Advent - 1.6

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Two nights later, Morgan was once more in St Simon and St Jude’s kitchen to make potions. She had taken a few more days off school after prodding from her mother and used that time to look through recipes in her mind. The witch had put together a list of creations she could realistically brew within the short term and was looking to try something new. Something to help protect herself.

Her Relic gave her a deep list of possibilities with drastically different effects. It was completely impossible to keep it all in mind. As such, she had asked herself what could help and then tried to find a potion to realize such. The result was a list she had split into two major categories: poisons and potions. The former to harm, the latter to help. For helpful brews, she had gotten to the Basic Rejuvenating Potion as the pinnacle of what she was able to make at this time. The Severed Spirit that was part of it was put into poisons after a bit of consideration. It was innately harmful, after all, deactivating an important bodily function.

Other things she took a look at were potions to improve the body beyond the natural. There were options to increase strength, agility, senses, or the like. For regeneration, something to restore energy would be useful as well. There was a recipe that resulted in something similar to an energy drink which was the base of the Elixir. That one was the real deal, capable of restoring whatever powered Relics. Sadly, it required soul fern, a seemingly important resource to improve many of her best brews into the supernatural.

The last potions on the list were the elemental suite. Chilled Dream, Morgan’s very first creation, was part of it. They healed wounds caused by specific elements but were less effective than a Rejuvenating Potion of the same level. Their real use seemed to be improved resilience against environments and attacks of the respective element. Something for fire and ice was definitely useful to have on hand. The version for light could prevent blinding effects as well and darkness protected the mind. When Morgan found that specific effect, she shuddered. The implications of having mental attacks and even mind control, potentially, were terrifying. The witch would make one of each resistance potion for herself and her friends. And three extra of mind.

The poison list was shorter, for now. There were casks using pure elemental energy to harm people she couldn’t make anytime soon. Those all required at least soul fern. What she could make was… basic. A simple paralysing agent similar to Severed Spirit but also preventing the brain from controlling the body, a sleeping potion, and a few types of poison and venom to actually hurt people. The variety here came from more ways to apply them. The poisons had optional catalysts or additives to turn them into a gas, weaken their taste, make balm from them – or makeup – and all in all, get creative on their use. All of those made the toxins weaker in a way by solving them in other ingredients or spreading them out in a larger area.

For potions, similar methods were not available until getting to higher grades. They were simply too weak before that. Morgan was starting to see a bit of a pattern with her recipes. She found soul fern to be a barrier to getting to a higher level and further in, more ingredients like that appeared. With the example of a Rejuvenating Potion, she had a general idea of how to classify them. There was, of course, the Basic version made from common ingredients. After that, soul fern formed the barrier to improve it and its base ingredients to what the System seemed to call ‘Improved’. The next level was called ‘Exceptional’ followed by ‘Masterwork’ and finally ‘Perfect’. Five levels of potions. Five ranks of Relics Morgan was aware of. That called for a shared categorization into common, uncommon, rare, very rare, and unique.

The witch had hesitated with the ‘unique’ categorization for a consumable until she looked deeper into a recipe. A Perfect Rejuvenating Potion required the Perfect versions of Knitted Balm, Bloody Mary and Severed Spirit. That seemed simple at first but all of those needed a part of who they were supposed to work on. Knitted Balm needed flesh or skin, Bloody Mary required bone and Severed Spirit required tears. That was after all the other mystical parts she needed to get her hands on first. It truly was ‘unique’, only capable of healing the intended target. The effects were even more impressive. The Perfect Rejuvenating Potion was capable of restoring any wound without pain and refilling all lost blood. It could regrow limbs including bones and everything else someone was missing, as long as it was physical. The only real condition was that the soul was still connected to the target’s body. Someone long clinically dead might be able to be revived through it.

For now, all that was interesting but would not directly impact Morgan’s life. The important thing was getting some backlog for her and her friends to use and potentially sell. Morgan had decided to make something for self-defence first. The recipe she had picked out was something like an advanced pepper spray. It was called Basic Paralysing Agent and for some reason required pufferfish. Luckily, it only needed the meat and not the actual tetrodotoxin and she could get some from a delicacy shop. The other ingredient, besides spring water, was nightshade dew. A few drops of dew formed on nightshade leaves or flower petals were enough. There was a number of greenery that could fulfil that role and Morgan found even tomato plants worked. Those were easy enough to get to and she had harvested some dew in the morning, kept safe in a small glass vial.

