After lingering for a short while, Jake left the room full of the Dark magic books behind, closing the door and alerting a nearby fairy that it was ready to be sealed again. The fairy waited for him to leave before repairing the locks, once more barring entry to the room.

The boy left the room empty-handed. He was unable to read Seraphym just yet. Pulling a book from that room, for now, would be useless and he doubted Yir would enjoy the idea of him leaving one of those books out in the open. The book he had in the study room would be enough for now. Judging by how it wasn’t locked away, Jake could assume it was something deemed safe to read or considered educational. It likely lacked any spells that would bring harm to others, or the spells within it were too weak to be a problem.

So, the boy returned to the study room with his next goal in mind. Learn his first language other than his own. While the Seraphym language had a very short list of available uses, they were a very powerful race. If Jake wanted to learn similarly powerful spells, Seraphym would be something he would inevitably come across in his spell books. Having a handle on it now would prove useful for such times. Not only that, but Jake was also aware of the potential for him to come face to face with Dark magic.

He didn’t want to think of it but part of him wondered if the Maedra had the capability of using Dark magic. Creatures that lived beneath the surface didn’t quite follow the normal rules of things. If this were the case, Jake didn’t want to be caught with no way to respond. He could fight them, kill them, and he was capable of reacting to what he had faced thus far. Preparing for the worst, however, would keep him from ending up dead.

If it came to be that learning Dark magic turned out to be a waste and the Maedra weren’t capable of using the element, then he would just consider the time spent an investment in the future. There would be a countless number of enemies he would have to face. One of them was bound to come at him with the magic at some point.

Before he began his studies, Jake called for a fairy and requested a barrier be put up on the door. He didn’t want to be disturbed aside from if Yir needed him. The fairy obliged his request and put up a thin barrier on the threshold. It could still be passed through and could be disabled very easily. However, it would deter the curious as others would know not to enter without permission from the occupant. Jake thanked the fairy and then assembled the tools he would need to learn.

He gathered the Seraphym books Seria had given him and sought out a book he could use to translate the text. He first found a standard dictionary, one that would translate the words from Seraphym to Common. Then, he requested the original copies of the books Seria had given him- the same books but written in Seraphym itself. The fairy he had found wasn’t certain of what to look for but after asking a few others, they were able to locate what Jake was looking for. He opened them all and then retrieved a few pieces of parchment. Armed with an ink feather pen, the boy began to study.

Hours ticked by in silence. Jake, focused and dedicated, quietly flipped through the pages as he developed his understanding of the language. He comfortably stacked the books, placing the Seraphym books around the translation book at the bottom nearest to him. He didn’t know exactly what it meant to learn a language so he first focused on developing his vocabulary with it. He used the translated books to teach himself what the words meant, developing his understanding of them from the very foundation. Then, he began to work on the other elements he would need; grammar, context clues, the structure of the sentences, the flow of the language, and the language’s rules.

As he grew more and more comfortable with the vocabulary, he quickly shifted to learning the grammar and structure rules of the language. After the first third portion of the ‘A Step towards Godhood’ book, Jake had established the grammar rules and the syntax that the majority of the language followed. The context was key in the Seraphym language and the rules changed depending on the subject of the sentence. It made things confusing at first, as pinning the subject wasn’t always easy or obvious. As Jake went along, he learned that the sentence structures tended to follow only a limited set of rules. It made picking everything apart much easier. Once he developed the rhythm of the language and picked up on more of the vocabulary, he just needed to fill the holes.

His translated book was failing him, however. While the book was providing him with the proper verbiage, Jake found it limited in helping him understand what he was reading. Not every word was a direct translation and required adjustments for the translated sentences to make sense, which Jake felt caused some information to be lost. The translator’s interpretation of what the original Seraphym author meant might not have been what was meant, and Jake began to scrutinize the text as he continued through. The benefit to this, though, was Jake’s continued development of his vocabulary. The more he doubted the translator, the more he forced himself to learn and find his answer to what the original writing meant.

By the end of the beginner book, Jake only needed to check on a few words. He began to use the dictionary rather than the Common language text, to disconnect himself from relying on the translator for the answer. He went so far as to push the Common language version off the table and out of reach. If he wanted it, he would have to get up out of his chair to fetch it- which required more effort than he was willing to spare. Thus, with no translated copy to save him, Jake did it on his own.

In doing so, Jake subconsciously made use of another gift from Ferynith.

His affinity for magic was one thing but not all magic was restricted to the Common Language. To become a true master spellcaster, one needed to learn multiple languages. Lady Ferynith recognized this requirement when she bestowed Jake with her gifts. Jake learned how to partially control four elements so far. While he was nowhere near the level of some very powerful mages, this was certainly a good start. With the language of the Seraphym being added to his toolkit, he was slowly dipping his feet deeper into the waters of Magic. The possibilities would be endless…

Just so long as he remained focused, of course.

