So. Magics a thing now !

Chapter 15 : Deceptions within Deceptions.



Foot falls sounded as a backdrop to the resounding slow clap as Boyd made his way into the room. The clapping even continued all the way up until he was standing their before the two young adults. “Excellent deduction as always Nathan.” The math teachers tone lowered to that of close conversation, low enough that the sounds of the running water from the showers insured his words didn't travel beyond the 3 of them. “The truth of the matter is that Daley here got more than just some extra alteration points from their current form. You have heard of the magic resistance skill and how I'm the one who learned it ?”

Nathan nodded, his eyes darting back and forth between the other two in the room. Boyd, standing tall and self assured where as Maik had taken on a much more subservient stance. Boyd saw the bright young man putting things together and continued. “That's because Maik here..” Boyd places his right hand on the back of the lilins neck to take hold of them. “Developed a skill to influence and then ultimately tried to manipulate people with it. At first they used this new power to calm down students during the training sessions, a noble use of the skill, but then they tried to influence the trilogies decisions on a few things. We were aware of the skill however and that attempt failed but rather than give up Daley tried to dominate my will.” The tall blonds eyebrows raised as he took in a deep breath.

Maik wanted to speak up in their defense but the request for a link had come the moment physical contact had been made and master had already ordered Maik to be quiet. Boyd ignored the request to let the lilin speak and continued his explanation. “Now, on one hand, we can't just let that kind of thing go without some kind of reprimand. On the other hand, Daley has been very helpful and open with sharing what they know and have figured out from the very beginning. As such, the trilogy has decided to keep Daley's transgressions classified, at least until such time as everyone has the magic resistance skill.

Nathan had his mouth covered with one hand and looked deep in thought, clearly troubled. “If... if he has a skill that can influence.... even manipulate people who don't have the magic resistance skill, then how do you know he isn't manipulating every person hes teaching right under your nose ?” The young man was very clearly concerned about this.

But Boyd showed no concern, only calm and collected poise. “During the mental battle between Daley and myself I where he attempted to dominate me, I managed to turn the tables and Bind them instead. We do not yet know much about the process. We haven't even begun scheduling a time to even discus the idea of testing it yet, but safe to say that in the heat of the moment I did what I could and had to do. Now, Daley is bound to obey the laws and rules set forth by the trilogy. That means he simply can not use those skills to influence on others to try to control them in any way. We are keeping a very close eye on our resident Chi instructor. We know well just how valuable the skills Daley is teaching are but were not going to let Daley here do anything immoral with these power, I assure you.

The tall blond turned his gaze to meet Maik's. “And how do you feel about all this.”

Boyd's command was instant, though the connection. <”Be honest.”> The senior trilogy member was curious as well.

The lilins tone was meek but firm enough to still be heard by the two over the sounds or running water. “I feel like I fucked up. Got ahead of myself and lost in the rush of my new power. Thought I could just... nudge things to go the way I wanted them to and when that didn't work I pushed. Then I shoved. Then I fell and got a taste of my own medicine. I hadn't set out to take things that far and, to be honest, I didn't even fully understand what I was doing to Boyd until he copied and then flipped it back around on me. I'm glad that he learned the Magic resistance skill. People need protection from anyone who can do the things I can.” Maik shrugs with a self depricating smile.” So I guess I kinda deserve this, if for no other reason than the fact the nobody would ever trust me again otherwise.”

Boyd furrowed his brow and double checked the lilins character sheet. It was still the fake sheet that hid the lilins race, special skills and level but nothing else.

Name : Make Alphonse Daley

Species : Human / Race : Celtic / Germanic

Level : 2

Age :18

Gender : Hermaphrodite

Height : 190 Centimeters

Weight : 80 Kilograms

Master : Stanford Francis Boyd

Strength : 89

Flexibility : 98

Dexterity : 123

Endurance : 90

Durability : 84

Intelligence : 142

Smarts : 164

Wisdom : 126

Perception : 137

Charisma : 112

Chi : 185

aura : 179

Skills 3ed Tier

Bio chemistry – Capable

Calculus – Beginner

Mind & body connection – Intermediate

Aura projection – Intermediate

Magic resistance minor – Beginner

Stills / 4th Tier

Chi body infusion. - Capable

Chi projection – Capable

Sending – Capable

Minor healing – Capable

Chi sight – Capable

Auric effect – Intermediate

Nathan was quick with the next question sense it looked like Boyd was distracted. “Did Boyd order you to say that.”

