There were so many things I wanted to talk with Cathy about, but I knew that the more time I spent with her the harder it would be to face Mara during training in the morning. She had her own work to do as well. In the end, I was probably just wasting her time.
I stared down at the tea that she had made me. I was drinking it out of a delicate porcelain cup, with the state her room was in I was surprised that it was still intact. She didn't seem like the type that would take very good care of her things.
“Siya, can you help me with this?”
My eyes drifted away from the rippling tea and I glanced over Cathy again. She had finally finished dressing, well, mostly. All that was left was her breastplate. “Seriously Cathy, can you get new armor? Or even just have the tailors add length to the straps.”
“Well, it fit fine earlier. I guess I just gained some weight while we were in the city.”
I rolled my eyes and walked over to her, helping her latch all of the easy steps first, of course, it was the one that tightened the plate around her chest that had the most trouble tightening. “When did some start meaning a lot?” I grunted, pulling on the strap.
Eventually, I managed to get it, with her help. “There, see. No problem.” She said, trying to hide the fact that she was out of breath.
I groaned. “Cathy… The armor tore.”
“What? Have they gotten that large?”
I rolled my eyes at her. “This has nothing to do with your chest, your back muscles are just huge. What have you been doing these past 6 months?”
She looked down, slipping her fingers into the tear in the stitching that held the leather together and examining it. “Here I'll get the mirror.”
I nearly froze. ‘The mirror?’ I repeated in my mind. I still had never seen myself. I didn't know if I had a chubby face, big eyes, or big ears. Chills ran through my body as she carried a full-body mirror out of the closet and placed it in front of me.
I bit my bottom lip and turned away before I could see myself clearly. Slowly turning back, I opened my eyes as Catherine placed it against a wall and stepped backward till she was next to me.
“Maybe it is time I get some new armor…”
I slowly forced my eyes away from her, looking at myself. I was this tiny little thing. Holding one arm across my chest shyly. My long hair was expertly put up and braided, and I could make out an orange color.
‘I guess it's not brown… I wonder how it would look if I managed to wash it with soap?’
I had big silver eyes that really did have a slight glow to them. My ears and nose were small, my mouth was the same. I had several scars, but none of them directly covered my face, they were mostly on my neck or near my ears.
I was dirty, just like I thought… But I was kind of cute. I hoped that was true, but a part of me thought people had only been saying that to try and cheer me up since they knew I had been sick and injured for so long.
“Siya, everything alright?”
I stared at the unfamiliar face in the mirror, slowly burning it into my mind. “Is that… really me?” I moved my right hand, only to see my mirrored left-hand move. It almost gave me vertigo, confusing my senses.
“Who else would it be?”
I unbuckled Finlo’s cloak, letting it drop to the floor. Suddenly the impression I gave off shifted drastically. My arms were large for my frame and covered in scars that made it look like I was a 20-year veteran monster hunter. I hiked up the hem of my dress. My legs were the same. There was virtually no fat on my body at all.
Whether that was still because I was recovering from being so thin, or because of my training I didn't know, but I could see the striations. “Am I some kind of freak?” I wouldn't go as far as to say I looked like a bodybuilder, but it felt close, and seeing that physique on the frame of my childlike body gave me a strange melancholy feeling.
It was kind of gross… But it was also kind of cool.
“Well. You're not normal.” She said, looking at the mirror and clearly thinking the same thing.
I put the cloak back on, wrapping it around myself. “Hm…”
“Don't worry about it, you're still recovering from your father's magic. Your body regenerates the muscle tissue first in order to survive. After that, it starts regenerating the fat. You're probably still really hungry, right? Just keep eating and you'll be fine.”
“It's because of fathers magic… What do you mean? All he did was heal me.”
She narrowed her eyes “You don't know much about magic do you.”
I thought I knew a decent amount, but suddenly it seemed like maybe that wasn't the case. “I guess not…”
She took her teacup and placed it at the center of the table. “Magic is a tool that can change the fabric of reality, tearing and restoring it depending on the strength of one's will. You understand that much right.”
I nodded. It was good to know that I wasn't taught wrong at least.
“Magic is categorized into tiers, 1 being the lowest. Tier one magic is greatly restricted and limited by natural laws. Still with me?”
I nodded again.
“Your father isn't a great mage, he only knows a little magic, he can't use high-level magic… He didn't use healing magic, he used recovery magic… Tier two recovery magic to be precise.”
“Ok… what's the difference.”
“Healing magic heals you from the manna supply of the caster. It's either high-tier or divine magic. Recovery magic speeds up your body's natural healing process. Recovery magic uses up the caster's manna… But it also expands the energy of the healed, using up their mana and stamina. I'm sure you felt tired after he healed you right.”
“I see… So it's a double-edged sword.”
“Right, it's dangerous to use a spell like that without the level of control your father has over his manna.”
It didn't bother me so much since it worked out in the end. Rather, it explained why my father hugged me so tightly before casting the spell. ‘He must have been so scared…’
“Anyway, the difference between tier 1 and 2 is that the spell he cast lingers, accelerating your metabolism and helping your body to regenerate all of the energy it lost while you were healing. Of course, this relies on you eating a lot, so make sure you aren't skipping any meals.”
I took a long deep breath before letting it out in a sigh. “Geez, this would have been nice to know earlier…”
She laughed. “Your family isn't exactly good with words are they.”
“Guess not…”
She looked at her gear one more time, deciding to just leave it. She had a shirt on underneath after all. So with the quick lecture on magic over, she went ahead and took off, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I stared back into the mirror. “So… I'm a muscly freak, but I'll get better? It feels like there's more to this. ‘Was I really this big before I fought that monster? Is it possible there's an RPG system in this world and I leveled up when I killed it?’
[Status: Initiated.]
