The massive boar charged, it's thick tusks lowered into a prime disemboweling position. Morgan for his part processed his impending doom in an orderly manner that didn't involve any inadvertent squealing. Tumbling backwards off the tree stump turned stool with the finesse of a drunk toddler, he gasped as his side crashed into the hard earth where an old root slammed into his ribs. A half-second later the stump exploded with chips of wood a single tusk buried deep in its centre. Morgan stumbled up, the boar glaring at him with angry red eyes that gleamed in a way that was not entirely natural. The boar had bristling black hair that was longer across its spine where it stood on end like a dog raising its hackles. Aside from the arrow wounds which caused the dark fur to glisten red around them it had a number of small but vicious scars and a clipped ear that looked to have been partially bitten off at some point. Most alarming however were its tusks, hell its entire face was disturbing. The red iris' and too large tusks were the most obvious deviations from a normal boar, but a closer inspection revealed that its entire head had a menacingly predatory edge to it. Morgan noticed all this as he stood around like an idiot. He snapped out of it as the two strangers were shouting at him and he noticed the dirt around the stump had shifted. The dry dead wood creaked and roots tore from the ground as the boar tugged again and again to dislodge its' tusk. He needed to act. Morgan fumbled for his knife his grip surprisingly steady from the corner of his vision he saw another arrow let fly by the German girl which dug into the grass near the boar with a sad thwap. She let out a short scream of panic and frustration. The tree stump cracked and splintered as the boar tugged again. He had to focus. Morgan sucked in a breath as he summoned his book and it flipped to page for . The symbols for the glyph refreshed in his mind and he tugged with his Will as he imagined its ethereal pathway into reality opening up. The core concept of it-a single devastatingly perfect strike resounded in his mind like stories of heroes past who struck a single critical blow in their time of desperate need. The power answered. His Will fired up and rushed through him and buzzed around the dagger in his hand, sitting just beneath the surface. Waiting. He tried to push it further but the power stubbornly refused, sluggishly reaching with his intent but staying firmly in the realm of things that aren't happening. It was then that Morgan remembered the description of the spell and also what he on some previously subconscious level knew about spell-craft; It needed a catalyst to draw magic into existence. Namely, it needed at the very least a verbal component, possibly more. Components which were not conveniently prescribed. Components that he had to devise himself. That moment of realisation also happened to be the same moment the giant boar ripped the stump in half in a shower of splinters and roared. Or well, it squealed at least. A deep and scary squeal-it was still a pig after all.

  The power inside him roiled like a rapid in his veins, buzzing in his mind as his attention split between figuring out how to cast the spell and what to do about the boar that was angrily wheeling around to get to him. The explosive shower of wood chips had left him reeling and on one knee. There was nothing between him and the feral boar as it trampled towards and he had to awkwardly twist around to face it. A small axe came flying in from the side carving another small flesh wound in the creature as it squealed.

  "Aye pork-chop get over here and finish what you started!"

  The dwarven man was yelling his best battle-cry, his accent stretching out vowels in a way Morgan found vaguely amusing despite the circumstances. As he reached out his hand the axe which had dislodged itself from the boar as it bucked from the hit when flying back to him in a rush. To Morgan it was the first clear proof that he wasn't the only one and thus was not going crazy. It was also really fucking cool. Morgan took the distraction to lunge in. He grabbed one of the boars massive tusks and pushed its head aside to stab up into the beasts hairy neck. Morgan thought it was a pretty solid strategy, would have applauded himself a little even at his quick thinking. The knife however barely cut in an inch in before thick skin and muscle conspired to bring it to a halt. The knife was sharp, hell it cut like it had just been freshly sharpened. He had tested it earlier and it should have cut deeper! There wasn't time to think about that Morgan tried to push it deeper grunting in frustration as the monstrous creature bucked and he struggled to find leverage. The distraction was gone now and he had made the grave mistake of over committing. Its' head swung and caught him in the gut. The wind left him as he went air-born. The moment stretched out and Morgan felt briefly weightless before crashing back down to earth. He landed with a roll and Morgan found himself coughing up blood. A feminine voice called out to him, he was too discombobulated to make out the words through her accent but he recognised the concern. She helped him up with a notable amount of effort, her face was drenched in sweat and red with exhaustion, her long blonde hair sticking to her face and neck. He did not know how much time it took, but Morgan's mind finally caught up with him. The girl was rambling in a distraught voice, the redness in her eyes the only evidence that tears were mixed up with the sweat.

