“Alicia?” Jean said, moving the curtains out of the way as he stepped into the lobby. “What can I help you with?”

  He never noticed it before, but she was every part the warrior that Dougan was. Covered in light metal armor, her skin bore the scars of many battles. On her right cheek, a light red line from under her eye to just below her chin put a stark contrast against her light skin.

  “Like I said,” Alicia said, pointing toward the front door of the shop, “someone is looking for you.”

  An older man who seemed to be in his seventies approached the counter. He was wearing grey robes, but they were anything but plain. At each seam, there were gold inlays that seemed to make small characters or symbols going down the sides of each arm and the body of the robe. Around his neck, a silver necklace with a star and crescent moon shined against the darker grey of the robe.

  I don’t think I have ever seen that symbol before. Is he with the Magic Association?

  “Hello, young Jean. I hope you are doing well.” The man said, in a raspy voice. “My name is Vermillion, and I work at the Church of Light you see.” He pointed at his necklace.

  Jean took a moment to look the man over, he didn’t seem to be hostile or anything. He decided he might as well hear him out since his mom had spoken with them before.

  “Nice to meet you… Vermillion?” Jean said, holding out his hand.

  “That’s correct.” The old man smiled, shaking Jean’s hand in return. “Your mother came by and spoke with some of our clergy not long ago and we wanted to extend our hand to see how you are faring. It’s nice to see the young out learning the trades of the world.”

  “What can I say, I like making things.” Jean said, smiling. “So, what is this meeting about?”

  “I’ll leave you to it, then.” Alicia said, as she waved herself off.

  “Well, the truth is we wanted to give you a gift. Maybe in the future, you can come by and attend one of our sermons.” Vermillion said, reaching into a dimensional space.

  Octavio winced, only slightly, but Jean saw the shift on his face before he could correct himself.

  Vermillion held out his hand, and in his palm was a dark cube. The cube itself looked to be made of a dark glass, not unlike obsidian, but with smooth sides and small shapes lined at the corners of each side.

  Jean grabbed the cube and looked it over. “What is it?”

  “It’s a gift from the holy goddess Ashur. Please, let us know if there is anything we can do for you, young Jean.” Vermillion said, as he turned to leave.

  “So… that’s it then? You just wanted to give me this cube?” Jean asked, sliding the cube into his pocket.

  “I don’t want to take up any more of your time. Ashur’s blessing be with you.” He said, smiling as he also waved himself off.

  “I really wish she would stop doing work for those people.” Octavio said, shaking his head. “I always get the feeling they are up to no good.”

  “He seemed nice enough.” Jean said, still looking at the doorway where the man left.

  Something did seem off, though. Jean was very young, but his mind wasn’t so underdeveloped that he couldn’t sense when someone wasn’t being genuine. He wore the same smile that his mother did, and now he knew a fake smile.

  “There’s no reason to stop working,” Jean said, walking back into the workshop, “I want to try making another wand.”

  Octavio followed behind him, chuckling at how this young boy met with a high ranking church official and didn’t seem to care at all. “You are a weird one, you know that.”

  Jean flashed him an impish grin, then picked up the wand he had just made. Rolling it over in his hands, he noticed that he didn’t have any runes or gems.

  I wonder, can I make this even better?

  “Hey, old man… Do you think I could try putting a stone in this or adding runes?” Jean said without looking up.

  Octavio scratched his chin thoughtfully, “You can try, but that part isn’t easy. There are only so many runes that work, and some even negate the entire process.”

  “Negate the process?” Jean asked, looking up at Octavio.

  “Here, look at this parchment.” He said, pulling a scroll out from under the altar.

  The parchment had what appeared to be hundreds of different runes painted in columns running the length of the scroll.

  “These runes are from an ancient script, one where the language itself is said to house the magic of this world.” He ran his finger down the scroll. “Try this one. It adds water spell buff to the wand. You are able to cast ice spells, right? If you do this right, then you can expect to have a higher output of magic when using the wand.”

  Jean went to work, slowly carving the intricate symbol onto the handle of the wand. “Wait, does the location matter?” He asked.

  “No, anywhere on the wand will do. What matters is that you carve this exact symbol into the wand.”

  After a few minutes, Jean had carved what appeared to be that exact symbol.

  “Now, try out Ice Lance. Point it toward the corner there and give it a go.” Octavio said, walking behind Jean.

  He held the wand up, pointing it at the corner. “Ice Lance.”

  A vacuum of power, however not as much as the altar did before when he had imbued the wand with his mana, pulled into the wand. A much larger block of ice conjured, then flashed forward and exploded on the stone wall.

  “See? Can you tell the difference?” Octavaio said, grinning.

