16 Chapter 16 - Single Minded (2/2)

(DUE TO EXTENDED PERIODS OF INTENSE CONCENTRATION YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ADVANTAGE – SINGLE MINDED)

(ACCEPT NEW ADVANTAGE?)

(YES) (NO)

Joseph was blown away. It never occurred to him that he could gain things from the system without buying them. He excitedly accepted.

(NEW ADVANTAGE GAINED – SINGLE MINDED)

SINGLE MINDED - +1 bonus to a single task when devoting yourself. -1 penalty to notice outside disturbances.

Joseph grinned and Stella looked down. She obviously thought he was thinking about the dinner in a couple days, and that made him want to laugh even more. In his opinion, he already had this. Hadn't he spent a week traveling with Stella without noticing? It was nice of the system to at least reward him with something.

”Do you want me to inform your father?”

”Oh, that would be great! I can start preparing for it now, that way. Thanks, Stella!”

He saw the faintest blush as she stood and put her chalk and slate away. Turning back to his study, he needed to be able to get the mana to do what it needed to do in order for him to cast regular spells. Two days of thirteen hours and two days of twelve hours would complete that. Then he would be able to cast a regular spell, a.s.suming he knew how.

Stella was gone for almost an hour, but he didn't notice. She returned with some food, and again he barely noticed. Each bite he took was slow and mechanical. He only thought he had been single minded before. The added bonus and penalty from the advantage made it even more exaggerated.

Shaking her head in amus.e.m.e.nt, she got out her slate and went back to her own study. At least working for him wasn't as difficult as she had feared. As she focused on writing each letter as perfectly as possible, her mind wandered. Memories of her youth, when she was too young to understand what was happening around her, surfaced, and she had to stop herself several times. Glancing at him, each time, she wondered if a time would come when she would have to leave him. He was still young at the moment, but he would grow until one day…

No! She wouldn't think about that. If a time came, she would deal with it then. Not now. She couldn't deal with it now…

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