New Beginnings, page 5
part #2 of Barriers Series
It typically takes a minimum of five minutes to get some level of charm to stick to your object. It could be anywhere from a tiny sliver of a percent up to maybe one percent. Possibly more. Rarely more. If you focused for another hour, you might see another sliver added to it or you might see nothing added to it. Powerful spells take months to do, which is why charmed items cost many millions of dollars. Hour upon hour of effort costs money.
Well, in my case, what I did was cast the spell for five minutes to get a ring of just about one percent. Then I used that spell and another blank ring to cast the spell again. That gave me a ring of just above one percent.
Then I went to town with a bunch of them until I got a ring of 100 percent. Then I created a second. Then I used all of them to continue making them until I ran out of rings and had to wipe out the lower levels. With a total outlay of a few hours, not counting the testing of the levels which used to run me about 20 minutes a ring, I was able to create these ridiculously powerful rings that I have here.
And yet I need more of them.
As the tiny blips of attention hit me from Mr. Reynolds, I settled in with my fingers loaded up with rings, and I fell into the empty ring in my palm.
It seems so wrong to say, but this is for him. My follower. My worshipper. My believer. The one that found me in that empty factory clutching a box cutter and trying to slit my wrists. The one that cracked the keystone of the barriers holding my magic back. He opened up my world. Opened it wide.
And now I’m…I’m this. The goddess of death. I can feel life and death all around me. It’s everywhere. I can practically taste it in the air. It’s heady stuff.
I’m this, but I also have Rasphael. Mom. An incredibly ancient fey waited her entire life for me to come. She changed herself so that she’d be the woman that she is now specifically so that she would be where she is and who she is so that she could meet me. And so that I’d love her.
Mr. Reynolds did this for me. He’s waited 2,500 years for his goddess to come back, and by God I’m going to give him a gift worthy of his time and dedication.
As I dove into the ring, I activated every multiplier ring on me. My 10,000 times rings allow me to use one percent of the power needed to perform at 100 percent. Well, can you imagine how things change when you have three rings per finger? 30 rings, with every one of them 7,000 times or more…
My power rocketed into the ring and I swear it hummed in my hands. I used the power of the rings to back my already formidable power and then pulled at the prayers hitting me to push power harder than I have before other than when I was working to save Mom during the attack.
What do I want for him? For my worshipper? He’s a magic using vampire. Frankly, I want it all.
I took the idea of what I created for Rachel to make her a stronger vampire, and I ran with it. That’s the base, but I wanted more than that. Stronger muscles. Faster reflexes. Better senses. Lasting longer without blood. Better able to catch people with his eyes. Protection from being caught by others. Stronger skin to stop blades or bullets, or at least slow them down. I went to town, hitting it with tweaks that I never even thought of before. He deserves something for his dedication.
In a fit of desperation, I grabbed at the idea of one of the spells I remember reading about. It essentially creates a battery of magic for someone. They’re supposed to be crazy hard to create and they’re prone to backlash when they’re created, killing the maker…but I wanted it for him.
Access to more magic and the ability to cast it easier? Check. The ability to remember more spells? Check. The ability to learn skills faster? Check. The ability to get more erections? Check.
And yeah, I figured why not? One of my classmates cast a virility spell on the first attempt to make a charm. Mr. Reynolds figured it’d be good for one more erection, although maybe not every time.
I want him to be able to fuck until he’s satisfied.
Every bit of it sank into the ring until the very cells of it screamed back at me, creating a blazing hot coal in my hand that seared my skin. The burning sensation continued until he called time, and I dropped the spell, pulling back on the magic as I tried not to stare at the literally red-hot ring in my hand. I have no idea why it’s not burning a hole through, since I’m nearly positive that it’s actually as hot as it seems.
