Throughout the first half of the day, Basil had to spend that time unceremoniously giving individual names to each and every one of the Small Torah. At first, he started to provide them with good and meaningful names, but about halfway through, he gave up and just started to give them names related to the fact they were sheep or a play on words of their secondary species name. For example: Lamby, Lambbo, Lambmoo, and Lambbow. After all this ended, Basil discovered two things that tickled his brain in thought. Firstly, seeing congratulations for the Human-Monster Bond play repeatedly in front of his eyes was seriously annoying. Second, he gained no skills from the Small Torah apart from an increase in Fortitude and Stamina.
Once every Small Torah had a name, their leader, who was wearing a bell, told them something in their native tongue, and they all divulged onto the property, where they began to start grabbing and picking any long grass they could get their tiny hooves on. They would then bring it to the front of the cottage, where they stacked it until it was as tall as Basil himself. He wondered what the sheep were doing until the leader pointed at the grass pile and spoke.
"Where to put home?" the Torah asked him.
"Home? Oh! You guys are gathering materials to make your own houses.", Basil summarized as the sheep nodded. Thinking momentarily, he offered, "Well, I have a large area behind my house, but I'm not sure what you intend to make with grass.
The Small Torah then made a bleating sound to his kin, and they all re-collected the grass. Basil walked behind the cottage and took them to an open spot around a thousand yards from his backyard. He showed the empty spot, that had been previously cleared out by the Bugbears, which had grass growing back thick and tall. The Small Torah all cheered with glee before racing into the open field! There, they took the grass they had plucked before and began to weave it with the grass growing from the ground.
Basil watched in astonishment as the tiny sheep creatures quickly began to, quite literally, weave their own homes from the ground up! In minutes, the field soon became dotted with dozens of little houses that held between one and two Small Torahs. Seeing so many happy faces, Basil couldn't help but smile with them. It was nice to do good. One thing that never changed in him.
Unfortunately, the moment didn't last as Hagson grabbed him by the back of his collar and yanked him away, growling, "Okay, fun time is over! We start magical training today!"
"But my bakery!", Basil complained while trying to reach his house.
"Can wait! As I said before when we made our deal. I have to hold up my end of the bargain! And that starts now, so prepare yourself! I won't go easy.", Hagson warned him.
xXx
When Hagson said he wouldn't go easy on Basil, he wasn't kidding! Stripped of his cape, leather breastplate, sweat rag, and boots to make combat and movement more manageable, he found that taking direct blows from magic felt like getting hit with the world's most powerful punch if it was made of energy or some element. Their training mainly consisted of Hagson blasting him with spells until he was knocked off his feet, which was often, before being pulled up, given pointers on what to do and then back to being blasted. Basil had to do everything in his power to dodge or even anticipate every spell the hag spawn threw his way.
When he had a moment, he'd either catch his breath or try to retaliate. But since lots of his magic couldn't be used for offense, he'd have to get creative or use a skill. The Skills he relied most heavily on were the ones from Teto and Myeon. Using the Kenku's abilities, he dodged, moved slightly faster, or tried to be sneaky in any dust cloud. But that last one never worked, as Hagson always seemed to know where he was or see him. The most usable skill he could use from the giant spider was its ability to shoot and control the directions of its webs and see from many angles, including peripherals.
The only time he got close to Hagson, he tried to use his poison fangs but got a mouthful of magic instead. During this whole escapade, he found that his magic would force itself to change to best help him or level up faster. Before he knew it, he could shoot his summoned light magic like bullets and create very weak shields! He even figured out how to heal himself and do it faster and faster. They had only been training for an hour, but he already figured out so much.
But they couldn't go much longer as suddenly Gossamer appeared out of nowhere and saw the hag spawn throwing a dark magical blast at him! Immediately jumping to conclusions, he raced off and jumped between the oncoming attack with a mighty leap before swatting it away with his horn! He reared onto his back legs and neighed loudly in a threatening display while illuminating his horn with bright magic!
