Building a magic system on threat of destruction

Jeler steeled his nerves as he walked out of his room. It was a new day and he was a new man. He was dedicated and determined, from now on, Jack would be safe from anyone and everything that Jeler could protect him from. Jeler walked around the corner of a building and saw Jack explode.

The explosion was small but hit him square on, knocking him back and away with shocking speed. Jeler instantly dashed forward and ran towards the smoking bore-bot. But before he could reach him, Jack stood up and dusted himself off. The explosion hadn't damaged his metallic frame, in fact, the only real harm he could see was some soot darkening his metal body in places. Jeler couldn't understand why everyone was so calm, hadn't Jack been attacked just now? None of the nearby mercenaries moved to help him, simply clapping or calling out encouragement.

Jeler slowed as he got closer, his confusion growing as he saw that Riniox seemed to be calling for another explosion to be cast at Jack. Jack waved his hands tauntingly as if to say, 'Bring it on.' However, before the spell could be cast, Riniox noticed Jeler approaching and called a stop. Jack looked confused before his eyes settled on Jeler. His expression turned serious, and he began walking towards the animalus.

Jeler slowed to a stop as Jack moved towards him. This was it. He would bow and beg for forgiveness. He would pledge his undying loyalty to Jack. He would atone-

Jack's voice spoke, interrupting his thoughts. "I'm sorry, Jeler."

Jeler's mind went blank.

"I know you came to check on me after everything happened, I didn't get a chance to tell you that it wasn't your fault. I was being dumb, I should have listened to you. You even got punished because of me, can I make it up to you?" Jack's voice was sincere and selfless. Jeler felt shame bubble up inside of him. He had been wallowing in self-pity, feeling sorry for himself. But Jack was asking him for forgiveness. It was almost too much for Jeler, the selflessness and care that Jack was showing him was unbelievable.

Jack was still looking at him, a mix of hope and anxiety on his face. "Jack...I'm sorry. You don't need to apologize to-" But before he could continue Jack interrupted him.

"Jeler, I feel bad that the whole situation happened. I want the two of us to be able to see eye to eye. I want to apologize to you, please let me." The words struck Jeler deeply. He could understand the feeling of wanting to apologize. Too often people would dismiss something as being 'not a problem.' So Jeler swallowed his feelings and nodded. Jack looked relieved like he had been worried Jeler would hold a grudge.

"Awesome!" Jack enthused. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to make it up to you, okay?"

Jeler took a moment to consider, then nodded to himself. This was his moment. He knelt down in front of Jack. "I want you to let me help you. I want to work to protect you and help you with your mission. No matter where in the world you go, I will be there to help and protect you." Jeler's eyes were shut, his head lowered. He didn't know what Jack would say to such an offer, especially on the heels of such a massive failure. He was shocked when Jack pulled him to his feet and stuck out a hand.

"Jeler, I would be very relieved to have you around. But none of that kneeling stuff, okay? I could use a friend, not a knight." He smiled slightly as he said it, and Jeler had never been happier to shake someone's hand.

The two of them smiled at each other for a long moment before the mood was shattered by Riniox yelling. "Jack! Get back over here!"

Jack jumped slightly, then moved to head back over. He turned back to Jeler, "Come on!" He waved for Jeler to follow him.

Jeler followed closely, taking in the scene before him. There were all sorts of weapons and piled objects scattered around. Glimm was nearby, sitting and reading a book while occasionally glancing up to check on Jack. Riniox had gathered a variety of the mercenaries and they seemed to be warming up, stretching, and lightly hopping on their feet. Jeler recognized the telltale signs of a training exercise.

"Alright Jeler, seems like you're done stewing. I've had to take up some of Jack's precious time teaching him to defend himself instead of having him work on the system." Her words were sharp, causing Jeler to feel a pang of guilt before Jack rolled his eyes and smiled at Jeler. "Riniox ignored him, "So now we are going to test the results of his learning. Protect him for me, would you? Go!"

