《Jimoel the Great and Powerful》


 1: The Great Deer Hunt

    Jimoel spotted a large buck and a couple of does on the other side of the clearing. They were too far to shoot with complete certainty, but close enough that he could reasonably chance it. Quietly, Jimoel rose to his knees from his previous crawling position.


    Slowly as he could, he pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it. Doing his best to keep the bow from creaking, he pulled until he could no more. He aimed at the buck and loosed his arrow.


    It flew through the air, slammed into the side of the deer. In an instant after the arrow hit, all the deer sprinted off in different directions.


    Jimoel stood up and walked to the other side of the clearing. He gathered his arrow, which had flown clean through, and searched for the trail of blood. It didn''t take long to find the marks, but it was far from easy to follow. "Damn, I missed the heart," he mumbled to himself as he started his work of finding his buck.


    It was now close to midday, and his deer had still not been found, but its trail was getting thicker. It had slowed down and bled more, a good sign. However, the path of blood led into a cave, which was not good at all. Sighing, Jimoel grabbed a few large sticks and wrapped the top half of them with wax coated cloth. He lit one of his new torches and walked into the cave.


    Following the blood was now much harder. The floor reflected the light of his torch all over the walls. He slowly made his way down the oddly linear cave doing his best to avoid the puddles. At least I won''t get lost he thought to himself.


    Jimoel almost lost the trail as it veered off to the side of the cave, towards the wall. Confused, but still intent on finding the buck, he followed. He was surprised by a small opening in the cave wall only just big enough for the deer to go through without squeezing.


    The opening led to a perfectly straight, oddly dry and dusty hallway. Halfway down the hall lay his dead quarry. At the other end of this strange hallway, was a room with a pedestal and a glowing stone atop it.


    While batting down cobwebs with his bow, he approached the room. As he did, his confusion and curiosity grew. He recognized the stone glowing in the middle of the room.


    "Why is there a reading stone here? Aren¡¯t those for the rich merchants and mages?" he mumbled to himself.


    Could there be someone here setting up a trap? he thought, quickly snuffing his torch before he could be spotted. Getting close to the wall and walking on his toes, he did his best to sneak.


    After approaching to the entrance, he looked into the room, and what was there stunned him even more than the reading stone.


    "Books!" he gasped out. Quickly, he covered his mouth and glanced around, luckily, he was alone.


    This place must be abandoned he thought. Standing up and quickly skimming the room for something dangerous once again, he cautiously neared the pedestal holding the stone.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    He wasn''t going to pass up a chance to learn to read and write. That kind of skill could propel a family from the bottom of society to the wealthier end on its own. Looking around one last time, he moved to the other side of the pedestal, making sure he could see the entrance to the room. Slowly, he brought his hand to the glowing stone.


    Immediately, as he touched it, pain shot through his hand as though it was being bored through, but he was unable to drop the stone from his grip. Grunting and grinding his teeth, he tried his best to endure the pain. As the pain increased in intensity, his knees collapsed to his knees. Gasping for air as he the shadows on the edges of his vision started creeping in. His pain increased as he slipped into unconsciousness.


    A few minutes later, as the pain subsided, he awoke and stood up from the fetal position he had found himself in and dusted himself off. He had heard that reading stones hurt but he wasn¡¯t expecting that. He glanced at the now dim stone before striking his torch to life once again.


    Noticing the walls lined with sconces, he filled them with his spare torches. Excited to test out his new skill, he set about scanning the bookshelves inlaid in the walls of the circular room.


    Starting with the bookshelf closest to the entrance, he wiped off the dust from the spines of a few of them. "Magic books!" he exclaimed as he read the titles. He looked for some beginner magic books, finding four close by, he put them in the pockets lining the inside of his jacket.


    The books he took were "Beginner Dark Magics: Transmutation", "Beginner Dark Magics: Imps", "Beginner Light Magics: Truth Detection", and "Beginner Neutral Magics: Stonemoulding".


    After gathering the books and extinguishing the torches, getting ready to leave, he almost forgot about his original prize; enough food for a week and antlers and hides to sell to the local stores.


