A fun chapter, and one that sets things up well.


"And what is this?" Imara held out a silver dagger, one created by Dante as proof of his practice for the six months under her tutelage. "I can sense the magic, but I do not know what it does."

He smirked. " It is a self-guiding dagger, most daggers to be thrown successfully require a weighted blade and training. This one will guide itself to your target and pierce any low-grade defenses easily. Or so I hope... I haven't had the chance to test it. It has been soaked in potions designed to penetrate defenses that are both mystical and mundane. You said I should make something manageable, something that uses the things I have access to. I can make potions with the best of them, I've been making five or six potions a day since I came here, and it's no different than cooking which I was already experienced at. I added spells in Latin, which you have me studying daily and testing me with daily to make sure I have a full grasp on the dead language. Layered bit by bit, the spell is reinforced and it is on silver, which is the best magical conductor."

She smirked and before he could say a word, threw it at one of her servants. He screamed before bursting into flames and vanishing. " It works just fine."

"Yes it does... what did he do?"

"He stole from me, only a handful of ingredients, but still, a crime that deserves death."

"Fair enough... you know, you'd think I'd I have an issue with your homicidal actions but I really couldn't care less. Huh... talk about going numb. So what's next?"

"Since your magic has worked so well, we will be trying to tap into your active powers. I made you your first staff, so you can test out your illusions. All Wizards could cast illusions, but they usually took years to tap into that magic. You have advanced at a frightening pace, I think you may be able to use them already."

"I look forward to trying."

""""

As it turned out, Illusions were not that hard to make. The Staff was needed to focus his powers since it did not have an emotional trigger to give it form. All he had to do was focus on an image and click his staff against the ground, the magic within his staff would mold his illusion into reality. However as he had only tapped into his wizard heritage for six months, his illusions were muffled and unclear. He could do glamours, illusions that masked parts of his body but nothing expansive or separate from him. It was easier to cast the illusions over himself as it was as close as possible to himself sa could be... but even still, all he could do was minor tricks like change his hair color, or make his clothes look different. He couldn't combine images, make sounds or tastes. Everything was a patchwork of purely visual illusions.

"Not bad, I have seen wizards take a decade before they have the skills to do what you've done." Imara said, smiling at him. "Those patchwork glamour will turn into full glamour soon and from there into full-on illusions outside of your body. By the time your year is over, you'll have mastered glamour and possibly cloaking. That is a hit or miss power of wizards, stemming from illusions they could sometimes mask their magical signature."

His eyes went wide. "That... that is what I am going to make for my final project. A cloaking device, two of them, one for each of us. It would be perfect, the tool I need to establish myself for what I plan on doing for income."

She smirked. "What do you plan on doing for your income?"

"Good abandoned me and my kind to the source, they didn't send a whitelighter or any protections. They left us to die. Evil wants me dead for what I could be. No, I am going to help neither side, only those that pay me. I am going to offer my services, be it as a mercenary, bodyguard or enchanter. Do whatever I need to to get a paycheck, to embolden my powers. That is what I am going to do... you gave me the idea, since you make me spar with your bodyguards a few times a week. You said it was for making me able to survive, well I will do more than survive, I will thrive."

Imara laughed long and hard. "Then I guess we have better increase your training, if you want to be good enough to be contacted then I will have to make sure reach that level. I might just employ you myself."

"I would appreciate that. You said that the Charmed ones are likely to kill the Source ever since he killed their sister Prue five months ago. If he's gone, the ban on my kind would falter and I can contact the bounty hunters, get started that way. With a cloaking device on my person, I can mask my heritage until I am well known enough to get people to ignore it."

"That is a good idea, I cannot deny."

"Awesome. I guess I better get started, we only have six months left til our contract dies and I need to milk it for all it's worth Imara."

They shared a smile, then training began once again. It would get far, far harder from that point forward. Obstacle courses for his teleporting, illusions maintained for hours while working on potions, meditation to work on his clairvoyant powers and so many other things. He would fight her servants for at least two hours a day, use options and creams to patch up his various injuries from those fights. It would be miserable work, but it would mold him into something great...

Or, so was the hope.


Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was a joy to write.

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.