Asher glanced up and scanned the scenery, he had been paying attention inward for quite a while and he hadn’t been taking in the details of the world around him. Still, even with his mind having been focused elsewhere, he was amazed to see that he had missed the approach of a massive forest. The woods were densely packed with huge trees, easily twice the size of those he knew from home. The wall of gargantuan trees extended in both directions for as far as Asher could see. Looking deeper into the forest he saw surprisingly little; it was as if the woods had an unnatural darkness to them. Asher would expect to see shadows cast from the goliath trees above but not this impenetrable dark. 

                “This is where the goblins live?” Asher asked, a chill running down his spine. 

                “The goblins, and many other kinds of nasty creatures.” Edmund responded. “It’s named the Blackwood for a few reasons, but a big one is that the place is so big and so dangerous that it’s not worth building paths through it. People would just prefer to go around. Essentially its a black hole on our maps.”        

                “Is it really all that dangerous?” Hazel asked. 

                “Oh absolutely. If you two hadn’t had the luck of finding me you would most certainly have died in these woods.” His voice was disturbingly cheery considering the content of his words. 

                “Lovely.” Hazel replied with a grimace. 

                “This is probably your last chance to back down if this is too much Haze.” Asher offered. He wanted to make sure she didn’t feel obligated to be here. 

                Hazel punched him in the arm. It hurt. 

                “Get that damn idea out of your head, I’m not giving up.” She reprimanded. “I'm fully committed to this, just as you are.”

                Asher apologised while rubbing his arm. “Sorry, sorry. I just can’t help but worry.” 

                She eyed him, still unimpressed. 

                “You are right though, I understand. I will forget all about you falling back.” He volunteered. 

                “Here! Here! I agree with Hazel; we are a team Asher. Don’t even think of sending any of us home.” he turned back to shout at the other two.

                Asher smirked. He was finding Edmund difficult to dislike. His boisterous persona was clearly not all there was to the man, but so far at least it seemed that underneath his mask he seemed to genuinely care. 

                “Since the forest is so dangerous I obviously cannot let you enter.” Edmund continued with a smile. 

                Asher was so caught off guard that it took a few moments for the words to come together to make any kind of sense to him. 

                “Excuse me?” Hazel demanded before Asher had quite caught up.

                Edmund raised his hands in surrender. “Until.” He emphasised and lingered on the word. “Until you two understand your abilities enough to keep yourselves alive. Without some basic protections from your mana, you won't make it more than a few steps into this forest.” He lowered his hands and smiled once again. 

                Asher found that his urgency to find Ben was eating away at his patience, much more so now that they were so close. He found it hard to accept any kind of delay, but he understood that Edmund was likely right, he knew more of this place than Asher. Ben wouldn’t benefit from a dead brother. 

                “So, what do we need to do?” He asked, resigned to following Edmund’s instruction. 

                Edmund reached into his grey robes and pulled out a gemstone from some hidden pocket. 

                “This is quartz.” He said. It’s not the only option for this step but it's an abundant material and it’s also powerfully reactive to mana. Take this, visualise pouring your mana into it and let's see what happens.” Edmund handed the stone to Hazel and began to rub his hands together in excitement.  

                “Just give me a second.” She said, turning the stone over and examining it. 

                Asher’s heart raced once more, he couldn't help but feel excited to learn more about magic, despite the otherwise urgent circumstances. As he watched Hazel examining the stone a flicker of recognition passed through his mind.  Was there some connection between this crystal and the stone Ben had showed him before all this started?

                “What exactly is this going to do?” Hazel asked, showing more restraint than Asher would have. Part of him wanted to snatch the stone out of her hand right now and try it for himself. He wasn't proud of that impulse.

                “Mana comes in different flavours, so to speak.  I can faintly sense your mana but at the low density of your current power it is impossible to tell much about its nature. This stone will manifest your mana in a form visible to the naked eye. The form revealed will hint at the alignment of your power.” Edmund replied, his tone was gentle but also still eager. 

                “Well, here's hoping for something good.” Hazel shrugged as she brought the crystal up to her eye level, focusing in.

                Asher could see something beginning to happen immediately, but he wasn't quite sure what exactly it was just yet. A moment later and the stone was glowing slightly. The previously transparent white gem was growing increasingly bright. Strangely, glints of light began to appear and disappear in a cycle inside crystal

                Hazel looked at Edmund with a baffled look. “Honestly, I was expecting a little more. What did that mean?”

