitions, but there is something in common, because over time it begins to respond to the call much easier, making it much easier to create weaves. It's just that so far I haven't done anything particularly large-scale, and if there was anything more or less serious, it was always with a ba-hion that allowed me to jump above my head.
Now my maximum in spatial enchantments is to create relatively simple spatial folds with a decent percentage of weight relief (using the right materials, of course) and setting up a ready-made portal arch, well, maybe a spatial leap of five meters, if given time to prepare. But to let a bunch of left-handed women into the abode of magic, even if most of them had incredibly attractive looks, was somehow not very good, otherwise Zee would have done it herself, having organized from her mansion a transit point. But instead, she'd chosen to exhaust herself and turn the fluffy one into a skeleton, which had caused Harley to disapprove of her.
Luckily, Bats took care of the problem of getting the girls home, and I only had to fly with the first batch to monitor the condition of the most difficult patients, after which I went to Gotham in the company of a lovely blond cutie. Naturally, we wanted to stay on the island and take part in the traditional party after Beaver's victory over Donkey. Considering that Amazons managed to prevent Darkseid's invasion, the feast promised to be even cooler than after saving the magic box, but nobody was going to delay the flight for the sake of two passengers. I only had enough time to stop by Ivy's and briefly recount the results of the battle, or else the green-skinned beauty would have given me a good time. First he disappeared wherever the hell he was, leaving me to take care of the younger generation, then he came with a bunch of mistresses, even if some of them appeared on Harley's initiative, and then, when the dryad seemed to accept the sudden expansion of his harem, he brought a whole bunch of wild women to the island, which was a real test for a girl who liked peace and quiet.
Flying first class on an airplane is great, but it doesn't take away from the amount of time spent on the flight. And that's because it was necessary to hedge Jay Arkham's arrival in Gotham for the trial.
Naturally, I spent my time in reading a magical folio disguised as a physics textbook, but the fact that instead of setting up a portal and moving instantly, I had to go through customs and then sit in a chair for several hours was really annoying. Although I don't know when I'll be able to carve out time for a thoughtful study of the instructions for the scanning circle.
Yes, yes, one "genius" still remembered about that thing, which he personally helped the sorceress to draw in one of the rooms of the Shadow Peak. In principle, there was nothing particularly complicated in the formulas, because the main load is taken by the pre-drawn runes, and the energy required is the minimum, due to the connection to the source of the mansion. It remains only a little to tighten the basics of the astral, having learned to leave the body, and it will be possible to normally scan for abnormalities, and at the same time to look at the soul. It's just not normal for any attempt to take advantage of the System to go wrong all the time.
Even now, after the victory over the Wolf, taking into account the points spent on the copy, I had an unrealistically huge pile of ba-hion in the amount of three hundred units, of which only four points were used for reinforcement, causing an unpleasant burning sensation in the solar plexus. I tried to put a little bit into each of the Initiates, getting a glowing ball of energy in my belly as I did so.
I admit that I'm using my ability incredibly crookedly, and maybe some trainee with experience would have long ago figured out the not-so-friendly interface and would have easily reached the level of Superman, or someone like Aquaman, but any attempt to force my own development leads to the fact that I'm literally harming myself, and it's obviously not normal! Besides, I'd only be a complete psycho to do dangerous experiments on myself when there's no equivalent of preservation or awesome regeneration.
***
A tall, red-haired man with a thick red beard, about thirty years old, dressed in very old, tattered clothes, consisting of a patchy gray shirt and the same pants, was scrutinizing the huge room, the walls of which were covered with throbbing, spiky vines. The plants moved sluggishly, trying to take up all the available space, but they also tried to avoid the intruder, crawling away quickly to let him pass. At first glance, the strange visitor could be mistaken for a homeless man, especially if you consider the lack of shoes, but the powerful figure would be more suitable for a fitness model, or a man who devoted his life to sports, and the piercing gaze of blue eyes, from which came a faint blue glow, did not allow to take him for a simple vagrant.
"What happened here? - The stranger voiced his thoughts as he approached the severed horned head.
He'd been wandering the world for a while now, having given up his past, so he was used to talking to himself so it wouldn't be so boring.
"Hmmm... Really..."
The wanderer looked around the room once more, making the numerous spiky vines cling to the walls as if frightened. The unusual eyes saw much more than mere mortals could see, and the man was not happy about it.
"Not a breakthrough yet, but close, very close. Hmm... What is this strange emotion?! - For the first time in an incredibly long time, a note of surprise slipped into his voice.
