The Magus Chronicles Ch. 06

Authors note: The characters, places, names, and such are not to be used, copied, or such actions without the permission from the author. Any places, names, descriptions of real life people, places, and such is pure coincidental. Much effort has been placed in keeping everything in this series very original as possible. This story contains, scenes of sex, violence, and use of magic. Let it be noted that all characters engaging in sexual activities are of legal age of consent.

Ch.6

Jack was shocked by the crest design. The crest was of a large tree that resembled an oak tree with white stripes. To the left of the tree trunk was a dragon and to the right a unicorn. Above the tree three crested moons with the middle moon a bit higher than the others. Below the tree an open book surrounded by a half circle like a bowl of eleven rings. Below the imagery, he sees a banner that says 'Dignity, Strength, Integrity, Virtue,' along the length of it. Why would something so specific be in his mind he wondered. Looking at the statues lining the walls he says that there's certainly a lot of them. Jack looked around the areas he could access and then returned from his mind. He took some paper and sketched the crest he'd seen in his mind.

Jack was kind of anxious to try magic after reading about how when performing spell incantations, the caster is weaving mystic particles together to create various spells. Next, he read how when enchanting or creating runes and such like it, the caster is drawing energy into a focused point like a tailor embroidering a piece of fabric. He also begins to learn how to reveal magic energies then starts to become inquisitive as he reads through and sees a telekinesis spell called mage hand. He sees the limit of the spell as to that which the person is capable of physically lifting themselves with the base weight being five pounds within thirty feet radius. He reads over the incantation and then tries to do it. He sees a bottle about twelve feet away. He practiced for nearly three hours and he saw the bottle lift up into the air. By his thoughts, he willed the bottle to him. Jack laughed and then spun the bottle around in a circle. He straightened the bottle out horizontally and then made it launch away like a bullet. He takes his knife and throws it some distance away from him. Then, he tries to use the spell on it but can't. Jack then realized that the knife was out of range of effectiveness.

He takes out a notebook and then writes about what he has found out. He performed the spell several more times and then he felt something clicked in his mind. He shook his head and laughed. 'Ah, yes. Mage hand. I'm going to..' He'd started to think to himself when the glass cup he was glancing at up and flew towards his hand. Quickly grabbing it he didn't want it to break. "What... The... Fuck? I didn't even say the incantation!!" He says staring at the glass in his hand. "Must have been a fluke. But we will see." He says as he walks over and replaces the glass where it was.

He takes a breath. "Okay, now to retrace what I was doing when that happened. I was thinking about how I thought it'd be cool to use that spell. I think I mentioned the name while I was thinking?" Jack mumbled to himself. "Alright if I am right this should work," Jack said to himself before he called out the name of the spell itself. "Mage hand," he said looking at the glass he'd replaced, and sure enough it flew up off the rail and Jack willed it to come to his hand. Jack reversed the direction willing the glass away and sat it down in another place. "Interesting stuff," Jack says out loud to himself. Jack reported his findings in the notebook and looked at another spell.

He sees a spell called arcane missile. He thinks about the spell and tries calling out the spell name but nothing happens. He goes through the incantation and then a bolt of energy shoots out of his hand and into the ground beside his foot. It exploded sending Jack tumbling across the ground. "Smart Jack, real smart." He says gritting in pain. It eventually subsides and he begins brushing himself off. He looks around and checks to see if he woke up Jessica. He waited and nothing happened so he tried it again and this time he aimed his hand out and not down at his feet. He tries again and another bolt of energy shoots out away from him into the ground about a hundred and five feet away. He shot several more times and then he felt that click again. "Arcane missile," Jack says, and the spell worked.

Jack found a spell called sleep. He saw that he needed a reagent that was based upon a powder substance. He goes inside, grabs a bottle of baby powder, and returns outside. He reads the incantation and directions then looks around for a target. Perched on a post about eighteen feet away was an opossum. Jack calls out the incantation and blows the baby powder towards the rodent. The opossum blinks a few times and falls off the post to the ground. Jack checks on the target and finds it only asleep. According to the information, it'll be asleep for half an hour.

Jack plays around with the three spells for a while trying different things. Jack found out that he could maneuver an arcane missile using the mage hand spell to divert the course of the shot from its initial course it was going. But he only had a matter of a second to divert the course as the missile traveled very fast. Jack was trying to do another shot when the bolt shot a little ways out and then fizzled out. Jack suddenly felt tired. Looking at the time he'd spent hours playing with the spells. He writes about what he feels and all that he has tried in the notebook and then heads back into the house. He saw that there was a spell called stone skin. He studied it a bit and learned how to use it. Looking at the clock it was two in the morning. He put away the books, washed up, and did a detox soak before he checked on Jessica. He made sure she was alright before going to bed.

