Ever since his rebirth twelve years ago, Lucas could see mana in its most fundamental form–everywhere. That ability awarded him several advantages over other kids his age, and even those at a higher level than his own. The fact that he could manipulate it to a fine degree and use that ability in conjunction with his Skills meant that there was no telling what he might eventually be capable of.
But for all the good his command over mana did, it hadn’t presented him with a way to fix damage to a person’s internal mana channels.
Lucas could observe the channels, damage them further, and he could even manipulate his own to some small degree. That was how he’d created his [Regeneration] Skill before his unlock, after all. But his ability to safely manipulate others’ channels was extremely limited and entirely non-existent if that person had gone through their System unlock as well.
That was the problem right there–Lucas could practice and refine his manipulation until he was confident in reproducing the creation of his first Skill for someone else, but the System unlock seemed to be a point where mana channels settled from a dynamic and changing form and into a firm shape. They became entrenched, and thereafter strongly resisted any change. The only time Lucas had seen a set of channels accept change was when it came in the form of a Skill from the System, and he hadn’t been able to glean any actionable information from that event anyway.
Lucas was no closer to healing Eugene and all the rest than he was two years ago. Though he had grown in many ways, he hadn’t made any progress where it truly mattered.
With a weary sigh, he set aside his writing stylus, closed the healing tome before him, and fell back into his seat. Despite all his Skills, several hours of intensive focus on the books still managed to grind him down. The morning was progressing steadily at this point, and the light of day now radiated through the clinic’s window and filled the room with a sense of warmth and life.
Midday was still quite a ways off, but not a single person had come by for healing in all the time since Eugene had departed. Lucas supposed that he couldn’t complain since that should mean the people of the village were all in good condition, but it also made for a somewhat dull morning.
The lack of progress, more than anything, was wearing him down. He glanced down at his tome, then out the window before nodding his head. He’d take a break from this for now, either until someone came by or he felt he’d spent enough time resting his mind.
There were a number of Skills he could spend some time working on. It might be worthwhile to try merging [Quick Step] and [Sprinting] again–maybe this time it would actually work. But, this was a break! So Lucas chose something more interesting instead and threw on his second pair of boots before making his way outside.
The morning air nipped at his skin with the fading ferocity of winter, but the sun chased away the chill as soon as it came. It’s a nice day to be out here, Lucas thought. Probably would be even better outside the walls.
Lucas almost changed his mind on his plans, as he would really enjoy a run through the forest right about now, but he had to stick around the clinic so long as his mother was away. He sighed wistfully and shook his thoughts away, then walked around to the other side of the house where he had a small training ground fenced off.
As he walked, the faint sounds of villagers going about their morning carried over to him. The weekly market day was tomorrow, if he recalled correctly, so everyone would be preparing their goods for trade now. In this part of the village, that mostly meant [Farmer]s were busy preparing their crops and animal goods, and the occasional [Weaver] or [Seamstress] was finishing up their last order. With his senses, Lucas could almost make out the sound of Mrs. Tenaly working at her loom, and he did catch Mr. Eliot collecting his chickens’ eggs. He gave the man a wave, but received no greeting in return.
It was a nice day, and a busy one as well, though the village seemed almost subdued.
Lucas’s training ground, if it could really be called that, was just a simple yard of hard packed ground and a couple wooden benches pushed up against the back of the house. The fence and gate that boxed it all in was new. It reached up high enough that someone would have to climb to see over, and enclosed the yard so thoroughly that there wasn’t a single crack to peek through. He’d had it made a year or so ago when his Skill training around the village finally disturbed someone enough to present a complaint to the council. That had been an issue entirely of its own, but Lucas was satisfied with the addition to the area–it let him practice his abilities without revealing absolutely everything to anyone that bothered to look.
He wasn’t paranoid, and many of his abilities were already well known due to the events of two years ago, but no one could fault him for not giving anything away. For example, though he could only really practice it in combat against monsters, Lucas didn’t think the rest of the village would be thrilled to hear about [Rend Spirit]. It was too close to what had broken the survivors.
Another of his Skills that was somewhat sensitive, and actually the same one that had led to that complaint against him, was [Lightning Construct]–and it was exactly what he’d come out here on his break to play with.
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Lucas shut the gate behind him and walked out into the middle of the yard, as far as he could get from any vulnerable structures, and took a seat on the ground. He closed his eyes and took a steadying breath as his mind delved inward to his mana, then grinned.
“What will I create today~”
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[*ding [Lightning Construct] has reached level 71!]
A single level.
That was all Lucas earned with his practice, but he wasn’t disappointed at all. Before him floated a crackling construct roughly the size of his head that had taken an entire thousand MP to create, despite its slight size compared to some of his usual constructs. If anyone else saw it, he was sure they would assume he had let his imagination run wild, but Lucas looked over the details he’d sculpted appraisingly.
