Chapter 2

Eragon teaches Roran an assortment of exercises from his former world, showing him how to stretch his body to make it more limber as well as setting him up with a training regiment of running, long jumps, push-ups, sit-ups, and the like. 

When he isn't exercising with Roran or working on his magic control, Eragon heads out into the woods in search of game to fill their stomachs. 

His hunts are more successful than he anticipated, netting half a dozen rabbits and a large six point buck. Garrow was mighty happy that things were looking up for this winter. 

As Garrow hauls the deer carcass away, he tells Eragon to take the next day off and have some fun in town. Happy at the prospect of going to Carvahall and meeting Brom, Eragon heads off to bed early. 

The next morning, Eragon gets up early and prepares for his trip to Carvahall. He gathers the little pocket money that the previous Eragon had hidden away. Once he is ready, he heads off towards town. 

It takes him around an hour of brisk jogging down the winding dirt path before it widens and he is walking through a medieval style town. A series of wooden cottages line the road as well as some people going about their business. 

Eragon takes in the sights while trying to put names to all the faces he sees. Luckily, he still remembers most of them. Some of the residents wave at Eragon and he replies in kind. He mingles with the villagers for a while before finding Morn's tavern. 

Entering into the establishment, Eragon sees a few people eating and drinking but otherwise the tavern is quite empty. He walks over to the bar and sees Morn's wife Tara pouring drinks. As he sits down Tara glances at him and smiles. She finishes pouring drinks for a couple before walking over. 

"Eragon, it's so nice to see you. What adventures has the young hunter got to tell?"

Eragon smiles at her. "It's great to see you as well Tara. I caught a buck the other day so Garrow gave me the day off. One or two more and we will be set for winter already."

Tara nods. "That's great to hear. Hopefully this year won't be too bad. We need to wait till the traders arrive later this year to top up on our necessities." 

Eragon thinks to himself for a moment before replying. "Oh. I forgot about the traders… I better save up for that. Well… It's been great seeing you but I shouldn't distract you from your paying customers any longer. Oh… Do you know if Brom is at his home?" 

Tara tilts her head slightly. "He should be… I don't see why he would be gone." 

Eragon nods before getting up from his seat. "Thanks Tara. I will see you again soon." 

"Goodbye, Eragon." 

Eragon walks out of the tavern and continues to memorize the layout of Carvahall. He tries his best to put names to everyone he sees and even which house belongs to who. 

He explores the town for over two hours before arriving at a small shack at the outskirts of Carvahall. Sitting out on the porch in a rocking chair is an older man with a grizzled face passed out with a bottle clutched in his hand. 

Eragon walks up and reels back from the stench of booze. He tries to wake up the old storyteller but is unsuccessful. With no reluctance whatsoever, Eragon fills a bucket with water from a nearby well before splashing Brom right in the face. Brom sputters and flails about in a panic before seeing Eragon in front of him. 

"W-what the hell are you doing boy? You don't wake a man like that." 

Eragon scoffs. "When he is so hung over that he is unresponsive it's the only way. Get yourself cleaned up Brom, I need to talk to you. It's important." 

Brom looks at Eragon's serious face. He sighs before getting up from his chair. "Just give me a moment to change out of these wet clothes." 

Brom stumbles over to his door, walks inside, and slams the door shut. Eragon waits outside for around ten minutes before the door opens again.

"You might as well come inside. This better be important or I'm going to make you regret waking me up." 

Eragon enters Brom's shack. He sees many trinkets and baubles scattered on shelves as well as fancy tapestries adorning the walls. Brom walks over to a chair and sits down. He motions for Eragon to sit in the chair facing him. 

"So… What is this important thing you need to tell me?" 

Eragon smirks. "I think it would be easier to show you." 

Eragon pulls a small stone from his pocket and places it on his open palm. He takes a deep breath and concentrates. 

"Stenr Reisa"

Brom's eyes widen in shock as the stone lifts from Eragon's palm and hovers in the air for a few moments before falling down. He looks at Eragon with wonder in his eyes. 

Brom studders, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Y-you j-j-just…" 

Eragon smiles broadly. "I've become a magician Brom. I figured that you might have heard more stories about them and was hoping you can teach me at least something about magic so that I don't accidentally hurt myself." 

