Cynna asks to think on her reply until tomorrow, so I lead the still somewhat dumbstruck Bozhidar back to his tent to consult him. By the time we arrive back the time has become late afternoon and Bozhidar seems to have regained his compassion and is ready to discuss things.
As we walk inside, he’s already speaking. “I just want to make sure I got this correctly. You can do essentially anything you can come up with?”
I give myself a moment to think about my answer and end up nodding. “I think that’s close enough. The source of these abilities is as versatile as they come.” I rub the back of my head in slight discomfort.
Bozhidar hums in reply, his hand on his chin as he seems lost in thought. After around a minute of an increasingly uncomfortable silence, he speaks. “I’ll let Cynna and, I assume, Kiril, advise you on things they would know about. I think I might have some specific ideas for you.” I nod and sit down at the table in the tent, ready to listen.
“First,” Bozhidar sits down across from me and begins, “your choice of demonstration feels like it was a good call. Being able to heal others is an invaluable ability to have. Yours appears to to work better and quicker than anything I’ve ever seen.” He pauses for a moment to think. “In magic, we control how much Mana we put into a spell to modulate its power. Can you do the same?”
I reply immediately, already knowing my answer. “Yes, with a great degree of control.”
“Then, do you have a method to gauge the severity of someone’s injuries? Magic healers, like myself, practice for many years in order to not waste precious Mana. Could you have a method to discern how much healing you would need to apply?” Bozhidar’s ears twist in curiosity as he leans on the table.
That… that is a pretty good point. “I can think of several methods… I’ll have to weigh them against each other to decide, though.”
Bozhidar nods and smiles. “That’s fine. Let’s move on. Could you have an ability that informs you of someone’s intent? If you can separate friend from foe with ease, that would be incredibly useful.”
I nearly reply that I could think of ways, before a different part of me catches up—the one that abhors mind-reading and similar effects. Would doing this be crossing one of my lines? Isn’t reading intent essentially reading their minds? I hesitantly reply. “I probably could, but I don’t think I should.”
Bozhidar appears worried for a moment but seems to drop what he was about to say. “Very well. How about a degree of certainty in visual identification? I’m imagining it would help doing adventurer work. Could you receive information you hadn’t necessarily learned?”
I think about it for a moment, happy to move away from my red lines. “It could and probably would go together with knowing how injured someone is… Yes, I could get both.”
He nods again, seeming relieved at my apparent renewed comfort. “One final idea, for now, which might be a bit counter-intuitive and more related to Cynna: could you have the harmless appearance of injury? Being uninjured during a fight makes you appear unusual, which you might want to avoid.”
That suggestion surprises me, since I really should have thought of that myself. “I probably could and should. Perhaps at high priority. Thank you.”
Bozhidar stands up and smiles, going to his trunk of books. “Of course, Sebastian. While we still have some day left, would you like to continue practicing language?”
I chuckle and nod at the idea. “Yes. That sounds like a good use of my time.”
Bozhidar spend a few hours, until it becomes dark, teaching me more of the language I would be most likely to use. When we’re done, I get both a skill and expertise: Language D and Tellosian Language D, respectively. With that, I head back to my hovel and get a good night’s sleep.
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I check my Character Sheet in the morning and note that my Energy has refilled. I expected it to, but verification is important.
Another day starts with a bath and heading to breakfast. I arrive at the mess hall and go to the kitchen, flagging down Kiril. “When you have a moment, please come over to where I’m sitting…” I take a look around the hall and spot Cynna. “With Cynna over there.” Kiril has the time to nod at my request before heading back to his duties.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
I sit down at Cynna’s table. “Good morning, Cynna.” I say and smile. Trying to keep positive now. “Had a chance to think about the thing from yesterday?”
Cynna nods as she eats. “Let me finish eating and I’ll let you know what I came up with. Get some food in you, yourself.” She smiles with her ears and gets back to her meal. We both finish in silence.
