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Ch. 235 - Emerson's Alloy.
🕑 Added 2022-05-16 02:09:53 +0000 UTCShopping for clothes and basic necessities, gathering normal tech to cobble together better tools and creating a new lab and workshop.
Takes me back to five years ago when I was taking my first steps in the multiverse, in the world of Heroes.
I smiled.
Using my new funds and identity, I gathered all the necessary materials for the beginnings of a new base and returned to the dorms assigned to me, finally changing from those middle earth rags into a cream shirt and denim jeans.
I had also placed an order for some tailor made clothes. Suits, vests and such but for now, this would do.
I looked around the room, and took in the contents, making mental calculations of what I wanted to change and how.
The room was a spacious one, some 4 metres by 5 meters across with two beds, nightstands and wardrobes.
A bathroom and toilet was attached at one end, opposite to the door into the room.
I'd have to take that into account.
Now some basics needed to be cleared up before I even began.
The magic here was basically a product of the old gods, a part of their existence and hence they could control it absolutely. Being that they were creatures of pure energy and thought, it would be easy for them to spy on me and read my mind or control me if I didn't have Narya. Maybe even with Narya of they put their mind to it.
And so, I need to keep a low profile for a bit here, until I am ready and able to at least escape.
It was also the reason I hadn't yet absorbed any ambient magic into my body.
I was going to play it extra safe, especially after what happened to my other clones that came here.
First things first, I need an escape route.
To escape I need a portal gun.
And I refuse to make a portal gun until I have secured my base, meaning, the magic inside is filtered and free of the old gods influence.
That requires two things. A magical battery and a filter.
The problem? I have only enough magic to enchant the filter.
I will need to have someone else make the battery for me.
And for that, I had the perfect candidate in mind.
Someone desperate enough to do it for me.
Julia Wicker.
Julia was one of the protagonists of the story alongside Quentin Coldwater and co.
Quentin's childhood friend and crush.
She was the thing Dean Fogg had changed this loop.
Another monstrously talented magician, Julia was the star student of Brakebills in loops 1 through 39.
But being given that chance, easy access to magic made her dull, complacent.
So this time, Dean Fogg and Eliza decided to cast her out and leave her to earn magic on her own, hoping that her hunger for power would lead her to gaining the edge they needed to kill the Beast. And it would have led her straight into the arms or rather onto the dick of a trickster god. Reynard The Fox, kickstarting her whole character arc of trauma, and then the heroic journey to godhood.
It still will, if only because I will make sure of it to lure Reynard out. So I can steal his divinity and ascend to godhood.
But before that, I can use her hunger to make her do things for me.
Run chores, make small stuff like magical batteries, gather ingredients.
Make her a part time gopher until I get my androids up and running.
And I will pay her in spell knowledge from Brakebills, something she desperately craves.
It's a win-win for me.
That solves the problem of a battery. As for the filter, I have an idea about that.
But that's for later. For now, let's get my stuff put in it's place, clothes in the wardrobe, cooking utensils under the table, and finally rearrange the room to fit my specifications so I can easily fit the lab in later.
"Alright. Let's do this!" I said to myself, rolling up my sleeves when a voice commented.
"Damn. Those biceps look delicious~"
"Told you bambi. And to think you didn't believe me." Eliot said.
I turned around to find Eliot, Quentin and a beautiful girl standing in the doorway.
I recognise her.
Margo Hansen. Another member of the Quentin and co. friend group, Eliot's best friend and sass queen extraordinaire.
She was usually treated like some third wheel and became a fair bit feminist in the later seasons but she was a fun character overall. Maybe even the best among the protagonists.
"Hi?" I greeted.
"Hey there, handsome. What are you up to?" Eliot asked, eyeing the piles of clothes and appliances littered on the floor, leaning on the wardrobe.
I opened my mouth to explain but Eliot interrupted me.
"Actually, don't answer that. Whatever you're doing can't be more interesting than what we have planned. We are having a welcome party for all the freshmen."
"Not all." Margo clarified.
"Yes. Not all. Just the ones we like." Eliot added.
"And count your lucky stars, you're one of them." Margo finished, eyeing me liek a piece of meat.
"Well, what can I say except I'm honored!" I bowed, playing along with a cheeky grin.
"I already like him more than sourpuss here." Margo grinned, gesturing at Quentin.
