“The bravest of the brave seek their fortunes beneath the waves. Even those determined to simply pass over them on ships wrought of Skilled materials and workmanship do so knowing the danger of what lurks below. Not even my thirst for knowledge could convince me to risk prolonged submersion out at sea. I value my life too much.
~Unknown
> Uncle Lionel,
>
> I need your help, or rather, your guidance. Mum sometimes grumbles that giving me that booklet means you need to take responsibility for me as your pupil. I think she might be jealous that you delved into mana exercises before she did. Either that or she is terrified by the prospect of you teaching me.
I had to resist the urge to write ‘lol’ or some other type of online abbreviation; it had been years since I’d actually written any type of letter or similar correspondence, and evidently I defaulted to the type of language I’d use in online forums or message boards. I lifted the stylus and took a moment to compose myself. Once Tulos saw that I had everything working okay, he went to busy himself in the kitchen, peeling vegetables that would be used in dinner later that night.
It was the kind of small gesture that made me appreciate his style of parenting. By and large, I was given the freedom and privacy necessary to do my own thing without him hovering overhead. Despite that, I knew that if I needed him, he’d give me his attention.
I suppose on some level he also doesn’t expect much to go wrong while I simply pen- stylus- pen? While I write a letter. Tulos flicked his eyes over in my direction and saw that I’d stopped writing.
“Everything okay?” He was using a small hatchet to peel the vegetables and kept working without looking, the tool a natural extension of his hand.
“Yeah. I was just trying to remember a word.” It was the kind of white lie that would prompt Bella to glare at me if she were around. I couldn’t exactly tell Tulos I was reminiscing about L33T speak.
Tulos paused.
“Do you need my help?”
“I figured it out.” With a small nod, Tulos went back to work.
He almost looked disappointed for a second there. I frowned but decided to shelve that thought for later. I returned to the letter.
> I have been using my Skills to help myself. Is it also possible to share the magic with other people? I think my Skills would be a big help to one of my friends. I want to help them.
>
> If you cannot help me, I will try to figure it out myself. Until I am certain that it is impossible, I do not want to give up. I do not think I can.
>
> Thank you.
>
> -Will
When I finished writing, I went through the process of cleaning another portion of my mana to finalize the message. Even though I used a stylus to write, the words I printed on the page looked as if they were penned in ink. I could not even begin to fathom how or why the enchantments on the scroll worked the way they did, but I grew increasingly convinced that the scroll Lionel so casually gave us was worth a ludicrous amount.
I watched as the Spellscript flashed and flared before settling into dormancy as a faint weariness similarly settled over me.
That took a lot of mana… A dull pressure made itself known behind my eyes; not quite exhaustion, not quite pain, yet somehow both and also a sense of imbalance born of absence. It reminded me of that one time I got drunk on absinthe.
“Dad, I think I need to go lay down. Will you wake me if Uncle Lionel messages back?” To be on the safe side, I stopped trickling mana into Recovery and Perseverance which caused the physical discomfort caused by my injury to spike, yet another reason I had no desire to remain upright longer than necessary.
“Probably not,” Tulos said without looking up from his work. “You did well. Go rest.” I wasn’t in any position to complain so I wandered to my room and crawled into bed for a nap. I felt Fudge jump on the bed to join me right as I dozed off.
***
I didn’t get a reply that day, but I did learn how Tina’s visit to Hwan went… sort of.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“The absolute nerve of those people. Love, hear me, but we may end up on the run after I snap that bitc- bit of bad lumber out back.” Tina clumsily cut off her tirade when she noticed me sticking my head into the room. It was evening and my parents sat cuddled up against one another while Tina vented her frustrations.
That is to say, I got the impression the visit had gone poorly.
“Did it not go well?” I asked as a stab of guilt intruded on my empty stomach. By all accounts, I was largely responsible for persuading Tina and Tulos to be merciful in their handling of the situation.
I can understand their irritation…
Tina scoffed, less at me and more at the question itself. “‘Did it not go well’, he asks.” She gestured vaguely in her continued campaign to conduct an imaginary symphony with every conversation. “My Will, these people make me want to-” As words failed to fully express her feelings, she instead mimed strangling the air.
I mean, yeah, that’ll do it. It didn’t seem like a good time to ask about my letter, and a firm look from Tulos reinforced that line of thinking.
Vigil isn’t in the house, either… ah. There was a possibility he wasn’t thinking about the letter.
“I am actually very tired, still.” I mimed an arm-stretching yawn. “So I will be going back to bed now.” Without waiting for a response I made my way back to my room and climbed back into bed. My mana had recovered enough that I was able to urge my Skills back to life to soothe my injury and aid in the healing process; it was getting marginally easier to give the magic a vague direction and let it do its thing without having to split my focus.
Progress, you love to see it.
Fudge hadn’t roused when I did, seemingly content to take his time. It worked out for him, in the end, since he got to remain cozy during my brief jaunt outside the room. As my head hit the pillow I wrapped the side up around my head to block my ears.
Just because I was mature enough not to make a big deal about the existence of my new parent’s sex life didn’t mean I enjoyed thinking about it.
Or having to listen to it… I pulled the pillow in tighter. It was not the first time I’d had to take such measures and it wouldn’t be the last. The walls were thick but the house was small; it was what it was.
I let myself sink into my thoughts and away from the material world. Hopefully sleep would reclaim me.
***
> Will,
>
> While I am delighted to witness both the quality of your calligraphy and the relative robustness of your vocabulary in action, I must concede that your letter was concerning. Tell me, Will, do you not worry that pursuing such a goal will expedite your discovery? Anonymity is your ally.
>
> I would like to propose a compromise. Wait until you achieve your next Advancement before pursuing this goal. Your foundation will be better suited to the task, your mana reserves will be more robust, and the breadth of your Skills will expand like the unfurling of a mighty flower.
>
> If you do this, I anticipate you will have an easier time learning the techniques than most. For you to rush would be a detriment in the long run, and I cannot in good faith support that course of action.
>
> -Uncle Lionel
I read and re-read the reply, feeling equal parts relieved and frustrated. Lionel’s standard display of flowery prose did little to improve my reception of the message nested within the words.
Well… fuck. Sometimes it was the simple thoughts that were the most honest, the most sincere and suitable to sum up a situation.
Given how downright flippant the man seemed to be on most matters, for him to take such a definitive stance against my plan was telling. Even so…
Advancement is years away. There would be no shortcuts, not that I was aware of. I had my suspicions as to why the Slayers I’d met seemed so strong relative to their age, but that method wasn’t a realistic option; putting myself into life-or-death situations for the sake of ‘training’ sounded like a borderline braindead maneuver even as I let myself humor the thought.
Yeah, that’s not happening. What was the alternative, though? I could smash my head on a figurative wall to try and crack the secrets of sharing my Skills with others. Doing so might also take years, slow down my Advancement progress and ultimately leave me worse off.
I’d already made Tina and Tulos bottle up their frustrations for the sake of leaving me the sliver of a window to help Jusep, and now I would have to tell them how long it would take.
FUCK. It sucked. There would be no easy solution, no magic ring, no sudden help from the System to let me cheat my way to what I wanted.
It would take time and hard work. No shortcuts.
And in the meantime I get to remind myself every day how fucking powerless I am. If I can’t even help one kid right in front of me, how the hell am I supposed to get… I didn’t let myself finish the thought.
Instead, I put the scroll back in its case without sending a reply. I was worried I’d say something I’d come to regret if I did.
“Come on Fudge.” My voice was flat, but he perked up all the same to follow me out of the house. I wanted to run until I couldn’t, then I’d use my Skills to run anyway.
No shortcuts.