Chapter 23: 22. Moving Forward

Jake returned to the Overworld the moment he began to feel his concentration weaken within the Library. Without much choice or time, he left a messy study room behind. Books focused entirely on enchantments and the various elements were all left scattered on the desk, the floor, and in the practice room. Jake was eager to absorb as much information as he could and didn’t restrict himself only to Light magic enchantments. His prior guess had been correct- while Light magic was the highest level of complexity and provided the perceived ‘strongest’ enchantments and support spells, it wasn’t the only support element.

In fact, each element had varying levels of enchantments depending on the capabilities of the Magician. The finer and more precise the Magician, the stronger the rune or sigil would prove to be. This came into play mostly when dealing with very small, tiny runes and sigils that would be inscribed onto things like weapons, into tiny necklaces and crystals, or into small crevices to disguise traps or trigger spells. Larger runes were easier to make, as the details could be expanded and far more easily inscribed onto surfaces. For Jake, precision would be everything, as he planned to use strong runes and enchantments on the weapons for Tul and Xul. Anything less and his friends would be in trouble.

Thus, he spent nearly the entire night simply practicing how to draw the runes. Each rune followed a similar pattern- a large circle to contain the runes, letters in Seraphym or even Demon language to provide the ‘power’ of the runes, and then connecting lines to feed that power throughout the rune itself. The runes would be organized to make the Words, and then the final product would be the Sigil. The object that was being given the enchantment would provide the base for the sigil to sit on and the runes would feed that object mana when activated using the lines of the sigil. The result would be the desired effect. However, the type of mana pushed into the object would vary depending on the Words written and the style of the lines drawn within the sigil.

From his research, Jake found that each element had its own set of runes. While Words of Power were relatively similar, the runes themselves varied and depending on the element could give off different effects. The lines of the sigil were also important. The make-up of the sigil itself would cause the Words to trigger in a specific order and would direct the mana through the magic circle in a specific way. To an ordinary individual, the slight variations between the elements give the illusion that all sigils are the same. However, the fine details jump out to the trained eye.

Light sigil lines were sharp, clean, and straight. They were direct in connecting the words of power. However, the lines were generally numerous and the sigils tended to be multi-layered to make disrupting them more difficult. Light magic runes used the Seraphym language.

Dark magic sigils were similar to those of Light. They were straight, clean, and direct. Except the sigils tended to have a second circle around the outside of them. The inner lines were also inverted and the words of power tended to be written with more of a sinister flow. These runes were also written in Seraphym.

Fire and Water sigils were similar to Light and Dark in that their lines were never straight. The elements were drawn generally the same way, but Fire runes were inverted compared to Water runes. The sigils themselves were the same, as were the Words of Power oddly enough. The inner lines for these runes curved and bowed, flowing and crossing over one another within the outer circle. The language for the runes was Beast.

Wind and Rock sigils had two encapsulating circles, like Dark magic runes. However, the inner circle was broken up into five or six pieces. Wind sigils had six, Rock sigils had five. 

Rock sigil's inner lines were jagged and sharp, with only five lines connecting to the inner, broken-up circle. Rock runes were written in the language of the Ennuct but Jake found that it was similar to Common language just with more accenting on certain words.

Wind sigils were entirely circular. The inner lines were all curved, they never crossed, and they never connected with the two outer lines. In the center of all Wind sigils, a full circle was required along with a character representing the element. Wind rune Words of Power were written in the Common language.

Thunder magic also had runes of its own but Jake found none of them as strong or useful as the other elements. While Yir’s Thunder magic was certainly powerful, Jake was finding it to be the weakest of the elements the more he looked into it. Maybe that was why she used it over the others when dealing with conflict within the Library.

Jake experimented with each of the different element types and found that each had a specific purpose, and some elements were better than others at different things. Fire runes made great offensive enchantments, while Rock was the best for defensive ones. Water and Wind were great for physical enchantments. Dark enchantments were strong at anti-magic enchantments and could also be used for Life Stealing, poisoning, impairments, and other debuff-type effects. Light magic, while not as strong as Rock-based enchantments, was strong at providing magic defense, enhancing healing spells, and providing a range of sensory aids that would boost a user’s awareness of their surroundings.

