by Logan Jacobs
“Good job!” Ako congratulated me like I’d already summoned one of the swords, and his own danced in his grip as his tail flicked back and forth behind him.
“Nothing happened.” I frowned. “What did I do wrong?”
“Are you kidding me?” Ako’s eyes widened. “You said the word perfectly on the first try. Your fingers’ movements were almost identical to mine. It was a wonderful first attempt.”
My head began to throb with the familiar ache that often accompanied magic use, but I shook my head to dispel the pain. I wasn’t at my breaking point yet, and I wanted to make this run through count. I could take a little headache if it meant I got to summon some awesome looking ghost-swords.
The nobility began to grumble with impatience as the two of us conferred with each other over my first attempt, so I flashed them a sympathetic smile.
“This will only take a short while more, I promise,” I assured the restless audience, and while a few complained, the murmurs of discontent quieted.
I returned my focus to Ako, and the two of us went over the process for what seemed like the hundredth time already, and when my head felt like it was going to split in two, I reset back to my save point to try again.
Chime.
I still couldn’t get the smoke to erupt into existence, but the pain in my palm abated slowly with each attempt.
Chime.
The tiniest curl of smoke rose from the center of my hand, and Ako’s eyes were as big as saucers.
“You’ve never done this before, you say?” The cat-man sounded unconvinced.
Chime.
I focused my willpower until it felt like my head was going to shatter into a million pieces, and I managed to get the plume to stretch into a long cylinder.
Chime.
Chime.
Chime.
I worked my ass off for too many respawns to keep track of, and each time I got a little bit better. Ako seemed just as excited as me whenever I made a little bit of progress, and his awed reactions grew more extreme the more I learned. The spell had truly taken him half his life to perfect, but fortunately for me I had my godly advantages to quickly learn all the magic in this medieval fantasy world.
Chime.
I reset for what I knew would be my final lesson, and I approached Ako with a casual wave.
“Hey, Ako,” I greeted with a friendly smile. “Before you show everyone what you can do, will you please help me perfect my own Razmadan?”
“You know the ancient spell?” Ako’s jaw fell open, which revealed the two fangs among his shiny white teeth.
“I’ve been practicing it,” I explained, “but I need a little bit more help.”
“Show me.” Ako nodded decisively.
“Hold on,” I said, and I turned to greet the royal mage just as Viceroy crossed the distance to us. “Hey, Vicey, give me just a moment. This won’t take long.”
“This is highly irregular, Your Grace,” Viceroy countered with a shake of his head.
“Go on, ask the king,” I instructed in a patient tone. “He’ll tell you to let me do what I want, and then we can get on with my lesson.”
Viceroy shot King Frederick a questioning glance, and the king inclined his head in acquiescence. Then the royal mage turned to consider me through narrowed eyes. “Very well, Your Grace. Carry on.”
Once the royal mage had returned to his place at the king’s table, Ako and I continued on with my lesson on how to conjure the ghost-swords. I managed to manipulate the plume of smoke into a crude-looking saber, and the shapeshifter eyed me appreciatively.
“Who even are you?” he asked in a voice full of awe.
“You like to call me Sir Bash,” I informed him with a shit-eating grin.
“Your Razmadan is strong,” the shapeshifter observed. “There is not much I can teach you. The blade will grow stronger with practice, but that will take some time. Be patient, Sir Bash.”
“Yes, sir, Master Gray.” I gave the shapeshifter a low bow. “Thank you for all the time you have given me tonight. I’m going to reset now, so you will not remember me, but I just wanted you to know I consider you a friend.”
“You honor me, Sir Bash.” Ako shook his head. “But your words confuse me. You’re a weird one, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “But you like it.”
“Time will tell,” Ako replied in a vague tone, but his honey-colored eyes danced with amusement.
I was grinning from ear to ear as I reset back to my save point with a wave of my will.
Chime.
Ako Gray took the stage for both the first and final time, and he bowed low to all the tables full of nobles before he began his display of magical skill.
I kicked back and watched him with a proud smile on my face while the audience oohed and aahed over his abilities.
Ako could not only summon a ghost sword for each hand, but he could toss them around the room and have them snuff out of existence right before they would have landed. The cat-wizard juggled the smokey swords, caught one in his mouth, and the other behind his back, and in between feats of bravery, the shapeshifter performed acrobatic feats. He flipped off tables like he was doing parkour, and he shouted apologies at the nobles sitting there as the dishes rattled.
Ako’s performance was captivating, and everyone in the room had their eyes locked on the shapeshifter.
After the shapeshifter showed off his acrobatics and Razmadan, other wizards and mages took the stage. My particular favorites were light manipulators who cast the room into darkness only to have the candles’ flames dance around the room like fairy lights. Startled gasps filled the room followed by an enthusiastic round of applause, and once the room was fully illuminated again, the mages bowed to the nobles.
I added my own applause to the group as I considered learning from the light-manipulators, but the power word and hand gestures looked simple enough, plus I’d already learned ten lifetimes worth of spells at this banquet, so I let time continue unhindered.
