Sing!

The Start of a Magical Journey!

Two years flew by in the blink of an eye. To be honest, it was because Linfa and Gale kept me busy at all times. Now that  could use magic, they wasted no time in teaching me what they could. I picked up the processes well enough, but I was still a long way from their talents.

I worked hard In helping Linfa with her potion making, raising my skills in alchemy. I could do the basics well enough, but I just did not have the talent for it. There was too much precise work to it: measuring ingredients, exact timing in adding one thing or another, and deploying just the right amount and type of mana at very specific times in the process. It reminded me of the times I tried baking back on Earth. I just did not have the talent for it.

My studies with Gale went a little better. My physical skills were not the best, bit I had workable levels in speed and dexterity, and in Gale's work, they were more necessary than strength. I also went out of my way to skill up my stealth stats and agility. I was still much better with magic than any weapon, but at least I could use Gale's assassins' skills in a pinch.

In fact, I had even joined Gale on a few guild jobs over the last two years. They were easy missions, but both of my parents figured that I should get what experience I could in the guild, even if I could not officially join till I was thirteen. The handful of simple jobs I did go on, Gale had to get clearance from the guild master to bring me first.

The biggest plus of coming of magical age was that I could now make my own money. Between the scattered guild work and getting paid to help Linfa, I was able to save up enough coins to buy my own things. And what was it I bought? Books of course! Books on magic and books on language mostly.

It made me happy, learning about the different languages and about the people who speak them. And I had a bit of a talent for it too. But still, I was feeling a little stagnant in this life. My world was big in my head, but small in reality. Mostly it revolved around our little cabin and the town of Grier's rest a few times a year. I was grateful for all I had, but also worried that I may not get to be all I originally wanted to be: an existence that had a bigger meaning.

And, it was on a late summer evening that I learned that my parents had been thinking along the same lines. I had been out hunting that afternoon, thinking to get some rabbits for our evening meal, but the time got away from me, and in the end I was at the front door both empty handed and very much late for dinner too. On the door step I set my bow against the wall, took a breath, preparing for a talking too, and entered the cabin.

I was greeted by the sent of a bot of stew on the fire and the sight of my mothers sitting at the worn wooded table. They had strange looks on their faces that they hid swiftly.

"Your back!" Smiled Linfa, getting up and hurrying to the fire to get me a bowl of food. "We were getting worried."

"Um, yeah, sorry... Time got away from me." I sat in a chair opposite Gale and Linfa set the steaming bowl before me and then sat back next to Gale. "Is something wrong?" I asked, thinking that the weird mood in the house had to be about something other than my late arrival. I had been late before and it usually resulted in a talking to about letting ones parents worry that they had been eaten by a monster. I did not usually get treated to a heavy, tense atmosphere.

Gale and Linfa shared a look before the elf sighed. "I guess it is impossible to keep anything from you." She said, and flashed me a reassuring smile.

"Told you so. Our girl is too observant for her own good." Stated Gale, stretching out.

"Okay... so?" I asked, taking a spoonful of my meal. Even concern over what was going on wasn't going to stop me from eating, I was starving.

"Well," Continued Gale. "Linfa and I had been think about your future, where you are headed and where you could be."