Runic Apprentice, page 12
part #1 of The Rune Mystic Series
Lia smirked, “Next time. That’s what the competition is all about, to teach a mage to stay alive in battle. We aren’t invincible.”
Cassandra spoke from the doorway, “I agree. You did better than the other new apprentices, even if you have a long way to go, you show a lot of promise. Lia, you did very well too, I think you’re ready for full access to the library. You’ll be a mage in a month if you work at it. Sam, you too, despite your performance today. You can still bring your spells to me if you aren’t sure and want to verify, but I’ll lift that rule as well.”
He felt a bit confused by that last, not really sure how things worked as far as becoming a mage.
Cassandra noticed, and said, “The measure of a mage is power, experience, preparedness for us rune mages, and of course their ability to pay attention to detail and not make a mistake with scribing a spell. Technically, I could make them both mages right now, as they meet all of those requirements. Realistically however, as full mages that are past their apprenticeship, they would be added to the mission rosters, and may be assigned missions before they’re able to study the truly powerful rune spells where the six spheres are mixed in multiple runes to powerful effect.
“Partially lifting the strictures of the apprenticeship for a month or so before being officially declared a full mage and the apprenticeship over, takes care of that little problem. The other towers work similarly.”
He nodded and supposed that made sense. It was a way around the rules, to make sure mages were truly ready before being sent on missions before adding them to the roster, simply by keeping them as official apprentices for a short period. It made a lot of sense, since it was the crown that decided missions and pulled from the roster, they wouldn’t know or care if a mage was brand new or not.
He also supposed he’d only have Lia around on a daily basis for another month, which was something he didn’t want to examine too closely.
Cassandra asked, “What did you think of our queen?” with an abrupt change of topic, which derailed his thoughts.
He frowned, “Still in mourning, unless she’s always so distant?”
Cassandra nodded, “That could be part of it. She’s also queen now, which could be part of it. She has to find her legs to rule. She used to always be supportive and kind, but a ruler needs a little steel in their spines. You did well there.”
“Thanks.”
Cassandra said, “Tradition says the rest of the day is free time, on a competition day, but I want to see you in my office briefly after lunch.”
He just nodded, as the three of them stood up and followed Cassandra to the dining room.
Cassandra had a thoughtful look on her face as they left the lunch table and headed up to her office. She still hadn’t said what it was she wanted, and he felt a little off balance as they walked up the stairs and into her office.
His magic had already started to recover the last two hours, but it was still lower than he felt comfortable with. He imagined his channeling practice would be very short that night, assuming he gained enough magic back. If so, the competition would have to do for that practice.
He took a seat as she waved to the guest chair as she rounded her desk and sat in hers.
She opened up one of the desk drawers and took out a parchment, and she pushed over her quill and ink as she set it across from him.
“Do you remember your first day two weeks ago, the first time you saw me was joining our class.”
He nodded, “You were teaching fire spells, and the reason there were so many for just literally creating fire.”
She smiled, “Exactly. I want you to draw the rune for lighting a candle.”
He felt uneasy for a moment, but a surge of determination went through him. He’d decided to hide his abilities two weeks ago, but he’d also promised himself he wouldn’t lie about them. He was quite sure that Cassandra knew he hadn’t read or studied those runes yet, and that he’d only laid eyes on them once. On his first day no less, when he was feeling out of place and insecure in his new life.
He picked up the quill, and he lifted the cover on the inkpot and dipped it. The rune for lighting the candle, any rune really, was incredibly complex. He didn’t even hesitate, drawing the symbol out one line, curve, hook, circle, or other shape or squiggle at a time. When it was done, he put the quill down and looked up at Cassandra.
Each part of the rune was part of the spell. One specified fire magic, then the kind which was raw fire, the size of the flame, the purpose behind it, how hot it was, and several other things as well.
She took a moment cast that same rune he’d seen her use in class over and over, before she even looked at what he’d drawn. Perhaps it was the fact they were much closer together, a bare three feet of desk separating them, but the meaning of that rune became clear to him in that moment. It was a life spell, having to do with enhancing and recalling memory. No doubt she’d cast the spell to bring up the rune in her mind, perhaps a perfect recollection of the exact moment she was reading the page with that rune on it in that fire magic book, for comparison.
Which meant… normal rune mages even after writing runes perfectly once, didn’t necessarily remember them perfectly, like he did. Even after years of experience. Perhaps those five spells he’d been bringing her a day was more shocking and telling than he’d thought.
He also considered what she’d told him before lunch. A measure of a mage being promoted from apprentice was their magical power growth, experience, preparedness, and consistency in drawing runes without making a mistake. It was that last that had bit him in the ass.
Apparently, his mistake was never making a mistake, and he’d brought her thirty-five spells to approve in the last seven days. Not one of them had been flawed.
Cassandra nodded, as if coming to some conclusion, “Very good, perfect in fact, and quickly done. You may go, enjoy your day.”