"Get behind me, Basil!", Gossamer yelled at the boy as he fell to his forelimbs and shoved his horn toward the male witch while demanding, "Back, Dark Fae! Back, I say!"
Basil, who was entirely out of breath, managed to jump to his feet after falling onto his butt and ran in front of the enormous animal while holding him back as the man explained, "Woah woah woah! Calm down, Gossamer! Hagson wasn't attacking me; he was training me!"
Gossamer quickly stopped his threatening horn thrusting as he asked, "Training?"
"In how to use my magic offensively.", Basil explained while out of breath.
"You should listen to your owner, pony-boy.", Hagson vexed the animal despite nervously biting his index finger at the mere sight of it.
"He is my contract holder, not my owner!", Gossamer snapped at the hag spawn with a snort of his nostrils.
"Whatever you say, Stockholm.", Hagson blew him off while rolling his eyes.
Gossamer snorted his breath in anger and pulled Basil aside with his teeth, demanding, "Why are you even asking this….deplorable for help in your magic? If you needed aid, you merely had to summon me."
Before he could answer, a thought came to Basil's mind, and he retorted, "Speaking of such, where the heck have you been?! I thought you said you'd 'stick around' a while?"
Gossamer snorted again, this time in a reflective manner, "I was out exploring your land and happened upon several wild berry bushes for you to use.", saying that a small portal opened, and several dozen wild berry bushes ranging from raspberries, gooseberries, and blueberries fell out before the young man's feet. All of them were quickly grabbed up by the Small Torah and vanished as fast as they came. "Why? Did something happen while I was away.", the unicorn asked curiously after witnessing the appearance of the tiny sheep creatures.
Basil sucks air between his teeth while looking away for a moment and replying, "You have no idea."
xXx
To say that Gossamer was outraged would be an understatement. Basil hadn't even finished his thought before the unicorn yelled, "What in the name of Titania!? You made a deal with a dragon!? What force of idiocy possessed you to do such a thing!?"
"I had no other choice! It was that or death!", Basil argued.
"There is always a choice!", Gossamer insisted, stomping his hoof on the ground.
Then Hagson butted in and told the young man, "Don't listen to this pseudo fae; there are many paths in life. Nothing is black and white. If you must make sacrifices, always take the lesser evil! Or something like that."
Gossamer snorted at his statement and said, "That's rich coming from you, Dark Fae!"
Even though Hagson tried to hide the silver of fear in his spine, he held firm and clapped back, "At least I am a fae, you celestial wannabe! And I'm a better teacher of magic!"
Gossamer whinnied loudly and, in defiance, yelled, "How dare you say that to me! My knowledge of magic is far older than your whole species' existence! If anything, I am the better teacher!"
As the two creatures were fighting, Teto came out with a bag of bird seeds and made an oooooh sound at each insult each creature threw at one another. Causing both of them to turn to the Kenku and exclaim, "You stay out of this!"
This causes the Kenku to slip back into the darkness to watch the show from afar. But before the two fae creatures could continue their war of words, two threads of spider silk came from the sky and entrapped them so fast they only realized what had happened when they fell to the ground.
The spider jumped to Basil's side, where he petted it and said, "Thank you, Myeon.", it replied with a waving gesture as if to say 'you're welcome'. Turning back to the two creatures, Basil offered them, "Okay you two, instead of fighting, how about we come to an agreement? I'll split my training in half with the two of you. For one half, I'll work with Gossamer on controlling my magic, and for the other half, I'll work with Hagson on how to apply it in combat. Sounds good."
Gossamer begrudgingly agreed, freeing his mouth but not needing it to talk, "I don't like the fact I'll have to do anything with this Dark Fae, but it is agreeable. Perhaps you won't be able to taint him as quickly with me around."
"Are you trying to say you're better than me?!", Hagson exclaimed telepathically, unable to remove the spider silk from his mouth.
