The Sorcerer

 There was excitement in the air, especially compared to when all their lessons were theoretical. At that time it sometimes felt as if they were just sleepwalking though the days. Now however, students were so diligent in their practice that often many of them came to the lessons already exhausted. If I had the ring now, I’m sure I would be able to do pretty much anything. He gave the necklace a pat. When can I use you? It was a problem. Within the Academy, they would sense the magical artefact if he bound it to himself, so there was a great risk using it there. On the other hand, there was nowhere outside where he dared to leave it. Would they find it if it was sealed to me but I left it under my bed? He was pretty certain they had covered at least some of the detection properties back in the theory classes. Still, with the use of his new artefact at least some of the pent-up frustration was released.

“Hi Anwen,” Samuel said and waved as he passed her by in the hallway.

“Hi Samuel,” she replied without breaking concentration. Sweat was trickling down her face as she was levitating a glob of water in front of her. Slowly sharp crystals began protruding through the surface and the entire form turned to ice. Then her hands fell to her side and the shard shattered against the floor. She panted with exhaustion.

“Nice. You’re getting better,” Samuel said.

“I know,” she said and winked. Then she sighed and deflated. “Still, I’m nowhere near to what Yorath can do or you. It’s so hard.”

“But it’s also exciting.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t trade this for anything. Maybe you might laugh at my goal of becoming the greatest wizard but I am serious about it. I will catch up to you two and then leave you in the dust.” She gazed through the window as she spoke, extending her hand towards the bright Sun.

“I won’t make it easy for you,” Samuel said and looked at his hand. “I will command the magical energies and bend them to my will.”

“I wouldn’t want you to. Also, let’s meet up again in the evening for some extra practice if we’re not too tired from the lessons.”

All of a sudden the air in the hallway went still, the light wasn’t quite as bright as before. Both of them fell silent under the oppressive atmosphere. A sound of footsteps and metallic rattling came from behind them. A figure completely covered in robes was making its way towards them. It wasn’t possible to make out a face from the darkness beneath the hood. Samuel’s mind screamed to run but he couldn’t move at all. The figure slid closer to them as if in a dream. The movements were sluggish and blurred, yet it made its way faster than a sprinter. It slowed a little before the pair of them and considered Samuel for a moment. It was as if something had pierced his mind. Beneath the cowl there was a glint of an ornate metallic mask. The figure continued a moment later and the world went back to normal in a moment.

“What was that?” Samuel held his head as he spoke. Did it sense my amulet?

“I think that was a sorcerer,” Arianwen said. “It’s a good thing he left so quickly. I was on the brink of peeing myself.”

“Same here,” Samuel said and they both chuckled a little. “I already understood they were supposed to be different but that is just too much. I can’t imagine someone like that walking down the street. Even if Bryntir is very tolerant towards magic, I could imagine people grabbing their pitchforks if they weren’t petrified. Though even then it might not help them against an opponent like that.”

“I don’t know,” Arianwen said. “I think we’d be surprised at what people are capable of when they need to fight for their lives.” Samuel gave a doubtful look. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it would be easy. Besides, I’d guess this was one of the more powerful sorcerers. I’ve read that a wizard with powerful artefacts is in some cases more powerful than a wizard.”

“I hope so,” Samuel said, then considered it. Do I hope so? If it’s something I can work towards, they can be as powerful as they want.

“Me too,” Arianwen said. “I will be a wizard after all.” Samuel didn’t know exactly what she meant with that. Her face radiated determination as she stared at him with her large amber eyes. For a brief moment that should have never ended they just stood there in silence staring into each other’s eyes.

They found Yorath already inside the gym also practising. Seven balls of condensed fire floated around him in intricate patterns. Samuel could only stare. Only a few days ago he had struggled to produce a single consistent flame. Even using my capabilities to their fullest, I couldn’t do something like that. He surpassed me. Even though I have also tried as hard as I could, I got left behind. How is this fair? The balls of fire combined into a single missile that splattered against a stone target and almost knocked it over.

“Yorath, that’s amazing,” Arianwen said. “Since when can you do something so powerful?”

He smirked in a self-satisfied way. “This much is nothing.” He gave a meaningful look to Samuel, who just sighed.

“Great job Yorath,” Samuel said and he was surprised that he meant his compliment.

“Thanks,” Yorath grumbled. Perhaps it was difficult to act in a smug way when people were not being antagonistic.

Madoc barely made it to the lesson before it started. His face was sunken and his eyes decorated with dark circles.

“Morning Madoc,” Samuel said with a measure of concern. “Are you all right?”

“Mweh,” Madoc said. He tried to gesture something with a hand before giving up a moment later.

“I see.” There was a hint of concern in Samuel’s voice, though at the same time he was glad that Madoc was applying himself to the lectures. Though instead of being downcast from the apparent uselessness of the lectures, he was moody from being too exhausted from his intense training.

Ivor strutted into the gym accompanied by the tapping of his staff. “Good news everyone. In addition to our regular lessons, we will also start with application in the outside world. Listen very carefully, I don’t like to repeat myself.”