Liam:

That was anticlimactic....even boring. I just stood there and bashed things when they fell over. I could feel everything my spirit was doing, but only understood half of it. He was bashing anything that came close with magic, leaving it helpless in front of me, and then somehow, carefully and kindly, sending away the animal's astral form fully intact - not draining anything from it at all. But he was putting energy into ME as if it had come from draining the animal.

Obviously, he didn't want them realizing that, of course. I was just playing dumb, claiming to put out whatever energy would help me defend myself and kill the animal. My spirit went along with all their requests, too, for the kind of magic to use. I actually DID help some, but my own responses would have been far too weak without the spirit's boost.

From my perspective, I was near the bottom of level 1 ability, versatile but slow and weak, and the spirit was demonstrating ability at the very top of level 1 - so that was what I had to live up to and take credit for. Still, I WAS improving, rapidly even. I could have killed those animals myself (I think), but I'd have been badly wounded by the end. I simply couldn't have stopped them from getting in the first hit or two, be it bite, claw, or magic effect. MY magic wouldn't solidify fast enough - I needed the extra moment to gather and shape the power.

Dad, of course, told me I wasn't taking this seriously enough, and that I should put more effort in - which I'd have been happy to do if things hadn't just kept dying on me before I could act.

For now, though, I had a break. It was time to connect with friends and get on with life. The social isolation of getting my magic over a year late had hurt, but no one had really given up on me. I was going to treat it like getting over a sports injury. Besides, people always lived those with a weaker version of their own powers, and that's just what I had right now - for everyone. I could ask for help and tips in all the various branches of magic.

Even better, I didn't have to compete for kills and energy, so everyone would want me on their team!

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It was great to see Liam be so positive, both about his own situation, and his hopeful expectations of his friends. And yes, I'd been playing the part of a turbo-charged level 1. Level 2, ranged release, scared me a bit to try. I was sure I could do it, but wasn't so sure i could make it look like LIAM was doing it. Maybe him asking friends for help and guidance would give us the excuse we needed for that.

Meanwhile, I was learning new tricks. I found I could read open books near Liam even if HIS eyes were doing something else, and I could turn the pages with bits of magic easily enough. The net result being that we could study two different things at once. And much the same held true with magic practice - Liam could practice powering up his magic output while I learned to control and fine-tune mine.

The other thing Liam knew all about was body development, and he was very eager to hit the gym with his friends and see where he stacked up now. While he was incredibly fit by my standards, he viewed himself as a clumsy weakling due to the lack of dedicated magical reinforcement and enhancement - and was irked that I put those skills so low on the priority list.

The system here was the exact opposite of the ways I had learned from Earth "energy workers". Here, kids and lower-level mages simply infused every bit of magic they could gather into their limbs and organs, making their entire bodies more magic-dense, but lacking in any flow at all. Even their incredible speed was RAW speed, not something they created from magic as needed, but instead simply a part of their bodies. I would have to watch out for that - Liam even THOUGHT faster than I was used to, made worse by the fact I was used to thinking with the brain of an old, dying man.

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I was forcing him out of that pattern, to some extent, by carving and drilling pathways for the magic to flow within his body, and chakra centers for it to accumulate in and manifest through. It was weakening his body slightly as the magic shifted, even though I knew the long-term results would make him far stronger. They did the same thing here after level 4, but it was a far, far slower process, because all the bodily magic was so dense and hardened by that point - nearly all of levels 5-7 were dedicated to this long and painful process, and they never even considered STARTING with it.

The astral side of it was much quicker and easier - the only challenge was that Liam had the habit of draining it into his physical body at every chance. So I used the same trick from the physical side and just made his entire astral form more magic-dense - solidifying the flow enough that he couldn't get much out of it by his habitual methods. He was going to have to learn to think of it as a true extension of himself, rather than just a mana sponge used to sop up magic and squeeze it back out into his body.

Liam's friends and classmates spent more of their afternoons in the recreation areas, with large fields and amazing (to me) jungle gyms - many looked straight out of Ninja Warrior challenge courses, and many people in their late teens were flying through them. One who was doing so a bit more literally than most was Salia, who seemed on the cusp of true flight as she danced and wove through the maze.

Where Liam was headed, for now, was a set of training dummies made to test damaging abilities of various kinds. They were enchanted, I could tell that much, but how enchantments worked was still a subject far beyond me. From Liam, I knew they would register various kinds of damage levels by changing colors when struck.

Liam waved at his friends, and started in on a dummy - lashing out with his magic. At first, his efforts were met with mere indulgent smiles, as his electrical punch only registered at about level 1.3, but then he did the same with flame, cold, earth, water, and air, in rotation - THAT got a reaction, and even a few cheers.

Liam (with a huge smile): That's right, everyone, I unlocked my magic and it's the good stuff!

Several of the guys and Salia converged on him with congratulations and questions, and Liam gave them very downplayed answers, but he went for the truth instead of the line the authorities were using.

Liam told them that he'd somehow done both a once, unlocked his magic AND gotten a spirit, but that the spirit was a recluse and was hiding itself from everyone most of the time. Fair enough description, I suppose, but that made them start directing questions at ME, trying to lure me into doing stunts for them. Some of them accused him of making me up, in fact. After a bit, it was obvious I'd need to do a demonstration of some kind if I wanted Liam and I to have any peace from childish taunts.

So, when one of the guys challenged Liam to arm wrestle, I gave Liam a strong pulse of warmth to get him to agree - he got the message. Vartol sat down across from Liam and took a grip - and I immediately locked his arm in place as I rotated a half dozen forms of energy though it (enough to really hurt, but not damage), and then used Force and Gravity to lift him above Liam, as if Liam was simply freezing him up and lifting him straight over his head with one hand. Then I gave a slight twist and he came crashing down next to Liam, a bit scuffed and dizzy, but no harm done.

Liam: I guess you woke him up! I don't think he likes his naps disturbed - he's like some really old guy, from what I can tell.

Everyone laughed. Even Vartol got up and smiled: Well, I certainly won't be messing with him!! What was with that zapping before he tossed me into the air?

Liam: I think he likes experimenting with types of magic - he knocked me out cold for hours when he first attached himself to me.

Liam: Guys, as much as it was worth it, I'm way behind in actually practicing my magic, and even more so because I have so many kinds to try to learn. So any help will be welcome.

Salia: Liam, you know I'm always up for playing in the winds with air magic.

Liam: That sounds like a wonderful place to start - thanks Salia!