NOVEL NEXT Chapter 94 – Bethany
"I don't understand what you are saying. Helga, why would we be in danger? If what you say is true, that in a few days our son will be a mage and will likely be an extremely talented one, why would that pose a risk to us? Why should we go and hide?" Caleb Wells asked.
"Politics," Helga Teft answered simply.
"What does politics have to do with Damion's talent?"
"The level of talent that Damion has exhibited so far, leads me to believe that when he can use magic, he will be a like a lightning rod in a storm. All the great powers are going to try and recruit him, to sink their claws into him."
"And you think that makes us his weakness?" Sharon Wells asked.
"Yes. If you all stay here in Saung, it will not be long before a noble family or the Mage Association or maybe even a large guild comes along and compels your assistance in recruiting Damion to their side."
"How can you be so sure this will happen?" Caleb asked.
"It happens frequently. Power breeds jealousy and makes those in power want to control the next generation."
"But this is all still just speculation," Sharon said. "We don't even know for sure that Damion will become a mage on his birthday."
"He will. And the nobles will try to control him through any means. Even threatening his family."
"You are absolutely sure?"
"It is what happened to me."
After Damion left the dungeon run he went to the Adventurer Association and received his payment and then home. He would not say the dungeon run was a complete failure, but he felt it was quite the fiasco. Damion just hoped he never had to be in another dungeon run with Lucas or Tray Fontane ever again.
When Damion arrived home he was greeted with open arms by his little sister and her stuffed bunny toy that was her favorite.
"Ba'her. Up." The little girl said as she stretched out her arms wanting Damion to pick her up and carry her. Not capable of saying no to her, Damion picked her up and put her on his shoulders.
Bethany giggled as Damion moved about the house with her on his shoulders and her bunny toy resting on hers. Luckily, Damion had gotten used to removing and storing his gear while carrying the toddler. Once Damion was unburdened from his gear, he took the little girl into the backyard to play.
A few hours later their mother came out and to inform Damion and Bethany that dinner was ready. After eating dinner Bethany was deposited in the living room, surrounded by her toys while Damion and his parents caught up on the day's affairs.
"How was the mission?" Caleb, Damion's father asked.
"About as I expected it to be," Damion answered. His parents still did not know about the existence of breaches and since they were not adventurers, he was not allowed to tell them. "A couple of pampered mages that only knew how to use magic."
"Is that why Ms. Teft has always trained you so hard with the sword? To make sure you can fight without magic?" Sharon asked.
"To make sure he doesn't embarrass her more like," Caleb said with a laugh.
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"You aren't wrong," Damion confessed. "I remember her telling me once that the academy graduates all excelled at magic, but most could barely lift a weapon in their own defense. And that after graduation many of them spend years strengthening their bodies so they can advance."
"Is it really necessary to be physically strong to be a strong mage?" Caleb asked his son.
"Strong? I guess it depends on your definition of strong. Magic strengthens the body on its own, but magic by itself takes a long time to do it. Magic combined with physical training speeds the process up considerably. The more you train, the more your strength rises, but it gets harder and harder to increase your strength as you get stronger."
"What I mean son, is why is physical strength necessary?"
"You've over inflated a balloon before right?"
"Sure."
"It is kind of the same principal. The body is the rubber of the balloon and magic is the air or water you are filling it with. The more you put into the balloon, the more stress is on it. So, the stronger the rubber of the balloon, the more you can fill it with."
"The stronger the body, the more magic you can fill it with." Caleb summarized.
"Basically. There are more nuances to it than just a strong body, but that is the basic principle."
"And will you pop like a balloon if you fill yourself with too much magic?" Sharon asked.
"I don't think anyone would explode, if that is what you mean. But if a person forces their body to absorb too much mana, it can damage their body. That is what happened to me as a baby."
"We've always worried about that son. Ms. Teft reassured us that you healed on your own. She said as your body grew you were able to recover. But we were never really… we still always worried."
"It's okay mom. When I was a baby I was able to absorb mana, but because my body was so weak, I absorbed too much too fast and that is what hurt me. But I'm fine now. I've made a complete recovery and Ms. Teft says I'm her most promising student."
"I'm so glad to hear that son," Sharon said as she fought back tears. "I've always been so worried. And with Bethany. I was afraid the same thing would happen to her."
"You have nothing to worry about with her," Damion reassured. Damion of course knew his problems were because of the Magic System, as far as he knew, and as far as the Magic System would tell him, he was the only person with the Magic System. His sister would either be a mage, knight or a normal person, completely by her own genetics or luck or fate or whatever governed the chances of such things in this world.
Damion had been tempted a few times to get a testing crystal and check Bethany, to see if she had the potential to be a mage, but he held himself back. She would get tested when she was in school, just like all the other children of Saung. He did not want to risk cutting off her dreams early if she did not have the potential or creating an inflated ego if she did and learned of it now.
"Do you think she can be a mage too?" Caleb asked as he watched his little girl play with her toys in the next room.
"There is always that possibility. We won't know for sure until she gets tested.," Damion told them. "There were two boys in my class that tested with B Grade talents. And I hear that each year the number of kids with magic affinities increase. So, there is a good chance that Bethany will have magic talent."
What Damion did not tell his parents, was that even if she had a magic affinity, it might not be the best thing for her. As Damion learned in the past, just because someone had a magic affinity, did not mean they were going to do great things.
Bethany would need a useful magic affinity at a high Rank and a high Rank in her magical talent as well, if she ever wanted to climb the ranks of mages. Without those, she would be better off as a knight or even a normal person. Damion had the Magic System, which was essentially a cheat and even he struggled with the day to day, though that could just be due to Ms. Teft's training regimen.
After a while, Bethany started to get tired, and Sharon put her to bed. Damion decided it was a good idea for himself. Though he did not actually go to bed just yet. Instead, he sat in his room and meditated. He needed to work hard if he wanted to continue to increase his magic capacity and magic power.
Damion would like to walk around with his Mana Absorption spell active all the time, but if he accidentally touched someone it would be problematic as he would drain their mana instead of the ambient mana in the air.
Despite not keeping the spell active all the time, Damion had used it enough to advance the spell to D Rank. This allowed the spell to pull in 12 mana a second, which meant if he did not use any magic, he could completely refill his mana capacity in under 3 minutes. But even with the higher absorption rate of the spell, it was still a struggle for Damion to overfill his magic core and compress the magic to increase his magic power. Damion was eager to increase his magic power to C Rank before the Magic System unlocked.