Olivander conjured up a couple of comfortable chairs for himself and Cooper and sat down. Gregory looked between the plush comfortable chairs and the bucket he was sitting on but didn’t say anything. No point giving Olivander ammunition.

“You have the Eye, Gregory?” Olivander said.

Gregory fished in the dimensional pouch strung to his waist. He pulled out the black orb.

“Very good. Now, that orb is a specific variety of stone that we call an Eye of Madness.”

“Madness? Cooper, do you want to hold onto your treasure now?” Gregory asked, starting to flush slightly.

“I’m good. Thanks. I don’t have hands anyway. I’m not putting that in my mouth.”

“It’s fine, Gregory. There’s a very low chance you’ll be consumed by madness just for holding it.”

“Have I ever told you that being comforting is not your strong suit?”

Olivander ignored Gregory.

“The Eye is a powerful thing on its own, and some people who come into possession of one do choose to bind it to themselves. This is an immediate path to power, with the downside that binding it to your body will eventually drive you to the very edge of madness.”

“Only some use it that way? What do the rest do?”

“An insightful question as always, Cooper. The Eye is much more commonly used as a crafting component.”

With a flourish, Olivander held out a hand, and his chain-covered grimoire appeared, hovering just above his palm. He grabbed it, facing the front of the book towards Gregory and Cooper.

Then he removed the chains completely. In the center of the cover, there was a black glass eye. Unlike the one in Gregory’s hand, which was a solid orb of onyx glass, the eye in Olivander’s book had three circles that made it look more or less eye-like. A fiery orange circle on the edge, with a blue circle deeper in, and a white circle at the center.

“One of the requirements to unlock the Magus class is crafting a grimoire, and one of the components is an Eye of Madness. Normally, retrieving your Eye of Madness is a rite of passage once you’ve complete all the other requirements. You need to enter the Realm of Madness through the Pits of Madness and retrieve an Eye yourself. It is a difficult thing to do. Take it from someone who did it! I don’t know where Thorgar’mirous got that Eye, though. He can’t enter the Realm of Madness. As a dungeon spirit, he is bound to our world and cannot enter another.

"The Eyes come in many flavors. Mine is an Eye of the Grand Magus. The description for the Eye of the Dark Magus probably has some missing information, correct? I can't reveal those additional effects, sadly. It can be done, but we'll need to find the right kind of diviner. Those effects will influence the exact properties of the crafted Grimoire, so we'll want to find out what else it can do eventually."

Olivander stopped talking, considering what he wanted to say next. Gregory took that as an opportunity to get some clarity.

“So what should Cooper do with it? Can he craft a grimoire?”

“He will be able to someday, but not now. I wanted to talk about the Eye so you both knew what it was, and what it was used for. I would like to hold onto it for you, Cooper. For safekeeping. I’m honestly not sure why Thorgar gave this to you, but you should keep it safe until you’re ready to create something with it.”

“I can’t craft a grimoire now?” Cooper asked.

“No. I lack the skills to assist you as well. Back in the capital, Castleton, there is a specific organization that has the ability to craft grimoires. They call themselves the Cult of Madness. They regularly descend into the Pits of Madness for study and contemplation.”

“What exactly can a grimoire do?” Gregory asked.

“Without a class that makes use of one, very little. It will allow the owner to channel some magic from the Realm of Madness, for which it acts as a filter. You get the power without getting the madness that comes with it. With a class? The possibilities are very great. Take me for example.

“I am able to store spells in my grimoire and use them later. My grimoire saves the rituals and allows me to remember them perfectly and without practice. The downside is that ritual spell casting is significantly slower than skill based spell casting, which we call ‘reflexive’ casting —casting a spell without a ritual.”

“What about when you cast spells without speaking? I needed to say ‘Mana Bolt’ to get my spell to work.”

“A great question that I will come back to. Let’s finish with this business first. What do you think Cooper? What you can do specifically depends upon the Eye you have. I’m not sure what an Eye of the Dark Magus can do exactly, but it will be somewhat similar to my own. You can, of course, choose whatever you want to do. It’s your item.”

“I will let you hold onto it. I don’t want to look into madness.”

“A prudent choice! Now, what do you both say we get to Serin. I’ll explain about some differences in spellcasting along the way.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Gregory handed off the Eye of the Dark Magus to Olivander, who put it into a pouch of his own. He patted the pouch and nodded, then left the clearing to get some more food for the road.

Cooper and Gregory were happy to go. They had already finished the dungeon, and didn’t really have any other reason to stick around the camp. Besides, it was getting a little rowdy as new people exited the dungeon fresh from their first taste of victory or sour with defeat. The constables had already made a couple arrests as brawls broke out.

They didn’t have wagons, so they walked down the dusty road. It was a beautiful morning. As they came closer to Serin, the forest filled out, and the trees turned quickly from the desert variety that had composed most of the forest around the dungeon, to a thicker, greener type. Sunlight passed through huge leaves that now formed a canopy above the forest, and rays of sunlight made it to the road, warming the three travelers as they passed through them.

