But in the morning, Lexie would wake up early to do the meditation exercises she found on the net, trying to move her mana without the use of a card. One person advised her to pretend like she was pulling a string from her body with her finger, and the mana would follow. She thought maybe it worked a little and she felt the mana cloud moving towards her hands. But she couldn't be sure. It was a lot easier to be aware of the movement of mana with a card in her hand. She supposed that the card helped her affinity.
But her affinity wasn't zero without the card. The more she did it, the more she worked whatever internal muscle controlled the fizzling particles inside of her. Pretty soon, she was sure she could move the cloud at least more than an inch without using the card.
And she was no longer getting the headaches as much either. The headaches, she read, were signs of approaching mana exhaustion, a separate concept from burnout that simply meant that she was straining the internal muscles that she used to move around her mana cloud. She didn't want to strain her muscles, so whenever the headaches started, she would take a break, watch videos or read some more articles. And then when she felt adequately rested she would get right back into it.
Maybe because of that, she thought she was starting to see some progress.
Today she managed to activate the
She again briefly wondered if this was usual, her affinity for mana. Or if she could simply sense mana better because she had lived in a world without it and was more attuned to the differences in her body with mana.
Either way, she was happy about her time.
If she kept at it, she could get her internal mana to move faster through the pathways. But the problem was that external mana movement was even slower than internal. And based on everything she'd seen and read, the only way to increase external mana movement was through deadspaces.
Either way, she decided to celebrate her increased mana intuition by activating more cards, including the elusive
It symbolized that her two hours were up.
Disappointment washed through Lexie as Aiden opened the door, holding a large text book with a smile on his face.
"Ready for the wonderful world of mathematics?" he asked.
Lexie groaned. Her least favorite subject. Although she'd eventually gotten a hang of it thanks to her tutors back on Earth 2, Lexie had never liked maths.
Which was funny considering she had gotten into a school famous for its maths and engineering programs.
During the week, Aiden was also trying to catch her up to speed before her first day of class. That meant brushing up on basics–Basic Science and Magic, English, History and Politics, Common Language and Literature, and Geography.
It wasn't that Lexie didn't enjoy the classes. Aiden was a good teacher. He didn't expect her to understand everything right away, and he never made her feel stupid for any question she asked. He also had analogies that made the lessons stick better in her head, like when he compared the War of the Greater Districts to a group of friends who really wanted to but just couldn't get along.
Lexie noted everything down–she was getting the hang of writing on the study pad–and made sure she understood it before moving on. But something was telling her that it still wouldn't be enough.
"I know you've never been a fan," Aiden said grinning at Lexie's groan. "And I don't expect you to be a number cruncher overnight, but I at least want to get you up to a point where you pass the final exam, even if you fail a few assignments or tests here and there."
Lexie gaped at Aiden. Failing a test? Absolutely not. The horror.
Lexie hadn’t even thought about the possibility of botching an exam. She’d never botched anything before. She’s never even gotten below an A- in her life, and even that was only because Mr. Gunther hated that Lexie corrected him all the time.
The thought of doing worse than that gave Lexie hives, but Aiden seemed laid back about the thought of her failing.
But she wasn't necessarily worried about failing maths. It was still elementary stuff, even with the few changes Earth 9 made to it. But maths still bored her for the most part and she wasn't looking forward to the lesson.
"It’s okay, you don’t have to do as well this term," he said. "It’s not a big deal even if you don’t pass the final exam so I don't want you to worry. Anyone would understand given your condition."
And then Lexie finally had to wonder, a question she probably should have asked earlier.
“And what exactly is my condition?” She asked. “I mean what happened before that coma?”
Guilt flickered across his expression and he shook his head.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “I went out late to talk to Max, and I think you followed me out and then fell into a ditch. You hit your head and was probably unconscious for hours. When I came back and saw you, I...I nearly lost it." He swallowed thickly at the memory. "The healer said that you might have memory loss and it might stay for a while. Apparently, the concussion you sustained was more complicated than most. It might have been fatal. Thank the system, it wasn’t.”
"Ah." So it was a concussion from a fall? Huh. Lexie thought it would be a little more dramatic than that. How often do concussions here lead to an interdimensional soul exchange? And since it was apparently life-threatening, was the real Lexie Sparrowfoot dead? If Lexie Evan's soul left the body right now, would this flesh just slump over, empty?
Or was the other Lexie asleep in this body? Would she one day wake up and kick her out?
That thought was disconcerting to say the least.
She wondered how Aiden would react to the knowledge that she wasn't his real daughter. Sometimes, she wanted to tell him, just to see if maybe he could help her figure out what happened, why she was here and how she could go back.
But even without the ISTS rules, she still didn't trust Aiden with that secret.
And also, a huge part of her didn't want to break his heart.
