“So to deal with the rampant cheating these isolation circles were created and distributed amongst the teacher for when they need them.” Arthur said as he looked at the device with interest. “So how exactly does it work?”
Primus chuckled. “If you want to learn about enchanting physical objects then you will need to wait until you attain the rank of evoker, but I can give you a description of what it does.” Arthur nodded and Primus continued with his explanation. “All magical interactions that happen within the circle are blocked from those that happen outside, that way if someone were to try casting a spell outside the circle and wanted it to appear inside there would be no effect. Of course if a spell caster is skilled enough they can quite easily bypass this, it isn’t a sort of impenetrable shield, just something to deter cheaters.”
Arthur continued to ask a few questions regarding tier two spells since he had no luck in sneaking anything regarding enchanting. Most of his questions were followed by demonstrations and a request for a critique and advice. Through this he found a few useful tips he did not receive much of anything noteworthy.
Soon other students began arriving and slowly the room filled up. Once everyone was seated and 12:30 rolled around Primus stood up in front of the class and began explaining how the test would operate. “Good afternoon class, today is the last day of this course and the day you will all be tested to see if you possess the required proficiency to cast tier two spells. When I call your name up I want you to stand within this circular object and cast one of the three spells I have given you of your own choice. I will ask you to hold the spell for a certain amount of time before you will be allowed to dismiss it. If you are successful then you will pass the course and like in the tier one course you will be mailed a certificate proving as such. Are there any questions?”
One hand in the back rose and Primus called upon the human woman who held her hand up. “What if we lose our certificate? Will we be able to get a second copy afterwards?”
“Don’t worry about that, the guild records these things in your personal files. The certificate is just for you to personally hold onto, some people like to have physical reminders of their achievements. And if for some reason you lose yours you can receive a replacement through the guild, but there will be a small fee attached to it. Now are there any other questions?”
With the room silent Primus smiled and announced “If that is the case then we will be getting started now.” And with a clap of his hands the isolation circle began to glow as it powered up.
Arthur was one of the first to have his name called up as Primus was going by alphabetical order. Arthur quickly walked down and stood in the center of the isolation circle and looked to Primus who gave him a nod. Arthur then readied himself and raised his hands as he began the chant. “Spiritus terrae mando tibi ut facias coram me globulum terrenum, spiritus terrae mando tibi ut facias coram me globulum terrenum.”
When he finished an orb of earth was conjured before him with a diameter of about one meter, Arthur held it in place as Primus looked over it. “Move it to your left.” Primus said quietly to prevent anyone else watching from hearing but enough for Arthur to. Arthur followed his instructions and moved the orb to his left. “Now to your right.” Arthur followed again and moved the orb to his right. “Very good then. With your demonstration you have officially passed the course, honestly you had me a little worried yesterday when you haven't been successful yet. But as you have shown just now I had no need to worry.” Primus extended his hand for a handshake that Arthur happily took.
“Just so you know you are free to leave the classroom early since you have passed. But if you so chose you may stay for the remainder of the hour and watch the rest of your fellow students.” Primus said as they finished their handshake.
“I'll stay for a bit, I don’t have too much going on right now and I could use a bit of time to recover my mana.”
**********
The remaining students did not take up the rest of the hour, in fact the class finished at 1:15 PM allowing everyone to leave fifteen minutes earlier than expected. Arthur's first destination was the library to share the news of him passing like she wanted him to. When he arrived he found her sitting at the very same spot the two other them were sitting at before he left, she apparently haven't moved an inch since.
As Arthur walked towards her she turned to look at the source of the footsteps, when she saw him her face lit up and she stood up. Or more accurately tried to stand up, she had a little trouble with the height of the table and tripped onto the floor. Arthur rushed over to help her up. But she quickly started bombarding him with questions.
“Did you pass?”
“What took you so long?”
“Did you forget about me?”
Arthur had to mentally resist the temptation to stop her from asking so many questions at once. Instead he pointed to the nearby table and said “Why don’t we sit down and then you ask your questions, and please ask them one at a time so I can actually answer them.”
Calavia nodded and took a seat next to him before she started asking questions again. “So how did it go? Did you pass, if you didn’t I would be very surprised.”
“I did pass, I was actually one of the first to be called up and be tested. The teacher Primus said he was quite happy that I managed to learn how to cast the spell, he said he was a little worried yesterday when he saw I couldn’t.”
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“That's good, but if you were one of the first done why did you take so long to get here? You didn’t forget about me did you?”
“Primus said I could stay and watch the other students do their tests if I wanted to, and since I enjoyed learning under him I decided to stay until everyone was done. And even then we still got out early compared to when it normally would end.”
“Yeah, I suppose that is true. But I would have preferred it if you had just come right here when you were done. Then I wouldn’t have needed to wait here for more than an hour wondering if you had even remembered me.” Calavia said as she crossed her arms.
