Quill

122. The Scent of Apples

The day of Martel's last fight had arrived. He did his morning class while running through his conversation with Lothar in his head, wondering what to make of it. As he had never seen Leatherfist fight, Martel had no idea if he really cheated and how, but obviously, it was not a far-fetched idea. Though he could not imagine that the fighter could seriously pose a threat to Martel, given his magic. If that alchemist had such powerful potions to sell that a one-handed man might defeat a mage, h...

121. In Low Places

Martel did his work for Master Jerome and Mistress Rana in the morning and spent a bell in the afternoon sparring with Maximilian, recounting how he had extended his magical shield to protect his staff while also breaking that of his opponent in half. The mageknight seemed less impressed than Martel would have thought, but perhaps he was simply still annoyed at being left at home.

"Any decent mageknight can extend his shield to cover another person, let alone his weapons."

"I've n...

120. Lothar

"Our favourite Stallion returns to the ring to face the one opponent who ever bested him! Tonight, he faces Lothar!" The crowds responded to Tibert's announcement with the expected cheer.

Martel knew he could win against the old man. When they first met, he had never tried fighting in the pit before, and he did not know how to use his magic. Now, Martel was no longer intimidated, and he had acquired the abilities he needed. On the other hand, he also had to win. He could not expect to g...

119. In Style

With all his recent troubles, and his dedication to properly learning empowerment magic, Martel had paid less attention to his elemental skills lately. He felt guilty about it, as he had done this before and been called out by Master Alastair for it, but it was unavoidable. He was meant to spend some of his spare bells practising a variety of exercises to hone his elemental magic, but those free hours were quickly devoured by fight nights and sparring with Maximilian.

Still, Martel did ...

118. Summons

Another Malday meant another trip into town. While they had spent this particular lesson at the castle for the past two fivedays, Mistress Rana wanted to show the students the remaining water towers in the city before they would finish off the course back at the Lyceum at the end of the month.

Martel did not mind; while not the most thrilling of subjects, it was nice enough to walk outside, and it gave him the opportunity to ask a few questions of the woman who hopefully would instruct ...

117. Calculations

"Since a couple of beggars proved too much for you, I have a different task." Seated behind his desk, Tibert stared at Mark, the man whose eyebrows met in the middle. "You're going into the ring against the stableboy tonight. Try to learn something about him in between getting smacked in the head." With a gesture, Tibert dismissed the fellow, who quickly left the chamber.

From a corner in the room, the fighter known as Leatherfist emerged. "I saw the boy the other night. He looks nothin...

116. Money to Spend

It was only morning, but Martel already looked forward to lunch. Not that he was hungry, but that would be the earliest that he could take a nap. After every fight, he rarely had time to sleep more than three bells, which did not quite suffice. At least it was only two nights every fiveday, and he had the occasional spare hours in the afternoon to catch up on sleep.

"Pretty good." Nora examined his latest work, a tonic to strengthen the heart meant for older people or those of a weak co...

115. Marius

"Tonight, for our first match, the familiar name is Stallion while his opponent is the newcomer! From the seventh legion, fighting for the first time in our ring, comes Marius!" Tibert's voice boomed across the hall and still nearly drowned in the noise from the audience.

Martel evaluated his opponent as they stood across each other in the pit, waiting for weapons and the signal to start. The other fighter looked in good shape, no better or worse than someone like Lothar, but he could n...

114. Pressure upon the Veins

With the other three novices, Martel waited in the entrance hall on another Malday morning. He felt a little awkward, as everyone passing by would know why they waited, and he stood out being a head taller than the other novices. It was a strange reverse to last night, when people had shouted his name and he felt like a king among men. Obviously, this was for the best; all Nether would break loose if his teachers discovered his evening activities.

Mistress Vana appeared and gestured for...

113. Oak

"For our first match tonight, our newest fighter Stallion faces up against Oak!"

The crowds responded with their usual noise. Already in the pit, Martel ignored them. All that mattered was him and his opponent. Oak had nearly the same height as Martel, but he was so lean, he looked all sinews and bone. A vicious scar ran along the right side of his jaw, leaving that part of his beard barren. His expression remained blank, giving Martel nothing to read or interpret.

