"We're going to change direction for a bit" I told Gissela as I lifted off and headed straight for my teacher.

Some thing were better done under the tutelage of a proper Wizard. Half an hour later, we landed in front of his cave, and Martak peeked out at me and my new wife.

"Ice and Fire. Your balls are something of a miracle, young Pef." Magister Martak noted as Twinshriek landed to be petted by me. The griffon seemed even friendlier now, for some strange reason.

'Hard head is back!' Twinshriek noted in glee, and pecked my head gently.

'Nice to see you too, twin head' I muttered in replay.

"...Hello, Magister Patriarch. I am Gissela, Bright Wizard in the Wild Guard." my woman offered with a polite bow.

Wait..no. Nevermind. I didn't care for titles.

Instead, I formed my new spell and showed it to my teacher. His eyes widened in surprise for a second, then he just shook his head.

"I don't have an Amber Bow for you, Magister Pef." he said in a solemn voice.

"I am a Magister? Doesn't that require..." I observed with some confusion. Then it hit me. It did require extreme mastery over a Wind of Magic, including the creation of new spells. Like I just did.

"Yes. Creating new spells is a sign of greatness, and is recognized by all Wizards with a Magister rank. Go ask the Emperor for an Amber Bow. There should be one in those locked vaults of Altdorf." Martak explained in a calm voice.

"Is that a bow made of pure Ghur, like my arrow?" I asked while flicking the arrow away, and then recalling it to my hand.

Martak sighed deeply, and tried to copy my spell. And failed! Hah. Not that great of a Wizard now, are you?

"Of course not, silly Pef. It's made of wood. Oak I believe. Maybe one day you can also make a pure Ghur bow, anything is possible after all." Martak muttered in a sad voice.

Searching through my bag, I took out a few magic lodestones and a runic staff. "These are for you, teacher. Plenty of these things in Sylvania too." I offered him and held my hand to Gissela, who just stared at the three of us like we had two heads each. Only Twinshriek had two heads.

"Good bye, Magister Patriarch!" Gissela yelled as we flew up and away towards Altdorf.

"...Stupid child." Martak grumbled as he picked up the priceless artifacts dropped on the ground.

"Your teacher is the Great Gregor Martak? He is a living legend!" my wife gushed in ecstatic voice.

"He may be great and all, but a poor teacher. Practice that spell a thousand times more..." I answered in a low tone.

Gissela sighed and shut up at my words. I guess nobody was ever content with what they had. Especially not me.

A bit later, we entered the Imperial Palace by air, but as Gissela advised me we didn't invade the Emperor's study uninvited. We stopped at the guard post in the antechamber, like normal people did.

An hour later, a Wood Elf emissary emerged from the Emperor's study and someone arrived to usher us in.

Perhaps it was good I didn't just bust inside. Might have ruined some delicate deal, or started a war. Elves were pricks like that.

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"My Warden of the East! Come, have some wine with me." Emperor Wilhem the Second invited me, while ignoring Gissela. I guess she wasn't an important person in the Empire.

I got the hint though. Personal talk, and state business. "It's fine, Gissela. They'll bring you some food and wine in the antechamber."

"Not a problem, really. Glad to meet you, Emperor!" Gissela said with a bow and ran out.

"Hmmm. At least you're not here to ask me for gold." the Emperor noted with a wise voice.

Right. Like I would come begging for money, when I had an entire planet to loot from.

My face must have said so too, while I poured wine for us. "The conquest of Sylvania has stalled for two years. I've ordered new weapons to be made, and some Elector Counts will send more troops. They had over 100000 skeletons at Eschen, ruined the guns, and wasted most of the gunpowder too."

The Emperor nodded and sipped his wine. "I never expected such a campaign to be easy or short. You're already doing a better job than I ever dreamed possible. Minimal loses too."

I shrugged a bit uncomfortable. I would have preferred 0 deaths, but war isn't so easy.

"The easy part will be over soon. Their Vampire Lords will have Dark Magic too. Plus Terrorgheists and Zombie Dragons and what not." I mused in a low voice.

"You are strong enough though. Right?" The Emperor asked to make sure.

"Stronger than a Dragon, yes. Much faster too. Their Dark Magic is the only thing that worries me. Which is why I need an artifact from your vaults. Is called an Amber Bow." I said in a level voice.

The Emperor measured me with a cunning look. "I thought you were going to ask for the Imperial_Dragon from my Zoo."

What? He had a Dragon? In his zoo? What the hell, crazy world?

"I want to meet your Dragon too. Can he talk?" I asked a bit too fast.

The Emperor just laughed. "He doesn't talk to me, if that's what you're asking, Amber Wizard. He might talk to you, perhaps."

Soon after, we went to meet a Dragon. I was quite excited, I admit. A Dragon!

"Go on...enter his lair." The Emperor urged me with a curious voice.

And so I did. A giant cave hosted the Imperial Dragon, with thousands of animal bones burned on the floor. Didn't bode well.

'A human? No, a Wizard of Ghur. And yet...' a powerful mind spoke in my head. I thought my mind was protected!

'I am Magister Pef of the Amber Order. And the new Warden of the East.' I introduced myself in a polite tone.

A giant head rose to smell me, really too close. 'Human titles are worthless. You smell of Ghur, and of divine blessings. Taal or Ulric, I'd guess. Are you afraid of fire, little Wizard?' the Imperial Dragon asked me in a curious tone.

Was there a good answer here? Probably not.

The jet of flames that followed burned my deer coat to ash. My pants too. This is not how I planned to meet my dragon!