Side Story- A different believer, part 2

Authors note

So just a heads up, this side story ended up being longer than expected and I want to fiddle with the ending a bit longer, so there may be one or two more parts depending on what I change with the second half. It will be up in the following week so hope you all enjoy.

Things had gone slightly different for Valaria than she’d expected after gaining the skill and informing the queen. Her plan had been to only take a few days off to start experimenting with it but the moment she’d passed the good news along, the financial backing she’d been promised for changing her faith came flooding in, as well as an official request that she put her work as an enchanter on hold until she’d acquired at least the first level of the skill.

Coming as an order from the heads of her government she had no way to refuse, not that she even wanted to. When the apostle of her god sent her that letter telling her the full discovered potential of her skill, her desire to get it to the point where she could do it was overwhelming.

As an enchanter, she wasn’t bad. With her water magic at the fifth level, dark at the second, and enchanting at the fourth, she could be considered quite competent, but try as she might to gain other skills that could be useful to her profession the issue was making the time to try and acquire them, as well as leveling them up to a reasonable degree. No skill was as useful as a magic to enchant with after all, magics having significantly more flexibility in terms of what could be done with them, which meant that even if she wanted to get a broader range available to her, none made as much sense as simply continuing to focus on the magic already in her arsenal.

The fact that the main weakness of enchanting could be eliminated by just focusing on training connect and enchanting together meant the potential of a golden age of enchanting was upon them, so long as the world didn’t end in the meantime, and with her heart filled with excitement she went to the closest florist she could find.

Myriad had told her that the skill could be practiced with plants and that currently the only job she could get for improving it was tree tamer, which meant she’d be wanting a variety. While the city was built amongst a forest of giant trees, she didn’t want to have to go outside to practice for who knew how long each day, instead opting to take advantage of the comfort of her own home and the wealth she now had access to, asking for one of each potted plant to be delivered to her home address, only grabbing one to carry there herself to practice with in the meantime.

When she got home she sat in front of her new houseplant and placed her hands on it. She’d picked this one to start with specifically because it looked like it would be the most pleasant to handle for long periods of time. It was just a smooth green ball, about the size of a head and supposedly easy to take care of. She’d never had much of an interest in plants before, but now that it looked like she’d have around a dozen to look after she could only hope she wouldn’t be too bad at it.

With everything she needed ready, she couldn’t put it off any longer. Burning the little bit of mana it would take to activate the skill, she stared deeply into the plant and connected with it.

If she had to describe the way connecting to the small plant felt, she would have to describe it as calming. Myriad had already warned her that at her current level she’d only be able to feel emotions, and she wasn’t positive plants would ever be able to give any more than that, but it was still exciting. It wasn’t often that a person got a skill quite so interesting, and her excitement over her success at using the skill bled through to it, provoking a reaction from the plant itself.

That was something she didn’t expect. The fact that it was reacting to her own enthusiasm meant that the skill must have created a two-way connection, not just allowing her to peer into someone else's mind. Her god had neglected to mention that fact, but it seemed to her that it might prove valuable to leveling it up so she focused on feeling every little change, trying to send out positive emotions to it to see how it would react.

The plant's thoughts were undeniably slow, but it reacted to her with such innocent cheer that she couldn’t help but be taken with it. Even if needing to patiently wait for minutes as it responded to a single emotion was a bit dull, this was how she’d gain access to her next job so it couldn’t be ignored.

As interesting as it was though, after an hour she needed to stop. While she’d been enjoying the challenge of slowly grasping the potential and limits of the skill, and as cheerful as her new houseplant seemed, the biggest issue was how slow it all felt. A plant’s mind lacked variety, making it hard to dedicate herself to the task the longer she tried. When all of her other new plants arrived she could switch between them all, spending ten or so minutes on each throughout the day, but for the time being she wanted to try something else, and with that in mind she left to make use of a friend.

---

Valaria politely knocked on the door of her friend's home, waiting patiently for them to open up. When they did she was greeted by Bronte, a siren. As one of the few non-succubi races to make their home in Anailia in any numbers due to them also being a race born with charm magic, they’d been lucky to be friends for a number of years. Looking similar enough to a standard hominid, with only the addition of feathers covering her arms and torso and thick talons in place of nails, couldn’t have been more thrilled to see the woman.

“Bronte, sorry to show up unannounced, I hope you aren’t busy.”

“I’d just finished my practice for the day,” She said, gently reaching out to cup Valaria’s face in her hands. “What has you smiling like that?”

She hadn’t realized she was, but now that she noticed the grin just wouldn’t go away. “I got the gift skill from Myriad, I was hoping to test it with you!”

The siren seemed surprised initially, eyes widening as she invited her friend in. “So you really did get a gift skill after a few months of prayer. This new god of yours sounds generous.”

“Thinking of converting?”

“Ha, what would a singer need of an enchanter's skill? Though I don’t mind helping you practice if I can.”

“Thank you so much! I thought this would be much nicer than trying with some plants at home, I just need your hand.”

The request was confusing by virtue of the fact that she wasn’t clear on the skills' effects, but she took her friend’s hands anyway, wondering the entire time how what she understood to be an enchanting skill could be used on plants or people, but once the connection was made it became more clear.

Valaria felt her friend's mind as Bronte felt hers, one woman experiencing the raw excitement the other was experiencing using her new skill, and the other catching a glimpse of the happiness that came from seeing a valued companion, but also an underlying current of worry that couldn’t be explained.

Bronte pulled away at the sudden sensory experience, while Valaria pulled in closer, seeing someone she cared about struggling beneath the surface.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, cupping her friend’s face the same way she’d been when she arrived.

“I was just caught off guard that your enchanting skill seemed to be empathy linked, don’t mind it.”

“Sorry, I probably should have explained it a bit more, but you don’t get to mark that off as surprise. I know what worry feels like, talk to me.”

As Valaria struggled with the fact that she’d changed her faith at the request of her original god, her friends and family had been the support she’d needed to adjust to the emotional fallout the decision had. Even if it was to help her race as a whole, even if she liked her new god, it hadn’t been easy to come to terms with and having people she could rely on made a world of difference.

“It’s nothing, really. In fact, you could say I received some good news recently, I’ve been invited to perform at a larger venue, the grand theatre. It’s just that since I’m used to entertaining dinner guests over theatregoers I’m worried my voice won’t carry well.”

“What? That’s wonderful! You’ll be great so try not to worry. Anyway, when's your show, I’ll have to come to watch!”

“Ha, thanks Val, I’ve got two months to prepare so I’m not too worried, I’ll just have to practice. That doesn’t mean I can’t help you while you’re here though,” She said, holding out her hand to try again, and Valaria gratefully took it, spending the next few hours chatting with her friend as she trained.

Authors note

I know I've said it before, but it's so messed up that 'each other' and 'a lot' are two words when 'theatregoer' is one. Compound words are a scam.