“Are you dead?” Bjorgrund called through the portal to the kitchen.

“Would I be able to open the portal if I was dead?” Alex called back laughing.

The two giants were stooped low, moving through the portal at speed, eager to see the still living young wizard. Alex was not only very much alive, but he was all smiles, dressed, and waiting for them.

“Did it work?” Birger asked. “Or did you have to stop?”

Almost giddy with laughter, Alex rolled up his right sleeve, revealing the glowing symbol of a golden crown-sword with a scroll beneath it. “Oh, I think it really did!”

“Ooooooh! Yes!” Bjorgrund shouted, thundering over and clapping Alex on the shoulder.

The young wizard was nearly knocked over by the force.

Birger stood for a long, silent moment, looking from Alex to Kelda’s glass coffin. “So the Mark of the Fool is gone?”

“I got rid of the patch,” Alex said. “If there’s ever another cycle—and my plan is to kill the Ravener so there won’t be—but if the worst happens and we don’t kill it, who knows if the next Hero will be a Fool, or a General… but in my case, this Fool is gone. Completely and totally gone!” He laughed, patting his shoulder.

Birger swallowed and limped over to his old friend’s casket, his flight magic now faded. “You hear that, Kelda?” the old giant said, choking up. “You've been avenged. Not completely yet, but partly, and that’s a good start. Your work saved another. Can you hear me, my friend? You did it, Kelda, you did it.” He placed a hand on the glass. “You did it.”

Alex smiled gently, standing alongside Bjorgrund, watching the old giant. He slowly lowered his head, closing his eyes. ‘Hannah? If you can hear me, I want you to know that your good friend did it. She got us ninety percent of the way there, and I got us the final ten. The Fool is gone. You and your power were so important: thank you! Thank you from now till the end of time.’

As he prayed, a deep, warm sensation washed over him, he could have sworn he heard a woman's happy voice in the distance.

She was cheering.

###

‘Claygon?’ his father's voice spoke in his mind.

The golem—who'd been standing on the balcony of the villa Alex had rented for his family and watching Shale’s iron constructs patrol the courtyard—nearly jumped in surprise.

‘Father…is that you?’ he asked, though he didn't have to. He knew his father's voice would be the only one speaking in his mind, but he wanted to hear him confirm that he was still alive. He wanted to hear his father say that it was him.

‘It's me, buddy, I'm okay,’ Alex said, calmly. ‘Could you do me a favour? Could you get Theresa and Selina for me?’

‘Yes…father…is there…good news…?’ Claygon asked, hope burning inside him.

‘Very good news, buddy, very very, good news, but I want to tell you when you’re all together,’ his father said.

If an iron golem could cry, Claygon would have already been weeping with relief.

###

The Roth family were gathered in the solarium.

Claygon stood in the middle of the room, the sunlight shining on his iron form.

In front of him were Selina and Theresa, both young women were tense, their expressions a mix of anticipation and dread. They didn’t know why Claygon had called them, only that he'd had news from the sanctum. Brutus sat whimpering beside the huntress, sensing her tension.

“What happened?” Selina asked. “Is Alex okay?”

“I know he was in the sanctum, preparing Kelda's machines, but what happened?” Theresa asked. “Is he about to start?”

Claygon contacted his father. ‘Selina and Theresa…are asking if…you're about to start.’

The golem got a sense of surprise through their link. ‘Wait, you didn't tell them that I was starting?’

‘Not yet…’ Claygon said apologetically. ‘I was so worried, I couldn't move…I have been standing on the balcony since you told me that you were starting the process…I was there waiting for you to contact me since then…father…’

‘Okay, well I’d better stop keeping you all waiting, then,’ Alex laughed. ‘I wish I could tell you all this in person, I wish I could see your faces, but it's not safe yet. So, you’ll have to relay my words, is that okay?’

‘Yes…father…’

The golem listened as Alex spoke through their link, then repeated his words. ‘Father says…that he finished Kelda's process…he wants us to know…that he's not just alright…he wants us to know…that he did it…he changed the Mark…the Mark of the Fool is gone…and he has the Mark of the General…’

Several moments of silence passed in the sunny solarium before Claygon, Theresa and Selena began screaming with joy.

“He did it!” The young girl jumped up and down. “He did it! He did it! He did it! He did it!”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“By the gods! By the Traveller! He's free, he's actually free!” Theresa shouted.

Claygon’s cry of joy echoed through the villa, no doubt alerting the Lu’s that something good was happening. Theresa would soon be sharing that good news with them, grateful that it wasn’t otherwise. She’d been afraid…terrified of what Claygon would say, of what she’d have to tell her parents, brothers and friends, but now, she had the best news ever to share with them, and she was happy.

“So what happens now?” she asked. “What does the Mark of the General do?”

Claygon asked his father the question.

‘I don't know what it does yet. But, I'll be testing it soon,’ Alex said. ‘I already cast forceball without any interference. It was amazing, I felt so free! So, next I’ll be trying more spells. Lots and lots of spells. I want to see what this Mark can do.’

###

Alex was used to struggling. From the time he was a youngster, he’d dealt with it.

His parents had died tragically, he’d worked for a tyrant in Thameland, he’d fought the Mark every time he wanted to cast a spell.

Struggle was a regular part of his life, especially since he’d been Marked as the Fool.

No matter how far he'd advanced in wizardry, no matter what solutions he’d been forced to find to be able to fight, and no matter how much he’d grown in power, the Mark was always there.

