Chapter 55: Unusual Skill
Felix Sythias’ POV (continued):
Wednesday morning’s combat class was the same as the previous days, with one important difference. It happened while we were waiting between bouts. The other group was resting and recovering their mana—they were spellcasters, mostly—so Alex and I had decided to practice with our lightning cubes. We were close—so, so very close—to figuring it out. I could now fully absorb the mana back in with only minimal loss, but I didn’t yet know how to make lightning mana by myself.
I had figured out how to use the lightning mana I got from the cube to fling spells, though. They were weak, and incredibly difficult to control, but I could now shock enemies while striking them. As long as I did so within six seconds of drawing the mana back in from the cube, anyway. That was the maximum time I could hold the mana within me but outside of my pool. After that, it would shock me instead.
The mana responded sluggishly, however. It was my mana, but it wasn’t my mana. It was like making a sword and then selling it to someone else. Yeah, you made it and it’s yours, but it didn’t belong to you anymore. It was the same with the lightning mana. It was mine, but it didn’t belong to me. Trying to wrap my head around the contradiction gave me a headache, though, so I didn’t try to think about it too much. In any case, it made it very difficult to control and use. I could only really guide it where I wanted it to go.
Despite the difficulty controlling the mana, it still made for a very effective attack. When I struck someone with a lightning filled talon, they got a nasty shock and all their muscles in the area would tense up.
More than once had I struck a glancing blow at someone’s legs, causing them to crumple to the ground as their legs promptly refused to listen to their own commands. They quickly learned to avoid me for a while after I absorbed a new batch of mana from the cube, though. And more importantly, they did their best to keep me busy dodging and parrying their blows so I couldn’t use the cube at all. Drawing mana in through the cube took a few moments of concentration, and there was precious little time in combat for that.
I really needed to figure out how to do this without the cube so I wouldn’t be reliant on it anymore. It was a time-consuming effort and easy to spot. And while monsters generally wouldn’t care, some would be smart enough to realize to not let the enemy use the mana-rich device. For now, though, this worked well enough.
That wasn’t the big thing that was different about this morning’s class, however. No, that honor went to Alex. Like me, he had also been diligently practicing with the cube these past weeks. Perhaps even more so than me. But before today, he hadn’t yet been able to completely absorb the mana back into his pool.
“Hey Felix?” he said, getting my attention. “I think I did it.”
I looked up from my own cube. I’d been practicing my drawing speed with little success. “What?”
“The exercise. I think I completed it. There isn’t any extra mana left to absorb, and I wasn’t shocked even the tiniest bit, so I think I got it all.”
I sat up straight and put my own cube to the side. “That’s awesome! Come on, do it again. You can probably unlock the Skill before the next fight.”
He nodded and focused back on the cube. To unlock a Skill you didn’t just need to meet the requirements, you needed to purposefully reach them three times in a row. There were numerous theories about why. Some proposed that the number three was somehow significant to the System. You could have a maximum of three Paths, and a maximum of three Skills for each, plus an additional six non-Path Skills. There was also the fact you unlocked your first Path at level 27, which was three cubed. They were all multiples of three.
The other, slightly less prevalent, theory was that the System just wanted basic competency before giving someone magical assistance. Personally I thought it was a bit of both. Not that it mattered anymore, since none of it applied to me. At least I could maybe help Alex have an easier time with the System.
I watched Alex’s face scrunch up as he concentrated to absorb the mana and then watched him do it again. All in all, it only took him maybe ten seconds. When he opened his eyes again, they were glazed over and moved from side to side like he was reading something. He must have unlocked the Skill, I realized with a surge of joy.
As Alex read the System notification, his eyes became wider and wider, and a look of incredulity appeared on his face as his eyes flickered between his notification and me. Was something wrong?
“Is everything alright?” I asked him, but he didn’t respond. Instead, he read the notification again and again. Just as I was about to reach out and shake his shoulder, his gaze settled on me with a strange look. Was it confusion? Glee? Amazement? Pride? It was all four, I realized. What in the stars kind of Skill did he get to warrant such a reaction?
He took a deep breath and let his face settle back into a neutral expression. It didn’t last long, though, as a grin kept trying to creep back onto his snout. “Sorry, sorry—I’m fine,” he said. ”I just… unlocked an unusual Skill, is all. I’ll tell you about it later, okay? When we’re alone.”
