As he had promised, Mr. Albeck taught Alistar the basic earth-shifting spell that he’d asked about before they had retreated to the woodland clearing, a simple bit of magic that only took him about an hour to get the hang of. Following this, he was taught a few subtle variations that allowed him to move different sorts of minerals by essentially condensing small amounts of them in order to free up volume. Although he didn’t quite get the hang of this, he had promised Zech and Jaden that he would spar with them today and so decided to resume practicing in his room whenever it was that he eventually retired for the night.
A short while after the lesson as he and his teacher made their way back to the manor house, Alistar stopped to ask about something that had been tugging at his attention since earlier in the afternoon. “Mr. Albeck? Earlier when you were reviewing my ice magics, you looked a bit displeased. Would you mind telling me why?”
Adjusting his robes to better keep out the cold, the magus also stopped walking and turned to look at Alistar with the same frown from before. “That…I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something, Alistar. I’ve been teaching you magic for quite some time now, and I can’t help but notice that you’re a bit too eager to jump into learning battle magics. I know the prospect of using such spells must be very alluring, but there’s an order to things. It’s standard practice that you focus on learning basic, non-lethal magics for the first several years of your education, and only after your second Name Day is it acceptable to begin teaching you the more dangerous and volatile spells that many adult mages tend to work with. Normally one must be a full-fledged mage to study such things, but at the very least they should reach adulthood beforehand.”
After my Name Day?
Alistar didn’t have the leisure of waiting for so long. If he was to have any chance of actually rescuing Kaila, then at the very least he would have to be as capable as a mid-tier arcanite. From what he’d read, ordinary arcanites were more useful in battle than full-fledged magi, for they had similar capabilities in the realm of the arcane while the arcanites also had training in swordsmanship.
“Can’t I learn earlier?”
“There’s no rush, lad. You’re only thirteen, with many years ahead of you. I might not be an arcanite, but I do know some battle magics and I will teach them to you once you’re old enough. You just have to be patient.”
Alistar directed his gaze toward the snow-covered ground, realizing that he would have no choice but to rely on Haussen Scuff’s grimoire to teach himself the things that he desired to learn. This meant that he would have to venture away from the manor house far more often so as to study such dangerous techniques outside of the range of his teacher’s detections.
“I…I’ll be patient. As you’ve said, I have plenty of time.”
Mr. Albeck’s piney eyes seemed to see more than just the downcast boy that stood before him. After remaining quiet for a moment, he said calmly, “As I’ve said, I won’t teach you any battle magics until you’re of age, but there are some spells that it should be acceptable to teach you that you’ll likely appreciate. I’ll change our curriculum around a tad and include these in your coming lessons. How does that sound?”
“What kind of spells?”
“I’ll teach you an advanced mending spell that’ll allow you to heal sprains, fractures and broken bones. On top of that, I’ll teach you a barrier spell that has saved my life several times over the years. It’s an ice elemental spell, which should make it easier for you to learn considering your affinities.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“An ice elemental barrier?”
Images of a giant wall of ice came to mind, though these conceptions were quickly disproved when his teacher smiled and then raised his left hand, instantaneously converting a large patch of snow into hundreds of small, rounded sheets of ice that gathered together in front of him in a flexible, dome-like barrier.
Inspecting one of the many overlapping pieces, Alistar was reminded of the scales of the cave lizard that Servan had slain in that dark, desolate cave several years back, the one that had nearly killed him and Kaila.
“This…is this reinforcement magic?” Alistar prodded one of the sheets with a finger. “Why not just a single wall of ice? I’m fairly certain that I’ve read about a spell like that.”
“I know the spell, but it’s not as practical as this one. See”—he moved his arm to the left, the wall following the limb—“how it moves like so? Such a thing isn’t possible with the spell you’re referring to, since it doesn’t move from the place where it’s initially summoned. Not only that, but the way these plates of ice overlap makes it so that any blunt force that hits the barrier is equally dispersed throughout its body, whereas with a single wall the majority of the force would fall upon an isolated spot.”
“Which would make it easier to break. I see! What an interesting idea.”
Haussen Scuff had surely practiced his own array of defensive magic, which made Alistar wonder if the old grimoire documented a similar spell.
“How did you know that this was reinforcement magic? I don’t recall teaching you about that.”
“I’ve read about it at the collegia,” he said honestly. “I just guessed, since the ice you’ve made is clearer than the ice I made.”
“Hoho, I’m very excited for your future.” In a lower voice, he said, “I’ll have to bring you by the arcannia in a few years to show those withered bats the sort of pupil that a real instructor can mold.” Dismissing the defensive spell, the sheets of ice fell to the ground unbroken. “I’ll teach you the specifics tomorrow after lunch, and I’ll also teach you the fundamentals for healing bone-related injuries. For now, you’re free to go do whatever you please.”
“Do you think you could teach me a different spell? Than the healing one, that is.”
“Are you not interested in it? It’s very useful, you know. Just knowing that spell, a mage can get a comfortable position as a healer for a wealthy family. Since neither you nor Anice can legally inherit the county, you’ll have to think about how you intend to support yourself in the future if you ever decide to leave Distan.”
“Ah, it’s just that my mending spell can already repair broken bones. Training can get quite rough at times, so it’s really come in handy. And as for what I’ll do in the future…” Hiding his true feelings on the matter, he simply smiled and said, “Can’t I just live here with Uncle Caedmon?”
Mr. Albeck’s eyebrows shot up, though they quickly assumed the same lax angles as before. “I suppose I’ll have to pick a different spell.” He resumed walking, snow crunching beneath his footfalls as he stared at the western face of the manor house where three storeys of windows reflected the paleness of the day. “And you’ll be allowed to live here for a time, yes.” Going quiet for a moment, he continued, “But your uncle won’t always be the lord of the estate. If we’re lucky, the man Anice marries will be able to inherit Caedmon’s title and the county can remain within this line of the family. Most likely, though, the king will choose to select a legitimate Silverkin to replace Caedmon. Let alone you, nobody at the manor house will know for sure whether they’ll be permitted to continue working here, though I’m sure many will leave of their own volition when that day finally arrives.”
His teacher had brought up an important topic. In the event that Alistar managed to successfully save Kaila, it would be too risky to return to Distan, and too dangerous to settle down in Baldor. This meant that the two of them would have to travel to another part of Civus, or to a different kingdom altogether. Once they found a quiet place to live, they would have to think of a way to support themselves, however modest.
Giving things some thought, Alistar said, “While swordsmanship is fun, I don’t think I want to be a guard or a soldier. I suppose my best bet would be to do what you do, wouldn’t it? It seems to have worked out quite well for you.”
Mr. Albeck chuckled at the compliment. “It would be a wise choice. You have every bit of the talent that I had at your age, but you also have something that I didn’t. As a descendant of royalty, you’ve inherited some of the most powerful bloodlines on the continent. House Silverkin alone can trace its lineage back to its founders, who as I’m sure you know were companions of Aglain the Betrayer himself.”