Lucas got up as early as usual and went about his morning routine of cleaning and preparing breakfast. Ashes needed to b cleared from the wood stove before it could be used, but that only added a handful of minutes to his already short pass through the house. Instead of making eggs, Lucas sliced up the remnants of Eugene's bread and toasted it in some oil. One of his mom's teas--the rich, dark and earthy one that made it impossible to sit still after drinking--would go along with it.

Some jam and cream would be really good with this as well, but with their currently lacking pantry they would have to go without. Still, Lucas put it on the mental list of things to get at the market later. Barring that, he could hunt down some berries on his next trip out of the village.

Should've started on the tea before the bread, it won't be done brewing before the toast cools at this rate.

Cold toast was quite bit worse than prematurely poured tea, however. They could just tolerate an inferior brew today. He gave their mugs a quick rinse and wipe to get them ready, then plated the toast and went to wake his mother up.

"I'm up, I'll be right out!" he heard in response to his knock.

Lucas brought two steaming mugs to the table before digging in. The toast wasn't bad, but he was really craving that jam and cream now.

Last night, he'd done a lot of thinking on his mana training issue before sleep took him. A lot of thinking didn't translate to a solution, however. If he could speak to a suitably high-level mage, he could get instructions on how to safely expel and manipulate his mana. Maybe even learn the conditions to get some Skills. That was only if the mage in question knew what he was looking for, and wasn't one of those mages that just used a Skill without ever giving it much thought, like most of the magic-using people in the village.

No, more likely he would have to tweak his plan a bit. Instead of trying to manifest magic outside his body, what if he did it within? The potential for it to go horribly wrong was probably not much better than an external manifestation and he'd have to limit the intended effect to something relatively mundane, but the System never gave him a warning in all the time he had been manipulating his mana internally. With any luck, this revised plan would reward him with the same sort of high-quality Skills he was looking for after his unlock.

Lucas was just starting to consider what kind of spell he would try for when Mary finally came out into the kitchen, still looking half asleep and partially disheveled.

"Ah! You're amazing," she complimented Lucas, zooming straight in on the tea.

He smiled. "It's not much, but this works pretty well for breakfast. There's a lot we need to pick up at the market today."

"You're telling me," Mary nodded whilst grabbing for the butter. "Belinda's bread perfectly good toasted and with some butter, but it could be so much better with some cream and maybe jam."

"That's what I thought!" Lucas laughed.

It didn't take the two of them long to scarf down all the food, Mary draining all of her mug and refilling it from the kettle while they were still at it. Lucas was fine with a single fill, which he nursed slowly. When both plates were cleared, rinsed and in the bin, he broke the comfortable silence.

"What time will we be visiting Elder Falon today?"

"I let him know yesterday we will be coming by just before mid-day," his mom replied.

Lucas thought that over for a moment. "Are we going to the market before then, or after? I don't imagine you will be spending the full day away from the clinic."

"Before," she nodded. "We'll have the evening for the clinic, but I will probably heal a bit as we are picking things up. People accumulate a lot of scrapes and scratches throughout the day that they don't feel the need to see a healer for. However, if I come to them..."

"Suddenly, it's not too much effort," Lucas finished.

"Exactly."

She finished off her second cup and took it to the bin, Lucas following suit.

"Alright! Let me just get dressed and tidy up a little, and we will be on our way," his mother informed.

He took that time to grab his boots and put them on, then he tracked down an empty basket to take to the market. Mary came out looking much more ready for whatever the day would throw at them, and they departed.

Outside, the sun had already chased away the shadows of twilight and dried up the morning dew. People were getting started with their day by now and Lucas heard Quinn talking to his father out behind their house, probably tending to the morning chores with the animals. Neighbors greeted them as they took the path north.

"Oh, Mary!" Mrs. Tenaly called out to them from her porch. "Would you mind looking at this ache of mine? The cold isn't doing any favors for my back."

"Of course, I don't mind," his mom answered, shooting a look his way.

It was ironic that someone would ask for healing so early on their path, but Lucas knew it wasn't exactly a coincidence with Mrs. Tenaly. The woman's old age, low stats and stubborn spirit resulted in recurrent aches and joint problems that she never bothered to get proper care for. That didn't mean she had a problem with requesting a quick heal whenever his mom was around, however. She just wouldn't allow an in-depth treatment, nor make the lifestyle changes that would see her problem disappear. Despite that clear discomfort her stubbornness rewarded her with, the woman had been toughing it out for as long as he could remember and was indeed just fine, all things considered.

"That should do it. Have a good day, ma'am," Mary said after a quick shake of the woman's hand.

"Yeah, you too," Mrs. Tenaly replied, already going back to the partially knitted sweater--or whatever it was--in her lap.

"It's an interesting issue, that woman's case," his mother told him once they were out of earshot. "It would cost nothing but a bit of time to heal her problems away, and with a few changes they would not come back. But the woman herself doesn't want that."

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"If you did it anyway, you wouldn't have to heal her as often," Lucas suggested.

"Maybe. But from that point on, whenever she needed healing again--and probably just whenever we met--it would be a much less pleasant interaction because I took that choice from her."

"On the other hand," she halted to pulse a wave of healing through a passer-by, "Mrs. Tenaly would also spend the time between those treatments in better health--might even extend her life by a few years. Ultimately, it comes down to a person's right to control their own body. People should get to decide what is good for them, so long as what they decide is not harmful to others."

Harmful to others? When would one person's health hurt someone else?

Lucas was still considering that question when they arrived at the market, making their way through the relatively dense foot traffic. It was just about the end of the week, so many people would probably be eager to restock their pantries. Craftspersons tended to put new wares out on display around this time to capitalize on the busy occasion, exacerbating the issue. This was why this entire morning was dedicated to the market. They wouldn't be getting out of here for some time.

