Pel arrived home late, and drunk. Eyes travelling immediately to his neatly stacked bedding he let out a huff of annoyance at his past self. Damn, I just want to go to bed. I don’t need it but I want it. The later it got, the more he was beginning to think Mat and Tina were right. He should stop trying to hard to Level-up and just enjoy himself. Maybe take up a hobby. His eyes slid from the bedding to the Voidstone, causing a twist in his pseudo stomach that had nothing to do with the alcohol. It would be a waste of my Magical Metabolism if I didn’t do something to use up some Mana…

Before he could change his mind, Pel sat at the table and reached out his left hand. The thought of subjecting his right to more Voidstone abuse made him scared for his health. But not his Health, that seemed to fare just fine as his body was repeatedly hoovered. Whatever hoovered is. Pel made it two Voidstone sessions, and a single round of stumbling jumping jacks before he threw his bedding back into the corner, stripped his clothes, and went to sleep.

In the morning, rested and clear headed, Pel regretted not trying harder to reach Level 5. At least I have four to five times the Willpower that new Fairies usually have. No wonder it takes them two weeks to do this. He flew out of his sheets, washed his mouth out, then wandered over to the table. The light devouring Voidstone was still unwrapped from where he left it last night, and after pondering for a moment Pel sat down and drained his Mana.

I can probably take this with me to The Roots. I’m not Level 5 yet, so I won’t need to go into the tunnels, and I can keep double dipping with my training regimen during watch duty. Pel put his clothes on, wrapped up the Voidstone and tucked it into the folds of his shirt. He walked out onto his doorstep to stretch briefly before jumping down toward The Roots. Huh, I’ve not woken up late a single time since I got here. Fairy alarm clock? Whatever it was, it looked like everyone had it. Nobody ever seemed to be late for morning shift except by a few minutes.

Pel arrived at the growing crowd of Fairies, spotting Ri with Liki and Flo already grouped up.

“Mornin’ Ri, Liki, Flo” Pel said, waving to the group “How’re ya feelin’ today Ri?” The Earth and Fire Fairies waved back with a smile.

“Hi, Apple. I feel ready for another shift,” Ri replied with a wave. “I felt fine after Ky’s healing, but I was pretty tired the rest of the day. Losing Essence does that.”

“Is losing it physically different than say, what a Voidstone would do?” Pel asked.

“Oh, for sure,” Ri said with a nod. “A Voidstone just drains the free Mana from your Essence. If you were touching it long enough to lose all the free Mana it would start to break you down and then you’d start to lose Health, but directly losing it through a wound directly decreases Health right away.”

“Heya everyone!” Mat’s voice called out from above. Pel looked up, seeing him and Raki headed their way quickly. “Ready for another exciting day in The Roots?”

“Ya know, I wouldn’t mind a slow and boring day actually,” Flo said. “Yesterday was scary.” Liki nodded her agreement, the Fire Fairy not usually one for words. Pel nodded too, silently in agreement that having to sit out from the tunnels was not something he wanted to do again.

“I don’t know,” Raki said, rubbing his chin. “Yesterday was good experience. It was scary, but it was exciting too! One more Level and I get my second Racial Skill; only having [Wind Whisper] is getting boring. Although it is fun using it to mess with the waiters at Hugo’s!”

“Wait, how come you get to go into the tunnels without an attack Skill?” Pel asked.

“Because, my Mentor is a Protector!” Raki announced with pride. “She taught me how to use these!” Raki pulled out two long daggers from wherever he had hidden them under his flower-patterned tunic. “I don’t have any Skills with them, but I’m good enough to fight off a Dire Ant!” They glinted with a greenish gold color in the light of the watchtowers, some of which were red in the distance.

“What are they made of?” Pel asked.

“Bronze! Not as sharp or sturdy as Orichalcum, but way lighter!” Raki smiled. Gabby walked out onto the cap of his watchtower, everyone quieting down as the Party leaders took charge of their chatting Trainees.

“Alright everyone, it’s been a busy night,” Gabby said loudly, looking around The Roots. “It looks like it’ll also be a busy day. Every quadrant has been assigned two additional Protectors, for a total of four each. Just like yesterday, if your watchtower alerts wait for one of them to come to you. Underground activity has increased but the danger remains mostly the same. We haven’t seen any Dire Ant Assassins for two shifts, but always be cautious. Party leaders, fly forward for your watchtower assignments. Also, if your Party is assigned to a watchtower that is already under alert, check in at the tower first before heading off into the tunnels.”

