~~~Lee~~~

"I wanted to make the table walk."

"Jesus..." Lee earned a sharp look from Maria for that one and quickly aborted what he’d been about to say. Instead, he only asked, "How?"

Gabriel reached over and put his finger on Anita's nightstand.

"No!" Lee snatched the boy's wrist and pulled his hand away. "Let's not do that again. Where's your pen?"

He'd barely finished the question when Mana Mind told him he already knew where it was. Lee used the same skill to pull Gabriel's pen from the living room, down the hall, and through the door into his waiting free hand.

"Show me with... wait." Lee pulled the pen away from Gabriel's reaching hand. "First, tell me why you didn't just pull the rune back when it started failing? You know how, don't you?" It had always been purely instinctual for him, and he really had no idea how he would go about teaching Gabriel something like that if it didn't come with the class.

Gabriel looked at the floor again. "I think I could, but... it scared me."

"What scared you?"

"The... mana," Gabriel whispered while staring down at his hand. "It was so... loud. Inside me." He looked up at Lee. "It wasn't like all the times you make stuff! And..." He wilted in on himself. "It scared me."

"That's good," Lee said, getting a surprised look from the boy. "Some fear is healthy. Why do you think I like to work in that room all by myself?"

"But you're not scared. You're never scared! Even when it goes boom, you are always brave!"

Lee chuckled ruefully while he summoned a plate, then held it out. "Here. Make me a light rune. You remember that one, right?"

"I... I do," Gabriel said, but there was a tremor in his hands as he took the plate, and then he only clutched it in a white-knuckled grip while glancing toward his parents and sister.

Parents who shared his nervousness, with Alejandro asking, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"It's fine," Lee said, then to Gabriel he added, "I know you can do this."

Gabriel only grew more nervous as he sat down and touched a trembling finger to the plate, then looked up at Lee again as if asking for permission. To which Lee nodded silently.

He was the only one who could see when the liquid mana started moving inside the boy. It shot lightning quick from his core, flowed down his arm, and then finally slowed to a crawl as it trickled out through his slowly sliding finger. But while the others might not see the mana inside Gabriel, they all saw the brilliant light of the rune forming behind his finger.

A light that blossomed brighter and brighter until, with a final flash, it was done, and a glowing light rune shone up at all of them from the plate. A rune that was not one of Lee's. Which, honestly, felt all kinds of weird in Lee's Mana Mind.

Gabriel didn't move when it was done. He only sat and stared at the light while a tumultuous riot of emotion bubbled up in his soul. Lee remained silent while Maria and Alejandro made small noises of congratulations, but he couldn't hold back a smile as he eavesdropped on the boy's soul.

It was exactly what Lee wanted to see. He had felt the fear in Gabriel, which was good; the kid needed a healthy fear of what he might do by accident. Now he was seeing the flip side of the coin.

That magic was absolutely fucking awesome.

All the time he'd spent watching Lee work. All the time he'd spent practicing with the magic pen. None of that could compare to wielding the magic yourself. To creating something amazing. Even a simple light.

The awe finally burst out onto Gabriel's face, and he looked up at Lee with an expression of pure childish glee as he exclaimed, "I did it, Uncle Lee!"

"Daddy, look!" Gabriel leapt up from the floor, his small hands still holding onto the plate for dear life, but his face beaming. "Mama, I made a light!"

They couldn't dismiss the earlier fear quite as easily as he did, but their child's happiness was infectious and dragged honest smiles from both of them despite the lingering worry.

"I see it, Gabe."

"Si, muy..."

"I want magic!" Anita loudly proclaimed from Maria's arms while squirming madly to escape. Maria let her down, and Anita shared Gabriel's awe as she traced a finger over his light rune. "Mama, can I have magic, too?"

"No," Gabriel said. "You are too little. Uncle Lee, she is too little!"

"Mama!"

Lee chuckled while Alejandro burst out laughing and scooped the little girl into his arms. "You little munchkin, you didn't want to be Uncle Lee's apprentice a minute ago."

"But it's not fair! Brother got magic!"

"What if we find you a different magic that you like more?" Her low affinity aside, Lee was all for that option. Despite being siblings, they were definitely each their own unique person. She in no way shared her brother's patience for learning, and Lee couldn't imagine the high-energy child ever sitting still long enough to learn the runes. Martin already had enough trouble teaching her letters...