He considered the issue from a new direction: a person's health had the most impact on another's when their condition could be passed on, or rather, was contagious.

She's referring to sickness and diseases, he realized.

So theoretically, if someone had a really bad illness--like a plague--but didn't want to be healed, that is when it was a healer's responsibility to do it anyway.

"You don't have to put much thought to it," Mary pulled him from his thoughts with a ruffling of his hair, "that isn't the sort of thing kids your age need to worry about."

"That sort of thing has never occurred to me, is all." Lucas quickly explained. He must have appeared to be thinking quite intensely. He blamed the tea from earlier for messing with his attention.

His mom nodded. "I haven't really included those issues in your lessons. Always thought it was better to learn about them naturally, make the decisions yourself when you are old enough to take these problems on. With your unlock coming up, that won't be too long from now."

She looked kind of sad at that, but the clamor of the market quickly arrested their attention and they mostly dropped the conversation to complete the task at hand. Over the span of the next couple hours, they were able to collect everything on their assembled list, free of charge since what they were technically trading was his mother's healing services. The last stop had them looped right back to the point they entered the village district, so it wasn't long after that the pair got back home.

Lucas helped put everything away, and seeing as they had a bit of time till the meeting with the Elder, he sequestered himself away in his small room. He needed to make the most of the next couple days to enact his mana plan, and for that, he needed to lay down.

The blankets atop his bed were pushed to the side, out of the way so they might not distract him. Lucas got comfortable and turned his attention once more on the currents of mana flowing inside him. His mind had been lingering on these pathways all morning, but only now did he truly study their movements.

Though still unsure, he thought he had an idea for the kind of spell he would try to manifest. Lucas knew of all sorts of Skills from conversations with his mom, Eugene, and other villagers over the years. What had him tied up so far was that he was only thinking of mage Skills, when he should consider warrior-type ones as well. It only made sense, as most mages manifested magic externally, but the skills of a guard like Eugene were a form of magic as well.

A rare type of Skill that some warriors could get was channeled body-enhancements, also known as augmentations. Lucas only knew of a select few guards that had one and the precise effects varied wildly. Eugene had one of the more mundane augmentation Skills--it only boosted his strength, stamina, and agility at the cost of a fair amount of mana per second--but he'd heard stories that the guard's commander had one that doubled their stats and size while channeled and made their skin as tough as steel. The point was augmentation Skills have pretty much any effect imaginable on the body, and Lucas knew exactly which one he was going for.

Lucas recalled the shape he witnessed mana taking every time his mother healed. The sudden, yet smooth arcs and harsh angles, all coming together to manifest a regenerative effect. The new, revised plan was to manipulate the currents of his internal mana into taking the very same shape, only extended throughout the entirety of his body. With and luck, it would be easier than his previous plan.

To achieve this, he also needed to account for the physical parts of himself. His mother taught him the most proper and effective use of healing Skills had to be accompanied by a comprehensive image of the injury and how the healer intended to treat it. What he had witnessed himself was that his mother's mana took on different formations that generally resembled others depending on the type of injury they were addressing. The formation to heal a broken ankle was a lot like the one meant to repair a chipped tooth, but almost completely different from a scraped knee.

The changes he would make to his mana currents would have to be catered to their relation to his physical body. It was going to be so incredibly complicated, he just knew it wouldn't be easier than an external manifestation of magic. Lucas would also have to somehow control all the mana throughout his body all at once. He nearly went back to his original plan there and then, but no. The System had explicitly stated it was dangerous to expel mana before the unlock.

Plus, the thought kind of excited him. This was a much more fitting plan for his goal--for the kind of Class and Skills he wanted to get.

That was for later, however. Time was up, and it was time for his meeting.

Elder Falon's house was located in the east quarter of the village, practically unmissable despite its distance away from all features of the village that would generally attract attention and traffic. It wasn't large by any means, nor was it located on a hill that lifted it above the surrounding buildings and allowed it to be seen from anywhere within the walls.

It was unmissable because it was made of stone, just like those very walls. Elder Falon was an earth mage with a level so high only the most senior of the guards could be compared. The most impressive thing was the man wasn't even a combatant, though Lucas knew not to issue some misguided challenge or something with his rumored high level. Elder Falon was an earth mage that specialized in fortifications. He had formed the structures protecting the village on all sides, as he had formed his house with some combination of Skills.

Mary knocked on the fortress-like house's door and they both waited for admittance. Before long, the sound of a lock coming undone could be heard and the portal before them swung open.

"You're here! Come in, come in," a short elderly woman beckoned them.

This must be his wife.

Lucas had never met Elder Falon. Sure, he'd seen the mage around before, just as he'd seen this woman, but the village was large enough for her identity and their apparent relationship to escape him.

"Thank you, Irene," his mother addressed the woman. "I hope we're not late."

"Oh, nonsense. My father is just taking tea in his study," Irene replied.

Father?! That's unexpected.

Elder Falon was much older than Lucas had expected, if he was understanding this right. Lucas recalled his appearance suggested a man only at the twilight of his prime, color having fled his hair but muscles still showing the definition of a man half his age. This must be the strangeness of stats boosting vitality and extending the lifespan at higher levels tricking him.

"Come this way, you don't want to make him wait," Irene beckoned once more.

She showed him and his mother to a room down a short hall, filled with old but comfortable and well-crafted furniture, most notably an ornate stained wooden desk with an equally lavish chair behind it. On the opposite side of the room from the desk was a set of lounging chairs with a table dedicated to the tea that currently rested upon it, all arrayed before a lit fireplace set into the wall. Within one of the chairs was the man they came here to see.

"It's about time. I was beginning to think you'd gotten lost along the way, somehow."