After finishing the book, Jake closed it. He let out a heavy, tired sigh, and stared at the back of his right hand. The scar from where Chul’s leg had cut him was still fresh. The wound itself mainly had healed but the color would take time to fade. He never felt the pain from the injury, as he’d passed out shortly after receiving it, but it certainly hurt to look at. The thought that he could have done more, that he should have tried to fight sooner, crept into his mind. If only he had helped Chul more proactively then maybe, just maybe, his friend would still be alive. Jake would still be in that cavern meditating, or they would both be crawling out of the ravine and heading back to the village. If they were lucky, he might even be eating paia’s made by his Auntie.

But they weren’t lucky. No, they weren’t anything close to that. Instead of being warm by a small fire and sharing the adventure with his Auntie, Jake stared at the evidence of a fatal mistake. One that was sure to never, ever, stop haunting him. One day he might come to terms with his choices. For now, he could only do so much to keep the pain at bay.

“I’m sorry, Chul,” he whispered as he curled his fingers into a fist. The hand throbbed and ached. Even more, his heart hurt quite a bit. Yet his pain meant the world still ticked on. He was alive which meant there would be more adventures, more opportunities, and other painful moments ahead of him. There would also be an opportunity to settle the score.

The boy pushed the finished book out of the way and then turned his attention to the book on the civil war. While Yir had given him a very hands-on explanation of it, Jake wanted to test his current level of reading. He retrieved the dictionary from the floor and placed it nearby, as he knew he would be needing it again. At least, that’s what he thought. He was surprised to find the words coming to him rather quickly. He stumbled a few times on the first few pages but the boy found it becoming easier and easier to read the language.

The tale within the book was indeed the same as the one Yir had told. It wasn’t a word-for-word replica but the events, timeline, and result were all the same. Jake found there to be several details missing, though- the fact that the Overworld races revered the Myr. There were few details on the magic the Myr used and there were even fewer on the God’s Plane. It was almost as though the author learned their information second-hand, or even third-hand. Jake found this lack of accuracy surprising. Especially since the book was likely expected to be the main source due to it being written in Seraphym.

By the end of the book, Jake’s reliance on the dictionary was negligible. He only looked up a handful of words and his grasp of the grammar and sentence structure was reinforced by his practice. There were moments he struggled or failed to properly understand but overall, Jake chalked it up as a success. He would need further practice, as Seria had recommended, and he quickly set out to do so. The boy left his study room and called for a fairy to help him.

“Excuse me- Oh, you’re Ril.” Jake went up to the next floor to find one of the Library’s caretakers only to stumble into a familiar face. Ril, startled, jumped a bit when Jake called out to her. She seemed skittish.

“Y-Yes. That’s me. H-How can I help?” The fairy peeked over a book towards Jake, using the book to shield herself as she shivered behind it. She was an odd one.

“I’m trying to study the Seraphym language. I was wondering if there were any simple, low-level spell books that might help me practice the language while also teaching me some spells with it?” Practice was definitely important, however, Jake wasn’t going to just grind through random books that didn’t particularly give him anything except that. Instead, he thought of being more efficient with his practice.

Seraphym were skilled magicians and the Myr probably had written several books during their time in the Overworld. If Jake could translate those and study the spells within them, he would be able to not only strengthen his language skill but his magical prowess as well. There was even a chance of learning a spell far more powerful that he could add to his repertoire.

Ril stared down at him, her eyes glazing over as she looked through her glasses at him. She was quiet for so long that Jake wondered if she was still there. “H-Have you considered… Light m-magic?”

“Light magic? That’s the element of the Seraphym, isn’t it?” Light magic was certainly on the list of things to learn and from what Jake had been taught, it was used strictly by the Seraphym as all of the textbooks were written in their language. “Ah-.” Jake blinked.

“Yes. Do you know any entry-level Light magic spell books?” That was a perfect choice. While Jake could study books with the standard four elements- this was an opportunity to break into another. Dark magic was something he would read, but it wasn’t something he planned to use. Light magic, on the other hand, was something he could utilize depending on the spells themselves.

“Y-Yes. Please wait here.” Ril quickly zipped over Jake’s head, darting away and vanishing into the upper levels of the Library. Jake stayed put, knowing she would likely panic or freak out if he moved or wandered off. While he waited, Jake scanned the shelves around him and looked to see what kinds of books were on the floor. From what he could see, he was in a section focused on Alchemy. Thankfully, Ril wasn’t gone for long. The fairy returned just as Jake was reaching to pluck a book off the shelf.

“Y-Your book, Sir!” The fairy returned at speed, catching Jake off guard as she nearly hit him in the face with the book. He caught it in the air and froze, his face tingling as the phantom impact tickled at his nose.

“T-Thanks.” The title was large, bold, and in his face. It was also in Seraphym. “Rank I- Path of the Holy Light. Jake’s nose twitched out of slight disgust with the title. These Seraphym were proving to be more fanatical than he thought. He had thought them a bit odd before but this was just… too much.

“Is there…” Jake looked up to see Ril still floating there, now peeking out from behind one of the bookshelves. “A-Anything else?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. No. Thank you for your help, Ril.” Jake bowed his head slightly.

“N-No problem. Take care!” Before Jake could say anything else, the fairy was gone. She zipped off, vanishing behind an array of bookshelves so quickly that Jake couldn’t even see where she went. The boy chuckled a bit and then hurried back to the study room.

