"Did you make this golem?"

"Not exactly. I just designed the enchantment matrix for it. A golem workshop in Merioc hired me to do it, and they gave me this golem carriage as part of the payment."

"In Merioc? Was it the Delmao Workshop?"

"Yes, that's right. You're familiar with them?"

"Yes! They're famous for making really good golem carriages, right? I heard they even make carriages for the royal family!"

Spending time with Kleyo wasn't as bad as Ariom had expected it to be. In spite of being so young, the boy actually knew a lot about golems, and when Ariom started explaining things, Kleyo finally managed to calm down and focus.

"Is the golem built for riding? Or just pulling?"

"It can do both. Improving the riding function was actually the main job the Delmao Workshop hired me for. It's a little hard to find enchanters who have experience riding real horses. But I grew up on a farm, and we had a few around."

Ariom was surprised to discover that his uncle's advice actually did help. Thinking of Kleyo as a human version of Iggy made interacting with him a lot easier. Their ages were even similar, if you adjusted for the different growth rates of humans and dragons.

"How come you don't have a lot of fancy decorations on your carriage? Did it not come with any? Are they too expensive to add on?"

"No, I asked for a simple design when they made the carriage for me. I don't like things that stand out too much. Why—do you like fancy golem carriages?"

"It depends." Kleyo tilted his head thoughtfully. "Some of the fancy carriages that I've seen around the city have really interesting golems, so I like those. But Aunt Suliya's golem carriage just has a lot of shiny things on the outside. The golems aren't very good. She never lets me look at them, so I'm not sure how they're made, but they don't look right when they move."

"Is your Aunt Suliya the one who married into a noble house?"

Ariom had done a little digging into Thenio's family background, trying to understand his situation better. It had turned out that his mother's older sister was married to the third son of a baron. Not very high on the social scale, all things considered. But it explained why Thenio already had some knowledge of formal etiquette.

And maybe why he seemed more anxious about things like money and social status than a sixteen-year-old boy really ought to be....

Kleyo nodded. "Right. So she has lots of money and can buy a lot of fancy things. Mom and Dad think having a lot of money is really important." He scowled. "But I don't like Aunt Suliya. She's mean to Thenio. She thinks he's stupid because he couldn't get into the academy the first time he took the test. But she's wrong! Thenio is really smart, and he studies really hard!"

Seeing the boy's indignant expression, Ariom reached out without thinking and patted Kleyo's head, the same way he would pat Iggy when he was upset about something. "Yeah...I know. He's been doing really well with all the training exercises I've given him."

Ariom suddenly realized what he was doing. He quickly withdrew his hand and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Ah...well....speaking of Thenio...maybe we should go in and see how he's doing with his packing. Can you show me the way to his room?"

"Okay!"

Kleyo gave a wide smile and reached out to take hold of Ariom's hand. Ariom froze momentarily but then allowed himself to be pulled toward the house.

They went in the front door and through the entryway, passing a closed door that probably led into a living room or parlor. Ariom could hear his uncle's voice coming faintly from inside, though he couldn't make out what was being said. But he knew that Uncle Bero had been planning to explain to Thenio's parents that his magic seemed to have a negative effect on people with lower levels of magic power. What else he explained to them...would depend on how they reacted to that information. They had discussed it with Thenio and agreed that it was probably better not to go into detail about his demon-like magic absorption, considering his already-strained relationship with his parents.

They reached a flight of stairs heading up to the second floor, and Kleyo let go of Ariom's hand and went up ahead of him.

The boy paused on the last step, his head turned toward something Ariom couldn't see. "Hi, Lem! What are you doing?"

Ariom reached the top of the stairs just in time to catch a glimpse of a thin, dark-haired boy standing in the hallway. Their eyes met very briefly before the boy disappeared into a nearby room, closing the door behind him with a soft thud.

"Oh." Kleyo looked at the closed door, tilting his head a little to one side. "I guess he doesn't want to talk right now."

"Was that your other brother?"

Kleyo nodded. "That's Lem. He's mostly nice, but he's a little bit strange. He doesn't like people very much." He went over to where Lem had been standing a moment before. "He was looking at something on the floor here. But I don't see anything?"

Ariom went over to him and looked down at the floor where Kleyo had indicated. Even using magesight, there didn't seem to be anything unusual about that spot on the carpet. "No, I don't see anything either."

Kleyo shrugged. "Just Lem being weird, I guess. Come on. Thenio's room is upstairs."

They went up another flight of stairs and came out onto an undecorated attic landing with several doors leading off of it. One of these was open, and Ariom could hear Iggy's voice coming from inside.

"Wow, look! Thenio drew a bunch of caw-caw birds!"

Ariom followed Kleyo through the door and into a bedroom with a slanted ceiling. There was a window in the opposite wall, and Iggy and Humerus were sitting in an armchair in front of it, looking at a book together. Thenio was sitting on the floor sorting through more books that he was pulling off a nearby bookshelf. There were already a few books and a small pile of folded clothes stacked neatly on the bed, apparently waiting to be packed up.

"The dragons like Thenio's sketchbooks, too?" Kleyo asked, his expression brightening as he noticed what the familiars were doing. "Thenio draws really well, huh? I like to come look through his old drawing books." He went over to where the familiars were sitting.

"Yeah! Thenio makes good pictures! I really like these caw-caw birds!" Iggy said, waving his tail happily.

"They're called crows, not 'caw-caw birds,'" Humerus told him, ears back in mock annoyance.

"But they say, 'caw-caw.' So they're caw-caw birds!" Iggy said, undeterred. Then he turned back to Kleyo. "Do you want to come look, too? Humerus can turn the pages for us!"

"He has hands. He doesn't need me to turn pages for him," Humerus retorted.

"Those are the crows that live in the park." Kleyo leaned over the book. "Thenio really likes drawing birds, so there are lots of pictures of them."

"Why don't you two let Kleyo sit down?" Thenio suggested. "Then he can hold the book, and the three of you can look at it together. Like we do at the other house." He turned to Ariom. "You can sit in the desk chair, if you want. Sorry...I haven't quite finished getting stuff ready yet."

"It's fine. Uncle Bero is still talking to your parents, anyway." Ariom pulled the desk chair out and sat down, then watched while Kleyo and the two familiars rearranged themselves.

Humerus jumped up to perch on the back of the armchair and then looked over at Ariom. "Hey, look at that chart on the wall. Then convince Thenio that he ought to learn aesthetic enchanting. He won't listen to me."

"What?" Ariom blinked and then turned around to look at the wall behind him. Hanging over the desk was a large sheet of paper with magic formations painted on it. He recognized them as the basic formations that academy students were required to learn, though they were stylized and formed into the shapes of different animals. He glanced at Thenio. "Did you make this?"

"Well...yeah." Thenio sounded a little embarrassed. "And it's not that I'm not listening to Humerus. It's just...well, aesthetic enchanting doesn't have that great a reputation, right? Isn't it really hard to find work if you specialize in that?"

"Well, it depends. Top level aesthetic enchanters get plenty of work. But it's true that it's a difficult field to break into."

'Aesthetic enchanting' was the official term used by the Wizard Association, though it was often called 'artistic' or 'decorative' enchanting in casual speech. Normal enchantments were often designed to be completely invisible to the naked eye. They were usually inconspicuous, at least. But aesthetic enchanting was the complete opposite. In that style, inscriptions were deliberately designed to be openly visible. They were made from colorful materials and stylized into beautiful patterns, like the animals on Thenio's chart.

"The real problem with most aesthetic enchanters is that they come at it from the wrong direction," Ariom went on. "Most of them go into aesthetic enchanting because they want to be artists."

Thenio looked confused. "Isn't that the whole point?"

"No. Well...maybe it's the right goal, but it's the wrong method. Tell me, what do you think is the most important thing to have in order to succeed as an aesthetic enchanter?"

"Isn't it artistic skill?"

Ariom shook his head and pointed at the chart on the wall. "You have plenty of artistic skill, don't you? But you wouldn't be able to sell inscriptions like those. Do you know why?"

Thenio fidgeted awkwardly. "Well...most of them aren't functional. I knew that when I was drawing them, but I couldn't get them to look right if I made sure each formation was technically correct, and it was just a study tool, not a working enchantment, so...."

