Grimoires and New Lessons

Brought before the wicked king Dinasta Vodaar, who bathed the entire city in the blood of those who would not kneel to him, was the vagabond prophet Vanok Valaer, who refused to kneel to the tyrant. The king asked him, "Why is it that you do not need you? Why is it that you will not just give up and fall in line? Must I torture, rape, and kill you just to get the obedience that I deserve? How much fear must I instill in you and the rest before you understand my power?"

There's silence and the king awaits an answer. Then the silence is broken when the vagabond boldly stares the king in his eyes and proclaims, "In all things, there is one truth that shall never falter. Love, loyalty, kindness, and respect can fill the voids in the hearts of anyone. For these virtues breed something greater than fear, despair or rage could ever comprehend. They breed forth hope. Even in the darkest hours and even in the worst of times, so long as you have hope things will get better. So as long as the flames of hope burn in my heart; I shall never kneel to a tyrant when my king still lives."

"Your king is dead! My blade cut him down! You are a fool to believe a dead man yet still lives," shouted the tyrant Dinasta.

Vanok laughed at the tyrant and his loud bellowing chuckle echoed throughout the castle as he proclaimed with glee, "Yes..... Yes, you killed the former king. Ahahaha..... But you did not kill his son!"

At that moment though warhorn sounded alerting everyone in the castle that the city was about to become under attack. Looking out the nearest window the tyrant king saw as the entire city was surrounded by tens of thousands of soldiers outnumbering his forces nearly 100 to 1.

"Your time is up as the rightful king has returned with an army that you will never overcome. Kneel and beg for mercy and he might yet spare you," declared Vanok with the flames of hope burning in his eyes and the will to fight shining through his smile.

-Flames of Hope Chapter 20; Verses 1-7

With training done for the day, Constantine had Juulla just keep practicing the 2 skills he showed her and try to figure out the spell he had started teaching her for a couple of hours. While she would practice, he and Runa would search about the town to see if there are any young able-bodied people that they can train to be the new guards for the town. It was mostly to finish paying off their favor to a friend, and so that the town would be safer after they left.

It was through sheer luck that he was able to find 3 young farmers that were arguing with their parents about wanting to leave the town. He approached the family and as he did, they recognized who he was simply from word of mouth.

The father of the young men asked as Constantine and Runa approached, "Can we help you, travelers?"

"Yes actually. We're looking for people to become new guards for the town and are willing to train them. We wanted to see if your sons might be interested," replied Runa.

The father responded nervously, "Really that might be a good turn of luck. Sorry if our arguing caught your attention. You see our sons want to leave to learn how to become warriors so that they can protect the town from bandits, but we don't want them to go because the roads are a bit too dangerous."

Constantine look at the three young men who were probably about 5 or 6 years younger than himself and he asked them, "That truly why you gentlemen want to leave?"

The farm boys gave a nod of sincerity and dedication. One of them spoke up and proudly proclaimed, "See this is our home mister and we just want to keep it safe. Those bandits nearly ruined everybody's lives here by stripping us of everything of worth and killing anyone who tried to fight back. I and my brothers are tired of being helpless we don't want to see bandits smacking around our parents or our friends anymore. So if we need to leave to learn how to be strong enough to protect our loved ones we're willing to do it."

"It's true! I am tired of watching thugs smack around all the good people in this town," shouted one of the other brothers.

Constantine took a moment to take in their sincerity and genuine determination to want to become strong enough to protect their family and friends. He began to softly laughs and gently nods, "Good.... Very good.... Tell me. Would you like to learn how to cut down any pathetic bandits that try to threaten this town again and maintain the peace around here?"

One of the boys responded, "Y'all serious? You'll really teach us how to mess up bandits and keep people safe?"

"That and then some. You'll even get paid quite well. You'll be taking orders from Captain Shovon in Totfieldbu, but most of the law keeping around here will be up to you all and some others that we might find," answered Runa.

The young men look to their parents realizing that they could achieve what they want, and their parents can be happy knowing that they don't have to leave town if they accept. So the young men turn around and bow their heads thankfully and give their gratitude in unison, "Thank you so much. We promise not to let y'all down."

"Good be at the guard house around noon tomorrow. I'll need to get your measurements to make sure that you can fit the armor I will be making for the new guards. After that, I'm going to start having you all learn how to properly fight. Understood," informed Constantine to make sure that they knew where to be and when to be. The young men nodded their heads and with a smile Constantine and Runa left to go find more able-bodied recruits.