The lilin smiled wide, showing teeth and answered while the math teacher was still switching gears from looking at the character sheet to sending a message. “He ordered me to be honest. I think he wanted to hear the answer too.”

The math teacher grimaced and the tall blond narrowed his eyes at the math teacher before voicing his deduction. “So you are communicating through the sending skill. Keeping a very close eye indeed Mister Boyd.”

The trilogy head nodded a couple times. “Given how tenuous the current disaster is... Were just doing what we can to keep everyone alive.”

The basketball player took a step back and gave Boyd the side eye. “Keep everyone alive ? That's a bit overly dramatic don't you think ?”

And now it was Boyd's turn to have the flat lipped expression, lips pressed tightly together. “Okay, we've lied, but to be fair....” the math teacher holds up an index finger for emphasis, releasing his hold on Maik's neck. “We were lied to first and we just... didn't correct the lie.” Now Nathan was looking down right worried, almost like he was ready to bolt out of there. “Nathan. I need you to stay focused and stick with me on this. I really trusting you to keep your cool with what I'm telling you here.” The tall blond frowns but gestures for Boyd to continue. “Alright. So.... we had a week and a half of food before the supply run. Same with fuel.” Nathan blinked in surprise. “I mean you would think that 2 tons of food stuff would last longer...” The young mans face was the definition of growing horror. “But we have about 1500 mouths to feed and at the rate were going through the supplies...” The tall blond looked like he was starting to hyperventilate with the way he started breathing.

Boyd takes the 2 steps needed and puts hands on the young mans shoulders. “Nathan. You still with me. Come on man, we need the team leader who lead the Panthers to the state finals. Snap out of it.” The math teacher gives Nathan a firm shake and the tall blond manages to refocus back on Boyd's face.

Quickly the young man pulls himself back together. “The. The government. The army. Their going to get to us before the food runs out, right ?”

The math teacher shrugs. “Maybe. We just started hearing messages traffic about coordinated efforts by the coast guard earlier today. It seems they were busy checking over their equipment, verifying what did and didn't work. Then getting the stuff to work that they could fix. Their supposedly organized now and getting to work but its slow going. The supply run probably bought us another day or 2 and we can still run more.” The look of returning horror on the young mans face didn't bode well. Maik guessed that Nathan might have been on the caravan but then Boyd corrected that miscalculation. “I know that it looked bad but with the minor healing skill the resource officer, Stevens, is going to make a full recovery. And there are other skills, skills that will make you stronger, or do you think Maik can naturally lift a punk Lawton's size off the ground ?”

Slowly the tall blond came around and got on board with the program and they were finally able to conclude the interaction with Boyd assuring the young man that everything would go fine during his training session the following day. When they got back to the trilogies quarters Boyd got some looks and the math teacher simply explained what had happened to the other 3 before going back over to Maik and reestablishing a link. <”How many alteration points do you think you will have available tonight ?”> The lilin responded that they weren't quite sure and wouldn't see all the totals until they were asleep. Boyd nodded and let Maik go to sleep.

Once more the lilin found them self in the mental construct. The joy and anticipation of being back here was quickly tempered by the remembrance of masters orders. We can't spend any of the alteration points. Come on. Just a few. No. Master was quite clear on that order. No wiggle room for you this time Primal. Still the lilin went over the notifications.

Tier 3 skill advanced – Mind & Body Connection – Intermediate + 15 alteration points and + 10 to all stats.

Congratulations. You have accumulated a sufficient combination of divers magical energy and experience manipulating those energies to advance to level 5. Level up. As a [human / Lilin : Young adult] you gain 25 alteration points this level

Tier 4 skill advanced – Chi body infusion – Capable + 12 alteration points

Special Trait advanced - Adaptive physique – Capable + 10 alteration points and + 5 to all stats.

Tier 4 skill acquired – Cultivation Chi – beginner + 6 alteration points.

Tier 4 skill advanced – Cultivation, Chi – Capable + 12 alteration points + 5 to Chi stat.

Tier 3 skill acquired – Magic resistance minor – beginner + 6 alteration points.

Tier 3 skill advanced – Aura projection – intermediate + 15 alteration points and + 10 to Aura stat

Tier 4 skill advanced – Auric effect – intermediate + 18 alteration points and + 10 to Aura stat

Tier 4 skill advanced - Minor healing – Intermediate + 18 alteration points

One hundred and thirty seven alteration points to play with and Maik couldn't buy anything with them. Still, the lilin couldn't reveal their whole hand and managed to add a new adjustment to the character sheet after doing a little math. Maik calculated the fake number of available alteration points by treating the skill advancements like Maik was still a tier 3 life form and treating the level up like they were just reaching level 3 and a tier 4 life form. Maik calculated the total alteration point gain should be 78, after deducting the gains from the special trait that they weren't supposed to have of course. The adjustments were made to the false character sheet the the Chi instructor practiced holding the form until they were sure it would pass inspection.

