As Pel flew downward, he couldn't help but have mixed feeling about reaching Level 5 today. On one hand, he was excited to finally have a Skill besides his wings. Mote too, but that was really more of an active Passive Skill anyway. On the other hand, it depressingly confirmed that if he had stayed up the last night or two to keep training, he likely would have reached Level 5 by this morning. As he continued to fly, he stopped by every group he saw and asked if anyone needed healing, or knew of someone who needed healing. So far, no luck.

As he spotted Ty’s building below, he remembered the Voidstone still tucked away in his shirt. Thinking of Mat, he couldn’t help but divert his path to pay a visit. He turned into a Mote to fit through the keyhole entrance before reverting back and landing gently on his feet. The front room was empty, and as Pel wove his way through the water tanks he couldn’t help but look closely at everything he passed searching for those damn hidden object.

Reaching the door to the back room he knocked politely. Today wasn’t his scheduled day to visit Ty, Pel didn’t want to just barge in. A muffled voice came from the other side, but he couldn’t quite hear what it said. Deciding that was good enough, he opened the door and poked his head through the crack to see that Ty was the only one in the room.

“What was that?” Pel asked.

“I said, ‘come in’,” Ty clarified. Pel brought the rest of himself through the door, closing it behind him.

“Is Mat here?” Pel asked.

“No, he only showed up for a few minutes but he went home right after,” Ty replied. “It’s sad to hear about Raki and Flo. I’m sorry, Apple.” Ty set his tablet carving tool down and walked over to Pel a hug.

“I’ll be fine, I’m just worried about Mat,” Pel mumbled into Ty’s robe. “He and Raki were really close.”

Pel pulled away from the hug and fished the Voidstone pouch out of his shirt, handing it back to Ty. Ty took the pouch, but grabbed Pel’s arm and pulled it up to his face.

“Apple, your hands!” Ty exclaimed. “You’ve way overused the Voidstone!”

“They’re just a bit sore, it’s alright,” Pel said, pulling his arm free.

“Didn’t I say ‘careful doses?’ How many times did you use it?” Ty asked.

“I don’t know…maybe ten times since I left here yesterday?” Pel admitted.

“Ten times!? Apple, you’ll be lucky if you haven’t caused long-term damage! Is it hard to make a fist? How did you even manage to force yourself into using so much?” Ty asked in concern. Pel clenched his hands, finding them a little stiff.

“They’re a bit stiff and a little sore, but they feel better than they did earlier today,” Pel replied. “Every time I used it, I wanted to never touch it again, but I also wanted to reach Level 5.” Pel looked down, “But I still wasn’t fast enough to help Raki. I guess it’s because I have more Willpower than most young Fairies.”

“That stiffness is due to Essence depletion,” Ty explained. “It happens when the Essence in part of your body essentially dries up from habitual lack of Mana. It makes animating your physical body more difficult. You would need a significant amount of Willpower, what’s yours at?”

“Six,” replied Pel while flexing his hands.

“Six! That's outrageous! What did you start with?" Ty asked incredulously.

"I started at three," Pel informed him.

"That shouldn't be high enough to explain how you were able to endure to Level 5 so quickly,” Ty said. “Very, very quickly.”

“Maybe…” Pel trailed off. “Did Tina tell you anything about what I told her the night I was born?” he asked.

“Just that you were a Celestial Fairy, and that you needed a Mentor,” Ty informed him.

I wonder if I should even be telling people this, Pel thought as he considered how to explain it to Ty.

“Before I was born here, I died as a Human somewhere else,” Pel said, pausing for the usual explosion of questions. He watched as Ty’s face lit up, and his hands clenched. With visible effort Ty calmed himself, suppressing whatever questions he may have had.

“And now, after your Naming, you’re slowly losing your past memories,” Ty said, slowly nodding his head. “Perhaps the last vestiges of who you are and the experiences you had before are helping you push past the limits that are, even now, slowly tightening around you. Smart. Using the last light of your past life to spur your growth in this one before you lose most of it…” Ty trailed off, rubbing his chin in thought. “Maybe we can use this last chance. I’ll speak with Tina tonight before the birthday ceremony about having you spend tomorrow here with me.”

Ty’s expression set with determination before his eyes flicked to Pel and were softened by a new surge of curiosity. His lips parted, a question on the tip of his tongue before closing again.

“Tomorrow,” Ty shook his head. “You really need to rest, especially with the Essence depletion.”

“But I want to try out my new Skill!” Pel protested.

“Please, please listen to me,” Ty asked. “Just go home and lay down for a while. If you feel better by the time the birthday ceremony starts, I’ll meet up with you and help you find someone you can heal.”