Every time he smiled at her and gazed at her with strong emotion, it lathered Lexie with that uncomfortable guilt again. She felt like she was stealing something that didn't belong to her.
Aiden's affection.
And if there was one constant she knew in this new world, it was that Aiden Sparrowfoot loved his daughter. And Lexie wasn’t her.
That thought made her feel uncomfortable on many levels that she didn't want to dig into right now.
So she decided to change the subject.
"So what kind of work do you do with Max?" she asked. "Dungeon delving?" He'd told her a few days ago that her Uncle Max was a famous Dungeon Delver. He'd even shown her a video of the one and only interview Max had ever done, where he'd looked like he wanted to behead the interviewer every time he was asked a question.
Although to be fair, the questions were kind of inane. They asked him things like, "How did you feel when you encountered the monster on the seventh level? Were you scared or excited?" and "How did it feel watching your teammate get his arm torn from his body?"
And the man said it with such wide-eyed glee, that it made Lexie kind of want to punch him too.
According to Aiden, Max had sworn off interviews altogether after that.
"No, I don’t delve," Aiden said to answer her question. "Apart from the unstable dungeon problem we're having, Hovelton is not a dungeon destination. Not even close and so Max is pretty much the only dungeon delver in town, and he only lives here because his brother lives here. The rest of his team live in other cities in Orinia and a few live in the other districts. They come together during peak delving season, which is in a few months, and Max will have to leave town then."
"I see. So you're helping him before he leaves?"
"Yup. During off-season, he does a lot to get ready. Mostly working on improving his weapons, learning minor potion-making, and studying advanced theoretical dungeonology. The latter two is why I went to see him that night.”
"To teach him?" Lexie guessed and Aiden nodded.
"So you know a lot about dungeons?"
"I know a lot about everything," he said with that slightly prideful tilt that made Lexie roll her eyes with a smile.
In response, he reached out to tweak her nose. "Where do you think you get your obsessive studying habit from?"
“It's not obsessive,” she said, but even she knew it was a lie. Even in her past life, before her parents made it her job to get good grades, Lexie had always been curious and liked to learn new things.
As early as six-years-old, she used to read encyclopedias to pass the time.
"Although I guess your mother was an obsessive learner in her own way too," Aiden continued. "Not with books but with battle techniques. She was a soldier-type fighter but she would spend hours poring over videos of other fighter techniques. It made her style more versatile."
"Mmm." Lexie wanted to ask more about her mother, but she didn't want that sad look to remain on Aiden's features so she said, instead. "Okay. Let's get this math thing over with."
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
The Earth 9 math refresher course took about two hours and then after that, they had History and Politics. Luckily though, Earth 9 shared a lot of history with Earth 2 with a few tweaks in details and names and such. For example there was the War of the Greater Districts which resembled World War 2, with Russia and Germany both being nations in District 8. District 5 also had a trade route that was reminiscent of the Asian silk trade.
And then there was the history of the Guardians who were like the old Grecoroman gods of this world that not everyone was convinced actually existed.
Lexie drew the parallels to make the information easier to remember, and even luckier for her, thanks to the system interface's automatic translation, there was no need to learn different languages, unless she wanted to go into linguistics.
History and Politics lasted a lot longer than Maths did, mostly because both father and daughter were enjoying it so much. It was essentially like a long story time and Lexie enjoyed asking questions to figure out all the neat ways Earth 9's history differed from hers.
“You said you wanted to check on Evan, right?" Aiden said after they were finally done. They were both lying on the floor at this point staring at the roof, with Lexie's head on his extended arm.
Lexie nodded. She knew Evan had finally been completely healed by the Saintess, and so had several other people at the clinic. And so he would be getting discharged today. She wanted to see him but she also didn't know about running into Rose who had been very awkward every time they met in the hospital hallway.
“Yeah, but it's fine. I just wanted to know he's okay.” As she spoke, Lexie paid particular attention to the bands on her father’s wrists. She wondered if it was her imagination, or if his wrists looked a little rawer than they did before. It didn't look like that before the whole Evan thing, did it? She would have noticed. Why was it so red now? He’d told her that the bands often chaffed. Was it from that?
Maybe I should get some ointment for him.
“Tomorrow I'll be working all day, so you'll have to do some self-study," he continued. "I think you can study Science and Magic tomorrow, and I have a textbook that can help you understand it better. It can help you understand cards too."
“Will it help me be faster?” She couldn’t help but ask and he shot her a look.
“No. I repeat, faster comes with time, dear. But it can help you understand pathways better, and maybe that might help visualize." He transferred the book right to her inventory and continued, “Once you’re done with an hour of that, then you can move on to the cards. But you have to promise me that you’ll only spend two hours on cards.”
“I promise,” Lexie said immediately but mentally crossed her fingers.
