Mage Among Superheroes

Because of the incident at the mall, we didn't really get much shopping done. "You boys alright?" I asked Jerome and his friend Haralamb. "That was dangerous, what you did there."

"We couldn't just let those people get killed," Jerome protested.

I couldn't really argue with that. "At least you used clever tactics instead of trying to fight directly. That would not have gone well for the two of you. Speaking of which… how long has Haralamb been able to use magic?"

"Well…" Jerome scratched his cheek timidly. "Since the incident."

There were many incidents in New Bay, but for him there was one of note. It was where he both gained full grasp on his power as well as developed some unintentional side effects.

"Do you have full control over your abilities?" I asked Haralamb directly.

"Well, uh, I don't have a class window, or points and stuff. Just the portal power version. I never stepped through one…"

"Maybe if we can find a way to do so with low risk, we can attempt that," I said. "But for the moment, have you been training properly?"

"Jerome has been teaching me," he admitted.

"Sorry," Jerome bowed his head.

"Why are you apologizing?" I asked. "Do you think I would be mad? You got your powers by accident, and so did he. It's only hiding it that has me slightly upset." I shrugged, "But it's also your choice, I suppose."

Jerome and his friend exchanged glances, "I guess I didn't really think about it."

"That's fair." Not thinking about the right things was where a lot of my problems historically came from. "I assume you'd like mention of your involvement to be kept to a minimum?" I didn't exactly want to have to explain Jerome being in danger around me to his mother. Though I had told them to get somewhere safe.

"Yeah…" Jerome nodded.

"Good. And I suppose I should say, it would probably be better for the two of you to sign up for an official training program, whether you want to be heroes or mercenaries or whatever. You're still too young to actually get involved in proper hero work, but the training would still let you use your powers. And uh… it is apparently good for a 'resume', whatever, that is." That was something Tylissa would care about, probably.

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Since I was right on the edge of leveling after that battle with the orcs, it didn't take long for me to level up with a few days of training. Though the fact that it took so long for 6 measly experience was concerning. At that rate, it could take three months to get another level. Obviously that meant not getting involved in actual combat, and if I were to compare that to the expected rate of growth, it was more than a few times better. But that was comparing to people living normal lives in my previous world, not those who faced constant struggles that they needed to be strong for.

It was just a concern that came up when I determined something. My spellcasting capability had not increased. By which I meant the fatigue point that should have been half my mana had not increased. In short, I was not as close to my goal of casting Gate as I hoped. It kept slipping from my grasp, with miscalculations and misunderstandings. The fact that I'd gotten a book on it made it seem to be important. Though I had no desire to live back in my previous world, I had many questions for Master Uvithar- and he was reluctant to even skirt around the topics while we communicated via Sending.

So I would either need 6 more levels, or I would have to find some way to push through that barrier. It already seemed like an extreme portion of my mana to use at once so I wasn't sure how valuable such a skill would be- exhausting myself in two moves was bound to be an issue.

There was another alternative where I saved my points for next level and spent them all on Gate to reduce its cost. However, that would involve neglecting immediate needs. Even with just one upgrade spent on Chain Lightning, I could potentially eke out another use. Stoneskin could increase my safety further, or I could even upgrade Storage so I could retrieve necessary equipment more easily if incidents like the mall repeated themselves.

The only thing I was certain I shouldn't do was just hoard points. I had two level's worth now, and I should spend at least a portion of them. Even if I wanted to force Gate as early as possible, I could still spend 27.

Chain Lightning had gotten its natural upgrade. I still had no solid basis for that being easier or not without point upgrades spent on it, but I wanted that efficiency. Along with another upgrade to Storage, allowing for a bit more space and efficiency, I was also going to try something crazy. Without knowing how much it would cost, I attempted to spend points on Mana Crystal Deposition.

At some point in the past it might not have worked, but things had changed significantly. Either way, it worked seamlessly… subtracting 5 points from my total. That put it more towards the level of a lower level ability, and I wondered if there were higher level ones that could be discovered even if just a few.

With that cost, I couldn't really upgrade much else of interest without going below my intended threshold. But it was crazy to save enough points for two Gate upgrades. Rushing for it next level was just greedy. At least I was fairly certain that the reduced cost would be what I had to wrestle with my fatigue threshold for- nominally half of my maximum, until recently.

I added another point to both Stoneskin and Sonic Lance. Chain Lightning was cool, but it was far too expensive and trying to cast it with less mana came with a loss of control. Electricity was also more commonly resisted than sound based attacks, with Rocker being one of the few exceptions.