As Irwyn opened his eyes he was welcomed by a familiar pain near his stomach. Inevitably, his meeting with the goddess has reopened those pesky lasting wounds. That seemed to be the common theme for whenever he pushed the usage of his soul, a hindrance he was still getting properly used to.
"How am I?" he said looking unmoving at the ceiling. Since the reopening was expected, Irwyn had naturally made arrangements beforehand.
"Alright for now," he heard Minet's voice from beside him. The boy sounded a bit sad, perhaps even solemn, "How can you live normally with wounds like those?! You should seek treatment."
"That is unfortunately not possible," another older voice sounded. It was one of the healers usually looking after the Blackburg child. Since Irwyn was planning to leave the Blackburg manor it was important that they made sure Minet could stop his internal bleeding when necessary. At least the healers insisted they had to see observe it at least once so that they could step in should Minet not be up to the task, "After long examinations, we have concluded that it would take an awakened healer to restore such mangled wounds. Unfortunately, even if there was a known awakened healer, it would be close to an impossible task to obtain his help."
"I see," Minet nodded, appearing a bit sad. One of the last few acquaintances he had was incurably ill after all. Such a reaction was only natural. Even if the boy's heart grew firmer after the recent events, he was still gentle to a fault deep inside.
“Don’t worry about it,” Irwyn sat up, resisting the urge to grimace from the spiking pain, “Considering what had happened back then, it’s a miracle I am even alive.”
“He is not the only one who is worried,” Elizabeth’s voice sounded from the side. She had been quiet during Irwyn’s treatment, however, after seeing him wake up and appear relatively healthy she did not hesitate to call out to him.
“There is no point in worrying over something that cannot be changed,” Irwyn shook his head, “We should get going. There are just a few days left before the academy examination begins for us. Besides the finishing touches on your training, I also have gifts to congratulate all of you for making it this far.”
“Alice and Desir are already training by themselves at the usual place,” Elizabeth nodded, stepping closer to help Irwyn stand up from his bed. For her age, she had managed to become surprisingly capable, often predicting Irwyn's questions before he directly asked them.
“Then there is no need to wait around,” Irwyn nodded, though he slightly struggled to walk completely straight, “I am sure those two in particular will be overjoyed by what I bring them.”
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“Is that what I think it is!?” Alice seemed to almost salivate as she stared at the large ebony bag hanging around Irwyn’s shoulder. She appeared to have tired herself out, working hard since the morning so her clothes were slightly sweaty despite her mostly focusing on magic.
“Of course,” Irwyn nodded and smiled, handing the item over to the overjoyed girl, “One cutting edge Magitech rifle custom-made just for you,” Irwyn described as Alice eagerly took the weapon out of the elegant fabric bag, a very unusual material for the North though far more common in the far South. It was a large rifle with a metallic glint, an adjustable scope and an extremely long barrel. Despite its gargantuan size Alice seemed to have no trouble lifting it with one hand.
"Although it can use normal bullets the impact is far better when using projectiles imbued by magic. I can teach Elizabeth how to enchant common ammunition which we have a plentiful stock of," Irwyn explained. There was no point in describing what exactly it could do again. Alice had been so extremely enthusiastic about her new weapon, enough to demand a very detailed explanation in advance. Although the Magitech rifle was well made, the design was far from unique so Irwyn had no trouble describing the main functions. The rest was up to Alice to properly figure out through practice.
"Where are we going to store the bullets?" Alice asked as she nearly hugged the firearm.
"That brings me to the other presents," Irwyn said, looking over at Desir and Minet, "Besides the rifle, you might have also noticed the new accessory on Elizabeth's right hand. I have spent some effort to get each of you an item you are going to find very useful in the future. Perhaps consider it a graduation gift for no longer being complete novices of magic. Minet for you I have prepared this," Irwyn reached into his clothes, pulling out a small box which he threw at Minet.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"What is this?" despite not being particularly dexterous, Minet managed to catch the case and looked inside, finding a simple-looking golden ring.
