Rise of the Archmage Alister

They left the house soon after, but Alister was not eager to get chewed out by his parents, so he actually got permission first for once. Blas was surprised, already drowning in paperwork even early in the morning, but was happy to allow Alister and the twins out since they asked first. He just, unsurprisingly, wanted them to take some knights with them, and avoid going out anywhere dangerous.

Olana looked at him once they were outside, cupping her sister’s hand, “Did you lose your confidence?”

“What? No. I just recognized there’s no point in me being a pain without good reason for it,” he scoffed, glancing at the handful of knights following the trio of them, “If I had a reason to, I could easily run off and be chaotic as per usual. Father had a good point, however, about the looming conflict and drama that’s been going around. Also, I am still relatively weakened thanks to my antics in the capital, though much better than I was originally. I just… owe it to my parents to try to be a little more responsible and mature. I cannot keep using my discomfort or my reactionary tendencies as an excuse. I’m sure you guys have noticed the pain and worry in my dad’s voice recently.”

“And our dad too,” Olana mumbled, sighing, “Okay okay. I get it. I don’t like being so… visible, though…”

“...Fair. I’ll give you that. I hate that too. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it.”

Harriet gave a happy wave to the gate guards as they passed through, “Guys this conversation is boring. Where are we gonna go? Ooh! Can we do a dungeon??”

“No! That is literally against the exact point I was just talking about!” Alister groaned into his hands, “We’ll just go to the market square, and then I can show you some of the forest. If the knights don’t mind, I can probably show you where my Father and Ode and the knights fought and captured the double-headed basilisk. The area should still be messed up by the battle. Acid-scorched or fallen trees, gouges in the ground. That kind of thing. If you want anything more interesting than that you’ll be sorely disappointed.”

“Blehhh, fine. That IS really interesting… I just want to get my classssss,” Harriet whined.

“You two don’t have yours yet?” he asked.

“It’s not normal to have your class yet… or even your system unlocked yet at ten…,” Olana grumbled, “We’re lucky our mom demanded we unlock our systems and cores so early. Our dad doesn’t want us to fight, though, and unfortunately grinding my stealth skills hasn’t given me enough experience to get to level ten yet…”

“We’re level seven!” Harriet helpfully added, “We wanna stay at the same level as each other so we try to make sure if one of us level up the other does too.”

“Oh. I apologize. I forget that it’s uncommon. The system still feels so strange to me…,” Alister said, genuinely sorry for touching the slight nerve.

“Speaking of which. Why don’t you ever use your class skills?” Olana asked, “You didn’t use it in the fight with the bird, and I don’t think I’ve actually ever seen you use them. You always just use magic.”

“Ooh! That’s true!” Harriet shouted, swinging her arm while she walked, her sister barely reacting as she did so, “Why don’t you use that? I’d use berserker skills like mom all the time if I could.”

Alister felt his cheeks flush, “I… that…”

Olana looked at him with a blank face, “Oh he doesn’t know, sissy. He’s just dumb. I’m terribly sorry. It’s chronic.”

“Shut up! It’s just not… normal. And life has been so chaotic! I’ve been too focused on my private tutoring and traveling and the funeral and terrorism! And then recovering!”

She let a thin smile appear on her face, “Of course. It’s fine. Not everyone can be capable in fighting, cousin.”

Alister scoffed, “You brat! I am quite capable!!”

“Yes, yes. I suppose it makes sense, sticking with what you’re comfortable with,” Olana continued to tease, enjoying poking her cousin with the metaphorical stick, “Not everyone is an innovator, either. It’s alright if you’re a little… stuck in the past.”

“Ooooh you are infuriating…,” he growled, a hand against his face, “I recognize… I have not been making use of my ‘skills’, no. I want to research them, but I got heavily injured and am still disallowed from using advanced magic. My Mother is already on my case and has lightly grounded me from taking a number of actions. I do not need that getting even worse. I am interested in the system and its skills. I am fascinated. I just don’t trust it on face value! Is that so bad?”

She tilted her head, fluffy ears flopping gently to one side, her grey eyes looking at him with such a blank expression, “You sound like dad being paranoid like that. Use it while also being distrustful of it. Research it while making use of it. It’s better to actually use what you have at your disposal than float in hesitation. You’ll get yourself killed that way…… Idiot.”

Alister let out a loud frustrated groan, “I swear you say such smart things in such a fucking annoying way!”

Harriet gave a happy little, “Yup!” She was still smiling, too used to her sister’s shenanigans, “That just sounds like Olana. She’s a genius, but she’s also kiiiinda rude.”

“I just say things that make sense,” Olana replied to her sister, pausing and leaning towards her. She used her free hand to rub a smudge of dried milk off the corner of Harriet’s mouth, “Anyway Alister, just don’t die. It would make our family sad. Don’t be so scared of something new, or so obsessed with researching everything about it first, that you don’t use it to your advantage. I think the system exists for us to take by the throat and use as a tool. It’s something dad struggles with a lot. He’ll get stuck researching a topic so much, scared to make the wrong decision, that he’ll make no decision instead because time doesn’t stop.”

He stared at his cousin, having also stopped walking when she did, “...Our family is weird. You’re such a weird kid.”

“So are you. It’s a thing with our family.”

“...Yeah,” Alister mumbled. He took a deep breath and sighed, “I’ll… do my best. You’re not wrong. I don’t want to get stuck in that kind of thinking.” He opened his screen, looking it over, “I hadn’t even looked at this really in the last few weeks… I have the active skills: Arctic Bomb, Blood Choke, Cognitive Filter, Empathic Speaker, Mage Hand, Magician's Scorpion Strike, Magic Missile, Prestidigitation, and Reduced Requirements. And the passive skills: Improved Proprioception, Sensory Perception, Subtle Casting, and a resistance passive; Psychic Resistance. With the arctic bomb, blood choke, mage hand, magic missile, and prestidigitation, I don’t see why I shouldn’t just do that myself instead of using a skill. With the sensory perception, subtle casting, and improved proprioception… I mean I just haven’t had much reason to stealth. I guess, yes, they’re passive so they’re always around, but… aside from not tripping as often, I don’t think it’s done much for me. Sensory perception? Feeling how many people can see me or my actions? Great if I was actually trying something stealthy. Subtle casting? Again… just, why not do it myself? I’m more fascinated by the how than what they are.”

Olana looked mildly annoyed by his commentary, “Actually try using them and you’ll see the difference. Just sneaking with magic and sneaking with a skill are worlds apart. Putting the two together is even better. Don’t think you’re so amazing that it can’t make the simple spells you have better with a skill to help it. And sensory perception is hard to get without a class so you’re a dummy for not realizing how great that is… I’d make good use of a skill like that.”

He sighed again, “Alright alright. I get your point. I’ll make sure to use them the next time I get to hunt or run into yet another eldritch creature or something. We don’t exactly fight every week or whatever. I’ll give it the proper chance it deserves. Okay? Happy?”

“No. But I am satisfied.”