They receive th...

112. A Promise Made in Silver

While Martel's evenings were full of excitement and anxiety, his mornings and afternoons remained predictable and practically dull in comparison. He did not mind this; on the contrary, Martel had no appetite for risk, even when it paid off. He could never understand Maximilian, gambling large sums of money, not to mention an important gift from his father. The only way Martel could ever imagine betting money would be if he knew he winning was assured, and even that had failed spectacularly fo...

111. Butcher

"Butcher! Butcher!"

The chanting of the crowd did nothing to ease Martel's fear. His opponent attacked with glee, and the novice simply defended himself, lacking the confidence to strike back.

Butcher's attacks came with less speed but greater force than compared to Lothar's. Even though Martel blocked, his hand cramped trying to hold onto his staff reverberating from the power of Butcher's strike. But he could defend. He was not out of his depth.

So when he parried another ...

110. Equine Parentage

Martel sat in Master Fenrick's class, his mind stuck on a particular question. Finally, he raised his hand.

He could not tell if his teacher was exasperated that he always had something to ask irrelevant to the current subject, or delighted that he had something to ask. Perhaps both.

"Yes?"

"Master Fenrick, how can you detect if someone has magical abilities? In case they are trying to keep them hidden, that is."

"For this, we have turned to our neighbours. For some re...

109. Motivation

The only difference between Maximilian and Reynard as a teacher of empowerment magic was their motivation; the latter had taught him grudgingly, if at all, while the former seemed to enjoy himself. As for the results, they were depressingly similar. In the fighting ring, and on a few other locations, Martel had been able to strengthen himself using magic, but only because he did so without thinking. He could not do it on command, which made that particular skill unreliable. He needed to know ...

108. What Flows Beneath

Martel woke, feeling battered. The healing effects of skin salve had its limits, and it could not cure headaches sustained from direct blows to the temple. It promised to be a long day, especially since he already had to prepare for his next fight, unless he wanted the same outcome. He thought about the small vial that Mistress Rana had once given him, alleviating his pain, but he did not dare ask for anything, lest he provoke questions about why he needed it. He could explain away a few brui...

107. Blooded

Lothar's staff came sweeping out against Martel the moment that Tibert gave the signal for the fight to begin. Near panicking, Martel barely raised his staff in defence, saving himself a heavy blow to the head.

His opponent quickly followed up, clearly experienced with his weapon. He launched a series of attacks that flowed smoothly, and Martel struggled to keep up with the high rhythm.

When sparring with Maximilian, there had always been a limit to how much pressure placed on Mar...

106. Stallion

His thoughts revolving around his first real fight tonight, Martel found it hard to concentrate on his elemental class. He realised this had happened for a while now; although this particular distraction was new, he had not been a particularly diligent student for the past several fivedays. He did not know how many fights he would have to win before Tibert would pit him against Leatherfist – a name that Martel still did not know how to feel about – but hopefully not many. Or perhaps he co...

105. Gentle Sting

For more than a month, Martel had enjoyed the end of classes with Reynard in the gymnasium. Empowerment remained his weakest skill compared to any of the elements, and his teacher had done nothing to help him overcome that. Now, he suffered the consequences for it.

He spent the morning fielding questions about his bruised face, explaining that sparring with Maximilian carried certain risks. Mistress Rana allowed him to take some skin salve if he promised to make more to replace it, and ...

104. Hospitality

Tibert's fist hit Martel on the cheek. Not with sufficient force to send him on his back, but he did stagger one step backwards, as much from shock as from the blow itself.

Martel had never really been in a fist fight. He understood the basic principle, but he was far from ready to implement it. As Tibert swung at him again, his first instinct was to use magic to protect himself. But if he did, everything would be ruined. Instead, he took another step backwards to get out of reach.

103. The Stableboy

Despite it being an interesting class usually, Martel did not pay much attention to Master Fenrick. His mind kept thinking on what lay ahead. Not just tonight, where he would have to go to this unsavoury character Tibert, but also afterwards, taking part in fights. The only other thought in his head concerned what happened if he did not show up, which would lead to the end of his dreams of becoming a mage. Considering the ease with which Kerra had ensnared them, Martel could only hope that th...