The church’s kitchen was filled with a bunch of equipment Morgan had bought in the last two days. Thirty litres of spring water sat ready for use and a bunch of smaller useful items, mostly containers, were tucked into the drawers. Sylvester’s father had helped her move everything and kept what didn’t fit at his home.

Morgan double-checked her equipment and got to work. The familiar feeling of transforming into an old hag washed over her. With a hunched over back and her Crooked Nose peeking out from underneath her cowl, she really felt like a witch. One of her recent purchases was a long coat with a pointed hood that covered most of her form. It was deep black and melted into the night. Underneath, she wore clothes of similar colour. The belt was loose right now and she could quickly alterher appearance by pulling it tight and dropping the hood onto her back. That would allow her to easily lose anyone chasing her, especially with the change in stature and her face between transformations.

The fish had to be ground into a fine paste and then mixed with the nightshade dew. A small amount of energy left through her fingers turning the resulting paste a light purple. The next step was heating the mixture. Just before it started to bubble, Morgan added a few drops of spring water and started churning with a wooden spoon. Every time it got close to boiling, she added a little more until she eventually had a light purple liquid that was just about see-through. She pulled it off the stove and let the potion cool off. In the meantime, the witch picked up two potatoes and peeled them. They were not part of the original Basic Paralysing Agent recipe but an additive. It was supposed to allow the poison to turn into vapour.

Morgan started grinding the raw potatoes as she kept an eye on the pot. She got the first one done before the poison turned a deep purple. Her hand quickly found the wooden spoon once more and energy flowed through it into the liquid. Within a few moments, it had turned black with a few golden sparks lighting it up from within. The witch grinned. It was a success. She ground the second potato and picked up the resulting mush. Once more, energy flowed into her hands and steam rose from the potatoes. It took almost five minutes before she was left with a yellow-white powder that crackled sparks every time it moved. She quickly dropped it into the Basic Paralysing Agent and it disappeared into the dark liquid with a pop. A small cloud of steam rose before everythingsettled once again. It was done.

The poison was quickly movedinto a number of flasks, cheap glass she had picked up online. Morgan was able to fill eight of them, the liquid losing some volume in the transfer. It would react to movement and impact to turn into a gas or she could infuse it with a tiny bit of her energy to accelerate the process. The portions she separated were enough to create a two- to three-metre cloud if fully activated. In comparison, the small amounts vaporizing as she transferred the liquid barely made her nose tingle. The poison mostly worked through breathing it in but could also activate after prolonged exposure to skin or direct contact with open wounds. With her current mixture, Morgan knew the vapour to dissipate within less than a minute.

The witch picked up her phone. Wrinkled fingers with sharp, pointed nails turned off the flashlight and activated the screen. It was almost 3:30 a.m. Morgan had taken a little over ninety minutes to craft her first active defence. She held up her free hand, observing the old and weathered skin in the sparse light. It was interesting how she did not immediately turn back after finishing her crafting. The witch quickly realized it was caused by her improved Harmony. The stat had doubled, after all. She should have been able to hold her transformation before but now, it no longer scared her. It was almost second nature to stay shiftedfor a bit.

She felt her ear twitch as a slight creaking sound came from outside. Someone had opened the gate leading onto the church grounds. Morgan quickly scanned the kitchen. There was nothing really compromising other than her poison. The bottles went into a prepared box stuffed with styrofoam and got shoved into a bag. She wanted to hide it somewhere but decided to carry it instead. Steps disturbed the gravel pathway outside. Morgan had little time. She quickly put up her hood and held one bottle of her Paralysing Agent hidden in an inside pocket. There was only one exit from the kitchen that did not lead outside and she found herself in the church’s main room after passing through a small common room. It was a dark place with only a few street lamps shining through the partially overgrown windows. The witch found a place to crouch down from where she could observe the door. A quick exit through the main entrance was impossible since it was locked. Samuel had not yet gotten to give her a key and the spare was still outside.

