Augmented Aspects: Chapter 231 Impromptu Safety Brief (Patreon)

<<<Author's Note: Happy Mother's Day! I wanted to thank you all for taking time and sharing some of your Mother's Day with me. Thank you all, and hope you have a great day.>>>

Chapter 231

Impromptu Safety Brief

(Mallory)

Every once in a while, the world provides you with a teachable moment. A moment so spontaneous and relatable to everyone that you can see it, point it out, and then immediately say “see that’s why we have been briefing you about safety protocols for the past week.”

In this particular case, this is exactly what Mallory was doing.

Here she was, going over how everyone’s life had changed, and how everyone here in this Tuesday night class was on the path to potentially changing not only their lives, but the lives of all their future offspring for the better. When she got the notification that Cass was at it again.

Well, this was what she was supposed to, in fact, Mallory had worked it so that Cass would be a little bit extra.

Even going so far as to work out hidden tasks and plans designed to weed out possible future spies. While Mallory had a fairly clear idea about who was part of the infiltration network, she wanted to see if her master spy prodigy could come up with a more conclusive method of identification.

To help out Cass with the seemingly impossible task, Mallory made sure to set her up with a clear and obvious spy candidate.

The girl was all too eager to please, not that willingness to help is bad, but the girl clearly tried too hard. Or maybe it was the fact that no one else was willing to come forward, that most people by now could all but feel the four different magical fields going off around her and felt inherently uncomfortable.

Yes, four, three from her different classes, and one from her bloodline. Well that was before she went and had yet another bloodline advancement. Now she all but radiated energy in odd tingly wave that Mallory felt the scientists working at the first nuclear power plants must have felt, before they introduced safety equipment and lead linings.

Fortunately, with Cass around, Mallory was relatively certain that any damages caused by the exposure of such highly intensive energy signatures could and likely would be fixed. Though, there would obviously be side effects, like the ones that Mallory found herself dealing with even now.

The most obvious side effect of being exposed to Cass was the fact that now there were classes for those that had started their Royal Bloodline evolutions, and those that had started their Legendary Bloodline evolutions as well.

In a way, Mallory almost understood Cass’s seeming reluctance to teach these classes, as Mallory assumed most of her apprehension towards teaching these particular classes was due to guilt. Yes, the fact that Cass was first by herself, and that others came to witness her breakthrough all became caught in what was this world’s equivalent of radioactive feedback was not lost on Mallory. Also, the way that Cass came in, taught everyone a few lessons about what to expect from Bloodline evolutions. The fact that she seemed to easily see the balance in the Bloodlines and see how the good seemed to mix with the bad in a form of balance was not lost on her, nor was it lost on the students who attended class either.

Mallory had no doubt that Cass could teach the students a million times better than she could. The girl was a natural teacher, at least when it came to all things magic. Yet, Mallory couldn’t help but see the way the students all seemed to rapidly increase under the tutelage of Cass, versus the much slower and more methodical ways they improved under Mallory.

This wasn’t a bad thing, not really, as there was still time. Also, Mallory knew full and well what the effects of awakening a more powerful Bloodline does to the psyche of a person.

Only now, decades after her last Bloodline evolution was Mallory able to quell most of the more violent tendencies that a Valkyrie would have. For a time, she felt that she was alone, that no one understood her.

But then she saw Cass before, during and after all three of her Bloodline transformations. Going from that goofy looking Dark Elf child with EGGs, to the Green eyed purple skinned elf, to the elf that all but radiated energy. To this, her newest form that Mallory instantly wanted to reach out and hug tightly to her. How do you fly with just pixie dust? How do you even go about generating pixie dust that can make you fly in the first place? All of these questions and more came to Mallory, but in the end, she just had to realize that her friend was the mad scientist.

Not in the crazy way, but in the way that showed she was always willing to push her mind, body, and soul to the limit to see where magic ended. So far, to Mallory’s surprise, the more Cass pushes, the more she seemed to find out that there was still more to go.

In a way, not exposing the students of these classes to Cass was a way to show that it was okay to slow down and understand the changes that are happening to you. That you affect the bloodline changes, and that once they are over, something permanent will forever be altered within your psyche.

This is the topic that Mallory has been stressing within her classes these past few days, while she has been taking over.

That the biggest part of the Bloodline evolution is taking advantage of who you are now, and most importantly who you want to be twenty years from now.

Crackle.

The more she thought and spoke about this, the more she began wondering how and where she herself wanted to be in the future.

When she was younger, Mallory wanted, no, she needed to be the strongest. She needed to be able to not only avoid death, but deliver death to anyone who dared oppose her. Thus, the angel of death motif.

A motif that she still regrets to this day, especially as she apparently killed off the parents of her best friend and the grandparents of her girlfriend. An act that would be unforgivable by most, yet, Cass was okay with the situation. Mallory knew this was mainly due to the fact that once Cass found her parents, she would instantly Resurrect them on the spot. Thus, in Cass’s eyes, there was no problem.

