The hour was late and the night was dark, but in a lone room in the tower of Helia there remained a dim light. Isaac was hunched over a plain wooden desk, hunting knife in hand. And on the desk, the sole object of his attention, was a common stone. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling for the energy inside of him, matching its ebb and flow with his breathing, before taking command. The flow responded to his thoughts, travelling up his arm as he willed before smoothly entering the steel hunting knife. The metal gradually took on a blue hue, intensifying as more power entered it, until it finally took on an iridescent blue sheen. His eyes opened once more.

The brown haired bow slowly lowered the tip of the knife into the rock, digging a small recess into the rough surface. He carefully carved a line along the surface of the stone, leading it into another, and another, until a pattern emerged. He continued his work wordlessly, each line sapping a little more strength as the knife carved more blue into the featureless grey stone, etching magic deep inside under the scratched surface. His hand moved faster and faster, and the pattern became more and more elaborate until he had gotten what he wanted. A calm shade of blue emanated from the center of the stone, rising up from the intricate pattern of scarred rock carved in the center. But Isaac knew that the cool light belied a vicious payload. It flickered every now and then, a testament to his inexperience and lack of skill. It wasn't stable, not by a long shot. The material was weak, his control of magic was a little lacking, and some of the lines he had carved were a little off the mark. But it would do for his purposes.

He looked up from the bluish glow only to be met by a blanket of darkness. It appeared that his task had taken longer than he had realized, long enough for his feeble lamp to fade, leaving nothing but the rune stone and the energy in his hunting knife to illuminate his dismal work space. There was a little magic left in his knife; he'd injected a little too much into it before he'd begun. But it seemed that it been a fortunate mistake, as he had enough left to bring some light back into the room. 

He carefully set the tip of his knife against a glass globe that sat haphazardly on the desk, sending the dregs of the magic inside into the transparent sphere. A small globe of light formed inside as the magic entered, glowing brighter and brighter until it illuminated the whole room in a dim light.

Isaac looked around the bare room. It was quite small, with most of the space taken up by a bed, wardrobe and the desk he sat at, leaving precious little room to spare. Still, he had no reason to ask for more. He kept the floor and walls clean and bare, partially out of habit. No trophies to mark his achievements, not even the dirt on the floor to mark his steps. It had occurred to him more than once that if he packed all of his things and abandoned it, he would have left less presence in it than the spiders that made their homes in the corner. He had once considered decorating the drab room, to add presence to it, perhaps make it somewhere to look forward coming back to. But he would always hesitate, and in the first place, there was little to decorate with.

He knew that there were many other rooms in Helia that were much the same. Some lived in, some not, some holding their residents for longer than others. Helia often took in orphaned clairvoyants directly so that they would have a small place to call their own, where they could be supervised until Helia could find someone to take care of them, and usually this process didn't take long. Some kind of relative, friend of a relative, or someone looking to adopt a child usually took them in. Needless to say, Isaac had been in Helia for quite a while.

The boy sighed softly, turning back to the desk and the rune he'd spent so long working on. He'd stayed in this room, used it as his own, slept in its bed countless times as he studied, practiced, and worked to perfect his magic. But it had never been a home to him. Just a place to live in, perhaps indefinitely. Maybe there was a relative he didn't know who would one day come and give him a place to call home. But until then, he had work to do.

He picked up a leather pouch off his desk. As he did he noticed the memo he'd written down for himself earlier during the day. "New team. Head To the library tomorrow." He was being assigned to a new circle, though the details of said circle were eluding him at the moment. The orders he'd received earlier was what had prompted the creation of the stone rune in his hand, a form of preparation for things to come. He was certain that they'd be assigned to a mission of some sort, as this was usually the reason circles were formed like this. Although the nature of the mission was something of a grey area. He wouldn't say he was anxious, though he did feel some trepidation at this turn of events and a quiet hope that they would be sent on a routine patrol mission, or perhaps some sort of training exercise. It never hurt to be prepared, though, and he'd managed to imbue as much as he could for the moment. He'd have to prepare the rest tomorrow. 

Isaac carefully slid the stone in his hand into the leather pouch. Inside were stones similar to the one he'd created, each glowing a dull blue light that flickered every now and then. The stone pouch functioned as a major source of offensive power for Isaac as his direct attack power was somewhat lacking. Using his magic in a direct assault was often a poor choice for him as his control of magic wasn't the best. Having chunks of magic pre-prepared made up for that deficiency somewhat. His quiver was ready, half of it was full of magic arrows while the other half held normal arrows. His pouch of snares was also ready. He was about as prepared as he could be for now, and it was time to rest.

He set himself down on the bed, covering himself with the think blanket. He lay there for a time, watching as the magic in the lamp burned away, slowly letting the room slide into darkness. Isaac thought about the events of the day, as per usual. The lessons he found difficult to understand, the failures of the day and the small successes. He thought back to the previous day, reliving the lessons he'd learned. Then farther back a little more. Past the almost-sullen, the beginning of his magic lessons, past before he'd come to Helia. Back to that place, so long ago... And then he was gone, lulled into the deep ocean of dreams.

[hr]
Isaac awoke early the next day, as per usual. He initiated his morning routine: sharpening his knife, bow maintenance, and checking that nothing was close to exploding in his bag. With that done, he went downstairs. He got some funny looks as he went by, but that wasn't anything new to him. He'd been here long enough that most would ignore the strange boy with his bow and arrows. Most had likely seen stranger things, after all. And anyone who ignored the warnings to not use conventional weapons against shades was dismissed as a fool and left to their own devices, mostly. 

He stopped at the second floor balcony and took the time to take a peek at things below. It was busy even in the early hours, a testament to Helia's productivity. Isaac looked at the people, taking in the fresh air and the morning sun. Things had changed greatly from when he'd first arrived at Helia, and he knew that he was lucky to be here. But he knew he still had a while to go. He'd get stronger, give back to Helia somehow. And then after that...

Isaac headed towards the library. It wasn't somewhere he went often but it was familiar to him. Part of the reason why he did poorly in his studies was because he had difficulties reading the texts used in them. Reading had never been much of a strong point for him and the advanced language contained in the books made things even worse. But he did go to the library on occasion because he didn't want to fall behind. It became somewhat quieter as he went along as he navigated away from the main points of foot traffic in the mornings, coming to a head as he stepped inside the library itself. He was instantly engulfed in the smell of books and polished wood as all sound from the outside was abruptly cut off. It was a fair ways into the morning but there still weren't too many people there. There was little noise inside, save for muted conversations in the hidden recesses of the library. Isaac glanced around the halls, looking for the mustachioed man purported to be his leader. He was likely in here somewhere, and if not then maybe he could find some of his other teammates.