The door into the kitchen opened and after a moment someone turned on the light. The steps were quiet and careful so she expected it to not be Sylvester’s father. A few more sounds let her know the intruder was investigating the remains of her brewing. A muttered voice said some words she could not understand. Then, a man stepped into the common room. More of a boy, really. He could not be much older than 16 and wore black clothes with red stripes running down his sides. His face was covered by a red domino mask showing off a chin free of stubble and a few short brown locks peeked out from underneath a black beanie.

The boy looked through the common room as Morgan observed him. When he was turned away she slunk down behind the bench she used for hiding and snuck to the side of the room, deeper into darkness. Her Natural Agility made it easy to avoid making any noise. Soon, the boy was stepping into the church proper. By that time, the witch had made decent progress on the side of the room and was looking to sneak out once he investigated the deeper end. That turned out to be a miscalculation because heturned in her direction and started peering into the darkness. For almost thirty seconds, the two faced off with only one seeing the other. Then, Morgan started to get restless. Her Relic told her she had only a few minutes left before her transformation would undo itself. And something else was bubbling up inside her. Anger. At the wannabe hero who threatened her workplace. The boy that did not know who she was. The idiot that stepped into her hut.

Morgan’s fingers grasped the bottle in her left hand. Only a tiny bit of infusing energy and she could throw it right at him to knock him out. The boy was not wearing anything to cover his mouth or nose. He would easily succumb. Then, he took a step towards her. Before Morgan could think, the poison was flying. It shattered on the wall next to him and he cried out. The witch pulled up her coat to her mouth and ducked behind the bench. Coughing filled the small church hall and a few seconds later the intruder thumped to the ground.

Morgan stood up. The boy lay face first next to the door leading into the common room. She waited for the poison to dissipate before silently stepping around him and the glass shards. Just as she was about to leave, she stilled. Did he get injured on the remains of the bottle? It would suck if she accidentally killed him. The witch walked back and turned the hero around. Wide eyes greeted her alongside a drooling, half-open mouth. There was no blood. A few shards had dug into his clothes but they seemed sturdy enough to protect the boy. The eyes were moving. He was scanning her face. Morgan grinned.

“That’s what you get for intruding unasked!”, she rasped. Her voice surprised her but she pressed on without stuttering.

“Do not mess with me!”

For a moment, Morgan considered taking off his mask and snapping a picture but she decided to spare his privacy. As she tried to leave the second time, her eyes fell on a marker pen in the common room. A wonderful idea found its way into her mind. She walked back once again. The pen’s cap clattered to the floor and she started writing on his cheeks. A few seconds later, she was done. One word on the left, one on the right.

“I trespass. Isn’t that right, young man? Let that be a lesson to you!”

The witch giggled. The boy’s eyes blinked rapidly, his nostrils inflating and deflating in panic.

“Don’t poke your nose into things that don’t concern you!”, Morgan rasped before leaving.

She quickly scanned the kitchen, finding nothing really compromising. She felt her energy running low and realised she only had a little over a minute left of her transformation. Leaving the used pot and spoon as they were, she fled the building and the grounds in haste. After making it down most of Elm Hill, she found a dark corner and let her transformation come undone. The girl took a deep breath as she took off her hood. She fixed her belt and stood upright. The bag with her potions was still in her hand but she doubted the hero had seen it. That was when she realized she had just assumed he was a good guy. In the end, it turned out fine since he didn’t damage anything in the church. Just to be safe, Morgan messaged Samuel to tell him about the situation. As she stepped out of her little nook, she saw the boy standing in front of the church gate, looking up and down the street. She trusted in her dark clothes and calmly walked away from the scene. A minute or two later, police sirens cut through the night. She could only relax once she made it to the door of her home. Nobody was awake beside the cats and within minutes, she was in her bed, fast asleep.

Morgan woke up with a blue screen in her vision. On reading the first line, her heart was filled with dread.

‘Level up’

“Please don’t be cannibalism! Please don’t be cannibalism! Please don’t be cannibalism!”, she prayed.

‘Choose an upgrade for your Relic!’

‘Due to previous selection, upgrade choices are adjusted. To return to previous path, please &§/%$ ‘”(%§[: §”$%]}{.’

“What the fuck?”, Morgan mumbled sleepily. Before she could lose herself in wondering why the last few words were garbled, she continued reading.