The others looked at their items and I slipped my extra rings away, hiding the motion so that they wouldn’t see what I was doing. I haven’t really tried explaining my little safe to them yet. Won’t they be shocked if Mom comes through it one day? That’s something I did. They’re only supposed to allow one person to access them, but I set mine up so that she can get into mine. We can even walk into them as sort of a bolt hole, it’s just that the opening stays put. In her case? She can get into mine and come to me, leaving wherever she is and whatever is happening there behind.
Our teacher focused on the end of the row of desks, “All right, Armand? Did you work on the same memory spell?”
He smiled and nodded, “I did. I think it worked better, too.”
“All right, let’s test it and see?” Magic flowed and he chortled a few minutes later, “And that, Armand, is a good gift for your grandmother! Between what you managed to add to it and your efforts today, you passed five percent. She’s bound to see an improvement in her memory from that. Now, keep it open and keep adding to it? Who knows, you may hit your limit sooner than you think, but you’ll never know until you try. How much time do you have before you’ll see her again or you need to give it to her?”
“Maybe a month?”
“Then continue to add to it. That’s my recommendation.”
As he turned to Nick, I grabbed another ring and began focusing on it.
“Nick? What did you work on today?”
“I changed it up a little and went with strength?”
“Let’s test it.”
More magic moved, and Nick’s now the proud owner of a ring that gives him a two percent improvement. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
Zach was next, and his speed charm was pushed to nearly six percent. That’s pretty sweet.
Christine’s attempt at a strength spell wasn’t quite as strong as Nick’s, but still doing well. I’m so tempted to tell them my secret, but I agree with Mom that it’s something that would open things up way too far once people knew about it. They’d tell their family, and that would lead to magical wars that wouldn’t be good for anyone. I’m picturing bodies littering the streets kind of fighting.
I pulled the magic out of the ring as he faced me at last, “All right, Ceri. Knowing your ridiculous feats so far, what did you make for us today?”
“I, umm, I created a ring of shielding?”
He squinted, “I’m sorry? Shielding? To keep you safe?”
“Oh, no, sorry, I’m not sure what it would be called. I wanted something to stop people from being able to spy on me? Scrying? Casting spells to listen in? It won’t stop actual physical stuff like listening or watching me or anything like that.”
His smile lit up his face, “Interesting. What made you think of that?”
“It’s something the FBI agent said that dropped me off. He said it’s something most people learn at some point to stop people from spying on them. I figured I’d give it a shot.”
He nodded along with me, so I guess it’s a good idea? “I see, and…knowing you, how did you tweak it?”
I’m not shocked that he figured that out, “It doesn’t just stop the people, it lets me know what spells are being targeted at me and should give me an idea of who sent them. I’m not sure if it’ll show me a picture or give me a name…or not work at all.”
He gestured at the desk, “In that case, can you put it on?”
The ring slid on, adjusting to my size as they all do and then fading from view entirely. That’s a fun one that I’ve been able to build into my rings. Although it doesn’t typically work this well.
“Now, hold on for a moment, let’s try…this.” Magic swirled out of him and then moved towards me, only to freeze mid-air.
“Ooh! Cool!”
Christine hit my desk, “Don’t hold back now! What happened?”
I pointed at where the spell stopped, not that they can see it, “Mr. Reynolds just sent a spell at me to listen in! I can see his face and can hear his voice saying his name! I didn’t even know your first name is Philip!”
“And there, ladies and gentlemen, is a good spell. One I’ve never seen before. Or heard of. Oh, I’ve seen plenty of protective spells to stop people from spying, but one that shows the caster and gives you their name? I’ve never heard of that before.”
He let that sit for a minute before looking at the clock, “And we’re done for the day. Thank you for your time. My recommendation? Keep working on your charms. We’ll be hitting them each day this week, so feel free to build on the one you have or work on something else if you’re interested.” The others started to get up, “Ceri? If you’d stay back for a moment? I have a question that I wanted to run by you.”