He hesitated for a moment, but if Cassandra read the question in his eyes, she didn’t deign to answer it. He didn’t think that she looked all that afraid, angry, or even freaked out, and the smile she gave him was genuine. So, he didn’t think he was in deep crap, but he was extremely confused in that moment. He might as well have just screamed out he was a Rune Mystic. Apparently, they weren’t going to talk about it, at all.
He left her office, and found Lia loitering outside in the hall.
The gorgeous and slightly terrifying blonde, gave him a warm smile, “City? We can celebrate your first horrid demise,” she teased.
Not that she scared him, as long as they were on the same side.
“Sounds good, senior apprentice mage, anything in mind?”
She smirked, “That title doesn’t exist, but I like it, does that mean I get to boss you around?”
He snorted, and teased back, “How would that be any different than before?”
She giggled, “I do not.”
He grinned, “Of course not, forgive my impertinence.”
She tossed her hair imperiously, “Forgiven, junior apprentice mage, and the dirt beneath my feet,” but broke down in giggles ruining her faux hauteur before she reached the end of the sentence.
She added, “There is a show I’ve been wanting to see.”
He laughed, “Lead on, just let me grab my sword.”
The two of them hit the city for the rest of the day. The play was okay, but it was Lia’s company that truly made it a fun afternoon.
Chapter Fifteen
Over the next month, Olin settled into his new life. He continued to take five spells a day to Cassandra, who never once commented on it. He also spent most of his free time with Lia. Sam was there on occasion, but as in the past he disappeared at times into the city, something he continued to ignore. It wasn’t his business, but it also prevented him and Sam from developing any closer ties than casual friendship.
His time with Lia was different, they grew closer over that time, strengthening their bonds of friendship. He thought there might be more there as well, but the timing wasn’t right for either of them, and life got in the way, as well as his past.
At the same time, he was really learning over a hundred spells a week, and a month later that added up to five hundred rune spells. A lot of them were convenience spells, or very similar to each other with small gradations, but it was a point.
Still, he only took the useful ones to Cassandra, and scribed those into his gauntlets. At that point he had a hundred and seventy-five spells on his bracers and several small rods. He’d also only read about a quarter of the library. A quarter of the basic spell books at least. At that rate, it’d take an additional three months to finish them, or at least the ones he had access to.
He had the seven protection spells, several different healing spells, and counters to the most popular attacks. He also had a number of enhancement spells outside of speed and strength, including his senses, magical detection, and general awareness. He also had several offensive options for all six spheres, to take advantage of weaknesses depending on what opponent he was facing.
In short, he was far ahead on that one aspect of his apprenticeship, he had far more spells and knowledge than his power could ever fully take advantage of, yet.
The advanced books made up almost a third of the library, but he suspected there were far fewer spells. Linking and multi-rune spells would no doubt take up more space in a book, and require much more detailed explanations, so no doubt there weren’t nearly as many spells in each book.
Regardless, despite his great progress, he still didn’t know enough to plan out his mage equipment. He’d reserve judgement until the end. At the very least, he’d be combining the seven protection spells into one spell joined by a starburst. In competition, they all had time to cast their spells at leisure right before it started. But… in real life danger, he’d need to get those protections and enhancements up as quickly as possible if he was attacked. That meant combination spells, focusing on a few starbursts, instead of many spells in succession.
His magic potential continued to grow at a geometric rate, doubling about once every week, which meant after five weeks he was thirty-two times more powerful than when he’d arrived, sixteen times more powerful than during his first competition. That would give him more breathing room, able to take sixteen fireballs before losing his shields, and able to support those spells for hours. Of course, that wasn’t reality, because he’d be using more spells in his next competition. It was a balance.
That sounded like a lot, but he was still relatively weak among his peers, growth at that rate would continue for the duration of his apprenticeship, and even a little after. In power, he was relatively average. Growth would still occur once he reached his near full potential, but it would still take years longer at much slower growth to reach while a full mage, according to what he’d researched. Diminishing returns, similar to physical workouts and muscles, the closer to peak physical condition a person was, the longer it took to close that gap by inches.
Another way to look at it, was he was a newborn babe that couldn’t lift his head up when he arrived at the tower mage guilds, now he was a six-month-old that’d learned to crawl, as far as his magic power was concerned. Not much of a challenge for a full adult, but he could get underfoot and make them trip.
If Cassandra had any suspicions what he was, she never mentioned it, and Sam and Lia certainly didn’t know. He wasn’t even sure they were aware how many spells he knew, the bracers were covered after all by his robes, not to mention the rune spells were inscribed on the inside, where the bracers touched his skin. He also didn’t talk about it or give them progress reports, only Cassandra was cognizant of his fast progress in that one area, and even she didn’t know the full truth.
