Bab 87: The Rough Preparation
Cutting vegetables and heating up a cooked dinner didn't require much concentration, so I kept thinking about combining the two spells.
Shields and illusions seemed to be a great combination, but in practice these two schools did not want to work together at all. Although, to be more precise, the problem was illusions, which were not really friendly with structured spells, except for those of the school of reason. It's worth remembering our epic escape from the spiders with Harley. I didn't use any complex or at least powerful spells, but ordinary blood, pumped with a small amount of mana, which was hardly enough for a couple of normal fireballs, but even that was enough to destroy the illusory walls created by the nasty arachnids.
Knowing about this unpleasant feature, I immediately tried to set a small gap between the surfaces of the spells, but even so the illusions began to malfunction seriously, and sometimes simply fell apart after the activation of the shield film. They agreed to work stably only if they left a distance of at least half a meter between the weaves, but then the original meaning of the idea was completely lost. Still, it was one thing when some object would enter the wall by a notional centimeter, but a completely intangible obstacle, where you could suddenly fall through, would definitely be very conspicuous.
By the way, various attacking charms, like ice icicles, also did not allow to impose the illusion normally, but the distance of stable work was reduced to twenty centimeters. In me even closed the thought of conceptual incompatibility of some schools, which was partially hinted at by the very structure of the used weaves: clear even lines with peculiar stiffening ribs and symmetrical arrangement of angular symbols for shields, and smooth rounded lines with runes resembling Arabic script for illusions and charms affecting the mind.
Naturally, the first failure was no reason to give up, so I came up with the "genital" idea of combining the two spells into one. I chose that adjective for a reason, because I was really fucked up while calculating the tooth-crushing complex. I almost screwed my brains out, having managed to raise the sixth beginning by two points in the process. In the end, the resulting construction somehow miraculously worked and even stopped falling apart from any sneeze, but it was still too unstable for adequate use, and the shield itself had seriously sagged in power, fluttering at a slight pressure. So I made a willful decision to complicate the spell even more, but to get the desired result, although I was well aware that because of the huge costs I was unlikely to use it in the near future.
My brains really creaked, visualizing a large-scale weave, whose structure became twice as complex, compared to the previous version, but the pumped brain with a photographic memory with honor passed through this test, and soon before my mental gaze hovered incredibly complex spell, theoretically able to work normally.
Eh, I'm a hundred percent sure that there are some special symbols or ready-made charms that allow to cast normal material illusions, but I no longer have access to a magic library, nor do I have a normal theoretical basis for creating large-scale weaves. Still, Zee wasn't aiming to make us into full-fledged mages, but merely explained how to avoid trouble and demonstrated a couple of tricks, giving us a kick-start into the wonderful world of magic. Not Hogwarts, of course, but I like a charming wizard in a sexy outfit as a teacher much better than an old grandfather in a robe and stockings.
Ha ha ha. My lips stretched into a smile against my will. Still, the expression on the wizard's face when she saw the map with Dumbledore was incredibly funny.
I set it on the table, stepped away, and began to draw the weave directly on top of the template, feeding off several charged diamonds at once. The spell was clearly not of my level and was eating up energy, but my natural mana reserves allowed me to leap over my head, filling every symbol and line with mystical energy.
"TISH," I use verbal charms to activate it. The weave is already too overloaded to try to cram additional functions into it.
Minus two more stones to fill the inner vault, and... Nothing happened.
"Shit," I managed to get a little frustrated, staring at the empty space as there was a quiet pop, and a two-by-two meter brickwork appeared in front of my face.
The detailing was a bit lame in some places, but if you don't look too closely, you won't realize that it's not a real wall.
A light touch, and my fingertips felt the slightly uneven surface. Wow, that was an effect I hadn't even expected.
I pressed harder, testing the structure for strength, and then pressed even harder, until the wall was covered in faint greenish cracks, only to disappear a second later with a quiet pop, leaving a faintly visible lettuce haze in its place.
Hmm, I'd have to see how long this thing could last if left untouched.
I was distracted from repeating the experience by a notification from the manor's security system that said there was an unknown car at the gate. Okay, the check would have to wait for now.
When I got to the garage, where an unremarkable dark blue cargo van with stained license plates was already parked, I had to catch the satisfied girl who threw herself on my neck.
"Mr. J!" The blonde exclaimed happily, rubbing her head against me like a cat. - I'm all done!