At seven in the morning, Jack wakes up to the smell of bacon and coffee. He opened his eyes and smiled thinking about last night. Jessica was gone but breakfast had been set for him which he ate. While he read in a journal he'd taken from the desk in the study. The desk in the study had a lot that still needed to go through. He didn't have a lot to do so he felt he could take his time and get it done a little by little. Looking at the first page he saw it was owned by a man named Isaiah Grimwood.

He read how this man, Isaiah, had been born in the 1930s. At the age of sixteen, he had awakened and found that he was a ghestalt magi. He awakened as a psion, mage, and thaumaturge. He found out with time that he could travel through time to random time destinations, but with a special device he had created, he could pinpoint specific time destinations. He'd spent many years going back and forth through time. He made sure not to dabble with time-continuity too much. He found that he could physically travel or mentally travel with his astral body. Normally he would travel with the astral body getting a view of the time, and then travel with his physical body.

On one trip he happened upon a young man by the name of Alasdair Preamwood. At that time Alasdair was fifteen. Alasdair came upon Isaiah fighting off a group of dire mountain wolves and helped him kill off the wolves. Alasdair asked him why didn't use magic to fight off the wolves and he was told that he had used up most of his mana getting to where he was and hadn't had the chance to recharge himself. Isaiah fashioned him a cloak from the pelts of the wolves. They'd become great friends. Many trips through time he'd visit with Alasdair.

Then one day Alasdair had come to him in need of help. Alasdair while hoping that his dreams were wrong, decided to set a plan in place. He paid him to have a home created. These payments were given each time he visited. He knew Isaiah was a good man and wouldn't betray him. He gave him specific instructions that would accommodate him and his family.

Isaiah had tried many times to give Alasdair leads on how the future was developing and was often told to not say anything to him about what was ahead in time. Alasdair didn't want to know any specifics about the future as fate, and the twist thereof, always seemed to have a very nasty bite when it came to dealings with the future. Isaiah having been back and forth through time, seemed to be able to sidestep fate. He just told Isaiah to follow his wishes and look after his investment.

So in 1805, Isaiah started the groundwork of acquiring land and then started the prep work of getting ready to build a home for his friend. Many years passed and the preparations, and plans for the home he was commissioned to build began. The workers were paid and their minds were mentally altered to forget once they were done. The valley that was formed into the mountain took too much effort for those with earth-moving powers that he had hired. In 1890 the cornerstone was placed after the foundations were completed and they could start building up from the surface of the ground. With technology and knowledge from the future, Isaiah kept his contractor informed with quick visits on what he wanted to have done and how to do it and would be given permission to do so.

Often he'd bring various supplies in from different time periods and have them used. The hardest thing was pinpointing precisely where something would be in the future so something could be prepared in the past. But things seemed to be going better for his contractor, Alasdair. He began to become more concerned with his new wives than the development of his home but the payments continued. Isaiah felt as though the home he'd been working on for his friend was becoming a side note. His friend seemed to be unconcerned about things. At least that was the vibe he got. But the work had already begun and he would see it through. With his time-traveling abilities and powers, he fashioned a strong, fortified home for his friend. The things he added would come in handy for his friend and his family. He'd done such great work that he told himself he'd have to build himself a duplicate of the work done for himself maybe in a less mountainous region though.

After a bit of skimming through the journal, he finished reading for a bit he decided to then go to the day room to get some practice in. Looking through the books he found one that was for the beginning of protection magics. Jack selected a spell called mage armor that would encase the target with a temporary energy barrier. He pulled out a jacket and put it on a sewing dummy. After eight tries of reciting the incantation he finally feels a flow of energy change. He can feel that the mana barrier was created. Pulling out a knife he attacked the Jacket. After twelve hits the jacket finally showed damage from the knife. Jack shook his head telling himself he'd need to pay attention to details when it came to magic use. Not paying attention could end up costing him dearly.

At nine he called the company over the graveyard and made arrangements for his family to be relocated to the property. He was told they'd be two or three days before they could get the paperwork done and dig them up but they'd have an excavator out this afternoon to dig the spots and ready the grave markers. Jack thanked them and hung up the phone. He then got a call from one of the foremen wanting Jack to meet him at the front of the house. Jack headed out to the front of the house. He sees Jeff carrying something.

He'd brought a brown and white sapling wrapped in burlap and brought it to Jack saying he'd worked around trees a long time and never saw a tree like this species was. He wanted to bring it home and send its picture to his sister who was a botanist and get her to check it out. "I'll only send it if it's alright with you sir. It's your land and property. But if it is a rare tree or endangered species of tree, this whole valley land might become protected by law." He says to which Jack tells him he's interested in finding out what the tree was. "I've flown a drone over the property and to be honest I don't know why nobody has found these trees before now. They really stand out sticking up higher than the other trees and their color. I'll hit my sister up when I leave here." The foreman said. Jack then saw something in the background of the picture. Something on the edge of the mountains that enclosed the valley property. "What's that?" Jack asked.