Ri and the other Party leaders flew toward Gabby to receive their assignments before he returned and they took off for Q2-R4-T3, which was the second ring from the wall of The Mother Tree. Their quadrant alone already had two red watchtowers, but neither of which were directly beside their own. Luckily ours is still green, starting off the day by sending off my friends again would suck.

As always, the last night shift was ecstatic to be relieved, and their Party leader hugged Ri and wished everyone good luck before departing. With nothing left to do but train, everyone got right to it before Ri said a word. Clearly everyone was a bit on edge today. Pel walked to the table, and fishing out the pouch from inside his shirt, he set it down softly.

“What’s that, Apple?” Ri asked curiously.

“Oh no,” Mat muttered. “Is that Ty’s Voidstone?”

“A what!? Keep that thing away from me!” Flo yelped, dropping to the floor from his push-up stance and rolled away.

“Apple, why’d you bring that?” Ri asked, also taking a step back from the table.

“Because, Ty let me borrow it so I can train by expending my Mana,” Pel replied matter-of-factly. “It’s pretty awful, and while I haven’t become used to it, I can at least tolerate it. I used it practically all day yesterday.”

“Apple, that’s not good for you,” Raki said worriedly. “If you overuse it, you’ll damage your Essence.”

“It’ll be fine, I’ll use my other hand today!” Pel said, wiggling his left hand. Raki walked over and took both of Pel’s hands in his, holding them up to his eyes.

“Hmm, your right hand is looking rather pale,” Raki commented.

“Well, I am rather pale,” Pel replied, smiling to dispel Raki’s worry.

“You know what I mean,” Raki said back.

“I’m going to train at Hugo’s after this,” Pel said. “Don’t worry, I’ll take a break from using after our shift.”

Forcing the discussion to an end, Pel sat in one of the stools at the table and centered himself. Before anyone could try talking him out of it, or Ri ordered him to start push-ups, he reached out with his left hand and placed two fingers on the Voidstone. Physically and mentally clenching up, Pel rode out the horrible suction of the stone while trying to hold back his Mana as much as possible. As the chill invading his left arm crept upward past his elbow not quite a minute later, he broke contact with a relieved sigh.

“I don’t know how you can do that,” Liki said. “I touched one of those things once for like two seconds and I cried for an hour. It was horrible!”

“It’s probably because Apple was born with 3 Willpower, probably has a lot more now,” Mat commented at the top of a push-up.

“Woah, really?” Flo asked.

“Yep,” Raki confirmed, “he told us on moving day.”

“How did you train your Willpower?” Ri asked. “Also, if you’re done with that, put it away and start training.”

“Well, I was born with 3, and then after that I used Ty's Voidstone a bunch which made it even higher,” Pel explained, tying the Voidstone back into the pouch. He shook his hand out before deciding that maybe it was best to start with squats.

“Still, that's crazy high for a new Fairy,” Ri said.

“That’s what we said!” Mat and Raki chimed in together, sharing a smile.

“Alright, alright. Get to work!” Ri said.

“Should we hold back in case our watchtower alerts?” Flo asked.

“Mmm, yea. Don’t drop more than 50 below your max Stamina. ‘Cept for Apple” Ri agreed.

With various shouts of relief, everyone got back to training. Except for me, huh? Pel thought sourly. You better be super-duper specific with who can take a Stamina potion if the tower alerts, ‘else I’m takin’ another one! Pel continued to train with squats, envisioning Ri’s chagrin at having to do more paperwork, until he eventually ran out of Stamina and hit the floor.

He crawled to the ledge by the windows and pulled himself up to look out. None of the towers he could see from his vantage were red, which was fine by him. Scooting around the ledge window by window he could only see one red tower in the far distance, just the cap, which had been red when they arrived.

“So, I didn’t see you at the ceremony last night,” Mat said as he took the window next to Pel.

“Yea, I stayed home to train some more,” Pel admitted.

“You really need a hobby,” Raki said from the other side of Mat. “Oh, make Hugo teach you to cook! Then you can start your own restaurant and always serve us first!”

“I don’t think anyone can make Hugo do anything,” Pel said. “He’s kinda grouchy.”

“Nah, you just have to do what Fairies do best when they don’t get what they want,” Raki said with a smile.

“What’s that?” Pel asked.

“Be relentlessly annoying!” Raki and Mat said together.

“How else do you think I got a Protector for a Mentor?” Raki said.

“I feel like Hugo would just stick me into one of his ovens and turn me into Apple pie,” Pel joked, causing Mat and Raki to laugh. Even Flo and Liki chuckled from the other side of the room.”

“Watchtower alert!” Ri shouted, pulling Pel’s attention. Everyone ran over to Ri’s window to take a look, and Pel could just barely see a red mushroom cap poking over some distant roots. “Go back to your own windows!” Ri complained as he was jostled by several shoulders.