On their own, the various elements were mediocre. They had their uses and could all be used for different tasks. Jake also discovered that the runes would require mana to power them, so they would be useless if the wielder couldn’t cultivate mana. However, in the hands of a strong mage and when combined to enhance their effects, that’s where Jake found the true power behind enchanting. Jake tried to combine different runes of the various elements, but the elements tended to conflict with each other, making the created sigils either break or not work at all. He needed to use them individually, for now. Layering was certainly on the table but he wasn’t at that level quite yet. Layering Words of Power required very stable mana and constant attention, or the magician risked fissuring them, which was very likely to cause an explosion. The more sigils the Magician stacked, the more attention and precision would be required to maintain the balance.

After learning about a range of the available enchantments, but certainly not diving too deep into any specific element, Jake focused on just a few enchantments specifically. While he planned to return and study more, he wanted to focus only on a handful of capable enhancements for the night. He looked into sharpening runes, strengthening runes, stamina and agility runes, recovery runes, and also a barrier enchantment. These tools he could use immediately in combat and he could easily apply them to the spears for Tul and Xul. They had multiple levels to them so their strength could be improved. But, for those two, he didn’t need to be too advanced.

For himself, however, he learned the stronger versions. In the practice room, Jake used the floor as his practice pad. As to not waste resources on his terrible drawings, he simply scribbled onto the ground and used Rock magic to reset the space whenever he made a mistake. He started big and simple, practicing each enchantment sigil and drawing them all one at a time. When the runes lit up and he was confident in his success, he would reset the floor and draw it again. And again. And again. And again. Over and over until he could draw the rune from memory. One of Lady Ferynith’s rules was that nothing could ever be brought out of the Library. Whether that was due to how the entry sigil worked, or if she simply didn’t want to lose any of her collected books, he wasn’t sure. But that meant he couldn’t take any papers out when he left.

Thus, if he wanted to perform the enchantments, he would need to memorize their structures and runes exactly. This was also another reason he limited himself to only a few. Too many enchantments at one time would be impossible to memorize and he didn’t have enough time to practice too many. Keeping the pool of enchantments small allowed him to perfect them one at a time and it gave him a big enough window where he could study the books for accuracy and make mistakes.

By the end of the night, he was ready. Though when he awoke he was surprised to already find the room around him active and bustling. Yae was gone from the bed. Xul and Tul were tidying up their sleeping mats and blankets. The small fire in the middle of the room was still burning dimly, its warmth and light continuing to illuminate the dark space. Jake sat up and was quickly greeted with two happy smiles.

“Did I… oversleep?” Jake asked.

“No. Long sleep good,” Tul answered. There were dirty bowls over in the corner already and the two both had their spears set beside their seat cushions, along with sharpening objects for the spear tips. Tul’s looked like it had been used recently and Xul’s spearhead was exceptionally sharp compared to the way it was before.

Not only had Jake overslept, but he had also slept through them waking up, eating, and Tul and Xul maintaining their weapons. He frowned and sat up, quickly gathering up his blanket and rolling his mat. Xul took both and tucked them into the corner while Tul passed Jake a small bowl with some soup in it, along with a piece of bread. Jake thanked him for both and then quickly gulped down the soup. It was lukewarm and fairly bland. The lack of herbs was evident. Still, food was food. He was thankful for anything.

“Let me have your spears.” Eager and impatient, Jake motioned for the two to pass him their weapons. They did so but both Tul and Xul seemed skeptical as to why. Jake didn’t explain himself and instead went to work on them.

He used his finger and a very thin amount of mana to cut into the stone shafts, etching into them the enchantment sigils he had memorized. He added in the Sharpening enchantment and the Durability enchantment onto both spears, targeting the spearheads to upgrade their reliability and ensure they wouldn’t break. Then, he applied a Durability enchantment to the shafts for the same reason. These standard enchantments lacked an elemental tie. While they followed the rules of Light magic, they lacked the necessity of mana to be applied to them. In essence, once applied they would always be active.

Next, he moved to actual elemental sigils. These would require mana but very little. Jake understood that the two weren’t mages. However, both shared a faint amount of magic power within them. Xul had plenty while Tul’s was barely noticeable. As long as they practiced and cultivated for a short period, they would be capable of using the enchantments. However, Jake wouldn’t tell them. Not yet, at least. Tul and Xul were both young, like him. Xul was hardheaded and straightforward. From what he understood, the two of them were new in the Scouts. Jake wanted them to remain focused on their current tasks.

