“Angry sword no good,” Acorn grumbled as Zeek swung with all his strength. The wood bounced off the giant’s weapon as if he was hitting a stone wall. In truth, he was angry. Furious even. And he didn’t even know if he should be. The new task in his book consumed his mind.

Progress:

Mana Tier 4

Task List:

1. Hope you figure this one out. Learn the circulation technique and hide your mana level before the opening ceremony.

2. Discover the truth behind the Captain of the Order of War Magic

3. Rend the sky with lightning! Burn the forests with flame! Summon the ocean depths with your will! Become a war mage candidate!

Pending Reward:

1. Mana Ball Technique upon reaching Journeyman Tier 1

Yes…the damn Book of Spite was spiting him now. Stupid bastard and his stupid hollow face was smirking at Zeek, he knew it. He questioned his sanity for thinking of the book as a he. But that wasn’t really important; it was the new task that freaked him out.

Become a war mage candidate. Every moron with a sword or fire spell was trying to coax him in that direction, and now the book demanded it too. And unlike the morons, the book could make his life a living nightmare. He tried throwing it out the window again, but it flew up and smacked him across the face. He tried burning it next, but the flame passed through as if the book wasn’t there. Then he tried bringing it to the bath and drowning it, no reaction from that either. Except for the surge of lightning that made his hair spike and his teeth clamp so tight his jaw ached.

Zeek considered it the worst book he’d ever read. Worse than Granny’s made-up romance stories where every heated encounter happened in a bed of rare herbs or a grove of ancient trees. So he chose to take his anger out on the muscled monster in front of him.

He did his best to calm down and let the flow of the fight take him, relaxing his muscles and focusing on using mana efficiently. As the rhythm of battle slowed to a manageable level, he started thinking over the situation. He’d have to complete the tasks.

The first one was life or death, but he didn’t know why. The second was just impossible, or at least it would be impossible to do before the third task. Now he had to become a war mage candidate. It wasn’t all bad, though; he did want a life of adventure. And he did want a free pass to come and go from the capital. Living out his days in a back room casting spells on rich people’s stuff wasn’t for him anyhow. It was the noble title and the life of servitude he wasn’t excited about. Some fat king marching him from swamp to desert to dungeon just to earn a few extra gold coins for the coffers.

It would be a problem someday; for now he just had to focus on his tasks. Besides, maybe there was a way to opt out of becoming a war mage? He doubted the book had that in mind. Or maybe he’d get strong enough to ditch the book. These were long-term issues, so he continued fighting the monster named Acorn.

The week wasn’t getting easier, but he was growing used to constant exercise. His swordsmanship was improving by leaps and his mana circulation was getting smoother. He was able to efficiently withdraw unused mana much quicker now, and it increased his ability to intentionally weaken himself.

He no longer fainted when he slowed his circulation down to the level of a non-mage. He couldn’t move quickly or much at all, but in a few days of concentrated practice he’d be able to restrict himself all the time while standing still. The book didn’t count that as learning the skill since the task was still listed; he figured he’d need to learn to walk around for a full day in the lowered state before the task was finished.

But it wasn’t insurmountable now; he’d learn it before the opening ceremony. Not that he had a choice.

Sirius was improving too. He’d managed to walk home the past few days without help. But…he was sleeping in Zeek’s room until the bootcamp was over. Which wasn’t so bad, except for his incessant talking. Pebble wasn’t working him hard enough anymore; he had hours of talking left in him after each day.

There was a bit of awkwardness when the lover boys had approached them the night before and asked why Sirius was spending time with peasants. In fairness to the young noble, he brushed them off and declared his friendship with Zeek and Penny. It was uncomfortably similar to a love confession, though, and the two boys acted as such, scuffling away with red, embarrassed faces.

Penny had found the Lesser Mending spell model and had a copy carved for her. She carried it around swaddled in cloth like a child, which Zeek constantly teased her for. She hadn’t unlocked her mana, though, so she couldn’t practice it yet. Which led to a shocking conversation, for Zeek at least.

