"For Gwen? But doesn't she already have that Charm of Telekinesis?" Ben stared at the magical artifacts in Asher's hands, his expression somewhere between jealousy and disbelief.
"For me? Really?!"
Gwen's eyes went wide as she looked at the Staff of Ages and the Archamada Book of Spells. Magical weapons had always fascinated her, ever since she'd felt that inexplicable connection to the artifacts in the museum, she'd known that magic was somehow meant to be part of her life.
More importantly, she was tired of being the one who needed rescuing.
"Of course." Asher handed the staff and chain of charms to Gwen, though he kept the sleeve robe bundled under his arm. "You probably don't want this robe anyway. Hex was wearing it, and honestly, it's not exactly your style."
The Archamada Book of Spells remained in his other hand, mostly because he was worried about overwhelming Gwen with too many items at once.
"With this necklace, I have the complete set of Charms of Bezel!"
Gwen's voice trembled with excitement as she examined the chain. She carefully lifted her Charm of Telekinesis and set it into one of the empty slots on the necklace, the very slot it had originally fallen from during Hex's battle with Heatblast.
The moment the charm clicked into place, a pulse of purple energy rippled through the chain.
Complete. The Charms of Bezel were whole once more.
Gwen raised the complete necklace and settled it around her neck. Combined with the staff in her hand, she looked like a young sorceress straight out of a fantasy novel.
"Gwen, try using the chain's power," Asher said, anticipation lighting up his features. "Let's see what it can do now that it's complete!"
"Okay!"
Gwen nodded, already feeling something different stirring inside her. With the Charms of Bezel reunited, a strange energy seemed to flow through her body, as if the artifacts themselves were teaching her how to channel their power.
The Charm of Pyrokinesis on the chain flickered with inner fire.
She raised her palm and aimed at an empty patch of ground nearby.
Fwoosh!
A basketball-sized fireball erupted from her hand and slammed into the dirt, detonating in a small explosion that left a smoking crater. The blast was roughly equivalent to a small grenade.
"That's... it?" Gwen's expression fell, disappointment clear in her voice. "Why isn't it more powerful?"
"It's probably a matter of magical energy," Asher explained, remembering what he'd read about the Charms of Bezel. "Think of it like internal energy in martial arts stories. You and Hex both have magical talent, but his mana reserves are far greater than yours. You're using the same artifacts, but the power output depends on how much energy you can channel through them."
It was like the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms from those old kung fu novels. Let a novice perform the technique, and you'd get a decent palm strike. Let a master like Qiao Feng perform it, and mountains would crumble.
"Then I'll try the other charms!"
The Charm of Telekinesis flared with purple light.
Gwen's feet slowly lifted off the ground as she activated the levitation ability she'd been practicing. Rising a few feet into the air came naturally now, she'd had time to get used to that particular power.
But when she tried to extend that levitation to Asher and Ben, her concentration wavered. Lifting both of them simultaneously was incredibly difficult, and she couldn't maintain it for more than a few seconds.
As for lifting Grandpa Max as well? Completely impossible.
She experimented with the Charm of Resurrection next, but its power was equally limited. Without substantial magical reserves, she couldn't access its true potential.
"At this level, I could maybe handle Vilgax's drones," Gwen admitted, lowering herself back to the ground. "But anything more dangerous? I'd be in trouble." She sighed and looked down at the Charm of Luck, the charm she'd worn as Lucky Girl. "This one's still my best option for actual combat. The luck manipulation doesn't require as much raw power to be effective."
"Don't be discouraged," Asher said quickly, pulling the Archamada Book of Spells from under his arm. "You're forgetting about this. If Hex could absorb power from this book, then you should be able to as well. Try channeling your energy into it!"
He placed the heavy tome in Gwen's free hand. The ancient spellbook weighed more than she expected, pulling her arm down slightly.
"I'll try... let me focus that energy inside me..."
Gwen closed her eyes and concentrated, attempting to draw on the same power that flowed through the Charms of Bezel. She pushed that energy down through her arm, into her hand, and into the book itself.
Flash!
Purple light exploded from the Archamada Book of Spells, washing over Gwen's entire body in a brilliant wave!
Her eyes glazed over, her expression going completely blank as the light enveloped her.
"Gwen! Are you okay? Gwen!"
Asher waved his hand in front of her face, calling her name repeatedly, but she didn't respond. Her consciousness seemed to have gone somewhere else entirely.
"Is the nerd going to be all right?" Ben asked, his usual teasing tone replaced by genuine concern.
Inside Gwen's mind, a torrent of memories flooded through her consciousness.
The Archamada Book of Spells was far more than just a collection of incantations. For someone like Hex, who'd spent decades studying dark magic, it would have amplified his existing abilities to terrifying levels, potentially elevating him from a powerful sorcerer to someone capable of fighting Asher's alien transformations on equal footing.
But for Gwen, the book offered something different.
Knowledge.
She saw magical incantations, words of power that could activate and enhance the Charms of Bezel far more effectively than raw willpower alone.
