While playing with the chickens, Jacob realized that he had never really felt a strain on his magic like his father and brother.
'I wonder if I can enchant some of these rocks . . .'
He leaned over and grabbed a rock that was sitting in the dirt. It fit in the palm of his hand, but it was a bit rough.
'Still, it seems like this is a good practice rock, should be able to get about six strengthening runes around it.'
He inscribed the first rune, and it seemed to take hold, shining a bit as it waited to be completed. He then moved on to the other five runes, and they all took hold as well.
When he was done, the runes shone in a bright glow that kept getting brighter, and soon the rock was too hot to hold. So he threw it as far as he could into an open area near the chicken coop.
POP
The rock exploded, sending shrapnel in every direction. He had thrown it far enough that neither he nor the chickens were in danger, but they were spooked.
'Damn, I guess I should have known failed enchantments could explode . . . I wonder what went wrong.'
He let himself calm down, then thought about how to proceed. While thinking to himself, he moved to help calm the chickens down.
'I think rocks are going to have to be tried later. For now, I should just go get some clothes and make some with different enchantments . . . that should be safe and help avoid any chickens dying of a heart attack.'
He finished helping the chickens before running back to the house to grab a few pairs of his clothes from his room. Then he rushed back to the coop to care for the chickens while he practiced.
Jacob set the clothes down on a flat stone just outside the coop, brushing off any dirt that might get in the way. He started simple, repeating the same strengthening and comfort runes he had practiced with Arthur.
The fabric responded well. The runes glowed briefly, then faded into the fibers just like they had the night before.
'Alright, those should be nice to wear. That's two runes working together again. Let's try doing one with a third.'
He grabbed a pair of trousers that had a more sturdy material to work with.
'Not sure if the quality of the material matters, but that rock must have exploded for a reason . . . now let's try to put the strengthening rune on the self-cleaning enchantment.'
He turned the top of the trousers out like the boots his dad showed him and did the enchantment from the bottom up.
He started with the strengthening rune, using double the amount of runes with much less spacing between them than what he usually did.
Then he used the self-actualization rune just above the strengthening rune, except the second row of runes didn't sit directly above the first. Instead, each one nestled between the two below it, forming a staggered triangular pattern that gave the entire array a sense of balance and flow.
With his base of runes seemingly stable, he added the cleaning rune staggered above the self-actualization runes. When he laid his last rune down, the enchantment began to glow, but then started to flash, and then the runes seemed to crumble as they disappeared without sinking into the fabric.
'Huh, I guess failures don't just explode.'
He looked over to his small pile of clothes.
'Better stick with what I know for now until I understand what went wrong there.
For the rest of his time taking care of the chickens, he practiced the enchantments he already knew while trying to feel out each pattern and see why they worked the way they did.
As the sun started dipping, casting long orange shadows through the trees near the coop, he leaned back on his elbows and let out a long breath.
"That's enough for now," he muttered, more to himself than the chickens.
He looked at the small pile of enchanted clothes and nodded. 'Not bad for an afternoon of self-study.'
Jacob gathered the clothes and jogged back to the house just as May was stepping out to ring the bell for dinner.
"There you are," she said, smiling. "You keep disappearing off to that coop like you're one of the chickens."
He grinned. "They seem to have accepted me into their fold; it's nice just watching them scratch around the coop."
She raised an eyebrow but said nothing further as she turned back toward the house with a slight smile adorning her face.
Inside, the table was already set, and the smell of roasted vegetables and something savory made his mouth water.
Arthur was already sitting with Caleb, both of them looking like they'd earned their meal. Jacob dropped the clothes in the corner of his room, washed his hands, and joined the table.
Dinner passed with laughter, good food, and the sort of warmth that only came from being part of a household where each person knew they were loved.
Afterward, with full bellies and a bit more daylight left, Arthur clapped a hand on Jacob's shoulder.
"Let's get back to the barn. I've got a couple of bigger tools we can test your runes on. They're too big to swing around like the hammers, but they're not as critical as the plow."
Jacob's eyes lit up. "What kind?"
Arthur winked, his smile obvious. "You'll see."
Jacob was already halfway to the door before Arthur finished his sentence.