Magic Multiverse 23 (Patreon)

Punishing Willow was fun. Unfortunately, after Buffy delivered her lecture, she decided to drag Willow to Giles for a follow-up lecture. He just hoped that they would before he had to leave for the fight.

He stayed behind rather than trying to follow them, even though he wanted to meet Giles. As expected, Buffy was not ready to introduce him to their larger friend group. He didn’t even need to question why.

The source of her hesitation wasn’t exactly a mystery.

Also, he didn’t insist that much, especially after he convinced Willow to lend him her books on magic, at least the safe Wiccan ones. He didn’t need them thanks to his skill, but showing an actual source for his knowledge was always better.

[Tantric - Expert 123/1000

Boxing - Expert 85/1000

Wand Magic Theory - Advanced 60/250

Soccer - Advanced 53/250 (Midfielder)

Magical Combat - Advanced 40/250

Acrobatics - Advanced 25/250

Chess - Intermediate 74/100

Wiccan Magic - Intermediate 55/100

Darts - Intermediate 21/100

Vampire Lore - Intermediate 0/100

Meditation -Intermediate 0/100

Poker - Basic 14/50

Bojutsu - Basic 2/50]

He found himself a nice, concealed spot, ready to practice, when he had been interrupted by three figures walking toward him, with Parker at the center. “Hey, you’re the asshole that got me kicked out of the club,” Parker said, walking toward them.

“Well, I did,” Sam responded, standing up. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m going to teach you not to mess with our frat brothers, you arrogant asshole,” one of the others declared.

Sam paused, thinking the best way to handle it without revealing too much about his knowledge. “You should have treated my friend better,” he said.

“Who’s your friend?” said one of his escorts.

“I don’t know, probably one of the freshmen girls,” he said, then sneered. “You know the difference between a freshman girl and a toilet seat… A toilet seat doesn't follow you around after you use it—“

Sam decided that he heard enough. He wasn’t exactly the perfect gentleman, but the waste of spaces like them… He just took a step forward and delivered a jab. Admittedly, once he realized his true identity, he didn’t expect much.

But he didn’t expect him to go down with a soft jab.

“Really,” Sam found himself muttering while he looked at the other two. “Do you guys want to drag him away, or…”

They decided dragging him away was better.

[Street Fight Victory, +1 Boxing]

[Minor Special Character Defeated, Parker Adams]

[+5 Poker]

“Parker,” he said as he read the description, confirming that at least this time, he guessed the name correctly. Him being a character was nice, but the reward was less so. He wasn’t exactly looking to become a card shark.

Parker was not even as useful as Dudley. “What a waste of space.”

Though, after kicking Parker’s ass, he found himself thinking about Buffy again. Particularly, how could she fight against vampires? She had supernatural strength, that much was obvious … but enough to match vampires. He had no idea how such a thing was possible?

As for asking her openly, he ignored that directly. Not due to any complicated reasons. He still didn’t want to stop calling her Anne, because it made her considerably more fun.

She seemed to be very happy in her little subterfuge. And, a happy Buffy kept him happy.

He returned to his main objective. He closed his eyes, and channeled Meditation skill. It was nice. It was calming. And, more importantly, once he sat down and focused with closed eyes, he was able to feel magic somewhat. Something he suspected to be only possible due to his three magical skills.

“No wonder vampires are fans of this place,” he muttered. He hadn’t felt a lot of different magical sources to compare, but the current one certainly felt dark and dirty, like taking a deep breath and smelling burnt plastic … or, in this case, a distinct undertone of sulfur.

Still, while the discovery about Sunnydale’s ambient magic was unfortunate, it still showed that Meditation was a valuable skill. He turned to his next skill to be tested.

Wiccan magic.

He didn’t start by trying to process the information dumped into the skill. Some external information helped to contextualize things, so he went through the book, which proved to be the right call.