"Exactly. You prioritized form over function. That's the mistake that most aesthetic enchanters make. Their inscriptions look pretty, but they don't function as well as they should. That's why it's hard for them to find work. But the best aesthetic enchanters all come at it from the opposite direction: They prioritize function over form. Make it work. Then make it look nice."

Thenio's expression was a bit skeptical.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Ariom sighed. "Magic theory. That's the most important thing for becoming a good aesthetic enchanter. Or any enchanter, really. But with the regular style you can get by if you just memorize all the standard formations." He gestured toward the chart again. "But that's what got you into trouble with these, isn't it? You couldn't make the standard formations fit the designs you wanted to make. But what if you didn't have to depend on those formations? What if you knew enough to design a completely different-looking formation that would still have the same effect? Then you could adapt it to whatever shape you wanted to make."

"That's possible?" Thenio's eyes widened.

"Of course. It's part of the master-rank certification exam. It's one of the reasons so many enchanters stall out at artisan rank. That and the magic power requirement."

There were occasionally people who couldn't advance to master rank because they never reached sorcerer level. There was only so much a person could do to overcome their natural limits, after all. Thenio probably understood that as well as anyone. Low power levels were the reason his parents had never gotten their wizard certifications. Though Thenio and Kleyo didn't seem to have that problem. Ariom wasn't sure about their brother Lem—he hadn't had enough time to look at his magic circuit during that brief encounter in the hallway.

"I think Humerus is right. Studying aesthetic enchanting would be a good idea for you, if you're willing to spend a lot of time studying enchanting theory and techniques. It will help with your thaumaturgy practice, and it's a type of enchanting that you can do without actually using much magic, so your control problems shouldn't be an issue. You'll be a bit limited in the kinds of materials you can use, of course, since you'll have to avoid anything that emits magic.... But it wouldn't be impossible to work around that." Ariom shrugged. "Well. That's only if you want to, of course. It's not an area I specialize in, so it's not like you'll need to study it for your assistant work. But if you think it sounds fun, I can help you get started."

"If I think it...sounds fun?" Thenio looked a bit perplexed by that idea.

"Sure. You already have a job, don't you? So what does it matter if aesthetic enchanting will get you work or not? If you think you'll enjoy it, go ahead and try it out. If not, then don't. You don't need to decide everything based on career potential, you know?"

Thenio blinked. "Oh." He stared blankly at Ariom for a moment, then looked down at the book in his hand. "I guess you're right. I'll...I'll think about it."

----------------------------------------

Later that evening, Bero and Humerus arrived at a house in the middle of the military's residential district. The house was nice, but not ostentatious. The man who lived there had practical tastes. And he didn't spend a lot of time at home, anyway.

As the carriage pulled up to the front of the house, the door opened, and General Kalion Obarin appeared. There was a creature that resembled a black and gold monkey perched on his shoulder. An imp.

"Bero. Humerus. Good to see you both." Kalion gave them a welcoming smile. "Come on in."

The imp stared at them with a grumpy expression as they approached. After the door had closed behind them, he sniffed loudly. "You better have brought snacks."

Bero took out a small wicker picnic basket from his space pocket. "Ember pears and a bottle of mistralic. There's enough for you and Humerus to share."

"Yes! Score!" The imp's expression brightened immediately. He jumped off Kalion's shoulder, spreading out a pair of leathery black wings. He swooped down onto the basket and pulled it from Bero's hands, then pivoted and flew off down the corridor with it swinging beneath him.

"Tamon!" Humerus shouted angrily, flying after him. "Come back here! Half of those are mine, you greedy monkey!"

"I'm not a monkey! I'm an imp, you ignorant skeleton!" Tamon shouted back.

"I'm not a skeleton, stupid monkey! I just live in one!"

The two of them zoomed around a corner and out of sight, though the sounds of them arguing still echoed through the house.

Bero chuckled. "Nothing like watching magic eaters fighting over food."

Kalion raised an eyebrow at him. "You have a weird sense of humor, Bero. Though I guess you'd have to, to put up with all those monsters you live with...."