Pel retreated to the other side of the room with Mat and Raki until his Mana regenerated. He walked to the table and grabbed the Voidstone pouch, taking it back over to ledge beneath his window. Opening the pouch just a little, he stuck his finger inside, and allowed it to drain his Mana. Feeling so close to Level 5 he didn’t try very hard to follow the flow of his Mana, he figured he’d just wait until he could use a Mana skill to keep practicing that. Rubbing his temples at the headache, he returned to looking out his window.

Being practically on the ground so far from most the rest of The Mother Tree’s population was a bit isolating. The light from the ever-present motes of other Fairies was faint down here, and sticking his head out the window to look up made it seem like stars at the top of a large, wooden well. While the watchtowers glowed, it wasn’t like they were particularly bright.

The third time Pel drained his Mana left a lingering ache in his left hand that he hoped some push-ups would fix. About 20 minutes later he put that hope to the test as his Stamina finished regenerating, but was disappointed when his hand was still achy afterward.

“Watchtower alert!” Ri shouted again. “And keep training,” he tacked on as everyone started heading his way.

The distant watchtower outside of Pel’s window had returned to safe, happy green during his push-ups, which meant that they could currently see two active towers. The others finished their second round of physical training several minutes later and returned to their windows. I wonder how many more are active right now? Gabby said it’s been busy. Time crawled, filled with physical training and soul sucking Voidstone practice.

Nearly two hours went by and it was finally nearing the end of their shift. Thirty minutes to go, Pel thought.

“Watchtower alert!” Liki said. Make it three active towers now; at least, Pel thought. The mood was getting restless. There was only so much mind-numbing exercise one could do to occupy themselves.

“Watchtower alert!” Raki called, and a moment later Flo also called out an alert from the other side of the room.

“It’s right next to ours,” Flo added nervously. Most of the watchtowers visible from the other side of the tower where Flo, Liki and Ri were looking were red now, out of the seven visible towers, five were on alert. With each new alert the overall amount of light in The Roots seemed to fade, and with over half the horizon now an ominous red it felt like everyone was holding their breath. Not that we need to breathe, thanks Pure Magic.

One of the two visible towers that Pel could see turned red in the distance, but Mat beat him to calling the alert just as he opened his mouth. The light in their watchtower followed a moment later, casting everyone’s features in bloody light.

“Everyone, grab a Stamina potion and get ready for when the Protector gets here,” Ri ordered as he thunked the crate of potions down onto the table.

“I’ve never seen so many alerts at once,” Liki muttered as she picked up bottle.

“Stay calm, if this was a full-blown invasion, you’d be able to feel hundreds or thousands of them digging through ground,” Ri informed them. “It’s probably a probe.”

Fucking thousands? Are you shitting me? Pel did not like the image of thousands of giant angry ants crawling up through the tunnels and over the roots that was playing in his mind. At least it’s not spiders, he thought with a shiver. If it was spiders, he was pretty sure he’d already be at Berry’s reconsidering this whole ‘Trainee’ gig.

The minutes ticked passed in nervous silence, but still no Protector arrived. Ri checked his armor again before ordering Raki to send a message to command.

“Message sent, but there’s been no reply. With this many active alerts so close to shift change, I’m not even sure there’s anyone in the command tower,” Raki said shaking his head.

“We’ll give it another five minutes, but then we’re going in,” Ri decided. “We can’t just let them do whatever they want down there.”

“But Gabby said- “

“Wait for a Protector, I know,” Ri cut Mat off. “But shift change is in less than 20 minutes. They’ll show up here, Apple will tell them which tunnel we went down, and then we’ll get five reinforcements.”

“I don’t know…” Liki muttered uncertainly.

“They’ll probably bring a Protector with them during shift change,” Ri pointed out. “I’ll have Raki try sending another message right before we leave. If they respond we’ll wait, otherwise we go.”

Raki nodded, pulling his daggers out and checking them over with an expression of nervous excitement. Fuck, this is why I should have just stayed up last night, Pel thought. Liki and Flo appeared the most nervous, Raki and Mat seemed to be handling it, and Ri was occasionally rubbing his leg absent-mindedly as he kept his gaze on his window. Five minutes passed too quickly for Pel, and Raki sent another message that went unanswered.

“Alright, we’re going,” Ri said. “Take your potions. Shift change is in fifteen minutes. Apple, watch us go and tell them which tunnel we went down.”

