Yesterday was a breakthrough for Jeze. During her entire time at the school, she only performed one minor focus of magic at a time. The old Crones ruthlessly drilled her with writing Runes and maintaining her Will. Magic demanded perfection. The Runes, a complex set of patterns, needed to be crafted perfectly and without flaws, and they could be written, painted, etched, and formed through precise body movements.


    "The amount of Runes needed can be enormous even for the simplest of focuses. That is why it is important to have a tool etched with a basic pattern, and all you need is to complete the final piece with your movements and focused Will to release the energy," Number One instructed.


    The two were in a classroom on the campus. Jeze was the only student so far who was able to utilize more than one focus at a time. The young caster used her ring and completed the necessary glyphs in the air to shape and control the Earth aspect. With extreme effort in Will, she made a pile of dirt form into a fist-sized rock and flung it across the room. Jeze wobbled and almost fell over from the exertion.


    "Careful, girl. Controlling unsummoned objects demands more," Number One cautioned.


    Jeze recovered and asked, "What happens if I use too much Will?"


    Number One scowled, "You just experienced that! Will is your energy that stems from your soul and your mind. Without it, you will faint or die!"


    Jeze nodded, "Is it possible to hurt myself if I go too far?"


    "Of course you can! Did you not hear me say, die? I have other students that need me, and I have no time for silly questions. You continue to study on your own," Number One snapped and departed the room.


    Jeze sat at a desk and casually flipped through a tome on the Earth aspect, the one her brother had specialized in. It was pages filled with Runes and theories, and Jeze searched for basic focuses that would link with what she had etched upon her onyx ring. She had an idea and completed a glyph in the air. Her ring chimed as she summoned Ziplocke with a grin. She loved to annoy the tiny Goblin.


    "Yes, master," Ziplocke squeaked next to Jeze''s ear.


    The young caster nearly jumped out of her seat to the Goblin''s mischievous delight. Jeze turned and saw that Ziplocke was shrouded in shadows that dripped off him like water to fade away like mist.


    "Is that the Darkness aspect?" She asked.


    Ziplocke crossed his arms and tapped his tiny clawed foot on the floor. Jeze sighed and withdrew two spoonfuls of paste, which the Goblin licked up enthusiastically.


    "Aww, that is the stuff. Yes, that was the Darkness aspect," Ziplocke said.


    Jeze pulled out a jar of paste and prepared a spoon. "Can I just give you a jar for the day? Instead of giving you a spoonful for every question I ask?"


    "Are you offering that? That is something I might agree to," Ziplocke replied.


    "Yes," Jeze said and handed the jar.


    The Goblin made loud slurping sounds as he licked it up.


    "Show me the Darkness focus you used," Jeze said.


    Ziplocke crossed his arms and tapped his foot.


    "I gave you the jar; you agreed to that!" She exclaimed.


    "I said I might agree," the Goblin retorted.


    Jeze narrowed her eyes and gave a tiny spoonful. She was running out of jars. Ziplocke cackled with glee. Bargaining with the Goblin was going to be exhausting, Jeze thought to herself.


    But, the Goblin did show Jeze a set of Runes that were simple to engrave and gesture. Jeze used her Earth aspect to change the color of one of the rings. It exhausted her, and she engraved the Runes Ziplocke had instructed her on. It took only a dozen tries, and Jeze used the last of the rings the Crones provided. In the end, she was able to cast two Darkness foci that summoned shadows and molded them around her to make her less visible.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "You are too slow! You need to mesh the two foci seemingly, like this," Ziplocke said.


    The Goblin demonstrated the glyphs in the air, and in one fluid motion, the Goblin summoned and shaped the shadows. Jeze nodded and kept practicing. The Old Crones were correct; shaping and controlling summoned aspects was much easier than pulling from existing sources.


    "Yes, very good! You are a fast learner. You see, when you summon an aspect, you are pulling from its realm. In this case, you are pulling from the realm of Darkness or from my home, the Abyassl plane. Both are rich with the Darkness aspect," Ziplocke explained eagerly.


    Jeze arched an eyebrow. The Goblin was not demanding constant paste for each instruction. In fact, he seemed eager to teach her. She tapped her chin and decided it best to reward him. She handed him a full jar of paste. The Goblin''s red eyes went wide.