The boy passed through the thin barrier again and settled in to continue his studies. He had made a few assumptions about Light magic before but the book went even more in-depth. From how the Seraphym author described it, Light magic at its core focused on the Life Force of the individual. It was the highest level of what “Magic” truly was. By using the Life Force bestowed upon them by the Gods, the Seraphym were capable of incredible feats of magic.

At its lowest level, Light magic could restore injuries by converting mana into the life energy of the target’s body. Further along the rankings, it could eliminate curses, diseases, and invalidated constrictive spells. Light magic could also restore vitality which turned out to be the basis of the Seraphym’s long lifespans. Unlike Elves and High Elves who naturally lived long lives- the Seraphym lived long through artificial means.

By using Light magic, one could also increase their strength, speed, and reaction times, and one could even increase the user’s ability to cultivate mana. The proper use of Light magic made the Seraphym one of the most powerful Races when it came to magic simply because of the large mana pools they could gain by utilizing the positive effects of the element. An interesting detail was the fact that Light magic’s offensive capabilities were limited. While Light magic could be used offensively, the spells didn’t work that well against other Creatures of Light. Likely by design, as the Gods didn’t want the Seraphym killing their children off. Judging by how deadly the Seraphym had been in their war, they must have found a way around that handicap.

On the other hand, against Creatures of the Dark, it was highly effective. Maedra, Demons, Demihumans, Dark Elves, Goblins, Ogres, Hobgoblins. Creatures that thrived in the dark, beneath the surface, and out of the sight of the Sun were fragile when it came to the power of Light magic. Just the weakest of spells could bring doom upon these individuals without the proper protections. Though the Myr were Seraphym, upon losing their protective Blessings and using Dark magic they developed a weakness to Light magic. This made them highly sensitive to the element.

Along with its offensive effectiveness being quite low, Light magic had another issue with it. The Seraphym did not adopt any spells with a narrow attack angle. All of its offensive spells were violent, indiscriminate, wide-angle spells cast with the full intent of clearing large areas of enemies. While Dark magic was scary because of its curses, poisons, and hexes- Light magic was scary because it could affect dozens in a single swing. This made fighting the Seraphym rather dangerous. There was no way to get a Seraphym to focus on a sole individual and their ability to fight multiple foes at once with ease was hard to counter.

Tie their broad attack range with the ability to dispel any binding curses and restrictive spells as well, it was learned that containing the Seraphym was nearly impossible. The only chance an individual had to beat a Seraphym would be to either eliminate their Magic capabilities, physically bind them, or attack them from out of the range of their magic. Anyone who dared close-quarters combat would find themselves on the wrong end of the advanced race’s skillset.

For Jake, who found himself facing off with hordes of Creatures of the Dark, those facts made Light magic that much more appealing. It was a powerful element and Jake would be able to quickly eliminate numerous Maedra without much effort. If he could master the element. He struggled slightly with Rock and Fire magic because of how intense the elements were. If Light magic was at an even higher level, he would need to be cautious. Having his mana backfire and explode on him while trying to handle the new element would be fatal. From what he figured, there was no healing damage caused by Light magic and the effects wouldn’t just wound his physical body. They would hurt his Life Force as a whole. Damage to that would result in a reduced life span, paralysis, deafness, blindness, and even sterilization. While Jake was certainly young, there was the distant dream of teaching his kids about his adventures. Becoming sterile would make that a difficult dream to have.

To keep himself from suffering those potential side effects right away, Jake flipped to the Restorative spell chapter of the book. Jake glazed over the details at first, giving himself a decent handle on the information, and then he backtracked to go in more depth. From what he read, Restorative magic wasn’t as easy as he had hoped. On top of needing great skill and focus to handle the stress of Light magic, Jake would also need to become intimately familiar with the anatomy of the human body. However, that only was important for larger and deeper injuries. Simple cuts and bruises could be healed without that knowledge. Most top-level injuries were only to flesh and meat rather than organs and bone. Flooding these areas with mana and accelerating the healing process would do the trick for most cases of injury.

Handling diseases, poisons, and basic sicknesses were also fairly easy to treat. One could even use herbs and alchemy to treat these ailments if the recipes and ingredients were available. However, when using Light magic, simply knowing the type of dysfunction as well as being able to pinpoint where the ailment was focused would suffice. Once again- using mana to accelerate the healing process would help with easing the effects of the sickness. To counter poison, the healer would use their mana to either eliminate the poison from the affected patient or the healer would use mana to push the poison back out of the body. For disease, it was a bit more complicated.

Due to the individual structures of the various diseases in the world, countering each one required the minimum understanding of how the disease worked, what portions of the body it targeted, symptoms, visible effects, and how the individual was personally reacting to the disease. If caught early, diseases could be handled in a similar way to how poisons were handled. Either isolate and eliminate or isolate and repel. If the disease had already set in, however, then the healer needed to focus on the affected areas. Accelerate the healing process, isolate the disease, develop the body’s ability to fight against the disease, and restore the affected individual’s strength and vitality.

