He cast again. he was practising Shadow Strike, but something felt off. The spell worked, but it was really weak. It was like the shadow could only be as sharp as a dull blade. It had been so bad that he had went back to Quint and asked about it. Who had just said that it was fine.

Jason felt like the shadows weren’t meant to strike. Maybe the spell was just a bad one. He stopped and glanced at his hand. The ring sat there unmoving. It’s obsidian black shining despite the lack of light.

The reason he had been looking at it was because whenever he cast the spell, the ring went warm. Acting on an impulse he sent some mana into the ring. The ring sucked it in. He frowned. It was definitely not a normal ring. He grunted and walked towards the school gate; his mind made up.

The house was the same as when he left, if a little dusty. He made his way throw the house and into his father’s room. Pushing aside the bed he opened the trap door. Going down he recognised the lights, as pearl lights, a rare form of pearls that gave off lights.

He shivered as he entered the vault, no sun had warmed down here in a long time. Jason took a much longer look around when he had entered before he was distracted. The safe was like any, thick metal and having a lock on the front. Thinking of his father he opened the safe, the combination was his birthday. Inside was nothing really. Papers of ownership, but little else.

Jason was disappointed, he was about to close the safe when the ring warmed as he placed his hand of the rim. Pulling his hand away the warmth disappeared. Placing it back, the ring warmed. He closely examined the rim, then when he looked with his mana sight, he was rewarded.

The safe was inlaid with runes. He allowed his mana to be sucked away. The bottom of the safe popped up and inside was what Jason was looking for. A tight bond book. He looked for a title but there was none. Opening it he looked at the contents. There was eight chapters, one for each element and one for runes. Finding the darkness one he flipped throw the book.

A loose piece of paper came out a he flipped throw. Stopping he looked at the bottom where a name was written. “Johnathan Blackwood”. His grandfather. He can’t use magic, could he? Jason read the note. “If you are reading this my descendant, you may be wondering why I, someone who couldn’t use magic gathered all these spells, I was one the thirtieth floor of the Dungeon, we had just beaten the boss, and the reward was a gift from a oracle. I got this book and was told to give it to you”.

Jason nearly dropped the book, the thirtieth floor was not a place were many people went, only the best divers went done there.

“The book will open to the page it want’s we you say your name, good luck”. It was singed by his grandfather. Feeling a bit sillily he said his name. “Jason Blackwood”. The Tome rose into the air begin to rapidly flip through the pages, then stopped. The page opened confirmed what Jason had originally thought. The Shadow Strike spell, was wrong,

The correct spell was “From the darkness below rise up and ensnare my foes, Shadow Bind”. Jason had not the time to confirmed that the spell was right, he had only a few hours before the curfew kicked in.

Further the book promptly bust into flames and was reduced to ash before Jason could blink. “I guess I won’t be getting anymore spells from that”. Returning to the surface he pushed the bad back while he thought. Why is the spell the school gave me wrong, and why is the full chant of the light spell also gone? Jason had no answer. It was just another thing to keep and eye on.

“Please professor”. Jason was near shouting, Nathal Morning, the enchanting teacher would not budge. “No, you still need to be better, there is no way I’ll let you enchant that knife of yours with that level of skill”.

Jason clenched his fists; it was not going well. “Come on please, I just need it for the Dungeon tomorrow”. Jason wasn’t going to enter without being prepared, he would have liked to have his sword enchanted, but he lacked the skill or money to do so. So, he settled for his knife. But Nathal would not have it.

The professor’s eyes softened, he stopped talking as he remembered his first Dungeon trip. He sighed. “fine, but show me first, don’t want it exploding on you”. Grinning he thanked the man.

Turning back to a table in the corner of the room he got to work. First, he got a similar sized knife he had bought on the way back from the house. He only used three simple runes. Sharpness, durability, and repair. The repair would only keep rust from forming as well as clean the blade but not much else.

Going back to the main desk he handed the knife to Nathal, who looked it over. “Not bad, but your calculations were off”. He quickly fixed it up and handed to back. “How do you plan to enchant the knife?”. Jason nodded and pulled out his high steel knife. “With Sparks”. He told the teacher. He frowned, “What?”. Jason traced over the runes in his mind onto the blade. He cast sparks, and the familiar golden glow shone through the room.

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Jason focused the arks, so that it only came of his index finger. As his hand got closer, the ark jumped onto the blade and started to sear it. While thinking of enchanting his knife, Jason had realised he didn’t have anything to enchant it with. No knife could scratch it, for it was made from high steel, which was much stronger than normal steel.

But then he remembered when he was practising Sparks and how when it touched the table it had seared it. Going off that he had found a way to mar the tough knife and enchant it.

Nathal had stepped back when he had first started enchanting the knife, but quickly came back when he saw that Jason wasn’t trying to kill him.

Enchanting the knife took longer than Jason thought it was. And the constant spell casting was mentally demanding, but he managed. Nathal on the other hand was impressed. Not only had Jason thought of a way to enchant high steel, he had been able to cast for over and hour.

