“I’m sorry,” Finn replied evenly.
“Which means exactly zilch to me,” Brutus retorted with a broad, knowing smile. “I don’t know if it’s your age or just lack of effort, but it doesn’t really matter. You’ll be tackling some extra lessons from now on until you manage to catch up with the others.”
Finn could hear a few stifled laughs behind him and couldn’t help but grind his teeth together. He shouldn’t give two shits what these other people thought – not at his age anyway. And he knew this was just an act. At the same time, Brutus didn’t need to lay it on so thick.
“As you wish,” Finn bit out, glaring at Brutus.
“I did, and I do. Let’s get to it. Follow me,” the fire mage instructed, winking at Finn as he hopped up from his glass throne. With a wave of his hand, the chair melted back into the sand and Brutus set off toward the southern side of the guild hall.
Kyyle shot Finn a sympathetic glance as he passed. “Sorry,” he mouthed.
Finn just shrugged and tried to look miserable.
Luckily, he didn’t need to fake that.
***
The pair wound through the northern portion of the guild hall. Strangely, this part of the complex seemed deserted, and Finn observed far fewer students wandering its halls. If anything, many of the structures and rooms they passed looked dilapidated, with boarded-up doors and trash littering the floor.
“What is this place?” Finn asked Brutus.
“This northern annex used to house the school’s crafting division,” Brutus grunted. “Once upon a time, we had a full-fledged forge, a crystal growing room, an enchantment wing – the works basically.”
Finn’s eyes widened. That sounded amazing. Although, that did little to explain the condition of the buildings. “What happened? This place looks like it should be condemned.”
Brutus grimaced. “The Emir and the headmaster closed it down.”
“But why—?” Finn began.
The fire mage cut him off, giving him a sober look. “Because they chose to. This is one of those things you shouldn’t dig at.” He hesitated, his eyes clouding over as they passed what appeared to be a ruined forge. “Although, I’ll leave you with a question.”
Brutus glanced back at Finn. “Why wouldn’t the people in charge want mages to have access to powerful weapons and armor?”
Finn’s brow furrowed. So, this was intentional? The obvious implication of Brutus’ question was that this sort of activity would make the mages too large of a threat. Finn shook his head. But that also meant the Emir had chosen to give up an edge in equipping his own troops and people in favor of suppressing a single group. That seemed crazy. Did Lahab not have any enemies outside its own walls?
The pair came to a stop in front of a plain stone room. There were no windows and only the single entrance, a massive circular steel door. Although, the hinges of the door looked rusted through. Even more oddly, the locking mechanism was on the inside.
At a gesture from Brutus, Finn stepped inside. At first glance, Finn didn’t see anything impressive about the room until he examined one of the walls more closely. He noticed indentations in the stone and scraped away a thick coating of dust.
“These are Veridian runes,” Finn murmured, stepping back to survey the symbols. “They’ve been etched into the wall itself.”
“Enchantments,” Brutus grunted. “This used to be used as a testing room a long time ago. Mages would bring new contraptions and projects here to avoid accidentally blowing apart their own workshop.”
The mage snorted as he examined the walls. “Obviously, it isn’t seeing any use now, but it makes for a great training room. We don’t need to worry about causing any damage. There are also suppression spells built into the walls. No matter how much noise you make down here, no one will hear. Besides, this area doesn’t get much foot traffic nowadays, so it’s pretty private.”
Brutus glanced over at Finn. “In short, this is your new training room.”
“What about the library?” Finn asked.
“Abbad said it was too public. Any old librarian or student could wander through that area. This room is safer as you progress in power,” Brutus explained. “You’ll be coming here to train when you aren’t attending a class.”
“So, you’re really planning to train me?” Finn asked skeptically, finally addressing the flaming elephant in the room.
A grin swept across Brutus’ face. “Ahh, that’s cute. Training.” He laughed. “By the time I’m done, I’m sure you’ll be referring to it as torture.”
The fire mage clapped his hands together. “Anyway, we should get to work. As a first step, let’s take a look at your stats and skills – I need to know what I’m working with. Go ahead and pull up your Character Status.
Finn did as he was asked, noting that he had a stat notification from that afternoon’s training in the courtyard:
Stat Increases:
+6 Strength
+8 Dexterity
+11 Endurance
Character Status
Name:
Finn
Gender:
Male
Level:
15
Class:
Race:
Human
Alignment:
Lawful-Neutral
Fame:
100
Infamy:
0
Health:
170
H-Regen/Sec:
0.30
Mana:
245
M-Regen/Sec:
2.00
Stamina:
370
S-Regen/Sec:
3.00
Strength:
21
Dexterity:
27
Vitality:
10
Endurance:
30
Intelligence:
15
Willpower:
15
Affinities
Dark:
2%
Light:
4%
Fire:
37%
Water:
5%
Air:
3%
Earth:
9%
“Hmm,” Brutus murmured, staring at the translucent screen. He glanced at Finn. “You’ve leveled a lot for a novice, but you haven’t distributed any stat points?”