‘Dread Fingers: Bring about doom at your hands by casting curses and crafting hexes.’

That… was not thatbad. It sounded a little evil, sure, but it was much better than child cannibalism. The fact that the previous choice was no longer there calmed her heart. The system had seemingly adjusted her options. And the way back being a bunch of garbled words didn’t matter to her. She would never go there. Morgan wondered if she could see her Trait choices before making a decision.

‘Do you wish to deny your Relic upgrade? Note: Due to user reaction, option will return for future levels.’

That was at least something. It also made her shudder with the thought of the system reading her mind. There was nothing she could do about that at the moment but at least it didn’t seem malicious. Morgan thought it over for a moment before choosing the Dread Fingers. A soft warmth wormed its way into her heart and connected a thread of energy to her nose and hands. After a few minutes, it was over. Just in time for her alarm to ring. The witch pushed aside the knowledge of curses and hexcraft flooding her mind and got up. She was going back to school today with Hannah and Sylvester returningas well.

Morgan took her morning shower before sitting down for breakfast. Her father was getting ready as well to drive everyone over. Ellie and Olivia were sleepily shovelling food into their mouths as the radio broadcasted the morning news in the background.

“And now for more vigilante activity in Norwich”, it droned. Brian cursed and increased the volume.

“This time, it’s far less dramatic but having something happen so soon after the weekend’s horrifying events has everyone on edge. Last night, around 3:40 a.m., a self-proclaimed hero by the name of Eternal called the police. He claimed to be investigating a disturbance at St Simon and St Jude’s Church, Elm Hill. There, according to police statement, had been an intruder using the building’s kitchen.

“The hero had heard noises and found the door unlocked. Several kitchen utensils had been used. Searching the location carefully, he stepped into the church proper. After scanning the room for threats from the door, he decided to look around the edges. Just as he took the first step, a figure stood up and threw a glass vial at the wall next to him. Fumes filled the air and within moments he found himself paralysed and unable to move. Luckily, he did not get injured when falling over. He reported having a dark figure step over him and then turn back to flip him over. The perpetrator was an old woman with a prominent crooked nose and a few warts. She told him not to meddle before leaving. About a minute later, the paralysing effects wore off and he tried to follow the criminal. When he found he had lost her, the vigilante called the police.

“Further investigation leads to the assumption of the woman having a brewing-related Relic. The police have decided to name her ‘Baba Yaga’ after the descriptions of the vigilante. Eternal has been found to be acting within the law and agreed to join the Relic Task Force for training.

“Owners of the property have confirmed the woman to be trespassing. Police warn the people of central Norwich to look out for the criminal. She has acted without leaving permanent harm but might take to more dangerous methods if pushed.

“And now, for the weather…”

Morgan’s father turned down the volume.

“Bloody hell…”, he muttered, “Be careful, girls. Okay?”

They all nodded, Morgan suppressing a smirk. Baba Yaga? She couldn’t imagine a better moniker. It perfectly fit her unique Relic as well as her personal taste.

“Baba Yaga is way too extreme for a name”, Olivia said after a moment of silence, “Right, Morg?”

Ellie blinked.

“Isn’t that the one with the hut on chicken legs?”, she asked.

“Yup”, Morgan nodded, “And there’s tales that have her eating… children… that don’t goto bed on time.”

“See? Whoever that was just used the kitchen for some cooking. Couldn’t be evil.”

“What if she was making sweets to tempt children?”, Ellie mused.

“Girls… really?”, their father sighed.

“Sorry, dad.”

Morgan focused on her food as the others continued bickering and giggling. That conversation had put a weird idea in her head. What if she really was Baba Yaga? At least her Relic seemed to be based on the famous witch. She had potions and poisons, curses, hexcraft and the unspeakable option. If that was true, what did that tell about Relics in general? Were they all based on myths and legends or only the unique ones? Hannah’s blood sense seemed to be turning into full-on blood magic as well. Something right out of a horror story. Sylvester’s Relic was comparable to brownies. The house fairies did things he could and more. The theory seemed to have some correlation to reality. It was too early to really tell but Morgan would keep her eyes out.

“Kitten”, her dad called, “Let’s go?”