“How does the academy unlock mana?” Zeek asked while eating dinner one evening. Penny and Sirius glanced at each other; the young noble had a sour face like he’d recalled a terrible memory.

“Depends on the person, but generally a very stressful situation unlocks it for most,“ Penny explained.

Zeek gawked. “How do they manage that?”

“For me…Father hired a few knights to dress up like muggers and assault me on the way home from school my first year. I was…quite bloody by the time it ended,” Sirius said, but he seemed to be holding back.

“That’s it? You got mugged and suddenly had mana?” Zeek pressed.

“They said some very unkind things about what they’d do to Mother when they found out where I lived…” Sirius whispered. Zeek started laughing, and Penny scowled at him.

“That’s terrible, Sirius. We can’t all get lucky like Zeek here. Apparently, the academy is skilled at putting students in fake situations,” Penny said.

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“Mother was so mad my father hid in a closet for hours while she hunted for him. She made him sleep on the couch for a month afterward,” Sirius continued whispering.

Zeek ignored him. “What happens if you realize what’s going on and it doesn’t work?”

“They basically spend every moment trying to terrify you. Bumps in the night, jump scares from professors, screaming outside your door at all hours, anything it takes to make you near a breakdown,” she replied.

“Doesn’t that make people quit?”

“You aren’t allowed to quit. They just let you go home and send people to your house to continue the harassment till it works,” Penny explained.

“Don’t people get hurt?” Zeek asked.

“It’s very rare now. But they have lost students in the past by putting them in real life-threatening situations,” Sirius said.

“There’s no…device that could do it for you?” Zeek asked innocently.

Sirius chuckled. “If only. I’ve never heard of anything like that. How did you unlock your mana?”

Zeek pretended to be serious, clasping his hands and leaning over the table. “I fought a giant bear and nearly died.”

“You told me it was a wild boar,” Penny interjected.

“It was a giant wild animal. I was too scared to notice what type,” he lied.

“You don’t know the difference between a wild pig and a giant bear?” Penny questioned.

“It was so traumatic my mind just blocks out parts of the memory,” Zeek answered while Sirius patted him and nodded knowingly. Penny raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask anything else.

A wooden sword smacking the side of Zeek’s ribs broke him out of his trance. Acorn dropped his sword on the ground and stared at Zeek. He looked like a…disappointed wolf?

“Come. Exercise clears mind,” he said, leading Zeek to the obstacle course.

They spent the last day of bootcamp running, jumping, and doing every exercise he’d learned until Zeek couldn’t walk. It was awful, but his mind was clear. A horn announced the end of the day and the remaining recruits cheered. A group of the more social trainees shouted invites to drink in the city while Old John said a few words to each. There would be a choosing ceremony in a few weeks, and the Orders would choose new pages from the pool of graduates. The bootcamp, it turned out, was seen as a vacation compared to what the orders would make them do.

Zeek and Sirius wouldn’t need to worry about that, though. When the crowd was clearing out, Acorn patted Zeek and told him, “Good,” before wandering off to drink with the other knights. Sirius spoke to Old John first and thanked him, then waved goodbye before finally heading back into the city. Only Zeek and Old John were left on the field. The old man pulled out a flask and motioned for Zeek to come sit next to him on the short stage they’d used for announcements.

“Congratulations. You could probably become a knight with your results if you weren’t a mage,” John remarked.

“Were we scored or something?” Zeek asked.

“Yes, the trainers gave scores and I approved them after looking at each candidate,” John explained.

“So the whole thing was a test. I figured it was something like that. How did I do?”

“You had the highest marks of any candidate,” John said. Zeek couldn’t help but frown; he wasn’t trying to stand out too much. There were still unanswered questions with the book. But he was too inexperienced with everything to know what stood out and what didn’t. John chuckled as he took a swig and passed it to Zeek. It smelled so strong Zeek swore his nostrils burned.

