Jacob moved to an angle that would allow him to observe what his dad was doing without getting in his way. The skylight above their heads and the small spaces in the boards of the walls allowed for plenty of light to illuminate the bench, but Jacob wanted to make sure he was not blocking any light from the door either.
Jake thought to himself, 'If this really is magic, I do not want the lack of light to be the reason that my father blows up the shed with us in it. . .'
Arthur took the scribing tool into his hand and placed the shovel over his lap, where the head of the shovel was easily accessible. Then, he placed the etching tool over the top left corner of the blade of the shovel, and the tool began to glow with a silvery-blue hue, which Arthur directed into specific shapes near the edge of the blade of the shovel.
Watching this happen, Jacob couldn't help but note the shape of the symbols. 'They look like different Euclidean shapes. . . and for some reason I can tell that the size of each one is very specific to its orientation to each other shape. . .'
Then Jacob thought about what he was just thinking about, 'What the hell? Why do I suddenly remember who Euclid is? I flunked in college and should hardly remember grade school. . . and why can I tell the measurements of each shape just by looking at them???'
Ignorant of Jacob's inner turmoil, Arthur just kept inscribing the symbols on the blade of the shovel until he made it to the other side of the tool, which created a congruent string of symbols in the metal. Then, with sweat on his brow, he turned to Jacob with a smile.
Jacob watched with rapt attention as the glowing symbols disappeared and then looked at his father with a questioning look.
Once Arthur noticed that he had Jacob's attention once again, he began his explanation.
"That is magic, I have inscribed the shovel with an enchantment that will make the blade sharper and more resilient so that it will not chip or crack for a long time."
Jacob just turned back to the shovel and stared at it for a while, trying to make sense of what he had witnessed.
'Did he truly enchant this tool? If that is the case, shouldn't my family be a bunch of wizards?'
Without letting Jacob delve too deeply into his own thoughts, Arthur shoved the shovel into his son's hands.
"Well, you won't know the real difference without testing it out for yourself, now will you?"
His father then had a good chuckle at the stupefied look on the boy's face.
Jacob looked up from the shovel, after hearing his father's laughter, to see a bright and warm smile on Arthur's face, the look of a proud father who was showing his son something amazing.
Jacob swallowed, then nodded at his father with a shocked expression still on his little face, which caused Arthur to chuckle a little. Then he turned and walked out to a good patch of dirt once again and tested the shovel.
This time, the shovel seemed to dig deeply right into the soil without much effort at all from Jacob's small body. This, he took note of as he thought, 'Right, that was much harder before. This is what I would expect from a shovel I would find in the tool shed. . . so this is magic, eh? What the fuck???? How is my father not a bloody wizard!!!''
Grabbing his hair in frustration with his little hands, Jacob delved deeper into his thoughts.
'With the power to make mundane tools this much more powerful, we should be capable of taking over the town and fortifying it from invaders! We would be the masters of this small, secluded part of the kingdom! . . .'
His pulse began to quicken as his shirt seemed to become tighter, particularly around his neck area. He began to rationalize how someone capable of magic not be as powerful as he might imagine.
'. . .There must be a reason why we are still a family of farmers. . .'
With a good idea of how to figure out the answers to his questions, once his heart calmed down, he brought the shovel back to the shed.
Arthur initially had that same proud look on his face with his chest puffed out and everything, but he quickly noticed the inquisitive look on his son's face.
"Hey champ, what are you thinking about? You seem to be troubled?"
Jacob looked up at his father, who was looking slightly worried, and he took that as the cue to ask his question.
"Father, if you can create such a powerful tool, then you must be a wizard like in the stories, right?"
Arthur looked at his son blankly before he began to laugh loudly. He even doubled over with his arms over his stomach, clearly in a stitch from his laughter. With a couple of knee slaps, Arthur finally got his laughter under control.
He wiped the tears out of his eyes from laughing so hard and addressed his, clearly still adolescent, son.
"Hah, son. . .Of course not! That little enchantment took all the magical power your old man has in his body, and I almost didn't complete it!"
Now, Jacob had an even more confused look on his face.
Arthur pulled up his chair and motioned for Jacob to come closer.
When Jacob neared his father, Arthur grabbed the shovel and placed it on the bench before picking Jacob up like the small child he currently was and setting Jacob on his thigh to talk to him.
With the calm and soothing voice of a loving parent, Arthur began his explanation.
"Son, I never awakened my magic. This is the extent of what a mundane farmer such as myself can do. I have been able to train my magic a little over the years by making sure all of our equipment is stronger, more efficient, and more durable."
Arthur looked in his son's eyes and could see the light of understanding, so he continued his explanation.
"That is why I laughed, not because you said something dumb, but because I sometimes forget that you are still a child. With awakening your magic, as I suspect, you talk more like an educated adult than most of the farm hands we have."
Jacob nodded in understanding, so Arthur continued.
"Every person is able to use a small amount of magic, but we call this dormant magic. For people like you, when you are able to somehow pull in more magic from the world to use, we call that a magic awakening."
Jacobs little heart began to speed up again, though this time it had a good feeling to it rather than a suffocating panic. He looked off to the side with a look that was a mix of curiosity and delight.
'I think my soul strength must have something to do with this. . .yes. . .that must be it! With a growing spirit, my soul is constantly being refined, which is increasing my capacity to accumulate the magic of this world. I bet I will soon be able to sense this magic, just like in video games!'
Jacob began to rub his hands together as he imagined becoming powerful beyond reason. Arthur noticed his son acting weird and decided he should explain a bit further.
"Now, listen here Jacob, having a magic awakening does not mean someone will necessarily be able to use magic or will be good at using magic. It just means they will have a greater capacity for magic."
Jacob snapped out of his useless thoughts as his father talked some sense into him.
"Magic is actually very hard to use without a special tool like this silver etching pen. Even this pen is only able to make the most basic of enchantments, and using it will not help you to control magic."
Jacob nodded his head along with the knowledge being given to him by his father, deciding to ask, "Then how can I learn to control magic, Dad?"
Arthur smiled at his son as he replied with a look of fascination.
"You will have to go to school, my boy!"