Everyone chugged their Stamina potions, and gave Pel a hug on the way out. He watched them from Ri’s window as they quickly flew down one of the nearby tunnels and out of sight. Making sure to remember which one it was, he sat his Voidstone down on the ledge in front of the window they left through. Sitting alone in the tower for the second day in a row was making Pel depressed. Should definitely hit up Hugo’s tonight for dinner with Mat and Raki. Oh! Heh, Ri forgot to specify who ‘everyone’ was again.

Pel dumped his Mana into the Voidstone using the big toe of his left foot since both his hands were still sore, and then limped over to the crate of potions. Ten minutes to shift change, ten-minute Stamina regen buff. Let's get it on. Pel downed one of the tasty potions and started doing burpees. If I hit Level 5 by the end of this I’m absolutely going in after them.

Pel stopped just shy of the end of the buff, not wanting to use up all his Stamina before he had to fly up to Hugo’s for Mana training. With only half a Mana Pool he decided to return to the windows instead of use the Voidstone again. Besides, he was starting to worry he might be risking long-term damage. Shift change came and went, the replacements still not arriving. After ten minutes Pel was beginning to worry. Just as he was about to fly out of the watchtower to head to central command a gust of wind heralded the arrival of six new Fairies.

“It’s about fucking time!” Pel sighed in relief.

“Where is the rest of your team?” Asked the more imposing one of the two armored arrivals.

“Watchtower alerted maybe…thirty-five-ish minutes ago? No Protector arrived, and we got no response from command,” Pel explained. “Party leader Ri waited fifteen minutes and decided to head into the tunnels with everyone else. That was twenty minutes ago.”

“Fuck. Quickly, where did they go?” the Protector asked. Pel turned and pointed out the window he was sitting in front of.

“Down that tunnel right there,” he replied.

The Protector wasted no time, grabbing the other armored Fairy who had to be the Party leader while shouting for the rest of the Party to follow as fast as they could. The Protector and Party leader he was carrying became speed, and closed the distance between watchtower and tunnel so fast that Pel could have blinked and missed it. The rest of the harried Fairies flew after them at an impressive, but much more reasonable pace.

Now quite anxious and alone once more, Pel paced circles around the room rubbing his sore hands together. After five minutes he had to start doing squats or else risk walking a ring in the floor. He had no presence of mind for proper form of breathing technique, just squat into a ball, stand back up, repeat. His notification icon lit up, and he hastily opened with hope.

Notification

Congratulations, your recent physical efforts have awarded you 1 natural Vitality Point!

“Oh, fuck you right now!” Pel’s mental cocktail of hope, excitement, disappointment, and fear was too much to just happily accept good news that wasn’t Level 5 right now. Gusts of wind blew in through the windows bringing the regular Party members back, carrying three other Fairies that Pel recognized. Ri, Mat, and Liki. He rushed over to where they were being placed on the circular ledge, all of them groaning in pain, blueish silver tears streaming down their faces, their clothes dirty, ripped, and blue with leaking Essence.

Quickly glancing around the gathering Pel asked, “Where’s the Protector and the Party leader? Where’s Raki and Flo?”

“Still fighting down there.” One of the second shift Fairies replied. He pointed to another and yelled, “Go back to command, tell them we need a healer to wing it here NOW!” The pointed at Fairy quickly vanished through a window.

Pel knelt down next to Mat and Liki and began tearing strips of their clothing off into plant-based bandages. He tied tight knots over the worst of their cuts and lacerations to staunch the flow of Essence.

“What the fuck happened down there, Ri?” Pel yelled half in a panic.

“Ugh,” Ri groaned in pain, hands pressed to his stomach through his torn armor. “Trap. It was a trap.”

“Fuck, Ri! You should have waited! Second shift was late, would twenty minutes have made that much of a difference!” Pel shouted. “Raki and Flo are still down there with the Protector and second shift Party leader.” Pel glanced up at the other members of the second shift Party. “Go! Go help!”

“We were told to wait here,” one of them replied, looking down at the floor.

“Fuck that, you have Skills!” Pel finished banding another wound on Liki’s arm.

A water Fairy that wasn’t Ky appeared in their midst, head turning toward the injured lying beside Pel.

“Stand back, I’m a healer,” she said, pushing Pel gently on the shoulder. She went to Ri first, but he waved her away.

“No, not me. Them, fuck. Please heal them,” he cried through gritted teeth.

“You’re the most injured, I’m starting with you,” the healer replied calmly. They summoned what looked like a blanket of shimmering water and laid it over Ri, covering him from shoulders to toes.

Mat was still groaning in pain and Pel rushed over to check his injuries. Fuck! Fuck me for not trying harder! I could be helping right now!