    ---


    The sun was nearing the horizon as he approached his home, he had already butchered the deer outside the cave so all he had with him was a rough sack made out of the deer''s hide, filled with meat, and antlers, along with the gear he left with originally.


    As he walked through the door, he noticed his father was already back and seemingly empty handed, judging by the disappointed look on his face.


    "I gave you a head start and you still couldn''t get anything?" he said while winking to his little sister Loa who giggled at their father¡¯s expense.


    "At least it doesn''t take me all day to track and butcher a deer, when I do get one I''m done in 2 hours!" his father replied playfully glaring at his two children.


    Laughing while walking to his room to remove his coat and hide the dark magic books, Jimoel was excited to let his family know what he found. A few moments later, he walked out of his room with a book behind his back.


    "Well, I''ve got an excuse for taking so long and it''s one we can all get excited about. I found something while tracking my deer," he announced while taking one of the books from behind his back, the book on neutral magic, and the dimly glowing, spent reading stone.


    Smiling at the looks on their faces, he started to explain.


    "I missed the heart of my buck, so it ran quite far. It ran right into some cave out in the woods. The cave was amazing! It had this reading stone that wasn''t used, and it had bookshelves full of books in an abandoned room! I looked around and I found two beginner magic books, this is a neutral magic book and the other is a light magic book," he stated before staying silent to let them both take in what he had just said. After a few minutes of thinking, someone finally spoke.


    "You just found that in one of those caves in the woods? How is that possible? No, I guess that''s not important now. Have you looked inside any of the books? Which do you plan on learning first? What are the spells?" his father rapidly asked.


    "What kinds of other books did you find in there? Were there stories or recipes? Oh! What affinity do you have?" sister fired off right after their father.


    "One question at a time! I can''t think if you ask questions too fast. You first father," Jimoel said while still smiling, excited at the opportunity to learn all the magic he could from that place.

 2: The Great Attempt

    ¡°What was your last question?¡± Jimoel asked, motioning towards his sister.


    ¡°What is your affinity?¡± Loa asked again.


    ¡°What exactly is an affinity Loa?¡± Brows furrowed and head tilted slightly.


    Before Loa could answer, their father responded, ¡°an affinity is just which type of magic you can learn easiest and each person only has one affinity. As for the strength of it, you¡¯d have to get that tested at the mage guilds.¡±


    With a finger to her chin and her head to the side, Loa asked, ¡°What if his affinity is dark magic? I heard in town that dark magic is evil!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, not all dark magics are evil. Cooking magic isn¡¯t evil, for example, and is used all the time in the army. From what I hear, normal cooks don¡¯t come cheap,¡± their father said, calming his daughter down.


    Sheepishly, Jimoel asked, ¡°What about transmutation? I found a beginner book of that too.¡±


    ¡°And you were hiding that from me because you thought all dark magic was evil?¡± his father asked, shaking his head slowly with his mouth in a half frown. ¡°Well the good news is that isn¡¯t evil either, But if you ever learn it past the beginner rank, don¡¯t ever tell anyone. People have been known to enslave people with transmutation intermediate rank to make them gold,¡± he added quite sternly.


    Mildly alarmed, Jimoel nodded. Remember to never let anyone know what I¡¯ve found he thought, further cementing the idea in his mind.


    ¡°Enough of this heavy talk, let¡¯s have dinner. Would you guys like some grilled backstrap with some lemon grass and wild peppers?¡± his sister asked.


    Smiling, both Jimoel and their father nodded.


    ---


    Leaving his room well after midnight, Jimoel crept on his toes wearing his thickest jacket and holding a candle. Careful not to make a sound so as not to disturb his sleeping family, he left through the front door.


    Sitting on the ground around the side of their house, he pulled out all four books and placed them on the ground around him. Picking up the neutral magic book first, he flipped it open and began reading.


    Several pages and minutes of reading later, he understood that he had no way to comprehend what any of the instructions meant.


    He knew what each word meant separately but when together their meaning slid past him. Sighing slightly, he set the book aside and picked up the light magic book on Truth Detection and started reading.