  “I definitely can, that one was much bigger.” Jean said, looking back at the wand.

  It felt like it pulled the power out of me and forced it into the spell. Almost like a guaranteed increase in spell power, won’t it take much more magic like this?

  “Will this not deplete my mana much faster?” Jean asked.

  “So you even noticed that? That’s impressive. As you get better at crafting wands and are able to increase their strength, you will notice that the wands will use ambient magic to supplement your own. Eventually, you will use even less mana that you normally would for a spell. Now, try this one.” He said, pointed at another symbol.

  Jean carved the new symbol onto the wand, and once again pointed it at the corner of the workshop.

  “Ice Lance.”

  “...Ice Lance…”

  “What is happening?” Jean asked, as no spell was conjured.

  “Remember how I said some symbols can negate the entire process? This symbol is for fire spells. You can’t use opposing symbols on the wands, because it will end up making the wand unusable.” Octavio said, holding his finger up as though he were a professor. “You have to learn which runes can be used with each other to really get good at this craft.”

  “What about the stones?” Jean asked, looking at the jewelry kit near the altar.

  “Those are a little different. The stones themselves are just that, stones. Rocks, gems… however, we cut them and place them in the wand to hold magic power. As you imbue them, you can steer how you want the stone to react to magic. That is where wind, water, earth, fire, light, and dark magic stones come from.”

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  “Can you make the stone hold two types?” Jean asked.

  “In all my years, I have never once heard of that being possible. So, I would say no. I have met some amazing craftsmen in my time, you should know!”

  The rest of the day was spent with Jean learning a few other runes and testing out his carving skills on more Grottwood branches.

  “Go ahead and take that scroll with you, like I told you I don’t really make wands anymore. You can study it, and see what you can do for yourself.” Octavio said, pushing the scroll into his hand.

  “I appreciate it, old man.” Jean said, smiling.

  “Don’t forget your black cube thing that Vermillion had brought. I’d rather not have religious artifacts in my shop.”

  “I got it.” Jean said, waving goodbye as he walked away from the thoroughfare.

  I can’t really go back home. So I guess I’ll just head back out to the forest again today. Maybe I can learn a little more about these runes.

  Back at the hollow tree he slept at the night before, Jean leaned back against the moist wood and moss, unrolling the scroll.

  “Inspect.”

  [Inspect]

  Scroll of Runes

  Rarity: Rare

  An incomplete list of magical runes. Handed down by someone who is a true friend.

  That’s a weird description…

  Jean slid his finger over the rune he had placed for water magic.

  “Inspect.”

  [Inspect]

  Rune of Water

  Strength: Moderate

  Basic rune of water. This rune strengthens the caster’s ability to cast water spells. This also causes fire spells to become weaker. The amount varies, all materials under Rank 3 cause a 100% decrease in fire spell power.

  A 100% decrease? I wonder what is considered higher rank materials…

  “Inspect.”

  [Inspect]

  Rune of Fire

  Strength: Moderate

  Basic rune of fire. This rune strengthens the caster’s ability to cast fire spells. This also causes water spells to become weaker. The amount varies, all materials under Rank 3 cause a 100% decrease in water spell power.

  So it doesn't actually negate the spell, it just makes it so weak that it essentially can’t cast. That’s not exactly what Octavio said, but he also said you can’t put conflicting elements on the same wand. I guess I could see why.

  Jean looked over the scroll more, until he came to one he didn’t imagine would be there.

  “Inspect.”

  [Inspect]

  Rune of Submission

  Strength: High

  Rune of submission. This rune marks an entity as the caster’s familiar. The caster must be the one to summon the familiar, and the familiar can not be of the same species.

  That’s… unnerving I guess. Maybe that would be the best route to take with this little guy.

  He looked back over at the black cube sitting next to him.

  [Inspect]

  Pandora’s Box

  Rarity: Divine

  Used to seal any demon. No restriction on rank, strength, magic level, or size. Upon using this item, the demon is released.

  The Rune of Submission… I might as well. Just to be safe.

  The Rune of Submission was very intricate, but he slowly scratched the shape onto the box.

  “There… what?”

  The scratching faded away, as though the item repaired itself.

  “If it’s a magic item, then I might need to do this with mana?” Jean postulated, grabbing his newly made Grottwood wand.

  He poured magic into the wand, and drew lines of light in the shape of the rune. After he had finished, the rune appeared to catch flame, integrating itself on the face of the box. This time, it didn’t fade away.

  “There we go!” Jean said, standing triumphantly. “Now… how do I use this?”

  “Use! Open! Work!” Jean chanted, waving his hand over the box. Nothing seemed to be happening. He grabbed his wand, and gently knocked on the box.