Compared them to the echoes of his memory.
The overall proportions were right, he thought. And the monogrammed “E” was as perfect as his control could make it. But he’d only seen the skycraft from the bottom–at least in the latest memory to return to him–so he couldn’t be sure of its shape elsewhere. Because of that, Lucas had concentrated most of the MP on detailing the parts of the construct he did know. It was fine enough, but he took the time now to smooth it out and tame the rebellious arcs here and there. Hopefully it would get him another level.
Since he’d learned the Skill, [Lightning Construct] had become one of Lucas’s absolute favorites. Originally, he’d thought to use it to create weapons to fight in melee with, but the Skill’s current form resulted in his constructs’ discharging their mana on the first strike, so that hadn’t been possible. The best use he had for it to date was actually the explosive barrage of spears he’d sent against the troll in the Dungeon, but he still had hope for an evolution that would allow him to make sustainable weapons, and maybe even armor.
Lucas would be lying if he tried to claim that most of his appreciation for the Skill didn’t come from its uses in leisure time, however. He could create anything out of lightning, so long as he had time and could imagine it. Sculpting lightning had easily become his favorite way to pass time and unwind.
As he was using it now, the Skill also helped him entrench his dream-like recollections in his mind and mental Skill, [Eternal Vigil of the Sentinel]. That one was maxed out at the moment, but if it wasn’t, he imagined he would have gotten a level in it as well through this.
Before he could finish smoothing out the skycraft’s shape, however, Lucas was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming his way. At the edge of his senses, he sensed a boy approaching the gate.
Lucas eyed his construct one last time, then sighed and dispersed it harmlessly into the ground as he got back to his feet.
A knock sounded, drowned out moments later by the boy’s voice.
“Lucas, I know you’re in there! Can I come in?”
“Yeah, sure, Quinn,” he answered. “Come on in.”
Lucas’s neighbor flung open the gate and shot in before his words even faded into the air. “Shut the gate behind you,” Lucas instructed, and Quinn stutter-stepped then went back to do just that. In the meantime, Lucas moved over to one of the benches.
Quinn was large for a ten-year-old. Larger than Lucas was at the time, that was for sure, and it was all due to the boy’s single-minded commitment to following in Eugene’s steps as a guard over the past few years. Before Lucas gained his Class, Quinn used to train with him all the time, but that age gap of two years between them meant that Lucas had a huge head-start on the boy in raising his stats, so that had quickly become no longer possible.
Their separation hadn’t disheartened Quinn, however. He’d continued to train his body and skill with weapons the entire time, as proven by the ridiculous amount of lean muscle he carried, and just a few months ago, he’d finally gone through his unlock.
“So, what’s up?” Lucas asked as Quinn came over to join him. “I’m surprised you’re not shadowing the guard trainees right now. That, or helping either of your parents.”
At Lucas’s words, Quinn looked over nervously in the direction of his own house, where his dad was still tending to his animals. Quinn looked back and caught Lucas’s eye again, then gestured with a single finger held up to his lips. Lucas tilted his head to the side, but obliged the boy with his silence.
“I need some advice,” Quinn whispered as he sat down beside him.
“You’re gonna have to be more specific than that. What sort of advice?”
Quinn swallowed, betraying his nervous state once again, and leaned in closer.
“Is my dad listening?” he asked as quietly as possible, so quietly that Lucas only caught it thanks to his stats.
As far as Lucas could tell, Eliot was not eavesdropping on the two of them, but he got up and moved over to the edge of the fence closest to Quinn’s house to try to bring the man into better focus. No, he wasn’t listening, and he’d likely gone back inside as well.
Lucas turned around and gave the boy a single shake of his head.
“It’s my Class,” Quinn finally said, not one bit louder than before. “I maxed out my last General Skill earlier today, and I’m ready for it to evolve.”
Ah, so that’s the issue.
“And your parents?”
“I haven’t told them,” Quinn confirmed.
Lucas took a deep breath and let it out very slowly, thinking. He understood what Quinn was asking now. The boy wanted advice, not just on how to best pick his Class and everything, but also on how to get it past his parents.
It used to be that Penelope and Eliot encouraged their son’s desire to become a guard, but that had changed as so much else had in the village. When the majority of the guards died helpless against a horde of simple goblins, those two had seen a future where Quinn died young. They feared the outside more than almost anyone now, and hated anything that reminded them of that danger.
It was irrational, in Lucas’s opinion, but no one ever said that a parent’s desire for their child to be safe ever was. They’d forbidden Quinn from training with Eugene any more, but the boy clung stubbornly to his dream regardless. Lucas could never fault him for that.
“Whew~” he exhaled as he returned to his seat. “Okay, let’s hurry up and get started, then. What do you need to know?”