Alex while growing up had without really thinking about it, quietly filed magic and magical girls away in the corners of their mind as neat things that exist, but that one doesn't actually encounter in normal life everyday life, like nuclear fusion and astronauts.

Stumbling across the edge of a battle between actual magical girls and a blob of darkness that hurts just to look at was the first (but certainly not the last) time he realized that was a massive mistake.

And while he sticks around to watch how the fight develops (and reinforce to his brain that the Magical Girls are actually magical and not just cosplayers), when he notices the Puchuu going around doing something??? to the people who were closest to the fight, it crosses his mind that they might be memory wiping witnesses and that if he doesn't hide soon, not running away earlier will be tied for greatest mistake of his life. He starts looking around for potential hiding spots.

There are a variety of stores, apartment buildings, and alleys around. There's some trees, and a utility shed. Traffic is still rolling, the park is big enough that mostly people couldn't see the fight from the road. So one could just... Walk away, preferably swiftly.

Alex starts walking away from where the fight happened as swift as he can manage while internally considering which of the potential hiding spots to use. Apartment buildings run the risk of not being possible to get in due to lacking a key and of one of the actual residents being there and trying to chase him out if they find him suspicious. Alleys probably won't have anyone in them who might try to chase him out but if the Magical Girls or Puchuu do check in them while hunting for witnesses, having hung out in one would be very suspicious. similarly so for using the utility shed, plus it would also have a risk of being locked. Using the trees would be slightly less suspicious then an alley, but they would also provide worse cover. So he reasons that walking away and going adjacent to the road, or hiding in one of the stores would be the best options.
He starts examining the nearby stores after concluding that to see if there are any that lack windows or at least wouldn't any from which the fight would've been visible, or ones which it'd be reasonable to spend a while in like cafes, bookstores/libraries, or even massage parlors or something else that'd hurt his wallet to stop by in.

Pharmacy, pawn shop, thrift store, McDonalds, Dollar General, sketchy massage parlor, some Mexican restauraunt, bookstore, FroYo place... The Mexican place seems promising, or the bookstore.

Mexican is not in the somewhat limited category of foods Alex can tolerate eating, so he goes with the bookstore. After entering he looks around to see how the bookstore is divided up, and what genres of books it stocks. He also considers seeing if it has any books on magic or Magical Girls or the Puchuu in charge of them but realizes before even picking up any books that while worried about his memories of something magic that just happened being wiped, is one of the worst possible times to be publicly looking at books on magical stuff.

It seems like a fairly run down example of the type. Lots of sci-fi and fantasy. Soft classical music playing. Lots of miscellaneous paperbacks on old looking wooden shelves going deep into the building. Some self-help and how-tos. Nothing new and popular. A fan turns lazily, and the cashier is on her phone but sets it down as he comes in. Prices are cheap, but everything looks used.

"Hey! Looking for anything in particular?"

Alex finds used books perfectly respectable, even if he's too much of a sentimental hoarder himself to understand on a emotional level anyone who'd sell their old books, and would've happily perused the collection of used fantasies and sci-fis on his own if the cashier had stayed on her phone. In response to her question, and because his recent witnessing of a magical fight has got him wondering what actual magic is like and not just the ways it might be in fiction, he blurts out "Would you have any books on magic?".

"You mean like fantasy, or you mean like the Magical Girl teams? 'Cause..." Wave at the fantasy section. "Or like, I have some stuff on card tricks and stage magic in the self help sections. And some stuff that's supposedly more real on shelf four in the back room, but uh... I never got any of it to work and none of it seems very reliable. So absolutely no guarantees there."

"I had meant supposedly real magic! though I'd also like to check out the explicitly fictional magic section afterwards, and thanks for the warning on how most likely none of it actually works, but I'd still want to check it out." Alex replies before heading to shelf 4 in the back room, and looking at the blurbs of the books contained on it, and flipping through them briefly, to see which of them contain exercises for possibly doing magic.

One row of shelf 4 is labelled "Actual Magic (Supposedly, NO GUARANTEES)".

Standout titles include: 

Love and Justice: A Chronicle of Magical Girls!

The Hedge-Witch's Housework Manual

Collected Statements on Magic From the U.S. Government

Do-It-Yourself Rituals for Inner Alignment, Energy Clearing, and Wholesome Wellness

Muncie's Magnificent Monster Matrix (17 new entries!)