Aiden didn’t even pretend to believe her. He gave her a resigned look. “At least try to get adequate rest between each try. Can you promise me that?”
“That I can do,” she nodded. She wasn’t trying to burn out again. That was scary.
After the lesson was over, Aiden let her play with the cards for a few more minutes and then finally insisted that she take a nap.
The next day, Lexie's lowest activation time was only forty-two point six. She was disappointed but decided not to let it linger.
It's like exercising, she reminded herself. You couldn't expect your body to be at its peak at every moment. Sometimes you went out jogging and hit your PR. Other times, you didn’t.
Probably, it suggested that she needed more rest.
While in bed, waiting for sleep to catch up to her, she scanned the Video Alley and found that most of the top videos today were clips of a team of [Heroes] rescuing people off a burning building. One of them could fly, and he was going one-by-one to take each person off the building. But there were too many people desperately calling his attention and the fire was raging even more.
Another person was using a forcefield to try to contain the fire from spreading to the street.
And then, finally, a young man shot in the air, fire jetting from his hands. He floated then he put the side of his fist against his mouth, as though about to cough.
But instead, he inhaled deeply.
The craziest thing happened next. The fire began to form a whirlpool in the air, pulling in toward the man's breath.
Amazing.
It was like he was sucking in the fire through his fist, like a reverse dragon breath. The flames arced and danced in the air, leaving the charred building as the victims stared at the [Hero] in awe.
And then once it was over, they cheered for him and he dropped back to the floor.
According to the comments, his name was Theo Firebringer. A quick net search revealed that he was Stella Firebringer's seventeen-year-old son, Luther's nephew.
And apparently he was pretty popular because nearly all the comments were about him and also how good-looking he was. Lexie guessed she could see it. He had that longish curly red hair of a boyband member, not to mention clear blue eyes with a chiseled jaw. He was definitely heart throb material and the comments knew it.
The top three comments read:
Lexie had to agree with deadinside. Some of the comments got pretty gross but she got it. Theo was a looker, but Lexie was definitely more interested in how the fire-swallowing thing worked. Was that some kind of Unbound magic? It had to be since Max mentioned that elementals were all Unbound magic users, but she didn't know for sure that they didn’t use any aids at all. Because where on earth did the fire go? His pathways? How did he eliminate it?
Someone in the comments posted Theo's probable stats, mentioning that he was an A-ranked Elemental (Fire Type). That got Lexie thinking: since elementals were all unbound magic users, did that mean that there were no B or C ranked elementals? Why? And how?
According to what she read, unbound magic worked in a similar way to bound magic, in that it still somewhat balanced internal and external mana, except without a conduit. Occasionally, if the user was powerful enough they didn’t need to even consider the external mana which meant that they could use magic even in mana-poor regions like District 2. She wondered if the Firebringers were like that, and that was why they were so revered.
Watching Theo Firebringer work, saving an entire building in one go and swallowing fire, Lexie knew he probably was one of those people with mountains of mana. She felt a little envious and wistful.
Would she ever be able to do something like that with cards? Be the bad ass who saved people?
Not that she wanted to be a [Hero], obviously she couldn't. But she did want to be powerful enough to save those around her.
Lexie suddenly felt very bad about her affixation. Although she had no plans on being a [Hero], it was still a bummer that there were skills like Theo’s in existence and she’d been given one that was so…meh.
Maybe if I’d gotten a skill like Theo's I wouldn’t have minded being a [Hero]. It would have been easy for me to earn points by establishing feats of heroism. But that’s going to be difficult with cards which is why I stick to research.
Aiden told her that one way to change a preaffixation would be to continue to earn points in another affixation that she wanted more. So in this case, since she wanted to be a [Researcher] she had to earn scholar points, which were gotten from studying and research and other scholarly activity.
So she was on the right track there.
After a short, uneventful nap, Lexie made herself a bologna sandwich and had it for lunch.
Once she was done, and Aiden still hadn’t returned, Lexie made another sandwich for him. She had no clue if he remembered to eat at the hospital or not, but considering how many times he came home looking two paces from death she figured not.
She packed up the sandwich and headed out locking the door behind her. Aiden said that the protection artifact he’d gotten from Max for his home was kind of a full-blown security system, which only recognized her and Aiden as the owners of the house. No one else would be allowed in without permission. Well, no living thing at least. Ghouls didn’t count since technically they weren’t alive and non-corporeal entities messed with the artifact. Aiden mentioned that Max's tech friend was working on a new version that would be impervious to ghouls too.
Either way, she set off down the winding path, trekking to the hospital. Hovelton was relatively safe, Aiden said, and so she would be fine walking by herself. But if she saw a dungeon portal, a wild beast, or a creepy stranger, she needed to press a button to call the authorities and run away.