The others streamed out of the room, sharing glances but nothing overly concerned-looking at me being left behind. I knew they’d be outside waiting for me, that’s our general MO as we wait for the shifters and Rachel to get out of their class.
Mr. Reynolds moved to his desk and nodded at the chair on the other side of it. “Join me?”
I did, not really questioning it, and sat, feeling him continue to ping thoughts my way.
“Now then…we both know that’s not the ring you worked on through most of class. The ring you created is very powerful…just not the ring you worked on. Can you tell me what the other ring does?”
He smiled as I reached into my safe and pulled out the ring, holding it up for a moment before sliding it onto the desk. “This is the ring I worked on through class.”
He hissed at the red color and the fact that the table smoked a tiny bit where it touched it. “What in the world…what did you do to it?”
“I’m not entirely sure why it’s glowing like that, although it might be because of how much power I put into it. It doesn’t burn me when I touch it, though. You should touch it. See if it hurts.”
He gave me a look, “Ceri…I can tell it will burn me!”
“Hmmm, then I hope it cools down or something, otherwise it’s going to make it impossible for you to wear it.”
His jaw fell open as he stared at the ring again, “What…what do you mean? Me wear it?”
“I mean just that. I made the ring for you.”
“Ceri! You cannot make a ring for me! It’s just not done!”
He froze as I sent a huge shaft of golden light back at him, making him tremble in his seat. “Mr. Reynolds…Philip, if you will, you followed my predecessor for century upon century. You continued after she died. You’ve been a follower for more than 2,000 years. You directly helped me become who and what I am now. This is my gift to you. Long ago, you and the others received gifts and powers from Cerwon, right? This is just a continuation of that. Just in a more direct manner, probably.”
Tears started down his cheeks, tinted red by the blood in them, “My Lady, you can’t…”
More light stopped him from talking, “I can. I am. I will. I did. The ring is yours. You aren’t required to wear it. It’s a gift. One attuned solely to you. Only my mother or I can remove it from you.”
“What…what does it do?”
My smile was immediate, “Do? Why…maybe nothing. Maybe a bunch of things. You should test it and see.”
This time my magic followed his, and five minutes later we had our answer. I’ve gotten much faster at this testing thing, and the only reason it took that long is that it took him that long to finish his check.
“My Lady…that’s…” he stopped talking as I picked up the ring. It’s still the same color and still radiates heat, yet it didn’t burn me.
“I may be your Lady, but I’m also not. I’m just Ceri. You’re my teacher. You’re the adult. The authority. Please remember that. My mother and I will be watching for anyone that knows about me, and we’ll be working to stop them from spreading the news of who I am. I won’t be taken down like Cerwon was. I’ll proactively live up to my namesake if I find anyone attempting to do that. Beyond that? This is my gift to you. You cracked my barriers and made this possible…and I want you protected.”
He didn’t jerk away as I took his hand, even when I touched him with the ring. Possibly because I tried to cast a spell on it so that it didn’t burn him, but I think it might be because it just wouldn’t burn him to begin with. Not that I can tell for sure.
When the ring slid on, it shimmered briefly and then faded from view…just as he quivered and collapsed, slumping onto the desk.
I wasn’t worried, I could tell that it’s due to the changes taking place inside of him. That’s one powerful as hell ring, and I couldn’t be happier that he has it now. I’d love to see the average vampire or magic user go after him. He’ll be able to drive a U-Haul through their gaping rectum when he’s done.
It took him nearly 10 minutes to be coherent again, and I left him with the same caveats that I gave to the others. He’s not allowed to use the ring to go on a domination spree. Or a collection spree. Or start wars that he knows he’ll win. I did give him leeway to thin out any enemies that he might have. I figured that’d be okay, so long as the others are the aggressors. I don’t want him killing someone that he just doesn’t like and considers an enemy because he’s being a dick.
Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to have anyone like that on his list.
