I came to in my bed, with Mama and Papa over me, worried looks on their faces. As soon as I opened my eyes, they started to hug me.
"What happened?" I was a little groggy after waking up.
"We were hoping you would be able to tell us. Jasmine and the mage girl brought you in a few hours ago unconscious, looking pretty frazzled. They said it was better that you explain what happened when you wake up and left, asking us to let them know when you woke up. So what happened tonight, sweetheart?" Mama was clearly concerned, and it made my heart hurt.
"While showing Trix what I could do with my magic, she mentioned that stat points make you age slower, and live longer. I started panicking, and asked if my luck and karma would do the same. When she said yes, I started having trouble breathing, and blacked out. I realized that I'd probably look like a child for most of your lives, and live for basically forever, and it scared me." I started crying in Mama's arms.
"I don't wanna leave you behind. I wanna grow up and make you proud. I want you to stay with me forever, and knowing that won't happen scares me so much. I love you Mama, Papa. I don't want you to leave me." I sobbed into Mama's shoulder, soaking her shirt.
"It's okay sweetie. We shouldn't have kept this from you, but we figured something like this would happen. I'm sorry for making you go through that alone, and I promise to be with you as long as I can. I'll even try to level up more so I can stay with you longer. I love you so much, dear, and I don't want to leave you either." She started crying too, and Papa was comforting me from the side, quiet as usual.
After crying together for a while, I calmed down. Sniffling in Mama's arms, I looked up and kissed her cheek. "I love you Mama. Thank you so much for everything." I tightened the hug, not wanting to let go.
"At least I know you'll always be my little girl. I love you too Amara." She kissed my forehead. "I know one day you'll find someone else to love, and I hope that knowing how long you'll live won't keep you from following your heart. I know it's a bit early to say this, but life has so much more meaning when you can share it with someone, so I really do wish for you to be able to find someone without this fear clouding your heart." Her arms tightened around me, as we got snuggled closer together.
At some point I fell asleep like that, safe inside her loving embrace. And we stayed that way until morning.
----------------------------------------
I woke up, feeling my mother's protective arms around me. It was the best sleep I'd had in a while.
Last night was a bit of a mess, and after I'd calmed down, I saw that I had to accept this as something that was inevitable. I wasn't fully over it, but I was coming to peace with it slowly.
And I also thought over what Mama said last night, about falling in love. I'm sure it would hurt to find love, and then watch them age and die in front of you, maybe more than with Mama and Papa. I'm really hoping to find someone like me who I can get along with. I can't be the only one with this unfortunate situation.
I waited in Mama's arms for a while, until she started to wake up, and hugged her some more.
"Morning, Mama. Thanks for last night. I'm glad I have you here to help me when I need it. I know it won't always be that way."
"Don't talk like that, I'm going to be with you as long as I can. I just have to work harder to stay ahead for now, and keep up later on. I love you dear, and I don't want you to hurt like that if I can help it. We'll all do our best to keep up with you."
We got out of my bed, and i cleaned the house for Mama while she made breakfast. Afterwards, I headed to work as usual.
Stolen story; please report.
When I got there, I saw Mr. Darius was a little relieved to see me. "Jasmine told me a bit about what happened last night, you doing okay kid?"
"Yeah, Mama and Papa helped me through the whole thing last night. I'm slowly getting over it, but it's not easy. Thanks for asking master." I gave him a quick hug. "Now let's get to work so I can distract myself a bit, yeah?"
"That's the spirit. Let's go, we've got something special on the docket today. I hope you're ready to work with some more mithryl, cause we've got a commission. And this time, you get to make some money off of it, too."Mr. Darius adjusted his mood and gave me some exciting news. This was my chance to gain some more [Craftsman] experience, and gain my next level quicker. Those levels would allow me to evolve skills that were stubborn, and at this point, getting to the point where my stats are high enough to make me immortal was guaranteed, so why not get there as quick as possible.
"I can't wait to get started. What do I need to do?"
"Well, the commission was for a sword similar to Kaite's, but personalized to them. The one who wants it is a passing adventurer, who happened to run into Kaite's guard squad out in the forest, and really liked her sword."
"They plan on meeting here tomorrow, and until then, we'll be practicing your smithing techniques to make sure you do this right. Let's get to it then."
We went over all the techniques I'd need again, to make sure they were polished even more than last time. It was grueling work, but it amounted to a skill level in [Craftsman] and some levels in [Precision] as well.
It was also the first time I'd fully noticed [Thought Acceleration] actively working. Everything Mr. Darius taught me was easier to understand, and I could keep myself steadier than before. It was amazing, as though time slowed down around me while I worked. And some of my stats allowed me to move faster than before because I could understand what I was doing now, where my movements would be a blur to even myself if I had tried it then.
I could forge and shape metal more accurately and more quickly, with less time spent reheating it to moldable temperatures. My technique was improving at a speed visible to Mr. Darius's eyes, and he was not shy in telling me as much.
By the end of the day, I was more than ready to make another masterpiece, and all that was left was to learn about the one I'd be smithing for.
----------------------------------------
After apprentice training, I met back up with Ms. Jasmine and Trix in the field we used, and Trix apologized profusely for the mental distress she had accidentally put me through the night before.
"It's alright. I'm glad I learned now rather than later when I was already past the threshold for all of that. Thank you, Trix, for your help, but also for caring enough to apologize." I bowed to her.
"What do you mean 'learned before you hit the threshold? You say that like it's a guarantee." Trix was understandably confused.
"There's something I should probably tell the both of you, since you're helping me out so much. But this has to be kept a secret, for my sake, and probably that of my parents as well. You both have to promise me you won't tell a soul about it. Alright?" I had a very serious face, and that seemed to concern them both.
"Alright. If it's that important, I promise that I won't reveal this to anyone, no matter what it is." Ms. Jasmine answered very quickly.
"Well, I don't wanna miss out on teaching this amazing talent before I even start, so I'll promise as well. I won't tell anybody what I hear here today, no matter what." Trix didn't take very long either.
"Alright. Well, I don't know exactly how to say this, but my total stats across both physical and spiritual add up to nearly 370." I said in a low voice.
"Oh. Oh my. How long have you looked like a child, Amara?" Trix was a bit pale.
"I turned ten just about eight months ago. It's not that I've been gaining stats for a long time, but that my stats were fairly high from the start, and just keep getting higher. What you told me last night shattered any thoughts I had of living a normal life. I realized I'd outlive a lot of people I know now, and many I'll meet in the future. But Mama helped me realize that that isn't the end of the world. I can still find people worth knowing, and worth loving. So, thank you for opening my eyes to my future. I know for sure that once I finish my apprenticeship, I'll have passed the threshold you told me about, and that's only three years away max." I was a bit gloomy, but still thankful.
Ms. Jasmine seemed to have just stopped processing after she heard the first part, just standing there slack jawed. I went up and hugged the both of them, and that snapped her back to reality.
"You've been such an amazing teacher, and I wouldn't have asked for anyone else. Thank you so much for being here for me. And thank you for taking an interest in me and letting me trust you with something like this. I hope we make a lot of great memories together in the future."
After a while, everyone got back on track, and we actually did some magic lessons. By the end of the night, I had a bit of a better grasp on my earth magic than before, and we went our separate ways, hearts lighter than before.