She was met with an unexpected sight when she walked into the hospital. The waiting room was pretty much empty, which was interesting given how packed it usually was. There was only Carissa lounging at the front desk with a selfie PHORB. She grinned and waved at Lexie, then turned back to what she was doing.
Lexie headed down the hallways, and found the Saintess talking to Xena. For once Xena didn’t have that antagonistic expression on her face, nor did she look guarded either. Xena’s expression was open, actively listening and when the Saintess said something with a wink, Xena actually cracked a smile.
Of course, the second she noticed Lexie standing there, the smile died.
A thread of annoyance weaved through Lexie's mind. What did I ever do to her?
“Ah if it isn’t the other little rascal,” the Saintess greeted as she approached. “Come to deliver food?’
“Yeah. For my dad.” She shifted from one foot to the other and said, “Thanks again for coming, Saintess Dee. My dad and Emma and everyone really appreciate it, especially since we all know you’re probably really busy."
She sighed. “Unfortunately. The church works me like a dog. Literally. I live with priests and they keep me locked in the basement most of the time, feeding me slop on a metal plate and only letting me out when I’m useful.”
Lexie and Xena gaped at her with similar horror.
“I’m kidding!” the Saintess laughed. “Mostly. Anyway, you're Lexie, right? I just gave Xena here my contact info, and I suppose she can share it with you. If you guys need anything, just let me know, alright?”
Wow. Lexie shared a look with Xena then turned back to Saintess Dee totally awed. No wonder Xena was in a good mood. Healers were rare and Saintesses even more so. Plus they were always busy, so for her to make them that offer…that was insanely nice of her.
“Thank you,” Lexie said, staring at the Saintess with a whole new level of respect. But she also couldn’t stop herself from asking the question that had bothered her for some time now. “How come there aren’t more healers pre-affixed by the system? If the system can pretty much force you to be anything it wants, then the lack feels like a feature, not a bug.”
The Saintess wasn’t expecting that question. Her eyebrow flew up her forehead.
Even Xena frowned at Lexie as though Lexie was being rude. Lexie maintained eye contact until the Saintess finally answered.
“My, how articulate you are for such a youngster," she said, then her smile gentled. "The system can force you to have powers, but it can’t force you to use them, not unless it employs some very unethical methods. It’s not that there aren’t more healers in the system. It’s just that most people who end up being pre-affixed as healers, choose not to use their skill.”
“Why not?”
“Because healers die early,” she said matter-of-factly, so easily that Lexie simply assumed it was another joke. She waited for the punchline but to her growing dread, it never came.
“Healing is really hard on the body,” Saintess Dee continued. “Our pathways get damaged and diseased along the line and we lose the ability to rejuvenate ourselves much less heal anyone else. It’s a career with a short lifespan, literally and figuratively. Most of us don’t live it past fifty.”
Xena and Lexie still stared at the Saintess confused and dismayed. Dee's tone still wasn't properly relaying the gravity of what she was saying. Lexie didn't know whether to take her seriously or not. It was hard to believe the woman was talking about her impending early death so casually.
Especially since she followed it with a bright smile and a clap. “Anywho, enough about that boring stuff. It was really nice meeting you two, but I’m about to be summoned out now. You got my number, so don’t be a stranger. Don’t forget to call me if you need anything, alright?”
They just nodded at her still in shock. Lexie was also thinking, How do you expect me to call you for help when you just told me that healing kills you?
After the Saintess left, Lexie didn't want Xena to think that she wanted to talk to her. So she pointedly ignored her and continued down the hallway to the lab.
Unfortunately, Xena was going in the same direction.
Lexie walked faster. At least this way she's following me, not me following her.
It was such a petty thought to have, but it gave her some satisfaction.
She got more satisfaction when she delivered food to Aiden. He made a huge show of it, fawning over it to everyone else in the lab until Emma said, "Oh, how adorable. Xena you should stick with Lexie. Maybe she'll be a good influence on you."
She stared pointedly at Xena when she said it, which made Xena roll her eyes and Lexie smile smugly.
And then Lexie soon returned home. She spent some more time practicing mana shaping, and doing more exercises she found online.
In between that she watched more fight videos, including one of Dust Bunny Vs The Ink Witch, a weaponist who turned ink into solid weapons.
Lexie knew within the first five minutes of the match that it would be Bunny’s win. The other girl was good too, but Bunny was simply better. And the comments knew it too.
Most of the comments were praising Bunny’s skill.
A few people wanted Bunny to step on them as she did on the Ink Witch at the finisher.
Nani252 also crafted an elaborate fanfiction about Bunny and Ink Witch in the comments, and the replies called for her to find religion.
And then as Lexie fell asleep, she tried not to let her stomach knot with dread.
Tomorrow would be her first day of school.
Buuuuut if we can crack it within the next two days, then I'll release two bonus chapters.