As for the actual enchantments, he gave Tul a fire enchantment. The sigil would cause the edges of the spearhead to heat and more easily burn through flesh. For Xul’s spear, Jake gave a wind enchantment. The wind enchantment would make the spear razor sharp and while it wouldn’t leave a burn behind or seer flesh, it would slice through even bone with relative ease. They were minor enchantments but would prove handy when fighting the Maedra. Especially Tul’s. Xul seemed to have experience already so he wouldn’t need the extra help. Just a bit. By making the weapons more durable and sharper, the spears already would be significantly more effective. Of course, regular maintenance would still be required but even without it, the spears would be deadly.

“Here.” Once he was finished Jake returned the spears, taking a moment to explain what he’d done, leaving out the elemental ones. “I’ve added some basic enchantments to your spears. One is a sharpener and the other is a sort of hardening rune,” Jake explained. “Both of your spears will cut a lot better and won’t break very easily.”

The two boys looked closely at the runes on the stone shafts, their fingers running over the engraved marks. Xul’s lips were stretched into a wide smile. Tul looked more proud of his weapon than anything.

While they examined their spears and played with the new markings on them, Jake picked up Chul’s mana crystal- he was going to reuse it. It was fairly sharp and jagged, its edges rough and spiked. This made it fairly easy to find a decent-sized piece. Using some mana and rock magic, he carefully cut the piece from the main crystal. Applying mana to the broken fragment, he found that the crystal would still hold mana. Carefully, he bore a small hole through the top of the fragment and then took off his necklace.

Jake added the fragment to the rope, the fragment clinking against his mother’s jewel. He wanted to practice more with runes before potentially damaging Chul’s Fragment, but he also wasn’t going to carry the entire mana crystal around forever. He needed to put his friend to rest so that he too could move on. Chul’s presence was gone now from the crystal, entirely, but Jake could feel the same mana the Arachkin controlled flowing within him. It was as if Jake now had Chul’s own heart thumping in his chest, fueling his magic. Even the color of his mana had changed. A fitting end, Jake thought.

“I’ll be back.” Jake picked up Chul’s mana crystal and left the home. Xul and Tul looked as though they would follow but neither moved to do so. Jake descended from the upper level alone and slipped out into the alleys. He didn’t cross paths with Yae on his trip, thankfully, and quietly made his way back to the edge of the village. Following the same path he had taken into the village, Jake stepped out from beneath a tall archway and walked into the rocky outskirts. The path leading up to the exit tunnels was only a short distance away and the slopes leading up to them were steep. He took the one he remembered when he’d first arrived and marched up to the black tunnel at its peak.

The moment he did, he sensed a large number of individuals within the tunnel making themselves known. Two peeled out of the shadows beside the entrance, both large fighter types. They both carried massive swords on their waists. Along with the two close guards, an individual in the far back stepped out from the wall as well- this one armed with a staff.

“Excuse me. I’m going for a walk,” Jake said, his eyes glancing at both of the guards in front of him. They glared down at him strangely, not answering. They seemed to not understand. Jake furrowed his eyebrows. He repeated himself once more, to no avail. Then, he realized that it seemed these guards weren’t just keeping the Maedra out. They were keeping people in. Jake sucked his teeth and narrowed his eyes.

“Move,” he spat, hissing through his teeth as he raised a hand at his side. A blue fire ball appeared at his fingertips. The guards reacted swiftly, arming themselves as they drew their blades. At the back of them, the mage conjured up a wind ball. Several other bodies shifted along the walls and a dozen singular eyeballs appeared.

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For a tense moment, Jake reached out with his mana to seek out all of the bodies between him and the exit. There were twenty in total within the tunnel and they were all armed to the teeth. Even if Jake were to kill a few, taking them all down in a swift manner would prove difficult. Not only that but he would stir up a nest of danger all around him. The moment the fight here started, all of the guards in the other tunnels might converge on him. Then, once he escaped, they’d likely send scouts to hunt him down, too. If there were other mages within those teams, there might be a chance that they could track his mana and eventually find him. While Jake did want to leave, he didn’t want to make an enemy of this place just yet.

Jake smothered the flame and released a light sigh. He turned away from the guards and casually walked away.

“Good choice,” a guard scoffed. Jake tensed his jaw and fists.