It helped him to connect with his other skills better. It was a difficult thing to describe. Skills carried condensed, easily usable information, but they also arrived in different categories. Wand Magic Theory and Wiccan Magic didn’t suddenly overlap into a perfect distillation of insights.

Reading the book on some beginner Wiccan rituals, however, allowed him to process the available information through his three magical skills, each giving him interesting insights. For example, one of the first Wiccan rituals on the book was related to healing.

It was a weak beginner ritual, requiring an hour to conduct, yet barely enough to heal something bigger than a bruise.

While he examined it, he compared it to Wand Magic Theory. Wands and ritual magic were completely different, even discounting the great gap in efficiency and speed. Ritual magic, at least the tame Wiccan variant, relied entirely on ambient magic, requiring no actual power from the caster. Wand magic was completely opposite, drawing the reserves of the body through the core of the wand, resonating with the wizard.

He suspected it was also why proper wizards and witches were so rare, they lacked the spark; though that part was still a theory of his own rather than something he got from his skills. Wand magic theory only included how to shape the magic from the body, not how it came to be there in the first place.

It was not exactly wrong to compare one to a windmill, the other to an engine, one powered by external forces, the other internal. However, just like machines, the middle part where they converted energy into action worked on similar principles.

Not the same, but similar enough that he was already coming up with interesting ideas, like sealing a healing ritual into a staff. Not as an actual healing spell, but as a way to empower a staff against vampires, who were extremely weak against positive energies, and his Magical Combat knowledge told him how he could transform the energy for maximum effectiveness against the undead.

Luckily, while Sunnydale was a small city, it was still a city, and finding a store that sold ordinary martial arts equipment like gloves, staffs, and nunchucks wasn’t difficult. It might have been more of a challenge to get real swords or spears, but luckily, he wasn’t looking for them.

He found that a staff was a better option. He couldn’t carry around a sword or a spear everywhere he went, but a staff was acceptable. Weird, but acceptable; also, as his little encounter against Willow’s ex and her murderous bit on the side had shown, getting his hands on a staff in an emergency was easier.

Of course, the biggest reason for his choice was that, against a vampire, a staff was even deadlier than a sword. Even at merely in basic, Bojutsu skill had three different finishing moves that delivered the staff against the chest of his opponent.

He bought half a dozen staffs, which proved to be a good idea. Wiccan magic didn’t suddenly make him more skilled in carving, and three staffs burned when he tried to channel the energies, the four barely holding on.

“Just like that, I have my first magical weapon,” he said, feeling too excited to continue reading the book on Wiccan magic, and instead started to swing his staff around. The skill was still basic, which should have meant that he wasn’t skilled enough.

But, just like his test with Wiccan magic, once he started practicing, the skills stopped being isolated entities. He had Acrobatics at advanced, and Boxing at expert. Combined, he could move without losing his balance, and maintain a general sense of awareness incredibly well.

His ways of utilizing the bo staff were pretty basic, but he would much rather have one reliable strike that he could take down a vampire with rather than a lot of fancy tricks.

Especially since those fancy tricks would arrive once he dealt with some vampires.

He hummed as he practiced, the staff warm under his touch, which would have been more encouraging if he hadn’t known that was a sign of his ineptly carved runes leaking magic, meaning the little hidden enchantment would at most survive a day.

None of his skills taught him proper wood carving.

He shrugged. Ultimately, it was just a prototype. Anything stronger, the wood itself wouldn’t survive either. Cheap stuff from a martial arts shop was not the best magical medium.

Surprising.

However, soon he saw Buffy. Though, she wasn’t alone. Next to her was a tall, handsome, blonde guy with broad shoulders, desperately flirting with Buffy. They were too far away for him to hear, but he didn’t need to. The guy’s body language was shouting it.

He might have even felt a hint of jealousy if Buffy had shown any sign of actually noticing the guy’s desperate flirting.

He hummed. After learning her true name and matching it with the violent rumors about her, he had assumed her lack of experience was mostly about people fearing to approach her. But, watching her completely miss very obvious, and very awkward, flirting from the tall and handsome guy, he suspected that her obliviousness carried part of the blame.

