After making sure that Moblin gets a few treats for behaving himself on the long walk and his check-up, and once again assuring Zelda – and to a lesser degree, your folks – that your dog is in good health, the first thing you do is go down to your workshop, dig through the loot piles, and retrieve those three swords you mean to hand off to Robin tonight.

You then take the opportunity to do a more detailed, but still non-destructive examination of the things for your own arcane education. Due to the simplicity of the enhancements and your prior exposure to Earthly, Earth-adjacent, and Hyrulean examples of weapon-crafting, the swords prove unable to tell you much that you hadn't already known, save in the area of what hard-used, poorly-maintained, and/or possibly poorly manufactured magical weapons look like. Which is… not useless, per se, but nothing really special.

The minor stylistic flourishes in the physical and arcane designs of each sword make for a similarly mediocre discovery. You'll probably be able to identify items produced by the same individuals as these going forward, but that's of minor value at best.

Setting the blades aside for now, you decide to spend a few hours reading, with the goal of finishing off the book "Magic of the Smithy," which you purchased from Balthazar a while back and have been plugging away at since, Quincy invasions notwithstanding. Given your plans to build the tools to build a new workshop from scratch in the coming weeks, a more complete understanding of magic-assisted and outright sorcerous crafting methods will only be beneficial.

The bad news is that since the book was intended for people already moderately educated and experienced in the field of arcane metalworking, there are a few basic concepts that are glossed over rather described in truly helpful detail. You make a mental note to ask Robin about some of those later…

The good news is that, even with the limits of your foundational skills in this field, your well-rounded magical education allows you to grasp a fair bit of the intermediate and advanced stuff.

Gained Disenchantment E (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Production (Armor) E (Plus)

Knowing more about how to work metal and strip out unwanted magical essences will indeed be a useful skill going forward.

Dinner passes, and then evening TV-watching with the family, and in due course Zelda and the sun have both called it a day.

You've let your parents know about your plans to invite an acquaintance over, and perhaps out to go vampire-hunting, and why.

"How good would these anti-demon knives be, if they worked as well as possible?" your father inquires.

"Not as immediately lethal as staking a corpse-demon in the heart or cutting its head off," you admit. "But bane weapons are pretty nasty. An otherwise ordinary knife with that enchantment could probably dust your average bloodsucker with three or four good hits. IF it works as well as possible," you add.

Your father looks VERY thoughtful about this.

Perhaps even more remarkable, so does your mother.

Leaving them to their ruminations and setting your own aside until you know whether or not the knives are worth acquiring, you head downstairs, call up your Mirror Hideaway, pick up the blades, and step through to call a guy.

"Interesting summoning chamber," Robin observes a few minutes later, as he looks around at the reflective walls. "So, these are the swords?"

"They are. And that is one of the knives?"

"It is," he replies. "Trade you for them?"

"Pending testing, anyway."

"Of course."

Handed over swords

After Robin has stuffed the blades into his enchanted pouch, you hold up the still-sheathed knife. "Now, this obviously needs testing, but given the confines of this space" – you gesture around at the small cubical room – "I don't particularly think summoning a corpse-demon is ideal. I also really don't want to bring one into my house."

"I completely understand," Robin says with a nod. "What are you proposing?"

"I was thinking we might go out for a night on the town…"

Robin has no serious objections to taking a little time to walk the streets of the town that one of his younger sisters has been calling home.

"And even if I did, Mom and Summer both want to know what it's like around here," he adds.

Ah.

"Oh, come on," Briar grumbles. "I've been away from home for over twenty years without getting captured, crushed or eaten by anything. Isn't that enough proof that I can take care of myself? And this guy isn't exactly a slouch, either."

It's nice to be included.

"Even so, Briar," her biggest brother replies patiently.

Some spellcasting ensues.

Obviously, you don't want Robin to be noticed or tracked by any local magic-users, so the Spell of Mind Blank is a definite necessity, and his appearance is such that a disguise or even outright invisibility would be a good idea: his Hyrulean-style clothes are definitely unusual by modern Earthly standards; and unsurprisingly, he looks exactly like "Cousin Briar's" older brother, which is a connection to your family that it's best to keep from getting around.

