Finding Pyga’s apartment was easy enough thank God. It was relatively straightforward even. I found the door. Knocked on it. Waited patiently for a bit. Then a bit more. I spent a minute rocking back and forth on my feet, trying not to worry about the optics of a dude in a cloak waiting in front of a door to a single mother’s place and her kid. Ah, yup there it is. Even in the midst of my meditation I could recognize that clutching ache in my chest anywhere.
Ah, Anxiety my old friend. I thought to myself. Finally came back from the gas station with your cigarettes eh?
I was staring off into space, patiently waiting for someone, anyone at this point to open the door and end the awkward silence I was stewing in. I was careful to keep my head straight though. Shifty people looked around a lot right? That was definitely a shifty thing to do. I wasn’t shifty. I had a good reason to be here.
Oh God. Is there someone behind me? I thought in a small panic. As I heard a creak somewhere in the stairwell I had came from a little while ago. What if its an assassin? A nosy neighbor? Or worse? What if they’re staring at me?
I was waiting for a heartbeat longer until, thankfully. Someone opened the door.
The edge of the door opened a small crack until I heard a grunt behind the door. “Oh! Forgive me. I wasn’t expecting you to be early. My apologies, give me just a moment.” said the voice of Falisa as the door shut again and a small number of locks became unlocked before she opened the door fully for me. “Come in, come in. Pyga! Come to the kitchen please your tutor is here.” She said calling out into the cramped looking apartment before turning to me. “Do you like tea?” The Beast folk said to me, overwhelming me a bit with her hospitality. You wouldn’t even know this was the same person who had wanted to call the Shieldguard on me a few days ago. Grima must have some damn good street cred.
“Thank you very much.” I said setting my bag down and taking a seat at the small table. I was grateful for the tea. It gave me something to do with my hands. While Falisa disappeared for a moment to track down Pyga I looked around at the interior of the place. I only had Gregor’s apartment to stack it up against. But I could tell that wouldn’t have been a fair comparison at all. It felt more apt to compare it to the squat, overpriced apartments you’d see back on earth. The kind that asked for half your yearly salary just to give you a kitchenette and a spare bedroom the size of a small closet.
In addition to that. It was clear that the outside, run down nature of the building extended to its interior. Despite Falisa’s obvious attempts to make up for that with small decorations in the kitchen by the window and a rug over the sickly looking wood floor. Now, that wasn’t a knock on the Beast folk living here. But it was clear whoever owned the building wasn’t doing what was necessary to keep the place in shape. As someone who’d had to duke it out over the phone with a landlord once or twice for simple repairs. I felt for the people here. Bad landlords just sucked.
I was brought back to reality once a smiling Falisa reappeared with an obviously flustered Pyga. Pushing him forward gently but firmly to the other chair at the table.
“Thank you again for offering to tutor Pyga Mr…” Falisa trailed off a hint of panic in her eyes as she had clearly forgotten my name. “Kincaid.” I supplied easily. Not offended in the least.
“Mr. Kincaid.” She finished apologetically. As Pyga took his seat. Looking like someone on trial in a court room rather than a kid at a simple tutoring session. “Is there anything you need to get started?” She asked and I nodded. “Just a small glass of water for Pyga to practice with please.”
She nodded and quickly returned with a small glass of water. While she was gone I’d opened my goodie bag and starting laying out the stuff May had helped me get just for this reason. A notepad, charcoal, a small pot with a built in heating element, and the one thing every good tutor needs most of all. Bribes er- small candies for good performance.
Before we started I pushed some mana through my eye’s Identify Sig and scanned Pyga.
[Class: Water Elementalist (Common)]
[Level: 1]
[Active Effects: None]
Now to my chagrin and May’s endless teasing. There was actually more to the Identify Sig than I’d originally thought. I could almost hear her in my mind when she’d asked what I thought of the Sig. “You didn’t even look at the description?” She had said deadpan.
Pushing that memory away I focused on Pyga’s Class and the description for it opened up.
[Class: Water Elementalist (Common)]
[Description: Specializing in the element of water, Water Elementalists can fill a wide variety of roles that fall outside the purview of other elements, from the battlefield, to the wheat field. Just as water changes to fill whatever shape it is poured into. The scope of their abilities is heavily determined by the person who wields them.]
