"He doesn't seem it, but if you have advice I'm sure he'd appreciate it. Is... this going to come up again?"

Cold magic? That sounds appropriate. Using it is a thing of will, and it will make him hungrier. It probably won't come up again when I can use less power for the same result. Or I could do it deliberately, but my aim is to assist with springs, not empower your kind.

"The geneticists are probably going to look into it, if it's the kind of thing that might be genetic like the softer spring."

It's more a matter of how much of my Essence is used. But your geneticists studying my work was always part of the plan, of course.

"Why is cold magic appropriate?"

...Spring is the end of winter and the coming of warmth. Cold is denying spring's hold on the world. So, cold magic is appropriate.

"...I suppose. Does a lot of what you do run on aesthetics like that."

Aesthetically appropriate things tend to happen when one is close to the Onesong. Not everything is like that, but powerful magic? Does tend to be.

"If he uses it a lot, gets a job in an ice cream place or something, and eats a lot to compensate, will he be all right? Is he likely to misfire?"

Yes. And, practice would do no harm, and if he casts about in a fit of passion it will be just as available as my claws are to me, but once one has the hang of it accidents will be unlikely.

Ruan nods.

I imagine he is happy with the additional blessing, even though I did not intend to give it? It's not as if I can take it away.

"Oh, yes, he's pleased. Most people would be."

I don't want to make a habit of such empowerment. This, the Elders will understand. Enkindling is a delicate business. But doing so on a regular basis is something I would want to seek guidance on.

"That makes sense to me."

I'll be ready to work on someone else in a day or two. Without any side-effects, this time, I hope.

"I'll line up the next person!"

She goes back inside with a lot of bacon.

She sort of understands the internet now, and has rather mediocre but existent Baravic skill, so, curious, she looks up 'Draak gives mild springs and ice magic' on a pocket everything acquired a while ago.

She can find the purple giving an interview about it. He demonstrates the ice magic and seems very happy.

That's a good result as any. She emails her language tutor to mention a couple of words she didn't quite understand and which the dictionary didn't help with, to go over next session.

The tutor replies with a preliminary explanation of each word and a promise to follow up with telepathy later, and, My nephew has some questions for you, would it be all right if I pass them on?

That is fine, she writes back.

He wants to know what other kinds of powers the test subject could have gotten, what circumstances might get you to give more people powers, and whether they get better with practice. To be clear I don't think he's trying to figure out how to get his own, this is for a story he's writing.

Direct and simple powers with that amount of Enkindling. Ice, water, fire, earth, air, motion and force. It's not unheard of for the powers to get stronger but it is rare. Practice makes you better at using the powers yes. I'm not sure what would cause me to Enkindle more Amentans enough to display magic. It would have to be some kind of very very dire emergency or years in the future.

A story about me? I'm not sure how to feel about that.

I think he wants to write a story about people with superpowers, not about you. I can tell him not to if you like but he probably isn't the only person to think of it.