Sadly, they came up short as most everyone else in town was no good for the positions except for two individuals. On the edge of town, they found a couple named Henikk and Vellmii Whitleyton.

The couple was young, and they were experienced hunters. Most likely providing most of the food for the town while the bandits had been stealing all their meat and produce from the local farmers and the butcher. Now that the bandits have been taken care of, they no longer need to hunt for the town.

Henikk had heard of the two from those in town, but his wife had not. So, when they approached his wife prepared to grab her bow and a couple of arrows when her husband stopped her.

Then they heard as Constantine shouted, "No please let her. I want her to see why that would never have worked. Don't worry I won't hurt either of you."

Feeling taunted Vellmii ready a single arrow and then loosed it from her bow in only 2 seconds. To her surprise, Constantine caught it with two fingers and snapped it in half like it was nothing not even looking at the arrow. It didn't even come close enough to his face as he stopped it almost a foot away from where it would have eventually veered off and missed anyway.

"Your wife has a fighting spirit. That's good to see... Folks in town told me that you all are pretty good at sticking to the shadows and striking with your bows. Sorry to startle you by my sudden appearance," Constantine says now only 10ft from the couple with Runa up in the trees nearby in clear view.

Henikk falls to his knees and bows down. He begs forgiveness for his wife's actions knowing from what everyone told him and having gone to see for himself the handiwork to verify just how dangerous the two in front of them were, "Please forgive my wife sir. She thinks you must be a bandit. She doesn't know that you've already killed them. I have yet to tell her that the bandits had been taken care of so the mistake is mine. If you must punish someone punish me."

Constantine offers his hand out for the man to take it and helps him back up to his feet while saying, "No need for that. All is fine. Your lovely wife showed excellent intimidation skills. She was fearless and ready to kill if needed to protect the both of you. That's exactly what I and my partner are looking for. You see we have been asked by a friend to come here and see about replacing the old guards. So that the bandit attacks not only stop, but if they occur again you will have people ready to protect this town."

Realizing that she acted a bit too soon Vellmii gave a slight bow of apology, "I still ask forgiveness as I should have asked who you were first before assuming. You are not from these lands so I assumed you to be one of the bandits. I am so sorry."

"If you would like to hear me say that your apology is accepted for us to move on with what I'm here for then I shall accept this apology. Now might be in my companion come inside so that we may discuss business," requested Constantine with a gentle smile and a polite nod.

"Certainly. Vellmii had just finished making tea if you would like to have some as we talk," said Henikk.

The 4 of them entered the small home, where the man placed down cups for everyone, and his wife poured nice hot black tea into them. Constantine, of course, asked for a little ice and sugar that he would use to sweeten and then cool his tea and the others just drink it as it was.

Runa was the one to initiate the conversation, "As my husband-" he quickly thumps her against her head not enough to hurt just enough for her to fix what she said, "Fine. Fine... As my partner... Happy now you dummy....?"

Constantine gave a nod and then motioned for her to continue. So, she did, "As my partner said, we are looking for people to replace the old guardsmen here. The only reason that you all were dealing with your bandit problem is because they refuse to send a request for help. We aren't sure if they were just too lazy to do it, if they were threatened, or if they were in on it. But they've all been fired. Now we are going to be training and re-equipping the new guards for the town. We will make sure that they have the skills needed to make sure that they might never need to request help and if they do it has to be something serious."

"So why have you come to us," wondered Vellmii.

"Simple. We need people we know can be willing to help this town and isn't afraid to fight. We don't need cowards to be guards. The safety of this village is important as it lies directly on the main road to the capital," explained Runa.

Henikk asked curiously, "And you think me and my wife are good enough for what you're looking for?"

Constantine laughed at them and immediately responded, "Oh hell no."

The couple looked at him with a frown and were about to say something until they saw his companion finish what he was saying for him, "No you aren't. At least not in your current state. As my partner set outside you have what we think is needed but it's unrefined. In simple terms, you need more training to become exactly what we are trying to have as the new guards for this town."

"Which is exactly what here to discuss. We are willing to train all of the new recruits. If you complete our training not only, will you be supplied with the gear you need but we will make sure that you are paid well by Captain Shovon in Totfieldbu," said Constantine.

Vellmii asked them slightly annoyed, "Why would we want to become guards for this town? What value would we get out of protecting this place?"

"How about 10,000 gold each for completing training," replied Constantine.

Henikk immediately stood up and his eyes went wide hearing that amount of money being offered, "We'll do it!"

