Rising of a Mage (14 page)

“I promise that it will be complete before I leave you, Sir. I have a few things I need to complete before I can finish it. I will be here for some time still, if you will have me, sir.”

“You are welcome as long as you like, so long as you stop calling me sir. I am Master Gabrielle and you are Master Anwar. There are very few things in which my aptitude surpasses, or is even equal to, that of your own.”

“Yes si… ah, ok.” Gabrielle smiled.

That night Anwar asked if Mariah wanted to come watch his session with Master Gabrielle.

“You want me to come with you?”

“If you want.”

“What are you going to do?”

“You can see, if you come.”

“Of course I want to come.”

So the next morning Mariah followed Anwar out away from the guild to meet Master Gabrielle in a field.

“Ah, I see you have come to support your love on his last day as my apprentice.”

“What?” She looked at Anwar; he just shrugged his shoulders. Gabrielle smiled. Anwar liked his secrets. “Anwar, you have surpasses me in nearly every aspect of magic I have shown you and I believe today you will do so again. You are welcome here as long as you choose, but there is little more that this place has to offer other than the studies you could complete at any larger institution of magic, and the friendship of those who will remain here which I can guarantee you will continue to have.”

“Thank you. S…”

“Anwar, I am going to teleport. Wherever I appear, I would like you to appear next to me if you can.” And then he disappeared. Anwar heard Mariah gasp behind him. Anwar saw Master Gabrielle about a hundred paces in front of him; he disappeared and appeared next to him. Before he solidified he turned and faced Master Gabrielle. Gabrielle smiled and then returned to where they had been standing. Anwar followed. As he appeared, he saw Mariah standing there, staring, her mouth hanging open. He winked at her. Her mouth closed into a smile.

“Anwar, from now on, I want you to try to teleport ten paces past me.” He disappeared and Anwar saw him appear again. Roughly five hundred paces away, he was very small at that distance. Anwar appeared roughly ten paces past him. They both reappeared where they had started. Anwar watched as Master Gabrielle disappeared again, and he could barely see him when he appeared nearly a thousand paces away. According to everything he had read, Master Gabrielle was much better at teleportation than most wizards, who could only teleport a few hundred paces at most. Anwar appeared roughly ten paces past Master Gabrielle. Master Gabrielle disappeared and Anwar teleported back to where he had just come from, but Master Gabrielle was standing in the spot he had been standing in. He slowed the magic, not allowing himself to solidify, made his body drift a few paces away and then solidified. Mariah saw Anwar appearing were Master Gabrielle stood and made a scared noise like a dog that had just been stepped on. First he was floating and then he was solid?

“Master Anwar, you have just surpassed me again; you are no longer my apprentice.” Anwar saw that Master Gabrielle truly looked as if he had pushed himself. He looked as if he had just run a very long way. “Master Anwar, if you do not mind me asking, how much farther do you think you could have gone?”

Anwar had a thought. He took Master Gabrielle’s hand and Mariah’s. They suddenly appeared in front of his family’s grave.

Master Gabrielle gasped. And he heard Mariah release a breath she must have been holding. “Master Anwar, this truly is an amazing achievement. It must be fifteen miles to your family’s farm, if I remember correctly.”

“Something like that.”

“And carrying the two of us with you. Are you going to be able to take us back? I do not care; I’m simply curious. To have seen you achieve this I would have walked the distance barefoot on gravel.”

“That won’t be necessary. I can get us back.”

“You must be able to travel a hundred miles at least.”

“If I knew a place a hundred miles from here, maybe. This was the farthest place from the city I knew well enough to travel to.”

Master Gabrielle nodded. “This is the grave you created. It is magnificent. I think it is fitting that your family see the moment you surpass my apprenticeship.” Anwar nodded, waved a hand and forced a strong gust of wind that cleaned the debris from his family’s tombstone. He took their hands in his again and they were over the field outside the guild, but Anwar wasn’t don’t yet. Instead of solidifying, they drifted toward the guild through the walls and into Master Gabrielle’s study. There Anwar allowed them to solidify.

Master Gabrielle sat in a chair and looked at Anwar in awe. “Skimming.” That was all he said.

“Thank you, Master Gabrielle, for training me. I look forward to your guidance as I further my studies.” Gabrielle just nodded. Anwar continued holding Mariah’s hand as they walked back to their room. She was speechless as well.