They tried to zoom in on the picture but it was too blurry. "I can send my drone back up and take a look," Jeff said. "Sure thing. That would be great." Jack said. The man said he'd be right back. He walked to his truck and brought it up to the house. From the back of the truck, he pulled out a rolling rack. On the rack was a drone that was a foot and a half wide and three feet long. It was solid black with four arms that swung out locking into place. He raised a tall transponder antenna. Looking at everything, he saw this guy had spent a lot of money on this setup.

He pulled out a set of controllers he attached to his arms, a VR helmet, a monitor, a sensor he connected to the laptop, and a laptop. Everything was set up and the drone started up and he put the helmet on his head. The drone had a moving camera that would mimic his head movement. If he turned his head left the camera would go left but the drone wouldn't move. Pushing up the visor, he started the recording and lowered the visor again. The drone lifted up into the air. Jack watched as it took off northwards.

It took some time but eventually, the drone reached the mountains. The thing Jack had seen was a giant carved bounder that had been shaped into a pillar with strange carvings. Jack could see others spaced out that seemed to line the borders of his property. Jack could see a wall of energy between the pillars that softly glimmered blue and pink. Jack was going to say something but Jeff didn't seem to notice it so he kept quiet. "Alright, I saw what I needed to see, thanks for doing that. I'll let you get back to your job. Oh and for now, let's keep the pillar things between us." Jack said with a smile. The man said it was his property and his wishes. The drone eventually returned and Jack went inside. Jack drew a picture of what he saw and sent a picture to Beatrice's phone.

He went back to the study, grabbed his notebook, and then walked out. Jack headed to the library and looked through the many books that filled every space of bookcases. He finds a book on Golemancy. Golemancy was the art of creating humanoid entities out of inanimate materials. The crafter first forms the look and shape of the golem and then they have to channel mana into runes that are carved in the body of the golem. He sees the rune process takes two hours to complete. Once completed the creator must cast a spell that animates inanimate objects. Jack looks at the various types of golems that could be made. The materials weren't hard to come by but clay and stone would be the easiest to start with. Jack looked through the spells that animated objects and chose a simple short-lasting spell to try it out. The spell didn't work so Jack gave up and decided to come back to it later.

Looking through the books he bought he read up on how to do rune magic. He found out that rune magic required massive amounts of mana to be focused into a focal point like a seamstress embroidered thread into cloth. But instead, the caster is layering patterns of magic into each rune. The more layers the longer and sometimes more powerful the rune will last or be. Rune can be combined with ink for permanent effects unless someone is capable of altering or removing the imbued ink.

Another book Jack came across was about time magic. In the pages, he came across a special stopwatch-looking device. It had a round crystal mirror glass in the center. A time odometer that resembles a car mileage odometer. Then several rings of runes and numbers and at the top an arrow outline pointing down with a think line down the center of the arrow where the various rings all line up. This device was meant to determine the date and time the time traveler or travelers were going to or observing. It looked very hard to craft.

He brings the books to the study and sets them at the desk. The desk was antique and was close to a Sebattus Amish roll-top style. It had a lot of drawers, shelves, and portions. He had sat at the desk several times and still had only gone through two of the drawers. He'd found some journals he'd eventually take some time to later look at. Grabbing one of the older-looking journals he looks at the first page.

It stated that the person who had been writing the book was a person named Alasdair Preamwood. "Why does that name sound familiar to me? I wonder if it has anything to do with the estate's namesake?" Jack says as his eyes roam around the room as he thinks to himself. He then remembered that the name had been mentioned in the journal of Isaiah. He had been contracted to build a house for him.

The first part of the journal apparently was from when Alasdair was nearing the age to partake in the coming-of-age ceremony. According to the writing, their family were called 'Highbournes', and being Highbourne they had unique traits that made them special among other mortals whether they be magi or not. The journal forward notes mentioning the inscribed texts were transferred from dated parchments into the used journal.

~The fifth of April, the year 695.~

'I am close to becoming seventeen. I am nearing the time I come of age and to become recognized as an adult. My father talked with me today. His talk with me was of great length. He told me that our lineage was born to be great warriors. He said that the gods chose our great forefathers to bear forth great warriors with their blessings bestowed upon our blood to vanquish the monsters and demons that invade our world.'

