The grating skritch of metal on stone echoes throughout the cave. Stolas hunches over marking out two layers of concentric circles in the middle of the cave’s first chamber, while Jade follows behind inspecting the shallow grooves.

“You see, gra, Jade,” Grunting against the pain in his shoulder, the blue horned imp explains his actions to the curious slime, “I never knew why magic circles were so fancy… hah… The reason is spell crafting. Each sigil has a purpose, they direct, mmf… They direct the mana and form it into the structures a spell needs to work.”

He knew Jade wasn’t listing, he knew that it was just following him around because the slime thought he was playing a game or something. The explanation was more for himself, to help cement the new knowledge in his head.

“It’s a shame I can’t spell craft on my own…” Finally finished carving out the magic circle Stolas plops down resting his aching shoulder. “If I could, I wouldn’t have to draw this by hand.”

Lamenting that fact Stolas stares at the completed circle and its complex series of sigils and geometric shapes. Shaking his head, he refocuses on the task at hand. “What’s next?”

According to the tome he needed to place an object in the center and activate the circle, by channeling mana into it. Thankfully due to his demonic nature as an imp, he is naturally in tune to mana, allowing him to at least move it at will.

“Now, what to use…?” deep in thought Stolas scans the cave for something expendable.

*Plop*

Startled by the noise Stolas focuses on the pond, realizing it must have been his “dinner” escaping.

“Nasty bugs…” with a sigh the imp slouches down going back to the previous task, but stands up after a thought, “Wait a minute!”

Rushing over to the pond Stolas practically jumps into the freezing water scattering the small colony of crustacean bugs inside it. With quick hands honed from a life of stealing for food he snatches the largest one he can find out of the water. For once he was actually happy to hold on of these wriggling nuisances.

Carrying his catch back to the circle he picks up the book in one hand and restrains the creature with his other.

According to the text he just needed place it in the center and the spell should handle the rest. Although it was up to him to gather the mana he needs.

“Okay, should be easy enough.” Stolas takes a deep breath suddenly nervous, “Let’s hope I don’t screw this up. It’s not like I know what I’m doing so is it really my fault?”

Voicing his concerns to Jade, who in return just bounce in place encouragingly(?), the imp places his sacrifice in the center and begins channeling mana in the circle.

Streams of what look like blue electricity flow though the etchings spreading out and encompassing the crustacean as it tries to flee. Levitating in the air the creature is caught in a transparent blue bubble, where its body begins to dissolve into shimmering dust.

“Wha…?” Stolas can only stare in utter surprise as not only did he manage to cast a spell, but the results were completely outside of what he imagined. For that shimmering dust escaping from the creature was pure elemental mana, mana that filling the cave with glittering blues of all shades mixed with deep brown sparks. “I’ve never seen so much before…”

As the last bit of the creature dissolved, the bubble began to condense in on itself shrinking smaller and smaller to the size of a marble. Apparently finished the circle stopped glowing and the marble dropped.

With quick reflexes Stolas rushes forward catching the small orb before it hit the ground. Holding it in his hand he found it to have a texture similar to glass. The sparkling blue orb mesmerized him with its swirling colors. Peering closer the he could see more than just the dominant blue, myriad of other colors streaked through it each holding a different property.

*Crack*

“Huh?!” A large fissure streaked across the surface of the orb, spreading to smaller ones, and cracking further, before erupting into a thousand tiny shards lacerating his hand. “Shit!”

Holding his injured hand Stolas staggered back, Jade rushes to his side pushing itself into his injury covering his hand in slime. “I’m fine Jade, I’m fine…”

“What happened, where did I go wrong?” Deep frustration welled up in his chest as the imp turned back to the tome. Rereading the passage, he tried to find an answer. On the next page after the ritual instructions he finds what appears to be notes.

I cannot begin to describe my disappointment with this experiment. The spell is far to “awkward” for lack of a better word. It can only hold the most basic of elements, and only one of them lest the structure collapses in the most volatile of manners. Once my hand heals, I shall devote myself to refining the spell.

“…” Stolas can only frown at the text, “Couldn’t he have mentioned that earlier…”

“Well Jade, you ready to try again?” The imp pulls his slime covered hand away from his companion and walks over to the pool once more. This time he snatches two of the crustaceans from the pool and heads back to the circle. The green slime on the other hand follows by his side reaching up towards his catch. “No, I need these, besides you just ate.”

With Jade on his heels Stolas places the crustaceans in the center and quickly starts the ritual again. To his surprise both the creatures are encompassed within one bubble, instead of splitting into two.

The spell proceeds like before, with light filling the cave once again. Stolas sat and watched the shifting lights getting lost in the display. It was only when he noticed a ribbon of brown floating through that he remembered the last result. Jumping to his feet the imp cautiously entered the circle and approached the bubble. Currents of mana flowed around him shocking him like electricity, gritting his teeth Stolas pushed through and placed his hands on the surprisingly solid surface.