"Down boy! Don't go saying stuff like that when we don't even know what we're getting into," shouted his wife immediately as she started taking a wooden spoon tip to smack him on his shoulder.

Runa began to explain exactly what they would be learning, "You would be learning mostly combat training from Constantine. I would be teaching you magic depending on if you have the capability for it. If you don't, I will be teaching you basic alchemy and medicine. I'm quite a skilled alchemist and doctor back where I'm from and I've gotten better over the last couple of years."

Henikk looked to his wife indicating that he wanted the money that was being offered, "See honey, does knowing what will be getting into now make you feel a little bit better about taking the offer?"

"You just want to make some quick cash and a lot of it. Will you even handle the responsibilities of being a guard for this town after you've been paid," retorted his wife and it seemed to sting him a bit as he knew she was technically right.

Henikk began to think about it. His excited smile slowly faded away as he sat back down and started to wonder about the offer.

Seeing this Constantine finished his tea and then stood up, "You both clearly need to think on the matter and discuss it further as a couple. We will leave you just know that if you wish to accept the offer meet us in front of the guard barracks tomorrow at noon. I will need to get everyone to measurements for the armor that I'll be crafting for each of you. I hope that you do accept the offer though as you show more promise than the others we've found so far."

Runa and Constantine gave about before exiting the home and leaving the couple to talk things out by themselves. They made their way back over to the tavern now that it was approaching closer to sunset. When they return, they saw Juulla still practicing how to make her fist glow like she was told to.

She had made much progress but at least now all of her fingers were starting to dimly glow instead of just one. Given another couple of hours or maybe a day, she might finish figuring it out on her own. But she immediately stopped when she saw the duo return.

She approached the two of them with a smile, "How did things go?"

"It went well. We know for sure that the 3 brothers that live at Bendamo farm will be there tomorrow to start learning. We think that the couple that lives on the outskirts of town near the forest might be willing to join, but they need to discuss things amongst each other first," answered Runa.

Juulla gave a nod, "Well that sounds like a good thing. It's been a pretty long day. Are the two of you ready for dinner?"

"Yes, please. My stomach is growling. Mind giving me the tea that I enjoy while I wait for your amazing cooking," joked Constantine as he took a seat at the bar.

Not even a couple of seconds after he asked the bartender himself slid him a mug of the tea just the way he likes it. It looks like the family is treating Constantine and Runa with the utmost care and service. Not only did they save the business and the town, but everyone in the family now knows how much Constantine actually gave to them.

Runa requests a margarita as she is feeling like having something that can get her fucked up but in a good way after a pretty full day. Juulla's mom happily makes the woman a perfect margarita and slides it her way.

As the two of them began to drink and rehydrate Constantine looked over and noticed that Juulla didn't have a grimoire which he found odd. At first, he didn't want to say anything but then he thought about how she had been talking about how hard it has been on her to learn magic. He remembered her saying that her mom had taught her the two spells that she knew and the third one she figured out from old stories her grandpa told her.

With that in mind he decided to ask her since she wasn't that far away and was just preparing dinner, "Hey Juulla..... Do you have a grimoire?"

She placed a pan of macaroni and cheese in the oven to start baking as she turned off the eye on the boiling water needed to steam the broccoli that she was also cooking. As she wiped her hand she looked back and answered, "Nope. Too expensive to get a blank one and we're too far away to send anyone to go to the nearest big city even if we had that money. Why would I need a grimoire anyway? Isn't it like a glorified magic journal?"

Runa spits out her drink hearing that and looked at the young elf with shock. She immediately took some napkins and tried to clean up the mess.

Constantine stood up and walked over to her and looked at her from the other side of the counter, "A glorified magic journal are you kidding me?! I mean you're not wrong but you're also very wrong! It's more than just a book that spellcasters record their spells and it also details exactly how to cast spells...."

Juulla seemed confused, "I mean I don't see how it would help with anything. Is there something you know that I don't?"

"A grimoire is a standard for spellcasters for reason. When given to younger less experienced spellcasters to study from; it can allow them to learn spells that normally would take years to figure out on their own in a matter of days or weeks. Each spellcaster details in great length and depth about how exactly each individual spell works from every single part of the process. No wonder it's taken you so long to learn more. You haven't had a grimoire to study from this entire time," Constantine exclaims almost with a fanatic look in his eye as he is realizing that all of her struggles have simply been due to the lack of a grimoire. He realizes that she could have been extremely skilled and powerful if she had a proper grimoire to learn from all this time.