'He told me that Eldall, the god of wisdom and law bestowed the blessing of great fortitude of mind and great wisdom. Our thoughts were to be uncallused and memories will be fast, creative, and clear. Olo the god of war and conquest gave us strength and speed. The might of the gorilla powers our body and limbs, and the fast movement of the cheetah passes through our limbs. Cura the goddess of healing and life blessed our blood and body with rejuvenation speed with healing and healthy lungs. Inhena the goddess of miracles gave us luck and acute mental foresight. Rhityx the god of time and seasons gave slowed aging living eight times to that of normal humans and great fortitude from the weather giving comfort in any type of climate.'

'Dhamos the god of order, gave us acute senses. The sight of the owl, hearing like the wolves, sense of smell like the grizzlies, and sense of touch as the moles underground. And Phelda the goddess of fertility and pleasure, gave us great charisma, stamina, and longevity. As an added bonus, she blessed the line with enough love mates that we wouldn't long for others. Whether they be male or female, they'd be fated to us in matrimony so that our loin or heart would never want. They gave our bloodline the surname Preamwood.

But in order to awaken these blessings, those of the bloodline must perform the awakening ritual and complete the trials once they come of age. If you fail to complete the trial for a blessing you will lose out on that blessing. The trials are unique to the one partaking the trial so there isn't a way to know what will happen before you go into the trial. If you fail a part of the trial you will lose out on that blessing. My father has said that he failed two of the tests, but will not tell me which of the two he failed. He said my grandfather passed all of the trials and his grandfather failed only one. I know not much of the others of our families that have branched out to the far reaches of the world to handle things afar, but word has gotten back that many are only passing that of one to three and some none at all. Father is concerned that something or someone is working against our bloodlines. One can only hope the next generations will be doing well and have passed their trials and continue to protect the world.'

It was as if something had been triggered in his mind. Jack then remembered the event before he had woken up. He had been in the towering chamber with the giant beings. He had been told that he wouldn't be going through the trials as they needed him to have all of their blessings. "They're on the house." The voice echoed in his memory. Jack then read some more.

'The gods have truly blessed us. But it's said the gods Zeione the god of science and crafts, and Nootza, the goddess of vengeance, didn't agree with the other gods that only a single bloodline should weigh the balance of the world. So going against the other gods they blessed a third of the population of the world, the gift of magic, and bestowed the essence of mana and ways to gather it. Should our line fall, there's hope that the world won't succumb to the evil of the invaders of the realm. But in hopes of cutting down the number of magic users, Ugheia the goddess of the underworld who's believed to be the one bringing the dark ones to our world added her own touch to mankind. Using magic would corrupt those using magic.

Due to the curse and mana buildup magic users have to be cautious with the use of magic. A lot of the families have died off from the corruption built up in the body and lots of lands were eradicated from becoming unlivable for a great period of time. So as it stands our family still stands between the dark and our world.'

Jack continued to read and eventually started to get eye strain from reading through the journal. After marking where he was stopping, Jack thought about what he'd read. From what Alasdair wrote down he eventually became of age and had unfortunately missed out on the blessings of Olo, Cura, and Rhityx. When he was twenty-three, his father passed away and he became the head of the house. He used his friendship, abilities, and power to eventually rally others and build up a stout force of fifteen thousand people that was under his care. They worked hard to deal with the monsters and develop their lands.

He read that one day six years after his father's death, Alasdair was in his house up top of a hill planning an attack on a den of feral beasts that was reported to be nearby when a knock at the door brought him out of his planning. A group of metal and jewel smiths were at the door with something that was covered with a cloth. Behind them, he saw that all of the people had gathered. He was shocked by the gathering and asked what the meaning of the gathering was.

The smiths removed the cloth and revealed an onyx crown trimmed with gold and decorated with inverted leaf shapes made of tiny jade stones. The smiths knelt down, raised the crown up, and bowed their heads. Alasdair gazed over the people and saw the others begin to follow suit and drop down to their knees. He was shocked but kept his composure. Two elders stood up and grabbed the crown and asked him to kneel and lower his head. "Your daidem my lord." One states with a smile. The other revealed a signet ring with a dragon under three crested moons. Five years passed and with the help of magic and dedicated workers, they'd built up a keep and a large wall surrounding their settlement. Alasdair and his second cousin once removed, Erik Darcen, had agreed to an expansion of power and protection. Erik ventured out and started to build his own settlement and build up his family. And that's when Jack decided to stop reading.

Jack is interrupted by the phone ringing and setting aside the journal Jack sees that it's Beatrice's number calling. "Hello?" Jack acquires as he answers the call. Beatrice said she was calling as she had called in some favors and had a friend with her who wanted to take a look at him. "Are you free?" She asks. Jack tells her nothing is going on and he has all the time right now. She tells him that they'll be by within the hour. Jack tells her the front will be opened and for her to drive on in. Jack ends the call and gets ready to get some tea and prepare some entrees. Jack sees the two swirling orbs again. They're there for a moment or two and then vanish. Jack sets the snacks in the waiting room as he hears the doorbell. Jack was excited to welcome Beatrice and her daughter to his home.