There were so many things I wanted to talk with Cathy about, but I knew that the more time I spent with her the harder it would be to face Mara during training in the morning. She had her own work to do as well. In the end, I was probably just wasting her time.
I stared down at the tea that she had made me. I was drinking it out of a delicate porcelain cup, with the state her room was in I was surprised that it was still intact. She didn't seem like the type that would take very good care of her things.
“Siya, can you help me with this?”
My eyes drifted away from the rippling tea and I glanced over Cathy again. She had finally finished dressing, well, mostly. All that was left was her breastplate. “Seriously Cathy, can you get new armor? Or even just have the tailors add length to the straps.”
“Well, it fit fine earlier. I guess I just gained some weight while we were in the city.”
I rolled my eyes and walked over to her, helping her latch all of the easy steps first, of course, it was the one that tightened the plate around her chest that had the most trouble tightening. “When did some start meaning a lot?” I grunted, pulling on the strap.
Eventually, I managed to get it, with her help. “There, see. No problem.” She said, trying to hide the fact that she was out of breath.
I groaned. “Cathy… The armor tore.”
“What? Have they gotten that large?”
I rolled my eyes at her. “This has nothing to do with your chest, your back muscles are just huge. What have you been doing these past 6 months?”
She looked down, slipping her fingers into the tear in the stitching that held the leather together and examining it. “Here I'll get the mirror.”
I nearly froze. ‘The mirror?’ I repeated in my mind. I still had never seen myself. I didn't know if I had a chubby face, big eyes, or big ears. Chills ran through my body as she carried a full-body mirror out of the closet and placed it in front of me.
I bit my bottom lip and turned away before I could see myself clearly. Slowly turning back, I opened my eyes as Catherine placed it against a wall and stepped backward till she was next to me.
“Maybe it is time I get some new armor…”
I slowly forced my eyes away from her, looking at myself. I was this tiny little thing. Holding one arm across my chest shyly. My long hair was expertly put up and braided, and I could make out an orange color.
‘I guess it's not brown… I wonder how it would look if I managed to wash it with soap?’
I had big silver eyes that really did have a slight glow to them. My ears and nose were small, my mouth was the same. I had several scars, but none of them directly covered my face, they were mostly on my neck or near my ears.
I was dirty, just like I thought… But I was kind of cute. I hoped that was true, but a part of me thought people had only been saying that to try and cheer me up since they knew I had been sick and injured for so long.
“Siya, everything alright?”
I stared at the unfamiliar face in the mirror, slowly burning it into my mind. “Is that… really me?” I moved my right hand, only to see my mirrored left-hand move. It almost gave me vertigo, confusing my senses.
“Who else would it be?”
I unbuckled Finlo’s cloak, letting it drop to the floor. Suddenly the impression I gave off shifted drastically. My arms were large for my frame and covered in scars that made it look like I was a 20-year veteran monster hunter. I hiked up the hem of my dress. My legs were the same. There was virtually no fat on my body at all.
Whether that was still because I was recovering from being so thin, or because of my training I didn't know, but I could see the striations. “Am I some kind of freak?” I wouldn't go as far as to say I looked like a bodybuilder, but it felt close, and seeing that physique on the frame of my childlike body gave me a strange melancholy feeling.
It was kind of gross… But it was also kind of cool.
“Well. You're not normal.” She said, looking at the mirror and clearly thinking the same thing.
I put the cloak back on, wrapping it around myself. “Hm…”
“Don't worry about it, you're still recovering from your father's magic. Your body regenerates the muscle tissue first in order to survive. After that, it starts regenerating the fat. You're probably still really hungry, right? Just keep eating and you'll be fine.”
“It's because of fathers magic… What do you mean? All he did was heal me.”
She narrowed her eyes “You don't know much about magic do you.”
I thought I knew a decent amount, but suddenly it seemed like maybe that wasn't the case. “I guess not…”
She took her teacup and placed it at the center of the table. “Magic is a tool that can change the fabric of reality, tearing and restoring it depending on the strength of one's will. You understand that much right.”
I nodded. It was good to know that I wasn't taught wrong at least.
“Magic is categorized into tiers, 1 being the lowest. Tier one magic is greatly restricted and limited by natural laws. Still with me?”
I nodded again.
“Your father isn't a great mage, he only knows a little magic, he can't use high-level magic… He didn't use healing magic, he used recovery magic… Tier two recovery magic to be precise.”
“Ok… what's the difference.”
“Healing magic heals you from the manna supply of the caster. It's either high-tier or divine magic. Recovery magic speeds up your body's natural healing process. Recovery magic uses up the caster's manna… But it also expands the energy of the healed, using up their mana and stamina. I'm sure you felt tired after he healed you right.”
“I see… So it's a double-edged sword.”
“Right, it's dangerous to use a spell like that without the level of control your father has over his manna.”
It didn't bother me so much since it worked out in the end. Rather, it explained why my father hugged me so tightly before casting the spell. ‘He must have been so scared…’
“Anyway, the difference between tier 1 and 2 is that the spell he cast lingers, accelerating your metabolism and helping your body to regenerate all of the energy it lost while you were healing. Of course, this relies on you eating a lot, so make sure you aren't skipping any meals.”
I took a long deep breath before letting it out in a sigh. “Geez, this would have been nice to know earlier…”
She laughed. “Your family isn't exactly good with words are they.”
“Guess not…”
She looked at her gear one more time, deciding to just leave it. She had a shirt on underneath after all. So with the quick lecture on magic over, she went ahead and took off, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I stared back into the mirror. “So… I'm a muscly freak, but I'll get better? It feels like there's more to this. ‘Was I really this big before I fought that monster? Is it possible there's an RPG system in this world and I leveled up when I killed it?’
[Status: Initiated.]