But that was her mindset, that magic could do anything, and therefore if she wanted to create a miracle all she needed to do was practice until she could get magic to do what she wanted it to do. In recent months, her mentality has spread to evolve the thought of magic to more of energy in different states of existence.

By watching Cass, and her understanding of magic change, Mallory was able to see the progression of her Bloodlines. How each step she took, was one step further down the path of magic and energy. With every step down, her understanding became that much clearer and that tiny bit more resolute in how she wanted to be in her evolution as a person.

Watching her best friend work, Mallory realized that the reason she hadn’t evolved any further was the fact that she became disenfranchised with her own progression path.

That the path of a destroying angel was no longer her key priority. That while it was cool, and often beneficial to be considered as the ultimate authority of force and violence, that she only now realized that the passion that once fueled her to proceed was now extinguished.

This was her new message for the day with the class of students who had just begun to awaken their Royal Bloodlines. These were the students who were the most adaptable, as their path forward had not been set, at least not yet. That is why Mallory focused so hard on getting these students to accept themselves and find the passion that they will wish to follow going forward.

“You all are just beginning your path of evolution. Don’t think of this as a race, but rather a chance to cement your path forward. Dr. Spiritlight’s rapid progression can be seen as both a challenge, but also an inspiration. The reason why she is an inspiration is not due to her rapid advancements, but rather we need to first realize that the rapid advancements are merely a byproduct of her clear determination, and the fact that she understands one key component that is paramount towards awaking your bloodline. Can anyone tell me what that inspiration is?” Mallory asked.

With that, one of the guards who found the Royal Bloodline awakening text log, after going to check on Dr. Spiritlight raised his hand and began to speak once Mallory pointed to him.

“She really loves magic?” The guard asked.

“That is close, and ultimately a component of what I am trying to get at here. But no, anyone else?” Mallory asks.

“She is really determined?” Verrica, a female supply clerk who happened to be nearby and apparently decided to follow everyone to go see Cass’s magical radiation show asked.

“That is part of why Dr. Spiritlight has managed to progress so quickly, but again only a byproduct.” Mallory provided.

Then pausing, she looked around, seeing that no one else seemed to be willing to answer, when Mallory noted the obvious, or to her what was the obvious point here.

“No, Dr. Spiritlight has been able to go down this path of evolution due to one key thing. She knows herself and is always true to herself.” Mallory began, but then before anyone could cut her off, she continued. “What I mean by this, is that she knows she loves magic, she knows she loves testing and finding out the mysteries of the world of magic, that the more she pushes and discovers, the more she becomes fascinated by what comes next. That is who she is, and the fact that she has never deviated from that path, that is the true reason why she has not slowed down on her path of progression. It is the fact that she has that fire still burning within her, right now. Even now she is likely pushing herself to the limit of what could or should possible.”

With that, there was a slight pause as a few students raised their hands, calling on one at random. Mallory took a deep breath as she wondered just how much of her speech would get through to the students.

“So, if you know this, then why haven’t you advanced?” One of the female students asked, this one Mallory didn’t know the name of off the top of her head.

“I haven’t advanced, because I long ago lost my fire,” Mallory stated, clutching at her chest right where she remembered the burning ember previously being. “That is why I am taking the time now to tell you not to feel a rush to press on. Use this time now to discover two things, first who you are now. Then second, find out who you want to be.”

There was a slight pause, before Mallory continued.

“I think we can all see that Dr. Spiritlight wants to be at the heart of magic and energy. The fact that everything she does, and her evolutions all revolve around this component are obvious to anyone. That said, find your own inspiration. Find your own purpose for being, and then let your bloodline be the catalyst for how you ultimately become a better version of the you that you wish to become.” Mallory stated.

Just when she was about to give the cautionary tale of not to follow in her footsteps, of following a warrior’s Bloodline, she was interrupted.

Knock, knock.

The sound of someone entering the school building that the Bloodline classes were actually being taught in rang out. Then not waiting for an actual reply, the person who knocked just entered.

Pausing, Mallory turned to see that it was Julian, one of the communications specialists. Seeing him, Mallory wondered why the man would come. Her first instinct was that the Legrand Empire had finally declared war. This would be faster than she had anticipated, but they would still be ready for such an event.

As her mind went through the different protocols that she would initiate right now, her mind and thoughts of counterattacks were quickly cut off, when she heard the actual reason for the classroom interruption.

“Lady Valhalla, please forgive me, but we wanted to warn you about another possible event occurring.” Julian stated, his voice seeming to convey a bit of urgency.

“An event?”

“Yes, it appears that Dr. Spiritlight has generated what witnesses are calling a Class Three Plus? Cass-Tastrophy.”

Hearing that, Mallory could only nod. A three wasn’t the worst, as the scale went up to five. Well technically seven, but anything over a five was often considered overkill as all the results after that point would be exact same. Evacuate the area as quickly as possible and wait for Cass to find you and tell you she was done.

“Where?” Mallory asked, her mind going into crisis mode. Last she saw the crazy girl, she was out in the middle of the fields, which would likely be why it was brought to her attention so quickly. Being out in the open would clearly draw people’s attention.