The imp’s brow furrows as he focuses on the flow of mana before him. Trying to sift out the different elemental manas was no easy task, comparatively it was like trying to sift out different colored sand as it poured through his fingers. Rather than try to collect it all and separate it all, Stolas decided to just push out any element that wasn’t blue. Although he lost a large chunk of the blue mana with the other colors, he did end with a larger orb than the first attempt.

Once it had finished shrinking the resulting blue bead was nearly twice the size of the original. The imp jumped back avoiding the orb as it fell, striking the ground with a loud clink. It bounced around a bit longer before coming to rest in a small divot between Stolas and Jade.

With bated breath the imp and slime watched for any signs of cracks. The internal kaleidoscope shifted and swirled through shades of blue before coming to rest in a solid deep blue.

“Is it safe?” Stolas reaches out with a single foot, tapping his toe against the glass like bead. No longer shifting in color the orb looks stable enough. With a hesitant hand the imp lifts the tiny orb and inspects it. “So… now what?”

He throws a questioning glance at Jade. “You have any ideas? What do you think we can do with it?”

The slime just compresses itself flat in what Stolas assumes is a negative, or a shrug. Without any ideas of his own the imp turns to the tome.

Flipping past the ritual section he opens to the section detailing the uses of an elemental core. The introduction to this new section lists a myriad of fantastical uses, from performing instantaneous spells to even creating life. Reading on Stolas can feel his excitement bubbling up from the limitless possibilities before him… Until he got to the last passage.

…Preferably one should use a larger core when attempting more complex and difficult tasks and use smaller less concentrated cores on simpler tasks such as spell casting. Although any core smaller than a standard apple is virtually useless…

“…” Stolas looks back to his tiny core rolling it around in the palm of his hand, as the words sink in, “Jade, this is apple sized right?”

The slime doesn’t respond, it only crawls up to him and rubs against his thigh in comforting motion.

“I… I think it’s time to go to bed…” With a sigh Stolas shuffles up to second chamber and lays down on his bed roll. “Can you take the first watch?”

Not even waiting for a reply the imp curls up staring at the core as he drifts off to sleep.

…

A soft prodding wakes Stolas, groaning the imp sits up and pushes Jade away as it continues to poke him preventing him from just rolling over.

“Okay, okay I’m awake.” Shooting a glance at the entrance, he could see the red light of sunrise shining in. “Did you sleep? You should have woken me up earlier.”

The slime just jiggles in place. Unsure of what to make of that reaction he dropped the matter.

“…Okay, what are we doing first.” With a sigh stretches the stiffness out of his body. His stomach loudly grumbles, as he puts a hand on it. “I guess food then, but for that I need a new spear.”

His eyes drift over to the knife. “That might work.”

For the next hour he works on attaching the dull knife to a mostly straight rod. During the time he is busy Jade disappears, presumably to go foraging. All while he works, Stolas can’t keep his mind off the tome and focused on the task at hand.

I probably need to do the spell again. The imp does a rough estimation of how many crustaceans he would need. He gave up once he realized the pond couldn’t hold nearly enough. So, what can I use instead…? Maybe the tome has some advice?

Leaving his makeshift spear on the ground he picks up the book again flipping through the pages passing the sections talking about larger cores. One passage catches his attention, the enhancement section. The passage describes a process similar to enchanting, but instead of engraving a certain spell into the object it is possible to imbue the object with an element. While far more cost effective and simpler, the mage has far less control over the result.

“I guess I can try that, it does say it uses less mana…” Retrieving the small blue bead Stolas sits down next to his newly crafted spear.

The enhancement process works similarly to the ritual, in that all the imp has to do is get the elemental magic in the core to flow into the object.

“Should be simple enough.” Double checking the instructions from the tome, he begins channeling the mana.

Blue light brightens the room as some of the mana begins slipping from his grasp. It takes the entirety of his concentration to get most of it to flow where he needs. In a bright flash the glass bead evaporates from his fingers leaving glittering sparks in its wake.

“Did it work?” The imp picks up his new spear inspecting it. Not much seems to have changed except for the hilt of the knife and the stick have fused together. Taking a closer look Stolas notices the flow of mana shifting around the spearhead. Raw mana flows in from the point and is gently expelled from the hilt of the dagger as water mana that quickly decomposes. Cautiously he touches the flat of the spearhead, his fingers come back slightly damp with water.

Focused on his fingers he nearly jumps out his skin when he notices a slimy green tendril touch the spear, mimicking him.

“Jade?!” Jumping back, he looks over at his companion, and the small pile of slime covered berries at its “foot.” With a sigh of relief, he washes the berries in the stream and eats them while Jade inspects his experiment.

