Traveling Magic Shop Part 33 (Patreon)

"Penny for your thoughts," Harry offered as they lazily flew back toward the shop with their purchases from the new age shop.

"I was thinking about Winslow. How hard do you think it would be to enchant a plaque with rules, like no weapons if you're not a registered law enforcement agent, no vandalizing things and leave the gang shit at the door?" Myst asked, figuring a couple of basic rules that people can't ignore would go a long way toward making the school a more reasonable place.

"Maybe ten minutes, fifteen with Rose's help because she’ll want to get fancy with the writing," Harry replied with a grin.

"That's it?" Myst asked, surprised that they wouldn't have to dig through the books.

"It's basically just a barrier and a contract that says, if you want in here, you agree to abide by the rules. I took a couple of classes on contracts at Hogwarts."

"You realize the actual Hogwarts is going to be boring, right?" Myst asked as they reached the shop.

"I don't know, I'm looking forward to making some friends and driving the professors insane by showing off spells that they can't duplicate," Harry replied cheerfully, not particularly worried about the academic side of things.

"Everyone needs a hobby," Myst agreed as he walked into the shop. He stopped when he saw a girl that looked like a younger Emma Watson in a light blue silk slip that left very little to the imagination. 'What the hell?' he thought as he looked at her with his Upgrade ability, trying to figure out if he was dealing with a shape changer or a demon that shifted into forms you found attractive so they could drain your life. 'Huh, she's not a shape changer but she has magic, no active spells which means that's her actual form.'

"Hermione?" Harry blurted out when he walked into the shop and saw Belle.

Rose glanced at Harry then looked at Belle. "Huh, that's why she looks familiar, swap the hair and they could be twins. How did I miss that?"

"Probably the hair," Harry replied as he walked over to where his sister was talking to the girl that looked like his friend from the book adventure. "I'm Harry."

"Once a month or like all the time?" Belle asked with a slight smile.

Harry glanced at his sister. "You put her up to this, didn't you?"

Rose snickered. "Sorry."

"Liar," Harry replied with amusement.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Belle," Belle replied with a smile, glad that Harry didn't look upset by the joke. "And sorry, Rose said you liked pranks."

"I can appreciate a good prank," Harry replied, finding it a bit weird how much she looked like Hermione other than the hair. 'Nice outfit though.'

'Belle? Like Beauty and the Beast?' Myst mused, his mind jumping to the only Belle he knew of that looked like Emma Watson, mostly because she'd played the girl in a movie. 'Stranger things have happened.'

"Hey Myst. This is Waverly, she's the girl that triggered," Riley told Myst. "Can you check if she has any physical or mental issues?"

Waverly rolled her eyes. "I'm fine but feel free to check."

Myst turned his attention to the girl that was sitting next to Vicky and Riley playing cards and used his Upgrade ability to check her powers. 'Flight, enough strength to lift five tons, an insane amount of durability, a force field around her hands and forearms that gives her extra grip and even more durability. Toss in her tinker specialization and give her a year and she'll probably be one of the top capes in the country.' He quickly checked her physical and mental health. "I'm not seeing any mental or physical health issues but the cider probably fixed that."

"Can I get that in writing?" Waverly asked cheekily.

Myst laughed, fairly sure she was joking from her tone of voice. "I don't have a degree in psychology, I don't think anyone would care."

"That's fair," Waverly admitted.

Myst sighed. "I'd like to apologize, I should have waited until tonight to upgrade the hell out of the school, I got a bit carried away."

"Riley already explained that she was there to keep everyone calm, it's not your fault Brandon is a prick or that my teacher is a fucking moron," Waverly assured him, not particularly worried about the entire thing since she'd ended up with fantastic powers and she'd never have to worry about falling again. "Of course, if you're feeling guilty, I wouldn't object to free powers if you want to give me a Mental Shield, Riley mentioned that it would protect against masters."

"That I can do," Myst replied as he used his Pyramid Scheme ability to give Waverly a copy of his Mental Shield and Flight, figuring it would help if she ran into someone that could nullify her other abilities. "That should keep you safe from masters."

"Sweet!" Waverly replied with a grin. "Thank you, now I don't have to worry about getting mind controlled."

"That's always a plus," Myst agreed as he walked over and set the bags on the nearest table, wondering if it was worth trying to deal with her before leaving. 'I don't need to pick a fight with a precog and a telekinetic that can toss buildings at the shop, Hephaestus can deal with her or Taylor can once she picks up enough powers.'

"While we're talking about mental health, can you check Belle's mental health?" Rose asked, wanting to make sure she was okay.

"Sure, what's up?" Myst asked as he used his upgrade power to check Belle's mental health.

"Her old master had some cursed books, she went bugfuck after reading them. The cider seems to have fixed most of it, but it can't hurt to check."

