Chapter 21: Chapter 18 – The Lovers

“Please, give them a try!”

I look at my hands. They look no different, but the deeper diagnostics are telling me the casing of my arms have lost a bit of their integrity. It’s literally just like someone had engraved something on the metal part of my arms, and that’s it. It's not really a big deal. I think. I wasn’t planning on blocking blades with my arms like some sort of a martial artist anyway. People prettified their prosthetics this way all the time!

And if I have to, I should be able to use some sort of magic to strengthen them. Right?

Excitement is burning in Karine’s eyes. I can tell she’s really happy she actually managed to do it. My arms didn’t lose any practical functionality from her tinkering, but we haven’t really tested if they’re any good for casting spells yet. She told me that testing a rune stone isn’t quite the same. But everything should be fine. In theory, that is.

“Um, alright.”

I’ve come to understand some things about magic in the last couple of weeks. There are multiple methods you can help yourself cast spells, and all of them are functional with their own drawbacks. I’ve found that Karine especially doesn’t like pure chanters. And “most” learning gesture casting actually meant “most among her peers” at her magic school. And then she proceeded to tell me to visualize my first spell anyway. Consistency, woman!

“I guess I’ll try casting fire ball.” I wave my hand in front of me, extending my index and middle fingers, creating a small circle. I can see faint glow through my hand’s skin. Fire flickers into existence above my hand.

So, you can gesture, you can visualize, you can chant, and so on. Whatever comes most naturally to you. The actual method you end up using is unimportant. What’s important is intent and desired outcome. You can shorten your casting times to almost nothing and lose virtually none of the efficiency or power. Combining methods is possible, too, but that doesn’t increase the power of a spell. That’s how she could do just a couple of small gestures to create a stable fire ball, while it took a lot of effort on my part. The snapping of her fingers, though? Theatrics.

“You’re doing it!” Karine’s excitement is contagious, I’m starting to feel it too. I can’t let it distract me!

I gesture upwards, and the fire ball grows twice to its initial size. I’m still in control.

Karine herself primarily uses gesturing, backing it up with some visualization. Sometimes she even chants for emphasis. There’s something really menacing about a silent caster suddenly breaking her silence and telling you what she intends to do, that’s for sure. In my case, I’ve started to gravitate mainly towards gesturing. The reason is obvious: I can’t use my software to visualize for me. Hell, I can’t even use it to chant. But it can simulate muscle memory!

… And using it is a bit like playing an AR game. That’s pretty nostalgic.

“Alright, now extinguish it!”

I turn my palm upwards and do a crushing gesture. The fire flickers and is extinguished.

“So, how did it feel?!”

“I guess it felt natural? It felt a lot better than using the sleeves, that’s for sure.”

“Right?! Not having to worry about accidentally breaking stuff has to make things a lot easier!”

What all these options mean is that you don’t technically have to use your arms at all in your casting, it’s just the most common way of doing it. You could gesture with your feet if you really wanted to. And hell, you could “breathe” fire as a chanter or a visualizer. But do you want to obscure your vision for literally just a “cool” effect? Probably not!

“So, what now?”

“Now, we take a break! I just wanted to be sure your arms work as advertised. I’m exhausted. I’d like to eat something, too.”

“Oh, okay. Works for me.”

-*-*-*-*-*-

I’m back in the study room for the first time in a bit over a week. Alone. I’ll have to wait for Karine to get something to eat, I guess. I told her to not mind me, I’ll eat with Avilia later. We haven’t really come here since she stopped giving me reading and writing lessons. It’d be wrong to call it nostalgic, but… It does feel like something.

Seems the study room doubles as something of a dining room.  Or maybe that’s what they use it for most of the time? This tablecloth wasn’t here last time. And I’m sure there weren’t four chairs, either. I guess two of them were stored someplace else?

I look through the window. There’s some activity on the streets. Looks like they’ve gotten more guards or something.

Anyway. This is the first time we’ve taken a break like this during a lesson. But then again, I guess this isn’t a normal day. I can’t believe she pulled through this fast! Of course, I hoped she’d be confident enough to do her magic on my arms sooner rather than later, but this definitely was on the “sooner” end of things.

It’s great, though. I can finally start testing if I can use magic as a power source. If I can, that means I’ll have a nearly unlimited source of renewable energy at my fingertips. The software is already weighing its options.

The door creaks open and I turn towards it. It’s Karine, with Flore following just behind her, carrying a tray with what undoubtably looks like Karine’s lunch.

“Sorry for the wait!”

Karine steps aside to let Flore put the tray on the table in front of one of the empty chairs, after which she, without saying a word, pulls the chair out for Karine.

Karine takes her seat with a smile on her face. “Thank you:”

Flore bows slightly towards her, and then me. “If you’d excuse me.”

I notice Karine’s kind of looking at Flore as she leaves the room. It feels like she’s trying to hide it, but she’s failing miserably. Is she starting to show similar symptoms as Flore?

The door closes, and Karine turns to her food.

I grab one of the chairs and take my seat.

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After watching her eat for a few minutes, my curiosity gets the better of me. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no,” Karine responds with a chipper voice, “Everything’s well. But there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you, if it’s alright.”

“Sure. Ask away.”

She lowers her utensils. “Why do you spend so much time with Avilia?“

Why? I thought it was obvious. But I’m not sure what she’s getting at.

“Because I enjoy her company?”

“But there’s more to it than that, right?”

“Yes. Yes, there is.”

“You see, you two remind me of me and Flore. And it’s made me think.”

“Right.”

“I’ve started to realize that she probably has feelings for me.”

I nod. So this is what she was getting at.

“I don’t know how long it’s been like this,” she continues, “I had no idea until I met you two.”

“How does that make you feel?”

“Truthfully? It makes me happy. A bit scared, but happy.” She pushes her back against the back of her chair. “But now I realize that the thought of living without her scares me more than the social stigma. I can’t imagine her not being there. I don’t want to grow old without her.”

“Have you told her yet?”

“No, I haven’t,” she says, shaking her head, “But I intend to. I kind of first wanted to tell you about it, since I’ve only started to understand my feelings thanks to you.”

“I’m flattered.” I smile. “You’re right, too, of course. Even though I’ve only known Avilia for a short while, I’ve fallen for her head over heels. ”

“And I think she might feel the same for you.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I’ve known her for only a day longer than I’ve known you. I don’t want to rush and make a mess of things.”

“… And I’ve known Flore since childhood.”

“Yes, your situation’s different. You two have years of shared experiences.”

“And years of moments where she’s made it obvious she loves me more than just as a friend.”

Ouch. I’m happy she shares her feelings. Otherwise, I see this could be the end of their relationship. Romance and creepiness are two sides of the same coin.

“Was there any particular reason why you wanted to tell me, first?”

“Oh, there is.” She looks at her lunch for a moment. “How do you think I should go about telling her?”

Well, that’s the question isn’t it?

“If I was in your situation, I’d probably just tell her.”

Karine blushes a little at the thought. Don’t think I’ve seen her do that before! “Isn’t that a bit too straightforward?”

“You’ve been both feeling like this towards each other for years, right? I think the time for subtlety and signals is long past. It’s time to be bold.”

Karine picks up her utensils in thought. “I see your point…”

She nods. “I think I’ll do that!”

I hope everything turns out alright for these two!

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