Magic

Chapter 5

Naked, Rick stood here waiting for her to say something, anything. He liked her, liked making love to her. He didn't want to lose her.
"Make love to me. I want to taste you this time," Kate murmured. That got Rick to smile. He moved in and kissed her, and she kissed him in return.

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Naked, Rick woke up to a wailing Alexis next to an equally naked Kate. He got out of bed and found out what was wrong. Still naked, Kate joined him and handed him what he needed to change a diaper.
"I've got her, Rick. You go on and make a bottle for her." Kate was sitting at the breakfast counter, holding Alexis, and waiting for the bottle to be ready.

"So, we're good?" he asked her.
"I'll admit that you gave me a curve ball I wasn't expecting, but we're good." If he hadn't already made love to her and done what he had to her, her answer might have been different.
"Great, that's great." Rick was relieved that she hadn't run from him. "We need to complete your training."
"That was one of the things that got me to come back and not run. That, and I liked making love to you," Kate told him as she accepted the bottle from him and fed Alexis.
"Good, because I like making love to you, too." Rick smiled at her. "You really should put some clothes on, Kate."
"One thing at a time." Kate looked down at Alexis, who only had eyes for her. "You're one to talk, Mister Naked." She smiled at him.
"I'll, um… I'll go put some clothes on." Rick turned and hurriedly headed for his bedroom.

Kate smiled at Alexis about that.

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Rick checked on his latest potion while Kate dressed. She walked in and asked him a question. "What are you cooking up now?"

"Well, this one is Summon Monster VII, and this is Teleport Greater," Rick replied, then continued with, "while this is Invisibility Mass."

"There's such a thing as Teleport?" Kate was surprised at that.

"Oh, yes. Teleport, regular Teleport, is a simple fifth-level spell. Don't worry, you'll get there, Kate. Eventually."

She sighed. "'Eventually' seems like a long way off. I can barely do a single first-level spell." Kate rolled her eyes. "I know. Practice, practice, practice."

"You got it," Rick told her and set up to start another three potions. He just needed to decide which ones he might need.
"All right, are you ready to try it?" he asked her.

"Do or do not. There is no try," Kate countered, using the best Yoda voice she could manage. Then, she saw the look on his face. "Never mind. I'm ready."
Rick just stood there. He was her target. Her first try failed, but she was undaunted. She tried her best and got it to work the following four times.

"I did it!" Kate was thrilled. She was one step closer to knowing all of her first-level spells. She celebrated by kissing Rick, who, of course, returned her kiss.
"You're getting closer, Kate."

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They didn't make love again for a week. Kate wasn't sure she would survive another round like the first one. The second one she knew she would, but not the first.

She had cleared her Color Spray five times, four separate tries. She had also cleared her Shield five times, four separate tries. Now, it was time for Magic Missile. Rick needed a dummy she could hit time after time. He couldn't be her target this time. It would hurt, and Kate didn't want to hurt him.

Additionally, she also looked into the mirror for 14 minutes and saw her dad was in a rehab facility. At least he was trying to get clean. "You can do it, Dad. Please do it," Kate pleaded, even though he couldn't hear her.

"All right, I've set up a dummy for you to hit. What you'll see is a glowing star leaving your fingertip. It will go unerringly toward your target no matter where it is or what it's hiding behind. Got it?" Rick stepped aside to a place where he could watch her.
"Got it. Here goes nothing." Kate cast her spell. And nothing was what she got. The second, third, and the fourth time, nothing happened. But the fifth time worked, and she saw a glowing star leave her fingertip and hit the dummy, blowing a hole in it.

"I did it!" Kate celebrated, dancing around.
"You did. The dummy looks a little worse for wear. Now, there's one thing to keep in mind. At the third level, you'll gain another star. Then another at the fifth, and again at the seventh, and a fifth star at the ninth level, so I wanted you to select it. It will grow in strength right along with you, Kate."

"Wow." Kate didn't know that when she selected it. Now, she was glad she did. "But I did it!" She celebrated again by kissing Rick.
"What you need now is to do that all five times, blowing new holes in the dummy, over and over again. Then we'll talk about skills. You like skills, but first, we need to work on your feats," Rick told her.

"My feats; I almost forget about them. So what are skills?" Kate asked.

"I'll get you a list of them." Rick left for a short time and returned with a list of skills.

Kate's mouth dropped open. Then she snapped it shut, swallowed, and exclaimed, "Holy crap! There are…30 of them."
"Not all of them pertain to you and won't be useful to you, but most of them will be," Rick told her. "Look it over, decide which interests you, and ask me questions." He kissed her and was kissed in return, then left her standing there.

"Skills." Kate wondered what else she had to learn before becoming a First Level Sorceress.

