“How are you going to do it?” Jonathan asked. “You should sort him out before I do. If I have to do it I am going to mash that idiot into paste. He is not only representing himself but commoner mages as a whole.”
“You sound just like Bill Angus,” Red laughed. “You in charge of how they should act?”
“Maybe you are right,” Jonathan said.
“Let that idiot talk himself into some shit,” Red replied. “He will get the pit beat out of him on the late night and that will be that. I doubt there is another Gerald Morningstar around so he shouldn’t be burned as bad as I was but he will get his licks. We are instructors now Jonathan, not initiates.”
“How in the pit did you become the smart one?” Jonathan asked.
“Because you spend too much of your time being pissed off about whatever you are pissed off about,” Red replied. “I think I am finding my groove now, you should as well.”
CHAPTER 4
First Class
Jonathan walked into his classroom and saw his initiates were already seated and waiting on him. The initiate he had fought was showing emotions on his face switching from anger to embarrassment. Jonathan cocked an eyebrow at him and scanned the room. Other initiates had looks of disgust and Jonathan thought about blasting them all and wondered if it would be effective. Jonathan thought about it as he stood before his class and decided on another course of action.
“Initiates,” Jonathan said. “Charles fought as well as anyone here could have. You are all first years on your first day. I have experience on everyone here, I have actually had to put a rogue mage down before, neither of you have. I am going to teach you how to fight, I am going to teach you everything I know.”
“You are a commoner,” the female initiate said.
“And your name is,” Jonathan asked. “I have your names written down somewhere but I left it.”
“Just like a commoner,” the female said.
“Would you like to take this outside?” Jonathan asked. “Perhaps after I burn your face away you will start showing me respect. I do not know what it would do for your dating life though.”
“Did you just threaten a lady?” the female asked.
“You may be many things,” Jonathan began. “A lady is not one of them.”
“How dare you!” the female screamed as she stood up.
“I guess you accept my challenge then,” Jonathan said and gave her a little smile.
“I just, I just have never met anyone so disrespectful,” the female said.
“My name is Jonathan Thunder,” Jonathan said. “Now you have met someone. Now sit down unless you want to embarrass yourself further.”
“I haven’t lost a match in three years,” Charles said. “I still do not know what happened.”
“You suck,” Davin said as he stood up. “You let this commoner embarrass us in front of everyone. You knew you were weak to start off with, you should have never fought him.”
“Sit your ass down,” Jonathan snapped. “You couldn’t do any better. Unless you want to go outside right now and have me absolutely crush you.”
Jonathan walked up to the boy who started looking unsure of himself. As Jonathan walked up on him, his initiate sat down and then avoided eye contact. Jonathan looked across the class and let a sneer cross his face until no one would meet his eyes. Jonathan silently berated himself for letting his emotions get the better of him and took a few deep breaths then walked back towards the front. Jonathan let a smile come across his face and then started talking again.
“Initiates you were probably told your entire lives about how poor and untrustworthy commoner mages are,” Jonathan began. “That many of us barely had magic and the magic we do have is so pitiful it is laughable. Many of you grew up in mage culture and were told that you were the best of best and commoners were lucky bastards who are pretending to be more than what they are. Some of you see it as your duty to put commoners back into their place and figure you might as well start with me, a commoner masquerading around as an instructor.”
“You are not the best mage around,” another boy said as he stood up. This boy had light brown hair that was so thin Jonathan thought it looked like it was receding already. “I heard the only reason you are still Champion is because your classmates didn’t want to beat you up for it.”
“Is that so?” Jonathan asked as he could see his students whispering to each other and nodding their heads. “You are correct, I am not the best mage around.”
“Then you admit it?” the female initiate asked.
“Of course I admit it,” Jonathan said laughing. “As far as mages go the only reason I ranked fourth in my class in aptitude is because I am a lot stronger than most. That iron block you all struggled with, I blew it clean off of the platform. Both of the Golads could accomplish that feat and Mage Monica, an instructor with the senior class is not that far behind. But they are just three people, what is stopping the former Archmage or anyone else from challenging me? I may be fourth in aptitude but I am a solid second or third in raw power.”
“You are strong because you come from a family of mages,” the female said. “It is an abomination.”
“I have heard that before,” Jonathan said. “The former Tower Mage said as much before I killed him in the arena. I do come from other mages, one of the few commoners you will meet that can make that claim. I admit I am not the normal commoner mage, I cannot be pushed around or bullied. I may have been fourth in my class in aptitude but I was the first in dueling. I never fought any of the Golads or Mage Monica during our time in the class.”
“You just have a little power so now you try to flaunt it,” the female said.
“Truer words were never spoken,” Jonathan replied. “I do flaunt it and threaten any fool out there who thinks they can do something about it. But on the battlefield who would you rather have beside you, an over-powered braggart or a noble who has never stared down a dragon before? In the last two years the Tower has sent her students to help defend the kingdom, you could be chosen as well. Do you know who doesn’t care about your noble blood? The Dragonknights do not, in fact I think it would be a nice feather in their cap to say they killed a noble mage. If you were them, who would you go for? Some lucky farm boy who happened to have magic or some noble mage from a family of mages? You do stick out with your fancy robes while the thick white stripes on mine identifies me as a commoner.”