Modern-Day Miracles: Calling Upon Thy Faith

The Fine Art of Mentalism

Paint Magic and Spirit Crafts

Demonic Delights - Summoning for Fun and Profit

Cultivating Your Inner Garden

Daoism, Buddhism, and Legalism - Three Lenses to Ancient Magic

True Tales of Ghosts, Specters, Hauntings, and More

The Dangers of Old Stones and Old Gods

Survivalist's Guide to Magic! (Blurb: What do you do in case of tentacle monster? What about a werewolf? Is a sudden frost just weather, or evil spirits? When magic happens, knowledge is power- Educate yourself so you are prepared to survive what life throws at you!)

Love and Justice: A Chronicle of Magical Girls!

Alex figures based off the title that probably Love and Justice will just be informative on the history and maybe politics of Magical Girls, and not how to become one, but as encountering them (at a distance) in real life has made him more curious on them in general, he'll briefly read through the start of Love and Justice before buying it to have something to read later in between attempting to do magic, and to help avoid annoying the bookstore's cashier with the amount of reading/browsing-before-buying he'll be doing with the rest of the titles.

The Hedge-Witch's Housework Manual

Magic for helping with housework would be quite nice though if it's specifically only for witches, Alex will need to put off getting and looking at it or similar books until after fixing not being a girl. Is it obvious from browsing through the start of it whether the magic in The Hedge-Witch's Housework Manual is gender locked?

Collected Statements on Magic From the U.S. Government

Alex is even less inclined to trust statements from the Government on magic then from the rest of these books, but is in fact curious what some of the things the Government has said on it are?

Do-It-Yourself Rituals for Inner Alignment, Energy Clearing, and Wholesome Wellness

Ignoring a potential path to power/magic just off aesthetic vibes would be dumb, but as there are a bunch of other potential titles to look at it, he'll investigate them first and only look at Do-It-Yourself if none of the other books on doing magic seem viable.

Muncie's Magnificent Monster Matrix (17 new entries!)

A monster encyclopedia would be straightforwardly useful, if Alex peeks at a couple random entries what does it read like? 

Modern-Day Miracles: Calling Upon Thy Faith

Seems like it'd be especially unlikely to work for someone with negligible to negative amounts of faith so Alex does not investigate it further.

The Fine Art of Mentalism

Tempting, but it'd require someone to practice on or preferably to practice it on him and Alex does not in fact that kind of relationship with any of his friends, practicing it on himself would seem like an especially bad idea, and mental magic would be especially hard to check whether it's working or just a placebo, so he'll unfortunately have to table checking it out for now.

Paint Magic and Spirit Crafts

Alex is terrible at painting and other kinds of crafts, but maybe Paint Magic and Spirit Crafts could be an excuse to try fixing that, what kinds of things does it claim to be able to do, and what actions are involved in making paint or other kinds of craft magic?

Demonic Delights - Summoning for Fun and Profit

Trying to summon demons just because it's aesthetic is a terrible idea, investigating what it's supposedly like on the other hand should be fine, Alex rationalizes to himself. What are demons like according to Demonic Delights , fun trading partners? rule lawyers you need to be careful around? ravenous horrors that'll devour your face if you mess up the summoning? what are the different species/categories of demons? what do they like to take payment in? what stuff do you need to summon them?

Cultivating Your Inner Garden

Alex is tempted to skip this one off vibes again, but does check what results it claims to be able to give if one succeeds at the magic it's offering, as it's title make it seem like it might offer body improving magic.

Daoism, Buddhism, and Legalism - Three Lenses to Ancient Magic

Alex completely bounced off the philosophy of Buddhism last time he heard about it, so it's very unlikely he'd be able to use any magic or lenses on it derived from Buddhism. He does however glance through some of the sections on Daoist and Legalist magic while half-expecting his ignorance of them to render the book incomprehensible.

True Tales of Ghosts, Specters, Hauntings, and More

Alex would just skip True Tales due to not being particularly interested in ghost stories, but does check if there's an elaboration on ghosts and specters apparently being different things?? 

The Dangers of Old Stones and Old Gods

Alex is not any more temperamentally inclined to try encountering or gaining power from Old Gods then he is regular or new ones and does not need to be warned about the dangers of attempting it, but is curious if one of the listed dangers is getting tentacled? or if that's only something that happens in hentai novels.

Survivalist's Guide to Magic! (Blurb: What do you do in case of tentacle monster? What about a werewolf? Is a sudden frost just weather, or evil spirits? When magic happens, knowledge is power- Educate yourself so you are prepared to survive what life throws at you!)

So apparently tentacle monsters are real (or at least as real as anything else in this section of books), what does Survivalist's Guide to Magic say you should do if you encounter one? (and is it better then Alex initial guess of "get molested if you're a pretty girl, or hopefully genderbent and molested if not") what about werewolves? demons? other kinds of magical creatures?