Looking at the description for Pyga’s class gave me a good idea of what he could do. I mean, granted. I have no experience with any kind of water magic period. But I’d spent my whole life devouring different fantasy games, movies, and anime. The idea of a Water Elementalist was pretty normalized across a lot of fantasy stories. And since this whole world operated off of a leveling system for some reason. That meant that instead of questing to find some ancient spring for a power boost, Pyga just had to train properly. Wait, were there magical springs?
I shook my head slightly to clear the distracting thoughts. And focused on Pyga again. Who was just sitting awkwardly before startling at my question. “So Pyga, how good are you at moving water around?”
“I can move water around.” Pyga said. Sounding a bit offended I’d asked. He reached out a hand towards the glass of water and a small glob separated from the water to drift above it. It was leaking a bit though, dripping down into the glass but not nearly as much as I’d expect it to.
I got my notepad ready and starting scribbling. “How difficult is it for you to move that water around on a scale from one to five? One being easy and five being really hard.”
“Um.” Pyga said moving the glob of water around as he thought on it. “Two?” he said a bit unsure.
I just nodded and scribbled down more notes.
I kept going like that for a while. Just asking basic questions and small tests to give myself a baseline for Pyga’s abilities. Simple things like how much water he could hold at once. How much strain he felt moving water around. Could he move the water into shapes? Could he levitate two water blobs at once?
The whole time I was writing down my notes and ideas about what would help Pyga the most. While the information was important, especially since he was just at level one and likely had just the one attribute point. There was something I had to determine.
In my notes I had a mess of scribbles that read something along the lines of:
Is mana actually Chakra? No, there aren’t any hand signs.
Nen? Possibly.
Devil Fruits? Haha- stop being stupid Toby this is serious.
Is visualization effective? Could be. Try that.
“So Pyga, you’ve been doing great so far. But I wanted to ask you something and I want you to think hard on it okay?”
“Hm-kay.” Pyga said. Munching on some of the candies I’d brought. There’d been a few times he had been getting restless during the constant testing and questions and I had given him candy to keep his interest.
“When you threw that water ball at me.” I started as Pyga flinched. I waved away his concern though. “How did you make it? I mean, what’s your process for manifesting water like that? Knowing how you did it would really help.”
“Um.” Pyga began, definitely confused. “It’s water?” He said questioningly. “I just used my Skill for water and made some.” He said with a shrug. “It was really hard though.”
I tapped my notepad in thought as I poured over that. “Only the Skill…” I said before coming to a conclusion. “Okay I think I understand.” I told Pyga before placing my small tea pot I’d brought with me in the center of the table.
“So next, I’d like you to try using that same Skill you used to manifest the water and fill this up.” I said gesturing to the pot. “Before you do though.” I said, hoping what I was going to say sounded wise instead of magical mumbo jumbo.
“Try and imagine exactly what water is like as you use the Skill. Focus hard on what it feels like. Take as much time as you need to come up with a good mental image before you start and maintain that image as you cast.”
Pyga brows furrowed in concentration as he took a few moments to think. I didn’t interrupt him and was content to sit and let him come up with a solution himself. Depending on how well this worked I’d try and work in whatever image helped him make water with the science and underlying physics of water. I’d have to be careful about how I did it though. Jumping the gun and pointing straight to a water molecule might be scientifically sound but if that idea clashed too much with what Pyga knew about water it might harm more than help.
I refocused on Pyga as he held out his hands with his eyes shut and started casting. Just like before in Grima’s shop. Water started gathering in a floating glob between his outstretched hands. Enough to fill up my little pot and then some. Pyga peeked out from one of his closed eyes and seemed to almost drop his water ball in shock.
“So?” I asked a bit eagerly. “Did focusing on an image help at all?”
Pyga was holding his water ball up with a big smile. “It- It was so cheap!” He said excitedly. Any traces of boredom from earlier long gone now. “It always cost so much mana to make water! Now I can make more water for everyone!”
“Did it really make that much of a difference?” I said honestly shocked. I’d come here with the intention of doing my best, truly. But there had been a constant nagging doubt in my mind that someone like me. A washed up guy relying on his knowledge of anime and video games to teach actual magic to someone else? I mean, realistically there’s no way that would work right? If the visualization idea hadn’t panned out I was going to suggest unironically practicing hand signs.
