I followed with everyone as Damian led the group to where him and Jaime had been pulling stumps.

“Follow me Hamil. We need you for this part.” Astrid called out as she walked over to the stump pile with Damian.

I drifted over to the them as Damian picked up a stump and carried it a short distance from the rest.

“Time for your first lesson in etching.” Astrid spoke with a sly smile. She stepped over to the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Do what you usually do to summon the ring.”

Hamil pressed his hand to his chest and his aura flared to life much faster than it had before. The ring materialized in front of his hands, pulsating slightly. Then Astrid activated her aura, the blue magic flowing through her eyes, the glow faded slightly as the glow returned in her body, rushing towards the hand that she had on Hamil’s shoulder. When the two auras collided, Hamil’s turned into a much brighter shade.

“Sorcerers are able to share their magic through touch. I cannot raise your level, but I can supply you with my own mana and help you communicate with the ring.”

Hamil nodded his head and turned his head to face his teacher.

“Remember what we talked about.” Astrid urged, squeezing the boy’s shoulder. “Spiritualists have many skills.”

The boy turned back towards the ring as words started to etch themselves into the surface of the ring. It was at this point that I wished that I had learned to read. My Jaime knew how and taught our boys, but I told her that I’d rather not. In truth, I was afraid that I wouldn’t do well and end up embarrassing myself.

Once the etching had finished, a group of tiny balls of light, spirits, started gathering around hollow center. The spirits swarmed towards the stump, phasing through the bark and entering it. Just a moment after the spirits had finished, the wood groaned as it changed shape, growing tiny arms and legs that it stood on.

“Congratulations!” Astrid cried out, removing her hand from Hamil’s shoulder so she could applaud his work. “You just made a golem.”

Hamil wiped the sweat from his brow and admired his work before stepping aside. The golem was completely motionless.

“You won’t be able to make these on your own until you reach the blue stage, but with someone’s help, you definitely can.” Astrid explained, stepping over to her companion who bore an expression that was a mix of curiosity and aversion. “It won’t move without your command. Tell it to do something.”

Hamil watched the golem with wonder and commanded it to come to him, so it did. The golem didn’t really walk as much as it wobbled. It was like watching the boys when they were learning to walk.

Eventually, the golem came to a stop and fell backwards.

“The first work is never perfect. Let’s try again.” Astrid said, looking at the stiff stump.

She and Hamil repeated the process and brought the stump back to life. Though this time it seemed to move with more confidence and stability.

Astrid crouched down next to the boy and explained, “Okay, Hamil. I don’t want you to get attached to these golems. They have no real spirit and can’t live long.” She ruffled his hair, or as much as was there to ruffle. “Now this may sound weird, but I’m going to go stand next to Damian. When I’m over there, I need you to tell that thing to attack us.”

Hamil quickly turned his head to face her, his brows furrowed.

Astrid was quick to respond, holding her hands up, “Don’t worry, nothing bad will happen. We just wanted to show you two how Damian and I work together.”

Reluctantly, Hamil nodded his head and stepped back as Astrid hurried over to Damian. Damian had been frozen in place for the past few minutes. All the curiosity had disappeared from his gaze, leaving only aversion. He looked at the stump golem as a cat would a stranger. Almost like it sensed this, the stump turned to him and though it didn’t have any eyes, the two seemed to glare at each other.

The two Freelancers readied themselves as aura began to flow from their eyes. Astrid stepped a few paces behind her companion who stood with both hands closed into tight fists wrapped in the blue energy of his aura.

At Hamil’s command, the stump golem attacked. It attacked by waddling forward and stomping its feet just into the fresh dirt. Everyone stood silent, waiting for something to happen. Then Damian shouted out and started to stomp around. At his feet, thick roots had pushed through the ground and were actively trying to grasp onto his ankles. Astrid, however, was left undisturbed. The stump golem seemed to be the most worried about Damian.

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The stump wiggled its little arms as roots shot from the ground, twisting together to form several long tendrils the size of a child. One of the tendrils swiped at Damian who grabbed it and broke it from the ground. Hefting it in the air, Damian threw it towards the little golem where it was knocked aside by another tendril.

Behind her companion, Astrid had both arms up with a magic ring hovering just in front of her hands. She had been standing there for some time, etching the spell into the surface of the ring. Just as she was about to finish, a long, skinny root shot from the ground, wrapping around her arms, stopping her magic. She then summoned a ring from only one hand and etched a short spell into it that caused the roots that bound her to dry out. After the roots had dried and snapped, she summoned two magic rings and etched into both of them simultaneously. One was aimed at the ground below her feet, while the other was trained on the roots that continuously assaulted Damian.

