Overseeing A Strange New World
Chapter 16
I'm going to do a bit more fleshing out of my magic system and how it relates to the students and heroes for the start. Also if it seems weird in how I wrote it, imagine the first part being like a back and forth cut between the two sides. Like in Rocky IV, with the cuts between the boxers. But the second half will deal with a special adventure and panic for others. So on with the show.
(No POV)
In the weeks leading up to the Sports Festival, both magic students were taking to their studies well. Izuku was dodging attacks and spells from his familiars and even his classmates. And shooting back himself. While Melissa was working her way through a variety of spells and effects around her when Morda brought up something that had intrigued her.
"It seems you might have more magic potential than I realized. You might actually be a Hereditary Mage." Melissa looked back and asked how that was possible. Only for her spells to go haywire and cause a lot of destruction.
Morda chuckles before flourishing with her staff and rewinding the room to before the damage was done. "There is magic in your world. It could be that long ago your ancestors had tapped into that potential. But without something more to act as a catalyst, you couldn't truly become a mage," the mad witch surmises before instructing Melissa to start again.
At UA though, Izuku was questioning more of how Adam and Morda's magic differed. "So how do those pistols of yours work?" Izuku said between his work of interlaying spells and circles. Adam looked up from his phone before saying, "I guess you could say I preload some spells into a few rounds. But when those run out, I can keep using just base magic essences from the tools."
Tomoe jumps in and noted it was common for a number of mages to do or use similar tools. "Awakened especially use these. It often helps to get the drop on certain individuals. Though most of them use the Modern Style."
"Modern Style?" Melissa asked her teacher. "Yes. It's a style to simplify aspects of magic and make it easily accessible. Some have noted that it is for the Awakened Mages mainly, but I do see it as a good baseline to work with." She then demonstrates by creating a handful of small spells around herself. Each with different effects and potential. But limited in its breadth.
When the magic runs it's course Morda directs Melissa to try similar or at least a few of the spells. "It is far weaker than Ancient Magics. That is what we Hereditary Mages can tap into. I'll teach it to you eventually. But I need to be sure you have a grasp of the starting magic."
"Whoa, wait. So, Ancient Magic is like super powerful spells? How powerful are we talking?" Izuku questioned in between attacks. Adam let out a breath before admitting it was sometimes called 'The Power of the Gods'.
Adam went on to say, "It's from the oldest forms of magic. Stuff like the Ark of the Covenant, the Ruyi Jingu Bang. That type of stuff. Basically, if there's a myth about an item or special spell….. well then, it's related to Ancient Magic. And Hereditary Mages can use it fairly easily."
Izuku was wide eyed at this and questioned if that meant they had no chance against a Hereditary Mage. "Nah. Those types of magic have a few drawbacks. One you've seen already. You solved how the Curse of Macha could be stopped. And plenty of other spells have similar rules."
Tomoe floats above with her foxfire and says, "if the rules of the spell aren't followed, then it won't have much effect. That's why she often would create new spells from the baseline to work for her." Izuku thinks it over while backflipping out of the way of her fire shots. "So Modern Magic has the advantage of being easily understood and simple effects. But Ancient is complicated by the rules of the Gods?"
"That seems like an odd issue." Melissa said while practicing casting barrier spells on a different day. Her eyes noticed the pattern of how Morda would make them rotate and one would flash before firing. Giving the bespectacled girl a few seconds to intercept.
Morda let out a frustrated sigh before saying, "indeed. I've run into a few issues with it regarding said powers. Especially when that frustrating rival of mine has a similar talent." Melissa looks back and asks who Morda meant. Only to get blasted in the back by a lightning spell.
"Even when asking questions, don't lose focus. And….. ha. His name is Adam Garcia. He's an Awakened Mage but we have similar talents in memorization. He can roughly memorize any spell he's seen once or twice. I can do similar. My advantage is, I can understand the ancient languages and formulas. An Awakened can't."
"Which is part of the problem in facing her." Adam said while using his pistols in training with Izuku. Though it was not going well for Izuku. He'd taken at least three Hellfire shots to his face and got tripped up by a blessed light bullet to his knee. He groaned before asking, "is that why you have extra tools like that?"
