"It has been noted, for the better part of a century, that to use unstructured magic, the use of mental constructs are necessary. So unstructured is less a description and more just what it's called, to be honest."

- Excerpt from The Principles of Construct Integrity Vol. 1 by Arch-Magus Konstantin Fischer.

Life wasn't fair.

This was in no way a new revelation for Karm, but for some reason life seemed desperate to teach this lesson everyday in new imaginative ways.

"You cannot be serious, Arden?" he queried.

"As a heart attack." Arden retorted.

Karm sighed. It was not everyday that a boy turns fifteen. It was also not everyday that a boy's birthday present turned out to be a chance to spend an entire night, by themselves, in a forest full of creatures desperate to show off just how well evolution equipped them to eliminate squishy humans.

"I can't even begin to understand why this seems like a good idea. Also, this is definitely not a present."

Arden's laugh escaped his belly, simultaneously sounding like an earthquake and crushed glass.

"Where's your spirit of adventure, boy?" Arden grinned. His smug face was the smuggiest smug that ever smugged.

"It's as dead as I will be if you make me do this! Feran forest is quite literally the only place in this province that you're as likely to be bludgeoned to death by a troll as you are to see a butterfly."

His words met a hearty chuckle from his guardian.

Karm knew it was useless to argue. There was a better chance of a bear performing a pantomime than Arden changing his mind about a Druidic ritual.

"This rite of passage was first performed almost five hundred years to this day. I survived the same exact thing. Hardly anyone dies from it anymore. Usually. Probably?". A smile slowly crept along Arden's face as he delivered his less than stellar encouragement.

Karm ran his fingers through his kinky hair. This was less than ideal. As Arden's ward, he spent the last ten years learning about the art of Druidism. Needless to say, he was not feeling the best about his chances of survival. The Druidic arts consisted of Mind magic, Soul magic and Alchemy. This in itself wouldn't be too bad. What made things bad was that Druids practiced the use of structured magic via rituals almost exclusively. This archaic form of magic was quite time consuming, even though the affects were more or less permanent for very little cost.

Setting up a useful [Repel Daemon] spell would take three hours! How would he avoid death in those three hours? Maybe if he played dead? But what about creatures that ate the dead? A storm of ideas swirled in his mind.

At the very least, he was glad Druidism was one of the few disciplines of magic that advocated for an outrageous degree of fitness. Was glad the word? No. He could easily remember all the times Arden made him work till he literally fell to the floor from exhaustion. Ignoring the shudder creeping through his body at the thought, he was at least not worried about being out of running shape. He was taught enough about swords to make sure the sharp bits were aimed away from his body.

There was also that other thing. He often didn't really even remember it, mostly because it didn't really need much consideration. Instinctively, Karm had an uncanny knack for creating mental constructs based on Mind magic. It came to him almost as easily as breathing. It was how Arden found him all those years ago. A scared young boy covered in blood bawling his eyes out. Performing a long reaching [Fear Wave] spell, he brought everything in the area to their knees and simultaneously alerted Arden of his presence. The uhrwolves that hunted him and his family succumbed to the paralysis of his spell, with Arden dealing the finishing blows when he arrived. Sadly, it was already too late for his parents. For weeks, Arden inquired in the nearest town about any possible missing persons in the area. Karn being of seemingly Nbidian descent, would have made his family stand out this far in the rural parts of Osnia.

They buried his parents when there appeared no hope of finding a next of kin. Arden took the boy in, but not before he warded a [Destabilize construct] totem, in the form of a necklace, for him to wear unless otherwise stated. Through the years, Karm was awarded many opportunities to remove the totem to practice his skills, and man was he fearsome. As little as Arden was a man to use unstructured magic, his library had no such restrictions. With this, Karm had access to a variety of high level Mind magic spells at his disposal.

The problem was that the trolls in the Feran forest have a stubborn resistance to Mind magic. Mind magic tended not to work on things without a functioning mind. For all intents and purposes, trolls had as much brain activity as a rock. Some might argue less.

"So while you're in dreamland there, time is slowly ticking away that could be used to prepare. Remember Druids need to be ready for anything," warned Arden interrupting his thought process.

"What am I allowed to bring with me?" Karm asked.

"Hmm. Good question, boy. Practically anything you create yourself is an option. Any potions or totems of your own crafting. A fine steel sword and dagger set was also made for you for the occasion."

"Wow. I would almost think you cared about me. Except you're sending me to my own death, so you don't. This is probably a ritual sacrifice or something."

"Har!" Arden bellowed, laughing. "Druids seldom practice those old ways. At least not without a full moon, or something cool like that." He winked. "Now go get ready boy, it will soon be time". With that Arden left Karm alone in his room.

Yup, Karm thought. Definitely gonna prepare for more flight than fight.