    ¡°Feel the mana flow through your ears and focus your thoughts on what you are about to hear. What does that even mean?¡± He grumbled with creases deepening on his forehead.


    So again the same thing, words that alone make sense yet together mean nothing to me... He thought before closing the book and setting it to the side.


    He reached over to the Transmutation spellbook, he held the book between his hands, not wanting to open it in case he is some freak with no affinities.


    After taking some deep breaths and watching the mist that came from his mouth, he closed his eyes while he slowly revealed the spellbook¡¯s contents and placed it on his lap. With another deep breath, he opened his eyes and started reading.


    Jimoel suddenly broke into a smile, he threw his arms into the air and quietly cheered.


    I UNDERSTAND! He screamed in his mind. After breathing deeply and closing his eyes, it took him some effort to finally calm down.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    About half a minute later, he was finally able to look back at the book and focus.


    The book itself was much thinner than it seemed from the outside. As it turns out, a simple description of the ritual and where to channel one¡¯s mana takes very little space.


    Doing his best to memorize the entire book so as not to make a mistake, he read the entire book repeatedly for nearly an hour.


    ¡°I want to try it,¡± he mumbled as he flipped the page back to the page listing the materials. He crept silently into the house. He grabbed a small iron knife, one of the antlers from his buck and snuck back outside.


    Setting up the ritual took very little time. He grinned as he placed a small stone in the center of his new circle. Laying his hands on either side of his new circle, he ran his mana along the paths traced in the dirt.


    A dim flash of light appeared from the middle of the circle as the stone vanished. ¡°That¡¯s not supposed to happen¡± Jimoel mumbled, frowning. Picking up the book once again, he reread the preparation.


    Oh, that¡¯s what I did wrong! He put the book back down and prepared once again. Fortunately his hands were numb from the cold so cutting his finger with the knife, the first step, didn¡¯t hurt.


    He placed a drop of blood in three places. One drop was placed a few feet in front of him, the other two on either side of his knees, forming an equilateral triangle from the space between the dots.


    Grabbing the antler, he drew a line in the dirt from each point to where its opposite edge would be on the triangle. Lastly, he grabbed the knife and made a circle that touched each of the points.


    Placing another stone in circle, Jimoel prepared to run mana through his circle once again.


    As soon as his mana made one rotation through the circle, the stone exploded, deafening him and knocking him on his back.


    Dazed, he laid there until father picked him up to see if he was injured. Slowly refocusing his mind, he noticed his father¡¯s mouth moving as tho speaking to him. Ears still ringing, he was unable to hear what was being asked.


    ¡°If you are asking what happened, I tried to do transmutation and it exploded,¡± he said, yelling unintentionally. ¡°I can¡¯t hear what you¡¯re saying, it was too loud, but otherwise, I don¡¯t hurt anywhere so I think I¡¯m fine¡±


    Sighing in what seemed to be relief, his father nodded. His sister came out of her room and helped their father carry Jimoel to his bed.


    Once warmed up and refocused, he realized the books were still outside. Quietly dashing outside he grabbed the books, the candle, the knife, and the antler and brought them all back inside.


    ---


    Waking up around midday, Jimoel found himself completely recovered from the bang of that night¡¯s failure. Putting on his lighter jacket, he glanced out the window to see his sister in front of a steaming pot.


    Sitting on his bed, he grabbed the book on Transmutation. Now that I¡¯m not so tired, maybe I can figure this out. Nodding to himself he opened the book and started reading once again.


    ¡°...use the bone to draw a line from each point to the opposite point on the circle¡­ OH!¡± he exclaimed, garnering an amused look from his sister.


    Grabbing the bone, the knife, and closing the book, he walked out to his sister.


    ¡°I know what I did wrong, and I can do it this time Loa!¡± he said confidently to his sister.


    Raising her eyebrows in surprise, ¡°did you actually get it?¡± she asked before lowering one of her brows and smirking, adding ¡°Or are you just gunna blow us both up?¡±.


    Sighing and shaking his head, yet still smiling ¡°no I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve got this,¡± he said, putting the open book in front of him and trying to ignore his sister¡¯s ribbing. He cut his finger and placed the three drops.


