15.5

They moved through the College courtyard towards the walled gate that exited the school. Eve spun together a Ritual burying it in a tiny orb the size of a large ball bearing. The silver sheen was worked with tiny runes scribbled in haste. Witch’s Dust was restrained to only the normal shielding of her body to minimize the drain. She’d left the passive monitoring dust in the Praetor’s office, but connecting to it would require physical retrieval to obtain the contained information.

I need information. Eve thought, spinning the ball with telekinesis as she built pressure around the orb. The best information device on Earth is, of course, satellites, right? At the same time, they stepped outside the gate from the courtyard. She raised her finger, pointing to the sky. The pressure released as she relaxed her grip on the compressed air shot spinning the orb directly skyward. That alone wouldn’t have been enough to reach orbit, but once it reached the maximum height, her embedded runes flashing upon its surface activated. A burst of light, like the sun brought to earth, vaporized the lower half of the orb, shooting the remaining portion inexorably beyond the reach of gravity’s tyranny.

Eve smiled at the startled expression of those nearby before whispering to Charlotte and Justin, “Act normal. You can truthfully state you know nothing.” She had taken this risk because if there was one thing the library didn’t have, it was accurate maps. Information on where something was held of more importance was concealed to extreme lengths. From what Eve could see, to those in power, the location of something held more importance than mere spells of mass destruction.

There was no way to know why this was so, but Eve placed a self-replicating satellite into space to map the world around her, among other things. Powered by the transmutation of Witch’s Dust to pull material from the space between space and the energy emitted from the Sun, it would outlast her stay with absolute certainty. If the device grew enough, it could be a beacon with which she could lock onto and eventually return with, in theory.

I never had any plan to stay on the Prison Plane. This is just another backup option if there isn’t a way out from the Deeps. Eve thought as the two children fielded questions about her actions. Reverse Summoning might be possible if I can establish a way to bypass the Primordial Dust.

Once the situation was settled down with the simplistic explanation that they knew nothing, the influx of questions waned. When the flustered College guards attempted to continue questioning her, Charlotte pulled rank, shutting them down. With impeccable timing, the two tutors in Air and Blood showed up shortly after.

“Greetings, students. I am Professor Swift, and this dour gentleman is Professor Bloodwood. We will teach you the advanced arts for Air and Blood, respectively.” Professor Swift said with a perfunctory bow. Eve ignored the two individuals, instead staring out at the quaint town below the hill the College of Warlocks occupied.

The village below wasn’t small by any measure except Earth's enormous, sprawling cities. Eve observed the use of mana crystals for lighting purposes. The crystal lighting mages moved among the streets dousing the lights in preparation for the sun slowly creeping over the horizon in the distant mountain ring.

Since the College proper doesn’t believe I can make good on my threat, it isn’t as valid. Eve thought as the sleepy town woke up. I will need to provide graphic examples in order to rectify the ignorance. Such things could be provided by the tools at hand. In her mind, Eve glanced at the two ‘tutors’ who were nothing more than thinly disguised mafia cleaners. They would make fine examples if nothing better showed up.

“We’ll head to the mansion in town and take the train to the estate from there,” Charlotte said before moving to a waiting set of carriages. It appeared the young lady had communicated their departure well in advance. Eve leaped up to the top of the carriage using Witch’s Dust to stick to the surface as the carriage started moving. The airflow was easily dealt with by shifting the Air around her body. Anyone looking with something like mana-sight would easily see the blazing figure of power she emitted.

As the carriage moved through the well-kept streets, Eve looked at the houses. Each house was a standardized format of four stories with a clear V-shaped roof. While the general appearance of the place resembled a German town set back in olden times, it wasn’t completely without technological advancements. Magical crystal-lighted lampposts, water-filled plumbing pipes, and trolly tracks all indicated that there was indeed scientific progress on quite a few levels. Shrugging, Eve let herself drop into a cross-legged seated position. Her clothing shifted into a tight-fitting tunic of gray on the top with silver highlights with ankle-length painted-on workout pants. She turned one of the swords back into a branch before casting it aside onto the street, rushing past.

Since she was only Tier Three in this place, it was time to do some serious work to remedy her weaknesses. Witch’s Dust might not be as effective in the same manner as at Tier Six, but it was far from useless. Within the range of three meters of her body, it was still able to feed off the Shroud. Further, that caused a massive drain making things difficult. It was annoying, but Eve still had precision beyond mortal limits for something like rune-crafting. Carving micro-runes wasn’t impossible.

Felix dropped lumps of silver out from within his form. Even though she herself was limited, Eve wasn’t without resources. Her allies had no such issue as long as they didn’t get into direct combat. It was time to don the trappings of a society that had more education in enchanting than this entire planet probably had.

Let’s start with rings. Eve thought. Rings, earrings, bracelets, upper tunic, leggings, boots, and finally, sword in that order of enchanting.

The silver lumps from Felix melted and shifted into perfectly circular rings before floating up to eye level. Eve placed shards gifted by Felix from when the dungeon core would shift his form closer to a perfected version. While the shards could do nothing except draw ambient mana inward, they were perfect foci for enchanting. Tiny spider-script runes scrolled across the ten rings floating in front of Eve.

A smooth ring twisted to resist the elements formed as the first of ten. Unlike a normal item, it wasn’t bound merely to the limited function of a single element. Unfortunately, this would also reduce the effectiveness of the ring. While she couldn’t swim in lava with it, keeping summer's heat or winter's chill at bay would be no major issue.