It wasn't hard to decipher the mishmash of energy and understand the basic background of events by tapping into the infofield. In a moment, his eyes flashed with rage, and an invisible wave spread from his body, instantly destroying some of the surrounding plants along with the concrete floor.
"How dare they! - A loud scream made space itself squirm in agony.
The air covered in glowing cracks dramatically sobered the human-like creature.
"No, no, no, not again," he clutched his head, violently suppressing his own strength and quickly patching up the gaps in space, as well as energizing the nearby vines, bringing them back to health.
"We must be subtle, she must not know of my involvement," his gaze fell on the severed horned head, which had not yet been swallowed by the merciless elements of nature.
A brief request to the universe, after which the wanderer's lips parted in a grim smile.
"And I have a good executor... Just need to push him to the right decision. He's too cautious and slow."
***
Gotham, during our absence with Harley, had not changed at all, as if there had been no destruction of the secret organization, no purge of criminals and no attempt to enslave the planet by a warlike alien. As one classic said: "Everything was as usual. Everyone was stealing and throwing, cutting each other and hanging, in general there was a normal civilized life". However, a couple of McDonald's were built, but it was really the least of the problems, because another supervillain once again escaped from Arkham, a small but promising gang appeared in the east of the city, pretending to be Mexican wrestlers, and Alfred managed to find traces of the Scarecrow returning to Gotham, as well as the movement of Two-Face's six.
By the way, this time the highlight of the "Get out of the asylum" program was the Enigma Man. And the most curious thing is that he had escaped a long time ago, having replaced himself with Mudface. I don't know what exactly Nygma had promised him, but this lump of shit, successfully pretending to be a piece of dirt, was playing the role of Edward to the last, avoiding preventive examinations by all means, and was caught when Dr. Arkham noticed his patient's strange behavior. A couple of broken guards and damaged interior items, after which the monster was once again locked in a special box, from which he could not get out without help.
I didn't stay home very long. Given the time zones, it was just enough time to catch up on the latest news, have a word with the little one, who was showing a mortal resentment toward the whole world, causing Harley's fits of amusement, and update the alarms around the mansion, making sure that no one had tried to break into the mansion during our absence, and then I had to go straight to the meeting.
Dr. Fries' trial went off without a hitch. Everything was eerily standard. No kidnappings, supervillain attacks, or any other unpleasantness that could dilute the dullness of the event. There was a small flurry of activity when I was called to the podium, but a short story about the company's activities in the field of mobile game development and planned expansion activities caused only more boredom among the tired people in the hall.
The main stages of the trial and the questioning of witnesses had long since been completed, so, after I had spoken, the jury went immediately to the next room to reach a verdict. As Dershowitz had said, the court allowed the scientist to avoid imprisonment, but did not release him from the horse fine in favor of Boyler. I fear that if it weren't for my intervention and Alan's work, Victor wouldn't have gotten off so lightly, and the world would have gotten another crazy supervillain.
It's a bit of a shame that the System left such a feat unrewarded, even though it gave Ivy a decent amount of plushies for freeing her.
After leaving the walls of the kingdom of Themis, we all went to my office, where the sleeping beauty, immersed in cryosleep, was comfortably settled. In general, the hired firm had done a great job of turning the basement into something resembling a normal lair of a mad scientist.
"Nora--" the doctor, who had been silent all the way, and who was unable to digest that he was really free, spoke at last. - Meine Liebe.
He fondly touched the glass flask with a beautiful girl with snow-white hair imprisoned inside. After a little chatting with his beloved in German, the scientist found the strength to stop for a while.
"Mr. Arkham, Mr. Dershowitz, danke... Without you, my life would have been a perpetual flight, and now there's a chance..."
"Oh, come on, dove. I was just doing my job."
Alan gently patted Fries, who was almost crying, on the special spacesuit we had wrested from the police with great difficulty. So what if it's a piece of evidence with incomprehensible technology. My new employee couldn't even go outside without it. Luckily, a couple of gifts allowed us to get the suit back. You'd have to wonder if it's really worth it to rid the city of corruption, otherwise what's the point if you're going to break the rules all the time, just so you don't get your brains blown out.
"Huh, and I won't refuse my gratitude. But I'll give you a week to get used to the new place, to order and install the equipment, and after that I need some inventions from you," I answered with a wide smile.
"Invention? Ya, Ya, I think I remember something like that."
