King of the Realm

by Andrew Bardsley

  “I’ll go and learn the indexing spell, then,” said Ceras, like a child excited to start learning on his first day of school.

  “It's through the door.”

  The woman again indicated the door for him to find the spell, through which Ceras headed. The grey marble floor extended through the corridor. As he walked along he could hear the clap-clop of his travel boots, which made him think that getting some softer shoes would be useful if he didn't want to disturb everybody. The room he entered had several study tables surrounded by chairs. Looking for a scroll or book with the indexing spell on, his eyes wandered around the room but he found nothing, and started to wonder where the spell was. This was until he examined the tabletop and saw the inscription for the spell etched into the surface.

  I guess this is a spell that everybody needs to know if they are going to use the library, so you might as well make it stand out.

  After an hour of transcribing the spell into his own magic book he had it memorized, and tried it out for the first time. As he cast it, nothing immediately happened until he thought of what was in the library, and like the goddess blessing, the following appeared in his vision:

  Browse by category

  Or

  Search

  His first thought was to browse, and in his vision thousands of categories appeared in the three-dimensional space around him as if they were stars in the sky. Ceras looked around, trying to take in all the symbols and keywords associated with them.

  Wanting to zone into a specific area, he thought about fire magic. The image changed and zoomed into one of the sections of the vision he had already seen. He still had hundreds of options before him, so he decided to experiment and thought of a fire magic book he had read in the guild. Suddenly, one of the categories came into sight and below it was a list of hundreds of books. The one he had thought about was highlighted in a glowing red. He wondered if there were any similar books to the highlighted one, and saw green and blue lines leading off the one in red to other books. Looking at the books the blue lines led to, he was able to read the titles, and they seemed to be higher-level books on the same topic while the green lines led to lower-level volumes.

  Yawning tiredly and knowing that if he let himself stay any longer it would lead into an all-night stay, Ceras decided to head back to the inn, knowing he wanted to be more alert when he started his study. The woman had left the counter in the room leading to the library as it was now dark and late in the evening. The night air was cooler when he exited the library, and some of the students were moving around the square as if they were heading off to evening events.

  There was a more party-like atmosphere now, as nobody was studying on the grass but some groups were wrapped up in blankets talking and eating. It only took him a few minutes to reach the inn, where the two other adventurers were already asleep in their own rooms. Taking some time to eat some food rations from his bag, he then got ready for bed and was soon asleep, dreaming of researching the library.

  --

  Ceras was sitting at a desk on the fifth floor of the library in a quiet study section with several books in front of him. It had been a week since he had arrived in the capital city, and in this time he had spent most of his time here studying. In that time he had only gone back to the inn for some food and a few hours' sleep.

  The only way he had communicated with Rinaldo and Qyndad was through notes, as they had been busy training in combat on one of the other levels. One thing that he was doing, that would not have pleased Symania, was using magical spells to not have to sleep so much, thus allowing him more time to study.

  This week had started off with excitement as he had a whole massive library of information to study, but as the week went by, he started to gain an understanding of the task in front of him. Not only did he want to gather the knowledge to complete the magical task to get him to the legendary level, but he also needed to expand his general magical knowledge as in the rush to climb the levels, he had only focused on a small amount of spells.

  This legendary task seemed like a mountain range to climb, and he could not see the summit clearly as it had disappeared into the clouds. Ceras realized that Hidden-Caverns had been an essential part of his accelerated learning that had enabled him to get to where he was, and he was in much need of his help now. At the moment he was trying to develop a study plan on what he wanted to develop for his spells to reach legendary. This was even harder as he wasn’t clear about what he needed to know.

  Ceras had decided long ago, with Hidden-Caverns’ guidance, to develop a new branch of spells based on studying the below-normal sight movement of energy and material, based on his heat spell and what he was now thinking of calling his mobility and immobility spells. As he had done with his immobilization spell, it would require a complete rewriting of the magical spells as well as a deep understanding of the magical theory.

  Leaning back in his chair he closed his eyes for a few seconds, rubbing his forehead to relax himself as he wondered if Hidden-Caverns had left anything for him in the bag still at his waist that he had never opened. Moving the bag onto the desk, after a look around to check that there was nobody close to him in the library, he pulled open the draw cords. Looking inside, all he saw was a dark, liquid surface like that of a pond. Suddenly, the small head of a goblin popped out.

  “Do you ever listen to me?” demanded the goblin in a voice that sounded like an angry Hidden-Caverns. “I gave you instructions on what to do, but I should have made sure that you had listened. You complete and utter idiot.”

  “Oh.”

  “You might say ‘Oh’, but you’re still an idiot! It just means that you’re even more of an idiot than I thought, which I might say, is really hard.”

  “Is that you, Hidden-Caverns?” asked Ceras, shocked.

  “Who else knows how much of an idiot they have for a dungeon master?”

  “How are you doing this?”

  “I created a portal in your bag and managed to fix it using the immobilization spell. You would have known this before you left - if you had been listening.”