"My monsters aren't half as scary as yours are."

"Well...fair point."

The two of them headed to Kalion's study. Bero had visited the house many times and already knew the way there.

"Have a seat."

Kalion gestured toward a couple of armchairs that were arranged in front of a fireplace set into one wall of the study. There was a table in between them with an assortment of snacks set out on it. The fireplace was empty, but Kalion flicked his hand toward it, and a cheery fire flared up.

Bero looked down at the snack table. "Ah, that reminds me. I brought you something." He pulled a bottle out of his space pocket and held it up with a grin. "De-spiced redflower juice. I brought a few bottles, so you can keep some for later."

"Seriously?" Kalion raised his eyebrows. "You must have caught Ariom in a good mood."

"Well, he was pretty grateful that you were willing to vouch for him with Thenio."

"I didn't do much." Kalion smiled wistfully. "Honestly, I was just happy he was willing to rely on me for once. Ornery kid. I think of him as being practically my own grandson, but he hardly even talks to me...."

"Yeah...well." Bero sighed and sat down in one of the chairs. "He believes in holding grudges. Even though he knows you had good intentions...." He shook his head and fell silent for a moment. "But if you want him to rely on you more, you'll be happy to know he has a favor to ask. That's part of why he was willing to fix the redflower juice for you."

Kalion sat down in the opposite chair. "A favor?"

"Well, it's actually for Thenio. Apparently he took acrobatics classes when he was in general school. Ariom wants him to be able to continue with it, but he doesn't know what kind of equipment he needs or anything. He's never had any interest in acrobatics himself. Since...well, you know."

"I know." Kalion sighed. "All right. I'll find someone at the training center who can help out. A lot of combat wizards train in acrobatics, so it shouldn't be hard to arrange."

"Thanks." Bero pulled over a couple of glasses that were sitting on the table, uncorked the bottle of redflower juice, and started pouring it into them. "Thenio's a good kid, and he's been through some hard stuff. I'm glad he's getting a chance to do some things he enjoys."

"Ariom must like him quite a lot, if he's willing to allow acrobatics equipment in his house for Thenio's sake," Kalion said, accepting the glass of juice that Bero passed him.

"That's only half of it. He's also started teaching Thenio archery."

"Really?" Kalion's eyes widened. "That's surprising."

"Isn't it? I was the one who suggested it, but Ariom went along with it. I couldn't have imagined him doing that a few years ago. Couldn't have imagined him willingly getting involved with someone like Thenio in the first place. Having a familiar really has changed him. I'm seriously grateful to that funny little dragon."

"Iggy does seem to have had a good influence. I just wish I could convince him not to be afraid of Tamon.... He gets along fine with Humerus, doesn't he?"

"That's because he's known Humerus since he was a hatchling. Parasites have a different feel to them than spectrals do. Iggy's just not used to it. He'd be fine if he and Tamon spent more time together."

"Too bad that's not likely to happen." Kalion made a face. "I can't see Ariom being willing to come visit that often. Not unless taking care of Thenio has an even greater effect on him than taking care of Iggy has."

"Well, who knows? Though I admit the chances aren't high...." Bero took a sip of his juice. "Still, that kid definitely has some unusual effects on people. You read my report?"

"I did. He's quite an interesting fellow. I'd like to meet him, but Focilo recommended that I wait until Ariom has his magic insulation device all figured out." Kalion sighed. "My magic control isn't what it used to be.... It's not really safe for him to be around me for now."

"I'd be interested to know what Tamon thinks of him, considering how other magic beasts have been reacting. Ah...and that reminds me...." Bero's expression turned serious. "I think the mythics are interested in Thenio."

Kalion paused with his glass raised halfway to his mouth. "The mythics are? What makes you think that?"

"A couple of things. First of all, there were some pretty noticeable gaps in the information on chaos affinities that the Association sent Ariom. He contacted the archives about it, and they said they'd sent everything that was available at his clearance level. Meaning that there's something about chaos magic that the Association doesn't want just anyone to be able to look into."

"That doesn't necessarily mean the mythics were involved."

"Aren't they basically running that place?"