Luckily, his brand of flirting relied less on words, or he might have missed an excellent partner.

He approached them, staff in hand. Buffy’s smile grew the moment she saw him, immediately jumping to his side. “Finally—“ she started, which was all she was able to say before he leaned for a short but searing kiss.

When he pulled back, the blonde guy lost his smile. “Riley, this is Sam. He’s my … friend.”

He chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled against his chest. “Yes, friend,” he confirmed with a chuckle, enjoying Riley’s expression fall, then offered his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Riley grimaced, disappointment radiating off him, but he was nice enough when they shook hands, no weird macho attempts to squeeze his hand too tight or anything. Nice guy indeed. Just not enough for him to stop seducing Buffy to give him a chance.

He wasn’t a saint … or a moron.

However, while shaking his hand, Sam noticed the guy had too many calluses. Either he was a hard laborer, which he doubted based on his fancy hair and expensive clothes, or he fought a lot.

Interesting, just not interesting enough to make his stay a priority. Also, he had learned not to make assumptions. He just marked him as a person of interest, and then kissed Buffy again. Her utter disregard while Riley muttered an excuse and walked away proved she didn’t even notice his departure.

Maybe it would have been different without him, but that was idle, useless concern. “So, my beautiful Anne,” he whispered, unable to hide a hint of amusement in his tone when he called her that. “How did the lesson go?”

She shrugged. “Well, the usual. Willow apologized for being hasty, and promised never to cast a spell without thinking again. Which means we have a week before she pulls another trick. I love Willow, but she can be very reckless. You?”

He decided to give her an out if she wished. “Well, this Buffy guy finally found me, ready to get revenge.”

She tensed. “Really?”

“Yep. He went down with a jab. Total scrub. And to think everyone goes around talking about this amazing, scary Buffy…” he teased.

“Well, you know how rumors can be,” she said, blushing scarlet, yet determined not to reveal it. Instead, she distracted him with a kiss. He let her be, curious how stubborn she would be about that.

They collapsed against a tree, kissing for a long while. Only when they pulled, breathless, Buffy noticed the discarded staffs. “What’s with the stick?” she asked.

“I decided that tangling with vampires every single day was not the best thing for my health. Learning how to use a staff seems like a good compromise.”

She nodded. “I can see it. It’ll give you reach, and against vampires, it will be very useful. The other demons, however…” she started, then paused. “Well, you shouldn’t be fighting demons in any case.”

“Maybe I should leave the demon fighting to you, and watch you as you struggle to try to throw them around with your cute hands,” he responded, teasing her even more openly. Her eyes tightened, and she opened her mouth to argue. “Right, my beautiful Anne?” he added.

That made her eyes widen.

He kissed her again.

Though, while he teased her, he still knew nothing about the source of her strength. Buffy was almost thirty centimeters shorter than him, and probably thirty kilos lighter. It was impossible to generate that much power biologically, regardless of the advantages.

However, that assumed she was limited to biology.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know enough about the magical world to even start guessing. Magical rituals, demon ancestry, government experiments… Too many options.

Curious, he tried to extend his newly acquired magical senses, but through them, he felt nothing. Well, not at first. As he continued to kiss her, he did notice a new trick.

His mystic awareness could be channeled through Tantric.

His discovery was even more interesting. What he found was a well of mystical energy. She was essentially glowing to his senses, so much that he couldn’t discern anything about the nature of the energy before the pain hit. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Careful with the teeth, sweetie,” he said, kissing her again for another minute before he finally pulled back.

This time, they chose to lay together, silent, while her head rested against his chest. They lay in silence for a while. At first, it was merely calm, but then, she shuffled, the shift noticeable. “Is something wrong?” he asked.

“No,” she said, but her lie was obvious.

“Anne,” he teased.

“Well, nothing is wrong per se,” she said. “You’re leaving for Los Angeles, right?”