    ¡°That looks like it hurts, do you have to do that?¡± His sister asked with a worried expression.


    ¡°It¡¯s what the book says to do. Besides, it doesn¡¯t hurt that bad,¡± he said focusing on what he was doing.


    Taking the knife, he drew a circle that touched each of the three drops of blood. ¡°You have to draw the circle with whatever material you want to make,¡± he explained rather smugly while drawing. Setting down the knife, he grabbed the antler.


    ¡°This is where I messed up last night, but I¡¯m confident now,¡± he nodded as he spoke.


    Carefully drawing lines from each drop of blood to the opposite point on the circle, he finished the design. Looking up at Loa, he smiles and says ¡°Now all I need to do is¡­¡± stopping as he looked around for a stone.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back,¡± he said, standing up. Scrunching his reddening face, he ran off to the nearby stream for a stone trying to ignore his sister laughing at his unpreparedness.


    Coming back with a stone the size of his fist, he placed it in the middle of the ritual. Placing his hands on either side of the circle, he grew nervous. Why did I have to act so confident?


    After taking a deep breath, the smell of cooking stew and the cool air calming him slightly, he cycled his mana through the ritual circle. After the one full rotation, light flashed from the rock.

 3: The Great Summoning

    Throwing his arms in the air in triumph, ¡°IT WORKED!¡± yelled Jimoel at the top of his lungs.


    With wide eyes and a massive grin, Loa grabbed his hands and jumped in excitement. In the center of the circle was a lump of dull metal.


    Getting up with the help of his sister, Jimoel jumped around the circle with her. ¡°I¡¯m a mage!¡± he said excitedly, not quite yelling.


    The sound of a stomach growling was the only thing that stopped the revelry. Realizing how hungry he was, they stopped their dancing and grabbed a bowl of stew. Eating was difficult as neither could stop smiling.


    ---


    Several hours past midday, as the sun started to approach the horizon, their father came back carrying the meat and skin of a deer. Sitting beside an almost foot tall pile of pure iron chunks, Jimoel motioned for his father to come over.


    ¡°Whats all this?¡± His father asks, glancing at the large pile of metal.


    ¡°It¡¯s my success at casting transmutation,¡± Jimoel said with a massive grin, still quite proud of his accomplishment.


    Looking between the pile and his son, Jimoel¡¯s father¡¯s eyes slowly grew wide.


    With a half smile, ¡°You got the hang of that pretty fast, were there any more explosions?¡± his father asked.


    ¡°Nope! No explosions this time!¡± His sister said, beaming as she was returning from cleaning their bowls at the stream.


    ¡°No explosions, just turning rocks into iron¡± Jimoel added, quite self-satisfied.


    ¡°Hey, ya think there might be more spells in that cave?¡± Loa asked, jumping up and down.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea! There are a few more I can get. I¡¯ll be back in a bit,¡± Jimoel said before dashing inside to his room.


    Grabbing his heavier coat, a flint and nail, his bow, and a bag for extra books, he saw the book on imps under his bed. Prolly won¡¯t get a chance to learn this here, he thought, slipping the book in his jacket¡¯s pocket.


    Now back outside, he pocketed the knife he had been using.


    ¡°I¡¯m off, I¡¯ll prolly be back after dark,¡± he said to his father before running off into the woods.


    ---


    Narrowly avoiding catching his foot on a large root, Jimoel kept reading as he walked. He had nearly finished learning how to summon imps by the time he could see the cave.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Pockets crunching as small, coin-sized stones knocked together, he stood before the entrance. Pausing from his walking, he took a few moments to light his torch.


    Careful to avoid puddles or dripping water, he neared the man-made passageway.


    As he entered the hall, Jimoel checked for footprints in the dusty hall. Other than his own and the buck¡¯s from his last visit, there was nothing. Confirming one last time that this place was absolutely abandoned, he progressed towards the library.


    Holding his torch underneath each of the unlit torches hanging from the wall, the room slowly blazed into life. Smiling as he looked around his personal magic library, Jimoel started his search for more dark magic beginner spells.