"Is that a spacial storage?" Desir exclaimed, gawking at the item, "In all my years in the auction house I have only ever seen it once and it sold for enough to buy a county and then some."
"Their prices and rarity are currently steadily dropping since there is a mage alive capable of making them, so they might even appear in an auction," Irwyn explained, "Though it was still far from cheap. Despite that, getting my hands on it was still the easiest of the bunch since it is something that can be bought with money. For the rest, I had to pull a lot of strings."
"Why give such a thing to me?" Minet seemed startled, hesitant even, only hearing how expensive the item was. Despite living most of his life in a tightknit community, he was surprisingly aware of how much money mattered in normal society. Of course, common sense would not prove particularly useful when dealing with someone like Irwyn.
"Because you are the perfect carrier for it," Irwyn explained, "Since you will be staying out of the fighting most of the time it won’t be damaged in combat. Enchanted items cannot be stored within spacial items, however, that restraint does not apply to medical and other supplies such as food or even potions, a lot of which mostly you would be able to use. I have already put inside anything we might need for a few months including a stash of bullets for Alice. Don’t hesitate to take it, you are the most suitable person to carry it.”
“Thank you,” Minet accepted with reluctance, putting the ring on his finger. It fit perfectly, however, the boy still fidgeted around with it, still feeling uncomfortable about being just give something so valuable.
“And Desir,” Irwyn turned towards his last companion. Although Desir tried to not let it show, the glint full of anticipation in his eyes betrayed his excitement. Unlike Minet, the partial demon would not hesitate to claim anything offered to him, “What I brought you is almost equal in rarity to my gift to Elizabeth,” Irwyn reached into his clothes and pulled out a small item shaped like a prism. Its frame was black while the faces appeared to made of glass, making the object mostly see-through.
“What does it do?” Desir slightly raised an eyebrow as he caught the object flung at him.
“It solves your biggest long term issue,” Irwyn smiled, “What you lack the most is not talent nor resources. It is time, in particular, the experience that comes with it. You have far too many talents, yet none so great to become your sheer focus. Under normal circumstances you would be doomed to be merely great as those with singular focus could equal or surpass you thanks to their one-directional dedication, possibly leaving you far in the dust with only a hope to surpass them in centuries if not longer. However, that item is the perfect solution for you. The within is immaculately separated from without, allowing only the users magic and will to enter, sharpening and accelerating your senses. In other words, it is a training device, specifically designed to accelerate the training of prismatic magic a dozen times over.”
“Dozen times over?” Desir seemed slightly startled over that claim, though a wide smile had begun to appear on his face.
“It can be used at any time and any place,” Irwyn continued, “That includes sleep and resting periods as it can soothe your physical exhaustion. That is if you can handle the strain of never having a moment of rest again. But should not be a problem for someone like you. Through hard work, you had developed your talent and climbed your way to power. But I understand too well that what you possess right now is merely a grain of sand compared to what you really desire. Think of this item as a ladder. A compass in the mist that will lead you towards that place you seek if can you just keep pushing onward.”
“You are correct. This item is truly perfect for me,” Desir nodded, his ear to ear smile appearing almost frightening as he glared at the shape in his hand, “In the past, I had been forced to relinquish cultivating some of my gifts because I simply lacked the time. I had figured that if I were to focus solely on my void magic I could perhaps reach a peak high enough to then safely focus on my other abilities. However, seeing the power of your Starfire and Liz’s Voidflame I have come to realise that the decision I made back then was wrong. With this item, I can reach strength unlike anything I could hope for otherwise. I cannot express the gratefulness I feel for receiving such a perfect item. But allow me to ask: What is its name?”
“There were very few made throughout the ages,” Irwyn replied, “Your circumstance of possessing an equal yet high talent for more than 2 elements of magic is rather rare after all. Since it doesn’t have a proper name, it would be suitable to call it after the person for whom it was designed in the first place. I shall dub it Golem’s prism.”
"Golem's prism," Desir nodded, his smile not receding, even widening as he recognised the Primordial king's name, "Than I shall accept it and show you. Show you that I am more than worthy of its name."