ER: Chapter 64 - Ancestral Shame

Day 127, 10:00 AM

“I’m too old to be anything other than what I am.” Of all the dumb things Harlos could have said, this is probably the dumbest. He’s barely a kid.

“My knees ache, and I have trouble walking. It would take a month to reach the dungeon. I’d probably drown in the rain. It’s not worth the bother.”

“You do know I can heal you?” Why do I have to argue about the obvious with a shrewd and intelligent man in his sixties?

“I know, but I don’t deserve it.” His words make no sense, but with a start like that, I sense a confession coming, so I keep quiet and let Harlos speak.

“My grandfather should have been a mage’s apprentice. On the eve before his initiation, the Holy Revolution happened. My grandfather told me how terrible it was. He was so ashamed.”

Harlos shakes his head, looking at the ground.

“Why was he ashamed?” I voice the question without which the old man obviously had no intention of continuing.

He sighs and his eyes shift to his laced fingers. “My grandfather was the first to throw the stones, he shouted the loudest, and even spat at his would-be master. He was sixteen, terrified the inquisitors would find out and torture him or burn him on a stake. So he made himself look like the biggest zealot in the crowd. He was the meanest, vilest man, because he was afraid. When the first five years of trouble passed, he realized what he had done and never forgave himself. He became a surly recluse, waiting two more decades before getting married, and even then hardly speaking with his wife and son.”

Harlos kept talking about his trite family history for half an hour, while I tried and failed to understand him. His problem is basically that he felt ashamed of how his grandfather acted back when he was a terrified youth, so he’s what? Punishing himself? Recreating his grandfather’s decision? I don’t get it, but I guess I should respect his decision.

“Would you consider taking Millie as your apprentice?” He says suddenly, his request completely at odds with his extended rant and everything he tried to justify not two moments ago. “She’s the only family I have left, and I want her to lead a long and happy life.”

I hold his gaze for a moment. His request is easy to understand, but why is he refusing a longer and healthier life? “Not a problem, but I could take both of you as my apprentices. There’s no set number of students I can teach.”

The old man raises his hands and waves them at me. “No, no, I don’t want to be a bother. I have lived my life, I am an important member of the council, and I’m too old to go trekking through the jungle.”

I don’t know what his real reason is, but I get it, he doesn’t want to learn magic. A thought hits me and I stare him right in the eye. “You can’t believe the church’s tripe about mages being evil and sentenced to eternal torment, right?”

Harlos looks at me with surprise, but shakes his head. “Of course not, after the guards reported the incident with inquisitors leading a pack of monsters, I wouldn’t believe anything they said, but I never believed the nonsense about mages. Grandfather told me he was supposed to become a healer and help people, his master the kindest man in the world.”

With nothing left to say and me refusing to burst his bubble about the humanness of healers, Harlos summoned his granddaughter and explained my offer to her. Half an hour later, Elie arrived, and Harlos served us tea as we sat in his empty tavern. With everything done, and one final warm look at his granddaughter, he leaves the room.

I take a sip of the herbal tea while Elie and Millie sit nervously on the other side of the table. I cast perfect alarm, scanner, and heater. My tea boils, a level up notification appears, and I choose Visions of Reality.

The skill tells me I’m sitting at a perfectly natural table, facing two perfectly natural humans, holding a perfectly natural clay mug. I have tested both my level up options extensively, and the one which tells me what is in front of me and how much magic has altered it seems more useful than the distribution of mana types which have changed a creature or an object.

“Eliesandra, do you wish to become my apprentice and learn magic from me?”

“I do,” she says and I look at Millie.

“Milliela, do you wish to become my apprentice and learn magic from me?”

“I do.”

No level up notification. But that’s fine, I think Edna needed to hold a lesson before we became her apprentices.

“In that case, I formally accept you as my apprentices. Now, I will explain your duties and what I expect of you while you are under apprenticeship. You may consider it our first lesson.”

Their duties are pretty simple - doing as told and studying as hard as possible. I explain how we already have a curriculum and that I would help them reach the journeyman mage class.

The lesson ends, and the awaited notification appears. My level up options are Advanced Mnemonics and Ignore Movement. I feel like dancing a happy jig. The ability to cast without movement and without song leaves only mana channeling, meaning spells will be much easier to learn from now on.

I check my level up condition, and it’s an interesting one - cast a spell using all mana types. Now, can I cast any old spell by using all mana types, for example, a firewave with extra mana invested, or do I need to dig up a spell which requires all types of mana?

The first is a relatively simple matter, and based on the wording it should suffice. If it were the second option, BSD would have been more explicit about it.

Now, I would have loved to just hold ten lectures, but I need my disciples to have their guide so they can pick their skills. There’s no need to rush them through the levels, the top priority is to head for the dungeon, get them as many attribute points as possible, and set them on a fast track to success.

“That’s it for today. Are you ready to leave? We have several hours before the evening torrent.”

They are, and we leave the town quietly, several young men and women looking at us longingly.

“Can you tell me who those people were, and what you think of them?” I ask Elie, and the woman immediately catches my intention.

“I’ll start from the most responsible and most hardworking. Phil is…”

Ah, good old Phil. I miss my old spear instructor. How could I not miss the grumpy old man who used to beat me while I was pushing at an immovable wall with all my strength?

A part of my mind reminisced while another listened to Elie’s opinions on Deephorn’s youth and their potential. We reach the jungle, and I let go of the pleasant memories.

“Thank you, Elie, I’m now going to demonstrate an elaborate spell. This is how I cast it now.” I wave my hand, focusing all the different mana particles into firewave and a huge ripple of fire rolls through the forest, turning everything before us into ash.

[You have leveled up.

Select a skill within sixty seconds or a random one will be assigned to you.

Mana Dispersion - You may change the color of the inner mana you are using at will.

Mana Distillation - Unused inner mana in your body grows more compressed and efficient over time.]

I have to reread the options. The first one is interesting, but not all that useful to me, the second is mind-blowing. Depending on how distilled my inner mana can become it could be a crazy overpowered skill.

There are two ways for the increased purity to manifest itself. The spells may become cheaper or more potent, and I’m not even sure which I would prefer.

I take the obvious choice and focus on my new disciples.

“Sorry, I got a level just now and had to pick a skill.” Elie and Millie are gaping at the forest I devastated with a wave of my hand. They didn’t even notice I spaced out.

“Normally, spells need a song and matching hand gestures to cast, but as you grow stronger and acquire skills, you may forfeit these.” I shut up, realizing I have just started a lesson, and if I repeat that mistake another eight times, I might cripple Millie’s progress.

Could she pick her skills without the Guide? An interesting notion, but not worth a redo.

“We will continue our lessons once we’re in the dungeon, we don’t want Millie leveling up blindly and getting random skills. While not all that serious, it might make her advancement more difficult, and there’s no need to make your life hard.” I smile at the eighteen-year-old girl, who nods with a determined expression.

“Let’s go.” I lead the way into the jungle and check my level up condition.

Help your apprentice become a journeyman mage.

Heh, Edna had missed five easy levels. With each level, I grow stronger than her and more independent. After her violation and the breach of trust, the thought of being more powerful than her makes me smile. And that’s without accounting for the fact that I can become an archmage any time I want.