Also about halfway through this, Alex will realize that he should really be taking down notes, goes to check if there are any notebooks and pencils for sale, and when it turns out they've got them for cheap he buys a few and starts taking down some of his earlier thoughts and various tidbits of information as he browses through the rest of the books.

So apparently tentacle monsters are real (or at least as real as anything else in this section of books) , what does Survivalist's Guide to Magic say you should do if you encounter one? (and is it better then Alex initial guess of "get molested if you're a pretty girl, or hopefully genderbent and molested if not") what about werewolves? demons? other kinds of magical creatures?

If you are a biologically sexed female who has been impregnated with tentacle monster eggs, HAVE VAGINAL SEX WITH A MALE PARTNER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. This is not a joke or exaggeration or some sort of fucked up pickup line. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

If you spot one from a distance, stand still and look around carefully for potential hiding spots where MORE tentacles might be waiting in ambush- Fallen logs, vent grates, dumpsters, storm drains, abandoned bags, large bushes- Keep clear of such places and maintain situational awareness while backing away.

If you're suddenly attacked by one, try to hit the central body before it manages to fully restrain you. You'll only have seconds! Guns tend to be ineffective, slashing weapons are better. They're afraid of fire.

If it manages to fully restrain you, stop fighting back and try to stay calm. Fighting back could induce it to knock you out and drag you to another location, which could leave you stranded and unable to seek aid.

For biological females, if it's an adult tentacle it will most likely lay tentacle eggs inside you. IF YOU ARE IMPREGNATED WITH TENTACLE EGGS, you should have vaginal intercourse resulting in semen inside the vagina, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, on pain of PERMENANT AND SEVERE mindbreaky consequences. This will not result in a normal pregnancy, and will instead produce tentacle eggs in 48-72 hours, which can be summarily destroyed.

Biological males are rarely attacked by tentacles, but if they are attacked it will, most of the time, eventually figure out that they don't have a womb and just sort of... Leave you basting in aphroditic venom.

Either way, REPORT IT TO THE MAGICAL GIRL HOTLINE OR OTHER RELEVANT LOCAL AUTHORITY as soon as possible so that the pest can be exterminated. Despite all pest-control efforts, they remain endemic across much of the Eastern Seaboard, and can be found in almost all major cities worldwide if you look hard enough.

There's an 800 number that's supposedly for a national tentacle hotline.

Alex is not any more temperamentally inclined to try encountering or gaining power from Old Gods then he is regular or new ones and does not need to be warned about the dangers of attempting it, but is curious if one of the listed dangers is getting tentacled? or if that's only something that happens in hentai novels.

The dangers listed seem to be Lovecraftian- Madness, horrible curses, bleeding from every orifice, shadowy creatures murdering you, and the like.

Alex would just skip True Tales due to not being particularly interested in ghost stories, but does check if there's an elaboration on ghosts and specters apparently being different things?? 

Not an easily accessible and clearly explained one, at least. Maybe specters are more... Aggressive?

Alex completely bounced off the philosophy of Buddhism last time he heard about it, so it's very unlikely he'd be able to use any magic or lenses on it derived from Buddhism. He does however glance through some of the sections on Daoist and Legalist magic while half-expecting his ignorance of them to render the book incomprehensible.

It's pretty incomprehensible, and the whole thing reads more like a history or theory book than an actual manual anyway. Apparently having a court position is something that supposedly grants you magical power, so long as you behave appropriately solemnly? And Daoism seems to be some kind of ancient alchemist thing?

Alex is tempted to skip this one off vibes again, but does check what results it claims to be able to give if one succeeds at the magic it's offering, as it's title make it seem like it might offer body improving magic.

It claims to make you better at growing plants, gain plant-based sensory powers, become resistant to poison, hunger, temperatures, and disease, and that 'true masters can step into the worldroots'.

Trying to summon demons just because it's aesthetic is a terrible idea, investigating what it's supposedly like on the other hand should be fine, Alex rationalizes to himself. What are demons like according to Demonic Delights , fun trading partners? rule lawyers you need to be careful around? ravenous horrors that'll devour your face if you mess up the summoning? what are the different species/categories of demons? what do they like to take payment in? what stuff do you need to summon them?

