Mother of Magic

Alloy

Stephanie and Le grew in their proficiency with Magic. Both were very used to the idea of practice. Perfecting natural capabilities with repetition. Developing the organic skills that went with their inborn skills. Skills they never knew they had until they were in a universe where magic was allowed. It reminded Stephanie very much of the first time she and Le stood on the pitcher's mound, and he showed Stephanie her pitching mechanics as displayed on his tablet computer. Talking about ways to increase ball velocity and control while at the same time reducing stress on her arm. Augmenting her savant skills, and making her an even more world-class pitcher.

Le, for his part, never knew he had anything like a natural ability to pitch or hit. His health had never let him explore that. He had always been the kid with an excuse not to play sports in PE.

He never really thought about it once his health was gained. How that health happened Now, in this world, and learning that it was likely his magical capabilities were a gift from Stephanie's bone marrow and her DNA that flowed in him, he wondered to himself if, in their Universe, his abilities to pitch and hit also came from her. He could not see how that would be. It did not match anything he understood about science. Neither did magic. Meeting the Mother only increased those kinds of questions for him. What was undeniable to him was that he had always been a man of mind. Used his intellect to focus on things he had passion about. He learned baseball because he focused deeply on it. It was Stephanie's interest, so it was his. He had loved her as long as he knew her. He never fanboy'd about her. Not when he was with her and not when she was not with him. Loving her meant respecting her, and to him, that also meant keeping a respectful relationship in place.

He also figured she had enough fans to last her a lifetime. He was not going to be one of those kinds of people for her.

When the chance came to give back to her, he seized it by creating his pitching and batting analytics programs. Everything after that was a natural extension. As he learned, he taught. As he taught, he learned.

Now, with Magic, that natural capability he found he had wherever it might have come from, combined with his analytic approach to things, and further combined with the well-honed disciplines of practice meant they were mastering Magic at unheard-of to Ava speeds.

Stephanie and Le realized as days passed and as they built the new, this Universe, version of their home that they did not need the lumber they had materialized and that now filled where their driveway should be. Neither wheeled carts, electric, steam, or diesel-powered buggies nor horses could easily get by the makeshift lumberyard to access their new home.

A quick message to the Collins community via Vivian and signs at her Saloon and carts came up from town to haul all the lumber off for use in Collins. It came with profuse thanks from the people getting free lumber. No mention was made of its magical origins. No one looked this particular gift horse in the mouth. It was high-grade, already-milled lumber for free and with no strings attached to it. No requirement to pay tithes to a Witch church. Only the lumber mill was not happy about it.

The plywood generated the most comments. No one had ever seen anything like that before. Wood was planks. Wood scrap was burned for power. Gluing it together in layers for such an application had not been invented here. The proprietor of the sawmill came to look at the sheets of composite wood with a great deal of professional interest. A better way to make money from scraps than burning it. The sawmill owner and some of his team took a lesson from Le in how plywood could be generated non-magically, using scraps from the mill and glue. Le promised to drop by the mill and work with him on a process. Not that Le knew the process, but he figured 'How hard could it be?'. It allowed him to plug into the town and look for gainful ways to use his superior knowledge of technology to help Collins.