  "Please we need to help him! He is already hurt and I cannot make more arrows"

  Morgan nodded, replying with what he intended to be words but came out as more of a grunt. He probably should have done a bit more to communicate his intent but interpersonal skills didn't come naturally to him. So when he was stressed they were one of the first things to take a brief trip to a farm upstate. It was only a few meters across on the other side of the clearing, the dwarf was clutching at his bleeding side as he ducked around a tree. His small stature was helping him quite a bit as he out-maneuvered the boar as it bucked around in a mindless rage. But he could see the exhaustion wearing down on him. Instead of an axe he now had a long hammer which he used to take strikes at the creatures head when he could. Whatever that was doing wasn't enough though. That boar was stupidly tough. Not that he had fought a boar before but he could swear they were supposed to have some self preservation instincts! It should have given up and run away ages ago. Now it was only a matter of time before he made a mistake and got skewered. Morgan needed that spell to work, some part of him knew that anything less just wouldn't be enough. He gave himself a quick once over, making sure his guts were still on the inside before narrowing his focus to his foe. Instinct caused him to reach for something inside him, a sensation he was starting to recognise as drawing on his magic. I small burst of Will rushed through his mind that felt the same as when he had pushed himself getting to Argo. As his mind focused on the problem everything else begun to fade from his thoughts. There was only him and that stupid boar that he needed to kill with magic. The magic of the had receded, but the glyph was still fresh in his mind. A spark of inspiration hit him as he limped across the clearing. The words were not a specific incantation, more of a vibe. They had to resonate with the intention behind the magic being used and with him as well. Morgan sped up as he ducked down to pick up a fallen branch. It had a good heft to it and was mostly straight, it would do. He felt his Will push through him as it dragged the spell into being, the electric buzz of power and intent pushing into the branch causing the air to shimmer faintly around it. The words would have to be sincere, not in the wholly genuine "Eat shit and die you overgrown pig" way either. Somehow he just knew. To him magic was something special, something that deserved a certain level of gravitas. Morgan was finally close enough to draw the boars attention and it wheeled itself around to face him. He hastily limped to put a large rock between them and it start to rush around with a squeal. Morgan began to chant as he raised the branch-no Morgan thought. No he was casting a god-damn spell. If he was going to be a fuck-mothering wizard, he was going to bloody well think like one too! Morgan flourished his staff in preparation to strike.

  AS ABOVE SO BELOW WITH FORCE & FATE BY WORD AND WILL I DOOM MY FOE!

  Morgan's voiced echoed out with a reverberating boom, the air around his staff shimmered and for the first time he saw something other than mindless rage in the boars blood-red eyes. Fear. It was a little late for that now though. For a brief moment Morgan saw with perfect clarity. There was a spot below the right side of the beasts temple where the bone was thinner. It had already been accidentally hit with the dwarfs hammer and there were small cracks in the bone. In a single fluid motion the force of his strike was focused by the magic. His body guiding it into a single perfectly placed hit. The magic forced all the energy of the blow in one direction, every small shift of his body and staff added to the blow. A resounding CRACK! echoed through the night. kinetic force that would have otherwise been rebounded or dispersed were forced back into the creatures skull with enough fervor the air glowed with plasma and a small popping noise was heard as the air collapsed in on the small vacuum bubble that formed. Morgan stood there in numb shock as he slowly lowered his staff. The boar was very, very, most assuredly-dead. As the adrenaline and shock faded Morgan noticed a weight had come over him, his legs buckling under the pressure. He was feeling light-headed as he collapsed to the ground. His last coherent thought summoned a slight smile of contentment to his face as it danced through his mind.

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  I can dooo maaaagiiic!

  Morgan came to with a headache pounding on his temple. At the periphery of his senses he felt a slew of system notifications waiting to be viewed. With an audible groan he rolled up into a sitting position. He felt heat radiating in front of him, the crackle of fire pinged against his ears and the smell of cooking meat had his mouth watering. Morgan's eyes shot open in realisation as the past few hours caught up with him. He immediately had to squint, the glare of the flames had him blinking rapidly as smoke blew into his face. Morgan tried and failed to get up. That was when the green and white checkered pattern of the German girls uniform as she came over to stop him from falling over. She was surprisingly calm as she guided him back into a sitting position.

  "Hey hey hey! do not try to get up you are still recovering"

  Once he was sitting up on his own she asked if the water in his sack was safe and if she could have some to drink before bringing some to him as well. Morgan grunted and nodded his assent before remembering to use his words like a normal person.

  "Yeah go ahead the waters safe to drink and you're welcome to it as well. Just don't take one of the red ones, I'm pretty sure they have wine in them and I haven't tried them out yet."

  Morgan tried to put on a friendly face hoping the pained smile was at least friendly. For her part she didn't waste any time, the momentary surprise about the wine put aside. She grabbed two of the skins and brought one over to him which he took gratefully. He sipped his while she gulped down half the skin in one go, only stopping reluctantly as she tried to conserve water. She plopped down with a contented sigh. Morgan chuckled, he probably would have been much the same if he did not have the luck of meeting Argo and receive some goodies from her. Having settled in she turned to him.

