After returning from Taylor's home, Sam was in a good mood. he was still in a vaguely good mood when he went to school the next day; half of that day went well. Until he got a call at lunch. "So I'm going to court."
"Yes, the Southern Pacific Islanders specifically are charging you with the destruction of public property and minor ecoterrorism." Sam blinked, then blinked again. "Terrorism." That was an actual problem to him; he couldn't settle it with a fine. He could go to a prison good enough to hold him; he could go away for 200 years or more. That was half of his current lifespan; the people he cared for would be long dead.
"Alright, what's the court date and what are defense options?" his layer was quite for a moment," the datse a week from now. but due to securaty reasons it will be a virtual court." in terms of denfse the man didn't have much Sam was freely admiting he had cauesd the harm he did, but they could still lesson the sentance withthe raven real remorse and wiggling ness to amke up for it.
"Alright. I'm not pleading guilty to the terrorism thing."
"What?" The lawyer took a moment to gather himself. "You didn't do that?" Sam paused to think. "At the very least, not intentionally. The energy I might have absorbed probably did more damage than I first thought. But I had no interest in terrorism."
He still didn't; he really found no interest in causing terror for terror's sake. He actually, at some point, started priding himself on how little destruction he caused, how clean his actions were. 'Something that increased with my empathy for the people, I guess.'
"Okay, so we can probably argue that down to unintentional terrorism. That is, the evidence of the damage you did is strong enough. I don't want to get your hopes up." Sam nodded. "I'd rather not spend two centuries in prison."
"Well, that's going to be a pain in the ass, my own fault. But a pain in the ass all the same, Sam, stuffing his hands into his pockets, walked back into the cafeteria. The tails of his shirt danced in an enchanted wind.
"I'll collect some lust this afternoon," he said, finding his necklace. "It's been a minute." Was he looking for a fight, to let off some stress? Yes, but it has been a minute, so focused with the fog of lust over the island. He's noticed how some people's lust energy is growing greater than before, among many people. Quite frankly, Sam wasn't worried at the current moment, but he knew this had the potential to grow into a real pain in the ass.
"I'll have to lose the cops, or try something new." It would be more fun and beneficial to try something new, "a spell or technique?" he asked himself as class started up again, using a notebook that he was supposed to be using for history. He had two main ideas: one, a spell to spread the range of his absorption from people. Long term, this just seemed like an excellent idea.
The other idea was a technique. Something like sniping, which Sam had mixed skills in; he didn't get much practice with guns or super long range. But he could improve if this was something he decided to follow up on. "Well, time for some experiments. Probably in the backyard."
When he arrived home, he was right about to circle around the house when he realized the package at the front door was for him. "Teacher?" Picking up the box, he carried it with him to the backyard. He opened and checked the contents. "Nothing explosive. But there is a note."
"Asked a sex demon, the succubus gave me some information. Apparently, the lust you harness is similar to what they eat, but without the life force of their meal. But since it is, they have a few techniques I think you might be able to wield."
In the box was a heavy box, the black and purple cover. Outlined with silver and gold. Moving, stimulating images of undefined beings; they whisper of pleasure. They whisper of the things they could do to others, what a sweet and pleasurable end it would be. "You'll have to try better," he told the cursed enchantment.
Flicking the clasp, he opened the book and started reading, "Let's see. Power over emotion and physical response. Using it to reinforce physical ability. Manifesting material form, energy contracts. Oh, this is going to be good, though I'll have to experiment. These use the taken life force to reinforce them." Sam knew the power of raw life force; he used it for his regeneration technique.
"Will I just have to add more energy, or will I have to alter the method that it is used?" Talking to the page, he continued to read through it. "Well, I'll only know after an experiment," skimming back, "here this should work for my purposes."
Raising a finger into the air, he focused a bit of his lust power through it, causing the nail to change color. Using his own energy and the energy in the air, he slowly focused symbols from hell. 'Haven't used this in a long while,' his handwriting was rusty. But still workable to form the words.
Then he spoke them; the language of demons sounded harsh to human ears, growling. Like you've been smoking from the day you were born, with each syllable that left his mouth. The written words grew; the lust energy in the air gathering. He could feel some of his own leaving him. Forming together into a simple ball, a hardened energy that was about the size of a marble.
"Mm, not bad. It wasn't as energy dense as the liquid lust he managed to harvest. But easier to store, hopefully. 'If I can convert my liquid lust into a solid, then I'll be even more than good,' he said, smiling to himself. He started experimenting, bringing out his marbles.
Over the next few hours, he reached the proof-of-concept level of his idea, managing to half-transform a bucket of liquid lust into a more solid state before it blew up. Almost drowning him in it; if he had been a second closer... he would have been held up in his room until morning at least.
"I'll have to be more careful of that," in the bathroom, putting a protective coating over his nails. With how much he fought, it was only reasonable that he did his best to protect them. "She taught me the nail repair potion," the memory just came up. Not as violently as some memory did, but he messed up his polish.
Cleaning and finishing up, he looked into the memory again. "Right, my many escape attempts broke my nails more than once. She got annoyed d at how little I seemed to care at the time; it wasn't the worst thing I could have felt. I've felt worse before and after. So she taught me the potion. I think this was one of the first lessons I paid attention to."
it had seemed so useful, to be able to heal himself. "it's definitely one of the ones that helped for her teaching style." as long as she manghed to coveince him the information would be useful he lisented. "i still do that!"that was his entire learning style, he found what he beilve useful then expanded from that.