"Hey!" Quentin protested.
"Don't worry sourpuss. I like you well enough." Eliot patronized playfully.
"Now come, the wildest party of your life awaits!" He twirled, pointing ahead.
"Can't wait. Let's go!" I replied enthusiastically.
It wasn't what I had planned but the physical kid's cottage, their party house was a treasure trove of artifacts and I was looking to take some for my own collection. One in particular.
Emerson's Alloy. A talisman that reflected any spell cast on the holder back at the caster.
Very useful for me when I'm weak.
Originally, one of the other main characters stole it for themselves but it would serve as better leverage in my hands anyways, so I'm taking it.
I can always correct the timeline on my own later for the bit parts the artifact plays a major role in.
I even had plans for it.
And this was the prime opportunity for it.
So here goes!
.
".....And I was like, 'Is that a llama in your bed? And why is it in a bikini?' and the guy just deadpans.
'Yes'.
Funniest shit I ever seen." I said eliciting laughter from the group.
"Where do you even get llama sized bikinis?" Margo giggled.
"Some of the larger sizes fit ...llamas. I think. Or so I heard. From a friend." A guy sipping a margherita added from the corner as all eyes turned to him.
"No really. I worked on a friend's farm some-" He muttered when Eliot stopped him.
"Just...don't. You're making it more awkward...uh?"
"Todd." The guy introduced himself.
"Todd. I believe you. I really do." Eliot chuckled, "And I don't judge, so..."
"I didn't fuck a llama!" Todd doubled down.
"Of course you didn't." Margo winked at the increasingly flustered guy and he just shrivelled up in embarassment, as we laughed at his misery.
I lifted the empty bottle of tequila and shook it headily.
"I'll get a refill. Be back in a minute." I said, acting drunk as I stood up and made my way across the room to the bar, picked out the highest alcohol by volume liquor and brought it over.
I want them all dead drunk before I make my move on the artifact. It pays to be careful after all.
And in the meantime, I can enjoy the party.
It had been a while since I had any friends.
Ones that I didn't plan to kill, at least.
I only planned on using these ones.
I returned with the bottle and poured Eliot a glass before handing the rest to Margo as I sat back down.
"Where was I again?"
"The bikini llama." Eliot giggled, eyeing Todd.
"Ah, yes. The one Todd likes." I teased and he just hid his face in his palms.
I chuckled.
"So what happened was....."
.
Come next morning, I woke up with birds chirping outside as the sun peeked up from the horizon.
Everyone else was still knocked out from the night before and after double checking, I knew it was the perfect opportunity.
Silently, I skulked about the room, taking the long way around to the back where a chest was stored.
Opening it, I rummaged through it until I spotted a rusty chain. Pulling at it, revealed a transparent crystal attached to it by a ring and a bolt, tightened around it in a band.
The Emerson's Alloy.
An anti-spell artifact.
In the original timeline, it was stolen by another of the protagonists, Kady Orloff-Diaz, the bad girl.
She was a thief and street rat whose mother had sold her off to a hedge witch, Marina Andreiski, in exchange for a favour, cleaning up one of her spellwork messes that resulted in the death of other magicians.
Marina herself was a former student of Brakebills but was expelled in her final year and had her memories taken away as punishment.
So now Kady stole resources, materials and books, from Brakebills for Marina to pay off her mother's debt, something that would get her eventually expelled herself.
Only in her case, she ran away before they could mind wipe her.
After Kady stole it in the original timeline, she gave it to her boyfriend, Penny Adiyodi, a other of the main cast as a gift, which he used to protect himself when the first dramatic beat of story kicked off.
Quentin was threatened with expulsion because Penny snitched on him and in retaliation, Quentin tried to hit Penny with a spell only for the spell to be bounced back to him.
This made Quentin realise the use of the artifact band he stole it from Penny to use in his expulsion ritual to keep his memory.
This creativity though, earned him a probation from Eliza, as it showed an improvement in his courage.
So yeah, it played a major role in the story.
A role that I can now subcontract for pay from a very desperate Quentin later on.
Now I just need to wait and let the storyline play out as it did originally and make the most of it.
I looked around to see if anyone had spotted me before pocketing it and walking out, back to the dorm.
It's two weeks till the school year starts and I don't plan on wasting my time with parties all day.
I have work to do and a Beast to kill.