"Oh, you'll get 20 skill points at your level," Rick told her.

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One week later

Kate had used all her first-level spells immediately, not requiring her days to cast them, and she had done it four times. She had used her Feats, both of them, and learned just what they could do. She was happy with them.
Now, she needed to figure out her skill points. She had 20 of them to use.

She had Concentration and Craft, though she needed to figure out Craft what. She had Knowledge Arcana. She had Profession, but needed to figure out what Profession she would be, and Spellcraft.

For Profession, she could be an apothecary, boater, bookkeeper, brewer, cook, driver, farmer, fisher, guide, herbalist, herder, hunter, innkeeper, lumberjack, miller, miner, porter, rancher, sailor, scribe, siege engineer, stablehand, tanner, teamster, woodcutter, or the like.

She chose Brewer. She always wanted to learn how to make her very own beer.

As to Craft, she couldn't decide. She decided she would add it to her ability to Brew Beer. She took 20, divided it by three, and applied those points to those three skills.

So, that was that. Now, Kate needed to learn how to make a beer. For that, she required Rick and his money, though she was willing for it all to be delivered. She even had a free tub to make it in.

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They made love again. Rick found her G-Spot once more and put it to good use. Kate had her mind shut down yet again, and she had to let her body have orgasm after orgasm until Rick stopped.

They used her old bed to make love since Kate had moved in with Rick in his bedroom, where she slept wrapped up in his arms, right where she wanted to be.

"Tell me what you think. Don't hold back. I want you to tell me," Kate asked him. "It's my first try at this."
"So, I'm a guinea pig now, am I?" But Rick tasted it and swallowed. "Needs work." And he dumped the rest of it in the sink.

RATS!" Kate wasn't offended. She was disappointed in her ability to brew a decent beer, though.
"I'll make a new batch. Meanwhile, I want to see my dad again, please." Kate followed him down to the bedroom, where she stood in front of the mirror, greeted by a sleeping Jim for 14 minutes.

"Well, that didn't tell me anything." Kate felt bummed.

"No? It told me a couple of things," Rick said. "One, he's back in his bedroom, and two, he's not surrounded by empty bottles or full ones, even."
"That's true. It's good. Thanks." She kissed him, then celebrated it by making another batch of beer.

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Kate had used up all five tries and got out a spell each time immediately. There were no more waiting days. She even put her Feats to use and saw the benefits of having them.

"Now what? Do I get to work on second-level spells now?" Kate asked him, hoping he would say yes.

Rick shook his head. "Not just yet. You must demonstrate you can cast all of your 0-level and first-level spells like it is second nature. It'll take you about a month or more. But meanwhile, I'll get you a list of second-level spells, and you can begin planning what you want to learn." Then he broke it to her. "You need to be fourth-level to cast a second-level spell, and you're not even second-level yet."
"Well, shoot. Fourth-level, huh? That's going to take me more than a month." Kate knew that much.

"That it is, Kate, that it is." Rick found a second-level spell list and gave it to her.

"OH, BOY! There has to be what, 50 spells listed here? How many do I get, something on the order of two spells, that I can cast four times? Two out of 50. How do I choose?" Kate asked him. "I'll study the list while I cast my 0-level and first-level spells and make beer. Better beer."
"Knock yourself out." Rick kissed her, then went back to making potions and writing his book. He still had to make money.

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She had worked her second-level spells down to Web, Invisibility, Scorching Ray, Darkvision, Knock, Spider Climb, and Mirror Image. She had seen Rick use Mirror Image, so she knew what it was for. She was going to have a difficult time taking that list down to just two. Two.

In the meantime, she had to reach the second-level. At that level, she got to choose another 0-level spell and was able to cast another 0-level spell and cast another first-level spell. By the time she could cast a second-level, she would know the maximum number of spells she could ever be able to cast. But her number of spells now would increase. But that would be a long time from now, she was sure.

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A month later

Kate wanted to go and see her dad. According to the mirror, he had been clean for a month, and she wanted to see him. But she didn't want to go alone and would go with Rick and Alexis. The baby was growing like a weed, and Rick was pleased about it.

"Knock," Rick told her.
Kate shook her head. "You knock."
"Suck it up and knock, or I swear I'm leaving and taking Alexis with me," Rick threatened.
"Fine." Kate knocked, dreading what she'd find on the other side.
The door opened. "Hi, Dad."
"KATIE! And you brought Rick and Alexis with you. Come in." Jim stepped aside and let them enter. "So, how have you been? You're staying with Rick, are you? Your mother would have had a heart attack, given that you're staying with her favorite author."