"I'm not saying anything that isn't true.", Gossamer shot back with a prideful look.
"Ho boy.", was all Basil could say with a deep sigh.
xXx
Over the next week, Basil switched up his training with the Unicorn and the Hag Spawn. During the day, he would run his business while the Small Torah worked the grounds and in the bakery alongside him. They also gained his Magic Farming and Cooking skills. Allowing them to make the food he did and rapidly grow their own tomatoes, which they used in many new culinary dishes. All of which was recorded in his Recipe Book-a small fact that he found interesting.
The Small Torah had become so amazed with this new power that they all started to grow tomatoes in their own village and along both sides of the path that led up to the bakery. Anyway, after he was done running his business during the day and afternoon, the evening and night were all about training. Gossamer taught him how to harness his power, control it, feel it, and discover how each could flow.
He found that his light magic was the easiest to move but the hardest to contain, as it felt like it moved all over the place. His nature magic was hard to move but straightforward to manage as it didn't move but was everywhere. Making it hard to pinpoint which part he wanted to bend to his will. His Magic Cooking and Farming were by far the easiest to control and move since they felt like an extension of himself. Like a muscle, he discovered he could strengthen and make it do things he didn't realize it could before.
With the Unicorn's help, he discovered he could use his summoned tools as weapons, something he probably should've figured out on his own. In addition to learning about magical control, he could increase and decrease the size or manipulate the shape of the things he summoned. Since, in Gossamer's words, his constructs are made of pure magic, and that same magic can be reshaped so long as he wills it to. Before he knew it, he could rapidly call upon any spells he currently knew or extinguish them right away.
Then came Hagson, who taught him how to use this magic in combat. As usual, he would have magic thrown at him from every angle, and Basil would have to dodge, counter, or block. But thanks to his magic control with Gossamer, he could call his spell on the fly and retaliate much faster than before. Before he knew it, he had gotten faster and more precise! He could throw spells back at the hag spawn as quickly as he threw them, dodge his attacks with ease, and even think about what spell would be best for what situation on the fly! Luckily for him, he had healing magic and Gossamer to patch him up when things got too sticky.
He learned how to make light bullets and cause flash bangs like Hagson demonstrated days ago. How to use offensive attacks for defensive maneuvers. And even how to use his newly acquired nature magic. However, that only allowed him to move already present plants or cause new ones to sprout quickly. Still, improvement is improvement. The most hilarious thing of all was seeing the surprised expression on the hag spawn's face when he would get hit with a flying rolling pin, nearly got a haircut by a harvesting scythe, had a spell blocked by a giant cutting board, extinguish a fire spell with a torrent of summon water from his Magic Pocket, or even nearly get caught inside the slamming maw of a giant oven under his feet. He learned all he could in the following weeks about his present magic.
"Excellent job, Basil. Your magical control has increased drastically.", Gossamer praised him as the man lay exhausted on the ground from another match with Hagson.
Hagson nodded in agreement and chimed in, "And despite flopping around like a fish, you've picked up magical combat quite fast."
"Thanks…guys.", he huffed while giving a weak thumbs up in the air.
"Now I believe it's time to advance your training.", Gossamer told him while picking him up with his teeth.
"How so?", Basil questions, while looking ready to flop back onto the ground.
"You understand how to use the magic you currently possess. Now it's time you learn more magic and take control of it.", Hagson explained.
"First, we just have to try and find a way for you to learn new magic. We have to see what elements you're closely tied to and what form of magic best suits you.", Gossamer told him as his horn began to glow and scan him over.
"I can already do that.", Basil told the unicorn while uncomfortably pushing his horn away.
"You make it sound like you can learn any magic within a second.", Hagson snorted.
"I kinda can.", Basil confirmed.
The two fae creatures stared at him before looking at one another, where Hagson sighed, "Oh yes, I forgot about your connection with the World System."
"The World System?", Basil inquires.
