Jen returned and the worry on her face made her look ten years older. “Ok, you are an adult, an insane adult, but an adult. If you still want to do this, let’s do it now, I don’t want to wait till tomorrow,” Jen said with disappointment.

Sam felt terrible, but he wasn’t going to drag this out a second longer. “Everything’s ready. I’m going to push just a touch of mana into my arm and runes,” he said, as he focused on his arm containing the enchantment. “It’s holding! I think this is going to work better than the mana-infused steel with monster core shavings!” Sam exclaimed with excitement. He looked intently at his arm and at the mana that was being contained within his muscle, blood, and tissues. “The mana is not bleeding through the walls of my mana channels. I was a little worried about that.” Sam clinically stated as he peered into his arm and channels.

Jen just glared at Sam after hearing this comment. She wanted to punch him in the face, and she was barely able to keep from tearing up as she raged internally at him: “What the fuck am I going to do if something happens to him! He is the only family I have and the only person from Earth here with me. Sure, I can make plenty of money and actually thrive here financially, but WE ARE FAMILY YOU ASSHOLE, AND WE ALREADY LOST KELLY!”

“Ooops, she is really upset,” Sam thought to himself when he looked up from his arm and noticed Jen’s expression. “It’s been about ten minutes, and I haven’t felt any of the mana leak out. I’m going to initiate the spell, releasing the mana through the rune scar. It should cause a light breeze for about five seconds.”

Sam thrust his arm into a bucket of water, “Shit! That’s like a bad sunburn,” Sam said, while trying to hold back a whoop of excitement after the enchantment had blown a gust of wind from his arm. He knew Jen was still pissed; he just hadn’t realized experimenting on himself would cause her to react so badly. Sam could see that she was relieved, but she looked emotionally beat.

“Good night Sam. I’m really tired. Love you. See you tomorrow.” Jen said in a tired monotone voice, as she left for her room.

“I wish she had just punched me in the face,” Sam thought, as all his excitement and energy was just crushed by her simple but honest words.

Sam made a few notes and went to sleep.