When it was done, Nathal took the scorched knife and cleaned it with some water. What appeared to be messy runes, with a little clean reviled perfectly cut runes. Jason watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out some glasses. Putting them on he examined the knife’s mana flow.

Nathal gave the knife to Jason. “Well done, surprisingly your crazy idea worked”. Jason blushed. “This knife is the first step of many Jason”. He paid close attention to the boy. “This is your first enchanted item, be proud of it”. Jason nodded. “Now get out and test it”. The man ordered Jason out, who was eager to leave.

Jason had two things to test out, the real shadow spell and his newly enchanted knife. He looked out the window and onto the Silent Forest. It would be a perfect opportunity to test them both out. While the further into the forest you went, the more dangerous the beast became. The outside ring was not to hazardous, being occupied by boars, which Jason could hunt. He had only two hours to hunt before the sun when down, and he wanted to sell the boars when he was done. That was if not only he killed some, but he didn’t get killed himself.

After making a deal with an old hunter, who he had promised half of any money he made for a cart and also protection as well as a guide. The man had said little as they made their way into the forest. The man stopped at what seemed a random spot, but the man assured him it wasn’t. Jason was led through the undergrowth and stopped just coming onto a clearing. The reason they had stopped was clear. One large hog was eating.

“Now what?” the man asked, he saw Jason had no bow. The only thing he saw was the sheathed knife. “Not going to try and kill it with only that knife, are you?”. Jason looked back at him and shook his head, “No, just watch”. He turned his attention back to the hog, who was sniffing the air.

Seeing the hog was nearly on to them he cast. “From the darkness below rise up and ensnare my foes, Shadow Bind”. He spoke softly not wanting to alert the pig. Mana rushed through him and out. Casting the spell, Jason was now sure that it was the correct version.

The hog’s shadow turned on it. Rising up and wrapping the hog in thick bindings. The hog fought, but the bindings held. The old hunter gasped. This was not what he was expecting. Jason rose up from the bush and went over to the boar. Pulling out his knife, he stabbed it down on the boars skull. He was off balanced when the knife slid easily though the skull. He had killed it quickly, not wanting to prolong the suffering of the boar.

Jason was pulled out the knife. His father had taken him out hunting before, knights were people who were accustomed to death. And Jason’s father was no different. While Jason might have qualms killing people, animals he was fine with.

The hunter stumbled over to him. “I’m sorry my lord, I had no idea that you were a mage, please forgive me”. He fell to his knees. Jason looked over at him. He had obviously had bad experiences with mages before. “Get up, I’m no lord, there is nothing you need to be sorry for”. The man looked up hesitantly, he clearly thought Jason was going to change his mind.

“Come on, we have to get this one back to the cart and looking for more”. The man nodded and hurried over to help him with the dead pig. Jason had to practise the spell, hopefully until he could shorten it.

They hunted other boars for the rest of the daylight. The man was very respectful of Jason from then on. He was quick to Jason’s direction.

The hunt was good, they had gotten four hogs, Jason hadn’t perfected his spell, but the fading light was a sign for them to go, the hunter was glad. Spending time at night in the Silent Forest was terrible, even on the outskirts it was deadly.

Jason was resting on the cart as the hunter drove it. The first inclination something was wrong was the pounding of footsteps. He opened his eyes and looked behind them. There it was a giant boar. The size of three normal one, it’s tusks bent at them. Jason could just make out dried blood on them.

“GO FASTER”. He yelled at the hunter, who became aware of the danger and sped the horse up. Jason climbed into a better position and began casting. “From the darkness below rise up and ensnare my foes, Shadow Bind”. He shouted. As usual the shadows rose into the air and tried to grab the boar. The boar simply charged through the shadows and at them. Jason cursed. The spell at slowed the boar down but had not stopped it. They bust from the tree line and onto the field that surrounded the forest. The boar did not stop, intent on revenge.

“Stop the cart”. He called to the hunter, who did. Hopping down he pulled out his knife and looked at the charging boar. It didn’t have a large turning circle and Jason hopped to use that to his advantage.

The boar came close and Jason dived to the left, sliding the knife down the storming boars side. It roared in pain. But the cut was not enough. The boar attacked again, it was smarter and had it’s tusks protecting its side.

Jason did one the most stupid things he could think off. He jumped. He cast sparks running the lightning down the knife. The boar’s tusk nicked his skin, tearing his clothes. Jason slammed the electrified blade into the boars spine.

He was thrown into the air; the boar had smashed into him. He came down hard. He crashed into the ground and sat there for a moment, before slowly getting up and looking at the outcome. The boar had died and drifted to a halt in front of the older hunter, who looked like he had aged another fifty years.

Jason fell back to the ground, knocked out. His injuries was mostly bruising that would be dreadful in the Dungeon tomorrow, but he would live. The boar would not.