Chapter 2 Quick Bertha

Darius was looking at the letter lying on his bed with pure terror in his eyes. The whole beauty of Polish magical society was dependent on the freedom and independence of its members. Each House had taken education of its children into its own hands, and contained it to the quiet of home environment. For centuries everyone was content with this arrangement, but now, due to a small piece of paper, he was about to lose his freedom. Not only will he have to go through hell, known as puberty, for the second time, he will have to deal with a bunch of wild teenagers at the same time.

A grand dream of a new magic school worthy of new world standards was like a sentence for the frustrated, young mage. Dealing with pseudo-professors that plan to shape new generations of wizards will be a painful experience at best.

Not for the first time, Darius cursed the day on which he decided to experiment with the chrono stone. Damn rook just couldn't obey one simple command. All he wished for at the time were three days, but instead he was turned into a small and defenceless newborn. Only by miracle, the incompetent pawns of Arcane Council were able to breach defenses of his laboratory, in which they have found a crying, naked boy surrounded by remains of his former laboratory. That was the last day of his first life.

It didn’t take long for mages to test the boy and uncover his blood ties with John Baron, notorious smuggler, and self-proclaimed genius in the field of enchanting.

After some deliberation officials came to the slightly missed conclusion that the little boy was the son of the most wanted Polish mage of modern times. Fourteen years have passed from that moment, years which John, recently better known as Darius Baron, has spent in a mortal orphanage. Although the Council was unable to punish the boy for his father’s crimes, nothing stopped them from using innocent child as bait to lure out missing criminal. Institution that took care of Darius was under constant observation. Even after all these years, mages were counting on parental feelings that might lure Jhon to see his son. Otherwise, a solid plan, if not for the fact that John was growing just under their noses for all these years.

Letter that sentenced Darius for a few years in prison/school time, was delivered by one of his future teachers.

For sure, refusal of the offer was one of the options, but it would raise more red flags inside the Council that Darius was comfortable with. At the end of the day, a young boy declining an invitation to learn arcane arts and running away from the cruel fate of being a plain orphan, was not something that anyone would expect.

Although in recent years his observers became less vigilant, it wasn’t to the point of giving him his full freedom back, at least not enough to let him practice magic. The moment in which he refused to attend his new school, his magic powers would be permanently suppressed with help of a nasty potion that was used on mortal born mages for centuries. Add to that small memory modification and you get a perfectly normal, mortal teenager that will never be able to reveal hidden arcane society.

Young Baron was an avid defender of the opinion that his own mind belongs only to him, and any breach of that went against everything that he believed in. Attending school full of mages was a risky endeavor, but it could be a blessing in disguise as well. Just thinking of all the unprotected knowledge that had to be gathered there, was making him drop all the caution.

Everything could go wrong in a matter of seconds, but he was not the one that was afraid of challenges ahead, beside seeing the looks on council members when they find out that John was in their hands for all these years would be priceless.

With an amused grin on his face, he started reading the letter one more time.

Ostoja

School of Arcane Arts and Witchcraft

Headmaster: Marek Broniecki

Dear Mr Darius Baron,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at the Ostojas School of Arcane Arts and Witchcraft. Your education will be fully covered by a scholarship fund from the Arcane Council, which will provide all the necessary resources for the whole span of your studies.

The term begins on the second of September. Day before the date you can expect a visit from one of our professors, who will be responsible for your transportation onto the school grounds.

All necessary formalities were already covered, and we hope to see You among our ranks at the start of the semester.

Best Regards,

Marek Broniecki

Darius had a strong feeling that if an invitation letter from his new school ever got into hands of one particular record company, they would be in for a heck of a trial.

If all letters directed for mortal born students were as informative as his, then the first day of school was going to be entertaining. Lack of information about the mysterious school and it’s localization was a clear sign that there will be no contact with magic until then. Darius could almost feel the pain in the backs of officials tasked with covering everything up. He was truly amazed that these old fools from the Arcane Council expect a bunch of teenagers to keep quiet about damn magic. Someone has clearly overestimated the persuasion skills of professors tasked with introducing mortal born mages into the magic world.

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These few years that Darius has spent among mortals taught him a lot. First of all, mortals are far from being the gray, mindless mass that wizards are taking them for. Underestimating people that possess the ability to split atoms and connect whole planet via the internet is a great recipe for downfall. The stunt with the school is a step in the right direction, but sadly it was taken far too late.

From chemistry to physics, mortal knowledge exceeded all of young Baron’s expectations. Things that were ignored by most mages, have opened his eyes for new possibilities. This project that was a clear attempt to save the falling society of magic, will be used by him to mix newfound knowledge and arcane one to create something great. He still wasn’t sure what this grand goal of his going to be, but sure as hell it will rise with a bang!

All this information gathered at one place, and he will have access to all of it, without breaking even a single barrier. For sure, he planned to break something just to uphold his glorious traditions, but still he wasn't one to refuse a gift.

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The first day of September has turned out to be one of the longest days in Darius’ life. He was pacing nervously around his dorm like a child waiting for Santa. Of course he was blaming chrono stone for his immature behaviour. The cursed thing just had to reset his age and let his hormones go wild. Nowhere in sight was his old, responsible self, who could wait patiently for hours in some bushes, just to scare the hell out of reporter after being called crazy and unstable is some ridiculous article.

