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Villainous Journey (Multi-Cross Villain Quest) by Throwaway1971
Books » Private Rated: M, English, Romance, Words: 155k+, Favs: 31, Follows: 31, Published: Dec 26, 2023 Updated: Jul 14, 2024
4Chapter 5
Aleister ducked under a punch, delivering his own to the chest of his sparring partner who also avoided. He raised his arms in a cross formation to block a kick, taking a few steps back and keeping his gaze locked on his opponent.
His opponent acted first, throwing a hasty punch that Aleister grabbed and allowing him to deliver a brutal punch to their side. Gasping back for breath, his opponent was unprepared for him to sweep their feet and stand over them.
"I win". Aleister stated simply, ignoring the insults to his fighting tactics. Idiot, a fight was a fight, how did it matter if you won? He frowned when the gym owner gave him a glare, he'd have to hold back more if he wanted to keep using this free gym.
He was starting to reach a level where he couldn't spar with random people anymore, he had mastered the basics. Perhaps he should look into using a basic costume and hunting down Merchants to get proper fighting experience? A gym could only do so much.
Skills increased.
- Combat 11%
Aleister pushed through the pain as his magic circuits burned, he was pushing himself and he knew it, but he couldn't stop here. He felt the coals he'd brought shift under his hand, he ignored as blood leaked down his nose, or the agony travelling down his hand.
He focused, he committed himself to what he was doing. The coals shifted, changing, condensing... Aleister let out a breath as he removed his hand, staring at the now shiny gemstones.
"Diamonds, real true diamonds...". He grinned picking up the gemstone that was around the size of a lump of coal. His mind raced with ideas, some of the most fascinating technology across the multiverse used diamonds, and if he could find a way to safely sell these...
He dropped the gem and held his hand, letting out a hiss of pain. But next time, he'd have to be careful of just exactly what he was trying to create.
Item gained!
- Small Diamond. A small gemstone of immense value.
Spell improved.
- Transmutation (The most basic spell of Alchemy, transforming the chemical makeup and structure of things to make new things. Can now be performed in three seconds).
The Archer Bridge Merchants, the weakest gang of Brockton Bay with three subpar capes. They're territory was small, mostly some old buildings and... A abandoned tourist shop modeled after a lighthouse? It was like they just took whatever they could get.
They focused on selling drugs, taking advantage of people, and all sorts of minor crimes that they only got away with thanks to having the power of Capes to back them up.
Their leader was Skidmark, an absolutely repulsive man. But his power wasn't anything impressive, he could create force-fields that pushed in a certain direction, Aleister could see how it could be useful if it was used right... Yet Skidmark clearly couldn't use it right, otherwise he'd be taken a lot more seriously.
Squealer was disgusting in both appearance and personality, she might have once been beautiful but years of drug use had ruined it. Not helped by her trashy way of dressing or voice. Her power would be impressive, a Tinker specialization towards vehicles? But just like Skidmark she was limited by her addiction, and frankly? Her designs were far to ugly.
The final cape was Mush and... Dear god were all the Merchants ugly? The only impressive thing about him was his power, an ability to use the debris around him into a giant form? Aleister could see how he'd be a threat, especially as it seemed he wasn't being hindered by drugs like the other two.
Aleister thought it a waste, such useful abilities wasted in the hands of idiots. Skidmark and Squealer could be terrifying threats if they were more stable, and if Mush used the correct resources to form his giant form... Truly, a waste of potential. Not that he had any intention to leave any of them alive, they had threatened his family, they were already dead and simply hadn't realized it yet...
But he couldn't ignore something else, why had the Merchants chosen to target a random bakery? It wasn't close to any of their known territories so they could be trying to reach out, but Aleister doubted it. Was he being played? Could a Precog or Thinker have discovered his abilities and was now playing him against the Merchants?
The Unwritten Rules were just that, unwritten. They were only obeyed because each side knew the other could escalate, and nobody wanted that. But there were still those who thought they could get away with it...
Aleister's fists clenched, first deal with the Merchants, then he could investigate this more.
Aleister looked over the chess board he'd painted over, leaving a clear brown board, good enough. He grabbed a pen and began drawing, each detail needed to be perfect.
