80. Keystone

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After receiving the coordinates, I teleported into the air and turned into a Ghostfreak, immediately caught up with the private plane, which was now my family.

Becoming intangible, I got inside the plane and went to the toilet, where a clone was waiting for me, which immediately turned into an Echo-Echo. By doing the same, I finally dispelled him, as he had fulfilled his mission.

Thanks to the Echo-Echo feature, I received all the clone's memories for the last 24 hours and now I know about everything that happened after my departure.

Shortly after the battle with Hex, a solar eclipse began, and as the clone said, he tried to perform a ritual to create Bezel's Charms, which did not work.

Then he returned to the hotel and pretending to be tired went to bed so as not to contact with family, as they might notice the difference between us.

All the same, he really is just a clone and his behavior and way of thinking are different from mine.

Slightly, of course, but the grandfather and the girls are able to notice this difference, since they know me very well. Though, in the end, they didn't seem to notice the change, so it's okay.

That evening, Donovan Grandsmith called and invited Grandpa to his resort. Since Gwen and Ashley were inspired by the idea of ​​visiting an underwater resort in the Bermuda Triangle, Grandpa accepted the invitation.

The next day, they set off. Upon arriving at North Las Vegas Airport, Max had to leave his bus, but Grandsmith's people would have to take it to Florida while we were at the resort.

A private plane was waiting for them at the airport, which took them to Miami Airport, in which they transferred to another plane, already owned personally by Grandsmith, and in which I was now. We are about halfway from the resort already, so we should be arriving soon.

Nothing interesting happened during the day, so the clone tried not to shine and just played furniture while the girls were delighted with traveling through the sky, since this was the first time for both of them.

For some reason, it made more of an impression on them than flying in a real starship.

But grandfather was not too pleased and was constantly on his guard, as he was worried about what lives in the Bermuda Triangle. It will be necessary to calm him down, otherwise he will not be able to rest properly.

Once again I am convinced that clones are convenient, but they should not be abused. And although, thanks to the clone, I was able to go about my business and my family did not even know about my absence, but in fact, I deceived them and treated their care as a burden.

This is not good, because I love them and love spending time with them. I'll try not to do that to them again. Without much need. And I need to lie less.

Nodding to my own thoughts, I left the closet and headed to my seat.

- Something you long. Stomach problems? - Gwen asked as she ate sweets from the mini-bar. Yes, this plane has one.

- Not. I was now on the phone with Hope, Hex's niece, and discussed our training in magic with her. - I lied again.

- Is this the one you met during the battle with Hex? - Gwen asked.

- Right. I returned the locket and key to her that I had taken from Hex. Now, she has access to all his belongings and books, and has also taken over his castle. - I said.

- So she'll teach us magic? - my cousin asked hopefully.

- Yes, although not now. She has a lot of catching up to do herself, so we'll have to wait a little longer. - I said.

- It's a pity. - Gwen said in a sharply sad voice.

- Do not worry. I managed to get it. - I said, and took out Bezel's book that Hope had given me.

After reading the title, Gwen quickly tried to snatch the book out of my hands, but I didn't let her and put the book away again.

Interrupting the girl's indignation, I quickly said: - After the rest. Now is not the time to study magic.

Showing displeasure on her face, Gwen still accepted my words after I looked at her sternly. Still, sometimes she's such a child.

Due to my influence, she is very different from the canon Gwen. My Gwen is more spoiled, childish, and much more honest with her feelings. I don't know if it's good or not, but I still love her.

- We will also have to return the Book of Elementary Magic. It belonged to Hope's deceased mother, so it's a memorabilia. - I added.

- But…

- I'll send the electronic version to your laptop so you don't lose anything. - I immediately said.

- Eh. Okay. - Gwen said doomedly, handing me the grimoire she carried with her all the time. For some reason, she became very attached to this book.

The Staff of Ages is in the RV as the clone didn't have space storage and couldn't take the ugly stick with him on the plane.

- Do not be sad. Be patient a little and soon you will have a bunch of spells in your hands. I love you. - I said, standing up and walking over to Gwen, and then kissed the girl on the lips, while no one was watching.

My consolation worked and Gwen smiled brightly. I, on the other hand, went to Grandpa's to talk about the Bermuda Triangle, since we should be arriving soon.

***

*Twelve hours later*

Arrival at the resort was normal. Upon arrival, we were met by Donovan Grandsmith himself and his grandson Eddie, who was still the same 10-year-old spoiled and arrogant kid that I remember him from the animated series.

To be honest, I was expecting another trick of fate and would not even be surprised if a 16-year-old beauty met us, but, fortunately, nothing happened.

Interesting fact: In the future, the grandson will follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, and it is Eddie Grandsmith who will be the lead architect and creator of Omnitrix City, the future city near Mount Rushmore and the main base of Ben 10'000, whom I should meet soon.

Given that I, instead of 10-year-old Ben-Prime, was pulled into the Prime universe to fight the Aggregor, I have no doubt that this will happen.

Let's get back to the topic. I must admit old Donovan knows his stuff and the resort turned out just wonderful. Not only does being under water give this place a special atmosphere and charm, but also the list of local services and entertainment is simply beyond praise.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that this is the best resort in the world. No wonder this guy became a multi-millionaire.

Although, all the charm of this place was overshadowed by a little bastard, who was instructed to give us a tour while the old men discussed their youth.

To be honest, I had a hard time keeping Ashley from drowning this bastard, because he got us all so bad.

His haughty tone, arrogance, boastfulness, and so on, really got on our nerves. If he had not been only ten years old, he would have received a thrashing a long time ago, since, apparently, his upbringing was poorly done.