"Old master?" Myst asked as he double checked the contract that bound the girl, making sure it didn't have any nasty hidden clauses or effects.

"I sort of bought her from a warlock," Rose admitted a touch sheepishly.

"What did you trade?" Myst asked, hoping she hadn't traded anything important.

"Cash," Rose assured him. "He wanted a couple of books, I paid for them because I wasn't sure the shop would let her escape the contract if I made a straight trade."

"Probably a good idea. Everything seems fine other than the magical contract which should vanish in a week," Myst assured her as he used his Pyramid Scheme ability to give Belle a copy of his Mental Shield so she wouldn't have to worry about something else driving her insane.

"Thank you," Belle told him.

"What type of deal do I have to make to get magic?" Waverly asked, having asked Rose about picking up magic earlier.

"Say the word," Myst replied with a grin, feeling a touch guilty about his part in her triggering.

"Please?" Waverly asked, figuring that was a good start.

"That would be the one," Myst replied as he used his Pyramid Scheme ability to give her magic. "And done, you're a witch. Feel free to buy a bunch of cards or books and learn magic or try to talk the girls into letting you read their cards."

"You'd have to strip," Rose told Waverly when she looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

Waverly glanced at Vicky then glanced between Harry and Rose. "That's not a deal breaker."

Taylor shook her head, still not sure how Rose could say crazy shit and have people laugh and go along with her, especially since everyone in the room should be immune to master effects.

"I feel like I need a sign or a t-shirt that says, I'm straight," Vicky stated.

'Almost everyone,' Taylor thought.

"We'll work on it," Rose told her with a grin.

"The shirt or?" Vicky shook her head. "Never mind."

"What did you get at the store?" Amy asked Harry, trying to change the subject.

"Gaming books and dice," Harry replied. "I was curious what type of cape power systems they'd have and I picked up a couple of RPG books that I didn't have for DnD."

"You have actual magic and you play DnD?" Waverly asked.

"It's a good place to find inspiration for magical items and spells," Harry replied as he started unloading his bags on the table so they could look through his collection.

"Did you grab anything interesting?" Rose asked Myst.

"A half dozen crystal balls and a couple of bags of rune stones that I'll probably mess around with in the workshop until the shop decides they're worth selling," Myst replied.

"Can you actually use the crystal balls for scrying?" Amy asked thoughtfully, wondering if she could watch… someone in the shower.

"There's probably a spell for that…" Myst trailed off as the bell over the door rang and an attractive and busty woman with a witch hat and green skin walked in wearing a short black dress and a jacket that didn't go with the rest of the outfit. "Welcome to the Magic Shop, how can I help you?" he asked as he used his Upgrade ability to check her abilities, relaxing a touch once he realized that she only had a touch of magic and the green skin was because of makeup and not magic or a parahuman ability.

"Do you have any flying brooms?" the woman asked. "I'm going to a con next month and my friend bet me that her costume would be better."

"Fifty dollars," Harry cut in before Myst could ruin the sale.

"How long will it last?" the woman asked, figuring that would be the perfect thing to win the bet if it lasted until the con.

"At least twenty years," Harry assured her, fairly sure it would last longer but not wanting to promise something he couldn't deliver. "Assuming you don't crash and break it."

"Deal," the woman replied, happy that she'd swung by.

"Give me ten minutes," Harry said as he headed for the back room to replicate and enchant an old fashioned broom.

"Wicked Witch?" Myst asked the woman.

"I'm going to a no capes costume party and I figured I'd test my outfit for the con," the woman replied with a smile. "Do you sell anything cheap that would let me pull off a couple of tricks?"

"Define cheap," Myst replied.

"Less than forty five dollars, I spent five on the dress at the thrift store and I had the makeup and the broom is fifty which means I've got forty five dollars of the hundred I can spend on the costume before I'm disqualified for the prize."

"I have a lighter that would give you pyrokinesis while you're holding it, I can sell it to you for five dollars," Myst offered as he grabbed one of the lighters from under the counter and flicked it, creating a flame then turned the tiny flame into a large flame and twisted it into a vague bird shape before letting it vanish.

"Deal," the woman replied, figuring that would let her win the prize at the party on its own.

Myst handed her the lighter when she walked over. He turned to look at Rose. "How much would you charge to charm the hat to create shadows or ghost-like images around it?"

"Five dollars," Rose replied, figuring it would take less than a minute.

"That sounds fantastic," the woman said cheerfully.

"Let's see what else I can find," Myst replied as he headed into the backroom to see what other odds and ends he could sell her for her costume.

0o0o0

"Welcome to the…" Myst trailed off when he looked up from the magic book he was reading and realized that the group of seven people that had entered his shop were probably with the Empire judging by the fact that half of them had shaved heads and racist tattoos. "Never mind, what do you want?"