“When you cast a spell,” Olivander started, after spending most of the trip in quiet contemplation, ”you are shaping magic into a specific pattern to cause a specific effect. The easiest way to do this is to learn a skill. The pattern is ingrained in your soul, and you can form the magic naturally. Which brings us to your question Gregory!”

Ollivander scooped up a stone from the road as they walked, tossing it into the air and catching it.

“What then, is the difference between casting a spell with and without a command word? Any thoughts?” Olivander asked them.

“I haven’t mastered the spell yet? But then how would saying the name of the spell help that…I have no idea,” Gregory said, scratching his head and making a face like his head hurt.

“The spell name was a trigger for you. You formed the spell, but you couldn’t cast it away?” Cooper said, cocking his head to the side.

“You’re both right, but both answers are incomplete. The words of your spell are a trigger. Your soul can shape a spell, but accessing all of the information to totally cast a spell requires an intimate and conscious understanding of a spell. Saying the trigger word is a shortcut, a power granted by the world to connect your conscious mind to the information stored in your soul, allowing you to complete a casting.”

“So once you completely understand the spell you’re using, you have some mastery over it?” Gregory asked.

“There are two types of mastery. Class based mastery and fundamental mastery. Class mastery just is enough understanding to cast a spell without needing the associated class equipped. Fundamental mastery is needed for voiceless casting. It is much harder, and takes much longer. I can’t actually explain the process to you, because even I don’t understand exactly how it works. Frequent and repeated use of a spell in stressful situations, paired with intentional meditation on the nature of your magic seem to be key components to fundamental mastery.”

“So in theory I can learn a bunch of spells and never need to speak to cast them? That sounds awesome!”

“Temper your enthusiasm slightly, Gregory. Fundamental mastery of a skill takes a long time, luck, and many, many uses of a spell in my experience. I have been a Magus for twenty years, in that time, do you know how many spells I’ve mastered?”

“Fifty?”

“One hundred!”

“Twelve. I have twelve spells with fundamental mastery. There’s an element of randomness as well. Do you think I intentionally studied to master a spell like the one I use to conjure chairs?”

“Yeah, I kind of did.”

“I thought it was your signature spell.”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous, portals are my signature spell, obviously.”

“I’ve only see you use them to teleport Gregory away.”

“Well, I assure you they’re my signature spell!” Olivander said. He was more out of sorts than Gregory had ever seen.

Olivander waved a hand and a portal opened in front of him. As he passed through, they heard him mumbling to himself.

“Conjuring chairs is my signature ability, as if something so basic would warrant—"

And then they saw him at least a quarter mile down the road in front of them.

“If portals are his signature ability, why are we always walking or riding around in wagons?”

“I think he just likes it,” Gregory shrugged.

* * *

A short while later, Olivander stopped to allow the others to catch up as the city of Serin came into view.

It was a large city, at least by Gregory’s standards, though Cooper also seemed impressed. Apparently he had never left the small town they found him in. Gregory didn’t even know the name of the town, and Cooper just called it “Town.”

Serin had a population that was able to support a huge city boasting several market squares, countless restaurants, two guild halls, and a substantial guard and constable force. The city formed a huge circle around a lake at the center. Stone and brick buildings of two and even three stories were spread all over the city, which was surrounded by a wall that seemed more about marking territory than protection —it was only about eight feet high.

The guards at the gate stopped them as they approached the city.

“Greetings travelers. Did you happen to stop at the new dungeon as you were passing through? We’re waiting on word.”

Olivander took the lead, he had spoken with the constables at the dungeon before they left.

“We did! Actually, Gregory and Cooper here were the ones who made the first clear of the dungeon!”

“Wow, congratulations you two, that’s a fine accomplishment.”

“Thank you, sir!” Gregory said.

Cooper just nodded at the man, who gave the dog an odd look.

“The city is in your debt then. I believe a small reward was posted at the guild hall for the first clear. You can head on over and a diviner will verify. The city owes you all a debt of gratitude. We don’t have a lot of settlements out in that direction, but we have frequent caravans through the area who would not have had an easy time if there were unchecked monsters about.”

“It was our pleasure!” Olivander beamed.

Gregory thought Olivander was taking an awfully large portion of the credit for one who didn’t have to get stabbed by any skeletons.

The gate guards let them pass, and they entered the city.

The main gate opened up into a large market square, perfect for quick caravan drop-offs or pick-ups. It was just after noon, so the square was bustling. People haggled, bought, sold, loaded wagons, unloaded carts, laughed, and cajoled. It was the single busiest place that Gregory had ever seen.

Somehow, through all the cacophony, a voice cut through the air, hitting them like a thrown spear.

“Olivander Casumus! How dare you show your face in a respectable place like this!”