Tomoe acknowledged it was one reason. "Due to channeling specific or complicated energies, if the circle or spell is interrupted then the whole thing crashes down. But you need something strong enough to do it. Like a pistol that shoots Hellfire, or a knife made of divine Damascus steel."
Izuku acknowledged that before asking, "so when do I get something like that?" Adam and Tomoe laughed a bit and noted he had to earn it himself. "You don't just get tools like these by going to the store kid. You gotta earn them." Adam said before shooting at his protégé again.
Morda meanwhile decided to test a few other matters. Namely by giving Melissa her staff to test how she could handle spell work with it. Melissa gulps slightly before finding she could make the tool change into many things. As well as efficiently forming and casting spells.
The mad witch smiles at this as some of the magic fades. "I thought so. This staff is special. It only responds to those with enough innate potential to make it work. That was how I made it." Morda explains while Melissa looks at the item in question.
"Wait. How do you measure potential? Is it…. Similar to how we scan quirks for their power potential?" Morda hummed before noting it was similar and different. "My staff works by 'scanning' the mana reserves and potential of a wielder. I designed it as a fail safe if anyone took it from me," she said before casting a few spells by hand.
Izuku grunted as he was tossed to his back. But not before leaving a talisman for his teacher to step on and stop his advance. "Mana reserves? Like in an RPG?" he asked incredulously. Tomoe shrugged and acknowledged the similarities.
"If I were to give a broad description, your average person has about one to two hundred points. If the RPG thing helps to visualize it. In Adam's case when he started, his reserves jumped up to about five thousand after I became his familiar."
Garcia sighed as he got out of Izuku's spell. "Good trick. Didn't expect it. But even with that, it still didn't compare to Morda when we originally met. While I was at like five, she was up to at least twenty thousand. And she's only gotten stronger."
Izuku gulped at this and questioned if anyone back in Garcia's world could keep up with the mad witch. "There are four…. And a half who can. One is known as the Sage of the Far East. He mastered all of the magics of Asia. Shinto spells, Taoist arts, Buddhist prayers, etc."
He noted that the Pope of their world was one who could face her as well. "Turns out, the Popes actually have mysticism as part of their work. Just involved in Holy Magic alone. Ours actually stopped the attempted invasion of all seven princes of Hell and their armies himself. Crafted Holy chains that dragged and resealed the demons away. After Morda unleashed them to try and gain power."
Melissa was surprised at what a different high clergyman could do in their world. "Then there is a…. frustrating Awakened Mage from Egypt. One who has the ear and blessings of all of the Gods of Egypt. Right down to having a copy of the Book of Thoth. As well as Ammit as a familiar."
The last mage she noted as on her level was a genie who had once been human. She was less of a problem though given her own commitments with her partner. "I'm not sure why she bothered, but she became a famous hero in our world. Protecting people from insane threats rather than committing herself to fully honing her skills."
"That's four, but you noted an "a half" mage. Who's the last one." Melissa questioned while looking at the composition of Morda's staff. The witch grimaced before admitting it was her rival, Adam Garcia. "Though he often had more important things to work on as an Overseer. I still won't forgive him though." Melissa looked up at her and asked what she meant. Aimsworth shook her head and said it wasn't important.
Izuku asked the same and his teacher gave him a similar noncommittal response. "I can't forgive or forget what she did though. And whether she admits it or not, it was her fault what happened. We were just doing our jobs." He explained that with Negron's power, he was on par with Morda in terms of capacity and strength. Thus, he was the best chance to defeat her when the time came.
His protégé looked like he wanted to know more, but Tomoe stopped him. "Not the time Izuku. That's a wound that's…. well delicate to say the least," she said with a sad gaze of her own. Izuku though was wondering if he'd ever really be able to measure up to Garcia.
'I'm decent enough at the investigation side. And I've got two capable familiars. But. They really don't compare with Negron or that Morda woman. If I'm going to have any chance to help, I have to get stronger.' Izuku thought before questioning if there was a good familiar that could put him on the same or similar leve.
After another training session at I Island was done, Morda had a subtle thought cross her mind. 'I wonder if that trap I left has been picked up by anyone of note. Perhaps that will give me more time to work on my new apprentice,' she thought before taking her staff back from Melissa.
Momo was showering after a rough day of training, and some backfire from a few of the talismans that Izuku had given her. "Need to think it through more when I use those. Midoriya didn't really explain anything with them," she thought aloud before dressing and calling her family car to get home.