"Yeah. You know, even this," I pointed to the room with the pile of freezing equipment and the tools to repair it, "costs a lot of money. Plus, I'm the one who has to pay the money for Boyler's treatment, so the firm needs patents that can be registered and released to the world. And I need to kick science in the direction of a brighter future."
"Hmm..." the doctor thought for a moment. - I've already got a couple of interesting projects I didn't want to share with that fat bastard... Ya, right," he nodded at his own thoughts. - I can get started right away.
"I am, of course, pleased with your enthusiasm, but let's get to the bottom of the problem first, and then provide the documentation, and we'll think together about whether it's worth it. You know, I don't want someone to be able to build a cryopuscule based on your designs and freeze half the world."
"Ahem," the scientist gasped for air, averting his gaze in embarrassment. - You're right, Nora wouldn't like that at all.
Leaving Victor to settle in, I escorted Alan to the parking lot, closing the topic of compensation to Boyler, and went to the second floor of the building, where the gaming division of my small firm was located.
It was sad to give away the money I had earned with blood and sweat so that one fat hog who had lost his shores could have a chance to get quality treatment and good prosthetics, but it was better to deal with all the debts at once. Two things reconciled me to the injustice of the court system. It helped to whitewash the fucking Joker, and I was also two hundred percent sure that Fryce would more than recoup all the money spent on him by producing a couple of ingenious inventions. For one improvement of freezing units, which increased their efficiency by thirty percent, by optimizing the design at the same cost of electricity, and the creation of special composite glass that ignores temperature fluctuations, many companies will agree to give a couple of million dollars, and the technology of cryofreezing also looks extremely promising. If Nora really manages to put on her feet, and Victor has more questions about the method of treatment of an obscure disease than about the problems of competent defrosting of his beloved, then for the opportunity to see the future or to wait for the invention of a cure for "old age" rich pigs will be ready to part with a decent part of their fortune.
True, these are all problems for Jay's future, but for now it's worth focusing on more affordable methods of making money legally.
I passed a door with a built-in fingerprint scanner and found myself in an ordinary-looking small office. There was a water cooler, an imitation kitchen where you could have a light snack, and a workspace with four good office desks. But the only inhabitant preferred to move them to the wall, and himself comfortably settled down in a big chair bag, typing something on his laptop.
There was a small hope to catch Mouse at work, but instead of a beautiful red-haired girl, or her dark-haired classmate, who answers to the name Jennifer and pulls a solid seven out of ten, in the office there was a short dark-skinned guy, who clearly neglected sports, carefully hiding a puny figure behind an oversize sweatshirt and baggy sports pants. Or maybe he just likes this style, and we should admit that such a suit is quite convenient in everyday life. Not everyone has the opportunity to order individual tailoring.
"Hello, Mr. Arkham! - he jumped up briskly, almost dropping his laptop.
"Hello, Mark, what can I get you? - I asked with a small smile, remembering how recently this worker had been shaking as soon as I appeared nearby.
The consequences of the spectacle that separated the personalities of Joker and Jay Arkham affected many of my acquaintances, and since most of them were more or less adequate people, communication with them became much easier. And it's not the case when a person, instead of a normal explanation of his ideas, can't connect two words because of excitement.
"I decided to release a small update for New Year's Eve, replacing the interface with a more festive one," he replied embarrassedly, turning the monitor, which was full of New Year's-themed sprites, in my direction. - I just need your approval.
"Well, let's see what you come up with."
I must say that Barbara's buddy was a real godsend, because it was thanks to his enthusiasm that Crystallia saw the light of day so soon. And now Mark spent almost all Christmas vacations in the office, creating additional content for the first game, as well as working on Tower Defense. Such dedication may seem strange to some people, but the guy had good reasons for it. As far as I could find out from Mouse's questions and my own little investigation (few normal people are willing to work for a former supercriminal, so it was worth checking out future employees), Mark grew up without a father, and his mother... Let's face it, she wasn't a very good person, at least, the guardianship authorities visited her quite often after a drunken binge or a fight with another roommate, so the dark-skinned teenager preferred to spend all his free time out of the house. Here you should thank luck that he did not join a gang, but instead engaged in self-education, the scholarship from the Wayne Foundation served as a good motivation, and free courses from Wayne Incorporated helped the talent to open up. In principle, with such programming skills Mark had every chance to join some big game publisher or organize his own small indie studio right after college, but then he got a good offer from Babs, who was looking for someone to take on some of the responsibilities.