Before Jeler could even fully process what was happening, five mercenaries ran at Jack suddenly. Surprisingly, Jack also moved, dashing away from his assailants and behind Jeler. "Point Defense" he called out, and a blue screen appeared on the foot of one of the mercenaries, causing them to trip in place, while also holding them down.

By the time the other four mercenaries reached Jeler, he was ready. He used his own [Point Defense] skill, not to bind someone in place, instead placing it in front of one of the runner's faces. The man's head slammed into the tiny screen at full speed and practically caused him to flip completely over before landing hard in the dirt.

Jeler simultaneously swept his leg out, trying to trip up one of the other attackers. The woman in question jumped his kick, only to be hit by a stone thrown backward by Jack in midair. She stumbled, and Jeler lunged forward, shoving the woman into one of the other runners, causing them both to fall. The last mercenary ran past Jeler, quickly closing the space to Jack. Jeler moved to try and catch up but didn't think he would make it. Instead, he used [Point Defense] again, hoping to bind the man in place.

The man heard the cast and quickly moved, deciding to juke to the left, avoiding the screen and reaching his hand out toward Jack. His fingers met empty air as Jack dove between the man's legs, hitting the man's shin with a held stone. The man cried out in pain and fell to the ground.

Jeler was pleasantly surprised. How had Riniox managed this level of training in such a short time frame? Not only was Jack avoiding capture, but he was helping to fight back in small ways. None of his blows would be very effective, given his relative lack of strength, but even small distractions and tricks could play a big role.

The first mercenary was still stuck in place, the blue defense screen keeping him from actively moving, though he was hitting at it with a rock which would deplete Jack's mana over time. The one who had run into Jeler's screen was unconscious, Riniox had gone to make sure he was still alive before removing him from the battlefield. The two Jeler had solved together picked themselves up, and the one Jack had dodged did the same. Jack and Jeler were now pincered, one mercenary in front of Jack, and two in front of Jeler.

Jeler's back met Jack's, and he felt at ease. The three mercenaries charged all at once "Jump, then use your buff skill on me." Jeler called out. jack did as asked, jumping into the air while Jeler caught him. Jeler used [Point Defense] one more time, landing on it as the effects of the [System Buff] skill hit him. This skill was incredibly intuitive, other empowering spells also felt vague and strange to use, but Jeler could feel the energy flow in predetermined ways and knew what to do with them. He quickly empowered his [Point Defense] skill and caused it to rise into the air.

It was a close thing, but the screen rose just out of reach by the time the mercenaries reached them. One of them moved to boost the other into a higher jump, but Jack quickly used his own [Point Defense] skill to bind them in place together, both a hand and a foot caught slightly in the same screen.

Jack and Jeler rose high into the air, about fifteen feet up before Riniox called off the game. "Well done you two, now come on back down."

Jeler obliged, lowering the defense screen back down to the ground and setting Jack down. The man who had been knocked out by Jeler had been healed by this point, and he came over and clapped Jeler on the back. Many of the gathered mercenaries were asking Jack for the [Point Defense] skill and he gently refused them, claiming that he was planning to have it be available for people to acquire themselves soon.

Jeler wandered over to Riniox while Jack was talking, "So what happened? He moved like someone with experience doing this kind of stuff, it's only been a day."

Riniox smiled wryly. "Well, it turns out that when you can just add as many skills as you want to a person, they get pretty useful pretty quick. Jack told me that people won't be able to get stronger nearly as fast as him, but looking at his progress I'm a little scared."

"Scared?" Jeler asked.

"Yeah, if people can just suddenly learn new skills, there might be some psychos out there who will abuse that kind of power." Riniox stared at nothing in particular as she said it, and Jeler could imagine what she might be thinking. He knew that there were advanced magics that could level small towns or people who could make poison strong enough to kill a dragon. Every single person in the world having access to something like that? It was a sobering thought.

"Well, we just have to trust that Jack knows what he's doing." Jeler mused. "Clearly he cares enough about the people here."

Riniox chewed on that for a minute, then sighed. "Only time will tell I suppose."