Jack opens the door and sees Beatrice and two others in what looked like Catholic robes but not like anything he'd seen from his experiences going to catholic churches before. Her daughters wasn't with her. The first was a man up in age. His hair and beard were gray and bits of white. His skin had age spots here and there and wrinkles lined his brown eyes that showed wisdom that had come with age. His clothing consisted of white robes with red borders trimmed with gold and had gold embroidered designs. His vestments were also red with gold trimmings and embroidered designs.

The second person with them was a younger female. Her robes were white and gray boarded with black trimmed with gold. Her pale skin looked flawless. Her short blonde hair was covered with a black shaw and hood that was trimmed with gold. Her blue eyes were shielded by small-framed square glasses. Her hands were covered with black gloves. Her robes reached her ankles. She didn't wear any vestments. She carried with her a black duffle bag and a foldout massage table. Her eyes were stern.

They're introduced to Jack as Freddrick Silson and Sue Bickma a priest and cleric from the order of the silver chalice. A holy order that consisted of priests, clerics, and palladians who did various tasks of healing, protection, and exorcisms. While most places considered churches to be a place of worship by various religions, their temples were more that of a holy military missionary rather than their known public worship counterparts. Their work remained unknown by the general public and most of the magi community. They made a brief comment about how much mana was built up in the area of his property.

Jack ushers them to the waiting room and offers them refreshments and a place to sit. Beatrice begins talking. "Jack I'll get straight to the point of this visit. Your body as you know has massive damage. I've requested the assistance of some friends at the order of the silver chalice to look you over and see what they can do to help you recover from the damage done to you. You'd have no obligations going forward to myself or their order, I just see the pain you suffer through and you are starting a new life so to speak and your body should be well, somewhat new so to speak, as well." Beatrice tells Jack.

"We'll examine you then put you to sleep and then depending on how bad things are we might have to cut into you and work our way outwards from the damaged areas. Jack we will see what we are dealing with, see what we can do, if there's anything we can't get I'll get with my elder who should be able to heal you. Shall we get started?" Freddrick mentions as he motions towards the table. Jack shakes his head in agreement and Sue sets up the table and pulls out what looks to be a bed cover pad and medical supplies from the duffle bag. She lays out the pad on the table and tells Jack to undress laying face down on the table and then place his head on the headrest.

Jack does as is told and they begin their examination of his body. His assistant who stepped into his mind gasps in shock as she sees the celestial runes on Jacks statue and tells Freddrick in a strange language. "Sir he's been blessed by." He quickly hushes her speaking in the same strange language. "Hush your tongue. And speak not of what you see here now or ever. This boy is special and may have other than our and celestial eyes on him." He said in a calm voice. "Let's start with the leg," Freddrick says.

They spend an hour casting magic over the leg and see the various damaged parts down his left leg. "Eight comminuted fractures that had separated fragments exposing nerves and the separated bone fragments are causing agitation to the muscles and tendons." He says finishing the evaluation. "We will have to open the leg at the eight points replace the fragments, set the bones mending, and fix the nerves. Then we'll set the incisions mending. It'll take about four hours for the mending to be completed." Jack was surprised that they couldn't just mend the bones without opening the leg but agreed to what needed to be done. "Magic can do many things but can only do so much Jack, we are not gods. We could just heal the areas but it wouldn't heal properly. You'd still have discomfort. Opening and resetting, and then healing will be the best course of action." Sue says suggesting Jack uses the restroom before they begin. Jack does so and is asked if he is ready. They tell him he'll wake up in no time before blowing some powder that puts Jack to sleep.

As Jack slept they opened his leg up and with the help of healing magic, the fragments of bones were un-lodged from their places then after the nerves were set to heal they grafted the fragments back into the damaged bones. The bones were set to heal and his muscles and flesh were set to mending. Stichtures was used to close to wounds and was covered with bandages. The bloody towels were bagged up and put into a red bag with black biowaste symbols on it.

Beatrice tells them that she'll stay with him until he wakes up. She walks them to the door and they tell her that they hope Jack stays under the radar of a certain group. "That's a special young man. I don't like gossip but I've heard some tales of certain levels of magi going missing and or dying." Freddrick says. Beatrice says she's heard tales herself and plans to keep Jack as far under the radar as she can.

"When Jack wakes up tell him that it might be best to use his cane still for a bit. I'll also see about pulling some strings and calling in some favors." Freddrick says as they close their car doors. They drive around Beatrice's car and head out. Beatrice turns her head and sees Jack stirring. "He should be asleep for at least an hour. But he might wake sooner so I might get back to the shop sooner." She said as she saw his good leg slightly shift.