Light magic wasn’t a cure-all. It couldn’t just snap threats out of existence by dumping mana into a patient. It was used more as a way to strengthen the affected patient’s own natural ability to fight disease. By focusing on the natural process, once cured the individual wouldn’t fall victim to the disease again. Natural Immunity would be developed. In addition, the lack of external mana wouldn’t result in mana poisoning. By keeping the healing magician’s mana presence small within the patient, the patient wouldn’t be burdened by a long recovery time after the procedure. Of course, this required a high level of mana control by the healer. Anything less would cause damage to other parts of the patient. Damage that likely could never be fixed later on and would become permanent, even fatal.

Understanding this, Jake took learning the element seriously. Being known as a Light magician would be a heavy burden and people would expect a lot of things from him. People would likely ask him to do things he couldn’t do and things he could do they’d expect perfection from him. Killing a patient, or failing to properly heal someone, would likely result in him gaining a poor reputation. While he didn’t mind not being pestered often for healing tasks, he also didn’t want to be looked down upon for being bad at magic.

Then again, he could just not use it. Just like when he conducted the assessment in his village, Jake could conceal his proficiency with Light magic. By hiding his affinity with the element and not openly using it, he could minimize that burden on his shoulders. Though, in doing so he would have to come to terms with watching others get hurt. A difficult balance, especially if he came to find others to be important.

He kept that future problem as such, a future problem, and continued with his studying of the new element. After learning the Seraphym language, learning Light magic was fairly easy. There were only a few words he needed to say to trigger certain spells and after that, it was all mana control. The spells themselves would cause his mana to change into a certain consistency and would make the mana more malleable. Afterward, Jake needed to use his mana sense to fix the problems. He would have to manually stimulate the patient’s mana and Life Force, manually convert his mana into theirs to stimulate faster recovery, and he would need to be able to “feel out” the disease and poison within the patient.

There wasn’t a spell that would make the two just go away but the spells allowed his mana to harden against the two and would turn his mana into a sort of “glove” specifically made for grasping the ailments. Once he’d grabbed ahold of the disease and poison, then he would either be able to pull it out, destroy it, or convert it into a less deadly version that the body could fight on its own. Using Light magic for healing would prove to be very complex. With practice and experience, Jake had faith he could become proficient in the task.

As Jake had read, in terms of offensive capabilities, Light magic had few but it was very streamlined in its use. There was a simple light ball spell that could be used to illuminate a space, a flash spell that could be used to blind an area, a spell that created a barrier against other spells, and there was a sort of solar spell. Casting the spell would cause light to spread out into a wide area, with the light shooting outwards in an array of spear-like rays. Anything of dark nature that was penetrated by the light would be burned, severed, and potentially pinned in place.

Aiming this spell was thought to be impossible, as light spread in every direction from its source. However, the Seraphym developed tactics and technologies to direct the spells only in one direction. The objects were called ‘Light Cannons’. By casting the spell into the base of these ‘cannons’, the rays of the spell could be pointed in a certain direction, rather than everywhere. While the idea of the cannon was fairly simple, the Seraphym found that only high-grade materials could be used for the weapons. The spell was powerful. Containing it required a similarly strong material, one that the Seraphym could only find in the high peaks of the mountains. No wonder they lived in those places.

But, after reading over the spell, Jake found that it wasn’t necessary to contain it to direct it. The spell generated a large orb of light which the rays would originate from. If he wanted the rays to only go in a specific direction, then why not just cast it that way? Why couldn’t he just cast half of a sphere, or encase the spell in a barrier to keep the rays only focused in one direction? The answer was easy, and it made him feel rather foolish.

“Lir.” Jake held out his hand and cast the light ball spell, causing a small white orb to appear above his hand. It floated there, spun slowly, and glowed brightly. As Jake stared at it, he realized just exactly why the solar spell couldn’t just be narrowly cast. The orb used as its base was essentially a light ball or a small sun. Light radiated in every single direction from the core. No matter if he put his hand on one side of the orb or not- light still went in that direction. The only way to truly focus the spell wasn’t to direct the rays but to stop them.

The cannons weren’t directors- they didn’t cause the spell to be focused or accurate. They simply restricted the light and allowed only a portion of the rays to exit. Those rays only went out in the direction the cannon was pointed. This also explained why only certain materials could be used for the spell. The material used had to be able to not just resist the rays but it had to withstand the damage caused by the spell. Less able materials likely could only do so in a limited manner, making them expensive and inefficient. Jake found this fascinating. The Seraphym likely searched all over the Overworld to find this material and they had found it in the White Mountain’s peaks. To think they’d seclude themselves around it and bar everyone else from using it.

Jake searched the spellbook for the name of the material but it was omitted. Every page that referred to the Light Cannon failed to elaborate on its construction. The only reason the writer mentioned the location of the material was likely to dispel any notion that the cannons could be made elsewhere. A little snub towards the other Races. Likely to tell them that the Seraphym’s magic wouldn’t be replicated easily, if at all. Jake certainly got the feeling that the Seraphym considered themselves better than the other Races. However, knowledge didn’t make a magician better. It was good to know things but Jake found practical ability to be more important.