Kate squeezed her eyes shut.
Rick raised an eyebrow and looked at Kate. "Favorite author, huh?"
She didn't see it since she had her eyes closed, but she could feel him looking at her. "Oh, boy," Kate whispered since she hadn't told him anything.
"How are you doing, Dad?"
"I've been clean for a month now. It's hard work. You wouldn't believe the number of restaurants that cook with wine, which counts. And they ask you if you want a drink," Jim told her. "So I've taken to eating takeout. We both know your mother was the cook in the family."

"I'm happy for you, Dad." Kate hugged him tightly.

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They were home again, and Alexis was asleep, so Rick put her to bed.
He came back downstairs and looked at Kate. "Favorite author, huh?"
Kate rolled her eyes. "Yes, you were my mom's favorite author. She even went to one of your book signings and dragged me along with her."
"So, I already met your mother and you. Why don't I remember that?" Rick tried his best to remember them, but he couldn't.
"I didn't wait in line with my mother. I was off in some other part of the bookstore. And you wouldn't remember Mom. She was just another face among lots of others."

She found herself in his arms, and she put her arms around his neck. "So I met your mother, but I don't remember her. That's a pity. I might have met you long before now. Somehow, I feel a loss, Kate."
"You really wouldn't have remembered us, Rick. There were so very many people there. The line even wrapped around the building. But I've learned a lot about you now and like what I've learned." Kate kissed him and kept kissing him. "Make love to me?" He guided her into the master bedroom. That told her he wouldn't be finding her G-Spot, and she wouldn't be squirting.

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She was busy casting her five spells, and Rick's dummy looked more and more worse each day. She also used Rick as a guinea pig for the next beer she made. Her skill hadn't improved any and wouldn't until she reached the second level. But she was getting closer and closer.
"It's better," Rick told her, then poured it down the sink. Seeing him doing that caused Kate to deflate. But she wasn't giving up yet, so she dumped this batch into the tub, and it went down the drain.

Meanwhile, Rick did more potion brewing. He did those he thought might be of use. He did three a day, so a month later, he had a lot of potions, not to mention the ones he had already made before Kate showed up.

Kate watched her dad in the mirror. He was back working, and not drinking, a wonderful thing. She was happy and kissed Rick for letting her see.

She got back to work destroying Rick's dummy. By now, there wasn't much left of it.

Kate finally reached the second level. She got to add another 0-level spell and could cast another first-level spell, though she didn't get another first-level spell. Kate could just cast another first-level spell. She chose Arcane Mark. It inscribed a personal rune, visible or invisible.

Rick had something for her, and he had wrapped it. It wasn't her birthday; that wasn't for months yet. It wasn't Mother's Day, and it certainly wasn't Christmas.
Kate ripped off the paper, exposing the box underneath. "You got me a cell phone?" She was ready to start crying. "You got me a phone." She kissed him while tears ran down her face.

"It's AT . I hope that's all right," Rick said.
"It's perfect." She didn't care who the carrier was. He had gotten her a phone.

She took it out of the box and found it already had a couple of numbers programmed into the memory. It was Rick's and her dad's numbers.
"Thank you," she cried and kissed him.

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She cast all six spells and made the dummy look even worse since duct tape was holding it together, which wasn't exactly helping it any longer.
It was a week later. Kate used her new phone to call her dad, who sounded happy to hear from her. He said he was doing fine and was fighting the urge to drink. Once it had its hooks in you, it stayed there. He had to fight it every day.

Then Rick pulled the rug out from under her. "I think I've figured out the symbols on the portal on this side."
"You want to leave?" Kate asked him. "But...but this is your home now."

"Yes, it is, but I want to go home. Home is a different planet, and I want to go home. I miss it."
"But won't you come out of the portal on the other side? Weren't you on the run from something or someone? You'll go right back there. What about Alexis?" Kate played every card she could think of to get him to stay.

"That's why I've been making potions for months. Years, actually. I've got more than I know what to do with," Rick told her. "And I think I can take care of Alexis. If not, I can always come back through the portal."

Kate felt like crying. "You're leaving." What she meant was leaving me, but she didn't say that.

"I want you to come with me. I'll hook you up with potions and tell you what they are. You can either throw them or swallow them. Together, I think we can make it outside. Come with me, please, Kate."
"I can't. I just can't. I can't go to another planet, to a world I know nothing about. I just can't." She jumped up, ran to her old room, and closed the door. Then, she got into bed and wept, crying herself to sleep.

The next day, she got up late, showered, and went downstairs, where she found a note on the refrigerator. It was from Rick; he was gone. He wished her only the best and left her his credit card.
She burst out crying again. Rick had left her, had gone home. She began sobbing. Her heart hurt, and Kate missed him already. She slid down the front of the refrigerator until she was on the floor, her body shaking as she wept.