Once that was done, I left him to stare at his seemingly empty hand and headed out, meeting the gang on the sidewalk. The shifters had just joined up with the others, so I didn’t miss much at all. Everyone was talking about class, so I was able to slip into the mix without any issues. Once I was there, Tom got everyone walking, and we headed back to the dorms. It’s still funny to me how everyone falls into line with Tom being the leader. They once said that Sarah could beat him probably 25 percent of the time, but that doesn’t matter since she’s not going to chance a fight on it. Rachel could lead without a problem, but since she was iffy on really being a vampire not that long ago, they were more than okay with her sort of hanging in the group and not leading. Even now that she’s accepting it and has shown that she’s willing to kill, she’s letting Tom lead.
Hell, Armand could destroy them with spells, but that’s not a typical mage thing to do. Not to kill, but to lead the groups. Some apparently like it, but most don’t. Mages aren’t drive to it like shifters and some others are. From what I understand, it’s too easy to go up against a shifter and have them tear your head off before you know they’re even coming. You have to be craaaazy powerful to stop them. Spells running constantly or attacking first are just about the only ways I can think of. Other than possibly having a deadman switch that folks know about. People will back off if they know killing or hurting you will result in the spell coming to life and killing you or tearing off the arms and legs of your loved ones.
Or maybe that’s me? That’d stop me from going after someone.
No…no, I’m pretty sure most people would hold off.
As for me in the group? They sort of thought I was going to take over, but I made it clear that I’m not. He can lead. Hell, Sarah can lead if she wants. I’m more than okay with Stacey leading the school. When I was on their floor and ran into issues with Phil the lion? Yeah, she was decked out in enough charms to wipe him from the face of the Earth, not even leaving dust behind.
Or, mostly. There’d be dust, but it’d probably be screaming in pain. I’m not sure how she was raised, but I’m thinking it’s a dangerous environment. Either that, or her parents taught her that she needs more charms than any other ten students combined. Not counting me, obviously. Then again, most of my charms are the same thing over and over again at different power levels. Taking those out of the mix? She has more than I do. I’m not even sure if she makes them herself or what. I should ask.
As we walked back, Rachel bumped into my shoulder, “You’re quiet. Quieter than normal. What’s going on? I swear you’re practically vibrating or something from excitement.”
I can’t help it, I am practically vibrating. “Umm, my mom got me my license?” She stared at the card as I held it up.
Then screamed, “Oh my God that’s awesome!” The girls joined us in our excitement and bounced with us for a bit before calming down.
“I don’t get it? How did you do that? You didn’t take the test, did you?” Christine touched the card before shrugging, “Did she pull some strings for you or something?”
They laughed as I nodded, “Pretty much? I’m not sure how, but it’s official and everything. She said she has another birthday present for me as well.”
Paul snorted, “As if having her adopt you isn’t present enough?”
He barely reacted to my hit to his shoulder, “I know, right?! That’s basically what I told her. She’s been waiting for me to appear for thousands of years, so she’s built up some ideas, I guess. As happy as I am, she’s even happier.”
We started walking again, with Rachel falling into my side like she tends to do. At least more often than the others.
“Now you just need a car.” She bumped my shoulder again.
“Yeah. At least I have money now to get one. I’ll talk to her about it. Maybe she has ideas. As it is, I have to figure out what address she had put on my license.”
Tom looked back over his shoulder, “What do you mean?”
“There’s an address in Virginia? I’ve never been there before. I’m thinking it’s her home address? Just not her place in the between lands.”
He laughed, “Yeah, no, I don’t think the DMV accepts addresses in another land like that. Speaking of…what was it like?”
We kept walking, but everyone paid attention to me, “I’m not really sure how to explain it. At first, I didn’t even think we’d make it through the doorway. I figured we’d just run through the light and end up in the same field we were in. Once we were there, we had to run for a while before we got to the site of the fighting. Besides that, it’s beautiful there. Dangerous, from what everyone there said, but really pretty.”