And most importantly...
She discovered a magical cultivation technique.
It was a method for training and expanding one's mana reserves, a way to practice magic like a martial artist practiced their internal energy. The technique was incredibly rare, probably something Hex had been searching for his entire career.
Its value was comparable to legendary cultivation manuals from martial arts novels. With dedicated practice, Gwen could dramatically increase her magical power over time.
"Gwen!"
Asher's voice finally pierced through the flood of information, pulling her back to reality.
"Huh? What?" Gwen blinked rapidly, reorienting herself. The purple light had faded, and the Archamada Book of Spells now looked completely ordinary, just an old book with no magical glow whatsoever.
"Are you okay? What happened?"
"I'm fine! Better than fine!" Gwen's words tumbled out in an excited rush. "The book, it taught me so much! There are incantations for using the charms more efficiently, and I learned an actual magical language, and most importantly..." She paused to catch her breath. "There's a technique for increasing magical power. Like a training method for mana!"
Incantations. A training method.
Asher's eyes widened with surprise.
How was Gwen so lucky? She'd absorbed the book's contents like a protagonist in her own story, gaining exactly what she needed to grow stronger!
Well, he supposed he couldn't complain. Between himself, Ben, and Gwen, they now had three completely different paths to power.
He had biotechnology through the Omnitrix, ten distinct alien forms, each with unique abilities.
Ben had mechanical technology through his battle suit, repulsors, flight capability, enhanced strength.
And now Gwen had ancient magic, the Charms of Bezel, incantations from the Archamada Book of Spells, and a method for cultivating greater magical power.
Three different routes. Three different fighting styles. A perfect team.
"So you're saying that once you learn this technique, you can train your magic and get stronger over time?" Asher asked, wanting to make sure he understood correctly.
"Exactly!" Gwen nodded enthusiastically. "And with the charms providing specific abilities, I don't need to waste time learning individual spells. I can focus entirely on building my mana reserves. The stronger my magical energy gets, the more powerful the charms become!"
Her enhancement path was crystal clear now.
Ben, meanwhile, looked slightly deflated.
He'd been so excited about his battle suit, but now Gwen had this incredible magical inheritance to work with. Suddenly his armor felt a little less special.
"Ben, don't worry." Asher caught the expression on his cousin's face and grinned. "Your battle suit has plenty of room for upgrades too. Once we get our hands on better materials and technology, I can enhance the armor's capabilities significantly. Who knows? You might end up with something even more impressive than what you have now."
Ben perked up immediately at that.
He could become stronger too. This wasn't a competition where someone had to lose.
"Asher, thank you." Gwen looked at her cousin with genuine gratitude, clutching the staff and spellbook to her chest. "You gave me the charm, and now you've given me all of this. I finally have a way to fight alongside you instead of just... being rescued all the time."
She tried to hand the Staff of Ages back to him.
"I don't actually like using a staff," she admitted with a small smile. "Casting with my bare hands feels more natural."
That left Asher holding the staff and wearing the sleeve robe, looking somewhat ridiculous.
"Staff, magic robe..." He stared at the items in his hands, then down at the dark magician's garment draped over his shoulders. "What am I supposed to do with these? I can't exactly walk around looking like a villain. But it seems like a waste to just throw them away."
"Asher, I might have a solution for that." Grandpa Max stepped forward, a thoughtful expression on his weathered face. "Remember when I told you about the Plumbers?"
The Plumbers.
Asher's attention sharpened immediately. The intergalactic law enforcement organization that Max had served in during his younger days. They dealt with alien threats, supernatural phenomena, and everything else that ordinary authorities couldn't handle.
"The Plumbers would be interested in these artifacts?"
"More than interested." Max nodded slowly. "Magical items like these need to be catalogued and stored safely. The Plumbers have secure facilities designed specifically for containing dangerous technology and supernatural objects. If you want, I can put you in contact with the organization. They might be willing to take these items off your hands, and compensate you for them."
"Compensate how?"
"Resources. Information. Access to Plumber technology and databases." Max's eyes crinkled with something that might have been pride. "You've been fighting threats that most Plumber agents would struggle against. The organization would want someone like you as an ally, not an unknown variable."
Asher considered this carefully.
The Plumbers represented connections, resources, and legitimacy. Working with them could open doors that would otherwise remain closed.
On the other hand, the Staff of Ages and Hex's sleeve robe were genuinely valuable magical artifacts. Giving them up meant losing potential tools.
But he had the Omnitrix. Ben had his armor. Gwen now had the Charms of Bezel and the knowledge from the Archamada Book of Spells.
They didn't actually need the staff or the robe.
What they needed was support infrastructure, the kind of backing that could help them respond to threats more effectively, access information about enemies before fights began, and maybe even provide backup when situations got truly dire.
"Tell me more about the Plumbers," Asher said finally. "I want to know exactly what we'd be getting into."
Max smiled, a genuine, warm expression that made him look years younger.
"I was hoping you'd say that."
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