The Way Ahead

Motion-mana Infused into water created a bit of a circular current in his bowl, apparently. It was too weak to accomplish much work, but he did enjoy watching the leaf he’d dropped in it spin around and around and around…

It had been way harder than he had anticipated to actually get the tiny amount of pre-attuned magic through Mana Infusion. The Skill tended to overwrite any ‘flavors’ of magic he tried to include, and in the end he had needed to Infuse the water first, and only then run the mana in the water through his pseudo-physical alchemical processes to turn it into motion mana.

The results were rather mesmerizing, at least.

Oh hey, when did that start showing I was 2? Edwin wondered, blearily looking at his Status. It wasn’t really his birthday, but it was close enough and meant he’d had a birthday at some point. He vaguely wondered what must have been happening back on Earth, but quashed that thought before it could get any real foothold in his thoughts.

Edwin jumped off the wall, pushing off with all his might. He flew and flew… 64 meters. He was improving.

Practice makes perfect. He pushed more mana into his alchemical equipment, ignoring the phantom muscle pains. That wasn’t real, he could push through it.

Just a bit more, then he could give Refining molai another go. He needed to test it, see if it would serve as a mana accumulator. He needed to…

Sunrise.

Jump. Run. Climb. Fly. Step.

Throw. Shoot. Push. Pull.

Mix. Infuse. Brew.

Study. Trace.

Food.

Sunset.

Practice makes perfect.

Sunrise.

Jump. Run. Climb. Fly. Step.

Throw. Shoot. Push. Pull.

Mix. Infuse. Brew.

Study. Trace.

Food.

Sunset.

The days started to blur together.

Sunrise.

Jump. Run. Climb. Fly. Step.

Throw. Shoot. Push. Pull.

Mix. Infuse. Brew.

Study. Trace.

Food.

Sunset.

Sunrise, jump, shoot, mix, study, sunset. Practice makes perfect.

Sunrise. Run, push, Infuse, trace, sunset.

Sunrise. Fly-

Fly.

Fly.

“Edwin, you look awful.”

“What?” He blinked at the noise, “Oh, hey Rillah. What’s up?”

“Your magic sounds… just terrible.”

“Oh, thanks. That makes me feel so good.”

“When was the last time you took a break?”

“Umm…” he thought, “What counts as a break? I’ll take days off training with Lefi, spend a bit more time in the lab instead.”

“A day off. No training with Lefi, no working on alchemy, nothing.”

“Ummm… when I unlocked Unbound Tether and was figuring that out?”

“Edwin, this isn’t good for you.”

“I’m fine,” he promised, “Honestly, you should have seen me during exams back home.”

“Exams?”

“Oh right, you wouldn’t… never mind. I just have a lot on my plate is all. I need to do better.”

“Better at what?”

“I… I still need to stay in shape, use my Skills with more fluidity. I need to get better at magic, and investigate alchemy. I still need to figure out how to synthesize ammonia but I’m more trying to Refine molai to get some wind mana synthesis…”

“Edwin… you can’t do that if you’re working yourself to the bone all the time. I’ve barely seen you, do you know when was the last time you went flying?”

“I’m flying right now! Oh, you mean outside? Well… I don’t know, when was it?”

“Nearly a month ago, Edwin. Which was also when you last took a day off.”

“Oh, well… that’s not too bad I guess? I need to keep working, it’s important.”

“Edwin,” her voice stopped him in his tracks, “No you don’t. You’re ruining yourself, and it’s not important.”

“Of course it’s important! I have so much to do I couldn’t possibly get it all done in my lifetime, I don’t have days to waste!”

“A day spent doing things you enjoy is never wasted. Come down from there.”

“But…”

“Down.”

Edwin’s skill broke, and he suddenly found himself tumbling from the air, easily caught by Rillah, who set him on his feet.

“What… you can do that?”

“You’re magically exhausted, Edwin. It’s like pushing over someone without Stamina. All it takes is a little tap, and poof.”

“You can get… magically exhausted? But I never run out of mana.”

“That’s not…” she sighed, “You have Stamina, right? Right. Can you get physically exhausted, if you spend too many days pushing yourself, even if you never collapse the day of?”

“Um, no actually. I think Sleeping prevents that. Is magic not the same?”

“I think the results speak for themselves.”

“Fair,” Edwin sighed, “Fair enough. So then… what?”

“Come on,” she tugged his arm, “You need a day off. What’s the point of working to survive so hard if you don’t live a little?”

“He’s fine.” Inion insisted, “He’s worked harder for longer.”

“It is only by truly pushing one’s self, going past one’s own limits, that you can truly excel, truly level!”

“He’s wearing out his pinions!” Rillah countered, “Just look at his magic! His skills are haggard.”

“And? Did Edwin say that he needed time off, or is that what you’re pushing onto him?”

“Oh what, are you annoyed that your happy little human pet might not be in perfect agreement with you?”

“Hey, hey, there’s no reason to argue. It was Rillah’s idea, but I don’t disagree. She’s got a point, my magic is really sore. Come on, I know that you must get that.”

“Do you want to take a day not doing anything, Edwin? Can you really do that? When did you last truly not do anything? Even when you worked with the Guild, your days off you still worked on all kinds of stuff!”

“I mean, that it’s been actual months if not years since I had a proper day off kind of indicates that I should have one. It’s like Rillah said, what am I doing all of this for if I don’t just… take some time with my… friends.” He hazarded, hoping that nobody would contradict him.

“Like come on, since I evolved Flight I’ve barely even been outside because it’s no longer technically training-related. Just let me have a day.”