I nodded. I really wanted to know about it right now, but Skills were private things; especially unusual ones. It was completely understandable for him to not want to talk about it in public. In fact, it would’ve been completely understandable if he hadn’t wanted to talk about it with me at all. That he did want to sent a wave of affection and pride surging through my body, and I felt lighter than I did just a moment ago. “Alright. Can I safely assume it’s good, though?”
His grin reappeared. “Yeah, definitely.” He turned to the group on the other side of the field, who were still resting, and called out to them. “Are you guys ready? I want to keep going!”
I raised an eye-ridge at him. He turned to me, and somehow his grin was even wider than before and I couldn’t help but smile back. His excitement was absolutely adorable. “I really, really want to test this out,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I can make my sword sparky now.”
The spars continued, but he sadly wasn’t able to make his sword electrified quite yet. He was able to crudely copy my lightning talons, though, something the other team really wasn’t expecting.
He made quick work of the other team by himself. He struck them with his fists, which shocked them—in more ways than one—and followed it up with a kick while they were distracted, ‘killing’ them while they were on the ground. It was incredibly effective, and if there hadn’t been a ban on the training grounds right now, I would’ve asked him if he wanted to go hunt. For now, we’d have to make do with these opponents, though. And there’d be plenty of opportunities for hunting together next week, anyway.
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During our lunch break, Alex and Tiki went to the park together, after which he would go to his basic flight class. Apparently, they were getting close to having learned the minimum required knowledge and would soon begin the more practical side of the class. I’d have to ask Marchie later if I could help with that—after my wings were cleared for use, anyway. It wasn’t like I didn’t have the time to help. With fundamental magic indefinitely canceled—which was the same period for me that Alex had his class—it was just a free period for me, so I might as well do something useful with the time. Plus, it was a nice excuse to see Alex get all excited about flight. I really liked listening to him talk all excitedly about the things he’d learned.
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While Alex had his break, I went to the healers to get my wing checked out. All the missing scales had grown in and the membranes had filled out. It hardly even itched anymore. For all I could see, it was fully healed now. I really, really hoped that Elena agreed. And when I got there, she did! But she also didn’t.
“Why can’t I just fly now?” I asked for the third time.
Elena took a deep breath. “Because you’re healing faster than you should. It should’ve taken another two weeks at minimum. So even if it is healed, I want to give it a few days to be sure it’s fine. Come back on Sunday.”
I sighed. “Fine.”
I turned to leave, but before I could get through the door, she put a foot on my tail to stop me.
“You will not use that wing to fly until I say so, is that clear? So no sneakily flying between classes, or anywhere else, got it? I will know if you do.”
I rolled my eyes. “I get it. No flying till you say so. I promise.”
As much as I wanted to, as much as I was tempted to, I knew better than to ignore advice—no, an order—from Elena. There was a reason she was the best healer, after all. I had gone without flight for almost a month now, I could wait a few more days. I didn’t like it, though.
“Oh, before I forget, eat this,” she said, and threw a healing mango my way. I snapped it out of the air and swallowed it whole so I didn’t have to taste it. Nasty things.
“See you on Sunday, then!” I called behind me as I walked through the exit.
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When I got back to the school building, Alex and Tiki were already gone. I had expected it, but it still made me a little sad that I missed them. And by the look from the students that were still walking towards the entrance, I had missed them by minutes at most.
I didn’t have any books with me to read since I had finished reading the last one yesterday during class and didn’t have any other form of entertainment with me. So with nothing better to do, I sat down to practice with the lightning cube.
I was getting better at absorbing the mana fast. I’d already cut the required time by half since I had first managed to complete the exercise, and I would only get better from here. But I still didn’t know exactly what was happening at the border of my mana pool, where the mana turned from lightning mana into neutral mana. I needed to know, but every time I tried looking, I failed. The pathways I’d created to guide the mana would collapse, and the mana I was guiding would go haywire and shock me.
I was getting better at it, though, and I was able to catch glimpses now before everything went crazy. The moment the mana touched the border, it twisted away somewhere. I didn’t know where it was going and why it was doing that, but I’d find out in time. I was certain of that.