After a few minutes, he had a wooden board covered in a ritualistic looking circle. He checked the details, and grabbed a thin brush, painting over certain areas and using transmutation to ensure it was all perfect. Finally, it was complete.
"Now lets see if you'll work...". He placed the board down and walked over to the side of his kitchen, where he had kept a bag of salt. He placed it on the wooden board, and began channeling mana into the board.
It was... Slow, unbearably slow. He frowned, this felt like he was using Transmutation for the first time again, instead of his rapidly increased speed he'd gained. It consumed less mana yes, but it was slow.
After ten seconds, he ended the spell and glared at the half formed halite. How utterly useless.
So I feel the need to bring something up because people have suggested stuff like this a couple times, but you do realize there's no point in making a device or Mystic Code that can perform transmutation right? Aleister still needs to supply the mana for it, all it does it shorten the process slightly, and when he improves the spell he'd need to completely recreate the device/mystic code. It'd just be a waste.
But hey, you got a new item.
- Transmutation Ritual Board. A wooden board covered in a ritual circle, it can be used to transmutate materials. Takes ten seconds to work, but consumes less mana.
Aleister knocked on the door, waiting for it to be answered. After a few moments, the door was opened by a nervous looking girl before her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face.
"Big brother!". The girl rushed forward, wrapping Aleister in a hug who returned it. Natalie Crowley, one of his younger adopted sisters. "You didn't say you were going to visit today!".
"I found myself with some free time, so I wanted to check on how your doing with the... Current situation". He didn't try hiding things from Natalie, his sisters were both old enough to understand the situation. "Is mother home?".
"Mom's at the hospital to pick up dad, but Aliya's home!". Natalie took his hand and dragged him into the house, shouting to her sister. "ALIYA! Aleister's visiting!".
"Coming!". Footsteps echoed the house as another girl entered the hallway, her hair half natural and half dyed. "Sup Aleister?".
"Hello to you to Aliya, been volunteering at the school green house again?". He smiled as his sisters dragged him into the living room and onto the sofa, asking questions the entire time.
It was relaxing just talking to his sisters, they were both still excitable even with the risk of the bakery being taken away. But that's how they always were, even if Aliya was the one who was more obvious about her excitement.
Both his sisters were in high school, Arcadia specifically. He remembered when they first got in and how proud he'd been (And happy they weren't going to Winslow like he'd been forced to), Aliya was in charge of the gardening club while Natalie was apart of the football team.
"Anything interesting happen lately?". Aleister asked, Natalie shyly looking down while Aliya let out a frustrated glare.
"Yea, Glory Girl ended up disbanding the chess club from a student comment". Aliya wasn't exactly the most fond of New Wave's poster girl after she had destroyed a tree in Arcadia while showing off to her boyfriend.
"How did that happen?". Aleister already had an idea, Glory Girl was basically a celebrity, no she WAS a celebrity, being a cape who had revealed her identity to the public. Her every word was dangerous, especially in a place filled with easily influenced teams.
"She said the chess club was stupid, everyone started insulting them after that and after a few days they disbanded because they didn't want to deal with the insults anymore". Natalie explained as Aleister frowned. Did New Wave not teach its younger generation to be responsible with their words? With how many practically worshiped the blond flying barbie and the dozens of young men horny for her, it was obvious they'd do anything to try impressing her even if she was already dating someone.
"Well you can just ignore her, Capes are overrated anyway. Anything else you two want to talk to your big brother about?".
"Aliya got asked out again".
"Gah! I didn't want to share that! The guy was way to weird anyway, kept flirting with me even after I said I wasn't interested".
"Oh? Do I need to borrow dad's old shotgun?".
The three siblings would talk for a bit longer before eventually deciding to grab one of Natalie's game consoles and play together.
Bonds.
Emelia: 6.
Finn: 6.
Aliya: 4.
Natalie: 4.
Aleister's known his family for years, so you get a bit of an advantage when it comes to their Bonds already being high. Fin and Emelia are the kids father and mother respectively.
Sooo I need a bit of help, not sure what to do for Aleister's mother and father's appearance, so if you guys have any suggestions they'd be appreciated.
Destroy the Merchants (Rare).
- Defeat the Merchants within a Week (Ultra), five days left.
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