It was a good thing Maik had put the effort into solidifying the forgery because right after they thought they had it they were ripped back to consciousness. Above the Lilin was their math teacher kneeling beside them and shaking them. The next thing Maik new Boyd was establishing a link to look over Maik's personal information. Boyd saw exactly what Maik wanted the math teacher to see but the lilin could still tell that Boyd was a mix of frustrated and envious through the connection. <”78 alteration points and level 3 now. Jesus Maik. Regardless, do you have enough points to change your gender to female ?”> Maik answered in the affirmative after a quick check. <”Then I'm ordering you to spend your alteration points so that you become a full female.”>

The lilin simply replied with a. <”Yes Master.”> And primal proceeded to convince the rest of Maik that purchasing the race change that offered shape shifting, the Lilin : Bio-morph for 90 alteration points would fulfill the order. Another nudge of misinformation took care of the rest. <”The gender change option was only listed at 70 points. I still have points left over after purchasing the needed changes to become female master. May I put them into attributes master ?”>

Maik could feel the now mid 20s man looking over their false character sheet before answering. <”Only after you have made the changes to become female.”> The lilin assented and was allowed to return to sleep and return to the mental construct of their potential. Once there the race change was purchased promptly, making the lilin a tier 6 life from, a Lilin : Bio-morph.

Lilin : Bio-morph

Not only are they a higher tier life form, more capable of adapting to any situation or environment, but by emulating and then building upon the amazing color and texture changing capabilities of the octopus the Bio-morph also possesses the following special traits.

Flesh molding – Beginner

Flesh molding allows one to alter their physical structure. Altered physical structure become the new norm until such time as it is deliberately altered again.

Minor regeneration – Beginner

One gains a healing factor in which magical energies can be expended to eventually and completely recover from any wound that is not mortally crippling, including but not limited to regrowing lost limbs.

That left the clever teen 47 alteration points to play with. Spreading the points out would help to keep us balanced. Screw balance. Min-max that shit. Gotta agree with Primal on this one. Chi is by far our most useful stat and were always running out. Max that shit. All 47 points went strait into the Chi stat. There were also another 6 special traits that the lilin could purchase but they were all obscured with the exception of one and it cost 50 alteration points.

Sexual magic

There is power in sex, especially the orgasm. Sex magic allows one to utilize and or harvest these energies freely.

While that was interesting, the far more interesting thing was that the other 4 race advancements were still available, just now they were all 180 alteration points. Maik preferred the stat points for now regardless. In fact the lilin was of the impression that they had been neglecting their stats in favor of fancy race changes and racial abilities. While those were certainly impressive, Maik was feeling that, at their level, they really should have more stat points.

When next Maik woke they were hungry but also felt powerful. Then they noticed movement out of the corner of their eye. It was Boyd rousing themselves from sleep and the teen felt the confinement of the binding, along with the compulsion. Quickly the lilin got to work, pretending to still be asleep but sinking down into themselves. The Chi instructor reached for the new trait, somehow familiar and yet so alien to all that Maik had ever known. Focus was maintained. There were really only two changes that needed to be made. The penis was retracted but damn was it expensive. 1059 Calories were used up to mold the flesh quickly. The vocal cords were next changed. The lilin didn't really know what they were doing but feeling the organ with Chi sight allowed them to realized the the Adams apple was the result of how thick and low their vocal cords reached. So Maik simply shortened the tube that contained the vocal cords for another 850 Calories of Chi. It worked with flutes. Longer flutes produced deeper tones while shorter one made higher pitches so Maik figured the same logic applied.

Coming back to the present Maik had the irresistible urge to stretch their neck. This also cause the lilin to moan softly, which caught the math teacher attention. Thankfully Maik's voice sounded a fair bit more more feminine and that they had already retracted the penis. Good thing too because that was the first thing Boyd checked after walking over and kneeling down beside the lilin. The math teacher just stuffed his hand right down between Maik's legs to check on the young adults progress. “Good girl. Now we wont have to worry about that unsightly thing causing problems in the future.” Davis and Harper inquired as to if Maik had actually done as Boyd had ordered. Apparently it was a group decision. “Yep. Maik's a good girl now and shes going to stay that way isn't she ?” The math teacher actually started caressing the lilins slit through their gym shorts while asking the question.