Time passed quickly and before I knew it, the bell rang to signal the end of class. Not much later, there were footsteps, and then suddenly Alex draped himself across my back. I looked over at him and found him lying between my wings, looking all relaxed and with a huge grin on his snout. If it had been anyone else, I would’ve been bothered they didn’t ask before touching me, but this was Alex.
“What’s got you in such a good mood?” I asked.
“I get to spend time with you.”
I smiled at him, my heart feeling light and warm. “I suppose that is a good reason. Too bad we have to go to Basic Lightning Magic in a few minutes.”
He sighed. “Yep. But that’s still a few minutes away, so tell me how your appointment with Elena went while we have time.”
And so I did, but not before I rolled around so he could lie on my underbelly instead. This way was still my favorite way to be with him, and from the way Alex melted into my hug, it was his too.
Before long, and way too soon, the first bell rang in the distance, warning us to get moving or we’d be late to class. It took almost an entire minute of convincing for Alex to get off, but in the end, neither of us wanted to be late or miss class. We made our way to class and sat down just as the professor walked in. He stopped halfway to his desk, though, and turned his head our way. No, Alex’s way. He smiled and nodded at Alex.
Alex himself looked confused and glanced my way. I didn’t know either, so I just shrugged.
The lesson went as it usually did. Professor Hobold lectured us about the theory behind electricity and how it could be translated to magic, after which he gave us half an hour to practice.
While we practiced, the professor walked around giving advice to all the students. Not one of them had gotten quite as far as Alex and I had though, from what I could tell. Most of the advice I overheard was about channeling the mana to your pool without shocking yourself. I remembered the professor telling us very few people actually made it through the class, but I’d thought he’d been exaggerating.
Eventually he came to us. He looked us over for a moment, his eyes glowing as he used some Skill to inspect our progress, then nodded at me. “That’s good, Felix. Just keep working on it and I’m sure you’ll get there sooner rather than later.”
He turned to Alex. “Good work, Alex! Unlocked a Skill already, I see! And a good one at that—your power, control, and efficiency are all much better. I won’t ask what you got, but if you’re willing to tell me anyway, I would be more than willing to give you a few one-on-one sessions. I’m afraid I can’t offer extra points for your grade, though, since that’s against Academy policy.”
Alex gaped at the professor for a moment, then shook his head and glanced over at me. “I’ll certainly think about it,” he told the professor. “But I’ll need to discuss it Felix first.”
The poor professor looked as confused as I felt, but nodded. Why would Alex need to discuss it with me first? I got that we were close, but I wasn’t his dad. I wasn’t the right person to ask this.
The professor gave Alex a few more tips and then continued on to the next student. I watched him go for a moment, then turned back to Alex.
“I think you should ask your mentor for advice,” I whispered to him. “I’m definitely not the right person to ask. Especially since, you know, I don’t have a System.”
“I know; it’s not that,” he whispered back, shaking his head. “But the Skill involves you, so you should have a say in it.”
I gave him a confused look. “How could it possibly have to do with me?”
“I'll tell you later, when I get back from the restaurant. Not here with so many people around.”
I reluctantly nodded. I didn’t want to wait that long, but it was clear he was telling me, not asking me. “Alright,” I said.
After class, Viggi picked Alex up for his interview and introduction at the restaurant. Now that I had talked to Viggi, I didn’t feel that pang of jealousy anymore; just a little sadness that I would be spending the afternoon and evening by myself. I really hoped that Alex would finally tell him no, just like Viggi thought he would.
I considered what I was going to do with my free time as I walked home. Maybe I could go to the library and pick up some new books. No, I wanted to wait for Alex to finish River first so we could pick the next book together. I should suggest that he took it with him during the excursion.
By the time I got back to our room, I still hadn’t made a decision. But any thoughts of that vanished when I saw what was sitting in front of my door. A squirrel, holding a note. It saw me and held the note out for me to take. I did so, and the squirrel quivered in fear as I brought my talon in close, and sprinted away the moment I took the note out of its tiny paws.
I stared after it, bewildered for a moment, then shook my head.
I opened the note and was surprised to find it wasn’t one from Vuillio; it was from Gur, the enchanter I’d commissioned a little over a week ago. When had Vuillio offered her services up for sale? I shook my head and read the note. The contents were simple, and just stated that my commission was ready for picking up and to not forget to bring the second half of the payment.
Well, it seemed I didn’t have to make any plans for this afternoon anymore.