As we’re finished, Kiril makes his way to the table and sits down. “I have a moment, Seb. What do you need?”
I nod at Cynna. “Already asked Cynna and Bozhidar for their opinions and I value yours as well. What I’m looking for are entirely outlandish ideas for things I want to be able to do, given that I can do… basically anything that comes to mind.”
Kiril’s face scrunches in frustration. “What do you mean by ‘anything’?”
I turn to Cynna and shrug with a quizzical look. She rolls her eyes and covertly cuts her palm, causing Kiril to gape in shock. I put 10 Energy into Heal Other and significantly less covertly toss a sparkle into the air. Cynna’s hand is enveloped in the light from yesterday and promptly heals. Kiril’s eyes widen at that and his head springs back and forth between myself and Cynna. “I heard you can’t do magic!”
I nod and chuckle. “Still can’t. This isn’t magic, at least no magic you might find in this world.”
Kiril’s head tilts to the side and he leans in. “I see.” Then he narrows his eyes at me. “So what’s my part here?”
“Well,” I gesture with both hands as though opening a topic, “if you could have some impossible ability, what would it be? Especially if it will help me out in the world. No need to answer immediately.”
“Perfect seasoning.” Kiril immediately replies, barely letting me finish. “There’s something satisfying about seasoning a dish to perfection, but sometimes you can’t be bothered. Consistent perfect seasoning? Definitely.”
“Perfect… seasoning…” I repeat after him, confounded. It makes perfect sense, but is also fairly weird. “I have no idea if I can make that happen but… maybe… let me look into it. Anything else?”
“Processing. Any kind of processing. You couldn’t stand the process of butchering. If you’re able to not do that, why not?” Kiril replied with a straight face.
My mouth hangs open for a moment, being told something obvious obvious. “You’re perfectly right. I can probably do that. Thank you.”
Kiril smiles and shrugs, giving the impression of “just doing what you asked for, no problem” with barely any movement. I think I’ll miss him the most when these nine days are up. He then stands back up and dusts off. “I should get back to the kitchen. I believe you still have Cynna to hear out.”
I nod, prompting him to leave, and turn to Cynna. “So, what do you have in mind?”
She looks at Kiril’s back as he walks away and turns back to me. “I’m happy I’m no expected to have ideas similar to his, since he’s basically uncontested. My ideas are related to combat, which I thought is what you wanted me to think about.” I nod expectantly, prompting her to continue. “Well, the things that came to mind all boil down to one thing: preventing and recovering from damage.”
I think on that a moment and shrug. “That sounds about right, yes. Anything specific you would’ve liked for yourself during particularly difficult fights?”
She thinks, staring off into air, before replying. “Being able to take a hit and not suffer from it would be amazing. Had it happen more often than I would like that the best course of action required I take a hit. You already don’t have this issue, but…” Cynna seems lost in thought for another moment. “Having more of a buffer is always better, no?”
I think about games that offer a secondary health bar, like a shield, and immediately see the wisdom in it. “Definitely better. I have some ideas already. Anything else?”
She chuckles and smiles. “Well, can you heal yourself as well?”
My hand goes up in protest quicker than my brain reaches the fact that Heal Self and Heal Other are two separate features. I lower my hand. “Not yet, no. Definitely goes to the top of my list.”
Her ears perk up, as though suddenly remembering something. “Also, this one isn’t about damage mitigation. If you can extend your practical reach further than your physical reach, when attacking… That’s priceless.”
I nod, a certain sword of mastery coming to mind as an option. “Will definitely look this up. Thank you.”
Cynna smiles again as she stands up. “Gladly, Seb. I need to get back to training now. You’re always welcome to join and… I’d like to spar with you, in a serious manner, before we split up. Keep that in mind.”
“Sounds like a good time. I’ll keep it in mind.” I stand up as well, my breakfast done and my mind racing. We both move away from the table and leave the mess hall from different exits. I head back towards my hovel.