No summoning is a guarantee. There are quite a variety, apparently? Often, demons don't want to bother with you. Imps are good for minor mischief or petty chores, and must be paid by indulging in their appropriate sin, or letting them so indulge. So, break something for Wrath imps. Harpies will pluck your enemies' eyes out, or carry you to safety, and one is advised to pay the promised fees in gold and silver promptly lest one suffer eye-plucking themselves. Hyssak build spiderweb-like arrays of sharp glass, which can have magical effects on a room, usually curses. Succubi are good at healing, including cosmetic surgery, take payment by having sex with the summoner (usually dozens of times, for something like healing a major wound), and are one of the most popular summons, as well as one of the safest if you negotiate properly. No permanent consequences to fucking a succubus, or so the book claims. Pit Hounds are basically just immortal dogs; They eat a LOT, like ten pounds of meat per day, but are otherwise just... Dogs. Kind of hard to train, but not inherently malicious.

There's plenty more. A few have stern warnings, but most sound safe-ish. Candles, drawn symbols, a sacrifice (preferably live, but store-bought chicken will do in a pinch) and a knife are all the physical accouterments needed.

Alex is terrible at painting and other kinds of crafts, but maybe Paint Magic and Spirit Crafts could be an excuse to try fixing that, what kinds of things does it claim to be able to do, and what actions are involved in making paint or other kinds of craft magic?

Craft magic appears to be about working in little slivers of magic as you make things by hand- Painting, weaving, sewing, pottery, whittling- Resulting in a magical object, if you did it right. It's related to the Japanese practice of ofuda. Most often the resulting object will just be better at what it is- A watering can never spills, an oven mitt never lets you be burnt. If you make art, though, and really feel it and take your time agonizing over it and pouring magic into the process, you can do all sorts of things. The examples given are a carved statuette that grows warm when 'trouble' is near, and a woven rug that prevents anyone who sleeps on it from becoming sick.

A monster encyclopedia would be straightforwardly useful, if Alex peeks at a couple random entries what does it read like? 

It describes their habitats, lifecycles, appearances in popular mythology (if any), threat level, and what sorts of things their body parts are good for in a neat little table. It almost looks like it could be some sort of game manual, if an exhaustively creatively written one. Apparently the German Forest Rhinoceros are found in the forests of, well, Germany, and their horns can warn of upcoming earthquakes?

Alex is even less inclined to trust statements from the Government on magic then from the rest of these books, but is in fact curious what some of the things the Government has said on it are?

Lots of statements asking people not to panic over this or that. Formal denials of allegations that the President is a lizardman/puuchuu puppet/demon/etc. A CDC statement that 'protective charms' are not an adequate replacement for masks in a quarantine situation. A case study from the ATF on whether the drug 'Deep Pink' has a magical source or not.

Magic for helping with housework would be quite nice though if it's specifically only for witches, Alex will need to put off getting and looking at it or similar books until after fixing not being a girl. Is it obvious from browsing through the start of it whether the magic in The Hedge-Witch's Housework Manual is gender locked?

It's not explicitly gender-locked, but all the stated spells are to do with housework- Cleaning, cooking, mending, dealing with children, that sort of thing.

Alex figures based off the title that probably Love and Justice will just be informative on the history and maybe politics of Magical Girls, and not how to become one, but as encountering them (at a distance) in real life has made him more curious on them in general, he'll briefly read through the start of Love and Justice before buying it to have something to read later in between attempting to do magic, and to help avoid annoying the bookstore's cashier with the amount of reading/browsing-before-buying he'll be doing with the rest of the titles.

It's something like a set of memoirs and a broad history claiming Magical Girls have been defending the innocent and keeping magic out of the hands of evil since before the middle ages. Magical Girls have secret identities, and apparently stay magical even as they grow older, though they usually retire from active hero-ing in their 20s. Puchuu apparently seek out those with potential all on their own.

If you are a biologically sexed female who has been impregnated with tentacle monster eggs, HAVE VAGINAL SEX WITH A MALE PARTNER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. This is not a joke or exaggeration or some sort of fucked up pickup line. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Alex's first thought on reading on that is euggh (and "but what if hypothetical girl!Alex would rather deal with permanent mindbreaky consequences then have sex with a guy??" even though that is objectively stupid).
And makes notes on recommended responses for spotting and/or being attacked by a tentacle monster, including distastefully, what to do if impregnated with tentacle eggs and it turns not having a womb doesn't prevent tentacle impregnation, and/or none of the potential options for becoming girl have a no womb option. (and also that he really shouldn't have expected the correct strategy to being attacked by some kind of magical pest to be "lay back and take it / have fun" even if that would've been a hotter way for reality to be.) and the phone number to call if one encounters a tentacle monster. 

The dangers listed seem to be Lovecraftian- Madness, horrible curses, bleeding from every orifice, shadowy creatures murdering you, and the like.

That's basically what he should have expected, Alex won't be changing his policy on not wanting anything to do with Old Gods anytime soon.