“It’s cool right?” The imp smiles, letting some of his self-satisfaction shine through, “I don’t know what it does, but I think we should test it out.”

The slime doesn’t react and just continues to inspect the spear. Taking the spear from Jade, Stolas ushers his companion towards the exit.

“Now how do I use this…” Stolas muttered under his breath as he headed out of the cave with Jade in tow.

…

After an hour’s worth of travel Stolas headed out of the forest avoiding the river because of yesterday’s events. And circumventing the deeper sections where some truly dangerous slimes and beasts gathered, the imp stayed within a mile to South Gelum road.

Connecting the capital city of Linum to the town of Tallow Barge in the southwest, South Gelum road acts as the main thoroughfare between them. The stone brick highway stretches for several miles through mostly open plains with a few clusters of trees dot the area. It is in these open plains that Stolas decided to test his new spear.

Since so many merchants travel through the area the adventures had taken care to eliminate any of the dangerous monsters, leaving small fries like him and Jade to roam freely. Sticking closer to the Hallow in the north Stolas and his slime companion searched for a lone goat or something easy to hunt. Spotting a suitable target, a three horned goat with a limp, the imp crouches down and tries his best to sneak up on it.

“…” Stolas quiets his breathing and readies his spear. Making as little noise as possible he approaches the goat from behind. “…!”

With his pulse quickening the imp raises his spear getting ready to strike, but before he can strike the goats foot shoots out hitting him squarely in the forehead snapping his head back. Alerted by the limping goat the others in its herd notice and scatter all the while screaming and bleating bloody murder.

“Ow! Damnit!” Briefly stunned by the kick, Stolas shakes his head and sees the inured goat escaping. Incensed by the indignity the imp chases after them. “Get back here you three horned, bearded …bastards! Get back here and let me stab you!”

He chased them south across the plain for what seemed like miles only finally sputtering to a stop when he lost track of them over a hill.

“Damn… those things are fast…” With a hand on his knee Stolas tried to catch his breath. To his mild surprise he noticed Jade still giving chase and rushing past him. “How do you have so much stamina…?”

Following the green slime Stolas heads to the top of the hill, but upon seeing the other side the imp drops down hiding in the tall grass. With a hiss of a whisper he calls out, “Jade! Stop!”

Seeming to not hear him the slime continues barreling forward after the goats unaware of his concern. Less than a hundred feet away is the Southern road, but more importantly on the road are a couple humans. It appears to just be just the two of them, making a solo trip towards the capital. Two girls, both appear to be young and just starting out in their respective fields. The older girl is dressed in leather armor with a few plates of metal, while the girl dressed in common clothing is currently trying to soothe a spooked horse. A small upturned cart sits behind them with is contents spilling out.

“What was that about?” The swordswoman scratches her head staring in the opposite direction of the imp’s hill.

“I don’t know, but please miss Braya could you help me?” The merchant girl sounded exasperated as she finally got ahold of the horse’s reins.

“Okay, okay. It’s just three horned goats don’t normally stampede like that.” The swordswoman walks around to the cart and with a show of strength lifts it back up on two wheels.

“Well whatever the reason is I hope we- Eeeek!” Huffing the merchant girl finally calms the horse, and with a glance over her shoulder she notices Jade rushing onto the road.

“What?!” Concerned the swordswoman rushes out from behind the horse with a sword drawn but relaxes her posture upon seeing the slime nervously tremble in the open. “Elisa calm down. It’s just a slime.”

“Well, kill it! Isn’t it dangerous?” The girl hides behind the horse peeking out to glare at the adventurer.

“Only if you’re an idiot…” The adventurer shrugs and starts walking towards Jade, “Sorry about this little guy. If you’re going blame anyone blame your own bad luck, or Elisa.”

With his heart leaping into his throat Stolas springs into action, barreling down the slope as fast as he can he charges the adventurer with his spear at the ready. “Stay back!”

“!” Alerted by the imps premature scream, the adventurer swings her blade barely deflecting Stolas’ stab. Dashing back Braya puts distance between her and this new threat.

“A child?” The merchant girl, Elisa, peeks out from behind the horse clutching an amulet in one hand and the horse’s reins in the other.

“An imp.” Braya corrects her eyes sharp and focused, glancing at his horns she adds, “A blue horned one at that.”

“Aren’t his horns valuable?” Hearing that Stolas got a sinking feeling in his stomach. “How about you kill him too.”

A brief look of concern passed over the swordswoman’s face as she glanced back at her employer. She muttered something about being bloodthirsty, before responding with, “Whatever you say…”

“Jade,” Stolas felt his knees grow weak, “Go back to the cave…”

To his disappointment the slime stayed put, almost seeming to form some resolve. With a sigh he chose forget about getting Jade out of there and focus on the threat ahead of him. With slow measured steps he and the swordswoman approach one and another.