So, of course, she actually stopped to think about Alejandro's question. "Um..." Then her face lit up. "I want to be a dog!"

"Niña!" Maria let out an exasperated sigh amidst everyone else's confusion before telling Alejandro a story in Spanish.

One name stood out in her retelling, and Lee immediately understood when he heard it. Lucian. "You want to be a werewolf?"

"A wolf!" Anita exclaimed, holding her hands up like tiny claws and doing the cutest imitation Lee had ever heard of a wolf's growl. "Rawr!"

Lee and Alejandro both laughed, much to Maria's dismay, and she snapped something that sounded suspiciously like, "That is not happening! Ever!"

"They..." Lee stopped laughing as a slightly terrifying thought occurred to him. "Did they get evolution options at F-grade?" While it would be undeniably cute to see an Anita-sized werewolf, Lee couldn't imagine waking up one morning to see your toddler had transformed into one. Though maybe if the parents were already werewolves?

"No," Alejandro said, his own laughter sputtering out. "Thank God, no."

Anita pouted, pounding her tiny fists on Alejandro's chest. "I want magic too!"

"I know, Chica." Alejandro hugged her tight even as she struggled ineffectually to escape the embrace. "We'll find you... something." He hid the terror that crept into his soul at those words, but Lee felt it.

He knew why, too.

Anita was not her brother, and Lee couldn't imagine her taking on a crafting class. Though maybe they'd get lucky and she'd find one she liked? Doubtful as that was, Lee imagined her parents were praying for it, and he also knew it probably wouldn't happen. She was going to be a fighter. It was almost blatantly obvious...

Gabriel ignored all of them, blissfully unaware, as he stared lovingly at his creation.

Big brother and little sister. He was a runic now, or well on his way to becoming one. Perhaps he would find a way to protect Anita when she finally joined the fight. The kid had some wild ideas already. He might even succeed where Lee had failed. What if he figured out healing runes? Or something even better?

Lee smiled wistfully, then said, "Okay, Gabe. Now it's time to take the rune back."

"What? But I..." Gabriel looked longingly at his rune. "Do I have to?"

"I suspect you're going to need the soul in that rune. If only for practicing. But..." Lee shook his head and created another plate. "Here, make another light. You can save your first rune if you really want to."

Gabriel eagerly leapt at the chance to make another rune, almost botching it in his excitement. He barely managed it and then stared back and forth between both plates, his smile rivaling the lights in its brilliance.

"Now take that one back." It would be a good test to see if he could pull back only one rune and the correct one at that.

So, of course, Gabriel pulled both runes from the plates. "Oh, no!"

Lee hid his smile at the overly despondent reaction. "You did good, Gabriel."

The praise didn't help, and Gabriel's soul felt like it was teetering on the edge of despair as he stared down at the blank plates in the now much darker room. So Lee tried another tactic. "You know what my first rune was?"

Gabriel looked up, his eyes glistening with unshed tears as he shook his head miserably.

Lee pointed toward the room's single window. "It was a rune to make my windows stronger. But you know which runes are my favorites?"

Gabriel shook his head again. Mutely.

Lee sat down beside him, patting the floor. "My favorites are the ones that protect the people I care about. Like Three. Or the one on your daddy's armor. Those are the runes that matter most. Don't you think so?"

"Y-yes," Gabriel said, rubbing a sleeve over his eyes as a new emotion welled up in his soul to replace the despair. It was exactly the emotion Lee was hoping for and, honestly, what he was expecting. "I'm going to make lots of good runes to protect Daddy, Mama, and Sister!"

He was a good kid, and Alejandro looked on with a beaming smile while his soul swelled with pride. Maria smiled, sharing the pride, but with other darker emotions lurking beneath. Probably a mother thing.

"Oh, I will make runes to protect you too, Uncle Lee." Definitely a good kid.

"Thanks. I'll be looking forward to that." Lee chuckled and looked at the darkness outside the window. "But for now, I'm guessing you won't get anymore sleep tonight? So why don't we head downstairs and get to work?"

Gabriel sprang to his feet. "I'm not tired! I slept a lot!"

"I'm not tired!" Anita proclaimed. "I want to make magic too!"

