"My name is Berry?" He asked feeling the words in his mouth. "Wait you didn't know your own nam?" Jessica ask in surprise. "No he lost it just before he came to live with us" said Casey looking at the book Jessica held. "What else does it say about him?" She asked. Jessica lifted the book and continued "it shows his health and stamina, which both look really good. Huh that's weird it says you have no mana even though you have spells listed." Berry nodded "ya Mr Graves removed a corrupted monsters mana core from my chest. Apparently I was using it to do magic." The look of surprise grew even more on Jessica's face. "That's insane I've never heard of anyone attempting something like that. You're lucky to be alive." Casey nudged her "what spells does he know?" Continuing Jessica read on " let's see looks like he has five spells. They all look to be a variant of the first one. Light orb, purifying Light orb, healing Light orb, recovering Light orb and absorbing Light orb. Looks like you were a specialist in Light orb based spells." Berry held out his hand, it felt like he could almost feel the spells just out of reach. Jessica continued "let's see list of skills taunt, melee weapons adept, enhanced mana recovery and survival instincts. That must of been what you were feeling when we meet before." Casey interrupted "can you do me next." Berry asked do you have to scan the back to use it?" Pointing at the state rod. Jessica shook her head "no it can scan for the chest too but it's just common practice to do the back. It can be a little awkward doing the front on some people." She said looking at Casey chest. Casey crossed her arms over her chest trying to hide from their gaze well feeling her face turn red.
Casey had her stats read a was disappointed by her low attributes and lack of spells and skills. The only skills she had were ranged weapon novice and a skill called projectile manipulation. Jessica had told her gaining skills was rare and that she should be happy she had any at all. Casey had also been surprised to find out Jessica had been studying magic under Mr Graves for almost a year. She had said she wanted it to be a surprise when Casey had interrogated her. Berry and Casey stood behind her as she showed off the spells she had been working on mastering. "Fireball" she called as a streak of fire shot from her wand hitting a bush and setting it on fire. "Ice shot" she called out like wise flinging a bolt of ice at the same bush. When it struck it extinguished the flames in a cloud of smoke. "Thats amazing I want to learn how to do magic." Casey said in amazement. "You have to learn how to sense mana first then gather enough to condense and form a vessel to hold mana for your spells. It's not easy I just figured it out not to long ago." As night approached they set up camp and eat dinner. Jessica had surprised them the first time they had stopped to set up camp by pulling a fully set up one person tent out of a little bag she had on her belt. "If you wanted to sleep in a tent you should of brought one" she had said. All three of them sat in meditation after dinner. Berry found himself in a familiar space inside his inner world. He could see tendrils of mana reaching out to an empty void were his core once was. He pulled the mana together and wove it into void filling it. It felt like he was whole again.
Berry attention was pulled away from his meditation by a feeling of uneasy. "Somethings wrong" he said getting the attention of his two companions. He summoned his sword and shield and got into a defensive stance. Jessica drew her wand and Casey her boomerang. Glowing eyes could be seen in the darkness, they were surrounded. Little green creatures walked out of the shadows. They had long pointy ears and oversized noses. Some held spears and others wooden clubs. The ones in the back held bows drawn and ready to shoot. An arrow bounced of his shield as he faced the first wave of attackers. Casey threw her her boomerang aiming for the first three creatures approaching Berry. It sailed trough the air in a flash easily removing there heads. She called it back to her hand as Jessica unleashed a berage of ice bolts picking off a few of the archers. Berry let out a howl grabbing the attention of the monsters and being striking them down one after another. A group of the archers fired a volley at the group. Berry moved to intercept them easily deflecting with his shield, but he couldn't stop them all. Several flew past him heading for the girls. Casey had seen him attempt to protect them and felt useless. When the arrows rushed towards Jessica she had instinctively moved infount of her. She held up her hands hoping she wouldn't die. "What happened" she said opening her eyes. "You made the arrows curve away from us with your skill." Jessica said in amazement. Not wasting any time Jessica shot the rest of the remaining archers. Casey's boomerang sailed around Berry in a arc dispatching the group he had collected. By the time it was over they were all exhausted.
"Holy crap that was scary." Casey said getting close to the fire. "Ya it was but we made a good team." Jessica said adjusting her hat. She had pulled a pointy blue hat with a wide brim out of her bag the first night they had camped. She really did look the part of a wizards apprentice. When they had ran into her well shopping Jessica had went home and prepared as well. She had read about people with skills such as Berry's survival instincts and didn't want to be caught unprepared. Mr Graves had told her that a wizards strength came from preparation. "We need to get stronger" she said seemingly out of nowhere. "I agree, we need to train more." Berry said sitting down next to them after collecting the loot from the ash piles. "We need to find a place to train are skills and team work." Casey added. "I don't want to ever feel helpless again."
The next day Jessica had tied Casey's hands behind her back "I don't think this is a good idea" Casey said having second thoughts about what was about to happen to her. "You need to be able to use your skill at will" Jessica had a pile of rocks stacked next to her. "OK ready" she said throwing one before reserving a answer. The rock struck Casey right in the head causing blood to gush down her face. "Oh my gosh. I really thought it would curve." Before she could get to Casey a glowing red orb appeared next to her head, the wound quickly closed up. "You already rebuilt your mana core?"She asked forgetting about her friend already. "Ya I did it last night before the attack."He said plainly as if it wasn't that big of a deal. "It took me nine months to build mine. Maybe it's because he was just replacing it." "Or maybe you just suck" Casey said still not happy about the rock to the face. Jessica turned on her "Well if he has his magic back that means I don't have to worry about hurting you." She picked up another rock and Casey screamed. Berry had been testing out his spells but wasn't having much luck. It looked like he didn't have enough mana to use any of them other then healing and light. He would have to grow his mana reserves before being able to properly use his spells. There was always more work to be done. Every one in the group had their own motivations but they all shared the same goal, to get stronger.
After a few days of rest and training they decided that they should return to Mistrun. Casey had to know if her brother survived and Jessica was shur Mr Graves wouldn't have died so easily. They would take there time heading back and train hard. If the enemy was still there they would retreat and come up with a plan. Berry worked them hard when it came to training saying their lives depended on team work. As they approached there home the smell of fire and death clung to the air. It had almost been two months since they left but the battle scars were still fresh on the land. When they finally crest the hill over looking the city they were horrified by the carnage and devastation. Not a single building was left standing.