Beatrice sat down at Jack's head and went back into his mind. Entering the first part she sees Jack suspended in the canopy high up above where she stood. She saw Jack was dreaming. Though she couldn't see what he was dreaming she didn't want to disturb him. She went into the room with the statue and pedestal. She sees the banners and takes a mental note of the crest. She was still trying to figure out the runes on the leaves and body but hopefully, the crest might give her a lead. She still couldn't believe how much power he was producing. How was he able to avoid the effects of mana fever and flux build-up? Looking at the statue of Jack she sees the tracking spell she saw before. "I hope this works?" She asks as she removes it wondering who was trying to track Jack. She failed to notice the second placed on the inside of the thigh of his leg. The rune started flashing changing between purple and yellow.

She heads to the hall of memories and looking around sees a lot of damaged memories so she tries something that she'd been working on perfecting. She'd cast two spells at once and hopefully correct the damage done to his mind. He might not get the memories back but he should be able to reclaim some of that been damaged. She'll deal with the blocked memories another time.

She casts the spell modify-mind and the spell mending and channels the energies like a net throughout the room. The memory bases are still there, the magic should hopefully be able to reconstruct them. It'd take some time but the spells were in place and time would tell about the outcome. Beatrice walks through the halls of memory watching as some blank places start to show signs of a picture frame start to appear. Other partial frames started mending and had pictures reconstructed within them.

Leaving the mind of Jack, Beatrice grabs a piece of paper, and just as she'd done with the runes she enchants the sheet of paper with an image of the crest she saw and then puts it away into her purse. She waits for about an hour and Jack finally wakes up. "That was sooner than expected." She says looking at Jack turning over and getting his bearings. Jack looked over at Beatrice and asked how it went. She tells him that as far as they could tell he'd be making a full recovery with his leg. He'd still be needing his cane for a few days but it looked promising. She tells Jack that he should take it easy and rest up and starts to get ready to leave.

Jack tells her that he's been studying some of the magic and learned a few cool spells. Beatrice's eyebrows perk up and she said that was nice but it takes time and practice to actually learn a single spell. Jack tells her that he's learned four and can perform them without having to recite the incantations. "Jack we both know you're special but you can't cast magic whether it be ritual magic or spell magic without the incantation process. Now if it's a magic artifact that's actually different because it is an enchanted item. And the last time I checked you're not a divine being." Beatrice says with a smile and pats Jack's leg.

Jack tells her that it takes a few tries but after successfully using the spell all he has to do is say or think the name of the spell and it works for him. "Watch, I'm telling you the truth. You see the cup over there?" Jack asked pointing to the glass. He opens his hand up and says 'mage hand' as he focuses on the cup. The cup leaps off where it is sitting flying into Jack's hand. Beatrice's mouth was agape slightly as she saw something that shouldn't be possible. Showing off Jack pushes the glass back away and with his other hand shoots an arcane missile at the glass shattering it. "Jack! What did you do that for? Now there's glass all over the place!" She said slightly upset that he did something so careless. She retrieves the broom and dustpan and then cleans up the mess before sitting down beside him.

She thinks a moment and then tells Jack that while it was quite a show seeing him do that, he should air on the side of caution when using magic like such. "We'll have to see how performing magic like that affects your body's flux build-up. Now what other things are you able to do?" She asks with a slight smirk. Jack shows her the mage armor and then tells her about the sleep spell. He told her he tried making a golem but wasn't able to get it to work. He said he thinks he was messing up somewhere along the process.

He then tells her about the rune magic he had read a bit on. "Jack runes take a lot of practice and great focus. Think of it as learning to write all over again. It takes time and lots and lots of practice. I've been studying rune magic for years and still have only learned so little in comparison to how much there is." She said as she got ready to leave. Jack walked her to the door and thanked her for what she did for him. "We still have your arm to fix. So just take it easy, do your studying and practice. And try to not do anything rash." She said as she got into her car. Jack went back inside and watched some television.

A few days had passed and Jack was moving around much better and didn't need his cane. His family had been relocated to his property and he had gone out there several times to talk at their graves. He chose to have them buried on the surface instead of underground. He was currently relaxing in the study looking over everything as he could. He still had so much that he'd yet to go through and see what was what or where.

He'd made little progress with the desk that was in the study. This Isaiah Grimwood wasn't too orderly from what Jack could tell. Well, some of the places seemed to have been in a nice tidy order, but the study was the other side of the coin. His thoughts are interrupted by a call over the radio intercom. His communication radio chirped and he answered it as he looked over the bookshelves. The person on the radio said they'd found a strange large beast that had attacked two of the crew members. Jack was thinking that maybe they'd maybe pissed off a boar or maybe a mountain cat.

