When Arthur and the others returned to the outpost Ethan called him over. The others left him be and split off to do their own things.

“What do you need me for?”

“I’ve got my book of spells and other magic information for you to memorize. This contains exclusively light and dark spells that I have either learned or had copied from other sources. With this, you may soon become a proper threat to the undead army.”

“Thank you,” Arthur said as he accepted the book handed to him.

“I organized the book in an order that I would recommend learning the spells in. They aren’t necessarily ordered by difficulty but by importance.”

Arthur flipped through the pages before returning to the first page. He read off the spells written there. “[Illuminate]. [Darken].”

“Don’t be disappointed by their simple names. These two spells are building blocks for the other spells and contain concepts from all the spells within their type.”

“Would you like me to attempt them now?” asked Arthur as he looked over the spell information more closely.

“Yes, that would be great. Neither spell is offensive in nature except maybe illuminate if you aren’t expecting it. [Illuminate] creates a floating light sphere that follows you during its active time. [Darken] does the opposite and creates a shroud of darkness around you that blocks all light from entering. It has some passive abilities as well that block others' sight and deadens sound in the area of the spell. So, which one do you want to try first?”

“I want to try the [Darken] spell and then I will try the [Illuminate] spell.”

“I’m going to cast some diagnostic spells to watch how the new runes work and then you can start casting the spells.”

Arthur waited for Ethan to cast the spells before he started. Ethan’s spells enveloped him and covered him in a film of energy. He felt that he could shatter it if he wanted to but that was unnecessary right now.

Arthur focused his mind on the first spell [Darken]. He looked back and forth between the spell written in the book and the mental picture in his mind. When he was sure it was perfect he tried casting the spell. As the spell left his core he felt it pass through the rest of his body. As the energy touched the new runes on his side before leaving his fingers he felt something different. The runes seemed to burn and itch as they were activated. The spell left his fingers with a sputter before dissipating.

“You can stop trying to use your magic now. I think I have found the problem.”

“What did the runes do to me? It felt almost painful and uncomfortable.”

“The runes are meant to your body not originally designed for darkness and light magic to use it. That uncomfortable feeling is from the elemental dust within the metal reacting poorly to the magic. I had hoped that this change would not affect you so greatly. Now that you know what it will feel like can you try it again and adjust?”

“I will see what I can do.”

Arthur focused on the spell and this time shut off some of his sensory information within his body. When Arthur cast the spell again he felt a more muted pain in his side again, but it was bearable. His mana usage spiked as he released the spell. It formed around him successfully. The darkness billowed out from him. He held it around him for about half a minute, but his mana reserves were draining rapidly.

“How did that feel this time. I noticed that you used up a lot of mana.”

“I had to shut off or dull most of my senses. The pain was acceptable this time, but I am not sure if I can effectively cast stronger spells. I would not be able to fight effectively either if I had to use those spells. For now, I would have to face the undead with my other spells only.”

“I agree. Maybe I could get you a wand that you can funnel pure magic into but there would be limits to the strength of spells used by it and you already have an artifact sword coming and I don’t want you using two pieces of equipment at the same time.”

“What are these artifact equipment pieces?”

“Ah, you haven’t seen any so I suppose you would have no reason to ask about them. Artifact equipment is simply rune inscribed weapons and items. You are technically an artifact item but a part of a more complex variety. Those given the name of artifact item are usually complex and are beyond regular runic tools because of the functions they possess.”

“So, one of these artifact wands could allow me to cast the spells properly?”

“Yes. I wish I could get one made for every human mage left on this continent but not all of them know the right spells and the other races have almost no affinity for the element.”

“And that is why I must step in.”

“Yes. You will be of great help when the strongest of the undead come. A creature like liches and the necromancers will know magic. They can only be effectively taken down by someone like you that can use light magic as a counter. I have sent out searches for any priests or paladins that were not in the cities as they fell, but they are far and few in between.”

Arthur thought for a moment before speaking again. “I will find a way to cast the attack spells needed to help you fight, but for now I think I have a stopgap solution for some of the other spells. I discovered this during the fight earlier and it should be helpful now.”

Arthur cast the spell once more. This time he used it like his force blast spell and cast it within the confinement of his core. Because only his outer metal body was filled with the elemental dust he felt no pain from the spell. It formed in his core and spread outward releasing the darkness into his body before leaking out through his joints. Soon the spell had fully formed around him to a size much larger than his previous two attempts.