  "Danke for the water and the boar slaying! Meine name is Sophie by the way-nice to meet you"

  She had a pretty rambunctious tone as she held out her hand to shake, a broad smile on her face. Her attitude was lifting his own mood and Morgan couldn't help but chuckle. It might have just be how she reacts to what must be a very stressful situation for someone so young-or maybe she was just like that? Regardless, his headache was starting to fade already so Morgan managed to summon a genuine smile as he shook her hand.

  "My name is Morgan and you are most welcome Sophie." Morgan grimaced as he recalled how the fight had ended. "I apologise for collapsing on you earlier, I didn't realise doing that would take so much out of me. Is the ehh, shorter fellow who was with you alright?"

  Sophie flushed a little at the apology.

  "It is alright really, the same thing happened to me earlier when I overused my gift."

  She gestured at the camp around her which was surprisingly well developed. A small wooden hut supported by two of the trees and the fire was a well dug pit lined with stone. Cuts of boar meat were on a spit roast, its skinned hide was hanging on a drying rack near the fire pit. There was even a rack for smoking some of the left over meat. What surprised him the most was how well it was all made. It looked like they had settled in weeks ago with a full workshop woodworking tools. Sophie coughed awkwardly to regain his attention back.

  "Bj?rn used his gift to make this camp while I butchered the boar. He had to rest afterwards though, or he might have fainted like you and I had"

  Sophie made a viscous grin as she mention butchering the boar. Morgan had to admit it was pretty impressive and he said as much. Sophie perked up we a goofy grin.

  "Bj?rn's power is amazing, you were only out for like an hour I think but he made all of this in half that time!"

  She stood up suddenly, gesticulating wildly as she recounted how she got here. Apparently she had only just gotten home from school, one moment she was munching on a snack, the next she was in the middle of nowhere. She glossed over her panicking, skipping to when she experienced her own bit of divine intervention.

  "-I met Artemis you know the Greek god lady? Anyway after she helped me calm down she did this thing and I had like a-a-ah"

  "An out of body experience?" Morgan offered.

  "YES! exactly! Anyway when I woke up I had this cool bow" She held out her hand and a golden bow engraved with images of hunts and nymphs appeared in her hand. Sophie then reached for a nearby stick and showed how she could nock it in the bow. It was little more than a large twig, but the moment it touched the bow string it came alive, twisting into a viscous looking arrow. Morgan inwardly suppressed a stifled a snort as she reacted much the same way he had, her face clearly filled with childish glee. Unlike him though she was actually a child though which did make him a little more somber. Due to issues he'd been dealing with for over a decade he was nowhere near as grown up as someone his age should be, but that didn't stop the spike of paternal protectiveness that shot through him. This situation was too dangerous for him, let alone an unprepared teenager who looked to be sixteen at best. Morgan kept the feelings to himself for now and Sophie picked up her story again.

  "Artemis also gave me this power, I kind of just asked for her to help me survive-which is how I can skin boars and a lot of other things now I think! But I can do this other cool thing too-that is if I focus I can make myself glow and I then I shoot really well and I can like jump really well too." Sophie said the last part quieter. Morgan could recognise the same self-conscious doubt he was feeling. Despite how real everything felt it wasn't that easy to shake the unreal feeling of it all.

  "I know it sounds crazy but can show you later promise, but it only lasts a few seconds and I do not think I can use it yet without passing out again"

  Morgan nodded along as she explained how she had encountered Bj?rn shortly afterwards. Bj?rn told her he had a similar experience but with Hephaestus instead. Then the two of them walked together for a bit before they encountered their first bit of trouble. Apparently the boar he had killed wasn't the first one to cause them problems. The first one she managed to take out herself, but in her inexperience she had overused her ability, fainting soon after she had landed the final blow. She had woken up later much like he had and had the horrid luck of encountering another of the boars.

  "-and then we saw you! Sorry for sending the boar to you-that was an accident" She was a bit bashful as she finished. Morgan was going to reply but she shot up with her animated speech again and he was happy to let her talk.

  "But you were so cool! You just rolled out of the way and wrestled it! And-and when it knocked you away you just got up started chanting magick and-" She finished up with an explosive sound effects to accompany her excited hand gestures. Morgan thought that was a bit of an exaggeration. Heat crept into his cheeks as he tried to deflect & laugh off the complement.

  "I'll admit it was pretty cool, wasn't sure if it was going to work though. You should be pretty proud of yourself too! You took one of those out yourself and you're taking this whole situation rather well."

  Sophie looked a little distant and there was a certain fragility to her voice when she replied.

  "Meine Mutter is a Krankenschwester-a nurse. I like to think some of the lessons she taught me are helping" Sophie gulped the lump forming in her throat.

  "She is probably worried sick about me right now."

  Morgan hesitated for a moment, not sure what exactly to do or say to help. He hesitated for a moment giving her a pat on the shoulder. The awkward silence only lasted a moment when the door to the hut swung open. Bj?rn walked out with a boisterous smile and a spring in his step. He took one look at them and cheered.

  "Well look who's finally awake!