“Tell you what.  Next time I get all bit up, I’ll try ‘n’ make it back here quick for some stitches.” He looked at her.  “Or uh, cardiac surgery or something.  Put my heart in your hands!” He put a hand over his heart and made a puppy dog face.

“Fool.  Grab your first spell and let’s do this.”  Her words were harsh, but her tone was amused.  Allistor grabbed his Metallurgy scroll.  After looking up at her to confirm she was ready, he opened it and began to read.    Again, he felt the rush of knowledge flood his mind.  Information on types of metal and where they can generally be found from a geological standpoint, how they react to heat and cold and pressure and stress.  Ways to combine them with specific ingredients to make them stronger or more pliable.  Formulas for alloys.

When it was over, he looked at Amanda.   She was staring at him, sort of.  Her focus was on the air around him.  “That was cool!” She gasped.   You were right.  Some kind of distortion field around you.  I touched it.  There was no heat, but I got a shock.  Like a static charge.  And I felt a sort of… warning in my head.  To stay back.”   She rubbed her fingers together as if testing the texture of something.  “Fingers are asleep.”

“Ha!  I was about to do the same with you a few minutes ago.  Glad it was you that was the guinea pig instead.” His smile was probably wider than it should have been, considering his hopes for later.

She didn’t seem to notice.  “Alright, magic boy.  Let’s do it again!  This time I’ll use my spell to watch.

He removed his Restraint scroll and opened it.   This time the process was much faster.  He knew instinctively that much of the knowledge he needed for this spell had already been imparted by the Levitate scroll.   Gravity, density, force, momentum. There was some additional information about the formula used to determine if the spell would succeed against targets of higher or lower levels with various attributes.  He ignored all of that and focused on Amanda.

She was biting her lower lip as she stared at him.  “Fascinating.”

“Wanna clue me in?”

“Well, you know how we’ve been wondering how this new system works?  How we can beef ourselves up or do magic, heal in minutes?”

“Yeahhhh…”

“I’m seeing… for lack of a better term, I’m gonna call them critters.  No, maybe nanobots is a better description.   When you activated that scroll, a field of millions – maybe billions – of the things coalesced around you.  Mostly around your head.  I could see them inside you.  And now that I know to look for them, I can see them in your bloodstream.  And your bones.  Clustered more densely around where you’ve healed.”