He could know every spell in the world. However, it wouldn’t matter if he couldn’t cast those spells. Whether he lacked the mana, affinity, or just couldn’t withstand the weight of the spell itself, it didn’t matter. Understanding and knowing magic didn’t mean a mage could use it. Additionally, being able to use it well was even more important. It was why Jake wanted to learn the foundations so desperately. If he could maximize the efficiency of his minor spells, then the major ones would be even more powerful.

“Light magic, light magic…” Jake muttered to himself, refocusing his attention back on the spellbook.

As he thumbed through the pages, offensive and utility magic changed to barrier magic. The spells here focused on countering specific elements and nullifying them at their cores. By using certain runes and sigils and empowering them with Light magic, a magician could cancel out incoming spells. At its highest level, a magician could even stop a target mid-cast. By dispelling the mana at the core of the spells or converting incoming mana into power, barriers could easily protect small and large areas. The barriers could also be used to contain physical things. By using mana to build formidable walls, magicians could block incoming swings from swords and fists, and even trap targets in place. If necessary, light magic could also dispel these very same barriers. Even barriers made of other elements.

By attacking the sources of the barriers, light magic could dismantle the runes and sigils powering the protective walls, rendering them useless. To perform such a task, the only thing Jake needed to do was memorize the respective elemental runes and sigils. Combining them was possible by layering the runes but doing so required a lot of control and practice. Magical barriers were fairly easy to disrupt with such ability. The hardest barriers were those protecting the user from Rock magic. Rock magic used physical objects to attack and defend. Blocking these incoming objects required the erected barrier to either destroy the object, repel it, or stop it in place. This made blocking larger objects painfully difficult and would require multiple layers to the barrier. Similarly, attacking a barrier or wall made with Rock magic took a more substantial amount of force to break, as no sigil or runes could be disrupted to shatter them.

The text focused heavily on countering Rock magic and physical attacks. There were several different barrier types available to counter these two. While each had a different rune or sigil set, their purpose was all the same; slow, stop, or disintegrate. There were also small personal barriers that could cover the Magician’s bodies to protect them from direct attacks. Wrist shields could even be made out of the barriers for those with less mana. The versatility was almost endless. Runes and sigils were marked up to account for nearly every situation a barrier or shield may be necessary.

Jake found himself amused by the anatomy example provided on some of the pages. The Seraphym were a six-armed race with large heads, wide ears, and very long legs. They looked frail, fragile. That was likely why they put such a focus on protecting themselves from physical attacks. If they were capable of dispelling the elements of the ‘lower’ Races, then their only worry was likely close-quarters combat. A fair assessment, one that Jake himself was a bit worried about.

With a reliance on Magic, Magicians would likely fall short in physical combat. After living amongst the Gods for so long and having developed Magic to a high level, the Seraphym likely abandoned the need for strong muscles and stiff bones that physical tasks required. Thus, after coming to the Overworld, they likely discovered the new requirement to defend themselves, as most of the lower Races hadn’t quite been able to use Magic to its full potential.

The rest of the spellbook went on to cover Enchantments and Physical Enhancing spells, Dispel spells, and it also covered a Life Force Recovery spell. Jake only memorized a few pieces and a few spells within each chapter, though. He couldn’t practice most of them without being in combat so he would need to wait until he came across the Maedra again to test it all. However, the final chapter was what he was interested in; Curse Recovery.

Curses, Hexes, and Debuffs were all potential problems when Dark Magic was in the mix. They were hard to contain and even more difficult to dispel. If the Magician wasn’t careful, they could cause the dark spell to backfire and trigger it to explode or exacerbate the ailment. By failing to properly break up a dark spell, the individual with the curse on them might be put through even higher levels of pain which could be irreversible at that point. Knowing that the Seraphym would be quick to try and heal themselves, most curses were placed with traps and triggers in place. These would trigger should a magician attempt to fiddle with the curse. The traps ranged from causing the curse to explode, to instantly killing the patient, to even causing the curse to hop from patient to healer. Said traps had a wide range of ugly potential effects attached to them, making it quite scary of an ordeal to handle the dark spells.

To dispel a curse required the magician to essentially dismantle the curse sigil and replace the removed pieces with condensed light mana to keep it stable. Maintaining the balance of light and dark mana in the sigil holding the effects was a playful balance, one that would remain dangerous until the sigil eventually broke apart on its own. Until then, the magician would need to contain it and continue to pull the pieces apart. In the case of a multi-layered curse, the magician would need to dismantle the sigil in proper order, or the curse could collapse and cause further damage. These layered curse sigils were the most advanced and the most dangerous to handle.

If it were any solace, the only ones who could use multi-layered curse sigils effectively were the Myr. Since the civil war, the number of Myr had been greatly reduced. This made coming across such a curse rare and unlikely, but the spellbook still recommended studying them just in case. With the probability of coming across such a curse being dramatically low, Jake turned the page. For now, Jake was comfortable with the basics. Later on, when the time wasn’t so precious, he would put more effort into the advanced levels.