"Yes. When you appraise us or yourself, what do you see?", Gossamer asks him.
Thinking about how to explain this or whether they would understand, he just decided to take the plunge and tell them, "Um…a stat sheet. For you, it shows me your stats. But for me, it shows my stats and any magic or skills I have acquired. And I also have this skill tree that allows me to unlock more skills. Is that what it's called?"
Gossamer nods and explains to him, "Yes. As a Chosen Touched, you can access the fabric of our reality and manipulate it to advance your own growth at a supernatural rate. What would take wizards and warriors decades to do, you can master in mere seconds."
Basil was amazed by this but then prompted further, "Wow! But wait, how come it looks like the spreadsheet for an RPG when I pull it up?"
"The World System adjusts itself to whatever your mind can best comprehend and easily understand it.", Gossamer answers.
"Well…I can actually unlock more kinds or branches of magic from the one magic I currently have.", Basil explained as he pulled up his skill tree.
"What's that?", Hagson asks.
"Light magic.", Basil answered.
A bright expression came upon the hag spawn's face as he said, "An excellent choice, so long as you didn't branch off to the Root of Dawn.", hearing this, Basil looked away. "You did branch off to the Root of Dusk, right?", Hagson asks, causing Basil to start nervously whistling. "You didn't?!", the male witch yelled into his face.
"I needed it!", Basil argued back while holding his hands in defense.
"Needed it! For what!? What use is Healing Magic!?", Hagson exclaimed in disbelief.
"Many uses!", both Basil and Gossamer exclaimed back with equal enthusiasm.
Hagson slapped his face and pulled down his hand with a deep, drawn-out groan. After cooling off a bit, he told the young man, "Well, you're going to have to unlock something else. The only thing the Root of Dawn gives you is better light magic, healing, and shield spells."
"That doesn't sound so bad. And besides, you're the one who said anything could be used as a weapon if properly applied.", Basil argued back while shooting him a look alongside an arrogant-looking Gossamer from behind.
Hagson glared at the unicorn before retorting to the young man, "I did, but when you're in a pinch, sometimes blowing things up with lasers is the best bet."
Basil blinked a few times at this statement and demanded, "Are you trying to imply that I'm too dumb to think strategically in a high-stakes battle?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying.", Hagson says with a wide smile.
Basil gets red in the face and looks ready to yell at the witch until Gossamer taps his back with his large head, telling him, "As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes just overpowering an opponent is the best means of victory."
Basil calms himself down before explaining to the both of them, "Well, even so, I'm not sure what to do. I've already chosen the Root of Dawn; I can't just go back and choose the Root of Dusk."
"Well, look in your Skill Tree and find something that can. You quite literally have the fabric of reality at your fingertips.", Hagson tells him like it's obvious.
Basil glared at the male witch once more before reopening his skill tree and scrolling through to find something that could help. During this escapade, he found some other interesting skills that he unlocked immediately since he had so many skill points to burn, which were already in the tens of thousands.
One of the skills was something called Skill Combination, which allowed him to mix and match specific skills so long as they were compatible in some form. It only had two extensions, allowing him to separate the skills he mixed and add two extra skills to the ones he had already mixed. The next one was called Psionics, which he thought meant telepathy and telekinesis. So he got it and the first three levels. This now allowed him to probe a creature's mind and hear what they were initially thinking, in addition to sensing their emotions, while also allowing him to cause small objects to jiggle with his mind. The last exciting skill was called Animal Speech. It had no levels, only cost 25 skill points, and would allow him to speak to any animal.
So he got all these new skills, noting how he only had spent around 2,000 skill points, and continued to look for something to help with his situation. Then, after a while, he saw something that caught his eye. Scrolling back, he saw a skill called Branch Off. It had no other levels and cost 15,000 skill points! Which would eat up three-quarters of his accumulated points. According to its description, it would allow him to choose as many branches of a skill tree as he wanted, even if he had previously selected one.
