"That's the magic menu of your status. The first thing you'll need to do is pick an attribute. If you would like more details on which branch of magic to choose, I can walk you through each one. My only recommendation is to not pick soul magic as it is largely frowned upon and is even illegal in some countries."
"It says I can pick two," Sakura exclaims.
"While the stone you imbibed was technically large enough to support two attributes, I wouldn't recommend it because you will face a large penalty. You can always invest in a second attribute at a later time, but most adventurers only need one."
"Okay, I picked one!" Sakura's voice grows increasingly excited as she waits for further instruction.
"What about you, Josh?" Shelly asks. He just nods in response, so we assume he's got it figured out. "Then, next, you're going to need to pick a nature-"
"Done!" Sakura interrupts her, and Josh nods again. Shelly clears her throat and continues.
"Okay, now comes your focus. You can spend some of the bonus points you collect to learn a new spell, skill, or focus in your magic tree, but the first one is free. I recommend picking one that you can use immediately."
"I'm done!"
"Me too." Both kids finish the process almost simultaneously.
"Perfect. How're you feeling." I've heard that there can be a backlash after getting magic power, so I ask the kids about their condition.
"I feel fine."
"Me too." Josh agrees with Sakura again, so I take them at their word.
"Is there anything else we should know?" I turn to Shelly as I bring up my next question to her.
"Hmm, nope, that should be it. You should intuitively know how to use your magic, but if you have any problems, please come back at any time."
"Okay, thanks for the help."
""Thank you!"" The newlyweds thank our instructor and run out of the building. I have a quick chat with Shelly about the state of affairs before following after them.
"Let's go to the forest, Nick!"
"Alright, alright, calm down." I feel like a father that just took their kids to Disney land. Sakura runs forward with Josh in tow. He has an uncharacteristic light in his eyes. I can feel their enthusiasm, and we quickly make our way to the den.
"So, what did you pick?" I finally bring up the topic as we arrive at the mouth of the cave.
"Kinetics, friction, and adhesion," Josh replies.
"Really?" I'm shocked Josh has such a specific vision for what type of magic he wants. "Why friction? Isn't momentum more popular?"
The Kinetics attribute is broken down into the pressure, friction, and momentum natures. While pressure and friction are both useful, momentum is much more common as it has so many applications. As we saw with Sam the first time we entered the forest, being able to move objects in your environment is very useful. The friction nature is then divided into the adhesion and lubrication focuses. I'm curious about what spells can be used by these focuses. I haven't done much research on the magic system, so I'll have to look into it later.
"When we were fighting the Dracoterra, it kept breaking my footing. I want to make sure that doesn't happen again."
"That makes sense. It'll also be nice to break the footing of your opponents by picking up the lubrication focus. You're already such a strong fighter, and now you're just getting even stronger." Josh's eyes go wide at my words. It seems he didn't even consider using it offensively, which is pretty terrifying on some level because his only concern when fighting is that his stance isn't broken. In other words, he feels he can only be beaten when put at a positional disadvantage. I shrug off the chills running up my neck and turn to Sakura. "What about you?"
"I picked Monism, body, and buffing," Sakura says proudly.
"So, you got healing magic?"
"No, I picked a shield spell. I figured that we have plenty of healing potions, so we don't need more healing at the moment, and I want to make sure Josh doesn't get hurt while fighting."
[I wasn't expecting her to think things through to this extent. I thought she would just choose healing magic because Shinobu was talking about it. It will be interesting to see how her choice in magic affects her when she's mad; I can picture her as some kind of unstoppable juggernaut in the future. It's odd to think she chose this route just because she cares about Josh. Those two are really special.]
"That's perfect; what do you think?" I turn to Inari, who's levitating by my head. After being surprised by her so many times in the past, I seem to have developed a sixth sense of when she's behind me.
"It seems reasonable. Though your system is quite limited in its use, it can shave years off the learning process when it comes to magic. You humans are too fragile to survive the true path to magic."
"Perfect. Why don't you both give it a shot?" I ignore Inari and turn to instruct the kids.
"Aegis Mantle!" Sakura excitedly shouts as she uses the spell. A thin blue light covers her body and then disapparates.
"That was the shield, yeah?" I ask.
"Yup! It protects you from attacks." She says vaguely.
"So, is it like adding an additional HP stat?"
"I think so? That's what it feels like, at least."
"Awesome. How long does it last?"
"I don't know."
"We'll have to keep an eye on that. Make sure to say something if it disappears."
"Okay!"
"How about you, Josh?" The young boy nods his head.
"Stasis!" Shouting louder than he ever has before, Josh gestures towards the ground, but nothing happens.
"Did it work?" I ask.
"Idiots." Inari clicks her tongue and flies above the spot where Josh's spell was cast. She swoops down and digs her fingers into the dirt. With a single motion of her arm, Inari picks a car-sized chunk of soil into the air. "That spell increases the friction coefficient to one which causes the soil to act as a single solid substance."
Inari slams the enchanted dirt onto the ground, which creates an indentation.
"It works well in conjunction with the anchoring skill to secure your footing or momentum spells to create an object to manipulate. If you're ever fighting in a desert, you can use the Stasis spell to form a makeshift boulder to use as a projectile."
"Wow." The words fall from my mouth as I see the nine-inch-tall fairy throw a massive chunk of soil around like it's nothing.
"Cool!" Sakura shouts with sparkles in her eyes.
"Very nice. That looks like it'll be useful in a fight, right Josh?"
"…" He stares at the chunk of dirt without saying anything, mesmerized.
"I'll take that as a yes. Now, let's get ready for our first dungeon exploration."
"Okay!"
"Um, Are you sure about this?" Shinobu still seems a little nervous and asks to reconsider. The suns are drooping slightly.