"I'm sure you do, Chica! But how about we put some breakfast in your belly before you go hunting with the wolf pack?" He only grinned at the look his wife sent his way. "You too, Gabe. You'll do better on a full stomach."

"No thanks. I'm not hungry," Gabriel lied. Right as his stomach growled. He only doubled down. "I'm not!"

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"Go eat," Lee told him. "It's going to be a long day."

Gabriel left, reluctantly at first, then sprinting away. He was probably planning to scarf down his breakfast as fast as possible. Lee watched the trio depart and then looked up to meet Maria's intense gaze, where she still lingered in the room with him. "I'll keep him safe, Maria. On my life."

He meant it. While he could never match a mother's love for her child, the kids had still grown on him, and Lee couldn't bear the thought of anything bad happening to them.

"I know... I worry still." Her gaze trailed down to the destroyed end table.

"Yeah, I screwed up," Lee admitted. "I should have talked to him before..."

"All screw up." Her expression softened, and she stepped up beside him, her hand landing gently on his shoulder. "Make him strong. Make him safe." It came out halfway between a command and a plea.

Lee swallowed back the lump in his throat. "I will."

Gabriel finished breakfast even faster than Lee anticipated, and Lee walked down the stairs with him after scarfing down his own plate. Sure, they could have simply jumped off the balcony and skipped the stairs, but Lee wanted the extra time to spell out the rules again. "I will know if you break the first rule, Gabriel. Remember how I can see mana? Well, your mana is brighter than everyone else's now."

"I said I wooon't!" Gabriel whined, even as he struggled not to sprint ahead down the stairs.

"Early start today?" Amy met them at the courtyard landing, already geared up and ready to go despite the early hour. Lee had seen her wake up the instant he left Alejandro's... though he still didn't know how she knew and assumed she still wouldn't tell him.

She fell into step with them on the way to the garage. Then her gaze landed on Gabriel and a frown creased her brow. "He feels like..." Understanding bloomed. "Ah, you made it official?"

Lee felt a spike of panic at her reaction. "He doesn't feel like a legendary, does he!?"

"Nah, I think it's just the mana. He has a... weight? Yeah, that's the right word. He's got weight that wasn't there before."

"Thank god." Lee frowned as he looked at the confused Gabriel. "That's another rule, Gabe. Don't tell anyone that my class is legendary." He hated to put this on a child, but Gabriel needed to know the stakes. "Anyone with a legendary class will always drop a class shard if they die."

Gabriel was a bright kid. He got it instantly. "Someone might kill you to take your class!?"

"Or you, once you officially have the class." Alejandro had already confirmed that Gabriel didn't have the same feeling as Lee. Amy just got in his head...

"Don't worry, kid. No one's gonna hurt you or Lee while I'm here."

"I saw you practicing with Teacher," Gabriel said to Amy, eyes wide. "You're really strong!" She grinned at him. "You're almost as strong as Mama!"

She choked and then laughed. "Almost, huh?"

Gabriel nodded seriously. "Mama is super strong and super fast."

"Well, maybe I'll train with her, too."

"That's a good idea. I'm going to train with Uncle Lee so I can help make everyone stronger."

"Good on you, kid. Can't wait to see what you come up with. Just try not to blow yourself up as much as this old guy does, okay?"

"Hey..."

Gabriel came to his defense, though not in the way Lee expected. "Uncle Lee isn't old. He only looks old from making Three."

"Thanks," Lee said dryly. "And I don't blow myself up that much."

Amy just laughed.

Unfortunately, she was right. Mostly. Lee didn't blow himself up. Instead, Gabriel blew him up only an hour later.

He'd finished a new rune, and it stuck, but it wasn't stable. "Gabe, take..."

There wasn't time, so Lee abandoned his own project and threw himself atop the plate while shoving Gabriel as far away as he could in the small room. Stone erupted from the floor between him and the boy, and Lee had a moment to realize he should have had Three do that to the unstable plate.

Then it exploded and blew the breath from his lungs. Along with blowing some small holes in his stomach and chest...

Debuff Gained: [Bleeding]

It wasn't a big rune, but it still hurt less than expected. Though he should have expected the reason. Because Amy burst through the door a moment later with blood dripping down to the floor from beneath her breastplate.

Of course, that didn't stop her from rubbing it in. "W... what did I say?" she wheezed. "About blowing yourself up?"

Lee rolled over and opened his mouth to defend himself. Then he rolled back over to cough some blood from his lungs.

Gabriel ratted himself out, peeking over the new wall with tears welling in his eyes as he wailed, "I'm sorry, Uncle Lee!"

Jeremy peeked into the room, not at all upset despite the explosion and bloody aftermath. "Should I go get Saira? Or is this just a potion-level explosion?"

"I..." Lee spat out some blood. "I'll be fine, but send Amy to Saira."

"Wait..." Amy vanished and reappeared beneath Saira's tree. Lee noted with only some trepidation that a plethora of tiny roots swarmed beneath her and sucked up each drop of her blood as it hit the dirt... Then Saira descended from the cradling branches above the injured woman.

Lee tried to ignore the sight and pulled himself into a seated position against the wall while he waved away the potion Jeremy offered him. "Save it. Just need a snack and I'll be good."

Jeremy shrugged. "If you want to be a masochist..."

Debuff Downgraded: [Minor Bleeding]

Debuff Gained: [Hungry]

"I'm not a... We already don't have enough potions. No need to waste them." Lee winced, not from the pain but because he could see pretty much everyone in the building who hadn't risen early now waking up.

It hadn't been a big explosion, but it was big enough.

Gabriel's tears had turned into blubbering by then, and Lee couldn't understand any of the words. "It's fine, Gabe. Really. But this is another lesson for you. When you make a new rune, watch carefully to make sure it's actually stable. Because it can go boom real quick if not."

"I... I..."

"You know what I forgot to ask you?" Lee said, trying to distract the boy but also curious. "What skill are you using to create the runes?" He assumed it was...

"Ru... rune... sc... scribe," Gabriel got out between sobs. Which meant it was indeed the same one Lee had started with.

"You know you can see his status, right?" Jeremy chipped in.

"I can? Wait, I thought you weren't expert rank yet."

"I'm not. I just listen when people are talking." Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Have you even looked at your status since making him an apprentice?"

Lee pulled up his own status.

Status

Name: Lee Cascade

Race: [Mana Soulforge](E-grade Human)

Titles: [F-grade Source] [First Time?] [Swarm Chaser] [Minor Lord](412)

Contracts: [Nicholas Alberton] [Zynthar]

Traits: [Adaptable](55%) [Source Nexus] [Soulforged Mana] [Ley Line Attuned] [Runic Resonance] [Rune Harmonics] [Source Burned] [Ruthless Soul] [Indomitable]

Class: Runic (Legendary) - Level 100 (Expert)

Class Skills: Artistic Rune Creation (Epic) - Level 100 (Expert) | Rune Soul Storage (Epic) - Level 49 (Intermediate) | Soul Infusion (Epic) - Level 40 (Basic) | Language of the Rune (Unique) - Level [N/A]

Apprentices(1/1): Gabriel Morales

Attributes:

Strength: 582(+291%)2276

Vitality: 573(+291%)2241

Dexterity: 579(+291%)2265

Wisdom: 703(+3278%)23747

Intelligence: 710(+3278%)23983

Willpower: 695(+3278%)23477

Twin-Soul: 115(+567%)767

Non-Class Skills(4/6):

Liquid Mana Beam (Rare) - Level 15 (Basic) | Liquid Mana Inferno (Rare) - Level 1 (Novice) | Mana Mind (Epic) - Level 88 (Advanced) | Create Plate (Rare) - Level 49 (Intermediate) | Soul Awareness (Epic) - Level 49 (Intermediate) | Temporal Shift (Legendary) - Level 38 (Intermediate)

Buffs: [Three] [Soul-Link]

Debuffs: [Major Soul Wound(Rune Seal)(Shielded)] [Minor Bleeding] [Hungry]

"Oh." There was indeed a new addition. Gabriel was listed as his apprentice. "One of one... can people have more apprentices at higher ranks?"

"That I don't know. I don't think anyone's made it past expert yet... though your pet alien probably knows."

Lee nodded. That was definitely something to ask his pet alien about later. Maybe the next time he returned with cores...

He had been hesitant about Z, but that hesitancy was fading as fast as his attributes were rising. And they were rising higher every day, thanks to the single-handed efforts of that D-grade alien.