“How do you usually make water then?” I said still bewildered something I’d suggested had worked.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Pyga was holding his water ball like it was a Christmas present as he told me “I just push mana into the skill really hard until it makes the water I need!” He said without a trace of shame.
He just… brute forces the Skill? I thought to myself, a bit mystified as Pyga excitedly ran off to show his mom his progress. I’d had to brute force my Thought Acceleration when fighting off Rykas once. That had not been a pleasant experience at all. It had hurt like hell. Even if the kid hadn’t been pushing himself to the same level I had. Had he really been going that far every time?
My brain caught up to what was happening as I registered Pyga’s constant stream of words to his mother. “-All I had to do was think of a really big lake and it just worked! Look at all this water!” Pyga continued as I heard him run back into the kitchen. Ball of water still in hand.
“That’s great Pyga.” I said amicably. “Now let’s try-”
“Mom! I’ll be right back!” Pyga said suddenly racing past me to the door. Only looking back to blurt out all at once. “Miss Haggel hasn’t gotten any water refills this week so I’ll make some for her real quick okay bye!”
“Shouldn’t we finish the-” I began but it was already too late. Pyga was already out the door and into the hall outside. “Lesson.” I finished lamely as I slumped in my chair a bit. I mean, we hadn’t covered much but we made progress right?
A soft sigh made me turn to look at Falisa who was staring at the door with a mixed expression. Something between motherly love and a parent’s reproach. “I’m so sorry about this.” She began. Making her way over to the table I was at.
“Well we ended a bit earlier than I would have liked but its fine.” I said waving away her concern. “Should I start heading out then?” I said not wanting to overstay my welcome.
“No please. Stay a bit” She said tiredly taking the chair Pyga had sat in earlier. “I…” She started before grimacing and tried again. “I wanted to apologize for earlier.”
“What for? Pyga?” I said questioningly. “There’s no need for that. Kids will be kids after all.”
“No not that.” She said sounding worn. “That whole business at Grima’s, and at the Awakening ceremony too. I just thought you were another Syndicate goon. One of those Blackwater scum or a, a Redbrand.” She said with a bit of heat in her voice. Fists clenching on the table. “But for you to offer teaching Pyga after all that…” She trailed off for a moment before looking me straight in the eye. “Thank you. I’ve done my best to teach Pyga his numbers and letters but there was nothing I could do to help him with his Skills or magic. I don’t know the first thing about those.” She finished.
“Thank you for having me.” I said. A bit uncomfortable at receiving praise like this. “Say I don’t mean to pry but…” I started before my brain could catch up and stop me from saying something out of line. “Ah, never mind. Sorry.”
“It’s alright. If you have any questions I’d be a terrible host if I didn’t answer them.” Falisa said with a soft smile.
“It’s just-” I began before thinking about wording my question more carefully. It might not have been my place to ask but now that the question was in my head I couldn’t get it to go away.
“I had a talk with Grima a while ago about some Beast Folk customs- er maybe customs may not be the right word. Beliefs? Sorry let me try that again.” I said apologetically.
“Do you…have a Class?” I asked. Hoping I that didn’t come across as an offensive question. Rather than balk at it, Falisa seemed to know exactly what was on my mind.
“I do not.” She said her soft smile from earlier slipping a bit. “But I’d wager you’re wondering why I’d encourage a child like Pyga to get one? When so many of us see magic as taboo?”
I pursed my lips and nodded. I was glad she was willing to answer my question but she had definitely grown more reserved. She’d placed both of her hands on the table and clasped them together as if to keep them steady.
“It’s been hard us. Living here like this. It has been for such a long time.” She began before growing quiet for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. “Our Crossing. The one that brought us here. If it had only come before the Crossing that brought the Elves to Kanaan. You know how much damage the Elves have done to humanity, I’m sure. After Beast folk arrived outside the kingdom’s borders. We were almost immediately determined to be another threat to humanity on the same level as the Elves.”
I was at a loss for words as I absorbed that. I hadn’t put together that the Beast Folk’s Crossing’s had come after the Elves' or what the implication of that as a whole were. But I could imagine all too easily how that difference could have changed everything.