Then the royal mage returned to the center of the room for a final time.
“Thank you to all the mages, wizards, shamans, and priests who have traveled across the world to be here tonight,” Viceroy intoned loud enough for all to hear. “This concludes the presentations for this evening. I hope you all enjoyed the display.”
“Thanks, Vicey!” I shouted over the sound of obligatory applause. “You did great, buddy!”
The royal mage shot me a confused look before he returned to his place at the head table. He may not remember how much he’d helped and hindered me during the course of the banquet, but I felt like I’d grown a lot closer to Viceroy that night. I certainly trusted him more than I had when the evening began.
The nobles in the room began to stand from their chairs, and everyone milled about and talked amongst themselves. A restless energy swept through the room, and I had a feeling the party was over.
King Frederick approached my table, and the crowd of people parted to let his majesty past. “Sir Sebastian, how did you enjoy tonight’s presentations?”
“It was amazing,” I complimented. “I learned a lot, so thank you for arranging to have all these wizards here during the summit. It really made my life a lot easier.”
“I had a reason for that.” The king raised one eyebrow as he gave me an appraising look. “Do you remember me talking about appointing a new court wizard to the Arginold holdings?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Who did you pick?”
“Well, that is what I would like to discuss with you.” The king smiled. “I would like it if you interviewed the wizards applying for the position to help me narrow down the choices.”
“I can do that.” I tapped a finger against my chin thoughtfully. “Can I also interview the other court wizards who were here, too? I have a feeling they know who is trying to kill us.”
“You believe it to be an inside job?” King Frederick frowned.
“I have some ideas,” I allowed in a m
ysterious tone. “But please, let me follow my instincts and do some investigating before I point fingers.”
“That is wise,” the king replied, and then he turned to the rest of my entourage. “Lords and ladies, please enjoy your evening.”
Everyone bowed their heads to his majesty before he turned to head back to his table.
“You think one of the wizards is trying to kill the king?” Mahini asked as soon as the king was out of earshot.
“Who could it be?” Eva questioned.
“Bash knows already, I’m sure of it.” My wife’s grin was full of pride. “My husband always knows everything.”
It was hard to explain the limitations of my abilities to the women who believed I was capable of anything, so I merely smiled and didn’t respond.
Mahini frowned thoughtfully, and she continued to cast me sideways glances as we watched the other nobles start to filter out of the room.
I supposed that meant the party was over, and I was grateful since the magic lessons had drained my mental energy. I was beyond ready to crawl into bed, so I turned to my entourage and cleared my throat.
“I think it’s time to head back to our rooms,” I informed my followers. “Get some rest, I know it’s been a long day.”
Everyone stood and began to file toward the door, and I followed my women as our group made our way back to our wing of the palace. Conversation was minimal, so I knew everyone was tired, and we all filed into our rooms with muttered goodnights cast over shoulders.
My three ladies climbed into bed with me, and I sighed contentedly as I pulled them into my arms. “This is the life.”
The next day, I ate a hearty breakfast, and then I began the interview process with the wizards, mages, shamans, and priests who’d presented their skills at the banquet. Since I’d seen their abilities already, the interview consisted of questions about their ethics and morals more so than about their level of power.
When Ako strolled into the room shortly before mid-day, I couldn’t help the broad smile that stretched across my face. The cat-man was just all around likeable. We laughed and joked for the better part of an hour, and then I realized I hadn’t asked him any of the questions I’d written down.
It didn’t even matter to me, though, since I simply enjoyed the time I’d spent with him, so in the end I instructed him to come back later for a second interview.
After I’d questioned all the unfamiliar people, I began to interview the Sorreyal mages. I talked to Kane first, but the older man had a lot to say on the topic of morals. I listened while he lectured to me about doing the right thing, and he gave me a few example stories to go along with his morality lesson.
Burnyolf was next, but the enchanter seemed confused by the entire process. He ached to return to Castle Bullard to resume his work, and he talked about the finer details of his craft for a while before I dismissed him.
I didn’t spend very much time with Viceroy, either, but I did have a few questions for the royal mage about the other wizards. He didn’t know much about the majority of the foreigners who’d presented their magic to the summit of nobility, but he’d studied languages from around the world for decades, so I spammed a few respawns until I got the gist of a couple different tongues.
By the time the interview with the royal mage was over, I felt confident about my ability to travel anywhere around the world and communicate about basic things like where the bathroom was and how much things cost. Satisfied with the result of my time with him, I let Viceroy go, but I had him send in the next person on his way out.
Then Zorya walked in, and she carried the same crate of vials and bottles that she’d brought to the banquet, but I already knew a few of the potions she held inside the box. The invisibility potion intrigued me the most, so I spent the majority of my first interview run through with her trying to convince her to sell it to me. The alchemist insisted the potion was priceless, so I’d just have to use other means of acquiring some.
I used several respawns attempting to distract her while I lifted the potion from the crate, but she caught me almost immediately every single time. She might be a little brusque, but she certainly paid close attention to her work, so I decided to try again later and in the meantime redirected my attention to the reason I’d brought her there in the first place.