Fortunately, Robin has the means to turn himself invisible. As he and Briar explain it, he's too big to utilize the innate imperceptibility trick that smaller, younger fairies rely on, but also has yet to grow into the innate magical power that allows Great Fairies to do the same, and similarly lacks the typical arcane training to make up the difference. As a smith, Robin has simply made himself the proper tool, a statement he emphasizes by tapping a ring he wears on his right hand.

"Ah, a classic," you reply. "I have one myself, actually, although…" You trail off as you produce the Ring of Invisibility from your pocket and compare it to Robin's Ring. Both are plain silver bands, but the aura around Robin's not only speaks of Fae energy, it registers as less powerful than your own – which is saying something, considering that it doesn't take much to make such Rings.

"Seems a bit different?" Robin guesses, in response to your pause.

"Yeah. What's that about, if you don't mind my asking?"

He doesn't, and as he explains, it's because his Ring doesn't really have the power to bestow invisibility on its wearer; rather, it serves to augment Robin's latent power of invisibility, permitting him to disappear much as he used to do. For anybody who wasn't a fairy, there'd be little to no effect, and none at all for anybody that wasn't Fae.

And this is evidently about the best that Robin can do in the field of "magic rings" at this time. He admits that he needs more practice with the "fiddly detail work" and especially in the field of lapidary before he can really progress.

Regardless, it saves you some magic.

For your own disguise needs, an Extended Spell of Adjustable Polymorph will do nicely. For once, you forego your various adult guises and adopt the form of a teenager, one that you try to steer in the direction of "corpse-demon bait." Unremarkable features to make it easier to disappear into a crowd – or in this case, off of the street; average height and build so as not to seem like too much work or too small a meal; decently fit to be more appealing, without coming across as an obvious fighter or runner; and some other little details to round out the presentation.

You consider adding a Spell to Bestow Weapon Proficiency, but after a moment's thought, you pass on that. If this works out, you'll be giving the knives to Cordelia and Larry almost for certain, and your two friends have about as much practice with short blades as you do – which is to say, very little, outside of the wooden or blunted metal equivalents that Lu-sensei has brought out for training. With that being the case, knowing how well someone with such a lack of knife-skill can handle the weapons would be a useful bit of information to have.

Are there any other spells you wish to cast before leaving your Mirror Hideaway and the house?

Robin's invisibility will suffice to hide him from most creatures at a distance, but since you're going corpse-demon hunting and you know that those things have some heightened non-visual senses, you offer the smith and your partner the use of a Greater Spell to Hide From Undead.

You aren't exactly planning to leave any survivors, but bloodrats do run in packs, and if there's enough of them and they're twitchy enough – which, given the legend of the Independence Day Killer is apparently spreading, they may well be – some of them might try to run for it when you break out the anti-demon knife or other effects, or even just if they smell the fairies hanging around invisibly.

Said spell will cover the sound of Robin's footsteps, but you ask him if he'd like a Spell of Flight or something for greater mobility.

"I'll be fine," he replies.

His call, at least as long as he can keep up…

In anticipation of the possibility of something going wrong, you ready a Staggered Flicker. You'd considered Overloading the technique, but while you've greatly reduced the telltale glow of excess ki, you haven't quite managed to eliminate it, and such a feature will be more visible at night, particularly in Sunnydale – with its (in)conveniently spaced-out and not always ideally maintained street lights – and to creatures that can see in the darkness.

As that could compromise your ability to bait the bloodsuckers, you leave it be. Having a couple of "low" speed Flickers on standby should be plenty.

…but just in case it's not, you also cast the Greater Spell of False Life, so you can take a few hits without suffering real harm.

Is there anything else…?

After a moment's thought, you cast the Spell of Prying Eyes, intentionally limiting the effect so that you conjure sixteen featureless crystal orbs into being around yourself.

"Wait to receive a Spell of Invisibility," you order them. "Then follow me outside and spread out to record my immediate surroundings as we proceed."