“She is at the College Faculty Building.” Julian stated.

“The Faculty Building, you mean the one right there?” Mallory asked, and pointed through the wall to the building that was adjacent to the building she was in, if only separated by a small courtyard.

“Yes, that Faculty Building.” Julian confirmed.

“Okay, well class, I guess this is as good of a stopping point as any for our class tonight.” Mallory began, but she was quickly cut off.

“Can we join you and see what is happening?” A student asked, clear excitement on her face as she seemed to all but radiate with joy and anticipation. Seeing her reaction, Mallory was about to say no, but then realized that these people were already exposed to the previous burst of Cass energy. Which was why they implemented these safety procedures in the first place, to avoid having more people need to attend similar classes in the future.

“Might as well, not like we can unscrew a pregnant lady, just as we can’t deactivate your Bloodline awakening. Come on out and let’s see if we can see future warning signs to be aware of in the future.” Mallory stated, then with that she left to go see what Cass was up to this time.

Rather than waiting for the class to come, Mallory just ran out and quickly found herself standing next to Jhonny, Cass’s personal guard and Charlaine, the person that Mallory was almost certain was a Legrand Spy, though she could easily be part of any other nation’s espionage services.

Seeing Charlaine, a devilish smile came to Mallory’s face as she wanted to make the new girl knew exactly what she was getting herself into. For a second Mallory almost felt bad, that if she was wrong in her assessment of the girl in question, then this could be seen as bullying. However, Mallory quickly stopped this train of thought, as this was really just her sending a warning to her and the spy agency she worked for. If Mallory was wrong, then this might be the wakeup call that Charlaine needed to get out of a bad situation before it became terrible.

With that, Mallory waited for the majority of her class to arrive, while more were trickling forward.

Burble.

GROANN!

The building clearly moved and seemed to let out a belch, well if a building could move in such a way. Seeing the reaction of the building, Mallory could clearly see what it was considered a Cass-Tastrophy.

“Cass still inside?” Mallory asked Jhonny.

“Yes, on the second floor, in a windowless room.” Jhonny said, pointing to where she was, or at least where Jhonny thought she would be. Apparently, she chose one of the larger center rooms to operate in. Due to the room being in the center of the building and thus one without a window, it was made larger, as a selling point to faculty. Though, now that Mallory thought about it, the lack of windows would not be a deterrent for someone like Cass.

“Okay class, now that you are all here and seeing the effects of Dr. Spiritlight in action,” Mallory began speaking to her class, but made sure to look at Charlaine out of the corner of her eye to make sure she was there and paying attention. “It is time that we go over the safety rules and regulations of the Midnight Hunters.”

With that, the group of students who all seemed to have been excited a moment ago all seemed to deflate as they all seemed to realize they were about to go over rote memorization of the new rules that were being told to all guild members.

“Okay, with that, who can tell me about rule number one?” Mallory asked.

Sighing, the students all sighed as they began speaking in unison the rule that first began as a joke, but then was codified into actual rules.

As one the entire student body spoke out, saying the first rule.

“When Cassie is having fun, you better run.”

“Very good, now what is the second rule?” Mallory stated, a sly smile coming to her face as she saw the look of shock quickly pass over Charlaine’s features. It was quick, but Mallory did notice it.

“If Cassie is Focused, come and poke us.”

“Very good, just as Julian did a moment ago. Whenever you see something like this,” Mallory said, pointing to the building that was billowing and bulging behind her, “come and let us know. Now for the third rule to be weary of.”

“When Cassie is done, treat it like a gun.”

“Yes, exactly. Treat it like a gun that can fire off nuclear weapons. That almost rarely happens, most of the time it is a gun that fires flowers, or something else, but it never hurts to be prepared and check to see what she in fact finished. Remember, get me or a trained member of Cass’s group to be the first to see what happens, as you never know.” Mallory said.

By now Charlaine had regained composure of her facial features, but her tone and complexion were unusually pale.

“Also, what is the final rule about Dr. Spiritlight that we should all know and remember?” Mallory asked.

“When you see that third eye, you are not going to die.”

“Very good, that third eye is a good thing and a sign that she is actively trying to heal you. Or at least diagnose any problems you might be having. When you see it, don’t fight back, don’t resist, not that you could, but it might frustrate the good doctor and we all know one Pomeranian Princess that annoyed Cass while she was using her third eye.” Mallory stated.

Mumble.

At that everyone of her students agreed as they all knew the cautionary tale of the Guardian Protector who could only turn into their former state now. This served as a cautionary tale to others, on why you should not annoy Dr. Spiritlight.

“Now with the mandatory safety brief out of the way, I know I don’t need to warn you all about following me any further from here?” Mallory asked.

“No,” a chorus of students cried out.

“Okay, in that case I am going to go in and see what the mad scientist is up to this time.” Mallory declared, making sure to see Charlaine’s frightened face before she actually entered the burbling magical building. Not the smartest move, but by now Mallory was likely one of the few who could experience such conditions and not have any undue side effects, at least that is what she thought.