Juulla seems to be a little bit taken aback. The idea that a book could have actually helped her learn so much quicker seemed odd. She questioned, "Are you certain about that? I mean just learning from what you told me today was a lot simpler and easier."

"Yes yes. I am certain, and I need to fix this. As your teacher, I must make sure that you learn as quickly and precisely as possible. I took you on as my apprentice because I promise to help you learn and get stronger......... I need to write you a grimoire. Now," he immediately takes his backpack off and sits it on the counter, and starts running through it frantically.

The way he was acting seemed to confuse everybody except Runa who understood just why this was so important. It was clear that none of these people had been properly educated in magic or much of anything outside of hard labor jobs like farming and construction and butchering.

It didn't take long for Constantine to find the materials he needed to start building a book and he quickly and rapidly put one together using magic to speed up his movements. Then he reached in and pulled out an ink pen and sat down and started rapidly writing and sketching and describing in overwhelming detail both visually and verbally each spell that he promised to teach her. As well as some of the spells he would teach her if they still had time.

Even with his enhanced speed, it took him about 10 minutes to finish writing the first 18 spells he wanted her to learn from him. As well as putting in the ones he knew she already had learned in the book. Even with that it only took up half of the book. Thus, giving him room to add more to it over time once he saw how she faired with what was already in it.

Once he was done, she was about halfway through cooking when he opened the book to Infuse Light and slammed it on the counter turning it her way. He took his chair and expertly twirled it over his head and put it on the other side of the counter. He pointed to the book as he stared her down and he said only one word very drawn out and very serious, "Read."

A little bit confused and concerned she looked at her mom and then at the stove to request with her eyes if her mother could take over cooking for a moment. As her mother moved over to the stove she came and sat down and started reading.

As she began to read how the spell is supposed to work based off of what he had already told her, and what it was supposed to look like from the illustrations he gave; she started to understand the importance of a grimoire. Everything that she had been wondering about from how it was supposed to work, all the way to how it was supposed to look and what it was supposed to do was all there for her.

Once she got through reading the spell, she tried to cast it again following the instructions from the book. This time her entire fist started to glow. Though not as bright as what she needed it to be, it was an overwhelming improvement in progress.

Juulla looked at Constantine and shouted in shock, "Holy shit! This makes things so much simpler! This explains so much!"

"That's what I'm talking about. It makes it all super easy to learn new spells. Happy to have a grimoire now," Constantine responded.

"Hell yeah. Thanks," she showed gratitude.

He gave a nod and continued drinking his tea. Juulla took back over cooking now really excited to read her new grimoire after work. Runa helped bring over the food once she saw it was done and they offered for Juulla to eat with them.

She declined because she had already spent so much time not working and instead training and studying so she had to make up for the lost time. Although it seemed her parents didn't mind because they could see she was actually really doing well when it came to learning magic.

But she got back to work, and her father decided to ask a question as he was very curious, "You seem to know a lot of very powerful spells; what's the strongest one you know?"

Constantine had to think about that for a moment as the man's observation wasn't wrong in the slightest. Constantine did know a lot of powerful spells that he had learned from studying the Royal Arcane Library back when he was still on the island in the Republic. However, thinking about the library only made him think about Mazarine, and he refused to have her on his mind right now given how they parted ways.

Eventually, an answer came to him, but it wasn't what the bartender was expecting, "I know way more magic spells than any normal man should, but I can't use almost any of them. You see my reason for wanting to go to the university is because I'm quite powerful. So powerful in fact that casting magic above a certain threshold of power would cause it to be overcharged and have a much more disastrous effect than what I'm hoping for. Meaning if I make a super big fireball there's a chance it would grow that 1,000 times bigger, and it will blow up 1,000 times more than what I want. I only started developing my magic around the time I met my partner, so I haven't been doing this for long enough to know how to properly control it. Unlike some people who have had it for the majority of their lives."

The bartender looked a bit confused by that, "So if I'm understanding you correctly your problem is more of an involuntary over usage of mana, or do you just not know how to properly manage your mana when using more powerful spells?"

"Bit of both from what I've been able to observe," replied Runa who is now on her third margarita and snuggled up against Constantine's arm very closely.

Constantine rub the back of his head a little bit nervous about the fact that when it came to magic despite how strong he was he essentially didn't know how to control his power, "What my partner said..... Kind of embarrassing really which is kind of why I'm sticking to only the basics for your daughter because that's all I could really teach her without potentially having an accident. The reason for going to the university is because I have a friend there who is a lot more skilled in what I need to learn."