You aren't entirely sure this will work, mainly because you aren't sure if the "Eyes" will be able to make it through the mirror portal. Their thematic modification from inorganic eyeballs to blank crystal spheres didn't do anything to increase their great fragility, and the passage to and from the Mirror Plane is… unpleasant. It hasn't hurt anybody you've brought across thus far, but none of them were made of glass, either.

A couple quick Mass Invisibility Spells, and you're done.

Exiting the Mirror Hideaway-

?

-you confirm that the Eyes came through.

You take a minute to remove a few items from your Arcane Pocket, in favor of a more anti-undead loadout, and also to pull on your Airwalking Boots. Since it IS dark out, you also fetch La Renarde's Thief's Goggles, and then regard them for a moment. They look odd enough that it might pose an issue, so you work a bit of Illusion Magic upon them. You don't actually know a spell specifically suited for this task, but between the Spell to Disguise a Weapon and the Spell to Alter a Musical Instrument, you can fake "make something I'm wearing look like something else" decently well with a little work.

"You're going to wear dark glasses at night?" Robin wonders, as you adjust your eyewear.

"They have night vision, among other things… what are you singing, Briar?"

"Nothing~," she replies with a snicker, before flying off. "'So I can, so I can see the light…'"

You trade glances with Robin. "…did she used to sing to herself?"

"No, this is a new madness."

"Ah."

Preparations complete, you momentarily shift your Adjustable Polymorph back to your regular appearance as you exit the basement-

"Why are you wearing sunglasses, Alex?" your mother wonders.

"They're actually goggles."

"My question stands – Tony, stop humming to yourself."

"The madness spreads," Robin muses, while Briar cackles.

-and introduce your partner's brother to your parents – or is it a re-introduction? They were all on Bali Ha'i at the same time.

"We didn't actually speak then," Robin admits. "I was a little busy helping Mom and Summer keep an eye on all the little menaces. You understand, of course."

"Oh, yes," Mom sighs. "Magic or not, I don't know HOW your mother handles so many kids. Zelda is a handful all by herself, and then there's this one..."

After a couple minutes of pleasantries, you resume your disguised form, Robin pulls on his Ring of Invisibility Assistance, and you set out for a night on the town.

In your studies of the demonic, the monstrous, the undead, and even the animalistic, you've come across the argument that, when trying to track down creatures of a general kind – as opposed to specific individuals – signs of the beasts themselves aren't necessarily the first thing you should look for. Rather, some voices recommend finding your quarry's preferred food source, and then either settling in to watch that and wait for the target(s) to show up, or else checking the surrounding area for traces you can follow to another location.

Corpse-demons prey on people, but can't enter private residences without invitation. As you noted to yourself when envisioning your current disguise, the parasites generally aren't interested in having to exert themselves to catch a meal, either, but humans already tend to be skittish at night, and more so again when they're on their own or in small groups after dark – especially in this damn town. And while you haven't directly experienced it yourself, comments from your parents, Lu-sensei, and the other Sunnydale adults you know are in the know and who know that you're in the know – you know? – have given you the impression that corpse-demons on the Hellmouth tend to target teenagers and young adults more frequently than other groups.

With those points in mind, the ideal location for you to check would be a venue that was open to the public after dark, popular with that particular age group, and with enough distractions to cover the sights and sounds of brief struggles to the death.

How… fortunate, then, that you've overheard some of your seniors in Lu-sensei's advanced class talking about a club here in town, where the high school kids like to hang out. You've never been, of course, and the exact address is a little vague, but you have a fairy partner.

Briar heads up, and up, and well out of sight while you and Robin keep walking along, and a couple of minutes later, she returns with directions.

Perhaps fifteen minutes after that, you've managed not to have any demonic encounters – unless the general environmental nastiness counts-

"It's like walking into a monster nest," the blacksmith's voice comes from a short distance to your right. "An old nest, at that. How do you stand this, Briar?"

"You can get used to almost anything, with enough time," your partner replies grimly. Then, in a lighter tone, she adds, "But the familiar bond helps, as does hanging around Alex when he does his daily purification rituals."

-which it arguably should. But whether it does or not, you've started seeing a lot of teenagers, most moving in threes and fours, some on foot, others in motor vehicles, all dressed for dancing and hanging out, and all headed for the same place.