“Ugh, fine,” pouted Pel. “See you tonight then!” Ty waved goodbye to Pel before returning to his wooden tablet. Exiting the back room and re-entering the room with the water tanks, Pel was tempted to continue his search for the secret objects. The itch of curiosity returned, and each tank he passed only made it grow. Pel ran his tongue against the back of his teeth as he considered just taking a tiny peek around, but with Ty being just a wall away he continued toward the exit with leaden steps.

Once outside, the feeling of temptation lessened. Sighing deeply Pel resumed his downward spiral home. The closer he got to home, the closer he got to The Roots. It was easy to see the watchtowers under alert from such an angle, as well as the distant gathering of Fairies around the command watchtower. Everything looks so much tinier from up here. He landed on his doorstep, and looked down into The Roots to count.

41 active watchtowers out of 72, not counting the command tower. The entire third and fourth quadrants are lit up, damn. Speaking of the command tower… Pel could see a large group of armored Fairies surrounding the tower. From this distance he could barely see Gabby standing on the cap, and it looked like he was conducting an end of shift debrief. His suspicion was confirmed moments later when they all started to depart, flying upward. Some took off like the wind, passing Pel’s position in seconds as they shot straight upward. Some were in pairs, or larger groups taking their time to spiral upward much like Mat had taught him to do.

This is my chance to heal someone, I could go out and start asking around. Pel struggled with his desire to test out his Skill that he worked so hard to get against what his Mentor told him to do. Would he even find out? I can just zip out there and come right back… Clenching his fists he turned away and walked into his house. A notification icon lit up in the lower corner of his sight.

Notification

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

“Honestly,” Pel complained to the empty room, “I should have a twice as many of these from the last several days. Fairies are bullshit!”

Pel untied his shirt, noting some blue flecks under his fingernails. Blood from Mat and Liki. He walked to the water basin in the corner of his room and dipped a clean finger into it and began picking his nails. Lost my life, losing my memories, losing my new friends…lots of losing, Pel thought glumly. Tina took away my pain and I still haven’t got it back like it was before. Damn her, that wasn’t hers to take. Pel thought about his family for what felt like the first time in days. He couldn’t remember their names, or their faces.

He could still remember a few things about them, like his father taught him woodworking and how to hang a door. His mother liked to sew, and taught him how to read. His sister liked…making him angry, and taught him the value of planning revenge? Is that really all I can remember about her? Pel shook his head and inspected his fingers. Looking clean enough he finished taking off his clothes before diving into his bedding. Whoever makes these pillows has to have a Skill for it, Pel thought as he snuggled deeper into the fluff with a yawn. I wonder if there are Pillow Fairies?

Pel woke with a start, feeling abnormally rested. His internal, Fairy timekeeping device chugged slowly along with his thoughts as came out of a deep sleep. What time is it? When’s the birthday ceremony? Wait… Pel could feel it was morning already. He’d slept about fifteen hours. No…almost exactly sixteen hours. Didn’t Tina mention something about Fairies being the best at counting things? Can I even count time when I’m asleep? It was almost time for first shift to start. Holy shit, Ty wasn’t kidding! Damn, and he knew I wouldn’t wake up for the ceremony! Sneaky!

He quickly put his clothes back on, and nearly dove down toward The Roots before the full events of what happened yesterday came crashing back. Right, Tina wanted us up at the amphitheater this morning. Launching himself from his doorstep, Pel flew straight upward without bothering to spiral, no need to be late to an important deviation from the daily norm.

The only detour he made along the way was to Mat’s house, but it appeared he was already gone. Arriving at the wooden amphitheater he joined the crowd while he kept an eye out for Mat or Liki. There were few enough Fairies under Level 15 on first shift that everyone had space to stay in their normal form while sitting on the rings of seats. Maybe a hundred or so… Spotting Mat sitting far to the side Pel flew over to sit beside him.

“Mornin’ Mat,” Pel said, landing on the seat.

“Huh? Oh, hi Apple,” Mat muttered lifelessly, looking up at him with tired eyes.

“How’re you holdin’ up?” Pel asked, sitting down and giving Mat a side hug.

“I’d been together with Raki and Flo on first watch since I was born,” Mat replied. “I’ve had dinner at Hugo’s almost every night with Raki. Flo introduced me to drawing.” Mat’s hands clenched into fists. “Then I saw them die. So, not great.”

“I’m sorry, Mat,” Pel said, tightening his hug. Dumb question, Pel! He thought to himself. Someone landed to the other side of him, drawing his attention away from Mat. Liki plopped down into the spot beside Pel and reached over to hug him. He looped his right arm around Liki, and found himself in the middle of a hug sandwich.