"Well...probably. They're not exactly open about their actions, so it's hard to say how much influence they're exerting. But they definitely have a presence there, so it's true they could control what gets released from the archives if they wanted to."

"I wouldn't be so suspicious if that were the only thing. When we first picked Thenio up, he asked to stop and visit a friend before we went back to Ariom's house. It turned out to be an old guy named Eteon who was selling wooden carvings in the park. Apparently they've known each other for years."

"And?"

"And it turned out he isn't a normal guy. He's a magician, and I don't know what kind of magic he uses, but he has some serious skills. Humerus called him a 'big, strong monster.' It's pretty ridiculous to think that a mythic beast would be hanging out in a park selling wooden carvings. But he might be one of their agents. I think he's been keeping an eye on Thenio."

"Hmm...." Kalion was silent for a moment, staring down at his redflower juice. "Assuming you're right, why do you think they're interested in him?"

"No idea. Something to do with his chaos magic, I guess? But I can't think what. It seems to have some pretty amazing potential, but that's mostly in its ability to change into other magic types, like a null affinity does. So I'm not sure why they couldn't just find a good null mage to do whatever it is they want." Bero leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "After seeing how magic beasts react to him, I even wondered a little if Thenio could possibly be some type of mythic beast himself. But...that doesn't make sense, no matter how I think about it. It's not like he's the only chaos morph that's ever lived, and they can't all be mythic beasts, can they? All the medical evidence I've seen points to him being a normal human. And his magic isn't nearly powerful enough...at least not at the moment. Besides...a mythic beast that can't control its own magic? That seems ludicrous. Aren't they pretty much the incarnation of magic itself?"

"Well, we don't really know enough about mythic beasts to be sure..." Kalion said slowly. "But based on what we do know, it seems pretty unlikely. And it's not like magic beasts are only attracted to mythics. Most of them are pretty fond of life mages."

"True. They don't react as strongly to me as they do to Thenio, but it shows that human magic can produce the same kind of effect."

Kalion tapped the side of his juice glass, looking thoughtful. "If I had to guess.... It's possible that there's some connection between chaos magic and the demon rifts. We don't have any record of chaos morphs appearing until after the Rift Crisis, correct? And if there's one thing I do know about mythic beasts, it's that they seriously hate demons…. I've heard rumors that they're trying to find a way to close the rifts back up."

"I've heard those rumors, too...." Bero smiled a little. "Doesn't that mean they're trying to put you out of a job?"

Kalion didn't smile in response. "I'd be happy to lose my job if it meant never having to see another city destroyed by demons," he said quietly. "I think most combat wizards would feel the same way."

They both fell silent.

"I'm in contact with one of the mythics' agents," Kalion said after a long pause. "I'll mention this to him. I doubt I'll learn anything in return, but we can at least make sure that this Eteon fellow is safe. Mythic beasts are generally friendly toward humans, so if he is their agent, he shouldn't be hostile. Just don't do anything to interfere with him. Make sure Ariom knows that as well."

"I know. I haven't mentioned my suspicions about the mythics' involvement to him yet, but I warned him about messing with Eteon. I think he'll be careful."

"Good."

There was another moment of silence.

"So what was Riomel's excuse for not being here tonight?" Bero asked, reaching for Kalion's empty glass in order to refill it.

"He's on assignment in Yaron. He probably won't be back until next week."

"That rat. Always coming up with reasons to neglect his younger brother...."

Kalion laughed weakly. "Well, I did give him the assignment myself. I didn't know you'd be staying in the capital then...."

"Fine. You're both rats." Bero took a long swallow of his redflower juice then looked at his glass with a trace of dissatisfaction. Kalion couldn't have magic spiced foods, and Bero wanted to drink the same thing to show solidarity. But the de-spiced version really wasn't the same.... "Well, I'll probably be around more than usual for the next few months, at least. I'm heading home in a couple of days, but I told Ariom I'd come back soon to check on Thenio's progress."

"Let me know what your schedule is. We'll get Riomel here next time, even if I have to tie him up and put suppression bands on him." Kalion smiled and held his glass up. "Deal?"

Bero grinned. He lifted his own glass and clinked it against Kalion's. "Deal."