And then you turn a corner and see it: The Ironworks.

As the name suggests, the club is built into the shell of an old industrial plant, one that apparently was shut down when your parents wouldn't have been much older than you are now. The reasons for the closure are unknown to you, never having come up in the handful of conversations you've overheard about the place, but Sunnydale being what it is, blaming the supernatural seems like a safe bet. That aside, the parent company evidently stripped the place of any equipment that was worth taking, locked down the really heavy stuff that would have been too expensive to relocate, and left a bunch of other junk laying around – abandoned office furniture, chains hanging from the ceiling, and what have you. A couple of decades of neglect and decay later, and teenagers were daring each other to check the place out, and then, when Awful Things or Mysterious Disappearances failed to happen, they started using it as a hangout. Eventually, it got popular enough that somebody thought they could make money off of it, bought and renovated the building, and opened it for business.

Looking around-

"I like the shades, man!" one guy calls.

"Thanks."

-you don't spy any demons in the line-up before the door, or haunting the shadows in the area. There's an alley of sorts to the right, between the main building and another that must have been part of the little-i ironworks back in the day, but which doesn't appear to be in use now. To the left, there's a large open area with a loading dock, where some teenagers are just hanging out, talking, and one or two smoking.

Better get the lay of the land first, before heading inside, and the roof offers the best vantage point. Actually getting up there won't be an issue, thanks to your Boots, you just need to find the right moment…

…

It is perhaps a little depressing how easy it is for you to do that. When you slip away from the crowd, heading for the mouth of the not-exactly-an-alley between the two buildings, it's not that surprising that nobody calls after you – after all, you only recognize a few of these older kids by sight, basically none by name, and are disguised as somebody who doesn't exist on top of that – but your heightened senses don't even register a feeling of anybody looking your way.

You choose to believe that it's a combination of your bland appearance – sunglasses aside – better-than-decent stealth skills, and the abundance of shadows created by the poor exterior lighting. The alternatives, that teens in Sunnydale are so passively unobservant of their surroundings and/or actively indifferent to others, are kind of sad.

Whatever the case, you step into the alley without issue, vanishing from the sight of the bouncer and the dozen or so guests waiting in line.

Also, nothing jumps out at you from the deeper darkness. That might have something to do with how narrow and cluttered with junk the alley is, but you don't spare it more than a brief glance and a quick probe with your more exotic senses to make sure nothing is within biting, grabbing, or lunging distance, before clicking your heels together and beginning your ascent via that "jogging in place" method you tried out in the Death Mountain Trial.

Up, up, up you go, until you are level with the roof and able to just step forward onto the ledge, and from there onto the roof proper. Looking around, you find that there's really not a lot to see, at least not atop the building itself: some old pipes and air turbines, the latter of which are not moving; a big boxy set of fans that ARE in operation, and look about thirty years newer than anything else up here; a roof access door that is locked, although not barred or chained, at least not on THIS side; and some litter, including a few cigarette butts.

Satisfied that you aren't about to get jumped by anything – but keeping an ear and a portion of your other senses alert for movement all the same – you turn around and peer over the side of the building, bringing your Corruption Sense to be-

!

-well, THAT was quick!

You're close enough to the door line and the handful of teens by the loading dock that you can shut out the Hellmouth's ambient energies while still getting a good read on them, and with that done, you can say with confidence that there are five demonic signatures in the bunch.

One of these is not a demon at all, but rather the energy of an empowered item, specifically a necklace worn by one of the girls in line. Or maybe calling it an amulet is more accurate? Either way, it's not much more than a crystal on a bit of fabric – pretty enough, but with your awareness of the taint, it comes across more like bait for a trap. Reading the corruption alone doesn't give you the best idea of how strong the crystal's power might be, but a quick probe with Mage Sight answers that – and the answer is, "not really, even by ordinary standards." The aura of Abjuration and Divination suggests a protective charm, something based more on luck or chance than direct, overt defenses, but that's all you can tell without taking more time to investigate.