Once she was there though, something felt off to her. "Father? Mother? Is everything alright?" she asked after walking in the door. She shivered slightly while walking through the foyer and towards the dinning room.
A hand reached out and set itself upon her shoulder, causing Momo to scream in a panic. But it was just her mother. "What's wrong dear? You act as if you've seen a ghost," the lady said with a relaxed smile.
Momo caught her breath before asking her mother to not sneak up on her. "I uh… there's just something strange in the house. Or it feels like it," the raven haired girl said while her eyes jumped towards the corners.
"Ah. I wondered about that as well. It might have something to do with an item your father purchased recently," the Yaoyorozu matriarch said before waving for her daughter to follow. In her father's study, there was a strange statue of a baboon. It looked Egyptian in nature given some of the ornamentation.
The eyes and it's waist though were what unsettled her. The eyes seemed to be almost like burning red orbs in the statue. And for some reason the sculptor had chosen to had a somewhat erect aspect to the baboon. "If I remember what the man who sold it to me said, this is the deity Babi. And uh…. Part of the appearance was related to it being a semi fertility god," Momo's father tried to defend after noting how uncomfortable his daughter was.
She shook it off and quickly removed herself from the room to shower. Not noticing that the gleam of the eyes did seem to follow her for a moment. After dinner Momo still felt uneasy as she went about finishing her homework and preparing for the next day. But she pushed it aside and tried to relax into sleep once her assignments were done. Though not without grabbing a talisman to put under her pillow.
The Yaoyorozu heiress had somewhat settled into sleep, though not without a handful of dreams that made her blush bright before she woke up because she felt a presence again. She looked around her room but saw nothing from her large bed. She got up and checked her adjoining sitting room and bathroom but found nothing.
So, she shrugged and laid down in bed again. Only for her eyes to shoot open upon seeing the statue her father had purchased hanging above her bed. She screamed as it dropped down and gripped her wrists tight. But she was able to grab the talisman as she saw a portal opening to her left.
As her parents burst in to see what was happening, Momo focused her thoughts to make the magic do what she hoped. Just as she and the statue were pulled into the portal she flicked the talisman at the wall. And it formed a message. "Call Adam Garcia and Midoriya Izuku!" was what was read upon her wall.
Thus, both Overseers were called out in the middle of the night to investigate this anomaly. "Hijo de puta. This is Morda's work. Looks like…. Some sort of portal or similar spell to cause chaos. No telling how many of these might be out there." Adam analyzed while trying to determine what they were dealing with. Not to mention unraveling the post-cast concealment spells added.
Izuku though was less concerned about that and more worried about what Momo could be enduring. "We have to go after her! There must be some way to follow her!" he proclaimed as the familiars were combing the area for other traces.
"Um. If it helps, the statue was of Babi the Baboon God of Egypt. Perhaps that could narrow your search?" the Yaoyorozu patriarch said while trying to comfort his wife. Adam shook his head before saying, "not likely. That could just be a feint and she was taken to a completely different mystic realm. I highly doubt she'd make it that easy."
"But if there's a chance we should take it and find out what happened!" Izuku said before creating some magic circles and tracing the magic that was used to make the portal. "Izuku wait! Even if it dropped you into the same initial realm, it could have teleported to a different one entirely! You can't go off halfcocked!"
Izuku ignored this before saying, "she's probably terrified and needs our help. I will save her!" He sees the mixed pattern of images and symbols and uses those to create a portal of his own. Calling out to Riku and Chika as the portal opened again. While Adam and Tomoe tried to get Izuku to stop.
He of course didn't and stepped through into a strange hellscape like world atop a mountain. One with a flaming lake below him in a valley. And the calls and hoots of baboons coming from the forest near the lake. "Let's go find that statue." Izuku said before unfurling his tengu wings. Riku and Chika took to the air themselves and fell in behind him. 'Hold on Yaoyorozu. I will save you.' Izuku thought as he made his way down the mountain.
I'll just admit it, I'm doing a lot of this to Momo because she just seems like perfect damsel material. Like original Lois Lane in getting put into various dangerous situations. She won't stay like this though. I will get around to doing more with her standing for herself, but for now it felt right to have her be a target and Izuku would rescue her. Given her link with Izuku. Please review!