Fighting back, the urge to laugh at least a little the bartender offers some words of encouragement, "Everyone has things that they struggle with, and it sounds like yours makes a lot of sense. Having a lot of power is great but if you can't control it then what's the point? Going somewhere where you know you can get help learning how to control it is a smart idea. So, hold your head up...... and thanks for the money."

Constantine laughs a little himself before giving a nod and finishing the last of his meal before calling it a night. By this point Runa was starting to get sleepy, so he picked her up and carried her to their room.

As the 2 went to bed, Juulla continued working for another 6 hours before calling it a night. As she went to her room, she started looking at her new staff and armor. They were beautifully crafted and so amazing.

Her hand moved to her new grimoire, and she traced her fingers over the words on the cover that were quickly put together but spelled out Bringer of Balance in Elvish. She opened the book and turned back to the page that had infused light on it and began studying it for the next 2 hours. She kept trying to cast the spell, but she didn't make much progress most likely due to the fact she was tired.

But soon midnight was close upon her, and she decided to go ahead and take her bath before getting some rest herself. The day was a roller coaster of emotions and sensations for her, and she doubted that this would be the end of it.

As the 3 moons are at their apexes of where they need to be in the sky, our story shifts over to the sunny city of Wyrmheart. The city is modern in every sense of the word as unlike anywhere else in the world they have everything one could dream of. Cars traveling down the highways and byways. Skyscrapers stretch into the heavens where people work tirelessly to try and make a living. Loud music can be heard almost anywhere across the city as people listen to the songs that play on their various music devices as well as on the radios. People talk and walk as they text on their cell phones traveling throughout the streets.

The city screams modern in every sense. But it is kept almost perfectly clean at all times and the magic here is the greatest you could ever hope to find. Small islands dot the sky in the city that floats magically so far off the ground; with waterfalls coming from them that lead into deep enough ponds that if they fell out of the sky they would safely land in the water. And then there is the large floating island at the center of the city. On that island since the Arcane Emperor's castle, Dragonsrest Keep.

Standing over the balcony looking over the city was the current emperor of the entirety of the Imperial Mageocracy of Wyrmlingshire, Zanamiel Wyrmlight. He looked over the great capital built by his ancestors and those who originally swore to work towards the peace that he and his ancestors fought so hard for. His thoughts are interrupted as the sound of his bedroom door opening catches his attention.

He turns to greet whoever it is that has come to speak to them. Looking at who it is he relaxes a bit as he sees his younger brother. Once his eyes used to be filled with disdain for his brother but these days that is not the case.

"How goes behind brother? Your people still having a hard time trying to find him," asked Emperor Zanamiel.

His brother, Theseus, answered with a bit of good news, "Constantine still eludes us but my people are picking up his trail. Lady Corisandra is making great progress. She's caught up enough on his trail to know that he spent about a year on a specific island, and she is heading there now to see what information she can gleam from the locals."

"Good. I have no doubt that she will find Constantine, but my attention is not on whether he will be found. As you know from the last time you met him, he's quite resourceful, and he is already promised to return to the nation once he is finished his great journey around the world. My worry is on the other one I sent you to find," replied the emperor with a smile on his face at the good news.

"Your wife has yet to be found but we have picked up her trail. She was last seen in the city of Kakuku located in the Shogunate of Kipina. She has paid quite a bit of money to take a boat ride around our continent and far up north to the Holy State of Sliba. Apparently, the ship that she took will take her to a city by the name of Nalayt. We know that she's hunting for a relic that belonged to her ancestor," reported Theseus.

The emperor sat down in a nearby chair and gave a nod of thanks, "Good. Very good....... Welcome home Theseus. I forgot to say that when you arrived. But this does give me a chance to let you know that mother is finally awake. She has been asking about you since she heard how you ended up being used and tricked while she was gone. Her and father are together right now having lunch down in the garden below. I'm certain if you fly down, she would be happy to see you."

"Thank you for informing me, brother. I'll go see her at once. May the Godslayer watch over you," Theseus excuses himself and leaves to fly down to see his mother for the first time since she had been brought back to him and he was made aware that she was alive. There was nothing but joy in his heart and his eyes as he saw her from above slowly making his way down calling to her.

From above his older brother watched the heartfelt reunion between the two. He remembers how only a few years ago his brother tried to hunt him down and have him killed. But now he willingly obeys his every order. He's happy that his family is here and now he must look to the future.

