"Erit Illuminatum Exstare," Leif incanted carefully. Once more, nothing happened. Instead, Leif was left staring frustratedly at his own pale hand. With an exhausted sigh, Leif leaned back and bumped his head onto the branch he had propped himself against. The old magic book rested open on his lap. On the page, the same strange words he had just spoken were scrawled along the page along with their definition and purpose. Supposedly, this incantation was supposed to call forth a ball of light.

All Leif had been able use them for was to give himself a headache. No matter how firmly he incanted or for how long, Leif had yet to get a reaction. No light, no sparks, nothing. For hours after reading the introduction and getting into the list of beginner spells, Leif had been trying to incant the first one. Now, annoyed and confused, Leif could feel impatience and frustration trickling through his veins like alcohol.

"So, does the magic book work?" Leif jolted at the curious voice that sounded from above him. Looking up, Leif was quick to spot Jasmine in the evening's red and gold light. She perched idly between two moss colored limbs. A full bag rested across her shoulders; Leif could just barely see the fur of Jasmine's latest hunt peeking over the top.

"Its not the book that's magic, Jasmine. Its supposed to be me." Leif murmured dryly. He looked back at the book and checked the pronunciation for the umpteenth time. He'd been saying it right, yet Leif still couldn't call forth a sphere of light.

"Salty," Jasmine commented strangely. Leif looked back at the wild girl in confusion. Jasmine still rested between two tree limbs, but now she was frowning and had upturned her nose to sniff the air.

"Salty?" He enquired.

"Your attitude. It's salty. And the smell. Did you get into my salt bag sometime today?" Jasmine asked as she again sniffed the air with a grimace.

"No, I haven't touched any of your things beyond this book." Leif tapped the book for emphasis as he spoke. He sniffed the air too and for a moment he thought he could just smell the faintest scent of salt. Jasmine dropped from her elevated perch to the worn boards of the tree house. She hummed as she continued to sniff. Finally, she gave a shrug.

"Whatever caused it can't be an animal, they'll get sick from too much salt. In fact, the scent will likely ward them away." Leif shrugged uncaringly. Salt or no salt, he was still frustrated with his lack of magical progress. Instead he tried to find another topic to speak of.

"Did your hunt go well?" Leif asked.

"Yes, I won't have to go out for a few more days now." Jasmine murmured as she lifted some gray fur from within her pack. Leif nodded. He'd seen a bit of it earlier, but he knew Jasmine was prideful about her hunting. Congratulating her on a good hunt always lifted the wild girl's spirits.

"It looks great." Leif murmured appreciatively. He may not know what kind of creature she had tracked down and killed, but he was sure she had done a good job hunting. It was more than he could currently do.

"Thanks." Jasmine bared her teeth in a strangely feral smile. She'd been doing that more often recently. Leif wondered if she had learned to smile from him and started doing it to become more human seeming…

"So, magic?" Jasmine asked as she sat her overstuffed pack down.

"No progress." Leif grumbled as he looked down at the book.

"Nothing?"

"Erit Illuminatum Exstare" Leif intoned emotionlessly. Jasmine blinked and looked around a little before looking back at him in confusion. "Its supposed to make a ball of light." Leif explained to the wild girl. "I just can't make any balls of light, apparently." The last part was spoken with an angry undertone. No matter how many hours he had incanted and incanted, Leif had been unable to call forth even the tiniest of lights.

"Hmmm…" Jasmine hummed as she tilted her head thoughtfully. "Why don't you take a break? Work on something else?"

"What else is there to work on? I can't exactly pick up my sword and practice with that." Leif snorted derisively. He'd tried this morning and he hadn't even managed to lift it before the still healing muscles in his arm gave out. Jasmine frowned at him.

Thunk! Leif jerked to the side as something dark and reflective settled into the wood a few inches to the right. Leif looked and felt himself go still at the sight of a gleaming blade embedded into the branch he had been leaning on.

"I can throw accurately for a good ways. Its really useful to take things down when I don't want to get close to them. The daggers are light too and I'm sure you can use your other arm for these."

"You want me to learn to throw daggers?" Leif asked. He had never considered it before. Dagger throwing had always seemed like such an underhanded and unmanly way to defeat a foe. Still, he couldn't deny that it would be much easier than trying to lift his sword. The daggers were light and likely much easier to conceal.

"Yes, you still have another five weeks to train and plan for seizing the gem. During that time, I'm sure you can learn to throw at least somewhat reliably. Meanwhile, I'll learn the sword in your stead." Jasmine stated boldly.

"Y-you?! With my sword?" Leif stuttered out in shock. He glanced from her thin, lithe body to the heavy blade his father had carefully crafted for him. How could a girl hope to lift that? Or use it against other, stronger and heavier opponents?

"Yes, me with your sword. Is there something wrong with that? Its not as though you can use it and if you're going to be using my daggers it'll be a fair trade." Jasmine shrugged nonchalantly.

"Y-you're a girl." Leif objected. Girls didn't use swords.

"So? Again, you can't use it and I'm not going in defenseless just because you have my daggers. What does it matter that I'm a girl? At this point I'm a shade of a lot stronger than you."

"But girls don't use swords." Leif felt as if his brain was running in circles. He couldn't seem to get past the fact that Jasmine was a girl and wanted to learn how to use a sword. Girls back home didn't do that. They wore pretty dresses, painted their lips, got married, and gossiped at the well. They didn't pick up swords and beat people to death.

"Humph! Well, this one does." Jasmine said as she easily picked up the glittering sword. She twirled it idly in her hands for a moment before going through a few graceful strikes and slashes. Leif was forced to admit that she seemed quite capable of lifting and using it. Still, it burned at his pride a bit to let her wield the sword while he was relegated to daggers. Leif swallowed.

There it was again.

Pride. Leif felt as though he'd become far too familiar with the burning and salting of his faltering pride. He hoped all of the quest wouldn't feel like this. The boy didn't think he'd have any pride left if it did.

"Now, are you going to get up, so I can teach you, or are you going to sit there all night?" Jasmine asked. She seemed to pay no mind to Leif's anxious and pained expression. Instead, she pulled out a few more daggers and dropped them directly in Leif's lap. One of them still had blood on it from her earlier kill. Leif looked and pushed down his flailing emotions. Now was not the time. He'd deal with it later.

Poor Leif. I feel somewhat bad for killing his pride like this, but its part of his character growth so...

Anyway, anyone wanna guess why Leif can't use magic?