“You’re gonna be fine, Mat,” Pel assured him. He looked over to Liki who was as bandaged as he could manage, as she was crying silently into her hair. “You’re going to be fine too; everything will be fine. The Protector is down there with- “

“No!” Mat cried out, slamming a fist into the ledge and dislodging one of his bandages. “It’s not fucking fine! They’re not with the Protector!”

“What do you mean?” Pel asked, shaking his head. He looked at the second shifters who were all avoiding his eyes. “The Protector is- “

“They’re fucking dead, Apple!” Mat shouted again, causing Liki to let out a sob. “Everyone was too late! The fucking ants laid a trap, and Ri walked us right fucking into it!” He propped himself up on an elbow, glaring at the water covered Fairy. “We should have waited! I tried telling you Gabby wanted us to wait, but fuck!” Mat’s body shook, wracked by pain and grief alike his words choked off. He put a hand over his eyes and faced away from Pel into the wall.

“Excuse me, Apple,” the healer said from behind. Pel numbly stumbled out of the way as she summoned another watery blanket over Mat. This can’t be happening.

Pel looked toward Ri, who was staring at him with eyes full of grief and guilt.

“It was a trap,” Ri repeated with tears on his cheeks. “They lured us pretty deep and then collapsed the tunnels behind us. Fucking Dire Ant Soldiers, waiting down there. They came at us from the front. We had to hold them off so Flo could dig us out for Raki to send a distress call. [Wind Whisper] doesn’t work through rocks and soil and wood. Flo dug with his magic until he ran out of Mana and then started doing it by hand like Raki. The moment they broke through, more Dire Ant Soldiers came through the opening. Took Flo’s head right off. Happened so fast he probably didn’t even know it happened.”

Liki was crying in earnest now, and Mat was still covering his tears as the healer worked on him. I’m so fucking useless, Pel thought looking around numbly. Even the second shifters were crying now. If only I had been Level 5. Fuck, why did I have to waste so much time these last 4 days? I could have been down there; I could have helped!

“After Flo died, Raki stabbed the one that did it to death and shouted at us that we were being flanked. We didn’t even know they were behind us until Flo disappeared from the Party menu; we were facing away from the tunnel fighting the ants coming up from deeper. By the time we retreated far enough to help they had already overrun Raki and ripped him to pieces,” Ri choked out. “Right when we thought we were all going to die the Protector showed up; saved us. Then the others came and took us away while the Protector and the other Party leader stayed behind to wipe out the rest of the Dire Ants. I’m sorry. Mat, Liki, I’m so sorry.”

The watchtower changed from red to green, and the Fairies on second shift let out a sigh. Everyone sat or stood in silence as the healer worked to fix Liki until the Protector returned. Pel wanted to say something, but he couldn’t think of anything that would make the situation better.

“If only I hadn’t wasted time,” Pel mumbled, feeling his own tears welling up. “I could have gone with you guys if I was Level 5, I could have- “

“No,” Ri stopped him, “it wouldn’t have changed what happened. You still wouldn’t have been let down there, you would have been with the other healers. If anything, you being here to tell second shift which tunnel we went down saved the rest of us. If they hadn’t shown up when they did…” Ri trailed off, contemplating the events of the last forty minutes.

“Alright, everyone is fit for flying,” the healer said, standing up from Liki. “You’ve all lost a considerable amount of Essence, you’re going to be very tired for the next day or two.”

“Right then, first shift comes with me,” the Protector ordered. “Second shift, you take watch. Do not leave the watchtower!” Pel picked up the Voidstone, tucked it into his shirt and followed behind Mat and Liki who were supporting each other as they left the tower.

It was the saddest, least fun time Pel had ever had while flying as the surviving team followed the Protector to the central watchtower. From the air Pel could see over twenty red mushrooms throughout The Roots, mostly concentrated in quadrants three and four. They met up with a bedraggled collection of tired and injured looking Fairies hovering around command. The number of Protectors had increased greatly, Pel saw enough of them present to account for practically every watchtower in The Roots now. A grumpy Gabby was knelt over an unrolled map on the roof of the command tower, quietly issuing orders to the last of the gathered Protectors.

“Today,” Gabby called out, assessing the surrounding group, “has not been a good day. This is partially our fault, as commanders. We left the central watchtower unmanned as every hand was needed in the field, this was our biggest mistake. We were unprepared for the size of the assault that took place which left many of you having to make decisions without new orders or backup.”

“However, several Party leaders took it upon themselves to, in direct violation of my original orders, lead their Parties into the tunnels without a Protector present,” Gabby’s eyes turned hard, as he looked around toward several Fairies. “These poor decisions led to the loss of EIGHT of our family!”