“Yes. I’ll probably have to start driving soon,” he said. “Soon, as in about half an hour.”

“About your offer to take someone to your fight…” she said.

He laughed. “Yes, sweetie. You can come with me. I mean, it’s not even a favor.”

She shuffled. “What if it’s someone else?”

“Well, then I might have to ask for payment,” he said, catching her disappointment. “In kisses … or more,” he added, teasing while his hands explored her body. She was actually surprised, her smile widening. He shook his head.

It was sad Just how little expectation she had from him … or people in general.

“So, who’s the extra I have to bring? And, fair warning. If it’s the Hawaiian shirt guy, he has to wear something else. It’s a classy event.”

Buffy laughed. “No, it’s not Xander. That’s not his scene,” she explained. “Actually, I was thinking if you could ask Willow to accompany you. She’s devastated after… well, Oz and his murderer mistress.”

He hummed, amused. Buffy was not only sending the girl they had ravaged the night before with him, but somewhat believing it to be a favor she was asking.

He wondered whether she actually believed that he allowed Willow into their bed solely as a favor to her, and not because Willow was extremely sexy in her own way.

It had to be, at least to a degree, because she was acting as if it were a big favor. Either that, or she was overestimating how easily he could raise Willow’s mood and thinking Willow would be a boring partner for the road. “She had a complicated twenty-four hours,” he said. “Depression is an understandable reaction.”

“She’s not handling it well,” she said.

“Yeah, the dark magic ritual I interrupted was somewhat of a clue,” he added. “Are you sure you don’t want to come as well? It’ll be a fun trip.”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t want to. I…” she started.

He kissed her again. “You don’t have to tell me if you’re not feeling comfortable,” he said.

“No, I want to,” she said. “It’s just … my ex is currently in Los Angeles, and I don’t want to see him.”

If it hadn’t been for the utter devastation in her tone while she said the name, he would have teased her about her obsession. Instead, he let her curl up on his chest. It was the most fragile and vulnerable he had ever seen her.

He didn’t know what to say, so he just hugged her.

“No questions?” she asked.

“It doesn’t feel like you want to talk about it,” he said.

“I don’t, but… aren’t you curious?”

“We don’t talk about it. My curiosity has nothing to do with it,” he said. Not his usual attitude, admittedly, but he could feel just how badly she wanted to run away. Even if he tried to ask questions, she probably would have tried to answer before changing her mind.

Meaning, pushing her was just pointless.

He suspected she still had strong feelings for her ex, but if she did, talking about it would hardly resolve them. He would much rather replace those feelings with his own effort. “Instead of talking, do you want to practice staff fighting with me?” he offered.

Her eyes widened as if he had bought her a pair of new boots. “Really?”

“Of course,” he said. Having a sparring partner was always nice.

Not to mention, she was still trying to hide her strength. With that, he should be able to win their spar easily, even farming some points in the process…

After all, she couldn’t be a master of staff as well as ranged and unarmed, right?

… or maybe she could be, he corrected when he attacked her, only for her to swipe his feet out from under him with a smooth flick. And, she didn’t even use her strength, or move any faster than a normal person should be capable of.

Just pure technique.

He hummed as he stood up, and after a quick clash, he had ended on his back again, this time barely surviving three hits.

“Any regrets?” she teased, but he could see the hesitation in her tone, afraid that she hurt his fragile male ego.

“Are you kidding?” he said as he stood up. “You’re even sexier when you’re kicking my ass. Again.”

He ended up on his back again. “How about a kiss for every bruise,” he teased.

“Deal,” she said, kissing him while he lay on the ground. It repeated many times.

As they fought, he couldn’t help but wonder about her capabilities more, mostly because the System said her unarmed combat was even better. He couldn’t help but wonder just how good she was when she truly cut loose.

He had to admit, she achieved the impossible and just got even sexier.

… on an unrelated thought, there might be something seriously wrong with him.