As the breeze picks up leaves flow from branches guided through the sky as we transition back over to a brand-new morning. Juulla made breakfast for her two new teachers; however, this time she didn't bring it to them having learned from yesterday morning. This time she made sure to wait until they had finished getting ready for the day and came out of their rooms while keeping their food warm for them.

When Constantine and Runa did join early in the morning it was clear that Constantine had things, he needed to take care of today. He was focused and had little time for much else.

Though he did sit down and have breakfast with both women. Juulla was already dressed in her new armor and had her staff and grimoire next to her. She clearly showed him that she was determined to learn some more today.

After breakfast, he stood up and motioned for the two of them to follow him. This time he didn't take them to the blacksmith shop instead led them to a rather large open field between the forest and the outer edge of the village. Once there he stopped to look back at Juulla, "Today we do a brief recap of yesterday's lessons and then focus on teaching you spells and how to effectively use them. Ready?"

Nothing could come close to the excitement that the young elf woman showed on her face as she eagerly declared, "Hell yeah! Let's get started!"

"Listen up, at noon I'll be teaching the new recruits for the guards and getting their measurements as I did for you yesterday. That way I can make their new armor and weapons as well. So when that happens you'll be going with me to watch how I teach them combat. I'll be mostly focusing on non-magic-based combat which I want you to learn as well. Got it," he informed her.

She gave a nod and then Runa gave her the first instructions for the day, "Okay Juulla show us those glowing eyes of yours."

Juulla took a deep breath remembering how to correctly flow her mana and maintain the connection. She started to expand her magical aura outward, and as she did she focused a portion of that power into her eyes. With one big deep breath, she exhaled opening her eyes to show the same glowing purple magic circles from yesterday.

"Very good. Now try to cast Infuse Light," ordered Runa proud of Juulla soaking in the lessons.

Following the instructions, she did as she was told however the same result was had as she could get her entire fist to glow but it wasn't bright enough. This time however she could see the actual change in her magical aura as this was happening. Along with that, she could feel the flow of magic. With both senses combined she could see that she wasn't pouring enough magic into it and she wasn't focusing it strongly enough on where she wanted it to go. Before her teachers could tell her what to do to correct the mistake, she did it herself and for the first time, she successfully cast the spell as her fist was glowing so brightly it could light up an entire room. She could feel the radiant heat coming off of her hand as it gently warms her face.

Constantine spoke up giving a nod of respect, "You noticed where you were making the mistake and corrected it. Very good..... It looks like the grimoire has helped quite a bit, and the skills you've already learned have helped you to figure out where you're going wrong. I know that since you're at the grimoire you already know what the spell does but allow me to still give a demonstration."

"Certainly," Juulla replied.

"You're not going to want to use your Eyes of the Arcanist for this. So, for now, turn them off and conserve your mana," Constantine instructed her which she followed but was rather confused at why that was.

Seeing her eyes go back to normal he focused his magic into his single pointer finger on his right hand. He took one of the apples from a nearby tree and plucked it. He then tossed it up in the air not that high and then he took his finger and cut it into six pieces. The radiant heat that was being focused in that one finger was enough to burn instantly through the apple with clean precise cuts. Almost like the apple had been hit by a very powerful and very focused laser cutter beam.

He then looked back to her and spoke, "As you read and as you saw, Infuse Light allows you to imbue usually items like swords and other weapons with radiant magic. But it can also be applied to your own body coding your limbs or individual body parts in radiant light to be able to easily burn through what you're trying to strike. With this spell, you can make almost anything a weapon, even a pencil, by simply infusing it with enough radiant magic to burn hotter than plasma. But paired with an actual weapon or someone really skilled with their hand-to-hand combat the spell is much more effective at getting the job done."

Juulla looked in awe before staring at her glowing fist and punching a nearby tree. She sees that she does not cut down the tree with her punch, but she does deeply brand the tree with a very detailed burn scar shaped like the part of her fist that struck it. Though kind of sad she couldn't take down the entire tree with a single punch she does understand that she still has quite a lot to learn, and she is not strong as the other two.

Runa plucks 10 apples from the tree and used her magic to create a gust of wind strong enough to keep the apples floating in the air. She instructed Juulla, "I want you to practice activating the spell and striking the apples individually with your fist. This will help you get used to casting the spell and using it. You do not need to destroy the apples, but you do need to be able to damage them with the spell."