He took a drink anyhow.

“You weren’t trying to get high scores?” John asked.

“No, I still haven’t decided to become a war mage. I just wanted to learn and keep my head down,” he said honestly.

“You want a bit of advice, kid?” John asked, holding out his hand for the flask.

“Aren’t you going to give me it anyhow?”

John smirked. “Clever as a mage, strong as a knight. I like you, kid, you’ve got a bright future. But you were right to try keeping your head down.”

“Why?”

John sighed, turning his eyes towards the fort looming in the distance. “Politics are shit here. It’s the nature of big kingdoms. Shine too brightly and people with power get nervous. They try to bring you down. The path to power here is slow and steady.”

“So what are you telling me to do?”

“You want to learn to fight. I could see it when you practiced with Acorn. You grinned back at him when the fighting got hot. I think you’ll end up being a war mage,” John said.

“Old John, you’re beating around the bush.”

“Once a week, I get a break from my duties. They’re making me oversee training the new recruits for my Order. Come to my home and train. Sirius will bring you; he’s coming too,” John said.

Zeek tried to read the old knight’s face, looking for some hint of danger or intrigue. The offer just seemed so genuine, and Zeek couldn’t figure out why. In Hake, no one had offered to help him. He was just a public nuisance, shooed away until Granny could come pick him up.

“Why do you want to train me?”

“If the earl and I turn you and Sirius into unstoppable war mages, the kingdom might listen to our training suggestions,” John answered honestly.

“What if I decide to become a magic gardener?”

“I’ll pity the first vermin to nibble on your vegetables,“ John grinned.

Zeek accepted the offer and spent the evening drinking with Old John. The knight was filled with stories of battles. He told Zeek of his first dungeon clear, his first monster, his first victories, and his first losses. Zeek peppered him with questions when he described monsters and villains and otherworldly terrain. The stories were filled with harrowing life-and-death experiences. Some were filled with loss so deep he could feel the hollowness in John’s voice as he recounted them. Others were filled with such excitement, Zeek felt his heart race as John described flourishing swords and fantastical spells.

Zeek was terrified of becoming a soldier. Of marching off to battles where he wasn’t more than a walking corpse being ordered to die for someone else. That wasn’t John’s life, though. Sure, he probably embellished the stories. But every one was filled with adventure. That was exactly what Zeek wanted with his life, tales like these. As he walked back to the dormitory late that night, he had one thought.

He would become a war mage.

###

Earl Yenson read the letter, drafted on paper that was nearly translucent. The ink was so black it seemed to suck in the darkness and the words appeared to float in the air. He channeled the smallest amount of mana into one of his spell models, making the enchanted paper instantly turn to dust. He swiped it off the desk and into his hand, opening the window to discard it.

He twisted a knob on his ornate writing desk and a panel slid away. Reaching inside, he removed a box made of dark crystal. It reacted to his touch, a tendril of purple smoke swirling inside. He fed his mana into the box and held it to his mouth as he began to whisper.

As he spoke, another sheet of the enchanted paper appeared as his words wrote themselves in the same black ink. He read the message carefully before feeding mana into another side of the box. The words rearranged themselves into nonsensical sentences and blocks of letters shoved together. With a final tap on the box, the paper folded itself into a murky black beetle.

“To the captain,” he muttered. The beetle waved its dark wings and flew out the window, towards the fort in the distance. He returned the box to its hidden compartment, checking the panel twice as it clicked into place. The sound of his wife cooing over Sirius reminded him it was time to return to the dining room. He had a family meal to attend, and his secrets wouldn’t matter much if Sirius slipped up.

One word that he’d been training with knights, and Priscilla would kill him. Not right away. She’d wait till he was tired and unfocused and least suspecting it. Then she’d get him. Probably a knife. Poison just wasn’t personal enough. He glanced at the desk once more before leaving, a slight smile on his face as he mumbled to the empty room.

“Why is danger so sexy?”