Chapter 30 - Skills
Magrath, Vanstead Dukedom of Augustein Year 995
“You look happy with yourself.”
Isolde turned around, an eyebrow raised. “Is there something wrong with that?”
“Nah, just me talking.” Amara shot her a grin, and the other woman just shook her head and kept walking.
The rest of the dinner had gone on for long enough that the sun had fully set by the time the two of them stepped back outside the Alardice manor. The sprawling property had become a shadowed mass that blended into the silhouettes of the surrounding trees. The glowing lights emanating from the windows looked like angular, slitted eyes, their warm hues blending with the cool tints of the night and mixing into a dull grey.
It was a rippling moon that night, and the distortions created dancing shadows along the road. Amara had expected Glenn to escort them back—not because they wanted or needed it, but just because he seemed like the type of person who would—but the man hadn’t appeared again since he’d first left the dining hall. Amara glanced back, peering through those tall windows, but she couldn’t see anything beyond a few blurry shadows.
For what felt like hours, Isolde had continued to negotiate with Rygar Alardice. Both of their cakes had melted into puddles of liquid frosting, which Amara had thought was a terrible waste. She would’ve asked Isolde to eat hers, just to save the food, but she knew better than to try and interrupt the conversation. Though the tension had eased, the air had still vibrated with a constant energy, one that could be made sharp at a moment’s notice.
In the end, after talking circles around one another, Rygar had finally agreed to allow them into the mines to choose some ore to take back. Someone would come around to escort them there the next day, he’d said. Isolde had looked thoroughly pleased, and by the time they were shooed outside the manor and back onto the road, the woman was in a positively pleasant mood.
Amara hummed to herself as they descended the hill. Now that she was walking, she could definitely feel the thinness of the skin on her back. The bandages, however, didn’t rub around, remaining firmly stuck in place.
“I’m surprised he agreed,” Amara remarked. “Not gonna lie, I was kind of lost there. Was half expecting to end up thrown in the dungeons or something.” Kain had certainly looked like he wanted to. The longer conversation went on, the deeper the head guard’s scowl had gotten and the harder he’d tapped his finger against his sword handle. He looked like he’d rather have been anywhere else, which, to be fair, Amara didn’t necessarily blame him for.
Isolde brushed a strand of hair back, and it waved freely in the night air. “Well, to him it was probably the most safe choice. That, and the amount of ore we’d take is hardly significant to him to begin with.”
Amara raised an eyebrow. “‘Safest’ choice?”
“From his perspective, it likely was.” Isolde glanced back, but the road around them was silent and empty. “I assume you remember how he questioned us at the start of dinner.”
“Yeah.” It had seemed decently standard from what she could tell, save for the slightly weird interest in magic.
“Based on that and on our initial invitation, I believe Lord Alardice suspected that we were disguised Roses.”
Amara snorted. “Really now.” That was absurd even by her standards. When Isolde had brought it up at the dinner, she’d figured she was just covering her bases, not actively countering one of Lord Alardice’s assumptions.
Isolde laughed. “Well, when someone is paranoid, even the most nonsensical of theories can appear to hold weight.” Her voice quieted a little, lowering so that only the two of them could hear. “Lord Alardice is very likely embezzling magic ore, so naturally he would be on guard for a potential Rose or anyone sent by the Valisters.”
“Good to know even nobles steal ore.”
“Oh it’s very common. In many cases the Sovereign and dukes will choose to turn a blind eye to it provided it isn’t an egregious amount, but since the coup, they’ve been more strict.” Isolde frowned at that. “The Valisters in particular are quite notorious for being harsh about such things.”
“So you threatened to tell them about it, basically.”
“To put it crudely, yes.”
“Couldn’t he have just killed us though?” The two passed into the town proper, where the darkened buildings looked like walls enclosing the street as they walked. Up ahead, they would soon reach the square where the Aberration attack had occurred. “I mean, no offense to you, but I really don’t think we’d be able to run away if all the guards came after us.” Glenn alone could probably kill them without batting an eye, and probably Kain too if his position was accurate.
“Certainly not. However, it wouldn’t have mattered if one of us was able to send a message to the Valisters before then.” Isolde nodded politely as they passed by a lamplighter. She waited until the man was long out of sight before continuing.
