7 Path to Magic (II)

'Home sweet home.'

Price was definitely excited. He was essentially going to create a new path of power for his life. A path to Magic. Not only that, he believed that he lucked out on getting a rank A core. If his imaginations were to say something about anything, then he was going to be a killer Jack Frost. A Mr. Freeze without the suit. A Captain Cold without the gun.

Price reckoned the feeling of using core would be different from perks activated from the system. It sure would be different from firing a gun or running a blade through someone's heart. Nonetheless, his efficiency would skyrocket. At the very least people won't be alerted because of screams or gunshots.

Price's expectation of the core would let him encase people in Ice in a flash! This was mainly due to the description of [Eternal Remembrance]. It was associated with a Lich King, the source of corruption, and the work of the nefarious. All these things would make every move memorable. If that wasn't blood boiling, he didn't know what was.

He flicked through the attributes and looked at the instructions.

'Take orally?' Price was stumped on step one. The system expected him to take the core orally?

Price took the core out the inventory. One side was hard and cold while the other was lumpy and lukewarm. He felt as if he was losing years of his life just by holding it.

The system had never failed him so he just popped it into his mouth.

Immediately changes began occurring in the orphanage. The temperature dropped forty degrees and the windows started to frost over. The humidity in the room reduced just as suddenly. The outside greens withered down. The classic and well known Oak Tree of the premise quickly fell down towards the cafeteria portion of the orphanage immediately killing two orphans. If a person was to glance at the orphanage, they would swear that it seemed darker than the surrounding buildings. That's if they weren't close enough to collapse from hypothermia.

These changes weren't unnoticed.

In a certain bar a handsome blond-haired man opened his eyes. He was wearing a trench coat and donned a red tie. He looked at a random direction and cursed.

"Bloody hell. I can't get a break can I?" He muttered while lighting a cigarette. Even in the crowded bar no one disturbed him. It was as if he was invisible. He continued to down another glass before his hazy eyes focused firmly.

In a space-tower, a man with a golden helmet was in a conversation with other heroes in costume. The topic of discussion was establishing a peaceful connection between an inter-galactic civilization and making sure said country wouldn't meddle in Earth affairs.

While he was talking, he abruptly turned his head towards a certain direction. Although he was covered by a golden helmet, everybody could feel him frown. This caught the attention of the rest of the people around him.

"Dr. Fate, is something wrong?" A man in a black cowl asked him seriously. The bat emblem covered a large portion of his chest. His white eyes squinted as if he was studying the situation.

"Something big happened." Dr. Fate said without describing anything. "Whether it is good or bad has yet to be proven. But what is known is that the order on Earth has been broken."

And with that, he zapped out of existence only leaving a Ankh symbol.

Dr. Fate's cryptic way of talking immediately caused them to question what happened. But whatever happened, his actions proved the severity of the situation. They turned to the man in the black cowl to see what they should do next. It was clear that he was the leader in their hearts.

"We will continue with the diplomacy with Qandahar. If Dr. Fate needs help, he'll call us." And although Batman said that, his eyes squinted dangerously. He didn't fail to see that Dr. Fate's gaze was upon Gotham. He promised to himself to increase patrol hours just in case something is up. He was also contemplating whether he should notify a certain occult detective.

This kind of scene played out all around the world. Heroes and villains tied to magic turned their eyes to Gotham. It was without saying that danger followed their stares. The next few months in Gotham would be hectic.

Back at the orphanage, Price was currently rolling around the floor. Creaking and bursting sounds would be heard at random intervals.

He already attached the magic circuits into his body so that he didn't implode. Half his body had already been frozen while the other half was rotting. These two parts worked in harmony to wreak havoc in his body.

If he survived this, the symbiotic relationship between these two mystical energies would prove to be fruitful.

He painfully looked at the state of his body. Hypothermia mixed with necrolysis. Even breathing felt like inhaling sharp ice due to the lack of humidity. Every part of his body was suffering some sort of effect. However, no matter how close he was pushed to the brink, there was always a burst of energy that forced him to stay strong.

It took ten minutes to fully absorb the core into his body. And when it was done, he felt an extra beat in his heart. There was a new pulse that was twice as fast as his previous one. He slowly calmed his heart down and felt the extra beat disappear.

He wasn't worried that the new power was gone. He realized that if the core continued to beat, his body wouldn't handle it. So Price laid there unconscious and freezing just like everyone else in the orphanage.

.

.

.

[Gotham City Orphanage | Gotham City | 1 hour after Price consumed the core]

"What do you say about this?" A chubby officer asked as he took a look at the broken orphanage. Pillars of Ice broke through many areas of the Orphanage and almost all life in the area was dead. The long history the orphanage had was tied to the fourth generation of the Wayne family. It faced many hardships and turmoil but always managed to stay afloat. But it seems now that its luck ended.

"Work of a Meta-human for sure. This might be out of our league." The skinny officer with the goatee said with a frown. "It seems like every day gets more and more dangerous. Even the 'glorious' Wayne family's assets can't survive nowadays."

The two looked at each other and shook their head. There was almost no one who liked the Wayne family anymore. Especially after the playboy took over. Sure they felt bad that the one family that tried to heal Gotham got killed by Gotham but that sort of empathy disappears when looking at the crimes the disadvantaged do.

By now the entire orphanage was surrounded by news-reporters and the average nosy citizen. Even in this dangerous place, human curiosity still reigned supreme. These reporters packed the area to the brim and started asking the first-responders questions.

The chubby officer and the skinny one looked at each other and nodded. Their silence told more than words. They both pushed back the reporters and started telling them as much of their findings as possible. Although they weren't first responders and also didn't see what happened inside the orphanage, they knew a few key details.

"I'm Officer Mickhardly of the GCPD. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me and my partner Officer Burdock....To answer your first question the..."

The two officers did their best to answer the questions but the reporters weren't satisfied with what the heard. Alas, they couldn't blame them because they didn't know something. Even then, they tried to get as much information as possible.

They had two key pieces of information. Twenty people went to the ER due to Hypothermia. Fifteen were withered up and died in a mysterious fashion. This was also the work of a meta-human or something mystical. Although not enough, the reporters thought this was enough material to cover this month's rent.