Country Mage 2, page 17
She brought a slender finger to her lips for a moment. “Well,” she replied. “With the help of your High Magic, you should come a long way.”
He nodded, considering the work he would need to do in order to complete the bedroom, kitchen, and workshop. Cutting more trees for timber would be pretty hard, but once he had enough, he might use his Board Crafting spell to make the timber into boards and varnish them.
The varnish would take about twenty-four hours to dry, so it would be perfect if he finished work on the boards on Tuesday, then head down to Corinne’s farm on Wednesday. He could do the actual building on Thursday and Friday, maybe bleed a bit into Saturday if he needed the extra time.
It should all work out.
Sara came up behind him as he stood at the kitchen counter and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, leaning her head against his back.
“It’s sweet of you to help Corinne at her farm,” she said. “I suspect Corinne has been in need of a good man — someone who is not just a good lover, but also a good friend — for a long time.”
James smiled, placing his hand over hers, intertwined on his stomach. “I hope so too,” he said. “You know, in time, I would like it if we were all together.”
“Together?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “In one house. I mean, I know the cabin is too small — at least the way it is now. But I want to make it bigger and more comfortable. Wouldn’t it be great if we all just lived here, together all the time?”
“Hm-hm,” Sara hummed. “That sounds perfect.”
He nodded. “I’ll have to talk to the others as well,” he said. “But I hope they might like it, too. I suspect Lucy and Corinne are tired of living alone, and it’s not like they couldn’t commute to the farm or the general store from here, right? It’s only a short drive.”
“Yeah,” Sara said. “If you can finish the bedroom, kitchen, and workshop, I bet you can expand the cabin even more!” She kissed his neck. “You could build us a sauna, hmm? And all kinds of nice, comfortable places to sleep and relax? There would be no way Lucy and Corinne would turn down an offer to live here if you made it all like that.”
He laughed, patting her on her soft hands. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” he asked. “A place where you can be lazy all day long.”
She chuckled. “Well,” she said. “I don’t want to be lazy all day long…” As she spoke, one of her hands drifted down to his groin as her tail curled around his leg.
With a smile, he turned around and took her up in his arms. “No?” he asked. “Are you planning on certain activities?”
“Maybe,” she crooned, her voice trailing off as her gaze dipped to take him in.
He laughed, then pressed her to him, his precious cat girl, and gave her a deep kiss.
Within moments, they were stumbling their way to the couch next to the fireplace, ready to continue a perfect lazy Sunday of making love, relaxing by the fire, and eating good food.
Chapter 33
James dedicated the next day completely to chopping wood for his cabin. He already had some lumber ready after clearing and leveling the terrain for his construction project. However, most of it was fit only for use as firewood.
He began his day by sorting out the pile of lumber until he’d set apart everything he could use to craft into boards or use for the log walls. When that was done, he shouldered the axe he had bought from Lucy at the general store and headed into the woods.
Since James had fallen completely in love with the woods around Tour, he planned to cut lumber in a pattern that left the serenity and peace of the forest as intact as possible.
He wouldn’t clear all the trees in a single location, leaving a waste of stumps. Instead, he was going to chop down a tree here and there, leaving the general forest largely intact.
It involved extra work, of course; he would spend more time walking around and moving the lumber from one place to the other.
But he’d had an idea to make the process a little easier, and it had something to do with his spell to summon his Grimoire.
It had to be possible to use a similar spell to bring other objects to him. He would try to search his ancestral memories for a teleportation or transportation spell that would allow him to bring the lumber to the building site in the blink of an eye. If that failed, he would have to move it by hand.
With a merry tune in his mind and whistling, James began the work.
It was good to be chopping lumber again — he had spent his first few days in Tour chopping wood for Lucy at Rovary’s Lot, and he enjoyed the peaceful and satisfying feeling the honest work instilled in him.
When James had finally chopped down a few sturdy trees that would make for good boards, he began his experiment to find a teleportation spell.
Leaving the logs where he limbed them, he walked back to the cabin, his axe resting on his shoulder.
Once there, he sat down in the shade and focused on his construction site.
With his Summon Grimoire spell, he needed to visualize the book in his hands. He expected that the intent required for any teleportation or transportation spell was similar — he would have to visualize what he wanted to transport and the location he wanted to transport it to.
James took a deep breath, then set to it.
He visualized the stack of lumber in front of him, neatly piled and ready for use. Slowly but surely, strength began to simmer at the very foundation of his soul. It was that familiar sensation of his mana, pulsing out from his core to fuel his magic. The feeling grew stronger and stronger until it transitioned from a surge of power to a slightly painful pang at the back of his head.
That was the moment to turn it inward.
He relinquished the visualization and at once began the search of his ancestral memories, visualizing those who went before him and who achieved similar effects, moving things from one place to another by the power of High Magic alone.