  “Well, I’m glad that you’re here as I desperately need your help,” said Ceras, now feeling happier to have Hidden-Caverns with him, or at least a goblin that was talking like the dungeon.

  “Of course, as we’re a team. You may be the idiot part of the team but we’re still a team,” said the goblin with an evil smirk that Ceras translated to a goblin smile. “The plan still the same as before?”

  “Yep, but it’s a lot of work and it would help if I had an army of helpers.”

  “Well, open the bag and put it on the side, and let the magic begin!”

  Looking around the area he was studying in he still saw nobody, and so Ceras placed the bag on the side and pulled it open as far as it would go. The goblin’s head disappeared and then a few seconds later, a gremlin appeared from the bag, smiled at Ceras and disappeared off into the library. This sight was repeated again and again for the next twenty minutes as gremlins kept exiting the bag and heading out into the library. Ceras walked up and down the reading room, checking worriedly that nobody was coming who would be able to see the gremlins emerging from the magical bag.

  The goblin’s head reappeared and Hidden-Caverns said, “That should do for starters, and don’t look worried - this is what gremlins were made for. Nobody will see them and they will be able to gather all the information we need. Now, I need you to get a private room for a base of operations. Then go and get some rest as I can see that you’ve been using magic to stay awake.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  Ceras was buzzing with renewed excitement. He went to the front desk and paid for a private study room on one of the more out-of-the-way levels. As he left the library it was only just midday, so he ambled to the inn to get himself a meal.

  Chapter 11 The Masters of the University

  Entering the inn, Ceras walked through the marble corridors to the restaurant at the back of the building where
lunch would be served. The room also had marble floors, with artful decor hung on the wall that seemed to celebrate sporting awards for each of the colleges of the university. A maître d’ was standing close to the entrance and welcomed Ceras with a smile and nod, having seen him several times during his fleeting visits to the restaurant.

  “Hello, sir. Do you want a table for one?" asked the tall, smartly-dressed man, as polite as always. Ceras wondered how he was forever cheerful.

  “Yes please, but this time I’d like a table with a view over the gardens.”

  “This way, sir.”

  Ceras was led to a booth by the large window that looked out onto the well-manicured gardens. The seating was leather in a horseshoe shape that was meant for more people, but Ceras guessed this was the only seat available with a view as the restaurant was nearly full. As he sat down, he was given a menu by the maître d’ who probably expected Ceras to just order what he normally had, but this time Ceras studied it intensely while a waitress brought some water.

  Wanting to have a good, relaxing meal, he was still studying the menu when he heard somebody clearing their throat by his side.

  “Sorry to disturb you,” said a middle-aged man in a wizard robe that featured a changing image of the sun rising in a misty morning, sweeping away the last few stars.

  “That’s OK.”

  “Are you the new level forty-nine master wizard that just enrolled a week ago at the university?” asked the skinny, grey-haired man with a curious look in his eyes.

  “If there’s only one who enrolled a week ago then yes, that would be me.”

  “Splendid, splendid,” said the wizard with a beaming smile on his face. “I would like to introduce myself. I’m one of the masters of Majesty's college and my name’s Rutreind.”

  Ceras stood up and extended his hand. “A pleasure to meet you, sir.”

  “No, no, the pleasure is all mine. I would like to invite you to a banquet we are serving at the college tomorrow night,” said the smiling master.

  Ceras remembered the advice of the admissions lady. “That would be fine, master.”

  “Good, good,” said the master. “I’ll pick you up at six in the evening from the hotel, then. The dress code is formal so you’ll need wizard robes.”

  With that, the smiling wizard walked out of the hotel as if he had just been waiting to see Ceras all this time. Ceras turned back to his menu, wondering if he would receive any more important invitations.

  He didn't have to wait long, as just after his meal was served he saw another wizard approaching him, this time in robes detailing the phases of the moon in the night sky. The older man smiled and nodded his head when he saw that Ceras had seen him.

  “Sorry to disturb you as you’re eating,” said the older scholar, “but you’re a hard man to get hold of.”

  “Busy in the library,” said Ceras, putting down his silver knife and fork.

  “Ah, a good place to be for a young man with all those stairs,” said the wizard with a smile. ”I’m Master Zatcozz of Three-In-One college.”

  “Nice to meet you, sir.”

  “Same to you. I’d like to invite you to a luncheon with some of the masters in three days.”

  “That would be fine.”

  “Great, well just come to the college at noon and you will be led to the master’s luncheon room. I will leave you to your meal, then.”

  The older wizard walked off humming to himself, allowing Ceras to finish his meal in peace. Sitting there at the end of the meal and looking out on the gardens, Ceras thought, I guess that I should go shopping if I need a set of magical robes for all the dinners that I might get invited to.

  On his way out of the restaurant, Ceras asked the maître d’, “I need to buy some formal robes for a college dinner - do you know any shops where I can buy them?”

  “Yes, sir. If you follow the road towards the mountain and take the first right, the street is full of shops and many of them will sell robes, sir.”

  “Thank you for your help and services.”

  After handing over a tip, Ceras exited the inn and, not fully looking where he was going, ran straight into a group of young students of about his age and accidentally knocked over a girl carrying several books. As he was trying to pick them up, he heard a loud voice decrying his clumsiness.

  “You’re a large oaf, aren’t you? Can’t you watch were you’re going?” barked a young man in the group who was helping the girl up. “I should challenge you for such an affront.”

  “Stop it, Conlamir. It was only an accident,” said the girl who had been knocked over as she dusted off her wizard robe.

  “No, I won’t stand for you being treated in such a manner,” said the young wizard. He turned angrily to Ceras and said, “If you have any honor at all you will accept my challenge to a magical duel.”

  “Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” said the girl again as other students in the group shook their heads. “Just because you know some attack spells now, doesn’t mean that you can bully people.”

  Ceras looked around, quite amused by the whole process now that he knew the girl he had so rudely knocked over was OK.

  “Firstly, let me apologize to you, my lady,” he said, bowing slightly to the girl with his most charming smile, “but I’m new to the university and don’t understand the magical duels. Are they anything like the challenges that the adventurers do?”

  Conlamir’s expression darkened as Ceras smiled at the girl. “See, he don’t even know the university rules and traditions, he’s so new,” he scoffed. “Are you still only a first-level journey, man?”

  “My lady, what is this magical duel, please?” asked Ceras, ignoring the angry boy.

  “Well, it works like the challenge system for adventurers except the university has set rules for magical duels, the first being that there is no death involved and you can only use magic. You also don’t win any of the belongings of the person you duel against,” she told him, as she too ignored Conlamir.

  “Well, are you honorable enough to take up my challenge?” demanded the now indignant Conlamir, having worked himself up into a frenzy.

  “If I must, but I warn you that this is not a good idea for you.”

  “No need to worry about me, it’s yourself that you should be concerned about,” said Conlamir as he started to head for a college entrance on the main street. “Follow me.”

  Ceras followed the group of five young magic students, feeling self-conscious of his clothes that while smart enough, made him look out of place among the others in their short, plain wizard robes.

  They entered the college through a grand archway into a large square with a green, manicured lawn in the center. Even though it was a sunny day, no students were using the area to relax. Ceras wondered why, until he was about to take a shortcut across the grass and the girl he had knocked over stopped him.

  “Only master wizards are allowed to walk on the grass. If you step on it one of the porters will charge you a fine,” said the girl, concerned.

  “See, the oaf doesn't even know how to behave,” said Conlamir.

  Conlamir led them into a large hall with circular markings on the floor, inside which were groups of people battling each other with magical spells. Ceras noticed a blue magical field around the contestants as they shot small fireballs or other magical attacks at each other.

  A middle-aged man who appeared to be in charge walked up to Conlamir. “Trying to show off to the girls again, journeyman?”

  Conlamir looked him straight in the eye but seemed to think better of being disrespectful to a senior wizard.

  “Well, the magical wards will prevent any serious harm coming to you and your victim,” said the man as he looked at Ceras with a grin. “If you need a healer I’ll be around to help out, but take it easy, Conlamir, as this one doesn't even have robes. Take the circle on the far right.”

  The others in the group thanked the master but Conlamir just stalked off to their assigned dueling circle. E
ntering the circle as the shield flashed with energy, he pulled out a magical book and began to read as he waited for Ceras to join him. Ceras passed through the magical barrier and felt the energies of the wards’ protection, but as he went deeper into the magic of the wards he worried briefly that he might easily overpower them.

  The worry on his face must have been clear to Conlamir, as he mistook the expression for concern over being beaten in the duel. “You can’t back out now if you don’t want to lose all your honor,” he said.

  “Shall we start, or do you just want to talk?” asked Ceras.

  Conlamir answered by starting a spell in his hand. Within seconds, Ceras could see a fireball appearing, about an inch in diameter. Casting a quick spell for a magical shield, he watched with fascination as the fireball rocketed over to him, splashing flames across his chest that soon dissipated.

  Conlamir looked slightly annoyed that his fireball had had no effect, and said, “There’s plenty more I can do!”

  He cast another spell at Ceras’ feet this time, and roots started to grow out of the dirt floor and twist around Ceras’ legs, designed to trap him into place. Ceras looked at them for a moment and then with his massive strength, simply pulled one leg free and then the other. This seemed to annoy the other young man even further, who threw several more fireballs at his body in quick succession. Each of them splashed harmlessly against Ceras’ shield as Conlamir’s temper flared.

  “Do you not know any attack spells?” shouted the frustrated Conlamir, throwing another magical attack at Ceras.

  “Tell me when you’re finished attacking, and then we’ll see what I can do.”

  The irate young man threw attack after attack at Ceras until he started to look pale with magical energy drain. As a last desperate effort, he blasted a jet of hot sand at Ceras before he could do no more magic. By this time the master had come over and was watching the battle with a curious expression on his face.