Ri’s head hung low, unable to look at anyone as tears streamed freely from the tip of his nose. Mat, Liki, and a number of other Fairies from different Parties who had lost members were crying openly. Pel flew to the side and hugged both Mat and Liki together as Gabby continued explaining the events of the day. In addition to the loss of life, there had been a heavy number of injuries. The call for additional Protectors had been sent shortly before the central watchtower had been left empty, apparently during the time Raki had attempted to contact them over thirty total watchtowers had been under alert.

This led to massive confusion as reinforcements arrived and got mixed up with those arriving for second shift, which resulted in delays reaching the alerted towers. Tina arrived from above during Gabby’s depressing rant, and all members of Parties who had lost someone were directed to follow Tina to the amphitheater following dismissal. Before they left, Gabby issued an order that nobody under Level 15 would be allowed in The Roots until the current incursion was dealt with. The current second shift was going to be relieved of duty as additional Protectors arrived from The Branches to take over their watch duties.

On the way up The Mother Tree Pel counted five other Parties in addition to his team following Tina. Only one other Party had lost two members, with the other four only losing one. Pel was sad to realize that he didn’t recognize anyone outside of his own team, and he wouldn’t have been able to pick out those that were missing aside from Raki and Flo. Despite Ri’s earlier words, Pel felt guilty that he hadn’t been able to help. He ignored the fact that if he had arrived in The Roots at Level 5 that morning he likely would have been assigned to a different Party, or ordered to stay at the command watchtower as a healer.

Everyone sat closely together on the rings of the amphitheater as Tina spoke softly to them about the losses they endured. She reminded them that those who were gone would one day return. They weren’t truly dead; The Mother Tree would give birth to them again someday and they would rejoin the family. These words seemed to comfort many who were present, but Pel wasn’t one of them. Following his recent death on Earth, and the subsequent loss of so many of his memories he knew that when they came back, they wouldn’t be themselves anymore.

Pel already knew he wasn’t who he used to be at all, and he could still remember some stuff. Those that died today would come back fresh and new, for all anyone knew they’d already lived a dozen lives. He didn’t envy Tina, her role as Guardian surely saw her outliving the majority of those alive today. How many had she seen come and go?

At the end of her speech, Tina told everyone to meet here tomorrow morning to discuss what they’d be doing in the days to come, and dismissed everyone but the Party leaders. Mat flew off immediately before Pel could say anything to him, not that he knew what to say in the first place. Instead, he hugged Liki goodbye before leaving for Hugo’s. By this point he was already an hour and a half late, but the thought of just going home or drinking at Berry’s Bottle made him feel sick.

The delicious smells of food in progress leaked out through the kitchen as Pel walked across the restaurant floor. He paused and collected himself before walking through the doorway, not wanting to look like a teary-eyed child. On the other side of the doorway nearly half the stoves and ovens were in use, and Hugo was flitting from one station to the next with extraordinary Dexterity. The other two Mentees were busy cutting this, or stirring that and quite frankly Pel thought it was a miracle that someone as large as Hugo wasn’t bumping into them with every pass.

“You’re late,” Hugo said, spotting him in the doorway.

“You…you didn’t hear?” Pel asked, a bit surprised.

“Nothing aside from pots, pans, and knives on cutting boards,” Hugo said, pausing his actions to take a closer look at Pel. “What’s wrong?”

“There was an incursion in The Roots today,” Pel said, grabbing the attention of his busy fellow Mentees. “Eight people died, including two from my team,” he said sadly as Hugo’s two helpers sucked in a gasp. Both of them hurried past Hugo toward Pel, taking his hands in theirs. I don’t know their names, Pel thought to himself. Not knowing all the Fairies in The Roots is one thing, but even my own Mentees?

Both were Fire Fairies like Hugo, their red hair tied back in tight ponytails and wearing spotless white aprons. Various utensils were sticking out of the pouch on the front of their aprons and Pel was inwardly glad they didn’t crush him in a hug with all those things between them.

“Are you alright, Apple?” the one on the left asked, making Pel even more upset that they knew his name but not he theirs. “What’s wrong with your hands?”

“I’m fine,” Pel replied, some of his emotions seeping into his voice. “I just overused Ty’s Voidstone lately.”

“Who died?” the one on the right asked.

“I don’t know who from the other teams, but Flo and Raki are gone now,” Pel said, causing both Fire Fairies to tear up.

“Not Raki! He comes here every night!” said the one on the left.

“Is Mat ok?” asked the one on the right.

“Mat is…physically alright. One of the Water Fairies healed him, but otherwise he’s pretty upset right now. Raki was his best friend,” Pel answered.

“Are you really fine though,” Hugo asked, walking up behind their little group.