The next ring was something a bit more advanced from her knowledge of Earth. Without the ubiquitous power of Tier Six, she still needed her senses to be in top form. The second ring allowed her to peer through solid matter with the exception of denser material, such as lead. It wouldn’t be perfect, but the ability to spot someone behind a wall or tree was invaluable in combat.

The third ring was tied into her Witch’s Dust, acting like a centralized focus for the shielding. It created a breaker circuit, so if something struck so hard that it could pierce her defense, she would have precious seconds to unfold her full power!

The fourth ring she formed was a basic aid in regenerating her physical stamina, health, and other such things. It wouldn’t allow her to re-attach an arm with ease, but it could allow for such given months. It would also allow her to seamlessly consume most organic matter. The needs of the body returned with a vengeance after reducing her Tier. Hunger was annoying, and Eve didn’t miss it one bit.

The fifth ring was a basic shield for her mind. While it wouldn’t provide immunity, it would serve as a trigger to alert Witch’s Dust to any attempt at mental intrusion.

The sixth ring was a focus on the use of telekinesis. It helped with the heavy lifting allowing Eve to lift more with the same amount of mana she currently would use. It was Eve's favorite of all the rings made so far.

The seventh through tenth rings were much like the sixth, only focused on the elements of Air, Water, Fire, and Earth. While she was only able to manipulate the same weight of each substance as her own body, it was still a worthwhile investment.

A right and left earring were formed and inscribed with runes next. The right earring was a telepathic conduit that allowed Eve to speak silently to her current ‘summoners,’ avoiding the appearance of impropriety. It wouldn’t do for a bodyguard to be giving commands. The left earring was a simple enhancement to the sense of hearing, which also provided a useful automatic sound dampener.

A bracelet of light bending joined Eve’s right wrist next. Invisibility was a valuable tool, and Eve was not limited to merely a single sense anyway. She kept the piece a thin circle of silver instead of using a vambrace to better allow for wrist movements.

A second bracelet joined the first on the opposite wrist, this one being a simple working of animal communication. It didn’t allow Eve to control the creatures, but it would allow her to ask the birds, mice, and other such beings if anything suspicious was nearby.

Eve allowed runes to flow into the stitching of her tunic disguised behind geometric symbols of black and white on grey. Her tunic would work as if she was wearing chainmail without additional weight. The same runes were applied to her leggings, allowing further protection. It wasn’t full plate, but it drew far less mana from the Shroud than a stronger enchantment would. Unfortunately, it also made shifting the clothing impossible until the runes were unwoven.

Eve grinned as she enchanted her boots to provide a minor twist in spatial movement. While they weren’t able to cross seven leagues in a single step, teleportation within ten meters opened up quite a few options.

The final enchantments were scripted into silver runes that scrolled up and down her wooden sword in rings of meaning. Sharpen kept the wooden edge superior to any possible metallic blade. Weightless made sure that she could wield it as easily as air. Holy Aura took care of the vast majority of evil things. If something wasn’t evil, Winter’s Bite and Summer’s Maw could easily solve it instead.

Change allowed the sword to switch between anything from a Jian to a butter knife. Return ensured she could throw without worrying about being disarmed. Additionally, Felix was set in the hilt as a final touch, providing a minor spatial shielding effect on top of her own Witch’s Dust. It wasn’t very strong, more like a thin layer of glass, but it was better than nothing.

Eve completed enchanting almost two hours later as the carriage pulled into a large mansion set close to the eastern gate. As the carriage passed through the wrought iron gate, a decadent garden spread out before her. The carriage proceeded along the graveled pathway until it stopped before the main door of a magnificent mansion. Eve eyed the mansion, impressed. The entire edifice wouldn’t look out of place on the pages of a London magazine of the rich and famous.

She hopped down from the top of the carriage, landing softly next to Charlotte as she exited. Justin was followed by Professor Swift and finally Professor Bloodwood. A butler met the group at the top of the short stairs leading to the main door. Bowing low, the butler said, “It is good to see you return, young mistress.”

“Ralph, prepare the household for returning. We’ve been cast out of the College due to an unfortunate prank.” Charlotte said imperiously.

Ralph’s eye flashed before he said, “Understood. I will have everything handled before lunch. Will young miss’s friends be accompanying her home?” Eve didn’t miss how the butler gave a disparaging glance at Justin before looking at her briefly with confusion.

“Indeed, this is Justin, an excellent student of the College who has decided to accompany me in exchange for research funds,” Charlotte said before pointing at Eve. “She’s a bodyguard of extraordinary physical talents who has accepted my offer of employment.”

Ralph’s eyes narrowed as he said, “Would the young miss mind if I tested her? It wouldn’t do to have the reputation of the House in the hands of someone unqualified.”

Charlotte looked back at Eve and said, “Would you mind being tested briefly? I have complete faith in you, but it is best to lay all rumors to rest.”

Eve bowed low and said, “Of course, mistress. I will be sure to remove all doubt as to my talents.” She removed the wooden sword held in a simple leather loop alongside her hip. Moving to the side, she separated from the group allowing the butler, Ralph, to join her.

The older gentleman created a circle in the gravel with a twist of earth-flavored mana.

Eve smiled and said, “Age before youth, please, sir.”