“Wow. I can tell some of what you did, but how did you come up with this? It shouldn’t have been possible.”

I created the spell in my core and released it there and completely bypassed my body. Attack spells would not work of course, but the others would be great. I also found out that by bypassing my exterior body the power of spells I use are increased in power slightly. Isn’t that great?”

“How many times have you used this power so far?” asked Ethan bypassing the question.

“Uh. Only three times now. This time plus [Force Blast] and [Plant Growth] while I healed. Why? Is it possibly harmful? Did I do something wrong?”

Now it was Ethan’s turn to pause. “I don’t think so. I will have to discuss this with the others. I think you will be fine for now but use it sparingly. I don’t yet know what ramifications it may cause. Will you promise to be careful with it?”

“I will avoid using it. I can use other spells in the meantime for battle and I shouldn’t need to use it elsewhere. What do you want me to do about the spells in the spellbook? I don’t think I can cast all of them in my current state.”

“Do as much as you can with them between hunts with the others. Get used to casting them while passing through your body if you can. I will see if I can have the wiring within your body adjusted further because I don’t want to and can’t change your runes again right now.”

“Ok, I can work on that until tomorrow. Do you know where Zoe is? I wanted to talk to her and update her on some things.”

“She currently isn’t available. Zoe had to return to Zaria to work on some things. She may be back later, but I don’t know exactly when.” Arthur looked down at the ground. “If you would like to send her a message I could get it to her once she has arrived, but her trip will take five to six weeks.”

“I see.” Arthur paused looking dejected despite his blank face. “I will wait for her then.”

“If you need anything you can talk to me or one of your other instructors. You have done good work so far. Go rest. I need to meet with other people.”

Ethan left Arthur to be alone. Arthur stood around for a bit longer before returning to the cellar.

---

A few minutes later.

Ethan was situated in a tent with three others around him. To one side of him was Andre, Arthur’s spell instructor, to the other side of him sat two other researchers.

“Thank you everyone for coming on such short notice,” said Ethan.

“Of course. It is our job to deal with these matters surrounding the golem,” said the first researcher. “Now what is this about. We already heard about the fight from the other members of his team.”

“I have come to update you on the development of Arthur’s powers. He shared with me a power I wasn’t expecting. He took his knowledge of spells and cast a spell indirectly without the use of his shell of a body.”

The two researchers' faces turned to ones of shock. “How can this be? I thought that you would have put measures in place to stop this. What are you…”

“I have already talked with Arthur, and he should avoid using his more natural dungeon powers for now. This also means that other powers he has as a dungeon may be unlocked by him in the future. I also don’t know if he will never unlock those other powers. I need to do some more research while Missions Continue,” he emphasized. “We knew the risks going in and we will continue to be careful. I wish Zoe were here to help us.”

“Where is she exactly? I haven’t heard from here,” Asked Andre.

“She is busy right now working on other projects for the upcoming war. I can’t go into further detail about her situation. She may return at a later date, but for now, I am in charge of this operation, and we will follow the plan she laid out and organized.”

“Does Arthur know?” asked Andre.

“Yes, he does now know.”

“How did he take the news? How he reacts to sudden changes especially around those he trusts is of great importance to the integrity of this operation,” said the second researcher.

“That is hard to tell. I would like you to continue to watch him in his interactions at the outpost. I will also notify Kendra to update us on her end. I hope his bonding with his teammates during these operations will hold him over during this sudden change. It will be a marker for how he deals with the death of others around him. The sympathy for others, human connection, and so on.”

“We will watch it more carefully than if that is the case,” said the first researcher. “Is there anything else you need right now, or can we present our topics?”

“I do need to update some of Arthur’s materials. Sadly, the new shipment is already well on its way and will be here soon. I hope you can get it here as soon as possible as it relates to the functions of Arthur’s light and dark magic. I will need about ten feet of the mana wiring rope. I forget what you decided to call it.”

The second researcher groaned. “It is difficult to manufacture but we can get it to you in about two weeks from our capital.”

“Good. Thank you. I hope you can make the arrangements. I don’t have anything else on my end so I will turn it over to you,” said Ethan.

“I guess I will go first,” said Andre as he stood after Ethan returned to his seat. “I would like to go over what spells best suited to have Arthur learn and the order in which he should learn them. I have brought with me some examples from my spellbook here…”

The conversations continued for a while longer. Ethan and the others put in their thoughts about each of the matters discussed as the next hour went by.