A constant obstacle that had both hindered and helped, though rarely in equal measure. It had brought good things and new skills to his life, while also bringing debilitating limits that at worst, could one day get him killed. Those limits were constantly there, making sure he never forgot that he’d always be chained to Uldar’s will.

Now, though?

Now, they were gone.

It felt strange.

Oddly enough, like something was missing.

He’d grown accustomed to expecting a backlash when he tried to spellcast, like how a child would flinch at the sight of a cruel sibling.

But, he’d quickly learned there was no backlash coming, he could freely cast spells.

Alexander Roth, the General of Thameland, stood in Kelda's sanctum—in one of its many empty, trapped rooms—casting spells.

He cast spell after spell without flinching or stopping.

“Is this what it’s been like for everyone else?” His laughter rolled through the large room. “Has it really been this easy? Let's try forcedisk!”

Speaking a rapid incantation, the spell array completed and the magic circuit formed.

A perfect forcedisk appeared before him.

“Look at that!” he cried. “How long was that…damn, I wish I’d brought my old notebooks so I could compare how fast I am now with my speed before! I think I did that in less than a heartbeat! Okay, what’s next, maybe… Wizard’s Hand!”

Alex uttered the incantation with ease, with no interference. Where the Mark of the Fool would have protested, the Mark of the General was silent.

A beautiful comfortable silence.

Again, in less than a heartbeat, a force magic spell appeared before him. A crimson glowing Wizard’s Hand. Alex roared with giddy laughter that echoed through the room.

“By the Traveller, that was so easy!” he shouted. “How the hells long did it take me to learn that spell? Weeks? And here I am casting it like nothing! It’s almost as easy as breathing! Okay, another, another! Oh, I know what!”

He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s try a summoning spell: with the Traveller’s power I could summon pretty fast, even though I had the Mark of the Fool. How fast will I be now?”

Taking a deep breath, he picked a first-tier summoning spell: Summon Small Water Elemental.

He began the incantation.

The Traveller’s power flared.

He hadn't finished all the words when the magic circuit completed.

Bubbles appeared suddenly. The little water elemental was frozen with surprise—surprised at being abruptly pulled from the elemental plane. It seemed to be trying to understand what had just happened.

“Hi there,” Alex said softly. “It's me.”

Bubbles burbled.

“Been a while, hasn't it?” he said lightly. “I hope you're doing well—Oh! You're a little bigger aren't you? My, my look at you. Soon I'll need a second-tier spell to summon you.”

The water elemental rolled over to the young wizard, who reached into his bag for a haste potion, unstoppering it, and pouring it into Bubbles. The little elemental bubbled happily, drinking the potion down.

‘Very good, very good! A potion for a growing elemental. I guess we're both growing, though only figuratively for me,” he grinned. “Alright…what’s next…ah!”

He remembered one of the spells that had been a big source of exasperation for him.

Protective Force Weapon. It was one of the most difficult spells he’d had to learn when he was in first year force magic in Professor Ram’s class. The Mark had protested, not only because he was practising spellcraft, but the spell conjured weapons, even if they were only meant to deflect strikes, not hit anyone.

To solve the problem, Alex had modified the spell array so it would conjure deflective force rectangles instead; they were a strange shape—and looked a bit ridiculous—but they’d gotten the job done.

Now, would he be able to cast the spell properly? As it was meant to be cast?

He thought back to the guide for Protective Force Weapon, focusing the Mark of the General on the task of remembering the words in the guide. He felt a rush of power from his new Mark, images appeared before him.

Like before, he saw every success he’d had while memorising the spell…

…but there was a notable difference.

The Mark of the Fool would have shown his successes, pointing out exactly what he’d done right over his multiple attempts at learning Protective Force Weapon.

However, the Mark of the General also showed him his failures when it was trying to help him.

They were organised carefully in his mind, showing him exactly what he did wrong, and how to avoid it next time.

Alex's jaw dropped. He pumped his fists in excitement. “This is even more powerful than the Fool was! You get all the benefits of focusing on your successes, and all the benefits of learning from your failures! This is incredible!”

He thought about what he’d just learned, thinking carefully. “So that's what you did, Uldar. To make the Mark of the Fool, you put a patch on the General to turn one of its benefits into an obstacle. Instead of failures being used to help teach, the Fool used someone’s failures to stop them from doing spellcraft, combat or divinity. Instead of adding a new limiter, you just had the patch change a function the General already had.”

The young wizard crossed his arms. “I'd be impressed if I wasn't so pissed off.”

He sighed. “I have to admit it, the Mark of the General is beautifully designed. With it, you have to analyse both failure and success to get better at something. If it's all failures, you won't know which direction you need to go in to improve. If it's all successes, then you don't know where you made your mistake, and where you can still improve. Focusing only on failures leads to despair, but focusing only on successes can lead to stagnation in time, unless you keep purposefully experimenting, like I do.”

Alex thought carefully. “So the Mark of the General is an even better learning tool than the Mark of the Fool was; the Generals of the past must have mastered dozens of skills. Maybe hundreds…they should’ve been the scholar-kings of their day. Yet, there's no record of them in any history book…I bet Uldar had something to do with that. When this is done, I really need to go back to his sanctum and see if there's anything we missed.’

The young wizard cracked his knuckles. “Anyway, that's a later problem. Right now, it's time to cast Protective Force Weapon. After that, I'll see how easy it is to cast spells I’ve learned in every tier. Once I’m done that…”

He looked at the pile of spell-guides from Brightfire, and another object beside them:

The Traveller’s sword.

“...it'll be time to try things I couldn't dream of trying when I had the Mark of the Fool, and learn what the limits of the Mark of the General are.”