She gave a nod and began practicing while Constantine watched from the sidelines for a little bit. Soon his senses began to pick up on someone at the far edge of his special sight. At first, he was worried but soon as he felt who had entered into his zone of perception he knew exactly who it was. He breathed a sigh of relief knowing that his other partner had returned safely from scouting ahead and dealing with any threats that they might have encountered on the road.

Given the pace at, which she was moving he could tell she was taking her time to get back and being thorough. He expected her to probably make her way to the end shortly around sunset.

By the time he focused his attention back on his new apprentice, he saw that she had burned the first couple of apples and had completely cut apart the ones she was currently using the spell on with only two left to practice with. As he watched her, he could see that she had no problem recalling how to cast the spell even without the aid of her eyes. Though her damage output with it was varying at best; it's clear that she was getting better with it.

During his observation, he also noticed that she had no fighting stance whatsoever. Her main problem was she was trying to mimic other people's actions from most likely what she's seen in the past. Sadly, she was failing horribly to mimic whatever actions she was envisioning. Even though her hits were landing, most of them didn't pack as much power as they would if she knew just the basics of how to fight with her hands and feet.

Once she had finished destroying the last apple, Constantine walked up and took her grimoire. He began moving through the pages and decided that he could help fix her fighting style when he goes to train the guards. For now, his focus was on teaching her the next spell.

He turned the page to the spell Light Warp and handed the grimoire back to her, "You have a decent grasp over Infuse Light now we will focus on Light Warp. Runa explain the spell and I'll demonstrate."

"Can do.....," she said as she stood up as she had taken a seat on the ground for a little bit. She dusted herself off and stretched her legs before getting down to business.

Runa walked over and started to give an explanation to Juulla, "So Light Warp is a somewhat simple but also somewhat complex spell. It's easy to pull off when you're actually doing it, but the explanation is usually sometimes confusing. Which is why the grimoire shall help you with understanding what I'm saying. Light Warp is a semi-teleportation spell as you're moving from one place to the other almost instantaneously. The reason I say it is a semi-teleportation spell is because the actual way it works isn't normal teleportation. You see as part of the spell you essentially envelop your magic around you and within you to try and become one with the light. All while focusing on a specific spot that you're trying to get to. As the magic takes hold you briefly become one with the light around you for a second as you move at the speed of light to get to the spot that you were focusing on. To a normal person it will appear as if you teleported instantaneously, but to anyone who is moving faster than a normal person should be and can perceive at that same speed; it'll look like you're becoming a glowing version of yourself moving extremely fast."

Once she was done giving an explanation Constantine gave a demonstration, where he focuses his magic as he points directly to the other tree about 100ft away to indicate where he was going. Before she can blink she sees as he disappears from where he was standing and reappears at the tree which astonishes her. Then he teleports back but this time he was standing behind her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she jumped a little not expecting him to be there.

"As you can see it's a very useful spell, and I certainly got the jump on you with it even though you were expecting it. Now that you got a decent explanation and a demonstration take some time to read through the grimoire and start practicing it," said Constantine.

Juulla sat under the apple tree and started to study the spell with a bit of excitement. As she did so Constantine and Runa walked about a thousand feet away still in view but giving her some space as they needed to talk about something in private. She didn't bother listening in or trying to invade their private conversation.

Constantine having pulled his partner aside turned away so that their new apprentice wouldn't be reading his or her lips as he informed Runa, "Chocolate is back. She entered my field about 20 minutes ago. It looks like she's doing a final sweep over everything as she's making her way back. If I had to guess she'll be here around sunset. Run to the inn real quick and let them know that we'll need a third key because another one of our companions will be joining us at the inn."

"Sure thing. I hope that she didn't run into too much trouble," agreed Runa.

He patted her on her head and gave her a loving smile, "Thanks Runa. I know I can always count on you."

She nuzzled into the touch of his hand on her head for a moment before she turned to go do as she was politely asked. She was happy that Chocolate was finally back as the two were close like sisters at this point.

While Runa went to go handle what he had asked of her, Constantine returned to Juulla. He did not interrupt her study instead he just watched. He analyzed her study habits to try and understand how she process the information and reacted to it now that he could focus on her. Instead of like yesterday when she was just in the tavern.

About 7 hours go by and Runa had already returned long ago, when Juulla closed the grimoire. She marked a spot on the ground by burning the grass in the area within Infuse Light having been placed on her hand. She took about a couple dozen steps away and began practicing the spell.

At first, she couldn't get it to work at all and struggled for nearly another 2 hours. Then she seemed to figure out where she was messing up and corrected the mistake. However, she was still having problems as she wasn't teleporting as far as she was trying to or she was teleporting off in the wrong direction. One time she even accidentally teleported about 50ft into the air and Constantine had to catch her so she didn't fall and hurt herself badly.