“I didn’t have a good understanding of what the stats did until your last class. I just forgot to assign points last night since I was studying.”
“Well, you can go ahead and put everything in Intelligence. That will benefit you the most right now – increasing your learning speed, mana, and mana regeneration rate. Damage isn’t really a priority,” Brutus murmured.
Finn had to admit that made sense and went along with what he had been thinking already. He promptly allocated his 70 stat points to Intelligence. This caused his mana to jump to 595 and his regen to increase to 12.50/second. That should make training his Mana Mastery much easier. He had just been summoning the flaming orbs until he ran out of mana and then focusing on his language studies while his mana regenerated.
Brutus must have been reading his mind. “What is your Mana Mastery at now?”
Finn chewed on the inside of his cheek as he brought up the skill panel.
Mana Mastery
Skill Level: Intermediate Level 1
Effect 1: -4% to the mana cost of spells.
Effect 2: 1% faster cast rate.
Finn was somewhat surprised to see that he had reached Intermediate Level 1 already. He had disabled his skill notifications temporarily since they kept interrupting his studies. He would need to remember to check on his progress more regularly.
“Intermediate Level 1,” Finn reported.
“Hot damn, what has Abbad been having you do?” Brutus asked in surprise.
Finn wasn’t really sure how to respond. “He’s just been having me channel my mana constantly. He said to create or
bs and then direct them in specific patterns while I’m studying Veridian.”
Brutus simply stared at him. “How many orbs can you control at once?”
“I’m up to three now,” Finn replied cautiously, not certain whether this was a positive or negative thing.
“Three!?” Brutus exclaimed. He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head at the same time. “Have you been doing this every waking moment since you joined the guild?”
Finn grimaced. “Uh, basically.”
“Well that changes things,” Brutus replied, his eyes distant – considering something.
The fire mage’s attention snapped back into focus, honing in on Finn. He clapped his hands together. “Alright, we can definitely work with this.”
Brutus sighed, glancing at the doorway leading into the training room. “First things first, you can come on out now, thief girl!”
There was only silence for a few seconds, and then Julia seemed to step out of a shadow near the doorway. “How did you know I was here?”
“Let’s just say it was a lucky guess,” Brutus answered dryly. “I take it you’re the one that gave him that little pig-sticker he’s got hidden under his robes?”
Julia nodded.
Meanwhile, Finn was still trying to figure out how Julia had managed to blend into the shadows like that. And how Brutus had noticed. And how the fire mage had also somehow figured out that he had the dagger. He looked at Brutus with newfound respect. The man might be a sadist, but he was also observant and skilled.
Perhaps there was some method to his madness.
“And I assume you have no clue how to use that little blade?” Brutus asked, whirling back toward Finn.
A grudging shake of his head.
“Great. Then the thief will be useful as a training partner. You could say this is a match made in hell,” Brutus said, rubbing his hands together and chuckling at his own joke.
Finn and Julia shared a look. What exactly had they just signed up for?
“Alright, let’s cover some basics, and then we can get to the real training,” Brutus began. He waved at Julia. “We don’t need you quite yet, thief. You can either stay out of the way and watch or go step out in the hall and stand guard.”
“I’m not a thief,” Julia grumbled, but moved back against the chamber wall, hovering near the door. After her encounter with Abbad, she seemed to be a bit more wary of mages.
Brutus ignored her, his attention focusing on Finn as the pair faced off in the center of the room. “Your Mana Mastery is high enough that I can teach you a new trick. Watch my hands closely.”
That was all the warning Finn got. Brutus’ fingers exploded into movement, twining through a series of gestures so fast that Finn had difficulty following the movements. Only a moment later, Magma Armor materialized along Brutus’ arm. Although, Brutus’ version was much larger than Finn’s, spiraling all the way up to his shoulder before lancing out into the air.
What was more strange was that Brutus’ hands hadn’t stopped. They continued their rhythm, and a ball of flame began to manifest next to the fire mage, growing rapidly in size until the heat forced Finn back a step. The Fireball lingered in the air, simply hovering beside the fire mage for several long seconds even after the spell had finished.
Without warning, Brutus hurled the Fireball at Finn. His body acted on instinct as he dove to the side – only managing the feat due to the time he had spent running the fire mage’s obstacle course. Just like the other students, Finn had learned the hard way that he couldn’t drop his guard around Brutus.
Finn hit the stone ground hard, managing to stumble into a roll and regain his feet even as a massive blast of flame struck the back wall of the room. The fires smashed against the stone, blooming outward before peeling back in on themselves.
A moment later, Finn once more stood in front of Brutus, watching the fire mage warily. His shoulder ached, and he quickly patted at his sleeve to put out the fresh embers that had blossomed there.
“Alright, what did you learn?” Brutus asked, gesturing at the wall and the massive Magma Armor still stretched along his arm.
That you’re an asshole, Finn thought but bit back that response.
He tried to collect his thoughts, thinking back to what he’d just seen. For some reason, his eyes kept drifting back and forth between the shield of molten energy and the scorched wall. It took a second for it to click.