He stared at the skill for several seconds. A fact that was quickly picked up on by the two fae creatures who looked ready to snap him out of it. Only for Basil to jump back to his senses and say, "Holy crap there is."
The two creatures released the breath they didn't realize they were holding in, and Hagson firmly told him, "Well, don't just gawk at it. Get it, and we'll continue."
xXx
When Basil unlocked this new skill, he immediately returned to his Light magic tree and unlocked the Root of Dusk, then unlocked as many levels as possible until he had a good selection of fire spells. So he tried out one of the more straightforward fire spells, one called Flame Bolt, only for it to explode into his face! Thinking that he must've messed up or wasn't concentrating, he tried again, and yet again, it blew up in his face, and he was set on fire, which was quickly put out and healed by Gossamer.
Basil, Gossamer, and Hagson were all confused by this and proceeded to try many different times over and several different ways in order to gauge, get control, or figure out what was going on. When nothing concrete was discovered from their testing, they instead decided to move on to Root of the Dawn, where Basil saw how it increased to level 9 over his many weeks of training. Now, he had a whole plethora of new spells, including a far stronger sheild spell and a light-based attack. When he tried to fire a beam of light from his hand, it unceremoniously blew up and nearly blew off all his fingers! After another quick healing from Gossamer, they thought that maybe since his power had grown exponentially, he needed a way to express it.
So they advised him to try a more powerful spell. Basil decides to use a fire spell called Fireball. And upon trying to cast the spell, it began to collect power before him, looking ready for him to launch! The two fae creatures were right! He only needed a way to express his growing power so he could better control it! Only for the ever-increasing mass of fire to violently shift and change shape before collapsing on itself and exploding right in front of him!
An explosion of fire hit the ground so hard and fast that Basil couldn't react, and the two fae creatures could only brace themselves for impact at the pressure exerted by the spell! When the dust from the fire explosion settled, an evenly charred Basil stood in the same position he was when he cast the spell, with nothing on him but his blackened underwear. Gossamer rushed over and began to heal him, all while Basil finally fell to the ground!
After he was no longer a walking piece of charcoal, Gossamer tried to say as kindly as he could, "Well, I'm not sure how to put this, Basil buuuuuuuuuut-."
"You're really bad at this.", Hagson butted in, making the unicorn glare at him,
"Really!? I couldn't tell from setting myself on fire twenty-seven times!", Basil growled back at him from the ground, teeth clenched tightly as not to say anything he didn't want to.
"Twenty-eight times.", Hagson corrected him, finally earning a kick in the head from Gossamer.
"Don't you have to be rude elsewhere!?", the unicorn mentally yelled at him.
"Don't you have to be a stick in the mud elsewhere?", Hagson grumbled while rubbing the newly forming lump on his skull.
Knowing where this was going, Basil butted in and griped from the ground, "Girls girls! Can you two have your dick-measuring contest after we figure out how to keep me from accidentally becoming a roast turkey!?"
"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure why you're having so much trouble. You were doing so well with your current magic.", Gossamer broods in thought.
"So the perfect rainbow horse admits his failure.", Hagson vexes him.
Gossamer snaps his neck to the witch and, with a snort, challenges, "Oh really? And do you have any ideas why his new magic keeps blowing up in his face?"
Hagson quickly went from prideful to ingenuous as he began to sweat nervously. Biting on his index finger as usual when he's nervous, something Basil noticed when training before offering, "Maybe that new skill you picked up has some sort of weakness?"
Basil sighs as he pulls up the description for Branch Off and paraphrased, "It doesn't say anything like that. All it says is that I can freely choose as many branches from any skill tree as I want no matter if I previously choose a different one.", letting his arms flop to his side as his outfit is slowly repaired by Myeon, who was nearby and watching the scene unfold, sighs and complains, "Uck! This is hopeless! Maybe I'll just reserve myself for simple light magic tricks, healing, and some basic nature magic."