By the time Jake reached the back of the book, his mind was spinning. The Seraphym language was a difficult read. Switching between the dictionary at times and the spellbook was a draining experience, even though it was necessary. The book he had originally read had barely touched the vocabulary required for him to study Light magic so Jake had to spend a lot of time checking words, memorizing them, and familiarizing himself with them before he could move on. It made reading and learning Light magic painful. The upside? The painful process helped Jake easily remember a lot of what he had read and translated. While he hadn’t practiced Light magic at all, the contents of the spellbook were fresh and he could easily remember a lot of it.

With the book on Light magic complete and his comfort with the Seraphym language attained, Jake figured it was a good time to return to the sealed room. He didn’t feel dizzy or lightheaded yet so he figured there was still plenty of time left to study. He wouldn’t take long, though. He would simply review the book Yir had recommended and that would be it for now. As he approached the door, however, Jake found himself face to face with an individual he had seen once before. Tall, slender. A black cloak covering their face and body.

“You again…” the individual spoke first, glaring down at Jake from behind their mask. Once more, Jake assumed it was a woman from the voice. He couldn’t be sure, though, nor would he make the assumption and be proven wrong later. That would be awkward.

“Me? What about you?” Jake raised an eyebrow and stared at them, waiting and watching for them to move or do something. They were standing beside the Dark magic room, leaning against the wall as though they were waiting.

The person behind the mask scoffed. “You aren’t someone worth introducing myself to.”

Jake stifled a laugh and shook his head. Rather than wait, staring at the person awkwardly, he turned away and started to return in the direction he’d come. He would find a fairy elsewhere.

“What purpose do have with this room?” They called out but Jake ignored them. If they weren’t going to play the game, he wouldn’t either. Two fairies emerged from the upper level just as Jake was about to step up to the railing, one of them being Yir. She noticed Jake there and whirled around to speak to him.

“Back so soon?” She asked. Jake nodded. “Good timing. I was just about to open it for-”

“Hold your tongue, Fairy.” The individual spat, stopping Yir before she said anything else. Jake felt his face warm a bit, suddenly irritated that someone would dare speak to Yir in such a tone. Yir, however, remained calm. She sighed and shook her head.

“Come along.” Yir smiled and waved for Jake to follow. He did, glaring at the cloaked person as he did so. Behind that mask, he could feel them doing the same.

“What’s the runt want with this room?” They balked. Jake opened his mouth to speak and return the jab, also curious as to why they were here and being permitted to enter. Yir spoke first.

“As your business is none of his, his is none of yours,” she answered bluntly. With the wave of her hand, magic scattered over the door. One by one, the barriers and seals began to peel away.

The cloaked individual huffed and shook their head. “No wonder the Mages of this era are dwindling. You leave your hopes in the hands of children.”

Yir stopped her work and turned just her head to look at the person. Jake noticed her wings charged with mana as she glared at them. “Speak anything more and I’ll ensure your access to the Library is limited further than it already is.”

“And what power do you have for that, Fairy?” The person folded their arms over their chest. “My deals are made outside of your influence.”

“I have my ways, Apostle. Would you like to gamble? Your favors, or my influence?” Yir stared through the mask with a stern gaze, awaiting a response. The individual stared her down for a short time before inevitably shaking their head and remaining quiet. “Wise choice.”

Yir finished removing the barriers and then opened the door. “As always, no texts may be removed from this room. When you are finished, please notify Mir and she will close the room behind you both.”

Without so much as a whisper of thanks, the cloaked individual stepped through the threshold and into the room. Jake stole a glance up towards Yir. She placed a finger to her lips, warning him to remain silent and keep to himself. Jake agreed and understood. He gave her a polite bow before entering the room. The door was closed behind them and the fairy, Mir, remained just inside the door to open it when they were finished.

The cloaked individual was already reading when Jake entered. He couldn’t see what the book was but they were flipping through it rather aggressively. When they didn’t find what they wanted, they stuffed the book onto the shelf and searched for the next. Jake, being a bit nosy, stared from behind as he watched for what book they might grab.

Rank IV- Hexes of Hellfire, Abyssal Bindings, Curses of Burden, and Unrest.

Jake found the title even more curious, but the individual finally seemed to have found what they were looking for. They flipped through the pages in one direction, then flipped back before reading. The boy wondered what they might want with such information. Yet, just as Yir had said- their business was not his. If they were being granted access to this room then Jake hoped at least they were trustworthy enough to handle what was in these books.

The boy turned his attention to his shelf and found the book he was looking for, the Book of Scales. In Seraphym, it was written as ‘The Cost of Life’. Fitting, Jake thought. Magic made entirely to take life required it to be used. The Myr understood this heavily and it was reflected in their choice of name. He pulled the book from the shelf and braced himself for what he might read within its bindings.

“These books are not to be taken lightly, boy.” Just before Jake opened the text, the cloaked individual behind him spoke up. Jake was going to ignore them but after seeing their choice, he felt compelled to answer.