It was time Anwar began to fulfil his promise to Master Gabrielle.

Chapter Twelve

Magical Items
and Their Creation

A
nwar was writing the book he had promised. The first section of the book was his study of magical items and how they were made. He talked about theories that he had studied. He explained why he believed some of them were true. He also discredited others, and gave his explanation. The second section of the book was going to be his personal creation of magical items. He told his story of how he had unknowingly created the Ala staff, how most Ala items of power were created, and what was similar and what was different about how his was created. Most Al items were created by powerful wizards, not by teenagers with no experience with magic. The main likeness was that Ala items were always created unintentionally. He could not credit or discredit any of the theories on why an Ala item could not be created intentionally, but he did reference some of the theories that made the most sense to him, as well as the names of those who had published the theories. He did go into long detail about his theory why no one had ever created more than one Ala item. He explained the connection between the item and its creator grew together in power. He explained his theory about how an Ala item creator’s connection with the item he created would prevent the connection with, and therefore the creation of, another such item. He also told the story of the creation of the coat he had made for Mariah in detail. He explained the spells he had cast, the order he had cast them and what he had done to the third spell that changed it. Each spell was listed in the book, as well as the components that he used on each. He also had listed a fourth spell which he explained he had not tested. He nevertheless believed it would make both shields he had created on Mariah’s coat without the caster forcing his own magical energy directly into the item. That spell also included the additional magical components he believed would supplement this exchange of power.

The rest of that section would be his story of the magical items he was planning on creating over the next month. Anwar had discussed the items he was going to make with Mariah. She had agreed that they would purchase the components for each spell from the savings they had collected. A lot of what he intended to create were magical replacements for Mariah’s current items. The first thing he was going to create were throwing knives to replace the ones she currently used. She carried four throwing knives. The first was one that was already enchanted with seeking. It would follow a target and would not miss unless acted on by magic. Its hilt was shaped into the head of a dragon. Anwar’s brother had already replicated the dagger. In this dagger he would duplicate the spell of the other, giving Mariah a pair of seeking daggers which she would be able to identify when she reached for them just by the feel of the hilt. Anwar had also had his brother create two other daggers. In these, the hilt was designed to look like a rose. Anwar had not told Mariah he had had new knives designed for her. He had simply mentioned enchanting her throwing daggers when they discussed his plans. She was not aware of the new blades or the enchantments he intended to lay on them. He had not told Master Gabrielle of his plans either. He simply told him he was going to create a few more items before he completed his book and left the guild. But before he created these blades he needed to purchase the components he would need. Mariah wanted to go with him to get them and since all their money was shared he could not really deny her—not that he wanted to. For the first spell which he was going to lay on all three blades he would need diamond dust. There were two ways to get this. The first was to buy a small diamond and spend a lot of time and effort trying to crush it. The second, which was not only significantly easier but was also a tenth of the cost, was to go to a local gem cutter and buy diamond dust. When a gem cuts a diamond, it creates dust, just like cutting a board creates sawdust. Gem cutters sell this to people who glue this to clothing for nobles or use it on whatever other things they want to make sparkle in the light. Magic users also buy it as a spell component. So Anwar went to the shop Master Gabrielle had recommended as reliable and fair. He was promised that here he would not get a bunch of glass dust mixed in. Mariah walked in and began looking at all the magnificent pieces.

“Hello good sir. Looking for a piece for your lady.”

“I wasn’t planning on it but, from the look of things, that might be the case before I leave.” Thankfully Mariah had not heard the jest. “I need three grams of diamond dust, two grams of sapphire dust and a small uncut amber.”

“Ah, Master Anwar, I presume.”

“Indeed.”

“My apologies, Sir. Had I known who you were when you entered, I would not been so forward.”

“You have not offended me. I was raised on a farm; to me forward is preferable to formal.”

“Very well, sir. I can have your things ready in a few shakes.”

The amber would have been the cheapest had he needed the dust but he needed an actual amber. He got it uncut because that was cheaper. As it all was weighed out the small amber was seven gold pieces, the sapphire dust was three, and the diamond dust was nine.

“That will be nineteen gold pieces. sir.”