He did come up with a theory, he believed Cassandra was protecting him, by giving herself reasonable doubt at the same time. He’d eventually made it into that joint non-magic book library to do a little reading on history, and he looked up some things. History hadn’t painted the mystics very well at all. He doubted they were all as arrogant and cruel as portrayed, but it was what it was. All he could think of, was that she’d be honor bound to tell the other tower masters and mistresses of the discovery of a mystic among them, if they ever talked about it and he confirmed what he was she might not have a choice. Which would put him in a certain amount of danger, especially if the royal family learned of it.
In short, he believed they didn’t talk about it, because Cassandra was keeping him safe. It even occurred to him, that she might believe he didn’t even know what he was.
Personally, he finished the grieving process that month. The loss of his old life. He still thought of Celane fondly of course, and quite possibly would love her the rest of his life, but it was more wistful after those five weeks than it was painful, and he imagined that would fade even further over time.
He also suspected his time with Lia had a lot to do with his recovery, and he stopped feeling guilty about that over time as well.
Of course, things weren’t perfect, far from it. That month had been a slow leadup to another dreaded life change, as Lia and Sam were promoted to full mages in the rune guild. They hadn’t been assigned anywhere yet, but he knew it was just a matter of time.
By the end of those four weeks, he’d also finally mastered all twenty sword forms, and had joined the general class in sparring. The general class were all sword masters, and he never had a doubt he had a long way to go. He was told he was a natural, and he should be at their level by the end of his apprenticeship if he applied himself and worked hard. All he lacked was experience, and the wisdom and cunning that came with it.
Caley was close to mastering the forms as well, but she’d had more to learn than he did, given his previous training, which had been both a boon and a stumbling block as he’d had to unlearn some bad habits. As far as the two earth apprentices went, they’d dropped the class in the second week.
The second competition day came, and with his insight into how things worked he stuck with the sneaky approach, a little more powerful, and a little wiser, but even Cassandra couldn’t take down whole team-ups of mages in a straight battle. He’d long come to the conclusion if he ever wanted to win one of the contests, acting openly with his full power, even with the advantages of all six spheres, wouldn’t cut it. Showy would get him killed.
Rune mages stood alone, in a world where a mage couldn’t stand alone, at least not in a straight forward and so-called honorable battle. In a real-world danger situation, he’d have allies in the other mages, but competition among the towers wasn’t real world, and that wasn’t an option for the competitions.
Nor in the real world, would it be him against over a hundred mages. In a very real way, the competition was overtraining and as such was effective as far as it went. He wouldn’t get overconfident, but his chances were far better in stopping a single assassin mage of another kingdom, when he had himself and actual backup.
Regardless, he went with earth, water, and life shields, forgoing the other four to save magic potential. He also used enhanced speed and strength, olfactory and vision, and detect magic. He also used chameleon again, and that was his base spells.
He used close to the same approach as last time, staying in the canopy of trees, but used more spells as well, cheap and fast ones that he didn’t maintain for more than a few seconds, which further conserved his magic. Illusion spells as distractions mainly, shifting shadows and glimpses of color in the corner of other mage’s eyes that made them look away in a critical moment, as he sprung his ambush. He also didn’t get blindsided that time, as he paid attention to his surroundings even as he attacked.
Regardless, he managed to take out three opponents, and flee from two groups and successfully evade them, before he finally met his match in a master air mage just over an hour into the competition. As far as he could tell, when he went over the encounter later, his illusion failed to distract the man because he was using an air spell to detect movement around him. The illusion of course, would fail to impact air, and his opponent had been more than experienced enough to ignore the thing. It had also made his chameleon spell useless, as hidden or not his body movements had impacted the air, and his opponent had known where he was the whole time he was in range.
In short, he’d thought he had the surprise, but the master air mage had been the one to spring the true trap, and he’d fallen right into it.
He was so impressed by his loss, and the facility of such a spell, that he was going to look for that spell specifically the next day. Hopefully it was in the books, the rune mages could cast all six spheres using runes, but they didn’t have a rune equivalent for every spell the other magic disciplines had. Of course, he couldn’t create it himself without getting caught, if it didn’t exist, but he might just do so anyway and keep it as a card to play in real life danger, if not the competitions.
It was later that day of the second competition, and Lia and he left a playhouse and started to head back to the center of the city and the mage towers. He supposed it was turning into a custom, go see a play after being mock killed in battle.
Lia said in an overdone casual voice, “I got my first assignment earlier today. I leave tomorrow, and I should be back in two weeks.”
His insides twisted a little, so he deflected with a teasing comment, “What will I do, without anyone to give me orders.”
Lia snickered, “So, you’ll miss me then?”
He replied, “Of course. What’s the mission? If you can tell me.”
Lia teased, “Worried about me?”
He replied, “Actually, I feel a little sorry for the enemy.”
She snorted, “Liar. I’ll be fine, a mage’s first mission is usually simple, relatively safe, and short. I’m accompanying supplies and relief border troops south to the Vemor border. It’ll give me a chance to see my parents. A week down, then a week back up.”
