With my old friend and first companion now successfully named, there wasn’t much left to do before my agreed meeting with Leigh in the field behind the house. The edge of the village has always been the best place to practice after all. So to kill a little time I made my way back up to the house, actually taking Cain with me this time. I washed up in the kitchen and ate the few remnants from breakfast while mulling over the strange occurrence in the basement earlier.

I must have zoned out at some point and lost track of time, before I knew it Leigh was standing in the door to the back garden, impatiently tapping her hands on her hips. “Are you planning on keeping me waiting all morning?” She asked with a smirk.

“Fine, fine, I’m on my way” I laughed, standing up from the table and following Leigh out back. It was a sunny day despite the scattered cloud cover, and a pleasantly cool breeze was flowing through our little village. We walked for several minutes until we reached the edge of the forest, and got ready to begin practicing. I was looking around for a place to sit when I noticed Leigh casually snapping tree branches in her hands and building an ad hoc effigy some ten meters away. She’d always been a stronger than average young woman, given her affinity for blacksmithing, but her new system enhanced strength only underlined that further.

“Where do you want to start?” I stammered nervously as she finished constructing the improvised practice dummy. Leigh closed the distance between us as she pondered the question, her steps deliberately slow.

“I got enough levels during my birthday to class up twice, and I never chose my third class. I’d really like to learn more about magic and use it as a basis for my [Mana Crafting] skill, and then if I’m lucking on my next few class upgrades I’d want a magical craftsman class” Leigh explained all at once, giving me a decent insight into her plans for the future.

“Okay, so I take it, you want to discuss this third class now?” I asked tentatively, and when she nodded in response I began to outline the most likely options she would see. She had mana based skills already, and an [Apprenticeship] skill that made learning new things easier, but I still think she needs to cast a few spells first to maximize her chances. The most versatile choice would be an [Apprentice Mage] class, though any other class with a focus on learning would be fine. Leigh just needs to avoid a full [Mage] type class or else she’ll have to build the fundamentals manually, stagnating level growth.

When I explained all this to Leigh, she seemed to agree well enough, and lit up with a smile at the mention of casting spells. “Let’s get started then, basic spells shouldn’t be too hard to start with right?” Her optimism is never ceasing it seems.

“It’s okay to be excited, but don’t let it go to your head” I explained, taking a stance directly in front of her. We wouldn’t need a target dummy for her starting spell. “If it doesn’t go right on the first try, or even the first hundred tries, that doesn’t mean anything. Magic is hard, and different spells can be more or less difficult for different casters.” I was trying to prevent Leigh from becoming discouraged if her hopes were dashed.

“The first spell I casted, and the first spell most people learn, is [Light]” I lied to Leigh, at least partially. Yes, Vincent Stesk had first cast [Light] in his parent’s garden shortly before learning how to read, however Andras Gregori had explicit memories of fighting off a mugger in an alleyway at the ripe age of nine with nothing more than a single [Mana Bolt], his only skill at the time. I shoved those painful memories down and tried to focus on Leigh, locking my eyes on hers as I continued to instruct.

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“Now, there are several ways to make spellcasting easier. Chanting, Image training, and physical focusing. If you’re planning on working on a workshop, you can use anything and everything without worrying about how long the spell takes to prepare-” I began to lecture, being abruptly cut off as Leigh shook her head in denial.

“No, I’d rather be able to cast spells whenever and wherever I need to, I don’t want to be chained to a forge or a focus or anything like that.” She affirmed aloud, resolution clear in her tone.

“Okay..” I sighed, taking an awkwardly silent moment to adjust my teaching plan. “So spellforms are out of the way unless you make them ahead of time, and make them small enough to carry around.” I picked back up, to which Leigh confirmed “An issue for another day. I just want the basic basics.”

Spellforms were the most efficient way of creating physical focuses, so with that option categorically denied, that left only Chanting and Image training. The chant for [Light] is simple enough that I’m not worried about it being a hindrance, but trying to focus on a mental image often leads mage’s to close their eyes and stand still. An issue I have grappled with myself.

Tentatively, I began explaining the problems and drawbacks of the method to Leigh, who seemed unbothered by the concept. “So like making a horseshoe almost?” She asked, and for a moment the metaphor was lost on me. I then remembered one of the first things she explained to me when I started helping her in her forge.

“You can’t close your eyes when forging or you’ll do more harm than good. If you have an idea for how something is supposed to look, you need to be able to see it with your eyes open, or draw yourself a stencil.”

I’ll admit, it was pretty accurate. “Yeah, something like that.” I laughed, raising my arms and gesturing for her to do the same.

“For the light spell, don’t get too complex with it. Imagine a little bead of light floating above your hand like a firefly. Imagine the color, the brightness, how steady it is; everything you can possibly imagine.” Leigh furrowed her brow in response, staring intently at the palms of her joined hands. She looked like she’d pop a blood vessel if I didn’t help her soon.

“Now, repeat after me. Grow and gather oh guiding light. Fiat Lux.” I carefully intoned each syllable, making them as easy for Leigh to understand as possible, even though the only words I chose to channel mana into were the last two. I didn’t want my spell going overboard and discouraging her.

A tiny purple dot, no bigger than a grape, began to float above the palm of my right hand. Its faint light dim in the morning sun, but noticeable. I glanced over just in time to see a bright orange flicker sputter out above Leigh’s hands at roughly the same time she finished her own spell. A shame it hadn’t held for long. I was about to console her when she suddenly jumped in place, surprising me as she nearly tackled me in a hug.

“Did you see it? It worked, I mean it wasn’t very big, but it was there and it was orange exactly like I wanted it to be and-” Leigh started to ramble, clearly vindicated by her first spellcasting experience.

Now we just had to keep practicing so she could unlock her class.