Current of Change

“Oof.”

Rapid transit from home to the witches’ place clearly didn’t agree with Brenda as the final shift overcame her balance. Thankfully, John had been the one helping her so he was more than capable of catching her. Though that meant they stumbled into the foyer chest to chest, John’s increased physical prowess managed to keep them upright.

Brenda’s light perfume tickled John’s nose as her breasts squished against him. Her green sweater did little to prevent him from feeling them pleasantly deform nor did it stop him from feeling her smooth skin as his hand went to her waist, his fingers slipping under the hem.

His already high libido, now supplied with regular sexual interactions, reacted predictably and John felt his pants tighten in the face of his mother’s casual allure. Before he could make some mistake or a fool of himself, everyone else began to arrive and the flurry of activity distracted him from his predicament.

“Still having trouble with the shift, Brenda?” Vivian asked as John gently helped his mother regain her balance, her face red from embarrassment.

“Y-yes,” she answered, flustered and avoiding locking eyes with anyone.

“Well, once you get magic, that should stop,” Estelle cheerfully said as she hurried out from the lab, her brown ponytail trailing behind her as her skirt swished about. The witch’s eyes swept over the group and locked onto the one unfamiliar face among them. With a sincere smile, she walked over to Teri.

“You must be Teri,” the witch remarked, holding out a hand. “So happy you could make it!”

The goblin blinked, then moved to shake the witch’s hand. “Nice to meet you. Sorry if I’m a little underdressed.”

“Nah, I’m not expecting anything fancy,” Estelle said. “I just like to dress up. Plus, never know when you’ll need to head out for work.”

The assurance that her simple outfit of a t-shirt and shorts were fine washed away Teri’s small anxiety.

“I hope this isn’t taking you away from anything,” Brenda remarked, her countenance restored to her usual state.

Estelle smiled at Brenda. “I’m the one who invited you here for some experiments. Aside from a small project a friend of ours sent over for a look-see, I’ve got nothing but personal stuff to work on. Nephele’s out and about, you see, and can’t go making deals without the boss around, can I?”

“So you have the house to yourself and you decide to not take a day off?” Beth asked with a smirk.

“Why would I?” Estelle asked back, her head tilted to the side. “I didn’t become a witch because of the fancy hat. Well, okay, that played a part, I admit, but it’s because I really like picking apart magic. It’s fun!”

“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life,” Vivian sagely said.

“Exactly!” Estelle cheered as she beamed at Vivian. “There’s so much to discover!”

The witch let out a gasp and turned on her heels to face John. “Actually, that gives me an idea. Mind if I borrow that scrying skill of yours? It won’t take more than a minute. I just want to see if your readout matches what I’ve been able to work out.”

“Sure. It’s not like we’re in a time crunch,” John replied.

“Great.” Estelle smiled before turning and hurrying off towards the lab. John found his eyes drifting down to her swaying rear for a second, the hem nearly short enough for her underbun to be seen, before he **** himself to look away.

‘Get sex off your mind for five minutes,’ he chided himself. His and Senka’s early morning tryst left him satisfied but it seemed that the overall brief encounter had left him more than ready to go again. ‘There’s already the thing with Kiera and Teri. And Rowan, maybe. I can’t go adding every hot woman I know to the list of maybe partners.’

With his thoughts schooled, John followed Estelle, everyone else trailing after him. The lab was much like it had been a few days ago, the tables full of magical nicknacks, vials and other containers of arcane material, and Estelle marched over to one that only had on it a rather large glass jar. It was filled nearly to the brim with a green-yellow translucent liquid.

“Tada!” Estelle cheered as she gestured to the jar.

“It’s a jar of slime,” Aeolia bluntly remarked before she glanced over at John. “Think it’ll pair nicely with the jar of dirt we got?”

John let out a brief laugh. “I’m sure there’s more to it than just some goop. Right?”

“Bingo!” Estelle smiled at him. “This is a proof of concept a friend of ours whipped up. Sent us some to get our read on it. Supposed to be a mentally reactive material that can bolster the wearer's magic, but it’s in its first steps, so right now, as far as Nephele and I can tell, it can only support magic that runs through it and only for a short while.”

“Well, let’s see what Observe has to say,” John said, sending Estelle a party invite before he did.

Vita Slime Prototype
Rare
A slime created primarily from mana-infused algae. Spells and effects that flow through this material have their costs reduced but can only be maintained for an hour before becoming completely inert. Created by Cleo Walters.
Attributes: Mana Amplification, Weakening Bond

Mana Amplification: Spells channeled through this material or directly placed on it have their costs reduced by 50%.

Weakening Bond: Currents of mana have a detrimental effect upon this material, burning out its inherent qualities after an hour of exposure.

“Hmm,” Estelle hummed as she leaned against John, reading the displays over his shoulder. “That’s about in line with what we figured out last night. How nice that your powers gave Cleo credit for making it.”

“You do any testing of that burnout effect?” Vivian asked as she leaned in over John’s other shoulder.

“We ran a bit of mana through a small sample that lost viability after a few seconds,” Estelle recounted. “So the hour estimation is probably for this whole thing.”

“I have an idea,” Vivian said. “If it's okay to risk the whole sample.”

“Oh, we’ve got a few more samples of this size,” Estelle revealed. “Cleo knows our experiments would go through the stuff so she sent a good amount over.”

“What’s the idea?” John asked, hoping the explanation would distract a bit from being sandwiched between one of his girlfriends and the attractive witch.

“See if infusing your water spirit into it works,” Vivian answered. “I figure with your system, we’ll get a good idea of how it works with numbers. See if it’s really a fifty percent reduction. Plus we can see how it interacts with a flat upfront cost and the continual sustaining cost.”

“What does this ‘infusing’ do?” Estelle asked, turning her face from the displays to look at John with inquisitive eyes.

“It lets me combine my lesser spirits into stuff,” John explained. “What I can do after that seems to depend on what the thing is and what spirit I use. I used my wind spirit to lift stuff yesterday and Candle, my fox spirit, can help direct my projectile spells. Not a lot of examples, but that’s the general idea. If I had to guess, maybe the water spirit will let me control the slime.”

“Hmm, that’s part of the overall goal of Cleo’s project, so maybe if it does, we can give her some notes,” Estelle mused. “Okay! Let’s give it a try then we can get to trying the prototype binding.”

“Right,” John said, lifting his arm towards the jar of slime. “Not used water a lot and not with Infuse so I have no idea how this is going to work but here goes.”

With a thought, the fish-like spirit shifted from his aura into the slime, and John felt his senses extend to the solution, the cool of the glass jar suddenly apparent. A glance at his mana bar showed only a drop of thirteen.

“Well, the cost reduction is on point,” John reported. “Let’s see if I can move it.”

With a thought, John bade the slime move and it did. It was as if he had a limb at least as flexible as his tongue and he formed a tendril to reach out of the jar.

“Ohh, it worked!” Estelle cheered as she moved towards the jar. She poked at the slime tentacle and John wrapped his fluidic extension around the digit.

“I can feel everything,” he remarked, excitement in his voice. “It’s like I got a new arm with the flexibility of my tongue.”

“That’s certainly a way to put it,” Senka commented.

“Do you have a better way to describe it?” Aeolia asked with a grin.

“Touche,” the spirit relented.

“Can you keep this going for the hour your scry said the slime would last for?” Estelle asked, still occasionally prodding the slime as she peered around it, small sparks of light accompanying her fingers.

“I should, as long as whatever we’re going to do doesn’t eat all my mana,” John answered. “Um, just to be clear, I’m not supposed to be feeling any of the magic you’re sending out, right? Cus I’m just feeling your poking.”

“Yep,” Estelle nodded, “totally no physical stimulus with this. And I should stop with this for now so we can get on to why I called you here.”

She pulled away from the slime and moved over to a far table near an open portion of the lab. Several vials and jars sat upon it, and as John and the others followed after, he noticed a sheet of metal had been placed on the floor, a magic circle drawn upon it in white chalk, complete with a pentagram design dividing it into five sections. Out of the corner of his eye, John noticed Anita had followed them and was clamoring up the table.

Eyeing one of the vials, full of a deep purple substance, John threw an Observe at it.

Binding Ether
Uncommon
A solution that, when keyed to a subject, can allow for greater targeting of spellcraft and increase the duration of such spells. The core of this solution is made from the blood of curse crawler imps.
Attributes: Bio Link, Stability Formula

John picked up the vial and gave it a small shake as Estelle glanced back at him.

“Going right for the glue, huh?” Estelle grinned. “That’s the key I think that will let us jump-start Brenda’s mana. Add a bit of her hair to it, pour it and some of these others onto the plate, throw some juice at it and, bam, magic.”

“It can’t be that simple, right?” Vivian questioned as she peered at the plate, her eyes tracing the intended magic pattern.

“Yes, wasn’t there something about, um, a binding mark?” Brenda asked.

“Well, I could go over how each of those solutions will help in converting the mana John’s going to provide into a state more neutral so it’s easier for it to sync to Brenda,” Estelle said. “Which is where Kiera and Teri will help with their unique abilities to further tune things.”

“I think you could have led with that,” Teri said. “Sounds a lot more put together.”

“I didn’t want to get too technical, but I guess going for the more musical wasn’t the best plan,” Estelle admitted. Coughing, she continued, “So, yeah. The basic idea is to see if we can temporarily give Brenda mana, using John as the donor. This won’t require the marks due to the ether,” she gestured to the vial John held, “playing that part. It’ll only last for a bit, but for a proof of concept, that’s all we need. If this works, even for a moment, then we can build up from it.”

“Sounds like a solid plan,” John said, putting the vial down a bit away from the rest of the compounds. “How do we start?”

---

The prep work for the spell wasn’t all that complicated. Estelle had John, Brenda, Teri and Kiera stand around the inscribed plate, taking the fifth spot herself.

“Okay, here’s how this’ll go,” Estelle said once they were all in place. “First, we sync Brenda to the binding ether with a bit of her hair. Then, as I add the other reagents to the system, John, you need to provide a steady stream of mana. While he’s doing that, Teri and Kiera, I need you to try and make his mana more aligned to Brenda. It shouldn’t be too hard given their connection.”

“I think I get what you’re going for,” Teri said before she frowned. “Can we try something first? Like a dry run? See if Kiera and I can get close before all the extra stuff gets added.”

“I’ve got no problem with that,” Estelle replied. “What were you thinking of trying?”

Teri brought her hand to her chin. “I think if we make a chain, with John at one end and Brenda at the other, Kiera and I can get a feel for what we’re going to have to do.”

‘I can think of only one way you’re going to accomplish that,’ Senka thought, a smirk on her face as she watched from the side with Vivian, Aeolia and Beth. ‘How lewd, hand-holding before we make any ouvertures.’

‘Please don’t make this weird,’ John thought back. ‘I don’t want to make Teri uncomfortable when she picks up on my emotions.’

‘Might be a bit late for that,’ Senka noted, an image appearing in John’s head, a memory from Senka’s point of view. It was one of Teri when they met her in Pruzonia, her expression one of confusion as they all greeted her. ‘I think she suspects something’s up.’

John held back a sigh. He knew trying to hide things from Teri would be hard, but he’d hoped there would be at least some time to come up with a plan beyond ‘just tell her’.

Sure enough, Teri’s plan was for them to hold hands. Kiera blushed at the intimate suggestion but didn’t raise any objection. A few moments later, John took Teri’s hand in his.

‘How is this harder than the last time we did this?’ John thought as he fought to keep his emotions calm. He believed he succeeded as Teri showed no indication of detecting his real feelings as she took a blushing Kiera’s hand. ‘Maybe she’s tuning everything out. Can’t imagine we’re all being ‘quiet’ enough for her.’

Turning his thoughts away from girl troubles, John waited for Teri to give him the signal to start. Once she did, John closed his eyes and focused his mana out towards her at a slow and steady rate. He felt Teri’s hand tighten slightly but found no resistance as his mana flowed through her. As it passed through her, he felt her magic touch his, molding it gently like a massage.