“Mornin’ Liki,” Pel said with a squeeze.

“Mornin’, Apple,” Liki mumbled into his side. “You smell like balsam.”

“Do I normally smell differently?” Pel asked.

“Not sure, I think I’ve only hugged you once before. But I think it’s stronger today,” Liki said.

“Maybe because I’m Level 5 now?” Pel wondered aloud.

“Really?” Mat and Liki said, looking up at him.

“Yea, yesterday afternoon at Hugo’s,” Pel confirmed before lowering his head. “But I wasn’t fast enough.”

“What happened yesterday wasn’t your fault,” Liki said.

“Yea, it was Ri’s,” Mat growled. “Even if you had been Level 5 you wouldn’t have been allowed to go into the tunnels.”

A loud clap brought everyone’s attention to Tina, standing on the stage along with Gabby and another Fairy Pel had never seen before in front of the aquamarine pool. The new Fairy was the only Fairy he’s ever seen wearing metal armor; similar in style to the wooden armor worn in The Roots. Where Gabby looked bulky with cosmetic muscles, the new Fairy was svelte; even standing still he looked fast. He was also taller than most Fairies who all stood within a finger or two of one another, but he was easily a full head taller. I wonder why he would choose to be taller?

“Good morning, everyone,” Tina greeted them with a smile. “I’ve asked you to gather here today to go over our plans for the next week while Gabby and some of the Protectors deal with the incursion happening down in The Roots.” She gestured to the two Fairies beside her, “You all know Gabby, and the other is Gale. Gale is the training Captain for The Branches. Those of you over Level 10 might remember him from your Level 10 orientation. He will be the one in charge of all the fun training exercises we’re putting together for you.” Several people in the crowd tried unsuccessfully to muffle their groans. “I’ll let him explain more.”

Gale, much like Gabby, did not appear to be a smiler. With his hands clasped behind his back, and an expressionless, tan face beneath shortly cropped teal hair, he took a single step forward and covered a distance twice what his physical leg seemed to move.

“I’m sorry to hear about what happened yesterday,” Gale began. “The focus of our week-long training will hopefully give you the tools and reflexes needed to ensure that what happened will never happen again.” He paused to look around at the gathering in the seats. “I won’t waste any time here, and get right to the point. We will be breaking you into two groups with the dividing line being Level 10. Those Level 10 and above will be meeting directly with me, while those below will be meeting with the assistant training Captain. I will explain the details of the Level 10 and up training to my group tomorrow.

“For those under Level 10, since the assistant training Captain will likely be busy for the next couple of days, I will explain our plans for you now. We will be focusing your training on six areas. The first is emergency evasion drills. Speaking with the Party leaders yesterday, it seems that the majority of fatalities occurred due to surprise attacks.” Liki hugged Pel a little tighter. “This drill will engrain in you a reactionary response to unexpected encounters. The second exercise is more of a lecture that will inform everyone about the general defensive strategies of The Gladeheart Mother Tree and her Protectors.”

Gladeheart Mother Tree? Pel thought. Is that the actual name of The Mother Tree?

“The third and fourth areas will be an overnight field training exercise that combines navigation and foraging for magical plants, the benefits of which should be obvious. The fifth will be part lecture part joint training exercise in Party Roles. We will drill you in cooperating in a Party, and everyone will come to understand what their role is. The sixth area will be a multi-day, and overnight, exercise in structured combat,” Gale said. “Not only will you be sparring against other Parties, but also against captured Dire Ants in a controlled setting.”

Many whispers washed around the amphitheater at mention of fighting monsters. Mat’s hands were clenched again, and Pel could feel a small trill of fear in himself. Gale stepped back as Gabby stepped forward.

“As I said yesterday, nobody will be allowed in The Roots unless they are at least Level 15,” Gabby reiterated his command. “We will be issuing everyone a set of wooden armor tomorrow morning before departing for The Glade. In addition to guards who will be accompanying you throughout the day while you are out, the Protectors are working hard today to clear the entire Glade and surrounding forest of potential threats. This, together with the natural protection of The Mother Tree will ensure that you remain safe outside. At least for the next week.”

Tina stepped forward, patting Gabby on the shoulder. “But that’s for tomorrow. Today, each of you are free to do what you want for the duration of your normal watch shift. You may resume your regular schedule after that. I’m available if anyone would like to talk, or if you’d like me to use [Calming Winds]. Meet back here tomorrow morning, have a nice day!”