“I am not scared,” the female said hesitantly.
“You should be,” Jonathan replied. “Everyone in here knows that I will not kill you so right now you are getting your jollies off by being nasty. The Dragonknights will kill you though. There are only ten people in your class right now. We lost more than that in a fight with only two Dragonknights that lasted less than a few minutes. People I knew died.”
“Then you are not as great as you claim if you could not save them,” the female said triumphantly. “You let your friends die.”
“And the majority of those killed were are nobles,” Jonathan said. “But I will make sure if it happens that you and your big mouth will be the first to face them down. You have already ran away scared from fighting me. Perhaps your sharp tongue will endure you to the Dragonknights, three of those killed last year were females.”
“You cannot do that!” the female said.
“I can and will,” Jonathan replied. “Now back to what I was saying. There are many of you in here that have decent strength. For a mage, you will need it. In a fight though, the right plan can beat raw power any day. I almost lost a match to a student in the senior class last year. She had scouted me and could have won without me ever landing a blow.”
“A girl almost beat you?” the female initiate asked.
“Yes and at least three of you in this class is stronger than she is,” Jonathan said. “I think she would beat all of you if you fought. I think Charles would present an interesting problem for her the first couple of times they fought. Now we should introduce ourselv
es, tell me who you are, where you come from and what you hope to get out of this class.”
Jonathan listened to his initiates get up and try to outdo each other with their backgrounds. The female student was named Rebecca Goodhaire and apparently was from a well-known mage family from the way people reacted. One thing Jonathan noticed that he never really paid attention to before was that others in the classroom wanted to know if whoever was introducing themselves had siblings with the gift. Jonathan first thought that perhaps they were trying to discover an easy way to meet another mage, the Tower was set up to fix mages up with each other. It soon struck Jonathan that there was a division among noble mages and Jonathan was surprised he had never noticed it before. It answered questions that he had wondered about but never put the effort into learning. It made perfect sense, the reason why some noble mages seemed way stronger than others while some were barely stronger than commoners. The mages were separating themselves according to who had two mage parents and who had one. One of the nobles present didn’t have any mage parents but instead had grandfathers who had the gift. Jonathan could find a flaw in the game they were playing immediately. Female mages could produce mage babies regardless of if the father was a mage or not. Male mages only had a twenty percent chance of doing so with a mundane. Jonathan decided to end their game.
“Initiates,” Jonathan said. “I see what you are doing here but your manners prevent you from coming out and asking the questions you want answered. You all want to know who is from what family and if both of their parents were mages or is one a mundane. None of this matters in the long run, in this entire Tower including the instructors there are only four female mages who are unmarried that will remain throughout the year. One is in a relationship with the Crown Prince and the other is with the future Duke of Golad. Neither of you have a shot at them which leaves only two, Initiate Rebecca and Initiate Cara. Being a female in the Tower means you could have your pick of the men here, in the senior class there is the little brother of an Earl. I doubt seriously that any boy in this class could get anyone of the remaining females but for argument’s sake, let’s say you do. That leaves seven of you with nothing, the next class coming in might not have any females at all, noble or commoner. If it does then you will have to compete with the boys in that class, you will hardly see the junior class so they will have a leg up on you. That means seven of you will have to marry a mundane. It makes no sense to start judging people based on their background.”
“You are just angry you couldn’t land a mage commoner,” Davin said.
“I am sure I could,” Jonathan replied. “I am tall, handsome and I am the Queen’s Champion. My magic alone is enough for some noble girl somewhere to be interested. I am sure with my infamy I could land a commoner female mage as well. You will find out Initiate Davin that males need one or more of three things going for them. Number one is to be a landed noble, mage or not, the title is impossible for many women to turn down. No one in here has that going for them, there is noble blood and then there is noble blood. Number two is to be obscenely wealthy. Mages get paid well by the kingdom so money is normally not a problem but I am talking something else entirely. Enough money to have mountains of land, multiple big homes and as many servants as a landed noble would have. The last thing is magical power. You either have to be strong or have a rare spell. I am called Jonathan the Lightning because I can toss lightning. Now what exactly do you have going for you Initiate Davin? I am the sole heir of my grandfather who has enough money that as a mundane he got my grandmother to marry him. I am not a landed noble but I do have the title of Champion that I am sure you could never take and I am stronger than you are. I do not think you have a chance at any of the female mages here but go out and prove me wrong.”
“What are you laughing at?” Davin snapped at Charles. “You barely have enough magic to consider yourself a mage. You are too slow to cast, your shields are weak and both of your parents are mundanes. Our instructor has been propping you up so you will not feel as pathetic as you should.”
“I can take you,” Charles said hesitantly.
“And I can take you both so sit down Initiate Davin,” Jonathan replied. “As I was saying it is likely that most of you in this class will end up with a mundane. There are outside influences pushing you to this point whether you want to realize it or not.”
“What do you mean by that?” Waylon, the mage with the thinning hair class asked. “I think I stand a fair chance at being the top student in my class, even if there are some a bit stronger.”