“Says the person reading actual spells with the magic.” While Jake was just starting to delve into Dark magic and was on the cusp of learning just how dangerous it was, this person seemed well-versed in it. Enough so that they were capable of ruling out a book as useless to them. They had even grabbed a Rank IV book. That said enough about how far along they were compared to Jake.

The person huffed. “It is because I have read many of these scriptures that I know how foolish you are for standing within these four walls.”

“And?” Jake raised his eyebrow, peeling open the cover. “If they are so dangerous, why do you keep coming back to study it?”

“At least you know how to ask questions,” the person chuckled. “Ask nothing more, but I learn this magic not for me. Nor should you if you choose to continue visiting this room. You know of the Myr, yes?” Jake heard the shifting of feet. He turned to find the person staring at him through their mask.

“I know of the great lengths they went to protect the Overworld from this magic, yes. I know that they sacrificed themselves to protect the Overworld, yes. And I also know of how they secluded themselves after the civil war.” While he initially thought against it, Jake decided to answer wholeheartedly. Maybe if he did, this person might open up to him a little more. In doing so he might gain more insight as to who they were, or what they were doing.

“Then you understand the weight of this knowledge. Don’t take it for granted.” The person snapped their book closed and then walked to the door. “I’m finished.”

Mir nodded and nudged the door open. Without another word, the cloaked individual left. Jake waited until Mir pulled the door closed again before letting out a heavy sigh. His attempt had been wasted but he didn’t mind. He had crossed paths with that person twice now. He had thought it impossible before but he was finding it more probable now. He would see them again at some point.

Focusing on the book now without distraction, Jake found the information to be organized based on the type of Dark magic. Much like how elements had their sections within the introductory spell books, the same was done with the various categories of Dark magic. Each magic was capable of causing different types of ailments, thus the cost of them was different. As Yir had explained, the lower costing spells only required mana. However, as the intensity of the magic increased so did the requirements to fulfill the magic. Jake’s reading, in the beginning, was tame.

Mana was the easiest thing to sacrifice in exchange for power. Magicians did it regularly with their normal spells, and thus the Dark magic which utilized mana reflected such. The spells were weak and generally caused minor discomfort rather than actual harm. Though, such spells had their utility. Lower costing Dark magic spells could cause confusion, force sleep, inflict minor colds or infections, and could even contaminate water supplies. A wise caster could use those spells to cause more intense effects down the line and should those spells be left alone, they could fester into a much greater problem overall.

In addition to affecting the usual health of a person, the lower costing spells could bind weaker individuals or even disarm them by causing muscle spasms or numbness to limbs. Simple attacks. Deadly if timed properly or used in certain situations.

The next level were the spells requiring Blood. As expected, Jake found them to be far more intense. The blood sacrifices range from mere drops to entire liters' worth. The type of blood was also ranked from lower-class monsters to elves and humans. If it was alive and bled, it was ranked within the text and given a level of strength to it. There was also the importance of ‘purity’. Young virgin blood, untampered and fresh to the world, was ranked the highest. Blood of diseased or tainted individuals were ranked lower. Above all, the blood of a Seraphym was placed at the peak. Something Jake was not surprised by. As the creators of the Dark element, the Myr designed it to work best with their own bodies.

In exchange for such a sacrifice, the curses, hexes, poisons, and general effects were typically lethal. The diseases were highly contagious and capable of any number of effects that could cause death in either days or mere hours depending on the strength of the disease. Poisons could render individuals paralyzed or could even melt internal organs upon consumption. If spread through a water supply or added to food, poisons could be spread even more widely and affect several individuals at once. Curses were even worse. If blood was traded for a curse, it would spell certain doom for the afflicted target. Death would be inevitable and the spell could be turned to either be slow and painful, quick and peaceful or even affect the next generation. Curses of this kind could cause sterilization, disrupt magic abilities, cause paralysis, and could even send an individual spiraling into madness.

What Jake wasn’t ready for was the next set of spells. Truly, those cast at the cost of life.

Much like how the races were ranked by blood and purity of their blood, they were once more ranked by the weight of their souls. Each race was given a number, and that number was how much each individual of the race was worth. There was no purity scale. No weight on their mana. No weight on their experience, age, or anything else. A race, a name for it, and how much that race was worth. Insects, Rats, and other small creatures were given fractions of their overall worth. While humanoid races were much higher. A Myr and Seraphym were worth a thousand. A human was only worth twenty. The lowest of the other races. Elves, Dwarves, Sahaugins, Beastfolk. They all ranked much higher on the list. Dragons were second, with a cost of five hundred per soul. Below them, Arachkins with three hundred.

Jake grimaced at the thought of how many humans would be needed to match the weight of just one Myr. He now understood why they chose to sacrifice themselves rather than those of the other races. The races of the Overworld were far too weak to be used in any meaningful manner. Sacrificing them would be a waste of life, especially when the war was not theirs to fight to begin with.

The strength of the spells was as expected- stronger, more potent, harder to defuse, and almost certain to bring about gruesome pain and ultimately death to the afflicted. However, there was a new type of magic in this category. Necromancy. This alone was given its own chapter and on the front page was a warning; “RESURRECTION DOES NOT MEAN LIFE”.