Frankly speaking, our first acquaintance didn't go well, because Mouse successfully forgot to mention the identity of the tenant. When I walked briskly into the rented office, the guy was seriously going to throw himself at the "psychopathic maniac" just to give the girls present in the room a chance to escape. I'm not going to talk about the stupidity of this act, given the presence of Harley, but I appreciated the impulse, and when I saw the finished levels, demonstrated by a slightly stuttering and shaking speaker, I came to full delight, generously paid for the processing. But that still didn't save me from sending messages through Commissioner Gordon's daughter, so as not to unnerved the main employee until the "real" Joker showed up.
But let's return to our sheep. Judging by what we saw on the screen, three-in-a-row is waiting for the traditional New Year update, which won't surprise anyone, but it's not necessary. The fact that the game is slowly developing and bringing good profit is enough. For a whole week it has been in the top of the sales list, and it came close to the top ten, occupied by different parts of the Force.
Mark also provided a sales report. Seven million downloads and four million dollars including the platform commission - sounds very impressive. It more than covers all the development costs (seven pizzas and fifteen cans of energy drink), and the advertising has paid for itself, which is encouraging. But that would have been very relevant when I arrived, not when I'd been compensated by Hugo and successfully invested in Wayne Industries, which was paying huge dividends. They've nearly tripled since the Court was destroyed by the start of Old Gotham's reconstruction.
Taking into account the above mentioned, it is time to think about more serious projects and copy other successful game ideas from the old world besides Towers. The same shooters for personal computers should be very popular with users, and normal role-playing games, such as the series of Ancient Scrolls or Gothic, are also bound to find their fans, but it all comes down to time and money. Moreover, we must not forget that three people simply can not cope with this amount of work and will have to expand the staff. Honestly, even with five employees I hang myself when I fill out a tax statement, and if they become at least fifteen pieces, it will be necessary to create an accounting department. I hate the feeling of being bogged down in routine, but if you remember Bats, he has no problem running a multinational corporation and still manages to solve the problems of the shadow world.
Eh, should we get Cyborg to create a game based on the description? Why not? He is capable of creating three-dimensional holograms on his knees, just using his imagination, with the programming of this case is also unlikely to be a big problem, but the superhero must not know about my double life. Hehehehehe, and it would also be nice to get a patent on his image, since it's perfect for action figures.
"Mr. Arkham, are you all right? - The boy asked worriedly.
I shook my head, removing the anticipatory smile and coming back to reality.
"Yes. Okay, your upgrade idea would complement the game perfectly, so you can upload it to the store."
"What about the Towers? I don't think we should leave his image behind after Superman goes missing... People just won't understand."
"Hmm... I think I'll go with that. You can leave Superman out for now and concentrate on working on the levels."
Having received a more or less clear technical assignment, a decent bonus, and an admonition to have a good rest in the New Year, Mark went to work, and I was finally able to go to the Shadow Peak to deal with my problem. I was very concerned about the atypical pumping of the shells, and Eternal's words were still scratching my mind unpleasantly. Especially this is a great opportunity to do everything in secret from Harley, who was at home sorting trophies. As soon as I remember that I had to spend five diamonds every twenty minutes to keep the spatial pocket stuffed to the brim from collapsing and to keep the lightweighting working, I immediately began to choke on my toad.
The magic mansion greeted me with its usual silence and ineffable mystical atmosphere, and the note pinned to the front door telling me that the girl had gone to prepare for a performance and the stack of books on the living room table recommended for reading. After perusing a couple of weighty volumes and glimpsing the suggested rune diagrams, I concluded that they dealt with the enchantments necessary for normal navigation in space, proper handling of magical materials, and defense spells. It was a good fit, since I would hardly be able to find these books on my own in the near future, since they were all written in German.
Eh, now another language will be added to the standard schedule, and I've just started my robotics textbooks. That's sad.
I could put off the magical literature for now, though the defense spells looked very interesting, using the unfamiliar principle of creating a movable shield placed close to the surface of the skin, but now, when no one was around, it was the perfect time to do my own scanning. Of course, a sorceress would probably do a better job, but frankly, I was afraid she'd discover my other-worldly origins, or see the presence of the System and a repository of divine energy, which I wasn't ready for.