Ripped from her musings, she got up and soon everyone was piled into the car. The others would be delivered first with the City College being the furthest out. That gave her some time to go through the information implanted into her mind earlier. Her new Relic upgrade allowed her to cast simple curses on a target of her choice. Things like bad luck or an upset stomach were quite easily realized but she knew she had to transform to use her magic. There were more powerful ones but those required some specific circumstances. She found a curse that worked on a whole bloodline and would guarantee their firstborn to die on their 13th birthday. That one was impossible for her to cast right now. It required a serious grudge not only towards one individual but their close family as well. On top of that, she would need to combine it with a lethal poison of the very rare tier. Something she could not dream of getting the ingredients for anytime soon.

Hexes were very similar, letting her bind a curse to an object. A catalyst was always required for those, most of the time a simple herb or potion. She would also have to set a trigger condition for it to activate. That could be something as simple as physical contact or a specific individual taking a specific action. She even found she could make voodoo puppets though once again, resources were lacking. Yeti fur, vampire blood and cursed mithril as the core components seemed extraordinarily out of reach.

All of those were interesting options that once again seemed almost like a complete Relic on their own. The only limit at this point was her time. When Morgan felt for the energy in her heart, she found she would not be able to transform for more than a few minutes. The last few nights had taken a lot of energy from her. Maybe increasing stat points would help with that. She would have to figure out how to do that reliably.

By the time she got to school, she had gone through several ideas and scrapped each and every one of them. This definitely warranted a thorough discussion with her friends.

The lessons felt a little weird after staying away for the last few days. Morgan had not put in any effort to keep up being fully occupied with her Relic. When she got to biology just before lunch, a boy was even wearing a face mask. He sat in the far back and a group of girls nearby was making snarky comments. The substitute teacher for Mr Sanders whose name she had already forgotten tried to get them to quiet down to no effect. Eventually, the boy stood up and ripped off the mask.

“There you fucking go!”, he said.

Any excuse he wanted to follow up with was drowned out by hysterical laughter followed by shouting from the teacher. Morgan just rolled her eyes and was about to turn away when she spotted the reason he wore a mask. There were some rather familiar words on his cheeks.

“I trespass” was written in black marker. The words were smeared as if he had tried to wash them off. Morgan couldn’t help but giggle.

“That was a permanent marker…”, she mumbled.

“What?”, Sylvester asked.

“Nothing.”

At that moment the bell rang and everyone quickly piled out of the room. The teacher shook his head as everyone ignored his words of admonishment while the boy was carefully packing his things. Morgan’s friends were some of the last to move. When Hannah finally stood up, she walked over to the blemished boy.

“What?”, he barked, “You wanna laugh as well?”

Hannah raised one eyebrow.

“What’s the history with that?”

“My buddy wrote on my face when I fell asleep yesterday while we were trying to study.”

Morgan just barely turned her laugh into a cough.

“Yeah, funny, I know.”

“Why those words?”, Hannah asked.

“No fucking clue. He could’ve at least used a non-permanent marker.”

“So you didn’t trespass?”

“No! Why would I do that?”

Hannah nodded.

“Wanna join us for lunch?”, she turned back to Morgan and Sylvester, “You guys okay with that?”

Her boyfriend nodded and Morgan just shrugged. The whole situation was too amusing for her to speak up against it.

A few minutes later, they sat together in the cafeteria some mediocre school food in front of everyone. Hushed voices were audible from nearby people and a few of them glanced over every now and then. The boy was hunched over his food, glancing around.

“So, I’m Hannah, that’s my boyfriend Syl, and the shy one is Morgan. What’s your name?”

“Lucas”, he half-whispered.

“What are your courses?”, Hannah asked after a moment of silence.

“Bio, physics, maths.”

“Just like Morg, then.”

He looked up.

“Really? You want to be a medical engineer, or?”

“Eh, not really. I just took stuff I was good at.”

“So, what do you want to do then?”

Morgan grimaced.

“That’s a good question. I have honestly no clue. Might end up taking over my parents' shop if I don’t find anything else.”

“Oh. Well… You’ll figure it out.”

“By the way”, Hannah said, “Sly, you got something to clean people yet?”

“Nope. Still haven’t gotten a level. I even completely exhausted my energy on Tuesday.”