“And this.” Mariah laid a small silver rose on the counter. The shop keeper looked at Anwar; they both smiled at each other. Mariah didn’t like the unspoken comment that was just shared, whatever it was. As they left the store, Anwar asked Mariah what she was going to do with the rose.

“It reminded me of the one on your ring so I thought I would employ your brother to make me a strong chain that won’t get broken. The ones in there looked as if they were more for looks than anything else.” “Makes sense. I’m sure he would be honored.”

Anwar explained that, for the next two days, he would be studying the spells that he was going to use to create the items. The morning of the third day he got up, and went over the spells a hundred times each. He was going to cast one spell on all three of the knives, another on the dragon blade, and another on each of the rose blades. He had to create each item one at a time and seal the magic, though. When he was ready he picked up the bag that had all his spell components in it. Mariah asked if she could come and he told her she could. She grabbed her leg harness with its four blades. She followed him to a spell chamber. The reason that magic like this was cast in these chambers was to protect the rest of the guild. These chambers were magically warded. If anything were to go wrong it would contain the magic in this room, protecting the rest of the guild hall and everyone in it. There were a number of magical practices that were required to be done only in these chambers. The use of those magics in the guild outside these chambers meant mandatory banishment from the guild. The spells Anwar was going to cast were not so difficult, and he was confident in their success. Once in the chamber, he explained to Mariah, no matter what happened she could not interfere. To do so could put them both at risk. He went to the table and laid out the small pouches of diamond dust, two small pouches of sapphire dust and the small amber stone. Finally he took the three knives from the bag. Mariah could not see the details of the daggers, but she looked down at her own blades and realized he would not be using her current blades. She smiled at this. Anwar loved his surprises. Anwar poured the bag of diamond dust over the first blade and began the spell that would magically harden the knife, making it nearly indestructible. When he finished the spell, the diamond dust dissolved into the blade. Next he laid the small amber on the blade. He began the second spell. This spell took a little longer then the first and Mariah watched as the blade began glowing orange and then the amber dissolved into the blade. When he was finished he spoke the command word that would seal the magic. He left the blade where it was and went to the second. He repeated the process he had used on the first knife, pouring the pouch of diamond dust over the blade. Again, as he finished the spell, the diamond dust dissolved into the blade; even the small amount of dust that had fallen onto the table around the knife was absorbed into the blade. Next he poured the small pouch of sapphire dust onto this blade and cast the spell that would give this blade the ability to penetrate a magical shield. As he finished this spell, the sapphire dust dissolved and he spoke the command word that would seal the magic. He left that blade where it was. He repeated the process on the third blade. When he completed the final spell he spoke the command word that would seal the magic in the blade, then took a few seconds to catch his breath. He took all three blades, put them back in the bag he had carried them into the chamber in, and motioned for Mariah to follow him out. When they were back in their room, Anwar sat on his bed and motioned for Mariah to take a seat across from him. She sat on the bed in front of him and set her leg harness with its knives next to her. He reached over and pulled out the dragon-headed knife, and set it between them on the bed. He reached into his bag and pulled out its mate. Mariah looked at it and saw that it was a mirror image of the knife that lay on the bed in front of him. The only difference was that the one on the bed had small red rubies inset for eyes and the one Anwar handed her had small sapphires inset for eyes. “This dagger is the sister of the one you already have. The difference is the original has had only the second spell I cast on it, the spell of seeking. The other spell I cast was a spell of hardening. That made the knife nearly unbreakable. It will never need sharpening and can only be destroyed by magic more powerful than that which I used to create it. Mariah was giddy with excitement, but she let him finish. He took the blade from her hand and set it next to the one lying on the bed. He pulled the other two knives from his bag and handed them both to her. The handles were designed as a rose like her pendant, and his ring. “These two blades are identical. The first spell I cast was the same as I cast on the other. That makes it nearly indestructible and again they will never need sharpening. The second spell I cast was a spell of penetration. They will cut through steel like silk, and most magical shields or magically-shielded armor will not stop them either. Your coat has two separate shields one of one melee and one magical. I doubt these blades could penetrate it. If it did it would not ruin the magic of your coat, but would likely destroy the blade. My brother crafted the knives. I am sure he would be delighted to see them, and their uses demonstrated if you choose to do so.”