“Do you remember after the attack, when Glenn Alardice remarked that he hadn’t known about it and arrived late? That leads me to believe that there’s no one especially proficient at mind magic within the guards, limiting their ability to send messages. This isn’t a terrible flaw or even unusual in itself, but it does mean that if one of us were to use mind magic to send a message, they would have no way of intercepting it.”
“Ah, I see.” Amara stretched her arms, forcing herself to move as slowly as possible to avoid tugging at her healed wounds. “So basically you vaguely lied to threaten the guy into thinking we’d tattle on him.”
Isolde glanced in her direction, an eyebrow raised. “It wasn’t technically lying. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I do remember seeing you had a major mind magic affinity.” Her eyes drifted down to Amara’s gloved hands.
Amara adjusted the gloves absentmindedly, pinching the dark brown fabric.
“Eh, I mean technically. Never actually used it, though.”
Isolde stopped walking. When she turned to face her, her brows were furrowed. “You’ve never used it?”
“Nope.” Amara raised an eyebrow, gesturing vaguely at the back of her hand. “You remember the output, right? Kind of hard to practice with it.” She shrugged. “Anyway, the first time I did try to send a message, it didn’t actually go that well. Maybe the experiments also fucked up my affinity display or something.”
Isolde shook her head. “That’s impossible,” she muttered. She took a step closer. “Could you show me your skill percentages?”
Amara stared at her.
“What.”
The other woman looked genuinely surprised. “You don’t know? You seemed fairly accustomed to using magic. I believe you mentioned training with some of your village’s watchmen, correct?”
“Only sort of.” Amara shrugged. “Our village’s sergeant was pretty keen on me not using magic. Probably for pretty good reasons. It just means I never got properly trained or anything.” She raised an eyebrow. “That shouldn’t be a problem if I’m gonna start training with you anyway, right?”
Isolde hummed. “I see.” She glanced around them at the darkened streets, then resumed walking back towards the inn, talking at the same time. “I’m afraid it’s a little late to begin today, but I can explain to you some basics when we return, assuming you’re not too tired.”
“Oh don’t worry, I’m bursting with energy.” She pumped her fist for emphasis.
Isolde seemed satisfied with that answer, and the two made their way back to the inn in comfortable silence.
—
Amara watched as Isolde lit the fireplace. They’d decided to leave the curtains open for now, and the rippling moonlight streamed through in dancing silver rays that outlined all the furniture in a soft glow. Once she was done, Isolde settled down in the seat across the table. Amara thought the woman looked rather at home there, half lit by shifting moonlight.
“May I see your hand?”
Amara didn’t hesitate to slide off her glove, tossing it carelessly aside. It landed half dangling off the edge of the table.
Isolde nodded. “Please activate your markings,” she instructed. Amara raised an eyebrow, but did as told.
It was possible to display one’s markings without actively using magic, but it wasn’t a very common practice. If someone focused, they could already “feel” their numbers internally, and considering most magic users went out of their way to hide those numbers from people, there was really no reason to do it in most situations.
Amara closed her eyes, focusing her mind on that constant, thrumming pool of magic flowing through her. She imagined her markings climbing up her arms and wrapping around her scars in zigzagging, violent lines. It took a few tries, but finally, she could detect a glow through her eyelids. When she opened her eyes again, the markings and numbers were fully displayed on her bare arm and hand, their red and orange glow clashing with the cool moonlight and too bold to match the soft glow of the fireplace.
AMARA
Magic Reserves: 62,623 / 110,876
Maximum Output: 22
Variability: 1
AFFINITIES
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Energy: 100% Major
Motion: 50% Minor
Form: 25% Basic
Perception: 25% Basic
Emotions: 0% None
Mind: 100% Major
Time: 0% None
Probability: 0% None
Amara glanced over at Isolde, noting the intent way the woman was staring at the numbers.
“It’s not like you haven’t seen them before,” she joked.
It took a moment for Isolde to respond. Finally, she shook her head and leaned back in her seat.
“I was simply confirming that your output had indeed changed,” she murmured. “It’s honestly quite fascinating.”
“You’ve got weird stats too, you know.”