“What are you doing? Just attack already!” Elisa shouts from the back briefly distracting the swordswoman.

Capitalizing on the opening Stolas goes for a stab to the throat, but Braya’s reflexes save her. Swiping the spear head away, she parries the strike and takes a swing of her own. Abandoning his follow up strike Stolas jumps back out of her range of attack.

“Don’t distract me!” With a sharp glare Braya silences the merchant girl.

It’s Stolas’ turn to be distracted as he looks at his spear. Why didn’t it work? I thought all you need to do was attack with a magic weapon.

He didn’t have long to ponder this as Braya rushes in with a vertical swipe. With all his might against hers he narrowly managed to deflect the strike to the side, but she followed up by transferring the energy into an advancing stab. Stepping back to give himself room the imp parries the stab with the haft of his spear.

Forcing her back Stolas makes a quick stab at her throat again.

“Tsk, stop that.” Falling back, she knocks his strike away.

What do I do? How do I activate its magic? Focusing on the flow of mana he can see nothing has changed in the spear, nor is there any indication of what he should do. The imp steps in with three hasty strikes at the swordswoman using his greater reach to push her back and give himself some breathing room. Maybe more mana?

Attempting to regain control of the duel the woman steps with a slash readied. A green tendril swipes out from her side interrupting her attack. Redirecting her sword, she severs the end of the slimy appendage before it can land. Jade flinches back, recoiling away from the source of the pain.

“Get out of here!” Braya slashes out at Jade.

“No!” Reacting out instinct Stolas lunges in at the adventurer pouring as much mana into his spear as possible. With a hiss mist erupts from the binding creating a small cloud.

“?!” Withdrawing her sword she protects her face from the incoming mist, while the mist collides against her harmlessly the spear has a bit more effect. The metal point digs deep into the shoulder of her sword arm causing her to scream and fall back next to Elisa and her horse.

“He can use magic?” Baya notes to herself keeping a wary eye on the imp.

Just as stunned as her Stolas stares at his spear.

“Elisa.” With a calm measured voice, she addresses the merchant girl without taking her eyes off the imp. “Go back to Tallow Barge and get to safety.”

“But-”

“If he can use magic,” Braya cuts the merchant off, “there’s no guarantee that I can protect you from a wayward spell.”

“O-okay…” With a suddenly unsure glance at Stolas the merchant girl hops on the stressed-out horse, “I’ll send help. Please, be careful…”

Stolas watched as the merchant girl galloped away, thankful for the pause in combat as he made sure Jade was out immediate danger.

“Hah, my first solo job and this is how it goes? Maybe I’m the unlucky one…” Even though she’s complaining Braya doesn’t drop her guard at all, “Hey Mr. imp, you can understand me, right?”

“…Yes.” Stolas tightens his grip on the spear, watching her closely.

“So, I didn’t mishear you.” She frowns for a second before giving him a charming smile, one that didn’t reflect in her sharp eyes, “Since we can talk and reason with each other, you think we can just part ways and not try to kill each other?”

“Sure, just leave the cart.” The imp takes a slow cautious step forward as the he and her square off.

“Tsk, no different than a bandit…” Clicking her tongue she slightly shakes her head. Raising her voice, the smile drops from her face, “That’ll be a hard no.”

“Well-” The imp doesn’t get to finish his thought. The swordswoman dashes forward with a horizontal slash to his neck. “Shit?!”

He catches the blade a mere inch from his neck. Rotating his spear as he pours mana into it, the imp points the tip toward her. Releasing a cloud of cold mist, the spear blinds both him and her for moment, the adversaries jump back wiping their eyes.

Not allowing him room to breathe Braya rushes in swinging with her offhand as her right is clutched to her chest. Trying to break her pace Stolas stabs at her center, but she twists her body avoiding the metal tip. Following up she unleashes multiple slashes, even at half her strength each strike was enough to stagger him.

In desperation Stolas pumped as much mana into the spear as possible. Mist hissed out of the spear in a rush forming a cloud big enough to obscure his body. A crashing wave of exhaustion threatened to drop him, mustering the last of his reserves he rushed through the dissipating cloud burying the spearhead into her stomach punching through the leather armor.

“Damn…” The adventure coughs as blood begins to pool around the spearhead where it pins the woman’s right hand to her body.

Looking up Stolas can see her sword arm held up high by a slimy green tendril. With a heavy shove the imp knocks Braya’s limp body to the ground dislodging his spear. He pauses a moment watching her still form. The only source of movement is a slowly growing pool of blood.

“Jade, grab what you can and let’s head back to the cave.” Worried about the merchant girl returning Stolas hurries over to the cart. Grabbing what looks like an expensive shirt he shoves as many small items and food as her can into it. Hefting the makeshift sack onto his shoulder the imp and slime run for the literal hills, leaving just as the sound of hooves on stone begins to grow.