The next aura is also a magical signature, in this case of a young warlock who is one of the better-dressed individuals in line, with the sort of clothes that subtly show off a certain amount of wealth and taste. Cordy and Kahlua would approve. The guy's objectively pretty good-looking, too, but that subtle sneer and the way he carries himself as if everyone around him were inferior ruin the impression he's no doubt going for, if only in your eyes. The girl hanging off his arm and the three other teens hanging on whatever he's saying don't appear to notice.

The next two demonic presences – one in line, the other over in the second group – are actual demons, or at least demon-blooded humans. You aren't sure about the ancestry of the one in line, the signature being muted enough to suggest that he's more human than not, but the girl by the dock, currently laughing along with her companions at something one of them said, has a familiar aura that it takes you a moment to nail down until you recall a dream at the World Tournament, and an intruding little girl who got rather more than she bargained for.

Succubus or no, it's the last mass of corruption that gets your attention, because the young woman who looks like she could be in her late teens or early twenties is definitely a corpse-demon. The aura, the subtly predatory language, the lack of breathing – you have to look closely to notice – and the fact that she's wearing the height of last year's fashion all prove it.

Points to her for trying, though; an outfit just a year out of date is a lot better than most of the other vamps you and your Shadow have briefly encountered managed…

"Target acquired?" Briar asks.

"I believe so," you reply.

Now there's just the question of how to engage…

Casting the Spell to Attract Undead has some appeal, but you recall what Captain Marcus said when you tested the magic on him, about it feeling like something had reached into his skull and grabbed him by what was left of his brain. He admitted then that if he hadn't been expecting the spell, he might have been driven to attack you, a feeling that only diminished in subsequent tests at greater range.

You're close enough to that corpse-demon that you might still prompt an aggressive response, and while you aren't too bothered by the prospect of a lone bloodrat charging to its demise at your hands, the thing is standing in the middle of a bunch of humans, who might get hurt if the unholy entity in their midst freaks out.

Why take the risk if you don't have to?

So instead, you cast the Spell to Command Undead-

!

Bwahahahaha!

What brought THAT on?

I am almost reluctant to ask.

-which takes effect with surprising ease. Not that you were particularly concerned by the prospect of the vampire standing up to your magic – being a necromancer with reliable access to spells of the eighth circle has its perks, after all – but you did think you'd at least sense some kind of resistance, some spiritual push-back or demonic struggle. Instead, it feels like the psychic equivalent of walking up to a solid stone wall, giving it a push, and seeing the whole thing collapse.

Shaking your head in wonder-

"Wait, did it not work?" Briar asks in surprise.

"Almost the exact opposite," you reply.

-you head back over to the alley-side of the building, Air Walk over the ledge, and start your descent. A short time later, you walk around the corner of the Ironworks, pass the bouncer and the folks at the head of the line with a couple short nods of acknowledgement, and keep moving down the line until you reach your target.

"Hey, there," you greet the corpse-demon.

"Hey, yourself, stranger," she replies, turning to you with a surprised blink that shifts to a… surprisingly genuine-looking expression of friendly puzzlement. The hints of restrained aggression and deadly hunger in her posture and expression that you were able to discern when observing from above are just… well, no, not gone, she clearly would still kill any of the people around her, but not the least hint of hostility is being directed your way. "Can I help you with something?"

Wait.

And that sounds more like an actual offer than the merely expected social politeness most humans would extend.

Waaaaiiiit.

What the heck did your magic just do?

"So," you say, your confusion over your spell's effectiveness affording a slight delay that, thinking on it, probably helps to sell your act, "I know this is completely out of the black and all, and you don't know me from a hole in the ground, but would you mind joining me for a walk?"

…why is she blushing?

Bwahahahaha!

…I see.

…oh my.

A couple of the people in line, meanwhile, are giving you looks that range from jealous to startled to impressed. One guy even gives you a thumb-up.

"Sure," the demon replies, stepping out of line. "Where to?"

"Just around the way, a little chance to talk privately…"

Is… is the spell supposed to be able to do that?

Bwahahahaha!

Although a good part of you is still tied up wondering exactly what is going on, and a second part readying to draw Robin's knife, another bit considers that you have here a corpse-demon that you're in a position to make inquiries of, as long as you keep them friendly.

Do you have any questions you'd like to ask?