“How about you come over to my house and I will make us something for dinner to celebrate and make the hour I forced you to wait.” Calavia’s eye perked up at the word dinner and she continued listening. “How about a nice soup, I know you like soup since it's the only thing you eat when we have stopped at taverns.”
“Hey, that's only because most of what you buy from a tavern isn’t that good. But the soups they have are always at least half decent and I don’t want to waste money on something I might not like, I don’t even know how you were brave enough to try out those burritos they sell.”
With a little more arguing the two friends decided that Arthur would make a soup for the both of them to enjoy. Calavia asked Arthur to point the location of his house out on one of her maps and she said she would arrive at around five thirty for dinner. Once they were done they both left the library and went their separate ways.
********
Arthur’s first destination was the nearby market to look for some fresh meat and vegetables for the soup. He wanted to make something better than what he normally made for his friend and only wanted the best ingredients. ‘Should I buy some chicken or beef, I could buy both and see how they both work in a soup.’
With a small amount of chicken and beef for his soup now he needed the vegetables that would go well with them. He had few options available to him and he was likely to have a few different ones to give it some variety. ‘Those are some nice sized potatoes, and those carrots would go well with them as well.’
With his collection of ingredients for the soup all decided Arthur placed them in his dimensional bag and headed home to start getting everything ready. But on his way home as he was walking down the street his house was on he noticed a few members of the gang that attempted to shake him down watching him. This group in particular were a bit better armed and armored than the last with actual swords and maces mixed in with proper gambesons for body protection.
They didn’t make any moves on him but Arthur could easily tell they were watching him and waiting to see what he was doing. At this point Arthur retrieved his mage staff just in case they decided to try something, but thankfully they allowed him to enter his home without any problems.
Arthur knew it was only a matter of time before they were done watching from a distance and decided to pay him a visit. The best thing he could do was take everything out of his bag that he did not need in there and keep his mage staff within an arm's reach as he began preparing the soup. The first thing he did was cut up all the meat and vegetables and dump them all in a pot he had, then he filled the pot with water he extracted from the surrounding air and filled it up around two thirds of the way where all the meat and vegetables were submerged.
Then he placed it over the fireplace and placed a few logs inside before lighting them on fire. Arthur had a small stockpile of wood just outside his back door that he bought several weeks ago, he figured it would be best to keep some just in case he needed it like he did now. And if for some reason the soup was not evenly cooked he could use his pyromancy to conjure up some fire that he could use to do the rest.
But just as he started the fire a series of loud knocks could be heard from his front door, they were far too loud to be from Calavia and the only other person or group of people he was expecting to come around were the gang members. So Arthur quickly snatched up his mage staff and walked towards the door. Arthur opened the door just enough to look outside without allowing whoever it was on the other side to squeeze by and kept his staff out of view.
On the other side were about eight or so gang members with the superior equipment he saw on his way back. The leader was a middle aged Scorchman evident by his dark skin that stood out from his subordinates, he wielded a large two handed war hammer that he was resting on his shoulder at the moment.
“Good afternoon Mr. Arthur, it has come to our attention that you have not yet paid us for the services that we have provided you. We are here to collect the silver coin and inform you of future payments that you are expected to make in the future.” He spoke with a certain elegance that was unexpected from a mere low ranking member of a gang, perhaps it was a cultural thing for perhaps he has simply lost a lot in the past.
“I am sorry, but I do not recall requesting any services from you. Perhaps you simply have the wrong address.” While Arthur's voice and tone told the man that he was confused, his eyes told a different story. Arthur looked quite annoyed by their mere presence and wanted them gone.
“No I am certain we have the correct address, I am also certain that another group has been sent here to collect the money that is due but they shortly went missing after coming this way.” The man smiled as he continued. ‘Nice try little mage, we know what you did and you can’t weasel out of this one even with your magic. And even if you do try using magic on us I will smash your face in before you can finish your silly little chants.’
The two stood there for a moment in complete silence, the looks in their eyes told the other that they were both more than willing to kill each other if a single opportunity was presented. The subordinates of the Scorchman gang member held their breath as the tension became so thick it could have been cut with a knife.
“Well that is quite unfortunate that I am forced to resort to this.” Arthur began as the Scorchman gang member put two hands on his war hammer. But suddenly out of the corner of his eye he noticed something, along the edge of the door frame was something that resembled a flanged mace, but just as he noticed it he felt something sash into his face with the force of a war hammer. He had experienced the feeling once in the past when he pissed someone far more important than himself in the past, but back then a priest was there to fix him before there was any permanent damage.
The Scorchman gang member fell back into his subordinates while his eyes teared up from the pain. His nose was definitely broken and he was having trouble breathing through it, he hastily stood up as best as he could and shouted to his men. “Kill the mage! Bash his brains out!” His voice was slightly distorted by his broken nose but his message was clearly received as his subordinates quickly drew their weapons and began rushing Arthur.