“Perhaps, but there’s always a few abnormalities among the general population. People born with unusually high or low statistics. Blessings and defects, some would say.” Her voice took on a more bitter tone at that, but it smoothed out as she continued. “Change, however, is truly extraordinary.” She shook her head. “But enough of that. You didn’t have any issue bringing these markings up, did you?”
“Nah. It took a bit, but that’s just ‘cause I don’t do it much.”
“Alright. From here, can you please focus on one of the magic types? Let’s start with energy for now since you have a major affinity with it. The process shouldn’t be too different from revealing the general stats.”
Amara raised an eyebrow, but she stared down at her hand and attempted to do as the woman said. She didn’t really have an internal feeling to go off on, so she settled for squinting really hard at the words that read “Energy.” That probably wasn’t proper procedure, but sure enough, after a minute of unblinking staring, the stats across her hand flashed. She blinked, and as the light faded, a new array had replaced the area where her affinities were usually listed.
ENERGY TYPE | MAJOR
Basic Use: 100%
Output Adjustment: 0%
Precision: 0%
Chained Usage: 100%
Magic Identification: 0%
Storing: 0%
Delayed Activation: 0%
External Range: 0%
Reduction: 0%
Negation: 0%
Isolde blinked a few times at the new array.
“Well,” she finally said. “That’s quite a bit more behind than I expected.”
Amara snorted. “If that was supposed to be an insult, it doesn’t really work if I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.”
The other woman chuckled. “No no, not an insult.” She pointed one of her own gloved fingers at the numbers, carefully avoiding directly touching her skin.
“These are your skill percentages,” she explained. “As your proficiency with various uses of magic increases, these, too, will rise.” She shifted her finger over to one of the percentages. “Similarly to affinities, skills will require higher amounts of magic to accomplish actions when you’re less proficient with them.”
“And when you hit 100% on a skill, you don’t have to worry about that.”
Isolde nodded. “Correct.”
Then, to Amara’s surprise, the woman carefully slipped one of her own dark gloves off, gently setting it aside on the table. She placed her hand down, and in a flash, those sharp, icy blue markings rose up into her sleeve. Instead of her affinities, the woman immediately pulled up one of her own skill displays.
ISOLDE
Magic Reserves: 6,124 / 6,942
Maximum Output: 12
Variability: 11
FORM TYPE | MINOR
Basic Use: 100%
Output Adjustment: 100%
Precision: 62%
Chained Usage: 26%
Magic Identification: 89%
Storing: 0%
Delayed Activation: 11%
External Range: 43%
Reduction: 100%
Negation: 77%
1 ACTIVE ATTUNEMENT
“This is what a more typical array would look like,” Isolde explained. “In my case, because I only have a minor affinity in form magic, the amount of magic required for these skills would be further doubled. For example, say I attempted to chain form magic. If in a normal situation with a major affinity and maximum skill proficiency it would take 4 output to achieve my desired result, first the necessary magic would become 8 due to my minor affinity. Then, if we factor in my skill proficiency, it would take, in reality, about 31 in magic reserves to achieve those results.”
“More than your maximum output.”
Isolde nodded. “You can see why this could quickly become an issue,” she remarked. “By comparison, if I used form magic reductively, my required magic would only be doubled from my affinity because I’ve already mastered that skill to the fullest.”
Amara’s eyes wandered back over to her own stats, eyeing them and running through the unfamiliar words for the different skills. “Chained usage” she assumed meant using magic immediately back to back, which she’d done enough times that she supposed the high proficiency made sense. Some of the other skills and their purpose, however, were less immediately obvious.
“I should mention that neither precision nor magic identification require extra magic to use,” Isolde added. “In both of those cases, the percentage simply shows mastery.”
“Huh, good to know.” Amara pictured her affinities, and in a flash of light, they showed up again. Blinking, she tried to focus on another magic type, and sure enough, the numbers soon appeared.
MIND TYPE | MAJOR
Basic Use: 10%
Output Adjustment: 0%
Precision: 0%
Chained Usage: 0%
Magic Identification: 0%
Storing: 0%
Delayed Activation: 0%
External Range: 0%
Reduction: 0%
Negation: 0%
“That explains why you haven’t been able to use mind magic,” Isolde remarked. At some point, she’d pulled her glove back on, the dark fabric now back in place. “Your basic use is so low that even with a major affinity, it’s still only 10% as effective as it should be.”