"No friendly greetings for the people protecting you from the filth?" one of the guys asked with a sneer.

"Both of my grandfathers fought in the war, that shit should have stayed dead," Myst told him as he used his Upgrade power on the man wearing a mask. 'Kinetic manipulation, that's easy enough to deal with, just use energy.'

"Have you seen what they've done to our country?" one of the guys demanded.

"I could explain why you're an idiot but we'd be here all night so in the interest of avoiding paperwork, waking people up and wasting fucking time, I'll give you one warning, get out of my shop or else."

"Or else what?" the man asked with a smirk. "We're just looking."

"You can't blame us for that, now can you?" one of the other guys asked as he pointed his gun at Myst.

"Fuck it," Myst muttered as he used a spell to lock the door, not seeing a reason to argue with the pieces of shit and glad that the kids were out on a patrol, showing Waverly the ropes and Belle the town. "Let me guess, you're not planning on buying anything, are you?"

"Nope," one of the guys replied with a smirk. "You're going to donate it to the cause."

Myst glanced at Krieg. "Are you planning on saying anything or are you going to let the minions dig their own graves?"

"I'm just here in case you call the police or the PRT," Krieg replied.

"That's fair," Myst replied, then raised his hand and blasted Krieg with lightning, not seeing a point in letting him live considering his ties to Gesellschaft. He hit the two idiots that were trying to shoot him with lightning then killed the two with racist tattoos on their heads. He glanced at the two people that had tossed their weapons and dove to the ground. "Any last words?"

"Don't kill us, we didn't want to be here!" one of them blurted out.

"Seriously?" Myst asked.

"We needed protection from the ABB," he explained. "Everything was fine until Lung vanished and they started losing capes, now we have to wave the flag, fuck that."

"What did you do to get in the gang?" Myst asked, figuring it would be enough to turn them over to the cops and wash his hands of things.

"I was friends with the recruiter's brother so we got off easy. We just had to beat the shit out of a dealer that likes fucking with his product. I don't care that he was black, he's a piece of shit so I don't feel guilty about it," the other guy said.

Myst sighed as he realized they were probably telling the truth. "You're killing the mood here."

"Sorry?" one of the guys offered.

"Not your fault," Myst replied as he grabbed the phaser from under the counter. 'Fuck it, I'll be gone in a week and they didn't sound enthusiastic about being in the gang.' He adjusted the setting then disintegrated the first body, causing the two guys to scramble away from the dead people as he shot the rest, removing the evidence. "I suggest you leave, I'm going to tell the PRT that you managed to get away and I'm horrible at remembering faces so you should be fine."

"You're just going to let us go?" the other guy asked.

"I'm not going to kill someone because they needed protection or because they beat the shit out of a dealer that likes messing with his product. Besides, if you go back to the Empire, they'll probably kill you or force you to come back here, at which point I will kill you. No hard feelings but I don't give third chances."

"Got it!" the other guy blurted out before his friend could get them in trouble with more questions. "I've got a cousin in Boston I can stay with for a week."

"Perfect," Myst replied as he used a spell to unlock the door. "Have fun in Boston." He watched the guys leave then used another spell to clean up the ash that the phaser had left, wanting to make sure there wasn't any evidence of the fight in case someone called the PRT or the police.

'I need to figure out a spell to collect all of the bullets in an area,' Myst complained as he went back to reading about construction spells, trying to find spells or rituals that would let him build a base for Taylor or remodel the apartment in the shop.

He smiled when he flipped the page and saw a spell that would let him move a large structure up to twenty seven and a half feet with an extreme amount of precision. "Not exactly what I was looking for but I can probably enchant something with the spell and boost the item so I can teleport something a reason…" he trailed off as he glanced at the cards on the table and saw the crystal ball that Rose had been playing with. "Huh, I could stick the workshop in a bottle or a crystal ball."

"I'd need a lot of space, a weight reduction charm and some way to keep everything from falling apart if I have to move it. There are probably spells to earthquake proof a home that I can upgrade or maybe something for boats?"

Myst stuck a scrap of paper in the book to mark the page then flipped to the section on creating expanded spaces in structures and started reading.

0o0o0

Armsmaster stopped and stared when he walked into the magic shop and spotted the shopkeeper writing some type of formula on a portable whiteboard with a dozen books arranged in a half circle on the table within easy reach.

"Welcome to the Magic Shop, how can I help you?" Myst asked without looking away from the equation he was trying to solve.

"I wanted to grab some more cider while I was in the area," Armsmaster said as he walked over so he could take a better look at the equation on the whiteboard.

Myst pulled his attention off the equation that he was struggling with and turned to look at Armsmaster. "What did you do with the rest of it?"