Oh, how he missed his mature self that could plant magical traps filled with illusionary spiders inside ancient families treasury just to educate them on security measures. Unfortunately, he became a teenager and he had to act the part. Part that was sternly tempered by orphanage supervisor Teresa Frach. Old woman was his greatest foe up to date, and that included his previous life. Nothing could avoid her sharp eyes, and her mastery of using leather belts, approached the level of true martial arts.

Not every resident of the orphanage was fond of the old woman’s methods, but Darius felt nothing but pure respect for her. She was the sole reason why he took interest in mortal science, and she was his voice of reason that stopped some of his most reckless plans. Plans that could unveil this whole charade of him being his own son. The boy could swear that the old hag had sixth sense when it came to the mischief. Most people might not be able to see it, but Darius was sure that under hard shell there was a loving woman that would do almost anything to keep them all safe.

Unbearable wait has come to an end in the afternoon. A few minutes past eight he was visited by a young woman, that was the female equivalent of Indiana Jones. Leather jacket and hat, with the addition of a bag slung over her shoulder, made her resemble a beautiful film star. His teenage brain barely processed that this lady with auburn hair will be one of his professors.

Darius never expected that his newborn love for cinema would spell his downfall, as he forgot how to speak. He started to panic a bit as he was unable to respond to the woman’s greeting.

“Earth to Darius, do you copy?” Asked the woman, visibly amused by his reaction.

The boy's response was a mumble that was a mix of good afternoon, and can I have your autograph please, after which his face started to look like a really ripe tomato.

“I’m Anna Hernicz and I will be one of your future teachers” to Darius' relief she introduced herself one more time, filling in for the time when his mind blanked out.

“It makes me happy to announce that I will be your guide to our school” continued his new professor, taking the reins of conversation from a slightly confused boy. “Ms Teresa here, was very helpful so all the formalities were resolved on the fly, and we are set to go.”

To the boy's surprise, the moment when introduction ended, he was locked in a firm hug by the orphanage matron. “Be good, study hard, and do what you can to be successful, but for god's sake please do not burn the school down in the first week” whispered the old woman to his ear, barely holding her tears back.

Not many people managed to win Darius’ trust and affection, but she was definitely one of them.

“I will” whispered the boy back to her while returning the hug.

Half of the orphanage came to wave him goodbye as he followed his new teacher into the streets with nothing else than a sports bag filled with some clothes and books. Truth has to be told that most of them felt only relief that this little devil will be finally off their backs.

Looking at the boys back, Ms Teresa started to ponder whatever ‘I will’ was for studying hard or burning the school down. Ultimately, she decided that this problem is now in someone else's hands.

Maybe five minutes into the walk, Darius started panting, as he didn’t expect that enrollment into an arcane arts academy would require so much heavy lifting from him. He was in quite good shape, or at last goodish, but physics books alone were weighing a ton.

“Out of pure curiosity, how are we gonna get to the school?” asked the boy, in between the gasps, doing what he possibly could to not look like a wuss.

“Ow, so you can actually speak, that will be useful in the future” joked Anna “and I’m not telling. It will be a surprise.” She refused to reveal anything. After that she had made a sharp turn, and headed straight into the park.

Old beat-down benches were starting to look mighty attractive, in the boy's eyes, but to his disappointment, they passed them and stopped only after reaching the edge of a small pond in the middle of the park. Darius seriously doubted that small pond filled with quacking ducks was hiding the whole school.

His new professor soon dispelled his doubts, by taking out a small ship in a bottle from her bag. After uncorking it and shaking a few times, the small model went through the bottle neck and felt straight into the pound. As absurd as it was, contact with water made it grow to the full-size vessel that would be the pride of any pirate.

Terrified ducks running for their lives from wooden monstrosity that spawned at their home, were the only sign that something unusual happened in the park, as people strolling nerbay were blissfully unaware of the newest addition to the park’s attractions.

The amount of spells woven into the ship's deck had to be enormous. Just hiding it in plain sight was an impressive feat.

“I invite you to the ‘Quick Berta’s’ deck,”” announced Anna, not even trying to hide the pride that filled her voice.

Excitement took over, as Darius almost ran up the trap that unrolled itself on its own. Forgetting about his exhaustion, he braved the steep wooden plank and jumped onto the deck.

“That's the spirit!” Anna jumped onto the deck after him, while pushing the stunned boy further in.

After seeing the deck, Darius second guessed his decision about boarding the ship. Berta was filled with moaning teenagers lying on the wooden boards. Some of them curled up in fetal positions shaking like jelly, and others were asking all possible deities for forgiveness in hushed voices.

To boys' horror, the wooden trap already rolled itself up and jumping a few meters down wasn’t on top of his escape route list. His brain went into overload while trying to figure out a way off the ship, but to his dismay he soon joined the rest of the students, after a living rope grabbed him around his waist and tied him to the mast.

“What the f…” his protest was soon drowned out by his new captain giving orders to the ship and waving a gunpowder pistol above her head.

“Set the sail, and raise the anchor!” The whole ship seemed to come alive under her command, as sails raised themselves, and loud rattling of chains came from the back of the ship. “All ahead Berta! Make the mammy proud!” Anna screamed the last command with a wild glint in her eye and a smile on her face.

On the command ‘Quick Berta’ started rapidly shrinking, and instead of going forward it started to spin. As the world around him became a blur, Darius started to reevaluate his life’s choices.