    Grabbing the first six he came to, that was all his pack could fit, he found the books ¡°Magelight¡±, ¡°Summon undead rodent¡±, ¡°Conjure food¡±, ¡°Conjure water¡±, ¡°Summon lesser skeleton¡±, and ¡°Spirit summoning¡±. Placing them in his sack, he pulled out the ¡°Summon imp¡± spellbook as well as the stones that were filling his pockets.


    Placing the stones down in four circles on the floor, one big one, 3 smaller, equally sized ones inside the larger one filling up as much space as possible. One small circle was right in front of Jimoel while the other two were on either side of that one.


    Blowing away the dust from the inside of the ritual, he cut his finger with the knife. With his freshly cut finger, wrote the word for bind and the word for serve in blood inside the left and right circle respectively.


    Placing his hands in the gaps between the smaller circles and on either side of the circle in front of him, he cycled his mana around the other small circles of stones.


    After his mana finished the first cycle, Jimoel felt as though he had fallen asleep. After what felt like hours, he reawoke to find something strange. In the center of the empty circle, strange, ever-shifting characters of molten rock moved about.


    Focused on the characters, he didn¡¯t notice his breath was no longer misting in the previously cool cave. The longer he stared at the letters, the more he started to sweat. Slowly, one by one the characters started to solidify in their permanent shape.


    By the time the characters were finished forming, the room was dangerously hot. Finally able to take his focus away from the glowing symbols, Jimoel quickly took off his now soaked jacket before it made him pass out from the heat.


    Looking back towards the ritual, or rather the glowing characters, he grabbed the book from beside him. Flipping to the back of the book, he started reading aloud.


    ¡°Come forth and bind to me,¡± he said, managing to get that far before going into another bizarre trance-like state. ¡°Come forth and bind as my familiar, ¦£¦Í¦Á¦Â¦Î¦Ô¦×. Come and bind yourself. I shall grant you a body so that you may serve. Come ¦£¦Í¦Á¦Â¦Î¦Ô¦×!¡±


    Jimoel placed his hands on the words he wrote in his blood. Not even noticing the blistering of his hands from the new heat of the cave floor, he channeled mana from each word to the glowing symbols. Adding more and more mana, he cycled it around and around, from the words bind and serve to the molten name and back.


    Slowly, the mana started to move on its own. It started tracing the outer circle as Jimoel leaned back and out of the circle. As the energy spun, so too did space and time.


    Gradually coming out of his trance, Jimoel was stunned by the swirl of complete darkness being generated a foot above the ritual. Over time the vortex seemed to suck all of the light from the room as it expanded to the size of the cyclone of mana.


    When churning whirlpool of darkness touched the twisting mana, all at once it collapsed, leaving in its wake a 10 inch tall gangly green creature long claws and seemingly vestigial wings in the center of the large stone circle. After stretching for a moment and surveying the situation quickly, the small creature stared at Jimoel.


    ¡°You must be a newbie. Great. Well, whatever. I¡¯m Gnabxups, your new imp familiar¡± it said with an unusually deep voice, a contemptuous look, and an exaggerated bow.

 4: The Great Merchant

    Sitting in a daze, still sweating from the heat that had built up in the room, Jimoel tried to respond. Mouth hanging open, eyes wide, and brow creased, he finally managed a coherent thought. Oh no¡­ maybe I shouldn¡¯t have summoned this.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s too late to regret it now newbie. I¡¯m here and I¡¯m bound to ya¡¯ until you die,¡± the imp said.


    ¡°Too late to regret it? Wait¡­¡± can you read my mind?


    ¡°Of course I can read your damn mind, I¡¯m your familiar! Did you not read through all of that book you summoned me with?¡± it asked, the look on his face becoming even more foul than it was naturally.


    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t know you were goin¡¯ to become my familiar¡­¡± Jimoel said quietly and seeming to want to shrink. ¡°Did I just summon somethin¡¯ evil?¡± he mumbled to himself.