Jake whirled around on his heels and stomped onto the floor, igniting the mana he’d pumped into it, just in case he needed to protect himself. A massive spike of rock sprang upwards, its razor-sharp tip stopping just beneath the guard’s chin. The guard barely had time to flinch. A controlled show of force.

“Yes, for you,” Jake added before shattering the tower of rock. Without another word, he returned down to the village. The guards erased their visible presence after he left and didn’t bother him further.

Once back in the low streets, Jake wove his way over to the flowing water and made his way to the river’s edge. He followed it briefly to where the water pooled into a small lake and knelt beside it. The bottom of the water pool was black, showing that its bottom was far out of sight. Jake set down the mana crystal onto the water’s edge and placed his hands on the floor. Using rock magic, Jake wrapped the crystal in a layer of stone. He had originally planned to bury Chul deep within the Ravine’s floor but this would do well enough.

An eternal slumber, comfortably wrapped in a protective layer of rock and left undisturbed within the depths of the Ravine. The water would be the last place anyone would look for Chul’s crystal, and the dark water would ensure the crystal remained out of sight and out of reach. The rock would act as a burial wrapping and would last for a long, long time against the water’s erosion. The rock also would keep any curious entities from being nosy or potentially snatching up the crystal. Chul’s crystal was still fairly useful. It could hold mana very well and would prove extremely helpful for holding an enchantment. While Jake did feel bad for wasting such a resource, he wasn’t going to use his friend’s corpse so readily.

Thus, once the crystal was coated in the thick rock layer, he used a short burst of wind magic to shove the rock out into the water. It skipped across the clear blue top of the mini-lake and then plunged into the depths. As it fell, Jake watched the shadowy outline as it vanished. As it did so, several curious red eyes peeked out of the darkness for a moment. Nothing came up from that dark pit beneath the surface but it was enough to tell Jake that no one would ever bother Chul again.

“Goodbye, my friend.” The boy bowed his head and placed his hands together. He prayed for a few minutes, letting his mind reminisce over the short time he knew Chul while also wishing for his friend’s eternal and well-deserved rest.

He stared at the water, listening to the distant rumbling of the waterfall and the voices from the village. The water flowed in front of him slowly, very very slowly. He stared out towards the distant spot where Chul’s crystal had disappeared beneath. His lips curled into a smile and he looked down at his reflection. It had been quite a while since he’d looked at himself in the water. Not so long that he couldn’t recognize himself but long enough to know that he needed a haircut. He usually kept it short and neat. It had grown out to be long and quite shaggy now. He could almost tie it behind his head into a knot.

No, he already could. He collected his long, light hair into his hands and pushed it all back behind his ears. He had enough length in the strands that they could all reach the back of his head. Except, with nothing to hold it, Jake simply released his hair and let it dangle by his ears. He didn’t look half bad with it pulled back. Maybe it was time for a hairstyle adjustment.

“Jake?” Yae called out to him as he stood up. She held her hands clenched together in front of her- she fidgeted with her fingers. Her mouth seemed to open and close but no words came out of them. As Jake stared at her, patiently waiting for her to speak, he could see her eyes flicking out to the water. Had she been watching him?

“Sorry, I needed some time alone. Let’s head to the Scout area.” Rather than pressing her, Jake figured it would be best not to ask. He smiled at her and then walked over to her, keeping that smile on his face until he passed her. Yae nodded quietly, then turned to follow.

Their walk to the Scout compound was a quiet one for them. While the village was awake and alive, Jake’s eyes remained stuck on the space ahead of him. He couldn’t look at Yae, nor did he want to. The sadness in her eyes made him feel anxious.

When they arrived, passing beneath the tall archway, Xul and Tul were visible across the courtyard. Their attention was on another spearman, who was instructing the two and several others on different moves with the spear. Jake didn’t plan on interrupting their training, so instead, he turned toward his own destination. At the door, Mur was standing with two of his arms crossed. The noise of training echoed from behind him and several injured trainees were scattered around the outside of the building. As Jake approached, Mur’s eyes narrowed.

“A bit late, aren’t we?” Mur’s voice boomed into the courtyard. Jake clenched his teeth and lowered his head.

“My apologies. I had something important to-” Jake was cut off by a loud clanging. His training sword had been tossed onto the ground in front of him.