“I…” Pel paused. “I don’t know. Raki was fifty percent of my close friends. I saw Flo every morning for four hours and we talked a few times, but outside of watch duty I didn’t really know him that well.” Pel’s eyes watered. “I just hate that I wasn’t there! I was sitting in the tower uselessly! I didn’t even know what was happening, if I could have been with them maybe I could have done something!”

The two Fire Fairies hugged him then, and Pel decided that he didn’t mind the utensils after all. Hugo’s belly was too big for a proper hug, but he laid a warm hand on Pel’s head comfortingly. He allowed himself to cry, staining their perfect aprons with his tears. Hugo returned to the stoves as the Fire Fairies held him. Pel eventually collected himself and wiped at his face with a towel from one of the Fairies.

“Why are tears kinda blue?” Pel sniffled looking at his tears soaking into the towel.

“We lose a little bit of Essence when we cry,” said the Fairy on the right, taking the towel back.

“I’m sorry,” Pel said to both of them, “but I don’t know your names.”

“I’m Ida,” said the Fairy on the left.

“And I’m Oli,” said the one on the right.

“Speaking of,” Hugo said from deeper in the kitchen, “I don’t exactly have six hands.”

Ida and Oli hurried back to the pots and pans that Hugo had been struggling to keep up with.

“Apple, why don’t you take the rest of today off,” Hugo suggested.

“No!” Pel shouted. “I need to Level-up! I can’t help my friends if I don’t have Skills.”

Pel wouldn’t have it. Following Raki’s last piece of advice, he relentlessly persisted until he convinced Hugo into letting him stay. Taking a small pot from the wall Pel walked to end of the isle of stoves and dipped it into the basin of water before placing it on one of the Firestones. Centering himself with the breathing technique was more difficult today than ever.

With the insights he had gained at Ty’s yesterday, he began to slowly work on feeling the flow of his Mana. It was much easier with a Firestone since the pull was far gentler than the Voidstone. The issue of controlling the flow once he allowed his Mana out was continuing to give him problems, and it was still a case of all or nothing. He ran out of Mana following an aggressive boil, so he refilled the pot and started doing sit-ups in front of the stove.

Hugo gave him a disapproving look, but chose not to say anything. Laying on the floor after bottoming out his Stamina, he decided to try pulling back on his Mana after releasing it to the Firestone instead of clamping down to cut it off. Much like with the Voidstone he was able to slow the flow of his Mana, but the heat was still too much for a simmer. He stopped with half his Mana to think about what he was doing wrong.

Maybe I’m too focused on my hands and fingers again? Envisioning the pulling sensation against the suction of Firestone he was concentrated on the spot his Mana was leaving from. Maybe if I pull back over a greater area the effect will be greater too? Pel placed a finger against the Firestone again and relaxed. Closing his eyes and breathing deeply he felt the surface tension of his natural Mana barrier between himself and the Firestone. Releasing his grip in that location allowed the Firestone to flare up as it sucked his Mana out. Pulling back on his Mana was like holding his hand out and imagining pulling it back without actually moving it. Like imagining lifting a heavy weight with empty hands.

Starting with his ‘mental hand’ he pulled back, extending the sensation to his entire arm, then his shoulder, then his upper back. With each additional mental action, the suction from the Firestone lessened. The rolling boil of the water in the pot calmed down until it finally reached a simmer. Pel watched the little bubbles in the water with intense concentration. Keeping his ‘grip’ loosened to allow his Mana to escape while also ‘pulling’ back on the flow was difficult. As his Mana ran out an invigorating rush flooded down his body like a bucket of warm water, making shiver in pleasure. Even with his Stamina below half still he felt ready to fly a marathon. Level 5, finally. You’re late.

Two notification icons were blinking, opening the first one summoned a Level 5 notification scroll that contained a message saying that he’d gained a natural point of both Clarity and Willpower, and below that showed a list of Racial Skills he could pick from for reaching Level 5.

Notification

Congratulations, your recent magical efforts have awarded you 1 natural Clarity Point!

Congratulations, your recent mental efforts have awarded you 1 natural Willpower Point!

Congratulations, you've reached LEVEL 5! Please select one of the Racial Skills below!

[Gentle Touch] - A weak, low-cost healing skill. After a small initial burst of healing, you may continue channeling Mana into the Skill for additional healing over time. You must be in physical contact with the target for this Skill to work.

[Sun Burn] - A weak light-beam attack that inflicts low amounts of heat damage to the target. May cause target to ignite.

[Light Bending] - Some of the light that would bend your body is bent around it instead, causing you to become more difficult to see.