Not an easily accessible and clearly explained one, at least. Maybe specters are more... Aggressive?

Being maybe more aggressive does not seem like it'd warrant an entirely different word for referring to them, but English has plenty of more ridiculous examples of that kind of thing, so Alex won't judge the author or whoever invented the ghost/specter distinction too much for it.

It's pretty incomprehensible, and the whole thing reads more like a history or theory book than an actual manual anyway. Apparently having a court position is something that supposedly grants you magical power, so long as you behave appropriately solemnly? And Daoism seems to be some kind of ancient alchemist thing?

The incomprehensibility is basically what he expected, and there being court positions that give magic if you act solemnly is wild if true. (and Alex is also now wondering whether they are any fantasies novel with a premise "court positions give you magic powers if you act appropriately" and makes a note to search that up later when at his computer.)

It claims to make you better at growing plants, gain plant-based sensory powers, become resistant to poison, hunger, temperatures, and disease, and that 'true masters can step into the worldroots'.

Neat! Alex isn't interested in growing plants or gaining plant themed sensory powers, but does make a note that if the other magic stuff turns out to work, and he can't find any better options for hunger/temperature/disease resistance he should track down and return to Cultivating Your Inner Garden.

No summoning is a guarantee. There are quite a variety, apparently? Often, demons don't want to bother with you. Imps are good for minor mischief or petty chores, and must be paid by indulging in their appropriate sin, or letting them so indulge. So, break something for Wrath imps.

Are there Sloth imps, and is being too lazy to do the chore you summoned an imp for or to even pay them, enough of an indulgence in the sin of sloth to count as payment (Alex does not expect this idea to work, but is curious about where it'd fail if Demonic Delights mentions anything like it)?

 Harpies will pluck your enemies' eyes out, or carry you to safety, and one is advised to pay the promised fees in gold and silver promptly lest one suffer eye-plucking themselves.

Even if Alex had enemies he certainly wouldn't want to have their eyes plucked out, most situations he might want to be carried to safety from wouldn't leave him with the time or opportunity to summon a demon, and he's too attached to his eyes to risk having them plucked out for anything more frivolous, so he won't be summoning any harpies.

Hyssak build spiderweb-like arrays of sharp glass, which can have magical effects on a room, usually curses. 

The Hyssak arrays sound pretty, but summoning one just to have them build some arrays for Alex to look at when he doesn't even have a room he wants cursed seems like a bad and possibly dangerous idea, so he won't (unless he ends up with a room he needs cursed for some reason).

Succubi are good at healing, including cosmetic surgery, take payment by having sex with the summoner (usually dozens of times, for something like healing a major wound), and are one of the most popular summons, as well as one of the safest if you negotiate properly. No permanent consequences to fucking a succubus, or so the book claims. 

Succubi are good at healing, including cosmetic surgery

including cosmetic surgery

Does the book give any details on what kinds of cosmetic changes succubi can do? even if they don't explicitly do gender changes he'll definitely be trying to summon one later for the chance to get his face adjusted and fix various cosmetic blemishes the narration will not go into detail on. Do succubi have any specific additional requirements to summon them, or things they'd prefer when being summoned beyond just being paid in sex?

Pit Hounds are basically just immortal dogs; They eat a LOT, like ten pounds of meat per day, but are otherwise just... Dogs. Kind of hard to train, but not inherently malicious.

Demon doggos! Alex is unreasonably tempted to try summoning one even though most of the considerations against getting a dog still apply when the dog in question is immortal, and especially so when they'd eat a ridiculous amount a day.

There's plenty more. A few have stern warnings, but most sound safe-ish. Candles, drawn symbols, a sacrifice (preferably live, but store-bought chicken will do in a pinch) and a knife are all the physical accouterments needed.

Are there specific kinds of candles or materials to draw the symbols in that work best, or would any do? and would summoned demons be liable to get offended if summoned with store-bought chicken or is using a live sacrifice just for improving the odds of the summoning working at all? (Alex is a bit too squeamish to use live sacrifices, and would find it kind of mean to do when the summoning most likely won't even work.) 

Craft magic appears to be about working in little slivers of magic as you make things by hand- Painting, weaving, sewing, pottery, whittling- Resulting in a magical object, if you did it right. It's related to the Japanese practice of ofuda. Most often the resulting object will just be better at what it is- A watering can never spills, an oven mitt never lets you be burnt. If you make art, though, and really feel it and take your time agonizing over it and pouring magic into the process, you can do all sorts of things. The examples given are a carved statuette that grows warm when 'trouble' is near, and a woven rug that prevents anyone who sleeps on it from becoming sick.