“Hostilities were brief thankfully.” Falisa assured me, as if she could see the route my thoughts were taking. “But people don’t accept change easily. Even with your King granting asylum to those of us that chose to move here like my Great Grandfather. There are many people who don’t want us here and it’s…It’s been a struggle to get by.” She gestured to the apartment we were in with a wave of her hand. “It took years for my father and mother to afford this. I watched them work their whole lives without Classes, I’ve seen them come home tired and go to bed hungry because the price of water and food was raised again and again in an effort to force us out of the city.”
I watched Falisa’s face as her eyes grew hard. Her hands clenching into fists on the table. “I won’t-” She tried to say as her voice cracked and she looked down sharply. Staring hard into the wooden table as she mastered herself.
“I won’t let my son go through that.” She said her eyes brimming with emotion as her voice held firm. “I won’t. Even if it means breaking the taboo. Even if it means other parents won’t let their children play with him. Even if it means going against the wishes of his father I-”
I looked away as Falisa choked down a sob and took a long moment to wipe away tears. I kept my face passive as I tried and failed to think of things to say that might be comforting. I let her take as long as she needed until she spoke up again.
“I’m sorry about that.” She said belatedly.
“Don’t be. That’s not something you need to apologize for.” I said assuredly.
“Thank you.” Falisa said. Going silent for a moment before an unexpected chuckle burst from her. “You know, I thought of getting a Class too despite it all. To help Pyga. But he got so mad at the idea he threatened to get rich if I did.”
“He what?” I said smiling. “How did he think that would work out?”
“He said he’d get rich enough to move away from me and go somewhere super ‘fancy’” She said smiling wholeheartedly. “If that’s his idea of a tantrum I almost wish he’d have them more often.”
We talked for a bit more after that. Nothing important just little stories and things that were easily shared. I even told her about how I’d gotten fired from Antonio’s because Dave had pinned his weed stash on me. It was a heavily edited version that left out how I’d been freaking out about invisible numbers and a bunch of other Earth things like cell phones and whatnot. It was nice. After a bit I almost had to remind myself that Falisa wasn’t human. If it weren’t for the fur and foxlike features, she could have been any single mother back on Earth trying to do the best for her kid.
“And that’s why it just doesn’t make sense for me. Even if I wanted to.” She went on. Explaining her reasoning for why getting a Class for herself now would just be a moot point. “There’s a reason why the majority of people receive their Classes at some point during their childhoods. Children are full of potential. They can turn out to be any number of things if they have the right Intent and drive. But me?” She said gesturing to herself. “The Classes I’d receive, even if my Intent was a good one, would just be some reflection of the jobs I’ve taken until now. Maid, Dishwasher, Candlemaker.” She leaned back in her chair and sighed. “Not much potential left in these weary bones I’m afraid.”
That brought to mind my own Awakening and I frowned thinking about all the Classes the System tried forcing onto me. I doubt it was because I had the aptitude for any of them in particular. I dropped out of college for a reason. My natural abilities before the Awakening extended to flipping burgers, working as a cashier, and not much else. Were I just a normal person from Kanaan I’d probably be in the exact same situation that Falisa worried about for picking a Class so late in life.
I looked down at my hands and thought about the label the System had slapped me with. Variant Human. Was that distinction alone enough to qualify me for all those Classes in the first place? Was that really enough to override a lifetime of mediocrity like mine? If the System had taken anyone else from Earth would… would this world be better off?
I frowned to myself. Now’s not the time for a pity party Toby. I thought harshly. Choosing instead to focus on something Falisa had said to get my mind off my dour thoughts.
“So uh, Candlemaker? Is that what you’re doing now?”
“Hmm?” Falisa started. Shaken out of her own thoughts as well. “Ah yes.” She said nodding “I work with some others in this building making scented candles on the lower floors and we split the profits from what we sell. It is a side job for most of us in addition to what we already do but it helps.”
I was thankfully spared having to come up with more things to talk about as the front door opened and Pyga stepped in. Grinning through a large chunk of bread that filled his mouth.
“Hm! Igm Hme!” Pyga said happily despite the bread muffling his words. He froze once his eyes landed on me though. As if realizing only then that he had basically ran off while he was supposed to be tutoring.
“Pyga don’t talk while your mouth is full.” Falisa said sighing gesturing him closer. As Pyga choked down the snack. “Did you give Miss Haggel the water she needed?” She asked kindly.