Although, I understand that Eddie is just a lonely child with little time for parents and no real friends due to the financial condition of his family, and all this is really just his defensive reaction, but there is a limit to everything.

I hope Grandfather can somehow influence his friend so that he finally takes up the education of his grandson normally.

Fortunately, we did not have to endure it for a long time and we were allowed to try all the services of this place. From spas and pools to restaurants and even cinemas.

The undoubted advantage is that we were the only guests here, with full access to all the services and all this was absolutely free.

We all had a great time and we will not forget this holiday soon. Our recent vacation in Cancun, with this, and was not close.

The girls especially liked it, as they are the ones who suffer the most due to our usual way of traveling, so they had a blast. But who was not particularly happy was Grandpa.

Even though I told him I had already taken care of the Bermuda Triangle problem, he was still on guard for the rest of the day.

In addition, he also had to listen to Donovan's ridicule about Max's past work and endure his boasting.

Donovan does not know about his grandfather's past and still thinks that Max was a simple plumber all his life. He does not even know that Grandpa served in the US Air Force and was a military pilot, and after that he almost became an astronaut.

And all this invitation was just a way to throw dust in the eyes of a former classmate who is not so successful in life. The rich and their strange quirks. Now, it's clear who Eddie went to.

In short, by the end of the day, grandfather was squeezed like a lemon, and he was in a bad mood. Plus, he's worried about the resort's power source.

The ex-Plumber's scent worked and he did not believe Donovan's words about using the energy of volcanic vents.

I haven't decided what to do about it yet, but let's look at the behavior of the Grandsmiths tomorrow. It may be necessary to confiscate a dangerous alien artifact from the hands of a greedy businessman. But, it's tomorrow.

In the meantime, I've decided to work on Bezel's Keystone, as it's been gathering dust in my vault for too long. After making sure everyone was asleep, I turned into my most useful alien and moved to my base.

In the Archamada Book of Spells, not much is written about the Keystone itself. Only how it can be used to restore the destroyed Bezel's Charms and the effects of the stone itself, although rather vague.

To quote, «The Keystone increases all the natural powers and skills of the wearer, and tenfold the power of other Amulets.» And it's all. Not even spells.

So now, I want to test how effective the enhancement is and how it will affect my already enhanced body, as well as my superpowers and the power of the Omnitrix aliens. Do not forget about the Tattoo of Luck.

Taking out the Keystone, I fed some Mana into it to activate it and immediately felt a small outflow of my magical power, and then felt my body fill with strength and my psi abilities began to go crazy.

To be honest, it turned my head a little, but I quickly managed to control myself so as not to destroy the entire base with telekinesis.

After taking a couple of breaths, I calmed my powers and sat down to meditate to get used to the effects of the Keystone. It took me almost an hour to stabilize the situation and feel all the changes happening to me.

Now, my telekinesis and telepathy have increased by a ten times. In theory, now I can lift 150 tons of weight and easily read the minds of the entire Bellwood. Although, this does not mean that people will survive after that. My super vision received the same power surge.

After quickly testing my new physical characteristics on the simulators, I saw about the same results.

I used to be able to lift about 2 tons of cargo, maybe 2.5 tons after serum stabilization, and now it's almost 27 tons. My speed has also received a tenfold increase and now I am able to run at a speed of 615 km/h, almost half the speed of sound. My stamina is not worth talking about. Now I'm not even sure if I need to sleep.

What's really cool is that there are no control issues. Last time, after taking the serum, I had to take the time to learn how to control the increased strength. Now, this is no problem. I have complete control over my power level. Indeed, a magical artifact.

The stone also affected the serum, so my regeneration, reaction, spider sense, skin durability, and so on, also became ten times better. It seems that the Keystone does indeed give a tenfold increase. Exactly exactly.

The aliens also received a buff, so now I could beat Vilgax even as a Humanoid. Although, I may be exaggerating.

Honestly, I did not expect that a simple magic charm would make me so strong. It's even scary.

Magic also became stronger, but its amount did not change. Which is not surprising, because such an increase will have to be paid for, and my Mana acts as a payment.

To operate at full capacity, the Stone requires 20% of my full reserve per hour.

Which is generally acceptable, since my magic power regeneration is a little over 10% per hour. Do not forget about the energy reserves in the Infinity Tattoo.

As a result, I can use full amplification for several hours in a row. Plus, I can control the level of the buff, so I can keep it at 5x all the time, but then I have to do without the mana regeneration. But a double amplification is just the same ideal option, on which, perhaps, I will stop.

After spending a few more hours testing all my aliens and my other abilities, I noticed a few problems.

There are abilities that the stone does not affect. Basically, these are forces that simply cannot be strengthened. Well, how can I increase the intangibility of the Ghost? How else can you become more intangible? Unless I fall into another plane of existence, but I don't think the Stone has the strength to do so.

Also, I haven't noticed any effect on my Tattoo of Luck. Perhaps because I destroyed the Charm itself, the power of the Keystone no longer extends to it. Or maybe the Keystone never worked for the Charm of Luck, after all it's too fundamental a thing to simply enhance.

Also, I didn't notice any particular effect on my skills. I didn't get smarter, I didn't fight better, I can't invent better than before, and so on. It looks like the Stone still has some limitations that I have yet to learn about.

But even what I got is enough for me. Just some stone that I got without too much trouble made me ten times stronger. If I create another serum, then I will become a real monster. Although, I'm already a monster.

And now that I've finished testing the stone, I can do a little experiment.