They were saying they needed help. "Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm on my way." Jack said rushing out the door and grabbing a pair of short swords, a heater shield, and a spear from the mini museum he'd been setting up. Heading down as he hurried out the door he grabbed the canister of baby powder. Trying to build up his courage he psychs himself up. "Man, it feels great to be able to run," Jack says as he rushes off towards the back of the property.

Passing their trucks Jack sees a pile of cell phones. "Why the fuck did they leave their phones here?" Jack said as he shook his head and headed for the path. Following the cleared path the yard crews had been making progress with Jack eventually coming up to the area where the crew was working. He sees the crew's equipment and tools parked and laid down on the ground. He looked around but didn't see any of the crew. "Guys? I'm here!" Jack yells out.

Jack then hears echoing voices as though the sounds were bouncing off multiple surfaces. Jack walks past the overgrown brush and sees a drop-off that turned into what looked like a drainage canal that was about thirty feet deep with the bottom of the canal spanning eighteen feet wide. The walls were almost vertical with a slight slope. Looking down the channel Jack sees a pattern in the design. The bricks laid out along the wall were small and they periodically surround a large stone brick of another type of stone that had runes carved into them.

Looking directly down Jack sees a large opening. After climbing down he looked at the size of the opening and he guessed it was about nineteen feet high. Jack hears a commotion from inside the tunnel. He entered the dark tunnel and followed the sounds. Eventually, Jack comes up to the group of eight and there's a large bear-like creature with horns like a bull on its head and spikes coming out along its back. It had huge patches of missing fur as though it had mange. Part of the flesh and skin was missing from its head along with a missing eye. It had large bone-like plates covering its shoulder areas and over its hind legs. It had smaller plates in its pectoral area under its neck. Below the neck in the center of the smaller plates a glowing gemstone. It had soft glowing creamy gray runes on its body that glowed like its eyes. Blood dripped off its jaw as it reared up on its hind legs and roared. Jack looked down and saw the beast was ensnared in a large two-foot-wide coil spring trap. Jack quickly pulled his phone out and snapped some pictures and a short video. He wanted a video of this bear-looking beast for evidence.

Jack thinks to himself that he needs to kill the beast before it makes its way into town. The lawn crew was using their pole saws to keep the beast back so they could get their injured out of the beast's reach. Jack pulls out the baby powder and pours a large amount into his hand. He tells himself this is no time not to be careful as lives are on the line. "Recite the incantation fully." He tells himself. He recites the incantation and blows hard into the powder and the dust starts flowing from his hand like a pink glowing fog going down the tunnel. A feeling comes out from Jack and he feels the magic become more potent. A gust of wind comes through pushing the powder into the tunnel quickly. Jack hears six thumps and as the spell settles he sees the bear swaying as though it's fighting the spell. Jack quickly pulls all the sleeping crew members up top to safety by their equipment.

He catches his breath before he calls Beatrice and tells her the situation. She tells Jack to hold tight and that she'll be there shortly. Jack tells her that the beast is trapped and won't be going anywhere. Then Jack hears the beast roar. "Apparently it's shrugged off the spell. You might want to be quick." Jack says before he hears the snapping of the chain. He hears the thumping and clanking of the paws and metal hitting the surface of the stones. "Fuck! It's loose and moving. Come quick." Jack said hanging up and then moving back a bit from the opening.

He tried to psych himself up. "Come on you son of a bitch!" Jack said trying to muster the courage to face this beast. Jack sticks the spear into the ground and casts mana armor on his body. He then cast stone skin. Jack's skin gained a rough texture that had a slightly gray and black tone to it. It'd protect Jack for thirty minutes.

He then stretches out his hand. "Arcane missile!" Jack called out as the beast's head emerged from the darkness of the tunnel. It strikes the beast's left leg causing it to stumble to the side of the tunnel. Jack rushes forward as he grabs the spear. He jabs it into the beast's throat and armpit twice. Jack backs up out of its reach as it tries to swipe at Jack.

Jack jumps backward. "Arcane missile, Arcane missile!" Jack says shooting the beast twice more. The beast stumbles and roars in pain. Jack pours more baby powder and casts the sleep spell again. While the sleep spell isn't putting the beast to sleep, it is causing it drowsiness and slowing it down some.

"At least it's working like a debuff," Jack says grabbing the spear and attacking again. He jabs the spear into the throat again and manages to block its attack with the shield. But Jack is thrown over backward from the hit of the beast. Jack sees a pile of medium-sized rocks. "Mage hands!" He says as he focuses on turning the pile of rocks into projectiles.

The beast is struck by the first few rocks and angles its body to shield itself with the bone plates. "Arcane missile!" Jack says shooting the torso area past the plates. The beast rolls over in pain but quickly gets back up and charges Jack. Raising his shield the beast hits the shield knocking Jack up and back off his feet. Jack flies back landing on his back. Jack rolls over backward with the momentum coming back up to his feet. The shield is busted and the spear is broken. Jack focused on his clothes and cast mana armor again. Pulling out the swords just as the bear got closer. Jack used the mage hand spell on a large limb just under the beast's head sending the limb flying upwards slamming the bear's jaw shut and its head being knocked backward. Jack is getting exhausted and needs to end this quickly as he sees the wounds are starting to close up. Jack goes back and forth with the bear. Time ticks by quickly.