Just as he closed his eyes to rest and brood in his own self-anguish, he felt something tickle his face. Thinking it was Myeon trying to improve his mood by acting cute, he pushed it away, only for it to come more forcefully. So he opened his eyes and, looking over, casually said to the thing tickling him, "Oh, hello sheep.", realizing what he said, he bolted straight up into a sitting position and yelled, "Hello sheep!?"
Basil quickly scanned the area around him only to realize that, out of nowhere, the entire area had been entirely covered by a whole flock of sheep! The flock was so massive and tightly drawn together that even Gossamer and Hagson dared not move around to avoid getting swept up in the sea of white fleece! Basil wondered just what in the world was going on until a thought crossed his mind, and he turned a gaze of ire and irritation at the unicorn. Quickly joined by the smirking hag spawn, who saw that the unicorn was in trouble and was fully intent on capitalizing.
Realizing what he was being accused of, Gossamer defended himself by exclaiming, "What are you looking at me for? I didn't summon them if that's what you're thinking!"
Seeing that he was telling the truth, Basil suddenly heard the sound of the Small Torah in distress. Getting up and running to the sound, he was surprised to see the small sheep creatures trying to pull away or fend off the much larger sheep from breaking into and eating his fenced-off crop plots. "Ah! My crops! They're eating my garden crops! Get out of there! Shoo shoo shoo!", Basil yelled as he jumped the fence and started to scare off the invading sheep.
Only for this act to be in vain when they left one plot and moved to another! Basil considered using his magic to scare or kill them, but then a very loud whistle sounded off, and all the sheep suddenly scampered off in that direction. Basil watched in amazement and confusion as to what was drawing the total submission of the farm animals until he saw the sea of fleece surrounding a single figure slowly approaching his home. When the figure finally reached him, he was surprised by what and who he saw.
It was a boy, no older than fourteen, standing a full head shorter than himself. He wore a sheepherder outfit with a shepherd's rod, shoulder bag, hooded cape, and tall black boots that squeaked when he walked. His hair was brown as fresh soil, eyes as bright as the sky, and a passionate smile adorning his chubby sun-kissed pink face. Accompanying him was an unusual sheep that appeared to carry traits from both the Small Torah and ordinary sheep. It looked like a ball of wool, with its whole body forming into one rounded shape, with nothing but the tip of its mouth, legs, and two stubby horns peeking out from the creature's body.
Standing before Basil, the boy said, "Hello friends! Have my little ones been causing you strife? I'm sorry about that. I lost them and almost couldn't find them."
Basil blinked at the child a few times and asked, "Who are you, and where did you come from?"
The boy playfully bonked his head before introducing himself, "My name is Lil Bow, but everyone calls me Bow, and I'm a Shepard Druid! And this is my familiar, Ball.", to which Ball gave a small but deep-sounding bah in response.
"A Shepherd Druid? That's the weakest subclass a Druid could learn.", Hagson snarfed.
Gossamer poked him with his horn and commented, "Be nice, wicked one! A Druid of any class is potently powerful. Do not underestimate someone simply because what they do seems weak."
"There goes the nature freak, preaching about the thing he's not even truly connected to.", the male witch mumbled under his breath, even though the unicorn could clearly hear him.
Ignoring the background squabbling, Basil asked, "I'm sorry, but could you explain what a Shepard Druid is and where you came from?"
"Basically, I'm a shepherd of nature and all who live in it. I help animals, plants, and spirits who can't protect themselves. I wander around and help who I can and when I can. As for where I came from…the East.", Bow explained with a dumb smile.
Basil sighed at his response, pinched at the bridge of his nose before asking, "Okay, new question. What are you doing here?"
"I was helping this group of Lambies that escaped the Fae Wilds when they suddenly ran off. And I tracked them down here. By the way, where exactly is here?", the boy explained before following up with his own question.