"Good girl," I stroked her head, which made her purr amusedly. - Did you have any problems?
"It wasn't, and it definitely deserves an award," she said affirmatively, staring at me with shining eyes.
"Absolutely," I kissed her lips and squeezed her soft ass with my hand, feeling my faithful companion move even more toward me.
We were both too accustomed to regular bedtime exercise, but my selfish desire to deal with the Heart of the Forest had made it necessary to change a glorious tradition this morning, so now I had to make up for that omission. Besides, Alfred's toys and spells aren't going anywhere from me.
It took an hour for our gorgeous duo to get to the kitchen, but I didn't regret the time, looking at the incredibly satisfied blonde sitting across from me, eating a simple dinner.
"Harley," the dryad's figure appeared in the passage, making me flinch a little.
To be honest, I'd forgotten all about her. I'd forgotten all about her, really, what with a reanimated nature elemental and Green's avatar walking around the house dressed as a maid.
"Oh, hi, Abby!" my assistant waved a fork with a cutlet on it as a greeting. - Did you get to help the flowers?
"Yes. You took good care of them, but your friend's plants needed the Forest's energy to grow. I shared it.
"Thank you very much," she said sincerely. - Are you going to have dinner?
"No. I'm going back to the woods right now. I'm not too comfortable here.
"Bye-bye. You can stop by anytime to chat," Harley said, waving goodbye, and I waved back, deciding not to get involved.
"Good," the dryad nodded and turned her back and simply walked away.
"Ahem..." I looked questioningly at my faithful companion, who pretended not to understand the reason for my behavior. - Honey, is there anything you want to tell me about Abby? I was very surprised to see her in the living room surrounded by flowers.
Not that I was against a magical source at my side, but it was very sudden to have a new face in our house, who was allowed to visit us at any time.
"Ivy's flowers were starting to shrivel up, so I asked for help.
"Let's say I get that. What's with the maid outfit?
"It looks good on her!
"Huh, I'm not arguing, but still warn me about this sort of thing.
"Okie, Mr. J, next I plan to dress her up in a semi-transparent negligee... Hmmm," she thought for a moment, putting a finger to her scarlet lips, "or should I try stockings with garters?
"Harley, you saw she had no organs, right?
"Nonsense," she dismissed it, "I like it aesthetically, and it helps to keep Abby awake, according to the contract. I want to show her the console, but I just need to find a game that isn't too fast-paced.
The idea of showing Abby the world of modern entertainment sounded pretty good. As far as I understood from the conversation at the clearing, the Parliament of Trees had turned her about half a century ago, and at that time she had not yet had time to join the wonderful world of video games. We could still show her the new movies, and watch them ourselves at the same time. We have a home theater in the west wing, so we'll have an excuse to try it out. Darkness, two girls, a romantic comedy or a horror flick...
I realized my thoughts had taken a wrong turn when I started imagining myself fucking Harley in a cushioned chair while Swampy, dressed only in garter stockings, sat next to me and watched, cracking popcorn.
I can't believe what's going through my head. What the hell is popcorn if Abby doesn't need food?
Ha ha ha, okay, better to get Babs or Ivy then, at least they can take an active part instead of just watching... But I have to admit, there is something appealing about it.
To distract myself from not quite the right thoughts (who in their right mind would drag a natural log to bed?), I decided to find out from my faithful companion how the Guardian of the Forest had gotten to our mansion in the first place.
The security system, even if a person was listed as a trusted person, still logs all of their movements and sends a report, but this time it only noted Harley's departure and return, but the appearance of the two-meter-tall elemental was successfully ignored by the system. A quick check of the logs on the secure server only confirmed that no visitors or suspicious activity had been logged today.
This circumstance is a serious concern, because in the same mysterious way some ill-wisher with a bomb behind his back could enter the house.
Luckily, after a thorough conversation with my beloved, my worst fears were not confirmed, except for the fact that the security system didn't really work in the mansion, which meant that we were practically defenseless against people with teleportation technology. Yes, the Swamp Lady can teleport, but it's not quite right to call it teleportation. Abby simply creates a new body out of plants saturated with natural mana, and then transfers her consciousness into a new shell.
In principle, in this way the green beauty is able to move to any place in the universe where there is a sufficient number of plants, whose energy in the process will be fully spent on the formation of the vessel. But the Guardian of the Forest does not like to harm nature, so she prefers to create in advance a kind of living beacons with powerful energy, capable of surviving the creation of a new body. One of such beacons, resembling a bonsai, now stands in our living room and can turn into a dryad at any moment.
Eh, now I'd have to think about creating a signaling loop around the house to register magical disturbances, and it wouldn't have to be power-hungry or durable. But let Future Jay handle that, since my immediate plans were to take care of the toys I'd brought with me against Grundy and go on a night hunt to unwind and test a couple of spells on live targets.
This time Alfred didn't make a big deal out of it, so the van had only the promised equipment, namely: three harpoon cannons, which worked on the same principle as my cane; several coils of incredibly strong thin cables made of electrically conductive material; twenty napalm grenades, five of which had the symbol of the cross on the body, implying that they had been consecrated; and, of course, another small drone to keep an eye out for suspicious old ladies.
In principle, all this wealth could be transported in Aston, but because of Zee we were left without a normal inconspicuous transportation. So Harley's van will not stand idle, and it has a spacious body, where you can store a lot of different things or make a real mobile headquarters.
After a short test of the cannons, capable of penetrating through a three-millimeter steel plate, as well as the garage door behind it, we fixed the extra hole and began to slowly prepare for the night hunt.
This time I decided to do without a full-fledged cosplay of Bats, so I put on the usual costume of a magician. As for maintaining the legend of the Dark Knight's return, after my debut in a new role yesterday, now it will be possible just to flash a couple of times in the right image, putting illusion on top of the normal costume, and use batarangs. Thankfully, after visiting the Gloomy Mouse's transit point under the bridge, we have plenty of them to throw around.
***
Gotham at night greeted us with an overly friendly welcome, and this fact made me very nervous. How can the most criminal city in the United States be safe after sunset? There are three full-fledged supervillains on the loose, mafia gangs scouring the surface and underground looking for the bastard who dared to attack their buildings, and somewhere nearby there are three deranged patients of Dr. Strange and who knows how many budget versions of the Joker altered by chemical waste. But with all that, there's only one call for an armed robbery at a convenience store in an hour on duty!
The criminal was really pissed off when three heroes came after him, and one of them tried to burn him in the flames of hell. I admit, I was a little overzealous, but it was just a small fireball, launched under the cover of illusion. Anyway, the freak wasn't too badly hurt, aside from a small burn on his belly and wet pants, but he'll remember not to get in trouble in a city guarded by the coolest superheroes.
Another half an hour of aimless wandering through the most criminal neighborhoods. It wasn't as if we'd been idle all this time, but it was hard to concentrate on something useful when you expected to have to go into battle at any moment.
"Okay, I'm sick of this," I said, stopping at one of the rooftops.
"Ugh, what exactly is a Knight?" Harley carelessly fixed her windswept hair.
"The fact that all the bastards have gone into hiding and don't look like they're going to come out of their holes at all today.
"It's obvious," the blonde said, looking at me naively and fluttering her long eyelashes charmingly. - A lot of people remember what you organized two years ago, and the First is very clearly imitating you. No one wants to suddenly find themselves in the epicenter of a nuclear explosion if Bats shows up and screws up.
"You mean... We could die at any moment?" I clarified, glancing at the pale young heroine and chilling inwardly.
"Of course not," my lovely assistant was clearly enjoying the frightened faces of Mouse and me, feeling intellectually superior. - He'll get rid of the other wannabes first, and then he'll detonate the nuclear charge. Of course, if I could understand his character correctly.
"So instead of at least staying home and doing our own thing, we're aimlessly roaming the rooftops?" I said, knowing full well that my name was also on the list, and so there was no fear of nuclear fungus in downtown Gotham for the time being.
"Well, if you look at it that way, then yeah, today's duty doesn't make sense. Most of the little things are scared of the returning Bats and aren't likely to come out for the next couple days, and the big players have been trying to keep a low profile for a week now. Oh, Knight, what are you doing?" She asked as I pulled a sturdy rope out of my pocket.
"Just so," I answered, moving slowly toward my beloved, then closing the distance with a jerk, locking her arms behind her back. - You must be punished for the time we wasted together!
"No, I won't give up so easily!" The blonde exclaimed, trying not to resist too much.
"Ouch, Mouse, tie her legs so she doesn't kick.
"Now," Barbara answered and blushed a little, knowing full well how it would end.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone