Eldritch Exorcist 183. To the FBI

I could see Ophelia looking at with a deep frown as I brought my finger closer to the staff. The mont I did that, one of the tentacles ca alive and extended itself toward my finger.

“That’s kind of disgusting,” my apprentice comnted.

“It’s weirdly hypnotic, though,” I said, moving my hand away as the tentacle moved back into its resting spot at the top of the weapon.

I had removed my attunent from my previous staff a few hours before and could now feel my connection to the new weapon. It was a fascinating construction. The whole staff was made from black wood, with carvings going along its entire length.

The bottom had a decorative clawed hand that actually allowed the staff to stand upright. When used, it looked slightly strange as the hand was not much larger than the staff’s circumference, while the staff itself fit comfortably in one hand.

Carvings of strange shapes, reminiscent of faces, went the entire length up to its top, or crown, as the mages called it. In the middle was the leather handle allowing it to twist into a bracelet, acting like the scabbard of a sword.

The crown was the most fascinating part. It was made of black tentacles twisting around a geotric object—many cubes nested inside one another. Thankfully, they were small enough, so it wasn’t obvious to the naked eye that they were floating inside one another. The cube was held up by the main, thickest tentacles, while smaller ones held crystals, allowing spells to be stored.

As for the cube, it was an eldritch artifact. Thankfully, the tentacles holding it, while they couldn’t be made to let go, could be adjusted to cover most of the shape. If fully shown, the geotry would imdiately seem strange, and any observer would swear that even though the cubes were clearly inside one another, they were also all the sa size.

The strange hexahedron was sort of an arcane focus, but for eldritch magic. It made controlling the abyss easier, but its most interesting use was that the energy could be made to flow from it, as if the artifact had a separate connection to the void. While I still had to use the contract to call on the power, its source was moved from inside to the crown, making mutations less likely. The staff was still connected to my soul, and I still needed to connect with the energy to cast anything, but I could now focus on guarding my spirit and mind, and not worry about my body as much each ti I cast.

Aside from that, the cube had a very strong space attunent, helping with spatial magic, and a minor mind attunent, although at the cost of the death-magic attunent of my old staff.

I put the last crystal into the extended tentacle, which eagerly grabbed it, and, settling into its resting position, it turned back to wood. I then moved the tentacles to cover most of the cube in the middle and let the staff stand next to .

“That’s fascinating to look at,” I told Ophelia, seeing the artifact stand without a wobble. I was still not sure how it did that without any obvious magic use.

Before Ophelia could comnt, we both watched in fascination as Sally approached the artifact and then, after sniffing it, closed her teeth around the handle. The staff stayed still, as if locked into the space around it, as the dog pulled on it.

“Now THAT’S fascinating to watch,” Ophelia comnted, looking at the scene.

“Hmh.” I gave a groan of agreent, not sure of my feelings about the ancient weapon being used as a chew toy.

The familiar didn’t like staying as a spirit. As a creature of flesh, it had a natural instinct for, well, existing. The only issue was that she would switch her form at random, usually looking like a normal dog, only to suddenly grow a pair of eyes or a tentacle. Another issue was that she would sotis speak unprompted, which was a no-no around normal people, at least for now. But when in the storage, the creature was out and about.

Before I could do sothing about her slobbering all over my eldritch artifact, my phone rang.

Looking at the caller, I smiled.

“Hello,” I greeted Rey.

“We got back on the case,” the policeman started, wasting no ti on details.

“Well, that’s great.”

“And the case has been moved under an FBI supernatural departnt. We got an agreent for you to co on as a consultant. Once there are so results, the FBI is willing to open its knowledge base to you.”

I smiled wider.

“That’s great news. But I want that in writing—”

“We will send you an email with the docunts.”

“I don’t have an email,” I cut in.

“You did go to college.”

“I’m not in college anymore, so I don’t have a college email. And how do you know I went to one? Doing so background checking?” I asked in a playful tone.

“Obviously. You think the FBI wouldn’t check you out before they approved you?” Rey asked back without hesitation.

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“Well, I guess not.”

“We will forward you the docunts after you set up an email, and we can get started.”

I agreed, and the call ended. After receiving the docunts, I sent them to Q’Shar for his lawyers to review and ensure there weren’t any legal tricks.

And the next day, the docuntation was ready and signed, and I was on my way to the FBI.

The building wasn’t very impressive, looking an awful lot like a repurposed school.

Rey, Josh, and Filip stood in front of the entrance, and I greeted the three the mont I got out of my car. Before we could talk, the door opened, and a man I did not recognize walked out.

“Welco,” he greeted. “My na is Elias, and I’m the director of this FBI division. You will either be working with us or consulting under my supervision. So let’s get you settled in,” he said with a calm smile.