This time, the vision came swiftly. He felt the sands of time closing in, and memories of those who lived before him came to him now out of the mists of time.
Chapter 34
When James opened his eyes, he stood in a narrow corridor with a vaulted ceiling. The walls were made from sand-colored bricks, and except for the flickering light of a torch, it was dark around him.
Something — a feeling — told him he was behind thick layers of stone and earth, within a mighty bulwark.
A sudden noise made him turn around. It was a scream — the type of scream made in agony and death’s grip. A metal clattering followed it, and more voices rang out in fury.
A man came into view.
He ran, and he wore some kind of quilted garment. A metal cap rested on his head, with a long nose guard and a firm brim above the eyes.
Despite that, James did not struggle to recognize the blazing green of those eyes and the long locks of dark hair that came out from under the skullcap.
Here came one of his ancestors, and by the sword at his side and his primitive armor, James expected this vision came from medieval times.
As the man came running toward James, he stepped aside — realizing a moment later that the man would pass through him as if he were a ghost.
Voices rang out behind him. They spoke in a foreign language; something that resembled — or even was — Arabic.
And they sounded furious.
But James would not wait around. He quickly turned on his feet and ran after his ancestor. The man scooped a torch from the wall as he passed by, running with all the speed he could muster.
James followed him. Down the dark corridor they went, with a raging mob giving chase.
Ahead, an arched wooden door loomed. The man entered through it, slammed it shut behind him, and bolted it. Luckily, James could step right through.
He came into a room, illuminated only by the torch held by his ancestor. It was a vaulted room, almost seven feet high, which made it a little higher than the corridor. There hung a musty and earthen smell, and there was no window except for a small horizontal slat near the ceiling, although it let in no light.
It was night outside.
But voices drifted into the room — more of the Arabic-sounding language. Some barked orders in anger; others complied or made reports.
But whoever they were, James’s ancestor paid no attention to them. He threw the door behind him a single look before turning toward the center of the room. And as the ones who had been giving chase came to the bolted-down door and began ramming it, James is ancestor spread his arms and focused.
He said nothing as each attack on the door reverberated in the small room. But after a few seconds, James’s ancestor opened his eyes and spoke words of magic.
“Vanealders tod heer.
“Brengang, bestansvlack. Rhuimte.
“Vanealders tod heer.”
It was the exact same spell as the Summon Grimoire Spell. But as the objects that his ancestor had summoned began to appear, James understood the extra step he had to take.
Three small kegs manifested in front of James’s ancestor, each with a fuse sticking out of them.
And each was marked with a sign for one of the Eleven Elements of Magic: the sign for Space.
So that’s the trick, James thought. You need to mark them.
It made sense; the Grimoire itself bore such marks. It also fascinated James to learn that High Magic was not only about intent and the spoken word. Apparently, signs and symbols played a part in its practice as well. He wanted to learn more about that in the days to come.
The banging on the door intensified, and James’s ancestor threw a hurried look over his shoulder before stepping forward.
With a quick word of magic — the spell very familiar to James — a small flame sprang forth from the man’s fingertips. He lit one of the fuses, then stepped back and spoke another spell:
“Vanheer tod terugganga.
“Brengang, bestansvlack. Rhuimte.
“Vanheer tod terugganga.”
And as the fuse sparked, the flame crawling its way to the small kegs, James’s ancestor simply disappeared from the room, the space he had stood a moment ago now filled with nothing but air.
That’s a neat trick, James thought.
And just as the door broke down to reveal angry faces and curved blades, the spark hit the keg, and the world around James exploded in fiery destruction, the very room coming down on them as the men screamed their last words.
Before James faded away to return to his own time, he heard the clamor of battle and cries of victory ringing from outside. Beyond the billowing smoke and dust, an army approached, its footmen dressed in white tabards bearing a red cross.
On they came, unto the breach his ancestor had made in the walls of this fortress.
Then, he faded away from this time to return to his own.
Chapter 35
James drifted back to his own world, the words of his ancestor still echoing in his mind.
It took him a moment to recover from the dream and to realize where he was — standing outside his cabin. But when he regained his composure, he summoned his Grimoire and penned down the new spells he had acquired from his vision.
When that was done, James headed back out to the stack of logs he had felled. Luckily, he had purchased woodcarving tools from Lucy’s general store.
But before he’d try it by hand, he focused on the logs with arcane intent, trying to visualize the result and search his ancestral memories for some kind of spell that might aid the process here.
He tried for several minutes, but nothing came to him out of the mists of time.
A shame, James thought. I suppose I’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way…
He got to work carving the symbol of the Element of Space in each of the logs he had felled.
His first few tries were fairly awkward and took him a long time; James possessed little skill in carving wood, and the symbol contained a few squiggly lines that were difficult to get right. However, James pushed away any impatience and took the time needed to do the job right.
