The next morning, I woke up just in time to find Olivia stretching outside her guest room. It was pretty early, so I guess continually getting up to run the early morning patrols had affected both our sleep schedules. She quickly spotted me and nodded, before I waved her over to the lounge area. After a breakfast of fruit and some bacon, thanks to Kali and her growing magic, I leaned back in my chair.

  "So, you've got some explaining to do," I said, clarifying what I meant when she gave me a concerned look. "Your cloak, what exactly is going on with that? Between those wings, then the phase eating at the PRT, something is clearly up cause neither of those things were features I built in."

  "Well… I mean, it's magic, right?" She pointed out, looking at me with a bit of confusion. "Magic is all about intent and willpower and all that stuff, so what it can do is flexible, as long as it's not too crazy and you have the will and intent, right?"

  For a moment, I opened my mouth to assure her that was not how it worked, when I realized that she wasn't entirely wrong, at least for her cloak. While it was not the first thing I created, it was certainly done pretty early in my career as a ritualist. In fact, I was almost certain it was done not long after making Kali and my first golems. I had left the ritual almost completely open-ended, partially as an experiment and partially because I hadn't been sure what I wanted to make for her. Rituals without tight control over what they became were often significantly more powerful, and I figured that extra boost would make up for the lack of coherent direction.

  Now, I was pretty sure she was taking advantage of that lack of direction and pushing it toward things she wanted or needed. It wasn't all that surprising; after all, ritualized artifacts weren't as locked in and inviolable as enchanted artifacts. There was some breathing room for items that had been ritualized, and she had clearly taken quite a few big breaths. Rather than squash that by telling her she was wrong or that I hadn't known that was possible, I realized it would be much better for her if I just brushed it off as surprising and let her continue to make the most out of it. It wasn't like it would harm her, it was tied to her blood, after all.

  "Yeah, I was just surprised you could do it so easily," I shrugged. "You tuned yourself into it better than I thought."

  "What can I say? I'm just that good," she said with a smirk. "So, what are we up to today?"

  "Today we patrol again, same place, same strategy," I said with a shrug. "The Empire might come after us, or they might be a bit hesitant to attack now that they realize reinforcements are just a call away. If they don't come out, then our next step will be to start hitting Empire assets directly. They won't be able to hold back after that, no matter what sort of ambush we might be setting up."

  "Why not just start there?" She asked, genuinely curious. "I mean, I probably should have asked that when we were talking about it with New Wave, but…"

  "Because our trap should keep civilian casualties down," I responded with a shrug. "We can control where we patrol, meaning we can stick to places with fewer people. We have no control over where the Empire stashes its drugs or decides to set up a safe house. The best we can do in that situation is pick and choose our targets, but that will only go so far, especially if the Empire realizes what's happening."

  Olivia nodded, and after cleaning up from breakfast, we quickly got ready, a quick rinse in the showers before getting our costumes on. When we were both all set, I teleported to the New Wave meeting place to find Laserdream and Lady Photon waiting for us. After a short conversation and confirming that our radios were set to the right station, we started our patrol, cutting through Empire territory.

  Hours passed as we walked, during which we stopped a mugging and a robbery, the cops taking them away quickly, clearly worried about hanging around us in Empire territory. I couldn't exactly blame them either, if I didn't have to worry about the consequences, or watch someone suffer, I would have strongly considered not intervening in the crimes, as they stood the chance of complicating things very quickly.

  Thankfully, that never happened, and after the route was finished, Laserdeam and Lady Photon tagged in, doing a similar route along a different path. Two hours later, they two returned with minimal difficulties, and Crow and I went around again, though we took a break so I could visit the hospital and take care of my patients. When we returned and went on patrol again, we walked around for three hours before we finally called it. The Empire was clearly not going to fall for our ambush tactic a second time.

  "Well.., that just about settles it," I said, Lady Photon nodding in agreement. "We are going to have to start hitting their assets directly. Alya has already passed me a couple potential spots for us to check out, but I think we should put that off for tonight."

  "As long as it's not a place with too many civilians around, any target works," Lady Photon responded. "But I agree, later in the night would be better."

  "Fantastic, then Crow and I will hit Alya's first target tonight. She thinks it is some sort of armory set up in a townhouse along our first route," I explained, looking at Crow, who nodded in agreement without me even asking. "Unless something goes wrong, we won't even call the cops. We will just destroy everything worth anything. I don't want to risk them slipping anything through or creating a problem when people come to investigate what happened."

  Lady Photon chewed her lip for a moment, clearly not sure how she stood on such a method, before eventually nodding in agreement.

  "Your instincts about the contraband eventually just get back to the Empire is… Frustratingly true," She admitted, shaking her head. "I have a feeling not much we do with the standard police would stick for very long."

  "Just leave it to me then, I have no problem crushing or destroying all of it," I offered. "If the police want to complain, they should have dealt with their corruption sooner. I would be treating the PRT the same way if I had any other option. This branch is so full of holes it's like looking at Swiss cheese."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  We discussed our plans a bit more before we went our separate ways, the two New Wave Members heading home while Crow and I took a short break. We were tired and hungry from taking two long patrols, so we grabbed something to eat and headed back to the forest. We sat in the lounge eating our pizza and sipping our drinks when Olivia leaned back. She noticed that I was continually checking my phone as we talked.

  "Something interesting?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at me as I looked up at her.

  "I'm keeping an eye on a few things around the country," I explained. "Alya is looking to evolve into the next step for an air elemental, and I need some specific things to help make that happen."

  "Evolve?"