I looked him over and could imdiately tell one thing—he was a mage, not a very powerful one, most likely not trained very well, but I could sense magic in his aura. Aside from that, another thing that caught my eye was a bone earring, which was an artifact spreading sothing akin to a barrier around the man’s mind. Mind artifacts like those were rare.

We went in and got cleared through security. The building had a large open office room with desks arranged in even rows, attended by personnel hurrying around. Deeper, more rooms were visible in the corridor. Aside from a lot of electronics, nothing really jumped out at . And most of all, I sensed no magic, no barriers or runes. It was just a normal office to my senses.

We were led into a private office with “Director in Charge” written on the door, and the unit’s na missing.

“Please settle yourselves in,” Elias said, pointing to a few chairs as he sat down behind his desk.

“So, to begin, from what I understand, you were let in on what our division actually is—what we do.”

“Supernatural Investigation Division. Yes, we got the docuntation.” Filip nodded, and the rest did the sa.

“I didn’t get anything,” I spoke up, looking at the three.

The docunts I received were all legal, but there was no information on the division itself.

“Well, Mr. Samuel,” Elias said, “from what I understand, you are just a consultant. Filip will be reinstated in our division. Mr. Rey is currently being reassigned to us from the L.A.P.D. You… we don’t know anything about. For all we know, you could just be a very good charlatan.”

“Is Josh joining too?” I asked, ignoring his comnt.

“Josh has a long history as a consultant, which makes his clearance high enough. You will have to prove yourself a trustworthy asset to receive any docuntation,” Elias said.

His voice was even and strong. He was informing rather than discussing.

I smiled.

“Well, I believe my paynt was made pretty clear. I’m interested in information, the very thing you are denying right now.”

“But you didn’t do anything for us yet, did you?” Elias asked.

I shrugged lightly, half curious where he would take it.

“Okay,” I said. “I’m all ears.”

“Thank you for your understanding,” Elias said. “All four of you will be assigned to the Veiled Man case—”

“Veiled Man?” Filip echoed, before giving the man an ironic smile. “Dwayne got into my notes, did he?”

“Well, we believe the nonclature is quite fitting. And while your notes are enlightening, we prefer the real thing.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Filip answered.

“So,” Elias continued, “while we work on the case, as you are now our assets, we would like you to help with other cases we might have in the anti.”

“Wait.” Filip raised his hand. “I was under the impression that I was being reinstated only for that case. It’s the first ti I’m hearing anything about other work.”

“We can’t just give you the badge back and have you sit around, can we? That badge cos with a responsibility. You know that.”

I frowned, looking at him. It was hard to get a read on what was going on inside his head. He was clearly hesitant, to the point of sweating, as if he were being asked a life-or-death question rather than a job-or-no-job one.

“I—I…” He struggled.

“Co on,” Josh urged him on. “We worked a few cases already. What’s the difference? This ti you’ll have a real badge,” Josh finished with a chuckle.

“Well, that’s the problem,” Filip whispered. “Fine,” he finally agreed.

“Good,” Elias said. “So let us get you settled in, shall we?” he asked with a smile.

After the four of them left Elias’s office, he sat back down, exhaling loudly. Only after he got confirmation that they had left the building did he call for his assistant. A beautiful woman carrying a bow on her back entered. She then closed her eyes and concentrated for a few seconds. Once done, she began to survey the whole place. Throughout the ritual, Elias sat still, and only once she nodded did he speak.

“Thank you, Flora-ntiss,” Elias said, and the woman bowed lightly.

“That’s a mouthful,” Dwayne comnted as he entered after the woman, watching her.

“Yeah, good thing you don’t know her last na,” Elias chuckled. “So, did you get anything?”

“That’s not how it works. It’s not like I could get much through a cara feed.”

“Then give your first impressions. What kind of man do you think a real-life wizard is?” Elias asked.

Dwayne thought for a few seconds before answering. “Well, there are no obvious signs or patterns in his deanor. He looked curious, but not stressed. No obvious reaction to a challenge to his authority. He didn’t try to take control of the conversation either. He did seem… curious. Overly curious,” Dwayne finished.

“Overly curious?”

“Well, like a child on a field trip. He had that sa expression when Filip hesitated. He is observant, but his deanor is just like that of soone looking around for so fun. It’s hard to read what he’s thinking.”

“Is he a psychopath? Any red flags I should know of?”

“If we could guess that from a single impression, half the cases would be closed by now.” Dwayne let a smile flicker on his face. “Psychos aren’t cold-blooded killers from dramas. Most are easy to anger, and they wouldn’t let you challenge their position like that.”

“‘Most-likely-not-a-psycho-killer’ is a good thing.”

“Not a classic case, at least. I wouldn’t celebrate too early.”

“So you got sothing?”

“No. It’s just… he gives the creeps,” Dwayne finally said.

Elias nodded lightly, not comnting on the man’s evaluation.

“Keep digging. Find soone close to him. Check out his family. There has to be sothing about a man wielding magic. And make sure you don’t leave any paper trail.”