As the current passed into Kiera, a new sensation was added as the bluenette began to work upon it. It was like a soft caress, akin to a blanket being drawn up over him while half asleep, gentle and full of care. As the current flowed through Kiera and into Brenda, it clicked when he felt his mother’s aura embrace the transferred power, accompanied by a slight gasp from her.

It was like a hug, warm and tight but fleeting as after only a moment it faded before another instance began, as if caught in a time loop. That made sense to John as they repeated the process several times. Brenda had no mana, and no way to feel it as it flowed into her. Teri and Kiera managed to convert his into something that could for a moment find a hold in her aura thanks to their efforts.

John opened his eyes once Teri loosened her grip, though her hand lingered for a moment longer before withdrawing completely.

“Okay, I think that worked,” she said tentatively. “Brenda, you felt it, right?”

“For a second at a time,” she replied in a pensive voice. “It was like getting a shock from a doorknob, but not painful. More like a good coffee in the morning.”

“Excellent,” Estelle said before staring intensely at Teri and Kiera. “Any issue with the conversion process?”

“I-it wasn’t too hard,” Kiera reported, her fingers fidgeting as she clasped her hands together. “Wrapping the m-mana in bits of Brenda’s aura isn’t too different from what I do to transform.”

“No problems on my end either,” Teri added, her ears quivering slightly. “How long should we hold this up when we get to the real test?”

“Not too long,” Estelle answered. “Hmm, maybe about ten seconds? John, can you send one unit of mana per second? I think ten would be a good measure.”

“Yeah, won’t be a problem,” John said, looking over at Brenda. “Mom, are you good to keep going?”

“I’m ready to try, sweetie,” Brenda answered with a reassuring smile on her face. “Nothing’s gone badly so far.”

‘Well, now I’m nervous,’ John thought but quelled the uptick of anxiety. The initial test worked as intended and going through all that only to flake out before the final move would just leave everyone feeling like they had wasted a bunch of time and effort for nothing.

Taking his silence as a go-ahead, Estelle nodded and clapped her hands once. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road!”

The clanking of glass on wood grabbed everyone’s attention. Upon the table of supplies, Anita was tapping one of the potion vials against the table. Estelle cooed and gushed, “Aww, you want to help, Anita?”

The gnoshroom bent forward as her way of nodding and Estelle let out a restrained squeal.

“Oh, you are sooo cute! Alright, you can be our little helper,” Estelle declared. “Grab what I tell you to and hand them to me, got it?”

Anita nodded and saluted with her tendrils. Then Estelle clapped her hands once more.

“Alright, now we can get this show on the road!”

---

The set-up wasn’t any different than before, only now with Estelle calling out to Anita to supply her with ingredients, using the positions of the vials to guide the gnoshroom. First, the witch took a single strand of Brenda’s hair and added it to the binding ether. It bubbled a bit as it incorporated the follicle, and once it settled, Estelle poured it onto the center of the circle.

“Okay, now I need each of you to do what you did before, but Kiera, I need you to channel the mana into the circle when you're done,” Estelle instructed as she continued to pour various compounds into distinct spots on the circle. “I’ll be cycling the system and when it’s charged will be triggering it to jump to Brenda.”

Kiera nodded, her expression dropping slightly, though John couldn’t fathom a reason why. Then Estelle poured the final compound and passed the empty vial to Anita.

“Okay everyone, here we go!”

John took Teri’s hand once more, pushing away how nice it felt to hold her, and began to feed her mana. He felt the same sensations as before, until Kiera sent the first dose into the circle. Then a new sensation hit John. It was like a gentle but teasing caress, akin to fingers just barely touching him as they traced patterns across his body. Shivers ran up John’s spine as he tried to not think about one of the girls being the one touching him.

As the mana circulated, the sensation grew stronger, until it felt like several hands were teasing him, reaching a point where it was getting hard to ignore. Before he could voice his discomfort in case it was some failing in the spell, Estelle said, “All charged up! Sending it to Brenda in five, four, three, two, one!”

A flash of pink light and a wave of **** knocked everyone to the floor.