  "Yeah, that's basically their life cycle," I explained, feeling Alya perk up and pay attention as I talked about her. "It would normally happen after finding a location rich with their element, so maybe a windswept plain or a windy mountain peak. But there's nowhere near enough magic in those places, at least in this world. So I need to make up for that with a ritual."

  "And this ritual needs to take place by certain events?" Olivia guessed.

  "Pretty much. On top of that, since the process has a lot to do with locations, I can't just do it here," I explained, gesturing to the nearby ritual platform. "I already designed the ritual, now I'm just looking for the perfect time and place. I might vanish for a bit if that happens, though not if we are doing something important."

  "What would it mean for her?" Olivia asked before shaking her head. "It feels weird talking about her with her not here."

  "That's partly why we are looking to make this happen," I explained. "Her issue with appearing in front of people is tied to her nature, as far as we can tell. We are hoping that by evolving her nature a bit, she will shift and be able to appear for longer. She might even make an official debut, depending on how she feels."

  Alya shrugged through our connection before fluttering away to resume her watch. Personally, I had a feeling that once she took up her next form, Alya would likely get more comfortable with being in her corporeal form, but she would never be completely relaxed. Considering that she barely took that form without needing to, just having her appear a bit more voluntarily would be nice.

  Not too long after our conversation, Olivia and I finished our food before settling in to wait until night had settled in to cover our mission. Olivia was content to hang out, relax, and occasionally ask questions about my magic while I worked around the camp. For the most part, I messed around with my druidcraft powers, testing out combinations of plants, especially mixing and matching fruit combinations. Primarily, I was getting a handle on growing things without using seeds, as it was not as simple as waving my hand and thinking about what I wanted. Without a seed, I had to focus intently on what I was looking for as I used my magic to create a plant from nothing but mana. If I just kept it general, I would get things like generic vines or trees.

  Of course, I also had fun trying out the fruit combinations. My favorite by far was the banana pineapple, which tasted amazing, while Olivia liked the strawberry watermelon I grew at her request.

  After a while, I remembered that I still hadn't dropped off the list of materials I would need for my promised shipment of luck-imbued items. I quickly double-checked to make sure it wasn't too late, and that the list had everything I needed before teleporting to the PRT. Luckily, Director Piggot was expecting my list, so I was able to hand it to her quickly. She didn't even look at it, simply stashing it inside a special-looking envelope and sealing it shut. She nodded and informed me that if they had any questions or when they had gathered everything on the list, they would call me. She then shook my hand and told Miss Militia to see me out.

  It was a remarkably straightforward and clean interaction with the PRT, so much so that it made me wonder why every other interaction had been so complicated. I was tempted to ask Miss Militia before she returned inside, only to stop myself before I ruined the moment.

  When I returned to the forest, the sun was just starting to set, and the moon was slowly moving across the sky. It wasn't quite a full moon, but it was close enough that it reminded me to grab a sample of it in containment vails. I didn't know what it would be good for, but it would probably help with something.

  With my business with the PRT finished for now and the time slowly getting later, it wasn't long before it was time for Olivia and I to head out into the city again. We quickly got dressed into our uniforms once more, the golems gathering around me before I teleported us out, landing in a dark, dirty alleyway not far from our target. After we had all settled, I turned to look at Crow.

  "Crow… I think for tonight, it's time for you to shine," I said, walking us deeper into the dark alleyway. "I want to avoid creating a larger conflict here, which means striking and finishing whoever is inside this base before they can radio for support. When we were doing this with ABB, they were already broken, so we didn't have to worry nearly as much about them sending reinforcements. Now we do."

  "Wait, you want to send me in on my own?" She asked, sounding a bit panicked.

  "With me and the golems ready to bust in the second you need it," I assured her, putting my hand on her shoulder. "Alya can guide you through the building, and she will keep me in the loop in case you need something."

  "I… okay, that's a bit better, but still Arc," She said, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "That's a lot..."

  "I think you can handle it, but let's get closer and take a look at the building," I suggested. "If the whole thing is lit up like a Christmas tree, we can call it off."

  "... Fine, let's go," She said, and I nodded, letting Alya lead me to the target.

  We quickly made our way down and around the building we had teleported next to, slowly making our way down the alley. When we finally approached the last street, I had Alya scan through the building.

  "There are six armed gang members," She explained, whispering in our ears. "Three on watch, three on break… there are plenty of dark shadows to hide in as well… I think she should be able to handle it."

  Crow let out a long breath, cursing and muttering to herself. I reached out again and patted her shoulder.

  "Listen, if you don't want to go alone, that's fine, I won't force you," I said, not wanting to push her too far. "We can try to blitz them all at once before they can call out."

  "No… No, you're are right. This is our best bet. I can do this," She said, shaking herself a bit. "I fought Lung, Oni Lee, and lept off a building to take down Rune. I can handle a couple of goons."

  "I believe in you," I assured her with a smile. "Alya will be right behind you, keeping you and me updated on how you are doing. If something goes wrong, we will come smashing through the front door as a distraction. That will pull the heat off you if you need it and give you a chance to escape a dangerous situation."

  "Right, got it," She said with a nod, looking out across the street. "Okay Alya, let's do this."

  Crow faded into the shadows just before she stepped out of the Alleyways cover, fading away to nothing almost instantly. There was a lamp post about thirty feet up the street, but the one on the other side was busted, giving her plenty of cover for her to stay hidden. I waited in silence for one minute, then another, and then a third before Alya finally spoke up.

  "She reached the backyard and jumped up to a second-story roof, where a window was open," She explained. "She's about to head inside now."

  I let out a breath of relief that she had at least made it that far, before settling in to wait for more news, resisting the urge to pace around the alleyway.