"You're on my property.", Basil vaguely explained. Seeing that it wasn't registering to him, he described a bit more specifically, "The Empty Lands."
"That explains all the monsters.", Bow thought to himself before asking the man, "But why are all the Lambies here?", motioning to all the Small Torah trying to salvage the desecrated garden beds, and even more distraught by the many destroyed tomato plants.
"They wanted tomatoes, I have tomatoes, and now they work for me.", Basil told him before bringing him around the back of his house and showing off the Small Torah village.
Bow gasped at the sight of grass houses, which had dried into golden homes of straw, before slowly turning to the adult and asking with hand over mouth, shaky voice, and tearing up eyes, "You gave them a home!?"
"I don't mind. They help a lot and work for their keep.", Basil told him with a shrug of his shoulders.
Suddenly, the boy dropped his shepherd hook and jumped into him with a hug while exclaiming, "Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!"
"You're, um, welcome?...what exactly are you thanking me for?", Basil awkwardly replied while patting his back.
Finally pulling away to rub his eyes, Bow explained, "I was trying to find a new place for the Lambies to settle, and you just gave it to them! Oh, how could I ever repay you."
Before Basil could tell him he didn't want anything in return, an idea came to his mind, and he replied, "Actually…there is one thing you could help me with."
"Yes! Anything! Name it!", the boy excitedly agreed.
"I'm trying to control more powerful aspects of my currently known magic, but it keeps blowing up in my face. Any chance you can give your two cents on the matter.", Basil asked him.
"Absolutely! But first, show me what you mean.", Bow asked him.
Sighing as he knew he would have to blow himself up again to demonstrate, he tried to produce another Fire Bolt, only for the spell to blow up in his face and cause his newly fixed outfit to erupt in flames! Before Basil could react, water was splashed over him, and looking over at a smiling Bow, he realized the boy had cast a water spell.
After being thanked, the boy told him, "Of course, and thank you for showing me. I know exactly what the issue is.", Basil listened closely to his words and almost felt like falling over in dismay when he heard Bow tell him, "You lack faith."
After shaking off the initial shock and glaring at the two fae creatures, trying not to laugh, Basil exclaimed, "Faith!? What does that mean? Am I supposed to pray to the God of magic or something?"
Bow corrected and explained, "Goddess and no. You simply don't believe your magic will work when you use it.", Basil shot him a confused expression, which the boy didn't pick up on, and instead continued explaining, "Magic works on three main components in order to work; the power of magic, the knowledge of magic, and the faith in magic.", as he was told this, the boy drew three circles with different symbols in the soft dirt, with each circle encircling each other. "The reason you can't use those more powerful spells is that you doubt yourself.", Bow finished his explanation.
Thinking about this to himself, Basil pulled up his stat sheet and thought aloud, "Is faith some kind of skill I overlooked?"
From Bow's perspective, it looked like Basil was swiping and poking at the air. So he waved the air from his hands, grabbing his attention and further explaining while touching his chest, "No no no. No skill. Faith comes from here."
"His nipple?", Hagson dumbly asked.
"His heart, you kid cooker!", Gossamer mentally scolded him.
"It's the unity of mind, body, and soul. When all three are together as one, faith is born, and magic can flow with ease.", Bow told him as a strange power exuded from his body, causing the soil around him to suddenly spring up into a display of grass, flowers, and young saplings.
"But I don't…doubt myself.", Basil tried to argue.
Snapping his fingers and poking his nose, Bow half yelled, "See! You're doing it right now! That's why your magic goes wild. You are not at balance with yourself."
"But all my other spells worked right off the bat.", Basil told him while summoning a Spot Light Spell.
"Simple spells don't require that much faith to wield. If they didn't, then I'd say you have much to unpack.", Bow told him, looking slightly relieved at seeing his simple magic work.
"But how can I gain more faith?", Basil questions him.
Bow placed a hand on his shoulder, and with a closed eye smile, he chirped, "I'll help you. Just like you helped these Lambies."