Everyone started to leave, many left in groups chatting about the exercises coming up or excited about getting to go outside. Many people wondered how going outside would be safer, but their underlying excitement allowed them to think up a dozen different reasons why it seemed like a good idea. How nice of Tina to ask to use that fucking spell, Pel thought. Wish she’d asked me…

“Apple, let go,” Mat requested. Pel released Mat from the side hug, about to say something as he walked up the step of the amphitheater when Tina’s voice called out for him.

“Apple, I’d like a word please,” she said. Liki squeezed Pel one last time before taking off after Mat. “Ty spoke with me last night; he’d like you to spend the day with him.”

“Yea, he told me yesterday,” Pel said.

“Well, it seems like he wants you to do some Presence detection exercises,” Tina informed him. “Oh, and one more thing,” she looked down at his hands, “no more Voidstone! You should be ok by tomorrow, but I don’t want you using that thing anymore!”

Pel flexed his hands, which were feeling a lot better. “Alright, I won’t use it any more. Promise!”

Tina nodded her head before turning around to go back to the stage to speak with Gale and Gabby. Pel walked to the upper ring of the amphitheater and looked for Mat and Liki, but both had disappeared. With the thought of the secrets hidden in Ty’s house, Pel eagerly jumped into the open air and flew off.

Ty was waiting for Pel in the front room of his building. Does he live here? Is this a house, or just some kind of laboratory?

“Good morning, Apple,” Ty welcomed with a smile. “Are you ready to train hard?”

“I mean…I’m ready to find those secrets!” Pel hoped he hadn’t bit off more than he could chew. Ty was normally pretty hands off, but it seemed he was going to be taking a more active approach today. For a guy who gives a Voidstone to a baby, I’m almost afraid to know what he considers hard training.

“I’m sure you will, but first I thought you might like to try healing someone?” Ty asked.

“Really? You mean it?” Pel’s excitement from yesterday came back twofold. “Are we going to The Roots?”

“Yes, I mean it, but no we aren’t going to The Roots,” Ty said. “I was thinking you could just heal me.”

“How did you get hurt? You don’t look hurt…” Pel looked Ty over, he was still smiling with his hands behind his back.

Ty pulled his hands from behind him, revealing the scribe he used to carve notes into his wooden tablets. Before Pel had a chance to stop him ty pushed the sleeve of his robe up his left forearm and cut a small, shallow line into the top of his arm no longer than the width of a palm.

“Ty! Stop, what are you doin?” Pel cried out. “Who the fuck does that to themselves?”

“Someone with a healer standing right in front of them,” Ty replied as a narrow trickle of blue Fairy blood ran down the back of his hand. He placed the scribe onto a tablet that was resting on the table holding the nearest water tank. “I’ve never seen Celestial healing before, and I’d quite like to take some notes on the experience. It’s no more than a handful of Health lost, no need to worry.”

“Of course I’m going to worry when someone cuts themselves!” Pel protested. Some mostly forgotten memory, more emotion than events bubbled up in Pel’s mind at what Ty had done. His chest felt gripped, like he was being squeezed, he felt short of breath. “Give me your arm!” he ordered, walking closer to Ty.

Holding Ty’s arm, Pel looked at the wound dumbly. “So uh, how do I cast a spell?”

“How do you summon your wings?” Ty replied.

I just want them to come out and they do, Pel thought. His [Gentle Touch] Skill said it required physical contact with the target, but it didn’t say if he needed to touch the wound or not so he simply placed his fingers and thumb to either side of the cut as if he was pinching it gently together. Gentle Touch.

Activating the Skill caused a mass of Mana to pleasantly sear its way down Pel’s neck and through one of his Pathways, much like The Drop slipped through Ky. The only difference was everything. It felt like the first warmth of a sunrise peeking over the horizon and washing his Pathway in comfortable light. It traveled quickly, so much so that Pel didn’t have time to follow it except in retrospect before it was already breaking through his Mana barrier and finished casting. His hand became covered in a golden glow, fringed with a faint orange halo like an early morning sun. The Pathway the Skill took cooled off rapidly following the passage of the Skill like the afterglow of a setting sun.

A momentary sensation of repulsive force, like waving two similar poles of a magnet close to one another, pushed against the Mana comprising the Skill on his hand as it made contact with Ty’s body. Following that brief moment of resistance, Pel felt his Mana drop by a tenth instantly. The cut on Ty’s forearm partially closed, the open cut knitting together rapidly like time on rewind, following which Pel could feel a gentle pull on his Mana from the Skill. It was softer than the pull from the Firestone at Hugo’s, and he allowed it while preparing to pull back to restrict the flow of Mana.