Maik swallowed and nodded in the affirmative. “Yes sir. I'm a good girl.”

Boyd pulls his hand away and stands up. “Very good. Now there is a lot to do today so lets get started.”

Harper's tone was snide. “Going to provide your asset with some extra nutrition again this morning “

But Boyd was unperturbed. “Actually I figured that we could use this time for an early study session where Maik passed another Tier 4 skill onto each of us. There should be just enough time for all 4 of us to learn at least 1.”

The others were very much on board with that idea but Leavery had a question first. “How did Daley afford another gender change ? Weren't they all out of alteration points yesterday ? I mean, hell. I gained a few alteration points from the battle yesterday and even reached level 2 last night but I only had 22 alteration points to work with. And that's with 2 of my Tier 4 skills advancing. How many pints did Daley have to spend last night ?” Boyd told them the number, 78 and they all gasped.

It was no secret that Davis and especially Harper looked upon Boyd's treatment of Maik unfavorably but even the usually reserved Harper had to admit. “Such growth. I know I've spoken ill of the results but the more I lean about our Chi instructors abilities the more thankful they are bound to you Boyd. Just... Try not to make a habit of using your asset as a fuck toy. As your second so aptly mentioned yesterday, it would set a bad precedent.” The math teacher acknowledged the point before they moved on with their early morning training and deep inside the collective conscious of their lilin servant, a primal part of their mind smirks at the trilogies ignorance.

In the end none of them went with another tier 4 skill and instead all wanted to learn the Aura projection skill. Teaching the skill was actually harder than teaching Chi skills. It was like trying to train quick twitch muscles for speed when you had only ever trained slow bulk muscles for body building. However, when Maik could reach in and help the trilogy members feel their aura in such a way that whey could easily differentiate between it and their Chi it became way easier for them to figure out how to at least flex their aura. They actually had another 8 minutes to get dressed before 7 when the last of the 4 finally received the notification that they had reached the Beginner level in the Aura projection skill.

The morning meal was an upbeat affair. All of the injured, Even Stevens was actually up and about. All were having breakfast with the rest of the main group of enlightened. Their number had grown to the point that they no longer ate in the north wing but were the first rotation in the cafeteria which gave Maik the chance to sit down with their friends. Maik would have wanted to use some more Bio-morphing to return their voice to normal but it was just to expensive, even with their expanded pool of Chi and high recovery rate. They had a full day of Training sessions ahead of them again today after all.

Greetings were passed around the table with James poking fun at Maik about sleeping with the trilogy again. Apparently the rumors were really getting around. “There he is. So tell us Maik. Are the beds in the trilogies really as soft and plush as the rumors say ? I hear they even have pink pillows.”

The chi instructor snorted a laugh because Harper did indeed have a pink pillow. “Phahh. Only Harper. Everyone else is using rolled up towels or some other random balled up fabric, just like everybody else. The trilogy just wanted to get an early morning training session in sense their going to be too busy to attend another of my classes for a while. They also like to keep an eye on me in case I get any mischivous ideas in my head, like the cultivation experiments I might have done despite their protests.”

Stacy looked and sounded excited at that little nugget of intel. “You mean that advance recovery technique, the one of a higher tier that the trilogy didn't want you to experiment with, it works ?” There were others at the table who looked on curiously and intently but sense Eugene, Jose and Skip were there for this conversation yesterday they starting filling James, Sara, Elisha and Zack in on the details. It would seem that Zack had worked his way into their inner circle, though Maik didn't mind. Stacy took the time that the others were playing catch up to bring Maik up to date on her progress and to ask them about their own. “So I finally advance my Chi manipulation skill to Intermediate. Now my passive recovery is 1.5 Calories a minute and if I'm cycling my chi or sleeping, then my recovery shoots up to 4.5 a minutes. That and I leveled up. I've been putting all my alteration points into Chi, plus my hard work seems to be increasing the stat as well so now I'm at 93 in the Chi stat.”

Maik congratulated her on her efforts and her progress and was just about to tell her that if she saved up the points and upgraded her race to a higher tier that those numbers would get even better when Nathan came over to join the group Nodding directly to the two he knew best. “What up people, James, Maik.” The two who had been directly addressed greeted the newcomer cordially but there was the unmistakable tension in the air that comes from an outsider inserting themselves into the social circle.


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