Virgil’s head didn’t hit the ground, did it? Everything sure appeared dizzy after falling like that… But as long as no bones were broken, it’s fine.

Before he could tell Carson to not run downstairs, Carson had already arrived next to him.

“Virgil?! You good?”

“Yeah…”

Virgil pushed himself up, as his balance was still unoriented from the crash. Guess he’s still not used to having just one eye, considering how it made him clumsier in all ways. But even then, it’s been years since the accident.

After getting up, Virgil and Carson headed to the living room, as they moved some chairs away—to make some space to practice charms. Just by preparing, the fond memories of Virgil’s excitement towards charms returned—along with the memories of losing an eye from a self-inflicted accident, and how he was practically useless to his family’s work afterward. At the thoughts of each event unfolding that time, he sweated.

But now that he had gotten a grip on his metalworking job once again, trying charms again wouldn’t hurt, right? After years of recovery and avoiding charms, this might be a good time to practice it again.

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Now that Virgil made some space inside the living room, he skimmed through the book’s basics again. Charms—it was said to be an art of imbuing magical essence onto clothes or gems, using complex phrases from the ancient ages—which Virgil would need some time to get used to that language again. For power, defense, speed, and so on—they were all the ways he could enhance things with charms.

Now that he was about to practice charms again, he remembered one thing.

He didn’t bring any clothes from the upstairs, or even leave any clothes behind on this floor. Despite how Carson just got a bunch of new clothes earlier, it might be a better idea to use some of Virgil’s clothes instead.

Virgil was sure he had some fabrics that stood well to charms. And that was what he thought—until he checked his wardrobe and scanned through his clothes. None of them were great for charms, but they were good enough.

“Virgil, look,” Carson called from behind.

“Yeah?”

As Virgil turned back, Carson showed him a bronze-chained necklace, with an intact citrine gemstone. “Would these work for your practice?”

“Where’d you get this?”

“Some random wizard. It’s the only one intact in my bag.”

Oh, right. Carson did steal.

When Virgil looked closer at the necklace, he didn’t sense any magic energy within it. If Carson snatched this from a wizard, they probably didn’t have the time or the money to get it charmed, despite the necklace’s potential.

With the necklace in his hand, Virgil thought for a moment. This necklace would be perfect, but Virgil didn’t know what to do about the fact it was stolen. Or he could use his own clothes, which wouldn’t be a terrible choice.

Searching for Carson’s clothes was still an option, though he didn’t know what to do with the possibility of ruining his new clothes, too.