Treason.
“So, Zorya,” I began as I narrowed my eyes at the lady wizard during a new run through. “How long have you worked for the Duchess of Mistvale?”
“I first came to Mistvale Keep about a decade ago,” the alchemist informed me in a casual tone. “Clara was more than happy to welcome me into her household as she’d recently lost her previous court wizard, Clovis.”
“Would you consider yourself loyal to the crown?” I asked.
“What do you mean, Your Grace?” Zorya raised an eyebrow and eyed me for a long moment. “Of course, I am. Are you?”
“Absolutely.” I grinned, and then I decided to be a little truthful to see if it would cause Zorya to react. “His majesty has tasked me with sniffing out possible treason. There are whispers that Arginold and Racine were into some plot against the king or something like that.”
“One as great as yourself should not stoop to listening to idle gossip,” Zorya warned.
I frowned. “You don’t sound surprised to hear there is a plot against the king.”
“Isn’t there always plots against those who hold power?” Zorya shrugged. “If you have no other questions, Your Grace, I need to return to my experiments. Some of the ingredients are time sensitive.”
I wasn’t entirely satisfied with her response, but I had no proof she was involved in any treason, so I had to let her leave eventually.
“Thank you for your time, Zorya,” I said, and then I remembered the invisibility potion and supposed there was no harm in trying again. “Hey, would you sell me one of your potions?”
“Perhaps.” Zorya paused on her way to the entrance. “Which one?”
“The invisibility potion you showed to the summit of nobility,” I explained. “I would be willing to pay a lot of gold for it.”
Paired with my ability to reset back to a save point, the potion would make me a sleuthing champion. I could sneak in anywhere and get information, then reset, and I’d still have the potion. It was like a loophole where I could have a never-ending supply like with my griffon feather boots, although eventually the durability on my shoes would wear down completely, but then I could always travel to the griffon’s nest for more.
“The invisibility potion is priceless,” Zorya countered. “There is no amount of money that would make it worth parting with it.”
“I understand all that,” I said, and I opened my hands in a placating gesture. “Give me a number, any number, and we’ll see what I can do.”
“You are the Archduke of Sorreyal,” Zorya exclaimed with widened eyes. “You could afford it. I, however, only have so many ingredients to make the potion, and they are very challenging to harvest.”
“You won’t even try to haggle?” I arched one eyebrow as I gave her a questioning look.
“No, Your Grace,” Zorya said with a shake of her head.
I shrugged. It was worth a shot.
Chime.
I was still determined to get my hands on the bottle of invisibility potion I could see among the vials in Zorya’s crate, so I returned to my attempt at stealing it instead. It took me almost a hundred respawns before I was able to lift the bottle without the alchemist’s head whipping around, but that was only because I’d prolonged the interview for hours, and she ended up needing to use the bathroom.
When I was satisfied with the potion-bottle shaped bulge in my pants pocket, I brushed my hands together and waited for Zorya to return to the room I’d claimed for the interviews. I sat behind a heavy wooden desk, so I wasn’t worried about the alchemist seeing the bottle in my pants, but I had a million jokes running through my head anyway. The brusque lady wizard was definitely not my type, and po
ssibly a traitor, too, so I clamped down on the montage of happy to see you jokes in my brain.
I wrapped up the interview with the alchemist, and I asked her to show in the next wizard. Zorya picked up her crate, bowed her head, and left the room without another word, but I didn’t have to wait very long for the next magic user.
Dumas strode into the room like he owned the place, and he glared down his nose at me when his pale-green eyes landed on where I sat waiting for him.
“Your Grace,” he murmured as he inclined his head ever so slightly.
“Dumbass, er, I mean, Master Dumas,” I said with a devilish smirk, and I dared him to fight me with my eyes.
I was the Archduke, though, so the court wizard from Edinburg manor wasn’t about to scold me for calling him a name. There were benefits to being among the upper class, but I promised myself I wouldn’t let it go to my head. Still, it was fun to fuck with Dumas, and after the performance he gave at the banquet, I felt like he deserved it.
The letter to Racine from Dumas that I’d found while I was in Arginold castle sprang to my mind, and I refocused on the task at hand.
“Do you know why you’re here?” I asked the necromancer in a casual tone as I gestured to the empty seat on the other side of the desk from me.
“No, Your Grace,” Dumas replied in a respectful tone, but he ignored my suggestion that he sit down. “Why am I here?”
“Well, I have long suspected that there is some treason going on in Sorreyal,” I explained in a mysterious tone. “I have reason to believe at least one of the wizards present at the summit is partially responsible for multiple attacks on my life.”
Dumas’ eyebrows twitched upward, but he quickly controlled his expression and crossed his arms over his black robes. “What are you trying to say, Your Grace? Are you accusing me of treason?”
“Absolutely not,” I lied. “I merely thought someone as wise and as powerful as you might have some information that could point me in the right direction.”
“Interesting…” Dumas scratched his chin, and his eyes roved around the room. “Perhaps one could question you, Your Grace.”
