-Callia-

  Callen finally got back from his visit and was clearly in just as pensive a mood as me. Still, he didn’t ruin the atmosphere, instead relaxing and taking a seat next to me while we watched Nixie and Reesia’s game. It was a quiet moment of reflection for me. I spent so much time mastering my bow and leading my friends that taking the lead was almost second nature. However, twice in a row my ideas have been near disasters. Grandpa, Dad, Mom, Callen, and even my sisters, none of them have ever really told me no. It made me feel unstoppable, but now I needed to reckon with the feeling of invincibility I grew up with.

  “Hey, Callen.” I got his attention but immediately hesitated, unsure how to ask what I needed to. He clearly sees my struggle and gently pats my shoulder. Instead of words, we use our bond. His practice with Nightshade is evident in how clearly he conveys not just words, but intention and emotion. There was no room for misunderstandings. He heard my heartfelt crisis and plea. I needed help breaking the mindset that so easily had me running into danger. I felt invincible, and the first accident made me realize the problem, but the second instance was proof of how easily I forgot the lesson I thought I learned.

  I really didn’t want ‘runs off into danger’ and ‘requires saving like a damsel in distress’ to be habits. Twice was already more than enough. If I trusted anyone to help me with this, it was my brother. Callen knew me better than anyone, and all the time he spent studying had to count for something, right? Apparently not. Callen was just as stuck on this problem as I was. In fact, he felt he was falling into the same perspective of invulnerability with his tech.

  In our respective domains we both excelled, so maybe if we spent some time learning something new, it would temper our perspective. Callen was seriously lagging behind me in combat, but there was a lot I could learn from his magic. We eventually agreed to a month of teaching each other our specialty. I’ll teach Callen how to fight, and he will help me with magic. I wasn’t sure about learning runes, but maybe that's exactly why we needed to struggle doing something different.

  Just as we resolved to struggle learning something new, Grandpa burst through the door. He was drenched in rain and clearly tired.

  “Callia! Callen! How did it go with that Lexia girl?” Grandpa strips off his water-soaked gear, hanging it up by the door before moving to the restroom to grab a towel to dry himself off. While doing this, Callen seemed to understand what Grandpa was talking about more than me.

  “I haven’t seen her. Do you think something happened to delay her?” Callen and Grandpa seemed puzzled, but the topic was shortly dropped. Vaguely the memory of the girl I saw briefly before losing consciousness comes up, but I set aside the issue. It seems I’ll get the chance to learn more if they do eventually show up like Callen and Grandpa expected. I instinctively dodge to the side as Grandpa takes a chance to try bopping me on the head. He seems grumpy both at my dodging his attack and something else.

  “Stop moving, you rascal! You deserve a good head walloping! You and your brother!” He turns his glare to Callen.

  “Not a word of notice to anyone! Just running off in the middle of the night on a reckless and dangerous mission! Do you think that nobody would care if you disappeared? Let this old man try to hold things up a bit longer, won't you! I get you are both outstanding, but for a true family, unlocking stats early means I failed at keeping you and our home safe!” Grandpa’s rant continues on. Just like me, he feels responsible for all the pressure on the family. I interrupt his rant by giving him a hug. He quiets down and holds me back.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “Grandpa, it’s a big world out there. Callen and I both realized we were too rash.

  It was your failure that made things so hard on us. It was your success that helped us get this far!” Grandpa seems a lot less agitated, but taking advantage of the hug, he still lightly chops my head. His earlier attempt was fully avenged. I just pout at Grandpa while rubbing my head, which seems to fully ease him from the funk he was in.

  One by one everyone started calling it a night, and eventually I was left staring out my window at the moon above. Quietly the night passes, and the new day sets everyone back into motion with our resolve renewed. Callen and I both set off to our forest training ground first thing in the morning. We had decided that I would learn from him first.

  “Right! Let’s begin the first magic lesson plan! First we should consider what will eventually help you. Runes are useful, but we both know that you can't sit still long enough to learn enough to make them useful. Instead, I was thinking we could try focusing on your mana skills. My end goal is getting you the mana boost skill, which will fit nicely with the non-mana-based boosting skills you have.” Callen finished his presentation, and I couldn’t help but feel better. Learning runes was something I had no interest in, but Callen’s Mana Boost was enough to briefly keep up with me. It increased physical stats based on mana expended and existing stats. With my interest sparked, Callen immediately got into his lesson, which involved me using my mana sense to feel his mana as he reached towards me.

  Our training was eventually interrupted as the mayor’s messenger showed up, pulling Callen for some urgent report that he needed to help with. Still, that left me alone in the training ground. Grabbing my bow, I decided to get back in the zone, but this time I wanted to try something like I did with the ropes.

  Drawing my arrow, I easily find my target. It’s a simple, unmoving target and an easy target. Then I shift my mana enveloping my arrow. I let my affinity fill the arrow while sealing it with my mana. I let the arrow go, and partly through the flight, it bursts into vines. It bounces short of the target because of the drag and weight generated from the spontaneous transformation.

  With the new idea to work for, I try out the same idea with decay. Again the affinity collapses the arrow, but now I’m starting to get the hang of it. I easily get into the rhythm, letting my arrows fly with affinity until I finally get the arrow to burst after impacting the target. It weaves through the target, growing into a small tree similar to the wood used in making the arrow.

  I check my status and find a change I wasn’t expecting. While I did get a new skill, for some reason I also had Callen’s affinity! I sit down like I saw Callen do so often when we were kids and begin to try sensing what had changed. It isn’t long before I feel a space similar to the one he described. Still, I struggled to reach the space in the same manner he did. Was having three affinities something normal? My gut said no, but I also really wanted to brag about it.

  Timely news

  Mayor Hew wiped some sweat from his forehead. When the whole debacle with the bandits happened, Callen had been busy and unable to help. Luckily he returned with his sister shortly before long. He was glad they were ok, but he was even happier that it didn’t take long. Otherwise he would’ve had to deal with the report himself, and he still didn’t know what to write.

  Callen showed up somewhat unhappy; he had been having fun teaching Callia, who was finally willing to listen to him, but Hew had to drag him away. Still, it was a big deal, and it made sense to Callen that he might have to contribute because of the roles he played in the conflict. Framing it in a manner that would both satisfy the nobles and keep everyone out of trouble was going to be an issue. Distress was visible for them both.

  However, in the next moment a messenger from Portten arrived with urgent news. Eldraine City was overrun by a hive worm. Callen was horrified, but Hew realized the truly important detail. If the only road between Port Town and the rest of humanity had been overrun, that meant he could say the report was lost in transit! It might be a terrible situation and spell out trouble for the entire community, but at least he didn’t need to worry about how to explain the psycho baron’s plan to pillage his own towns!

  With that load off his chest, he dismissed Callen like he had urgent business with the new information. Setting the inspectors to high alert with the notice of a local hive worm infection was a simple command. Then, after Callen left, he poured himself a glass of wine and pulled out a notebook. Flipping to the back and opening up a chart of relations labelled with the Callen X Crescent plan. He got back to plotting how to arrange the next ‘accidental’ encounter for his granddaughter.