                Edmund just blinked at Hazel. “Honestly, I have no idea what that meant.” 

                “Oh my god” Hazel groaned. 

                Edmund looked back to the gem, and picked it up to examine it closely. He looked at it from multiple angles and then, suddenly, he tossed it into the air. As it fell, he slammed both his hands together with a sharp crack. The clap was so loud that it stung Asher’s ears. 

                Edmund’s smile returned. “I believe your mana is aligned to Protection magic.”  He opened his hands revealing the quartz, unharmed. Asher wouldn’t have thought it were possible to smash it with a clap in the first place but that clap had seemed unnaturally powerful, perhaps it would have been broken if not for Hazel’s mana. 

                “Protection magic?” She asked, sounding a little deflated. “I thought magic would be things like blasts of fire, blades of water or bolts of lightning. Something flashy.”  

                “Well in a way your instincts were correct, elemental magics are perhaps the most common varieties. There are however forms of magic which are more abstract, maybe more conceptual than literal. Such as Protection magic.” Edmund explained.

                Asher was totally lost, he didn’t understand what Edmund was talking about anymore.  He was struggling with the idea of a magical power being abstract.

                “Your mana will lend itself well to creating magical barriers and reinforcement magic.” Edmund continued.

                Hazel on the other hand was nodding along thoughtfully to Edmund’s words. When he had finished, she looked to the shield strapped to her arm. “Is this because…?” She began to ask. 

                “Goodness no.” Edmund burst into laughter. “The nature of your mana is decided by the shape of your soul, not what equipment you happen to be sporting on any given day.” He said, wiping tears from his eyes. 

                Hazel blushed and turned away, fidgeting with the straps on her shield. 

                When Edmund finally recovered from his bout of laughter he turned to Asher and took out another stone from his pocket. “Not sure if Hazel’s reinforcement would have affected the test for you, we’ll use a new one just to be safe.” He said, handing the stone to Asher. 

                Finally. Asher had been wrestling down his own impatience since Edmund had begun the test with Hazel. Hands shaking with anticipation and heart pounding in his chest he accepted the gemstone. Like Hazel had, he lifted it to his eye level and began to focus. 

                He closed his eyes and counted two slow deliberate breaths, allowing a moment for his mind to calm. Initially he tried as Edmund had said, he just tried to picture his mana flowing into the stone, but nothing happened. After a few failed attempts he tried pushing harder, doing his best to whip his mana up into a storm before the push. Suddenly whatever had been blocking him gave way and his mana poured easily into the stone. 

                Asher felt a pulse of invisible energy expanding outward from the stone. It felt like a wave or warmth washing over him on a cold day. After that, nothing else happened. 

                “I really did think this would be more exciting.” Asher sighed as he looked up to Edmund for an explanation. 

                Once again Edmund cocked his head to the side and stared blankly at the outcome. “I wonder if it is a coincidence that you both have such strange mana alignments.” 

“What was it?” Asher asked, growing impatient. 

                “I’m not an expert in mana identification but I think that was life magic.” He sounded impressed as he said it. 

                “Life magic? I mean that sounds cool, but nothing happened. What makes you say that?” Asher asked. 

                “The effects were subtle due to your limited power but they were there. For starters.” Edmund pointed at the ground beneath Asher’s feat. 

                Looking down, Asher saw that the grass around his feet was slightly longer and lusher than the surrounding blades. 

                “How’s your back feeling? Wasn’t an hour ago you wouldn't stop mumbling about it.” Edmund asked Asher. 

                Asher thought about it, twisted at his hips, and realised with a gasp that he felt better. He wasn't completely healed but the most significant pains had faded significantly. 

                “That’s… that’s just unbelievable!” Asher’s amazement was clear as he continued examining himself, searching for scrapes and bruises which were now gone. 

                “Lastly, it is difficult to make out due to how bright it is out here but I think I see a slight green tint to the crystal now.” Edmund continued. 

                Asher half the quartz closer and eyed it. Edmund was right, it was faint but the crystal now had an ever so slight green cast to it.

                “Amazing.” Hazel said under her breath as she observed. 

                “Certainly, is quite the useful ability. Every quest worth the journey needs a healer.” 

                Asher wasn't sure how he felt about an ability that lacked clear offensive applications but regardless, this was brilliant. With this kind of power Asher felt like he was beginning to see a glint of the light of hope. With this, even if Ben was hurt Asher might be able to help.