Every time Damian broke off a tendril; another replaced it immediately. The frustration was present on Damian’s face as he continued to rip roots from the ground. Though, once Astrid’s spell finished, they started to show signs of withering. This included the roots that had spread over to where she was standing.

Once the roots began withering, the rate of their growth slowed considerably, allowing Damian to get closer. Realizing that its means of attack were failing, the stump raised its little arms again as a dome of the roots wrapped around it. Damian rushed in and began to smash against the barrier, but to no avail.

This kind of tactic was popular among the new recruits when I was in the military. Have the more durable of the troops get in close to draw attention and push them back while the stronger group prepares a second attack to knock them off guard. It worked in some cases, but not all. I’m sure that magic throws a few more pieces to that strategy.

Astrid raised both hands again and started to etch into another magic ring. The ground around her feet cracked slightly as more tiny roots started to push through the ground. These roots were considerably smaller and looked quite dry, but kept going despite this. Their efforts were not enough, however, as they were still too slow and only managed to trap her feet. The ground turned a dark gray from directly in front of Astrid to where the stump’s barrier stood. It looked almost like stone. Everywhere the ground changed, the roots were cut off, dropping to the ground, including at the barrier where the stump stood now defenseless.

Damian rushed inside the barrier and grabbed the stump, tearing its tiny legs from the ground and holding it in the air. The stump almost looked mad as it spread out the roots still attached to its feet, wrapping them around Damian who started calling out for his companion to help.

This scene reminded me of the time when my Jaime and I were new parents. I was playing with Callum when he soiled himself. I had stood there holding him for several minutes, calling out to my wife before she came in. She was a little mad with me since she thought that something bad had happened. That was the day that I learned how to change a diaper.

Astrid quickly approached the yelling Damian and summoned another magic ring. The stump reached out some roots to her as well, but they sagged in the air without something to grab onto.

Once she finished the spell, the stump fell limp. Any signs of life from the golem disappeared instantly.

“Something I forgot to mention.” Astrid started, pointing towards Hamil. “Any mage can dispel the effects of another mage’s magic if they know what was written on the ring. To do this, you just write their spell backwards.”

Hamil nodded his head as Damian dropped the stump and started ripping roots from his body.

“Any questions?” Astrid asked, turning to the whole group.

Hamil raised his hand and asked, “You used two rings. When can I do that?”

“In theory, you could do it now. The main problem is that you need to be able to etch in them both at the same time. If you focus on one over the other, the weaker of the two will fade.”

The boy nodded his head and remained silent.

“Well if that’s it, how about we try again?”

Hamil straightened and stepped towards the lifeless stump once again. He raised his hands and summoned the ring as Astrid started pouring her mana into him.

Like before, the spirits gathered into the ring and flowed towards the stump, though something was different this time. I could see something else go with the spirits. It reminded me a little of myself, though with less of a form. More spirits started to gather and fill the form as it rushed into the stump.

A loud crack sounded as the stump stood on its two feet. Its whole body began twisting into another shape. It bent over and stood on four legs instead of two. The wood extended out in both directions, forming a little head and a tail. What was left after was the shape of a small dog. Its body was completely smooth, void of any knots or splinters. The wooden dog wagged its tail which was a small branch with a few leaves at the end. Its mouth hung open with a little tongue dangling out. Where its eyes should have been sat dark knots.

The wooden dog barked and rushed over to Hamil, where it sat down quietly.

Astrid, Hamil and everyone else stood with blank stares towards the strange creature.

“W-What?” Astrid stuttered. It was obvious that she was not expecting what had just happened. “Are you telling it to do that?”

“N-No. Should I be?”

Damian slowly approached the creature, muttering to himself, “A sentient golem?”

“What spell did you etch?”

“I just said to ‘bring the stump to life’. Did I do it wrong?”

The dog flipped around and snapped at Damian who jumped back in response. Strangely, the creature started barking.

Hamil crouched down and started to scratch the dog who responded by dropping on the ground, exposing its belly.

“C-Can I keep it?”

“I… guess?”

“Not if it keeps attacking me!” Damian cried out from nearby.

Skirting just out of the dog’s reach, Damian went to his companion.

“What is it?” The man asked.

“I… I think it’s a Myth Beast?”

“You don’t sound too sure. And a Myth Beast?”

“Yeah. It sure isn’t a normal dog. And it isn’t a Beast of Plague. It should have been a golem, but golems aren’t sentient. And I doubt that Hamil could work a spell complicated enough to create something like that.”

“If you say so. Call it whatever you want, just don’t call it-”

“I think I’ll call you Bark.” Hamil beamed at the dog, interrupting Damian who responded by face-palming.