Neat! Alex isn't sure there's anything which he could maybe eventually craft which would be both fun to make and useful to have be magically better at what it is, but does make a note to maybe come back for *Paint Magic and Spirits Craft* another time.

It describes their habitats, lifecycles, appearances in popular mythology (if any), threat level, and what sorts of things their body parts are good for in a neat little table. It almost looks like it could be some sort of game manual, if an exhaustively creatively written one. Apparently the German Forest Rhinoceros are found in the forests of, well, Germany, and their horns can warn of upcoming earthquakes?

Cool, Alex is definitely getting this one, even if it's contents turn out to be unrelated to reality, it's still a fun and interesting read.

Lots of statements asking people not to panic over this or that. Formal denials of allegations that the President is a lizardman/puuchuu puppet/demon/etc. A CDC statement that 'protective charms' are not an adequate replacement for masks in a quarantine situation. A case study from the ATF on whether the drug 'Deep Pink' has a magical source or not.

Why would you confirm the President isn't a demonic reptilian puppet of the Puchuu when that would be much cooler then them being a regular human. What's the deal with 'Deep Pink' and why's it maybe magical according to that case study? does it turn the users skin pink? does overdosing turn one into a flamigo? or is it just another boring drug that happens to be pink and might've been manufactured with magic or something?

It's not explicitly gender-locked, but all the stated spells are to do with housework- Cleaning, cooking, mending, dealing with children, that sort of thing.

Most of those seem useful to have magic to help with!

It's something like a set of memoirs and a broad history claiming Magical Girls have been defending the innocent and keeping magic out of the hands of evil since before the middle ages. Magical Girls have secret identities, and apparently stay magical even as they grow older, though they usually retire from active hero-ing in their 20s. Puchuu apparently seek out those with potential all on their own.

Neat! does it mention anything on whether the Puchuu/Magical Girl's conception of what's evil and needs to be prevented from having magic changed over the centuries, or have their views on it remained relatively stable throughout history to Love and Justice?

After looking through the various books, Alex is tempted to get (in order of priority) Demonic Delights, Muncie's Magnificent Monster Matrix, Survivalist's Guide to Magic!, The Hedge-Witch's Housework Manual, Love and Justice.
What's the price of them all together look like versus just Demonic Delights and Muncie's versus what a brand new book would cost?

Demonic Delights is listed as $8.99, Muncie's as $14.99 (it's a hefty hardcover), Survivalist's as $5.99, Hedge-Witch at $8.99, and Love and Justice sits at $7.99. All together, that's $47 bucks before tax. Just Demonic Delights and Muncie's is $24.

New hardcovers are going for $25-40 each depending on how popular they are, and new paperbacks are usually around $15ish too.

Neat! does it mention anything on whether the Puchuu/Magical Girl's conception of what's evil and needs to be prevented from having magic changed over the centuries, or have their views on it remained relatively stable throughout history to Love and Justice?

The memoirs don't do a deep dive into Puchuu Philosophy. In fact, it might be deliberately avoiding explaining in clear terms. It looks like basically any magic-users taking advantage of non-magic people, especially on a large scale, get targeted by Puchuu. Reading between the lines a bit, monsters, 'cults', major disasters, accumulation of power by non-puchuu factions, and mundane-on-magical violence are probably things they push back against, too.

What's the deal with 'Deep Pink' and why's it maybe magical according to that case study?

Deep Pink is a club drug used to sharpen senses and create a stimulant high. It can induce heart attacks and seizures. It might or might not be refined tentacle monster venom? Sections of the text are redacted.

Does the book give any details on what kinds of cosmetic changes succubi can do?

Do succubi have any specific additional requirements to summon them, or things they'd prefer when being summoned beyond just being paid in sex?

Are there specific kinds of candles or materials to draw the symbols in that work best, or would any do? and would summoned demons be liable to get offended if summoned with store-bought chicken or is using a live sacrifice just for improving the odds of the summoning working at all? 

There aren't a lot of details listed, but 'fair skin and athletic build', and 'a more satisfying lower member' and 'adjustments to the hair and bosom' are all listed. Each type of demon has a set of 'recommended resonant materials for ideal results'. It's unclear if un-ideal results mean it doesn't work, or the demon gets offended. Succubi: Brass, bronze, or copper candle-holders x5, pentagram drawn in quality white chalk. Do not use salt. For succubi in particular, sexual fluids can and probably should replace an ordinary sacrifice.

Sloth Imps take payment in the chance to laze about unmolested in a secure and comfortable spot. They are not very reliable workers.

