After our first lesson, Leigh dove head first into practicing magic during every free moment she had. We both have chores to do, helping out around the house, and Leigh is still the only somewhat competent blacksmith in town. I’d often find her sitting behind the forge when I came to visit, idly shaping and releasing mana in her hands to develop an instinct for it. These days pass quickly and peacefully, but not entirely without issue.
My problem can be boiled down to a single root cause. Stats. Ever since her class up, the gap between Leigh’s abilities and my own has been growing more and more evident. Stats exist on a bell curve, starting low and barely noticeable to the average person before the system unlock. However, as any person grows, ages, and levels, their stats increase dramatically. Eventually, this reaches a culmination of flashy and exaggerated stats. The actual number is up for debate, and different for each stat, but that’s not important right now.
After the climax of the curve, as stats continue to increase, their ridiculous displays become less of a spectacle as hundreds of micro adjustments are made beyond the perception of an average person.
Like with spell casting, a level 30 mage of any persuasion might cast a very simple spell, while a level 100 can cast a spell of higher magnitude and raw output. However, a level 150 or even level 200 mage could cast the same simple spell, like [Mana Bolt], and adjust its formula a dozen times for speed, accuracy, density, or any other properties and still appear identical to the level 30 mage from outside observation. Of course, until the [Mana Bolt] makes an impact with nearly ten times the force.
Similar examples can be drawn for any other field of expertise though.
Leigh and I were now on a slope of stat difference. While my mental stats in Intelligence and Willpower can’t be contested, her stats in all other fields have increased. I haven’t seen her status directly, but I suspect she has some form of forging-based class for her second class. Her classes, combined with the species bonus of being half-dwarf or dwarf-descended, will dramatically increase her strength and vitality stats without even accounting for the chances of free points.
Leigh could likely throw me around like a ragdoll. It is embarrassing to go from helping dad with firewood and tilling the garden, to suddenly being outclassed physically and helping inside instead. Truthfully, I enjoy helping Neia in the kitchen, and we often discuss magic while doing inventory for the pantry and coming up with ideas for food. Even then, though, Leigh has an actual cooking skill and has been leveling up since her system unlocked, making her a much better assistant than me in almost every situation.
The only place I still consistently outperform is magic. Having a high intelligence stat grants me a larger mana pool, and a ridiculous willpower stat reflects prodigious control over the mana itself. Yet, despite my abilities, Leigh shows tremendous growth the more she practices. Every time we meet, she has a new question and a new development from the previous lesson. It’s astounding to watch her work with such drive and passion. Inspiring even, as it makes me want to step up my efforts and impress her with my ability. She often seems amazed when I show her new spells, so I’ve found myself sort of relying on that.
Our lessons progressed from the [Light] spell, into more complex forms, and different methods. We attempted things like [Mana Bolt] to use the targeting dummy, and simple buff spells like [Tailwind] to improve speed.
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I will admit, I can’t remember too many spells outside of my old specialization, but the basics are simple enough to reverse-engineer if needed. Her enthusiasm for the subject is motivating though. Once my attention focuses on the subject of magic though, I have no choice but to confront the looming shadow of my impending problem. Cain.
Leigh has never met my shadowy companion directly and likely has only seen him from a distance. I have to introduce the two to each other eventually, especially if I want Cain to help me with future experiments. Introducing the two of them poses a significant risk, and that worries me. I know Cain will be fine, he’s barely ‘alive’ in any real meaning of the word so there’s no way for him to do anything to upset Leigh unless I tell him to. The real crux of the problems lies with her then, and how she would react to him.
I don’t know how Leigh feels about dark magic or necromancy, and I can’t know without asking her. If I asked her hypothetically it may not even be the truth of the situation, as it suddenly becomes real when faced with an actual undead. From my experience, people react to negatively stereotyped magics in a variety of unpredictable ways. Disgust, horror, fear, or even zealous aggression depending on the religion. I know Leigh is religious, but I don’t know how religious, she’s always stayed very personal with her beliefs.
Regardless of how it turns out, they’re both important to me and I want them to get along. I know Cain isn’t particularly self-aware, but the idea of being forced to choose between the two most constant companions in my new life is harrowing.
I have to do it.
I waited one evening for Leigh to get back from her day’s work at the forge, and met her in front of the house before dinner.
“Hey, uh, Leigh? Can I talk to you for a bit this evening?” I stammered awkwardly. She seemed to notice my distress and walked over rather calmly. I noticed a ripple of mana around her, and the accumulated soot from a day's work seemed to evaporate off her body like steam. It was nice to see her using my gift.
“Of course Vincent. Is everything okay?” She asked softly, and for a moment I felt bad for worrying her at all.
“Yeah,” I said, “I just have something to show you around back” I explained, buying myself a few more choice moments to prepare my explanation. She doesn’t need to know about my memories, but I can’t keep Cain hidden forever, it’s just not feasible. I need an excuse and I need one quickly. We walked around the side of the house towards the cellar, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest the entire time.
“Okay, so I’ll go down and get it from the cellar. I just want to talk to you a bit first?” I explained tentatively, the hesitation in my words making the sentence sound more like a question. Leigh nodded with confusion in her eyes and I carried on.
“So you know I know magic obviously, and some of what we’ve been practicing has been simple stuff that mom could have helped with, but…” my voice trailed off. I could feel Leigh watching me intently.
“I’ve been doing magic for a very long time.” I sighed. “Some of the stuff I figured out by myself can be a bit jarring, and I don’t want to keep it hidden from you but I also don’t want to bother you with it” I explained, only partially lying to keep a few choice secrets. I didn’t wait for Leigh to respond, and instead opened up the cellar door and climbed down to go find Cain. He was still down there, but for the first time I found him sitting somewhere other than the exact spot I left him in. He had moved, on his own.
A faint smile spread across my face. “Hey bud, I got someone to introduce you to today” I explained, hoping that on some level the simple mind he was growing into would appreciate my words.