The bear rears up on its rear legs. Jack takes his swords and forcefully jams them into the gem in the center of the chest area. The stone begins to crack up some but Jack and his blades are swatted away by the beast's powerful arms. Jack hadn't been paying attention to the time frame and the skin spell had canceled out. The bear roars and drops down to all four paws. It charges Jack and brings down its claws raking into Jack's chest. Jack grits his teeth as his chest burns with pain. The bear goes to bite Jack but isn't able as Jack has managed to shove a large rock into its mouth. Jack crawls out from under the beast as it gags on the stone. Jack sees the broken spear near his feet. He grabs it and looks at the beast trying to spit out the lodged stone stuck in its mouth.

Jack runs and slides under the beast between its legs and slams the broken spear into the gem shattering it as Jack emerges out the other side of the beast. Jack rolls over and gets himself up off the ground. The beast turns towards Jack finally discharging the stone from its mouth. The beast starts swaying and stumbling as it moves towards Jack. Its body starts deteriorating and falling apart. Two feet from Jack the beast collapses and stops moving. Jack grabs a sword and swings down chopping the head off of the beast's neck. Jack sits down and catches his breath as he stares at the corpse of the beast. He sits there for a few moments. He watches as the corpse is crumbling away. Suddenly the bear erupts in flames. Jack scampers back and hears laughter from up above him. Jack stands up and looks up and sees the twins looking down at him. "Nice kill Jack. You managed to take that zombie dire bear by yourself." Not too many new magi are able to take on a dire bear. Or a zombie one." The twins say as he climbs up out of the trench.

Beatrice is finishing up healing the injured workers. With the twin's help, they work mending their clothes, and altering their memories for when Jack walks up on them. "Everything alright with them?" Jack asks. She tells him they'll be fine. She tells him what exactly she's doing and that they'll think they suffered from work exhaustion and passed out. When Beatrice said she was done Jack began to wake the crew up. Jack told them they must have worked themselves too hard and should take the next two days off. The crew agreed and called it quits for the day. Beatrice and her daughters had left waving bye and headed back to the house.

Jack was alone again and followed the canal out to where it reached a drop-off over a railroad track. The tracks looked like they hadn't been maintained in years as they were overgrown and Jack could see what was the remnants of an old hand-powered railroad cart sitting on the tracks a ways down. Turning around Jack headed back towards the tunnel the bear had been in. Along the way, he grabbed a large stick before entering the tunnel. Turning his phone's flashlight on as he entered the tunnel. The dire bear and crew were both lucky. The bear had stepped on the first of three dozen traps. Jack using the stick triggered the traps to disarm them as he progressed. Shining the light on the walls Jack begins to see runes carved here and there. Jack finally comes upon a dead end in the form of a wall. In the center of the wall is a large oval area about three feet tall and two and a half feet wide.

Shining his phone's light he sees it's a crest carved in a huge oval stone. The crest had a large oak-like tree. The tree had a dragon on the left side of it and a unicorn on the right. Above the tree were three crested moons with the middle moon a bit higher than the others. Below the tree an open book surrounded by a half circle like a bowl of eleven rings. Below the imagery, he sees a banner that says 'Dignity, Strength, Integrity, Virtue,' along the length of it. Running his hands over the wall he finds that it's sturdy and sound. The crest was just like the one in his mind. Snapping a picture of the crest with his phone he leaves and returns home collecting the traps as he left the tunnel. Back home he grabbed the journal and headed to his room after grabbing a snack. He quickly bathed and climbed into bed.

~***~

Miles away in Virginia the shadows halt as they see the mark they're tracking has altered. "The mark has changed. The mark's been touched. Too much time has been wasted. We must hurry." The voices whisper from the dark. Suddenly their focus is diverted when they hear. "I sense you evil. Come forth and face judgment!" A young adult wearing silver-plated swat-style armor stepped out around the corner of a building. "Light them up!" he yells. Suddenly multiple light orbs appear and five others appear wearing similar armor. "Shadow and fog envelope your workers! Beasts come!" The shadows call out. Combat ensues. Fifteen minutes later the six in armor are all dead and the shadows refocus and head back into the darkness.

Else where another group has been following the mark. They were surprised to see the mark had changed. Nobody except their kind can even see the mark to even know how to look for the enchantments. Two enchantments have always been used to ensure that they find their prey. But the mark they were seeing was not of their own but followed the mark nonetheless.