The memoirs don't do a deep dive into Puchuu Philosophy. In fact, it might be deliberately avoiding explaining in clear terms. It looks like basically any magic-users taking advantage of non-magic people, especially on a large scale, get targeted by Puchuu. Reading between the lines a bit, monsters, 'cults', major disasters, accumulation of power by non-puchuu factions, and mundane-on-magical violence are probably things they push back against, too.

Alex is vaguely suspicious of the lack of a deep dive into Puchuu Philosophy but continues reading through it. He would also judge them for pushing back against non-puchuu factions accumulating power, but he'd do basically the same thing in their position and he's not that much of a hypocrite.

Deep Pink is a club drug used to sharpen senses and create a stimulant high. It can induce heart attacks and seizures. It might or might not be refined tentacle monster venom? Sections of the text are redacted.

Welp that's as boring an effect as the ones from every other drug Alex has heard about, it's neat that it might be refined tentacle monster venom though.

There aren't a lot of details listed, but 'fair skin and athletic build', and 'a more satisfying lower member' and 'adjustments to the hair and bosom' are all listed. Each type of demon has a set of 'recommended resonant materials for ideal results'. It's unclear if un-ideal results mean it doesn't work, or the demon gets offended. Succubi: Brass, bronze, or copper candle-holders x5, pentagram drawn in quality white chalk. Do not use salt. For succubi in particular, sexual fluids can and probably should replace an ordinary sacrifice.

Those listed available changes are promising. Does it say which of brass, bronze, and copper are a succubi's favorite, and whether they prefer that all the candle holders be of the same type, or different or would any combination of any of brass/bronze/copper work?
Alex is also glad to discover that a sacrifice can and should be replaced when summoning succubi, though his using cum would make trying to sell a succubus his orgasm complicated (unless it turns out succubus have a way of solving refractory periods, do they?).

Sloth Imps take payment in the chance to laze about unmolested in a secure and comfortable spot. They are not very reliable workers.

Completely valid of them.

Demonic Delights is listed as $8.99, Muncie's as $14.99 (it's a hefty hardcover), Survivalist's as $5.99, Hedge-Witch at $8.99, and Love and Justice sits at $7.99. All together, that's $47 bucks before tax. Just Demonic Delights and Muncie's is $24.

New hardcovers are going for $25-40 each depending on how popular they are, and new paperbacks are usually around $15ish too.

Hrmm, Alex would just get them all, but as he has no clue how expensive brass/bronze/copper candle holders might be, he'll just grab Demonic Delights and Survivalist and make a note to come back for the others later (unless the cashier seems to disapprove of him not spending much, he can easily be convinced and/or pressured into getting them all, does she?).

Each individual entry in Demonic Delights is not that long; It doesn't specifically mention all the candle holders being the same, but in the... Illustration... They all look the same, if you carefully scrutinize that part of the drawing instead of the hot naked bat-winged and horned woman. It also mentions that succubi tend to be fine with you accumulating a 'debt' of future sex.

Nah. All she says is, "Would you let me know if you do get any of it to work? Unless you do something sketchy and get arrested. Then don't."

Alex makes note of the fact that probably the candle holders should all be the same type, and that apparently succubi are fine with summoners accumulating a sex debt which seems like it could spiral in a really bad direction, but the sexy kind of bad at least.

"Sure! I'll probably be down again after finishing reading through them for some of the other books, and if it works I'll let you know then if it worked out! ... Unless it turns out demon summoning is way more dangerous then claimed, in which case you'll find out from my ghost haunting you." Alex say with the later half in a mostly joking. 

Then sets off in search of a candle store! Followed by immediately turning around when he realized he should write down the name of the book store, and some directions on how to get there, then he sets off in search of a candle store, but for real this time!

The bookstore has a pretty generic name- Good Old Reads. There isn't a candle-specific store immediately visible but Google Maps can probably help. Maybe the Hobby Lobby a couple blocks away has some?

On noticing that Good Old Reads has a generic name, Alex puts some extras details into the direction notes he was writing down in case he forgets how to get back to it and in case Google Maps isn't able to distinguish it from some other similarly named bookshops.
And when he can't see any candle stores nearby after finishing that, he consults Google Maps and heads off a couple blocks to the Hobby Lobby which luckily has five brass candle holders and pieces of chalk (both high quality which he gets to use for drawing the summoning pentagram, and some cheap ones he'll use to draw a few practice pentagrams beforehand) he can grab as well, so he doesn't need to make any other stops and can head straight home to get to work on summoning demons.