102. Cornered

Walking home from the copper lanes third night in a row, the young men's mood was reversed from previous trips. Their purse was empty, their confidence shaken from being caught, and the threat of expulsion from the Lyceum, should their illicit activities be revealed, hung over their heads.

"You should have told me about the ring."

"I was embarrassed," Maximilian defended himself. "My father had it made and given to me when I joined the Lyceum, a sign of his pride in his mageborn s...

101. The Copper Lady

The woman's words rang through Martel's mind. She knew they were mages. They had been found out. He felt panic rise and tried to consider the situation. He realised why she wore such heavy jewellery with her work clothes; the gold protected her from their powers. Likewise, Martel guessed that the brass knuckles on the thug behind him probably were not made from brass after all; as for the second man, the blade had looked like bronze, yellow-red, which probably was not the case either.

M...

100. A Pair of Fools

More than once during the next day, Martel returned to his room solely to check on his hoard. Leaving it in his room, even under lock, made him uncomfortable. He had never seen this much silver in one place, let alone had ownership of it. He did not even have a purse big enough to hold it all. He would have to buy a big one just so he could transport it all to Shadi. Not a problem, seeing as he could easily afford it.

~

As the day waned, he once again went to the copper lanes with...

99. A Pair Earthbound

Martel stood in the entrance hall, slightly unsure of himself. His new class to replace the infirmary had been titled something strange such as waterways or similar without much additional description. Furthermore, it had not listed any classroom or location at the Lyceum where the lessons would take place; the accompanying note had simply explained to gather in the entrance hall and be dressed for the outdoors. Martel glanced at the three novices, whom he had met when working in the infirmar...

98. A Pair of Emperors

Going through his day, Martel felt a tinge of cold feet. Even though his plan with Maximilian echoed what he had intended to do on his own, it felt different. Alone, he retained the option to back out at any time. He could sit down at the table, change his mind, and leave. Going to a gambling den with Maximilian felt like a commitment to see it through, and Martel could not be sure he had the stomach for it.

He paused practising his spellcraft in the Hall of Elements, looking at his tea...

97. A Gambler and his Valet

They discussed the details over breakfast, Maximilian glaring at any who might approach their table and intrude on the conversation.

"A two-man act is perfect. I can drink and appear the buffoon without harm, as I will not be controlling the dice." Maximilian waved his spoon around. "I can roll them with my eyes closed or throw them over my shoulder. Nobody could possibly suspect I am using magic, since I'm not. And if they inspect the dice, they will find them perfectly ordinary."

96. The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

Despite it being his favourite class, Martel found it hard to focus on Master Fenrick's lesson. Thoughts swirled in his head as to how he could accomplish his plan. He had never considered he might have to go elsewhere than The Golden Goose, which felt familiar and where he knew that informal gambling took place. He would have to risk going to a proper establishment for games of coin, but he had no doubt that if word came back to the Lyceum, he would get in trouble; unlike a tavern, Martel co...

95. Familiar Ground

Martel entered the Hall of Elements and greeted his teacher with a smile. "I'm still having trouble controlling two different elements at the same time," the novice admitted, "but I have made some progress." He summoned a flame in each of his hands. At the same time, the fires rose into the air and began swirling around both master and student in increasingly elaborate patterns. Finally, he let them disappear. "Not the same as combining elements, but if I can control two different effects wit...

94. Feeling the Sting

Martel's last bell in the infirmary went by at a snail's pace. He helped take care of the patients, by now accustomed with the process of changing bandages and other such tasks, but he found it hard to concentrate. His mind kept turning towards the test that Master Kelsos would perform on him. He had no idea what it would be like or how it worked, only that it was the manner in which the Lyceum discovered potential healers. The other novices who had begun the course at the same time as Martel...

93. Counting Coins

Although doing arithmetic before breakfast felt like torture, Martel persevered. After saying goodbye to Shadi, various thoughts of earning money had rummaged around his head without reaching any conclusion. He had still been thinking about it when he went to bed, and it crossed his mind as soon as he woke up. Thus, wearing just his nightshirt, he sat by his desk trying to do calculations.

Martel had never been on good terms with mathematics. Father Julius had taught him how to count al...