Chapter 9 - Winter

My eyes gradually opened to find my muscles were aching. With a groan, my legs got off the bed. My fingers pushed aside the curtain, the light was dim. A sliver of the sun peeked above the horizon. Dried sweat covered me, prompting me to take a shower.

Mildred's techniques popped into my mind. Since they were exclusive to a Constitution Mage, it made me want to try it out.

The small balcony was covered by the rays of the rising sun. My mind began drawing in mana. The earth spell was still fresh in my head, so my mind circulated it until it reached the sphere portion, but did not compress it. There was discomfort from holding the spell but otherwise was fine.

A few moments passed. My mind then prepared another earth spell, it was noticeably more difficult to provide minimal focus on both spells but it was not significant. Feeling the discomfort, the conclusion had befallen me.

Holding three spells would overwhelm me as two made me feel some pain. My mind then split my attention between the two spells and tried to activate them at the same time.

A sudden pain snaked across my body and my vision went blurry. However, there was a fairly large clump of dirt that started to fall towards the ground.

Plopping back down on a chair, my finger started to tap against the table. The potential was apparent just from that small experiment, however therein laid the biggest problem.

The problem a Constitution mage always had, the body.

A headache was coming on when the thoughts about casting spells that were even harder came to mind.

How long would I have to wait before I could really cast spells so that they were meaningful?

Erin's first cast and Ned's ease in casting spells left and right filled my thoughts.

There must be some way this obstacle could be overcome. Even Alyx would easily surpass me as ever if her spells were hard, they surely had power befitting of that strength.

As for why I wished to keep up with the rest... I guess I didn't want to be left behind, and part of it was what Mildred said.

Ned didn't alienate me just because I had no talents, but even if he didn't wish to, I felt we would grow apart simply because of the difference in capability.

Without a goal in mind, my hand fumbled in my pockets, taking out my messenger stone. There were four hours before we had to go to the magical school.

From there began aimless wandering, starring me.

Other than a few maids, nobody else was in the house, thus my new destination was the village. My eyes curiously peered at the surrounding village. Nothing seemed to be particularly out of place.

Mark was out early as well. He was sitting by the side of the road eating a piece of black bread. My footsteps stopped once Mark was in my sight.

"Hey, Mark."

Mark raised an eyebrow and stopped eating.

"Do I know you?"

"Yeah, I mean it's been a long time but we have met."

Mark was perplexed.

"Haha, I suppose I don't remember. What is your name? Maybe I will remember."

It was then the realization that we never met came back to me.

"Um... it was Jay, I suppose it really has been too long, it was an offhand interaction anyway."

Mark pondered for a while but then shook his head.

"Sorry, I really can't remember. Is there something you want?"

My shoulders shrugged.

"I guess I just wanted to talk."

Mark chuckled.

"Then is there anything in particular you want to talk about?"

My legs crouched down to sit down beside him. My eyes wandered among the people walking to and fro and vendors setting up their stall.

"Let's say that you were like... really powerful, but your friends were not, would you distance yourself from them?"

Mark looked at me strangely.

"You have to realize that many things are not so simple as to be answered directly."

Mark sighed.

"Say you are a person that has grown in power, you have friends that are unable to catch up. If said person values benefits, they will likely distance themself from their friends as the most they could do is drag them down."

Mark lifted up his finger that was not holding onto the bread.

"That is the first possibility. Another possibility is that upon gaining power, the person in question will receive a barrage of requests from people who are his friends. In the end, because it simply isn't worth it, this person may sever these bonds altogether. Though, it was probably only a bond that the person in question saw. This is the second possibility."

Mark lifted up another finger.

"In consideration that not all people are shallow, there are other possibilities. For the friends in this scenario, they may see that this person has gotten so much more powerful. Even if there is no conflict on the surface, this power increase can be quite intimidating. Feelings of inferiority can sprout, and with this inferiority many doubts surface. Generally, people will not see that they are allowed to interact amicably with people that they see as above them. In this case, the person with a sudden increase in power does not have a choice, the people around one will distance themselves before one could even say anything."

Mark started to smile.

"It is quite ironic really. As one becomes more powerful, ideally they should gain. In the end, they lose people who were friends for the sake of being friends. The top of the mountain can only hold one person, which makes it a pretty lonely place to be..."

Mark seemed to be thinking to himself but continued after a short pause.

"Anyways, that is the third possibility. Back on topic, this could also mean you have the capability to perform feats that require a certain amount of power while your friends cannot. Typically these feats themselves may not distance you, however, if they become too dangerous, you inevitably do these feats without them. Thus if for whatever reason these feats are done, the person in question may distance themself for the sake of their friends' safety. That is the fourth possibility."

Mark started to stick out his thumb but put it back.

"And... that is pretty much it."

My head hurts.

"That is very complicated."

Mark laughed.

"Without complication, there are no questions."

Mark continued eating his bread. What Mark said filled my thoughts.

Perhaps the best solution would still be to avoid the situation altogether. However, it seemed that option was not really presented to me. Perhaps the only thing in my control would be the third possibility. To get rid of my inferiority complex and just see if things would work out.

But... it's not like I can just do it because I want to.

"Say... How would you go about not feeling inferior?"

Mark rolled his eyes and smiled at me.

"Well, there are many things that could make one feel inferior. This originates from a lack of confidence, so you need to find ways to feel confident. A good way is to have something that you can do well, not necessarily being the best at it."

My eyes turned to look at Mark.

"But you need to at least be better than most people right? If you aren't at least better than most other people you can't say that you did well."

Mark laughed.

"No, that is just silly. Too many people get caught up in trying to be the best that even if there is someone just a tad better, they lose all confidence in themself. Just because you are the worst at something doesn't mean you are bad at it. I guess in your case the best example would be a mage. Yes, you may be the worst mage, however, the ratio of mages to normal people is 1:10000. This isn't because people don't want to become a mage, but rather they are unable to sense mana no matter how hard they try."

Woah, it's that hard to sense mana?

While my mind was pondering what he said, Mark sighed once again.

"Another trap many people fall in is when they become the best. So many people think just because there is nobody better than them there is no reason to push farther. In the end, people stagnate. That is, until someone who isn't blinded by comparison starts a revolution."

A bitter smile emerged on my face.

"Well, I don't think that is a trap that I will ever have to worry about."

Mark laughed at my response but didn't comment. Before my legs stood up to leave, Mark's expression suddenly turned nasty.

Panic was spreading among all the villagers. People were rushing around, hurriedly closing down their stalls, and arguing amongst each other. My eyes turned to what Mark was starting at, there was a snowflake that was on top of his sleeve. The panic started to bleed into me.

"What's wrong?"

Mark spoke slowly.

"Snow..."

What? My eyes went to the sky to see the light snow, was it really that big of a deal? Mark seemed to notice my confusion.

"Do you not know about winter?"

My head shook. Mark frowned.

"This world has ten years of sun, then ten years of snow. This is widely known..."

Mark looked at me then continued.

"In the last years before winter people are farming and stocking as much food as they can. Within these years even royalty only use their food that is about to expire and have the rest to tide through the winter. Although the ten years of winter is bad, it is tolerable since everyone is prepared for it."

A chill went down my spine. Mark looked up to the snow.

"But... if this isn't some joke, winter has come one year early."

Mark's frown deepened and his eyes narrowed.

"And that means far too many people will die...."