    ¡°I¡¯M NOT EVIL YOU SONOVA¡­ ok, since you are obviously either some over grown child or doing this on your own like a MORON, I will take it upon myself to teach you some things as I¡¯d rather not go back any time soon,¡± the green thing said. Jumping up to sit on the pedestal in the center of the room, he continued, looking slightly less angry and more annoyed.


    ¡°So us demons aren¡¯t evil. We are like you humans but we tend to have personalities that are extreme. The higher up the hierarchy you are, the more extreme your personality. That help for now? I¡¯ll explain the rest later but wow, I don¡¯t have it in me to teach an idiot everything about the damn world right after getting summoned,¡± he finished his speech.


    ¡°So¡­ you aren¡¯t evil. Got it. Well, uh, I can¡¯t go back home with an imp. Can I send you back¡­ Gabzip?¡± Jimoel asked, slowly regaining his confidence against the tiny green creature.


    ¡°Are you trying to be stupid or does it come natural? I just said I¡¯m stuck with you till you die. Oh, and I¡¯m a mind magic imp, meaning illusions, meaning invisibility.¡± he said, his expression worsening again. And my name is Gnabxups Jimoel heard directly in his mind.


    Well it¡¯s good you can talk to me without actually talkin¡¯, it will definitely make it easier for you to hide. Jimoel thought, starting to gather his stuff to leave.


    Yeah yeah, whatever. Damn I¡¯m hungry. Got anything to eat?


    Well, do you eat rottin¡¯ deer intestines? Cause that¡¯s all I¡¯ve got right now. Just outside the cave. Hearing the sounds of claws against stone, Jimoel glanced over to¡­ Can I call you Nab? Your name is a bit much. Seeing a weird gesture, the imp¡¯s middle finger up with his fist mostly closed, Jimoel responded, ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes,¡±


    ---


    By the time Jimoel had reached home, the sun had long since set. Glad that Nab seemed to exude enough heat to keep him warm, Jimoel returned without feeling the slightest stiffness. Seeing no light in the window he knew he was the only one awake still.


    Although he was exhausted, he wanted to practice a bit more magic before sleeping. Sticking the torch upright in the ground, Jimoel walked inside. Putting away his newly acquired books, he grabbed both the ¡°Summon Skeleton¡± and the ¡°Summon Rodent¡± books.


    Deciding to go to sleep instead of trying the spells out, he picked up both books and started walking inside. You really don¡¯t have a mentor do you? Of course this guy summons me as his first dimensional summon! Looking over to the nearly invisible green creature, Jimoel furrowed his brow.


    ¡°What do you mean my first summonin¡¯?¡± He whispered to Nab.


    With a palm to his face, the little imp started to explain. Did you not read any books other than the spell books? I saw your damn library, look around a bit more! Ugh, whatever. When you summon your first being from the space I come from, you form a familiar bond with them. Anything you summon from now on will just be a standard summon. Mumbling where he thought Jimoel couldn¡¯t hear, ¡°What did I ever do to you Fate? Why did you put me with this greenhorn?¡± he complained to seemingly no one in particular. Deciding to ignore the comment by his new familiar because he felt the truth of his words, he quietly snuck to his bed.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Shoulders sloped and eyes fluttering, Jimoel placed the new books on the floor next to his bed along with the knife. Laying his head against the bed he quickly fell asleep.


    ---


    Hearing a knock at his door, Jimoel woke with a start. ¡°You gunna hunt today?¡± he heard his father from the other side of his door. Glancing out his window, he saw the sky starting to brighten.


    In a bit of a panic, he quickly put on his hunting gear and grabbed his bow. Hey! I was sleepin on that! Nab screamed in his mind. ¡°Ah!¡± Jimoel briefly shouted before tripping and falling backwards. He had nearly forgotten the small green creature he had summoned the night before.


    You scared me, Jimoel thought, trying to get back up. ¡°You alright?¡± He heard from the other side of the door.


    ¡°Fine, just tripped,¡± Jimoel said, quickly putting on his jacket. Well you woke me up! And where the hell are we going this early? Nab asked, the scowl on the miniature demon¡¯s face could be heard in its voice even through the mental link.


    I¡¯m a hunter. I¡¯m goin¡¯ huntin¡¯. Walking out his bedroom door, Jimoel quickly marched his way to the rack where his bowstring hung.


