"Huh. That sounds sort of similar to Moses--he was a prophet, one of the most important ones, and God had him do a bunch of miracles, or did a bunch of miracles through him, or something."

"...Could be." Leareth is unconvinced. "The setup I describe is less one-off, more of a process. In any case. I am interested to know more about Unseen Servant, if you wish to do that next." 

"Sure. Create a shapeless force that follows my commands." This has no immediate visible effect, then an invisible entity opens one of the boxes and starts pulling winter clothes out, unfolding them, refolding them, and stacking them on another box. 

"You could probably eat this one too, now that I think about it. It's more automatic than Mage Hand, I can think 'unfold and refold clothes' at it instead of thinking about the individual motions." In fact, he's not even looking at the box of clothes while he says his.

This is another case that would seem miraculous and incredible in Leareth's world, but he's not shocked anymore – he's starting to sketch out an understanding, build his theories, it would be stupid to keep being surprised by the same things. 

"Very useful," he says instead. "Can it operate outside of line-of-sight? Is there a total range limit? Weight limit to lift? Do you need to personally possess the skill you command for it, or have a detailed understanding, or can you ask it to perform a task you would be unable to alone?" He shakes his head. "I apologize if I am going too quickly." 

"It's fine, I might not be able to keep up but that's not your fault. It doesn't need line of sight but also I can't see through it, so I can get it doing something repetitive and leave the room but can't send it out of the room and have it start something. I haven't found a range limit because I haven't wanted to try it outdoors and also it doesn't move very fast. It's roughly as strong as I am and it can only do fairly simple stuff, I think it's something like things I can do without thinking much about how to do them? That might not be the actual criteria. I can sweep a floor or make a sandwich with it but not write an essay." (Look, just because it would be wrong to use magic to do his homework instead of doing it himself doesn't mean it's wrong to find out if it's possible.)

"Interesting. I wonder if it need be a skill that you in particular can perform without thought, or only a repetitive technique that is possible to perform unthinking. All of what you described requires practice. Is there a similar skill you can think of that you do not yourself possess, but which you know someone who does, and the materials for it are easily obtainable in your home? Sewing, for example." 

"Good question. I think we've got a needle and thread somewhere . . . " He digs through a couple of boxes while the unseen servant packs the winter clothes back up, and doesn't find sewing supplies but does find some yarn and knitting needles. He can get the invisible force to pick them up, but it doesn't seem to have any more clue than he does how to knit. He mentally squashes down his embarrassment at demonstrating an absence of a specific skill. "Looks like either it uses my knowledge or it can't knit. I don't think it's a fine motor problem; I had it sort colored beads one time to see if it could see in color and that worked fine."

"Hmm." So, less powerful than the spell could have been, but still quite useful. "Is it all right with you if I try to eat it, now?" 

"Go ahead." (It's edible, and provides slightly more power than Mage Hand.)

Excellent. 

"I would be curious to see Fly," he says. "Flying is definitely not trivially possible with magic in my world. Although, it is perhaps my turn." He thinks for a moment, going over categories of spell. "I can show you a short range Gate if you wish. Perhaps from this door to your closet door?" 

"If a Gate is what it sounds like it sounds really cool. And Fly is actually one I can cast on you, if you want to try it."

Leareth would be delighted to experience flying! He can demonstrate a Gate first, though. Focus, weave the threshold on the basement door (he's very fast at it) – the doorway glows blue white, and then little tendrils of glowing magic start licking at the air – hold the destination in mind – and seconds later the Gate snaps up, and Bruce can see his bed and desk through a shimmering membrane. 

"You can cross back and forth if you wish," Leareth offers. It's a little tiring to hold it, but not very, and he can always eat another Mage Hand or two. "Interesting, that Gates work here – I suppose I knew they must, given how I arrived, but my understanding is that they route via the Void, a plane in my world." 

Bruce does all the things anyone would do the first time they saw a hole in space--going back and forth, standing in the middle, sticking one arm through and bending it around so it feels like his hands ought to be in the same place even though they aren't, inspecting the impenetrable back side of one and going "oooh". He's done within a minute or so. "Maybe it's all one big collection of planes, and this one is 'next to' the Void the same way your normal one is? I don't know enough about planes to know if that makes any sense or is totally dumb. Also, if someone had been in my closest would they be stuck in there?"

Leareth thinks for a moment. "Yes, I suppose they would. It is customary not to built Gates on doorways that are the sole entry and exit to a room, for that reason. Often, standalone archways are built for this purpose. I did not want to cast it on the door to your room, however, since it might be more conspicuous. If you are done, I will take it down now."

He waits for confirmation and then unweaves the magic – carefully, returning what he can to his reserves, but most of the input was lost to the Void.

When he's done, he sits down and leans his back against the wall. "I will rest for a minute, and then if you are able, I would appreciate consuming some more of your spells to replenish. Gates are among the most draining spells." 

"No problem." Just between him and himself, he's glad he's a useful power source. Leareth's abilities are impressive and intimidating and it's nice not to be totally useless. Makes him feel like Leareth is benefitting at all from having him around. Of course, if they actually end up using magic in some sort of fight, it would be better if Leareth had infinite amounts of it, but given that he doesn't it's good Bruce can make more.

"Very good." Leareth stands up. "That first, and then I am very curious to experience this spell of flight." 

"Okay." Mage hands mage hands, then he holds out his real hand and says "Grant with a touch the power of flight." And if Leareth taps his hand he will be able to move himself through the air as fluidly and easily as he can move his limbs. Gravity still gives him a sense of down, but no longer causes him to move in that direction.

"This is very impressive!" Leareth calls down from the ceiling. "How long does it last? Range limit?" 

"Ten minutes at a time, and I need to touch you to start it but now you can go as far as you want as long as you're back on the ground when it runs out."

Leareth spends several minutes exploring the spell, moving up and down and sideways, testing if he can duck to the floor and lift objects, or push himself off the walls and glide. 

He can lift things, and they seem to weigh as much as always. Pushing himself off a wall works, though air resistance slows him down if he doesn't keep using the spell to maintain speed. If he goes past nine minutes Bruce will give him a time warning.

Leareth runs out of things to try well before the nine-minute mark, and lowers himself to the floor, retrieving his notes. "This could be very useful. Especially combined with my magic, I think. I might cast an illusion to conceal myself or you, and then the flight could happen unseen. Hmm – if you are casting it on yourself, and reach the ten minutes, can you re-cast it quickly enough to remain in the air?" 

"Yeah, I can just start a new casting before the first one finishes and hold both for a minute." That was actually the form a lot of his two-spells-at-once practice took once he got his character to level five: hovering a foot above his bedroom carpet trying to chain fly spells.

"Very good. Of course you have checked." Leareth makes a note. "And, what about Shield?" 

"It has a weirdly short duration; it only lasts about six seconds, and it doesn't look like anything. I can just cast it repeatedly and you can throw stuff at me?" The incantation turns out to be the speed-optimized "Shield me.", and the result appears to Leareth's mage-sight to be unusually power-inefficient.