"Not complaining," he stated before finishing his nails and working on his teeth. "I'm glad I didn't forget that potion," one he used as mouthwash. One that strengthened his teeth; another potion would restore any lost teeth.
"They're watching again," Sam muttered as he walked into his bedroom. He didn't climb into bed; instead, he opened the window. Looking directly at the source of the gaze he felt, his feral instincts suggested a hunt. But higher thinking reminded him how he had been outpaced.
"just because i can't catch you, doesn't mean you're safe." feeling the gaze dispeeree, "if you come back before i wake up I'll show you what about 400 years of wandering teaches you!" then he closed the window, dropped the blinds and the black out curtains before climbing into bed.
The next morning, he felt the gaze return before he even got dressed." bitch!" Then he paused with a smile; those blackout curtains were enchanted by Sam personally. Something he learned from this monk: why the monk knew this spell, he didn't know, but the spell worked. It was powerful thanks to a large negative counterbalance, which was a big clue as to what kind of person was spying on him.
"Oh, the police made it through," he was impressed. " I didn't know they had someone who could see through it." Finishing getting dressed, he pushed open the curtains. "So you're someone who can perceive mana like that, huh?" chuckling, "That makes you easy to track." Those who could perceive mana in its fullest, you could perceive its flow in the wind. In the earth. How much flowed through every inch of the world around and within you.
It was kind of like opening a third eye was a common belief. Sam didn't agree. 'I've met someone who actually opened their third eye. Interesting conversation. If I hadn't been so feral at the time, I would have gotten more out of the enlightened words."
Shaking his head at the memory, he felt so foolish looking back. "Anyway, they're probably more skilled at seeing mana than I am, chuckling, " unfortunately, people who can see mana tend to have a little flaw. Shaking his head, he went about his school day, afterward meeting up with his lawyer to speak about his defense.
"Okay, if what you've said can be proved in court. you have a good chance of the terrorism charge being dropped. But you don't have a good chance for the rest of them." Sam nodded, "Nothing out of expectations. " What do you project about what I'll have to pay?"
"Well, I think if we argue things right, payment. Maybe being banned from the islands for a few decades, maybe a century. But I can't say prison is off the table." Sam sighed; he thanked them for being honest before talking about what they can do to increase their chances.
"Well, you've followed through with punishments from previous charges; you're returning what can be returned; you've pointed out the cursed items, and they've been tested, proving you acted with something reasonably helpful intent. You've paid repercussions. You're doing well. Of course, that's only the shit you had in Japan and from the island. Why was there so much in Japan?"
"I had someone I felt I could trust, and he proved that feeling right." Sam smiled, "Looking back on it, he might have been scared of me, but I know I wasn't that scary to him. Not enough that he feared me for the rest of my life." There was more steel in the man's heart than he believed. Something Sam respected." I probably have more stuff, but the specifics are lost to me for the moment."
"self inflicted amniesa is a injuriy and the court has accepted that fact," the layer commented," but do you have any thing about what you did on the ilsand before or asfter." Sam made vague motions, "I remember a bit about what I did after I left, swam through the ocean onto land. But before, it was kind of a blank. I know it's where I received my regeneration technique. But other than that. I think I was just wandering, I might have thrown something into the volcano."
"Why would you have thrown something into the volcano?"
"You'd be surprised how much magic can't survive one of the hottest substances on the planet." The lawyer nodded; that made a strange amount of sense. Then they turned back to talking about the facts that they had about his time on the island. Largely, it was what they pulled from the island's own records.
They reviewed and repaired; the day in court came. Sam dressed in a stylish suit his father crafted. It was tight-fitting: a dark blue undershirt and tie, matched with a bluish-black coat and pants, the seams a pure black to stand out just a bit, a short embroidered cape hanging from his waist.
Walking into the court, "I don't know you...but I know someone who looks like you?" he stated to the opposing side. A large woman with a trident gun strapped to her back growled at him. That would be my ancestor you assaulted."
"Huh? I wonder if it was an interesting fight?" taking his seat on his side of the court he watching as the judge entered the room,shifting as the weight of the spells came upon him. 'the feeling of mana restiction, streach restiction, weapon restraction.' there were a few others, it would have defancd most of the population comeplty.' but she doesn't seemed bothered.' he watcher her out the concern of his eyes. so like me she has something up her sleeve.
[this fucker just collected tricks up his sleeves.]
[Of course, he did; his lust for challenges is only matched by his ability to learn and overcome them. That leaves one with a list of solutions.]
"All stand for the honorable judge." As he took his seat, he looked at the papers. " Alright, I've already looked over the papers." " Alright, the case between Samuel vegal and the people of the island. Samuel Vegal, they are charging you with assault, environmental damage, and environmental terrorism. How do you plead?"
"Not guilty to the terrorism charge." The judge looked up; he hadn't processed the cases before him, but the raven had a growing file that he had to look over. He rarely pleaded not guilty and quickly and freely admitted he was a problem when he was younger. A note in his file, a quote from sameaul himself. "I cared for little, not even a big reason to live. But the world is so big, so different from the shitty piece of hell I grew up in. I wanted to see it; I wanted to explore. I found great fun in fighting; I still do. But now I know I was a problem."
"very well then," he settled in." let's her your arguments. let's start with the assult then." the woekmne with the weapon her her back stood." we no for a fact he assulted my answeter, leaving the man with a borken arma nd tearing out sevral of his braids leading to a crianl bleed."