It wasn’t even a difficult decision, Pel chose [Gentle Touch] without hesitation. The words of the Skill glowed a bright golden-orange color and lifted off the scroll. They burst apart like a firework and swirled around his head before sinking into him. Learning a Racial Skill felt less like learning, and more like remembering. It was like he always knew, but something happened to remind him of it. He could feel its purpose, limits, and effects like he knew how far he could stretch out his hand. Pel opened the second notification, which unrolled his full Self Help scroll. He placed two points into Vitality and checked out his new Racial Skill at the bottom of the list.

Self Help Interface Name: Errapel Class/Race: Lesser Celestial Fairy Level: 5 Free AP: 0 Health: 40 (0.5/hr) AP Used: 10 Stamina: 3/55 (0.65/min) Secrets Discovered: 0 Mana: 7/218 (4.8/min) Things Stolen: 0 Attributes Points Added Score Description Charisma 0 6 Influences persuasiveness, likeability, and chance to succeed with certain types of magic. Clarity 4 23 Influences perception, rational thought, Mana, Mana Regeneration, Magic Damage, and ability to resist certain magical mind-altering effects. Dexterity 0 9 Influences physical dexterity and overall agility. Increases flexibility, movement and attack speed, and also increases your physical efficiency and precision. Strength 0 1 Influences physical strength, lifting/carrying capacity, and Physical Damage. Vitality 6 10 Influences overall constitution and endurance, increases Health and Stamina and their respective Regeneration rates. Also increases Poison Resistance. Willpower 0 6 Influences ability to focus, and ignore distractions. Has other effects at high level. Passive Skills Fairy Racial Traits:

Pure Magic - You are a being born of pure Mana given physical form. The only sustenance you require is Mana. You may alter your physical appearance incrementally over time at will. You have an Unlimited Lifespan, but be careful, you can still die.

Ferrous Fear-ous - Ferrous materials burn you, and interfere with your ability to use magic, and magic-like abilities.

Magical Metabolism - Any food or drink consumed is quickly broken down completely, and a portion is directly converted into Mana.

Kleptocurious - You have a strong urge to know things, and to take things. Especially secret things!

Star Touched (Celestial) - While exposed to star light, increase all Regeneration rates by 20%, and all other Racial Skills are 10% stronger.

Active Skills Name Cost Description & Effect Fairy Wings [Racial] 1.3 Stam/min

Summons a pair of Fairy Wings, granting Perfect Flight (omnidirectional control of flight path). Speed of flight is dependent upon your Level, and Dexterity Score.

Flight Speed: 7.1 Meters/sec (7.8 in star light)

Mote [Racial] - - Transforms you into a mote of light, granting Perfect Flight. You can fit through most openings, even really tiny ones! Flight speed is limited to 1/3 that of Fairy Wings. While in mote form, you cannot use or benefit from other Skills. The brightness of your mote form is variable from "tiny ember" to "lantern". Maximum brightness increases with Level. Gentle Touch [Racial]

21 Mana

3.5 Mana/sec

A weak, low-cost healing skill. After a small initial burst of healing, you may continue channeling Mana into the Skill for additional healing over time. You must be in physical contact with the target for this Skill to work.

Initial Healing: 5.8 Health (6.3 in star light)

Channeled Healing: 1.2 Health/sec (1.3 in star light)

Yikes, when it said ‘weak heal’ that wasn’t a joke. Although for Fairies I guess it isn’t that bad at Level 5. Pel was interrupted by the clearing of a throat to his left. Turning his head to look, he saw Hugo with Ida and Ori poking out behind him on both sides smiling at him.

“Congratulations, Apple!” Ida and Ori shouted.

“Yes, congratulations,” said Hugo, nodding his head as he crossed his arms over his large belly. “Now, go home. I need the stove. Despite the Leveling rush, you’ve had a draining day. You need to rest more than you think.”

The other two Mentees nodded their agreement with concerned expressions.

“None of you happen to be injured, would you?” Pel asked eagerly. Perhaps too eagerly, judging by the confused and weirded out looks he received in return. “My new Skill is a healing Skill; I need someone to test it on!”

“Nobody here is hurt,” Hugo said. “Now please, Apple. Go home and rest. Come back tonight for food if you want, we’re making Mourning Dove Pasta tonight.”

“Maybe if you hang out above The Roots, you’ll find someone to heal coming off shift?” Ori suggested.

Pel’s excitement visually diminished with mention of The Roots, and Ida elbowed Ori. Hugo pointed toward the doorway and all three made room for him to walk by. Despite his feelings toward returning to The Roots, Pel agreed that it was likely the best place for him to find someone with injuries. He bade everyone farewell and left the kitchen, taking flight and spiraling down the walls of The Mother Tree looking for someone to heal.