“Too important to skip out on learning skills that will save your life?” Mur barked and jumped down from the raised walkway. He pulled out a large, unwieldy-looking hammer. In his massive forearms, the hammer looked weightless. Mur threw the sword from the day prior down at Jake’s feet.

“A burial for a friend.” Jake snatched up his sword and took the fighting stance he had been taught. Yae briskly moved out of the way as Mur stormed over to where Jake stood.

“A burial? Down here, there are no burials. You are either consumed by the ravine, or live long enough to rot within its walls.” Mur’s arms flexed as the massive beast swung the hammer down onto the floor as if striking an anvil. Jake moved quickly out of the way, avoiding the swing with some ease but his vision became clouded by the dust and rocks in his face.

The wind whisked over his brow and his ears rang as another impact rumbled at his feet. The hammer cracked into the floor again, the quake causing him to lose his balance. A meaty hand jutted out of the cloud, the thick and meaty fingers snatching Jake by the throat. The boy was lifted off the ground, high into the air as Mur snatched him up. Jake dropped his blade and clawed at the fierce grip, trying anything to free himself as oxygen in his lungs became scarce.

“You are far too young to worry about the dead. You are far too inexperienced to provide them with any respite. And you are far too weak to bring their bodies home.” Mur’s hand cinched down on Jake’s neck, the pressure increasing seemingly with every word. Jake let out a pained gasp as his vision blurred and his head began to feel light. Mur sucked his teeth, and then tossed Jake aside into the courtyard.

As Jake landed and rolled like a doll, Mur kicked his sword over to him. It clattered and rang out as it scratched across the stone floor. Jake’s chest heaved as he sucked in oxygen. His consciousness returned and he could see clearly again, though there were certainly some sprites floating around as he scrambled to his hands and knees. Mur’s heavy footsteps echoed in his throbbing ears, warning Jake of the incoming threat. He snatched up his sword and staggered to his feet, his balance off and his muscles weak.

Jake had just enough time to protect himself as the hammer was swung at him again. While Jake intercepted the heavy metal flat head of the weapon, Mur easily overpowered him. Jake felt the ground vanish beneath his feet as he was knocked out of the way and once more onto his back. He bounced and skidded across the ground, the stone scraping at his back. He let out a faint groan and could feel his back burning- likely the scratches and scrapes from the slide. His arms ached from the impact with Mur’s hammer and his fingers felt tingly. As he rolled to his knees, his vision was filled with meat as Mur stood in front of him. Two thick arms stretched out and he was lifted off the ground again.

“You came before me seeking strength and skill. Then you come late, expecting the same. But I will not pamper you, boy. The world is not so nice. This is your only warning.” Mur’s breath was sour but Jake could only really focus on Mur’s round, glossy black eyes. There was no white to them. A deep, blank abyss. Mur dropped Jake onto his back again and then stomped towards the practice building.

“Grab your sword. You have much to learn, and my patience is short.”

Jake gingerly rolled onto his knees and carefully made his way back onto his feet. Yae was there at his side, Jake’s sword in her hands. She passed it to him and then offered to tend to his wounds, but Jake shook his head. Using his mana, he isolated the areas sending signals of pain to his brain and took a deep breath. On the exhale, he pushed mana into the wounds and used Light magic to hasten the recovery process. The wounds were all light and nothing more than what he had originally guessed- scrapes and a few small scratches. Though, his right ring finger was fractured because of the hammer strike. More mana pushed into the finger quickly accelerated the healing process. After a few moments, the pain faded away.

Content with the slight progress, Jake smiled at Yae before hurrying after Mur.

Jake was unsure how much time he was about to spend in this village, and he wasn’t exactly sure how long it would take him to become a proper Scout. However, with Mur’s knowledge and fearsome attitude, Jake had a feeling he would need to learn fast if he wanted to survive down here. Mur was right- Jake was weak. A proper warrior would have been able to at least put up a fight against Mur or at least dodge that hammer. All Jake could do was stumble around and try to keep his wits. When he was on Chul’s back during the battle against the Maudrake, Jake had been helpless and too focused on just holding on to help his friend.

That ended today. No more. Jake would train and train hard until he was strong enough to be able to stand up to Mur, defeat Talia, and survive in this black pit of stone and beasts. The Maedra were near. Their presence a constant looming threat. Magic would ensure safety for now but it wouldn’t keep him safe forever.

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