21 Chapter 21 - Days Following The Spell (1/2)

2 days after the spell:

The atmosphere was strained in the carriage. Joseph sent her to learn to use daggers, and that seemed to help a little. He's hoping in another day or two, she'll go back to normal. It was just an accident; couldn't she see that?

He started practicing the inscribe runes, and found it very difficult. It was like having a fast-drying ink, and trying to write with the brush so that not only does the entire thing dry at the exact same time, but that it also dries at the exact time you cast your spell. And just adding more ink at the beginning doesn't work as the lines have to be balanced. He was far more appreciative of the paper Stu had given him. He didn't think he would have been able to manage a flawless cast for a good long while yet. Having the rune already written allowed him to focus on just supplying the mana. He made a mental note to thank Stu the next time he saw him.

3 days after the spell:

Joseph picked himself back up from the ground, where he once again found himself during sword practice. It was a lot harder than he thought. The instructor was good though, and he found learning the forms immediately because of his memory ability helped. It was just getting his body to do what his mind wanted that was hard.

Stella seemed to be doing better when he returned from practice, but when she handed him his plate at supper, their hands barely touched and she got all embarra.s.sed again. What was her problem?

5 days after the spell:

Joseph was fl.u.s.tered. His progress had slowed to a trickle. Some parts of his lines were fading faster than others and what he wrote seemed to have no affect on his skill training. According to the system, when he checked, it didn't seem to matter what he drew, when trying to inscribe the mana into the world, either a rune or a cat, it still caused his skill to grow. So, he drew the alphabets for English, Chinese, Lapian, and the common of this world. Then he started doodling pictures.

He realized, several hours later, that it helped with his stress over the whole Stella incident, and his progress was back on track. He was halfway through drawing a building, when it started to fade, and he was left with what looked like the remains of a body, before it finished fading away. He tried something else, and found the most beautiful flower he could ever remember seeing, glowing in the air before him.

Hours pa.s.sed as he tried to copy the flower, but no matter how hard he tried, it just looked fake. He finally gave up when lunch arrived.

Stella was distant all day, and due to his single-minded focus, he honestly didn't notice the glances she gave him.

6 days after the spell:

Joseph was having a great day! His progress was flying. During practice, the instructor decided to pit him against Stella in a mock fight. Man, she was fast! He could barely keep up with her. Later, she seemed to be a little calmer, so he hoped that meant she was finally getting over the accident.

7 days after the spell: