After confirming that his belongings were in their proper places, he locked the door behind him and then made his way to the central gardens where Mr. Albeck had been hosting their lessons as of late. Alistar decided to ask the man to teach him a spell of the earth elent that might enable him to create a little nook in one of his room’s walls, just as Servan had done in the past whenever he would hide food in the abandoned tunnels of Crystellum’s upper levels for him and Kaila to find. If he could learn such a spell then he would be able to hide his locket in a secure location whenever he wasn’t wearing it, a precaution for peace of mind when it ca to considering the safety of his loved ones.
I wonder what Uncle Caedmon would think if he knew I had an exquisite-class crystal?
Alistar arrived at the central gardens to find them empty, his teacher’s aura idling around the flowerbeds that decorated the grounds near the outer wall of the manor house’s western wing. Wearing only a loose tunic and a comfortable pair of woolen trousers, Alistar couldn’t help but shiver after brief exposure to the bone-biting cold. He redied this by covering his body with a thin layer of swordsman’s aura, which would slowly drain his stamina for however long he maintained it. After several years of training, he had fostered a significant amount of this unique form of energy and could now keep up with his current expenditure for nearly three hours.
While he waited for Mr. Albeck, his eyes drifted over to a well-trimd hedge nearby to where he was standing and he recalled the ti that he and Ely had discovered an injured Ms. Parsnip within its spindly confines. The thought summoned a light smile to his face. These days, Ely didn’t go anywhere without that rabbit, which had basically beco a full-fledged mber of the Dozen. Even Woods had taken a liking to the little critter. The portly boy no longer looked at her with the eyes of a hungry glutton and had even ford a habit of petting her whenever she was present.
Looking around at the modest amount of snow that lent the garden an entirely different sort of beauty from when its flowers were in full bloom, Alistar recalled his first winter in Distan. At the ti, a heavy snowfall had swept through the region and left so much precipitation in its wake that even the adults had been forced to slog through the knee-deep sea of unending whiteness. The sight had left Alistar at a loss for quite so ti, before he’d happily accompanied Anice outside to play around in the fields of the estate. He’d created so of his fondest mories on that day, though had gone to bed feeling quite guilty at having experienced such fun without his family.
What’s Mr. Albeck doing?
Just as Alistar was wondering if he had mistaken the ti and place for the day’s lesson, his teacher’s aura suddenly gained a significant prominence in his perceptions. This told Alistar that the location of the lesson had changed, since this was a thod that the two of them used to draw the other’s attention.
Alistar arrived at an old bench of weathered wood about a hundred paces away from the manor house’s western exit, along a cobblestone pathway that was usually lined with beautiful blue hydrangeas. Now, the pathway was fenced in by long lines of spindly, lifeless stems, withered heads bowed down in subordination to nature’s whims. Today his teacher was dressed in his usual fashion, a set of long robes in light browns held at the centre with a golden sash, just the sort of outfit a magus was apparently expected to wear.
"That was quick," said Mr. Albeck, a smile tugging at his shaven face. "You didn’t run here, did you?" His pine-coloured eyes hovered over Alistar as if searching for sothing, eventually settling on his fingers.
"I didn’t want to make you wait."
The man let out a laugh. "Even after I made you wait for quite so ti, you still say such things." Standing, he began to walk out toward the field, which was covered in a light layer of snow beneath the cold winter sun. "I see you’re still not wearing the ring that your uncle gave you. You know it’s just an ordinary limiter, right? Well, it’s anything but ordinary, but it won’t hurt you."
Alistar shook his head. "While I do have faith in your appraisal, I still don’t trust it." Antoine was well aware that there were multiple magi living at Caedmon’s estate, a fact the duke would surely have considered in the event that the intentions behind the bestownt had been nefarious in nature.
"It’s not a bad thing to think that way. Ah, and are you sure you don’t want to add another layer or two before we set out? I know you enjoy using your swordsman’s aura, but I fear it will distract from your casting."
"It won’t, I promise. I’ve been practicing a lot."
"Sure, sure."
"Um, Mr. Albeck?"
"What is it, lad?"
"About the ring that Uncle Antoine gave ..."
After hearing out Alistar’s request, Mr. Albeck ran a hand through his recently shorn hair and gave a light nod. "That shouldn’t be a problem. While earth magics aren’t my strong suit, shifting such a small amount of rock isn’t anything special. It certainly won’t be any more difficult than the basic stability spell that I taught you, since that one requires active movent and long-term sustainability."
Hearing this, Alistar thought back to the wide-eyed stare that he’d shown Servan back when he had first seen the young man cast the simple spell, a wondrous gaze that he and Kaila had shared in those dark and disheartening tunnels. Now that he was older, his appreciation for Servan had grown exponentially. He’d seed so old at the ti, so comforting and dependable, but for all the risks that the young man had taken and all of the efforts that he’d put forth for the sake of Alistar and his family, Servan had only been around eighteen years old at the ti that they had first t.
Shelving thoughts of his old friend lest he fall into a pit of anxious depression, Alistar gave a respectful bow. "If you wouldn’t mind showing , you would have my gratitude."
"Helping out one’s pupil is the obvious thing for a teacher to do."
Tell that to Master.
Pushing Tramon from his mind, Alistar followed Mr. Albeck out into the fields where he occasionally went riding with Stason. Many sets of fresh tracks were visible on the ground, marking the path that he and his riding instructor had recently taken on a casual jaunt around the grounds. Reminding himself to stop by at the stables later to feed Star, he soon ca to a stop alongside his teacher at a small clearing within the nearby woodland that encased much of the large property.
"I’ll teach you the spell you asked about, but first we’ll be doing a short review."
They had done a review on magical theory just a week before, which wizened Alistar to his teacher’s intentions.
"So we’ll be doing a practical review, then."
Mr. Albeck nodded and pointed to a large oak tree about ten paces in front of them. "You’ve learned quite a lot of spells for an apprentice mage, especially one so new to the practice. But as I’ve said before, it doesn’t matter how many you learn if you can’t properly execute them all. To that end, I’ll have you cast each of the spells that you’ve learned a total of three tis. To start, use the basic candle lighting spell on one of the twigs of that branch there—the one that looks like it’ll fall at any mont."
Alistar nodded, not feeling the need to take any preparatory asures. "I’ll be doing the first cast, then."
He lit the tip of every loose twig on the branch in question, the flas slowly beginning to crawl up their lengths.
His teacher stared at the branch for a mont before waving an arm and snuffing out the flas, leaving many trails of smoke behind as if sobody had just lit an abundance of incense. As Alistar went to carry out his second cast, Mr. Albeck held up a hand and shook his head.
"I did fine, I take it?"
Seeing Alistar’s bright smile, Mr. Albeck gave him one in return. "More than fine. Most people tend to associate certain spells with passive actions to help them adjust their mindsets in a habitual manner. Like how I waved my arm just now. I do so for quite a few spells, while others require more specific arm movents or other such actions."
"Uncle Caedmon does so sotis. Anne as well."
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