Sure, he was still getting some cores from Wilson's taxes, but now he could funnel most of those to people like Jeremy, and especially to Amy, since she never hunted now. Speaking of Amy, she was on her way back. With Saira.

Lee quickly focused on Gabriel's name in his status.

Status

Name: Gabriel Morales

Race: [Human](F-grade Human)

Titles:

Traits: [Adaptable](85%) [Child] [Soul Enkindling]

Class(Apprentice): Runic (Legendary) - Level 1 (Novice)

Class Skills: Rune Scribe (Rare) - Level 2 (Novice)

Attributes:

Strength: 88(+200%)264

Vitality: 88(+200%)264

Dexterity: 88(+200%)264

Wisdom: 88(+207%)270

Intelligence: 88(+207%)270

Willpower: 88(+207%)270

Soul: 10(+100%)20

Non-Class Skills(0/3):

Buffs: [Three]

Debuffs: [Hungry]

It was about what he'd expected, though one thing leapt out at him. "I think Jamaal should be cooking soon," Lee said to Jeremy. "Have him make a burrito for Gabriel too. Oh, and keep the hot sauce on the side for him."

"I... I'm not... hu... hungry."

Jeremy ignored Gabriel's tearful lie. "Obviously on the side. Jamaal's hot sauce is fuck..." He choked off with a look at Gabriel, then muttered, "It's bordering on chemical warfare and definitely in violation of the Geneva Convention..."

"But it makes the food so good!"

"You are a masochist," Jeremy said, shaking his head as he stepped aside to let Saira and Amy into the elevator room. "See if you can fix his brain while you're in there."

"I'm pretty sure that's a lost cause," Amy said, but Lee barely noticed.

His attention was wholly and completely transfixed by the goddess of jungle and fire that seemed to prowl across the room and into a kneeling position before him. Saira was obviously pregnant, but it didn’t seem to slow her down in the least. There was none of the awkwardness he’d seen in pregnant women before. Perhaps it was the extra attributes?

She was also wearing nothing but her signature red-leafed vines, which somehow left her more modestly dressed than usual, and yet Lee couldn't help but stare.

"Nonsense," Saira said, smiling and placing a hand on his chest. "If anything, the sauce isn't hot enough." Then she winked at Lee as her healing energy flowed into him.

Debuff Removed: [Bleeding]

Debuff Removed: [Hungry]

"Th... thanks," Lee said, trying not to think about the warmth of her hand on his chest. His shirt hadn't recovered from the explosion nearly as well as his flesh... or at all.

"Good as new," Saira said, still smiling and still kneeling in front of him.

"I don't know," Amy chimed in, looming over them with a sinister grin. "Look, his face is all red. I think he might need some more attention."

She was an evil woman. Pure evil!

"Oh, my," Saira gasped, even as her own smile turned predatory. "You're right!"

"I... I'm fine!" Lee said while trying and failing to scoot away. Maybe he could get Three to open the wall at his back and pull him through? Or...

"She's right, Uncle Lee," Gabriel said, choosing this moment of all moments to get over his mistake and stop crying. "Your face is really red."

Now even his own apprentice had turned against him... Lee sighed and closed his eyes in resignation, while Amy cackled traitorously.

Saira joined in the laughter but also didn't keep up the mockery. She only grasped his hand and pulled him to a standing position, though her fingers may have lingered on his... Still, she didn't cling to him when he pulled his hand free.

"Thank you," Lee said, his voice coming out almost normally as she turned to leave.

"Any... time," Saira said over her shoulder, and her voice was the purring rumble of a jungle cat as she sauntered from the too small and, for some reason, too warm room.

Amy was still smirking after Saira had left. Then she asked, "You know that woman wants to jump your bones, right?"

Lee sighed and didn't look at her. "Yeah, I may have picked up on that."

"Just checking."

"Why would she want to jump on your bones?" Gabriel asked.

"Okay!" Lee said quickly. "Let's try that rune again, and this time, be ready to take it back if it isn't stable."

Luckily, Gabriel was eager to keep playing with magic and leapt back to it with a vengeance. "I think it was this line here that made it break..."

Lee did his duty as the teacher, pointing out the other bit Gabriel had missed, all while he wondered what, if anything, he should do about Saira.