Still no matter how many failures she made she kept trying. About 30 minutes before they had to stop and go over to where the new guards are going to be gathering, she finally got it right. For the first time since she started studying and began practicing she finally cast the spell correctly.

But it was easy to tell that she did it by mistake expecting to mess up again. She even shocked herself by actually landing on the mark.

Runa claps for her regardless and Constantine tells her, "Not bad. Now try and focus on what you just did to get to the right spot and repeat it until you can do it every single time."

Juulla slightly confused try to remember the steps that she followed to be able to pull the spell off correctly and continued practicing. She messed up half of the time but the other half she would cast the spell correctly and end up where she was trying to go. She still needs time to practice but for now, she's doing a lot better. She doesn't get much more time to practice before she is motioned to grab her things and come along.

The group starts making their way down to the guard barracks. When they turn the corner to see it to their surprise they see the three brothers and the couple standing there. They were happy to see that those they spoke to were excited to get started.

Constantine however didn't say anything and moved straight for the front door to unlock it and open it for everyone to go inside. However, Runa did speak, "Glad to see everyone came. My hub- I mean partner is going to open the door and we can go inside. We will need to get your exact measurements for the gear that he is going to be making for all of you before we start your training."

Before they can say anything they hear as the doors open and Constantine looks at them, "Inside. The sooner we get your measurements done the sooner we can get started on your actual training and I can get started on your actual armor."

The group entered and once everybody was inside Constantine closed the door behind them. He showed them the utter disrepair the old armor was in before he used his earth magic to convert it all into a liquid metal state and shaped it into steel ingots.

"Listen up. I'll be getting your exact measurements, and then I will start working on crafting your armor before enchanting it. I will try and get each person a suit of armor done every day before coming back and seeing to everyone's training. Now as you can see there's a bathroom which is where I'm going to have you all go so I can take your measurements. For what I'm going to craft you you're going to need to strip down, and when I say that I mean all the way. If you want to know the kind of quality of what you're getting just look at what I made for Juulla. This isn't about to be pervert hour, where you're going to be wondering if I'm going to fondle you where no one can see. So I don't want to hear anybody's lip about how they don't want to strip down. It will just take 5 minutes to get each of your measurements, so just be brave for a couple of minutes. Now the two of you are a couple so if you're worried you can go in there together. Am I understood," Constantine instructed them with a very affirmative tone, and he looked at them with the look of a man who wasn't about to put up with anyone's shit.

It's clear some of them had gripes with it but they didn't say anything. He started with the brothers first having them enter into the bathroom with him one by one as he took out his measuring equipment. One by one they each stripped down until they were completely naked, and he got their exact measurements. Though the process was uncomfortable because this was not something they expected; he did keep his word and made it a quick process and there was no funny business.

When the couple entered together, they were told to strip together. He let the two of them decide who got measured first. Which Henikk offer himself up almost like a lamb to the slaughter only to find out that he was just getting measured. Seeing that this wasn't some creepy process like they had imagined, his wife grew a little bit braver.

After everyone had been measured, he walked back outside now that they were all dressed, and he had marked off all of his notes for each of them. He looked to his partner and said, "Pick one of them."

Runa looked over the group and decided to take the oldest of his brothers whose name was Willis, "This one."

"Well, Willis. When I come back from the blacksmith's you will have your new guard armor. What weapon would you prefer to be trained how to properly use," he informed and questioned the young man.

Willis was a bit nervous but he was excited to be the first one to expect new armor and he got to choose what weapon he wanted, "Well I've never really used a weapon, but I'm good with farm tools. I guess the closest thing to what I'm good with is a handaxe. I'm used to cutting lumber for the chimney."

"Very well I'll make you two handaxes to go with your armor," replied Constantine before he turned his attention to Runa, "Teach them hand-to-hand combat while I'm gone in the training yard outside. Make sure to teach Juulla too we don't want her to only focus on getting stronger with her magic after all."

"Will do," she responded with a smile.

Constantine gave a nod and started making his way out the door but right before he opened the door he looked back to her and gave one final instruction, "Oh, and Runa sweetie........ Put them through hell. I want them to learn how to become the best this side of Panillos."

She began to softly smile before it turned into a wicked devilish grin. She cracked her knuckles and then her neck as she was prepared to truly put them through the wringer. She responded, "Sure thing my dear."