Pyga nodded. Bread crumbs still adorning his face as he proudly announced. “I filled up two of her big water jugs and she gave me some bread for helping her out.”
“That’s my boy.” Falisa said sweetly as she brushed the crumbs from Pygas face. “Do you still have enough mana left for another lesson with Mr. Kincaid?”
“Uhh…” Pyga said looking slightly panicked at how his mother might react to him having spent all his mana already.
“It’s fine.” I said standing. Tearing off a sheet of paper and placing it next to the small pot I’d left in the middle of the table. “I was planning on leaving you some homework to practice with anyway.” I said gesturing to the pot. “There’s some instructions on what I want you to focus on next alright? Just fill the pot with some water and boil it so it steams and try practicing how to draw water from the steam.”
“Draw water from the…” Pyga said clearly confused. “How do I do that?”
“With practice.” I said smiling as Pyga stared at the pot with trepidation.
“Are you not taking your pot back?” Falisa asked. “It looks expensive. I haven’t seen many with heating Sigmata built into them.”
“You can hang onto it.” I said easily. Glad May had agreed to carve a Sig into the pot. “Pyga will get more use out of it than I ever will, and it should be a good way to practice before he learns how to draw water from the air.”
“Draw water from the-” Pyga started. Before throwing his hands up. “There is no water in the air!”
“Of course there is.”
“No way!”
“Yes way.”
“Nu uh!”
“Yea uh.”
“Nu uh!”
“Yea uh.”
“I’ll make sure he practices!” Falisa said breaking the back and forth between Pyga and me. Sending a stern look at Pyga before leveling a pained expression at me. “Is there anything else?”
“Ah, no sorry.” I said cheeks flushed with embarrassment for arguing with a child, like a child. I coughed and made an effort to look like the responsible adult I was supposed to be. “I’ll just- I’ll just get going now.” I said. Nodding to Falisa and Pyga.
“Alright then.” Falisa said standing and walking me to the door. “You get home safely now alright? The Maulers have done a lot to push the Redbrand out from harrassing people in the Murk district but please watch out for them. I know Maulers are violent at times but Redbrand thugs are just…” She turned to make sure Pyga was far enough away to not hear her next words. “They’re cruel hateful people. Especially to those who try to work with us.”
I nodded to Falisa. Grateful for the worry she felt for me but feeling a bit bad that someone without a Class was so worried about someone with a Class like me. If anything, I should be more prepared than anyone for a fight with random thugs. With my attributes and Skills I should be more than a match for anyone my level.
“You take care too. If you need my help for anything, just let me know okay?” I said standing just before the open door.
That got a smile out of Falisa. “Thank you kindly. But I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. We will manage like we always have.”
“No really.” I said trying to get my point across. “I may not look it but I’m actually pretty strong.”
“And what level are you again?” Falisa said her smile turning sly as I winced internally.
“Two.” I said lamely. Before quickly adding “Okay, I know that sounds bad. But I’ve got some good Skills. Some really good Skills that could help you a lot since you’re not that-” I said before barely managing to cut myself off before I said something stupid.
Falisa raised a eyebrow at me. “Since I’m not that strong?” She finished for me.
“I didn’t say that.” I said quickly holding up a finger before I added. “I’m just saying from a logical standpoint that my argument-”
Without another word Falisa reached out with both arms, grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me off the ground like I was a large teddy bear instead of a fully grown man. Then, without any strain at all, she moved me out into the hall and set me down before stepping back and looking at me expectantly.
I blinked rapidly for a second, and noticing that my finger was still up, I pointed it at her. “You make a very compelling argument.” I said as if nothing at all had just happened.
“Ah huh.” She said sweetly. “Same time tomorrow?”
“Sure thing.” I said as she shut the door and I made my way out of the hall and down the long staircase.
Okay! New plan brain! I thought to myself as I waved to every Beast Folk I saw on the way down with a strained smile. Let’s never piss off any Beast Folk from now on until the end of time. Sound good? Yeah. I feel the same way.
Despite the disturbing idea of Beast Folk children possibly having the innate strength to suplex me. I couldn't help the warm feeling in my chest at having helped out Pyga a bit. The smile he'd had and the light in his eyes at making water after I'd nudged him in the right direction. It felt nice.
By the time I hit the bottom of the stairs and made my way out of the building. That smile I'd been faking was as real as any other.