    "Thank you," Jeze said.


    The Goblin snickered and took the jar immediately. "Fool," he said but had a small smile.


    Jeze was thinking about Will and asked, "Can I strengthen my Will like the way I can strengthen my body?"


    Ziplocke paused, licking the jar, and asked, "How do you mean?"


    "If I push my body hard, I will become stronger. If I focus on controlling real shadows and not summoned shadows, I can strain myself. Would that make my Will stronger?" Jeze asked.


    The Goblin snickered. "It would…"


    Jeze nodded and missed the implication. She tapped her ring and attempted to shape an actual shadow. She barely nudged it, but she felt an immense pressure on her head as if a mountain fell on it. Jeze blacked out, and Ziplocke cackled with glee.


    "Stupid girl," Number One said when she found Jeze lying unconscious on the floor.


    Later


    Jeze woke up in her bed. Ziplocke was nowhere to be found, and her room was dark. It was nighttime, and she was unconscious for several hours. Note to self: do not attempt to shape shadows, she reflected. Also, she will strangle that Goblin.


    Next to her bed was a nightstand with a stick engraved with Fire aspect runes. The very same ones she instructed Raynor the Old Hunter to use. Using the stick, she completed the final glyph, lit her candle, and got out of bed. She felt dizzy but well-rested. Rested enough to summon Ziplocke in order to kick him. She tapped the onyx ring and completed the glyphs. She heard a chime coming from the wall behind her bed.


    Jeze tilted her head. Was the Goblin hiding? She moved the bed and studied the shadowy corner, half expecting the Goblin to leap out at any moment.


    "What are you looking at?" Ziplocke asked from behind her.


    Jeze leaped with a yelp of fright. This amused the Goblin tremendously. Confused, Jeze completed the glyph again, and this time, there were two chimes in the room. One from Ziplocke''s ring, and the other from the wall.


    Ziplocke stopped laughing and said, "That is strange."


    The Goblin crept over to the wall and sniffed. "Try it again," he ordered.


    Jeze completed the glyph again, and the two chimes echoed in the small room.


    "This one!" Ziplocke exclaimed and tapped a stone.


    The two tried to remove it, but it was stuck in place.


    "You must control it," the Goblin said.


    Jeze sighed. Moving a non-summoned rock was going to be difficult. Not as much as a Shadow, she will never do that again, but difficult nevertheless, and she was still recovering from her blacking out earlier. Gritting her teeth, she Shaped the block of stone to shrink and then Controlled it to move out. She gasped in exhaustion and decided how she would train her Will. It will be on the Earth aspect.


    "Ooh, a book!" Ziplocke cried and pointed.


    Behind the stone was a small alcove where a leather-bound book rested with a note on top. Jeze recognized it immediately as her brother''s journal. Gingerly, she retrieved it and unfolded the note. Tears welled up in her eyes. The emotion was so strong on her face that even Ziplocke was subdued. The Goblin, in a surprise show of affection, rubbed Jeze''s shoulder. She nodded at Ziplocke and read the note.


    Dear Jeze,


    If you are reading this, then I am so proud of you! You have made it to the school and mastered the Linking Spell! But also, that means I have failed the Spire. I am sorry if my death caused you grief.


    I am leaving you my journal. You were always smarter than me, but I hope you will find the tricks I discovered and written on these pages useful. Knowing you, you probably won''t specialize in any aspect, and I primarily focused on Earth. But I did study different focuses and enchantments using a variety of aspects. You are all about utility over flashy power!


    Jeze, I know if you are reading this that you are set to enter the Wandering Spire. I know that I probably couldn''t stop you if I were alive and probably have even less chance in death. So I won''t try to dissuade you. Please keep my journal as it has my research and notes. I will give you this caution. I have it on good authority that the promise of Immortality at the top of the Spire is a lie. It is a myth to attract powerful adventurers, and as I write this, I do not know why. But I will find out. Err, if you are reading this and we are not talking in person, then I tried to find out and failed. Well, let''s hope we are reading this together. If we are not. Be careful. Don''t trust the Emperor nor his agents. They are hiding something, and do not, I repeat, do not go through the final door of the tower.


    With Love,


    Daverius