Which was a good thing, because allowing the Skill to continue drawing Mana caused it to use far more than the description indicated. It gushed forth like water from a cracked dam, mostly dissipating uselessly as only the small amount required to keep the Skill channeling was used to actually heal Ty. Using his entire mental upper body Pel pulled back on his flowing Mana, but by the time he got it under control the cut on Ty’s arm was already closed and the glow on his hand dissipated like glitter in an updraft.

“Woah,” Pel uttered, watching as the last of the light vanished into the air along with the warmth in his hand.

“Indeed,” Ty said, carving notes into his tablet quickly. “Tell me, what did the process feel like from your perspective?”

Pel explained the heat that shot through his Pathway, the warmth of the Skill surrounding his hand, and how the channeling process wasted to much of his Mana.

“Searing heat, but comfortable?” Ty asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Yea, like getting into a hot-tub,” Pel confirmed.

“What’s a hot-tub?”

“It’s uh…hm,” Pel stopped to think about what he just said. “I can’t really remember. I just know it was something that was really super-hot but in a pleasant way. Just short of painful, almost too much of a good thing.”

“I see. How much Mana did the channeling process require, and how much did you end up using?” Ty asked.

“The Skill says it uses three and a half Mana per second,” Pel informed him, “but in the two seconds it took to heal your cut completely I ended up using about ten Mana per second. Where did all that extra Mana go?”

“We call it Overflow,” Ty explained, still scratching notes onto his tablet. “It happens when you don’t have good Mana control, which is what Hugo and I have been having you train on in the last 5 days. Normally you’d train for two weeks before you reached Level 5, but you’ve been advancing more than twice as fast as that.”

“I do have one question, there was an instant of resistance I felt from you before my Skill took effect. What was that?” Pel asked.

“That was your Mana touching my Mana barrier,” Ty said. “In addition to being the exterior boundary containing your Mana, it's also literally a barrier against foreign Mana. Your Skill was deemed beneficial, and allowed to pass through. If you had instead cast [Fireball] or some other offensive Skill, my Mana barrier would have attempted to blocked as much of your Mana as possible. At your Level, that would have been most of it.

“Remember though, it isn’t a magic shield against other magic, just against foreign Mana. Flames still burn, and kinetic energy still has force. Blocking foreign Mana simply means that others can’t cast Skills directly inside of you, and what Skills impact you will have a harder time penetrating through you. Of course, Level disparity can overcome a lot of things, so be careful. Also, Skills that affect your mind are rarely blocked overtly by your Mana barrier.” Ty explained.

“What decided that the Skill was beneficial?” Pel asked.

“The very nature of my Mana,” Ty said. “I could have also consciously blocked you regardless, but in this case, I really wanted my arm healed.”

“What woulda happened if you tried to block me?”

“At your Level, your Skill would have fizzled out. Meaning the Skill and its Mana would have dissipated. If you were higher Level, you could have attempted to contest my mental stats with your own to force the Skill through,” Ty said.

“Clarity and Willpower, that is. For Fairies, mostly Clarity. Which is unfortunate really, Willpower is an excellent Attribute to increase if you want to fight spell to spell with other magic users. Think of Clarity like the amount of water in a pipe, and Willpower as the amount of force driving that water through it,” he explained before cutting the back of his hand with his scribe tool. “Now, come heal me again.”

“Goddammit, Ty!” Pel shouted, as whatever passed for his heart jumped into his throat. He grabbed Ty’s hand and repeated the process he used the first time. Knowing what to expect while channeling the spell, he preemptively pulled back on his Mana before allowing the Skill to take it. He still wasted Overflowed the Skill, but only by a few Mana per second this time. When Ty’s wound closed, and his Skill dissipated, he noted that his Pathway felt a tiny bit sore. Telling Ty about this, Pel received a nod.

“This happens when you cast the same Skill multiple times in a row,” Ty explained. “The more Mana a Skill uses, the sorer you’re going to feel with repeated use. If you force yourself to cast the same thing over and over again without resting in between you’ll suffer Manaburn. It’s the mental equivalent to working out a specific muscle until it burns. If you keep pushing, you’ll eventually cause lasting damage. The time you need to rest in between repeated casts is called Cooldown. What we’re doing now is finding your Skill’s Cooldown.”

“There has to be a better way than letting you hurt yourself over and over again,” Pel complained with worry.

“Would you rather hurt yourself and heal yourself?” Ty asked.

“Not particularly, but I’d rather do it that way than see you cut yourself a bunch of times,” Pel said.

“I feel the same way,” Ty explained, cutting his arm again. “I don’t want to see my Mentee hurt, so here we are. I’m stronger and older than you, let’s keep doing it my way.”

Goddammit.