Liam

  Liam stepped forward last to take his turn.

  He wasn't worried. He knew he'd get it, even if it wasn't as fast as the others. He just moved to the spot where the others had stood and drew in a slow breath.

  Paul gave him a nod. "You got this man. We're not leaving until everyone gets something."

  Liam rolled his neck, shaking out one shoulder. "Yeah man, let me think."

  Time passed slowly. Liam stood still, didn't move his arms, or do anything that looked like he was acting out whatever he was thinking about.

  "You gunna do something, or just stand there looking pretty?" Parmo eventually asked.

  "Give him a second," Lee said. "He's thinking."

  "Just 'cos you find standing still for more than three seconds torture, doesn't mean everyone else does." Joked Liam.

  He went back to the problem at hand.

  What sort of magic would I want if I was going to be the group tank?

  He didn't picture fireballs or lightning bolts or ice magic. He didn't try to channel some anime character or game mechanic. He just thought about how he could use what he knew about himself to get to where he needed.

  He was the steady one. The one people relied on when they needed someone to talk to one-to-one.

  He thought about standing his ground when everything else was chaos. About holding the line when others couldn't. About being the thing that didn't break, the person you could lean on.

  He thought about his mates. Lee with his anxiety, Parmo feeling like he was a nuisance, Paul with his leg. All of them had carried stuff and he was who they came to when they needed to get it off their chest. He was solid, they all knew this.

  He didn't need to be the flashiest, the fastest, the most hard hitting. He just needed to stay steady. To hold.

  He planted his feet and raised one arm in front of himself, palm facing outward.

  There was no flash or sound. No dramatic build up that made his magic obvious to anyone looking. Just a steady pressure building behind his ribs. Like his entire being was consolidating into something solid and immovable. A weight that wanted direction.

  He gave it one.

  A ripple of translucent force shimmered in front of his palm, like heat off tarmac in summer. A shield.

  Liam lowered his hand, opened his eyes, and looked at his palm like it might explain what just happened.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "Think I did something," he said quietly.

  Then the chime sounded.

  [Magic Tab Unlocked]

  Spell Registered: Standfast (Type: Barrier)

  Effect Summary:

  – Creates a brief, low-intensity force barrier

  – Front-facing only; dissipates on contact

  – Protective and grounding

  Activation Trace:

  → Conceptual focus: Embodied stability and protective duty

  → Emotional state: Quiet resolve, grounded presence

  → Intent: Visualization of standing firm and shielding others

  System Analysis:

  – Spell triggered through calm focus and embodied responsibility

  – Protective orientation detected; mana draw minimal

  – Energy shaping stable but requires development

  Potential Threads:

  [Further data required]

  Note: Specialization does not restrict spell development

  Affinity: Force (Initial attunement)

  Mana Core: Active

  Liam stared at the tab for a long moment, then gave a small nod. "Nice. That's pretty much what I was hoping for."

  Lee grinned. "Tank unlocked, then?"

  "Guess so," Liam said. This was what he was for the group. The steady, helping hand. Being the group bulwark, its first line of defence was exactly where he wanted to be.

  Parmo squinted at him. "That thing gonna stop a sword?"

  "No idea," Liam grinned. "I bet it stops your poor excuse for an ice spell though."

  Ste laughed. "That's going to be extremely useful if we find ourselves in danger. I know all we see at the minute is grass and a tree line but there could be wolves or anything and we just don't know it yet."

  "Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing," Liam said. "We don't know anything about our situation yet. Best to prepare for the worst and hope for the best."

  The boys all looked at each other. They realised they had all been thinking the same thing subconsciously. No one had asked why they all wanted powers that could be used in a fight. Magic could obviously be extremely useful for the stuff the town was lacking at the minute, but they had approached this with combat in mind. The fact they played games and that could have influenced them could be brought up, but it wasn't what had led them to their choices.

  Paul clapped him on the back. "Classic Liam. Why waste time building damage when you can stack armour and health and become the nuisance no one can get past?"

  Liam smiled faintly. "Someone's got to be. And honestly, mate, you lot need someone who won't let you die at the first sign of trouble."

  "Oi," Paul protested, but he was grinning.

  "He's not wrong," Lee said. "I can already see Parmo freezing to death 'cos he gets stuck on trying to improve his magic and doesn't realise he's caught hypothermia . Liam's going to be the first person to notice."

  Liam shrugged, uncomfortable with the praise but not dismissing it either. "Why am I being made out to be the group dad when I'm the youngest and there are two actual dads here?"

  The boys laughed.

  ***

  The sun was glaring down and had been for a while, the boys had been at this longer than they realised and the heat was starting to bother them. Lee looked around at the others. "Should probably head back, I'm starving."

  Paul grunted. "Yeah. Let's go see what Mike's been up to. He's going to want to know about all this."

  "Yeah we should let people know magic's possible," Ste added. "We're probably the first to figure it out."

  Parmo shook out his leg, still slightly damp. "Sounds good to me."

  "Same," Liam said. "I wonder if casting magic is going to make you hungry like working out does."

  "Who knows?" asked Lee. "It's got to be using energy in someway so it would make sense."

  They began walking, trainers crunching over dry grass, the cobbled-together barricade visible in the distance.

  Paul stopped. "Dudes, the seed is gone. Check your inventory."

  They all looked inward, checking their UI. The seed had disappeared.

  "That's got to be linked with us casting magic. I wonder if we needed it in our inventory to even begin with magic. Like, maybe the UI needed it for us to be able to cast anything." mused Ste.

  "Who knows? There must be a reason it's gone now if that's the case." said Parmo.

  "I mean, we don't have a lot to work with as far as finding where it went or why magic works. I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually." nodded Liam. "Pub?"

  A chorus of yes's was the response as the lads got back to the barricade.