“You had to have noticed the mundanes all about?” Jonathan said.
“Those girls who giggle too much?” Rebecca asked.
“Every one of them is someone more important than you all would be if you did not have your gift,” Jonathan said. “They are all beautiful and come from good money. They would not mind a commoner mage, I think that is the main reason they were brought here to learn. You in this class is the main prize, I am sure those women are smarter than you may believe. Rich and powerful people had to pay for their tuition so I am sure those females have been drilled over and over again in proper etiquette and behavior in a variety of situations. Good luck to all of you, now back to my class.”
“What did you do?” Charles asked.
“You mean during our duel?” Jonathan asked. “I guess you will have to find out. You have a few glaring weaknesses that I see. I think anyone who has fought you more than once will start to see them. Now for the rest of you, I have to see you cast magic. I already know how strong you are, dueling is more about speed however. The faster mage is going to win the fight. I am sure all of you have had some magic instruction before you got here and by someone smarter than I am. Keep the advice you think is useful and if I say something you think is good then keep that as well. I am sure you have heard about the midnight fights here, everyone in this room is prohibited from engaging in one.”
“You are just trying to protect the commoners,” Davin said.
“I am trying to protect you from the senior class,” Jonathan said. “They would crush you into paste and not hold back like I did. If you think you can take them then let me know, I will go get one of them right now.”
“Well I do not have any issues with them,” Davin said.
“But they will have issues with you and they are better than you are,” Jonathan said. “By forbidding you from fighting they will leave you alone or deal with me. I am the only one in this classroom that have killed multiple people before so I doubt they want to test me. That and I beat the pit out of two of the strongest their class had to offer at the same time.”
“You have killed people?” Initiate Barrelon asked. Jonathan thought he heard the boy say that he was from the Vane Duchy alongside of Golad. The two people couldn’t be any more different, the people were on the other side of the mountain range that ran along Golad were as short as the mountain people were tall.
“I have,” Jonathan replied. “At least ten times the amount of people in this class right now. The senior class saw battle with dragons. Just like you have all started to look down on each other, they will look down on you. Two of them in the senior class used to practice with me exclusively, one is the brother of an Earl and he has a spell unique to his family.”
“He does?” Charles asked.
“Initiate Blaine has a spell he calls magevision,” Jonathan began. “It is similar to magesight except he can see the power levels in each mage. The initial test you all just took is very rudimentary compared to what he can do.”
“Who cares if he can see power?” Rebecca asked.
“He can see what spell you are getting ready to use,” Jonathan replied. “He also can tell when you are low or out of magic. He is also known for never backing away from a fight with the lesser born, that is including all of you in this room with me.”
“You have fought him?” Charles asked.
“I have,” Jonathan replied. “We were enemies for a while, losing our c
lassmates changed all of that. Anything I teach you here he knows most of it. The lowest of their class has something they may want to prove and may go looking for trouble.”
“I dare their commoners to challenge me to anything!” Davin boasted.
“I am a commoner,” Jonathan said. “And power is not everything. You do not have to worry about their commoners though.”
“They know their place?” Davin asked.
“Most died along with others in the defense of this kingdom,” Jonathan said. “The remaining commoner married a noble girl. The laws being what they are, means he is now a noble.”
“So he is a fake noble?” Davin asked.
“There are others here you could call the children of fake nobles,” Jonathan replied. “I would watch myself if I were you. The Queen says they are noble and her word is law.”
“Like you know the Queen,” Davin said.
“It is almost like I went through the Tower with her son the Crown Prince,” Jonathan said and raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps someone else sent me to be the commander of magical forces against the Raelinians and named me Champion.”
“I, uh,” Davin stammered.
“I think you should shut up,” Jonathan said. “All you have done is boast and have refused to take any action. Right now you are all small fish in a big sea. Wait until next year or at least until midyear before you start getting full of yourselves. In a few months there are going to be commoners in this class along with you. As nobles you should hold yourselves to a higher standard. Now everyone get outside, I have a few tests for you to try. My entire plan revolves around being the fastest mage. Perhaps we can explore that.”
Jonathan followed his class outside and had them line up. The first test he wanted to do was simple, he wanted his students to cast magebolt as fast as they could. Jonathan learned a lot by looking at them, some of his earlier assumptions about mages proved to be wrong. Before Jonathan only cared about himself, he didn’t care about other mages or their abilities but instead focused on his own. Jonathan thought power level determined overall speed. While Jonathan knew he could get his lightning attack out before most people could put up a shield, he also thought the Golads were overall faster than he was with other spells. In his current class on initiates, the order of power went Rebecca, Davin, Barrelon, Tobias, Jeremiah, Cole, Stephen, Erik, Chad and Charles. Jonathan was just guessing based on their magelight, their ability to move the iron block and how many swings it took to break their mage shields. Jonathan thought that the four through eight could have been interchangeable but didn’t think it mattered. What surprised him was that Erik was faster than the rest, it wasn’t by much but he consistently beat everyone else. Davin was next and then everyone else was in order according to power. Other than being able to put four spells in play, Charles was not impressive at all.
The Archmage Page 4