The boy’s heart thumped in his chest as he felt a chill run down his spine. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he carried onwards. The initial portion of the chapter focused on the explanation of the magic. Necromancy was, at its core, control over the spirits of the dead. It was not meant for resurrection nor could it bring the dead back to life. However, the souls of the dead could be rebound to a corpse or even an object with the properly applied seal. In exchange for a living soul, others could rise in their place. Indeed, it was not an exchange of blood but life itself. Swapping of a living being for one whose time had already come.

Bodies and corpses of those already gone could be utilized in place of a fresh body, however, such bindings could cause issues with the process as a rotted body was not as strong as a freshly made one. Though, through additional magic, bodies could be reinforced to alleviate such problems. Higher level sacrifices and the inclusion of a blood cost would allow for such additions to be made to the spells. Thus, it was recommended to use an artificial body rather than one made of flesh and bone. Using an artificial body also lowered the cost of the magic, as the binding could be done more efficiently and without the problem of the original soul potentially interfering.

Jake picked up on why such detail was important. If the sacrifice was unwilling to participate or was being sacrificed by force, then their soul might become bothersome during the process. By using an artificial container rather than the sacrifice’s body, there would be no need to deal with that risk. Jake frowned at the meaning behind that fact and turned the page.

The process of it all came next. The first step was the blood rune and the matching sacrificial sigil. The blood rune would act as the anchor for the soul and bind the soul to the body. Unless the rune was destroyed, defaced, or unless the soul was somehow forcibly torn away from the rune by other means, the soul would remain bound eternally. A form of immortality, but could that truly be called such? If the body was rotting or if it degraded over time, the soul bound to the body would find itself in a troublesome predicament. One Jake shuddered at the thought.

Once bound, the soul was not only restrained to its container but was also connected with the Necromancer themself. This contract of sorts would give the Necromancer full control over the soul itself. Should the soul turn on the Necromancer or attempt to go against its orders, it would be punished either through direct pain or by being destroyed entirely. This safety built into the original blood rune could be removed through a few minor modifications. However, doing so was not recommended. Souls forcibly returned to the Overworld were not always friendly to their summoners. The only benefit to removing the safety on the rune would be to allow the reanimated undead to be autonomous, allowing them to wander and fight on their own without direction.

The next cost of the reanimation spells was the constant drain on the Necromancer’s mana. While the soul could live indefinitely should the blood rune and body both remain intact, the rune required mana to be fed into it to give life to the soul. Much like how a body needed blood, a soul needed mana. Some souls retained their own bits of mana and could cast spells and survive on their own for short periods. Without a constant source to feed them, though, they would eventually burn through such a reserve and die again.

Through other spells, it was possible to redirect the feed of mana from the Necromancer’s source to another. Essentially pushing the cost of the soul’s upkeep on another source. What kind of source would work the book did not specify. It would be up to the Necromancer to discover and supply that answer on their own.

Finally, Jake found himself looking at another set of tiers and several zeros across the page. The first tier was the ranking of the living. The second was the ranking of the dead. To resurrect a specific soul, one would need to accumulate the required number for that soul. Additionally, the size both physical and magical needed to be considered. Larger souls would need larger containers to fit their powerful mana sources and adjust to the space requirements of their souls.

A strange thought entered his mind. A question he hadn’t originally desired to have answered… What would it take to bring back Chul?

Subconsciously, he searched for the answer.

Subconsciously, his eyes glazed over the rows of souls and images.

Lower and lower, he found himself searching the list.

The sizes increased. The zeros added up.

Then, he found it.

The image of an Arachkin.

The cost?

Jake ran his finger over the zeros, counting the commas.

In exchange for only one-hundred-thousand souls, Jake could bring his friend back to the Overworld.

Only one-hundred-thousand.

Jake frowned and he closed his eyes. He took in a slow breath, calmed the wicked thoughts, and then turned the page.

He had not seen it yet but now, there it was. Covering the page was the outline of a massive curse rune, the Blood Rune. Drawn in red ink that had long faded and lost its color, the rune was as sinister as he had expected it to be. The boy snapped the book closed and squeezed it between his fingers. It was not the rune that scared him. It was not the magic nor the cost that made him feel so sick to his stomach. It wasn’t the fact that he knew it likely had been used in the past nor was it the fact that it might even be being used now.

It was the fact that upon finding out that there was a chance, he had considered it. In exchange for so many Jake could return the lost to stand beside him once more. The sheer amount of blood required was astronomical. It would require another war in itself to achieve the requirement, but… Jake’s mind asked the question; could it be done?

And it made him shiver to think that he even thought that it could. That he could.

Jake returned the book to the shelf. He stepped away from it and walked to the fairy by the door. He failed to even say a word to her but his expression was enough. He was finished here. The fairy quietly opened the door, clearing the way for Jake as he stepped out and back into the Library.

Waiting for him on the other side was Yir. She saw his face and gave him a gentle smile.

“Now do you understand?” She asked softly. Once more, Jake couldn’t form any words. He simply bobbed his head slightly and lowered his eyes to the floor. The boy walked away, leaving the Dark magic room behind.