The spell rest on the far side of the mansion had changed a great deal since the last visit. The floor, walls, and ceiling were covered with a multitude of runic stitches, but now they were all hidden behind massive slabs of stone that acted as focusing panels. Two circles appeared in the center of the room, lined with large gemstones glowing with dim light. One of the circles was intended for the operator and was less massive, while the second took up almost a third of the available space and was covered with mystical symbols, varnished (probably with magic too) so that they could not be accidentally damaged.
"Huh. Well, let's get started," I whispered to myself, sitting down in the center of the structure and pouring mana into the surrounding space.
Okay. Body binding: check. Astral parasite protection: check. Room isolation: check. Emergency interruption of the ritual: check, send a message to my beloved not to worry if I'm late... Check. As I check, the right weave flashes in front of my eyes. Konstantin is an incredibly cunning asshole, but thank him for awakening my true vision, without which my successes in the magical field would be less impressive.
Having made sure of the reliability of the upcoming adventure and having refreshed in my memory all the necessary control combinations of runes, I began the scanning procedure.
The first stage of the test was focused on the physical body, or the First Beginning, to use the terms I was used to, and it didn't bring any surprises. I had perfect health, increased strength and high regeneration, all of which I already knew very well. The next item was to explore the magic source, and here I was in for some pleasant surprises. By constantly creating spells, crafting artifacts, and putting points into Atman, the volume, mobility, and mana control increased a lot, and there was also a small affinity with two additional schools.
Before, my source was only the energy of nature, but now it had a small admixture of spatial and illusory energies, which was hinted at by the faint responses of the two crystals forming the magic circle. Of course, such adaptation was only the very beginning of the path and did not give any significant bonuses yet, but the speed of change was really striking, because the books they had read recommended mages to practice in the right school for at least a year in order to notice any changes. Though those books were quite ancient, and normal scanning charms may not have existed at that time.
"Okay. It's silly to put off the best part," I said, and then I checked the defenses again.
After extinguishing all the unnecessary weaves, I habitually slipped into meditation. The most difficult part of the meditation was to go to the astral plane and look at myself from the outside.
The room was incredibly quiet, the necessary runes flickered faintly, helping me to tune in and clear my mind, I could only hear my heartbeat and my own breathing, but it still didn't help me leave my mortal shell. The situation reminds me of banging my head against a wall, you know that there is something behind it, but you can't get through, and you can't go around it.
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale... It's getting tiring. My thoughts are sluggishly rattling around like a gluttonous panda, and cheerful memories are only jolting me out of the harmony I've achieved. Yeah, screw it! I'll try it next time, Shadow Peak won't get away from me.
I rise smoothly, feeling unaccustomed lightness, and suddenly realize that I'm looking at myself from the outside.
Hmm... The flash of joy was instantly suppressed, because in this state any strong emotion is likely to disturb the harmony and bring me back, and there is no desire to sit again for three hours in the same position.
My astral projection circled the green-haired man sitting in the lotus position. In principle, there were few differences from reality, except for the blurry greenish haze around his body and the dim magical constructions floating around him. For the sake of interest, I activate the scanning weave, watching a multitude of faintly colored threads shoot out from the panels on the walls.
Yeah. Doing magic in this state is like using a numb hand. You can do it, but it's not very pleasant, and you can't cast anything serious, because the response goes through the body with a hell of a delay. But the true eye in this state works perfectly well and even more. Minimal effort, and here I am already moving to the second layer. Here the magical manifestations are much more visible. Now I can easily see more subtle spells and my own aura, but I have little interest in them now. Deeper, and then some more... On the fifth layer there was no trace of the real world, and there was a slight resistance, reminiscent of water pushing out at a shallow depth. Around flickers multicolored spots, in which it is difficult to navigate, although it is not necessary, because I feel the position of my own body, and it looks like a large shining fire.
I fly as close as I can while continuing to dive. The resistance becomes much stronger, and I have to make a serious effort to overcome it. The surrounding spots fade, the world gradually drowns in darkness, evoking associations with diving to the depths. Eh, good for gods and demons, who have the ability to see souls without such perversions, but we, mere mortals, have to resort to various crutches.
One last tug and...
Fucking hell!
In a moment, I was looking at the world as I normally would in my own body, lying on my back. My muscles felt really stiff, so I began to warm up, slowly getting the blood flowing and thinking about what I'd seen.
It was only for a moment, but I managed to get to the right layer, but I wasn't happy about it, because my soul didn't look like the description from the books. I could see a ball of light instead of a small sparkling light, as if it were made of different pieces, and it felt like it was about to burst from the inside.
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