“Really? That’s fucking dumb…”

“You probably have to figure out your feats”, Morgan said.

“Feats?”, Lucas asked.

“Mhm. I got a message for a repeated feat giving me a stat point. I’m pretty sure the first time I got a level. I think we all have feats aligning with our Relic and if we act in alignment with that, we can level up. That’s my current theory, at least.”

“Huh.”

“I can confirm that”, Hannah said,“I tried replicating what gave me my first level and got a point in Renewal.”

“So the stat is random? Or is there some kind of condition deciding that?”

Hannah shrugged.

“No clue.”

Just then, someone stepped up to their table. A boy with a wide muscular chest, hands on his hips. He had short blonde hair and a bit of stubble on his chin. Morgan thought he looked like a statue from a student of Greek arts. An attempt was there but a few strikes of the chisel had slipped.

“You guys shouldn’t hang out with someone like that”, he said. His eyes pointedly ignored Lucas.

Hannah waved him off.

“You have no clue what you’re talking about. Fuck off.”

“Hmm? You’re defending him? A criminal?”

“No. His buddy played a prank. That’s it. Fuck. Off.”

That seemed to trigger something in the newcomer and he raised a fist.

“Listen here, girl. I’m patient but don’t insult me.”

“Leave it”, Lucas said before Hannah could reply, “I’m just gonna go.”

He was about to stand up when the muscular guy put a hand on his shoulder, pushing him down onto the chair.

“You stay here! I’m not done with you!”

Morgan fiddled with her bag’s zip. She could reach in and quickly pull out a vial of Paralysing Agent. Only, that would compromise her identity for Lucas. He would immediately know it was her that he met the night before. Her indecision was cut off by a shout from Hannah.

“Look out!”

At the same time, the brute swung his free hand right at Lucas’ face. Fist met nose in a disturbing crack and the boy took off, flying a few metres through the air before crashing into a neighbouring table.

“You deserve a beating, villain!”

Just as the bully was about to take a step forward, he froze. Quite literally. Frost ran up his muscles as everyone around flinched back from a wave of cold. A voice like cracking floes halted every action in the room in but a moment.

“No violence.”

Soft steps clacked forward every eye in the room following their owner. Mrs Martin had come in from the hallway, white clouds of cold air wafting off her body. When she stepped in front of the muscular boy, the cold receded to a metre around her.

“Your name?”, she demanded.

“B-B-B-Barry, Mrs Martin. Barry Adams.”

“Why did you punch your fellow student?”

“He... he's a criminal?”

The teacher raised an eyebrow.

“Why is that a question?”

“I… I’m sorry.”

“I’m not the one you should apologize to.”

“R-right.”

Just then, Lucas stood up with a groan. His nose was bloody and a little bent but the injury was visibly disappearing. The boy shook his head.

“Fuck, that hurt.”

When his attacker walked up, he almost growled.

“What do you want?”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have attacked you.”

Lucas snorted.

“As if you believe that.”

The air dropped a degree in temperature.

“Whatever. Apology accepted. Just talk to people before you use your fist. Idiot.”

Barry tightened his fist and took a deep breath. After a few tense moments, he relaxed his hand and walked off. Morgan could just about make out a mumbled: “Fuck this shit.”

Mrs Martin turned to them as Lucas walked up.

“You’re his friends?”

“I mean, sort of?”, Sylvester said, “We only met today, really.”

“I see. Anyway. Well done not immediately using your Relics.”

“Of course.”

She turned to Lucas.

“Are you going to be fine?”

“Yup. Got regeneration. I’ll be good as new in a few minutes.”

Morgan blinked. Was that why he got out of the paralysis so quickly? Would it hold longer for people without some kind of defence? Her Relic quickly answered her question with a solid maybe. Some prodding gave her a little more information. It seemed as if Traits and Relics could help against her offensive option but stats could also play a role. How that worked in detail, she could not figure out. The system really needed some better ways to get information to its users.

While she was sunk into her thoughts, the others had finished up with Mrs Martin and a sense of normalcy had returned to the cafeteria.

“Where did that come from?”, Hannah asked into the group.

“Hey, Syl”, Morgan said, “I’m coming over later today. See you then!”

And with those words, she was off to her next lesson.