“Hmm. Make it two,” Rillah commented.

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“You’ll see tomorrow.”

“Two days off from training? You can’t be serious.”

“Look, I don’t know what you have against me relaxing, but I know that you appreciate your days off. Why can’t I get them too?”

“Can you genuinely go two days without so much as thinking about how you’ll make your… whatever it is now? Without trying to figure out if you can direct the way that iron rusts with your magic?”

Hm…. Now that she mentioned that, wasn’t iron oxide of some form a useful catalyst in the production of ammonia? He did have a fair bit of practice with molecular-level mana infusion, after all. Maybe if he Infused the iron and then exposed it to some… hm. How could he Infuse air?

Maybe he could do his Packing trick again, thinking of it all as a cohesive whole and also something he was touching? If he were to do that, maybe it would make sense to just use Flight?

Oh! Or he could ask Rillah if she could provide some wind mana. Her abilities were distinctly chillier these days, but there was still a decent core of wind hidden in there somewhere. That was also without her using any Skills to further help the attunement.

Edwin opened his mouth to ask her, then remembered he was supposed to be taking time off and closed it again soundlessly.

“You actually can’t turn it off, can you?” Rillah sighed.

“I… don’t think I can, no,” he sighed. “Did Lefi hit me with some Skill again?”

“Lefi?” she asked.

“’Twas not I, little snowbird!”

“Inion?”

She shrugged, “I think it’s her. Nothing more than usual from me.”

Edwin raised an eye at that, “Inion.”

“What? Muse’s Token does a lot of stuff. Sparks creativity as well as helping your levels.”

Ah, that would do it. Normally, Edwin was distracted by anything and everything and so making any kind of progress on anything basically amounted to waiting and hoping his brain decided to cooperate, but Inion had apparently managed to keep Edwin’s scatterbrained focus in accordance with their Deal, meaning he just… not that he couldn’t do anything else, just that his focus would always land on something productive.

Edwin honestly couldn’t say that he minded most of the time, the effect was exactly what he had wanted for a long time, after all. He probably hadn’t even noticed its effects consciously, just had his attention gently nudged from time to time.

He still glared at the fey, “Would it kill you to tell me this sort of thing before I worked myself to death?”

“It didn’t stop you from taking breaks in Panastalis,” Inion pointed out, “You’ll be fine.”

“Maybe it had some strange interaction with one of Lefi’s skills, then?” Edwin speculated, “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“I know not of any Skills I might have which would change the nature of the lady fey’s Skill.”

Rillah glared at Lefi.

“What? ‘Tis true!”

“Technically.”

“Hm?” Edwin asked, “I’m missing something here.”

“It is nothing you need concern yourself with!”

“I mean, it clearly is.” He shot back, “What are you doing to me?”

Edwin did his best to ignore the pointed looks he knew Inion must be giving him right now. It was… it was different! He knew that Rillah wouldn’t be doing anything untoward with her Skills, not when she was showing actual concern for his wellbeing! She was trustworthy, why did Inion have to be so insistent on pulling away the one person who actually seemed interested in him as a person?

“Nothing, nothing at all! Certainly nothing beyond the standard Skill-growth abilities I possess, and…”

“And?”

“I do possess a Skill which aids others in the strength of their Skills, in a manner of speaking.”

Edwin glared at the man, “Well, that would do it. Have you been using that on me? I’m going to have to redo so many tests. Ugh. Why couldn’t you have told me about this?”

“Oh, oh no! I have been certain to exclude you from the effects in all of your tests and experiments.”

“And training?” Edwin sighed.

“Yes, and your training.”

“Could you… I don’t know, use that on me when I’m trying to make stuff with Alchemy or whatever?”

“Alas, It does not work in that manner I fear.”

“Well then how does it work?”

“You need not worry about such things!” Lefi clapped Edwin on the shoulder in reassurance, but he just turned and looked at Rillah.

“How true is it?”

“Excuse me!” Lefi said in false offense.

Rillah smirked, “Close enough as far as you need worry about. The old man’s picky about his secrets. Come on, let’s get you some time to relax.”

It had been a little while since Rillah had played her flute around him. Oh sure, he knew that she played it a lot, the music was audible from essentially everywhere in the tower, but it was always muffled and didn’t benefit as strongly from whatever Skills she had, and what literal magic she wove into the notes.

It was… transcendent. There was something about magic and music that just worked, apparently, because the last time he’d felt so engrossed had been nearly a year and a half prior, when Inion had sang Obairlann into existence. If only the two of them got along, Edwin was certain that their combined musical talents would be utterly divine.

Not, of course, that either of them were that far from that benchmark on their own. Edwin couldn’t help but sit enraptured as Rillah played her flute. The notes alone told of far-off lands and marvelous sights to be seen, of thrilling adventures and magical locales. The low notes of deep caves, the delicate tunes of grassy hills and endless plains, the majestic and bustling trade cities along the coast all wove together.

He never returned to his room that night, instead drifting off in his chair, mind and spirit joyous at the relief slumber provided.

Edwin woke up to a gentle caress along the side of his face.

He sat straight up, Watchful Rest giving him slight forewarning to a presence, “Good morning, there.”

“Oh, hey Rillah,” he stretched, “Good morning. Something wrong?”

“No, nothing at all. In fact, it snowed a lot last night, and Lefi and Yathal are already outside. What do you say we ambush them with some snowballs?”

Ooh, a snow day. Some things transcended dimensions, it seemed. This... might be very fun.