    ¡°You get back that late last night?¡± His father asked him while they both strung their bows.


    ¡°Yeah, that cave is pretty deep in the woods,¡± he said, doing his best not to fall back asleep in the middle of what he was doing. And you summoned a demon. That was part of it. Sighing and shaking his head at the snark he couldn¡¯t ignore being send from his new partner.


    With a bit of a worried look, his father was the first to leave. ¡°Hope you get another one, that way you can have two to your name this month¡± he said, fortunately not so tired he couldn¡¯t poke at his father.


    Finally finished stringing his bow, he left for his own hunt.


    ---


    Too busy fighting to stay awake, Jimoel failed to notice any game. It was just at half between midday and duska and he was on his way back to his home. ¡°So why did you come with me exactly?¡± He asked, glancing at his shoulder where his green skinned ¡®friend¡¯ sat.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m your familiar,¡± Nab stated simply as his palm met his forehead with enough force to make an audible smack. ¡°I keep forgetting that you know, quite literally, nothing about origination,¡± he added before falling silent.


    With one eyebrow up and the other furrowed, ¡°And? Are you gunna explain why?¡± Jimoel asked.


    ¡°No,¡± was the only response he got from nab.


    Wait, did he just call it origination? ¡°Yes. I did just call it origination. Your world¡¯s names for magic schools are all stupid,¡± Nab responded to his thoughts.


    Why are the names stupid? He asked in his head. Not getting and response, he tried to figure it out as his house came into view.


    As Jimoel approached his home, he noticed his sister loading up sacks with the iron sones he had made. ¡°Hey, takin¡¯ those into town to sell?¡± he called out to his sister as he waved to her.


    ¡°Yah! Ervins is in town, so Im gunna sell this stuff to him¡± She said, excited to meet the traveling merchant.


    Having known their family for a long time, Ervins enjoyed bringing Loa presents from the capital. Once he finally got to her, she had already packed the iron. ¡°I think I should come with you. I wanna see if he will buy those extra magic books I can¡¯t learn. Lemme the rest of the packs,¡± he said, grabbing the sacks she couldn¡¯t carry.


    ---


    Reaching town, Jimoel saw the large thet the merchant and his crew always set up just outside the first building on the main road into town. It didn¡¯t take long to get from the woods that they lived in to the other side of the town. It only had 150 residents including themselves, so it was quite small.


    Upon reaching the tent, Ervins, who was directing placement of goods inside the tent, saw the siblings and smiled, beckoning them over. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s been awhile since I¡¯ve seen you two!¡± he said to them both. ¡°It looks like you guys have been busy for the past few months, are those sacks all hides and antlers?¡± Ervins asked, looking at the several sacks they were carrying.


    ¡°Nope! This is somethin¡¯ brother did!¡± Loa responded quickly. Handing Ervins her back, his eyes were wide at its weight how empty it seemed.


    When he opened it and grabbed one of the iron stones inside, it took him a moment to realize what it was.


    Staring at Jimoel wide eyed, ¡°Did you learn magic somehow? Did you steal from someone who came through?¡± he asked.


    Grinning, Jimoel responded quickly, ¡°No no! I found a bunch¡¯a books and a readin¡¯ stone in an abandoned cave,¡±


    Accidentally, Ervins let his jaw drop slightly. ¡°You found them in a cave?¡± he asked. Seeing the older one nod, his held his chin for a moment before seeming to brighten up. ¡°You obviously know dark magic, were there any other books in there that you couldn¡¯t learn?¡±


    Nodding once again, Jimoel replied, ¡°Sure was, wanna go over to ¡®em later? I could sell ¡®em to ya,¡±


    Excitedly, Ervins asked ¡°How many books were there? Wait, no, I¡¯ll find out when we get there,¡± Turning to his workers, he yelled, ¡°I¡¯m going somewhere, You should know what to do while I¡¯m gone,¡± Hearing a collective ¡®Sir¡¯ from his crew, he turned to Jimoe, ¡°let¡¯s go ahead, no time like the present,¡±