Amara hummed in acknowledgement.
“So, care to explain what everything does? Most of it’s pretty self explanatory, but you know. Can never be too safe.”
Isolde chuckled, but she leaned forward obligingly so that she could point to each.
“Basic usage simply reflects a general ability to draw that type of magic. As for output adjustment, usually this is fairly high, but for some beginners who aren’t used to changing their output, even those with naturally high variability stats, it will cost extra magic to do so.” She paused, raising an eyebrow. “In your case, however, I believe this is irrelevant.”
“Well,” Amara said breezily. “Who knows? Maybe one less output’ll come in handy one day. One less tree knocked down in an explosion.”
“Ah yes, I’m certain that tree will have been the one that would’ve hit a poor bystander.”
The two shared a laugh before Isolde resumed her explanations, slowly making her way down the list.
“As I said before, precision simply shows your proficiency at targeting specific areas with your magic. Chained usage, as you may expect, means to activate one’s magic multiple times in a row without pause. Magic identification, too, is rather self explanatory. I recommend raising your proficiency with this for every magic type that you have some sort of affinity with as soon as you can.”
Amara raised an eyebrow. “What, can you track people with it or something?”
“To some degree,” Isolde replied. “Its main use is in identifying unique magic signatures. This can prove particularly useful when verifying the authenticity of an item. Coins, for example, should all bear the Sinclair magic signature. Forgeries created through form magic will not have that.” She raised an eyebrow. “Did no one in your town ever do this?”
“I mean, I never saw them checking.” Amara paused, thinking. “I think I once saw Stoddard weighing some of my coins, though.” She chuckled at the memory. “That guy never did trust me.”
“Ah, I suppose that’s another method. There are certainly criminals who have the patience to find objects of exactly the same weight to shift into coins with magic, however, so magic signatures are still the most reliable.” Isolde frowned. “In the morning, I’ll check your coins for you. For now, it’s quite late, so I’ll try to hurry.”
Taking a second to adjust her position in her seat, Isolde continued. “Storing allows one to store part of their magic within an object. It often goes hand in hand with delayed activation, which allows you to set conditions that will trigger that magic at a future time. My spear, for example, was created by a blacksmith who used these skills.”
Colm’s heating sphere too, Amara thought. It sounded like it was all but required for craftsmen and artisans wanting to integrate magic into their creations.
“External range, as you might guess, reflects a person’s ability to use magic to affect a range outside of oneself.” Her finger slid down to the last two skills, pausing for a moment. “As for reduction and negation, these also go together. Reduction is simply the ability to use a type of magic in a reductive way. Instead of increasing energy, you would reduce it, for example. You must first master this in order to use negation.”
Amara hummed, eyes glinting as she thought back to the Aberration attack in the square. Some of the guards and watchmen had been able to wade through the rank D Aberration’s magic field, she remembered. The field itself had probably been a reductive use of magic, since it had stilled objects rather than forcing them into motion.
“Negation is perhaps the most important skill outside of basic usage when fighting against rank D and above Aberrations.” Isolde paused, chuckling slightly. “Or I suppose against anyone capable of using magic as well.
“Essentially, when magic targets you, negation involves reflexively countering that magic with your own to negate its effects. Of course, how effective this is will depend both on your proficiency with the skill, your reaction time, and whether or not your own output is capable of matching the output targeting you.” Isolde’s voice slowed, taking on a more serious tone.
“That being said, I recommend training this even in types of magic that you only have a basic affinity in. Magic is powerful and dangerous, and oftentimes watchmen and even Roses who fall to Aberrations fail because they fought against a type of magic which they had no affinity in and thus could not negate. Even the output of a basic affinity can make the difference between survival and death.”
Amara remembered all too well how her body had frozen when the Aberration had glowed with magic, the feeling of completely losing control over her limbs. She stared down at her hand, where the light from the fireplace danced freely across the glowing numbers. It was a feeling she was all too keen on never experiencing again.
“Noted,” she said.