Building a magic system on threat of destruction

The camp of spirits was larger than Jack expected. Hundreds of people sat or stood in loose groupings, all gathered in a rough circle shape. they were spread out widely, and Jack could see the line of people expand to the sides as he approached closer with his cart. As he drew close, a handful of people came out to meet him, including Plexion.

"Jack! You got here sooner than I thought." Plexion smiled and waved, clearly happy to see him.

"I have some business I need to get to." he gave Plexion a meaningful look, trying to emphasize that he had business back on Drowl.

"Gotcha. Well, we won't keep you long." He looked back at the cart Jack had made. "We'll need you to make some more of these. A lot more."

The people with Plexion examined the cart with interest. A biggun poked at the cart, her face visible with disbelief as she touched it. "How did this happen? Where did this thing come from?"

"I made it," Jack explained. "My abilities allow me to shape and manipulate screens...though I would guess you aren't familiar with screens?"

Everyone in the group shook their heads, and Jack made a defense screen appear in the air. "I can make screens and manipulate them. I made these permanent ones into the right shapes for housing. Once I have a clear idea of how many you all will need, I can make more." The words were a bit of a lie. Jack could shape the broken-off pieces of status screen he made, but he couldn't manipulate them magically. The only screens he could affect that way were the butterflies, but he didn't want to reveal any weaknesses to these people.

Plexion didn't say anything, even though he knew the words were untrue as well. He understood very well that Jack didn't trust these people, and Jack suspected that his demonic partner didn't wholly trust them either. It was true enough that they needed help, but Jack wanted to appear more powerful than he actually was, just to be on the safe side.

The gathered spirits all seemed very impressed with Jack, and one or two of them seemed to regard him with a level of awe. Jack handed the cart over to the group and walked with Plexion toward the camp. As they got closer, children ran up and began examining the cart with interest. Jack stared at them, stunned for a long moment.

Jack knew that there were children here, but seeing them directly made his brain shut down. There weren't many that he could see, only two dozen or so kids and young teens. But all Jack could think of was that there were more kids out there in the white void. Lost and likely struggling to hold onto their minds, it was a harrowing thought. Plexion gently grabbed Jack's shoulder and pulled him away from the scene. When Jack looked at him, he could see the understanding in Plexion's eyes. The former King of all Demons understood what Jack was feeling, but he also knew that there was nothing that could be done at this exact moment.

As the group wandered closer to the gathered people, people stopped their conversations to wave at Plexion and the others, despite the fact that he had just left. Jack could clearly see how popular the demon was with the spirits. It made sense, Plexion was incredibly easy to get along with, and Jack knew that he was well-versed in a huge variety of topics from all their skill discussions. Jack, on the other hand, was stared at by just about everyone as he walked by. It was uncomfortable just how much people kept their eyes on him as he followed Plexion through the crowd. He had known that his black cloak was attention-grabbing but hadn't quite realized how much.

Priests of the High Deity wore religious garb that vaguely resembled a black cloak, the resemblance growing stronger the more they rose in the ranks of the church. However, Jack didn't see anyone wearing anything like a church uniform. He idly wondered if they all thought he was some high-level priest, here to help save them from this eternal limbo. Fortunately, no one stopped the procession until they made it to Jimmel.

The old man was talking with some of the people who had been a part of the failed ambush on Jack, but he quickly dismissed them as he saw the cart. "Jack! You came much sooner than expected, it hasn't even been a full day yet."

"The work was easier than anticipated. I settled on some simple designs for now, we can talk about future adjustments once we set everything up."

Jimmel looked at the cart. "Where's the rest of it? That only looks like enough for one, maybe two small buildings." His easygoing expression tightened somewhat. It was clear that he wasn't happy with what Jack had brought, but he knew that he wasn't really in a position to make demands.

Jack responded cooly, "This is the material needed for a small home and a variety of furniture. I wanted to get an accurate count of how many you would like before I made more." Jack walked over to the cart and pulled off some of the pieces. "I'll show you how to assemble it, and you can tell me what sounds fair to you, alright?"

Jimmel looked skeptical, but he nodded. Jack took everything off the cart as necessary, explaining how to assemble the small dwellings. As the structure began to come together, everyone around them stopped what they were doing to come and stare in awe as a building was made in front of them. Once Jack finished with the house, he constructed the furniture. Several members of Jimmels team quietly repeated the instructions to themselves, as if memorizing them. Jack felt that that was an over-the-top reaction considering he was basically just slotting things into the holes that fit them.

Once it was all finished, Jack took Jimmel inside the house. It wasn't very big, about eight feet by eight feet, but it had four walls and a door. The furniture fit nicely inside, leaving just enough space to stand and stretch between the bed and stool at the table. If a house didn't need a table, someone could put three beds inside. It would be cramped sleeping, but it would also mean erecting fewer houses.

Jimmel was very pleased with the final result, "Well these will do very nicely. They don't fall apart or anything, do they? I didn't see you using any screws or anything."

Jack shook his head. "They'll hold together unless someone takes them apart intentionally. It's part of their magic to work like that." Jimmel nodded appreciatively, then fell deep into thought.

"I think we could use around one hundred and fifty houses. A lot of people volunteered to double up or share houses if they have alternating schedules. We will need around three hundred beds, but fifty or so tables would be fine." Jimmel looked at Jack thoughtfully. "How long will all that take?"

Jack shrugged. "A couple of hours at most. The hardest part is making the first batch."

"A couple of hours? For hundreds of these things?" Jimmel looked shocked, his voice loud as he shouted.

Jack smirked at him, then led the older man outside. He called for people to make some space before pulling up his status screen. His keyboard was still attached, and he disconnected it before sticking it on the house. He pressed the hot key for copy, then the one for paste. A second house popped into place in the area the spirits had just vacated. Everyone except Plexion and Jack let out small gasps and backed up in surprise.

Jimmel looked stunned, and he whipped his head to Jack, making eye contact. Jack saw the intensity in Jimmels eyes, the feelings of awe turning into something like worship. Jack felt a twisting feeling in his gut as he realized that he might have gone a bit overboard with the showboating.

After making enough housing and materials for the spirit camp, Jack made a quick exit. People kept praising his magic and trying to curry favor with him. It made him feel gross, and he might have snapped at someone if Plexion hadn't come to the rescue. The demon had helped keep people from bothering Jack too much, and Plexion made an effort to help Jack finish his business so that he could leave.

"Thanks, Plexion, I owe you one."

The demon smiled at him, his pointed teeth flashing. "Honestly I should be thanking you, Jack. These people really needed this."

There was silence between them for a long moment, both of them not sure how to address the elephant in the room. Finally, Jack said something, "I have a lead I can follow up on, a way to maybe fix this mess. But...it's not a sure thing."

Plexion's smile was softer now, more subdued. "I hope it works out. I'm not sure what to do if we can't find a solution." He looked back at the camp. "This can't last. No matter how much work I put into this place, it won't be enough."

Jack nodded solemnly, "I know. I'll figure something out. Can you contact me in ten days or so?"

"Yeah, I'll see if I can find out anything else up here that can help."

The two looked at each other for a long moment. Both of them felt the heavy burden of guilt, each somewhat responsible for the situation they found themselves in. But there was nothing more to say, nothing more to be done here and now. So Jack turned and walked away from the camp. He had to go deliver some bad news to the bore-bots.