Brom is still reeling from this shocking revelation. It takes him a few moments before he collects himself and calms down. 

"Have you told anyone else about this?" 

"Not yet. I know how people around here feel about magic. That's why I came to you first. Not even Garrow knows that I'm a magician." 

"Good. I would be willing to help you train your magic. You just have to promise me that you will follow my instructions to the letter. Magic is dangerous and if you don't take the proper precautions it can and will kill you." 

Eragon doesn't even hesitate. "Of course I would Brom. I need to know the boundaries so that I don't hurt myself. That is my only goal for the moment. My life matters more than some fancy parlor tricks."

Brom nods to himself. "That's a good mentality to have. I will teach you when I can. Are you able to come here once a week or so for training?" 

Eragon scratches his chin. "I will have to talk to Garrow but it should be fine. I will just tell him that I'm helping you with something to earn some money before winter." 

"Alright. With that settled let's begin. The words you spoke are from an ancient language that predates the arrival of the elves. This language has words for everything in existence and each word holds power over what it defines. Stenr is the word for "stone" and Reisa means "to raise or lift". Therefore, when you say Stenr Reisa, you are saying "stone raise" which will cause the stone to float into the air." 

Brom lights a pipe and takes a puff, blowing out a small smoke cloud. "You then cancel the spell and it falls back down. The dangers of magic is that when you employ it, the spell will take the same amount of energy from you that it would take for you to do the same motion with your own two hands. Lifting a stone will take almost no energy at all, but if you try to lift a boulder that's too heavy, you will collapse in exhaustion or worse. Always keep in mind that if you can do it without magic it's mostly safe. If you can't… It would be best to not risk it. Most of the greatest magicians of our time have died from a single mistake. Now… let me teach you a few specific spells that you can train with." 

Brom teaches Eragon throughout the rest of the day. Giving him a few words and drilling into him the importance of pronunciation. One misspoken word and he could turn into a shriveled up husk in a heartbeat. Dusk starts to set in before he leaves Brom's shack. Eragon promises to train carefully and diligently and that he will return in a week or two for more training when he has a day off. He quickly makes his way back home, barely making it before the sun fully sets. 

… 

The next two months are rather uneventful for Eragon. He finishes his chores for the day before running off into the woods to train. 

Brom's teachings help in increasing his magical prowess while he uses the knowledge from his previous life to make his training even more intense. Something he tried early on was what he calls intent casting, which is just a better way of saying wild magic. 

Such casting is knowledge only fully fledged riders should know because of how dangerous it is. Instead of making a long winded phrase in the ancient language that can fail with a single mispronounced syllable, you can just say the name of the material you wish to interact with along with a clear mental image to get the same result. 

While this route is easier, it's very risky. A single stray thought can ruin the spell. But if there is one thing that Sam has noticed since reincarnating into Eragon's body, it is that his mind is unnaturally focused. 

With this clarity of mind, using intent casting is easy and basically risk free while also giving him a solid mental defense. Defending the mind is fairly straightforward in this universe, only needing a clear mental image to ward off any would-be attackers. He hasn't had anyone attack his mind with a mental probe yet, but he is fairly sure that his defense is strong enough to hold them at bay for a decent amount of time. 

For his physical training, he made weights out of stone that wrap around his arms and legs for a better workout, even making a set for wearing throughout the day. 

With all of these factors combined, Eragon's body has undergone a startling transformation. 

Any traces of fat on his body have long been burned away as fuel for his growth. His muscles ripple when he flexes, he has easily gained over two inches in height, making him five foot six inches tall while only being fifteen years of age. 

He had to alter his clothes because most of them have become a little uncomfortable to wear. His magic capacity has also steadily increased. 

With intent casting and his significant mana reserves, he made a stone sword by compressing a large boulder. He shapes the compressed stone into a standard hand and a half sword with a simple crossguard, a massive uncut sapphire placed within the base of the blade that he has already begun to fill with magic. 

Eragon found this gem by calling the name of precious minerals to sense where they are underground and drag them to the surface. Now that Eragon possesses a sword, he starts his own sword training without Brom's guidance. He wants to hide his strength from the former rider for as long as possible.