“You cast two spells at once – or at least their cast time seemed to overlap,” Finn murmured. He shook his head. “Although, that doesn’t seem quite right.”
A grin tugged at Brutus’ lips, but he kept quiet, clearly waiting for more.
Finn felt like he was close. He closed his eyes, mentally inventorying Brutus’ hand gestures. The large man had cast the original spell using both hands, but once that Magma Armor had been summoned, something had changed. It helped that Finn had seen the same ability during his time in the deathscape. The man’s hands had begun acting independently after the first spell, with Brutus’ right hand shifting into a different rhythm.
“You cast the first spell with both hands, and then cast the Fireball with just your right hand…” he said, half talking to himself. “But why did your left hand keep moving, and how did you manage to make the Fireball hover beside you?”
“Good,” Brutus replied curtly. “You caught it faster than many students. I call this Multi-Casting. The skill allows you to chain cast spells quite quickly. It has some limitations, of course. Apart from being difficult to learn, the second spell casts slower since it is harder to control the flow of mana with one hand.”
Finn just shook his head. Even Julia was staring at Brutus skeptically. “Is this ability common?” He was grappling with the speed and concentration required to pull that off. It was one thing to be ambidextrous, quite another to perform two intricate tasks simultaneously.
“Not exactly,” Brutus said, grimacing. “Almost all other mages can only cast or maintain one spell at a time. Although, to fully appreciate the benefits of Multi-Casting, you will need to learn a little more about mana channeling. That’s why my left hand kept moving after I finished casting Magma Armor. I suspect you missed this lesson, having graduated from Lamia’s class early,” he added, sarcasm lacing his voice.
Finn just raised an eyebrow.
“It may be easier to show you what I mean than to try to explain it. Let’s take your Magma Armor as an example. Go ahead and cast the spell,” Brutus instructed.
Finn did as he was told, his fingers twining through the requisite gestures as the incantation tumbled from his lips. The warm molten substance soon coated his right arm up to the shoulder, although it was a much more fragile-looking version of Brutus’ shield.
“Alright,” the fire mage continued, “now continue to move your hands, directing your mana into the shield. This isn’t an exact science, just try to visualize your mana flowing into the spell.”
Finn did as he was told, his fingers dancing through the air as he frowned in concentration. It took him a few tries, but he finally got the hang of it. Brutus was right. It was more of a feeling than a strict set of gestures. Yet after hours spent practicing his Mana Mastery, the process felt intuitive to Finn. As he directed mana into his Magma Armor, he could have sworn he saw the shield along his arm pulse an alternating red and orange, and then a notification appeared in front of him.
Spell: Magma Armor
Skill Level: Beginner Level 2
Cost: 55 Mana
Effect: Creates a damage shield capable of absorbing 120 damage (60 damage if water/ice).
Channel Effect: Repairs the shield at a rate of 40 damage/second at a mana cost of 10 mana/second.
Finn was so surprised that he accidentally let the channel drop. The spell had a secondary effect if he continuously channeled his mana into it? Did that only apply to this spell or all spells? The implications were already tumbling through his mind in a wave.
“Huh,” Finn said aloud
. He could already see some of the advantages of mana channeling. “So, I could effectively block more strikes without needing to recast.”
“Exactly!” Brutus replied. “It’s a useful and efficient trick. As for other spells like Fireball, mana channeling allows you to form the spell and then hold it without firing. Channeling can also be used to charge or empower certain spells.”
Finn just shook his head, glancing back at Brutus’ hands and the shield winding up his arm. He was mentally reviewing the steps the mage had taken to cast Magma Armor and then the Fireball. He had summoned the shield with both hands, then only his right hand had switched to a new pattern.
“So, you cast the Magma Armor, continued to channel mana into that spell, and then cast the Fireball with your right hand – shifting to a channel on that spell once it was complete,” Finn said slowly.
A broad smile lingered on Brutus’ face. “Indeed. Multi-Casting allows you to cast more quickly, and, when combined with mana channeling, it potentially allows you to channel two spells at once. For example, you could summon and maintain two Fireballs at the same time, waiting for an opportunity to strike. In short, this skill not only increases your ability to cast more rapidly, but it provides more flexibility.”
Something I could definitely use, Finn thought, thinking back to the fight against Brutus in the courtyard. However, another question was still bugging him.
“Why doesn’t everyone learn how to do this?” Finn finally asked.
Brutus smirked. “Because it’s difficult. It requires a high affinity, advanced Mana Mastery, and quite a bit of practice to get good at it.
“Frankly, it’s usually easier for a mage to cheat,” he continued. “Staves or wands can replicate the same channeling effect without as much effort, using crystals embedded in the weapon to maintain the channel. So, your typical mage will cast a spell and then shift the channel to their staff. The weakness is that they can’t maintain two channels at once.” He hesitated. “Although, I suppose there are myths of staves and wands that could channel two or more spells at the same time.”
Awaken Online: Ember (Tarot #1) Page 19