"We've been cleaning up the remains of the Merchants, it's remarkably effective calming people down," Armsmaster said as he studied the equation. "What variable are you trying to solve for?"

"M, it stands for mana or units of mana," Myst replied as he gestured at one of the books that had a bunch of equations. "The X is cubic feet and the Y is the dimensional offset if I'm understanding the equation correctly. I've found a ritual that claims to be able to create a pocket dimension in a bound location but I don't have a good grasp of their measuring system for mana so I'm trying to do the math to make sure I don't end up creating something that is unreasonably large."

"Do you have a piece of scratch paper?" he asked, wanting to see if he could simplify the complicated formula a touch.

"Feel free to use the whiteboard or the notebook, I'll grab the cooler," Myst replied as he headed toward the backroom to grab the cooler that he'd picked up because he wanted to try to enchant a never ending container of cider for the PRT.

"Thanks," Colin replied as he examined the formula written on the page of handwritten text, wanting to make sure that the shopkeeper had copied it correctly since it looked like a complicated mess. "What do you think?" he asked Dragon in a whisper.

"I think the author needs to work on his handwriting," Dragon replied as she worked on rearranging the formula so that she could simplify it and solve it.

"I've seen worse," Armsmaster replied, having read some engineering notes that were a lot worse, never mind some tinker notes that were questionable at best. He started working on solving the formula.

Myst collected the five gallon water cooler from the back and snagged a bottle of cider on his way back to over to the whiteboard. "Any progress?"

"I've managed to condense everything, it should be as simple as putting in values for two of the variables and getting the third. You'll have to experiment with the dimensional offset or trust the chart."

"Yeah, I was hoping to avoid that, there are points where the line doesn't curve nicely and I'm not sure if that's because he didn't have a good way to measure it or because he screwed up the math," Myst complained.

"This is why it's called magic, right?" Armsmaster joked.

"Probably," Myst agreed.

"Joking aside, the spikes are probably caused by differences in the environment or the material that they anchored the effect to. The air pressure of the location of the ritual might influence the results, he didn't list any details of where the tests were done, at least not on the page."

"Or the chapter," Myst replied as he filled the cooler with the cider, then upgraded the amount and the potency of the cider.

"Have you considered scanning the books and running them through a character recognition program?" Armsmaster asked as she watched the cider fill the cooler. "There are a couple that handle handwriting quite well. That would make it easier to come up with your own charts."

Myst shook his head, having flashbacks to college when he'd had to scan a bunch of books for work study. "That sounds like a lot of work and something to hand off to a company if I was going to stay here longer than a couple of weeks."

"Do you have a way to let someone else create the cider?" Armsmaster asked, not wanting to lose access to it once the shop jumped dimensions.

"Not currently but I have an entire library, I might be able to find something," Myst replied as he walked over and started looking through the book on enchanting household objects, looking for a spell that would give them endless cider and or preserve it so it wouldn't spoil as the seals on the cooler weren't exactly air tight.

"How much would you charge for expanding a lab space?" Armsmaster asked, hoping that he could use the extra space for some experiments.

"I'm not sticking around long enough to get clearance to expand your lab," Myst replied with amusement.

"That's fair," Armsmaster admitted, knowing he'd have to jump through a lot of hoops to get him certified, especially over the holidays.

Myst smiled as he found a spell that would probably work to duplicate the cider. "Tell you what, if I can get the spell working, I'll make you an expanded cabinet since you were nice enough to simplify the math."

"That would be fantastic," Armsmaster replied. "What are you looking for?"

"I'm trying to find a spell that can replicate a liquid. If I can place the basic enchantment on the cooler, I can probably use my power to boost the spell so it can replicate a magical liquid or at least that's the hope. With any luck, we'll be able to make a couple of these and get the Simurgh zones cleared out or at least put into some type of order."

"That would free up a lot of money, give people hope, and she'd probably try to kill us," Armsmaster admitted. "At least we won't have to worry about Behemoth anymore. I still can't believe the girl was able to capture him with a capture device."

"It's like paper rock scissors, eventually someone throws a bomb," Myst replied with a grin, not seeing a point in mentioning that he'd upgraded the hell out of the capture device to make sure it would work.

"How long are you going to need to enchant the cooler?" Armsmaster asked.

"That depends, how good are you at copying symbols?" Myst asked as he pointed at the symbols that he'd need to etch into the cooler.

Armsmaster checked the book. "I can scan the page and project the image and I have a steady hand."

"Grab the whiteboard and let's head to the workshop," Myst said as he picked up the books that he needed and the cooler then headed for the backroom.

Armsmaster smiled as he picked up the whiteboard and followed him, curious to see his workshop.

0o0o0