Chapter 45: A Little Favor

"A long time ago, people recorded wattiez not in the hexagon structure, but as physical wattiez or spiritual wattiez." Amelia taught. "Physical being what we know now as Mental, Augmentation, and Elemental Wattiez, and spiritual being Life, Wave, and Relativity Wattiez. In easier terms, it would be the top half of the hexagon vs the bottom half. During those times, staffs were made to use either any of the physical or spiritual, rather than being made for one of the six today."

"Alright, how do I get my hands on one of those?" Darius asked. "Actually, are there any staffs that would let me use all six? Follow up question, why don't all staffs just let you use any of the six affinities?" Considering how much you people seem to rely on magic- wattiez, don't be mad at me Teach, wouldn't that be the preferable option?"

"You do know you're a freak, right?"

"Wow, so that's what you thought of me all this time?"

Darius comically lowered his head while acting distraught, and Amelia started freaking out. "Wait! Wait! That's not what I mean, what I mean is that most people only have one form of affinity like me. You having six is well, freakish."

"She's way too easy to tease," Darius thought. "So easy that it's almost not fun… almost."

"What a staff does is take the wattiez within a person, after it's been affected by their affinity, and then magnifies it. This produces a greater effect." She explained. "Remember that distinction I made about wattiez when you first met Madam Heart?"

Darius thought about it for a moment. "You said wattiez is an energy that surrounds us."

"And magic would be the application of those energies. You need to think of your body as sort of like… a ball!"

"One that you bounce?"

Amelia could probably see on Darius's face that he was a bit skeptical. "No, listen! A ball, like a gala is a perfect example. The ball is your body and the people that go to the ball is wattiez. Only, this ball enforces a dress code once inside. Everyone inside has to wear a certain color."

"Okay, I think I'm starting to get what you're going for. Your affinity dictates the dress code, and the wattiez is converted inside you.? That's why I'm such as freak? My ball doesn't care what people wear."

That got a rise out of her. "Yes, exactly! To keep with our little description, a staff acts like an usher, more efficiently moving "people" with certain colored dress out. Though, if a staff for an incorrect wattiez type is used, the usher panics and lets them out haphazardly."

"Then in the case of a staff with multiple affinities, that would have you hiring extra ushers, but for most people, those extra ushers would just be more costly and useless. I'm assuming this would cause them to suffer from wither?"

"Correct, back when just physical and spiritual staffs were made, many people suffered from wither. Many others even died, so staffsmiths, looked for ways to mitigate this effect. Eventually, this led to the discovery of the Hex, and the mass production of staffs that amplify only one affinity."

"Am I going to have to carry six different staffs, Teach?"

"Well… I think that should be enough for now. Can we get to my crossbow lessons?"

With a heavy sigh, Darius responded, "Can we use the bow today? You've made good progress with the crossbow, but-"

"It's because I've been making progress that I'd like to continue with the crossbow. I may branch out later, but for now…"

"Fine, I won't ask… no, that's a lie, I'll definitely ask again. Instead, I want you to do me a favor."

"A favor, I don't mind."

An evil laugh permeated from Darius's lips. "It's in regard to Krista. She's been gone for a while, and I'd imagine that she'll come back as a mess. She will probably need some healing. I'd like you to let me do it."

"I think that's fine, but why do I feel like that's not all?"

"Because you'd be right." Darius said now slowly creeping onto a reeling Amelia.