After which he gets to work, drawing out and erasing a few practice pentagrams until he's able to reliably get the angles mostly right and avoid making the lines squiggly, followed by drawing a pentagram out with the best chalk he could buy, laying out the candles in the appropriate positions and in brass candle holders, and all the other relevant preparations, followed by rather awkwardly beginning to masturbate so he could use his cum as the substitute sacrifice for summoning a succubus, something which gets much easier and less awkward when he starts thinking about how, if all goes well with this, he'll be turned into a cute girl and fucked or maybe even raped if he racks up enough orgasm debt by a hot succubus, which is enough to quickly push him over the edge into orgasming.

The space is prepared according to instructions- And the sacrifice is... Spilled... Inside the circle. All is ready for the summoning ritual itself.

The first chapter of Demonic Delights details mental exercises to prepare yourself for summoning- A sense of calling out, of opening your mind and deliberately pushing, not with your body but with your soul. It is, the book warns, very hard to learn. There's no real feedback, most of the time, so you're encouraged to try summoning a few times until you can get it down correctly.

The ritual for summoning a succubus consists of standing at one of the five points of the pentagram and chanting a short verse repeatedly, while focusing on calling out, wanting to summon a succubus, and specifically what you want to summon a succubus for. The key, the book claims, is in speaking these desires so firmly that any listening demons can perceive it, and continuing long enough for them to actually successfully answer. The chant should be slow and methodical, and the whole ritual should take at least ten minutes.

If you succeed, it should be obvious, as the called demon will appear. Some can be dismissed without penalty. Some will insist on payment before being driven away.

The verse itself, for succubi, is: 

Succubi, creatures of lust, I call to you.

Answer my call and appear before me.

I want (speak your desires here).

Hear my call and come forth.

Alex, once he spills his "sacrifice" into the circle, begins to try and open his mind and push out with his soul at the same time as he begins to slowly chant

Succubi, creatures of lust, I call to you.

and focuses his mind back on what he wants a succubus for

Answer my call and appear before me.

the same thing he was thinking on earlier 

I want a form beautiful and feminine.

to become a girl, sexy and lewd and

Hear my call and come forth.

to be defiled by a hot succubus, to have payment extracted in the form of something she'd have given away even in return for nothing, because it would be an inherently delightful experience for the both of them.

It doesn't come on the first repetition.

Or the second.

Or the tenth.

Somewhere around halfway through, just at the point when you might start to worry it won't work-

a ghost of a whisper on your ear 
a tingling fingertip on the back of your neck
the sweet scent of flowers and sex

How can I resist such a desire? Whispers a rich, feminine voice. A faint presence, not truly there. Keep going so I can find you, cutie.

It not resulting in a response on the first , or second, or tenth, or twentieth or whicheverth repetitions doesn't deter Alex in the slightest, he knows the ritual is meant to take at least 10 minutes, and possibly multiple tries.
He was fully prepared to spend every single one of them slowly chanting and fantasizing/longing for what (s)he'd have if it works, without having any idea at all if it was working the entire time.
So when not even halfway through he feel those ghostly sensations and the faint presence of a rich, feminine voice, he almost startles from delight, but manages to keep himself from moving where he stands at one of the pentagram's points, and continues chanting at a slow melodic pace (he'd be tempted to chant faster from excitement, but the knowledge that the chanting is meant to be slow is enough to keep him doing at the right speed).
He does however let his excitement and the knowledge that someone heard his desire to fuel and intensify his fantasies and desires for what might happen if the rest of the ritual works.

That the owner of the voice he heard will appear, with a body as enticing and as feminine as her voice. To turn him into a her, to give them a body as soft, as beautiful, as feminine, as the succubus who gifted it (will gift it) to her in the first place is. To take and give payment in the sweetest form possible, in the pleasuring and molesting of her gifted body (and maybe putting it to use to pleasure the one who gave it to her) , over the course of days, and weeks, and months, and maybe even years until her debt is paid, with interest, and for as long afterwards as the succubus will have her.

There's a flare of power, eventually. His 'offering' goes up in a flare of sparks, the candle flames soar, and red energy gathers at the center of the pentagram-

And Myra seems to appear between one heartbeat and the next.

Completely naked.

She has large, glowing red eyes, with pupils shaped like a five petaled flower. She has breasts that seem to defy gravity, smooth and perky and just large enough to spill out of one's hands. She has velvety purple bat-like wings that spread wide. She has cute goat-like horns that poke from her forehead and curl back. She has pointy, elfin ears. She has a thin, flexible tail that wanders, with a fleshy spade shape on the end. She has a smooth, toned core that shows just a hint at muscle underneath.

And a penis, too.