  Another vacuum of power seemed to pull magic from Jean, this time it was more like a torrent. Within moments, his body went cold, and he passed out.

  Jean slowly opened his eyes, the grogginess of the power drain causing him to feel immediate motion sickness. He cupped his hand over his mouth, holding back the urge to vomit.

  “Are you the one who released me?” A male’s voice chimed. The sound itself carried magical energy, as though just the act of talking was a spell. “I would assume that is the case. Your hand has the mark of the master.”

  Jean tried to sit up, fighting his dizziness. All he could see was an outline, although the outline was moving. Unable to actually make out any details, he hunched over trying to collect himself.

  “You seem to have depleted your magic reserves. It would seem it is quite paltry if you were only barely able to open this black prison. I assume it is because you are just a mere boy, though. To be expected I guess.” The voice said.

  “Look, I can’t–” He had to stop himself from vomiting once more. “I can’t even see you right now. I take it you are a demon, then?”

  “That is quite right.” The voice said.

  “Okay, so what now?” Jean asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean… what are you going to do now.” Jean said, pushing himself back up.

  “I’m not quite sure. The last thing I remember is the king was killed, and I was trapped by the golden haired mage that assisted the hero.”

  I’m going to be sick… is this mana starvation?

  “What is your name?” The voice said, even through the calmness Jean could feel his power radiating from him.

  “Jean. You?”

  “I don’t have one anymore. The king had given me a name, but now that he is gone that name no longer holds any power.” The voice said. “Give me one, if you please.”

  “Why do you need a name?” Jean asked.

  “To be honest, I do not actually require one. I would just like to have one, if my new master sees it fit to bestow one upon me.”

  He’s polite for a demon, at least.

  “What was your name before?” Jean asked.

  “That does not matter, the name has to be given of the master’s own volition. Otherwise, it would serve no purpose.”

  “Well, I can’t rightly give you a name without seeing you, can I? Should I just call you Mr. Polite Demon?”

  “Please, don’t.” The voice said, in the same monotonous calm voice he had been using the entire time.

  Jean tilted his head back, and fell back into a sleep.

  Waking up, Jean felt that his sickness had mostly gone away. The conversation with the entity from the cube felt more like a lucid dream than reality.

  “Lord Jean. If you wouldn’t mind us continuing our conversation from earlier.”

  The voice grabbing Gene’s attention, he snapped his head to the side. What he saw wasn’t exactly what he had in mind when he thought of a demon. Sitting crosslegged inside the hollow tree was an older man wearing a monocle. He had short, silver hair and a goatee. His clothing looked as though someone bought the best suit on the market, if it wasn’t something from old times. His coat had ribbons and decorative cloth around the neck and wrists. His pants were a matching black, but had the same red color as the ribbon used in the stitching.

  “Oh. So that was real, then?” Jean said, staring at the demon. “You don’t really look like something I would call a demon…”

  “You are quite small for a human, as well. So perhaps we are both taken aback.” The demon said, standing and dusting his pants off.

  “Well, you look like a clown’s butler.” Jean said, sitting forward.

  “The… The gall of you!” The demon said, shock crossing his face. “I’m a proud demon, one of the most–”

  “Stop yelling, please.” Jean said, grabbing his head. “What do you want?”

  “A name, good sir.” He said, regaining his composure.

  Jean crawled out from the log and stood, stretching his legs. “A name, huh?” He took a moment, but nothing good was coming to mind. “What about… Gerhardt?”

  The demon rubbed his chin. “Gerhardt, you say? I don’t dislike it.”

  “Sorry, that’s all I can come up with.” Jean said, chuckling. “I am sure you would like something else but that’s all I can think of right now.”

  “That name suits me well. Now, what should we do first?” Gerhardt asked.

  “What do we do first?” Jean asked. “What are you talking about? I have today off, so I guess I’ll work on my carving. I don’t have to go back to work for a few days.”

  “Is this your home?” He asked, putting his hand on the log.

  “No… I don’t know.” Jean said, turning away from Gerhardt. The feelings of what he overheard wasn’t fresh on his mind until the demon mentioned home. “I don’t have anywhere to go right now.”

  Gerhardt stood, staring at Jean blankly while tapping his finger against his cheek. “In that case,” He said, as the look of a revelation crossed his face, “I know just the place you should visit.”

  “Which is?”

  “It’s not far from here. Do you mind if I show you the way? Because the current state of affairs just won’t do.” Gerhardt said, shrugging.

  “You never answered my question.” Jean said, standing upright. “But whatever. How far is it?”

  “At a brisk walk, we can expect to arrive in five hours.”

  “Then let’s go.” Jean said, picking up his equipment. “I can go without work for a few days.”