After an hour or two, he had carved the symbol — or at least, something he expected was close enough to the symbol — in each of the logs.
Satisfied with his work, James cast his new spell right then and there. He did not want to walk back to the cabin, only to discover that the symbols he carved into the logs did not suffice for the purposes of the spell.
As his ancestor had done in the vision, he closed his eyes and raised his hands as he visualized the stack of logs in front of him. And sure enough, after he spoke the words of power, the entire stack of lumber manifested in the location he visualized.
Perfect, he thought.
He left the logs where they lay and returned to the cabin, only to cast the spell again. He did notice that this particular spell strained him more than the simpler ones, such as his Word of Boiling spell, his Summon Grimoire spell, and his Fire spell. He wondered if the strain of this spell on his mana would be less if he were trying to transport fewer items.
It was something to experiment with in the future.
Again, the spell was successful, and the neat pile of logs now appeared in the exact location where he wanted them.
After a short break, James got to work felling more logs. He used the same method as before to teleport the logs to the cabin, visualizing them in his mind and speaking the words of power to make them transcend space.
As the day neared its end, the pile of logs next to his building site grew to an impressive number.
James smiled, knowing that the day’s work had been productive. He also knew that tomorrow was going to be another busy one.
When James returned to his cabin, Sara was already there. The beautiful cat girl had donned her silly apron again and was busy preparing a meal for them.
Using the fresh ingredients that he had procured from Lucy’s general store, she had made for them a fresh garden salad with fruit and bread. For meat, she served the sausage with cheese — cold but delicious.
James peeked over her shoulder and gave her a pat on the bottom as he watched her work. “You know,” he said. “For a carnivore, you sure do prepare a lot of meals with fruits and vegetables.”
She gave him a grin over her shoulder. “Well, it’s important for us to have plenty of fruits and veggies. Besides, I love cooking, especially since it gives me an excuse to be in control of what we are eating.”
She raised a spatula, almost tapping him in the chest with it. “There are places where I like to give up control, and there are places where I like to be in control.”
James laughed and nodded. “I think I understand what you’re getting at, baby.”
She gave him a meaningful smile, then a playful push. “Go!” she said. “Go have a seat. Let me do the work. You did plenty for today.”
James didn’t argue. He sat down at the low table in the living room, lounging on the couch as he watched Sara finish cooking.
When she was done, she served the salad, bread, and cheese.
She joined him at the table, and they enjoyed their food. It was tasty and balanced with plenty of herbs; James admired Sara’s cooking skills. He had expected her — a cat girl wild enough to catch mice in the cellar — to prefer her food raw and bloodied, but she was actually quite civilized when it came to food preparation.
James ate slowly, savoring the taste of the various flavors in every bite, accentuated by Sara’s selection of fresh herbs.
“This is great!” he said. “I’m not normally a salad guy, but I’m enjoying this.”
She winked at him from her position next to him on the couch. “So, does this mean you’re a salad guy now?”
James laughed, then picked up his glass of water. He took a sip, then shook his head. “Nothing can beat a steak.”
Sara grinned. “I can prepare a good steak,” she said.
“So can I,” James said. “I’ll make you one once we have some kind of system for refrigeration set up right now. If I were to go out and buy steaks, they would just spoil.”
Sara looked thoughtful, then nodded. “That would be nice. Do you think you might find some good meat somewhere?”
James shrugged. “Well, I’ve seen some at Lucy’s general store. We’ll just have to try it.”
He didn’t know of any ranches nearby — Corinne only grew crops and herbs at her farm, although she did keep a few chickens for the eggs and probably for the meat as well.
Back in the city, James used to order his steaks online from a local ranch that delivered meet straight from the ranch to the table. If all else failed, he might try to get them to make deliveries to Tour as well.
His chain of thought was broken when Sara put her plate back on the table and leaned against him. He draped an arm over the back of the couch and scratched her behind her ear as he finished his meal. She purred pleasantly, and her body relaxed against his.
“So,” he began. “What have you been up to today?”
“Oh, I went into the cellar to do a bit of exploring.” She looked up at him with her big yellow eyes, and her left ear gave a twitch. “You know, ever since you claimed the cabin and I became your familiar, I’ve had this feeling like the cellar is… well, opening up.”
James perked an eyebrow. “Opening up?” he asked. “What does that mean?”
Sara licked her lips. “I don’t really know. It’s hard to explain. Ever since I started living here, it feels like there’s this sort of… energy in the air around me. I told you before that Tour is a kind of nexus, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “You did.”
“I suspect the cellar below the cabin might actually be part of that nexus,” she said.
He frowned. “So, wait,” he said. “Let me get this straight. You think that the cellar might connect to these other magical worlds you mentioned before?”
She wagged her head — something in between nodding and shaking. “I’m not sure,” she said, and her tail gave an excited swish. “But it might be worth exploring it together.”
